Biblical Church History

Following the Hand of God and the Hand of Satan

THE CHURCH PERIODS

Church Reference Approx. date

Meaning

Ephesus Rev. 2:1-7 90 – 200 AD Fully purposedSmyrna Rev. 2: 8-11 200-325 AD Bitterness and

death Pergamos Rev. 2: 12-17 325-500 AD Much marriageThyatria Rev. 2: 18-29 500- 1000

ADOder of affliction

Sardis Rev. 3:1-6 1000- 1500 AD

Red ones

Philadelphia

Rev. 3: 7-13 1500- 1900 AD

Brotherly love

Laodicea Rev. 3:14-22 1900- Rapture

Civil rights

THE 7 PERIODS OF CHURCH HISTORY

Revelation 2:1-7c. 90-200 A.D.E

phesus “fully

purposed”

Ephesus

I. The CommissionRev. 2: 1a

Ephesus

C. Why was this church so fully purposed?

They had been directly or indirectly influenced by the teaching of the Apostle

They had been directly or indirectly influenced by the example of the Apostle

They had been directly or indirectly influenced by the suffering of the Apostle

Ephesus

II. The CharacterRev. 2: 1b

(Rev 3:20) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any

man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him,

and will sup with him, and he with me.

Ephesus

III. The Commendation

Rev. 2: 2-3

A. It was a

performing

Church

Ephesus

“fully purposed”

(Rev 2:2-3) I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou

canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne,

and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured,

and hast not fainted.

(1Co 15:58) Therefore, my beloved

brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,

forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not

in vain in the Lord.

There are 2 things that

make up the work of the

Lord

1. Evangelism 2. Exhortation

B. It was a

persevering

Church

Ephesus

“fully purposed”

(Rev 2:2-3) I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy

patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil:

and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne,

and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured,

and hast not fainted.

Ephesus

1. What is the difference between “work” and “labour”

The word translated “labour” (gk. kopos) is seen 19 times in the N. T. 5 times it is translated “trouble” it carries the idea of pain.

The word is implied here in reference to the trouble and persecution that this church period would have suffered

(2Co 11:23-27) Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes

above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times

received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a

day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own

countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the

wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger

and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Ephesus

NERO PERSECUTION The cruelties he exercised against his own friends; how he had his beloved son Britannicus -poisoned, and his own mother Agrippina cut open, to see the place where he had lain; how he had his faithful wife, Octavia, put to death with the sword, because she was barren; and Seneca, his faithful teacher, bled to death, and poisoned

Ephesus

NERO PERSECUTION Once, desiring to see the burning of Troy represented by its equal, he caused the city of Rome to be set on fire, and ascended a certain tower without, where he, beholding it, began to sing,"Troy is on fire,"After this was done he cast the blame on the Christians, saying that they had done it; for, when the Romans, very much agitated on account of the immeasurable damage, began to murmur greatly, he, in order to shield himself, and to wreak his prejudiced hatred upon the Christians, put the whole blame on them

Ephesus

NERO PERSECUTION He sent forth a bloody decrees against the Christians, that they should everywhere be put to death. The contents of these decrees were as follows, "If any one confesses that he is a Christian, he shall be put to death, without further trial, as a convicted enemy of mankind."

The innocent Christians were accused not only of the burning of Rome, but also of every wickedness imaginable; that they might be tortured and put to death in the most awful manner

Ephesus

NERO PERSECUTION The taking of their lives was accompanied with much mockery; they were covered with the skins of wild beasts, and then torn to pieces by dogs; or nailed on crosses; or placed at stakes and burned; serving also as torches for the spectators, when the day was over.“Of those who were burned, some were tied or nailed to stakes, and held still by a hook driven through the throat, so that they could not move the head when the pitch, wax, tallow, and other inflammable substances were poured boiling over their heads, and set on fire,

Ephesus

DOMITIAN PERSECUTION During this time Christians were accused of holding disorderly nightly meetings, being rebellious, murders of their children, and even being accused of being cannibals

A variety of fabricated tales were, during this reign, composed in order to injure the Christians. Such was the infatuation of the pagans, that, if famine, pestilence, or earthquakes afflicted any of the Roman provinces, it was laid upon the Christians.

Ephesus

DOMITIAN PERSECUTION Another hardship was, that, when any Christians were brought before the magistrates, a test oath was proposed, when, if they refused to take it, death was pronounced against them; and if they confessed themselves Christians, the sentence was the same. They suffered

Being hung Scourged Taken to the High place and

thrown off Put on the rack

Ephesus

DOMITIAN PERSECUTION The fire under the rack Iron Chair Millstones around the neck Tied to wild horses Their bodies thrown to wild dogs after death

Ephesus

DOMITIAN PERSECUTION • About this time, the instruments of the devil could not invent punishments severe enough, but what they considered the Christians worthy of. For they were watched in their houses as well as without; men cried out against them in all public places; they were scourged, stoned, and dragged out; their goods were plundered; they were apprehended; red hot iron plates were applied to their bare bodies; they were placed in a certain instrument made to torture malefactors; they were put into the deepest and darkest places of the prisons, where they were slain, yea, they were afflicted with excruciating torments.” P.J. Twisck

Ephesus

2. Why is there so much persecution

Because Satan HATES the Lord Jesus Christ All through history every time someone is righteous and obeys the Word of God, (John 1:1) Satan is reminded of Christ The origin of persecution….

(Heb 11:4) By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts:

and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

(1Jn 3:12) Not as Cain, who was of that wicked

one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because

his own works were evil, and his brother's

righteous.

Ephesus

2. Why is there so much persecution

The biblical pattern…

(Psa 37:32) The wicked watcheth the righteous, and

seeketh to slay him.(Psa 11:2) For, lo, the wicked

bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that

they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.(Pro 29:10) The

bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek

his soul.

Ephesus

2. Why is there so much persecution

The biblical pattern… The attach on the person Christ…

(Mat 27:27-31) Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the

common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet

robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his

head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and

took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and

led him away to crucify him.

Ephesus

2. Why is there so much persecution

The biblical pattern… The attack on the person Christ… The attack on the body of Christ…

(Col 1:24) Who now rejoice in my

sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of

Christ in my flesh for his body's

sake, which is the church:

(Joh 15:18) If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me

before it hated you.(Joh 7:7) The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I

testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

(Joh 17:14) I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am

not of the world.

(2Ti 3:12) Yea, and all that will

live godly in Christ Jesus shall

suffer persecution.