Sermon
A Study in Ephesians - part 1
April 18, 2004
Pastor Leighton Sheley

I'll invite you to turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 1, and while you're preparing I will say this by way of introduction; many Christians in affluent America undervalue or altogether miss the riches that are theirs in Christ, due to being enamored with the riches of this earth that surround them.

Dr. Kenneth Chaffin, a well-known author, tells about a pastor and a deacon who were visiting a perspective member, and when they drove up they found a beautiful suburban home surrounded by a velvet lawn and gorgeous landscaping. Two very expensive cars stood in the driveway and they could see into the front room through the large picture window the prospect sitting in a very comfortable chair watching a large color television. The deacon turned to the pastor and said, What kind of good news can we possibly have for this guy?

You know, with the comfort and affluence, relative peace and prosperity that we enjoy in America and California and on this peninsula, we can very subtly be lulled into believing this is heaven, and this is the best it can get; that the purpose that we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is simply to escape the fires of hell.

The book of Ephesians was written to believers in and the surrounding region of Asian Minor, and at the time of the writing of this letter the prosperity of Ephasis was immense. It was the banking and the commerce center for the entire region of Asian Minor. Not only was it extravagantly prosperous, but this magnificent city contained one of the seven wonders of the ancient world; the temple dedicated to the worship of the goddess Diana. And in that temple among other things was one of the finest art collections in the world. Like believers in the America believers in Ephasis would have surely been familiar with wealth and privilege, and the message that Paul spoke to them is applicable to us.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power towards us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Now Ephesians is full of financial terms such as riches and inheritance. Chapters 1 through 3 declare our riches in Christ, and chapters 4 through 6 declare the responsibilities that come with the riches. The key word of Ephesians is blessing, and the key verse is chapter 1 verse 3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. We bless God because He has blessed us with many blessings.

We have been blessed (past tense) with all spiritual blessings and yet many Christians do not know or have not appraised the blessings that are theirs in Christ. In a spiritual sense they're like Heddy Green or William Randolph Hearst. When she died Heddy Green had an estate valued at over $100 million dollars. That was back in 1916 when $100 million was a lot of money. And yet Heddy Green ate cold oatmeal because it cost money to heat it. Her son had his leg amputated because she waited too long to give him medical attention as she was looking for a free medical clinic. She knew of her wealth, but she chose not to put it to use.

Then there's the example of William Randolph Hearst who invested a fortune collecting art treasures from all around the world, and one day Mr. Hearst found the description of some valuable items he wanted to own. So he sent his agent abroad to find them and after months of searching the agent reported that he had finally found the treasures -- they were in Mr. Hearst's warehouse. Mr. Hearst had been searching frantically for treasures that were already his, but he didn't know that he had them, and he would have if he would have read his asset inventory.

You know some Christians don't know what they have, and other Christians choose not to exercise all of what Christ has provided for them. Paul desired for the Ephesian Christians to understand and enjoy the great wealth that they had in Christ. He knew of their love and their faith, and in this rejoiced -- he rejoiced. The Christian life has two dimensions: a vertical dimension, faith towards God; and a horizontal one, in love towards men and you cannot separate the two. Paul knew that faith and love were just the beginning. The Ephesians needed to know much more and this is what he prayed for them, and for us.

In the prison prayers of Paul which are recorded for us in Ephesians chapter 1 and chapter 3, Philippians chapter 1, and Colossians chapter 1, we find listed the blessings he wanted his converts to enjoy. You know, Paul never requested material things, his emphasis was on spiritual understanding and real Christian character. He did not ask God to give the converts what they did not have, but rather prayed that God would reveal to them what they already had.

A Christian really operates in two dimensions, the physical and the spiritual. Physically we exist in temporary bodies of flesh on this earth. Spiritually we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. In the next chapter of Ephesians is says: But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Now that word 'seated' is in the past tense. We're already seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and so some might ask, How is that we can have a seat in heaven and still be walking around down here on this earth? And the answer to that question has to do with understanding the meaning of being seated or having a chair in heaven.

Many of us are familiar with the chairman of the board Donald Trump. Now even though the position is called the 'chair man', the chairman of the board doesn't have to be sitting in a given chair to exercise the privilege, authority, and responsibility that is theirs by position. A chairman's privilege, authority, and responsibility is carried wherever they are. A believer's privilege, authority, and responsibility is carried wherever they are; even including this brief journey on earth.

Now all spiritual blessings can be translated 'all of the blessings of the Spirit' referring to the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God is mention many times in this letter because it is He who is the channel of our riches from God through the Son. Not to know and depend upon the Holy Spirit's provision is to live a life a spiritual poverty. To not have the Holy Spirit is to not be saved.

Romans 8:9 says: if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. Unless you have the witness of the Spirit you cannot draw upon the wealth of the Spirit. Now the unsaved person is interested primarily in things of this earth, because this is where he lives. Jesus calls them the children of this world. But the Christians life is centered in heaven. His citizenship is in heaven. His name is written in heaven. His Father is in heaven, and his family is in heaven. His attention and affection ought to be centered on the things of heaven. Jesus said, seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all of these things (speaking of the natural needs) will be added to you.

One of our men said we have a tendency to look on ourselves as being physical beings on a spiritual journey. He said instead we should look at ourselves as spiritual beings on a physical journey. The spiritual man stores up treasures in heaven. Jesus said, Do not store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

A natural man or an unspiritual man lives for this world. He lives for the treasures of this world. His heart is in this world. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:14, a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. Now appraised is an interesting word. People who have gone through the process of financing or refinancing a property understand the meaning of that word. One of the essential steps in securing a loan is to have your property appraised.

A loan institution doesn't want to loan $100,000 on a piece of property that's only worth $10,000. So they send out an agent that studies and considers the value of the assets of the property. The appraiser looks at the sale price of similar properties in the neighborhood, searches for improvements such as an expansion or a new roof that might add value to that particular property, and after considering many aspects an appraiser declares a value, and appraised value, for the property.

A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness or worthless to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised, or spiritually valued. The benefits and the blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus have no value to the earthly, natural, unspiritual person. Natural man is psuchikos, which is translated worldly minded in Jude 1:19. And even though believers have the Spirit of God they can be worldly minded to the extent that they devalue the things of the Spirit of God, and James warns believers in James 4:4 -- Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? Therefore who ever wishes to be a friend of the world must make himself an enemy of God.

Having thus been warned not to ignore or despise spiritual things, What are some of these spiritual blessings that are available to believers that are not available to unbelievers? Or another way of asking that question is, What riches are available in Christ?

Now this chapter is broken into several sections in terms of verses 4 through 6 reveal to us some of the blessings from God the Father; verses 7 through 12 reveal to us some of the blessings that are ours from God the Son; and verses 13 and 14 reveal to us some of the blessings that are ours from God the Holy Spirit. We should not think that each person of the Godhead works independently because they all work together to make possible our salvation.

Let's look at some of the blessings that are ours. Let's look at verse 4. It says He has chosen us. Now this is the marvelous doctrine of election; the doctrine that has confused some and confounded others. In fact, the greatest theologians of the centuries have tried to debate, analyze, quantified, and define this, and the fact is that the mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility will never be solved in this life. Both are taught by the Bible, both are true, and both are essential.

A seminary professor once said, try to explain election and you can lose your mind; try to explain it away and you can lose your soul. It's something that we'll perhaps understand when we get to ask these questions of God. But He has chosen us. We have been chosen, and God chose us before He even created the universe. Our salvation is wholly of His grace not on the basis of anything that we have done. He chose us in Christ, not ourselves, and He chose us to be holy and without blame.

Verse 5 says He adopted us. Now there's a word in this verse, the word predestination, that's used in the Bible and often times it's misunderstood. The word predestination refers to what God does for saved people. It does not refer to anything that God does for unsaved people. For instance, nowhere in the Bible are we taught that people are predestined to hell. Only in the Bible do we find people are predestined to salvation. The word simply means to ordain beforehand or to predetermine.

The events connected with the crucifixion of Christ were predestined according to Acts chapter 4. God has predestined our adoption as recorded for us in this verse: Our conformity to the image of Christ, in Romans 8:29-30; and our future inheritance, a few verses later in verse 11. We've been adopted.

Now in Rome a person who had been adopted had all of the rights of a legitimate son in his new family. There was no second-class citizenship for an adopted child, and they completely lost all rights in the old family. In the eyes of the law that adopted person became a new person, so much so that even all of the debts and obligations with his previous family were abolished as though they had never existed. When we were translated from the family of darkness to the family of light, all of our debts and all of our obligations were abolished as if they never existed.

And only believers can meaningfully call God Father, because only believers are adopted. Unbelievers are orphans. Now there's great security in having a Father. I know that if something went wrong I could call on my father for assistance and he would do everything in his power to provide for my need. My son can call on me and I will do everything in my power to provide for his need Being human I and my father are limited, but God is not limited, and when He says that He will provide for all of our needs, He can and He will. But unbelievers have no one to call on in times of need. They are on their own. They have no Father. There are like orphans.

Verse 6 says He has accepted us. Now we cannot make ourselves acceptable to God, but He, by His grace through Christ, makes us acceptable; and this position will never change. Because of His grace in Christ Jesus we are accepted before Him.

Now at the same time Paul was writing this epistle to the Ephesians, he was also writing the letter to Colossians as well as the letter to Philemon. The letter to Philemon is interesting. Philemon had a slave named Onesimus who ran away and somehow or other ended up in Rome, ended up with Paul, heard the gospel, repented and became a servant of the Most High God and a fellow believer with Paul. In the course of time Paul decided to send Onesimus back to his former owner.

Now in the Roman Empire at that time slaves outnumbered owners 2 to 1, and the standard discipline for a slave that ran away was to be killed when they were returned to their owner because the Roman Empire was afraid that if the slaves were not handled thusly that there might be anarchy. The letter to Philemon was Paul's letter to Onesimus' owner, and in that he asked Philemon to receive Onesimus as you would receive me. Now if Philemon was to receive Onesimus as Onesimus and follow the standard procedure then he would have to be killed. But Paul was not a runaway slave. He was a respected leader in the community. And what Paul asked Philemon to do was to receive Onesimus, not as a runaway slave, but as a fellow believer, a brother in Christ. God accepts and receives us as He would accept and receive Jesus Christ.

Now in verses 7 through 12 we see a listing of some of the blessings that are ours from God the Son. Verse 7 - He has redeemed us. To redeem means to purchase and set free by paying a price. There were over 6 million slaves in the Roman Empire and they were bought and sold like pieces of furniture. A man could purchase a slave and set him free, and this is what Jesus did for us. The price He paid was His very own blood, and we were set free from the law, from slavery to sin, from the power of Satan and this world. We are no longer slaves but sons. Slaves have nothing at all, but we are coheirs, we are joint heirs, in fact, with Jesus Christ.

In the same verse we also find that He has forgiven us, and the word 'forgive' means to carry away. And the picture is this: on the Jewish Day of Atonement the high priest was given two goats. The priest killed one of the goats and sprinkled its blood before God on the mercy seat. Over the second goat he confessed the sins of Israel and that goat was taken deep into the wilderness to be lost and never seen again. That goat was called the scapegoat. And what Christ did is He died to carry away our sins so that they might never be seen again. No accusation stands against us because our sins have been taken away and lost in a wilderness. Sin had made us poor, but grace has made us rich.

In verse 8 it says that we have been given wisdom and sound sense. And these are two words in the Greek that are sophia and phronesis, and Christ brought them for us. The Greeks wrote much about these two words and concluded that if a man had both he was perfectly equipped for life. Aristotle defined sophia as the knowledge of things most precious, and Cicero defined it as the knowledge of things both human and divine. Sophia was the understanding of and answer to the eternal problems of life and death, and God and man, and time and eternity.

Now phronesis Cicero defined as the knowledge of things which are to be sought and the things that are to be avoided. Plato defined it as the disposition of the mind that enables us to judge between what things are to be done and what things are not to be done. In other words, phronesis is the sound sense which enables men to choose between good and bad. Jesus brought us sophia and He brought us phronesis, and there's a certain completeness that is part of the Christian character because Christ has brought us the solution to problems of mankind in both time and eternity.

And then beginning in verse 8 and going through verse 10, one of the blessings that is ours is that He revealed God's will to us. This letter has much to say about God's plan, and the word 'mystery' means a sacred secret once hidden but now revealed to God's people. You see we believers are part of God's inner circle; we're able to share with the secret that God is going to one day reunite everything in Christ. Ever since sin came into this world things have been falling apart. Men were separated from God and then men separated from each other. Sin is tearing everything apart, but in Christ God will gather everything together at the culmination of the ages; and we are part of this great eternal program.

Verses 11 and 12 say He has made us an eternal inheritance. The King James version reads: In whom we have also obtained an inheritance or (but in whom we were also made an inheritance, is also a possible translation). Both are true, and one includes the other. In Christ we have a wonderful inheritance and in Christ we are an inheritance. Our inheritance includes every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Peter tells us that God's divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, and has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises. Paul says with absolute incisiveness: For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes. All of the promises of God are ours.

Then in verses 13 and 14 we find the blessings from God the Holy Spirit. Verse 13 says He has sealed us. Now what is the significance of being sealed by the Holy Spirit? Well for one thing it speaks of a finished transaction. Even today when important legal documents are processed they are stamped with the official seal to signify the completion of the transaction. Now the sealing also identifies ownership. God has put His seal upon us because He purchased us to be His own.

The Roman seal on the tomb of Jesus carried with it the meaning of security and protection. So the believer belongs to God and is safe and protected because he is part of a finished transaction; he is sealed by the Holy Spirit. Another use for the word seal is a mark of authenticity as a signature on a letter attests to the genuineness of the document, so the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is an attestation to the genuineness of salvation.

You know it's not just simply our lips making profession or our religious activity or our good works that identifies us as a Christian, but it is the Holy Spirit living within us that seals and gives the mark of authenticity to our salvation.

Verse 14 says He has given us an earnest. An earnest is another interesting word. In Paul's day it meant the down payment to guarantee the final purchase of some commodity or piece of property, and even today you'll hear real estate agents talk about earnest money. The Holy Spirit is God's first installment to guarantee to His children that He is going to finish His work and eventually bring them to glory. The redemption of the purchased possession refers to the redemption of the body at the return of Christ. He has given us an earnest, a down payment.

And the word is also translated engagement ring. In fact, if you were to go to Greece today that's how the word is used. It is an engagement ring. An engagement ring is an assurance or guarantee that the promises made will be kept. You know our relationship to God through Christ is not simply a commercial one, but it's also one of personal love and relationship. The Bible says that He is the bridegroom and His church is the bride, and we know that He will come again and claim His bride because He has given us a promise, the seal of His Holy Spirit as the engagement ring. In His abundant generosity God has made His riches available to us, and how can we respond in any other fashion but to sing His praises with everything within us.

I remember once when my children were very little, Crystal was 5 or 6 years old. We were sitting in the car and we were supposed to do something or go someplace that required money, and I had to tell Jenny, Honey, I don't have any money; and Crystal trying to be helpful said, well Daddy just go to the bank and get some. She had been with me enough times to know that you go to the bank and you pull out money; what she hadn't been with me enough is when you go to the bank and put the money in so you can take the money out. And at that time it didn't matter that the wallet was empty because the bank account was empty as well. But God's bank account is never empty and He wants us to access the riches that He has given to us.

Now I'd like to propose some homework for you if you'll let me. It's not going to be homework like in school. You don't have to turn it in. I'm not going to give you a grade on it. But I think it would be interesting and it would be beneficial for you if you were to do something like this: if you were to take say the first two or three chapters of Ephesians in the days to come, maybe with multiple translations, and the reason I say that is sometimes when you're reading the same translation, the same passage, your mind has a tendency to wander because the words are so familiar. And sometimes another translation...I didn't see that, I didn't know that was there. But to review the first few chapters of Ephesians and try to identify every blessing that belongs to believers that is not available to the unbeliever. Or another way of saying that is identify the riches we have in Christ.

Now once you have identified them, take some time to sit and ponder and think and study those riches and appraise them; put a value upon them in terms of time and eternity. Amen? Let's pray.

Lord You are so rich and You are so generous to we who are so undeserving. Your word says blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs alone is the kingdom of heaven. Lord only those who come to You as beggars can become part of the kingdom of heaven. And Lord truly that's all we have. We have nothing of any value inherently that we can negotiate with You. Everything that has been made has been made by You and is for You, and You are the owner thereof. The only way that we can come is empty-handed, destitute, beggars, and Lord to think that when we stand before You empty-handed You in Your infinite generosity accept us and receive us in Christ.

You clothe us with the righteousness of Christ. You put a value on us that exceeds all of the riches this world has to give. You adopt us as Your own children. You open Your bank accounts and all the riches that You have to us, and you say come, enjoy, come, share. You are awesome. You are awesome Lord. Thank you for loving us with so much love. May it be now as we go forth from this place that we are not distracted by the things of this earth, and that we might reflect You and Your image and Your glory and Your grace in the world in which You have placed us. Thank you Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God bless you.