Walking - Ephesians 1:1-2

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. . . you some of this letter of Paul to the Ephesians. It's important for us to keep in mind the way this book is put together. Now Paul was a prisoner in Rome. He was writing to the church back at Ephesus. It's very likely that this letter that Paul wrote was circulated among the other churches in Asia. You'll recall that on his third missionary journey, Paul had stopped at Ephesus, and he administered there for three years. He had a tremendously dynamic ministry there in Ephesus, so much so that the silversmiths, who were involved in the manufacturing of idols, opposed Paul's ministry. It was necessary for him to leave town. But he left behind a wonderfully alive church.

Imagine what it would be like to be a member of the church of which Paul was the pastor. Think of what a thrilling time the churches must have had when Paul came to preach and to open up the Word of God to them. Paul understood the truths of God's Word as no man has ever understood them. And this is why his letter to the Ephesians is so deep and so high and so broad. In fact, we could study this letter word by word and phrase by phrase and devote time to it, and still not begin to plumb all of its depths.

Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Ephesians deal with doctrine: what God has done for us. The key verse is Ephesians 1:3. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." The Christian has been given all that he needs in the realm of the spiritual to live for the glory of God. The fact of the matter is the Christian has all that he needs in the realm of the material. If he's living in the will of God, because he says in Philippians 4, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Oftentimes we hear people say, my, that poor Christian. Christians are not poor, they're rich. We have a rich heavenly Father. His wealth is untold. And in Jesus Christ, He has given to us the spiritual riches. So, Ephesians 1-3 deal with our wealth in Christ—doctrine. Ephesians 4-6 deal with our walk in Christ—duty.

Duty always follows doctrine. A person cannot live that which he has not learned. If a man does not know what his position is in Christ, what his privileges are in Christ, he cannot live it. The ignorance of Christian leads to the weakness of Christians. Oh, how important it is that you and I should study the Word of God and find out what we have in Christ, and then live it.

So Ephesians 4-6 deal with our walk in Christ, and we pointed out in our introduction last week that the word "walk" is used several times in the last half of this letter. Ephesians 4:1: "I beseech you that you walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye are called." Walk worthy of this wonderful calling in Christ. Ephesians 4:17: "That ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles." Don't walk the way the unsaved people walk. Christians' lives ought to be different. For if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new. Ephesians 5:2: "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us." Ephesians 5:8: "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord." Walk as children of light. Christians ought not to be in the shadows of sin, in the darkness of disobedience. Walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:15: "See then that ye walk circumspectly," or accurately, carefully, "not as fools, but as wise." Walk carefully in this world, not to be involved in the things of the world.

Now if you want an outline of Ephesians 4-6, the Christian's walk, it's really very simple. Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul says to walk in unity. He talks here about the unity of the body of Jesus Christ, his church. Walk in unity, Ephesians 4:1-16. Walk in purity, Ephesians 4:17-5:17. And here he deals with the matter of sin, and he warns Christians that they ought not to be walking in impurity, in darkness, in hatred, but walking in the light. Walk in purity, Ephesians 4:17-5:17. Walk in harmony, Ephesians 5:18-6:9. Here he talks about the Christian home and how spirit-filled Christians can have a harmonious family life. Then Ephesians 6:10 through Ephesians 6:24, walk in victory. Here's the picture of the Christian as a soldier fighting against the wiles of the devil. These four walks are easy to remember: walk in unity, walk in purity, walk in harmony, walk in victory.

Now let's begin a study of this letter by turning to Ephesians 1:1. "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." This is Paul's introduction to the letter. Back in Paul's day, they had a very wise thing, the writer put his name first. Now when you and I get a letter, and we get a lot of mail these days, we always have to turn to the last page of the letter and see who wrote to us. Not so back in those days. The writer always put his name first. Paul, Paul, an apostle. Now the word apostle means a sent one. The word apostello, which is a Greek word, means to send with a commission. When a king appointed an ambassador and sent him to a foreign country, the word that was used was the word apostle. An apostle is someone who is sent with a commission. Now our word missionary comes from the Latin word mitto, which means the same thing, to send with a commission. Paul, a missionary, an ambassador of Jesus Christ.

Now we look at this and say, my, isn't it wonderful? Paul was an ambassador of Jesus Christ. But if you'll read in 2 Corinthians 5, you'll discover Paul says that all of us as Christians are ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Do you recall what Jesus said to his disciples in the upper room after his resurrection? "As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you." You and I have been sent into this world as the ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Now that's a wonderful thought. That you and I, wherever we go, riding the bus, shopping, eating in the restaurant, running a machine, driving a truck, teaching, whatever we may be doing, neighboring over the back fence, we are ambassadors of Christ. We are representing him. Now Christians are always witnessing. We are either witnessing for Christ or against him. And the important thing is that you and I be good ambassadors for Jesus Christ. How would you feel if tomorrow you picked up the newspaper and discovered that one of our ambassadors had been discovered as a spy, that instead of representing us nobly and honorably and honestly, he had been using his position as an ambassador to feather his own nest, to fill his own pocket? You'd say that man's a traitor. What about Christians who are poor ambassadors of Jesus Christ, who don't represent him, who go to places where ambassadors ought not to go, who are involved in activities that ambassadors ought never to be involved in?

Paul, an ambassador of Jesus Christ, a man sent with a commission. Now you and I have been commissioned. We talk about the Great Commission. We talk about God's commission to us. We have been sent to take people the gospel. I wonder what would happen in your church next Sunday if every member of the church brought with him to the service someone who did not know the Lord. I wonder what would happen in our churches if every church member, if every believer really began to act like an ambassador, a man sent with a commission.

Paul, an ambassador of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus. Now that was their geographical location. To the faithful in Christ Jesus. That was their spiritual location. They were at Ephesus physically, they were in Christ Jesus spiritually. Now the word saints is a greatly abused word. For example, you'll hear someone say, well, I'm no saint, as though to say, well, I make mistakes. And we all do. Now these saints to whom Paul was writing were alive. I had an aunt who used to use the phrase, "Saints alive!" oftentimes. This is true. Saints, the saints to whom Paul wrote were living saints, not dead saints. And they were saints because they were in Christ Jesus. Now no man made them a saint, and no church made them a saint, and no denomination made them a saint. Jesus Christ did this. He is the only one in all of the universe who can take a sinner and transform that sinner into a saint.

Now the word saint, in the language that Paul was writing in, the Greek language, simply means one who has been set apart. Paul, an ambassador of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the set apart ones, to the ones who have been set apart in Jesus Christ. You see, when Jesus died, he purchased you and me. "What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and you are not your own, ye are bought with a price." I was in Washington D.C. some weeks ago, and they have a beautiful stadium there in Washington D.C. You can rent this stadium. You could lease this stadium and have a, have a baseball game. But you can't lease the White House. You can't lease the Library of Congress. The White House has been set apart for a special purpose. You would be horrified if you turned on your radio and heard a news report that they were having a rodeo on the grounds of the White House. Because those grounds have been set apart for a specific person and for a specific purpose. Now Christians have been purchased. A saint is one who has been set apart. Once he belonged to the world, but now he's been called out of the world. He no longer belongs to the world. He no longer belongs to Satan. He no longer lives for sin. He's been set apart, just like when a girl gets married. As a pastor, it's my joy and privilege to perform the wedding ceremony for many couples. Here's a girl who graduates from high school and perhaps she's dating five or six fellows, fine boys. And then she falls in love with one of them and they become engaged. Now you can break an engagement. But oh, they come to the pastor one day and say, Pastor, we'd like to be married. We feel God made us for each other, and we love each other, and we want to be married. And when we have that wedding ceremony, that boy and that girl have been set apart for each other. And if they aren't true to each other, they violate the law of God.

Now saints are set apart ones. If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are a saint. Paul was called Saint Paul. John was called Saint John. You can put the word saint in front of your name if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, because the saints to whom Paul wrote were living saints who had been set apart by Jesus Christ. Notice how you become a saint: "To the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus." Now the word faithful means full of faith, or believers. Let me read the verse again. "Paul, an ambassador of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the set apart ones which are at Ephesus, even to those who have believed in Jesus Christ." How do you become a set apart one? How do you become a saint? By believing in Jesus Christ, by yielding your heart and your life to him. And then he comes in. And when he comes in, you are set apart. You're one of his. "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," said the Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples. He set them apart. He sets all believers apart. How do you become a Christian, a saint, a living saint, a set apart one? Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. May I emphasize this, no church can make you a saint. No amount of good works can set you apart. No religious ritual can do this. No amount of determination or dedication. The only way you can be lifted out of the grave of sin, out of the bondage of sin, into the wonderful liberty of being set apart in Christ, the only way is by trusting him as your own Savior.

Now he goes on to say in Ephesians 1:2, "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." You see, all of this is by grace. Now what is grace? Grace is just simply favor. If I do something for you and expect you to do nothing in return, that's grace. If out of the kindness of my heart, I sacrifice to do something for you, that's grace. That's what God did for us in Christ. Ephesians 2:8-10 make this very clear: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." You see, most people today have the idea we're saved by good works. If I work hard in the church, if I give enough to the church, if I say enough prayers, if I go to enough bazaars, if I give enough old clothes to the rummage sale, if I work real hard, I might get saved. Nobody can work hard to be saved. You see, Ephesians chapter 2 makes it very clear that sinners are dead, and dead people can't do good works. If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, as religious as you may be, you may attend your church. You may be an officer in your church. You may be a worker. People may look at you and say, oh, what a good church worker he is, she is. But if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, you're dead. The only way God can save people is by grace.

Now grace and faith always go together. You see, if God wants to give you the gift of salvation, all you can do is receive it. Someone comes up to you and says, I want to give you $100. If you believe him, you accept it. If you doubt him, you say, oh, there's something, there's something wrong here. You reject it. God comes to you and says, you can't earn your salvation, you can't buy your salvation, you can't work for your salvation, but I'll give it to you. I'll, I'll just give it to you. It's a gift. "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." If you believe what God says, you'll reach out and say, thank you, Lord. I believe it. You'll give me that gift. And by faith right now, I receive the gift of salvation. "But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name." Salvation's a gift.

Now faith and grace go together. And grace and peace go together. Do you notice this in Ephesians 1:2? "Grace be to you and peace." Many people don't have any peace today. Oh, there's so much unrest. "There is no rest, there is no peace, saith my Lord, to the wicked." He compares the wicked to the troubled sea. Have you ever stood at the shoreline of the Atlantic or the Pacific Oceans? Have you watched these waves come rolling in day after day, restless waves of the sea? How they cast up upon the shore all the filth and all the dirt. That's God's picture of the unsaved person, restless, restless waves of the sea. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God." That's a wonderful experience to have peace in your heart. Now where does peace come from? Peace comes through the grace of God. God in his grace gives us his peace when we trust Jesus Christ as our Savior.

Now Paul says, "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Suppose that this verse read like this: "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from George Washington." You'd say, well, now what's his name doing in there? The word "and" always connects equal things. This is one of the laws of the English language. "Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." There's the Trinity. Equal. Three persons, separate, but equal. Now God tells us here that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are the source of grace and peace. This means that Jesus Christ is God. Don't let anyone ever tell you that Jesus Christ is the, the gentle carpenter of Nazareth, the poor meek teacher of Galilee, the martyr who died for a lost cause. I want you to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is equal with God. And unless you are worshipping God the Father through Jesus Christ, you are not worshipping at all. Our Lord himself told us that all men should worship the Son even as they worship the Father. He has all authority. He is God. And Jesus said one day to the Jews, "Except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." What Paul is saying in these two verses is this: Your life can be changed. You can be saved. You can become one of God's set apart ones, one of his saints. You can have peace in your heart, knowing your sins are forgiven, if you'll trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. Now it's a free gift to you, but it cost him his life on the cross. I'm going to pray just now that you might open your heart to him and let him save you. Our Father, we thank thee for the fact that sinners can be made saints. They can have their names written down in the book of life and be set apart for glory. May some who are listening today turn from their religious works and trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, for we pray in his name. Amen.