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It Is Written

John Bradshaw

The Seven Churches of Revelation: Ephesus

Coming up next, please stay tuned for It Is Written, presented by Pastor John Bradshaw.

People have been living here longer than almost anywhere else on the planet.

It's played an important role throughout history.

Alexander the Great conquered a large part of what was then called Anatolia in 334 BC on his way to conquering the Medo-Persian Empire.

And after Greece moved off center stage, the Roman Empire governed this part of the world.

It borders 8 different nations, spans 2 continents, Europe and Asia, and sits between the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean.

But its importance isn't just limited to world history.

Turkey has an extraordinarily rich Christian history.

The Book of Colossians was written to believers in Turkey.

Antioch, where believers were first called Christians, was here.

It was also home to 7 of the most important churches in the history of Christianity.

The 7 churches of the Book of Revelation.

What you see, write in a book and send it to the 7 churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." The letters to the 7 churches are all brief.

The letter to Thyatira is only 12 verses, less than 300 words.

And they were placed in the last book of the Bible with good reason.

And the reason I say they are among the most important churches ever is because Jesus addressed these churches personally, prompting the Apostle John to write letters to the churches in behalf of Jesus himself.

Letters which speak to us today, as we're going to learn.

Each of the letters to the 7 churches contain several things in common.

To each of them, there's an introduction of Jesus.

For example, to the Church of Smyrna, He's the 1 who was the first and the last, who was dead and is alive.

To Sardis, Jesus is the 1 who has the 7 spirits of God and the 7 stars.

To all of the churches, Jesus says, I know your works.

To most of them there's a rebuke or a reproof, and then to all of them there's a promise.

For example, to the church at Philadelphia, Jesus says, I will make you to be a pillar in the temple of my God.

To Laodicea, he says, I will grant you to sit with me in my throne." Now the first of the 7 churches is 1 that's very well known, Ephesus.

Back in John's time, Ephesus was 1 of the largest cities in the Roman province of Asia Minor and it was a bustling center of pagan worship.

Originally located on the shores of the Aegean Sea, 2, 000 years of war, earthquakes and the harbor being clogged with silt has left the site of Old Ephesus 3 miles inland from the sea.

However, the ruins that remain clue us in on how incredible this city once was.

Here's how a poet from the 2nd century BC described the grandeur of the Ephesian temples and monuments.

And the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the Colossus of the sun, and the huge labor of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus.

But when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, Those other marvels lost their brilliancy.

And I said, Lo, apart from Olympus, the sun never looked on Ort so grand." When you're standing in the old city, it's easy to understand what the poet was talking about.

There are some absolutely remarkable ruins here.

There's the temple built by Domitian, a Roman emperor in the first century.

The third largest library in the Roman Empire, where thousands of scrolls were held.

Ruins of gymnasiums, close to 2, 000 years old.

A relief of the goddess Nike, the goddess of victory.

The Nymphaeum, an impressive building constructed to honor nature spirits, called Nymphs.

Ephesus hosted gladiator fights and wild animal fights during the 3rd and 4th centuries, long after the time of John.

Many historians say Christians were persecuted in this place.

Of course, this isn't the only time the Church of Ephesus appears in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul wrote an epistle, that's a letter to the church here about 20 years before Revelation was written.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians of conversion, of how God changes the life.

It was to the Ephesians that he explained that people are saved by grace through faith, the inference being, by grace alone through faith alone.

He wrote to the Ephesians of righteousness by faith, of being strengthened inwardly by the Holy Spirit, of Christ dwelling in the heart by faith, of knowing the love of Christ and being filled with the fullness of God.

He wrote to them about baptism and spiritual gifts and manifesting the character of Christ.

And it was to the Ephesians that he wrote about the armor of God, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which he said was the Word of God.

When Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he specifically addressed both slaves and slave owners, as Ephesus was a very significant slave trading center.

Years later when John wrote to the Church of Ephesus back in Revelation chapter 2, he had this to say, "...to the angel of the church of Ephesus, write, these things says he who holds the 7 stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the 7 golden lampstands.

Notice This letter starts with an assurance.

This comes to you from the 1 who holds the 7 stars in his right hand.

We're told in chapter 1 that those stars represent the angels or the messengers of the 7 churches.

Then this is from the 1 who walks in the midst of the 7 golden lampstands, which chapter 1 said are the 7 churches.

Jesus says he's intimately acquainted with them and with what they're going through.

He goes on, I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil.

And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them He goes on.

But there was something missing, something serious missing.

We'll find out what that was, and we'll go to the site of a riot that almost cost the Apostle Paul his life in just a moment.

>>[music in the background and on screen text only, no audio or video.] Travel back in time and visit the historic sites of Revelation's ancient churches, where Christianity grew against all odds, and learn how messages shared by Jesus 2, 000 years ago are also Messages from Heaven for today.

Call now for your free copy of The 7 Churches of Revelation, Messages for Today.

Planning for your financial future is a vital aspect of Christian stewardship.

For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free planned giving and estate Services.

For information on how we can help you, please call 800-992-2219.

Call today or visit our website, HisLegacy.com.

Paul didn't have everything his own way while he was here.

In fact, he wrote to the church at Corinth and told them that when he was in Ephesus, he fought with beasts.

That was the bitter opposition he was met with while he was here.

In Acts 19 it states that Paul disputed here daily in the school of 1 Tyrannus.

In an auditorium near the library of Celsus, inscriptions have been found mentioning the name of Tyrannus.

Now, in that same chapter, Paul meets certain believers, he baptizes them with the Holy Spirit, and they have the miraculous ability to speak in other languages.

It was in Acts 19 that people would bring handkerchiefs and so forth that had touched Paul's body and then go and place them on sick people and they would miraculously recover from their illnesses or have demons cast out of them.

It was here that the 7 sons of Siva were overcome by evil spirits.

It was also here that people burned their occult books.

But it was also here that a silversmith named Demetrius realized that Paul's preaching against idolatry was costing him and a lot of people like him a lot of money.

If people weren't worshipping idols, then they weren't buying his idols and shrines.

He said, "...this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands." He feared the Temple of Artemis, or Diana as the Ephesians called her, might be despised and her magnificence destroyed.

And he mentioned that all Asia and the world worshipped her.

In Acts chapter 19 there's a story that discusses the Temple of Artemis.

It was 1 of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.

There was a belief mentioned in the same chapter that a statue of Artemis fell to the earth from heaven.

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The Seven Churches of Revelation: Ephesus

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