Our Blessings in Christ Through Ephesians

6 1 2 3 4 5 7 week Ephesians Overview H HOME OME Q QUESTIONS UESTIONS FOR FOR W WEEK EEK 2 2 SIT WALK STAND Our Identity in Christ 1. Read Ephesians 1:1-10. We are told in v.3 that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Carefully list each of the blessings in verses 4-8. Living Our Identity Defending Our Identity 2. As you reflect on these blessings, what contributions do you see of each person of the Trinity-the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? Paul s work in Ephesus 1. The Timing of God s movement into the Province of Asia 3. How are you affected by the words that God had a plan for you before the world was created? We need to follow God s lead. His timing is perfect. He directs us in His will and we need to yield to the Holy Spirit. Paul followed the Lead of the Spirit. 4. Read Ephesians 1:11-14. Write down four things that God s work in Christ and the Holy Spirit has done for you? - Acts 16:6 On Paul s second missionary journey, the Holy Spirit kept them from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 5. Read Ephesians 1:15-23. How would the Spirit of wisdom and revelation help us to know Him better? - Acts 18:19 Paul drops Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus, stays long enough to reason with the Jews in the synagogue, then leaves. 6. What does it mean in v. 18 when Paul prays for the eyes of your heart to be enlightened? What are the eyes of your heart? - Acts 18:24-26 Apollos meets up with Priscilla and Aquila who taught him the way of God more adequately. - Acts 19:1 On Paul s third missionary journey, Paul goes to Ephesus and found some disciples 7. Describe the power that is for us who believe. Dave Huizenga

2. The Status of the disciples - Acts 19:1 since this chapter break follows so closely after information on Apollos, it seems these disciples were Apollos followers in Ephesus. Notes: - Acts 19:1-7 Paul asks about the Holy Spirit, then asks of Jesus Christ. The people believed in Jesus, then they received the Holy Spirit - Acts 19:6 Tongues a common way to verify whether the Holy Spirit had come into a person s life (Acts 10:45 Cornelius showed the Jews in Jerusalem that Gentiles could be saved). This sign is not a doctrine for a second blessing, but simply one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. 3. Status of Ephesus - 3rd or 4th largest city in the Roman Empire (Rome-Alexandria-Antioch- Ephesus. Pop: 250,000) - Elegant Architecture. - Principle center of magic for the ancient world. Of all ancient Graeco- Roman cities, Ephesus was by far the most hospitable to magicians, sorcerers, and characters of all sorts [Bruce Metzger, St. Paul and the Magicians, p. 27] - Temple of Artemis one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The purchase of silver shrines and images produced a lucrative business for the craftsmen. Artemis is the Greek name for the Roman goddess Diana, the goddess of fertility. Worship was very sexual and her temple served by many prostitute priestesses. Acts 19:35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: Men of Ephesus, doesn t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?... - Fetish Factory Ephesian Writings Ancient documents containing spells and formulae to be placed in small cylinders or lockets to wear around the neck or elsewhere about the person. [F. F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, p. 291] 7 2

BREAK AWAY GROUP INTERACTION WEEK 1 4. The Characteristics of Paul s ministry Paul Started with the Jewish People - Acts 19:8-9a Paul spent three months in the synagogue. 1. What do you learn about Paul s first visit to Ephesus in Acts 18:19-21? Paul Moved to a Lecture Hall to train His Kingdom Advancers! - Acts 19:9a-10 Paul taught for two years in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. - The city of Ephesus took a siesta starting at 11:00 am. Paul probably taught in the lecture hall from 11:00 4:00. - Paul was training people to bring transformation to the Province of Asia. This were people Paul was sending out into their Spheres of Influence. He was training gifted believers by providing them with the tools, commissioning them with Spiritual anointing for ministry in Christ s power, and sending them out v. 10, This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 2. Read Acts 18:24-238. Describe Apollos. Based on Romans 12:6-8 what spiritual gift did he have? 3. Read Acts 19:1-7. What questions did Paul ask the Ephesians? Why would he ask? What was the result? How many disciples were present? 4. What were the results of Paul s three months in the synagogue? What were the results of the two years among the Gentiles in Acts 19:8-10? Paul Engaged in and Trained His Kingdom Advancers in the Work of Spiritual Warfare. - First, Spiritual Warfare is beyond flesh and blood [Eph 6:12; 2 Cor 10:3-6] - 1 Cor 15:32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, 5. Ephesus was a center of magic and the seat of Ephesian goddess Diana. What evidence do you see of God s Kingdom invading the Kingdom of Darkness in Acts 19:11-20? Acts 19:23-41? What did it take to get the crowd stirred up to riot? - Second, Paul taught a strategy for engaging in Spiritual Warfare: - Ground Level Warfare. Encounters with the work of the devil focused on the individual on a personal, physical, spiritual, emotional level. Acts 19:11-18 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. - God moved extraordinary ways teaching the people to advance God s Kingdom with expectation beyond the usual Occult Level Warfare. Encountering and fighting against demonic presence that is invited in through human activity and spiritual action. Acts 19:19 - False prophets exposed and the authority of Christ revealed. - God s miraculous transformation of the occult results in the burning of a wealth of books Strategic Level Warfare. Taking on the strong holds of a region, nation, continent, denomination, government, etc. where the devil has established a strong hierarchy of control and manipulation. Acts 19:23-41 invading Diana s territory. 6. What evidences do you see in our culture of Satan s strategies? How are we then to live? 7. Alexandria, Egypt was the second largest city in the Roman Empire. A center for great education and oration. Ephesus was the third or fourth larges city after Rome. Ephesus was very hospitable to magicians, sorcerers, and charlatans of all sorts. One of the best-known objects used for magic in the ancient world was the Ephesian writings. Magic, is any process by which human beings become able to manipulate supernatural power for their own ends. - Based on this information, what does this tell us about the city of Ephesus and its environment? - 3 6

THEMES OF THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS - Practical relational living in Newness and Oneness Written while Paul was in prison in Rome [Eph 3:1; 4:1; 6:20] - In marriage. SIT: Our Identity in Christ [Ephesians 1-3] Every spiritual blessing is given to us by the transformational work of Christ as revealed by God for His glory in us. - In family. - In work relationship. - We areChosen, Called and Commissioned by God - The church in Ephesus had to understand their identity if they were to stand against the strong presence of magic. - The church was a center for training church planters they needed to be secure in their calling. - To a powerful New Life - The miracle of Christ s resurrection and newness of life was key to minister to those bound by the spiritual/physical temptations of Diana the temptress. - The identity of being seated with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus is necessary to know the authority the believers have as they stand against Diana. - To Oneness with Christ and His Body - The necessity of Unity of the Spirit is seen as this church represents Christ before the world. - The uncircumcised people of the city have not been able to approach God by the Jewish faith, but through Christ they have been reconciled. STAND: Defending our Identity [Ephesians 6:10-24] - Our Enemy Identified a picture of the devil s work behind the scenes. - Our Armor described Our identity as laid out so clearly in the first few chapters of the book is now put into a picture of armor. - Our Armor Used prayer is a key to stepping out in our identity in Christ. WALK: Living our Identity [Ephesians 4-6:9] - Attributes of New Life tools for Kingdom Advancers - Imitators of God putting off the old, putting on the new. - Light bearers bearing the fruit of the Kingdom of Light. - Attributes of Oneness reflecting the presence of the Lord in the church. - Unity of the Spirit. - Diversity of the body. 5 4