I am going to be teaching more
regularly. I'm going to try to get up here
about once a month. And because of that, I'm going
to park myself in a book. One of the difficulties of preaching
irregularly is that you don't want to you know, start working
expositionally through a book because then the teaching becomes
disjointed. We forgot where we were when
we get to a new message. But I'm going to be up here regularly,
so I'm going to return to the book of Ephesians. When I first
started teaching here on Wednesday nights, I started in Ephesians.
We made it through, I think, verse four after five or six
sermons. So I'm going to start over and
maybe move a little bit quicker than that. One of the reasons
I want to start in Ephesians is that the pastor in Ephesus,
his name was Timothy. The letter to the Ephesians is
Paul's letter to the church, to the people that were pastored
by Timothy. So at the same time as James
delivers us the instructions given to the elder Timothy, I
want to give you the encouragement that Paul gave to Timothy's sheep. So that you get the words to
the shepherd and the words to the sheep. So today we're going to begin
in just the greeting. We're going to start with Paul's
simple greeting to the people in the church at Ephesus. Paul begins, 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. We see similar
introductions, similar greetings in all of Paul's letters. It's identical, almost, to some
of the other ways in which Paul has greeted the people of God. And because of this, we often
find in expositional preaching series that these greetings are
overlooked. You might find a first sermon
in an Ephesian series go as far as verse 4 or 5 on the first
Sunday, leaving only verses 1 and 2 with an introduction. Sure,
this is very simple and it does not appear to have much theological
richness, but there's something here for us. Even though it's
not didactic teaching, Paul would tell us in 2 Timothy that all
Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching
and for correction, for rebuking and for training in righteousness
that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. And so in these first two verses
we are going to find the teaching, the correction, the training,
and the rebuke that Paul would have for us. Paul first introduces himself
as an apostle. An apostle of Christ Jesus by
the will of God. He does this throughout his letters.
He establishes his authority as an apostle. To understand the significance
of what it means to be an apostle, we have to sort of follow a thread
of authority through other places in Scripture. before we finally
get to Paul. So first, we're going to examine
the nature of God's revelation to the church, just in general. To do that, we're going to go
to Hebrews chapter 1. I contend with you that Hebrews
was also written by Paul, despite the lack of a similar greeting
here. In Hebrews 1, Paul just jumps
in in order to establish the authority of Christ. He writes,
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers
by the prophets. But in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all
things, through whom also he created the world. He is the
radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his
nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for
sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high,
having become as much superior to angels as the name he has
inherited is more excellent than theirs. So first we want to outline the
distinction between God's revelation in the Old Testament, that is,
the time before the incarnation of Christ, and God's revelation
in the New Testament, the revelation of God after Christ's resurrection. If you're familiar with the Old
Testament, you know that there is an entire section of books
called the Prophets. Names like Elijah, Jeremiah,
Isaiah, and Daniel come to mind as these great prophets of Israel. And we see in the Old Testament
that God always speaks to his people by speaking only to these
special people, these prophets, those appointed to have the authority
to bring the words of God to the nation of Israel. And when one prophet dies, the
people of God wait because they know to expect another to take
his place. They know to expect God to raise
up another prophet to bring them the word of God. Hebrews 1, we're given a contrast. Something has changed. Paul declares that God no longer
speaks to individuals as prophets. Instead, he has now spoken to
us through his son, Jesus Christ, whom he has appointed heir of
all things, through whom he also created the world. So God no longer speaks to these
individual prophets, at least not in the same way that he spoke
to them in the Old Testament. Instead, now he speaks through
his son, Jesus Christ. But we have to explain what that
means because Jesus Christ is not here in the flesh speaking to us.
I am. So there's something different
about how God speaks to his people now. But we'll get there. The author
of Hebrews asserts that God created the world through his son, the
Christ, in that this son now speaks. He says he is the radiance
of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature, and he
upholds the universe by the word of his power. And so when we
see Christ speaking, when we see this idea of Christ
being the creator of all things, being the one who upholds the
world, the universe, by his word, I think of John chapter 1. John the Apostle in the first
chapter of his gospel says, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and
the Word was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things were made through him and without him was not anything
made that was made. In him was life and the light,
and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness is not overcome it." So here in
John 1, 3, we see that all things are made through Christ. And
John presents us not with the name of Christ, not by telling
us Jesus the Christ, but he presents us with this idea of the Word,
the Word of God. this Word of God that created
the universe and upholds it by the Word of His power. He would
go on to tell us in verse 14 that the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us. And we have seen His glory, glorious
of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. And
so from this we know that this Word is Jesus Christ. This infant born of the Virgin
Mary. This little child is the Word
of God, the one who created the universe and upholds it by the
Word of His power. We have seen His glory. Glory
is of the only Son from the Father, the exact imprint of the Father's
nature. The Word, the Son, the Christ. He is the one through whom God
now speaks. So God speaks through Christ
and now we need to understand how he does that. I'm going to
go off on a little side note here before we get away from
Hebrews 1. There's something important to
understand about what is being established here in Hebrews 1.
I had a friend ask me this week about the idea of the biblical
canon. When we talk about the biblical
canon, we're referring to the 66 books that comprise this. These 66 books which are the
word of God, breathed out. And his question was, does Hebrews
1 teach that this canon is closed. Does Hebrews 1 teach that no
one can add more books to the Word of God? And the explanation here gets
into what I'm going to call the difference between doctrine and
applied theology. Because the exact answer to that
question is not actually taught in Hebrews 1. And that is because Hebrews 1
does not have this idea of a canon. We cannot read Hebrews 1 and
think about a list of books, because the author of Hebrews
1 was not concerned with naming a list of books. If he was, he
would have given us the list. Instead, the author of Hebrews
1 is establishing the authority by which the Word of God comes
to us. Okay? This is the doctrine, that
Christ alone now is the authority by which God speaks. God speaks
only now through his Son and no longer through these prophets
that we see in the Old Testament. So even though Hebrews 1 does
not directly answer the question about the biblical canon, that
falls into the realm of applied theology. And oftentimes in this
applied theology, we will find things, questions, problems to
solve that don't have direct context in scripture. This idea of a biblical canon
is not here in Hebrews 1, but we have to use Hebrews 1 in order
to answer the question. We must apply Hebrews 1 to this
idea of the biblical canon. Sorry, side note. We're going to get to Paul very
shortly. We've identified that God speaks
now through Christ and no longer through prophets. In Ephesians
1, Paul writes that he is an apostle by the will of God. When Paul declares he is an apostle
by the will of God, he is referring directly to his own conversion
on the road to Damascus. Turn with me to Acts chapter
9. We're going to read a good bit
here because I just want to let the scripture
speak. Acts chapter 9. We're going to
begin in verse 1. But Saul, still breathing threats
and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high
priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus,
so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he
might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now, as he went on his way, he
approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around
him. Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him,
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you,
Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom
you are persecuting. Rise and enter the city, and
you will be told what you are to do. The men who were traveling
with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and
although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him
by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days
he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was
a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him
in a vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord.
And the Lord said to him, rise and go to the street called Straight,
and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. For behold, he is praying, and
he has seen a vision, a man named Ananias. Come in and lay his
hands on him, so that he might regain his sight. Ananias answered, Lord, I have
heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to
your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has the authority
from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. But
the Lord said to him, go, for he is a chosen instrument of
mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the
children of Israel. For I will show him how much
he must suffer for the sake of my name. So first we see here Paul, also
called Saul. Fun fact, his name was not changed. Some people called him Paul,
some people called him Saul. Paul was probably his Greek name
and Saul was his Hebrew name after King Saul. But we see Paul breathing threats
and murders against the disciples of the Lord. He's a murderer.
He killed God's people. He even had the paperwork to
prove it. He had letters from the priests making it perfectly
legal for him to arrest and bring to Damascus any Christians he
found. Paul hated Christ. And he murdered the sheep. It
was his job. And he was good at it, and he
loved it. And while he was on his way,
a light from heaven shone around him, and he fell to the ground.
And the voice of Christ cried out to him, Saul, Saul, why are
you persecuting me? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. And here we see where Jesus identifies
Paul as his chosen instrument. Jesus tells Ananias, he is my
chosen instrument to bring the gospel to the world. So when we see in Hebrews 1 that
God now speaks only through Christ, we're not to understand it literally
as though only Christ in his body may speak to you. Instead,
we see it as a delegation of authority. In the Old Testament,
God delegated the authority to the prophets to testify on his
behalf. And now that authority has been
given only to Christ, and here we see that Christ has given
it to Paul. Before we move on, there's something
else I want to point out about Paul's conversion. We see that Paul's experience
is somewhat unique, right? I mean, going from being a murderer
to seeing a blinding light, receiving a vision, hearing the words of
Christ himself. and the testimony that he would
be a chosen instrument. What I want you to understand
about this, beloved, is that God takes the same care in saving
his elect as he does in choosing Paul to be his apostle. The same love, the same grace,
the same mercy that turned Paul from murderer into apostle is
the same grace, love, and mercy with which God has saved you. Both by the decree of God, both
by the careful and particular decree of God. In the same way that God decreed
and planned out Paul's work as an apostle, God has planned and
decreed the work that he would have you do. So while we can look at Paul
and think How glorious is God for saving a man such as Paul. We can look at our own conversions
in the same way. There's one more piece in this
puzzle for establishing Paul's authority as an apostle. First
we see that God no longer speaks through individual prophets,
but now he speaks through his son, Jesus Christ. We see that
Christ is the living word, the radiance of the glory of God
become flesh. And then we see that Christ proclaims
Paul as his instrument for bringing the word to the world. And finally, from this man, Paul,
writing with the authority of heaven given to him by Christ,
we see in 2 Timothy that all scripture is breathed out by
God. Paul not only writes as one appointed
by God, his words are from God. Paul's words here in Ephesians,
Paul's words to Timothy, these are not the words of Paul. They
have the same authority as if they were spoken to us directly
from heaven in a whirlwind. Just as God spoke to Peter and
James and John on the mountain out of the whirlwind, when he told them, this is my
son in whom I am well pleased. And Peter, James, and John fell
to their faces and worshiped him. That is the same authority
with which Paul writes to us today. Because Paul is Christ's chosen
instrument to bring his word to the Gentiles. And so there's a distinction
between the revelation before and after Christ. There's something
different. We've explained how the method
of delivery has changed. But there's something else we
need to explore here. There's something else different
about God's revelation to the saints of Israel and God's revelation
to the church. In Hebrews 1, Paul draws this
sharp contrast between the instrument of God's revelation in the former
days and in these last days. And one might observe that In
both cases, the words are written by sinful men. But anyone can plainly see that
the difference is Christ, right? The difference between the Old
Testament and the New Testament is how we may see Christ. In the Old Testament, we do not
see the fullness of the gospel of grace revealed. We see the
gospel of grace revealed through shadows, through promises. The saints of the Old Testament
had faith in the promise of the coming Christ. But now we have
faith in the risen Christ. We have seen the radiance of
his glory. We see this in Hebrews chapter
10. For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to
come, instead of the true form of these realities, it can never,
by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year,
make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have
ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been
cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? But in these sacrifices, there
is a reminder of sins every year, for it is impossible for the
blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when
Christ came into the world, he said, sacrifices and offerings
you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me. and
burnt offerings and sin offerings, you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come
to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll
of the book. When he said above, you have
neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and
burnt offerings and sin offerings, which are offered according to
the law, he added, behold, I have come to do your will. He does
away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will, we have been
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
and for all. So we see that the difference
between the Old and the New Testaments is the full revelation of these
prophecies and shadows fulfilled completely in Christ. In Matthew 27, as Jesus breathes
his last breath on the cross, the curtain of the temple was
torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and rocks were
split. There are no more shadows. The full radiance of the glory
of God is revealed perfectly in Jesus Christ as he has given
it to us in his word. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses,
David, they killed animals in the temple waiting for the Messiah. They had faith in a promise that
the Messiah would come. and they died waiting, but we do not wait. We can see, our eyes have been
opened and he has been revealed to us. Through the word, we see the
radiance of his glory. Glory is of the only son from
the father. full of grace and truth. So Paul says he is an apostle
by the will of God. Now you've probably heard that
phrase used very much for just about anything, right? I'll see
you tomorrow, Lord willing. We even see it in the Lord's
Prayer, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. This idea of God's
will being done gets talked about a lot in our culture, even among
us. I think most people who say these
things are not aware of the significance of what they are saying. Have you ever asked someone what
they mean when they say Lord willing, when you know that they
do not believe in the sovereignty of the Lord? Many people pray like God is
fighting a battle and he's losing. God's will is not something that
might happen. People pray like there's a chance
that God's not going to have his way. How little is there God? God declares in Isaiah 46, remember
this and stand firm. Recall it to mind you transgressors,
remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is
no other. I am God and there is none like
me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times
things not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will
accomplish all my purpose. Calling a bird of prey from the
east, the man of my counsel from a far country, I have spoken
and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do
it. This is how we look at Paul's
conversion. Paul was not in the right place
at the right time. Some guy named Bob happened to
be on the road to Damascus that day instead of Paul. We would
not have the apostle Bob. The Lord has, as he does with
all things, He has taken particular care in who he has chosen. When Paul says, by the will of
God, he is removing himself from the equation. He is declaring
that he has had nothing to do with it. He is acknowledging
that he didn't want to be an apostle. Do you think Paul wanted
to be an apostle before he was an apostle? No, he wanted to
find the apostles and cut their heads off. Paul was on his way to murder
God's people. But God, by his decree, saved him. God, in his mercy,
chose Paul. despite who Paul was. And in the same way, God has
chosen his sheep. God has chosen you, beloved,
despite who we are. Paul writes about us and himself
in Romans chapter three, none is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks
for God. All have turned aside. Together they've become worthless. No one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave.
They use their tongues to deceive. The venom of serpents is under
their lips. Their mouth is full of curses
and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood, and their paths are ruin and misery. In the way of peace
they have not known, there is no fear of God before their eyes. Where Paul says their mouth is
full of curses and bitterness, Paul is identified in Acts 9
as breathing threats and murder. Where Paul says their feet are
swift to shed blood, Paul is identified in Acts 9 as capturing
Christians and taking them to be executed. Paul's evil, he's full of hate,
he's a murderer and he hates God and all of his people. And
God called him. God chose him and God took him
and made him a great instrument for the proclamation of the gospel. And yet people still take these apostles sort
of hold them in high esteem, which in some senses may be okay,
as long as you understand who they were. There's no difference between me and Paul, except that Paul
was given a different job. Paul was wicked, and God saved
him. And God gave Paul a work to do.
And in that, he gave Paul the authority to write letters to
the churches. And those letters are the Word
of God. I was not given the same authority. I was given the work of proclaiming
that gospel. I was given the job of reading
those letters to you. I was given the responsibility
of echoing the words of God given to us by Paul. It's not that, you know, I could
never be like Paul. It's not that we could never
be as good as Paul, but when we understand who Paul was and
where he came from, it's more that we could only ever be like
Paul. Apart from the work of God in
saving us, we could only ever be hate-filled murderers like
Paul. Apart from God's sovereignty
in election, in saving his sheep, we could only be like Paul. So it's not that we could never
be like Paul. It's that you and I and Paul
could never be like Christ the righteous. Because only Christ the righteous
can satisfy God's wrath. Only the righteousness of Christ
pleases God. Because if God looks on us apart
from Christ, he sees wickedness. God's anger burns against all who are not in Christ. because he is just and righteous. Paul had nothing to offer. We
had nothing to offer but sin and misery and murder, and yet
God still saves us. And as it was with Paul, the
apostle by the will of God, so it is with all his sheep, elect
of God by the will of God. And the salvation was secured
by Christ the righteous on the cross of Calvary, where he drank
the full cup of the wrath of God, taking upon himself the
fullness of God's righteous anger against the sins of his sheep,
people from every nation and tribe and tongue redeemed by
the blood of Christ, poured out onto the earth. By that blood,
we are declared not guilty. We bring to the courtroom of
heaven our sin and our guilt. And by that blood of Christ,
the justice of Almighty God is satisfied. And on that cross,
Christ breathes his last and he declares, it is finished. He surrendered up his spirit. He was buried in the tomb of
a rich man and for three days his so-called disciples contemplated
returning to their fishing nets as if they had never walked with
God. And then on the third day he
rose again in his human body and by the power of the Holy
Spirit he ascended into heaven where he is now seated at the
right hand of the Father. He is awaiting a day that is
fast approaching when he will return. He will return on the clouds
to judge the nations with a rod of iron. This is what we see
in Revelation 19. John tells us that he will judge
the nations with a rod of iron and he will trample the wicked
in the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God. And we, the church whose salvation
has been secured by him on the cross, we will be resurrected
and glorified by the same spirit that resurrected and glorified
Christ. and we will rejoice as one body,
the bride of Christ, finally united with our bridegroom, Christ
the righteous, and enjoy eternal intimacy with
him. This salvation is all of Christ. Paul writes to the saints in
Ephesus, grace to you. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the first and the final
cause of our salvation. and his grace is given to us
for faith. Paul would declare in Ephesians
2, you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.
Following the course of this world, following the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work, and the
sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions
of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with
which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. and raised us up with him and
seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that
in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his
grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace
you have been saved through faith. This is not of your own doing,
it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may
boast. We have nothing to boast in but
Christ. Paul has nothing to boast in
but Christ. He didn't choose us because we
chose him first. He didn't save us because he
knew that we were going to be good enough to save. God didn't check the future to
make sure he was making the right decision. I'm not gonna say it. God is time. God is the creator of all things.
God has decreed all things that will come to pass. And he has taken particular care
to save his people, those he has called his own by the pleasure
of his goodwill. Finally, Paul entreats us with
peace. Peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a peace that is immaterial
and eternal. This peace cannot be found in
any material possession or anything of this world. There is no peace in securing
your finances. There's no peace in No longer having to live in an
apartment and having a house. There is no peace in having a
good marriage. There's no peace in doing all
the right things. There's no peace in your job. There's no peace
in your church. There's no peace in any of these
things except that we give them up for the sake of Christ. Right, we all know people who
have all of these things right. They've got huge bank accounts
with lots of zeros. They've got easy jobs, jobs they
love. Love your job, you'll never work
a day in your life. Thriving churches. But they don't have peace. Because they don't have Christ. There's a popular Christian song
It says, blessed be the name of the Lord. You give and take
away. My heart will choose to say,
blessed be your name. We need to understand, if we're
gonna sing this song, I don't think we've ever done it here.
It's not a bad song. You give and take away. The Lord gives and the Lord takes
away. This song is sung every day by
people who don't have Christ because their faith is in material
things that God has given them. And if God actually took things
away, they would curse God. Where's this idea come from? We talked about it Wednesday
night. In Job chapter one, Job says,
naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name
of the Lord. If you are in Christ and you
have the peace of Christ, that is faith, in His work, assurance
in His promise, then when the Lord takes away
everything that He has given you, that peace remains. Because
the Lord can't take away Christ. If you have been given Christ,
God cannot take that from you. Not that He won't, which He won't.
He's promised not to. He cannot. Because he has declared that
his justice is satisfied in Christ. His wrath is no more for those
who are in Christ. And in that we have this eternal
peace, this eternal comfort despite what is going on. in your life. Do not trust in the material,
the temporary comforts that the Lord has given you. Thank him
for them. Bless the Lord for all that he
has given us. But we do not hope in those things.
We hope only in Christ. We hope only in the promises
given us in his word. Trust only in him for he alone
is good. The only peace is found in Christ. He is your hope. Let's pray. Lord, every day give us this
peace. Lord, every day remind us of
the confidence with which we can approach you. Confidence
in the work of Christ. Confidence in the truth of your
promise. And every day remind us of your
love, your grace, your mercy. Lord, we thank you for the truth
of your promises, that we have seen them clearly, that every day we may read your
word and see and understand your promises and see your glory put
on display through the work of your son. Lord, be with us as we partake
of your meal, this thing that we do at the
command of your son. Lord, through it, give us grace
for the strengthening of our faith, that as we taste, we see and understand your judgment,
that we deserved that we will never experience. And through this, we may see
your glory, the glory of Christ slain, and
the glory of Christ raised. We pray these things in his name.
Amen.