October 9, 2016

Greetings from An Apostle

Speaker: David Jordan Series: Ephesians Topic: Christian Living Scripture: Ephesians 1:1–2

We're going to be in Ephesians chapter one and cover verses one to three [Ephesians 1:1-3]. The title of the message is “Greetings from an Apostle.” Let me open us up in prayer.

Lord Jesus, I thank you, Father, that we can be here; that we can look into your Word, and see what it says, and apply it Lord Jesus to our lives. I thank you, Lord, that the Holy Spirit helps to give us understanding and conviction, Lord. Father, thank you for the Word of God. Amen.

This Word right here is authoritative, and that matters. This is God's Word, not merely man's word. It is God's Word, and that matters. We can see that even from the first few words of Ephesians, where it says “Paul, an apostle.” [Ephesians 1:1]. He wants us to know who it is that is writing, and he wants us to understand his authority. And so, our message today is going to focus on the authority of God's Word, and I'm going to explain what is an apostle. This book, Ephesians, is a letter written, it says there in verse one [Ephesians 1:1], “to the saints who are in Ephesus.” It's full of wisdom. It's full of warm greetings. It's full of prayer. It's full of theology and doctrine. There's topical teaching in here on parenting, how to raise your children, all of these things that we wish we would know more about every day. It's in here, and it's written out of love and concern from Paul. Paul is the one who should be getting the nice letters with the warm greetings. You know, he's the one in prison. But he's the one trying to encourage the church and an entire city as they gathered together. And so, as you read this, this is not just some discourse on understanding and theology. This is a man trying to encourage people that he loves. And as you read through Ephesians, you have to keep that in mind.

Which one of these topics do you feel like you need to brush up on? I asked this at small group here the other night, I'll read you the list. Think through this list and think, which one of these what I want to get brushed up on: Christology, that is the study of Christ; the Trinity, how God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit interact and work together; marriage; parenting (keep those elbows down!); gospel witness; sin and forgiveness; prayer. Which one of those? If you're like me, and you're like the others that are small group, you're probably saying yes to each one of those as they go along. Ephesians speaks on all of these, and it speaks authoritatively, and it speaks clearly. So that you're not left to wonder about these topics. There's a mystery that Paul reveals as an apostle, he brings forward things not known about the church and reveals them in the book of Ephesians, so that we can understand them. They weren't revealed in the Old Testament, but they're revealed in the New Testament. So he calls it a mystery. So there's things like that, there's new information here, delivered by an apostle of God.

It's a small list, I know. But all of these things are covered in Ephesians. Here's the problem: none of that matters if Paul is not who he says he is. If Paul is not sent as an apostle, by the will of God, then everything he writes after that is meaningless. It's just one man, putting some stuff down on paper and his thoughts. But, if Paul is who he says he is, if he's an apostle, then every word, every phrase, has bearing on your life, and you will be held accountable for that. And yet, you see in this letter, that he tells us how we can operate as a church and build the church up in love. It's not like a, you know, a thumbing where you're doing all these things wrong “you got to get it right.” It's not like that. It's this warm, encouraging letter that he wants the people to know about, so that they can know who they are in Christ from chapter one. How they’re going to be, I would say, a greater understanding of their salvation in Christ in chapter two, and what they were like before and after, and what they're created for. And he goes over in chapter four the conduct of the church, and chapter five—there's some of the greatest verses on marriage in all of Scripture. And then chapter six gives us this overview of “how do you deal with the pummeling that we get as Christians?” How do you deal with that? How do you stand firm, when it seems like the world is crumbling in, and you're right at the bottom. Chapter six gives that in a beautiful, warm display.

So, there is a lot of encouragement to be had. But we need to know that Paul is an apostle. And we need to understand what an apostle is so that we understand the authority that he is claiming for this book. So we're going to talk a lot about what is an apostle this morning. First, look at these verses with me and follow along as I read, [it] says, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” [Ephesians 1:1-2]. We're just going to cover verses one through two. I can't even get to three. All right, let's just do one to two. Rus, you had it right in the bulletin bud. Verses one to two. Let's just talk about this. And as we go through, I want you to think about how we're looking at this because every word is inspired, so we need to understand it. Verse by verse.

Look at this, in the second part of this where it says, “to the saints who are in Ephesus.” [Ephesians 1:1]. These are people who are believers. These are not people who have been sanctioned by a church-wide body, who have been attested as doing some kind of miraculous work, these are merely believers who have been saved by God's grace; that is what a saint is. That's the biblical definition of a saint. “To the saints,” look at that, “who are in Ephesus,” they're all there. It's not like the whole city is full of miracle workers, though that is going on in places from the apostles and the disciples, as you'll see. Look at the qualification of the saints who “are faithful in Christ Jesus.” A believer is a person who is faithful to Christ. Being unfaithful to Christ makes the believer want to repent, because the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and unrighteousness. And when you are convicted of that sin, you shouldn't go crawl in a hole. You should crawl to the throne of God and say, “Lord Jesus, forgive me and make me clean and make me new. Make me a holy, pure vessel for you. I want to be faithful.” It's not that the Ephesian people were always perfect. It's that they were faithful. When they got knocked down, they got back up again. They kept their eyes on Jesus Christ.

And as the Lord ascended, and the church moved forward and launched in Acts 2 the day of Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit came down, and all kinds of wonderful things were happening; and people were getting healed, and thousands of people were getting saved. The church was moving forward, because they had their focus in the right place. That's what faithfulness is. Faithfulness is not perfection. We'd all have to leave if that were the case. Right? And everybody said, “amen.” Right? Yeah. Faithfulness is when you see what God's word requires and you put it into practice. And you become faithful to the Lord Jesus, it's an encouragement in your life. And when others see you being faithful, other people get encouraged. “If that person can do it, I can do it.” And you'll see how that works itself out in marriage later. Right? We think of that bond pretty carefully. But there's also a bond in Christianity that holds us together and binds us together. And this is not just a greeting from Paul, it's a recognition of who it is that they serve God with.

They’re faithful, they're not perfect. They have a perfect God who has provided grace that covers all of their sin; to those who've repented and believed in his name and received that grace by faith. Those are the faithful. Friends, that is what a believer is. And then, look at this in verse two [Ephesians 1:2]. [It] says, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This again is not just a mere “Hello,” okay, you cannot fly through any portion of Scripture. Just, oh yeah, he's just saying, “Hi, it's me, I'm going to write you a letter.” That's not what he's saying at all, look, saying “grace to you and peace from” who? Not from Paul, from God. He is saying, I am bringing peace to you from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ, Messiah.

Christ was not Jesus's last name, that was what they called him by. Right? Jesus is his name. Christ is who he is, he is the one who redeems all people by through whom we are saved. This clarifies for them who he's writing the letter to. And this gives the context of Ephesians. Whenever you study a book of the Bible, you have to know the context and the scope of what you're reading. Who wrote it, in this case Paul, an apostle; and he says it's not by his own will, but it's by the will of God. And who is he writing to? The faithful who are in Ephesus, that city in Turkey. You can look up ancient Ephesus, if you want, even on Google Maps it'll open it up right there for you and you can see the ruins. This is the scope of who he is writing to. That's going to be very important as we go along in Ephesians, to know that he's writing to believers, okay. Writing to believers.

This brings up a question that I think we need to answer as we launch into Ephesians. Who is this guy that claims to bring peace and grace from God? Now, when I greet you, I say, “Hi, how are you doing?” and that's for me. I don't say welcome in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and bestow blessings and grace upon you. I don't do that. That's not who I am. I'm actually in town, ran into some folks. And one person asked me to come to his business and to give it God's blessing. “Let's just walk through the building and pray, and you give my business the blessing of God, because if I get the blessing of God, I'm going to be successful and have a successful business.” And I said, well, why do you think I can give the blessing of God? “Well, you're a priest, aren't you?” Well, I'm a minister. I'm a shepherd of God's word to his people. I don't bring anything new. I just reveal what's there through the Holy Spirit working in me. “Oh, well, can you come?” I said, alright, here's what we'll do. I'll come to your restaurant in the middle of the afternoon. And I'll bring my Bible and you and I'll pray, and we'll talk about the Bible. How about that? That's about as far as I can get for giving you a blessing. All right, we'll try that. So, I came, and you know what he said? “You brought your Bible. Why did you bring your Bible?” I said, well, because that's where all the information is. He said, “Well, no one's ever brought their Bible before.” I said, well, how many priests have you had come here? He’s like “one a year for a long time.” I said, well tell them to bring their Bible next time.

You have to know, friends, that the authority comes from God's word, not me. And this case, Paul is saying he has some kind of intrinsic authority that I don't have, and you don't have. That separates him from all common people. And you want to know, why does he claim to have some kind of special authority that everybody else doesn't have? Can I have that authority? There's a lot of people out there claiming to be apostles today. Can they have that authority? Is that even possible? We're going to answer that today. I think you probably already know the answer. But we need to look at this text and see what it says. So, a true apostle is who Paul claims to be. Turn in your Bibles, if you have your Bibles, turn in your Bibles to Philippians chapter three, verses five through 11 [Philippians 3:5-11]. I want to read some of that to you. This is basically Paul's resume and scripture, this is Paul telling that he's legit. Okay, that he is truly who he says he is. And I want you to notice the humility that comes through. Initially you're not going to see the humility, but you will see it loud and clear as we read on. Philippians chapter three, verses five through 11.

This is Paul writing to believers in Philippians. I've preached through Philippians. So, you can go online and hear sermons about this passage. And verse five, this is Paul's resume: he was “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, [he was] a Pharisee.” And he was proud of that before he came to know the Lord, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church,” not in thought, but in reality, “as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” [Philippians 3:5-6]. Who of us would want to put that down in writing and say, I am blameless under the law. “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.” [Philippians 3:7]. My resume is worthless, Paul says, and I've got every T crossed and every i dotted. I am as good as it gets, he's saying. As a Pharisee. As one who doesn't know Christ. And now that he's redeemed by Christ, he could say, look, I've got all these things and Christ. But friends, it's not Christ plus something else. It's just Christ.

“For I count everything as loss because,” in verse eight, “of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” [Philippians 3:8]. Remember, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” [Ephesians 1:2]. Christ Jesus is his Lord, not just someone that he likes. Paul is saying here that everything that the world would think would build his resume as a religious person is worth nothing. The only thing worth anything to Paul, is Jesus Christ. How about you friends? Do you think back over your week, and you go, “I had a pretty good week. That sin I normally do; I didn't do that this week. Those words I sometimes use, I didn't use those this week. I did a pretty good job this week.” We should not get in that trap. Because when you see yourself as before a holy God, you realize everything is worthless. And it is only what we do for the Lord Jesus Christ, that is worth anything. And that is done by his grace, by his power.

You see that in Philippians, as well. Friends, Paul is trying to say here that he is sent from God, and the only thing that matters is that he is in Christ. And that's the very thing he's going to encourage all the believers with, in verses 3 through 14 [Ephesians 3-14], he's going to encourage them with all their spiritual blessings in Christ. You've been saved in him, through him, because of him, by his grace. There's like 11 phrases in that. And those verses that talk about being in him, or in Christ, or through the beloved, or by the beloved; everything we have comes from Jesus Christ. That's the focus of the faithful believer. And that's the focus of Paul. Very interesting way to tout your resume, isn't it? Here's my resume, I think it's worthless outside of Christ. Try that at your next job application. No, don't, don't, don't, you'll all be unemployed.

The next thing, he's an apostle. An apostle, turn back to Ephesians chapter one, an apostle is just merely one who was sent, it's a messenger. It also has the phrases and meaning, in cargo of that day, of sending a ship with cargo. We have sent a messenger to you, and in that case, the cargo is what is being delivered. Okay, so we just have something to deliver to you. That's the common usage of messenger outside of the New Testament in that time period. Why is that important? Because they had to understand what this word “messenger” that is also translated as “an apostle.” Apostolos is translated for us as messenger, but one with authority. In the New Testament an apostle is one with authority. So, then you ask, where did he get his authority from? Because that's important. Roman soldier, guy with a sword, no big deal. Roman soldier, power of Rome behind him, big deal, right? It's the authority behind the messenger that matters, okay. And Paul is saying that he is an apostle. This is a capital “A” apostle, (It’s not capitalized in your Bible here), but it's from the strictest sense of the word.

MacArthur talks about that there are the twelve. Then there's Judas, who was lost. So, they replaced him with Matthias. Remember that? Acts chapter two, or one, they replace Judas with Matthias, they chose him. And then also you have Paul. That's the sum total of the Apostles in Scripture from a very technical sense. Those who would perform and do miracles, the chosen of Jesus Christ. There's others in Scripture, though, who are also called “apostles” or “sent ones,” like Barnabas In Acts 14. Barnabas was called an apostle. He was not coming with the authority of the 12 and of Paul, he was coming as a sent one with a message from God, though. Silas and Timothy in 1 Thessalonians are referred to as apostles. Some of you may not remember. Andronicus and Junia are also called apostles. We see that in Romans 16:7. Also Titus, in 2 Corinthians 8:23; Epaphroditus, in Philippians, 2:25. And what you'll see is there's an interchange of the word “apostle” and “messenger.” Because remember, “apostle” means “sent one,” and they will translate it “apostle” sometimes because of the authority and the context. And other times they'll translate it “messenger.” Same Greek word, but the meaning is always determined by the context. Okay? So, when you read scripture and you see a word, don't just go, ‘oh, that means the same thing’ every time you read it, it doesn't. The context is king. And man, if you come on Saturday, you will get a full dose of why context is king is the first thing to know in Bible study.

But what about Paul? The twelve had Jesus to vouch for them, but Paul was unique in his appointment, as an apostle. Galatians 1:15-24 describes Paul's unique calling as an apostle, he recognizes that he is unique, and that he wasn't appointed directly by Jesus Christ. “But when he who had set me apart before I was born,” did you catch that? He who set me apart when? “Before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me,” Why? “In order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone,” Paul tells his story here a little bit, “Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me.” So, Paul's including himself and apostleship, you know, on the road Emmaus the light comes, he hears the voice of God. So, he is directly appointed, but not Jesus standing there from heaven, he gets the direct appointment. “I did not go to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years.” Paul's gone for three years as an apostle before he speaks to Cephas that is Peter. He says, “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.” [Galatians 1:15-17].

So, he's gone three years, what's he doing? And then he meets Cephas (Peter). Peter’s working, the church is growing, there's all kinds of stuff happening, and he only spends fifteen days with him. Don't you think that's kind of weird? Like, why wouldn't you spend a year being trained by him? Or…? Here's why: because he was sent by the will of God, not by the will of Peter. And Paul knew that. And once you know you are sent by God everyone else is a few steps down. Right? So, he's got Peter, the leader of the disciples, he can get, you know, some really good teaching from him. But he's got the best teaching from God, directly. And he's inspired by the Holy Spirit, to speak the very words of God. That is where his appointment comes from. And then he says, “But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother.” [Galatians 1:19]. Skip to verse 24. And this is the result of all those things, that's Galatians 1:24. It says, “And they glorified God because of me.”

Paul had every reason to be prideful and boastful. But over and over again, he would say “I count all these things as loss.” Friends, when you talk to other people, when you talk to other people out there, just show them Jesus. Just show them the Lord Christ and what he's done for you and how he's worked in your life and how you're dependent on him. And if they call it a crutch, say no, this is God's will. This is God's will for me. And it's okay when you listen to the news, and you see sinners talking about what other sinners are doing, and those sinners are talking about what other sinners are doing, just remember sinners are sinners. They're not saved by God's grace. They are not faithful, don't expect them to be. That will help you get through most of the news cast through November, okay. Just don't expect unsaved people to act like they are, okay. But, they should expect us to act like faithful believers, because of God's grace.

So, you're saying okay Dave, we've had a good bit here. What are the qualifications? We don't want to confuse the duties of an apostle with the qualifications of an apostle, okay? Very simply “appointed by Jesus.” In first Corinthians 12:28 [it] says, “God has appointed in the church first apostles.” God has appointed them. They are appointed directly by God. The twelve, appointed directly by Jesus Christ. Mathias chosen by lot, they cast lots to choose. And then also Paul, appointed directly by God. There's other implications in that text, but we'll just go with that for now.

The second thing is that they were to be a witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We see that when they're choosing Mathias. In Acts chapter one, verses twenty-one to twenty-two [Acts1:21-22], that in choosing someone to replace Judas, who went away as a son of destruction according to scripture, Peter says that the man they choose, he says, “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up for us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” Now, where was Paul when Jesus was resurrected? Okay? Jesus didn't appear to Paul in his resurrected form like he did all the other disciples and to Matthias, who was with them. So how did Paul see the resurrected Christ? On the road, through the light. Paul does recognize that it is a unique calling, he even calls himself the least, the least. He knows he's not inferior, but he calls himself the least.

In choosing between Joseph and Matthias, those are the two candidates to replace Judas, they had two men who had seen the ministry of Christa and they wanted them to become a witness of his resurrection as well. So, witness only gives testimony to what they've seen. What do you know of Jesus Christ? What do you know of Jesus Christ? What do you know of his love and his mercy? What do you know of his forgiveness in your life? There is none who are worthy of what's been bestowed on us, how we are blessed in Christ. What do you know of Jesus Christ? That's what we are to give testimony to. The way God has worked in our church is a great testimony to his name. And we'll talk about that some later, after the service. The way he's worked in your lives is a testimony to his name. You come here, and you worship, and you sing praises to the Lord Jesus knowing that during the week, we are sinful people, sinful people here. The only reason we can give praise to God is because of the grace of God in our lives. That should cause joy to well up in you, that your worthiness to praise God and to bring glory to his name has more to do with the grace of God than it does you. That is amazing.

A witness is someone who has seen, and reports what they have seen. Paul then on the road to Damascus has seen the risen Lord, was appointed by him, and he became a witness for Jesus Christ, an apostle. What then were the apostles’ duties? Okay? There were things given to the apostles to do and sometimes we put those two categories together but technically they are a little bit different. This further clarifies for us, and this is important for you to know, who is an apostle. Remember I told you a couple of months ago I met somebody? They had “doulos” on their shirt, which means slave. And I had to ask him about it. And he went to some apostolic church, and he had an apostle teaching him all kinds of things outside of Scripture, and “it was just wonderful.” And my heart was just breaking as he spoke. He was so excited, and so misguided.

Anyone who claims apostolic succession today must first pass the test that we just went over. Appointed directly by Jesus Christ and seen the risen Lord. That knocks out a whole lot of people. Okay? And I don't mean to make light of that. And I know I kind of said that in a funny way, but friends, this is… If we would just stick to Scripture, it would clarify so many things for us. I'll give you three things that were duties of the apostles. Most who claimed some type of apostolic succession today claim the first one, that is to preach the gospel, to fully declare the word of God. In Ephesians 3:5, Paul says that he himself was given revelation that was not formally understood. And this is what is called a “mystery” in Scripture. It's hinted at, but not yet fully revealed. Okay? So, an apostle is appointed by God to preach and declare God's word. Paul also had the ability of being inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, to write holy scripture. So then the first duty was to declare God's word.

The second duty was to lay the foundation of the church, and friends that has been laid, and that is set, and there's no more foundation needed than God's word. Ephesians 2:19-20, and we'll go over these more fully as we get to them, but Ephesians 2:19-20 talks about the members of the household of God, that is the Church, which is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And I believe those prophets right there are New Testament prophets, not Old Testament prophets. The church was not established in the Old Testament, it was established in the New, but it's built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. The Cornerstone is the first thing set. That's the first thing in place by which everything else is measured by, okay, it's in the corner. You lay out the lines, the plumb lines, keeps things level, keeps things in order. Everything goes off of that cornerstone, that's the one you want to pay the most attention to when you're cutting for the building. Christ Jesus is himself the cornerstone of the Church, built on the foundations of the apostles and the prophets in Christ Jesus. You're going to see how this “in Christ” comes through over and over again. Okay? So, they were to lay the foundation of the church, that is one of their duties. By the direction of God not to build the church on their own, but to be the foundation of it. Okay?

The third thing. Most people claim the first two, the third thing is where things get a little dicey, okay, for modern day apostles. They were to do signs and miracles to confirm the message and the messenger. They were to perform signs and miracles, to confirm the message and the messenger. 2 Corinthians 12:12 says, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.” Paul declares that he has miraculous power from God that he has at times, healed people with. That he has done these great signs and wonders, and it was not performed in secret, right, these are always verifiable miracles. (That is the wind back there, not the Holy Spirit but the wind, okay.)

Signs and miracles and wonders. If someone today claims to have had a great miracle on their life, the Lord Jesus Christ still does miracles, okay, very true. The Lord Jesus Christ has not at this time, I believe scripture teaches, given the gift, the miraculous gifts to people, in the way that he did so through the apostles. I have talked with some of you about this, and it is a very emotional subject, and I understand that. And also understand that I am a fallible person and will have to give an account before God of what I say and speak here today and every day. So, we want to know from scripture, how these things work out, okay? The miracles still do happen, but the regular gift of doing miracles, I believe, has ceased with the closing of the New Testament.

These signs, though, have been done among you. Most of the time, the signs that are done among people are done in secret, or they're done among people that do not verify those things. What is the benefit of having a miracle that no one can verify? It would be like if Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to no one, he appeared to more than five hundred at one time. He wanted to demonstrate some of his omnipotence to people in a way that he had not done before, to show them the glory of his resurrected body. And to prove that he rose from the dead as scripture says, and as he told the disciples. He wanted things to be verifiable. Now, today, we're not going to solve this big dilemma for people. If this is a big issue for you, I'd love to talk with you about it. Okay? We're not going to solve that today. But just know that the signs of a true apostle were performed among the people with utmost patience. A lot of times when we talk about this subject patience goes out the window, we need to be patient with other people as we listen to what's going on in their lives, and what's happening. With utmost patience with signs and wonders and mighty works.

And no one contested this with Paul. Again, in 1 Corinthians 9:1, he says, “Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen our Lord [Jesus Christ]?” So he's constantly verifying his qualifications as an apostle. So, Paul was one of the twelve, and he was one given over to be able to write scripture, some of the others did as well, but also to perform the duties of an apostle. Okay, this is important. Why? Because it means the book of Ephesians has bearing on your life. And I'll wrap these things together at the end here, but this has bearing on your life. It's not just some other book. One thing you might not know is that Jesus also called himself an apostle, did you know that? In Hebrews chapter three, verse one, it says, “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.” [Hebrews 3:1]. The high priest of our confession.

Christ Jesus was the greatest apostle ever. And sometimes, and we obviously know that's in a category all of its own, right, in a category all of its own, but Christ Jesus went before his disciples demonstrating for them how to live, and how to bring glory to God. He was the one that we should most consider. And I just want to say that what the apostles delivered has also been delivered once to the saints. Jude [1]:3 says that we proclaim the message that has been once for all delivered to the saints. There is no new revelation. If we find some of the books spoken of in the Bible, like the wars of the chronicles of this, that, or the other that are mentioned in the Old Testament, it is not that we have now found new Holy Spirit inspired scripture. The message has been delivered once for all.

That is also something else that people want to do. They want to give brand new revelation. This is in complete contradiction to God's word. Everything you need for life in godliness is right here. Everything you need. Revelation gives a warning for adding or taking away from God's Holy Word. [Revelation 22:18-19]. Most people, including myself, who look at that, consider God's Holy Word to be complete, not just that book, to be all of the revelation that he has given through us. And it was once for all delivered. How does that encourage you or why does that matter? Because you don't need to look anywhere else for God's direction but right here. You don't have to go and ask somebody who's got some divine miracle about new revelation. It's all right here. And friends, there may have been some amazing things happen in someone's life, but it can always be qualified and clarified by God's word. That's encouraging. You know where you need to go to find God's word and direction for your life. It's right here. Whether it's marriage, parenting, to learn more about Jesus, whether it's Christology, or the Trinity, or all those other words that have lots of syllables, that it's all right here. Okay? And you can feel confident and comfortable that you will be able to understand life because of God's word, not in spite of God's word. Okay?

Now, there are lots that claim to be apostles today. Let me just give you a few passages that Jesus addressed this issue as well. There were those who claim to have revelation, they call it the tradition of the elders, they call it their traditions. They claim to have this, some type of authoritative message that had bearing on your life. So, when someone comes with something outside of scripture and says, “this should have bearing on your life, and you need to submit to this,” let's just give you a few things to consider. Okay? Because we want to narrow down the scope of what it is that we need to obey in life, and it's found here in God's Word.

Scripture plus something else, here's what the Bible has to say. Colossians 2:8, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy,” many an hour has been wasted there, “and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Not according to Christ. Everything we are that has value is in Christ, and anything outside of Christ, including the Word of God, has no value or bearing on our life; except just to try and understand that through Scripture. The Pharisees were experts at claiming their traditions were divinely given by God or in accordance with what God had given. You understand that? So, the religious leaders of the day, it was widely accepted, that they had all these other rules that we should follow. And that they had bearing on your life. And if you didn't hold to them, you were sinning against God. What they were claiming, because they said you're sinning against God, is that they had a word from God. And if they would have just used God's Word, it would have all made sense.

Mark 7:9 says, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!” Friends, Thanksgiving’s coming, Christmas is coming, all of those fun traditions. Some people have different traditions than you might, they might celebrate Christmas in a little bit different way than you do. Okay? And it's good if you understand the origins of those things and where they come from, but you want to understand how does that family as they celebrate Christmas, how does that family understand the way they celebrate according to God's word? That's a healthy conversation. But to say because, “Oh, you do that on Christmas. I can't believe that. We would never do that in our family.” You might qualify it from God's Word.

Christmas is on a Sunday this year, right? This is really going to smack into everybody's traditions. I love being at church. I love being at church, even on the day when we celebrate Christ's birth, call me crazy! But we're going to have church on Sunday, on Christmas day at 11 o'clock, and I hope you can make it. Trust me, if your kids are like mine, that will be like four or five hours after they've gotten up. Okay? We are going to celebrate the risen Lord Jesus; we're going to celebrate his birth. We're going to sing songs about him and praise him. And I understand that you might have traditions that you need to follow. And we're going to find out just how godly we all are on that day, right? Not if you show up or not, but how we deal with all of our traditions. Praise God that only happens about every ten years, right?

Jesus had a lot to say to the Pharisees about their traditions. And the disciples wanted to ask, they said, “Don't you know that the Pharisees are really offended by what you're saying?” So, Jesus, with utmost patience, explains to the disciples his verdict on the Pharisees. Matthew 15:14. I mean, he gave it to them over and over again, on traditions. It's not just one place, it's all throughout the Gospels. Matthew 15:14, “Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” And you just thought that verse was in Proverbs, didn't you? The blind lead the blind. “And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” No, that's a verdict against the Pharisees putting their traditions on people.

The new tradition argument, friends, falls flat when compared to Scripture. Falls flat. If somebody is living, and they have traditions and they want it to bear on your life, respond with great patience, with great understanding. I mean, the things that I've said in my life, the things that I've done; I mean, you just, right, after a while you go, did I really say that? Did I really do that? None of you can ask my mom or dad here today about all those things, that's forbidden. But I've done lots of things like that in my life. And you just want the grace to save face in front of people. When you plant your face in the dirt, and you stick it in there really hard, and you just keep, “No, I'm doing this without all costs, I will offend everybody in the world. I'm doing my tradition.” We just want to be gracious and merciful to everyone, as we think about what's going on.

The second thing I want to talk to you about here… So, we went over an apostle. All right, I won't do that through all of Ephesians, you’ll all be dead by the time I get done, if we do that. “To the saints who are in Ephesus,” we know the context. But what does this mean, “by the will of God?” [Ephesians 1:2]. This seems like it's some great mystery in life. How do I know God's will? How many times have you asked yourself that question? How do I know God's will? What is God's will for my life? What does he want me to do this afternoon? There are so many football games to choose from, what is God's will? Right, that's where we relegate it most of the time, to decisions like that. But listen, Paul calls himself a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Philippians, a slave of Jesus Christ. That's that Greek word “doulos.” A slave, one who only does the will of his master. How do you know God's will? How do you know God's will?

I'll just simply give it to you. If your sins are confessed, your relationship to God is where it should be, then you follow God's word. He said he's given us the mind of Christ. It's not supposed to be some great mystery figuring out God's will, that if you are wanting to fulfill the desires of your heart, God will give those to you if those desires are pure, and true, and seeking the glory of God. So, as you live life as a forgiven, grace-filled Christian, literally you can do whatever you want to do. According to Scripture, and according to your desires. Because then your desires will be God's will for your life. If you want to pick this, this, this, or this job, pick the one that you think will allow you to bring glory to God. And you can do that in any job. Pick the one that works best for your life. Pick the one that works best for you. And ask the Lord Jesus to give you wisdom and direction, in James 1:5 it says that if you ask God for wisdom, he'll give to all without finding fault. God wants you to know his desire and his will.

Turn to Ephesians chapter six, verse six, please [Ephesians 6:6]. This is a really good paragraph for learning how to obey God and serve God at work. This is the boss and employee relationship, and he takes it to the lowest possible level so that you all can know how to do that in your job too. Look at verse five actually, “Bondservants” that’s slaves plural in the Greek here, “obey [your masters,] your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart.” Did you know that fear and trembling go together with sincerity of heart? Interesting. “As you would Christ.” [Ephesians 6:5]. You want me to obey my boss the way I would obey the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes. Unless they tell you to sin, because Christ would never do that. Yes. [Is] that clear enough? That should clear up all the questions right there. It shouldn't clear up all the consternation you may feel right now in your stomach, but it will clear up what we're supposed to do.

In verse six, “not by the way of eye-service, as people pleasers,” don't fake it, “but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” [Ephesians 6:6]. Where do we put God's word in our heart? How does that drive us? It drives everything we do. If you're serving your sinful, godless boss, do it for the benefit of Christ's name. Do it joyfully. Do it willfully. The whole country may have something like that soon. That's not surprising to God at all. This election, who we have, it doesn't surprise God. It's for our chastisement, for our benefit, we don't know. You won't know—you and I are not God. We can't figure everything out. But we do know how we are supposed to serve those in authority over us. Including the government. Including the government, Romans 13 is crystal clear on that.

So long as they do not ask you to disobey God's word. You, personally, not allow others to disobey God's word. That's not what it's talking about. But you personally commanding you to disobey God's word. That's the only time you can say no, I will not, and I will gladly accept my punishment. Like being thrown into the fiery furnace. “Who are you, oh king, we will obey God.” “Okay, here's the consequences.” That's the pattern. Okay? Very comforting, I know. I mean, you guys are all like, whoop this is great, Dave! But just obey your bosses as you would the Lord Jesus Christ. That will cause you to be humble, doing the will of God is like that. We put God's Word in our heart; we know it, we meditate on it, we think about it, we pray to the Lord God for wisdom and direction, that we would not defame his name, and we live life for his glory. And we constantly go back to God's word. Constantly go back to God's word, so that we can have clarity in these things.

There's so much in this, if I keep reading, I think we'll get stuck there. I just want you guys to know that when Paul says he is an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, he has the life to back it up, he has the authority to back it up, and that makes Ephesians to have great bearing on our life. So let me tie it all together for you. As we come to Ephesians here's how I want you to read Ephesians: do not skip over the words and phrases as though they are filler. There's no such thing as a filler word in God's Word. Second, remember the grace and peace we have in Jesus Christ. The world can see the glory of God reflected in us and in our lives, and as we remember and understand the grace that we have that forgives us, people are going to go, “Why do you act like that? Why do you talk like that? Why are you at church on Christmas Day?” They're going to ask you those things. And you're going to have an answer for the hope within you. [1 Peter 3:15]. Remember the grace and the peace that comes from God.

Remember that saints are true believers who are faithful in Christ, that's the only kind. If you're feeling like you're not living a faithful life to the Lord Jesus, don't try and fight it on your own. This is a message to the gathered church. Right? The church is “Ecclesia,” the gathering. The fourth thing, we should not just consider this a letter, but what it is. And this is the obvious kind of elephant in the room. This is God's will for you. Amen? What's written here is God's will for your life. So, if you want to know God's will for your life, you are going to have to be in God's word. All written from a genuine apostle by the will of God. Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, I just thank you Father for sending Paul. Lord God, he suffered so much for the sake of your name. He counted everything as loss, Lord, for the glory of your name. Help us to do the same father. And Lord Jesus, I pray that you just help us right now to think through what in our life needs to be given over to you. Let's just think about that. Amen, amen.

other sermons in this series

Dec 31

2023

Are You Ready to Meet God?

Speaker: David Jordan Scripture: Ephesians 2:1–10 Series: Ephesians

Jun 25

2017

Incorruptible Love

Speaker: David Jordan Scripture: Ephesians 6:21–24 Series: Ephesians

Jun 11

2017

Win the Battle Through Prayer

Speaker: David Jordan Scripture: Ephesians 6:18–20 Series: Ephesians