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you you well welcome everyone it's good to be in the house of the lord again on the on the lord's day you can turn with me in your bibles to psalm 138 psalm 138 for our call to worship psalm 138 a psalm of david i will praise you with my whole heart before the gods i will sing praises to you i will worship toward your holy temple and praise your name for your loving kindness and your truth for you have magnified your word above all your name in the day when i cried out you answered me and made me bold with strength in my soul all the kings of the earth shall praise you o lord when they hear the words of your mouth yes they shall sing of the ways of the lord for great is the glory of the lord though the lord is on high yet he regards the lowly but the proud he knows from afar though i walk in the midst of trouble you will revive me you will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand will save me the lord will perfect that which concerns me your mercy o lord endures forever do not forsake the works of your hands amen we can turn with me in your hymnals then to number 23 b 23 b and stand and sing together please oh [Music] is foreign [Music] oh [Music] my my oh [Music] r [Music] all right you may be seated let us go to god in prayer our loving our gracious heavenly father what a joy it is to gather again in your house on on your day to worship you and lord we we have just sung that that we will dwell in the house of the lord forever and lord how we look forward to that day that that time that we will be with you in in in your presence for for all of eternity dwelling in your presence lord what a what a glorious hope that we have as your people to look forward to that lord and we praise you for that and and we thank you that you have given us a small taste of that on this day as we come together into into the house of the lord here to worship you lord we just praise you that you have given us this day this one day and seven to come to set aside the the the cares and the distractions of this life and and to to gather together with your people to to worship you and father we thank you for that that you have that you have made the sabbath for man and that we can and that we can enjoy a day of rest in a day in your presence lord we just thank you for that and and father i ask that you would would be pleased to be with us today as we worship you here lord that your spirit would be among us in a in a in a mighty in a powerful way to to open our hearts to receive the the truth as we hear the message being preached that that that the that he would would equip our pastor as he as he proclaims the word and and teaches us from your word lord we we we pray that your holy spirit would would apply the message to our heart that we would be would be built up and and and grow in our most holy faith lord we we pray that that that our hearts would be filled with praise and with love with adoration for you the high king of heaven and lord we we do pray that that if there are any here today who are who are still dead in their sins and trespasses that the holy spirit would revive the dead hearts and and that in that today would be the day of salvation and the day when when the light dawns in the heart and the and and the savior is is portrayed is altogether lovely in chief among ten thousand and that and that today would be the day of salvation that sinners would flee to the savior and to see him as that only way of salvation the only one who who has lived up to your to your standards of perfection in in in the in his perfect life on this earth in obedience to your law lord how we thank you and praise you for the perfect righteousness of our savior the lord jesus christ and lord we we also we we know we all have sinned and fallen short of that glory we have we have sin that is that that deserves punishment and lord we thank you we praise you for that atoning death of our savior on the cross that that he took that he took our sin he took that record of get of debt that was against us and and and took it upon himself nailing it to his cross and and paying it in full so lord we we praise you for the gospel of the lord jesus christ and and father i i pray that that that our hearts would be filled with love for the savior lord that that that as the the hymn writer said more love to thee oh christ more love to thee lord that is our that is our prayer and i pray that that that that tonight that you would be pleased to bless us that way that we would have a love for the savior and all that he has done for us and that and on our behalf because we have failed miserably we have fallen short and we have sinned against you the lord we do we do praise you that you are a holy god and a and uh and a righteous god lord you you tell us in your word that you are that you are holy holy holy that you are that you are separate from all others there is none like you and yet lord we have just read in in the in the sauna that though the lord is on high yet he regards the lowly and lord how we praise you for that not only are you a a transcendent god transcending all all others not not by not by location lord we know it's not you're not transcendent that you live somewhere somewhere far away outside the universe lord but we your you are transcendent in your in your nature that there is there is none like you but yet lord you have chosen to to to be imminent as well in your creation and to to create man in your image and to and to have a relationship with man lord we we are so humbled by that and we and we we thank you that that you have though though we have broken that relationship yet you have sent your son to restore that relationship and that we can now come before you and we can call you father and you call us your sons and your daughters and and lord that we take great comfort and great encouragement from that lord that you have rescued us from the kingdom of darkness you have transferred us into the kingdom of the son of your love and and lord now we are we are bound for glory lord how how we praise you for for these truths how we thank you for your word that you have revealed these things to us in in your word lord we thank you that you have given us the holy scriptures and that we can we can learn much in them of who you are and of and of of of our future inheritance that we have and and lord we thank you that these truths like this steal our hearts and in times of especially lord in times like like that we find ourselves in the current situation that this world is in lord there is so much chaos and so much confusion and and unrest and and lord just just so much just chaos and lord we thank you that we have that that solid foundation that that that that our savior is is king of kings he's lord of lords and that and that none can can pluck us out of his hand lord we we do pray for for your people around this this world who do suffer so much as as a because of all the the the evil and the wickedness that there is in this world lord we we we lift them up before you we we we pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters father that you would strengthen and encourage them that you would protect them we pray that you would remove their those who would who would seek to do harm to them lord we do pray for for the for the salvation of of those who would torment your people but yet lord has the psalmist pray that you would that you would break their their teeth in their mouth and render them render them uh not a threat anymore to your people so lord we do pray that as well that you would for those who would who would continue in rebellion against the most high god that you would remove them from from and take away the the ability to hurt your people lord we pray that you would protect your people and and yet through this lord we know that that through the ages we have witnessed that that your people do suffer our savior told us that that we will have persecutions in this life and and and lord we just we we pray that and we know that you use these things for for our good and as a means to strengthen our faith as it means to to purify our faith and and to draw us closer to you so lord i pray that that you would that you would use these things for that end we and lord if as we that for us lord i pray that you would not that we would not be complacent in in our in our in our faith and in our um just in that we would not become comfortable here but yet that but that we would prepare our hearts for possibly the day of facing stronger persecutions and and and more of our of of um just being being persecuted for the name of christ and and lord i pray that you would that that that we would be prepared for a day like that that we would that our hope would be would be steadfast on on in you knowing that you are sovereign over all things you were in control of all things and that we would be willing to submit to whatever comes our way if if that is your will lord we but but yet lord we do pray for our nation we pray for the nations of this earth that that that there would be a turning that there would be a repentance that you would give to the leaders of our lands repentance and faith in the savior that they would bow the knee before before the the christ the king of kings that they would that they would worship him acknowledge him as as as lord as savior and and there would be repentance and that there would be a turning in in uh from from the top down in our country lord but but and again we do pray if that is not your will or if if they continue in rebellion we do pray that you would restrain them we pray that you would remove them from from power lord we do pray that you would grant revival in our land not just only in the in the government but in all across our landlord we pray that that that many would would would come to a knowledge of the truth we pray that the gospel of christ would be proclaimed boldly that that that it would not be watered down in any way lord we pray that the truth would be proclaimed as it is in jesus we ask that you would you would purify your church lord we are we are ashamed to acknowledge the the the state that the that the church as a whole is in in in our western society lord so such a such a departure from from truth from from the from the solid doctrines that we find in your word and the clear the the clear proclamation of the gospel as it is in jesus the message of sin the man having fallen short but yet the savior having come to redeem man that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life lord we pray that that message would be would be trumpeted from the rooftops and that and that you would use the gospel the gospel which is the power of god unto salvation to save a multitude of people or to to and to turn our our countries around from from running away from you back towards you lord we just we do thank you that you have promised to build your church that you that the gates of of of hell will not prevail against it or we we know the church is on the offensive and and that we have been commissioned in in by by your son to to go and make disciples of all the nations to to to proclaim the gospel as it is in jesus and that you would use that that gospel proclamation to to rescue people from the kingdom of darkness so lord i pray you would help us to take that that seriously help us to be bold to proclaim the gospel lord we we know that that that we we so often we don't want to share the gospel message with others because out of a self preservation we don't want to be laughed at we don't want to be to be looked at funny lord but yet but but we know we have such a a an amazing message to to to share to tell the nations and so lord i pray that you would give us boldness to proclaim the word especially as we come as we see this message being hated more and more by the world and and yet lord we we ask that you give us boldness lord we see in in your word when the apostles they prayed for boldness that they would be in the face of such persecution that they would that they would be given boldness to proclaim the word and and lord we see a few verses later that they went out and boldly proclaimed the gospel of jesus christ the lord how we praise you for that answered prayer for the apostles and i pray that you would give us that same boldness to to to tell others of our savior the lord jesus and of the only hope the only true hope that and true freedom that there is and that can only be found in christ lord i pray that you would you would uh also be with our other churches not only we do pray for churches in our in our in our own town here lord that the that the gospel would be proclaimed we pray for those churches that are preaching the gospel of jesus christ unadulterated gospel we pray that you would that you would strengthen pastors and the pulpits that they would proclaim the truth as it is in jesus lord we pray that that you would raise up many more men to to to take this message and to to lead your people to teach your people and to the men that you have gifted to the church to to edify your people we pray that you would continue to raise up men lord we do thank you for the other churches that that we that we often pray for we think of the church in surrey we just ask that you would bless pastor mike and and strengthen him as he continues to preach the word there we pray that you would bless his his ministry there that the saints would be edified and sinners would be saved lord we think of the church in in dryden and in vernon those two groups dear lord we just pray that your will be done in in the future as we seek to to establish churches in those in those places we just thank you for that for for those those groups there and the resolve that there is to see a a biblically ordered church planted in those two parts of our country so lord we pray your blessing on on that lord we do we do also pray for the for our the the missionaries in in myanmar and the country there in the situation there lord again we lift them up before you we ask that that you would continue to bless them lord we have we have we have prayed much for them and and and yet you tell us we can continually ask of you and we can continually bring our requests before you you never tire of hearing of them and lord how we take comfort in that and so again lord we just pray that you would strengthen them in myanmar there we pray that you would strengthen peter and the and as in in order to lead that group there we thank you lord that you have provided this this new place for them to be and lord we just pray that it would be um it would be a an arbor of rest on the hill of difficulty as they go through that such such horrible horrible times there so lord we do praise you for that and we thank you that that they have this we we ask that you would protect them there that the fighting would not come into that area that they would be able to to have rest and and peace and and safety there but yet lord we do pray for an end to this horrible situation there we pray that you would you would you would bring about an end to that father and that that the peace would be restored to that land but we pray for all those children there we we pray that you would be pleased to bless this work mightily lord that there would be there would be many would be saved all of them would be saved through the through the teaching of the gospel the faithful preaching of peter and the and the the other the other leaders in that compound there lord we do pray for mrs hamilton as well that you would strengthen her lord she has asked again for prayer that that that she continues to support them from a distance that that you would just continue to strengthen her lord and lift her up and and that she would be she would be carried by the spirit to do this this this high calling that you have called her to do so lord we pray your blessing on her lord we do ask that you would would bless us now as we continue to worship i pray that our hearts would be filled with love for you pray that our hearts would be edified and and and that we would we would grow and increase in our knowledge of the savior and our knowledge of god lord we we thank you for your word we pray your blessing on us now we pray this all in the name of our savior your son the lord jesus amen all right you can take your hymnals and and our next one is 209 209. you can turn to 209 and stand and sing together please me [Music] me foreign [Music] is [Music] r [Music] oh [Music] i [Music] we can turn in your bibles to leviticus chapter 20. leviticus chapter 20 as we consecutively read through the old testament in our evening worship leviticus 20 will read the entire chapter then the lord spoke to moses saying again you shall say to the children of israel whoever of the children of israel or of the strangers who dwell in israel who gives any of his descendants to molech he shall surely be put to death the people of the land shall stone him with stones i will set my face against that man and will cut him off from his people because he has given some of his descendants to molech to defile my sanctuary and profane my holy name and if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man when he gives some of his when he gives some of his descendants to moloch and they do not kill him then i will set my face against that man and against his family and i will cut him off from his people and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with molech and the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits to prostitute himself with them i will set my face against that person and cut him off from his people consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy for i am the lord your god and you shall keep my statutes and perform them i am the lord who sanctifies you for everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death he has cursed his father or his mother his blood shall be upon him the man who commits adultery with another man's wife he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death the man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness both of them shall surely be put to death their blood shall be upon them if a man lies with his daughter-in-law both of them shall surely be put to death they have committed perversion their blood shall be upon them if a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman both of them have committed an abomination they shall surely be put to death their blood shall be upon them if a man marries a woman and her mother it is wickedness they shall be burned with fire both he and they that there may be no wickedness among you if a man mates with an animal he shall surely be put to death and you shall kill the animal if a woman approaches any animal and meets with it you shall kill the woman and the animal they shall surely be put to death their blood is upon them if a man takes his sister his father's daughter or his mother's daughter and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness it is a wicked thing and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people he has uncovered his sister's nakedness he shall bear his guilt if a man lies with a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness he has exposed her flow and she has uncovered the flow of her blood both of them shall be cut off from their people you shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother sister nor of your father sister for for that would uncover his near of kin they shall bear their guilt if a man lies with his uncle's wife he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness they shall bear their sin they shall die childless if a man takes his brother's wife it is an unclean thing he has uncovered his brother's nakedness they shall be childless you shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my judgments and perform them that the land where i am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out and you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which i am casting out before you for they commit all these things and therefore i abhor them but i have said to you you shall inherit their land and i will give it to you to possess a land flowing with milk and honey i am the lord your god who has separated you from the peoples you shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean between unclean birds and clean you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground which i have separated from you as unclean and you shall be holy to me for i the lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine a man or a woman who is a medium or who has familiar spirits shall surely be put to death they shall stone them with stones their blood shall be upon them well in this chapter we find several um several different laws here you know sexual sexual laws and laws regarding marriage and sexual relations within that laws concerning offering to molech offering our children to molech and then he references animals here clean and unclean and and you you wonder why why these different different laws there but it all comes back comes down to what the lord says he says i have separated you um in in verse 24. i am the lord your god who has separated you from the people so so these all these laws often we ask the question why why were the israelites not allowed to you know eat shellfish why were they not allowed to plow with a with a with a with an ox and an ass at the same time all these various laws that we might not understand but at all they all come back down to this the lord says you will keep my statutes because i have separated you and and um and i am the lord and and what it's grounded in though is is in verse 26 you shall be holy to me holy means separate that's the uh that's what we need to understand here when he talks about about um about being being separate you know he says consecrate yourself um you know it's it's separate yourself be be different um different than the other nations there so so but it's grounded in the in the lord's holiness verse 26 you shall be holy to me for i the lord i yahweh am holy and have separated you from the peoples and you should be mine so when he's referencing um worship of of molech here for example molech was you know they they sacrificed children to molech they they did all sorts of of of sexual perversion when it came to worshiping their their gods that was that's been all through all of history we can see that we you know there was the the temple prostitutes there's sexual perversion was involved with with worshipping these false gods and child sacrifice was another one of them and also animal um using animals in in proper ways not only sexually as we've seen here and and how and how god says that you know these these nations do all these things and i abhor them but also just um just using them in in their in divination practices there's there's um the prophet balaam for example he there's extra biblical um writings about him and talk about how he used animals in his divination and and and that type of thing so there's so these are all in reference to to the worship of of these these uh to molech and other gods like him the gods of the nations but yet yahweh says i have separated you you are to be my own special people you are to follow my statues my laws because those statues and those laws are a reflection of the holy nature of who god is that god is he is not like those other gods he's he is he is he's above them he's transcendent he's holy that's what we talk about when we say when we say holy we think often we think of of purity moral purity and that is to be sure that is what um what we're speaking of but it's it's it it's more separateness and separateness of essence of god's very nature that he is not moses said who is like you or who is like you among the gods um you know glorious and holiness the the the implication there's none like you that's not like god was one of many gods god was above all that so so molech chimash all those those gods of the of the surrounding nations yahweh was was not you know just one among many yahweh is is transcendent of that and but yet he's chosen israel as his special people and therefore they are not to worship like those nations would worship their god they worship yahweh to be holy as he is holy to be separate like he is separate so that was for the nation of israel now now what does that mean for the for the new covenant people of god well means the same thing we just don't have these these these um ceremonial laws and these um you know laws that in that were just for the nation of israel in that time but yet god's moral law is still there we are called peter tells us be holy as i am holy he's referencing those those that that line we find several times through leviticus you be holy for i am holy and and again it's to we're to be separate but the way we are separate is by obedience to the law of god living living in in moral purity um having no wickedness among you that's what um that's what he says here uh can't find the verse now sorry but um that that that that there should be no wickedness among you verse 14 and that is how we ought to live as well that there be no wickedness among us as we are separate we are distinct from the world we are we are we are a special people god special people and our purpose on this earth or and or we are called to on this earth is to live in obedience to his law because he is holy because he is he's morally holy but he's also transcendentally essentially holy holy god and there is none like him but yet we we get to be his people and to worship him so so that's what uh that's what we find here in this chapter that's what and again that's our the application to us as new covenant new covenant people we're to be different distinct separate from the world and um because of of who our god is our god is holy so let us pray oh lord we do thank you for your word we thank you for the revelation in your word that you are a holy god that there is none like you lord you are you are not you are not one god among many but you are you are the only true and living god and lord how we praise you for that that you have that you have called us out of darkness you have called us out of the the kingdom of darkness from under the the the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one your word tells us and and you have called us out of that called us out of darkness and and to become a member of the kingdom of christ and lord we we thank you for that we praise you for that and lord i pray that you would help us to have a have a delight to to to to be subjects of the king of kings and and of the lord of lords to live our lives that in in obedience to your law that that as as john says that that that we we keep his commandments and the commandments are not burdensome so we do i do pray that you would help us to understand your transcendent holiness that you are a god that is other that there is that you are not a better version of us you are not a you you are not you are not just the best form of being but you are con you are totally other you are just you are you you you tell us any word you say i am and and there there is none like you lord so i pray that you would have impressed that on our hearts and that and that we having an understanding of that that that it would change our lives that we have a desire to live in in obedience to you for because of the great god that you are so lord we thank you again for your word we ask that you bless us now as we continue in worship we pray that you fill our hearts with love for you and worship and awe and the fear of the lord and and we pray this in christ's name amen our final hymn then before the preaching is uh is number 150 c 150 c please stand oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh oh [Music] is [Music] well please turn with me in your bibles to ephesians chapter one since chapter one again reading in verse one paul an apostle of jesus christ by the will of god to the saints who are in ephesus and faithful in christ jesus grace to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestined us to adoption as sons by jesus christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him in him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the council of his will that we who first trusted in christ should be to the praise of his glory in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the holy spirit a promise who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory therefore i also after i heard of your faith in the lord jesus and your love for all the saints do not cease to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers that the god of our lord jesus christ the father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power which he worked in christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come and he put all things under his feet and gave him to be had over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all amen well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for this time that we can worship you when we can come together to the scriptures of the old and new testaments and we confess lord god that we are so greatly blessed in the reception of your word we do live in a sin cursed world we live in a world where lies and deceit and falsehood are rampant so we give thanks to you for that stabilizing influence of the word of truth and god help us all to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ forgive us for all of our sin and unrighteousness cleanse us in that precious blood of the lamb and as well god fill us now with your holy spirit and guide us as we consider this wonderful epistle to the ephesians and we pray in the name and for the glory of our lord jesus christ amen well we're going to be looking at this book god willing in the coming weeks on our sunday evening worship services so tonight i want to just deal with the first two verses and do some introduction typically when you hear the words bible introduction you're dealing with issues like authorship and audience and the date of composition and those things going on in the background to help you to be able to process the information that you see in the written text so tonight we'll look first at the epistle to the ephesians in verse one secondly the ministry in ephesus and then we'll look at the greeting to the saints in verse two so notice in the first place paul writes in verse one paul an apostle of jesus christ by the will of god so we have his self-identification we have this indication that paul is the author of this letter it's replicated in chapter 3 at verse 1. notice for this reason i paul the prisoner of christ jesus for you gentiles now for the most part in the history of the church it was never challenged that paul wrote the epistle to the ephesians now in the last little while in recent history actually really recent history most people now accept pauline authorship but going a little bit back there were those who did not believe that paul the apostle wrote the book of ephesians and there's various reasons why and i won't bore you with that i just want to point us to the testimony of irenaeus he's one of the fathers who lived in a.d 130 to 200 and he refers to this epistle this way he says even as the blessed paul declares in his epistle to the ephesians so as i said though it has been challenged in more recent times that challenge is not a difficult one to overcome paul wrote the book called ephesians notice as well not only his identification by way of his name but notice his office or his function or his uh service unto christ paul an apostle of jesus christ by the will of god an apostle is one sent by another sort of like an ambassador he is one designated to function on behalf of the lord jesus christ to proclaim the truth to propagate the message to see the church built and to see the kingdom of god on earth advanced and notice he's an apostle of jesus christ not of himself he's not self-appointed he's not out to build his own kingdom but rather he's about the church of our blessed savior and he says that this is by the will of god in many places in his epistles he identifies himself as an apostle just flip back to the beginning of galatians galatians chapter 1 he makes a a sharp contrast in verse 1. notice paul and apostle not from men nor through man but through jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead in other words paul did not appoint himself paul is not trying to make a name for paul but rather paul is a man owned by christ and put into service by the lord jesus and then drop down to verse 11 in galatians 1. but i make known to you brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man for i neither received it from man nor was i taught it but it came through the revelation of jesus christ for you have heard of my former conduct in judaism how i persecuted the church of god beyond measure and tried to destroy it and i advanced in judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers but when it pleased god who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through his grace to reveal his son in me that i might preach him among the gentiles i did not immediately confer with flesh and blood nor did i go up to jerusalem to those who were apostles before me but i went to arabia and returned again to damascus so the apostle is conscious of the reality that it was christ that called him into service it was christ on the road to damascus that saved it it was christ on the road to damascus that commissioned him and paul never forgot that he understood his place according to the will of god in the plan of god for the furtherance of the kingdom of god through the proclamation of the gospel of god now in terms of the historical situation turn to the book of acts specifically acts chapter 28 acts chapter 28 notice how the book ends acts chapter 28 the apostle paul is in prison in rome and we read in verse 30 then paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house and received all who came to him preaching the kingdom of god and teaching the things which concern the lord jesus christ with all confidence no one forbidding him so the apostle ends or the book of acts ends with the apostle in a roman jail cell and in that time frame which is about 1860 to about a.d 62 paul writes what has come to come to be known as the prison epistles the prison epistles are ephesians our document philippians colossians and philemon so paul is in jail and instead of whining instead of grumbling instead of lamenting his current situation he takes pen to paper under the inspiration of the holy spirit and he writes truth to the churches so that he can encourage that he writes truth to the churches so that they can grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ the apostle got a lot done when he was in prison 2 timothy chapter 4 is a later prison imprisonment in the city of rome once again in second timothy 4 he knows that he's going to die he knows that this is it for him but we don't find him languishing in a prison cell if you read chapter 4 in ii timothy you see how he's moving troops around he's the strategist he's the general he's in the command center and he's giving instruction to timothy on how best to utilize the gifts that christ has given to the church for the furtherance of the gospel so he didn't twiddle his thumbs he didn't just sit there and mark off the sort of days on the jail jail wall but he used his time effectively and in that first roman imprisonment that took place in 80 60 to 62 as i said ephesians philippians colossians and philemon come off his pan if you notice in ephesians he refers to the fact that he's in jail that he is a prisoner i already read 3-1 for this reason i paul the prisoner of christ jesus for you gentiles he knows it's not just that he was a framed man he knows that it's not just a corrupt justice system but he knows that ultimately he is christ's prisoner whatever falls out with reference to our lives whatever falls out with reference to our providence we are ultimately in the hand of a gracious god and so the apostle paul understood that and again he doesn't rail against it he embraces it and accepts it and goes with it notice in chapter four verse one i therefore the prisoner of the lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called and then again in chapter 6 at verse 20. and he when he asked for prayer he says for which i am an ambassador in chains that in it i may speak boldly excuse me as i ought to speak so he refers to the fact that he is in jail so the author is the apostle paul the date is between 80 60 and 62 and then notice the address sees it says in verse 1 after paul an apostle of jesus christ by the will of god to the saints who are in ephesus now the saints are the holy ones the set apart ones as our brother just reminded us the root meaning of holy is transcendent it is separate it is far removed but there is a secondary meaning that flows out of the first wherein we are morally pure and with reference to sainthood in the bible it isn't ascribed to a certain class of people that do a really good job i was brought up roman catholic and you had a whole list of saints you had the patron saint for this activity and the patron saint for that activity and you just had a whole a whole host of saints that did all of this good stuff and so they had sainthood sort of decreed upon that that's not how the new testament uses the language saints again it is believers in christ it is followers of christ it is those who are consecrated by god unto service for god notice in ephesians chapter 1 not only in verse 1 but notice in verse 15. therefore i also after i heard of your faith in the lord jesus and your love for all the saints again not love for a class of super special excellent christians all the saints meaning all of the people of god you see it again in verse 18 the eyes of your understanding having been enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints again not a specific blessing that is only the possession of a few but all of the people of god the followers of our lord notice in chapter 2 at verse 19 same sort of an emphasis now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of god you see it again in chapter 3 at verse 18 chapter 3 at verse 18 that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height and then again in chapter 4 at verse 12 notice for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of christ and then again in chapter 6 at verse 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints so this idea that a saint as those who have achieved special status in the kingdom of god is not a biblical concept it is not a new testament usage of the word saint as applied to the people of god as far as it goes those of us by grace who have believed the gospel are saints we may not always feel saintly but nevertheless the classification or the identification of our particular uh uh place in life is that we are saints in christ jesus but notice he not only not only says to the saints who are in ephesus but then he goes on to say faithful in christ jesus i think the primary emphasis here is that they are believers in christ remember jesus upbraids the religious leaders you are not willing to come to me that you may have everlasting life come is a metaphorical use receive metaphorical they are both metaphors for the act of faith belief in the lord jesus christ it is justification by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone so the apostle highlights that these are saints and they are believers in christ jesus not only though are they believers in christ jesus they are faithful they are seeking to strive and persevere and do what is what is fitting and requisite for the saints of jesus christ we are to be fighting we are to be praying we are to be going forward in the fear of the lord and in the comfort of the spirit and paul commends these brethren in that way now matthew poole gives a good summary statement concerning this epistle to the ephesians he says ephesus was the most considerable city of the lesser asia it really was there was a commercial aspect but as well when we consider the ministry in in ephesus we'll see that it had a religious bent it was bad religion it was false religion but it was a very religious city so uh poole says ephesus was the most considerable city of the lesser asia famous first for sin witchcraft and idolatry especially the worship of diana and also persecution then for piety having received the gospel by paul's preaching and showed great zeal but lastly it was noted for coolness and declining leaving her first love remember revelation 2 deals with the church that is in ephesus and jesus commends the church there for testing those who said they were apostles and were not so they took seriously the list of qualifications in 1st timothy chapter 3 and they applied that to these men that were claimants to the apostolic ministry so in that they were commended in that they were given praise by our blessed savior for having done the good work of keeping false teachers out but he condemns them for having lost or left their first love again i think i've explained this before brethren it doesn't mean that they became apostate it doesn't mean that they abandoned christianity it doesn't mean that they cast off completely their faith in the lord most likely they were battle weary from having to deal with false apostles battle weary and having to deal with men and keep them out of the pulpit such that in that posture they weren't white hot and flame in their love for jesus christ in other words when you're engaging in protecting the pulpit and keeping the false teacher out you're not always warming your soul with c.h spurgeon and so he basically encourages them and exhorts them to restore that to have that earnestness after the lord christ now in terms of the purpose of the epistle the epistle was designed to further their understanding in both doctrine and practice and we'll see this uh later on as we close out the message tonight as well the epistle does not address any serious issue that we can tell in the in the letter itself so that in the church it wasn't like say corinth if i mention corinth especially first corinthians you know that they had a lot of challenges you know that they had a lot of issues you know they had a lot of difficulties that they had to deal with and they needed that apostolic and junction in order to set them on their proper course galatians same sort of a thing paul comes out of the chute and he marvels that they are turning away from the god who called them in grace to another gospel which is not another so when we look at corinthians we say hey they got sanctification problems we look at galatians we say wow they've got justification or gospel problems when you read through ephesians there's no obvious glaring problem that obtains in the church now let me direct you back to verse 1. in fact some of your bibles may not have in ephesus there is a variant reading a variant reading means that in the transmission of the textual tradition variants crept in and some suggest that in ephesus is not supposed to be there i think it is supposed to be there to be sure but i also think that it's not unlikely that the letter could serve as a circular letter in other words it not only would go to the church in ephesus but if you look at a map for instance and you look at the seven churches of asia minor that are addressed by jesus in revelation chapters two and three ephesus is here and then there's a loop the letters go in a particular order so i don't think it's unlikely that this particular letter would have been exchanged among the churches this was a practice that was in practice as we know from colossians 4 turn to colossians chapter 4 verse 16. now when this epistle is read among you which underscores that the apostle knew concerning the authority of the letters that he wrote in other words he would not suggest that you read a letter that he was writing just to share his heart about preferences and about things from one to another but as he writes under the inspiration of the holy spirit that word becomes authoritative that word becomes such that it's supposed to be read in the churches of christ so much so that the apostle can tell the thessalonians that they are to mark those who do not obey our instruction in this letter in other words the apostles were conscious of the fact that they were being used by god in a manner similar to the old testament prophet such that what they wrote to the churches had authority such as what they wrote to the churches was in fact the word of god the apostle understands that in second timothy chapter three all scripture is given by inspiration of god first timothy 5 he likens or he says that scripture is both deuteronomy and luke when he argues for the paying of pastors so the new testament apostles understood that they were writing the word of god so back to verse 16. now when this epistle is read among you see that it is read also in the church of the laodiceans and that you likewise read the epistle from laodicea and say to archipelas take heed to the ministry which you have received in the lord that you may fulfill it so going back to ephesians chapter one what we have is an epistle that was designed to further the understanding in terms of doctrine and practice not only for the saints who are in ephesus the ones faithful in christ jesus in that city but this letter most likely would have been circulated to the other churches at least in asia minor which is modern-day turkey that's where we're dealing with that's the geographical region but as well it doesn't have any sort of background sort of huge issues that are peculiarly uh relevant in terms of that was what they were struggling with so that's kind of an introduction to the epistle we'll get back to this section with reference to the greeting in a moment but turn to acts chapter 18. acts chapter 18 is we do a quick survey of the ministry in ephesus and i mean quick survey of the ministry in ephesus because there's a lot of data a lot of material here that i think would be beneficial but it would take us a few a bit of time to go through it all but notice in chapter 18 chapter 18 the apostle paul ends the second missionary journey and according to verse 22 it says and when he had landed at caesarea and gone up and greeted the church he went down to antioch that was sort of the base that was where he was sent from so he goes back to antioch now verse 23 chapter 18 verse 23 is the beginning of the third missionary journey so the apostle paul undertakes three missionary journeys that are recorded in the book of acts now after that first roman imprisonment he goes out again preaching and teaching and some have called that a fourth missionary journey i don't have a problem with that i think that's precisely what he does but here specifically he starts the third missionary journey now this took place in a.d 53-57 the text of scripture in acts is from 1823 to chapter 21 verse 16. so that is when paul returns to jerusalem and he has with him monies that were collected from gentile churches so he can present it to pastor james at the church in jerusalem in order to alleviate the suffering of the saints in judea because there was poverty and famine in that land so back to 1823 notice after he had spent some time there he departed and went over the region of galatia and phrygia in order strengthening all the disciples now that brief statement encompasses about 1500 miles 1500 miles is what he trans uh transverse or traversed in that instance now drop down to chapter 19 the apostle comes to ephesus now when you consider the missionary journeys the first you can you can uh uh rest assured had to do with the churches of galatia so the southern uh churches of southern galatia first missionary journey second missionary journey was corinth that doesn't mean he spent the whole time in corinth but it means he spent a great deal of time in corinth and then this third missionary journey was ephesus not that he didn't do what the the text in 1823 says in terms of the 1500 miles but he sent a spent a significant amount of time in the city of ephesus by his account in 2031 he had spent three years there here in acts chapter 9 19 we certainly have two years and three months so paul comes to ephesus in acts chapter 19. so this is the the founding officially it's not that he made disciples there were already disciples present there were already believers present in the first place in verses 1 to 7 he meets with the disciples of john the baptist now just for the sake of argument well actually i'm going to introduce something here that may challenge you but if you want my uh defense of this position you can call me text me email me and i'll send you the notes i do not think paul re-baptized these people he is not suggesting that the baptism of john the baptist was somehow deficient and therefore paul baptized them no paul says something and then paul does something and what he says rehearses their encounter with the baptist when they themselves had been baptized by the baptist in other words john's baptism was in fact christian baptism but what paul does is he lays hands on them and then the holy spirit comes notice in verse verses 4 and 5 is what paul said and verse 6 is what paul did the punctuation and my interpretation would need to be changed from what we have in the new king james but remember the punctuation isn't given by inspiration of god that however or rather is an interpretative call i suggest moving the close quotation marks a little bit further on and we would avoid the idea that he re-baptized that so notice in verse six and when paul had laid hands on them the holy spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied now the men were about 12 in all so you've got this nucleus you've got this hub you've got this group of believers that are going to function now as the church in ephesus that brings us secondly in terms of the ministry in ephesus to his ministry in the synagogue notice in verses 8 and 9 a this was paul's costa when paul went to a city on his missionary journeys he would first go to the synagogue there he would preach christ he would preach christ as the promised one from the old testament no doubt he was rebuffed no doubt he was challenged no doubt he was chased off we see it in acts chapter 13 in passing in antioch but there would be those some perhaps who the spirit would grab hold of and would understand that christ was or jesus was in fact the christ and believe in him but there were also greeks or gentiles that would go to the synagogue they were called god fearers they knew enough about yahweh of israel to be somewhat intrigued and so they wanted to include themselves among that lot cornelius the centurion was one of those kinds of men he was a god fearer he was a gentile that was familiar with israel's god and was interested so paul went to the synagogue let's pick up in verse 8. and he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months reasoning and persuading reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of god notice he reasons and persuades he doesn't harang and lambast the apostles custom was to reason and to persuade the apostles custom was to take the scriptures and to clearly explain the significance the apostles custom was what god had always sanctioned in both the old and in the new testament an appropriation of the truth as it is in jesus so he goes into the synagogue he speaks boldly there for three months reasoning and persuading notice concerning the things of the kingdom of god concerning the things of the of the kingdom of god so the entrance to it through the blood and righteousness of christ blessed communion with god in it and the expectation of the kingdom of glory in the future that's what paul spoke on that's what paul preached that's what he delivered to these people now notice the response in the synagogue according to verse 9 but when some were hardened and did not believe but spoke evil of the way before the multitude he departed from them and withdrew the disciples so you see when paul gave it his best shot when paul saw that there was a brick wall erected when paul saw that it was as it were a fool's errand to continue on he had no issue no problem no difficulty with withdrawing from that place in fact he invokes the language of jesus to shake off the dust from your feet he does that in acts chapter 13 leaving pasitian antioch so the apostle goes understanding the sovereignty of god he proclaims the gospel of jesus christ but when they do not receive it when they continue to reject it when they despise and forsake him he leaves now notice what he does when he leaves he goes on the internet and he has the apostle paul dot com basically in his day and age that's what he does notice in 9b he says or it says he withdrew withdrew the disciples reasoning daily in the school of tyrannis now the school of tyrannis was a lecture hall it was either utilized by this probably a philosopher or some sort of ethical teacher ethics teacher by the name of tyrannis so either he utilized it or he owned the property but what happens is that paul spends his own money to rent that facility so that he can teach the word of god now as i mentioned there are variant readings there are things that creep in to the textual transmission of the word of god doesn't mean we don't have the bible it means that there are those odd occasions where there are different readings now there's a classification of a tax type called the western tax and it spells out the time frame that paul did this it said that daily from 11 to 4 the apostle would do his teaching in the school of tyrannis think about that it's a lot of instruction notice what we go on to see in verse 10 this continued for two years so for two years giving him a couple of days off along the way giving him some time to refresh his windpipe and get that necessary relaxation to enable him to to continue on with it he spoke the word of god for a long time he rents this school of tyrannos he has these people coming to him and he teaches the word of god likely that's what the book of ephesians is it is simply a summary or a compendium or or a doctrinal statement concerning the things that they had been familiar with under his preaching and teaching so notice again in verse 10 this continued for two years so that all who dwelt in asia heard the word of the lord jesus both jews and greeks again he's speaking about asia minor speaking about modern day turkey but notice the language it is hyperbolic it doesn't mean every single human being without exception but it means a whole lot of people a whole lot of people came under the teaching of the gospel at that time so you see had paul been the sort of fellow that said well if the synagogue doesn't want me then i'm done and i'm just going to cash it in and i'm going to go back to my tent making no what's the next best possible option i'll rent this school from tyrannus and i'll teach or preach the word of god from 11 to 4 every day and anybody and everybody who wants to come can come they can hear the truth as it is in jesus and then hopefully they'll take that truth back to their respective communities it is most likely at this particular time that that very thing happened it was likely that epaphras epaphras was instrumental in the founding of the church in colossae it was most likely most likely that epaphras was converted during this time and he goes back to the lycus valley to plant or assist in planting the churches in colossae hierapolis and laodicea and it is also likely that the other churches mentioned in revelation two and three the the seven churches of asia minor were founded at this particular time as well so with that man's ministry with that man's desire with that man's longing to propagate the truth for the calling of sinners out of darkness and delight and for the establishment of churches this brother did it he took seriously the great commission go therefore make disciples of all the nations which he does jews and greeks and then baptize them and teach them to observe all that i have commanded you so the apostle paul spent the two years in ephesus or part of the three years in ephesus ministering at the school of taranis in uh for two years then notice this conflict with the magicians this is where you see the religious nature of the city of ephesus this is why poole points out their witchcraft their superstition and their idolatry they were the city where the temple to diana was they were the city that housed the temple to diana she was sort of a fertility goddess and a goddess of war never quite figure out how those two things match or or the goddess of death so she both helps in childbirth and she's the goddess of death so strange mix not sure that i would have picked out those two particular tasks if i was one of the one of the gods in the pantheon but but such as it is so diana was the the the the the goddess of that particular city but you also see a lot of strange things going on in terms of magic and the supernatural so notice in verses 11 to 22 you have this conflict with the magicians now brethren this is probably why paul deals with the powers in the book of ephesians he deals with christ being above all the powers and every name that is named in this age and that which is to come christ is over the powers in chapter 6 of ephesians we we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and what powers see this city of ephesus had been embroiled in false religion they had been embroiled in witchcraft in sorcery in magic and in the black arts and when i say magic tonight i don't mean sleight of hand i don't mean pick a card any card and then i tell you what that card is that's not magic in in terms of what i'm discussing magic is an attempt to manipulate whether it be natural or supernatural forces to produce a particular outcome and god forbids the use of magic throughout the old testament and one of the arguments is not that it doesn't work the argument is is that it's wicked and that it's evil and that it is contrary to his will and to his word in first samuel chapter 28 sam saul rather seeks the witch at endor to call up or to bring up samuel now whether that was samuel or not there's a debate concerning that but it was someone so again it's not that these things don't work it is rather that they are condemned and they are vile in the sight of a holy god now this conflict with the magicians notice the power of god operative in verses 11 and 12 which is typical in the book of acts whenever the word of god is preached whenever the word of god prevails there are at times attendant miracles to confirm the fact that the men speaking and preaching were actually from god now notice in verses 11 and 12 now god worked unusual miracles by the hands of paul don't miss that word unusual because verse 12 is unusual okay don't miss that word in verse 11 because verse 12 is unusual verse 12 does not give sanction to you know the televangelists selling prayer cloths or selling handkerchiefs or selling something that provides the whammy for your particular woes these were unusual miracles by the admission of luke the author of the book of acts under the inspiration of the holy spirit so we are not to try and replicate or duplicate these things so god works unusual miracles by the hands of paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them but then notice you've got these fakes or these frauds or these men that want to get in on the action verses 13 and following then some of the itinerant jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the lord jesus over those who had evil spirits saying isn't that horrible these guys aren't believers they're not christians but they invoke the powerful name of jesus as it suits them kind of reminds me of those people that are pro-abortion and ask god to bless planned parenthood do not take the blessed name of god upon your lips and pollute it in such a horrible way these were charlatans these were frauds these were men that were trying to capitalize on a particular situation notice we exercise you by the jesus whom paul preaches also there were seven sons of skiva a jewish priest who did so and then notice that the the spirit the evil spirit recognizes what at times christians today miss christians today often fall prey to these kinds of charlatans to these guys that can drive the spirit out of you notice in verse 15 the evil spirit answered and said jesus i know and paul i know but who are you it's pretty sad when the evil spirit knows that these guys are fakes and yet there are those among us in the confessing church today that follow the fakes they follow guys that say they have the power in and of themselves to cast out evil spirits well at least this evil spirit had the wherewithal to know that he was dealing with a bunch of fakes then notice in verse 16 then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them overpowered them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded you ought not to mess with those things you know nothing of if you mess with those things you know nothing of this may happen to you now notice what you have in terms of the fruits of repentance for the people of ephesians of ephesus verse 17 this became known both to all jews and greeks dwelling in ephesus and fear fell on them all and the name of the lord jesus was magnified and many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds also many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all and they counted up the value of them and it totaled 50 000 pieces of silver so the word of the lord grew mightily and prevailed that bodes well for those saints in ephesus when they see the charlatans when they see them exposed when they understand the folly of the black arts they get rid of their books concerning the black arts again this was something rampant and it was something that was very very much a part of life in ephesus at this particular time so you see the triumph of the gospel of our lord jesus christ over false religion in the book of acts you see the triumph of our lord jesus christ over these false claimants to having this kind of authority or power to do what christ can do or what paul can do in the name of jesus as his designated representative as his apostle and then the latter half of the chapter is all about diana and basically what you have is a man by the name of demetrius and demetrius is ahead of their their their union it's a he's the head of the the idol maker union 101 or whatever it was whatever it is right so demetrius understands that if this paul keeps doing what he's doing then we're no longer going to be able to make these idols of diana or the temple of diana and sell them to the rubes that want to buy that now that's not how they pitch the idea to the rooms they pitch the idea under the guise of piety under the guise of patriotism as far as the trade workers are concerned this is going to cost us a lot of money but as trade workers i suspect today would think we're not going to go out there and try to pitch our idea by saying it's going to cost us a lot of money no we're going to appeal to them in terms of patriotism and pietism notice verse 23 at about that time there arose a great commotion about the way for a certain man named demetrius the silversmith who made silver shrines of diana brought no small profit to the craftsmen he called them together with the workers of similar occupation and said man you know that we have our prosperity by this trade moreover you see and hear that not only at ephesus but throughout almost all asia this paul has persuaded and turned away many people brethren that's the power of our gospel now i realized paul was a champ i realized there's no other paul in the history of the world but the message that paul preached is the same message that we preach it's the same message that we believe i just suspect we don't believe it has the power to basically turn a culture over to basically cause men who made a great deal of money selling cheap trinkets to be uh beggars or to be poor this man understood the implications of the ministry of the apostle paul notice in verse 27 so not only is is this trait of ours in danger of falling into disrepute but also the temple of the great goddess diana may be despised and are magnificent destroyed whom all asia and the world worship now when they heard this they were full of wrath and cried out saying great is diana of the ephesians so the whole city was filled with confusion and rushed into the theater with one accord having seized gaius and aristarchus macedonians balls travel companions and when paul wanted to go into the people the disciples would not allow him praise god for those disciples not allowing him what could have happened they could have torn him apart they could have killed him praise god those men said no paul you're you're not going to go in there right now let's let them all sort it out let them deal with this we want to protect you we want to make sure that you're not compromised so that you can live to preach another day but you see this this uproar in the city over the gospel of our lord jesus christ and then some of the the officials of asia who were his friends sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater some therefore cried one thing and some another and for the assembly was confused and most of them did not know why they had come together brethren there's nothing new under the sun you get a crowd of people today what are you upset for i don't know but i'm supposed to be well the same sort of thing happened here what's the current thing the left is supposed to be upset about it's almost like they get email or they get texts or they get whatever it is to alert them that this week it's going to be this this week it's going to be this are we back to racism are we now into it it's always something and the same sort of thing is there in this auditorium and they're crying out but they have no clue what's even happening so the apostle paul and the apostles and our lord as we saw this morning lived in the same sort of a context we do they didn't have twitter they didn't have facebook and they were the better for it but they had to steal still deal with the kind of lunacy that we see that happens daily in our own generation notice and they drew alexander verse 33 out of out of the multitude the jews putting him forward and alexander motioned with his hand and wanted to make his defense to the people but when they found out that he was a jew all who all with one voice cried out for about two hours great as diana the ephesians now there's another alexander two listed in the new testament it's hard to identify that this is the same one but most likely this alexander he wasn't a christian he was a jew the jews had a vested interest in no idolatry too so the jews said hey alexander get in there and side with the apostle paul not in favor of jesus but in disfavor against diana but as soon as they find out he's a jew out he goes because he's not supposed to be there either now a county clerk comes along i'll spare you the rest of the details and speaks wisdom to the situation he basically says to everybody calm down and thankfully the city clerk prevailed on that day but the point is simple look at what the gospel is capable of look at what the gospel does when it is proclaimed when christ and him crucified and resurrected is preached sinners are either saved by grace or outraged by the suggestion that they need to be saved by grace there is usually and typically a response there is usually approval or disapproval and for the apostle when he went to ephesus he made no small uproar through the faithful proclamation of the truth as it is in jesus now finally go back to ephesians and look at the wish uh the pronouncement of grace and peace upon them notice how he addresses them in verse 2 he says grace to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ they had received god's grace and peace paul will say as much in this letter to the ephesians but paul knows that they always stand dependent upon fresh provisions of god's grace and peace this isn't a cheap wish it isn't like you or i just say have a nice day to some stranger that face it do we really care if he has a nice day that's not how these sorts of greetings are to be interpreted in the new testament paul understands the christian life begins with grace and peace the christian life is sustained with grace and peace and the christian life ends with a provision of grace and peace now most likely the background to these sort of wishes or these pronouncements or these greetings is the aaronic blessing in number six in number six verses 23-27 yahweh says speak to aaron and his son saying this is the way you shall bless the children of israel say to them the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace so they shall put my name on the children of israel and i will bless them now this epistle interestingly demonstrates how it is the case that gentiles can be included among the children of israel that's what paul does in ephesians 2 and in ephesians 3. he shows especially in three that it was always god's plan and purpose for gentile inclusion in the covenant of grace and the bulk of the persons to whom paul writes are gentiles so they have understood this experientially now they're going to understand it theologically covenantally biblically in light of the old testament revelation so this grace and peace are for the children of israel of which are gentile believers and notice the source of grace and peace it is from god our father and the lord jesus christ john eady makes the observation grace and peace are not earth-born blessings they descend from heaven from god on his glorious throne whose high prerogative is to send down those special influences and from christ at his right hand who has provided these blessed gifts by his suffering and death who died to secure and is exalted to bestow them and whose constant living sympathy with his people enables him to appreciate their wants and prompt him out of his own fullness to supply them so grace and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ in conclusion here's what god willing we'll see as we move our way through this particular epistle now the most simple way to outline it is twofold there is a doctrinal foundation which begins in chapter one at verse one and continues to the end of chapter three or verse 21 in chapter three so that's the doctrine there's a bit of practical in there but for the most part it is doctrinal and then from chapter four verse one to the end of the epistle which is six i think 21 or two then you have the practical application so you've got the doctrine and then the application you have the theory and then you have the putting it into practice this is god's manner this is god's way we can't effectively go out there and live as holy beings when we don't have the information supplied to us by our holy god we must be informed doctrinally in order to function in a manner that is consistent with that gospel so in the doctrinal section we'll see first the redemption of sinners by the triune god you see that in chapter 1 verses 3 to 14. it is what's called a barakah which is the hebrew word for blessing it's a literary convention used in both the old and the new testament blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ and then he gives the various reasons as to why we bless god or we speak well of god in the second place toward the end of chapter one we see an emphasis on the power of god vis-a-vis christ enthroned at the right hand of the father where his head over all things for his church then we'll see the saving grace of god in chapter 2 verses 1 to 10 and how in christ both jew and gentile are made one new man in him and that's the latter part of chapter 2 the solidarity of the jew and the gentile chapter 3 the apostle reveals the mystery now mystery as paul uses it doesn't mean something that has never been known before it is something that has been known but been fully manifested in this new covenant era you go all the way back to genesis chapter 9 and noah gets an oracle with reference to gentile inclusion in the promises of god that's already seen genesis chapter 12 abraham said or is told that in him all the families of the earth will be blessed you see that that promise celebrated throughout scripture it's not going to just be jew but it's also going to be gentile so it was there in the old testament but the revelation of the mystery in the new testament connects the dots it shows the trajectory it shows how this is realized or fulfilled in it as a result of the coming of our lord jesus christ and then in terms of the practical application we'll go quick here there's an emphasis on walk contra the walk in chapter 2 verses 1 to 3. several times in the latter half you see walk emphasized which again points to the practical application to the orientation of the believer in his or her life so you have first the unity of the saints in chapter 4 verses 1 to 6. this is a big point for the apostle paul he wants the church people to love each other he wants the church people to get along with each other he wants the church people to stand in solidarity with one another because he knows that in that environment that is most conducive for the salvation of sinners and for the edification of god's people and it best reflects the blessed triune god as well he deals with the diversity and the purpose the diversity of and purpose for gifts from the ascended christ in the latter portion of chapter four now beginning in chapter four verse 17 continuing to chapter 5 verse 21 we have the conduct of the new man this is what you once were this is what you now are as a result of the redemption of christ this then is how you ought to live and then the relationships of the new man chapter 5 verses 22 or verse 22 to chapter 6 verse 9. husband-wife relationship parent-child relationship master slave relationship the new man is to be a new man in all of his connections and in all of his life and then the chapter six ends with the combat or the warfare of the new man he is to dawn the whole armor of god he is to stand in the power and might of jesus christ and he is to fight like a man such that he advances by god's grace the kingdom of the son of his love and that he shines as a light in a crooked and perverse generation and he holds forth the word of truth so the book of ephesians is most helpful in terms of doctrine and in terms of practice practice and it also shines the light upon the glory of god most high several times along the way paul just takes pains to show us how much we ought to express our gratitude and praise and glory to god and that first chapter and verses 6 12 and and 14 the redemptive redeeming work of god most high redounds to his glory chapter 1 verse 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved verse 12 that we who first trusted in christ should be to the praise of his glory verse 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory praise god that he has revealed this in the scripture and that he has given us the book of ephesians because it's a rich compendium of christian truth well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the ministry in ephesus that we see in acts 19 and for the the church that was founded there as well god we thank you for this wonderful letter and i pray that you would bless our study of it in the coming weeks and that you would be glorified in the midst of this local church go with us now help us to honor you in this coming week help us to be faithful to you and help us to know daily those supplies of grace and peace that our blessed god almighty gives to us father and son and we pray now in jesus name amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation you you you