Mercy every day, every day to
us. We're just overwhelmed with how
much you bless us and how much you take care of us. We pray
that you would be glorified today in the preaching of your word.
And as the messages go out, that's all Lord, if it's your will to
draw one of your sheep to you, we pray you would. And if there's
any here who come today that have don't know You, that if
it's Your will, that You would open their ears and open their
eyes to see Thee, we pray, and that they might run to Thee and
flee to Thee, that You'd make them will. We pray You'd be glorified,
though, and magnified in the preaching of Your Word, and glorified
and magnified in the singing and in the piano playing. Whatever
is done, Lord, may it bring all glory to You and all honor and
all praise to Thee, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Ephesians chapter 1. Last week
we did a little overview, the first 15 verses, and today I'd
like to just take a look. I was planning on doing two verses,
but there was so much in verse 1, we'll just be in verse 1 today. So, Ephesians chapter 1, verse
1. In the name of the messages,
all by the will of God. All by the will of God. Ephesians 1, verse 1, Paul an
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints which
are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. So two main
things for us to consider in this first verse is that Paul
is an apostle by the will of God. And last week in the introduction,
I touched on that a little bit. Paul didn't become an apostle
by man's will and by man's doing. Nobody put him there but God.
He became an apostle by the will of God. And then the second point
we'll look at this week is it says God's people are faithful
in Christ Jesus. Now who is Paul an apostle of? Well, we know from the Scripture
here, it says Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ. He's an apostle
of Christ. And who are the saints faithful
in? We're faithful in Christ. See, the main thrust already
of the epistle right away, Paul's getting their eyes right away
again on Christ. He does this every single time. It's incredible.
That's the first thing he points the saints to. Spurgeon said,
when a preacher preaches a message, we should make a beeline for
Christ. And that's absolutely right, because he is what's most
important. He is who is most important. And he's also to receive
all the preeminence. Preachers aren't supposed to
talk about themselves, we're to talk about the one who we
worship and who we adore and who saved us and has redeemed
us by his precious blood, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And think of this, if you take Christ out of this verse, the
apostles and the saints both sink into insignificance. If
Christ is removed from this verse, we're nothing. And neither is
Paul. This whole book is a book about
Christ. From beginning to end, from the Old Testament to the
New, it points us continuously to Christ and what he's done.
So, if we take Christ out of this verse, there's nothing there.
There's nothing there. And one commentator said, to
remove him would be to blot out the sun out of the skies. There'd
be nothing there, just be darkness. And this is why it's so important
for us to preach Christ and to preach His preeminence as well.
He is the one who receives all the preeminence, all the honor,
all the praise. Apart from Him, we have no spiritual
life. None. Apart from Him, we have no justification
before God. None. Apart from Him, we have
no hope. Do you see how much our whole
lives as believers, our whole belief as believers is wrapped
up in one person? The Lord Jesus Christ and Him
alone. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Again,
this is why it's so important to preach Christ. One commentator said, without
Him, we would be without God in the world, without hope, without
light, and without heaven. Oh, what great comfort Christ
is to the believer. He's everything for us. Everything. Now Paul says here, Paul, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, he's talking about his office as an
apostle. He was called distinctly, and
he was called directly and immediately by a voice from heaven, by the
Lord Jesus Christ. He was sent of God to preach.
What was he sent of God to preach? He wasn't sent of God to preach
his experience. He wasn't sent of God to preach
to be like a cheerleader or guys to get you hyped up, was he?
No, he was sent to preach the unsearchable riches of the Lord
Jesus Christ in him alone. He was sent to preach Christ. So he's speaking here of his
office as an apostle. He had a direct commission from
God himself, and it was without the intervention of any human
hands or any human instrumentality, none at all. It was all by God. It was all by the will of God.
He was called by God as an apostle, and it was all by the will of
God. In Colossians, we're studying that on Wednesday nights, and
it says this, in verse 1, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by
the will of God, and Timotheus, our brother. Paul's appointment
to apostleship was not his own doing. It was called by the will
of God. And he continually wrote this.
In 2 Timothy he said this, Paul an Apostle, verse 1, Paul an
Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God according to the
promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. Again, just see how he
writes to Christ again. But that continuous vein as he
always said, by the will of God. Do you know that every believer is saved by the will of God?
Every believer by the will of God. This is why when the Lord saves
folks, we say, well, that was their appointed time. That was
the time for God, that God appointed for them to hear the gospel.
Oh, what a great God we have. And Paul continually writes upon
this truth. And he took no honor upon himself.
He took no honor upon himself. But it was God who did this.
And it was all by his will. And all by his power. Because
Paul was off on the road to kill Christians, wasn't he? To gather
them up and take them to prison. Well, God had other plans. The will of God is eternal, beloved.
It's eternal. It finds its origins in God.
It finds its origins in His good pleasure. Turn, if you would,
to Hebrews 10. It finds its origins in His good
pleasure. And it is the cause of the everlasting covenant of
grace. God's will foreordains every
blessing which the everlasting covenant contains for the heirs
of promise, which are believers. And to do this will, Christ came
to die in the place of His people. He came to do God's will. Brother
John and I talked about that about a month ago. Brother John
mentioned that. You remember that, brother? You were saying
Christ came to fulfill God's will. To fulfill the Father's
will. Well, look at Hebrews 10, verses
9 and 10. He came to die in the place of
His people before God's law and justice as their substitute.
Hebrews 10, verse 9 and 10 says, Then said He, Lo, I come to do
Thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
He may establish the second. By which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Christ came to fulfill the will of God. And it's God's will that
He save His people from their sins. That's wonderful news for
sinners. Wonderful news for sinners. It's God's will that His people
would be sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. And by this will, by God's will,
apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers are
called and placed wherever it's God's will. It's amazing. He's a sovereign King. And He's
in full control. And what great comfort this brings
us as believers. His will will be done. By God's will, the preacher's
word is made effectual. And believers receive grace from
God to believe. It's all His work. It's all His
work. We who believe are blessed with
all spiritual blessings in Christ. Look at Ephesians 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. All of them. In heavenly places,
where? In Christ. all in Christ, all
in Him. Now think of this, beloved. What
great comfort we can glean, what treasures are stored up for us
in the precious truth that God is unchangeable. His will will
be done. He's unchangeable. Spurgeon said
this. I put this in the bulletin, but
I wanted to read it too. The Christian knows no change
with regard to God. He may be rich today and poor
tomorrow. So our standing, we may be rich
one day and poor the next. He may be sickly today and well
tomorrow, right? He may be in happiness today
and tomorrow in distress. We've all experienced this. But listen to what Spurgeon goes
on to say. But there is no change with regard to his relationship
with God. No matter what the Christian
state is, there's no change with his relationship with God. If
he loved me yesterday, he loves me today. I am neither better nor worse
in God than I ever was. And then he goes on to say, let
prospects be blighted, let hopes be blasted, let joy be withered,
let mildews destroy everything. I have lost nothing of what I
have in God. Oh, what peace that brings us. What peace that brings us. Because I know if it was me,
I'd ruin it. But no, it's all dependent upon
Christ and what He's done. God is without variableness or
shallow eternity, beloved. And one commentator said, what
infinite serenity there is in our God. What infinite serenity
there is in our God. He's the governor of the universe. And His will will be done. In this world, our lives, there
are times of uncertainty and trouble and sorrow and sickness
and heartache and trials. But remember this, beloved. Oh,
remember this. Our great King and Savior and
Redeemer is unchanging. Unchanging. I am that I am. For I am the Lord, I change not.
Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Malachi 3.6 I am
that I am. He's unchanging. Therefore, His
will never changes. God never changes. His will never
changes towards us. Turn, if you would, to John 13. His will never changes towards
His people. And remember this, Paul was raised
up by the will of God, right? Saved and redeemed by the will
of God. So is every one of us. Saved and redeemed by the will
of God. Oh, it's marvelous. John chapter
13, verse 1. Now, before the Feast of the
Passover, when Jesus knew this hour was come, that He should
depart out of this world until the Father Heaven loved His own.
We're in the world. He loved them until the end. God's love for His people is
unchanging. Unchanging. He went to that cross
willingly, beloved, and He knew exactly what He was doing. He
must redeem His people from their sins. He must. He must. So Paul was raised up by the
will of God. He was sent by the will of God.
He was empowered by the will of God to do that which God had
planned for him to do. And as I said earlier, let us
remember that if we're saved, it's by the will of God that
brings us great joy, great peace. And remember, this is why I say
keep praying for your loved ones and keep praying for people who
don't know Christ. We don't know who God's elect
are. He knows. But we have no idea. Therefore,
we keep praying. And if it's His will, He'll save
them. Here, draw them. He won't lose one of his sheep.
He said, not one. Not one. Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter
2, verses 9 and 10. Every believer is chosen of the
Father, redeemed by the Son, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit
of God. And it's God's will and choosing
when this happens. Look at 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and
10. Speaking about believers. Now,
I'm a sinner saved by grace. I don't feel this way, but this
is what Scripture says is a reality. But I'm a sinner saved by the
grace of God in Christ. I struggle all the time. And
I know you do too. But look what Scripture declares.
But ye are a chosen generation, verse 9, a royal priesthood and
holy nation, a particular people, that ye should show forth the
praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness. Remember
Colossians? We saw that. Called out of the kingdom of
darkness or the power of darkness into the kingdom of His dear
Son, who called you out of darkness. And what darkness it was? Into
His marvelous light. which in times past were not
a people." Oh, we were just going along doing whatever we will
and enjoying whatever we would do. But God knows every single one
of His sheep. Look at verse 10. It says, "...which
in times past were not a people, but now the people of God." And
here it is right here, beloved. Here it is. Here it is. Here's
the pinnacle. "...which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy." We who believe have obtained
mercy. We didn't seek it. We've obtained it. It's a gift
of God. Not of works lest any man should
post. We have obtained mercy. God has had grace upon us in
Christ. And Scripture says God has made
His people in Christ kings and priests to the praise and the
glory of His name. Turn, if you would, to Revelation
1. You can keep in mind what we
just read in 1 Peter. And this is all by the will of
God. This is all by the will of God. Revelation 1, verses 4-6. John to the seven churches which
are in Asia, grace be unto you in peace. There it is again.
Paul always does that. We're going to see that next
week. Every time, grace and peace. And why? Because, as I said before,
grace always precedes peace. And if there's no grace, there's
no peace. Oh, we have peace with God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Grace be unto you and peace from
Him which is, and which was, and which is to come, and from
the seven spirits which are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ
who is a faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead,
and the Prince of the kings of the earth, unto Him that loved
us. Unto Him that loved us. Oh, what great love Christ has
for His people. and washed us from our sins.
How? In His own precious blood. In
His own blood, Scripture declares. In His own blood. And hath made
us kings and priests unto God and His Father. To Him be glory
and dominion forever and ever. Amen. He gets all the glory. And it's all by God's will that
this happened. It's not by chance or luck. Spurgeon said the word luck should
be extinguished from our vocabulary as believers, because there's
no such thing as luck. Oh my. And this is all by God's
will and by his decree. And let's go back to our text
in in verse 1 of Ephesians. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God. And who are the ones that this
epistle is addressed to? To the saints, which are at Ephesus,
and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Here we say, the faithful
in Christ Jesus. And the saints. Saints is another
name for God's people, for His elect who are called saints. It's a biblical word. It's been
maligned and twisted by the Catholic Church. They've twisted it all
to pieces. But the word saints is defined in the Greek as a
most holy thing. A saint. And Paul calls the believers
here at Ephesus saints. If you're here and you believe,
you're a saint. I don't feel like a saint, but Scripture declares
I am. God's people are set apart, beloved,
consecrated to and for the glory of God. They were chosen in Christ
from eternity in the councils of heaven to this blessed state. Predestined to be conformed to
the image of the Son. Their predestination is the cause
of their call. by the Spirit of God, to come
out and be separate, and to be a particular people, zealous
of good works. Look at Romans 1, verse 7, when
Paul addresses the believers at Rome as the beloved of God
and called to be saints. This is a word that's often used
about believers in Christ. Look at Romans 1, verse 7, to
all that be in Rome, beloved of God, loved of God from eternity,
called to be saints. It's not a word we should be
afraid of because this is what we are. We don't feel like we
are, but Scripture declares all who are in Christ are saints.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to 2 Timothy 2. We'll look at
verses 8-10. Keep in mind what we read there
about God's people being saints and God's people being faithful
in Christ. We're going to look at 8 and
9, 10, and then we'll look at 9 specifically. 2 Timothy 1,
8 and 9. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, But be thou a partaker of the
afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who has
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made
manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who
hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel." Now, think of what we've been
reading and what we've been looking at. We are saints by the will
of God, right? It's by His will, and not His
will only. We've chosen Him in Christ, chosen in Christ in eternity,
and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. But look at
the order of verse 9, 2 Timothy 1, 9. Look at the order of this.
Who has saved us? So who's the one who saved us?
God has saved us, because we know that. Look at verse 8. At
the very latter end of verse 8, of the Gospel according to
the power of God. And then it continues, who has
saved us? So God has saved us, right? We don't save ourselves.
We cannot save ourselves. It's impossible. So Scripture
here declares that God has saved us. Who has saved us? And called
us with a holy calling. God has called us with a holy
calling. We're saints. A most holy thing. And that holy
calling is by the Holy Spirit calling us and regenerating us.
And then look at this. Now, you've got thousands of
religions out there based upon works, right? And you've got
all kinds of religions that use this Bible itself and claim that
salvation isn't something you do. But look what the Scripture
declares right here. Not according to our works. So we can't be saved by our works.
It's impossible. It's only the grace of God in
Christ. And then look at this. This is all according to His
purpose. But according to His own purpose and grace, well,
by the will of God. By the will of God. Which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. It's a gift
given to us and it proceeded from the sovereign will of God
in Christ before the world began. What a wonderful salvation we
have in Christ. It's a gift from eternity in
Christ. who is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And so we see God's distinguishing grace on display to his people. And it's amazing. As I said,
I'm the only one in my family who the Lord saved. Well, it's
only by God's grace that I'm saved. And I know a lot of you
are in the same place. We're only certain you're the
only one in your whole family whose Lord saved. And we just
marvel. But it's by the grace of God.
It's by His will. And for each of God's sheep there's
a day of salvation, a day when they are made willing by God's
power and they flee right to Christ. And we know that because
there was a day when we weren't willing and then all of a sudden
we were willing. And it's amazing. When the fullness of time has
come, the Spirit of God brings God's sheep as willing subjects
into the kingdom of grace. When the fullness of time comes,
when it's God's time. Isaiah 43, 21 says this, this
people have I formed for myself These people have I formed for
Myself. Remember in Romans it says vessels of honor and vessels
of dishonor? These people have I formed for
Myself. They shall show forth My praise. Oh, Isaiah 43, 20,
21. These people have I formed for
Myself. They shall show forth My praise. Back to Ephesians chapter 1 and
we're closed here. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, to the saints which are their Ephesus, and
to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Now believers in Christ are faithful
in Christ Jesus. We are in Christ by electing
grace. We are given faith and repentance by the grace of God.
And we are preserved in Christ by the grace of God. And one
day, beloved, we will be presented blameless. Sinners presented blameless. Oh my. And believers in Christ
are faithful to the cause and interest of Christ and to the
gospel and to the ordinances. Who is our profession of faith
in? It's in Christ. It's nowhere else. We've cast
away all other hope. It's only in Christ and Him alone.
He's the very one who saves our souls. And then what happens? We live a life, don't we? We're
relying and trusting on Christ. And He keeps us going. It's amazing. This is why John Newton said,
it's amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found, was blind, but now I see. So we are translated. Turn, if
you would, to Colossians 1.13. We'll look at this in light of
what we're looking at here. We are translated into the kingdom
of His dear Son, taken from one and placed into another by the
regenerating power of the Holy Spirit of God. Colossians 1.13.
We're no longer of the world, we're in the world, but we're
no longer of the world. We're in Christ. And the things that once interested
us are kind of waning, off they go, and we still struggle with
sin all the time, and we struggle with different things, and there's
still some things we like to do and stuff. I'm not saying
that. But I'm saying the lifestyle that we once lived, we don't
desire that anymore. Look at Colossians 1, verse 13,
"...who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Oh, beloved
of God, we are rooted and grounded in Christ, engrafted into Him
as a branch into the stem of a tree. Rooted in Him as a tree in the
earth. And believers are faithful in
that they have received the precious gift of faith And we abound, we abound therein
with thanksgiving. Doesn't it make your heart glad
that the Lord saved you, those of us who are saved? Don't you
remember where you were and where you are now? Oh, it's wonderful. It's marvelous. And we look,
believers in Christ, look to the atoning blood and to the
justifying righteousness of Christ and nothing else is the ground
of our salvation. That's it. Nothing else. All in Him. All in Christ. And believers are also faithful
in that we no longer live unto ourselves. We don't live unto
ourselves anymore. We seek to live unto Christ.
I remember even doing our, when we had our cleaning business
in Oregon, sometimes you just didn't want to go. It's just
like, oh my gosh. Well, I want to do this for the
glory of God. And you want to do your job for the best that
you can, even if no one else is looking, to glorify God. Is it not so? So our whole lives,
our whole lives have changed. We don't look to ourselves, but
we seek to live under Christ who loved us and gave himself
for us. We're bought with a price. So
the searching question is this then. Are we the saints and faithful
in Christ Jesus according to the scriptural meaning of the
terms? Those who can respond, yes, blessed
are they who can respond that though we're miserable sinners,
yet we're saved by grace alone, through Christ alone, for the
glory of God alone. And we have wonderful fellowship,
don't we? One with another. Because we're just a bunch of
sinners saved by grace. Well, what can we say to that
but to God be the glory. Great things He hath done.