Eph. 1:1-2 - It Takes One to Know Some

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.

Well, Will and I were joking that you now get part two of the sermon.

Part one was his announcements, and part two is my portion.

Thank you for bearing with us. That's a lot of information to take in.

There's a lot of exciting things happening in this church,

and I'm very excited to get to open God's Word with you for the first time in 2015.

It's exciting to get to open a book with Will.

A book of the Bible will be looking at Ephesians.

Let me offer some things to you as we get started.

This is a dangerous promise to make,

but I promise that Will and I are going to move at a nice pace through Ephesians.

We're not looking to set any world records on how long we can draw it out.

We're not drawing up a two-year plan or anything like that.

We promise to move at a good pace through Ephesians.

We won't be teaching word by word.

Rarely will we teach verse by verse, but we'll be looking at section by section,

working at a steady pace through what Paul has to teach us through the book of Ephesians.

So I have the privilege then to get to open it for the first time this morning.

Here's our game plan as we dive in.

We are going to look at the first two verses,

and I want to hold to my promise and move through those at a pretty quick pace.

And then we will take a quick tour of Ephesians,

look at a few of the highlights and important things that Paul is going to talk about in this book.

If you will turn with me then to Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 1 verses 1 through 2, we will be looking at this morning.

Ephesians 1:1–2

You can look in your Bibles.

If you don't have a Bible, you can look on the screen.

As you turn there, let me remind you or maybe tell you for the first time

about some introductory material you need to know about Ephesians.

Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul, as we will soon learn more about.

It was written between the years 60 and 62 A.D.

That is after the death of Christ.

Paul writes from imprisonment.

Paul writes homebound, imprisoned after multiple missionary journeys,

and he is writing to a church that's young,

an infant church that needs to be reminded of simple, clear gospel truths.

The book of Ephesians is considered one of the most classic,

one of the clearest, most beautiful books about the gospel

and how it looks when it's lived out in the lives of believers.

For these reasons, it's worthy of our attention.

It's worthy of our care, our careful thought,

especially as we look towards a new year,

as we enter into a new season as a church,

to be bonded together, connected,

which is our sermon title,

in Christ through the book of Ephesians.

We will return to a few of these pieces of background information

throughout our sermon series,

so keep those in the back of your mind.

Look with me now at Ephesians 1, verses 1 through 2.

Ephesians 1:1–2

They say this,

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus,

grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray with me.

Father, these are two short verses.

We are beginning a long series,

a long journey in a lot of ways into this book of Ephesians,

and we need you to meet with us now,

to be our guide, to be our helper,

to give us your spirit as our teacher

to rightly understand and discern your word.

So, Father, may this time in Ephesians not be about me,

may it not be about will,

but may it be about your Son being known better by these people.

Will you give us the grace,

the ability to understand your word now

as we consider these first few verses of Ephesians.

Pray these things in your heavenly and righteous Son's name.

Amen.

It takes one to know one.

It takes one to know one is a common phrase in the world that I live in.

The world of teenagers is one of, amongst other things, smack talk.

And it takes one to know one is not the coolest phrase,

not the most common phrase anymore with teenagers,

but you're probably familiar with it.

If you don't have teenagers yet, it's coming.

If you have them currently, I'm sorry.

If you've gotten rid of them,

I'm sorry to bring back the memories of it.

It takes one to know one is key in smack talk.

It goes a little something like this.

You hear with junior or senior high boys especially,

man, you are weak on the basketball courts.

You're not real smart, are you?

You're terrible at baseball.

Man, you're really short or you're really tall.

And then the classic response,

it takes one to know one.

To give this line is to say,

hey man, you wouldn't know what it's like to be terrible at basketball

if you weren't terrible at basketball too.

It doesn't just apply to teenage boys, right?

There's positive ways that we would understand this phrase.

Men, you are able to connect with other men because you are a man.

You understand the frustrations, the challenges, the joys,

the highs, the lows of being a man.

Women, likewise, you are able to connect with other women

because you understand the joys, the highs, the lows,

the challenges, the frustrations of being a woman.

It takes a man to know a man.

It takes a woman to know a woman.

Last spring, I got to coach baseball at one of our local schools

and I worked with the pitchers.

The reason why I worked with the pitchers

was because I was a pitcher myself in high school.

It took one to know one.

When the players understood that,

I went from just being a normal coach

to being someone who they could now relate with,

who understood them better,

who understood the frustrations,

the unique challenges that pitchers face.

It took one to know one.

Well, the message of Paul to the Ephesians

to begin his book is very similar.

It takes one to know one,

or in the case of Paul in the Ephesians,

it takes one to know some.

In these opening verses,

Paul is going to introduce himself

as one who understands both what it means to be a sinner

and what it means to be one who's saved by Christ.

Paul leads by telling the people of God in Ephesus

that he was once an enemy of God,

subject to God's wrath,

but now he's been saved by the grace and the mercy of God.

Paul knows what it means to be subject to this wrath,

what it means to be an enemy of God

because he once was himself.

Likewise, he understands the amazing news,

what it means to be transformed by the power of the cross,

transformed by the power of the Spirit

and made into a member of the household of God.

It took one to know some.

The connection that I want to make as we begin this book

is that we first understand the implications of who Paul is,

why it's important that Paul was the author of this book,

why he identifies himself,

how he identifies himself to start the book.

He starts by identifying himself as the author

by saying that he was an apostle of Christ Jesus.

We cannot miss the power,

the promise that's contained in these opening words

that Paul is an apostle of Christ.

Because for us who understand Paul's story

and for the Ephesians who knew his story well,

we knew that not long before he wrote this book,

he was not an apostle.

He didn't live much like an apostle.

He didn't look much like an apostle.

He was an adversary against the church.

He fought against the power of God.

Paul mocked, scorned, and shamed Christians in the church.

He stood in direct opposition to God's mission

and was a vile enemy towards Christ.

And now, what is he calling himself?

An apostle of Jesus Christ.

I, Paul, who was once an enemy,

an adversary towards the Lord,

am now an apostle for his grace.

Paul's telling the Ephesians that he once was a sinner.

And he's telling them that they need to remember

that they were sinners too.

He's reminding them of their sinful state

even as he highlights his apostleship.

Paul can tell them all of these things about being sinners

because he was a sinner.

He is a sinner too.

Paul will tell the Ephesian people in chapters 1 and 2

about the love of God and how it's expressed in our lives.

That through Jesus Christ,

our reality, our perspective,

our very hearts are changed

so that we might become something different.

Not only does Paul identify himself as an apostle,

but what else does he say?

He says that he comes by the will of God.

It's so important for us to understand this

as we begin a study in Ephesians

of what it means that Paul is writing by the will of God.

He's not addressing the Ephesians as one

who's just a faithful follower of Jesus

who has some things that he wants to get off of his chest.

The value and the significance of Paul's words

is based upon his claim of apostleship

likened unto the apostles

and that his words are connected to the very will of God.

By making this claim of speaking to the Ephesians

by the will of God,

he's telling them that contained in this letter

is the truth, the spirit,

the very divine nature of God himself.

The words of Ephesians are authored by Paul,

but they are inspired by the Holy Spirit

by the will of God.

These words of Ephesians come to pass

only because God allowed it to be so.

The book of Ephesians and Paul's authorship of it

were ordained to pass

because God chose it to be so.

He has given it to us

because God chose it to be so.

Paul wants us to understand the power

of what's contained in these words,

that he speaks as an apostle,

but he also speaks only by the will of God.

Divine truth is contained in this book.

He wants us to understand that

he comes as one by and under the authority of God himself.

He does not claim or proclaim his name,

but rather the name of God.

So Paul begins by identifying who he is as the author.

He next addresses the Ephesians

by telling them who they are.

And what does he tell them?

He tells them that you are the saints,

the saints in Ephesus.

It would be easy for us to read over this greeting

and understand it as very customary,

which it is for the epistles,

for letters of the time.

But we need to consider the setting,

consider the setting of Ephesus.

Ephesus was the capital of Asia.

And because of that,

it was the political and commercial center

of the large region of Asia where it sat.

If you know your ancient history,

then you know the importance of it also being

a major port city.

This meant there was not only great trade

and commerce that happened in Ephesus,

but there was also a high traffic of people.

A high traffic of people meant the confluence

of new, bold, challenging,

and often very controversial ideas,

new philosophies, beliefs about God,

about his existence.

Ephesus also had a reputation

for being the home of the temple

to Diana of Artemis.

Diana of Artemis was a God who was believed

to have descended down from heaven.

And a temple was built there to her,

and it measured larger than the Greek Parthenon.

The temple was a depository

for large amounts of treasure and gold,

and it functioned as a bank in many ways.

For those who did business

in the temple of Diana of Artemis,

the priestesses of Diana

were also offered to them.

Hundreds of priestesses who were prostitutes.

Their service was offered to those

who did business in the temple.

And so there, in Ephesus,

in the home of Diana,

the gospel of Jesus Christ

is being interjected.

In the most unlikely of places,

the people of God are being raised up.

There, by the will and the power of God,

the gospel is being introduced

and grown through who?

The saints.

The saints in Ephesus,

into this culture of paganism

and sexual immorality,

Paul calls out to God's people

and gives them this new title,

saints.

Not saints as our Catholic brothers and sisters

would perceive,

whose merit and obedience was earned,

and favor was given to them,

and they were given this title of distinction,

but saints who are offered

the righteousness,

the atonement,

the holiness of Christ,

not of their own works,

but only because of God's grace.

There, in Ephesus,

they lived.

There's a strong contrast

that we need to understand.

These people should feel out of place

when we read the text,

if we understand the background

of the city of Ephesus.

Don't make all the same connections,

but one of the first things

that comes into my mind

is an Auburn fan living in Tuscaloosa,

or an Alabama fan living in Auburn.

Again, don't make all the same connections,

but you wouldn't expect to find one

in the opposing city, right?

You wouldn't expect to find

an Alabama fan in Auburn

or an Auburn fan in Tuscaloosa.

They would be out of place

because their loyalties are different.

Their preferences,

their beliefs,

even their systems of doctrine

are very different, right?

We should understand Paul's call

to the saints in Ephesus

in a similar way.

As readers,

it should stick out.

It should seem unlikely

and unreasonable

that the people of God

would live in a place like Ephesus.

Paul's identification of the people

doesn't stop there, though, does it?

His next description of the Ephesians

is those who are faithful in Christ Jesus.

And what Paul is doing

by writing this second half of verse one

like he does

is to create in the original language

a parallelism.

He does this first

by describing the Ephesians

in their geographical location,

but then also describing the Ephesians

in their spiritual location,

that they dwell in Ephesus,

but they also dwell in Jesus Christ.

We can't miss the importance

of what Paul is doing here.

He's beginning to introduce

one of the key

and the fundamental principles

of the book of Ephesians,

and that is the dual citizenship

of the people of God.

Paul's not presenting

these two locations

in contradiction to each other,

but rather he's presenting them

in conjunction with each other,

that our citizenship is dual

by its very nature,

that we dwell here on earth,

that we've been called

to bring forth the kingdom of God

on earth,

but we do so as members of heaven.

The people of God

are both saints in Ephesus.

They're also faithful

in Christ in heaven.

And so Paul's explaining

to the Ephesians and to us

as God's people

that we are precisely

where God would have us,

that into a culture

of relativity,

sexual immorality,

all religious,

polytheistic,

multicultural,

spiritually and socially

and emotionally starved world,

God interjects his people.

He interjects those

who represent him,

who represent his character,

his will,

and his love.

Not only that,

but Paul is relating

to the people

by telling them,

I know.

I know where you live.

I understand the challenges,

the frustrations,

the struggle,

the beliefs that are

pressed upon you every day.

But don't lose heart,

Ephesians.

Don't lose heart,

Paul says,

because your citizenship

belongs in heaven.

God has called you

to live on this earth,

to be a citizen of Ephesus,

but also you belong to him.

To dwell with God in heaven

means the life,

the death,

the resurrection,

and the ministry of Christ

are given to us,

that we might have renewed hope

and renewed life

as we live in this world.

So Paul identifies

who he is,

he identifies

who the Ephesians are,

and lastly,

he summarizes

what his whole book

is going to be about.

How does he do it?

By saying,

grace and peace.

Grace and peace to you

from our Lord

and from the Lord,

from our Father

and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace.

That's it.

That's the summary.

That's the whole spirit

of Ephesians

wrapped up in two words.

Paul's message is contained

in these two key principles,

highlighting God's power

to overcome our sin,

highlighting the love

that God has

to pursue us

as his people,

highlighting this unmerited favor

that God has for us

that we can rest in.

Remember,

what's Paul trying to do

as he opens this book?

He's trying to connect himself

with these people.

The Ephesian church,

we said,

was young.

It was infantile

in their faith,

and Paul offers them

these simple

and affirming words,

grace and peace to you.

I understand Ephesians.

I understand where you live.

I understand the struggles

that you face.

Grace and peace to you.

Remember the work

that God is doing

in your life.

We'll find this message

of grace and peace

throughout the book

of Ephesians.

It's meant to be

this bedrock,

this ever-present reminder

of God's love

and his faithfulness to us.

Paul's explanation

of the good news

and the reason why

our lives should be different

is because of grace,

because of the peace

that we have

from the Father.

So why should we be excited

about Ephesians then?

We've considered the author,

we've considered

who it's written to

in this summary.

Let's take a quick tour then,

okay?

Hold on,

we're going to move

really quickly.

We're going to take a quick tour

through the book of Ephesians

and consider this new reality

that Paul has,

how we see grace

and peace expressed.

First,

we see it expressed

through clear gospel truths.

Look with me

at Ephesians 2,

Ephesians 2:12–19

verses 12 through 19.

They say this,

remember that you were

at that time

separated from Christ,

alienated from the commonwealth

of Israel

and strangers

to the covenant of promise,

having no hope

and without God

in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus,

you who once were far off

have been brought near

by the blood of Christ.

For he himself

is our peace

who has made us both one

and has broken down

in his flesh

the dividing wall

of hostility

by abolishing the law

of commandments

expressed in ordinances

that he might create

in himself

one new man

in the place of the two

so making what?

Peace

and might reconcile us

both to God

in one body

through the cross

thereby killing the hostility.

And he came

and he preached

peace to you

who were far off

and peace to those

who were near.

For through him

we both have access

in one spirit

to the Father.

So then you are

no longer strangers

and aliens

but you are fellow citizens

with the saints

and members

of the household of God.

There are clear gospel truths

that Paul is going to come back to

again and again

in chapter 2.

This is what we would call

Paul's orthodoxy.

His right understanding

that you were once far off

you were once cut off

but because of the blood of Christ

you've now been brought near.

The wall of hostility

that existed

between you and the Father

has been broken down.

And Paul's going to

remind us of it

affirm us in it

encourage us

in these clear

gospel truths.

These gospel truths

are going to lead Paul

to a response

of overwhelmed

prayer and praise.

Paul's actually going

to be led

to sing over us

to pray over us

as God's people.

Look at chapter 3

verses 16 through 19

they say this

that according to

the riches of his glory

he may grant you

to be strengthened

with power

through his spirit

in your inner being

so that Christ

may dwell in your hearts

through faith

that you being rooted

and grounded in love

may have strength

to comprehend

with all the saints

what is the breadth

and the length

and the height

and the depth

and to know

the love of Christ

that surpasses knowledge

that you may be filled

with all the fullness

of God.

Do you hear

Paul's excitement?

Do you hear

his praise?

He can't wait

for you to experience

the love of the Father.

He can't wait

for you to experience

grace and peace.

We would call this

Paul's doxology

his expression

of prayer

and praise

and we'll see it

in a much fuller sense

when we get

to chapter 3.

Paul will then conclude

with two very compelling

chapters

in his book

about what it means

for us to respond

to the gospel

what the gospel

looks like

in our lives.

He'll explain

how we are connected

together as a body

of Christ.

Look at chapter 5

verses 1 and 2.

They say this,

therefore be imitators

of God

as beloved children

and walk in love

as Christ loved us

and gave himself up

for us

a fragrant offering

and sacrifice

to God.

Paul's calling

is this

that because

of the gospel truths

and because

those gospel truths

lead us to

praise and worship

they ought to

also lead us

to respond

with our hearts

and our lives

that our lives

should reflect

the grace

and the peace

of the gospel

that's been

offered to us.

This is Paul's

orthopraxy

that is his

right practice

in living

that he will

explain to us.

He desires

for there to be

change in the lives

of Ephesians.

He desires

for there to be

change in our

own lives as well.

There will be

application

to our marriages,

to our relationship

with our children,

to our children's

relationship to parents.

We will seek unity

together as a church

as we consider

what love looks like,

how it unifies us,

what it means to be

bonded and united

to Christ,

and we'll also

consider what it means

to put on what Paul

will call the armor

of God.

This change

in Paul's heart

is rooted in the

same place that

our hearts should be

rooted in,

the grace and the

peace caused by

the mercy of God.

The response

of these new

realities is lived

out.

It's fleshed out

according to Paul

because of the love

and the unmerited

favor of God.

As we begin our

study of Ephesians,

we've got to start

here.

We've got to start

with our need

for the gospel,

our need for God

to reveal His grace

to us.

For just as God

overcame the sinful

heart of Paul,

all of his anger,

all his frustration,

his malice,

his hatred,

his murdering,

his slandering,

his ridicule,

his evilness,

and lying,

so too did He

overcome sinful

hearts like mine

and like yours.

This is the hope

that we have,

that God comes to us

surrounded by a

pagan culture,

plagued by the

sinfulness of our

flesh,

to deliver us

from the enemy

and to deliver us

from ourselves.

Paul's message is

this,

God has overcome

me,

and He has come

to also conquer

you.

That's the grace

and peace

that we rest in.

It's where we start.

And if we don't

understand it,

if we don't start

there,

then we'll miss

the power of Ephesians.

Because Paul wants

us to see the

sinfulness of our

own hearts first.

And when we face

our sin and our

inability,

it's then that we

see the gospel

sharply and clearly.

Paul tells us

that we need not

despair.

for when we

understand this

peace,

then we can

reflect gospel

power.

Then we can go

and be God's

people.

If we don't get

our hearts right,

if we don't have

the well of grace

to return to as

we face our sin,

we lose power as

God's people in

the world.

Listen to what

Brian Chappell says

about Paul's

introduction to the

gospel.

He says,

human weakness,

our weakness,

is not the end

of the story.

God is at work

so believers can

be at peace and

keep going in

his mission.

The personal

peace that grace

provides is the

hidden power source

of unvanquished

ministry.

What Chappell is

reminding us of

is that you and

I have a God

who comes not

from this world

but who came

from heaven,

from the heavenly

realms,

who enters into

our brokenness

and our mess.

He redeems us

and he empowers

us now with

unvanquished sources

of power to go

and carry his

gospel forth.

We can hope in

the power of God

because he first

performed a miracle

in saving people

like me and people

like you.

So three brief

questions then as

we conclude and as

we look towards

this book of

Ephesians.

The first is this,

are you ready to

trust the apostle

and the work of the

Holy Spirit in your

life as we consider

this book?

Are you ready to

trust in God's

will, trust in God's

power as it's

promised by Paul?

Don't let these

pages just be

words, just words

on a page.

Are you willing to

let these words

transform your

heart to change

and shape who you

are in the coming

months?

Are you open to

seeing the gospel

in new and

beautiful ways in

the book of

Ephesians?

Now of course

you'd say you're

open and willing to

seeing the gospel

in beautiful ways,

right?

Well what that

means is that

before you can see

a beautiful picture

you've got to see

the bad news of

the gospel.

You've got to see

the ugly picture of

who you are and

you may have to

return to it day

after day, week

after week, but are

you desirous of

that?

Are you hungry to

grow in your

understanding of

the Father as you

grow in your

understanding of

your sin?

You'll see a

beautiful picture of

Jesus once you

first see ugly

pictures of

yourself.

Paul's going to

remind us of it

again and again.

It took one to

know some.

The third and

final question is

this.

Are you willing to

lock arms together?

To lock arms together

as a church and to

respond in a variety

of ways that Paul is

going to challenge us

with.

He tells us that we're

living in a foreign

land, that we live in

a foreign place

surrounded by a

variety of new ideas

and it's there that

the gospel needs to

be lived out.

It's out there that

the gospel needs to

be taken.

This connection,

this unity is vital

to the book of

Ephesians.

It's vital to us

understanding what it

looks like to be the

church together.

We don't live on an

island.

We carry God's mission

and his love forth

together as a church

and that's what Paul is

going to advocate for.

So are you ready?

Are you committed to

doing this?

Paul was and he's

encouraging us to do

the same thing.

This is the hope that

we have as we enter

into the book of

Ephesians.

As we consider how

our hearts, how our

minds, how our hands

should be engaged

with the gospel.

How it should be

impacted and changed

by the gospel.

It all starts here

with the hope and the

peace.

The hope and the

peace of the gospel.

Paul's introduction

to the Ephesians is

his introduction to

you here.

Grace and peace to

you, Southwood.

to the saints in

Huntsville, faithful in

Jesus Christ.

Come and hear and

respond to the hope

that we have in the

Father.

Amen and amen.

Let's pray.

Gracious Father,

we are overwhelmed by

this good news.

This good news that you

would choose to save

and redeem broken,

messed up people like

us.

We thank you for the

Apostle Paul who has

introduced himself as

one who has truly

experienced what it's

like to be an enemy of

God, who is proactive in

that, and who longed to

see the kingdom of God

fail.

That is our hearts, too.

Before you changed us,

before you intervened in

our lives, that was us,

too.

So, Father, will you work

this good news of the

gospel, that the story

doesn't stop there at our

own weakness, but would

you work this story into

our lives?

Help us to see ways in

which we need to change

our heart, ways that our

mind needs to be changed,

and how our lives might

reflect your grace more

through the work of our

hands.

Will you be with us,

bless us as we consider

this book in the coming

months?

Father, thank you for

your presence and for

your word.

Pray these things in your

heavenly son's name.

Amen.

For more information,

visit us online at

southwood.org.