GREETINGS TO THE SAINTS

Transcription

1 1 Dear Friend, this is a transcript of a sermon preached by Pastor Jeremy Tan from the pulpit of Amazing Grace Baptist Church Singapore. We are committed to expository preaching because we believe it is the most effective way to expose, explain and expound the Holy Scriptures. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27). Through careful systematic and sequential exposition, the preacher is able to declare unto you all the counsel of God (Acts 20:27), and Christians are blessed with a regular, well-balanced diet of God s Word. Expository preaching also helps us to have a high view of Scripture. We wish to extend a warm welcome to you to join us in our church services for a time of uplifting worship and helpful Bible study, which will bring rejoicing and refreshment to your soul. Do visit our church website at or write to us at amazingracebc@gmail.com. GREETINGS TO THE SAINTS Ephesians 1:1 2 The book of Ephesians is about the church of Jesus Christ. This is its main theme. James Montgomery Boice aptly described this book as a mini course in theology, centred on the church (Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary, p. xi). How did the church of Jesus Christ begin? The church, which is the body of Christ, began with the work of the Trinity. All three Persons of the Godhead are involved in the church. In Ephesians 1, we learn that God the Father chose and predestinated people to become His sons and daughters before the foundation of the world. Then the Son of God redeemed these elect people by His death on the cross, by which their sins are forgiven. Third, the Holy Spirit draws the elect to Christ for their salvation, and He seals them as the guarantee of their ultimate deliverance from the power and presence of sin. Ephesians 2 focuses on the formation of the church through individual believers. God gives spiritual life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, and He brings them into the church of likewise regenerated people. You notice that the salvation of sinners begins with God and it ends with God. God planned it and He performed it. In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul gave the panoramic view of salvation from God s perspective. We can avoid much theological error about salvation when we begin with God, instead of with man. Then in Ephesians 4 to the end of the book, we have Paul s instructions for the function of the church: how Christians are to live, and how they are to engage in spiritual warfare. In Ephesians 6 spiritual warfare is presented to us in vivid imagery. The book of Ephesians is easily divided into two main parts. The first three chapters deal with doctrines, and the last three chapters are about practices. This is the

2 2 New Testament pattern that we find in all of Paul s writings. Doctrines are the foundation for the faith and practices of Christians. To please God with our practices, we must have a proper understanding of the doctrines in the Bible. Now, God does not use words at random and without purpose. This is why we will be studying the book of Ephesians through verse-by-verse exposition. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit as our Teacher, we will seek to understand the meaning of words in every verse, and we will give careful attention to the themes as they are developed in the book. Let us begin with I. The Scribe of the Epistle. In Ephesians 1:1, Paul identified himself as the scribe or the writer of the epistle. In all his thirteen epistles, his name appears first. This is the customary style of letter writing in ancient times. But Paul used a formula common to people in those days and he invested it with profound truths that are of great theological significance. Who is Paul? Let us be introduced to him. He was a Roman citizen from the city of Tarsus, and his Roman name is Paulos. His Jewish name is Saul. His parents named him after the first king of Israel, who came from their tribe, the tribe of Benjamin. For the moment, let us use his Jewish name. Saul had a proud Jewish background. In Philippians 3:5 6, he testified that he was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews: as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. In every aspect, he was a true-blue Jew. Saul was a very religious man who trained to be a Pharisee under the famous teacher Gamaliel. His reputation began early in his youth, when he supported the Jewish mob by holding on to their robes, while they stoned Stephen the Christian deacon to death. Before long, Saul became the chief persecutor of the Christians. With the authority of the Sanhedrin, which is the council of Jewish leaders, he went everywhere to hunt for Jews who had become believers in Christ, even beyond the borders of Israel. These believers were persecuted and imprisoned. But the day came when Saul himself was arrested. One day when he was on the road to Damascus, the risen Christ confronted Saul, and there under the noon-day sun, the Lord Jesus converted this persecutor and commissioned him as His apostle to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. Thus he changed his name to Paul. In Ephesians 1:1, he identified himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ.

3 3 An apostolos is one sent by God. The apostles of Jesus Christ were men who are called and commissioned by God. In history, there are only fourteen men who had God s authority as apostles. These were the twelve men that the Lord Jesus personally chose. Then there was Matthias, who was chosen as the replacement for Judas Iscariot. And there is Paul, who became the apostle to the Gentiles. God used certain of the apostles to write the Gospels and the epistles in the New Testament. It is upon the foundation of their God-inspired writings that the church of Jesus Christ is built (Ephesians 2:20; 4:11 13). Today God continues to call men to be preachers, pastors and missionaries, but the office of an apostle ended with Paul. Paul was the last apostle. I am a preacher and the pastor whom God has called to this church, but I am not called to be an apostle, nor anyone else. Paul did not become an apostle because of personal ambition, usurpation, or nomination. He did not apply to God for the position, nor did a church committee select him. Instead, his appointment was by divine selection and preparation. Notice that even here in the first verse of the epistle, Paul began with the will of God. Apart from the will of God, Paul would never have been an apostle of Jesus Christ, let alone become a believer in Christ! In his letter to the Galatians, we have the details of his calling and credentials. Galatians 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) The Judaizers were men who taught the Jews that without circumcision, salvation could not be by grace through faith in Christ alone. Thus they questioned Paul s credentials as an apostle. In his answer, Paul testified that his calling and revelation came directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. He also reminded them of his background. Galatians 1: But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: 14 And profited in the Jews religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother s womb, and called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: 17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then in the rest of Galatians 1, he spoke about the wariness and suspicions of others about his appointment as the apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 4 Galatians 1: Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. 19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord s brother. 20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. 21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; 22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: 23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. 24 And they glorified God in me. Now think about it. A man as religious, as fanatical, and as fiercely dedicated as Saul of Tarsus does not change his mind on a whim, in the space of one afternoon in Damascus. Saul was not a weak-minded person. He had a strong character. His passion in life was consumed and fired up with the persecution of Christians and the destruction of the church. His heart was filled with hatred for the Christians and their leader Jesus Christ. Thus his reputation caused many of the Christians to be afraid of him when he returned from Damascus and the Arabian Desert. In their minds, they thought it impossible for someone like Saul of Tarsus to become a Christian. But Paul, of all men, knew the meaning of the sovereignty of God. This is why in Galatians 1:24, he wrote, And they glorified God in me. God is glorified because Saul would never have called upon the Lord Jesus for salvation, if the Lord Jesus had not called on him. Likewise, God calls us to our salvation. Aren t you thankful to God that the things which are impossible with men are possible with God? In 1 Timothy 1, Paul admitted that he was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious (verse 13), and he called himself the chief of sinners (verse 15). God can save the worst of sinners, if such sinners would come to Him in repentance of their sins and in faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. If God had not planned and performed our salvation, there would never have been any salvation. It is the sovereign God who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will (Ephesians 1:11). Now, Paul wrote this epistle from his prison in Rome. In Ephesians 3:1, he wrote, For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you gentiles. In Ephesians 4:1, he declared, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord. Then in Ephesians 6:20, he called himself an ambassador in bonds, a reference to his chains. If not for these brief references to his imprisonment, we would never have guessed that he was in a dungeon. He was a prisoner of the Roman Empire, but above all he said that he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Friend, reading the elevated themes of his epistle and knowing Paul s difficult circumstances, we should be rebuked when we have negative attitudes about our circumstances in life. Our attitude determines our altitude, and this adage cannot be truer than for the Christian! As Christians, we do not have to live lives of quiet desperation (American author Henry David Thoreau). Instead, we can live with quiet optimism because our hope is in Almighty God. Our sovereign God is in absolute control of everything and every area of our lives. There is nothing about you and your life that God does not control, and nothing ever occurs that He does not allow or know about.

5 5 God is never taken by surprise, but we are the ones who are often surprised at the way God works. Let us turn our attention next to II. The Salutation of the Epistle. Ephesians 1:1 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: People often misinterpret and misunderstand the teaching of the New Testament epistles because they fail to notice that these writings are addressed only to Christians. God wrote the Bible for His people, and His truths can only be understood by His people. Think of it this way: if my father wrote me a letter, the contents of his letter are addressed to me and not to someone else. My father s letter is meant for me. So the letters in the Bible are God s messages to His people. Paul s salutation is addressed to the saints which are at Ephesus. However, the words at Ephesus are missing from three of the earliest manuscripts. But the oldest manuscripts are not necessarily the most accurate. Still, with or without the missing words, there is no change in the content of the letter. What is the reason for the missing address? Bible scholars and students are generally agreed that the words at Ephesus are missing from some early manuscripts because Paul intended his epistle to be circulated among the churches in Asia Minor. The strong case for a circular letter is that there are no persons named, and no local church problems are identified in the letter. In contrast, Galatians was written to address the heresy of the Judaizers. 1 st Corinthians addressed the issue of divisions in the church and answered questions raised by the believers in Corinth. In Philippians, Paul wrote to resolve the quarrel between two women in the church. But no pastoral matters are addressed in Ephesians. So this is a general letter, and its various copies were sent to many churches. Perhaps the epistle was first sent to the church at Ephesus, thus bearing the name in most manuscripts. But in a real sense, we can read this epistle as one that is addressed to our church. Notice that the ones being saluted in Ephesians 1:1 are the saints. Who are these people? A saint is not a canonized Roman Catholic. Saints are not glass-stained people, but they are ordinary men and women saved by the grace of God. The word saint has the meaning of being sanctified or set apart. Now, let me emphasize that this letter is not addressed to scholars and theologians, but to ordinary people in the church. So, do not allow anyone to tell you that the high doctrines of the Bible are hard to be understood, and therefore we should leave it to the theologians to discuss and understand them. Things that are hard to be understood does not mean they cannot be understood. Friend, if God does not want you

6 6 to understand something in His Word, He will not have put it in the Bible! The proper attitude for us is to pray to God for the eyes of your understanding to be enlightened (Ephesians 1:18). If we make serious efforts to seek God s truths, He will open our eyes to see them! Martin Luther said, I am sure that what enlightens the eyes is neither obscure nor [ambiguous]. Now let us return to the people that Paul saluted. The apostle described Christians in three terms. Dr. David Martyn Lloyd-Jones called these three terms the basic irreducible minimum of what constitutes a Christian. What are these terms? 1. Christians are saints. Saints are believers in Christ who have been cleansed from their guilt of sins. Saints are Christians who live in the world, but they do not belong to the world. Saints are called by God, separated from the world, and separated to God for worship and service to Him. Being a saint does not require sinless perfection, but it requires radical repentance from sin. Think about this: if to be a saint means that you are taken out of this world and brought into the holy presence of God, is it not clear that something must have happened to you which made you fit to come into God s presence? There has to be a spiritual change in you! If you are a believer in Christ, you have to be separated from sin, and be separated unto God to worship Him and serve His purpose. If we are not living sanctified lives for God, our profession of faith in Christ is empty and without value. How can one be called a saint, set apart from the world unto God, and yet live for the world? 2. Christians are faithful. After calling them saints, the apostle described them as the faithful in Christ Jesus. There are two meanings for the word faithful. First, it means to exercise faith. A Christian is not someone who only attends a worship service in church, but he is a person who believes certain truths in the Bible. He believes the Gospel, which is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are no true Christians who have not exercised faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the personal Saviour. The second meaning of the word faithful is that of continuing in the faith or keeping the faith. To be faithful means to continue as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ to the very end of life. It means that we are constant and loyal believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are ready to contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3). The faithful Christian is a stable believer; he is not easily shaken because of obstacles or opposition. 3. Christians are in Christ.

7 7 The phrase in Christ or in him occurs nine times in Ephesians 1, and some 164 times in all of Paul s letters. To be in Christ means to be in spiritual union with Him. It means that all the Lord Jesus has done becomes true of His believers. Everyone who is born into this world is joined to Adam. We belong to Adam s family, and being joined to Adam we experience and suffer the consequences of Adam s sin. Thus we read in: Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: But the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the representative or federal head of His people. He came into the world to be the Saviour of His people. When He went to the cross and died there, we died with Him in His death. When our representative head rose from the dead, we came forth in Him. Romans 5: For if by one man s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. When Christ ascended to the right hand of God the Father, in Him we also ascended. This is why Ephesians 2:6 is a spiritual reality that God has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. This is also why every believer in Christ is a member of His body, the Church, without which none can be in Him. John Murray wrote, Union with Christ has its source in the election of God the Father before the foundation of the world and it has its fruition in the glorification of the sons of God. The perspective of God s people is not narrow; it has the expanse of eternity. Its orbit has two foci, one the electing love of God the Father in the counsels of eternity, the other glorification with Christ in the manifestation of his glory. The former has no beginning, the latter has no end. (Redemption Accomplished and Applied, p. 164). So these three terms a saint, faithful, and in Christ are the basic irreducible minimum of what constitutes a Christian. A person is not a Christian if he is not a saint. A person is not a Christian if he is not faithful. A person is not a Christian if he is not in Christ. Are you a Christian by these definitions? verse: Now, a salutation includes greetings, and so we find the greetings in the second

8 8 Ephesians 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians are the people who enjoy God s blessings of His grace and peace. What is grace? Grace is the unmerited favour and kindness of God that He shows to the undeserving. Based on the acronym of the word grace, it is God s Riches At Christ s Expense. As sinners, we deserve judgment for our sins but God gives grace to save sinners through His Son. If not for the condescending love that God gives through Christ, no person will ever receive and enjoy His grace. In Ephesians 1, we will learn about the spiritual blessings that God gives to Christians. God s blessings are the riches of His grace bestowed upon us. We need God s grace not only for salvation, but we also need God s grace to meet every trial that we face in this world. Grace from God is the fountain from which flows the blessing of peace. Peace comes from God s grace. There are two kinds of peace that God gives to Christians. 1. Christians have peace with God. Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: In Ephesians 2:14, Paul wrote that Christ is our peace. In Ephesians 2:17, it is Christ who came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. A person may be a lover of peace, but in a spiritual condition that is unsaved and unbelieving toward Christ, that individual is at enmity and at odds with God. But God offers reconciliation to His enemy, the sinner, through His Son Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. If a person rejects the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, he is in effect rejecting God s peace terms, the reconciliation that He offers in His Son. 2. Christians have the peace of God. Not only is the lost person in a state of war with God, he is also at war within himself. People often think they can be perfectly happy to do whatever they wish. People believe they can continue in sin without consequences, but each person has a conscience that pricks him. Hence there is internal conflict. The lost sinner is at war within himself. It was Augustine who rightly said, You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. The believer in Christ is not at war with God. He has been reconciled to God through Christ. He is at peace with God. He also does not have internal

9 9 conflict because he is not stricken with guilt from an accusing conscience. As he obeys God and lives faithfully for Him, God will bless the Christian with inner peace. Notice: Philippians 4:6-7 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The words passeth all understanding means beyond all comprehension. What is it about Paul, that he could endure the cruelty, the discomfort, and the uncertainty of Roman imprisonment to continue serving God? It is the peace of God. What is it about the Christians in Ephesus who lived in a city of moral wickedness and spiritual darkness that they could be separate from that world and live for God? It is the peace of God. Friend, do you have peace with God? Without Christ, there can be no peace with God, and you will not know the peace that passes all understanding. Conclusion The epistle to the Ephesians is a letter written to Christians. Is this epistle written to you? Can you claim God s truths and blessings as your own? Do you want the grace and peace of God? You can enjoy God s blessings, if you believe the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, and as you become separated from the world and separated unto God, living a life that is faithful to Christ. Permission: We share our materials with you as a blessing from the ministry of our church. You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Amazing Grace Baptist Church. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: Copyright Amazing Grace Baptist Church Singapore. Website: Used by permission as granted on website.