Learning from the Church at Ephesus (Pt. II) I. Introduction. a. Reference to series of lessons. i. A few weeks ago I started a series of lessons which began looking at individual local congregations that we are told about in the New Testament. ii. We spent two lessons looking at lessons that we can learn from the church at Corinth. iii. Last week we started looking at the church of Ephesus. b. A pattern. i. The reason we are doing this is to examine the pattern that they have left for us. ii. So that we can know what we ought to be doing. iii. So that we can evaluate whether we are part of the church as its described in the New Testament. c. Last week s lesson. i. Leadership in the church. ii. Growth in the church. iii. Unity in the church. d. This morning, we will add five more pieces to the pattern. II. The church should beware of false teachers. a. Turn back to Acts 20. i. Paul s conversation to the elders from Ephesus. ii. From his admonitions, we learn one very important aspect of the pattern of the church that we normally wouldn t associate with the pattern. 1. we talk about imitating the things that the early church did. iii. Look at verses 28-30. 1. Paul warns them to protect the flock from two types of false teachers. 2. The savage wolves who would come into the flock. 3. Those that would rise up from among themselves. b. Turn also to the epistle of 1 Timothy. i. Read 1 Timothy 1:3-7. ii. Paul is concerned about false teachers in the church at Ephesus. iii. He is so concerned that, while he cannot be there at this time, he is urging Timothy to remain there until he can come himself.
c. We need to be watching out for false teachers. i. We might not think the threat is there. ii. We are careful about who we let come and speak to us. 1. We make sure that we only invite respected men to come and preach. iii. But just as the threat was there in the first century, it is still here today. d. There are two threats for false teaching. i. From within and from without. ii. When men from other places come and speak to us, we don t need to blindly believe everything that they say. 1. we must search the Scriptures. 2. not search our minds and see if we agree with it. 3. that s why we make a big deal about opening your Bibles and following along. iii. We must also be careful and watch ourselves regarding false teaching. 1. we must make sure that none of us start teaching things that are not true. 2. those who teach classes and preach, we must verify what they are teaching. 3. but this is not limited to public teaching, we must also make sure that none of our members are spreading false teaching in any manner. e. If we are to follow the pattern of the church at Ephesus, we must make every effort to guard against false teaching. III. How we should treat each other in the church. a. Old man becomes new man. i. In Ephesians 4:20-24, we read about the transformation of Christians. ii. "But you have not learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." iii. We have emphasized this point many times. iv. But look at what follows this admonition. 1. Paul makes direct application to their relationships with each other.
2. His primary emphasis in pointing out that a Christian is a different person is to show them how their conduct toward each other should be. b. Turn and read Ephesians 4:25-32. i. Teaches about our speech to each other (lying). ii. Lessons on anger and stealing. iii. Verses 31 and 32 summarize the application. iv. Focus on latter part of verse 25, "for we are members of one another." v. Another way of stating would be "we re in this together." 1. we re on the same team. 2. we re part of the same body. vi. Because of that, we ought to treat each other differently. c. Look at the point made in Ephesians 5:21. i. "submitting to one another in the fear of God." ii. Paul calls upon us to submit to each other. 1. that is, to put ourselves under the authority of the other. iii. The idea is not that everyone is the boss and no one is a follower. iv. The point is that each one us serves the other. 1. like Jesus said, "I did not come to be served, but to serve." v. Paul is pointing out that we don t need to be concerned with people serving and submitting to us, but we need to submit to and serve others. d. Also remember back in chapter four and verse two where Paul tells us how to achieve unity. i. In that passage he is instructing us on how we ought to treat each other. ii. With these characteristics. 1. lowliness. 2. gentleness. 3. longsuffering. 4. bearing with one another in love. iii. We must manifest these attributes to be what God would have us be. e. God gives us a pattern on how the church ought to conduct itself. i. The church is a group of people. ii. God gives us a pattern of how members of the church ought to treat other members of the church. IV. Music in the church. a. There is not much said about music in the church in the New Testament.
i. Yet we are commanded that music should be a part of the church, part of the life of a Christian. ii. Singing is an outward expression of the joy of a Christian. 1. "Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms." James 5:13 iii. Singing is something that gives a Christian great comfort. 1. "but at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God." Acts 16:25 (while they were in jail). iv. Singing is a command to the church. 1. Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 form the majority of the instructions that we have for singing under the law of Christ. 2. we learn about our singing from the pattern of the Ephesians. b. Ephesians 5:19 i. "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." 1. When we sing we are speaking to each other. 2. We don t need to forget that we are not just praising God when we sing but we are communicating with each other. ii. There are really three things that we should be doing when we sing. 1. Talking to God and praising Him. 2. Speaking to each other. 3. Listening to each other. iii. Paul declares in Colossians 3:16 that we teach and admonish each other through our singing. iv. The command is to sing. 1. the command is not simply to make music. 2. the command is not to play. 3. the command is simply to sing. v. The command is also to "make melody." 1. but how do we make melody? 2. do we use a piano, an organ, or a guitar to make melody? 3. no, because Paul says we make melody in our hearts. vi. Notice the emphasis on the heart. 1. Good sounding singing is wonderful. 2. It is encouraging and uplifting. 3. But it must be done from the heart. 4. You could have the greatest singers in the world together, but if they don t sing from the heart, it wouldn t be acceptable. vii. The command is not limited to a certain group of Christians. 1. it is commanded to the Ephesians, all the Ephesians. 2. just like in the following verse regarding giving thanks. viii. One additional note for your consideration.
V. We should never forget the basics. 1. this passage is not necessarily talking about the assembly of the saints. 2. nothing in the context tells us that. 3. some people limit this verse to the assembly. a. Turn to the book of Revelation to look at our next point. i. In chapters 2-3, we have recorded letters from Jesus to the seven churches of Asia. 1. Ephesus is included in these letters. 2. probably occurs many years after the events we read about in Acts and even the letter to the Ephesians. 3. we are allowed a glimpse to see what has become of the church at Ephesus since the time that Paul wrote to them. ii. Read verses 1-7. 1. notice that they had done a lot of good things. 2. yet there was one thing that they had done that they shouldn t have. 3. and they are commanded to repent. iii. The Ephesians had "left their first love." b. "Left their first love." i. What is the beginning of the life of a Christian? 1. faith is the beginning. 2. believing in God as the Creator and believing in Christ as the Son of God. ii. What would be the first or initial love that a Christian would feel? 1. would it not be a love for God and a love for Christ for what they have done for us? 2. To me, it appears that the Ephesians had lost their fervor and affection for God. a. their love had waned. b. when they became Christians, they were full of love and appreciation for God, and that motivated them to serve with great zeal. c. but now, they were still doing many of the right things, but they did not have the same inward feelings. d. they perhaps were going through the motions. c. "Repent and do the first works." i. The remedy for their situation is recorded in verse 5. 1. "Remember therefore from where they had fallen." 2. "Repent and do the first works." ii. "The first works."
1. in essence, Jesus is saying they need to get back to the basics. iii. The basics of Christianity. 1. Love for God. 2. Zeal to do good. 3. Trust and faith in Jesus. 4. Love for others. d. The pattern of the church at Ephesus is to not forget the basics of Christianity. i. We don t need to let ourselves get bogged down in meatier issues and forget the pure milk of the word. ii. We need to constantly renew ourselves in the very basic principles. VI. Conclusion: Salvation. a. Read Ephesians 2:1-10. i. The wonderful story of salvation. ii. God rescued man from sin. iii. Two applications from this passage as we conclude our lesson. b. To those who have not yet become a Christian. i. You are "dead in trespasses and sins." ii. As Paul says later in verse 12, you currently have no hope and are without God. iii. God loved you so much that He allowed His Son to come to this earth and die for you. iv. He is extending mercy and grace to you this morning. v. It s up to you, though, on whether you will accept it or not. c. To those of us who are already Christians. i. Remember, Paul is writing this to Christians. ii. What is the point to us? iii. The point is to never forget what God has done for us. iv. To remember where we were, so that we can remain where we are now. v. We see the sad results in the book of Revelation to this congregation. 1. that, at some point in time, they forgot these basic lessons. d. What is your decision this morning? i. The pattern of the Ephesians is that through faith you can have eternal life. ii. If you believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, won t you obey the commands of Jesus: 1. to confess His name.
2. to repent of your sins. 3. and be baptized into His blood.