Now, all the Bible is God-breathed.
All the Bible is useful and edifying,
but we know that there are some parts of the Bible
! that we're more excited to have a sermon about than others.
There are some portions of Scripture
that the church returns to time and time again
in order to be restored and refreshed.
And historically, Paul's letter to the Ephesians
is one of those.
And it's widely regarded as a competitor
of one of the most clear and most powerful books
in all of Scripture.
You know, the Puritan Thomas Goodwin,
he said that this book is the beating heart of Scripture.
You may know that I'm a big fan of John Calvin,
and John Calvin wrote books and preached on most of the Bible,
but this was his favorite.
And even Martin Lloyd-Jones,
who many of you will know is a really big fan of Romans,
even he said that Ephesians is the sublimest
and most majestic expression of the Gospel.
And as we begin today,
I want you to think about the book of Ephesians
as the Ephesian botanical garden.
And before you even walk through the entrance,
I want you to see the winding path
that leads you past some of the most incredible,
beautiful displays.
You can glimpse the incredible flowers
of the blessings of Christ
from chapters 1, verses 3 to 14.
Behind those, you can glimpse
the trees of grace alone and faith alone,
the vine of union with Christ.
Behind those, you can see even more famous passages
about our new life in Jesus Christ from chapter 4
or the whole armor of God from chapter 6.
And after you've imagined the Ephesian botanic garden,
I want you to take one step inside and stop.
And I don't want you to look around
at anything that you find so incredible around you.
I want you to stop and just look down
at the first two verses of this letter.
There are 38 blades of grass there in the ESV,
36 in the NIV,
a mere 30 blades of grass in the Greek.
And this patch of ground
is what some people consider the least sublime
and the least majestic part of this entire garden.
And understandably so.
It's an introductory patch of grass.
But to just dig into this illustration a little bit more,
I believe these first two verses
are the theological equivalent of Bermuda grass.
What is Bermuda grass?
Bermuda grass looks like grass.
It feels like grass because it is grass.
But even though it's very short,
it has roots that stretch up to seven feet deep underneath.
And I know these couple of dozen words before us
don't look particularly interesting,
but what is really impressive
is the thought behind them,
the roots.
And what I want to do today
is to pull these words up by their roots
and really look at the root structure,
the thought behind these words.
Why is Paul saying these precise words
and what does he precisely mean?
Because what we will find
is that the roots here
are tremendously important for us to see.
they're the same roots that you need
in your Christian lives.
Because you need deep roots
to get nutrients
that you need to grow as a Christian.
And so today we're going to have four points,
all relatively brief,
all dealing with how we're supposed to think
as Christians
in order to be able to read
this beautiful letter
and really any portion of Scripture.
But the first thing Paul teaches us in this letter
is how to think about the Bible.
I want you to notice how Paul begins his letter.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus
by the will of God.
And what Paul is doing there
is saying that when you hear
or read this letter,
you are coming face to face,
not just with my words,
but with God's words.
When Paul says he is an apostle,
he's not just throwing in
a generic filler word,
trying to get a little bit more space
in the introduction.
Apostle is an office.
It's an office as sure
as the defense secretary
or the home secretary,
the first minister
or the prime minister.
You know, I know that there are some
Christian denominations
that call their leaders apostles
and they throw around that term.
But real apostles
are only commissioned by Jesus Christ himself.
And it is a title
that was given only to the 12 disciples,
including Judas' replacement,
and Paul.
And it literally means
one sent out.
One sent out by Jesus.
And Jesus gave these specific men
the title of apostle
so that they could function
as his special ambassadors,
as heralds.
And Paul here
is opening up this letter
with his credentials.
An apostle.
On whose authority?
Paul's?
No.
By the will of God.
And that means
when Paul speaks
and writes as an apostle,
he is really speaking
and writing words
with divine authority
on a divine mission.
You know,
when you hear Paul's words
read to you,
you're really hearing them twice.
Not just once.
You hear Paul's words
and Jesus' words
at the same time.
If you could skip forward
in your Bibles
very quickly
to Ephesians 2, verse 17.
I want you to notice
the precise wording he uses.
He came and preached
peace to you
who were far off
and peace to those
who were near.
And that he there,
who is that?
That's Jesus.
Paul is saying
that Jesus himself
preached to those
who were far off
including the Ephesians.
Including the Ephesians
that he's writing
this letter to.
You know,
how is he able
to say that?
You know,
Jesus himself
technically only
left Judea
a couple of times
and not for very long.
You know,
really the longest stretch
is when he was a baby
when he went to Egypt
and he wasn't doing
any teaching then.
You know,
there is no secret gap year
in the Bible
where Jesus decides
to take a quick trip
to Ephesus
and start teaching
the Ephesians.
That's not what's in Scripture.
The Ephesians
never literally heard
Jesus' own voice
with his precise accent
preach to them.
But still,
they did hear Paul.
They heard Paul
the Apostle.
And it's not,
and it's really the same
not just for Paul's letters
but for the entire Bible.
In the Bible
we have a lot of different authors.
We have a lot of books
in the Bible.
And they're written
by many people.
You can think of
Moses,
David,
Isaiah,
Jeremiah.
We could go through them.
Many of them
have the books
titled after them.
But when it gets
right down to it,
we can talk about Scripture
having two authors.
There's a human author
and there's a divine author.
And when you read
the words
of the Gospel of John,
those words
really are written
by a human man
named John
who knew Jesus
and walked with him.
And all of his friends
could have read
that Gospel
and thought
only John
could have put it that way.
Doesn't that sound
just so much
like John?
And yet every human
author of Scripture
is carried along
by the Holy Spirit.
And every word
they write
is God-breathed.
And every word
of Scripture
are,
these are not just
the words
of a human author
but of God
himself.
And when we read
Scripture
we need to recognize
that we are really
reading
the Word
of God.
That it is
God's Word
to us.
This is so important
for us to see
because it affects
the way
we read Scripture
and the way
we hear Scripture
preached.
And when you read
your Bibles
you need to accept them
not just
as the words
of Paul
not just as the words
of Moses
but as Jesus'
words
as well.
Your Savior
is speaking
to you.
He wants you
to know
your Bibles
and he wants
to teach you
through his Word
more and more
about himself.
Every Christian
is taught
by Jesus.
Every single one.
And you commune
with God
whenever you open
up your Bibles.
What you need
when you read
your Bibles
are really
better eyes.
By that
I don't just mean
better eyes
to see the words
on the page
though that's
obviously very important
and I recommend
reading glasses.
But what you need
are eyes
to see the miracle
that happens
when a Christian
reads the Scriptures.
You know
a sinner
who is distant
from God
is brought
near in Jesus Christ
indwelt by the Holy Spirit
and given new
spirit illumined eyes
to read
their Bibles
and commune
with their Saviors.
And seeing that
should make you
eager
to read
Scripture.
Eager
to just read it
and see
what is there
what has been
given to you
and to commune
with your Savior.
This also changes
the way
we hear preaching.
One of the things
we believe
is that the preaching
of the Word of God
is the Word of God.
And granted
that's only insofar
as preaching
is right and true
and that's
perfectly correct.
Bad preaching
and preaching
that is false
and teaches
bad doctrines
that is not
the Word of God.
But
your goal
when you come to church
is not actually
to hear the preacher.
Your goal
is to hear Jesus.
And really
your goal
is to ignore
the preacher
really as much
as possible
whether you like
them or don't
like them.
Your goal
is to see Jesus
and to hear
His voice.
What you need
when you come
to church
is to be able
to say
the same words
of Ephesians
2.17
that we have
heard Jesus Christ
come to us
and preach
peace.
And that is something
that everyone
in this room
can say
every Sunday
here together
we hear Jesus
preach
peace
to us.
And doesn't
that just fill you
with a little bit
of joy?
Doesn't that fill you
with a little bit
of majesty?
Doesn't it also fill you
with a bit of
helpful trepidation?
Because sometimes
at the end
of a very long week
we're not that eager
to come to church
and we find ourselves
tired and it's hard
to listen.
But what we need
to do is have
this truth
in front of our eyes.
The main point
is that the Word
is the Word of God.
But the second thing
Paul teaches us
in this letter
is how to think
about yourself.
I want you to notice
how Paul describes
the Ephesian church
in chapter 1
in verse 1.
He says
they are saints
or God's holy people
and then also
faithful.
And he's not saying
that some are saints
over here
and that some
are faithful
and he's just
lumping the two
together.
He's saying
that all are faithful
and all are saints.
I want to break
that down
for a minute.
Anyone who
everyone who
understands
here
that to be a Christian
you need to have faith.
That's non-negotiable.
You need to have
faith
and not just
faith in that
really squishy
modern sense
of just hoping
everything's going
to pan out
some way
or the other
but faith
in Jesus Christ.
That's what it
means to be a Christian.
This is why
we talk about
salvation
being by
faith alone.
You are given
faith in Christ
by the Holy Spirit
and then Jesus
saves you
through your faith
not by your works.
But what does
Paul mean here
by saints
or holy people?
when we hear
about saints
we usually
think about
super Christians
because we know
that this word
saint
has an
association
with Roman Catholics
and only special
Christians get
that title
saint
Augustine
saint Patrick
most Christians
don't think about
themselves as saints
but that's not the
way the Bible
uses the term.
In the Bible
the word holy
is the word saint
and the word saint
is just the word holy
and all Christians
are described
as holy
it's not something
that's added extra
on top
and that you try
to work up to
after you have faith.
Every Christian
who had faith
in Ephesus
was also holy.
It wasn't something
they had to earn
by their works
after they were a Christian
they were holy
because they were
Christians.
But I don't want you
to but I also want you
to understand
that there's an order
here.
There's an order here
between faith
and holiness
and you can't see
this precise order
in these verses
I grant you
but if you step
take a step back
you can see it
in this letter
and in all of Paul's letters
almost all of Paul's letters
you can cut them in half
with a knife
very very neatly.
The first half
talks about
who you are
in Jesus Christ.
You can see that
in Ephesians chapter 1 to 3.
It describes
the blessings
you have in Christ
describe what Christ
has done for you
and your new identity
in Christ
and then in chapter 4
it switches gears
and the second half
talks about
what you're supposed
to do
in Jesus Christ.
The great hinge
is in Ephesians 4.1
I therefore
a prisoner of the Lord
urge you to walk
in a manner
worthy of a calling
to which you have
been called.
Paul's saying
that in light of everything
I've just told you
in the first half
here's what you're
supposed to do
you're supposed to act
like it.
You're not supposed
to earn it
but you are supposed
to act like it.
The first half
describes
the second half
commands
and Paul thinks
both are incredibly
important
but he always
puts the commands
after.
We don't follow
God's commands
in order for him
to allow us
to be in Christ
once we've measured up
but precisely because
we are already
in Christ.
We obey
not because we want
to be loved
but because we have
been loved
and we want to show
our love
to God.
What Paul wants
to tell you
is that you are
faithful
and holy
simultaneously.
Maybe that
point about
the whole book
of Ephesians
is a little too
abstract.
Maybe you want it
a little more
simply.
Just look at
Ephesians 2
8-10.
For by grace
you have been
saved through
faith
and this is not
your own doing
it is the gift
of God
not a result
of works
so that no one
may boast
for we are
his workmanship
created in Christ
Jesus
for good works
which God
prepared beforehand
that we should
walk in them.
You are saved
by faith
not by works
but you are also
saved
in order
to glorify
God
through your works
not in order
to try to earn
your ability
to stand before God
not at all
but you are called
to glorify God
and so
I want you to think
about yourself
like this
someone who has
faith in Jesus Christ
but also
someone who
strives
day after day
day in and day out
to be holy
like their savior
imperfectly
yes
one step
forward
maybe in a step
backward
maybe two steps
forward
one step
back
absolutely
but you need to
have faith
and holiness
on the mind
I want you to
think back
to your
catechisms
what do the
scriptures
principally teach
what man is to
believe concerning
God and what
duty God
requires of man
we expect to find
both of those
things in
scripture
something to
grow us in
faith
and something
also to
call us to
greater holiness
to be more
like our savior
and that's what we
expect whenever we
open up any
portion of the
Bible
including Ephesians
something to
feed our faith
and something to
call us to
holiness
but the third
thing Paul teaches
us in this letter
is how to think
about ministry
in verse 2
Paul says
grace to you
and peace
now Paul always
says grace
and peace
in his letters
it's kind of his
phrase
you know in his
letters to Timothy
and Titus he
sometimes adds in
mercy
just for good
measure
but most of
the times
it's grace
and peace
but that's
rather interesting
this is not
a standard way
to open up a
letter in the
ancient world
nobody else
does this
except Paul
but Paul
just does it
out of hand
all the time
and part of
what's happening
here is that
he's actually
trying to pull
off a bit
of a pun
and the Greek
word for
greetings is
kairate
and the Greek
word for grace
is kairis
and so he's
basically giving
Christian greetings
and he's making
grace foundational
to everything
grace is the
first thing
in the Christian
life
grace is the
first thing
I'm going to
mention to you
that's part of
what's happening
but what's
happening here
is also
it's not
simply a pun
this is a
reference
to the
ironic
blessing
of numbers
6
24 to
26
the Lord
bless you
and keep you
the Lord
make his face
to shine upon
you and be
gracious to you
the Lord
lift up his
countenance upon
you and give
you peace
that's the
famous blessing
of the Old
Testament
it's always
pronounced over
God's people
and what is that
blessing it's
simply giving
them grace
and peace
and really
Paul's ministry
and all of
Christian ministry
can be summarized
by those two
words
grace and
peace
this is
precisely what
you should
expect
when you
come
to worship
we come
with guilty
consciences
before God
and we
receive
not the
punishment
due to our
sins
but grace
and peace
we are
invited
to sing
and to
praise
and we
who were
once rebels
in his
sight
are now
able to
say we
have a
perfect
relationship
with
God
and desire
only to
grow in
love of
him
Paul's
ministry
and Christian
ministry
is really
doing the
same thing
as ministry
in the Old
Testament
we here
today
we are not
getting something
fundamentally
different
than Abraham
Isaac
and Jacob
they had
peace with
God
by their
faith
not by
works
they looked
to the grace
of Jesus
and when the
saints gathered
in the temple
or the synagogues
they rejoiced
in the peace
they had
with God
even though
they didn't
deserve it
and that's
why we
preach from
the Old
Testament
that's not
a sidetracked
thing
that's not
something
fundamentally
different
it's for
Christians
something we
are called
to see
and enjoy
we as
Gentiles
we've been
engrafted
into Israel
and we
received
the exact
same thing
Old Testament
Jews did
grace
and peace
now I
grant to
you that
we here
today
we have
a fuller
understanding
of what
those things
are
we understand
grace
and peace
we understand
the grace
of God
in this
that while
we were still
sinners
God sent
his son
to die
for us
on the cross
for our sins
and we
understand
the peace
of God
in this
that our
high priest
has sat
down
at the right
hand
of the majesty
on high
there are no
more ceremonial
laws
there are no
more sacrifices
we simply
have
peace
and we're able
to come
boldly
before God's
throne
not as a
throne of
judgment
but as a
throne
of grace
Abraham
understood
these things
but he understood
them through
a veil
he understood
them by
shadows
he did not
fully understand
who Jesus
was
he saw
his shadow
coming
but he didn't
see his face
and we
have
we have
looked
upon
Jesus
Christ
and we
live on
this side
of Christ
death
and resurrection
and even
us today
here in
Edinburgh
we are able
to say
Jesus
Christ
has come
to us
today
to preach
grace
and peace
to us
sinners
but what we
should strive
to do
as a church
is to offer
grace
and peace
to each
other
we are
miserable
sinners
who have
been given
grace
and peace
from God
and we
gather
together
as a church
to hear
that grace
and peace
preached to
us
that we
may rejoice
in it
that we
may rest
in it
that we
may be
restored
by it
and then
what we
should do
is stand
up afterwards
and seek
to show
that grace
and peace
to each
other
we who
have been
filled
with grace
and peace
should have
it overflowing
into every
parts of
our lives
in equal
measure
what else
can we
do
a church
which
doesn't
teach
grace
and peace
is teaching
a different
gospel
and really
a different
savior
true gospel
ministry
deals with
grace and
peace
and it is
infectious
in the best
of ways
so we're
called as a
congregation
to bear
with each
other
in our
burdens
and also
to encourage
one another
because our
savior
he is a
never ending
fountain
of grace
and peace
but the
fourth and
final thing
Paul teaches
us here
is how to
think about
God
where does
grace and
peace come
from
from God
our father
and Christ
Jesus our
Lord
first
Paul here
is telling
us to
recognize
God is
our father
that is a
profoundly
Christian way
of talking
about God
the Old
Testament
has little
glimpses
of this
but they're
glimpses
you know
Israel
sometimes talked
about God
as a father
to all of
Israel
broadly
more specifically
some of the
Davidic kings
could say
God is acting
as a father
to me
but no
Israelite
opens up
their prayers
by saying
my father
that is a
dramatic change
in the New
Testament
when Jesus
teaches all
of his
disciples
to just
pray
his
prayer
our
father
who
art
in
heaven
that is a
profound
change
and we
see this
blossoming
of father
language
all throughout
we can see
this in
first John
three
one
see what
kind of
love the
father
has given
to us
that we
should be
called
children
of God
father
that's not
a throwaway
term
that is a
profound
important
term
it's
proclaiming
a deep
important
truth
this is a
special
grand
privilege
that we
have as
New Testament
believers
J.I.
Packer says
this is even
grander than
justification
and we all
know we're
big fans
of justification
but being
able to
call upon
God
as father
that is
profound
in the
Old Testament
what's the
highest way
to talk
about God
it's the
covenantal
name
Yahweh
I am
who I
am
but in
the New
Testament
it's just
to cry
out
Abba
father
that's
the most
profound
way you
can talk
about God
think about
the way
that should
affect the
way you
pray
we're able
to approach
God not
simply as a
servant
not even
as a highly
privileged
and forgiven
servant
but as a
son or
daughter
who is
eagerly
welcomed
in where
angels
fear to
tread
someone who
is where
they are
supposed to
be
in and
amongst
the family
we pray
not just
to a distant
God but
to our
father
who has
blessed us
with every
spiritual blessing
of the heavenly
places
and if you're
struggling and
you feel like
the entire
world is just
caving in around
you and you're
at the end of
your rope
you don't need
to sit there
and try to
come up with
the best
theological
phrases
in order to
pray to
God
in order that
he can hear
your plea
you just
need to
cry out
father
and that
is enough
prayer
is family
time
for Christians
and we
gather together
with our
father
but Paul
doesn't just
refer in these
verses to
God the
father
he also
talks about
God the
son
he talks
about
Jesus
Christ
our
Lord
that title
there
Lord
that is a
divine
title
Paul uses
that title
for God
generically
and he's
applying it
to Jesus
and he's
referring to
the father
and Jesus
in the same
breath as if
they are equals
because they
absolutely are
really what I
want you to
understand is that
Paul is a
Trinitarian
and you should
be too
and he's not a
Trinitarian
trying to show
off how much
he understands
and how he's
superior to
everyone
he's not trying
to show off
how he understands
that God is
three persons
father son and
holy ghost
yet one God
the Trinity
is confusing
it is confusing
because it is
mysterious
but Paul is
mentioning this
because he thinks
the Trinity
is tremendously
practical
when he talks
about the
blessings we
have from God
he talks about
the being
from the father
in Jesus Christ
by the spirit
that is him
trying to give
you words
to thank God
more precisely
he's trying
to give you
more to sing
about
not less
does that
just make
instinctive
sense
once you
think about
it
if
God has
truly
saved you
and adopted
you as his
child
and promised
that you
will commune
with him
in all eternity
face to face
don't you think
that we should
strive
to know him
all the better
and speak
of him
as he has
revealed himself
to us
we're called
as Christians
to know
and love
our father
and also
his son
Jesus Christ
our brother
and call
upon him
as well
and our duty
as Christians
is to declare
their worthiness
to worship
them
and to talk
about their worth
to the best
of our abilities
and we can't
do that
without seeking
to know God
as he has
revealed himself
in Jesus Christ
as father
son
and holy ghost
as we close
I want you
to look briefly
at the drum beat
of these two verses
Paul
an apostle
of Christ
Jesus
by the will
of God
to the God's
holy people
in Ephesus
the faithful
in Christ
Jesus
grace and peace
to you
from God
our father
and the Lord
Jesus Christ
Jesus
is at the center
of these verses
and Paul
is bringing up
all these different
topics
about the Bible
yourself
ministry
and God
and he's relating
them to Jesus
because he wants
to tell you
who Jesus is
and what he has done
and he wants
to see you
the rich
wants you to see
the riches
that are in Jesus Christ
if you
if we've been
pulling up
these words
and looking
at the roots
underneath
and looking
at their structure
we need to realize
that these roots
are planted
in the soil
that is Jesus Christ
the whole point
of a root
is that you're
trying to get life
and nutrients
out of the soil
and Paul
is digging
these roots
into Jesus Christ
trying to get life
from Jesus
thinking about
the Bible
yourself
ministry
and even God
separated from Jesus
is disastrous
but with Jesus
they make all
the difference
with them
you get Jesus
and you get
the grace
and peace
you get
to enjoy
scripture
as the word
of Jesus himself
and you get
to come before
God
as father
to grow
as a Christian
we need
to have our roots
in Jesus Christ
and he is the one
we must think about
really at the end
of the day
because he's
the whole point
not just of
Ephesians
but of everything
voy