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SERIES:  EPHESIANS:  THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 1

TITLE:  INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND AND SALVATION

 TEXT:  EPHESIANS 1:1&2

INTRODUCTION: (1) SHE HAS GONE DOWN IN HISTORY AS “AMERICA’S GREATEST MISER”.

* YET WHEN SHE DIED IN 1916 “HETTY” GREEN (NO RELATION TO R.C. GREEN) LEFT AN ESTATE VALUED AT OVER 100 MILLION DOLLARS.

** AND A 100 MILLION DOLLARS IS A LOT OF MONEY TODAY, BUT THINK OF WHAT IT WAS WORTH 87 YEARS AGO!

*** HETTY GREEN WAS FILTHY RICH, BUT WAS A MISER AND LIVED LIKE A PAUPER.

**** FOR EXAMPLE, SHE ATE COLD OATMEAL IN ORDER TO SAVE THE EXPENSE OF HEATING THE WATER.

(2)  WHEN HER SON HAD A SEVERE LEG INJURY, SHE TOOK SO LONG TRYING TO FIND A FREE CLINIC TO TREAT HIM THAT HIS LEG HAD TO BE AMPUTATED BECAUSE OF ADVANCED INFECTION.

* SHE WAS SO CHEAP THAT IT WAS SAID THAT SHE HASTENED HER OWN DEATH BY BRINGING ON A STROKE OR A BRAIN HEMORRHAGE WHILE ARGUING OVER THE MERITS OF SKIM MILK BECAUSE IT WAS CHEAPER THAN WHOLE MILK.

** SHE DIED A FILTHY RICH PERSON BUT LIVED LIKE SOMEONE IN POVERTY, LIKE A PAUPER.

*** YET HETTY GREEN IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF MANY CHRISTIANS IN HOW THEY LIVE.

**** THEY HAVE LIMITLESS WEALTH AT THEIR DISPOSAL AND YET LIVE LIKE PAUPERS.

(3)  THEY ARE RICH IN SPIRITUAL RESOURCES YET LIVE LIKE THEY ARE IN POVERTY, LIKE THEY ARE BROKE.

* WELL, THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS IS WRITTEN TO CHRISTIANS WHO MIGHT BE PRONE TO TREAT THEIR SPIRITUAL RESOURCES LIKE HETTY GREEN.

** EPHESIANS IS ADDRESSED TO A GROUP OF BELIEVERS WHO ARE RICH BEYOND MEASURE IN JESUS CHRIST, YET LIVING LIKE BEGGARS.

***SINCE THEY HAVE YET TO ACCEPT THEIR WEALTH, THEY RELEGATE THEMSELVES TO LIVING AS SPIRITUAL PAUPERS.

**** WE HAVE GREAT RICHES, GREAT BLESSINGS AND GREAT RESOURCES, YET WE DON’T LIVE LIKE IT.

(4)  SO PAUL IN EPHESIANS 1-3 BEGINS BY DESCRIBING THE CONTENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN’S HEAVENLY BANK ACCOUNT WHICH CONSISTS OF ADOPTION, ELECTION, REDEMPTION, FORGIVENESS, INHERITANCE, THE SEAL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, POWER, LIFE, GRACE, CITIZENSHIP AND THE LOVE OF CHRIST.  IN SHORT EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING.

* AND BELOVED, DRAWING ON THAT HUGE SPIRITUAL BANK ACCOUNT, THE BELIEVER HAS ALL THE RESOURCES NEEDED FOR LIVING “TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE” RECORDED IN CHAPTER 1 VERSE 6.

** THEN CHAPTERS 4-6 RESEMBLE AN ORTHOPEDIC CLINIC, WHERE THE CHRISTIAN LEARNS HOW TO WALK IN A WORTHY WAY ROOTED IN HIS SPIRITUAL WEALTH, FOR EPHESIANS 2:10 SAYS:  (READ IT).

*** AND HOW ARE WE ABLE TO WALK IN EPHESIANS BECAUSE OF OUR “RICHES IN HIS GRACE” (1:7); “THE UNFATHOMABLE RICHES OF CHRIST” (3:8); AND “THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY” (3:16), THE WORD RICHES IS USED FIVE TIMES IN EPHESIANS.

**** HOW ARE WE ABLE TO WALK OR LIVE IN EPHESIANS BECAUSE OF ALL THESE RICHES?

(5)  WELL, WE ARE ABLE “TO WALK IN A MANNER WORTHY OF OUR CALLING” IN EPH. 4:1.

* IN EPHESIANS 4:17, WE ARE ABLE TO “WALK NO LONGER AS THE GENTILES” OR PAGANS WALK OR LIVE.

** IN EPHESIANS 5:2, WE ARE ABLE TO “WALK IN LOVE”.

*** IN EPHESIANS 5:8 WE ARE ABLE TO “WALK AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT”.

**** AND IN EPHESIANS 5:15, WE ARE ABLE “TO WALK, NOT AS UNWISE, BUT AS WISE” PEOPLE.

**** AND BELOVED, WE ARE SO RICH WE CAN WALK LIKE OUR KING WHO IS ROYALTY.

(6)  FOR YOU SEE OUR RICHES ARE BASED ON CHRIST’S GRACE (1:2, 6-7; 2:7); HIS PEACE (1:2); HIS WILL (1:5); HIS KIND INTENTION (1:9); HIS PURPOSE (1:9, 11); HIS GLORY (1:12, 14); HIS CALLING (1:18); HIS INHERITANCE (1:18); HIS POWER (1:19); HIS LOVE (2:4); HIS WORKMANSHIP (2:10); HIS SPIRIT (3:16); HIS GIFTS (4:11); HIS SACRIFICE (5:2); HIS STRENGTH (6:10); AND HIS ARMOUR (6:11, 13).

* AND BELOVED, IT ALL CENTERS AROUND OUR GREAT GOD AND HIS POWER, HIS WILL AND HIS RICHES.

** THIS BOOK IS THEOCENTRIC MEANING GOD IS AT THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK AND HIS SOVEREIGNTY IS EXALTED AND HE PROVIDES THE POWER TO WALK THE WORTHY WALK.

*** OUR GOD IS THE PRIME ACTOR THROUGHOUT THE LETTER.  FROM THE BEGINNING THE LETTER SHOWS THAT THE REDEEMED, THE TRUE CHRISTIAN WAS CHOSEN BY GOD BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

**** AND THAT HE HAS BEEN AND IS AT WORK TO MAKE THE REALITY OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM HAPPEN.

(7)  IN CHRIST AND BY THE SPIRIT, GOD BRING US TO HIMSELF AND GIVES US WHAT WE NEED TO GLORIFY HIM.

* A TRUE CHRISTIAN HAS NO REASON NOT TO BE COMPLETELY HEALTHY SPIRITUALLY, FOR OUR LORD’S HEAVENLY RESOURCES ARE MORE THAN ADEQUATE TO COVER ALL OUR PAST DEBTS, ALL OUR PRESENT LIABILITIES, AND ALL OUR FUTURE NEEDS AND STILL NOT REDUCE THE HEAVENLY ASSETS.

** BECAUSE OF THAT, EPHESIANS HAS BEEN GIVEN SUCH TITLES AS THE BELIEVER’S BANK, THE CHRISTIAN’S CHECKBOOK, AND THE TREASURY HOUSE OF THE BIBLE.

*** THIS WONDERFUL LETTER TELLS US THAT ALL BELIEVERS OF OUR GREAT RICHES, INHERITANCES AND FULL BLESSING IN JESUS CHRIST AND IN HIS CHURCH.

**** AND EPHESIANS FOCUSES ON THE BASIC DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH – WHAT IT IS AND HOW BELIEVERS FUNCTION WITHIN IT.

(8)  JAMES BOICE CALLED THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS “A MINI-COURSE IN THEOLOGY, CENTERED ON THE CHURCH.”

* KLYNE SNODGRASS WHO WROTE A COMMENTARY ON EPHESIANS SAID, “POUND FOR POUND, EPHESIANS MAY WELL BE THE MOST INFLUENTIAL DOCUMENT EVER WRITTEN.”

** CHARLES SPURGEON SAID, “THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS IS A COMPLETE BODY OF DIVINITY, TREATING OF DOCTRINAL, EXPERIMENTAL AND PRACTICAL GODLINESS IN A MOST FULL AND INSTRUCTIVE MANNER.”

*** B.B. WARFIELD SAID OF THIS LETTER, “THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS IS THE POEM AMONG THE EPISTLES.”

**** AND THEN J. GRESHAM MACHER SAID, “IT IS USELESS TO TRY TO ATTAIN THE LOFTY IDEAL OF CONDUCT IN EPHESIANS 4 TO 6, WITHOUT ATTENDING TO THE HEAVENLY VISION IN EPHESIANS 1 TO 3; JUST AS ON THE OTHER HAND THE VISION ITSELF GROWS FAINT AND DISAPPEARS UNLESS IT IS MADE EFFECTIVE IN HOLY LIVING FROM DAY TO DAY.”

(9) NOW WITH THAT QUOTE IN MIND ABOUT EPHESIANS I MOVE ON TO WHAT I’VE TITLED OUR STUDY, THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH.

* IN THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS OF EPHESIANS PAUL DEALS WITH DOCTRINE (THE CALLING OF THE CHURCH).

** AND IN THE LAST 3 CHAPTERS PAUL DEALS WITH APPLICATION (THE CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH).

*** CHAPTERS 1-3 DEAL WITH DOCTRINE: OUR RICHES IN CHRIST, AND CHAPTERS 4-6 DEAL WITH DUTY: OUR RESPONSIBILITIES IN CHRIST.

**** CHAPTERS 1-3 DEAL WITH OUR WEALTH IN CHRIST, CHAPTERS 4-6 OUR WALK IN CHRIST.

(10)  THE FIRST 3 CHAPTERS ARE THEOLOGICAL AND THE LAST CHAPTERS ARE PRACTICAL.  WE LIVE OUT WHAT WE ARE AND TAP INTO OUR RICHES IN CHRIST AND WALK THE WORTHY WALK.

* WE MOVE FROM OUR POSITION IN CHRIST TO OUR PRACTICE IN CHRIST.  WE MOVE FROM THE PRIVILEGES OF THE CHRISTIAN TO THE PRACTICE OF A CHRISTIAN.

** FOR THE FIRST HALF OF EPHESIANS, CHAPTERS 1-3, LISTS THE BELIEVERS POSSESSIONS AND THERE ARE NO IMPERATIVES, NO COMMANDS IN CHAPTERS 1-3.

*** BUT CHAPTERS 4-6 INCLUDE 35 DIRECTIVES IN THE LAST HALF OF EPHESIANS THAT SPEAK OF THE BELIEVER’S RESPONSIBILITY TO CONDUCT HIMSELF ACCORDING TO HIS INDIVIDUAL CALLING.

**** SO EPHESIANS BEGINS IN HEAVEN, BUT CONCLUDES IN THE HOME AND IN ALL OTHER RELATIONSHIPS OF DAILY LIFE.

(11) WHICH REMINDS US AS WE CONSIDER THE TWO-FOLD DIVISION OF EPHESIANS THAT ALL BIBLE KNOWLEDGE MAY BE DIVIDED INTO TWO CATEGORIES:

* PURE OR THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE AND APPLIED OR PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE.

** WELL PAUL IN MANY OF HIS LETTERS BEGINS WITH PURE OR DOCTRINAL KNOWLEDGE AND ENDS WITH APPLIED OR PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE.

*** AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HE DOES IN EPHESIANS WHICH REMINDS US OF JAMES 1:22-25 (READ THEM).

**** AND KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT APPLICATION LEADS TO PRIDE.  WE WANT TO MOVE FROM GOOD DOCTRINE TO SOUND DOCTRINE.  WE WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE CLEAR DOCTRINES OF EPHESIANS, THE FOUNDATION, BUT WE MUST APPLY THOSE DOCTRINES AND LIVE THEM OUT!  I PRAY THAT OUR STUDY WILL LEAD TO REVIVAL AND REFORMATION.

- BELOVED, EPHESIANS - CAREFULLY, REVERENTLY, PRAYERFULLY CONSIDERED WILL CHANGE OUR LIVES.  IT IS NOT SO MUCH A QUESTION OF WHAT WE WILL DO WITH THE EPISTLE, BUT WHAT IT WILL DO WITH US.

(12)  NOW BEFORE WE ACTUALLY GET INTO VERSES 1&2 TODAY, JUST A LITTLE MORE BACKGROUND.

* EPHESIANS IS WHAT WE CALL ONE OF THE 4 PRISON EPISTLES, THE OTHER PRISON EPISTLES BEING PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS AND PHILEMON.

** AND THE WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE FAVORS THAT THESE EPISTLES WERE WRITTEN FROM ROME DURING PAUL’S FIRST ROMAN IMPRISONMENT IN A.D. 60-62.

*** SO THE DATE OF THIS EPISTLE IS ANYWHERE FROM A.D. 60-62.

**** NOW PAUL SPENT 3 YEARS AT EPHESUS ON HIS THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY ACCORDING TO ACTS 18:23 THROUGH 19:41, AND IN THOSE VERSES WE RECEIVE INFORMATION ABOUT HIS MINISTRY THERE.

(13)  NOW WITH ALL OF THAT BACKGROUND INFORMATION AS A FOUNDATION FOR OUR STUDY, WE COME TO THE SALUTATION OF EPHESIANS FOUND IN EPHESIANS 1:1&2.

** AND FOR THE REST OF OUR TIME TODAY, WE’LL LOOK AT VV. 1&2 WITH 3 POINTS TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THEM, WHICH WILL GIVE US MORE BACKGROUND TO THIS GREAT BOOK.

*** NO. 1 THE AUTHOR, V. 1A; NO. 2 THE ASSEMBLY, V. 1B THAT PAUL WIRTES TO; AND NO. 3 THE ADDRESS, V. 2.

**** AND WITH THAT IN MIND LOOK AT V. 1A WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT, THE AUTHOR.  LOOK AT V. 1, THE FIRST HALF OF IT.

I.  THE AUTHOR, (READ V. 1A)

A.  NOW PAUL IMMEDIATELY IDENTIFIES HIMSELF AS THE HUMAN AUTHOR OF THIS LETTER, AND OF COURSE THE DIVINE AUTHOR IS THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO INSPIRED, BREATHED OUT WHAT PAUL WAS TO WRITE DOWN.

* NOW ALL THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE AND EXTERNAL EVIDENCE SUPPORT THE PAULINE AUTHORSHIP OF EPHESIANS WHICH HISTORICALLY UNTIL RECENTLY HAS NEVER BEEN QUESTIONED.

** BUT EVEN INTERNALLY, PAUL IDENTIFIES HIMSELF BY NAME AGAIN IN EPHESIANS 3:1 WHERE IT SAYS:  “FOR THIS REASON I PAUL, THE PRISONER OF CHRIST JESUS FOR THE SAKE OF YOU GENTILES.”

*** SO AGAIN PAUL IS THE HUMAN AUTHOR OF THIS LETTER.

**** NOW MOVING ON, PAUL IDENTIFIES HIMSELF AS AN APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS.

1.  AND HERE I BELIEVE PAUL USES THE WORD APOSTLE IN IT’S OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS A GOD ORDAINED OFFICE IN THE CHURCH, A CAPITAL “A” APOSTLE.

* AN OFFICIAL TITLE FOR PAUL AND THE 12 DISCIPLES INCLUDING MATTHIAS WHO WERE EYEWITNESSES OF THE RESURRECTED JESUS AND WERE CHOSEN BY GOD TO LAY A FOUNDATION FOR THE CHURCH, EPHESIANS 2:20, EPHESIANS 4:11.

** SO PAUL IS AN OFFICIAL APOSTLE, A GIFTED MAN GIVEN TO THE CHURCH THAT WAS USED IN A FOUNDATIONAL WAY TO ESTABLISH AND EQUIP THE CHURCH.

*** NOW THE WORD APOSTLE LIT. MEANS A DELEGATE, A MESSENGER, A SENT ONE, SENT FORTH WITH ORDERS.

**** AND PAUL WAS A SPECIAL MESSENGER, A SPECIAL SENT ONE AS THE APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES.

2.  BUT NOTICE, PAUL DID NOT BECOME AN APOSTLE BY HIS CHOICE, HIS PLAN OR EVEN HIS DESIRE BUT BY WHAT AS WE GO BACK TO V. 1?

* BY THE WILL OF GOD.

** BELOVED, HIS MINISTRY AS A SPECIAL MESSENGER OF CHRIST WAS NOT THE PRODUCT OF HIS OWN CHOOSING, BUT WAS GOD’S DOING FROM BEGINNING TO END.

***AND WE HAVE FROM THE OUTSET OF THIS LETTER A PHRASE INDICATING DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY, WHICH WILL BE CLEARLY EVIDENT IN CHAPTERS 1-3.

**** AND PAUL IS DECLARING THAT HE IS AN APOSTLE, NOT BY SELF APPOINTMENT, BUT THROUGH THE AUTHORITATIVE DECREE, THE SOVEREIGN WILL OF ALMIGHTY GOD.

3.  JAMES BOICE SAYS AT THIS POINT IN HIS COMMENTARY ON EPHESIANS THAT “IN VIEW OF THE EMPHASIS UPON GOD’S SOVEREIGN, ELECTING GRACE WHICH FOLLOWS IN VERSES 3-23, I AM INCLINED TO THINK THAT IN THIS LETTER PAUL’S EMPHASIS DOES NOT LIE SO MUCH ON THE FACT THAT HE WAS AN APOSTLE, AS WONDERFUL AS THAT WAS, BUT ON HOW HE BECAME ONE.”

* “IT WAS NOT BY HIS OWN WILL BUT “BY THE WILL OF GOD.”  INDEED, IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR GOD’S SOVEREIGN AND EFFICACIOUS WILL, PAUL WOULD NOT ONLY HAVE BEEN AN APOSTLE, HE WOULD NOT EVEN HAVE BEEN A CHRISTIAN.”

** “LEFT TO HIMSELF APART FROM THE GRACE OF GOD, HE FOUGHT AGAINST GOD AND ATTEMPTED TO DESTROY HIS CHURCH.”

*** “THIS IS TRUE OF ALL OF US.  THE GOSPEL IS A WONDERFUL THING.  IT IS THE WORD OF LIFE IN CHRIST.  BUT HOWEVER WONDERFUL THE GOSPEL MAY BE, WE WOULD NEVER HAVE RESPONDED TO IT OR HAVE BECOME A PART OF THAT MARVELOUS NEW CREATION THE CHURCH, ABOUT WHICH PAUL IS SOON TO SPEAK, IF GOD HAD NOT FIRST CALLED US FROM SIN TO CHRIST, AS IN THE DAYS OF HIS FLESH JESUS CALLED THE DECAYING LAZARUS FROM THE TOMB.”

**** “IF WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE BASICS OF THE GOSPEL, AS EPHESIANS DOES, WE MUST START AT THIS POINT AND FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF OUR EXPOSITION BE SURE THAT WE RELATED EVERYTHING TO GOD.”

(4)  “GOD CALLED PAUL.  GOD CALLED THE CHRISTIANS AT EPHESUS.  GOD CALLS US, IF WE ARE TRULY CHRISTIANS.”

* NOW IN APPLICATION TO WHAT BOICE SAID, I WANT TO QUOTE D. MARTIN LLOYD JONES WHO SAYS: 

** “MUCH OF THE TROUBLE IN THE CHURCH TODAY IS DUE TO THE FACT THAT WE ARE SO SUBJECTIVE, SO INTERESTED IN OURSELVES, SO EGOCENTRIC…HAVING FORGOTTEN GOD, AND HAVING BECOME SO INTERESTED IN OURSELVES, WE BECOME MISERABLE AND WRETCHED, AND SPEND OUR TIME IN SHALLOWS AND IN MISERIES.”

*** “THE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE FROM BEGINNING TO END IS DESIGNED TO BRING US BACK TO GOD, TO HUMBLE US BEFORE GOD, AND TO ENABLE US TO SEE OUR TRUE RELATIONSHIP TO HIM.”  HE ADDS, “AND THAT IS THE GREAT THEME OF THIS EPISTLE."

**** NOW WHAT LLOYD JONES SAID IS SO TRUE, SO MUCH OF THE FOCUS ON DOCTRINE TODAY IS ARMINIAN OR MAN CENTERED, MAN FOCUSED AROUND THE WILL AND RIGHTS OF MANKIND.

5.  YET EPHESIANS BRINGS US BACK TO A THEOCENTRIC POINT OF VIEW CENTERED AROUND GOD AND HIS WILL, HIS GRACE, HIS MERCY, HIS LOVE, ETC.

* AND PAUL IN THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK TAKES US TO THIS THEME TO BEGIN WITH, HE WAS AN APOSTLE BY THE WILL OF GOD.

** WHICH LEADS US FROM THE AUTHOR TO THE ASSEMBLY, OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, LOOK BACK AT V. 1.

II.  THE ASSEMBLY, (READ V. 1)

A.  NOW WHO DOES PAUL WRITE THIS BOOK TO?

* WELL, TO THE SAINTS WHO ARE AT EPHESUS, THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS AS WE’LL SEE THE THEME OF THE CHURCH UNFOLD IN EPHESIANS.

** NOW THERE IS SOME DEBATE WHETHER THIS EPISTLE WAS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS OR THAT IT WAS TO BE USED AS A LETTER CIRCULATED AMONG CHURCHES IN ASIA MINOR.

*** AND THE REASON FOR THIS DEBATE IS THE WORDS “AT EPHESUS” ARE NOT IN ABOUT 3 OF THE OLDER MANUSCRIPTS AND THAT THE LETTER IS NOT VERY PERSONAL, THAT THERE ARE NO GREETINGS TO SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS TO BEGIN WITH.

**** AND I’LL JUST SAY THIS AND NOT TAKE THE TIME.  TO GET CAUGHT UP IN THE DEBATE ABOUT THIS, THAT IF EPHESIANS BEGAN AS A CIRCULATED LETTER, IT EVENTUALLY BECAME ASSOCIATED WITH EPHESUS, THE FOREMOST OF THE ASIAN CHURCHES.

1.  AND REMEMBER IN THE N.T, THERE IS A LOT OF EMPHASIS ON THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS WITH ALL OF ACTS 19, IN ACTS 20:17-38 PAUL ADDRESSES THE ELDERS AT THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS.

* PAUL DISPATCHED TIMOTHY TO EPHESUS AND ALL OF I AND II TIMOTHY HAVE TO DO WITH THINGS INVOLVING TIMOTHY AT THAT CHURCH.

** AND THEN OUR LORD THROUGH JOHN THE APOSTLE DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS FIRST IN REVELATION 2:1-7.

*** AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT PAUL SPENT 3 YEARS OF HIS LIFE THERE.  SO IT WAS A VERY IMPORTANT CHURCH.

**** SO MOST LIKELY, THIS LETTER WAS DIRECTLY ADDRESSED TO THE EPHESIANS, BUT WRITTEN IN SUCH A WAY AS TO MAKE IT HELPFUL FOR ALL THE CHURCHES IN ASIA MINOR.

2.  BUT NEXT NOTICE AS WE GO BACK TO V. 1 THAT THE LETTER IS ADDRESSED TO THE SAINTS AT EPHESUS.

* NOW THE WORD SAINTS LIT. MEANS THE HOLY ONES, THOSE SET APART AND CONSECRATED.

** THIS WORD IS RELATED TO THE WORD SANCTIFY WHICH MEANS SET APART.

*** SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SAINTS, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SET APART ONES, HOLY ONES IN CHRIST.  IT IS TALKING ABOUT THE POSITION OF BELIEVERS SPIRITUALLY.

**** NOW OUR PRACTICE IS NOT ALWAYS HOLY IS IT?  AND SO THE GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN COMES FROM MATCHING UP OUR PRACTICE WITH OUR POSITION.

***** LIVING OUT WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST.  THIS IS THE PROCESS OF SANCTIFICATION OR SPIRITUAL GROWTH AS WE GROW IN THE WORD, PRAYER, TRIALS, AND THROUGH THE ACCOUNTABILITY AND AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH.

3.  SO ALL CHRISTIANS ARE SAINTS, AND ALL TRUE SAINTS ARE CHRISTIANS, NOT SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN CANONIZED BY AN ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCIL.

* NOW THE WORD SAINTS OCCURS 9 TIMES IN EPHESIANS TO TALK ABOUT ALL BELIEVERS.  IT DESIGNATES CHRISTIANS AS THOSE WHO ARE SET APART TO GOD IN A SAVING RELATIONSHIP TO HIM THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.

** AND AS SUCH THEY PARTAKE OF HIS NATURE AND SO ARE IN A VERY REAL SENSE, “HOLY ONES”.

*** NOW AS WE MOVE ON IN V. 1 THE ASSEMBLY IDENTIFIED IS THE SAINTS AT EPHESUS, AND WHO ARE FAITHFUL.

**** NOW UNDERSTAND THAT THE WORD FAITHFUL IN THIS CONTEXT IS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE SAINTS AT EPHESUS BEING FAITHFUL IN THE SENSE OF BEING TRUE TO THE LORD JESUS IN THEIR LIVES.

4.  THE WORD HERE IS USED TO TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE SAINTS WERE THOSE WHO HAD PUT THEIR TRUST AND FAITH IN CHRIST.

* PAUL IS IDENTIFYING THESE SAINTS AS BELIEVING ONES IN CHRIST JESUS.

** AGAIN THE GREEK WORD PIS-TOS, WHICH LIT. MEANS BELIEVE, TO HAVE FAITH, IS TALKING ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE EXERCISED FAITH IN CHRIST, SOMEONE WHO HAS FAITH IN CHRIST.

*** SO WHO ARE THE SAINTS?  THOSE WHO HAVE EXERCISED FAITH IN CHRIST, AND NOW NOTICE AT THE END OF V. 1 BELIEVERS ARE IN CHRIST JESUS.

**** AND THIS PHRASE “IN CHRIST” OR “IN HIM” AND IT’S EQUIVALENTS ARE USED BY PAUL ABOUT 164 TIMES IN HIS WRITINGS AND ABOUT 35 TIMES IN EPHESIANS.

5.  AND IT TALKS ABOUT OUR POSITION IN CHRIST.  WE ARE IN CHRIST POSITIONALLY AS BELIEVERS, WE ARE SET APART ONES, HOLY ONES, SAINTS, WE ARE IDENTIFIED WITH CHRIST, THEREFORE WE ARE ABLE TO DRAW ON THE WEALTH OF CHRIST FOR OUR DAILY LIVING.

* BUT I MUST MOVE ON QUICKLY TO OUR LAST POINT TODAY, THE ADDRESS OF PAUL FROM GOD OUR FATHER AND OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.  LOOK AT V. 2 PLEASE.

III.  THE ADDRESS, (READ V. 2)

A.  NOW GRACE AND PEACE WAS A COMMON GREETING AMONG CHRISTIANS IN THE EARLY CHURCH.

* AND GRACE HERE IS LIT. GOD’S GREAT UNMERITED FAVOR, HIS GREAT KINDNESS TOWARD THOSE WHO ARE UNDESERVING OF HIS FAVOR.

** AND THIS WORD IS USED 12 TIMES IN EPHESIANS, AND IN THIS USE, IT REFERS AS WILLIAM HENDRIKSEN SAYS: “TO GOD’S SPONTANEOUS, UNMERITED FAVOR IN ACTION, HIS FREELY BESTOWED LOVING KINDNESS IN OPERATION, BESTOWING SALVATION UPON GUILT-LADEN SINNERS.”

*** GRACE IS THE FOUNTAIN OF SALVATION OF WHICH PEACE IS THE STREAM.

**** IN OTHER WORDS, BECAUSE WE HAVE GRACE FROM GOD WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD AND THE PEACE OF GOD.

1.  BELOVED, PEACE BELONGS TO THE STREAM OF SPIRITUAL BLESSING WHICH ISSUES FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF GRACE.

* GRACE IS THE SOURCE OF OUR SALVATION, THE CAUSE OF OUR SALVATION WHEREAS PEACE IS THE RESULT, READ ROMANS 5:1.

** GRACE COMES FIRST AND IT BRINGS PEACE, RECONCILIATION.

*** AND THIS PEACE IS THE SMILE OF GOD AS IT REFLECTS ITSELF IN THE HEARTS OF THE REDEEMED, THE ASSURANCE OF RECONCILIATION.

**** NOW WHO IS THE SOURCE OF THIS BLESSING?  THE ANSWER IS IN THE REST OF V. 2, GOD OUR FATHER AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

2.  GOD OUR FATHER AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ARE TOGETHER THE SOURCE OF GRACE AND PEACE.

* AND RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING PAUL’S THOUGHT AGAIN IS THEOCENTRIC, FOCUSING ON GOD’S ACTIVITY IN JESUS CHRIST.

** AND NOTICE PAUL HAS NO HESITATION IN LINKING CHRIST WITH THE FAITH, LINKED BY THE KAI, THE AND, BECAUSE CHRIST IS DEITY-GOD, JUST LIKE GOD THE FATHER.

AND IN A QUICK WRAP UP:  (1) PAUL’S MESSAGE THROUGHOUT EPHESIANS IS THAT BELIEVERS MIGHT UNDERSTAND AND EXPERIENCE MORE FULLY ALL OF THE BLESSINGS GRANTED BY THEIR HEAVENLY FATHER AND HIS SON AND THEIR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.

* BELIEVER, DO YOU REALIZE TODAY, HAVE YOU STARTED TO GET A GLIMPSE OF HOW RICH WE ARE IN CHRIST JESUS AS SAINTS?

** DO YOU SEE THAT TRUTH SHOULD TRANSFORM, THAT DOCTRINE SHOULD LEAD TO DUTY, THAT OUR POSITION IN CHRIST SHOULD LEAD TO A CERTAIN KIND OF PRACTICE?

*** WELL MY PRAYER IS THAT THE TRUTHS OF EPHESIANS WILL LEAD TO TRANSFORMATION AND REFORMATION.

**** THAT WE WILL NOT LIVE LIKE SPIRITUAL PAUPERS, BUT WRITE A CHECK OUT OF THE BANK OF GOD’S TRUTH THAT IS FULL OF GRACE AND PEACE.

(2)  AND THAT WE WILL BE DOERS OF THE WORD AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, THAT WE WILL NOT APPROACH EPHESIANS AND IT’S GREAT DOCTRINES IN THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE BY ITSELF WITHOUT APPLICATION, BUT IN THE PURSUIT OF GOD AND WALKING THE WORTHY WALK FOR HIM IN A DARK WORLD.

* I CLOSE WITH EPHESIANS 4:1 AND EPHESIANS 5:2 AND EPHESIANS 5:15 (READ THEM).

** MAY WE WALK WORTHY OF OUR CALL AND CONDUCT OURSELVES AS CHILDREN OF THE LIVING GOD  IN OUR STUDY OF EPHESIANS, THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH.