August 31, 2014
Morning Worship
Text: Ephesians 1:1-3
Subject: Ephesians Series Part 1
Title: Appointed In Christ
Have you ever been involved with an organization or group where people want you to take a leadership role even though you may have never thought of yourself as a leader? That has happened to me on numerous occasions. Back in the early 70’s I was working in a factory as a lead-man over a production line. There were 8 production lines and 95% of the people on the lines were women. Now bear with me… we all know that there are certain times when women can become … how do I want to say it… well, they just get emotional. And as a lead-man I had to deal with 10-12 women every day I worked. Now I’m not complaining about that. That was part of the job description when I accepted the promotion. It was eye opening to me. I was 21 years old. We had been married about 2 years. I was still learning how to adapt to one woman much less deal with all these others at work. It was about this time that Charlotte began playing fast pitch softball. A good friend of mine was the manager and I agreed to help coach. The key word here is help. I never saw myself as one who could be in charge of a team. And things looked like they were going to go well until right before the first game my friend came to me and told me that he had been transferred to the night shift and that I would have to take over as manager. Now here was my dilemma. I worked with women every day and listened to nagging and complaining and pettiness every day for 8 hours – Why in the world would I place myself in the same position away from the job?
But you know what? I agreed to it. And I survived it though there were times when I wondered if I would. Even though this was not a place I felt comfortable in or even felt called or qualified to do, I agreed and I did make it through. I think we even managed to win a few games that summer.
Now, fast forward from that time about 25 years. I had been miraculously saved by the grace of God for about 8 years and it was about this time that I began to sense to call of God on my life for ministry. I thought managing a women’s softball team was out of my range of ability – this was really stretching it. At least with softball I knew the game and knew the rules and was pretty good at teaching the ups and downs of hitting and fielding. But ministry? I’m talking about a guy who stood in front of his junior English class to give an oral book report and shook so hard that I could hardly keep my glasses on. Who couldn’t catch my breath because I was so afraid of speaking in front of a crowd. I’m talking about someone who did OK in school but not because of my study habits – I just had a pretty good memory. How in the world would I be able to study for ministry? But you know, there was one big difference. This was not a position that a friend had dumped on me. This was the call of God to do work that He would later appoint for me. So I began to study and prepare for that call. And now, here I am.
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Ephesians 1:1-2
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
I appropriate it to my life today…
Today we begin a series of sermons through the book of Ephesians. I want to encourage you on this Labor Day weekend that there is a place of work and ministry for each of you in the church of Jesus Christ.
I. Identify Yourself… Paul begins this letter to the church in Ephesus with a standard greeting – much the same way that he and anyone of that time would begin a letter … “Paul”… When you get a letter in the mail what is the first thing you do? You look at the return address to see who it is from. You may be a lot quicker to open a letter from Aunt Ruth than you would a bill from your insurance company. So when Paul sends his letters he wants everyone to know who it is from. It’s me! Paul – the one who spent 27 months teaching and preaching about the grace of God. Do you think that the church would be glad to hear from their old friend and spiritual father? But Paul doesn’t stop there. 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus… Gr. apostolos (ap-os'-tol-os) n.
1. a delegate
2. (specially) an ambassador of the Gospel
3. (officially) a commissioner of Christ, "apostle" (with miraculous powers) Paul wanted to identify not only himself, but the One who was His leader. In Acts 19:11-12,
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. We have talked in our “God’s Not dead” bible study about sharing your testimony. It is pretty simple isn’t it? Step 1, who you are in the natural man (Paul) Step 2, Proclaiming the work that has been done in you and who did it… an apostle of Christ Jesus… and finally, Step 3, by the will of God… no longer walking in the flesh but now walking according to the Spirit – the One who dwells in you. So now, as a blood bought child of the living God you can proclaim who you are in the same way. Mike, a pastor in the church of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. Larry, operating in the gifts of faith and healing by the will of God through the Holy Spirit. Lana, an interpreter of tongues by the will of God… There is a problem in the church today. People don’t mind identifying themselves as being called “by the will of God” but many times they don’t identify their calling. Your calling may be a specific ministry or a particular gift of the Spirit. But your calling could be just as simple as confessing who you are in Christ and what that means in your everyday life. That is really what the book of Ephesians is all about – identifying who you are “in Christ”. There are at least 16 times in Ephesians where the phrases “in Him”, In Christ”, or In Christ Jesus, or other similar terms, are mentioned. Since Paul used those types of phrases repeatedly do you think that he thought it might be important to know who you are in Christ? So now we become, Carolyn Bremmer, a blood bought, Spirit-filled, authority given, faith operating saint of God standing on His word and believing everything it says.
A young man presented himself to the presiding elder of the Methodist Church and said he desired to become a preacher. On being questioned by his ecclesiastical superior, he replied that the night before he had seen in the sky, written in large characters of gold, the letters P. C.—“Preach Christ.” As the presiding elder knew the young man well as a person, very excitable, and otherwise utterly unfitted for the work of the ministry, he said to him, “But, my young brother, you are mistaken. P. C. does not mean, in your case, Preach Christ. It means Plough Corn. It will be your calling, and you will be doing God’s will most truly if you continue to help your father on the farm.
—Ethelbert Talbot
II. Identify Your Ministry Field… To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus… Paul’s letter was to the saints… ἅãéïò hagios (hag'-ee-os) adj.
1. sacred
2. (physically) pure
3. (morally) blameless
4. (religious, ceremonially) consecrated
But, while he was in Ephesus his ministry was to the whole city. Remember before Paul had identified himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus. That meant that he was sent to do the same things Jesus did. Luke 19:10 (NIV2011), For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” John 3:16 (NIV2011) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Paul’s letter was to the “faithful” in Christ Jesus. Are you faithful? Looking at the word on the surface faithful would seem to mean, “full of faith”. True enough. You cannot be faithful without faith and without faith it is impossible to please God. But let’s do one more word study. Faithful, pistos (pis-tos') adj.
1. (objectively) trustworthy
2. (subjectively) trustful
So if we are talking about a description of who the saints are we would have to say that they are the faithful – the trustworthy. Those that Jesus can trust to do what He has called you to be by the will of God. Are you trustworthy?
Norman Geisler, as a child, went to a DVBS because he was invited by some neighbor children. He went back to the same church for Sunday School classes for 400 Sundays. Each week he was faithfully picked up by a bus driver. Week after week he attended church, but never made a commitment to Christ. Finally, during his senior year in High School, after being picked up for church over 400 times, he did commit his life to Christ. What if that bus driver had given up on Geisler at 395? What if the bus driver had said, "This kid is going nowhere spiritually, why waste any more time on him?"
Max Lucado, God Came Near, Multnomah Press, 1987, p. 133.
Are committed enough to see your ministry through till the end? First you have to be convinced that it is God who has called you. You are not just a fill in coach or manager, but you are the one God has called to a specific purpose in the body. Odds are that if you can’t be sure you won’t be faithful.
III. Identify Your Benefits… Psalm 103:2 (KJV)
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. What two things does Paul say here that we can expect from the Father… Grace and Peace!
Grace = charis (khar'-ece) n.
1. graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act
2. (especially) the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life
Grace can literally be seen as the presence of God at work in your life. Where there is grace God’s presence is there.
2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV)
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Romans 5:20 (NKJV)
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more…
Peace = eirene (ei-ray'-nay) n.
1. peace
2. (by implication) prosperity
Does God want you to have peace? And where does that kind of peace come from? You see, the world defines peace as the lack of conflict – no wars, no disagreements… a nice little world where we all just get along. But the bible sees peace in a different light. It is the peace that comes from a restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And according to the Greek word used here prosperity comes with peace. Not prosperity the way the world looks at prosperity, but at the same time not discounting it either. The peace/prosperity that God has for His people is that which comes from obedience and it is through our obedience that we receive His blessings into our lives. That is real peace and real prosperity. And yes I have to admit that sometimes, according to the very state of your heart, that may include financial or material prosperity.
2 Peter 1:2 (NIV2011)
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:6 (NIV2011)
6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Once you have identified the benefits that God wants you to experience in your life you can now begin to appropriate them to your life.
Recapping what we have talked about today…
1. Identify Yourself. Know who you are “IN Christ”. It is only “In Him” that you are anything in the grand scheme of things. What has God called you to do? What spiritual gifts has He given you to use in the body of Christ?
2. Identify your ministry field. What person or group has God called you to minister to? Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. Look for open doors of ministry to bring others to Christ or to encourage other believers.
3. Identify your Benefits. Lay claim to the grace and peace that God has poured out into your life through your relationship with Jesus.
Do you know Christ that way? If not today is the day of salvation. Take advantage of it.
Do you know what God has called you to do? Then step out in faith to be a part of God’s army in this dark world.
Do you know the benefits that are given you through your relationship with the Father> then step out in faith and receive your healing, your blessings, your provision, your deliverance.
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
