Reference: Ephesians
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Ephesians. Ephe'sians
The inhabitants of Ephesus. Ac 19:28-35; 21:29.
Ephesians, Ephe'sians Epistle to the.
Paul first visited Ephesus on his way from Corinth to Syria: he did not stay then, but left Priscilla and Aquila there, who were afterwards joined by Apollos. Ac 18:18-24. Paul soon returned and stayed there two years. There was thus time for the saints to be grounded in the truth. The opposition was so great in the synagogue that Paul separated the disciples, and they met daily in the school of Tyrannus. The word grew mightily and prevailed. Ac 19:1-20.
In 1Co 15:32 Paul speaks of having fought with beasts at Ephesus, doubtless alluding to the strong opposition manifested towards him there by the Jews. In Ac 20:17, etc., Paul exhorts the elders of Ephesus, as overseers, to feed the church of God. He warns them that grievous wolves would enter in, and some from among themselves would speak perverse things to draw away disciples after them. As their resource he commends them to God and the word of His grace. Following this was the Epistle he wrote to them during the two years he was a prisoner at Rome.
In 1Ti 1:3 Paul says he had besought Timothy to abide at Ephesus, and to exhort them to teach no other doctrine, and not to give heed to fables and endless genealogies. In 2Ti 1:15 there is the sad intelligence that 'all they which are in Asia' (which must have included Ephesus) had 'turned away from' Paul, doubtless signifying that they had given up the truth as taught by Paul, and settled down with a lower standard. In 2Ti 4:12 Tychicus had been sent to Ephesus. The great care and watchfulness with which Paul laboured for their welfare is very manifest. In Re 2:1-7 we have the address to this church, in which much is said in their favour, though the solemn charge had also to be made that they had left their first love, and the warning is given that if they did not repent their candlestick would be removed.
The Epistle to the Ephesians is remarkable in setting forth the counsels of God with regard to His people as connected with Christ. It is from this standpoint that they are viewed, rather than that of their need as sinners, and how it has been met. This latter is developed in the Epistle to the Romans. The state of the Ephesian believers enabled them to receive a communication of such a nature as this Epistle, in which glorious unfoldings of the mind of God about His own are given in the greatest fulness.
The key note is struck in Eph 1:3, where God is blessed as "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"
See Verses Found in Dictionary
So Paul, having stayed on for many days, said good-bye to the brothers and sailed away to Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He shaved his head at Cenchreae, because he had taken a vow. When they reached Ephesus he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and engaged in discussion with the Jews. read more. And though they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined, but said good-bye and stated, "I'll come back to you again, if God wills." Then he set sail from Ephesus. On landing at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch. And [after] spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the Galatian territory and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. A Jew named Apollos, a native Alexandrian, an eloquent man who was powerful in the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus.
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" "No," they told him, "we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." read more. "Then with what [baptism] were you baptized?" he asked them. "With John's baptism," they replied. Paul said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One who would come after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak with [other] languages and to prophesy. Now there were about 12 men in all. Then he entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, engaging in discussion and trying to persuade them about the things related to the kingdom of God. But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them and met separately with the disciples, conducting discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. And this went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord. God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul's hands, so that even facecloths or work aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I command you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches!" Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. The evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize-but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Then fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices, while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value, and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. In this way the Lord's message flourished and prevailed.
When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" So the city was filled with confusion; and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's traveling companions. read more. Though Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him. Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to take a chance by going into the amphitheater. Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Then some of the crowd gave Alexander advice when the Jews pushed him to the front. So motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a united cry went up from all of them for about two hours: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" However, when the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, "Men of Ephesus! What man is there who doesn't know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven?
Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.
For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple complex.
If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope, what good does that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, in Christ;
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, in Christ;
He demonstrated [this power] in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens-
He also raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus,
This is so that God's multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.
Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts.
For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach other doctrine
This you know: all those in Asia have turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: "The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and who walks among the seven gold lampstands says: I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. read more. You also possess endurance and have tolerated [many things] because of My name, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love [you had] at first. Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place-unless you repent. Yet you do have this: you hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. "Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.