You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
Well, Will and I were joking that you now get part two of the sermon.
Part one was his announcements, and part two is my portion.
Thank you for bearing with us. That's a lot of information to take in.
There's a lot of exciting things happening in this church,
and I'm very excited to get to open God's Word with you for the first time in 2015.
It's exciting to get to open a book with Will.
A book of the Bible will be looking at Ephesians.
Let me offer some things to you as we get started.
This is a dangerous promise to make,
but I promise that Will and I are going to move at a nice pace through Ephesians.
We're not looking to set any world records on how long we can draw it out.
We're not drawing up a two-year plan or anything like that.
We promise to move at a good pace through Ephesians.
We won't be teaching word by word.
Rarely will we teach verse by verse, but we'll be looking at section by section,
working at a steady pace through what Paul has to teach us through the book of Ephesians.
So I have the privilege then to get to open it for the first time this morning.
Here's our game plan as we dive in.
We are going to look at the first two verses,
and I want to hold to my promise and move through those at a pretty quick pace.
And then we will take a quick tour of Ephesians,
look at a few of the highlights and important things that Paul is going to talk about in this book.
If you will turn with me then to Ephesians chapter 1,
Ephesians chapter 1 verses 1 through 2, we will be looking at this morning.
You can look in your Bibles.
If you don't have a Bible, you can look on the screen.
As you turn there, let me remind you or maybe tell you for the first time
about some introductory material you need to know about Ephesians.
Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul, as we will soon learn more about.
It was written between the years 60 and 62 A.D.
That is after the death of Christ.
Paul writes from imprisonment.
Paul writes homebound, imprisoned after multiple missionary journeys,
and he is writing to a church that's young,
an infant church that needs to be reminded of simple, clear gospel truths.
The book of Ephesians is considered one of the most classic,
one of the clearest, most beautiful books about the gospel
and how it looks when it's lived out in the lives of believers.
For these reasons, it's worthy of our attention.
It's worthy of our care, our careful thought,
especially as we look towards a new year,
as we enter into a new season as a church,
to be bonded together, connected,
which is our sermon title,
in Christ through the book of Ephesians.
We will return to a few of these pieces of background information
throughout our sermon series,
so keep those in the back of your mind.
Look with me now at Ephesians 1, verses 1 through 2.
They say this,
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus,
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray with me.
Father, these are two short verses.
We are beginning a long series,
a long journey in a lot of ways into this book of Ephesians,
and we need you to meet with us now,
to be our guide, to be our helper,
to give us your spirit as our teacher
to rightly understand and discern your word.
So, Father, may this time in Ephesians not be about me,
may it not be about will,
but may it be about your Son being known better by these people.
Will you give us the grace,
the ability to understand your word now
as we consider these first few verses of Ephesians.
Pray these things in your heavenly and righteous Son's name.
Amen.
It takes one to know one.
It takes one to know one is a common phrase in the world that I live in.
The world of teenagers is one of, amongst other things, smack talk.
And it takes one to know one is not the coolest phrase,
not the most common phrase anymore with teenagers,
but you're probably familiar with it.
If you don't have teenagers yet, it's coming.
If you have them currently, I'm sorry.
If you've gotten rid of them,
I'm sorry to bring back the memories of it.
It takes one to know one is key in smack talk.
It goes a little something like this.
You hear with junior or senior high boys especially,
man, you are weak on the basketball courts.
You're not real smart, are you?
You're terrible at baseball.
Man, you're really short or you're really tall.
And then the classic response,
it takes one to know one.
To give this line is to say,
hey man, you wouldn't know what it's like to be terrible at basketball
if you weren't terrible at basketball too.
It doesn't just apply to teenage boys, right?
There's positive ways that we would understand this phrase.
Men, you are able to connect with other men because you are a man.
You understand the frustrations, the challenges, the joys,
the highs, the lows of being a man.
Women, likewise, you are able to connect with other women
because you understand the joys, the highs, the lows,
the challenges, the frustrations of being a woman.
It takes a man to know a man.
It takes a woman to know a woman.
Last spring, I got to coach baseball at one of our local schools
and I worked with the pitchers.
The reason why I worked with the pitchers
was because I was a pitcher myself in high school.
It took one to know one.
When the players understood that,
I went from just being a normal coach
to being someone who they could now relate with,
who understood them better,
who understood the frustrations,
the unique challenges that pitchers face.
It took one to know one.
Well, the message of Paul to the Ephesians
to begin his book is very similar.
It takes one to know one,
or in the case of Paul in the Ephesians,
it takes one to know some.
In these opening verses,
Paul is going to introduce himself
as one who understands both what it means to be a sinner
and what it means to be one who's saved by Christ.
Paul leads by telling the people of God in Ephesus
that he was once an enemy of God,
subject to God's wrath,
but now he's been saved by the grace and the mercy of God.
Paul knows what it means to be subject to this wrath,
what it means to be an enemy of God
because he once was himself.
Likewise, he understands the amazing news,
what it means to be transformed by the power of the cross,
transformed by the power of the Spirit
and made into a member of the household of God.
It took one to know some.
The connection that I want to make as we begin this book
is that we first understand the implications of who Paul is,
why it's important that Paul was the author of this book,
why he identifies himself,
how he identifies himself to start the book.
He starts by identifying himself as the author
by saying that he was an apostle of Christ Jesus.
We cannot miss the power,
the promise that's contained in these opening words
that Paul is an apostle of Christ.
Because for us who understand Paul's story
and for the Ephesians who knew his story well,
we knew that not long before he wrote this book,
he was not an apostle.
He didn't live much like an apostle.
He didn't look much like an apostle.
He was an adversary against the church.
He fought against the power of God.
Paul mocked, scorned, and shamed Christians in the church.
He stood in direct opposition to God's mission
and was a vile enemy towards Christ.
And now, what is he calling himself?
An apostle of Jesus Christ.
I, Paul, who was once an enemy,
an adversary towards the Lord,
am now an apostle for his grace.
Paul's telling the Ephesians that he once was a sinner.
And he's telling them that they need to remember
that they were sinners too.
He's reminding them of their sinful state
even as he highlights his apostleship.
Paul can tell them all of these things about being sinners
because he was a sinner.
He is a sinner too.
Paul will tell the Ephesian people in chapters 1 and 2
about the love of God and how it's expressed in our lives.
That through Jesus Christ,
our reality, our perspective,
our very hearts are changed
so that we might become something different.
Not only does Paul identify himself as an apostle,
but what else does he say?
He says that he comes by the will of God.
It's so important for us to understand this
as we begin a study in Ephesians
of what it means that Paul is writing by the will of God.
He's not addressing the Ephesians as one
who's just a faithful follower of Jesus
who has some things that he wants to get off of his chest.
The value and the significance of Paul's words
is based upon his claim of apostleship
likened unto the apostles
and that his words are connected to the very will of God.
By making this claim of speaking to the Ephesians
by the will of God,
he's telling them that contained in this letter
is the truth, the spirit,
the very divine nature of God himself.
The words of Ephesians are authored by Paul,
but they are inspired by the Holy Spirit
by the will of God.
These words of Ephesians come to pass
only because God allowed it to be so.
The book of Ephesians and Paul's authorship of it
were ordained to pass
because God chose it to be so.
He has given it to us
because God chose it to be so.
Paul wants us to understand the power
of what's contained in these words,
that he speaks as an apostle,
but he also speaks only by the will of God.
Divine truth is contained in this book.
He wants us to understand that
he comes as one by and under the authority of God himself.
He does not claim or proclaim his name,
but rather the name of God.
So Paul begins by identifying who he is as the author.
He next addresses the Ephesians
by telling them who they are.
And what does he tell them?
He tells them that you are the saints,
the saints in Ephesus.
It would be easy for us to read over this greeting
and understand it as very customary,
which it is for the epistles,
for letters of the time.
But we need to consider the setting,
consider the setting of Ephesus.
Ephesus was the capital of Asia.
And because of that,
it was the political and commercial center
of the large region of Asia where it sat.
If you know your ancient history,
then you know the importance of it also being
a major port city.
This meant there was not only great trade
and commerce that happened in Ephesus,
but there was also a high traffic of people.
A high traffic of people meant the confluence
of new, bold, challenging,
and often very controversial ideas,
new philosophies, beliefs about God,
about his existence.
Ephesus also had a reputation
for being the home of the temple
to Diana of Artemis.
Diana of Artemis was a God who was believed
to have descended down from heaven.
And a temple was built there to her,
and it measured larger than the Greek Parthenon.
The temple was a depository
for large amounts of treasure and gold,
and it functioned as a bank in many ways.
For those who did business
in the temple of Diana of Artemis,
the priestesses of Diana
were also offered to them.
Hundreds of priestesses who were prostitutes.
Their service was offered to those
who did business in the temple.
And so there, in Ephesus,
in the home of Diana,
the gospel of Jesus Christ
is being interjected.
In the most unlikely of places,
the people of God are being raised up.
There, by the will and the power of God,
the gospel is being introduced
and grown through who?
The saints.
The saints in Ephesus,
into this culture of paganism
and sexual immorality,
Paul calls out to God's people
and gives them this new title,
saints.
Not saints as our Catholic brothers and sisters
would perceive,
whose merit and obedience was earned,
and favor was given to them,
and they were given this title of distinction,
but saints who are offered
the righteousness,
the atonement,
the holiness of Christ,
not of their own works,
but only because of God's grace.
There, in Ephesus,
they lived.
There's a strong contrast
that we need to understand.
These people should feel out of place
when we read the text,
if we understand the background
of the city of Ephesus.
Don't make all the same connections,
but one of the first things
that comes into my mind
is an Auburn fan living in Tuscaloosa,
or an Alabama fan living in Auburn.
Again, don't make all the same connections,
but you wouldn't expect to find one
in the opposing city, right?
You wouldn't expect to find
an Alabama fan in Auburn
or an Auburn fan in Tuscaloosa.
They would be out of place
because their loyalties are different.
Their preferences,
their beliefs,
even their systems of doctrine
are very different, right?
We should understand Paul's call
to the saints in Ephesus
in a similar way.
As readers,
it should stick out.
It should seem unlikely
and unreasonable
that the people of God
would live in a place like Ephesus.
Paul's identification of the people
doesn't stop there, though, does it?
His next description of the Ephesians
is those who are faithful in Christ Jesus.
And what Paul is doing
by writing this second half of verse one
like he does
is to create in the original language
a parallelism.
He does this first
by describing the Ephesians
in their geographical location,
but then also describing the Ephesians
in their spiritual location,
that they dwell in Ephesus,
but they also dwell in Jesus Christ.
We can't miss the importance
of what Paul is doing here.
He's beginning to introduce
one of the key
and the fundamental principles
of the book of Ephesians,
and that is the dual citizenship
of the people of God.
Paul's not presenting
these two locations
in contradiction to each other,
but rather he's presenting them
in conjunction with each other,
that our citizenship is dual
by its very nature,
that we dwell here on earth,
that we've been called
to bring forth the kingdom of God
on earth,
but we do so as members of heaven.
The people of God
are both saints in Ephesus.
They're also faithful
in Christ in heaven.
And so Paul's explaining
to the Ephesians and to us
as God's people
that we are precisely
where God would have us,
that into a culture
of relativity,
sexual immorality,
all religious,
polytheistic,
multicultural,
spiritually and socially
and emotionally starved world,
God interjects his people.
He interjects those
who represent him,
who represent his character,
his will,
and his love.
Not only that,
but Paul is relating
to the people
by telling them,
I know.
I know where you live.
I understand the challenges,
the frustrations,
the struggle,
the beliefs that are
pressed upon you every day.
But don't lose heart,
Ephesians.
Don't lose heart,
Paul says,
because your citizenship
belongs in heaven.
God has called you
to live on this earth,
to be a citizen of Ephesus,
but also you belong to him.
To dwell with God in heaven
means the life,
the death,
the resurrection,
and the ministry of Christ
are given to us,
that we might have renewed hope
and renewed life
as we live in this world.
So Paul identifies
who he is,
he identifies
who the Ephesians are,
and lastly,
he summarizes
what his whole book
is going to be about.
How does he do it?
By saying,
grace and peace.
Grace and peace to you
from our Lord
and from the Lord,
from our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace.
That's it.
That's the summary.
That's the whole spirit
of Ephesians
wrapped up in two words.
Paul's message is contained
in these two key principles,
highlighting God's power
to overcome our sin,
highlighting the love
that God has
to pursue us
as his people,
highlighting this unmerited favor
that God has for us
that we can rest in.
Remember,
what's Paul trying to do
as he opens this book?
He's trying to connect himself
with these people.
The Ephesian church,
we said,
was young.
It was infantile
in their faith,
and Paul offers them
these simple
and affirming words,
grace and peace to you.
I understand Ephesians.
I understand where you live.
I understand the struggles
that you face.
Grace and peace to you.
Remember the work
that God is doing
in your life.
We'll find this message
of grace and peace
throughout the book
of Ephesians.
It's meant to be
this bedrock,
this ever-present reminder
of God's love
and his faithfulness to us.
Paul's explanation
of the good news
and the reason why
our lives should be different
is because of grace,
because of the peace
that we have
from the Father.
So why should we be excited
about Ephesians then?
We've considered the author,
we've considered
who it's written to
in this summary.
Let's take a quick tour then,
okay?
Hold on,
we're going to move
really quickly.
We're going to take a quick tour
through the book of Ephesians
and consider this new reality
that Paul has,
how we see grace
and peace expressed.
First,
we see it expressed
through clear gospel truths.
Look with me
at Ephesians 2,
verses 12 through 19.
They say this,
remember that you were
at that time
separated from Christ,
alienated from the commonwealth
of Israel
and strangers
to the covenant of promise,
having no hope
and without God
in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus,
you who once were far off
have been brought near
by the blood of Christ.
For he himself
is our peace
who has made us both one
and has broken down
in his flesh
the dividing wall
of hostility
by abolishing the law
of commandments
expressed in ordinances
that he might create
in himself
one new man
in the place of the two
so making what?
Peace
and might reconcile us
both to God
in one body
through the cross
thereby killing the hostility.
And he came
and he preached
peace to you
who were far off
and peace to those
who were near.
For through him
we both have access
in one spirit
to the Father.
So then you are
no longer strangers
and aliens
but you are fellow citizens
with the saints
and members
of the household of God.
There are clear gospel truths
that Paul is going to come back to
again and again
in chapter 2.
This is what we would call
Paul's orthodoxy.
His right understanding
that you were once far off
you were once cut off
but because of the blood of Christ
you've now been brought near.
The wall of hostility
that existed
between you and the Father
has been broken down.
And Paul's going to
remind us of it
affirm us in it
encourage us
in these clear
gospel truths.
These gospel truths
are going to lead Paul
to a response
of overwhelmed
prayer and praise.
Paul's actually going
to be led
to sing over us
to pray over us
as God's people.
Look at chapter 3
verses 16 through 19
they say this
that according to
the riches of his glory
he may grant you
to be strengthened
with power
through his spirit
in your inner being
so that Christ
may dwell in your hearts
through faith
that you being rooted
and grounded in love
may have strength
to comprehend
with all the saints
what is the breadth
and the length
and the height
and the depth
and to know
the love of Christ
that surpasses knowledge
that you may be filled
with all the fullness
of God.
Do you hear
Paul's excitement?
Do you hear
his praise?
He can't wait
for you to experience
the love of the Father.
He can't wait
for you to experience
grace and peace.
We would call this
Paul's doxology
his expression
of prayer
and praise
and we'll see it
in a much fuller sense
when we get
to chapter 3.
Paul will then conclude
with two very compelling
chapters
in his book
about what it means
for us to respond
to the gospel
what the gospel
looks like
in our lives.
He'll explain
how we are connected
together as a body
of Christ.
Look at chapter 5
verses 1 and 2.
They say this,
therefore be imitators
of God
as beloved children
and walk in love
as Christ loved us
and gave himself up
for us
a fragrant offering
and sacrifice
to God.
Paul's calling
is this
that because
of the gospel truths
and because
those gospel truths
lead us to
praise and worship
they ought to
also lead us
to respond
with our hearts
and our lives
that our lives
should reflect
the grace
and the peace
of the gospel
that's been
offered to us.
This is Paul's
orthopraxy
that is his
right practice
in living
that he will
explain to us.
He desires
for there to be
change in the lives
of Ephesians.
He desires
for there to be
change in our
own lives as well.
There will be
application
to our marriages,
to our relationship
with our children,
to our children's
relationship to parents.
We will seek unity
together as a church
as we consider
what love looks like,
how it unifies us,
what it means to be
bonded and united
to Christ,
and we'll also
consider what it means
to put on what Paul
will call the armor
of God.
This change
in Paul's heart
is rooted in the
same place that
our hearts should be
rooted in,
the grace and the
peace caused by
the mercy of God.
The response
of these new
realities is lived
out.
It's fleshed out
according to Paul
because of the love
and the unmerited
favor of God.
As we begin our
study of Ephesians,
we've got to start
here.
We've got to start
with our need
for the gospel,
our need for God
to reveal His grace
to us.
For just as God
overcame the sinful
heart of Paul,
all of his anger,
all his frustration,
his malice,
his hatred,
his murdering,
his slandering,
his ridicule,
his evilness,
and lying,
so too did He
overcome sinful
hearts like mine
and like yours.
This is the hope
that we have,
that God comes to us
surrounded by a
pagan culture,
plagued by the
sinfulness of our
flesh,
to deliver us
from the enemy
and to deliver us
from ourselves.
Paul's message is
this,
God has overcome
me,
and He has come
to also conquer
you.
That's the grace
and peace
that we rest in.
It's where we start.
And if we don't
understand it,
if we don't start
there,
then we'll miss
the power of Ephesians.
Because Paul wants
us to see the
sinfulness of our
own hearts first.
And when we face
our sin and our
inability,
it's then that we
see the gospel
sharply and clearly.
Paul tells us
that we need not
despair.
for when we
understand this
peace,
then we can
reflect gospel
power.
Then we can go
and be God's
people.
If we don't get
our hearts right,
if we don't have
the well of grace
to return to as
we face our sin,
we lose power as
God's people in
the world.
Listen to what
Brian Chappell says
about Paul's
introduction to the
gospel.
He says,
human weakness,
our weakness,
is not the end
of the story.
God is at work
so believers can
be at peace and
keep going in
his mission.
The personal
peace that grace
provides is the
hidden power source
of unvanquished
ministry.
What Chappell is
reminding us of
is that you and
I have a God
who comes not
from this world
but who came
from heaven,
from the heavenly
realms,
who enters into
our brokenness
and our mess.
He redeems us
and he empowers
us now with
unvanquished sources
of power to go
and carry his
gospel forth.
We can hope in
the power of God
because he first
performed a miracle
in saving people
like me and people
like you.
So three brief
questions then as
we conclude and as
we look towards
this book of
Ephesians.
The first is this,
are you ready to
trust the apostle
and the work of the
Holy Spirit in your
life as we consider
this book?
Are you ready to
trust in God's
will, trust in God's
power as it's
promised by Paul?
Don't let these
pages just be
words, just words
on a page.
Are you willing to
let these words
transform your
heart to change
and shape who you
are in the coming
months?
Are you open to
seeing the gospel
in new and
beautiful ways in
the book of
Ephesians?
Now of course
you'd say you're
open and willing to
seeing the gospel
in beautiful ways,
right?
Well what that
means is that
before you can see
a beautiful picture
you've got to see
the bad news of
the gospel.
You've got to see
the ugly picture of
who you are and
you may have to
return to it day
after day, week
after week, but are
you desirous of
that?
Are you hungry to
grow in your
understanding of
the Father as you
grow in your
understanding of
your sin?
You'll see a
beautiful picture of
Jesus once you
first see ugly
pictures of
yourself.
Paul's going to
remind us of it
again and again.
It took one to
know some.
The third and
final question is
this.
Are you willing to
lock arms together?
To lock arms together
as a church and to
respond in a variety
of ways that Paul is
going to challenge us
with.
He tells us that we're
living in a foreign
land, that we live in
a foreign place
surrounded by a
variety of new ideas
and it's there that
the gospel needs to
be lived out.
It's out there that
the gospel needs to
be taken.
This connection,
this unity is vital
to the book of
Ephesians.
It's vital to us
understanding what it
looks like to be the
church together.
We don't live on an
island.
We carry God's mission
and his love forth
together as a church
and that's what Paul is
going to advocate for.
So are you ready?
Are you committed to
doing this?
Paul was and he's
encouraging us to do
the same thing.
This is the hope that
we have as we enter
into the book of
Ephesians.
As we consider how
our hearts, how our
minds, how our hands
should be engaged
with the gospel.
How it should be
impacted and changed
by the gospel.
It all starts here
with the hope and the
peace.
The hope and the
peace of the gospel.
Paul's introduction
to the Ephesians is
his introduction to
you here.
Grace and peace to
you, Southwood.
to the saints in
Huntsville, faithful in
Jesus Christ.
Come and hear and
respond to the hope
that we have in the
Father.
Amen and amen.
Let's pray.
Gracious Father,
we are overwhelmed by
this good news.
This good news that you
would choose to save
and redeem broken,
messed up people like
us.
We thank you for the
Apostle Paul who has
introduced himself as
one who has truly
experienced what it's
like to be an enemy of
God, who is proactive in
that, and who longed to
see the kingdom of God
fail.
That is our hearts, too.
Before you changed us,
before you intervened in
our lives, that was us,
too.
So, Father, will you work
this good news of the
gospel, that the story
doesn't stop there at our
own weakness, but would
you work this story into
our lives?
Help us to see ways in
which we need to change
our heart, ways that our
mind needs to be changed,
and how our lives might
reflect your grace more
through the work of our
hands.
Will you be with us,
bless us as we consider
this book in the coming
months?
Father, thank you for
your presence and for
your word.
Pray these things in your
heavenly son's name.
Amen.
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