Maximizing God-Given Opportunities

This is the last lesson in this quarter. This posts relies heavily on the Biblical Illustrator from Lifeway and the Sadler Susday School Lesson Commentary, both of which I commend to the reader.

Maximizing Opportunities

I. COMMUNICATE CLEARLY (Acts 19:1-5)
II. BE AVAILABLE (Acts 19:8-10)
III. DON’T LET CONTROVERSY DETER YOU (Acts 19:23-28)

BIBLICAL SETTING: Acts 19 is the story of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus that resulted in a local church and many transformed lives. As Paul began his ministry in that city, he encountered disciples of John the Baptist who did not understand fully the role of the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit related to John’s baptism or to Jesus Himself. Paul’s explanation to these disciples is an excellent model on the importance of communicating clearly to those to whom we minister.

The Churches Around Ephesus -
by the Biblical the Illustrator staff.
[Edited] The message preached in the lecture hall triumphed over the scream in the theater. “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” The mob screamed the words as they rioted against Paul in the Great Theater at Ephesus (Acts 19:28-34, RSV). Her magnificent temple at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. If it was any indication of greatness, she was, indeed, great. Paul’s meeting place, Tyrannus’ lecture hall (Acts 19:9, RSV) certainly was no match architecturally for the goddess’ lavishly decorated shrine.

Yet the splendid pagan edifice of Artemis (Diana) was destroyed about AD 262. Sometime later Ephesian Christians were worshiping in the two great church buildings they erected in and around the city. These also lie in ruin today, but they are impressive monuments to the success of Paul and a host of others in transforming a great pagan center into a powerful Christian city during the early centuries of the Christian era.
Ephesus was the primary city of Roman Asia in the New Testament era. Paul’s preaching to the Greeks, Jews, religious pilgrims, businessmen, and other residents there bore much fruit, as Acts 19 indicates.

Paul’s own statement that he would tarry in Ephesus because of “the wide door for effective work” which “God had opened reinforces this conclusion (1 Cor. 16:8-9, RSV).
Whether Paul or John the Evangelist (as another tradition has it) founded the church at Ephesus, later Christian sources show that the gospel continued to find fertile soil there. Revelation, written late in the New Testament era, pleads with the Ephesian Church to remember its former days of glory, to repent and receive a new spiritual vitality (Rev. 2:5). Outside the New Testament the letter of Ignatius of Antioch to Ephesus, written about AD 107, speaks favorable of the church’s Christian testimony. Several other second-century sources relate traditions that point to Ephesus’ continuing importance as a Christian center.

Ephesus was well-known for the magnificent temple to Artemis, and much of the city’s life circulated around it. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the structure was 165 feet by 345 feet in dimension and stood on a base 240 by 420 feet. The temple generated so much economy (a great deal of business) that it became an important trade for the whole region. Paganism and idolatry were associated with worship at the temple of this mother goddess who supposedly gave fertility to humankind.

Centuries later, on June 22, AD 431, 159 bishops, who constituted the Third Ecumenical Council, met in Ephesus and declared, among other things, the Mary was to be designated the “Mother of God.” This act gave official sanction to the growing devotion to Mary in the ancient Christian church and opened the door for further development of the doctrine of Mary. Ironically, in the city where pilgrims from all over the world had once assembled to worship Artemis, a giant step was taken toward the veneration of another female. SOURCE: Biblical Illustrator; LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention; Nashville, TN 37234.

Apollos – or Apollos (Απολλως) is mentioned several times in the New Testament. His special gifts in presenting Christian doctrine made him an important person in the congregation at Corinth after Paul's first visit there. 1 Cor. 3:6. He was with Paul at a later date in Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:12). In 1 Cor. 1:10-12 we read of four parties in the Corinthian church, of which two attached themselves to Paul and Apollos respectively, using their names, though the "division" can hardly have been due to conflicting doctrines, and there is no indication that Apollos favored or approved an overestimation of his person. Paul considered Apollos to be a valuable helper in carrying on his work in the important Corinthian congregation (1 Cor. 3:6, 4:6, 16:12).

In harmony with Paul's notices are the statements of Acts 18:24-28 that Apollos was a highly educated Alexandrian Jew, who came to Ephesus (probably in 54), was instructed more accurately in the gospel there by Aquila and Priscilla and afterwards settled in Achaia, where he showed himself useful to the Church by speaking and teaching with power and success.

It is difficult to get a correct idea of his religious standpoint; but it probably was that of the disciples of John the Baptist (Acts 19:1-7). Taken all in all, it may be said that Apollos was a zealous missionary, who, while confessing Jesus, did not have the full New Testament revelation, and stood in danger of becoming antagonistic to the apostolic message to all the world; he became, however, an adherent of the Pauline doctrine.
In the Epistle to Titus (3:13) Apollos is mentioned, with Zenas, as bearer of the letter to Crete. Martin Luther regarded Apollos as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and many scholars since have shared his view.

ARTEMIS (ahr' tih mihs): names the Greek goddess of the moon, the daughter of Zeus and Leto, whose worship was threatened by Paul’s preaching of the gospel. Artemis was the goddess who watched over nature for both humans and animals. She was the patron deity of wild animals, protecting them from ruthless treatment and at the same time regulating the rules of hunting activities for humans. She was considered the great mother image and gave fertility to humankind. In the Greek homeland she was usually portrayed by the statues as a young, attractive virgin, wearing a short tunic and having her hair pulled back on her head. In Ephesus and western Asia Minor she was portrayed as a more mature woman. Her robe is draped in such a way as to expose her bosom that is covered with multiple breasts, depicting her gift of fertility and nurture. Often standing beside her is a fawn or stag on each side representing her relation to the animal world. The official local statue was carefully housed in a temple honoring Artemis.

The most famous statue was located in the city of Ephesus, the official “temple keeper” for Artemis. Artemis was the chief deity of Ephesus, and her temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The temple ceremonies were carried out by priests who were eunuchs and priestesses who were virgins. They conducted the daily ceremonies caring for the deity and for the gifts brought by worshipers, as well as an annual festival on May 25, when numerous statues of the goddess were carried in procession to the amphitheater in Ephesus for a celebration of music, dancing, and drama. This could be the background of the outcry in Acts 19:28: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.”

The statues of the goddess, often miniature models of the temple with an image of the goddess within, were sold widely. In Acts, a silversmith named Demetrius rallied support against Paul’s preaching of the gospel for fear that it might damage his business selling statues. Diana was a Roman deity somewhat similar to the more popular Artemis. As the Italic and Greek divinities met, she was quickly identified with Artemis. SOURCE: Holman Bible Dictionary; General Editor, David S. Dockery; Editorial Team, Trent C. Butler, Christopher L. Church, Linda L. Scott, Marsha A. Ellis Smith, James Emery White; Holman Bible Publishers; Nashville, Tennessee.

THE WAY (Acts 19:9,23; that way, KJV): One of the earliest designations for the Christian movement was “the Way,” a description peculiar to the Book of Acts (Acts 9:2; 24:14,22). Its exact origin is not known, and it is not certain that the Way ever became a formal name for Christianity. Similar terms are “the way of the Lord” (18:25) and “the way of God” (18:26). Perhaps Christians in the first century remembered the words of Christ recorded in John 14:6 and thus used the Way in an absolute sense that Jesus is the Messiah, the one and only Savior. So the term the Way stuck as an identifier of the Christian message. Behind the term is the idea of the way of the Lord as “the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). The designation implies that the Christian faith is not just a set of beliefs but a way to live. It is not just the answer to our deepest questions, but the pathway to our highest fulfillment. The Christian faith is not just theology, it is life.

[The word “Way” is thought of as a natural path rather than a fixed highway. Thus, those on “the way” are blazing their own trail and not following the broad path that everybody else follows.]
SOURCE: FAMILY BIBLE STUDY, Life Ventures Leader Guide; LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention; One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN.

Maintaining a Heavenly Focus - Colossians 2:20a; 3:1-10, 12-14, 17

BIBLICAL SETTING OF COLOSSIANS
Edited by John R. Wible

Introduction and Summary – We begin a several week’s study of Paul’s Colossians. To aid the study, see below some backgrounds. I claim no authorship of this work and have sourced where possible. See: THE COLLEGE PRESS NIV COMMENTARY: PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, & PHILEMON by Anthony L. Ash, Ph.D.; New Testament Series Co-Editors: Jack Cottrell, Ph.D., Cincinnati Bible Seminar; Tony Ash, Ph.D., Abilene Christian University; COLLEGE PRESS PUBLISHING COMPANY, Joplin, Missouri. Clinton E. Arnold, “Colossae,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary, David Noel Freedman, ed., vol. 1 (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1089. James D. G. Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 21. Oian Petru Culianu and Cicerone Poghirc, “Sabazios,” The Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliade, ed, vol. 12 (New York: Macmillan), 500. Biblical Illustrator; LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention; Nashville, TN 37234; Fall 2003.

My general summary of the Book is that Paul expounds on what I believe is the heart of Jesus’ teaching which is the exhortation to “seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven,” and all this other stuff will be added unto you. Matt. 6:33; Lk. 12:31 (Revised Wible edition.) The theory being that since he who seeks will find (Lk. 11:9) if you but seek (keep on seeking) the kingdom of Heaven, you will find it and everything else in life that is important will flow from that.

Colossians is one of Paul’s four Prison Letters (along with Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon). These letters were written, [arguably,] during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome (See Col. 4:18; Acts 28:30-31). Paul did not found the church at Colossae, a small town in western Asia Minor. However, he wrote to the Christians at Colossae and urged them to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. He urged them to set their minds on the revelation of God’s Word and will. The transformation of these early Christians into the image of Christ not only changed them but also the people and the world around them.

The City - Colosse had been a thriving and important city several centuries before Christ, but by the time this letter was written its importance had diminished considerably, and it was overshadowed by its neighbors Hierapolis and Laodicea, both short distances to the west. Colosse was approximately 100 miles east of Ephesus, located in the Lycus valley in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). It was located on a major trade route moving inland from the coast.
A severe earthquake had shaken Laodicea either in 60 or 64 AD, and it is supposed Colosse, being near, would also have suffered. This may have been one cause of a decline in population.

The primary economic significance was in textiles, and a highly prized wool came from the area. The site of the city was rediscovered in 1835, but it has not been excavated. The city is mentioned in the New Testament only in Paul’s letter.

The Church - Paul would have been in the general vicinity of Colosse during his Ephesian ministry (Acts 19) but there is no reference in Acts to a visit there, though Ephesus did become a mission center (Acts 19:10). In Colossians 1:4 Paul states that he had heard of the faith of the Colossians, and in 2:1 he speaks of those who had not met him personally. These notes, and the references to Epaphras in 1:7f and 4:12f have led to the conclusion that Paul had not personally visited the city (though he anticipated doing so—Phlm 22), and that Epaphras was the evangelist who founded the church (1:7f). Epaphras may also have founded the congregations in Hierapolis and Laodicea (Col 4:13, 16). Several Christians from Colosse are named by Paul, including Nympha, Archippus (Col 4:15, 17), Philemon, Apphia (Phlm 1f), and, of course, Epaphras. Epaphras had gone to visit Paul, and is designated in Philemon 23 as Paul’s “fellow prisoner.” The text of Colossians indicates the membership was primarily Gentiles, though the “heresy” which Paul opposed contains Jewish elements.

The Occasion - Personal information is generally shared in letters like Colossians. This would be especially important because there would be concern over Paul’s condition as a prisoner. The most likely theory is that Epaphras traveled to see Paul, primarily because of concern over certain teachings that were troubling the church and seemed to seriously diminish the significance of Christ. For some reason (imprisonment—Phlm 23?) Epaphras was unable to carry Paul’s letter back to Colosse, so that task was entrusted to Tychicus, who also carried a letter to Philemon, and who was accompanied by Onesimus, a runaway slave (Col 4:7-9; Phlm 12, 17).

But the troublesome teaching is the chief burden of the letter. Paul describes this heresy in 2:8, 16-23, and in the rest of the book he attacks it, either frontally or in more subtle ways. The nature of the heresy has been a continuing puzzlement to scholars, and many theoretical explanations have been offered. It seems to have involved Jewish elements (2:16f), angelic worship (2:18), and extreme asceticism (2:20-23). But attempts at more precise definition have had to recognize ambiguities in the text, problems with seeing a coherent relation of the elements of the false teaching, the incompleteness of Paul’s description (remembering he had to rely on the reports of others), and finding any known teaching from the period that embodied all these elements.

The effect of this teaching was to lessen the significance of Christ’s saving work. If the tenets of the heresy provided the path to salvation, then Christ’s sacrifice was not as important. The heresy seems to have imported another form of works salvation, much as the circumcision party in the church attempted to do. Paul attacks the error by a powerful affirmation of Christ’s identity (1:15-20) and his role in salvation. His thesis was that an understanding of Christ and life in Him would completely refute the heresy. In addition to the magnificent texts in 1:15-20 and 2:9-15 he constantly makes references to benefits which the heretics sought after, but which only Christ truly gave. These included such things as wisdom, knowledge, and fullness (cf. 1:8). Note also the references to the mystery (1:25; 2:2). Even the ethical appeals from 3:1-4:6 powerfully emphasize the relation of the ethical life to Christ.

Paul’s Locale - Commonly accepted tradition holds that Paul wrote Colossians and Philemon from Roman imprisonment. Acts 28. He doesn’t name the city, but numerous factors support Rome. Luke (Col 4:14) and Aristarchus (Col 4:10) were with him there, and were in Rome. Acts 27:2 (the “we” implies Luke). Acts indicates Paul’s Roman imprisonment was not unduly restrictive (Acts 28:30f) and this fits the relatively unfettered activities described in Col. 4:7-15. Onesimus was with Paul (Col 4:9; cf. Phlm) and it is quite possible he had migrated to Rome to lose himself in the urban populace. If we accept this hypothesis, Colossians would be dated in the early 60s. [Other scholarly theories of the place of origin exist, but I accept the Roman prison theory.][ SOURCE: THE COLLEGE PRESS NIV COMMENTARY: PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, & PHILEMON by Anthony L. Ash, Ph.D.; New Testament Series Co-Editors: Jack Cottrell, Ph.D., Cincinnati Bible Seminar; Tony Ash, Ph.D., Abilene Christian University; COLLEGE PRESS PUBLISHING COMPANY, Joplin, Missouri

The Problem Addressed – An analysis of Paul’s language in Colossians 3:5 reveals that the problem in the Colossian church concerned much more than simply false doctrine within the church. Paul was also concerned about Christians blurring boundaries between pagan and Christian cultures. For Paul, blurring constituted idolatry.

Understanding these boundaries would be easier if excavating the site of ancient
Colossae would be easier if excavating the site remains largely untouched by modern archaeologists. Study of the surrounding region, however, has given evidence of a diverse religious life in the Colossae of Paul’s day. Evidence from the coinage of Colossae at this period indicates the worship of a number of pagan deities, including the Ephesian Artemis (see Acts 19:23-28), Demeter, Athena, and the Egyptian gods Isis and Sarapis. Scholars also acknowledge that the Lycus Valley region in which Colossae was located had a sizable Jewish population in the century prior to Paul’s writing Colossians. Evidence supports that some Jews in Asia Minor worshiped the Asian deity of Sabazios under the name Sabaoth (Hebrew, “hosts”), an obvious reference to one of Yahweh’s divine names in the Hebrew Bible (Isa. 47:4; 48:2, 51:15; Jer. 10:16).

Such evidence clearly indicates that religious syncretism (a mixing of different religious traditions) was a problem for Jews in the area around Colossae. The theological controversy reflected in the Book of Colossians also bears these syncretistic marks. The Colossian Christians faced a monumental challenge in seeking to maintain a relevant yet authentically Christian witness in the midst of a culture in the habit of freely mixing religious traditions from a variety of sources. Paul’s unequivocal confession in Colossians is the Jesus Christ alone gives an individual secure access to God. See: Clinton E. Arnold, “Colossae,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary, David Noel Freedman, ed., vol. 1 (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1089; James D. G. Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 21; Oian Petru Culianu and Cicerone Poghirc, “Sabazios,” The Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliade, ed, vol. 12 (New York: Macmillan), 500; Biblical Illustrator; LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention; Nashville, TN 37234; Fall 2003.