As we embark on this study we will see how we who are IN CHRIST have riches the lost world knows nothing about.
It is sad enough that sinners know nothing about these “riches,” but sadder still is the fact that even many Christians do not know of the riches they have IN CHRIST.
Illus: When I think of the book of Ephesians, I think of the story of the woman who woke up one morning and as she saw her husband getting ready to leave for work she said, with a big smile on her face, “Honey, I’ll bet you do not know what day this is.” Her husband had a hard time remembering birthdays and anniversaries, but since he was about to leave for work he excused himself from the embarrassing situation by walking out of the door while saying, “Honey, how could I ever forget. This is the best day of our lives.”
All during the day he kept trying to remember what month and what day his wife’s birthday was, and when their anniversary was, but he could not remember. The day wore on and it was getting close to time to get off from work and he knew he was going to have to go home and face his wife not knowing what made this day so special.
He finally thought of a plan to save his hide. He rushed into the house and said, “Honey, get your best dress on. We are going to paint the town red to celebrate this outstanding day in our lives!”
While she was getting ready he rushed down to the florist and bought her a lovely bouquet of flowers. He took her to the most expensive restaurant in town.
He had spent $150.00 to celebrate this day and he did not even know what he was celebrating.
It was on the way home that he finally discovered what day it was. His wife snuggled real close to him, placed her arm around his shoulder, planted a soft kiss on his cheek and said, “Honey, this is the best ground hog day we have ever enjoyed together.”
Now, I have a feeling, as we get into this study of Ephesians, many of you are going to say, “This is the best book I have ever studied.”
Before we get too far along in Ephesians, let me give you some insights you might not see on the surface.
• The word “Ephesus” is not found in some of the original manuscripts. It is believed that when Paul wrote this letter that we call Ephesians, it was a circular letter for all churches and that Ephesians was added later.
• Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is similar to the book of Romans. How? In that both are virtually essays on theology.
• Something else, I would like to point out is that...
• Ephesians does not deal with theological topics as Galatians and Colossians does.
• Nor does Ephesians deal with ethical problems in church as the two Corinthian epistles.
• Ephesians has its own distinctive emphasis that deals with the doctrine of salvation that we have IN CHRIST.
The book of Ephesians makes us to appreciate what the Lord Jesus has done for us as BELIEVERS. One of the problems of being a believer is that it is difficult for us to comprehend what has happened to us.
And if we can not fully comprehend what Christ has done for us, then we can not fully appreciate what He has done for us.
I sincerely believe that one of the reasons our church services lack genuine emotion is because we lack the knowledge of what we, as Christians, have IN CHRIST.
Illus: Some of our worship services lack emotions to the point it reminds me of some of the old model T Fords that had to be cranked to get them to start. For example, in some church services the pastor constantly has to tell the people to...
- Sing. (He is trying desperately to crank them up.)
- Raise your hands unto the Lord. (He is trying desperately to crank them up.)
- Clap your hands and make a joyful noise. (He is trying desperately to crank them up.)
Again, one of the reasons our church worship services lack the show of genuine emotion is because saints of God do not know what they have IN CHRIST.
Some say, “Oh, we are not the kind of church that has to have a show of emotion,” yet Sunday after Sunday they show the emotions of apathy, sadness, and of DOOM and GLOOM as they sit in their pews. IF THEY KNEW WHAT THEY HAD IN CHRIST, THEY COULD NOT HELP BUT SHOW THEIR EMOTION OF HAPPINESS! IF Christians fully understood what they have IN CHRIST we would have to place seat belts in the pews to hold them down to keep order.
Illus: The Reader’s Digest and other companies have become famous for their giving away of millions of dollars each year in their sweepstakes. It is fun to watch their commercials on television when they show the reactions of the recipients of the prizes.
One that is especially good is the ad of the young girl who comes to the door with a bath towel wrapped around her and when they tell her she has just won 10 MILLION DOLLARS she goes berserk! That girl acts like a person who has just won 10 million dollars should act! She grabs her mouth, her eyes enlarge to twice their normal size and she screams for joy.
You can take the most reserved person on earth and announce that he has just won a great prize and he will go bananas. Why? Because the IMPOSSIBLE has become the POSSIBLE and he will have a hard time comprehending that it could happen to him.
It is the same for Christians. What the Lord has done for us sounds impossible. It sounds like a fairy tale, but IT IS NO FAIRY TALE. I have a feeling that by the time we get through this book, some of you are going to “go bananas” spiritually!
Let me show you a few things we, who are RECIPIENTS of this salvation, have IN CHRIST. Let me show you first...
I. OUR SIGNIFICANCE.
Look at Ephesians 1:1-2. We read, “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: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” There are two things in verses 1 and 2 that make us SIGNIFICANT!
A. Our sainthood. Did you know that if you have been born again through the precious blood of Christ that you are not only A CHILD OF GOD, but you are A SAINT OF GOD.
Someone said, “Preacher, I thought men like Peter, Luke, Paul and John were saints.” They were saints of God, but you and I are just much saints as they were, did you know that, saint _____________.”
Illus: I do not know about you, but I have been called about everything except a saint, but according to this Bible, the Word of God, I am taught I am a saint!
The good news is that we do not have to wait to become saints, WE ARE SAINTS!
Illus: J. Vernon McGee used to say, “There are only two kinds of people today: the SAINTS and the AIN’TS. If you are a saint, then you are not an ain’t. If you ain’t an ain’t, then you are a saint.”
Listen, our sainthood is NOT BASED on OUR WORKS, but ON HIS WORKS.
The apostle Paul proclaimed they were saints, but notice, before he stated that, he stated WHO HE WAS. IS THAT IMPORTANT? Very important!
Illus: If I come up to you and look into your eyes and check your pulse and tell you I think you are going to die shortly, that should not concern you because I am not a doctor. But, if a Bona fide doctor walks up and looks into your eyes and checks your pulse and tells you that, then you should be concerned!
What makes the difference? The doctor is qualified to make an assessment about your state of health, I am not!
Before Paul told them they were SAINTS, he first told them WHO HE WAS -- showing he had the authority to declare they were saints. Who gave him such authority?
Look at verse 1. We read, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God...” Paul had a reason for proclaiming his apostolic authority.
When apostles spoke or acted, they spoke or acted with the full authority of the Messiah Whom they represented. The miracles they performed were the means by which they were identified as His representatives. So, before Paul told them WHO THEY WERE, he first told them WHO HE WAS.
But notice, after Paul addressed them as SAINTS, he dropped these words into that greeting. He said, “...and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.”
One way one can tell a SAINT OF GOD is because a saint is “...FAITHFUL IN CHRIST.”
Saints are not like some of those “Yo Yo” people in churches who profess to be saved, but whose salvation everyone wonders about. They are up and down, and most of the time they are more down than they are up.
Paul had just stated they were the SAINTS OF GOD, but he also wanted to state that they were”...FAITHFUL IN CHRIST JESUS.” Paul showed them, and us, as Christians, HIS SAINTHOOD, but he also shows the Christians...
B. Our salvation. Look at verse 2. We read, “Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Now Paul showed the SAINTS HOW THEY HAD BECOME SAINTS. The second thing that made them SIGNIFICANT was that they were RECIPIENTS OF THE GRACE OF GOD.
Everything we, as saints, have is because God has been gracious to us.
Illus: One, of the many erroneous teachings of Roman Catholicism, is that once a man dies, some Cardinals at the Vatican get together behind closed doors and determine who will be voted into SAINTHOOD. They do this by taking all of a man’s good works and bad works and weigh them against each other. If the good outweighs the bad they may choose to vote that person into sainthood.
Listen, you and I could never do enough good works to be voted into SAINTHOOD. But, WE ARE NOT SAVED BY OUR WORKS, BUT BY HIS WORKS. OUR SIGNIFICANCE is that BY THE GRACE OF GOD WE HAVE BECOME SAINTS.
Let us Christians see something else about our state...
II. OUR SUFFICIENCY.
Our sufficiency is NOT WITHIN OURSELVES, but WITHIN CHRIST!
Look at verse 3. We read, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, WHO HATH BLESSED US with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”
Illus: We often sing the old hymn, “When We All Get To Heaven.” In this song we sing about how great it will be when we GET TO HEAVEN. And beloved, make no mistake about it, we are going to have the time of our lives when we get there. EYES HAVE NOT SEEN, NOR HAVE EARS HEARD WHAT WE ARE GOING TO EXPERIENCE WHEN WE GET THERE!
We ought to preach about Heaven and look forward to going to that glorious place. One of the problems in the Christian life is that the devil has convinced people that Christians can not enjoy life until they die and go to heaven, AND THAT IS NOT TRUE! Notice two things in verse 3...
(1) Paul is not talking about God blessing us one day in the future. He is talking about God blessing us in this life. Look at these words in verse 3, “...WHO HATH BLESSED US.” That is telling us that God wants to BLESS US NOW!
(2) Notice, in verse 3, the word is not “blessing,” but “BLESSINGS” -- plural...
- Now.
- Tomorrow.
- Next week.
- And next year.
God has many blessings for His children.
Our God WANTS TO BLESS US and the good thing about this is that HE IS SUFFICIENT to bless us with BLESSING AFTER BLESSING.
Illus: I would love to have millions, and if I did I would love to help...
• Sick people who need medical attention.
• Children who need dental work.
• Elderly who lived on fixed incomes.
• Poor families who have a broken-down car and have no transportation.
• Young people that I would love to put through Bible college.
• Elderly that are lonely.
I have all these desires, but do not have resources to fulfill them.
The good news is that God desires to BLESS US and He also has the SUFFICIENCY to bless us with MANY BLESSINGS.
Conclusion/Summary:
Illus: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone secretly deposited one million dollars into your checking account? But, did you know the million dollars would do you no good until you knew it was there?
In the book of Ephesians there are many treasures, but they will do you no good until you discover that the Lord has these blessings for you.
I. OUR SIGNIFICANCE.
A. Our sainthood.
B. Our salvation.
II. OUR SUFFICIENCY.
