Introduction to Ephesians

Today we begin a study of one of the deepest of the letters that Paul ever wrote. Now, all of Paul's letters are filled with tremendous spiritual truth for all of us, but I think if you had to name one letter that Paul wrote that went the deepest and perhaps reached the highest in spiritual truth, it would be Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, the Epistle to the Ephesians. Now, we're going to be studying this particular letter verse by verse, and in some cases, word by word. Because I firmly believe that the churches today and Christians today need the message that Paul gives to us here in Ephesians. Now if you want to read about the background of Paul's letter to the Ephesians, you'll have to turn back to the Book of Acts.

The city of Ephesus was a majestic and a mighty city, a great harbor. Archaeologists have unearthed much of the city of Ephesus. They tell us that a beautiful marble avenue led from the seaport down to the key theater in the middle of the city. The most important building in Ephesus, of course, was the great temple of Diana. Now you read about all of this in Acts 19 and Acts 20. On his second missionary journey, Paul stopped briefly at Ephesus, but he didn't stay there to do too much work. Instead, he left behind a husband and wife who were good friends of his, Priscilla and Aquila. Paul had met them because they were both tent makers, and you'll recall that Paul himself was a tent maker. He left behind this husband and wife who were good witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now there came to the city of Ephesus a great preacher whose name was Apollos. Apollos was an orator, a brilliant man, a man whose handling of the Old Testament Scriptures was superb. But he did not fully understand the truth of the gospel. All that Apollos knew was the baptism of John the Baptist. And of course, John's baptism was looking forward to the coming of Christ. Christian baptism today looks back to His death, burial, and His resurrection. Well, after the service that morning, Priscilla and Aquila taught Apollos the truth concerning the gospel, and of course, this completely changed his ministry.

Now, Paul returned to Ephesus sometime later on his third missionary journey, and he stayed there for three years. This is the longest time Paul remained in any one city. He first went to the large Jewish synagogue there in Ephesus, for there were many, many Jews there. It was a commercial city. And he preached for a while there in the Jewish synagogue. But after a while, they, they rejected his message, so he had to move out. And Paul rented the school rooms of a teacher whose name was Tyrannus. You find this in Acts 19:9. And for about two years, Paul taught every day, Paul preached there in the school room of Tyrannus. Paul stayed for three years, and the Word of God tells us because of his ministry there at Ephesus, all Asia heard the Word of God. Now how did this happen? Well, it was very simple. Ephesus was a key city. It was the capital city of the area. People would come to Ephesus like people go to Cincinnati or Chicago or New York or San Francisco or London. And they would come to the city and they would hear about this new message being preached by this ex-Jewish rabbi. They would be interested, they would go and listen, they would be saved. And then they would go back to their own city and carry the message with them.

Now because of this kind of a missionary ministry, sending people out with the Word, Paul from Ephesus was able to reach all of Asia with the gospel. This is an important lesson for us today. Someone came to a church service late one day and said to an usher as the service was closing, "Is the service over?" And the usher smiled and said, "No, now the service begins." We forget this too often as Christians. We come to a meeting and we enjoy the meeting, and then when the meeting is over, we forget about it. But not so with Paul. After he had instructed his disciples, he sent them out to preach the gospel wherever they went. Slaves would hear the gospel and be saved and go home and witness to their households. Merchants would hear the gospel and be saved, and while they were traveling on their merchant journeys, witness to other people. This is the way that all Asia heard the Word of God.

Now, Paul's preaching became so dynamic and the gospel had such a tremendous effect upon this city, this heathen city, that he ran into some trouble with a union, a trade guild, the people who made the statues of the Temple of Diana. Now let me explain to you about the Temple of Diana. It was one of the seven wonders of the world, a great building, 425 feet long and 220 feet wide, beautifully appointed. It had 120 columns in the building. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, full of wealth and splendor. But it was dedicated to the worship of the heathen goddess Diana. And the worship that they performed would be too filthy for me to discuss over this radio program. It was a heathen worship.

Now, one of the key industries in Ephesus were the silversmiths who made statues of Diana and statues of her temple, and they sold these silver statues to the tourists, a great tourist trade. But as people began to hear the gospel and be saved, they turned away from these heathen idols and the tourist trade would no longer buy these silver statues, and business became worse. Now we're told in the Book of Acts that the silversmiths got together and had a meeting. And outwardly, they said, "We cannot have the Temple of Diana desecrated in this way." But basically, their real problem was not the temple, nor was it religion. They were losing money.

You know, religion sometimes causes people to lose money. You may recall when Dr. Billy Graham was holding his great crusade in New York City some years ago that a number of the businesses around Madison Square Garden just about went broke because the crowd that was going to Madison Square Garden didn't patronize that kind of business. Oftentimes when the gospel moves into a city, business is affected. Then you find out what people really love. If they love the things of the Lord or if they love money, these men loved money. And their only concern was to rescue their business. Consequently, they called for a great mob of people. They went into the great theater there at Ephesus, and they were going to oppose Paul and his work. Well, wisely, Paul did not go into the theater. He had done a great job there in Ephesus, and so he left town, and he left the work with others who carried it on.

Now this is how the church got going there in the city of Ephesus. A great church, a great ministry. For three years Paul ministered faithfully. Read Acts 20 to discover what kind of a ministry Paul had. Paul was able to say to the Ephesian pastors as he left the city and met them later on, "I am free from the blood of all men." He had preached unto them all of the counsel of God. He had faithfully done his work. Paul accomplished more in three years at Ephesus, I'm sure, than many of us have accomplished in many years in other places.

Now for the letter. Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. You'll find in Ephesians 4:1, Paul says, "I therefore the prisoner of the Lord." How did he become a prisoner? Well, he went back to Jerusalem, you'll recall, and there in the temple at Jerusalem, he was arrested. He tried to defend himself but it didn't work. He was at Caesarea for two years in prison, and they kept shoving him from pillar to post. They would not make a decision. And finally, Paul appealed to Caesar. Now every Roman citizen had the privilege of appealing to Caesar. And so they sent him to Rome. And when Paul was in a prison in Rome, Acts 28 tells us about this. When Paul was a prisoner there at Rome, he was free to write letters. And this is what he was doing. He wrote a letter to the church at Philippi, Philippians. He wrote to the church at Colossae, Colossians. And he also wrote to the church at Ephesus, and this is our letter, the Ephesians, the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians.

Now let's take an overview of this letter. I'm a great believer in finding out how a book is put together before we start taking it apart. You'll find that there are six chapters in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Now, of course, when he wrote this letter, he didn't divide it up into chapters and verses. This was done several centuries ago by other scholars. But when Paul wrote this letter, it was a balanced letter. The Holy Spirit of God led him in a very wonderful way to divide this letter exactly in half. Chapters one, two, and three concern doctrine. As you read these chapters, they are filled with doctrine, what God has done for us. In chapters four, five, and six, the last half of the book, the theme is duty, what we must do for God. In other words, in chapters one, two, and three, you have our calling as Christians. In chapters four, five, and six, our conduct as Christians. Or to put it another way, in the first half of the book, you have our wealth in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 is the key verse of the first half of the book. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." That's the key of chapters 1-3, our wealth in Christ. What is our wealth in Christ? All spiritual blessings.

So chapters 1-3, our wealth in Christ, but when you turn to chapters 4-6, you have our walk in Christ, and the key verse is Ephesians 4:1. "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation or worthy of the calling." And he had described this calling in the first three chapters. "Worthy of the calling wherewith ye are called." In fact, you may want to mark in your Bible in the last half of this letter, the times that Paul uses the little word "walk." The word "walk" is a description of the Christian life. Christians are not to run. Now sometimes we have to run. Sometimes we have to stand still. But basically, the Christian life is a walk. You live one day at a time, one step at a time. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." God doesn't shine all the way down the highway and show us what's going to happen two years from now.

Our lives are a walk. Ephesians 4:1, "Walk worthy of the calling." Wherewith you are called. Live up to what you are as a Christian. Ephesians 4:17. "This I say therefore and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk." Don't walk the way the unsaved people walk. Ephesians 4:17. Ephesians 5:2. "Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us." Wouldn't it be wonderful if every Christian walked in love? Wouldn't that solve a lot of family problems, a lot of church problems, a lot of neighborhood problems?

In Ephesians 5:15 he says, "See then that ye walk circumspectly." That means carefully. Don't get involved in the things of the world. Don't get tripped up or trapped by the snares of the devil. Walk carefully. Back in Ephesians 5:8 he says, "Walk as children of light." Now we're not children of the darkness. "Everyone that doeth evil hateth the light," says John 3. But Paul says we are children of the light. Therefore, we should walk as children of light. So the key thought in chapters 4-6 is our walk in Christ.

Chapters 1-3 then, doctrine, the believer's blessings in Christ, key verse Ephesians 1:3. Chapters 4-6, duty, the believer's behavior in Christ, and the key verse Ephesians 4:1.

Now let me go one step further to show you how these chapters are put together. The letter to the Ephesians is one of the most beautifully arranged epistles in the entire New Testament. If you have your Bible in front of you, you may want to follow along as I outline it for you. In verses 1-14 of Ephesians 1, Paul outlines our possessions in Christ. What are these blessings we have, our possessions in Christ? Now he names them. In verse 4 God has chosen us. In verse 5 God has adopted us. In verse 7 He's redeemed us and forgiven us. In verse 8 He has given us wisdom. In verse 9 He has shown us His will. In verse 11 He's made us an inheritance. In verse 13 we have been sealed by the Spirit, and someday we're going to be completely redeemed for His glory. Verses 1-14, our possessions in Christ. Then he pauses to pray.

In verses 15-23, Paul says, "After I heard about your faith and your love, I prayed for you." And this is a prayer that their understanding might be enlightened. Notice verse 18. "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened." So verses 1-14, we have our possessions in Christ. Then verses 15-23, we have a prayer for enlightenment. You see what Paul is doing? Paul teaches these Ephesians what they have, and then he prays that their eyes might be opened, that they might see their wealth in Christ.

You know many Christians are blind. I read many years ago about an old Civil War veteran, a man who was a tramp. And he'd walk from city to city and beg and do a little work, living in the way a tramp lives. But everywhere he went, he would show the people a piece of paper he carried in his wallet with Abraham Lincoln's signature on it. Now this man could not read. One day someone said, "Let me see that paper." And he showed it to him. He said, "Man, do you know what you have here? You have here a pension from the government signed by President Lincoln. And you're living like a pauper when this piece of paper can make you a happy man, a rich man." Now many Christians are this way. They live like paupers when the Word of God reveals to us that we have so many wonderful riches in Christ. And so Paul prays that our eyes might be opened. It's a prayer for enlightenment. Now can you remember Ephesians 1? Verses 1-14, our possessions in Christ. Then Paul prays for enlightenment.

Ephesians 2, we have our position in Christ, and he tells us that we have been raised from the dead and put on the throne. We are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Now we'll talk more about that in our next lesson. He also tells us that at one time we were at a distance from God. He talks about the Gentiles to whom God had given no special promise. He had made no special covenant as he had with the Jews. So we were dead, we were at a distance, and yet Jesus Christ raised us from the dead and put us on the throne. He made us nigh unto God. He has broken down every barrier, and now we have a wonderful new position in Christ. And then in Ephesians 3 Paul pauses to pray again. Now he begins to pray in Ephesians 3:1, then he goes off on a little parenthesis explaining his ministry. But in verse 14 he begins his prayer, and it's not a prayer for enlightenment, that was Ephesians 1. Here in Ephesians 3:14-21, it is a prayer for enablement. Notice what it says in verse 16. "That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory," those riches that we read about in chapters 1-3, "that he would grant you to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." It's a prayer for divine enablement. You see how this is put together? Verses 1-14 of Ephesians 1 our possessions in Christ. Then he prays that our eyes might be opened, enlightenment. Ephesians 2 our position in Christ. Then Ephesians 3 he prays for enablement, that we might live up to that which God has given to us, that we might have the divine power of God working in our lives and bringing about in our lives the miracle of His grace. It's a wonderful section, chapters 1-3. Doctrine, our blessings in Christ.

Now chapters 4-6, we have duty, our behavior in Christ. These two things go together. It's my privilege to speak and to teach at many Bible conferences. And one of the most disappointing things about a Bible conference is this. There are multitudes of people who go from conference to conference. They mark their Bibles, they take notes, they fill up their notebooks, but it never changes their lives. Oh, they can explain the prophecies to you. They can explain the parables to you. They can divide the Word of God. They can outline it, but you can't live with them. Their tempers are so short and their dispositions are so disagreeable, and they cause trouble in churches. I'm always afraid of somebody who has a lot of God's Word up in his head but it never gets down to his heart and never reaches his feet so that his walk is what it ought to be. Now the Word of God is of no good unless it changes our lives. If I speak to someone right now who enjoys studying the Word but not living the Word, you'd better be careful. It's a dangerous thing to be a hearer of the Word and not a doer.

Chapters 4-6, the believer's walk. Let me outline it for you. Ephesians 4:1-16, walk in unity. Here he talks about the unity of the church. Ephesians 4:17-5:17, walk in purity. Ephesians 5:18-6:9, walk in harmony, the Christian home. And Ephesians 6:10-24, walk in victory, how to get victory over Satan. We'll review this again in our next lesson, but right now we want to pause to pray and ask the Holy Spirit of God who wrote this letter to make it real to our lives, that we might live the Word of God. Not just know what our wealth is in Christ, but to walk according to His will. Our Father, we thank Thee for this letter and for the truth of the Word of God, and pray that Thou will help us to live what we learn for Jesus' sake. Amen.