greetings in stereo

7/30/2019 Greetings in Stereo

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Greetings in Stereo(Ephesians 1:1-2)

Years ago, an immigrant from Europe was very new to the US and did not

understand how everything worked. Most of us have found ourselves in a

new location, new job or some other new experience where we did notknow quite what to do, can appreciate his story. This particular man had a

problem with the railroad. He was seen walking down the tracks in New

Jersey and one day, carrying his luggage with him. An agent who saw him

stopped him with threats of arrest if he didnt cease his trespassing.

Hearing the threat, the man pulled out a perfectly valid ticket from New

Jersey to Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was astounded to learn that the ticket

privileged him to ride a train not merely walk along the right of way ofthe tracks.

Now, thats a simple story, folks, but in many ways it is representative of

the message of the book of Ephesians. You see this marvelous book was

written to insure that we are not just walking along the tracks in our

Christians experience but are riding the train to glory land! We are about to

embark on a stupendous journey that I promise will open up new vistas of

Christian experience for even the most mature among us. Let us hope and

pray together all through this study that by the time we are done, each of us

will be fully aboard, each enjoying fully the privileges that are ours as a

child of God and each living a more full and satisfying life than we ever

thought possible.

Let me make a few introductory comments and then we want to consider

the first two verses today. Those verses are Pauls salutation, but even they

contain nuggets worth digging for.

Unlike virtually all of the other NT epistles, the letter to the Ephesians was

not written to address any specific problem. Rather in this epistle the

Apostle Paul was at pains to paint the big picture, to depict for all time what

Gods wonderful intention for those who know and love Him.

At the time Paul wrote this letter, he had the luxury of time for rather than

running all over the known world as he had been doing for the past 20 plus

years, he was in prison in Rome. It was the early 60s AD. Paul was likely

under house arrest at this time awaiting an appeal to Caesar which was his

right as a Roman citizen. While waiting, he conversed with faithful

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companions and received news from some of the places where he had

ministered. He also dictated the letters which have come to be known as the

prison epistles Colossians, Philippians, Ephesians and Philemon. Each is

a thoughtful expression of the greatness of the Lord Paul served and of his

relevance to everyday life. Joy and gratitude permeate these letter even

though written from jail, giving vast credibility to the message of theApostle. Paul was very likely released from this imprisonment, but within a

couple of years he was again imprisoned and this time executed at the

command of an increasingly licentious emperor, Nero, when he needed a

scapegoat for the Roman fire of 64 AD a fire probably started by Nero

himself to clear land for a grand palace but for which he ordered the brutal

execution of many Christians (probably including both Peter and Paul) to

divert attention away from himself.

Paul first came to Ephesus near the end of his second missionary journey in

the Fall of 52 AD. He came from Corinth in the company of Aquila and

Priscilla, fellow tent-makers turned evangelists. Paul ministered briefly in

the synagogue at Ephesus before going on to Jerusalem, but he left Aquila

and Priscilla, who taught the novice Apollos while there. Paul returned a

year later and spent 2-1/2 years, more than at any other place in his ministry

finally leaving in 56 AD. The church he left behind became one of the

great churches of the first century. It was dominated by Gentile believers,

who exhibited an occasional tendency to look down on their Jewish

brethren.

The theme of the book is Gods plan to ultimately sum up or unify all

things in Christ as we have seen, but particular emphasis is given to the role

of the church in this activity and plan of God. The book is easily divisibleinto two main parts the first three chapters are a magnificent doctrinal

treatise on the church, then chapters 4-6 make practical application of that

message. The two parts have variously been called a presentation of

believers position in Christ followed by a definition of what their practice

should be like. Others have termed the parts our calling and our conduct.

By whatever terms, the book demonstrates in a very practical way how

great doctrine should have practical effect in lives and how well-lived liveswill have a basis in doctrinal teaching.

With that very brief introduction, lets begin to look at how Paul addresses

his letter. It follows exactly the normal means by which letters were

addressed at that time, but in this case, very practical implications for the

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living of a content Christian life are evident. Further, each part of his

address has a dual element, hence the title, An Introduction in Stereo. I

think youll see the beauty of expression as we go.

I. Dual Name of Writer

Pauls introduction is typical of the time in which he lived. He includes the

name of the writer, the readers and a greeting. Now as you will note, only

one name for the writer is listed here. He is called Paul, which means

small. But that was not the name he was given at birth. Pauls birth

name was Saul, as most of you will recall from your studies in Acts.

According to Philippians 3:5 he was of the tribe of Benjamin, and the

tallest, vainest and most famous of the tribe of Benjamin was none otherthan King Saul the first king of Israel. Now I must admit a prejudice here,

but had I been naming a son after a famous Israeli king, I think I would

have chosen David, wouldnt you? Id have chosen David who was so

clearly a man after Gods own heart. But Pauls parents chose Saul I

suspect in honor of the fact that he was first and they wanted their son to be

first to have ambition.

Clearly if that was their intent, they succeeded, for Paul was the image of

ambition. Listen to the list of his accomplishments given in Philippians 3:4

though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else

thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised

on the eighth day,o of the people of Israel,o of the tribe of Benjamin,o a

Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law,H a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal,a a persecutor of

the church;t as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Listen in his

youth and early manhood, Paul was a proud and accomplished man, and he

had every right to be according to the measure of his society. He was Saul!

But you will recall, as Saul was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus to

run down and persecute more of those new Christians such was his

ambition, it took a single moment in time for the Lord to stop Saul in his

tracks, knock him on his backside, blind him and a different man emerged.

Listen to the account from Acts 9: 3 Now as he went on his way, he

approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around

him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul,

why are you persecutingw me? 5 And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he

said, I am Jesus,s whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city,

and you will be tolda what you are to do. 7 The men who were traveling

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with him stood speechless,w hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose

from the ground, and although his eyes were opened,f he saw nothing.

Now I want to tell you, though Saul saw nothing, yet Saul saw everything;

he saw reality, Beloved, for he saw the Lord. I know that because of his

reaction here. This ambitious, proud, confident, verbose, emotional man ona mission went in a single moment from hardnosed, focused campaigner to

a whimpering, humbled shell of himself who could only utter, Who are

you, Lord? There was no argument, no complaint, no defense, not a single

attempt to justify himself, just a simple compliant recognition that he was

face-to-face with someone he called Lord dont you find that

interesting? His submission was immediate and total so total that a very

short time later sometime after the three days when he received his sight

again, he began to go by Paul small -- rather than Saul. And though the

Lord honored him with great suffering as well as great exaltation in the

remainder of his life, his name was a constant reminder that he was now

Paul small no longer strong in his own might, but a submissive servant

of one who was so much greater.

I cannot leave this without wondering have you encountered Christ as

Paul did? Im not suggesting that we all will be stopped in our tracks by a

bright light shining out of heaven sent to bring us to our senses, but you see

this instance is recorded in Scripture so that we all get the point that what

Paul experienced in person, we must all experience by faith if we are really

to be a child of God. It is very easy to be as Paul was to be living a life

that we believe to be honorable, recognized, ambitious, successful from the

worlds perspective, but the question is, have you met Christ? The question

isnt do you have wealth, or fame, or position or success the questionalways is, what have you done with Christ? Jesus says in Luke 9:23, If

anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross

daily and follow me. And you see, that is exactly what Saul did on that

road to Damascus.

His life took a whole new direction and focus as he says in II Cor. 4: 7) But

we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing powerbelongs to God and not to us. If you check out the context in II Corinthians,

youll see that the treasure he is speaking of is the gospel message and that

the jars of clay are our earthly bodies. Paul got it. His life was about small

Paul having the wonderful privilege of representing Christ on earth. Saul

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had been cut down to size and his smallness became a medium for Gods

biggness; his weakness a channel for Gods power.

II. Dual Source of Authority

The second thing we find in Pauls greeting is a dual source of authority.

Look at verse 1 with me: 1) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of

God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

This is really quite an interesting designation. Paul identifies himself as an

apostle (a representative) of Christ Jesus, but notes further that this is at the

behest of God himself. Those are his two points of authority. In this brief

statement he is noting both his commission to represent the very earthlyJesus whom he originally hated and persecuted as well as his selection by

the heavenly father. This close connection between heaven and earth, stated

directly and by implication, is everywhere evident in the book of Ephesians

and is a constant reminder of how close heaven really is (I believe both

physically and certainly spiritually), though we often wrongly think of it as

so distant.

Now, lets take the phrase apart. First we note that Paul is an apostle. The

word apostle literally means a sent one and was used to speak of one

specifically empowered to represent another and to deliver a message in his

behalf. He is a designated representative.

The word apostle is used in a couple of ways in the New Testament. It is

sometimes used in a general sense to designate missionaries who went out

as representatives of some local church to start other churches. However,

more often the term was assigned a very specific and precise definition

referring to those who had been commissioned by Christ personally and

face-to-face to carry on the establishment of His Church (capital C). In

this usage the term takes on the attributes of an office, and in this sense it is

applied to the Twelve apostles who ministered with Jesus during his earthly

ministry and later to Paul.

To qualify as an apostle, one had to have seen Christ (as shown by Pauls

claim to the office despite being one untimely born [I Cor 15:8] to whom

the Lord had appeared apart from his earthly ministry on the road to

Damascus), to have been commissioned by Christ, and to have

demonstrated the apostolic gifts of teaching and miracles. Such evidences

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credibly authenticated the ministry of these individuals. You will recall that

after the defection and death of Judas, the remaining apostles selected

another who met those requirements and later Christ specifically designated

Paul as we have noted.

The apostolic duties were to preach the gospel as noted in many passagessuch as I Corinthians 1:17, to teach and pray, as found in Acts 6:4; to work

miracles (II Cor. 12:12), to build up other leaders of the church and plant

churches (Acts 14:23) and to write the Word of God as we see in Ephesians.

Paul was faithful to each of these.

Now the two words that designate his authority are quite interesting. He is

first of all an apostle of Christ Jesus. The grammar used here indicates

ownership (possessive genitive), thus Paul saw himself as literally owned

by Christ and sent forth to represent Him on his missions. I think it is very

interesting that Paul doesnt just say Jesus, or even Jesus Christ, but he says

Christ Jesus. The significance of this is that while the Jesus is merely the

earthly name of the Son of God, Christ is his title. That term indicates his

messiahship and authority. In his phrasing, Paul is giving tacit recognition

to the fact that the very one he had been so anxious to persecute was in fact

the promised Messiah of old. Thus, he now considers himself literally

owned by Christ Jesus. This immediately puts us in mind of I Cor 6:20:20) for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Paul

clearly saw this as a tight bond and far from feeling compelled, he reveled

in that relationship.

But he takes it even further when he notes that he is not only a

commissioned representative of Jesus Christ, but it is all done by the will ofGod. It is not something that he chose at all. It was not an office that came

to him by virtue of his prodigious education or his lofty position in Jewish

circles or his success in business. It was not that unfettered ambition nor

anything other than the will of God which had resulted in his being an

apostle. He was an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and he was

exceptionally glad of that fact as will be seen in the verses to come.

But do you want to know something very special. Its not just Paul that had

an office and a mission and an assignment that gave him great joy. The

same is true of everyone of us who is part of this great Universal Church

that Paul is going to talk about. At least it should be true of each of us.

Turn with me to I Corinthians 12:11. After mentioning various special

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spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to believers, Paul says, 11) All

these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each

one individually as he wills. In other words, folks, it isnt just Paul who

under ownership of Christ Jesus and by the will of God is given a special

gift to use in ministry. This is true ofevery single believer. Apostleship

was only one of many gifts that are mentioned in Scripture, including thosewhich are more showy, such as teaching and pastoring, to those that are

behind the scenes, including gifts of helps and administration.

Paul was never able to get over the fact that even though he saw himself as

small Paul, he had a task that had been ordained by the will of God, and

folks, so do each one of us. Paul knew the truth of Philippians 2:13: 13) for

it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Isnt that a wonderful statement? God not only gifts us in special way, but

He gives us specific tasks to do that will utilize His gifts to us and finally he

insures that we will take pleasure in doing his pleasure. How much better

can it get? God has some task for which He has gifted you and me that will

give us great pleasure. So many times we have been sold on the idea that

God wants to take us and give us the most despicable job thinkable when

that is the opposite of the truth.

I never have any hesitation to ask people to consider what they should be

doing by way of service for God. Why? Because I know that if they get in

the right place, it will only bring joy to their lives. Whats the alternative?

Spend all of our time working for things in this life? I know there are

necessities, but if we are not careful we will end up like the fellow in this

poem:

He always said he would retire,

When he had made a million clear,

And so he toiled into the dusk,

From day to day, from year to year!

At last he put his ledgers up,

And laid his stock reports aside,

And when he started out to live,He found he had already died!

Dear people, lets work for what is of eternal value, shouldnt we? Jesus

himself sets our priorities. Remember what he said in Matthew 6:33: 33) But

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seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things

will be added to you.

I can guarantee you that if you put the Lords work first you will not be

disappointed; you will have no regrets; you will not be left asking, why? Of

course, it will be hard at times. Of course, you will face discouragement.But you will also have great joy because thats the promise of God.

I can equally promise you that if you put this world first you will ultimately

be disappointed regardless of whether you find success or not. The late

Robert Horton, a 16th century English rector, had it right when he said the

greatest lesson he learned from life was that people who set their minds and

hearts on money are equally disappointed whether they get it or whether

they dont.

Every believer has been called by God and gifted for some work of service

that will bring him or her great joy and eternal reward. So my question to

you today is, can you honestly say that you are using Gods gifts in your life

in His service? Do you need help to find where you belong? Then start

praying, start experimenting and begin to see Gods plan. Paul didnt enjoy

immediate success either. They Lord took him through at least three years

of preparation and discovery time before he unleashed him. But just as

surely as Paul was an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, you and I

are equally called in Christ Jesus by the will of God for His service.

Believe it and do it.

III. Dual Designation of Believers

Now that we have examined the writer of Ephesians, lets look again at

verse 1 to see the dual designation of the recipients. 1) Paul, an apostle of

Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are

faithful in Christ Jesus:

I suppose our first reaction might be, So Paul is writing to the saints inEphesus. Must be a pretty small crowd. Sure would be in Los Angeles, at

least, huh?! I mean, how many people do you know that you would call

saints? Probably could count them on one hand.

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So, who exactly are these saints? Well, we get our first hint by noticing that

they are also designated faithful in Christ Jesus. The ESV translation

does an excellent job here of representing a Greek construction that makes

clear that saints and faithful are referring to the same group of people as

opposed to two distinct groups. So, if we can identify one, we have both.

The word faithful is actually a word that could be translated faithful as

it is here or it could be translated believers. It is the noun form of the

Greek word for believe and literally means believing ones. Clearly Pauls

reference here is to all believers in Christ who are living in Ephesus.

The question that remains, then, is why did he also call these believers

saints? To answer that we must look more closely at the word Paul uses.

The word saint is the Greek word . We get our word holy from

that root. In its verb form it means to set apart. It was used by the Greeks

for anything which was used in religious worship. Even such insignificant

things as pots and pans in the tabernacle were called holy vessels. Those

items were no doubt beaten and battered from desert travel in the case of the

ancient Israelites, and yet because they were set apart for Gods use, they

were called holy. Of course, the word came to have the sacred overtones

that we give it today as applied to certain honored people and even angels in

the OT. So for Paul to come along and apply this word to pagan Greeks,

even though they had embraced the gospel of Christ was mind-boggling to

those with a Jewish background. You mean to tell me those dock-working,

former temple-prostitute visiting Greeks who hardly know what the Torah

is, let alone what is in it aresaints? Yes, they are, Paul would say, just as

much as any of us, just as much as any believer.

Obviously the word is not used here in the connotation that it has come to

have of someone who lives a perfect or near perfect life. It is used here as

someone who has taken up his cross to follow Jesus and is therefore

separated unto God. Perfect? Hardly. On his or her way to perfect?

Definitely? Perfect in their standing with God? Yes a thousand times.

Why? Because they are believers in Christ Jesus. Its not their own

righteousness that gives them this standing but that of Christ.

Those called saints in Scripture have no inherent or intrinsic holiness in

themselves. Throughout the NT Paul addresses groups of believers as

saints in his greetings and then proceeds to identify sins ranging from minor

squabbles to incest that are being practiced among them. Saints arent

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perfect. But they are set apart and God is at work in them in a unique way.

And if youre a believer today, youre a saint! You may not look like it and

you may not always act like it, and you may not think of yourself in those

terms, but you are! I love how the dear old radio preacher J. Vernon

McGee puts it: There are only two kinds of people today: the saints and

the aints. If you are a saint, then you are not an aint. If you aint an aint,then you are a saint.

The Bible presents this truth in this way. When we come to Christ, we are

set apart positionally. Our position in Christ is one of perfection. In our

experience now we are not perfect, but we are moving in that direction.

Heres a fellow, a young man, and hes just graduated from high school. In

the exuberance of youth, his greatest desire is to see the world. He is just

nave enough that he believes everything he reads, so when he sees a sign

that says See the World, Join the Navy, he says, Thats for me. He

heads for the recruiting office and the next thing you know hes a sailor.

Well, at least he has a uniform and a hat. The truth is when he actually gets

on that ship heading out to sea he experiences certain difficulties. He finds

that he has difficulty walking and hes constantly grasping something to

hang on to. Hes supposed to be able to climb the ropes. He cant get more

than half way. And the ship isnt more than three miles out to sea before he

is in his bunk deathly sick. Hes a sailor all right, but he doesnt act much

like one. Not just yet. Itll take awhile before he is properly trained. Now

if we see that same fellow six months later and he is still acting the same

way, well probably question whether he is a sailor at all because the navy

has ways of getting him trained. In a certain sense, that is the way it is with

a Christian. He or she is a saint, but it will take some training to bring us tothe place where we look like one. If you want to know if you are really a

saint, the question isnt are you perfect. The question is, are you turned in

the right direction and are you making progress. If you are really in

Christ you most certainly will be, slow though it may be.

In Ephesus

So, first they are designated as saints. But second they are designated as in

Ephesus. Now I think it is interesting that this is written to the saints in

Ephesus. Some early manuscripts do not have the words in Ephesus.

That has caused some to question whether Ephesus was the real destination

for this letter. Supporting this is the fact that almost no personal reference

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to people are made in this letter although Paul had been there for more

nearly three years. Therefore, some feel that this was a circular letter

intended for many churches and that the name was written in as it or copies

of it went to various churches. However, there is strong evidence, both

internally and externally that it was sent to Ephesus even though it probably

did get passed around as Paul instructed should be the case with the letterthat he sent to the Colossians at about the same time. Either is possible, but

I believe the latter view is probably correct. In any case, there is no doubt

that this letter eventually got to Ephesus and received its greatest hearing

there.

Ephesus was one of the three great Mediterranean cities, along with Antioch

on the Orontes and Alexandria on the African coast. It was the fourth

largest city in the Roman empire and was the capital of Asia. The Cayster

River drained into the Aegean at Ephesus and there was a large harbor there

which wealthy patrons paid a great deal of money to keep dredged of silt

deposits. Today, the location of the city is about 30 miles inland, the result

of deposits which eventually ruined the city as a seaport when they could no

longer be removed.

Ephesus was best known in the world of Paul as the center of the cult of the

goddess Artemis, as she is known in Greek, or Diana, her Roman name. As

worshipped in Ephesus during the time of Paul, Diana was the patron of

nature and fertility. Some of you may have seen pictures of the goddess

who was portrayed with numerous breasts (eggs?) as symbols of fertility, a

turret crown, and a long skirt with bands of animals and birds in relief. She

is often accompanied by dogs or stags on either side, a tribute to her

patronage of nature. A great temple had been built to her in Ephesus asearly as 600 B.C., but that one burned on the night Alexander the Great was

born in 356 B.C. In about 200 B.C. construction began on a new temple

which, when completed more than 200 years later, was considered one of

the seven wonders of the ancient world. It lasted for more than 500 years

and, though outside the city walls, it was the centerpiece of the city when

Paul was there.

The temple was built of shining marble which could be seen for miles; 342

feet long by 164 feet broad; (as long as a football field, including both end

zones and about half as wide); supported by a forest of columns, each 56

feet high; a sacred museum of masterpieces of sculpture and painting. At

the centre, hidden by curtains, within a gorgeous shrine, stood the very

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ancient image of the goddess, on wood or ebony reputed to have fallen from

the sky. Behind the shrine was a treasury, where, in a place known as the

safest bank in Asia, nations and kings stored their most precious things.

Over the years I flew into Los Angeles hundreds of times, often looking

straight down on a large building clearly identifiable as the Forum where

the Lakers used to play basketball. It always reminded me of the temple inEphesus with its own colonnades and its own worshippers of sport, though

it was nowhere near the size of the one in Ephesus, nor nearly as beautiful.

Ephesus also had its Rodeo Drive, which actually exceeded our shopping

centers in beauty. There was a beautifully paved marble road 36 feet wide

and a third of a mile long connecting city and harbor. It was called the

Arkadiana and had giant columns lining the way on each side behind which

were shops selling every kind of goods. And in addition to shopping, there

was a 50,000 seat outdoor theater where all kinds of spectacles in keeping

with the age were staged including plays, sporting events, and fights

between men and wild beasts.

Demon worship was strong in Ephesus and Paul stirred up considerable

trouble with the idol makers labor unions as described in Acts 19. So great

was the success that attended his ministry there that many gave up their idol

worship and there was even concern that he might put Diana out of

business!

All in all, it doesnt sound all that far from our own day, does it? The fact is

that people are people and hearts are the same. And just as God wanted to

identify and fortify his holy ones in Ephesus, so he wants to do the same in

Eaton. We dont always like this aspect of it, but the truth is, to be set apartcarries with it the connotation that we will be different. Were in the culture

and were part of the culture, and yet, were set apart.

I heard of a fellow once who was paying for gas at a convenience store in

north Georgia when he noticed that the clerk looked exhausted. Rough

day? he asked. Nothings been going right, she said. And to top it off,

some guy just came in asking directions, and he didnt speak a word ofEnglish. What nationality was he? the traveler asked. Oh, she replied,

I think he was British.

Even speaking the same language, he was set apart. Were set apart for

God, folks. Doesnt mean we cant enjoy football games and plays and

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fairs and cultural events, but it means were going to be a little different. It

means that we wont be seeing how exotically we can dress to call attention

to ourselves. It means we dont speak in quite the same language used by

some of our friends. It means there are certain activities that we cant

participate in because it would not glorify our Lord. Set apart to be a

witness for Him. What a great calling.

IV. Dual Blessings of Believers

Look with me at verses 1-2: 1) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of

God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2)

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

Now that weve seen the writer and the recipients, look at the dual blessingpronounced by Paul to his readers. Most commentators point out that a

form of the word Grace was the commonly used greeting in the Greek

culture. And peace (shalom) was the commonly used greeting in the Jewish

culture Shalom, meaning not just peace but prosperity, all good things that

make life worthwhile Shalom.

But while these were common words of greeting, you see, in the hands of

God they became so much more. As used by God they have been elevated

in the pantheon of human expression to a position of almost unequaled

eloquence, beauty and meaning. Grace to you and peace. Grace and

peace. These words look so simple. Weve heard them so many times that

they roll off our tongues without much thought and certainly without much

appreciation. Theyve become commonplace and we take them for granted.

But may I ask you, please, this morning. Try to put aside what youve

known about these words. Open yourself up and lets try to let the Holy

Spirit give us a whole new appreciation for and initiation in these words

grace and peace. Lets bathe in them this morning.

Grace grace. It has to be one of the two or three greatest words in

Scripture. Grace. Originally it meant that property in an object which

brought joy to the beholder. It then came to mean a quality applied to an act

or a thought or to speech which brought joy to those watching. Thus we useit today to speak of the grace of a gymnast or the eloquence of someones

speech. From this concept it developed to imply a favor freely done

without any thought or expectation of a return favor. It was done by grace.

And thats about as far as man could go with the concept of Grace.

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But God picked it up and exalted it infinitely in the person of His son, Jesus

Christ. All that the human race could reasonably expect for its sin was the

righteous wrath of God and banishment from His presence forever. God

could have done that and still been righteous. But instead of that the holy

God stepped down and humbled himself in a series of steps which we find

in Philippians 2, the last of which was his becoming obedient unto death death on a cross where he carried the sin of the whole world, thus satisfying

both the justice and the mercy of God all at once. And out of that act, God

now offers salvation to anyone anyone who will accept that sacrifice on

his or her behalf. And that is grace, folks. And the infinite elevation of the

idea is seen in the fact that God did all of that not for friends, but for those

who were His bitter enemies. All other gods hate sinners. Did you know

that? You have to earn your way to salvation under any other misguided

religious thought that you want to talk about. Only the God of the Bible

loved sinners loved them enough to give His own son for them, to draw

them to himself even though they hated him. Grace to you. Unmerited

favor extended to even the worst of sinners. Something that can never be

earned, bought, paid for, deserved is ours when we come to him by faith

and trade our sins for his righteousness.

Grace the one-word description of salvation. And the amazing thing is,

once we have it, it keeps on being ours though we keep right on sinning. I

love how Brennan Manning puts it inRagamuffin Gospel. He says, You

are not just a disillusioned old man who may die soon, a middle-aged

woman stuck in a job and desperately wanting to get out, a young person

feeling the fire in the belly begin to grow cold. You may be insecure,

inadequate, mistaken, or potbellied. Death, panic, depression, and

disillusionment may be near you. But you are not just that. You areaccepted. Never confuse your perception of yourself with the mystery that

you really are accepted. Is that good or what?

Let me try one more illustration. Johnny was a handsome bachelor in a

village where the custom was that a man would pay a dowry to the father in

order to be granted permission to marry the daughter. The average dowry

price for a maiden was three cows, although an exceptionally beautiful girlmight fetch as high as five cows. One day, Johnny went to the father of

Sarita to negotiate a dowry. Tongues immediately began to wag, for it was

well known that Sarita was not very pretty. In fact, she was considered

quite plain. On the other hand, Johnny was known for being such a sharp

negotiator that some thought that he might be able to obtain Sarita for as

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low as one cow. To everyones shock, Johnny did nothing of the sort. He

marched up to Saritas father and offered ten cows for her hand in marriage.

Ten cows! It was unheard of. No one had ever paid such a high price for a

bride. And for such a plain girl as Sarita!

But after the wedding, a strange thing happened. Sarita started to take on anoble bearing. Her head was high. Her eyes sparkled. She beamed with an

inner glow and in the years to come she became renowned as the most

beautiful woman in the village. People would come from afar to see her as

her radiant grace became legendary. One day Johnny was asked why he

had paid such an exorbitant price for a wife. He replied, I loved Sarita and

wanted to express the high value I attached to marrying her. Her sense of

self has been greatly elevated as she realizes that her dowry price was

higher than any other woman in the village. Then he added with a grin,

But the other reason I had was that I wanted to marry an ten-cow-wife.

Dont you see, Beloved. Thats exactly what God has done for us. And

even that story doesnt begin to describe how much he loves you, treasures

you, elevates you, wants you, has paid for you. Do you begin to get it?

Sarita could never become an ten-cow-wife, but she could live as though

she were and she could gradually begin to look like one. Thats all God is

asking. He knows we will sin every day. Doesnt matter. He knows we

will fail constantly. Doesnt matter. His grace is extended. We can never

earn it, deserve it, merit it. Give it up. But begin to live in the good of it.

Thats grace. Its the gospel in one word.

Peace

Now, Pauls greeting was Grace to you and peace. If grace is the

fountain, peace is the outcome. It is what flows naturally from grace. The

two an inextricably linked in Gods economy.

Thats not really true in the world in which we live and perhaps thats the

problem. We hear a lot about peace. Everyone wants peace. We want

peace in our world, our nation, our city, our home. We want peace in ourheart. We talk about peace a lot. But you dont hear too much about grace.

Perhaps thats why there is so little peace. It cannot really come until grace

comes.

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Look at Romans 5:1 1) Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we

have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You want peace? You

have to start with peace with God and that comes through Jesus Christ and

is the result of grace. The first step toward peace is salvation, to be justified

so that you dont have any court worries hanging over your head about

eternal life.

There is no doubt that that is what Paul has in mind in Ephesians 1. But I

think he also recognizes that there is another aspect of peace. One can be a

Christian and still do a lot of hand-wringing. Its very possible to know

Christ and still do a lot of fretting and worrying because you are not living

in the good of what you have in Christ. Thats why Paul gives a further

instruction found in Philippians 4 where he says, 6) do not be anxious about

anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let

your requests be made known to God. 7) And the peace of God, which

surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ

Jesus. The peace hes talking about here isnt that peace that comes with

financial success and worldly position. Its that inner peace that can exist in

midst of John Bunyans dank prison cell or even on Tyndales fiery stake.

Its the peace that comes in knowing that one is in the center of Gods

perfect will and God is always good.

You want real peace? Theres the formula. Peace comes when we bring

our requests to the Lord and leave them there. You cant bring them and

then pick them up again on the way out the door. You have to leave them

there. And a real key is that little phrase often overlooked in those verses,

with thanksgiving. Most people are plenty willing to bring their burdens

to God, but very few are willing to say, And oh, by the way, thank youLord. And thats why they dont find peace. Thats tough. But realize

that God promises nothing there unless we come with thanksgiving.

Thats the kind of peace Paul wants for his readers in Ephesus. And its not

just for those old-time saints its for us here now! He wants the

country song kind of peace. You know, the kind that can say, my jobs

gone, my girls gone, my dogs gone and my house is gone, but thank you

Lord for the peace you give. You say, not possible. But I tell you, it is.

Horatio G. Spafford was a rich, successful Chicago lawyer. You would

have expected him to have peace for he lacked nothing, including a wife

and 4 lovely daughters. The Spaffords were pretty well-known in 1860s

Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio's legal career and

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business endeavors. The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and

close friends of D. L. Moody, the famous preacher. However, no Christian

is immune from suffering. In 1870, the Spaffords' only son was killed by

scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that

struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake

Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the greatChicago Fire.

Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio

decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And,

not only did they need the rest DL Moody needed the help. He was

traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio

and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords

traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the

French steamer 'Ville de Havre' across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set

sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not

wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as

planned. He would follow on later. With this decided, Anna and her four

daughters sailed east to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago.

Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It

read: "Saved -- alone." Saved alone. What did that mean?

What it meant was that on November 2nd 1873, the 'Ville de Havre' had

collided with 'The Lochearn', an English vessel. It sank in only 12 minutes,

claiming the lives of 226 people. Anna Spafford had stood bravely on the

deck, with her daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta clinging

desperately to her. Her last memory had been of her baby being torn

violently from her arms by the force of the waters. Anna was only savedfrom the fate of her daughters by a plank which floated beneath her

unconscious body and propped her up. When the survivors of the wreck had

been rescued, Mrs. Spafford's first reaction was one of complete despair.

Then she heard a voice speak to her, "You were spared for a purpose." And

she immediately recalled the words of a friend, "It's easy to be grateful and

good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather

friend to God."

Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out

of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter

of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father's voyage,

the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning

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has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where

the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." How would you

react? Would you challenge God to explain why he would take your

family? Would you deny that God even exists? Would you close yourself

off from the world in despair an agony? Who could blame one for any of

those reactions. But heres what Horatio Spafford did. He went to hiscabin and began to write:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say

It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)

With my soul (with my soul)

It is well, it is well with my soul

The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They

echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her

only child. Though we are told "her soul is vexed within her", she still

maintains that 'It is well." And Spafford's song reveals a man whose trust in

the Lord is as unwavering as hers was.

Thats peace, Beloved. Do you have it? You can have it only if you have

Him? But its all there for you if you will only reach out and take it.

V. Dual Source of Blessing

Now, finally, in this greeting in stereo by Paul, we see a dual source of the

blessing of believers. The source of the blessing is the Father and the Son.

And with that designation, we have come full circle, for in verse 1, it is the

same pair that equipped and commissioned Paul. Now they are the source

of the blessing that comes from faithful service. In the end, it is always

about God.

Now look with me quickly here. You will see that Paul uses a full title for

both Father and Son. It is God our Father (not just God), and it is the

Lord Jesus Christ (not just Jesus Christ). All of this is predictive of what

is to come and what we will see in full bloom in the verses that follow, but

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dont you love the way he calls God our Father? That makes it very

personal, doesnt it?

To have the favor of our father is a wonderful thing, isnt it? I was

fortunate to have a wonderful Christian father and nothing pleased me more

than to have his favor. My dad was of that generation where people werenot too effusive in their praise or show of emotion and he was of that

generation where work was venerated. They had known depression and

though my father had played football himself, he basically downplayed our

sports endeavors even though he had 8 sons who thought of little else.

Perhaps he was the balance we needed, but I can remember little

encouragement from Dad to play sports. So I got my work done first, and

then I played sports. Over the years my dad got to very few games because

he usually was working two jobs and there just wasnt time. It never

bothered me, never worried me. I felt he was proud of my work endeavors

and if he saw sports as unnecessary and kind of a waste, that was okay.

Then one day he asked me to get something out of his wallet. And as I was

getting whatever it was, out fell a newspaper clipping. It was an article

from our local paper describing some game or other that I had played in and

hit a home run. My dad had read and saved that battered old article. He

was secretly following and taking pride in my baseball career. It gave me a

whole new insight into how much my dad cared about something that I

thought he really had little or no interest in.

Beloved, I pray that over the next few weeks and months, we, too, will get a

whole new insight into how much ourheavenly Father cares about and

blesses us on a daily basis. I know that we cannot always see so clearlywhat He is doing or understand His blessings when it involves pain, but I

tell you its real. You find someone telling you that God isnt interested and

involved in the everyday events of your life you tell him to go fly a kite.

Grace and peace are flowing from ourfatherall the time.

I found out another thing about my dad after I was in my early 20s. I

found that he and I had independently chosen the same life verse. Proverbs3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own

understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your

paths. If that doesnt speak of everyday blessings, I dont know what does.

We just have to believe it, appropriate it, cling to it, fight for it.

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Then Paul speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ emphasizing that this is

the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of all of the OT prophesies. Jesus

being his earthly name. It was all fulfilled because God became a man, took

on human form, had the name Jesus so much tied up in that name. And

then Lord, acknowledging the place that God the Father has given him.

Listen to Philippians 2:9)

Therefore God has highly exalted him andbestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10) so that at the name

of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God

the Father.

Thats what Paul is talking about. Think about it for a moment. Paul was

old enough that he would have been alive for part of the time that Christ

was on earth. He had heard the stories and he had burned with hatred at one

who would so presumptuously claim to be God. When the crucifixion

occurred he thought that would be the end of that. Then came the

unbelievable turn of events with Christians springing up everywhere a

phenomenon that Paul could not understand, fought with all his might and

only changed when he met Jesus face to face and suddenly understood, this

one is Lord. He is God. He is Master. He is wonderful.

Now, one other thing I would note here. This is just one more indication

that you simply cannot separate God the Father from the Lord Jesus Christ.

You just cant. We have so many who want to believe in God, who believe

in His universal benevolence because it fits theirlimited concept of Deity,

but they absolutely refuse to accept that Jesus was who he said he was

God come in the flesh. But you see you just cant do that. You must accept

the truth of the Bible and Jesus as Lord or you must reject both. You canthave one without the other and we will see in weeks to come just how

closely intertwined are the Father and the Son.

Really, this should stagger us, folks. Think about what Paul has said here.

Grace and peace are flowing into each of our lives each life who has

trusted Christ as Savior and Lord coming directly from GodourFather

and the Lord Jesus Christ. There they are Father and Son, plotting howto bless you. How stupendous is that? Going on every day of your and my

life!

Conclusion

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Thats Pauls greeting in stereo. Just two little verses, but they were

packed, werent they? Whats the message? The message is that just like

Paul weve all been gifted by God and commissioned for some specific

avenue of service for him. But He doesnt just commission, He goes before

us, He blesses us on a daily basis, He is the reason for the whole thing. So

as He has selected us to be part of this new society to represent Him inthis world, He is with us all the way.

I like the story I heard of one 15 year old who came bounding in from

school one day. He found his mother in bed and was immediately filled

with concern. Dont you fell well, Mom? he asked. No, I dont , came

the reply. Full of good intentions, but very revealing was the boys next

comment. Well, dont you worry about dinner, he said reassuringly. Ill

carry you down to the stove.

Isnt that illustrative of our Lord? Yes, he has something for us to do. He

wants us to have the joy of participating in His Church. But Hes right

there to carry us down to and through anything that He asks of us. Were

never alone. Every event is a blessing and every trial an opportunity. Our

job believe it and live in the good of it. Be encouraged. Take heart.

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greetings in stereo

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