High-Stepping in Heavenly Places

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?Lesson One

We are rich. In Christ, we are rich! The book of Ephesians revels to us as believers the richstorehouse of treasures that are ours in Christ Jesus.

I. The Author of the Book of Ephesians-Ephesians 1:1

We are first introduced to Saul (Act. 7:54-8:1) at the stoning of Stephen, whose crime was preaching the gospel of Christ. The Bible says Saul was in

hearty agreement

with themconcerning Stephen’s death, and he

began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison

. (Acts 8:3). However, Saul had anencounter with the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 9) on the Damascus Road and nothing was ever thesame, including his name. Shortly after his conversion, he became known as Paul.Some scholars maintain that Paul always had both names. Saul is a Hebrew name and Paul aGreek name. Double names were a custom among Jews living in a Greek culture. Others believeSaul was given the name Paul after his conversion experience.The church at Ephesus was probably founded near the end of Paul’s second missionary journey.The church was greatly expanded during his three-year stay in Ephesus, while Paul was on histhird missionary journey. Paul wrote Ephesians in A.D. 62 during his first Roman imprisonment(A.D. 61-63).In Paul’s day, Ephesus was the largest and wealthiest city of Asia Minor. Centrally located on theeastern coast of Asia Minor, Ephesus was positioned midway between two continents. Heresensual oriental religion blended with the lofty and progressive Greek culture. Throngs of governmental officials, Roman soldiers, and Jewish businessmen mingled with Eastern pilgrimsflocking to worship at the notorious temple of Diana. Considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the temple of Diana (sometimes called Artemis) lured idol worshippers fromevery part of the Roman Empire to Ephesus. The decadent worship of Diana made Ephesus a breeding ground for cults, superstitions, and magic. However, during Paul’s ministry in Ephesusthe word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing (Acts 19:20). The spread of the gospel became so great even the false worship of Diana was threatened, sending many artisans who profited from the temple’s worshipper into a panic (Act. 19:24-27). Demetrius, a silversmith,gathered the workers of similar trades and said,

"Men, you know that our prosperity dependsupon this business. You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with