03 | Ephesians: A Survey of the Epistle

Ps.  Laurence Leriger, pastor at Sevilla Chapel in St. Catharines, walks us through a survey of Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church in order to comprehend what follows. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

The Letter to the Ephesians by Pastor Lawrence Leriger, a Sermon Series podcast brought to you by Sevilla Chapel in St. Catherine.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Well, friends, I'm afraid I'm gonna throw you a little curveball this morning. I was preparing the next text in our exposition of Ephesians, and the Lord showed me that I missed something I should have done. And that is just an overview of the book of Ephesians, where you started out talking about the unspeakable riches that are ours in Christ. The Lord has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, and in fact, that's true. But I think it would be extremely encouraging and helpful for all of us if we were to just take a survey this morning of all that all that that includes. And I say a survey, we're not going to get stuck on any particular point, but I want you to see the grand sweep. I've told you that this letter, this precious, infinitely precious letter, is called the treasury of the Christian life. And oftentimes, you know, when we're studying scripture carefully, verse by verse, we tend to lose sight of the big picture. So my hope today is to establish the big picture in our minds so that we can always keep that in our thoughts as we're going through verse by verse over the next several months, presumably, Lord willing. So let's do that. Let's take our time this morning to do what I should have done to begin with. I established the historical context, which is important, but I haven't given you a vision for what this letter is and its intended purpose. So let's do that. The purpose of this glorious letter is to teach believers about the glorious riches which belong to them by their union with Christ crucified and resurrected, and to call them to walk worthy of their high calling and to lay hold of all of our privileges by vital union with Christ and vital church membership, by lifelong repentance, by living in well-ordered households and by engaging in an unceasing spiritual combat against the devil. I want first to briefly explain some of my motivation in coming to this letter when we have, right at the beginning of my ministry here, of our time together. When I was a new Christian, I was probably saved a couple of years working in the rock quarry, and I knew nothing. And I was desperate to understand the word. I didn't have mentors, I didn't have Christian friends around me. I was just desperate. And the Lord moved me to start memorizing his word. And the first one was Philippians. I didn't even know it was in the Bible, but it was really short and I thought I could manage. So it took me quite a while. But I memorized it. I didn't understand it, but I memorized it. And then after that, I started, you know, it started getting settled into my mind. I could rehearse it and I wanted to move on. And then one next door neighbor was Ephesians. I knew nothing about it either. So I began memorizing it. And I just, the reason I'm telling you this, I recently found the little Bible that my wife bought me that I used to carry with me in the quarry in my coveralls. It's just, it's just a mess. It's been soaked, it's been covered in mud, it's been ripped. But that's when I drove water truck at the quarry, it would take probably 15 minutes to fill that water truck. So I spent a lot of time standing there waiting for this water truck to fill. And I started, and it was that time I started memorizing Ephesians, just little bits over a long period of time. And I I memorized all six chapters over quite an extended period, just filling that water truck. And and finding that old Bible and the dirty pages and all the damage just filled my heart with thankfulness that God in his providence led me to his word, led me to memorize. I didn't know what I was doing, I didn't know what he had in store for me. But he has used it, it has been definitional to my growth as a Christian. And I have come to personally experience that this is indeed the treasury of the Christian life. And it has been it has been an encouragement. The Lord has used it to rebuke me, to encourage me, to drag me out of my own introspective doldrums. I tell you, one of the most depressing things in my life is when I start looking in here. But then the Lord lifts my gaze up to Him, up to Christ, and inevitably He starts recalling this letter to my mind to give me, as it were, another shot of life. And I pray that this letter would do the same thing for all of us. That's why I want to do this brief flyover with you. The letter to the Ephesians is filled with many deep doctrines. In fact, it is one of the most practical letters in the entire Bible. And he didn't write this as he did most of his other letters, Paul. He didn't write it to correct anything. He wrote it to unfold to those Ephesian Christians the glories of the treasures that are ours in Christ, the beauties of Christ and all that God has done for us in Christ. So the first chapter, in fact, as we've begun to see already, he begins with the sovereignty of God. This is a doctrine that many people find difficult. Many Christians even even reject because it's an affront to their own personal freedom, they believe. Why does he start there? And we see in the in the Trinitarian structure of the of the first 14 verses, or Paul starts there to right from the very beginning, to nail this stake, this pole into the ground of God's sovereignty, because salvation is all of God and none of us. Like Jonathan Edwards said, the only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. And so here he begins there. That we are chosen before the foundation of the world. And we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. And the first blessing is that we are predestined to adoption as children. He didn't just choose us so that we wouldn't burn. And he chose us to indeed make us his children. And as we're going to see in a couple of weeks when we actually deal with verse 5 and 6, rather, about adoption, what this letter shows us is that not only does he choose us, not only does he adopt us and make us members of his household. But unlike our adoption, you know, when a person adopts another person, we can give them our name. And that's no small thing. But God alone, when he adopts us, gives us the human nature. And then conforms us to his own lightning. So the first three chapters generally is just this fireworks display of what God has done for undeserving sinners in Christ Jesus and applied to us by his Spirit. The Father sent to the Son. The Son went, he accomplished redemption, and the Spirit takes that redemption and applies it to undeserving sinners. The letter to the Ephesians has just an astounding, astoundingly high view of the overall plan of God. He reveals to us these mysteries that we would never, never know, never understand if he didn't tell us explicitly. If you look at Ephesians 1:10, it says that he has revealed to us that in the unfolding of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. In redemption, that is the Lord's end point, that is the Lord's goal, is that all things shall be brought together under the unquestioned dominion of Christ. That all evil will be done away. First John says that Jesus Christ came to undo the works of the devil. And in Romans, Paul says that even the whole creation brooms waiting for that day. The whole creation was made subject to the curse by our sin, by Adam's original sin. And so here already in chapter in chapter 1, verse 10, he says that his ultimate plan is to subdue everything to Christ, who is Lord of Lords and King of kings. We wouldn't know that if he didn't tell us. Just in broad strokes, the first three chapters are the treasures that are ours, and the last three chapters are how we're to live in light of that. How we are to lay hold of and make use of these tremendous privileges that are ours in Christ. So he begins with election and predestination, that his plan is carried out with Christ, that Christ has redeemed us by his blood, that we are made accepted in Christ, in the beloved, and that this is applied to us by the Holy Spirit. And we get to chapter 2. And Paul is saying to us, do you understand what your condition was before Christ saved you? Do you understand that we were the living dead? He starts out chapter 2, says, You, he is made alive, who were dead in your trespasses and sins. That in time past we we walked, we lived according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit who is now at work in the children of disobedience. And that was us. He says, the children of disobedience, among whom we also walked. And we we gave our lives to the to the fulfilling of our flesh and of our of our fleshly mind and understanding. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead, has made us alive together with Christ. By grace you are saved. And here in the second chapter, Paul makes much of celebrating God's grace. Probably the most famous verse in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 are known to most of you, I think. By grace you are saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, so then no one may boast. And right after that he says, For we are his workmanship. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has before ordained, that we should walk in them. And this means that our lives have purpose, that our lives are not meaningless, that we are members of the new humanity in Christ, created to live to God and for God and to walk in all the works that He's given us. And so Paul just lays out for us in the most beautiful terms that he has not left us to ourselves. That everything the Lord brings to us, having established the letter firmly in the sovereignty of God, we see that everything that happens to us in our lives is brought to us by the sovereign hand of our Father. That is not to say that He is the author or the causer of sin. Never never, Paul says. Never never. But he is so sovereign that he uses sin even to his own purpose. And everything he brings to our lives, we have to understand that even when it seems unbearably painful, we have to say, Father, you have set this before me to walk through. And I know that you're not leaving me to do it alone. And I know that you have a purpose. And that purpose is certainly, ultimately for my good. That you are using this to conform me to the likeness of your own son. And I know that this purpose is certainly for your glory. We don't often understand, we don't have to understand, but Paul says that everything, everything is categorized under the good works that the Lord has set before us before the foundation of the world. And we have to receive it that way. That's why, you know, in Philippians, I don't want to get stuck here, but in Philippians, Paul says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Because it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to accomplish his good pleasure. He has not left us to ourselves. He is the one working in us, he is the one working to make us willing to do his purpose, and he's the one giving us by his grace the power to accomplish it. So he has saved us by his grace through faith, and that's a gift, so that we can, as an as his new humanity, under the last Adam, walk in the fullness of all that he has set before us to do. And that he is building us together, all Christians. You know, John 3.16, God so loved the world, his point there to Nicodemus is not just the Jews. God so loved people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. And Paul says this is the mystery of the gospel. That he in Christ, in his body, in his sacrifice, has knocked down the division. He's knocked down the wall of partition. And that he, out of his body, would make out of two, Jew and Gentile, one new man. So making peace among us. So there is no longer any division. This is the ultimate answer to racial division, racial prejudice. That in Christ there is not Jew nor Greek, there is not male nor female, there is not barbarian or scythian, but all are one in Christ. That's the only answer to all of this madness that comes from our sin. And he is building us together into a structure, into his holy temple that he will dwell in forever. This is one of the most amazing realities. So he's just kind of showing us that that's what he's doing, that that's his purpose. And as we get into the last half, the second three chapters, he's gonna show us some of the practical how it works. How he is building and what's our part. What do we have to do? In chapter three, Paul gets more into his own ministry and and his calling. He says that he was called to make this mystery known to the Gentiles. And in chapter 3, verse 14, 14 to 21, is just is one of Paul's prayers in Ephesians, which is just absolutely magnificent. They're like these two chapters are like two of the brightest gems in the whole pile of treasure. Listen to this. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that he works in us. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Paul's prayer here is that we as Christians would understand something of the sheer magnitude, the immense glory of Christ's love for us. We sing of it, we speak of it. But how many of us live in that reality? How many of us have experienced this love that passes all cognitive explanation? This love that fills us, little clay pots, with all the fullness of God. I dare say that isn't the common Christian experience. But that's Paul's prayer, because that is that is the treasure that the Lord has laid out for us in this beautiful letter. That we would understand the overwhelming love of Christ for us. That we would see, he says the the length, the breadth, and the depth and the height. These are just terms speaking of the dimensions of Christ's love. It's like seeing the mountains at a distance, and we can say, oh, wow. Look how beautiful the mountains are. Look, they got snow on the tops, you can see them from a long ways. Isn't that magnificent? Praise the Lord. There's a big difference between that and actually standing at the foot of them. Because you can see their beauty from a distance. But they don't make you feel small from a distance. And when you stand at the foot of a mountain, or in the midst of mountains, as I have done, you're an ant. And you see that these mountains are just a tiny little, tiny little speck on the earth. They're part of God's creation that is bigger than we can ever understand. And yet those mountains absolutely dwarf us. And you get this feeling of awe as you're standing there looking up just at the, not just front, they're not with eye, but anymore. And you get this like a visceral reaction of wonder and amazement and this true revelation of just how small and fragile I am. And it is it is comparable, though in a very inadequate way, to experiencing the love of Christ and just being aware of it and understanding it. And when you're having a hard time just repeating it to yourself, Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me. He does. More than we can even get a hold of. He says, the love of Christ that passes our understanding. And then, one of my favorite parts of the whole Bible, Paul closes his prayer with, now to him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think. Do we pray like that? I don't always. But if we are to fill our hands with this treasure that he has given us in Christ, if we are to open our hearts to him and to what he has for us in his word, and to put our energy and our purpose to work in receiving what he gives us here, as we study it the next however long it takes, we are going to experience this. Because he will work it in us. Not because we're going to figure out how to do it, but because as we behold the glories of Christ here where he's revealed himself, he by his spirit changes us and puts it to work in us. Just like it says in 2 Corinthians 3.18. We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of Christ, are being transformed from one level of glory to the next, to the next, to the next, to the next, to the next. And this is all done by the Lord. As we're beholding Christ, He's working in us by His Spirit. And we will experience this. And that is the end of the first half of this is what God has done for you in Christ. And now the second half is well, what do we do with that? How do we lay hold of this vast treasure? And it begins with this exhortation, this plea for unity in chapter 4. Paul says, I, therefore, the prisoner of God, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you were called. The vocation is the calling. With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Endeavoring means to put your back into it. This is our purpose, to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. He doesn't say create it, it's there. Our job is to keep it. And what he's going to show us through the through the rest of this section here into chapter 5, how do we keep what he's already given us? By fighting our sin, tooth and nail. Because what is going to cause division in the church? It is my sin. So we are to give ourselves with all of our heart and soul to keeping what He's given us. You know, after the American Revolution, a lady went to Ben Franklin and said, What sort of government have you given us, Mr. Franklin? And he said, A republic, if you can keep it. What does it require to keep it? It means holding up your end. And here the Lord has given us this endless, superabundant treasure above all we can ask or think in our union with Christ. And he commands us to keep it, to endeavor, to strive, to keep it. And then he goes on with all these ones. There's one body and one spirit, even as you are called, with one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Of all. One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. And then comes the but. But unto every one of you is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. And here he gets into the doctrine of the spiritual gifts, which is just magnificent. Why does he say but? We're not going to get stuck here, but why does he say but? He's talking about there's unity, there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one body. But we're not all identical. We are a body of individuals who are welded together by the Spirit in Christ. But he distributes his gifts to his people superabundantly and in various ways, so that we all, as he's going to explain through chapter four, we all, as members of his body, are doing our part. He says, so that the whole body grows up together, according as each ligament and sinew does its part in holding things together. We grow up together into maturity. That this is this is our calling as a local congregation, that we grow up to a mature expression of Christ here in Marathon. This is his calling. Strive for unity. Recognize the gifts that he has so freely distributed. Recognize them, improve them. That means put them to work, encourage them in others. Because everybody is put here for a purpose. We are not just attenders. He has put everybody here and gifted everybody here to serve here. Isn't that marvelous? He wasn't surprised by the planting of Sevilla. He isn't surprised that any of us are here. He's put us here. And he's equipped us to fulfill our calling, so that he might be glorified in our midst, so that we might, as I said, grow up to a mature expression of Christ. Isn't that glorious? How encouraged should we be? So there is unity and there is diversity. We must never mistake, as many sadly do, we must never mistake unity for uniformity. We do not require uniformity. We reject that because we understand that the Lord has given each of us gifts according to our calling. And the gifts are given to serve the congregation. And the gifts, he mentions some evangelists, some apostles and prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. Now these gifts specifically are not, they're set apart. He mentions them apart because the gift isn't the thing he gives the church. It's the gifted man that he gives the church. That's what he's he gives the church evangelists, pastor teachers, in order to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. That's what he's saying. Christ gives the body what it needs and blesses the work and causes them to grow up to maturity. And everyone has a role to play. Now, chapter 4, verse 17 to 521, Paul addresses issues that assault our unity, and that is our sin. And he starts out this way: this I say therefore, as he's just discussed the um the beauties of Christ's gifts and calling. He says, This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you henceforth do not walk as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. Take note of all of the mind and mental words there. Mind, understanding, ignorance, blindness of heart. In the Bible, we understand heart isn't speaking of emotions, like the way we use the word. When they spoke of emotions, they spoke of the guts. In the old authorized version, it says the bowels. When they said heart, they spoke of the mind and the understanding. So that's how we have to understand it. So all this language, he says, don't be like the Gentiles. And here he's using a word that used to distinguish between Jews and non-Jews, to now distinguish between believers and unbelievers. Because in Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, you see. There's only one people of Christ. And he says, so don't act like the unconverted. Don't think like the unconverted. They are past feeling, they've given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. And this is one of the key verses, perhaps in the whole Bible, but certainly in this letter, chapter 4, verse 20, but you have not so learned Christ. And you know why it's so important? This is what the Lord showed me very powerfully. We're not learning facts, just we're not just learning religion. We're not learning how to do Christianity. We're learning Christ. When we open this, it must be so that we can learn Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2 2, 16, I think, we have the mind of Christ. And he's speaking here about the word of God and the Spirit in us, applying it. We must learn Christ. Not just about him, not just rules that we're supposed to follow. We get right away into this. Therefore, get uh put off, take off concerning your former life the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lesson. I always think of a dirty old pair of coveralls. Paul says, take off that old man, it's corrupt. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. It's one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible. And what he's saying there is, you are no longer the old man. You are no longer an Adam. You are part of the new humanity. And Christ is now, by his spirit and by his word, he is now restoring in you the image of God that was so horribly marred by the fall. In righteousness and true holiness, not a feigned righteousness, not a feigned holiness, not like painted sepulchres, painted tombs, outwardly beautiful and on the inside full of rottenness and corruption. No. He says, put on the new man, which is created after God, in God's image, and true righteousness and holiness. So he says, Stop lying. We're members one of another. Speak the truth. In your anger, don't sin. Don't give place to the devil by holding on to anger. Let him who stole steal no more, rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, so that he might have something to give to the guy in need. Christians don't steal. We work and give. He says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good to the use of edifying, so that it may listen to this, so that it may minister grace to those who hear. That is what our speech is supposed to accomplish. Our speech is supposed to minister grace to all who hear it. Read Proverbs. There are, I don't even know how many Proverbs that speak about the lips of the righteous, right? Bearing fruit, giving life. They're like a pure fountain. And here Paul says, corrupt words, inappropriate speech, should not have any place on the lips of a Christian, because our speech is supposed to minister grace to people that hear it. And don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed to the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and shouting be put away from you. And verse 32, and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. And so he goes into chapter 5. So therefore, be followers of God as dear children. We see the little ones following their mom and dad around, looking up, copying, imitating. That's what we're supposed to be like. He says, have nothing to do with the works of darkness. He says, it's a shame even to speak about the things they do in secret. Their deeds are not even supposed to be discussed by us. He says, don't take part of it, but rather shine the light on it. Expose it and call it what it is. We should have no tolerance for sin in our midst. Read the seven letters to the churches in Revelation, but the Lord, how the Lord speaks to churches that tolerate sin in their midst. Remember Achan in the book of Judges. Chapter 5 goes on to discuss submission, just as a principle. And in our day, in our cultural climate, a very contentious principle, but it's not complicated. We are to operate, we are to live according to God's authority and God's structure. And when he's saying in chapter 5, submit to one another, he's not saying just every Christian submit to every other Christian. He follows it up by a structure. He's saying, everybody submit to whomever it is appropriate for you to submit. Husbands, or wives to husbands, husbands to Christ, children to parents, slaves to masters. This is God's ordained authority, God's ordained order of submission. And those who are to receive the submission are in like manner to be worthy of it, are in like manner to make it easy for those whom God has placed in their authority to make it easy for them to submit. So that it's a joyful thing. And this whole beautiful letter, the Lord makes crystal clear that the Christian life is supposed to be a beautiful life. That Christian marriage is supposed to be a glorious expression of the unity of the gospel on display. And in chapter 6, we read about spiritual warfare, which is undergirding our difficulties. In Revelation, you know, in the first half, it talks about the spiritual battle from our perspective. The second half, second 11 chapters, shows us a spiritual battle from the heavenly perspective. And we learn that what we see down here is only a reflection of what's going on up there. And that's what Paul's saying. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So put on the whole armor of Christ. And that armor is invincible. Because that armor is Christ. Paul says in Romans, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. This great Puritan William Gurnal wrote a book, probably about a seven-pound book on Ephesians 6, 10 to 20, called The Christian in Complete Armor. And in it he says, the Christian is unarmed until he puts on Christ. All these pieces of armor are just a way of unfolding our security and our strength that we have in Christ. So I hope, friends, I hope this has been an encouragement, and I hope now that we have an idea of where we're going, we won't get lost in the details as we are by God's grace dealing with each text as it comes. Let's pray. Our gracious, loving, and merciful Father in heaven. We, as Jacob said, we are not worthy of the least of your mercies. But it has pleased you. It has pleased you, according to your own good pleasure, to redeem us with the blood of your Son, to adopt us as your children, to seal us with your spirit. And Lord, now we ask that you would give us the grace to follow you as dear children. That you would teach us to walk with you in faith. To grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Christ. Because, Lord, at the very root of our desires is the longing to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge. That we might indeed be filled with all the fullness of God. So bless your people, lead us in your word, conform us to your likeness, and do your good pleasure in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

This podcast recording may not be reproduced without the express written consent of Sevilla Chapel St. Catharines. You're welcome to share it with family and friends. Adios.