You Are a Saint (Ephesians 1:1)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.519 If you're able to remain standing, please do. And let's turn our attention 2 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:15.949 to Phesians. Ephesians, Chapter One. Phesians is in the New Testament. 3 00:00:16.030 --> 00:00:21.269 It's one of Paul's Letters. It's not a large, large letter. You'll 4 00:00:21.269 --> 00:00:29.780 find it after Romans and the two letters to the Corinthians. I intend to 5 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:34.179 move, at least for the moment, intend to move somewhat slowly through this 6 00:00:34.299 --> 00:00:39.369 letter, but I do want to read larger sections of it and I hope 7 00:00:39.450 --> 00:00:43.409 that over time, what this will do will allow you to become more and 8 00:00:43.530 --> 00:00:51.679 more familiar with the letter so as you have opportunity begin committing it to memory, 9 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:55.799 reflect on what it says, learn it and learn it well. This 10 00:00:55.960 --> 00:00:59.719 is the word of God. Going to read from verse one to verse fourteen. 11 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:07.109 Paul and Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, to 12 00:01:07.189 --> 00:01:12.269 the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to 13 00:01:12.349 --> 00:01:19.780 you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed 14 00:01:19.900 --> 00:01:23.659 be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us 15 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:27.780 in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose 16 00:01:27.819 --> 00:01:33.090 us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy 17 00:01:33.370 --> 00:01:38.250 and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons 18 00:01:38.329 --> 00:01:42.329 through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise 19 00:01:42.370 --> 00:01:47.400 of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us, in the beloved. 20 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:52.760 In Him, we have redemption through the fruit. In Him, we have 21 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:57.519 redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches 22 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:02.790 of His grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making 23 00:02:02.909 --> 00:02:07.709 known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which 24 00:02:07.750 --> 00:02:12.990 he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite 25 00:02:13.030 --> 00:02:19.139 all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Him, 26 00:02:19.219 --> 00:02:23.139 we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of 27 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:29.060 him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that 28 00:02:29.219 --> 00:02:31.490 we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be to the 29 00:02:31.569 --> 00:02:36.490 praise of his glory. In Him, you also, when you heard the 30 00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:39.889 word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were 31 00:02:39.969 --> 00:02:46.879 sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until 32 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:51.759 we acquire the possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Amen. 33 00:02:53.000 --> 00:03:09.349 You may be seated. When I was younger, I used to skip 34 00:03:09.629 --> 00:03:14.939 all the stuff that you'd find the beginning of the book until you got to 35 00:03:15.060 --> 00:03:20.060 that page that said one. You know what I'm talking about. Maybe kids. 36 00:03:20.099 --> 00:03:25.340 If you're readers now, you've noticed that some bigger books have this material 37 00:03:25.539 --> 00:03:30.210 at the beginning that doesn't feel like it's the real story or the the real 38 00:03:30.370 --> 00:03:35.050 thing that you're reading. You might even see instead of one there are a 39 00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:43.360 little numbers, little Roman numerals I, II, III, the and so 40 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:50.520 on. I V. Anyway, these acknowledgements, endorsements, dedications, prefaces 41 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:53.639 to the first edition, preface to the second edition and so on can, 42 00:03:53.080 --> 00:04:00.789 of course, sometimes get a little excessive. But as I read more and 43 00:04:00.909 --> 00:04:06.870 more, I'd have learned that this preface material is important and often it can 44 00:04:06.909 --> 00:04:14.979 be really critical for understanding the rest of the book. And perhaps not the 45 00:04:15.699 --> 00:04:19.620 all of it, but often some of it is. That way, in 46 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:25.529 the preface to a book and author might explain his or her motivation for writing. 47 00:04:26.730 --> 00:04:30.089 They are indebtedness to certain schools of thought the basic aim and plan of 48 00:04:30.129 --> 00:04:33.649 the book, and all of these things can really help you understand what you're 49 00:04:33.689 --> 00:04:38.600 about to read conframe it in a proper way, and that's often what the 50 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:41.879 author is wanting to do, to frame it and help you understand how to 51 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.399 think about it well. The same can be said for the introductions to the 52 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:51.160 letters in the Bible, like this one that we read today. Paul and 53 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:56.629 Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, to the saints who 54 00:04:56.629 --> 00:05:00.589 are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace 55 00:05:00.629 --> 00:05:04.790 from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In these couple of 56 00:05:04.870 --> 00:05:11.339 verses Paul says actually quite a lot. He introduces himself, he states his 57 00:05:11.420 --> 00:05:16.060 authority. It's partly on the basis of that that we have this letter in 58 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:19.779 our Bible, that it is a part of our Canon. Because of that 59 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:28.410 verse. In this we also find who he addresses his readers. He blesses 60 00:05:28.569 --> 00:05:33.810 them as well, and so verses one and two are not skippable throw away 61 00:05:33.970 --> 00:05:40.879 material. They are inspired by the Holy Spirit just as much as verses three 62 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:46.759 through fourteen are. He inspired them and we ought to give of our attention 63 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:51.029 to them. In some ways, these opening verses in this letter and the 64 00:05:51.110 --> 00:05:57.350 other letters focus like the overture to an opera. If you've ever been to 65 00:05:57.470 --> 00:06:00.949 an opera, you know that those that music at the beginning often introduces you 66 00:06:00.949 --> 00:06:05.500 to all of the music that is to come. You hear the little motifs 67 00:06:05.579 --> 00:06:12.139 and you her ear gets familiarized, if that's a word, or familiar with, 68 00:06:12.259 --> 00:06:15.779 I'll say, to what is to come, so that when you hear 69 00:06:16.620 --> 00:06:20.649 when the hero is introduced or the villain or whatever it is, you go 70 00:06:20.730 --> 00:06:25.050 oh, I know that, even if it's just a a subconscious level. 71 00:06:26.089 --> 00:06:29.250 And in a similar way that's what Paul is doing here in the introduction. 72 00:06:29.370 --> 00:06:33.399 He's preparing us for what is to follow, and I want to focus on 73 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:39.480 those some of those things tonight, in particular the way that he addresses them 74 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:46.920 as saints or Holy Ones, saints who are in Ephesus. Now, before 75 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:50.509 we do that, I want to clear away a point of confusion before we 76 00:06:50.829 --> 00:06:56.949 begin, and I don't intend to do this every time. So here it 77 00:06:57.110 --> 00:07:02.459 is. The question is is this. Will these words in Ephesus? In 78 00:07:02.740 --> 00:07:08.459 Ephesus? In some of your bibles you might notice that these words are in 79 00:07:08.579 --> 00:07:14.860 brackets or are not there. Or in this Bible that I'm reading from, 80 00:07:15.019 --> 00:07:21.610 this ESV, there's a little footnote which says that some manuscripts omit these words 81 00:07:21.730 --> 00:07:29.009 in Ephesus. Well, what does all this mean? Are we to think 82 00:07:29.089 --> 00:07:34.800 that these words are here and legitimately here or not? Well, it's just 83 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:40.759 two words, but it does matter, and for a couple reasons. One 84 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:46.430 is that throughout my preaching on this letter, I intend to discuss to to 85 00:07:48.550 --> 00:07:51.670 discuss isn't the word I want, but to to preach. How about that? 86 00:07:53.310 --> 00:08:00.540 To preach and relate it to some of the background of this city and 87 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:07.139 Paul's experience there enacts chapters nineteen and twenty. We have some time in which 88 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:13.769 Paul spends in ephesis and some really big things happen there. I believe that 89 00:08:13.889 --> 00:08:18.529 those are relevant to how we understand this letter to the Ephesians, and so 90 00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:24.290 we will discuss things like the cult of artemists, Paul's time there and other 91 00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:30.120 background kinds of things. It can be a very useful in helping us to 92 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:35.279 understand this. But the question here is is it warranted? Did Paul right 93 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:41.120 it to the Efhesians or did he not? Well, I believe that we 94 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:45.389 can have certainty that this letter was written to the Ephesians for several reasons, 95 00:08:45.870 --> 00:08:50.029 and that the brackets and the footnotes and those kinds of things are unwarranted. 96 00:08:50.389 --> 00:08:54.190 So put on your thinking caps just for a moment and then we'll get to 97 00:08:54.309 --> 00:09:00.299 saints after this. So a few reasons why I take this as as rightfully 98 00:09:00.340 --> 00:09:05.100 here I'm the first is that, while it's true that some early manuscripts don't 99 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:11.490 have these words there, it is attested very early and broadly in the Church 100 00:09:11.649 --> 00:09:18.809 Fathers Iron as, origin Clement of Alexandria. These are people from the second 101 00:09:18.929 --> 00:09:22.929 century. So iron ask, for example, was born around thirty or one 102 00:09:22.970 --> 00:09:28.320 hundred and forty iron as, who believes that this letter was written to the 103 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:33.679 Ephesians, is particularly important because he's from a little town called SMYRNA, which 104 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:37.240 is very, very close to Ephesus, just right on the border there and 105 00:09:37.870 --> 00:09:43.629 western Turkey. That's important because he was closed. It's also important because he 106 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:50.350 knew a man named Polycarp who knew a man named John who lived in Ephesus 107 00:09:50.669 --> 00:09:54.299 and of course, was the apostle, and new Paul and others who are 108 00:09:54.340 --> 00:09:58.139 written or Paul and others and Paul, most importantly, because he wrote this 109 00:09:58.220 --> 00:10:03.820 letter. What I'm saying is is that iron as would have had very direct 110 00:10:03.860 --> 00:10:09.409 access to peep bull, who knew Paul, knew John. John no doubt 111 00:10:09.529 --> 00:10:16.129 would have told the people that pollycarp for example, iron and and pass down 112 00:10:16.169 --> 00:10:22.279 to iron is that if this wasn't one of Paul's letters, that it that 113 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:26.039 it wasn't. However, iron is believes that it it was, and that's 114 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:31.799 significant as close as he was to the riding of it. The second thing 115 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:35.110 to note is that ancient doesn't always mean most correct. I want you to 116 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:41.110 imagine a scenario. Let's say you and I both make a copy of efficit. 117 00:10:41.789 --> 00:10:43.509 We write down, we make a copy of this letter. Okay, 118 00:10:43.549 --> 00:10:50.100 let's say I make a mistake and you don't. Then a number of people 119 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:56.539 copy your copy, a number of people copy my copy right now. Imagine 120 00:10:56.700 --> 00:11:07.090 that my copy gets lost and my copy gets lost, and so now we 121 00:11:07.250 --> 00:11:13.929 have one of the earliest manuscripts having been lost. Now imagine that. or 122 00:11:13.169 --> 00:11:16.730 Oh no, I've messed it all up. Let me try. We're gonna 123 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:22.000 start again. I should just read my notes. Two additions, yours and 124 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:26.519 mine. I did it backwards. Both series get copied. Now Imagine, 125 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:30.720 for some reason that all the copies of mind, the one that were that 126 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:35.110 had the error in that were destroyed. There we go, and the original 127 00:11:35.350 --> 00:11:39.429 one, the original copy that was left had the error in it. Okay. 128 00:11:39.309 --> 00:11:43.629 Now imagine that the other set of copies, the ones that we have 129 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:50.620 hundreds and hundreds of but maybe not the original, are kept. So we 130 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:54.379 have the original one with the error, that's earlier, that's preserved and all 131 00:11:54.460 --> 00:12:00.940 the later ones that don't have the error are kept. And this happens sometimes. 132 00:12:01.019 --> 00:12:05.889 I'm so it means that just because something is early doesn't necessarily mean that 133 00:12:05.929 --> 00:12:09.850 it's right. If you didn't catch all that, talk to me afterwards and 134 00:12:09.929 --> 00:12:15.570 all try again. The point is, the age of a document is certainly 135 00:12:15.649 --> 00:12:18.639 significant. Early manuscripts are very important and we appeal to them a lot, 136 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:26.519 but it's not the only determining factor. Just because it's an older version doesn't 137 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:31.870 necessarily mean that it's not right. And in fact, one of the earliest 138 00:12:31.950 --> 00:12:39.590 copies of this something that scholars very unromantically called P forty six. One of 139 00:12:39.669 --> 00:12:46.940 these early manuscripts not only had admits the words in Ephesus, but it omits 140 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:50.779 a lot of different things, makes a lot of mistakes, spelling errors, 141 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:54.620 reversals of words, all kinds of things, and so we know that though 142 00:12:54.700 --> 00:13:00.649 an early documents and helpful for some things, it's not a hundred percent reliable 143 00:13:01.049 --> 00:13:05.250 in all things. There are a few more reasons, but I'll just mention 144 00:13:05.450 --> 00:13:09.409 one more, and that's that the spelling and grammar of all the words around 145 00:13:11.370 --> 00:13:16.519 in Ephesus make it so that without those words in ephesus it's really awkward. 146 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:20.960 And you can kind of see this right here in the English if we read 147 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:26.389 Paul An Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, to the 148 00:13:26.509 --> 00:13:33.590 saints who are and are faithful in Christ Jesus. It leaves you kind of 149 00:13:33.669 --> 00:13:39.429 hanging, doesn't it? The Saints who are what? The other thing is 150 00:13:39.549 --> 00:13:43.700 whenever we see this construction, we always see it with a city name after 151 00:13:43.779 --> 00:13:46.419 it, the saints who are in Ephesis, in Corinth and and so on. 152 00:13:48.379 --> 00:13:52.860 The Grammar, the spelling, a number of other of other considerations make 153 00:13:52.980 --> 00:13:58.009 this expected to be there. So it's not a surprise then when we find 154 00:13:58.090 --> 00:14:01.409 these words in thousands and thousands of other manuscripts, even though it's not in 155 00:14:01.490 --> 00:14:07.809 these very few early ones. So these are some of the reasons that I 156 00:14:07.929 --> 00:14:15.399 take this as original and the brackets as as unnecessary. This letter was written 157 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:20.320 to the Ephesians. It was written to the Ephesians and we'll take it that 158 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:26.149 way. So, with that taken care of, let's talk about this Word 159 00:14:26.309 --> 00:14:33.190 Holy, this word saints, the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful 160 00:14:33.389 --> 00:14:39.980 in Christ Jesus. This is a very significant thing. Paul calls them sae, 161 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:43.179 so word that comes to us from Latin. It means holy ones, 162 00:14:43.139 --> 00:14:48.659 holy ones. What does it mean to be a saint? What does it 163 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:52.450 mean that he calls them saints? What does it mean to be a holy 164 00:14:52.610 --> 00:14:58.370 one? When we use the word saint today, we often mean it in 165 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:03.450 one of two ways. One way we mean it is very in an is 166 00:15:03.649 --> 00:15:07.240 in an informal kind of way. So, for example, you might say, 167 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:11.039 did you see the way that she visited them in the hospital every single 168 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:15.600 day? What a saint. Right, we're expressing that this woman, in 169 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:20.159 this exist, in this example, was particularly godly, exemplary. I'm worthy 170 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:26.629 of emulation. We're using the term to express our admiration of someone's holiness or 171 00:15:26.669 --> 00:15:33.110 they're usefulness to the Lord, the other way that saints are referred to sort 172 00:15:33.149 --> 00:15:37.340 of in our vernacular today isn't it is in an official kind of way. 173 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:45.740 I'm some parts of the Christian church make an official separation of kind of Super 174 00:15:45.779 --> 00:15:54.450 Christians from other people. They distinguished certain people as saints from the rest of 175 00:15:54.610 --> 00:15:58.169 God's people, and this is important to note because this is really foreign to 176 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:03.009 the New Testament and the earliest centuries of the church, and it bears directly 177 00:16:03.169 --> 00:16:10.360 on here on what our passage tonight. Who is Paul speaking to? Is 178 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:15.320 he talking to one or maybe two bishops and Ephesus that were recognized in this 179 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:21.750 kind of official way or who maybe later would be recognized, or is he 180 00:16:21.870 --> 00:16:27.070 addressing the whole Christian Church? What's of course, the latter. The idea 181 00:16:27.110 --> 00:16:33.139 of a separation between saints and Non Saints didn't really common to the fourth century, 182 00:16:34.100 --> 00:16:38.779 and when it came, it came in quite a dramatic way. Some 183 00:16:38.899 --> 00:16:42.460 people even refer to it as a cult of the saints, cult meaning in 184 00:16:42.539 --> 00:16:49.090 the sense of a whole religious system devoted to the worship and prayer and Hagiography 185 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:56.250 of early Christians or of Christians. It's interesting that we find that in these 186 00:16:56.330 --> 00:17:03.039 early years. This wasn't always accepted. Early Christians like Eusebius of Caesarea, 187 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:08.680 theodore of Cyrus and Jerome warned about the idolatry of this practice of separating saints 188 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:17.430 out from the saints, and interestingly, even Pagans mocked Christians for their hypocrisy. 189 00:17:17.549 --> 00:17:22.829 See on this point of claiming monotheism but in fact worshiping and praying to 190 00:17:22.910 --> 00:17:27.670 a Pantheon of divinized men, and we ought to continue to warn of it 191 00:17:29.109 --> 00:17:36.900 today and be committed to worshiping the one true God. But the danger of 192 00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:45.490 idolatry is not the only application here. Designating only some people as saints, 193 00:17:45.769 --> 00:17:49.809 as an instead of the whole of the Christian church, takes away and honor 194 00:17:49.970 --> 00:17:57.490 that rightfully belongs to all Christians, from the most advanced and holy theologian to 195 00:17:57.640 --> 00:18:03.680 children and their mother's arms. And we see that here in this letter. 196 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:07.839 When Paul addresses the Ephesians, as I say, he doesn't address one or 197 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:11.400 two pastors who were alive at the time in that city and who were sainted 198 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:18.349 by the church. There's no such practice. Who Does Paul Address? He 199 00:18:18.430 --> 00:18:21.750 addresses the whole church and as we see in chapter six, that even includes 200 00:18:22.069 --> 00:18:29.220 children and slaves. Being a saint doesn't mean belonging to a select superclass of 201 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:36.259 Christians, it means belonging to God, and that's who you are. You 202 00:18:36.380 --> 00:18:41.930 are those who belong to God. The idea of being a saint, of 203 00:18:41.089 --> 00:18:47.130 being a holy one, begins in the Old Testament, really, because this 204 00:18:47.529 --> 00:18:52.410 concept of holiness doesn't just appear in the New Testament. It's important for us 205 00:18:52.410 --> 00:18:57.440 to think about this in the Old Testament. The first time we have this 206 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:03.759 word used is an exodus, chapter three, verse five. God says to 207 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:11.069 Moses, do not come near, take your sandals off your feet, for 208 00:19:11.190 --> 00:19:17.470 the place on which you are standing is holy ground, holy ground, and 209 00:19:18.230 --> 00:19:19.910 he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, 210 00:19:19.990 --> 00:19:23.269 the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his 211 00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:30.579 face for he was afraid to look at God. The holiness of the ground 212 00:19:30.299 --> 00:19:37.579 was not something inherent to the ground. Why was the ground holy? Because 213 00:19:37.819 --> 00:19:42.849 God was there for that moment in time. That ground belonged to him in 214 00:19:42.970 --> 00:19:48.569 a special way, in a unique way, in which it didn't always. 215 00:19:48.609 --> 00:19:49.849 I mean, of course, is the ground to all. The ground belongs 216 00:19:49.890 --> 00:19:53.880 to God, but there was something significant about that piece of ground at that 217 00:19:55.119 --> 00:20:02.799 moment, as God was there in his presence exodus. Fifteen, eleven, 218 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:07.869 twelve centers holiness in God himself, when it says who is like you, 219 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:11.910 a Lord among the Gods? Who is like you, majestic and holiness, 220 00:20:12.069 --> 00:20:18.430 awesome in your glorious deeds, doing wonders? And as you read on, 221 00:20:18.589 --> 00:20:22.259 it's not just that God is the most powerful, but that he uses this 222 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:26.019 power and might in connection with the covenants that he makes with his people. 223 00:20:29.339 --> 00:20:33.099 Continuing on, you have in led, in your steadfast love, the people 224 00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:37.170 whom you have redeemed. You have guided them by your strength to your holy 225 00:20:37.289 --> 00:20:44.410 abode. The People Are Holy, his place is holy always because they belong 226 00:20:44.650 --> 00:20:49.240 to him. He is separated from all things and all people, and as 227 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:56.799 we belong to him, we share in that separation. God is called holy 228 00:20:56.200 --> 00:21:00.240 all throughout the Old Testament. Let me read some verses to you to impress 229 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:04.109 this on your heart. Psalm Sev One, hundred and twenty two. I 230 00:21:04.150 --> 00:21:07.670 will sing praise to you with the Liar, Oh holy one of Israel, 231 00:21:08.549 --> 00:21:12.549 Isaiah one, for they have forsaken you, a way, they have despised 232 00:21:12.670 --> 00:21:18.539 the holy one of Israel, a back one two, are you not from 233 00:21:18.539 --> 00:21:26.339 everlasting? Oh Yahweh my God, my Holy One, we shall not die, 234 00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:30.380 the holy one of Israel, the holy one. This is a phrase 235 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:33.930 that's repeated over and over and over and over. The Holiness of God, 236 00:21:34.210 --> 00:21:41.809 His separateness and righteousness and power and everything else is emphasized in so many times 237 00:21:41.329 --> 00:21:45.769 in so many ways, which is what makes a passage like mark one one 238 00:21:47.009 --> 00:21:52.240 twenty four so remarkable. When the demons say to Jesus, what have you 239 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:55.759 to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth, have you come to destroy? 240 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:59.880 In it, destroy us? I know who you are, the holy one 241 00:22:00.039 --> 00:22:07.069 of God, or John Sixty nine, and we have believed and have come 242 00:22:07.190 --> 00:22:11.309 to know that you, that is Jesus, are the holy one of God, 243 00:22:11.509 --> 00:22:15.900 or acts to twenty seven, quoting from the psalms for you that, 244 00:22:17.140 --> 00:22:21.380 as Jesus, will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your holy one 245 00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:26.299 see corruption. All this means that Jesus, as the son of God, 246 00:22:26.660 --> 00:22:33.049 is identified as the holy one. He is the self same God who led 247 00:22:33.089 --> 00:22:37.930 them out of Egypt, who brought them into the land, who separated them 248 00:22:37.970 --> 00:22:41.369 from the Canaanites and who called them to be holy as I am holy. 249 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:47.119 If we want to talk about holiness, then you see what I mean. 250 00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:51.240 We have to start here. We have to start at a place like leviticus 251 00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:59.349 that is all about making distinctions between holy and unholy, clean and unclean God, 252 00:22:59.470 --> 00:23:03.509 who is separate, in his perfect goodness, perfect beauty, per it 253 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:07.069 power and glory from all other things. Holy, Holy, holy is the 254 00:23:07.190 --> 00:23:14.900 Lord, God, Almighty. We have to start there and understanding who it 255 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:22.579 is if we want to understand who we are as holy ones. Why does 256 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:32.089 Paul apply this designation that is applied to God to us? How is it 257 00:23:32.210 --> 00:23:40.690 that you, just like the Ephesians, can be called saints? A person, 258 00:23:41.009 --> 00:23:45.359 a place, a thing doesn't simply become holy. God Is Holy. 259 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:52.519 We are not. But when we come into contact with the loving, saving 260 00:23:52.720 --> 00:24:02.230 presence of the Lord, something changes, something happens. This contact can be 261 00:24:02.309 --> 00:24:07.910 described in spiritual terms, as in our rate generation, when the Holy Spirit 262 00:24:08.109 --> 00:24:14.579 comes to dwell in US and makes us a Holy Temple, a holy aboding 263 00:24:14.660 --> 00:24:19.099 place of God. It can also be described in terms of proximity, like 264 00:24:19.259 --> 00:24:25.609 the ground or the temple when they become holy. Holiness is a blessing of 265 00:24:25.769 --> 00:24:32.170 God. When all, when people and things come into his presence. As 266 00:24:32.210 --> 00:24:38.519 I say, this is a significant thing because, as sinners, are we 267 00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:47.720 holy? We're not. We have baptism because we're dirty. We need to 268 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:53.630 be washed, we need to be cleansed. We speak of dirt and pollution, 269 00:24:53.910 --> 00:25:00.150 of transgressions and uncleanliness, because this describes the realities of our hearts, 270 00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:03.109 the things we do, the things we say, the things we think. 271 00:25:04.670 --> 00:25:08.700 Do you remember Isaiah six? When Isaiah was caught up into the holy places, 272 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:15.299 the heavenly place of God, and the holiness of God was overwhelmingly powerful. 273 00:25:15.339 --> 00:25:19.019 WHAT DID ISAIAH DO? He sends his unworthiness. He sends the way 274 00:25:19.180 --> 00:25:25.329 that is sins separated him from God. He says, I'm a man of 275 00:25:25.369 --> 00:25:33.529 Unclean Lips, I dwell among an unclean people. What happens? God sends 276 00:25:33.569 --> 00:25:37.599 one of his angels to take a some tongues and a coal from the fire 277 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:45.359 to purify him. That's what the viticus is all about. It's about purification, 278 00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:49.430 purification, making sure that God's people are holy, impressing on us the 279 00:25:49.670 --> 00:25:57.670 need for holiness. So how is it that we are holy? What's because 280 00:25:57.789 --> 00:26:03.990 God comes to us in Christ, to the saints who are in Ephesus, 281 00:26:03.029 --> 00:26:08.099 who are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God, 282 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:15.019 our father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Our Holiness is grounded in him, 283 00:26:17.619 --> 00:26:21.529 in his righteousness, in his blood. When Jesus went to the Cross, 284 00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:26.329 beloved, when he shed his blood, he did it not just as 285 00:26:26.369 --> 00:26:30.809 a display of love, which it was, but as a sacrifice for sin, 286 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:36.480 so that we could be cleansed, so that our sin, like the 287 00:26:36.599 --> 00:26:41.839 sacrifices in the Old Testament, could be placed on him so that we could 288 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:48.509 be washed clean. We are sanctified through him and through his sacrifice. As 289 00:26:48.710 --> 00:26:52.950 our mediator, he puts us as a standing before in a standing before God 290 00:26:53.390 --> 00:27:00.660 in which we are now holy, an amazing thing for people who are sinners. 291 00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:06.900 We don't come to God in our sins. We come to him clothed 292 00:27:07.059 --> 00:27:11.019 in the righteousness of Christ, as those who have been purified by his blood, 293 00:27:11.859 --> 00:27:17.289 and that holiness is permanent. It's not something that we earned, it's 294 00:27:17.329 --> 00:27:21.089 something that he gives to us, something that can't be taken away. It's 295 00:27:21.170 --> 00:27:26.250 not a status that we achieve through good works, it's a it's a status 296 00:27:26.369 --> 00:27:34.759 that he grants through his works. That's why they are saints and that's why 297 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:41.279 you are saints, holy in the Lord. So much more can be said 298 00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:45.309 of us, of this, and we will say more, but I want 299 00:27:45.349 --> 00:27:51.069 you to just drink that drink for the rest of the week. Think about 300 00:27:51.069 --> 00:27:55.190 what Christ has done. Think about how the holy one of Israel has come 301 00:27:55.349 --> 00:28:00.779 into the Lord to save his people, to cleanse them from their sins forever. 302 00:28:03.339 --> 00:28:08.299 This is no throwaway thing, a skippable verse that is unimportant and it 303 00:28:08.380 --> 00:28:12.329 will affect, it should affect, the way that we read the rest of 304 00:28:12.450 --> 00:28:19.690 the book. Ephesians is ultimately about the unity that we have in Christ in 305 00:28:19.809 --> 00:28:26.609 this inaugurated creation. It's not about separating this group of Christians from another group 306 00:28:26.650 --> 00:28:30.359 of Christians, especially so that we might pray to, or worship or seek 307 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:36.359 the mediation of another group. EPHESIANS is about helping us all, male and 308 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:41.710 female, rich and poor, Jew and gentle adult and child, all to 309 00:28:41.869 --> 00:28:48.549 have a unity in Christ through the grace that he lavishes upon us. We 310 00:28:48.750 --> 00:28:55.900 are holy because he is holy and he is making us holy by his spirit. 311 00:28:56.299 --> 00:29:00.059 The saints are not a select of Super Christians, a few, a 312 00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:07.619 select few of Super Christians. The saints, or Suncti in Latin, are 313 00:29:07.700 --> 00:29:15.170 those who are being sanctified, sanctified, sanctified by the blood of Christ, 314 00:29:17.450 --> 00:29:22.769 which is sufficient to forgive all of our sins. As I say, and 315 00:29:22.849 --> 00:29:26.440 I'll conclude that that with this, the applications, of course, of this 316 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:33.880 doctrine, our many being declared by God as one who belongs to him, 317 00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:38.829 in whom he dwells, is a big deal. In part it means we 318 00:29:38.910 --> 00:29:45.029 are separated from the world and from its practices. It means we've been given 319 00:29:45.069 --> 00:29:52.349 a status which is unique and special and divine. But I'll just point to 320 00:29:52.470 --> 00:29:57.259 this. As we hear this letter this week and in the coming weeks and 321 00:29:57.420 --> 00:30:04.140 months, Let holiness be high in your mind. Remember that you belong to 322 00:30:04.180 --> 00:30:08.529 the father through the son, by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives 323 00:30:10.170 --> 00:30:15.130 and dwells in you. Even as these words come from the most High God, 324 00:30:15.730 --> 00:30:22.200 hear them as honorable and honored ones, as they come from the glorious, 325 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:27.359 Honorable God. Hear them as Christians who have been sanctified by his blood 326 00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:33.559 and stand in this honorable way before him, as his sons and his daughters, 327 00:30:34.599 --> 00:30:41.990 as those who have been given this status of holy stand tall and listen, 328 00:30:44.430 --> 00:30:47.990 praise God, who has redeemed you and has given you the right to 329 00:30:48.150 --> 00:30:56.180 enjoy this gift of holiness, this great separation from darkness, this great separation 330 00:30:56.539 --> 00:31:02.019 and power and beauty and righteousness. And as we hear this letter, let's 331 00:31:02.339 --> 00:31:08.089 commit ourselves to walking in the world according to that holiness that he is granted 332 00:31:08.170 --> 00:31:12.289 to us, not in the old passions of the flesh and the way of 333 00:31:12.450 --> 00:31:18.369 the devil and as children of Wrath and all the rest, not according to 334 00:31:18.450 --> 00:31:22.359 the world in which we belonged, but according to God who now owns us 335 00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:27.759 and calls us his own. Let us learn to walk as he teaches us, 336 00:31:27.799 --> 00:31:33.190 upholding the good name he has given us, so that the world might 337 00:31:33.230 --> 00:31:41.109 see His Holiness in us. will end there. Tonight, let us pray