APRIL 27 / MAY 4, 2014

BEFORE AND AFTER CONVERSION

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

1.  Last week we considered Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian believers, which was essentially a three-fold request.

     a)  That the Spirit of wisdom and revelation be given them that He might grow them in the knowledge of God. (Ch. 1:17)

     b)  That the eyes of their understanding be enlightened that they might better understand the hope of their calling. (Ch. 1:18)

     c)  That they might better appreciate the exceeding greatness of the power of God which brought about their conversion, and secured this blessed hope. (Ch. 1:19, 20) He likens their spiritual resurrection to Christ’s physical resurrection, which were both wrought by the same mighty power of God.

 

2.  Having digressed in order to dwell for a bit on the nature of Christ’s exaltation, and the relation of Christ at the Father’s right hand to the church (Verses 19-23) He  now returns to his original point, that being the amazing power and grace of God in the conversion of these Ephesians, by which they were transformed from a state of spiritual death to spiritual life.

3.  There are three principle topics related to this transformation presented in our present passage. (Ch. 2:1-10)

     a)  Their spiritual state before conversion. (Verses 1-3)

     b)  The change that grace had wrought. (Verses 4-6)

     c)  The design for which the changed was effected. (Verses 7-10)

 

I.  THE STATE OF THESE EPHESIANS BEFORE CONVERSION. (VERSES 1-3)

 

A.  A STATE OF SPIRITUAL DEATH IN SIN. (VERSE 1)

 

1.  There is an intimate connection between this opening verse of chapter 2 and the preceding paragraph. “And you…” God raised up Christ from the dead, and He has given life to you who were dead in trespasses and  sins.

2.  Paul describes sinners before conversion as dead. Just as life describes a state of union with God, death describes a state of alienation from Him.

    

B.  A STATE OF SUBJECTION TO SATAN AND TO CORRUPT HUMAN NATURE. (VERSE 2)

 

1.  Sinners are not only in a state of spiritual death, but a further characterization is that they walk in sin.      

a)  Sinners are very much alive TO sin, while being dead IN sin.

b)  They are daily conversant with sin, and devoted to it.

 

2.  The governing principle that controls their conduct is “the course of this world,” (or “age.”) (Verse 2a)

a)  “Course” (aiona) comes from a word which means breath or life. Natural men live and breathe in rhythm with this present evil world.

b)  Christians have a new life principle, while sinners are slaves to the age (aion) in which they live. They are slaves to its spirit, customs, fashions, etc.

c)  Folks are willing to do whatever it takes in order to be in step with the world.

 

3.  This subjection to sin is, at the same time, subjection to Satan. The Apostle adds, “According to the prince of the power of the air.” (Verse 2; compare II Cor. 4:4; John 12:31; Matt. 9:34)

a)  A kingdom is ascribed to this evil prince, called “the kingdom of darkness.”

b)  All evil spirits and wicked men are his subjects. They are his captives held by a yoke of bondage.

c)  “The air,” or “darkness” as many prefer, is the abode of evil spirits, it is Satan’s domain, his kingdom of  darkness. (Col. 1:13)

 

4.  Before their conversion these Ephesians were under the influence of that malignant spirit who was presently working in the children of disobedience. (Verse 2c)

a)  This spirit is the wicked one himself.

b)  Children of disobedience does not mean merely disobedient children, but rather sons of disobedience.

(1)  Just as there are sons of Belial, whose nature is devilish, with these children, as with their father, disobedience is their very nature.

(2)  These have a depraved will. They are “unwilling to be persuaded,” so the word literally means.

 

c)  The unregenerate man has a nature that is rebellious, and wills not to obey God.  This he has from birth.

 

C.  A STATE OF CONDEMNATION. (VERSE 3)

 

1.  This state or condition we all shared. Whether Jew or Gentile, all lived and had their being in a state of  condemnation. “Among whom we all had our conversation.”

2.  This congeniality consisted in living in the lusts of the flesh (the depraved nature) and fulfilling the desire of the flesh, (the inferior faculties) and of the mind (the superior and rational powers). Thus, the whole man is depraved, even in his best faculties.

3.  These Ephesians, before regeneration and conversion, “were by nature children of wrath.”

a)  Not by acquisition, or by persuasion, or by example, but by nature. (Compare Gal. 2:15; 4:8)

b)  As “children of wrath,” they were objects of wrath; marked out for wrath.

(1)  The meaning is the same as in the case of Abner. (I Sam. 26:16) David said, “Ye are worthy to die.” Or, as in the margin, “Ye are a son of death.”

(2)  Another example is the case of a wicked man “worthy to be beaten.” (Deut. 25:2) The meaning is literally “a son of stripes.”

c)  Thus, we were all in our natural state children (sons) of wrath, and therefore, worthy of death.

 

4.  The truth here confirmed is that ours is a fallen race. Prohibition ended with Adam’s sin. We are born in a state of condemnation, and need redemption from the moment of our birth.

 

II.  THE CHANGE THAT GRACE HAD WROUGHT IN THEM. (VERSES 4-6) Here contrasted with their former state of death is that of life by spiritual resurrection.

 

A.  THE CHANGE WHICH SAVING GRACE PRODUCES IS THROUGH REGENERATION; THAT SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION OF WHICH GOD IS THE AUTHOR. (VERSES 1, 4, 5)

 

B.  THIS CHANGE IS WROUGHT THROUGH A DIVINE WORK OF LOVE AND MERCY. (VERSE 4)

 

1.  God is rich in mercy, and He is rich in His desire to show mercy. “Thou Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy.” (Psa. 86:5)

2.  God pities all miserable souls, but it is for (on account of) His great love wherewith He loved us, that He “hath quickened us together with Christ.”

3.  God’s love for these objects of mercy is more than pity of which all miserable souls may be objects. This love has definite individual persons for its objects. (Jer. 31:3)

 

C.  THIS QUICKENING BY SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION IS THROUGH CHRIST, AND BY VIRTUE OF OUR UNION WITH HIM. (VERSE 5)

 

1.  Quickening is the communication of life of which Christ is the Author.

2.  It comprehends everything that salvation includes. As our spiritual death included condemnation, pollution and misery, so our spiritual life comprehends forgiveness, regeneration, and all blessedness.

3.  Being quickened together with Christ speaks of that covenant and vital union with Christ, in which His death was our death, and His life is our life, and His exaltation is our exaltation. (Rom. 6:6-8; II Cor. 2:19, 20; 5:14, 15)

 

D.  BELIEVERS HAVE BEEN SPIRITUALLY RAISED UP SO AS TO BE MADE PARTAKERS OF CHRIST’S LIFE AND EXALTATION, EVEN HERE AND NOW. (VERSE 6)

 

1.  They are seated in heavenly places together with Christ. This describes the state into which they are brought by regeneration. (See also Phil. 3:20)

2.  We, if Christians, belong not to the earth, but heaven. We are within the realm of God’s kingdom; we are under its laws, and we have in Christ a title to its privileges and blessings. Indeed, we are now sons of god, we have the Spirit of adoption, by which we enjoy all the privileges of sons in this life and also that which is to come.

 

III.  THE DESIGN FOR WHICH GOD HAD EFFECTED THIS CHANGE IN THEM. (VERSES 8-10)

 

A.  THE GREAT DESIGN IN REDEMPTION IS THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD’S GRACE THROUGH ALL COMING AGES. (VERSE 7)

 

1.  The great scheme of redemption, which God purposed from eternity, accomplished in the fullness of the time, and applied effectually to sinners by the Gospel, shall show forth the exceeding riches of His grace for ever and ever.

2.  Contemplation of this infinitely wise plan, and the infinite cost of it, coupled with that amazing blessedness thereby bestowed upon otherwise helpless, hopeless sinners, will provide abundant cause for praise among all  holy beings throughout all ages, world without end.

 

B.  THE GREAT DESIGN OF REDEMPTION, AS PREVIOUSLY STATED, IS CONFIRMED. (VRS. 8, 9)

 

1.  This is plain, for salvation is entirely of grace.

2.  We have the assertion of the gratuitous nature of salvation confirmed both affirmatively and negatively.

a)  “For by grace are ye saved through faith.”

b)  Even the faith to believe is not of ourselves, but is a gift of grace.

c)  Thus, salvation is not of works in any part, either in its provision or its acquisition.

 

3.  No redeemed soul shall be able to boast of any part of his salvation. (I Cor. 1:31)

 

C.  THE PRACTICAL DESIGN OF REDEMPTION IS THAT GOD SHOULD CREATE MEN ANEW IN CHRIST UNTO HOLY OBEDIENCE AND SERVICE. (VERSE 10)

 

1.  That salvation is entirely the work of God, and that good works cannot be the ground of our acceptance with Him is here proven.                      

a)  We are His workmanship. He, and not ourselves, has made us what we are.

b)  We are created unto good works. Just as the fact that men are elected unto holiness proves that holiness is not the ground of their election, so their being created unto good works shows that their good works cannot be the ground on which they are made subjects of this new creation.

 

2.  That true saving faith is manifested in good works is also here proven.

a)  Salvation is not of works, but it is not without works either.

b)  Many who are very adamant that salvation is all of grace and not of works; and who cite Verses 8, 9 as their proof texts, seem to ignore Verse 10, which states the practical purpose for which God saves sinners.

c)  We must not get the cart before the horse, but we must not imagine a horse without a cart either, for “faith without works is dead being alone.”

APRIL 20, 2014

 

PAUL’S PRAYER ON BEHALF OF THE EPHESIANS

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

1.  We have thus far in our study of the book of Ephesians considered the Apostle’s inscription and opening benediction (Verses 1, 2), and also his great eulogy in which he blesses God for having blessed these believers with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. (Verses 3-14) These glorious blessings include the following: Their election in Christ from all eternity; their predestination unto adoption into God’s family as sons; their acceptance of God; their redemption from sin by the blood of Christ; their illumination to understand the gospel mystery; their union in and with Christ and with all who are holy in heaven and earth; their eternal inheritance; their receiving of the Holy Spirit of promise who is the earnest and seal of their faith.

2.  We shall now consider the Apostle’s prayer on their behalf. (Verses 15-23) This great Apostle seemed to always abound in prayer and thanksgiving to God. His prayers were generally so ordered that in the exercise of them he was at the same time conveying great and important doctrines of the Christian faith, along with the most weighty instructions to all who seriously consider them.

 

I.  PAUL’S PRAYER ON THEIR BEHALF CONSISTED FIRST OF THANKSGIVING AND THEN PETITION. (VERSES 15-17)

 

A.  THAT WHICH MOVED HIM TO PRAYER WAS THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE OPERATION OF GOD’S GRACE IN THEM. (VERSE 15)

 

1.  Paul, in writing form Rome, reminded the Ephesians of wonderful blessedness that belongs to all who are true believers in Christ. (Verses 3-14) Notice, to Paul God’s abounding goodness toward them was motivation to ask for yet more blessings on their behalf. The Lord is pleased and honored by such praying.

2.  This prayer was also inspired by the favorable reports that Paul was receiving regarding the Ephesian church. “After I heard of your faith…and love to the saints.”

 

a)  It had been about four years since Paul had labored at Ephesus, so as visitors would come to his prison house with good reports it was most encouraging and inspiring.

b)  Notice, true faith is proven by love. It was not merely their profession of faith that he heard about, but the demonstration of it.

 

B.  HIS PRAYER CONSISTS OF THANKSGIVING FOLLOWED BY PETITIONS. (VERSE 16)

 

1.  The Apostle taught us both by word and example to follow this form and order in our prayers. (Phil. 4:6)

2.  Matthew Henry notes that we should pray for the persons for whom we give thanks.

3.  He gives thanks for their spiritual blessings, and then prays for the further supplies of them.

4.  This was a ceaseless exercise on the part of the Apostle. “I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.”

5.  While he ceased not giving thanks to God for giving them the Holy Spirit, neither did he cease in praying that He would give unto them the Spirit. (Verse 17) Paul here is speaking of the Holy Spirit (not spirit) for He is the Spirit of Wisdom and the Spirit of Revelation.

6.  Our great need as Christians is ever that we should have the Holy Spirit in greater measure. May this always be our foremost desire in prayer.

 

C.  HE PETITIONS GOD, TO BEGIN WITH, FOR A GREATER MEASURE OF THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING. (VERSES 17, 18a)

 

1.  This blessing is needful if they are to receive the more particular blessings for which he prays in the verses following. We must always have “grace for grace.”

2.  Notice, the great desire that Paul has for them is not freedom from persecution, or that they might have the richer and honors and pleasure of the world, but rather, that they might have illumination of their understandings, so that their knowledge of the Lord might increase and abound.

3.  This knowledge must come from one source, namely, “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the same source from which our Lord Himself received the Holy spirit without measure. (John 3:34) The same is called “The Father of Glory.” God is infinitely glorious, and thus the Author of all that glory with which His saints are to be invested.

 

a)  He gives true knowledge by giving the Spirit of knowledge.

b)  The Holy Spirit is the teacher of the saints, for He is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

              

4.  In this initial petition, which is the blessing that is essential for all the rest, he prays that the eyes of their understanding may be enlightened. (Verse 18a)

 

a)  The purpose of the letter, as before noted, was that they should know and appreciate the wondrous mysteries of God’s great plan of redemption. This can only happen as the Spirit opens the eyes of the understanding.

b)  Those who have their eyes opened, and have some understanding in the things of God, have need to be more and more enlightened.

 

II.  PAUL NOW BECOMES MUCH MORE SPECIFIC IN HIS PETITIONS WHICH HE PRAYS FOR ON THEIR BEHALF. (VERSES 18b-23) It was his prayer that they should be given the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of the Lord; that the Spirit would open the eyes of their understanding so that they might increase in that knowledge. Now he mentions some particular areas in which he desires that their knowledge should increase.

 

A.  HE WOULD HAVE THEM TO KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF GOD’S CALLING. (VERSE 18b)

 

1.  Christianity is a calling. God has called us to it, and on that account Paul refers to it as His calling.

2.  It is a very desirable thing to know about the hope of our calling.

3.  The hope of this calling is that which we have by promise, and hold to by faith. (Rom. 8:24, 25)

4.  We ought to acquaint ourselves with the immense privileges of God’s people, and the expectations they have from God. (I Cor. 2:9)

5.  The more we acquaint ourselves with heavenly things the less will be our attachment with this world and things temporal. (II Cor. 4:18)

 

B.  HE WOULD HAVE THEM TO KNOW MORE OF THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF GOD’S INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS. (VERSE 18c)

 

1.  Paul here speaks of that glorious inheritance of the saints of which God is the Author.

2.  He does not imagine that the Ephesians are able to fully know the glories of this inheritance for it is inconceivably glorious.

3.  However this is an inheritance of which believers already have the earnest (Verse 14) and it is desirable to know this experimentally, to be well acquainted with the principles, pleasures, and powers of the spiritual and divine life.

4.  The more we can enter into the delights of our heavenly inheritance through reading, contemplation, and prayer, the more shall we experience a little heaven as we are on our way to heaven.

 

C.  HE WOULD HAVE THEM KNOW THE EXCEEDING GREATNESS OF GOD’S POWER TOWARD THOSE WHO ARE BELIEVERS. (VERSES 19, 20)

 

1.  It is a mighty power that grace has wrought in producing and carrying on the work of faith in our souls. It is nothing less than an almighty power that will bring souls to believe in Christ, and to trust in His righteousness, and upon the hope of eternal life.

2.  It is no less power than that which God wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and by which Christ ascended to the right hand of God in the heavenly places.

3.  Our regeneration is called a quickening from the dead, a passing from death to life. (Ch. 2:1; I Pet. 1:3) Believers are also said to be now seated with Christ in heavenly places. (Ch. 2:6)

4.  That God raised up Christ from the dead is indeed the great proof of the truth of the Gospel to the world, but the transcript of that in ourselves is our experimental proof as we have risen with Him to walk in newness of life. (Rom. 6:4)

 

D.  HAVING INTRODUCED THE RESURRECTION AND EXALTATION OF CHRIST, THE APOSTLE SUFFERS HIMSELF TO DIGRESS FOR A MOMENT TO DWELL ON THE NATURE OF CHRIST’S EXALTATION, AND ON HIS RELATION TO THE CHURCH FROM THE FATHER’S RIGHT HAND. (VERSES 21-23) He will, at the beginning of the next chapter revert back to his main topic.

 

1.  He sits at the Father’s right hand in the heavenly places. (Verses 20, 21) At the Father’s right hand, our Lord, the God-man is set in authority over all. All of the power of both heaven and earth are His. (Matt. 28:18)

2.  The Father has put all things under His feet, according to the promise. (Verse 22; Psa. 110:1) All creatures are in subjection to Him. They must either yield him sincere obedience, or fall under the weight of His scepter.

3.  God gave him to be head over all things to the church.

 

a)  It was a gift to Christ to, as Mediator, be advanced to such dominion and headship.

b)  It was a great gift to the church to be provided with a Head endued with so much power and authority.

           

4.  All power and authority are given Him to exercise for His body the church which He loves. (Verse 25)

5.  The church is called the fullness of Christ, as He is the Head of the church. The head is incomplete without the body. So Christ in His relative capacity as the Head would not be complete without His mystical body, the church.

6.  Lest any should think that Christ is somehow dependent on the church it is added, “that filleth all in all.” The church herself is filled with Christ. Christ fills all His body, and all the members of it with gifts and graces of the Spirit. (Ch. 4:10)

 APRIL 6 / APRIL 13, 2014

 

ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN CHRIST

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

1.  In his opening salutation the Apostle either pronounces or prays for the blessings of grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ to be upon the Ephesian Christians.

2.  After the opening salutation, he immediately begins to pour out his soul in true adoration to God for his blessings past (election), and present (redemption), and future (full inheritance as sons).

3.  We want now to consider and rejoice in all of these spiritual blessings which are our in Christ.

4.  As we do so, we will notice Paul’s initial objective in writing this epistle, which was to bring the Ephesian believers to understand the eternal nature of God’s plan of redemption which emphasizes the glory of His grace; and to make us better appreciate the greatness of the blessing of which we are the beneficiaries.

 

I.  WE HAVE FIRST A GENERAL BLESSING OF GOD FOR ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS. (VERSE 3)

 

A.  HE BLESSES (EULOGIZES) GOD, BECAUSE GOD HAS BLESSED US. “Blessed be…”

 

1.  “Blessed” (Greek eulogetos) expresses adoration. He is saying, “All praise be to God.”

2.  All good things which we have received, and shall receive, originated with God the Father.

3.  The sentence that here begins “Blessed be” rolls on like a snowball growing greater and greater as it goes. “The lofty terms in which Paul extols the grace of God toward the Ephesians, are intended to rouse their hearts to gratitude, to set them on flame, even to fill them to overflowing.” (John Calvin)

 

B.  HE STYLES THIS BENEVOLENT AND BLESSED GOD AS NOT ONLY THE GOD OF OUR LORD, BUT AS HIS FATHER. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

1.  This title calls attention to the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is not only his God which places emphasis on Christ’s humanity, but His Father. Christ is the son of God by eternal generation.

2.  The God in Whom we are to trust, and to Whom we offer praise as the source of all good, is the God of redemption, and as such, He is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is because He spared not His own son that He shall with Him freely give us all things. (Rom. 8:32)

3.  Thus we understand that as Mediator God was His God; as the second Person of the Trinity, God was His Father.

 

C.  HE IDENTIFIES THE BLESSING HERE BESTOWED AS THE PRINCIPLE BLESSINGS WHICH GOD GIVES. “…who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”

 

1.  Notice the past tense, “hath blessed us.” All true believers in Christ have “all spiritual blessings.” We cannot fail to receive anything which He has purchased for us. We can claim even our glorification, because the son cannot fail in what the Father gave Him to do. (Rom. 8:30; John 6:37-40)

2.  These are called “spiritual blessings” not merely because they pertain to the soul, but because they are derived from the Holy Spirit, whose presence and influence are the great blessings purchased by Christ. Thus, having the Holy Spirit we have all spiritual blessings.

3.  “In heavenly places,” or “in the heavenlies,” indicate that these blessings are heavenly in their origin, and that they pertain to the heavenly state into which the believer is introduced.

4.  It is as we are “in Christ” that in virtue of that union we are partakers of these benefits. It is as believers are in Christ that they have been blessed with all spiritual blessings – blessings which the Apostle now begins to innumerate: election, redemption, heirship, etc. The phrase, in Christ, or its equivalent occurs more than ten times in this short paragraph. (Verses 3-14)

 

II.  WE HAVE NEXT THE PARTICULAR SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS WITH WHICH WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED IN CHRIST. (VERSES 4-14)

 

A.  ELECTION AND PREDESTINATION. (VERSES 4, 5, 11)

 

1.  The Author of election is God the Father. “According as HE hath chosen…” (See Verse 3)

2.  The nature of this election is defined by the word “chosen,” which means to pick out or choose for one’s self.

3.  The objects of this election are us, not everybody. The “us” are identified as saints and the faithful in Christ Jesus. (Verse 1)

4.  The foundation of this election is Christ, as He is of all of our salvation from start to finish. God elected us in Christ. Note the connection to Verse 3. God the Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ, just as in Him, He elected us. In other words, in time the Father blessed us in Christ, just as from all eternity He elected us in Him for that purpose. The basic reason that we were chosen in Christ is that before all worlds Christ had become our representative and surety.

5.  The time of this election is said to have occurred “before the foundation of the world,” that is, from eternity.

6.  The purpose of this election is “that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”

7.  A further purpose is seen in that the chosen are predestinated (foreordained) to become sons by adoption. God has picked out for Himself those whom He will adopt into the family to become sons and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. (Verse 5) The elect do in time become sons by spiritual birth, then all who are born of the Spirit, are made sons and heirs of God by adoption. (See John 1:12, 13; Rom. 8:14-17; Gal. 4:4-6; II Tim. 2:9-11)

a)  Notice God the Father adopts us, but it is through the work of Jesus Christ that this adoption becomes a reality.

b)  It is by His atonement that the new standing and also the spirit of sonship are made possible for the chosen ones.

8.  This eternal choice and determination and outcome is “according to the good pleasure of His will.” (See also Verse 11)

a)  Thus He made His choice.

b)  Thus He predestinated their adoption.

c)  Thus He covenanted with the Son to accomplish the work necessary to make it reality.

 

B.  ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. (VERSE 6)

 

1.  The previous blessings, i.e. our election and adoption are “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” (Verse 5c)

2.  It by this grace that He has made us accepted in the beloved.

3.  Jesus Christ is the beloved of His Father. (Matt. 3:17)

4.  It is our great privilege to be accepted of God, which implies His love to us, and His taking us under His care as His adopted sons.

5.  We cannot be accepted of God, except in and through Jesus Christ, yet being thus accepted, we are as beloved in the Father’s sight as is the Son Himself.

 

C. REMISSION OF SINS AND REDEMPTION THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. (VERSES 7, 8)

 

1.  There is no remission without redemption. It was by reason of sin that we were in bondage, and we cannot be liberated except by our sins being remitted.

2.  This redemption we have in Christ, and this remission through His blood. IN fact all blessings flow down to us in that stream.

3.  This great benefit, which comes freely to us, was dearly bought and paid for by our blessed Lord, and that, according to the riches of God’s grace.

a)  It was rich grace that God would be satisfied by a surety when He might have executed the severity of the law upon the transgressor, and it was rich grace to provide such a surety in His own Son.

b)  That God should deliver up His own Son to satisfy His own justice would never have entered into our thoughts.

 

4.  Surely, God has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. (Verse 8)

 

D.  DIVINE REVELATION. (VERSE 9)

 

1.  God has made known to us His good-will to men, which had been concealed for so long, and is still hidden from a great part of the world. (See Ch. 3:2-5)

2.  This blessing we owe to Christ, Who, having lain in the bosom of the Father from eternity came to make known His will to the children of men.

3.  What is made known to us in the Gospel is that which according to His good pleasure (His secret counsels concerning man’s redemption), which He purposed in Himself. (See Deut. 29:29)

4.  In this revelation in which is made known to us the mystery of His will, the wisdom and prudence of God do abundantly shine forth. It is described in Verse 13 as the word of truth, and the gospel of your salvation.

 

E.  UNION IN AND WITH CHRIST. (VERSE 10) “He gathers together in one all things in Christ.”

 

1.  All the lines of divine revelation meet in Christ; all religion centers in Him. Jews and Gentiles are united to each other by being both united to Christ.

2.  Things in heaven and things on earth are come together in Him. Peace is made and correspondence is established between heaven and earth.

3.  The holy angels become one with the church and redeemed men in Christ.

 

F.  THE ETERNAL INHERITANCE. (VERSES 11-13)

 

1.  In Christ we are adopted and accepted as beloved sons into the family of God. Therefore in Christ we have received (lit. been allotted) an inheritance.

2.  For this we have been predestinated unto the adoption of children…according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. (Verses 5, 11)

3.  In this inheritance both Jews and Gentiles share alike. (Verses 12, 13)

a)  “That we (Jews, to whom the Gospel was first preached) should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted…”

b)  “In whom ye also (Gentile believers at Ephesus) trusted after that ye heard…”

 

G.  THE SEAL AND EARNEST OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. (VERSES 13b, 14)

1.  The blessed Spirit is holy, and makes us holy. He is “the Holy Spirit of promise,” as he is the promised Spirit. (Joel 2:28ff; John 14:16, 17, 26; 16:7, 8)

2.  By Him believers are sealed, that is, separated, set apart unto god and distinguished and marked as belonging to Him.

3.  The Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance.

a)  The earnest is part of payment which secures the full sum.

b)  So is the gift of the Holy Spirit to us. As sanctifier and comforter His influence and operation in us is like heaven begun.

4.  He is said to be the earnest until the redemption of the purchased possession. One day we will have our full inheritance, at which time all that was mortgaged by the fall shall be fully restored. (Rom. 8:22, 23; I Thess. 5:23;Rev. 21:1-7)

MARCH 30, 2014

 

AN INTRODUCTION TO EPHESIANS

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

1.  The epistle to the Ephesians has been called “the most authoritative and most consummate compendium of the Christian faith,” “the distilled essence of the Christian religion,” “full to the brim with thoughts and doctrines sublime and momentous.” It has made that impression on believers, both professional scholars and laymen throughout the history of the church. (William Hendriksen New Testament Commentary on Ephesians p. 32)

2.  That this epistle was written by the Apostle Paul is so well attested that we need not take time to refute other suggestions. The notion that it was simply an amplification of the Colossian epistle by someone other than Paul is handily refuted by William Hendriksen in his New Testament Commentary on Ephesians, pp. 5-33, where he does a side-by-side comparison of the two texts.

3.  The city of Ephesus under the Romans eventually became capital of Proconsular Asia. After the province of Asia was formed by Rome in 129 B.C. Its first capital was Pergamos, the old capital of Mysia, but in the time of Augustus, when Asia had become the most wealthy province in the Empire, the seat of the government was transferred to Ephesus. This great city was principally celebrated for its temple of Dianna. From its earliest history it was regarded as sacred to that goddess. Restoration of the temple, after its destruction in 356 B.C., was contributed to by all Greece and Western Asia. Its vast dimensions, costly materials, extended colonnades, numerous statues and paintings made it one of the wonders of the world. It was this temple that gave unity to the city and its inhabitants. The worship of Dianna was connected from the earliest times with sorcery and witchcraft. Ephesus was therefore the chief seat of necromancy, exorcism and all forms of magic arts.

4.  In this city Paul labored for nearly three years. The effects of Paul’s preaching in Ephesus are recorded by Luke in the Book of Acts. See Ch. 19 particularly.

    

a)  The conversion of a great number of the Jews and Greeks.

b)  The spread of the knowledge of the gospel throughout Proconsular Asia.

c)  So powerful was the effect on the thinking of the people that certain exorcists attempted to work miracles in the name of Jesus. Others burned their books of divinations and mystic arts.

d)  Worshippers of Dianna were so diminished in number that great alarm resulted which was variously demonstrated.

e)  A large and flourishing church was there established.

 

5.  Ephesians is one of Paul’s four prison epistles. By comparing the four epistles; Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, there is sufficient internal evidence to show that all were likely written during the same period when Paul was a prisoner at Rome, probably about A.D. 60.

6.  The object of this epistle was, first, to bring these believers to a true appreciation of the plan of redemption, as having been devised form eternity by God, for the manifestation of the glory of His grace; secondly, to make them sensible of the greatness of the blessing which was theirs in being partakers of its benefits; thirdly, to lead them to enter into the spirit of the Gospel as a system which ignored the distinction between Jews and Gentiles, and united all believers together in one living body destined to be brought into full conformity to the image of Christ; and fourthly, to encourage them to live as it became such as had been delivered from the degradations of paganism, and exalted to the dignity of sons of God.

7. The body of the letter will begin therefore with the principle fountain of all spiritual blessings, from which flowed their actual redemption by the blood of Christ, and the revelation of the divine purpose of their redemption. But, first, and for this present lesson, let us consider the Apostle’s Greeting.

 

I.  THE OPENING SALUTATION AND INSCRIPTION. (VERSE 1)

 

A.  THE TITLE PAUL TAKES TO HIMSELF AS THE PERSON WRITING THIS LETTER. “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ.”

 

1.  He counted it a great honor to be employed by Christ as a minister of the Gospel. (I Tim. 1:12)

2.  He, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, had an extraordinary calling. The word apostle, which means a sent one, is used in three senses in the New Testament.

 

a)  In its primary sense of “messenger.” (John 13:16; Phil. 2:25; II Cor. 8:23)

b)  In the sense of missionaries; men sent by the church to preach the Gospel. In this sense, Barnabas is called an apostle along with Paul. (Acts 4:14)

c)  In the sense of being agents of Christ invested with power and authority to act and speak in His stead. (Matt. 10:1, 2)

 

3.  The apostles were prime officers in the church, being extraordinary ministers, having extraordinary gifts, and the immediate assistance of the Holy Spirit that they might be fitted for publishing and spreading the Gospel and for governing the church in its infant state.

 

B.  THE COMFORT THAT PAUL TAKES IN THE FACT THAT HIS APOSTLESHIP WAS BY DIVINE CHOICE AND APPOINTMENT. “…by the will of God.”

 

1.  He did not aspire to become an apostle; neither was he an apostle by the will of man. (Gal. 1:15-17)

2.  That he was an apostle by the will of God very expressly and plainly intimates that he was immediately called (as the other apostles were) by Christ Himself to the work.

3.  Certain special qualifications for apostleship render it impossible that any should hold that office in the church today. One had to be a witness to Christ’s miracles and His resurrection, having seen the risen Christ. (Acts 1:21, 22)

4.  Every faithful minister of Christ, though his call and office be not so exclusive, can, with Paul, reflect on it as an honor and comfort to himself that he is what he is by the will of God.

 

C.  THE PERSONS TO WHOM THIS EPISTLE IS ADDRESSED AND SENT. “…to the saints who are at Ephesus.”

 

1.  He addresses all of the true Christians who made up the church at Ephesus.

          

a)  He called them saints, for such they were in profession, and therefore such they were bound to be in truth and reality.

b)  All Christians are saints if they be Christians indeed. If they come not under that character on earth, they shall never be saints in glory.

 

2.  He calls them the faithful in Christ Jesus.

 

a)  It is the honor not only of ministers, but to all believers to be faithful.

b)  The faithful are only so in Christ Jesus. From Him they derive all their grace and spiritual strength, and in Him is what they perform accepted.

 

II.  THE OPENING APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION. (VERSE 2)

 

A.  THE APOSTLE EXPRESSES TO THEM HIS GOOD WILL AND DESIRE FOR THEIR WELFARE. “Grace be unto you and peace…”

 

1.  By “grace” we are to understand the free and undeserved love and favor of God, and those graces of the Spirit which proceed from it.

2.  By “peace” we may understand all other blessings, spiritual and temporal, the fruit and product of the former.

3.  There can be no peace without grace, but where there is grace, there is also peace.

 

B.  THESE PECULIAR BLESSINGS FLOW FORM GOD OUR FATHER. “…from God the Father.”

 

1.  These blessings come not from God as Creator, though He is merciful to all men generally.

2.  These blessings are “children’s bread,” and are the peculiar blessings of God’s children.

 

C.  THESE SPECIAL BLESSINGS COME ALSO FROM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO PURCHASED THEM FOR US. “…and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

1.  Grace and peace have been purchased for us by our Lord Jesus Christ, and He therefore has the right to bestow these gifts upon His chosen ones.

2.  The saints and the faithful in Christ Jesus have already received grace and peace, but the increase of these is very desirable. Let us seek to improve and grow in all of the graces of the Spirit.