The Doctrine

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 Ephesus is a very important city during the New Testament period. 

• We find it referenced from the books of Acts to Revelation.

• Acts 19 – God wrought special miracles in Ephesus

• The Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John, as well as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John while living at Ephesus.

• We imagine the Apostle John lived the last 60 years of his life in Ephesus and ministered out from there to a circuit of Churches known as the seven Churches of Asia.

• Tradition holds that Mary the mother of Jesus lived, died, and was buried in Ephesus having moved there under the guiding protection of the Apostle John.

• Paul also lived in Ephesus for the space of 3 years and taught Gentile ministers in his Bible School. 

• So many figures from history as well as Bible characters lived and moved through Ephesus.From Alexander the Great to Cleopatra.

• Ephesus was a major hub of commerce, culture, and curiosity. It was also perhaps the most demonically influenced city in the Roman Empire. The pagan temple of Artemis was set up in 750BC.

• Nonetheless, so many important doctrines of Christ were taught and practiced in Ephesus. It was certainly one of Paul’s favorite cities.

 

Last Wednesday evening we considered ourselves ascouriers of the Gospel message. The thought was taken from Paul’s use of two men, Tychicus and Onesimus, to deliver three letters he had written from prison in Rome. They carried and delivered the letters we now have in the Bible which were addressed to the Colossians, Philemon, and to the Church at Ephesus.

 

2 Timothy 4:12  And Tychicus I sent to Ephesus.

 

Some years earlier Paul had to leave Ephesus himself and at that time he assigned Timothy to remain behind so that he could protect the Church from being misled into false based on works instead of faith in Jesus.

 

1 Timothy 1

1 ¶  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,

2  To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

3  As I urged you when I went into Macedonia — remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

4  nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.

 

Timothy was left in Ephesus by the Apostle Paul so that he might preserve the doctrine of Christ.

 

The word doctrine simply means teaching.

 

Paul understood that the world was already encroaching upon the Church and that we needed to be on guard and ever vigilant to ensure the ways of the world did not creep into the Church’s teachings and make the messages preached powerless and of no affect.

 

Galatians 1 

6 ¶  I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,

7  which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

8  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

9  As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

 

What were the doctrines Timothy was charged to protect?

 

1. Love

 

1 Timothy 1

5 ¶  Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and fromsincere faith,

6  from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk,

7  desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

 

The purpose of the commandment is love

• From a pure heart

• From a good conscience 

• From sincere faith

 

Once the world creeps into the Church we become either too worldly or too religious … Pharisees or Sadducees. Either anything goes or nothing goes. The Church becomes too judgmental and critical so that no one is good enough to be saved or else it becomes so lax everyone is already saved. Both of these are departures from the truth and teachings of Christ.

 

Revelation 2:4 reminds us that the Church in Ephesus left its first love …

 

The second doctrine that is at risk of being eroded is the doctrine of:

 

2. Salvation

a. Jesus said, “You must be born again!”

b. This is the purpose of the Church.

 

The Church can stop doing a lot of things, but it cannot stop reaching the lost with the saving power of the Gospel of Christ. Paul was concerned the Church in Ephesus would lose sight of the true calling of every local congregation. He knew that:

 

If a Church ceases to be evangelistic, it will soon become cannibalistic. 

 

Cliques and schisms will arise, and factions will solidify into divisions and saints will forget the commandments of God can only be kept when we love our neighbor as ourselves. 

 

1 Timothy 1

14  And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

15  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

 

Satan wants to divide the Church from the world and from each other. We are not of this world, and we should not become worldly. We should come out from among those in the world and be separate, as 2 Corinthians 6:17 says, however, There is a difference between being separate and being divided. We don’t have to act like we are lost in order to love those who are truly lost. How can we reach the world if we are unwilling to touch them?

 

We are told that Timothy was the first ordained Bishop of Ephesus and that he had a great task laid on his shoulders. His task was to preserve and protect the doctrines of Christ so that the Church did not lose its power and effectiveness. I believe this word still hasauthority in our lives today. 

 

We are called to love God more than we do ourselves and love others as much as we do ourselves. The very reason why Jesus came into the world is to save sinners, of whom some of us are right at the top of that list.

 

The best way we can protect the doctrines of Christ in the Church is to protect them in our own hearts and minds. God’s hope is that we, like Timothy in Ephesus, would become an example to others by loving the lost enough to share the saving power of the Gospel of Christ with them.

 

If you would like I can supply a simple list of things we can do to help make this happen. It comes from:

 

1 Timothy 4

11  These things command and teach.

12  Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

13  Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

14  Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.

15  Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.

16  Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.