Grow In Our Identity

Ephesians 1:1-2

Growing In Our Identity

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Paul wrote Ephesians while in jail at Rome about 61 A.D. Not knowing if he would die or be released, he weighed life in light of eternity. Having no need to rush, and plenty of time to think, Paul was able to reflect on what matters in life.

It was a terrible time. In the sup­pres­sion of a revolt in Britain, 70,000 Romans and 80,000 Britons were slain. That year, a Roman senator was mur­dered by one of his slaves. As punishment, 400 slaves were put to death. The world was at war and in chaos; human life was cheap--it was an era much like ours, yet Paul was ser­ene. Taking pen in hand, he wrote what would be his most dignified book.

The book has three sections. Ephesians 1-3 deal with doctrine; 4:1-6:9 with our interaction with the world; 6:10-24 with our warfare against Satan. Ephesians will help us better understand our relationship to God, the world, and Satan.

Watchman Nee outlined Ephesians, using a key word from each section: Sit (2:6), Walk (4:1), Stand (6:11).  "Sit"--realize our position in Christ. Richer than we realize, we appropriate little of what is ours, and need to fully possess our inheritance. "Walk"--our life is watched by the world. Live worthy of our high calling. "Stand"--Satan hurls forces against us, but we can withstand every assault.

 

Ephesians 1:1a   "Paul. . ."

 

It is amazing that this man contributed to holy writ. He who consented to the death of Stephen has his name at the beginning of 13 New Testament books. The appearance of the name "Paul" as a writer of Scripture is a monument to grace.

 

Ephesians 1:1b   ". . .an apostle. . ."

 

The early church used "apostle" as a technical term for the men God chose to be His first, primary envoys of the Gospel. The Apostles were the foundation layer of the Church. They and their immediate disciples wrote the New Testament.

Paul was not one of the original 12. Called later, he was given a special assignment, "He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name be­fore the Gentiles" (AC 9:15). Hearing these words, gods in Asia, Eur­ope, and Africa screamed. They were doomed. Jupiter felt a pain shoot through his chest; Mercury tripped in flight.

         When God commissioned Saul to go to the Gentiles, our ances­tors were in the Black Forest worshipping a goat god, our progen­itors in Britain were offering children as sacri­fi­ces, others were eating babies' hearts and drinking blood to pacify angry gods.  God was tired of children dying, and sent Paul to stop it.

The remainder of his life, Paul was driven by a compulsion to tell the Gospel to everyone.  Each new acquaintance was a pros­pect, an opportunity to spread the Gospel.  He was on a mission to tell every Gentile in the world about his master. . .

 

Ephesians 1:1c   ". . .of Jesus Christ. . ."

 

An apostle belonged to someone else.  Having no authority of his own, he only represented the one who commissioned him.  Paul gave up fame, the respect of friends, and a blossoming career to become an errand-boy for Jesus Christ.

The first question Paul asked after he hit the ground near Damascus, was, "Who are you, Lord?" Paul instantly realized he belonged "lock, stock, and barrel" to another. All he needed to know was the name of his new owner. The Lord responded, "I am Jesus," a name Paul cherished the rest of his life.

 

Ephesians 1:1d   ". . .by the will of God,. . ."

 

Paul did not choose to be an apostle. He did not decide this was a good way to spend his life. He was swayed by forces originating above and beyond himself. There was no pride here, just sheer amazement. It was a won­der to Paul he was chosen. Only a miracle could have made Phari­see Saul an Apostle Paul. There is never any room for boasting. All is based on God's will.  He alone deserves praise.

 

Ephesians 1:1e   ". . .to the saints. . ."

 

"Saints" is a word we will never retrieve.  It is usually used to describe "super-heroes," but in the Bible refers to all believers. Ephe­sians was written not to exceptional people, to scholars, theologians, or teachers, but to or­dinary church members. What Paul told the Ephesians applies to ordinary folks, to you and me.

 

Ephesians 1:1f   ". . .which are at Ephesus,. . ."

 

Ephesus, capital of the Roman province of Asia, sat on the west coast of modern Turkey, 200 miles east of Athens, across the Aegean Sea. The city, on the highway into Asia from Rome and Greece, thrived on tourism. Multitudes from every cor­ner of the globe traveled to Ephesus to visit one of the Seven Won­ders of the Ancient World, the temple to Diana (Greek: Artem­is), twin of Apollo, daughter of Jupiter. Demetrius the silver­smith was not exaggerating when he said "all Asia and the world" (AC 19:27) adored and revered Diana of the Ephesians.

After Alexander the Great took control of Ephesus at age 22, he began contributing huge sums to reconstruct the temple. The conqueror felt a kindred spirit with the temple; it had burned the very night he was born in distant Macedon.

The structure took 220 years to complete. Four times larger than Athens' Parthenon, it measured 377 by 180 feet; 106 columns, each over 40 feet tall, graced the building. It was totally marble, except for a tile-covered roof. At the shrine's heart, behind cur­tains, stood an image of Diana that reputedly fell from the sky.

This den of sin, the very headquarters of Satan, became a target of Paul.  In the abode of Ju­p­i­ter's own daughter, Paul kicked Satan, and kicked him hard.

When Paul first visited Ephesus, he toured the pagan city, and real­ized its potential as a center of vast influence. Traffic in and out of the city never stopped. Paul asked his traveling companions, Aquila and Priscilla, to remain in the city.

When Paul returned to Ephesus, he stayed 3 years, longer than he spent in any other city. His work here may have been the greatest local church ministry in history. After the conversion of 12 men who knew only the baptism of John the Baptist (AC 19:3), Paul spoke boldly in the synagogue for 3 months (AC 19:8). When the Jews rejected him, he taught in a school daily for 2 years (AC 19:9-10). Paul warned "every one night and day with tears" (AC 20:31). He taught "publicly, and from house to house" (AC 20:20). At Ephesus, he wrote, "A great door and ef­fec­tu­al is opened to me" (1 C 16:9). From this capital city, the Gospel spread, "so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus" (AC 19:10).

After Paul departed, believers continued to pound the evil spiritual forces centered in Ephesus. Timothy came to serve as pastor (1 TM 1:3). John the Beloved spent his final years of ministry here, influencing Polycarp and Ignatius.  The Gospel of John, and his epistles, were pro­bably written at Ephesus. Reve­la­tion was written on Patmos, sixty miles off the Ephesian coast.

Ephesus, a bastion of evil, yielded to relentless Chris­tian attacks. The city became a great center of Christi­anity and hosted a major church council as late as 431 A.D. Ephesus is now remembered, not for its magnificent pagan temple, but because of a letter bearing its name that exalts Jesus.

 

Ephesians 1:1g   ". . .and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:. . ."

 

Even in a godless city, people set apart were to act like the One who set them apart. Outward righteousness is God's stamp on us, His "mark" by which He says, "This person belongs to Me." As we write our names on our possessions, God also labels His proper­ty, and the name He uses is the likeness of His own character.

We are joined to Jesus, united with Him. As a root is in the soil, a branch in the vine, the Christian's life is in Christ. We seek nourishment from Jesus. Though surrounded by sin, we are rooted in Christ.  He is the saints' natural resting place.

 

Ephesians 1:2a   "Grace be to you, and peace. . ."

 

          Paul turned common greetings into dis­tinc­tive Christian salutations. He replaced the Greek greeting, "Chai­re" (Rejoice), with similarly sounding "Charis" (Grace). "Rejoice" implied, "I wish you my best."  "Grace" wished one "God's best."

          "Grace" is unmerited favor. No other word better describes God's disposition toward sinners.  We de­serve nothing, but God offers us His all in Jesus the Son.

          The usual Hebrew greeting, "Shalom" (Gk. eirene), was a wish for peace, for one's best and highest good. By placing it with grace, Paul revealed the only source of peace. Grace is the spring; peace is the stream flowing from it.  Only by receiving grace can we experience and manifest peace.

          People were created at peace with God, but sin brought war between us and Him. By nature, we love our sin, and refuse to renounce it. We pre­fer rebellion to submission. God's grace in Jesus Christ squel­ches our insurrection and brings peace.

          Humans were created at peace with nature, but sin brought car­nage. At first, we were tenders and keepers of a garden (Gen. 2:15), but selfish desires caused us to exploit the environ­ment, and scorch Earth. God's grace in Jesus calms selfishness, and puts us at peace with nature by making us see we are stewards of God's creation.

          We were created with inner peace, but sin brought turmoil. Not content to be human, we strove to be god. Made to be dependent, we craved independence. What we were created to be conflicts with what we want to be. The result is war in our own selves. Salvation helps us renounce wrong views of our purpose in life.  God's grace in Jesus puts us at peace with ourselves because we accept our rightful role.

          People were created at peace with others, but sin brought hostility. Since we by nature have a god-wish, the battle is on to see who is the main god. We see ourselves as al­ways right, and others as always wrong.  God's grace in Jesus Christ gives us peace with others by making us want to serve, not lord over, them.  The ones we previously hated are now pitied as victims. We feel sorry for those who lie in the arms of the evil one. Former enemies become people for whom we now pray.

 

Ephesians 1:2b   ". . .from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ."

 

          Grace and peace come from God. To believers God is "our Fa­ther," not merely a Supreme Being, or the Ultimate Other. We do not philosophize about Him as much as we love Him. For us He is an ocean of love with no shore.

          Grace and peace come also from the Son. Paul saw Jesus as God. Grace and peace given at Calvary are why we can call God "Father". "The Son of God became the Son of Man, that the sons of men might become the sons of God" (Calvin).

 

Hill City Commissioning

Acts 11:19-26; 20:36-37

Commissioning of Hill City Church

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Acts 11:19-20 (Holman) Those who had been scattered as a result of the persecution that started because of Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, Cypriot and Cyrenian men, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Hellenists, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.

 

People from the Jerusalem church, forced to scatter due to persecution, started churches. A result of one new church was; people who would have never been welcome or received in the church at Jerusalem were given a chance to be accepted and to believe. The church at Antioch reached out to Greeks, to Gentiles.

This is why we start churches; to win to Jesus people that otherwise would not be won to Him. Peter Wagner, one of the world's premier missiologists, said, "The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches." His argument is hard to refute. Established Southern Baptist churches baptize 3.4/100 members; new ones baptize over three times more at 11.7/100.

George G. Hunter, a Methodist and one of my favorite writers, said the only difference between the declining Methodist numbers and increasing Southern Baptist numbers is the number of new churches the latter started. If new churches had not been started, Southern Baptists would also have a diminishing graph. If Hunter is correct, Christianity will wane in the USA without church-planting.

In the first century, God blessed church planting. It was a century similar to ours in many ways—pagan, anti-Jesus, sinful, superstitious, hopeless. I believe God can bless church-planting in the twenty-first century as much as He did in the first century. If He does, the result will be a time of remarkable Kingdom growth.

 

Acts 11:21  The Lord's hand was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

 

Without the Lord's hand, there can be no wins in church planting. Speaking of the success of the church at Corinth, Paul said, "God gave the increase" (1 Cor. 3:6). Only God can bring victory. The most important thing we could ever do for Hill City would be prayer in the form of intentional intense intercession.

Intentional—organized in our prayer folders. Otherwise we will end up praying "for me, my four, and no more." Intense—"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16b KJV). We need to pray like we mean it, with intense earnestness, as if everything depends on it, for it does. Intercession—our Lord Jesus intercedes for us. "Go thou and do likewise." We should strive to be like Him, and intercede for others.

 

Acts 11:22-24  Then the report about them was heard by the church that was at Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to travel as far as Antioch. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged all them to remain true to the Lord with a firm resolve of the heart, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And large numbers of people were added to the Lord.

 

The mother church, in Jerusalem, sent help to the daughter church, in Antioch, 300 miles away. Only unselfish churches, ones willing to see the big picture, to value something beyond themselves, will start churches. Only missions-minded churches plant churches.

The Jerusalem Church sent Barnabas to encourage the Antioch Church. People who plants churches are always forced to fight formidable discouragements they have to overcome. Troubles discourage us. Many who start new churches have previously known only working in established churches; they do not have firsthand knowledge of how hard the work is to plant a church. You who are being sent out by Second, your mettle will now be tested. My children will tell you their church work started when our family planted a church; they were 11 and 9 years old. Church-planting forces to ask ourselves; are we willing to pay any price to make Jesus famous? Is finding the lost worth our best, albeit difficult, effort?

Distractions discourage new churches. Lots of tasks need to be done. In a new church plant, keeping things simple is an almost impossible task. Stay focused on discipleship and evangelism. Keep the main thing the main thing.

Institutional creep discourages new churches. Vibrancy can wane. Organisms become organizations; the organic gets organized. Churches can begin hardening, rather than staying soft, toward the lost. Instead of launching pads sending us out to engage the culture, our church buildings too often become fortresses to keep out the culture. As culture changes around us, we too often fossilize and refuse to change.

A fable may help. As a boy, Charles loved to jump in the river and play in it for hours, though it was dirty. As a teen, Charles bought a canoe to float down the river; he liked hearing his oars make the water splash, but his diving-in days were over--too many girls to impress to get dirty. As an adult, having bought a huge pontoon boat with every possible amenity, Charles never got in the water at all.

Churches sometimes do this. We start off as culturally sensitive, diving into the culture to rescue others. Then we begin to worry about impressing others. Finally, we build pontoons which become our fortresses. Our churches thus become islands in a cultural stream we never interact with.

Hill City, be culturally creative. Think outside the box. We don't want clones of Second. The church at Jerusalem was not like the church at Antioch, which was not like the church at Corinth, which was not like the church at Ephesus.

 

Acts 11:25-26  Then he went to Tarsus to search for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught large numbers. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

 

Don't miss the emphasis on discipleship. It mattered. For one year, Saul and Barnabas poured their lives into the people at the new church plant in Antioch.

The result of all this was; the new church plant captured attention. Our enemies taunted us believers by calling us "Little Christs", thinking they were mocking us by calling us by the name of a crucified criminal. The believers in this new church plant were impossible to ignore. Hill City, go do remarkable things, things that can be explained only by God's intervention. Seek to leave behind results that will arrest the attention of historians. Why should God bless mediocrity?

 

Acts 20:36-37  After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them. There was a great deal of weeping by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him.

 

The church at Jerusalem planted the church at Antioch, which in turn planted the church at Ephesus. Paul the church planter, in a hurry to reach Jerusalem on his third missionary journey, stopped at the port city of Miletus, and sent for the elders of Ephesus to come meet with him, forty miles away. After he preached to them, he led them in a time of prayer. We are going to do the same today.