On January 17, 2009 Marvin Schur’s neighbors become concerned about him and went to his house to check on his well being. They had noticed that the lights hadn’t been on for a few days and that the windows of the house had seemed ice over from the inside. They also hadn’t seen Marvin looking out the large picture window as he did so frequently. When they entered the house they realized the power was not on, they found a heating pad on his favorite chair and they saw that the oven door was open. On the floor lay Marvin’s lifeless body, frozen to death in the bitter cold temperatures of a Michigan winter.
On January 13th a worker for the city owned utility company installed a “limiter” on Schur’s electric meter after four months of unpaid bills. This limiter restricted the amount of power Mr. Schur could use and then it cuts off the power if the usage goes past a certain level. Authorities said at some point the device tripped and cut off power to the home and was never reset. This action ultimately led to the death of the 93 year old WWII veteran.
Now, our natural reaction to such a news story is outrage…how could an electric company be so heartless and cruel to a man that must have been struggling financially. However, I assure you that I have not yet told you the most tragic part of the story. The tragic part of the story is the fact that this story didn’t even have to happen. You see, Marvin Schur did not have financial problems. As a matter of fact, it’s estimated that he had over $600,000.00 in the bank when he died. When the neighbors and the police searched his home they found more than enough cash lying around to cover his outstanding bills. Marvin was living like a pauper even though he had considerable wealth at his disposal.
We’ve heard stories like this before. Several years ago the Los Angeles Times reported the story of an elderly man and his wife who were found dead in their home. Autopsies revealed that both had died of severe malnutrition, although investigators found a total of $40,000.00 stored in paper bags in a closet.
Then there is the story of Hetty Green…America’s greatest miser. When she died in 1916, she left an estate valued at $100 million dollars, an especially vast fortune for that day. However, she was so miserly that she ate cold oatmeal in order to save the expense of heating the water. When her son had a sever leg injury, she took so long trying to find a free clinic to treat him that this leg had to be amputated because of advanced infection. It has been said that she hastened her own death by bringing on a fit of apoplexy while arguing the merits of skim milk because it was cheaper than whole milk.
Now, what do all three of these stories have in common? All three examples listed people who had access to the resources they needed, yet they lived…and died as paupers.
The book of Ephesians is written to believers who might be living as spiritual paupers, never realizing the vast resources that are available to them in Christ. Perhaps there is someone here today that is trying to live the Christian life. You’re trying to do and say the right things, look and feel the right way, yet you always find that you come up short. It’s not because you’re not putting forth the effort, you just seem to run out of “gas”. Maybe you’ve been asking “what’s wrong with me?” “Why do other people make the Christian life look so easy?” The answer could very well be, you don’t know the resources…the treasures that are available to you IN CHRIST.
John MacAurthur points out that Ephesians has been given such titles as “the believer’s bank”, “the Christian’s checkbook” and “the treasure house of the Bible.” It’s been given these names because it tells the believer of our great riches, inheritances and our fullness in Jesus Christ. It tells us what we possess and how we can claim and enjoy our possessions. As we study this book we will understand the fact that no believer has any reason to be spiritually deprived, malnourished or impoverished. In fact, we are to be completely healthy and immeasurably rich in the things God has provided us in Christ.
With that said, let’s read the text
From the outset we know who the human author of the letter to the Ephesians is…Paul. This was a customary greeting for those who wrote letters in Paul’s day. As a matter of fact we see this same opening in every book of the New Testament that Paul is credited with writing.
Next we see the authority of the author… “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,” Paul often described himself as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Apostle literally means sent one and in the New Testament the term is used as an official title of the men God uniquely chose to build the church. Paul knew his authority was not a function of his upbringing or his education. He knew that his authority came directly from Jesus Christ. He knew that God had gifted, called and sent him out to take the gospel to a lost and dying world. Because Paul acted on the authority of Christ we know him today as perhaps the second greatest missionary to ever walk the face of the earth…Jesus Christ, of course, was the first.
And it was toward the end of his second missionary journey that Paul first landed in the city of Ephesus. Ephesus was a great city in Asia Minor with an estimated population of over 300,000. The city was a center of commerce, culture and politics. It was famous for the great Roman road that linked it with the world. It was famous for its markets, its warehouses, its administrative buildings and its schools. However it was most famous for the temple of Diana…one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Paul knew Ephesus would be a strategic location for a great church to be planted…especially if the gospel was going to reach the world.
So Paul went to the synagogue to “reason” with the Jews and he stayed as long as he could the first time he came to Ephesus. The people begged him to stay longer but he said he would come back if the Lord allowed. He left his traveling companions, Aquilla and Pricilla in Ephesus then Paul departed for Jerusalem.
God allowed Paul to come back to Ephesus to continue the work he started. As a matter of fact, Ephesus became the Paul’s headquarters during his third missionary journey. When he returned he went back to the synagogue…Paul was always concerned about reaching his people, the Jews. He actually spoke in the synagogue for three months but when he realized the Jewish people’s hearts were hardened to the gospel he moved to the school of Tyrannus. He taught every day for two years and God began to do a work in the city.
God used Paul to heal those who were sick and cast devils out of those who were possessed. God did such a great thing that Acts 19:10 tells us “…that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”
Ephesus was also known as a center for the practice of magic. It was host to many magicians and sorcerers. As the gospel began to take hold in the city the new believers brought their magic books and burned them…the bible says the books were worth about 50,000 pieces of silver, enormous amount of money for the time equivalent to about 50,000 days’ wages.
Everything was going great, until the movement of God affected men’s income. Demetrius was a silver smith who made small silver shrines of Diana for the people to purchase. The problem was that as more and more people were accepting Christ, less people were buying his statues. He caused a great uproar in the city and a revolt against Paul.
Leonard Ravenhill has said that you can’t have revival without a riot. After the riot settled down Paul felt led to go Macedonia. Paul would meet with the Ephesian elders one more time in route to Jerusalem. During that meeting he encouraged them to feed the church of God and to protect the church from those who would seek to destroy it through false teaching. He also encouraged them to remember what he had taught them during his three years in Ephesus.
Nearly ten years have passed and Paul the apostle, the one who was sent out by Christ as his messenger to the people of Ephesus writes this letter and he does so by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and according to God’s plan for Paul’s life. Notice Paul says he is one who is sent “by the will of God.”
Now on the surface that may not sound like a big deal to you, but keep in mind that at the time Paul wrote this letter he was under arrest. He was a man who had lost his freedom. He was a man who had suffered persecution, beatings, he had been stoned and left for dead, he had been in shipwrecks, he had suffered personal attacks and much more. Yet he says all this happened “by the will of God.” What an amazing testimony to us. God is sovereign and while we don’t always understand the things we go through we can look at the example of Paul and know in our heart that it is all “by the will of God.”
So now we know who the author is and we have an understanding of the authority that Paul was operating under. Now we can begin to look at Ephesians to discover our treasure in Christ. However, to understand what our treasure is in Christ we have to know who we are and where we fit in.
As Paul opens this letter we immediately see two recognitions. You see this letter was not written to a city, but to a group of people within the city (circuit letter) and I want to draw your attention first to…
I. Paul Recognized the Saints – vs. 1b
“…to the saints…”
A. There are those who believe that it is only possible to achieve sainthood after someone dies, yet notice he’s writing to people who are alive.
B. Many times we have the wrong idea of what a “saint” is
1. We think that a saint is some type of spiritually energized “super Christian”
2. We think that a saint is some great scholar or theologian
3. We think that a saint is someone who has done great deeds or accomplished great feats
C. When Paul addresses “the saints” who is he talking about?
1. He’s talking about those who have been justified
a. Justification is a divine act whereby Holy God judicially declares a believing sinner to be righteous (Holy) and acceptable before Him.
b. Justification is not achieved by anything we can do, God is the one who makes us holy
Whitewashing the pump will not purify the water
Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
c. Holiness is granted to us at the moment of salvation…it is an inward cleansing from the guilt and power of sin.
Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
d. Holiness means that we are wrapped in the righteousness of Christ and because of this we can have a relationship with God
Donald Grey Barnhouse says: "If we look through a piece of red glass, everything is red; through blue glass, everything is blue; through yellow glass, everything is yellow; and so on. The glorious truth is that when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, God looks at us through Christ. He sees us in all the white holiness of His Son.—Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations
e. Holiness means that we made totally new
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2. He’s talking about those who are being sanctified
a. Holiness means separation or setting apart
1) When we trust Christ we are set apart as one of His children
2) As we live this life we are to set ourselves apart unto Him
b. An inner holiness should manifest itself in outward holiness
Dr. William Temple said: “No one is a believer who is not holy and no one is holy who is not a believer”
1) Holiness is an outcome of God’s work in us through salvation
2) However, God desires us to live a holy life…totally dedicated and devoted to Him
c. Holiness does not only mean that we separate ourselves from the world but that we separate ourselves unto God
1) Ask yourself: “Who am I living for?” & “What are my motives?”
2) If your living for His glory and wholly separated unto God for His purpose then you are living a life of true holiness
Ephesians 4:22-24 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
d. As believers we must be certain to remember that we are in this world but we are not of this world
1 Peter 2:9-10 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
e. The fact is that we are called to be different…what does that mean?
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1) Our thoughts should be different
2) Our actions should be different
3) Our motivations should be different
4) We are different, we are unique, we are called out by God…He has a special purpose for each believer.
f. But here’s the question, is this obvious in your life?
1) Would anyone you know mistake you for a non-believer?
2) Would anyone you know be shocked to learn that you’re a Christian?
The truth is, every believer is a saint! D Martin Lloyd Jones calls this the irreducible minimum of what constitutes a Christian. Believer, if you don’t think of yourself as a saint then you don’t know what a saint truly is or you don’t know who you are in Christ. Paul addresses this to the saints, ordinary people who have been set apart for the purpose of God. Which leads me to the second point where we see…
II. Paul Recognizes the Faithful – vs. 1c
A. The word faithful means to be full of faith, to exercise faith, to believe
1. Jesus told Thomas (John 20:27) “be not faithless, but believing” – Believing is the same word as faithful
2. Those who are justified and sanctified are believers
a. If you’re not a believer then today you stand guilty before a Holy God
b. You have no power in and over yourself to change your standing before God
c. The only way to experience forgiveness and new life is to believe
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
B. This word “faithful” also has a secondary meaning…it means that we are to be faithful
1. Faithfulness is one of the characteristics of a “saint”
2. God calls us to be holy and He set us apart…will we be faithful in letting our lives match our position in Him?
a. Will we be faithful in persevering because we have been set apart unto Him?
b. Will we be faithful to growing spiritually because we have been set apart unto Him?
c. Will we be faithful in dealing with sin in our lives because we have been set apart unto Him?
d. Will we be faithful in using our gifts, talents and abilities because we have been set apart unto Him?
e. Will we be faithful to share the gospel with a lost and dying world because we have been set apart unto Him?
f. Will we be faithful to obey His word because we have been set apart unto Him?
g. Will we be faithful to apply the teaching of God’s word to our lives because we have been set apart unto Him?
3. Faithfulness is where we live out our position as saints
4. The problem comes when we just live as saints and neglect the faithful part…why is that a problem?
a. Because we then are living our lives unto ourselves when we have been set apart unto Him
b. In other words, we’re taking for ourselves what rightfully belongs to Him
1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
c. We glorify Him by being faithful to live a life that is set apart unto Him
Paul closes his opening remarks by reminding us that we are in Christ Jesus. We are saints in Christ Jesus and we are faithful in Christ Jesus. The phrase “in Christ” is one that we will see a lot of as we go through this book. Here it simply means that we belong to Christ, that we are united to Christ, that we are joined to Christ.
What an amazing thought that is, I am part of Christ, I belong to Him!
Verse two tells us it’s His grace that makes us holy and keeps us holy. It also tells us that peace with God and peace of mind is the result of knowing Him and knowing that He has made me a saint.
God through Jesus Christ is the source of grace and peace…it derives from Him and flows to us through the cross of Calvary.
