We begin today to consider the letter of Paul to the Ephesians, if you turn there in your Bibles. A letter written while Paul was in prison for the sake of the gospel to a church where Paul labored nearly three years. Luke recorded in Acts chapter 19 verse 10 that through Paul's work there, all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. And in much the same way, this letter to the Ephesians would go through that church there to all the churches in Asia, indeed to the churches of all ages. Paul wrote this letter as well as the one to the Colossians at a time when new religious ideas were spreading in Asia. They mixed Jewish and pagan mystery religions and believed that the universe issued out from God in many layers of principalities and of powers. Much like you must peel off the layers of an onion to get to the heart of the onion, they taught that people had to go through layers to get to God. And this meant initiation into a series of secret mysteries or calling upon ever higher orders of spiritual authorities in order to get next to God. And in all these religions, they granted a place for Christ in their scheme of things, but they denied His supremacy over all things and the all-inclusive nature of His redemptive work. They competed with the church, God's chosen instrument through which He was unfolding the mystery of Christ through the preaching of the gospel. Are we not in a similar situation today? Religious movements proclaim their spirituality and invite you to learn their secrets for how to get to God. Self-proclaimed spiritual leaders invite you to sit at their feet that they may introduce you to their masters who may introduce you to God. It's into this kind of situation that Paul wrote this letter that reads like a sermon. A sermon on the greatest and widest possible theme for a Christian sermon. The eternal purposes of God the Father that He is fulfilling through Jesus Christ, His Son. And that He is working out by His Holy Spirit in and through His Church. John Calvin preached 48 sermons from it. And Martin Lloyd-Jones a few hundred. Given the infrequency of my preaching, I dare not take their approach. Therefore, I will proclaim this word of God to you in the months ahead in sermons that of necessity can only begin to expound and unfold the manifold wisdom of God found herein. We begin today with a consideration of the greeting to the letter. You know, on this day of email and faxes, we rarely even take time to greet anymore. We type a quick note, hit enter, and it's gone. And even if we still write real letters, we don't give a lot of thought to our greeting and our closing. Dear so-and-so, or maybe even to whom it may concern. Sincerely, your name. You see, we have reduced greetings and closings to basically the brackets within which we place the really important stuff we want to write about. But it was not this way when Paul wrote, and we must not make the mistake of breezing past the greetings. in the letters in the New Testament. Trying to get past them so we can get to the real Scripture. In this greeting, Paul, in effect, says to the church in Ephesus, God bless you. When someone sneezes, we might say, God bless you. It might come out as a reflex without even a thought. We may say it out of genuine concern for the person. We may even consider it a prayer on their behalf, but I doubt that many, if any, would consider it to actually, effectively, and certainly grant God's blessing to them. But today, as we consider what Paul has to say when he says, God bless you, we find that it is God himself who is speaking. And he is speaking to his people, an effective blessing. Let's read together this brief text this morning. Verses 1 and 2 of Ephesians chapter 1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The first thing we must understand about this greeting is that in it, God himself speaks. Paul introduced himself in verse 1 as an apostle of Christ Jesus. Paul was not only an apostle in the broadest sense of one sent as a messenger, a sense in which Tychicus, who carried this very letter back to Ephesus, could be considered an apostle of Paul. Paul was also an apostle in a narrower sense, along with Silas and Timothy, for example, men, we are told, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, who were approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. Apostles of Christ who shared not only the gospel but their lives in his church. Paul himself called himself an ambassador in chains in this sense in chapter 6, verse 20. He would say of himself and of others like Silas and Timothy in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, Christ has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us. Now it's true, in an unofficial and an individual sense, all believers are to be ambassadors for Christ. But in a more profound sense, ordained ministers of the word have been entrusted with the official and corporate proclamation of the word of God. They are Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through them. But more than this, Paul was an apostle in the narrowest sense. He was an apostle with a capital A. Like the Twelve, he received his commission directly from Jesus Christ. He was determined to persecute the church in Damascus. And on the road, the Lord met him face to face and declared to him, Saul, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Get up and go into the city and you will be told what to do there. He was blinded and Paul was led to Damascus as he was commanded. And after three days, a servant of the Lord, Ananias, came to him. Not because he wanted to, he was scared to death of Paul, of Saul. But because God revealed to Ananias what Paul already knew. That Paul was God's chosen instrument to carry Christ's name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. And like the twelve, miracles and works of power testified to his divinely commissioned work. Paul reminded the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 12, of what he could have reminded the Ephesians when he said, The things that mark an apostle, signs, wonders, and miracles were done among you with great perseverance. See, none can have the authority of an Apostle, capital A, who is not commissioned directly by Christ and whose work is not attested by miracles. But Paul went on to add that his Apostleship was by the will of God. He did not appoint himself to be an Apostle. He knew that of all men he was the most unworthy for he had persecuted the church. But neither did other men appoint him as an Apostle. In fact, he was personally unknown to all the churches in Judea for three years after his commission. It wasn't until he went to Jerusalem that he was recognized and received as a true apostle who had been appointed by Christ and verified by miraculous works. It is as he said in Galatians chapter 1 verse 1 he says that he was sent not from men nor by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. See therefore when Paul spoke and wrote, he wrote and spoke for the triune God of the Bible. What is implied in verse 1 is made more clear in verse 2 where Paul announces grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You see Paul spoke here of these two persons of the Trinity as the one source of God's grace and peace. James 1 tells us that God the Father is the source of every good and perfect gift, and that is true. But Paul says in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 7 and 8, he says, But to each of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says when he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men. The gifts of the Father, given by the Son, are sealed by the work of the Holy Spirit. according to chapter 1, verse 13. Therefore, they're called spiritual gifts, as Paul speaks of in other places. But in this greeting, the focus for Paul is on the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as throughout this epistle, the focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ. Much will be said in the pages that follow of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord, the image of the invisible God. The firstborn over all creation. By whom all things were created. Whether it's in heaven, things on earth, things visible, things invisible. Whether thrones or powers or rules or authorities. The Lord. Jesus who came to save his people from their sins. The only name under heaven given to man by which we must be saved. Christ, the promised Messiah. The anointed one through whom all things in heaven and earth are being reconciled to God in Christ. And that is much of what this book, this letter will teach us. So even though Paul wrote this letter from the depths of his own heart, using words carefully crafted in his own mind, as an apostle, capital A, of Christ Jesus by the will of God, his heart and mind were spirit-enabled to speak the inspired and the infallible Word of God. The Word of Paul is the Word of God. Therefore, by this greeting, Paul established not only the truth of what he will write, but also the authority that stands behind it. This letter to the Ephesians, like the whole of Scripture, is not just some man's good ideas or helpful suggestions. Rather, it is the universally true Word of God and His universally binding commandments for how we are to live. Yet even so, this greeting and the blessing it carries is restricted to His people. The second half of verse 1 tells us that this letter was written to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Well, who in Ephesus were the saints? What does it mean to be a saint? Religious men and women throughout the ages have sought to make themselves saints by making themselves holy. In the letter to the Colossians, Paul rebuked some who were trying just this. They tried to become holy by separating themselves from the contamination of the world. Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. or trying to free themselves from what they thought was the wickedness of the human body by treating it severely. And he rebuked others who demonstrated a proud spirituality in their self-imposed worship and their false humility. Such persons can be seen as spiritual. With a holiness that outshines regular Christians, and even within the church we can fall into the trap of seeing some as super-Christians. with a super-spirituality that is somehow closer to God. Was Paul writing to such as these, who were making the grade, and who were living the victorious Christian life? Not at all. For this is not what is meant to be a saint. That's not what it means to be a saint. To be a saint means to be set apart for holiness. It is a status bestowed by God on one whom he would have serve him. The Lord God Almighty set apart from all the nations, the nation of Israel, to serve him. And he set apart from all of Israel, the Levites, to serve as their priests in the temple. And he set apart from the Levites, the sons of Aaron, to serve him as high priests. In each case, he was setting aside a group of saints, holy ones for his service. And each of these groups, these holy ones, pictured the true holy one of Israel, the Messiah who was yet to come, and whom the saints would be, as Peter declared in 1 Peter 2, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. That's what it means to be a saint. set apart by God. The holiness and service. What does Paul mean by the faithful in Christ Jesus? Because the words in Christ Jesus in our text follow immediately after the faithful, we might get the wrong idea. Is Paul referring to those who know, that are known to be faithful, that is meaning they're trustworthy, they've shown themselves, to be worthy of being called faithful. This is a possible meaning for the word, but it defies Scripture and our own personal experience. Saints are certainly called to such faithfulness, but will never be faithful enough in this life to merit that title. Now, Paul is referring to the saints as those who are trusting in another, those who have faith, those who believe in Christ Jesus, trusting Him alone for their salvation, yet he's also saying much more. you see our eyes may have played a trick on us when we read this line in verse 1 when it says to the saints in Ephesus or the faithful in Christ Jesus we may have seen these words as two distinct ideas when in fact they're one in the original this letter is addressed to the saints who are faithful in other words to the saints who believe to those who are holy and believing because they're in Christ Jesus and who happen to live in Ephesus. Colossians 1.1 is written the same way and is translated to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae. You see, no one is faithful who is not a saint. And no one's a saint who's not faithful. And no one is a believer who is not holy. And no one is holy who is not a believer. But the saints, we as saints, are not holy, nor can we make ourselves holy in and of ourselves. Neither can we believe or make ourselves believe in and of ourselves. Saints who believe are saints, are believers, only because our holiness and faith come from another. And not just any other, but the Lord Jesus Christ alone. The Son of God who took to Himself flesh and dwelt among us. The Son of Man who lived a life of perfect holiness and of faithful obedience even unto death on the cross. The Holy One of God. The true and faithful Son. He accomplished redemption for His people, taking upon Himself their sins and meriting for them His righteousness. And His redemption is applied by the work of the Holy Spirit uniting them to Christ. You see, saints are holy and believers have faith only because they are in Christ Jesus. Our holiness is a gift from God in Christ. Our faith is a gift of God in Christ. You see, in Christ we're no longer dead, but we're alive. For the saints to live is Christ. And it is to the saints that Paul has written and God himself has spoken this effective blessing. You see, instead of simply greeting the saints, Paul blessed them, announcing grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Taken together, grace and peace sum up all the gifts of Christ to his people. In a sense, grace is the fountain from which the peace of God flows. And in this blessing, Paul is bestowing God's grace, His spontaneous and unmerited favor in action toward His people that flows out of His great mercy toward us who are needful because of His great love for us who are unlovable. Grace is entirely sovereign and unconditional on God's part, given always and only because it's His good pleasure to give it. And it's completely unmerited and undeniable on our part. Peace from God involves more than our reconciliation to God in Christ and to each other in Christ, although it is that and that is not unimportant. But this peace from God transcends all understanding and is marked by wholeness and fullness and the setting of all things right in the heavens and on the earth. It was bestowed on the church by Christ when He appeared after His resurrection to the disciples and pronounced, Peace be with you. It's comprehensive and includes all of creation as it is reconciled to God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet it is specific. It guards your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. What was Paul doing in writing this blessing? Paul as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ pronounced God's grace and peace to the saints who believe. And though it was written, it was written to be read to the saints in Ephesus. And it was recorded for us so that today too, we too, could read it. to the saints in Escondido. Well, is this blessing for us today? Some commentators understand this blessing as simply a statement describing the present condition of the saints, the fact that they're saints because God has shown His grace and peace to them. But Paul's blessing here is not a description. It expresses His purpose. It's purposeful. This blessing, grace and peace to you, expresses Paul's desire and God's desire for the saints. A desire for them to experience more fully that which is theirs in Christ. Grace and peace. Well, children, was Paul's desire merely a wish? As we might say as children, starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight that you would have God's grace and peace. I think not. And at the same time, it is more than a prayer that Paul offers up, trusting that the Lord will answer someday. Paul's pronouncement to the saints is that of grace and peace. This word of Paul, this word of God, is an effective blessing that grants the saints the reality of the blessing as they receive it by faith. Remember when Jesus appointed the 72 disciples to go out into Judea? When he prepared them to go two by two to proclaim the kingdom of God is near you, he said to them, he instructed them in Luke chapter 10, verses 5 and 6. When you enter a house, first say, peace to this house. If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him. If not, it will return to you. One blessing per household. Same blessing, every household. This blessing was either received or rejected. And if it was received, it was by faith. If it was rejected, it was because of unbelief. When this letter was read to the saints in Ephesus, Paul's blessing, God's blessing of grace and peace, was effectively bestowed to the saints who received it by faith. When this blessing is announced today by an ordained minister of the Word of God, it is granted anew to the saints who receive it by faith. Why is this so? Why can I say this? Well, it's not because there's anything in the minister himself that makes this announcement effective. He's not a magician who can say the right words and make God's grace and peace come upon you. Rather, it's because the minister of the Word is a commissioned apostle of God, a small a apostle, not a capital A like Paul, but one whom the church has recognized and ordained as one approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. See, there are no capital A apostles today, nor have there been since the canon of Scripture was completed and closed. Therefore, ministers of the Word are obligated to preach only the revealed Word of God. They're to contend for it. They're to guard that which has been entrusted to them, to the people of God by the prophets and the apostles, capital A. John Calvin, in commenting on these first two verses of Ephesians, said, Let us not doubt that God's Spirit speaks to us at this day by His mouth, neither let us hear the doctrine as if it were subject to our own judgment. The second Helvetic Confession, not one of our three forms of unity, but a faithful Reformed Confession nonetheless, begins in chapter 1 by saying that the preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. When it is preached by ministers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed and is received by the faithful. That is, believers. But note well that the word itself which is presented is to be regarded. Not the minister that preaches. Therefore, we are not to measure the value of God's word as it comes to us today or any day from a pulpit by an ordained minister of God. By how that minister measures up in our eyes. See, the saints must beware that they don't focus on the frail and broken vessels that God uses to proclaim His Word. Instead, they're focused on the treasure which they are to proclaim. And ministers must beware, following Paul's example of humility, to find no assurance in themselves. They have no native sufficiency or adequacy or ability, but they do what they do only because God has called them to do it. As the minister of the word appointed this day to preach God's word to you. I also spoke his blessing to the saints assembled here. This corporate worship began when I raised my hands and announced God's greeting. His blessing. In it God himself granted his grace and peace to those in Christ who received it by faith. By it, God himself brought the saints into his presence and has engaged with them in dialogue. We, speaking to God in songs of praise and offering of our gifts and our prayers to him. And he's speaking to us in his greeting, in his law, in his assurance of pardon, and in his word preached. And when it comes time to close, God will have the last word. Again, pronouncing His effective blessing on His saints who receive it by faith in His benediction. The opening and closing of worship are not mere formalities, people of God. They are the Word of God spoken to you. By His benediction this day, God Himself will dismiss the saints in Christ and go with them to serve Him in this world. Do you believe it? Will you believe it? It is so. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, having heard your word this day and having received the first blessing of preparing it, Lord, I must say I'm humbled to be the broken and bent instrument which you use to proclaim your word. And that is proclaimed that by faith the work of your spirit applies that word to your people. So that even this morning as your blessing was pronounced, your greeting was extended and your benediction will be now given. By faith the people of God receive that blessing. Help us all, Lord, to appreciate that when we come to worship, that we are in your presence by your design and by your grace. That we enter into your grace and peace here with you and that you send it out with us as you or yourself even go with us. Keep us, Lord, focused on the treasure and not the vessel. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.