Okay. Well, like I said, we're going to start a brand new series today. So exciting. Book of Ephesians. Open your Bibles if you would to the Book of Ephesians. The Book of Ephesians.

Now, Ephesus was a major city. Found out that it was probably the third most prominent city in the Roman Empire. Very prominent. Very prominent. It was a city of Gentiles. And they were 33,000 plus different idols that were being worshipped in Ephesus. Over 33,000 different idols. It was a main hub for the Diana worship, the worship of the goddess Diana. Again, a false god who could do absolutely nothing, and it was a major hub for the makers of idols. So this is where Paul's sent by God. He's sent into this city of pagan idol worshipers. And why did God send him there? To preach the gospel? Because he has sheep there, doesn't he? And we find out in the book of Acts later on, that when Paul calls the elders, plural of Ephesus, Several commentators say that shows us that there was multiple churches in that city. Multiple churches.

Oh, this is a wonderful, wonderful book. And I love this because here, these folks, they're steeped in idol worship, just like the Thessalonians. And by the power of God, they've turned from idols to serve the living God. And this book is written to Christians at Ephesus. It's not written to the whole city. It's written to believers, people who are born again, blood-washed saints of God. And it's a wonderful letter for the born-again, blood-washed child of God.

These saints at Ephesus, which they're called, they're called saints. They've been born again by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. They've been given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and what comes with faith? Repentance before God. And here, Paul writes to them in verses one and two, let's read verses one and two of Ephesus. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, note this, by the will of God. Not by his own will, not by someone else's will, but by the will of God. And that's true for every believer, right? We're saved by the will of God, according to the will of God. To the saints, look at that. These are our pagan idol worshipers, and they're called saints, which means blameless ones. Holy. My, oh, my. Which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, Ephesus plays a very prominent role in the ministry of Paul. And we find first mention of that great city in Acts chapter 18, where Paul entered the synagogue in reason with the Jews concerning the Messiah, which means he went and preached Christ. He preached that Christ is the long-awaited Messiah. He's come. He's come to save his people from their sins. And he did it. He accomplished it. And it's absolutely wonderful. Let's turn to Acts chapter 18. We'll look at verses 18 to 23.

Now Ephesus was, again, one of the most prominent cities in the Roman Empire. It was the third largest in the empire, right behind Rome and Alexandria. So it had a huge population, beloved. Huge population. It'd be like going to New York. And it was a port city. It was a port city. So what that means is that there was all kinds of international trade going on. It was a hub for international trade for the Roman Empire. So there would have been probably a legion stationed within the city. And also, Rome had a powerful navy. So definitely there would have been navy ships there of the Roman Empire. It was a very prominent place. They'd be protecting them from pirates from Carthage and from Cyprus. There was pirates lurking all the time in the waters back then. And it was a booming city. The Aegean Sea, known for international trade routes, was there. which bought luxury and wealth, and also religious pilgrimages because since it was a city where the main temple of the worship of Diana was, people would come from all over and do a religious pilgrimage, just like people do with Rome and in that place in Saudi Arabia where the Muslims go to, just stuff like that.

My. Just useless things, right? My oh my. So, and also the city's location was a crossroads where actually East met West. So again, it's an international trade port for Rome Empire. But it's steeped in idolatry. It's like, I mean, it's steeped. 33,000 different gods plus. One commentator said there was an idol in every place you walked, there was an idol. And again, it was also the main place where people could go and buy things in their worship of Diana, which again is a false god.

And what does our Lord do? He sends Paul right into the heart. Right into the devil's den. Right? And what's Paul's commission? Is Paul going there to try to make him more moral? No. Is Paul going there to try to reform him? No. Paul's going in that city to preach the gospel. And as a result of the gospel, we will become more moral, won't we? We will become different in our views, but it's all by the power of God. These folks turned from worshiping false idols, Brother Charlie, to worshiping the one true living God. And it was by the will of God. That's the name of the message, by the will of God.

As we see in verse one, Paul's an apostle by the will of God. God's will. Like Brother Donny Bell said, there's only one real free will in the universe. Amen brother brother Travis is God's will He's the only one with free. Well, he can do whatever he pleases whenever he pleases My our will bound by our nature whether we're lost or born again My Look at that though Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ. That's who he's an apostle of by the will of God My, so he goes into this city, steeped in idolatry, and look at Acts 18, verses 18 to 23.

Acts 18, verses 18 to 23. And Paul, after this, tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren and sailed fence into Syria. And with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in centuria, for he had a vow. And he came to Ephesus and left them there. So he left Priscilla and Aquila there, and later on they're going to meet Apollos. Remember, if you read the end of this chapter, they meet Apollos and they instruct him more excellently in the things of Christ.

And he came to Ephesus and left them there. But he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. Look at that, he goes in there and he's reasoning with the Jews. He's preaching the gospel. He's reasoning to them from the scriptures that Christ is the long awaited Messiah. He's taking the scriptures, which that's all they had, right? There was no New Testament there. So they're all preaching from the Old Testament. Paul, when he opens up the scriptures, he's opening up the Old Testament. And he's reasoning with them, saying, oh, look here in Isaiah. The suffering servant, that's Christ. Look here in the Psalms. This is Christ. The righteous man in Psalm 1, that's Christ. Reasoning with them. Preaching Christ.

I was talking to a fellow this week, and it's so true. If only people would preach Christ. He was going off about practical living and all this, and I said, yeah, but that comes as a result of one being born again. We don't desire the things that we once did. Do you know the only ones who feel like they're sinners are those who are saved? And then the wicked, they don't feel like they're sinners at all. Isn't that amazing? The self-righteous say, I'm not a sinner. And the born-again, blood-washed saint says, man, I'm a sinner. Praise God for saving my soul. Isn't that wild?

But we were with them at one time, weren't we, Charlie? And the only one who made us differ is God. That's amazing, isn't it, Brother Jim? That's incredible. The grace of God in Christ, the only thing that made us to differ.

So here Paul goes into Ephesus, and what's he do? He's preaching Christ. Jews were already moral in their own eyes, right? He didn't go there to moralize them. He went there to preach Christ. And you know, as a result of the Lord saving a bunch of those pagan idol worshipers, they burned all their books. of witchcraft and all this stuff, and they say that that stuff was worth about a million dollars today. And they just threw it all in a pile of heap and burned it all. Because they were no longer idol worshipers. They were no longer into witchcraft, incantations, and all this other stuff. They'd been born again. See, God changes a person, doesn't he?

Now we want people to be moral, don't we? I always say what Donnie Bell said, I love this, he said, Lord, if you don't save my children, at least make them moral. Right? At least make them moral. If it be your will. Our prayers, the Lord would save them, right? Just like Donnie's, you know? Please save them if it be your will. Don't ever give up praying for your kids. Never. Keep lifting them up as long as they got breath to breathe. Just keep lifting them up, beloved. There's always hope. That's what Bruce Crabtree told me. As long as your kids are breathing, there's always hope.

Look at verse 20 of Acts 18. When they desired him to tarry longer with him, he consented not. But he bid them a farewell saying, I must by all means keep this feast and cometh in Jerusalem, but I will return again unto you if God will. Look at that, I love that. If God will, I'll be back, Lord willing. And he sailed from Ephesus. So that's the first time he's there. And we see what happened. Some folks want him to stick around, keep preaching to us, keep telling us about this Christ.

When he landed at Caesarea and got up and saluted the church, look at that. There's a church. In church, there's not a building, is it? It's an ecclesia, it's a called out assembly. It's a people. So he goes out there and he's with the saints of God. There's a church now at Caesarea. Oh my. That's where that centurion fellow was, wasn't it? Oh yeah, it's wonderful below it. And after he'd spent some time there, he departed and went over all the country of Galatia and Pergia in order, strengthening all the disciples. How would the disciples be strengthened? By the preaching of the gospel. Isn't that wonderful? By the preaching of the gospel. It's wonderful. It's wonderful.

This is why we need to hear the gospel all the time, because we go out in the world, and the world beats us up, it does. Or events in the world, you go like, oh my gosh, what's going on? But you know what? God's in control. Someone was talking to me about, they were freaking out about Venezuela, and I said, I don't have to worry about that. That's not in my hands, that's in God's hands. You know what we just saw? We saw what the scripture says, that the Lord raises up and takes down leaders. Does whatever he pleases, doesn't he? He does. He's God.

We saw it even with Gaddafi, remember? Gaddafi was a huge world leader. All of a sudden he's gone one day. Same thing. Again, it's just, we are seeing God's providence at work in using tools as he pleases to use humanity as a tool. It's amazing.

But this is what's most important right here. What Paul did is what's most important, preaching the gospel. See, my mission is not to worry about everything going on. I'm concerned, but I don't have to stress out about it, do we, Brother Jim? We don't have to sit there and pull our hair out. Because God's in control.

Now, someone I love, they look at me and go, how are you so calm? Well, God's in control. I preach it and I believe it. If I didn't believe it, it wouldn't be worth the weight of salt me preaching it, would it? But God's proved to me, even in my, has he proved to you, sister, in our lives, sister, that he's sovereign, that he takes care of his own?

My, so he sends Paul into a city. He's got a bunch of people there. Paul just don't know it. But Paul knows that his word will not return unto him void. Oh yeah. Isn't it wonderful, beloved? It's wonderful.

Let's go to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. I love verse 19 of chapter 18. I'm going to read it again. And he came to Ephesus, left them there, but he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. So he went in preaching the gospel, preaching Christ, salvation to Christ alone, by Christ, by his perfect work, his perfect sin atoning work. No other way to be saved but by the blood of Christ.

And then we find Apollos at the end of Chapter 18, taken in by Aquila and Priscilla. And they instructed him in the way of God more perfectly. And Apollos afterward mightily convinced the Jews that most publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, that means he showed them by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus was the Messiah. That's what it means. Jesus was the Christ. Jesus was the Messiah, the long-expected one. It's wonderful.

My. Actually, Paul wrote to Timothy, and he said this, charge some that they preach no other doctrine. Don't preach anything but Christ. Nothing else. Is anything else profitable for our souls other than Christ? No. And yet we got millions of churches in the world preaching good works, preaching something you gotta do, and it's all worthless.

And here we are, a little group here, gathering together, praising God for the gospel of his grace, knowing we're bonafide sinners saved by the grace and mercy of God. And the only reason we know that is because God revealed that to us. Isn't that wonderful? And he does have churches all around the world, he does. He's gathering his sheep all around the world.

Don't worry, we don't have to stress out about that either. No, sometimes you don't see much going on in the local church, but the Lord Jesus and the message out in the world. Right? My, his word won't return unto him void, will it? It'll accomplish whatever he wills. But you know what's going to happen if you preach Christ within the local assembly? We're going to grow closer, and we're going to grow closer, and the Lord will see fit to add to the churches. He's pleased. But our hearts become more and more knit in Christ. Look at what's happened here with us. We're living proof of that. Sister, you said you've never seen it like this. And you're not the only one who said that. I've heard that from many people now. But that's all God, isn't it? It's all, look what the Holy Spirit's done. Look what the Lord's done. He done set us free, beloved. And we get to rejoice in these wonderful books of the Bible.

Look at Acts 20, verses 24 to 26. This doctrine of preaching Christ is so clearly set forth. Look at this. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course with joy in the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preach in the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men.

Now, what did he preach to them? I have gone preaching the kingdom of God. That's preaching Christ, beloved. That's what Paul did. He didn't set up apologetics debates to debate the idol worshipers of Diana. Did he? You know how we believers can spot a counterfeit? By studying the real. I don't have to tell you what Jehovah Witnesses believe and all that. If you run into someone who's a Jehovah Witness and they tell you what they believe, if you're one of God's sheep, you will be able to quickly discern that that's a lie. Because you know the truth. What do bank tellers study? Do they study counterfeit bills? No, they study real money. What does that tell us? Study the real gospel. Study the word. Isn't that wonderful?

So here Paul goes into Ephesus and he just preaches Christ to them. In Acts 20, he's recounting, He's gathered the Ephesian elders together and he's gonna not see them ever again. He knows he's gonna go to Rome and he knows he's gonna die. And he said, but what does he say? I love this. He says, I preach the gospel. I've gone preaching the kingdom of God, Acts 20, 25. So the gospel of God's grace and salvation in Christ alone and through the blood and righteousness of Christ had great influence in the region of Ephesus. The gospel went forth with power, beloved, and many were set free from idol worship.

Look at Acts chapter 19, verse 26. Look at this. There's only one God, isn't there? Acts 19, verse 26, Moreover, ye see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying, There be no gods which are made with hands. Oh my! So the gospel was successful, wasn't it? As it always is. As it always is.

And what did those people do? They turned from idols to serve the living and true God. What did God do for us? He turned us from serving idols. God's of our imagination. To serve the living and true God. Oh my! See, God's got a purpose, doesn't he? And His purpose will and shall be accomplished. And if you're a born-again, blood-washed people, you could say, my, His will and purpose included me to be saved by the blood and righteousness of Christ. That's absolutely amazing. And we never see ourselves worthy, do we?

See, think of this. The righteous, that first exodus that you brought out in Matthew, where he says, I'm come not to save the whole, but I'm come to save sinners unto repentance. So what he's saying there is, I'm not come to save the self-righteous, those who don't think they need healing. Do you know the only ones who think we need healing is God's people? The only ones who think we need to be saved from our sins is God's people. Just look at how we thought before the Lord saved us. We didn't think we needed them, did we? See, all men naturally are born that way. Men and women, we're all born that way.

These Ephesians were steeped in idol worship. Like, I mean steeped. They were raised in it. Generations of idol worship. Generations, beloved. In that verse, you know, we know it's all by God's power. Acts 19 26. Moreover, you see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost all Asia. Paul persuaded and turned away much people. Oh my, flee to Christ. He's the only hope for sinners. He held up Christ beloved. He held up Christ and him alone.

Turn, if you would, again to Acts 19. We'll read verses 27 to 34. Oh, my. You know, those who worshiped Diana and the merchants who made idols, they grew very wealthy from that trade. And see, what happened was it hit them in the pocketbook. Right? Because all of a sudden, they're not getting orders for Diana. And the folks who the Lord saved are probably going back to him, going, I don't need that useless statue. Oh, pocketbook time. Right? Look at Acts 19 verses 27 to 34.

So that not only this art craft, this is that silversmith speaking, is in danger to be said at nought, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised. Oh, what does that tell us? That tells us that these people who the Lord saved despised idol worship now. They once loved it. One day they loved it. And Paul comes to town preaching the gospel. And by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, now they despise it. Because they're born again. Isn't that amazing? This is amazing. So he's saying not only our craft, but also the temple. And that temple bought in a lot of money for the city. And her magnificence should be destroyed. whom all Asia and the world worshipped." Yeah, it was a huge idol worshipping. Yeah. And she wasn't magnificent, was she? She was a dead stone idol. My.

And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, Great is the Diana of Ephesus. This is the people. And the whole city was filled with confusion, and having caught Gaius and Articius, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions, and travel, they rushed with one accord into the theater. And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not, and certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends. Oh, look at this. These guys, they're not saved, but they're friends of his. They probably talked to Paul. My. Sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself to the theater.

So God uses unsaved man and unsaved brethren to warn Paul, to restrain Paul. Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused. You had people all of a sudden fighting on both sides, yelling two different things against Paul and against the disciples. And the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. So all of a sudden now the majority of the people are like, why are we even together? What's going on? And the Jew Alexander of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward, and Alexander beckoned with his hand and would have made his defense unto the people. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried, great is Diana of the Ephesians.

Here they are. They're proud idol worshipers, aren't they? Proud idol worshipers. That's where God found us, beloved. He found us in our pride and self-righteousness, didn't he? Yeah. Oh my, but he saved our souls. And through the preaching of the gospel, the church at Ephesus was established and grew.

And the church, unfortunately, at Ephesus is last described in the book of Revelation, where they lost their first love. They lost their first love. What does that mean? Does that mean that they lost their salvation? No. Not at all. It means that they lost just looking to Christ. They started looking to other things in the world. Holding on a little too tight to things in the world. Their first love for Christ had went down. They're still saints of God, aren't they though? Yeah. But the Lord says, I have something against you. You lost your first love. Oh, my. And how quickly can we get carried away with things going on and not keep our eyes on Christ? Right? Me. Yeah.

It's funny. I've been having a little trouble with my sugar. And I've been trying all the last week, trying to do all kinds of stuff and everything. And last night, I'm just laying in bed and go, Lord, please help my sugar get down. I woke up this morning, it was back to normal. Now, I'm not saying that's hocus pocus and all that, but I realized right there, why, Lord, didn't I just go to you right away? Why not? Well, because I was trying to do things on my own strength. Right? Again, see, I'm not always preaching to you, I'm preaching to myself too, right? I am. That's why I say we and not you when I'm preaching. It's we. We struggle with sin, don't we? We struggle. Lord, I know what Peter says when he says, Lord, help my unbelief. Oh, my. Help me, Lord, please. Help me. Help me. My. My.

So these, when the Lord said that about the church of Ephesus, they believed, but they become complacent. They become complacent. And the Lord commanded them to repent and return to their first love, their first works. Or he would dissolve the church. Now that's a brief history of the church of Ephesus. It's a brief history of the church of Ephesus.

And This epistle, again, is written by Paul, who was inspired by the true author. Remember, all these books, the true author is God the Holy Spirit. Paul just a pen man. I always have to laugh when people say, well, these men, they didn't know each other and they wrote all these different books over a span of time. And I'm like, yeah, they sure did. So how can that Bible be true? Because there's only one author. It's God the Holy Spirit. Holy men were inspired to write down these words by God the Holy Spirit. That's why the Word has power. It's not the preacher. We proclaim the Word with all our heart. We desire that the Lord would use the Word, but I can't make it effectual to you. Who makes it effectual to you, sister? The Holy Spirit, right? And then our hearts burn within us, don't they? They just burn within us. And we get on the phone talking, and we start, our hearts start burning within us. Because we're talking about our King. Get excited, don't we? Oh my. And that's a change in us. Not wrought by us, but wrought by God. He's done that for us. He's made us new creatures in Christ. As we saw last week, behold, I make all things new. It's all Him. It's all Christ.

My, this book, I was listening to this book this morning before we got to church. That's what I try to do. Every time I'm in a book now, I try to listen to it on Sunday morning, the whole book. And I was listening to this whole book and I thought, boy, this is just amazing. We got some incredible stuff that we're gonna see through the scriptures.

But I really was looking at Ephesians 1 at first, right? And I'm listening and Paul's just telling us all God's glory and all this. And then where are we? When you were dead in trespasses and sins. There's our natural state. And then, but God. who's rich in mercy. I can't wait till we get that. God, we're gonna see through the whole first chapter that the Holy Spirit sets before us that God is absolutely sovereign in all things. That he is just magnificent.

And we'll see us men and women dead in trespasses. But God, who's rich in mercy, we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Now we you know we're gonna we're gonna spend the rest of our lives here on earth praising him But even more so we're gonna spend eternity together praising him That'll be amazing morning That'll be absolutely incredible

My oh my brother Jim. Can you close us in prayer?