Unity in Christ
Notes
Transcript
Good morning and welcome to Dishman Baptist Church. It is wonderful to be back with you - this has been an odd summer for me with the number of Sundays that I have had to miss for various reasons but I am thankful for Kyle and for Chuck who are always prepared and ready to stand here in this sacred desk and ably bring the Word of God. Thank you for joining us this morning - whether here in person or online - it is our privilege to worship our Lord together with you. Please take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Ephesians.
Kyle really did a great job setting up this week as he “scorched the earth” last week. Coming off of a book like Jude where we are challenged to contend for the faith and get a vague description of who those are that we are to contend against. As I prayed and thought about where the Lord was leading us to go next it was to this book - I thought we might get into 1 Peter so that we could start to prepare for suffering that may come to the church and has come to churches just a few hours to the north of us. But as I prayed I was led towards this book as a reminder of what we should be as a church. Jude described who we should not be. Kyle last week diagnosed our problem - not just in the church at large but also within this church in some cases. Ephesians is going to hold up a mirror for us and challenge us as to who we should be.
First, I need to set the scene a bit. The city of Ephesus was a provincial capital of the Roman Empire in the region that is now known as Turkey. It was not only a capital city but also the largest commercial center west of the Taurus mountains. The city was built at the confluence of the Cayster River with the Aegean Sea on a natural harbor whose waves, according to one Roman historian, used to wash up to the Temple of Diana. Built a millenium before Paul arrived during his third missionary journey, the city had stood for nearly 600 years as the center of worship for the goddess Artemis or Diana. The temple there was considered to be one of the wonders of the ancient world. It was the threat to this worship that caused Paul so much trouble during his visit to Ephesus. After a very successful three year stint pastoring in Ephesus, the local merchants rose up and caused a riot against the efforts of Paul in the city. Acts 19 tells the story
About that time there was a major disturbance about the Way.
For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen.
When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business.
You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods.
Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”
In addition to the temple for Diana, there were also temples devoted to the worship of the Roman emperor and his family. Ephesus was a wealthy town. The theater mentioned in Acts 19 was excavated and estimated that it could fit 24,000 spectators. Two story homes have been excavated as well, some with running water and even heated bathrooms. The combination of commercial success and the prevalence of false religious practices also made it a city of dubious moral character. Temple prostitutes and the presence of several large houses of gambling and prostitution attest to the moral decay fo the city. It was also a center of the study of occult practices. During Paul’s visit to Ephesus a comical scene occurs that Luke recounts for us in Acts 19
God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands,
so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.
Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”
Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.
The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?”
Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.
When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.
And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices,
while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
In this way the word of the Lord spread and prevailed.
After a successful ministry there, Paul dispatched Timothy to be the pastor of the church there. The second century church father Irenaeus also writes that the apostle John may have been the one time pastor in Ephesus or at least lived there. This was a key church in the region and one that had a great pedigree. The church is reputed to have had more than 30,000 members when Timothy was there as pastor.
One key point to bring out at this juncture is that the book of Ephesians is thought to actually have been a cyclical letter meant for all the churches of Asia Minor and not specifically for the Ephesian church. The three earliest manuscripts of this epistle do not have the words “at Ephesus” that we will find at the end of verse 1.
The epistle is significant as one of the pinnacles of Paul’s writing. William Barclay calls Ephesians “the queen of the epistles.” English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge calls it “the divinest composition of man as it embraces first, those doctrines peculiar to Christianity and, then, those precepts common with it in natural religion.” It rivals Romans for its presentation of the precepts of the Christian faith. This book is truly, if not the Everest of the Christian faith, then the Grand Canyon of theology for its majestic presentation of the beauty that we embrace as the Christian faith. The book is both didactic - teaching - and practical. It will satisfy those seeking doctrine and those seeking the practical application. You cannot study Ephesians and come away unchanged - of course that can be said of any book in the Bible, but it is especially true of Ephesians.
As we embark on this journey let us commit to not only embrace the truths that this great book imparts with our heads but also to let them permeate and penetrate our hearts leading to actions that set us apart from the world around us. Writing about this book in his commentary on Ephesians Kent Hughes writes “It answers the question what does it mean to be in Christ, and what does it demand of us?” As we study this epistle let’s diligently seek to answer both of those questions in each of our lives individually and in the church as well. Look with me at Ephesians 1:1-2
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will: To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Such a seemingly simple introductory statement. In fact, this is the way Paul introduces all of his letters and was the typical way that letters were begun in the ancient world, naming the author, identifying the recipients and then offering some sort of prayer or petition for their well being. Yet even here in this opening Paul demonstrates and lays the groundwork for the critical doctrines that he is going to address in this letter. He does so by first referring to Jesus Christ three times in these two short verses, second by identifying the unity that is present amongst the believers in Ephesus and third by telling them each what their, and our, greatest needs are as Christians.
In Christ
In Christ
Paul starts off identifying himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will. This is not earth shattering news and anyone who has spent any time in Sunday School knows this is who Paul is. He’s the author of a third of the New Testament. He was the persecutor of Christians turned good guy who went on all the missionary journeys. And he’s not writing here to establish his credibility with those who would be reading his letter. Unlike in Corinth, there is no evidence in the letter to the Ephesians that Paul’s credibility was in question. The importance of this statement is not so much in the identity of the author but in the identity of those who had imbued him with authority to write on their behalf. Notice what Paul writes - he is an apostle (a sent out one) of Christ by God’s will. Oh that is so rich because it sets the tone for the rest of the opening portion of the letter.
Look ahead here at the end of verse 1 and verse 2 - Paul writes that the faithful saints are in Christ and then that grace and peace come through Christ. Kyle hit the note last week that we have forgotten who our King is and Paul here in three short sentences reminds us in very stark detail exactly who our King is. Augustus Toplady said
300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church The Distinction of Christianity
Every religion, except one, puts you upon doing something in order to recommend yourself to God.… It is only the religion of Christ, which runs counter to all the rest, by affirming that we are saved and called with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to the Father’s own purpose and grace, which was [not sold out to us on certain conditions to be fulfilled by ourselves, but was] given us, in Christ, before the world began.
We are in Christ - what an amazing thought. That what we are - all of our sin, all of our failures in this life, in this moment are covered over by Him. We are not going through this world seeking our own gratification or success. If we are found as saints then we are in Christ. And if we are in Christ we cannot help but be saints. We are set apart. Just as the nation of Israel was set apart for God’s holy purposes in the Old Testament - regardless of their actual track record of accomplishment - we are set apart and meant to be His witnesses today. In the companion letter that accompanied this one Paul writes
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Your life is hidden with Christ. And this is a key theme of the entire first portion of this great epistle. In fact Paul is going to mention 34 times in the first three chapters that we are found in Christ, of Christ of because of Christ. Paul is going to drive home to us that our position as believers is found in Christ - never more beautifully than he will as he teaches the Gospel in miniature at the beginning of Ephesians 2.
What a remarkable thought - that we are in Christ. Paul will expand on this as we move through the rest of the beginning of this book but just think about that for a moment. You, right this very moment, are found in Christ. If you have placed your faith in His sacrifice on the cross and payment for your sins, you are in Christ. You are a part of His body. Throughout the Old Testament the nation of Israel is alternately called His people, His nation but never are they called His body. That is a position reserved for New Testament believers and one that Paul will demonstrate deeply for us in Ephesians 2.
What an amazing thought that we are literally in Christ - and because we are found in Him we are called to be faithful. Kyle challenged us last week in our faithfulness - do we acknowledge that Christ is our King? Do we study His Word? Do we minimize or gloss over sin or do we mortify it? And finally are we serving His cause to build His Kingdom or are we seeking to build our own? Are we passionate for Christ? Charles Hodges said this of the Christian life
300 Quotations for Preachers Source of Life, Sum of Excellence, Fulness of Joy
To be in Christ is the source of the Christian’s life; to be like Christ is the sum of his excellence; to be with Christ is the fulness of his joy.
Oh what joy we can have knowing that we are found in Christ. And that should ultimately lead to the second characteristic that Paul will bring out in this letter - unity.
Unity
Unity
We live in a world that is egregiously divided. We are divided by gender, skin color, socio-economic status, political party. We live in a world that has made dividing people into an art form as worldly ideologies like Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality invade all of society and seek to drive division. Notice here what Paul writes in the opening of this letter. He doesn’t say to the brothers and sisters in Ephesus. He doesn’t say to the Jews and the Gentiles. The slaves and masters. The rich and poor. The Roman citizens and those without citizenship. No - he simply writes to the saints. As I said earlier to the called out ones.
If we are found in Christ we cannot help but be unified. We can’t help but have unity. True unity. Does that mean that we always agree or that we overlook sins or disagreements in the pursuit of unity - no. That’s the world’s way - it is the heavy handed methodology of those who pursue unity above all other things. We’re not going to talk about the truths of Scripture and tousle them out because we want to be unified. We’re not going to hold people accountable or seek to correct errors because we want to be unified. That is the church’s methodology. The world’s is much worse - agree with me or else. See we have unity. Everyone agrees with us.
This is not unity. What it is is a flimsy house of cards that isn’t built on the foundation of either the apostles or the cornerstone of Christ. And it certainly isn’t a demonstration of people who are in Christ. We do not overlook things or seek to avoid hard discussions over doctrinal topics in pursuit of unity. We of course speak the truth in love and we also recognize that in some areas there is room for disagreement. The pursuit of unity does not mean that everyone has to be lock step in sync with one another along one particular viewpoint. Thomas A Kempis said
Everyone, it is true, wishes to do as he pleases and is attracted to those who agree with him. But if God be among us, we must at times give up our opinions for the blessings of peace.
The pursuit of unity means charity and love also, allowing for the different paces at which people mature and patiently bearing with them as we teach them the truths of the Gospel. It is also recognizing that the Gospel transcends all other issues and that true unity also isn’t possible is we only gloss over differing viewpoints. The first church council in Acts 15 is a great example of working out differences in the pursuit of unity. The point is this - and maybe some of you think I’m trying to have it both ways - that not every issue is one that has to argued out to infinitum until everyone gets on the same page.
Paul makes no distinction here as he refers to all of the believers in Ephesus as faithful saints. No matter their maturity level or how long they had been saved, how many podcasts they could quote or how many books they had read - they were all saints if they were found in Christ. There should be a deep commitment level to the body of Christ as we look at those around us. Do we see one another as members of our body - as members of the body of Christ? Or do we see each other in a different manner? Do we make distinctions and divisions amongst us? Writing to the church in Philippi Paul writes this
always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer,
because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
The word partnership there is the word Koinonia. It was a business term for people who were working together towards a common goal. It also carries with it the idea that is on display on the worldwide stage right now as athletes compete together as a team to try and bring their country glory. We are not competing for a perishable prize or a gold medal - we are competing for the glory of our King and if we are not committed to doing so in a unified manner how do we demonstrate that we are separate from the world.
I love the story that Charles Spurgeon tells The church of Christ is always quarreling, but did you ever hear that the devil and his confederates quarrel? They are so united that if at any special moment the great prince of hell wishes to concentrate all the masses of his army at one particular point, it is done to the tick of the clock, and the temptation comes with its fullest force just when he sees it to be the most likely that he will prevail. If we had such unanimity as that in the church of God, if we all moved at the guidance of the finger of Christ, if all the church could move in one great mass to the attack of a certain evil, how much more easily might we prevail! But alas, the powers of hell far exceed us in unanimity.
And it is something that we have to work out now. We can’t wait until the wolves or the world is at our door and seeking to devour us to determine that we are unified. It is why we spend so much time teaching from this book - because the source of our unity is Christ and His ultimate revelation is only found in this book. And if we’re found in Christ and we have unity in Him then we cannot help but find grace and peace.
Grace and Peace
Grace and Peace
Grace and peace here have dual meanings. The first is that we are saved by grace as Paul will teach in the second chapter and because of that salvation we have peace with God as Paul teaches in Romans 5
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are saved by the sovereign movement of God on our behalf. Nothing we could do would earn that salvation for us as we can never out do our sin debt. God chose to move toward us offering forgiveness to us despite the egregious nature of our sin and the justness of our condemnation. This is the beauty of the Christian life as Augustus Toplady has already said for us today - we could do nothing to recommend ourselves to God it was only through His self-determined offer of grace that we could find forgiveness.
The peace that Paul writes about in Romans 5 is a the cessation of military hostilities. Before our experience of grace and the free offer of forgiveness, our flesh is at enmity with God and we are actively seeking to remove Him from the throne. We are seeking to place ourselves there. But through Christ and His sacrifice and payment for our sins the conditions of pardon have been met and we can receive peace with God.
But there is more to this statement from Paul here. He is writing to saints - those who have already been set apart and who have already received peace from God. This offer of grace and peace is so much more. It is the offer of grace that is necessary for our daily lives as we seek to continue to serve Him. It is the recognition that not only can we not save ourselves, we cannot keep ourselves saved either. In fact, if it were left up to us in this room not a one of us would have remained saved 5 minutes after rising from bed this morning. And yet here we are and presumably some of us are saved - only through the grace of God that sustains us on a daily basis. And it is through this grace that we can also have the ongoing condition of peace.
Not the peace that is the result of the end of hostilities but the peace that removes any doubt from our minds that we are saved. Paul writes to the believers in Philippi
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
This peace is the offer of God to all believers that you are guarded - in Christ Jesus. It all comes back to the presence of the believer in Christ - a theme that Paul will continue to develop and expound on as we explore this great epistle. But we must also be wary.
A Warning
A Warning