1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,680 If you're visiting with us today for the first time, we want to 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:12,920 welcome you. The word of God, we believe is 3 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:18,440 to, is, was breathed out by him, all of it, every word. 4 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,280 The Word tells us that all Scripture is God breathed and is 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,680 useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training and 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,640 righteousness. And that means as Christians we 7 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,960 should come with great expectancy every time the Word 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,440 is open that His Spirit will do a work in our hearts. 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,280 I'm going to begin by reading part of a sentence. 10 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:44,480 And I want you to finish the sentence, and I'm going to give 11 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:48,480 you time to do that. So listen, here's the sentence, 12 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:50,520 or at least the first part of the sentence. 13 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:58,160 Our greatest hindrance in the Christian life is fill in the 14 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:02,840 blank. Our greatest hindrance in the 15 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,440 Christian life is fill in the blank. 16 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,800 Now, I'm going to do something that's a little bit disruptive 17 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,120 to what we normally do. I'm actually going to give you a 18 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,880 minute to think about your answer. 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,720 Don't talk to one another, but just sit quietly for a minute 20 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:26,440 and fill in that blank. Our greatest hindrance in the 21 00:01:26,440 --> 00:02:22,280 Christian life is. Our greatest hindrance in the 22 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,840 Christian life is I so want to know what you wrote. 23 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:31,640 If we were in a different setting we would probably break 24 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:37,760 into small groups and I wonder what list your group would come 25 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,360 up with. I'm sure it would be really 26 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:45,000 significant and important stuff. I'm most interested though, 27 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,960 though, and where your eye went when I asked you to consider 28 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:54,520 that sentence and finish it. Our greatest hindrance in the 29 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:56,760 Christian life is where did your eye go? 30 00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:01,080 Did it go immediately to just the awkwardness of the silence? 31 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:08,680 Did it go to other people? Did it go to culture? 32 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,320 Did it go to problems that you perceive to be in the church? 33 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:22,120 The greatest hindrance in the Christian life is where did your 34 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,320 eye go? What did you think? 35 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:31,800 What would you write? Did your eye turn inside to you 36 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:40,520 and me, sinners? John Owen is the one who wrote 37 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,800 this sentence, the great Puritan. 38 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,120 Listen to what he said as I complete his sentence. 39 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:54,080 Our greatest hindrance in the Christian life is not our lack 40 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:58,840 of effort, but our lack of acquaintedness with our 41 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,200 privileges. Let me read it again. 42 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,560 Our greatest hindrance in the Christian life is not our lack 43 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,520 of effort, but our lack of acquaintedness with our 44 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:17,200 privileges. The privileges he's Speaking of 45 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:23,680 have to do with our union in Christ, who we already are, 46 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:28,680 secure in him. Ian Hamilton and his commentary 47 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:33,000 on Ephesians starts his introductory chapter with that 48 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,480 quote from John Owen. Our greatest hindrance in the 49 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,800 Christian life is not our lack of effort, but our lack of 50 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,080 acquaintedness with our privileges. 51 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,680 Hamilton goes on to say this in his letter to Ephesians. 52 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:53,560 Paul elaborates and expands in a most wonderful way on the 53 00:04:53,560 --> 00:05:01,640 God-given Christ, secured, Holy Spirit, applied privileges of 54 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,840 the Christian life. Let me say that again. 55 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:10,960 In his letter to Ephesians, Paul elaborates and expands in a most 56 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:15,920 wonderful way on the God-given Christ, secured, Holy Spirit, 57 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:18,920 applied privileges of the Christian life. 58 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:23,320 And I can almost guarantee you that none of you went there. 59 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,440 Some of you might have, maybe you've read ahead even that 60 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,160 commentary, but most of us didn't go there. 61 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:40,360 We went to some sin, some aspect of culture, some sin we see in 62 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:46,240 the church or even in ourselves. But he says whatever that list 63 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:47,960 is, that's not our greatest hindrance. 64 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:53,440 Our greatest hindrance is that we are not acquainted with the 65 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:58,560 privileges that are ours in Christ. 66 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,880 And Hamilton says Paul is giving us this letter carried along by 67 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:07,680 the Spirit to elaborate and expand in a most wonderful way 68 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,880 this God-given by the will of God. 69 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,880 From the will of God, according to the will of God, Christ 70 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:17,760 secured, there couldn't be greater security. 71 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,240 Holy Spirit applied the Spirit living in US privileges of the 72 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:27,120 Christian life. I mean, I have I, I, if you're a 73 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:31,080 New Year's resolution person, I bet none of you wrote, let me 74 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:35,000 think this year more upon the privileges that I have in 75 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,080 Christ. And I promise if you do and the 76 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:42,320 Spirit of God illuminates that it will matter so much more than 77 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,320 anything else you've sought to change in your life. 78 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:52,920 But we have a severe sight problem. 79 00:06:54,160 --> 00:07:01,320 We have a vision issue, and God is so gracious and merciful to 80 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:06,160 give us a letter like this to help us see. 81 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,600 And when I say we have a sight problem and your mind is 82 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:15,600 agreeing with me about other people, then to me you are the 83 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,680 other people. I'm talking directly to you. 84 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:25,200 We all have a sight problem, and it's going to be that way until 85 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,880 Christ returns or calls us home and we behold them face to face. 86 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:31,040 Then we won't have a sight problem. 87 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:35,840 But until then, we will, and God is gracious to show it to us and 88 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:40,000 change it. Michael Allen. 89 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:45,880 Michael Allen has written a commentary on Ephesians. 90 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,320 He's a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary. 91 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,680 I didn't know him as a professor at Reformed Theological 92 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,960 Seminary. I knew him as a young man 93 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,360 serving in our middle school and high school youth ministry. 1 94 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,760 summer. He's written an amazing 95 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:03,640 commentary. In his introduction he says this 96 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:08,880 a key purpose of the letter of Ephesians to Ephesus. 97 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:14,320 A key purpose of a letter is to reshape the spiritual sense or 98 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:16,760 sensitivity of the reader or the listener. 99 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:21,920 In the case of Ephesus, Paul intends to stretch the 100 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:27,280 dimensional constraints of our sight lest our myopia incline us 101 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,440 to miss the most interesting activity. 102 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,799 In other words, Paul's being carried along by the Spirit to 103 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:39,480 stretch our ability to see the glory of God. 104 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,640 Two explicit places this happens is in prayers that we're going 105 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:47,680 to study in the weeks to come. Listen to this Paul says 15 106 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:51,720 verses into chapter 1. For this reason, because I have 107 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,920 heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all 108 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:59,960 the Saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering 109 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:03,200 you in my prayers. And here's the prayer that the 110 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:06,800 God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give 111 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,800 you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of 112 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:17,000 Him having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may 113 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,320 know what is the hope to which He has called you. 114 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,240 That hope is a privilege. What are the riches of His 115 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:26,600 glorious inheritance? In the Saints? 116 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,560 There's no greater inheritance. It's not one you can earn, and 117 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:34,720 it's not one you can lose. It's perfect. 118 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:41,320 And what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us 119 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,480 who believe, according to the working of His great might, that 120 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:48,040 He worked in Christ when He raised him from the dead and 121 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:52,560 seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above 122 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:56,480 all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every 123 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,360 name, that His name not only in the sage, but also no one to 124 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,560 come. He's stretching our vision. 125 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:07,440 He's enlarging our hearts and our minds. 126 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:12,840 Another place Paul prays in a similar fashion this type time. 127 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,920 It's in chapter 3, verse 14. We'll study this in the weeks to 128 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,040 come as well. Paul says, For this reason I bow 129 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:23,000 my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and 130 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,040 on earth is named, that according to the riches of His 131 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,920 glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through 132 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:34,880 His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your 133 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:41,280 hearts amazing through faith, that you being rooted and 134 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:43,840 grounded in love. Now listen to these dimensions 135 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:48,360 may have strength to comprehend with all the Saints what is the 136 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:54,400 breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love 137 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,920 of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be 138 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,240 filled with all the fullness of God. 139 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,360 Those dimensions are perfect dimensions. 140 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:14,040 How wide, how deep, how long, how high is the love of God? 141 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:20,560 It doesn't stop. You'll never fully comprehend. 142 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:25,600 That's amazing. Paul gives us this letter 143 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:30,440 carried along by the Holy Spirit to stretch the dimensional 144 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:34,320 constraints of our site. And we have constraints. 145 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,400 You do not see as clearly as you think. 146 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,560 You do not think as truthfully as you should. 147 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:49,280 You do not feel appropriate things to what God has done for 148 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,840 us. We have a sight problem, and 149 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:56,960 it's a serious problem. You might notice I'm wearing 150 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:00,600 glasses. For most of you, you've only 151 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:04,760 known me as wearing glasses. For many years, I wore contacts. 152 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:09,000 The problem with the contacts became that I could not see the 153 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:14,040 word here, though I could perfectly scan those who are in 154 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,840 the balcony. When did I get glasses? 155 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,320 You probably don't really care to know, but I'm going to tell 156 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:24,360 you anyway. It was in the fall of 1994. 157 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:29,440 I was sitting in my first seminary spring, fall semester, 158 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:32,720 and I remember looking at the board. 159 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,280 Now, that already tells you something of my age. 160 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:38,720 It wasn't a chalkboard. That's the age of other people 161 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,040 around you. It was a white board. 162 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,320 But I looked at it and I realized I can't see it that 163 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,960 clearly. So I did what you would do. 164 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,760 I moved a little bit closer, never once thinking I might 165 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:52,680 actually have an issue with my eyes. 166 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,000 I began to notice at night driving that it was harder to 167 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,560 see certain signs. But I never really thought I 168 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:03,200 needed glasses. I'm too young until I was in 169 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,280 Oklahoma City visiting over the holidays. 170 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:08,840 My brother-in-law, Ron, had set his glasses on the table to get 171 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,880 up and go. I didn't even know where we 172 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:12,320 went, but the glasses were there. 173 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:14,760 So I grabbed them and I put them on just for fun, mostly to see 174 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,720 what I might look like. And I could see. 175 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,920 I was like, oh, I have a sight problem. 176 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:26,960 So I went to the doctor and the doctor prescribed something for 177 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:28,880 my eyes. Not too severe, but definitely 178 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:32,000 needed help. And I could see. 179 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:36,680 It's pretty interesting though. The moment you can see and 180 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:39,360 you're in an eye doctor's office, an optometrist office, 181 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:41,560 the first thing you look at is yourself. 182 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:48,320 You look in a mirror to see what do I look like wearing these 183 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:52,760 glasses? And that's a bigger problem than 184 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,320 we want to admit. You see, my sight problem in 185 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,400 seminary wasn't just my physical eyes. 186 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,560 My sight problem in seminary was far worse spiritual. 187 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:08,200 I went into seminary expecting every question I had to be 188 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,360 answered. I left seminary with my favorite 189 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:19,840 word being mystery in seminary, studying God's Word deeply, 190 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:24,800 immersing in systematic theology, biblical theology, 191 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:27,920 pastoral theology. I loved all of it. 192 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:30,600 But I had a serious sight problem. 193 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:38,600 Time after time, day after day, I needed the mercy of God to 194 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:43,840 shift my eyes, to fix them in the right place, and then to 195 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,960 focus them and keep them fixed in the right place. 196 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:53,280 In seminary, the struggle with envy, the struggle with pride, 197 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:59,000 the struggle with being thankful for gifts and then wishing you 198 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:03,400 had another's or worse, and this is envy, wishing they didn't 199 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:09,480 have those gifts. Seeing things for the first 200 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:14,720 time, having my mind blown only later in the day to have to 201 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:19,760 confess along with the psalmist Lord, turn my eyes from looking 202 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:24,760 at worthless things. We have a sight problem. 203 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,400 Most of us are looking at worthless things all the time. 204 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,040 And I'm not just talking about evil vile images on a computer. 205 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:40,200 I'm talking about staring at ourselves, wondering what other 206 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:47,600 people think about us, consumed with image and it can find its 207 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:50,400 way into every crevice of our heart and mind. 208 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:57,640 We have a sight problem, but we have a God who meets that, who 209 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:03,600 rescues it from us. So we come to the letter of 210 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,680 Ephesians this morning. I simply want to ask three 211 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:09,760 questions. Who wrote the letter? 212 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:15,880 Who was it written to or to whom was it written and why? 213 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,280 Why did God carry Paul along to write this letter? 214 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,200 Well, let's begin by just looking at the passage. 215 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,840 Verse one verse, one word. 1 Paul. 216 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:36,240 Isn't it amazing that in a letter intended to stretch our 217 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:43,680 vision, that is written by a man who was made blind by God and 218 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:51,000 then healed by God? You might not be all familiar 219 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:57,440 with the story of Saul of Tarsus, or you may be so 220 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,720 familiar of it that it doesn't really astonish you anymore. 221 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,680 This is astonishing. Acts Chapter 9. 222 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:11,599 Just listen as I read. But Saul, that was his name 223 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:15,359 before it was Paul, still breathing out threats and murder 224 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,839 against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 225 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,280 and he asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so 226 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:26,760 that if he found any belonging to the way, the way this verse 227 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,240 is capitalized, it means the way of Christ, it means 228 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:33,280 Christianity. If he found any belonging to the 229 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:37,400 way men are women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 230 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:47,520 Paul had a vision, and that vision was for the glory of who 231 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:50,640 he thought God was. And what God wanted him to do 232 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:56,680 was to destroy the way. And the way was the church and 233 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:01,800 people that belong to the way it heard about this man saw, he 234 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:07,400 delighted in seeing Christians bound up, put in prison, even 235 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:11,320 killed. That was his vision and he 236 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:15,880 wasn't going to stop on his way to Damascus. 237 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,760 Verse 3 says Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus 238 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:25,280 and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him and falling to 239 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:29,480 the ground he heard a voice saying to him, Now just for a 240 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:33,760 minute I want you to understand that this really happened. 241 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,640 There was a real man named Saul. There were people travelling 242 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,000 with him. He truly hated Christians. 243 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,680 He wanted to destroy the way, He wanted to destroy the church. 244 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:47,040 He wanted to destroy people like me and you and your children who 245 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:52,960 proclaim Christ. On this way he hears a voice. 246 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:59,160 The voice overwhelms him. He falls to the ground. 247 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:09,880 The voice speaks, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me and 248 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:13,600 Paul? Saul said, Who are you, Lord? 249 00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:20,680 And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 250 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:26,360 This really happened. The risen, resurrected Lord 251 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:33,960 Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus, spoke to him his name 252 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:40,400 twice, got his attention, brought holy disruption into his 253 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:49,680 life, and then said these words. But rise and enter the city, and 254 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:51,720 you will be told what you are to do. 255 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,760 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing 256 00:19:55,760 --> 00:20:00,200 the voice, but seeing no one saw, rose from the ground, and 257 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,320 although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. 258 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:06,800 That can be true of so many of us. 259 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:11,440 So often, though his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. 260 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,160 That's not a metaphor. He literally couldn't see. 261 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:19,000 He could see until that voice spoke, until the one behind that 262 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:25,720 voice blinded him. So they led him by the hand and 263 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,680 brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was 264 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:32,800 without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 265 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:40,280 So this is the one to whom the first word of Ephesians starts 266 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:48,120 with a name, Paul. It's mind boggling that God by 267 00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:53,240 his will would knit together in the womb of a woman who was 268 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:59,560 Saul's mother, a child who would become a man who would then kill 269 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:04,400 Christians, throw them in prison, while the whole time 270 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,720 that individual soul was being knit together. 271 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:10,960 He is the one that is going to be used by God, carried along by 272 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:17,360 the Holy Spirit, who is God, to write 13 books of the Bible, 273 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:25,240 including Ephesus. Paul, we're told, is the one who 274 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,040 wrote this letter. You can read in commentaries 275 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:35,760 about some more contemporary debates, but the most biblical 276 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,080 anchored in truth commentaries, commentaries do not deny that 277 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,640 it's Paul. Paul goes on there to describe 278 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:46,200 himself not just by his name, but by who he is essentially his 279 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:50,640 occupation. Paul, an apostle of Christ 280 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:54,280 Jesus. The word apostle means a sent 281 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,960 one. It means a messenger in the 282 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,520 Bible. There were the 12 apostles. 283 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,320 Judas falls in the early part. The book Acts he's replaced by 284 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,760 with dyas. But Paul is also called an 285 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:11,080 apostle. He was not there witnessing 286 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,760 those events first hand the way that the disciples were. 287 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:16,920 He was against them. He was against the church. 288 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:23,040 But here and this profound holy disruption, Paul sees the 289 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,960 resurrected Lord, he hears the resurrected Lord and he is 290 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:31,560 appointed as an apostle. He says he's an apostle and he 291 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,240 aligns it with the person in which he's an apostle. 292 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:40,680 He is a sent 1A Commission 11 given authority by Christ Jesus. 293 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,800 And then we have this phrase by the will of God. 294 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:49,880 Now this is a phrase that is going to be saturated in the 295 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:54,480 book of Ephesians. It's beautiful to think about 296 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:58,640 the profound reality of God's sovereign will and His sovereign 297 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,120 grace. Four times in chapter 1 alone 298 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:05,720 you will hear that phrase according to the will of God or 299 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:11,120 by the will of God. Paul wants everyone listening to 300 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:16,240 know where is authority lies and why he is what he is. 301 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,880 He is what He is by the will of God and you're going to see in 302 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:24,640 Ephesians that which is true of him is true of you as well. 303 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:34,920 Ephesians is a book that only contains 2429 words. 304 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:40,800 In some bibles it takes up 4 pages and other bibles through 305 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,240 some, like some of you have giant print. 306 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:49,560 It might be more pages, but it takes between 18 and 22 minutes 307 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:54,560 to read the whole letter. Yet in this letter, such 308 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:59,000 beautiful theology and doctrine is presented in a clear, 309 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:01,040 concise. Now I think some of you are 310 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:02,800 starting to count words. That's not going to be helpful 311 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,200 to you. Stop, Don't do that, do it 312 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:11,960 later. These words that are written act 313 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:15,160 as a manual, a guide for the church. 314 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,680 Who are we? What are we to be? 315 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,280 The church is desperate for guidance and always has been. 316 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,240 Left to ourselves, we will make it things it was never intended 317 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:28,040 to be. Paul gives us this letter and 318 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,000 this letter tells us so much about who we are and how we are 319 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:36,840 to behave. James Boyce says if Ephesians is 320 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:43,640 profound, and it is, it is so not for the mysterious nature of 321 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,200 its unfathomable deep secrets. And they are deep. 322 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:49,800 They're profound. What I read to you in his 323 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,840 prayers from chapter 1 and chapter 3 are remarkable. 324 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:58,720 But Ephesians is profound because of the clear way it 325 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:02,840 presents the most basic Christian truths 326 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:09,120 comprehensively, clearly, practically, and winsomely. 327 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:16,280 It actually is not a difficult book to understand what God is 328 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,240 giving us. It's hard to understand some of 329 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:24,560 the mysteries of his sovereignty, but it's not 330 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,520 difficult to see what he's calling us to. 331 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:33,760 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, by 332 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,480 the will of God. He wrote this book by the will 333 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,200 of God. I'm preaching this book by the 334 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:42,920 will of God. You're reading and studying this 335 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:47,720 book if you're in Christ, which leads to the second question, to 336 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,440 whom did Paul write the letter? Look at the text with me. 337 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:56,720 Second part of verse one to the Saints who who are in Ephesus 338 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:58,880 and are faithful in Christ Jesus. 339 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,360 Let's take the first word to the Saints. 340 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:07,840 This is a place where most of you have smudges on your 341 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:12,440 glasses. You don't see this word St. 342 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:14,600 correctly. And you think you do. 343 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,960 You think you do. Because if you're in Christ, and 344 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,600 I heard that, and I said to you, oh, you're a St. you would say 345 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,960 no, no, no, no, no. Out of a sense of humility. 346 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:29,320 I hope you would say no, no, no, no, no. 347 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:35,520 But you're wrong and bad. Theology's always dangerous and 348 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:37,960 bad. Theology finds its way sometimes 349 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,720 in clever statements, that we actually begin to embrace this 350 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:42,440 truth. For example, God's not 351 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,720 interested in your holiness, He's interested in your 352 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,640 happiness. Nope, people say it the other 353 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:51,280 way. No, he's not interested in your 354 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,040 happiness, He's interested in your holiness. 355 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,000 Nowhere in the Bible to be found. 356 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,600 Not a Bible verse. And it's not true. 357 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:08,800 God is so concerned about your happiness in Him that he sent 358 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:12,160 his Son to die. And by making that statement, 359 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,840 and I've heard so many people say it, he's not interested in 360 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:18,000 your happiness, He's interested in your holiness. 361 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,520 It puts those two things in opposition. 362 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:25,280 It creates a false dichotomy. The more you live for the 363 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:29,040 holiness of God and according to God's Word, walking in a manner 364 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,520 that is worthy of Him, as Ephesians will say, you will be 365 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:36,200 happy. Not a shallow happiness, but a 366 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:40,680 deep rooted joy. God's deeply interested in that. 367 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:46,640 Here's another one to the Saints who are in Ephesus. 368 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:53,000 To the Saints, the word St. is the most frequent word in 369 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,760 Scripture for Christian. The word Christians only used 370 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:59,840 three times. So if you are a Christian, you 371 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:02,960 are a St. I'm not talking about your 372 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:10,920 behavior, I'm talking about you being set apart by Christ, which 373 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:15,640 is what a St. is. You being set apart by Christ by 374 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:20,640 his will to experience the privileges of that union. 375 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,720 Let me give you an example of how bad theology finds its way 376 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,280 into some of our common language and even books that we read. 377 00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:35,240 There is a wonderful book on marriage and I'm going to say 378 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,240 it. It's got a terrible title, but 379 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:42,320 the title sounds good and some of you have read the book and I 380 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,520 bet you've given it as a gift. You may have even taught small 381 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,200 groups, but the title is not helpful. 382 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,760 The title of the book is When Sinners Say I Do. 383 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:58,760 But every time a man and a woman comes for marriage, they are 384 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:02,040 sinners and they're going to sin against each other. 385 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:08,680 But if they are in Christ, Sinner is not their primary 386 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:12,000 identity nor their permanent identity. 387 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,960 Their permanent identity and primary identity is the same. 388 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:25,160 They're Saints, standing in this place many times with husband 389 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,240 and wife. There's not many weddings that 390 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,920 would go by where I won't say something like this to the man. 391 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:38,600 The woman you are about to marry is a beloved daughter of the 392 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:45,680 living God. He created her, He died for her, 393 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:50,400 He saved her, and He's sanctifying her. 394 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:54,680 He's going to use you to help. And to the man, as I look at the 395 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,280 man, I speak to the woman and say the man that you're about to 396 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,840 marry is the beloved son of the living God. 397 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,720 He died for him. He knit him together. 398 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:06,320 He rescued him. He saved him. 399 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:08,880 He's sanctifying him. He's going to use you to help. 400 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:14,920 So many weddings I go to, it's almost as if the minister saying 401 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:19,120 good luck, this is going to be hard. 402 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:26,880 And it is. There's not a day I don't sin in 403 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:30,880 one way or another against my wife, and there's not a day that 404 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:35,880 she doesn't sin against me. But if I want to change my 405 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:41,440 behavior, and I do, it's far more powerful for me to remember 406 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:46,600 who it is he called me to marry, who she is, who he called me to 407 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:52,520 marry, and who she is as a St. as who she will always be and 408 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,880 who I am in Christ is who I will always be. 409 00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:01,200 A St. this side of heaven, a St. that struggles with sin. 410 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:06,080 This is a big deal. Now don't go home and trash the 411 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:11,120 book, but I would encourage you to take a sharpie and change the 412 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:16,200 title. If you're in Christ, you're a 413 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:21,080 St. and all the privileges that Paul is going to talk about in 414 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:28,480 this letter, in these 2429 words are going to expand your vision. 415 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,440 It's going to cause your vision to stretch. 416 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:40,200 He's going to elaborate and expand in a most wonderful way. 417 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:44,480 The God-given Christ secured Holy Spirit of pied privileges 418 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:48,000 of the Christian life. I got to stop. 419 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,440 If you want to hear more, you can listen to the 8:00 service, 420 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:56,760 but I'm going to stop here next week. 421 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:01,840 Paul's preaching, not the apostle, but our pastor Paul. 422 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:10,480 That would be amazing. And he will pick up with these 423 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:16,120 two profound words in Ephesus and in Christ Jesus. 424 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:22,520 In Christ Jesus. 9 times in the 1st 14 verses that phrase is 425 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:23,880 used. One of Paul's favourites. 426 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:28,720 It means everything. And Grace to You in Peace is not 427 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:34,240 just a clever introduction, it's actually the table of contents 428 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:38,400 for the whole book. At the very end of the book, 429 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,960 Paul's going to give those words to us again, but in reverse 430 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:48,840 order. Let me pray, Lord, I'm excited 431 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:50,960 for us to walk through this together. 432 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:56,000 I'm excited that when we say that, we know that we're walking 433 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,800 together in You. We all have a need for help with 434 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,920 our vision. We need You to fix our eyes upon 435 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,360 Jesus. We need You to focus our eyes. 436 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,440 When even we're looking at Your word, we're still not seeing 437 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:17,800 clearly. You do that all the time, make 438 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:20,200 us cry out like the blind man when you asked him, what do you 439 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,000 want me to do for you? Give me sight, maybe pray the 440 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:28,200 same and may you truly stretch our vision to see that the grace 441 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:32,480 and peace we need is given by you and in you alone. 442 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:40,200 We pray this in Jesus name and all of God's Saints said Amen, 443 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:41,000 please stand.