and this time directly to the first chapter So the book of Ephesians in the New Testament, where last time, if you remember, not only did we read through it together, we also got a taste of one of its main themes, which is the riches of God's grace. In fact, you find that a couple of places in the book of Ephesians, the riches of God's grace. That theme is actually first introduced to us in the very first part of this letter, which is something that we find in just about all of Paul's letters, and that is a brief greeting. A brief greeting in which he first introduces himself as the author, of course we know that to be Paul. He then goes on to describe his audience. And then he makes an appeal to the Lord on their behalf. And one of the main things that he invokes in prayer for this church is God's grace. And so this is a very common way, not only for the Apostle Paul, but probably for others to have written these churches in different ways. There was always the author, the audience, and then also the appeal to the Lord. This pattern of greeting is something that we find in nearly all of Paul's letters. Again, author, audience, appeal. And even though that may have also been a common way for letters to begin back in his day, even if it wasn't a Christian letter or a letter directed to a church, under the inspiration of God, Paul uses this kind of salutation and transforms it into a distinct Christian form. And so this morning, we're going to look a bit more closely at really just the first two verses of this letter, which, if you remember, was most likely sent to a church which had a very special place in Paul's heart because of the history that they had together. And really, to introduce the letter of Ephesians, we have looked back at the church. of the Ephesians and we look how it was started with very small beginnings in the book of Acts and we saw how God built it and blessed it through his word and through the power of his spirit and we saw that there was really no barrier that the gospel would not be able to overcome. because of what God was doing in that place. And then, of course, we found even Paul himself was an ambassador in Bonds for that same gospel. And finally, he was able to reach out to them after probably something like five years, able to reach out back to these people in this place at that church to give them a letter that has been passed down from generation to generation, from church to church, so that we have it today. And so not only were they the first recipients, We, too, are the recipients of this letter as well. And so as Paul was an ambassador in bonds, as a prisoner for Jesus Christ, he writes these gracious words. First there in verse one, the author, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. Next, his audience to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. And then verse two, his appeal. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, even though these words may not be the main theme or the main thrust of the entire letter, Paul still uses these words to get the attention of this church and really to get our attention as well. Because through them, he wants us to remember some things. even through this brief salutation, these two verses, the very beginning of his letter. He wants us to remember things, and really three things that we're gonna look at. From the first part there, verse one, Paul wants us to remember the testimony of the author. He wants us to remember his own testimony about his personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And so, he again introduces himself, just like he's done in just about every other letter that he writes, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. Now Paul, if you remember, was not the name that he was first known by when we find him in the book of Acts. We're not going to turn back to Acts, we spent some time in there already, but that was not the name he was first known by when we come to him first in the book of Acts. Instead, when we hear about him persecuting the church, And when we hear about him standing as a witness to the stoning of Stephen, if you remember that first Christian martyr, he's actually called Saul instead of Paul. Saul was his Jewish name, and it was probably based on his own Jewish heritage because of the very first Saul that we're familiar with back in the Old Testament, King Saul, the very first king that God had put over his people. And that might have been a very desirable name for someone that was having a child and a boy in the Jewish faith. But in Acts chapter 9, when Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus, blinding him with that light from heaven that was above the brightness of the sun, it was that name that Jesus called him by. When Jesus says, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? So really Saul was the name that Paul went by probably for most of his life. It was probably the name that most of the people, especially in Israel, knew him by. And all that was true until, and really after, he was saved by the Lord through the gospel and then sent by the Lord to share the gospel. In fact, in Acts 13, verse nine, there's a transition in that verse for Paul. As he was confronting a sorcerer named Elymas, Luke makes a very brief comment about him. He says, then Saul, who is also called Paul, And from that moment on, in the rest of the book of Acts, he's known as Paul instead of Saul. Now, there's a few times in Acts where Paul will refer to himself as Saul, especially when he reminds other people about his testimony, but no longer is Paul known as Saul after Acts 13, verse 9. Why the change? Why the change? Well, since Paul was a Roman citizen as well as a Jew, he was given two names. His Hebrew Jewish name Saul means desired one, desired one. And maybe that was something that people would name their children thinking, oh, this is going to be an evidence that God is pleased with them, that God desires them, that God wants them. And that's why they came into this world. And yet he was also given a Latin or a Roman name, Paul, which means something really a lot different than desired one. It means the small one. The small one. Maybe it was a nickname that he got. I don't know. Maybe he was born small. Again, we don't know. But even though he may have been called the small one, whether it was his physical size or stature, I wonder if Paul wanted to be known by that name by everyone, both Jews and Gentiles, in order to remind them of his testimony. Because in himself, he would even go on to say, in himself dwells no good thing. In his own flesh there dwells nothing desirable to God. But really, he's just a small one before God. A small one because of what he had done to God, what he had said about God, what he had done to God's people as a persecutor, a blasphemer, an injurious, he would say. He says, there's really nothing in me that God should desire me. I am but a small one. And so I'm going to take that and I'm going to use that as a badge of honor ultimately. But he wanted to remind himself every time that name was given. And he wanted to remind the church every time he used that name of his personal testimony. And especially his personal testimony of change that God had made in his life through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The change. There was a change from his past. No longer was Saul, the great Saul, the great one who persecuted the Lord and his people. Now he would become the small Paul who served the Lord and his people. There was a great change from his past. Now that's a testimony. That's the kind of testimony that there ought to be in every single one of God's people. A change in your past, a change from your past, but in addition to this change, there was also a change in his purpose. even though he loved his people, the nation of Israel. And you get a sense from that as you look through all of his different letters. And he longed for his Jewish people, his Jewish relatives, his Jewish nation to come to know Christ as their savior. Yet God had another purpose for him. And that was to be a messenger to not the Jewish world, but ultimately to the Gentile world, which would take him on not just one or two, but three missionary journeys, going to places where no one had ever heard the name of Christ before. including those here in the city of Ephesus himself. That's the change that God did in the life of this man who was Saul, but chose to be identified with that other name, Paul, because there was a change through the gospel, a change from his past, a change in his purpose. This is the kind of change that will take place in anyone who turns to and trusts in Jesus Christ for salvation from their sin. In another place, in another one of his letters, Paul would even write this. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's what? A new creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. That's 2 Corinthians 5.17. Of course, that's what Jesus came to do. Not just for Paul, but for you and for me to change us, to transform us. to do a change and a work in our lives so that we are different from our past and we have a different purpose in our future. So with just his name, just this first word in this letter, Paul would have reminded himself and everyone else of his testimony and how Jesus changed him. There's a lot in that one word. There's a lot in that one name. Because as God changed his past and his purpose, God can and will change their past and their purpose and ours as well. So that the testimony of Paul can be our testimony as well. A testimony of change. But how does this happen? How is it that Paul was able to have that change, that transformation? How is it that he would no longer want to be considered a desired one, like the great Saul of the Old Testament, but rather just a small one? And the Paul that he would be known by, even though today we think of that name in rather grandiose terms. But it wasn't meant that way originally. The only way you can have a testimony of change is when you respond to the same Savior that Paul responded to. And that can only happen when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved. You need to see your need to be saved because of all of your sin. You need to repent of that sin and turn from the crimes that you've committed against God, but then, the mercy that we've been thinking about and singing about even from Psalm 6, then you can turn to and trust in God's only begotten Son who came and lived and died and rose again, all so that you might call upon Him to be merciful to you, sinner." That's what happened to Saul as he was on the road to Damascus and realized just how small he was. He need that change. And he responded to the grace of Christ in coming to him and confronting him. And that's why when you do that, you have the same testimony of great change, just like Paul and like so many others. As you would say in Romans 10 9, when you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. And when you're saved. You will be changed. And with that change will come transformation. And with that transformation will come use. You can be used by God because no longer do you have that past. You've been changed from your past, but he's then transformed you and given you a different purpose for living. Completely different than anyone else in this world who does not know Christ. Have you done that? Has there been a change in your life through the gospel of Jesus Christ? I think most of you could probably say yes. But maybe there's someone who here is thinking through, well, maybe I made a decision, or maybe I thought I made a decision, or maybe I raised a hand during a service, but am I really changed? Am I a new creation in Christ? If there's no change, there's likely no Christ. And if there's no Christ, then the gospel applies to you. You need to repent and turn to Christ alone for salvation. And you can do that right now. You can do that right now at this very moment. You can do that right now in your own heart, in your own seat. Behold, today is the day of salvation, because when you do, God will change you and transform you, just like he did Paul, just like he did so many others. But you know, that's only part of Paul's testimony, isn't it? That's not the end of Paul's testimony. Really, that's the beginning of his testimony, because even after he reminds us of his own name and his own identity as Paul in verse one, he then goes on to remind us of the commission that he received from the Lord. Not only the change that took place on the road to Damascus, but also the commission he received from the Lord, also on the road to Damascus, he describes himself next as an apostle of Jesus Christ. What's an apostle? An apostle is simply someone who is sent by another. That's what the word means. Someone who is sent by another, but especially in a more formal way. Especially with a commission to speak for another. So that's an apostle. Someone who is sent by another to speak for another. And as they speak for another, they represent that other person. But Jesus took this word, apostle, and used it to call some very special messengers who were given not only his words, but also his authority. So this is a little different than just a regular, ordinary, everyday messenger that some king would send to somebody. This is a messenger from heaven. This is a messenger from God. Jesus Christ himself called these men and then sent these men with both his word and his authority, and they would become what we would call the disciples. Not just a disciple, but the disciples, the apostles. And Paul became one of them. In fact, one of the qualifications to be one of the apostles of Christ that God would use to then build the foundation of this church was to actually personally see Jesus and be personally called by Jesus. If there's someone today who says and claims that they are the apostle or one of the apostles of Christ, it's not true. Because they've never personally seen Jesus. and they've never been personally called by Jesus and commissioned by Jesus face to face. That happened to all of the true apostles of Christ, including Paul. You can read a little bit more about that in the book of Galatians, as well as in the book of Acts. But in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul gives his own testimony about his commission as an apostle for Jesus Christ. He says, last of all, he, Jesus, was seen of me also. as one born out of due time. And you know, when we went through the gospel of John, we learned a little bit about all the other apostles. You got Matthew and James and John, the sons of thunder. And you have, of course, Judas Iscariot and the other Judas and Simon. You can go on. I probably can't name them all off the top of my head. But Paul recognized that he too was one of that group. He too was one of those apostles. And yet he says, but I was born out of due time. In fact, he even says, I am one of the least of the apostles are not one of the I am the least of the apostles that I'm not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But then he says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed on me, was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me. Paul recognized that everything that he was and everything that he did flowed from God's grace to him. He did not deserve to be saved. It was nothing but grace. He did not deserve to be sent. That was nothing but grace. And so when Paul was sent by the Lord, he had this testimony that he would then go for the Lord to serve Him, and he did so with all of his heart. If we truly understood the grace that it took to change us and to transform us and to save us and to send us. I think we, like Paul, would say, that grace that was bestowed on me was not in vain, but I will labor more abundantly than they all. That is, if we really understood how gracious God is to us, to save a wretch like me, How much more would we seek to serve him? How much more would we seek to tell others about him? How much more would we be active for him? That's what Paul did. Now, even though there are no more apostles than the ones who Jesus already called to lay the foundation of the church, all of God's people still have a commission from the Lord, don't we? To serve him and to share him with others. And that too can be our testimony, right? We're not just saved to sit and to soak We're saved to be sent, to sent to tell others about Him. Yes, to grow in grace, but also then to grow and to share others with others what He's done for us. When you've been changed by the Lord, don't you want others to be changed as well? From the depths of their sin, the depths of their despair, the depths of the danger that they're in because of their sin? That's what we ought to be doing. That's what motivated Paul. He says, by the grace of God, I am what I am. I don't deserve any of this, but since I've got it, I'm going to use it and going to share it with others. We can be confident that there will be fruit for our service because of something else that Paul reminds us then also in verse one, and that is the choice that he experienced from the Lord. This too is Paul's testimony. Paul has a testimony of his change, Paul has a testimony of his commission, but also it's all because of the testimony of God's choice that he experienced from the Lord. Paul owed his entire life and testimony to the gracious choice of the Lord. That's why he adds there in verse one, it's all by the will of God. It's all by God's will, not mine, God's will. Paul recognized that God saved him and God changed him according to his own will, his own purpose, his own choice. And that God then sent him and commissioned him according to his will as well. Not because of anything that God saw in Paul, but only to be an example of his mercy and a trophy of his grace. You know, sometimes we think, well, if God would just get a hold of this person, that person would be able to make great strides for the kingdom of God. That's not how God chooses. God chooses the least to confound the wise. God chooses the small ones, like a Paul. to be able to do greater things than the mightiest of them all. God chooses based on His will. And His will is really His own desire. That is what He wants. Because what God wants is most important. It's greater than what you want. It's greater than what I want. It's what He wants. And His desire is all based on His delight. What pleases Him. What he wants to do is what he desires to do, which is what he delights to do. And that is to be merciful to sinners like us, to be merciful to sinners like Paul. And he chooses us just like he chose Paul, not because of anything that God sees in us, but only so that he might show us as a trophy of his grace. And you think about trophies, right? I didn't get a whole lot of trophies growing up. Usually my trophies were those consolation prizes where if you did a walk-a-thon along with everybody else in the school or a run-a-thon, everybody got the same trophy. But you know what? Those trophies aren't nothing to be proud of. But when you think about yourself as a trophy, not of who you are or your choice or what you've done, but you are a trophy of God's grace and God's mercy and God's peace and the work of God through Christ in your life. He holds you up and says, see what I can do with someone who can't do anything for himself. That's grace. That's who Paul said he was. I'm this little one. I'm nothing. In my flesh there's no good thing, but yet it's the will of God. That is the desire of God. That brings about the delight of God. That brings about the salvation of sinners like Paul. This great truth about God's will and God's choice humbled Paul. And I think that's probably why he said, I don't want to be known as Saul anymore. I'm not desirable. Because I know my sin. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? I'm just a small one. I'm a small one, but you know, little as much as the song goes when God is in it. God can do much with something and someone that is so little. But this truth about God's choice and God's change and God's commission humbled him. It brought him time and time to his knees and utter gratitude to the Lord. And perhaps it was this great truth that he wanted the people in Ephesus to think about when he said, I am Paul, an apostle to Jesus Christ. by the will of God. When you listen to me, when you look at me, think of me not in terms of the great founder of your church. Think of me in terms of God's grace, of God's grace. You know, if God has set his mind on you to save you, if God has set his mind on you to change you, it's all because of his will. It's all because it's according to his desire and it is his delight. And what he starts in your life, He will complete. He will not leave that grace to chance. He will perform what he starts in your life. That great truth ought to humble you just like it humbled Paul. And so as you think about Paul's testimony, think about your testimony. Do you have one, first of all? Can you say, I've been changed? I've been commissioned all because of God's gracious choice. If that's true, then humble yourself and see yourself as a Paul. See yourself as a small one. But if not, that testimony can start today by turning to and trusting in Christ Jesus alone for salvation from your sin. And then that testimony is yours as well. It's all of God's grace. And that's why we can then live for him who died for us. So remember the testimony about the author. But then in the rest of verse one, Paul also wants us to remember the truth about the audience that he's writing to, the truth about the audience. And some of the things that God has done for his people, his church, starting there, but continuing in every church, because Paul is writing this letter, who's the audience again there, verse one, to the saints, which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Now, there are some translations that don't have the city of Ephesus in this verse. That's because a few of the older manuscripts that we have of Ephesus don't have that. It may have been a circular letter. We talked about that before, how it could go from one church to another church, and maybe there wasn't any particular church intended. However, more than likely, the church in Ephesus would have been one of those churches. And really, most manuscripts that we have of Ephesians do have Ephesus here, And yet they too would have been an audience of Paul's letter. So even in identifying Paul's audience, whether it was originally to a single church, like the church in Ephesus, or to several churches, everything he writes still applies to every church, including ours. Remember what we looked at when we learned in the book of Revelation in chapters two and three, when we were looking at Jesus's letters to the seven churches in Asia? And at the end of every single one, it said, let him who hears the Spirit, the Spirit speaking to the churches, right? And so a message for one church was a message to all churches. This book of Ephesians, though directed to one church, is really directed to all churches, including our own. And so we need to recognize that everything he writes still applies to us. So right from the beginning, Paul wants to remind us of some gracious truths that apply to his audience, to us. We are the audience of this letter. The first truth is the truth about our privilege in Christ. The truth about our privilege in Christ. And that privilege is that we are saints. We're saints. Now, in the Roman Catholic Church and in really some other, I guess, more of the high church denominations, a saint is often reserved for someone who is dead. Someone who has perhaps lived a very immaculate life on earth for Christ. And apparently they're supposed to be able to do some miracles or something like that. And then when they're in heaven, you know, maybe they are beatified and maybe they are considered a saint. But here we have saints as a very common way in the Bible to describe not just individuals, but all of God's people. Not while they're in heaven, but while they're here on earth. I think this is something that we don't use very often. We often might say, okay, church, or we might say brethren or brothers and sisters, but how often do we actually talk to each other as saints? And yet that's a very biblical way of describing the church in this world. We're saints if you know Christ as your saint. If you have the testimony of Paul, then you have this truth like Paul. That truth is you are a saint. You don't have to do any miracles to do that because the miracle's already been done for you. You've been transferred from darkness to light. You've been saved through Christ. You don't have to wait until you die to be a saint. You are a saint. Saint is a very common way in the scripture to describe all of God's people while still in this world. And to be a saint doesn't mean that you're perfectly holy. It means that you've been separated unto God by God. That is, you've been put apart. You've been chosen out of this world. And now you are no longer part of this world. You are part of His family. You're part of His kingdom. You are His saints. You'll continue, He will continue to work in you and change you to be more holy, truly, because He is holy. And so you will become more, hopefully, saintly as you are a saint. But a saint is just a picture of the privilege that we have in the gospel. If you have a testimony of salvation and change like Paul did, that is true. You are one of God's saints. You are one of God's sanctified ones. You are one of God's separated ones. And that is true no matter how saintly you are because God calls you as he sees you in your connection with Christ. What a privilege we have as Christians. He sees us through the lens of Jesus Christ. This morning, just before Sunday school as we were about to sing, my wife had to take her glasses off because she couldn't see the words in the hymn book. She has an appointment to go to the doctor and get her prescription changed, right? But imagine what things look like if you have a different prescription. It might be a little bit more clear, it might be a little more hazy. But when God the Father looks at you, if you are one of his saints, he looks at you through the lens of his own son, Jesus. And Jesus is holy. Jesus is perfect. Jesus is completely pure. And so he calls you as his child, the way he sees you through Christ. You are his saint. because you are holy in Christ. Now, that doesn't mean that you won't grow in holiness, because that is the whole point of the Holy Spirit, to bring you more and more holy as he is holy, but that's who you are. That's the truth about you that we need to live according to and be excited about. What a privilege. because that privilege also brings with it a responsibility. And in fact, later on in chapter five, verse three, Paul will say that we need to live as become saints. So in other words, live as who you are, be who you are. If you're a saint, then live saintly lives. And he explains what that is throughout this book. There are things that we need to flee because we're saints. And then there are some things that we need to pursue because we're saints. But one day we will be as saintly, if you will, and as holy as we need to be and ought to be when we are in heaven with Him. Remember this truth about your privilege in Christ. You are one of God's saints even now. And because of that truth, you are free to live your life for Him. God calls you as He sees you in Christ. But then there's another truth that Paul brings out, and that is about our place. about our place, because even though we may be saints to God, we're saints who still live in this world. Just like the original audience. These are the saints where? Not in heaven. These are the saints at Ephesus. The saints at Greenfield. The saints at Grace Baptist Church of Greenfield. This is the place. Of course, if you remember, when we look back at the city of Ephesus, it was a spiritually dark place in ancient times. I mean, it had that massive temple to the goddess Diana, and there was untold wickedness that took place in that temple. It was a spiritually dark and wicked place, and yet, it's maybe a little bit more external than the wickedness that we see in our own places, and in our own times, in our own town. We live in a very spiritually dark world, and yet we're called to be saints at Ephesus, saints in Greenfield, saints in this world. Even though it was a spiritually dark place, God still went down to them, to that place, and found them in that place, and saved them from that place. Isn't this what Jesus does? If you think back, we read a few months ago, maybe a month or so ago, when God himself was going to go to Abraham and to let him know what he was going to do to Sodom and Gomorrah, where Lot was. And he sent his angels to go into that place, that dark, wicked place, to save him and his family from that place and to rescue him. He still does that even now. What God did there and then, he still does here and now, even though we may still be in a place like Ephesus. or even like Greenfield. We are no longer of such a place. God has made a difference between us and the world. We're saints at wherever we live. He's made a difference between us and the world so that we might be a light in it and a salt to it. The question, though, that we need to ask ourselves, is there this difference in our lives? If we are saints at Ephesus, if we are saints at Greenfield or wherever we live in this world, is there a difference where people can see that person is saved, that person has been sent, that person is a saint, changed and commissioned by the Lord according to his will? Is that visible? Is it seen, is it heard? If you're a saint, You're a saint no matter where you live in this world. And I appreciate Brother Art's prayer as he was praying for our brothers and sisters, the saints that are in North Korea or in Sudan or in Ukraine or in so many other places where there's persecution, where there's suffering, where they're struggling. This is a dark world in which we live, and yet we're saints in it, even though we're not saints of it anymore. He's changed us. and we need to live according to that. We need to be different and be that light in this world. But then we find another truth, even a third truth that we need to live by in this verse, and that is the truth of our position, our position as Christians and as a church. So our privilege, our place, and also our position, another truth. And that is found at the end there, verse one, where we are also called faithful in Christ Jesus. faithful in Christ Jesus. Some translations might have it believers in Christ Jesus. So it's another explanation of how someone becomes a saint. Of course, you can only be a saint if you believe in Jesus Christ. That's true. But once you do, once again, God sees you through the lens of his own son, Jesus, and he even sees you as faithful. How faithful really are we? Well, if you're anything like me, you go through back your day, you go through back your week, and you think, boy, I wasn't faithful there, I wasn't faithful there, I wasn't faithful there, I wasn't faithful there. And we're unfaithful people. Why? Because we still have that old man in us. We still have that sinful nature in us. And we need to strive to even be more faithful by the grace and spirit of God. But how are we faithful? We're faithful in Christ, in Christ Jesus. Jesus was faithful in everything. On Sunday nights, we're looking at the faithfulness of God and the faithfulness of Christ. In Hebrews, it says that Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed him. God the Father appointed Jesus to do all of these things, and Jesus was and still is faithful in every single bit of those things. And so it's not our faithfulness that counts. It's his faithfulness. And that faithfulness that we have in our position with Christ is now a faithfulness that we can pursue through the power of Christ. That's our position as Christians and as a church. In fact, this is just one of the many places in the first chapter where we find even more things that we have in Christ. That phrase, in Christ, is repeated over and over and over again. We'll start looking at that next Sunday. But this is a spiritual way to describe our union with Christ. We're united in Christ when we're saved. And now his faithfulness becomes ours. His blessings become ours. Everything he has becomes ours. And that does not necessarily mean that you experience all of them at once in all of their fullness. But they're still yours because of your new position in Christ. And one of those great blessings is right here in the very introduction of this letter, God sees you as faithful. Not because of your own faithfulness that we struggle with every single day, but because of the faithfulness of Jesus, who is completely faithful to his Father for us. So right here from the beginning of this letter, I think Paul wants to encourage us by these great truths. Paul wants to encourage. He's going to go through some challenging things in Ephesians, but he wants to encourage true believers. He wants to encourage the church, anyone and everyone who's in Christ. Remember the great privilege you have, the great position that you have in Christ, even while you live in your own place in this dark world. God has called you and considers you as he sees you in Christ, so that now you are free to grow in his grace. You're free to become more and more in practice what God has already given you in principle. You are a saint in this world, so strive to live this way. You are faithful in Christ, so strive to be this way, and God will enable you to do so. Never forget these soul sustaining truths that he just touches on in this verse. But then as we go on to verse two, there's a third thing that Paul wants us to remember, and that is the troubles that we still face in this world and our need for the very things that he makes his appeal to God for us about. What does he pray for? What does he desire? What does he invoke for the church? His grace, God's grace, and God's peace. Grace to you, he says, and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. This phrase, grace to you, is actually the phrase that I think John MacArthur used to start his own organization where he would be able to give messages over the radio and various things. Isn't this what we need still as Christians? God's grace. God's grace to help in time of need. And yet, where do we find the treasury of grace? In God Himself. Again, we mentioned last time, the riches of God's grace. In Paul's day, though, grace and peace were common ways for people to greet each other as they pass by. Of course, in the Old Testament, and even today, if you are a Jew and you live in Jewish circles, you might say to someone, shalom, peace, shalom, peace, just as a greeting. Or even in Roman times, people would say, speaking Greek, they'd say, kyrein, which is grace, or cheers, grace to you. Well, here, Paul takes that common greeting, both of those common greetings, transforms them into a prayer and appeal for God to give us all we need to help us with all the troubles, all the trials, all the tribulations that we face in Ephesus, in our world, in our city, in our towns, in our neighborhoods, in our own homes. The truth is we still need God's grace, don't we? God's favor and blessing. because of our sin and because of our struggles. We need His favor and blessing more today than we ever have. We need it to grow. We need His grace so that we might keep growing in our privileges and in our place and in our position in Christ. God's grace is His help so that we might be what God has saved us and called us to be. I hope none of us are thinking, boy, I'm exactly where I ought to be as a Christian. Because we ought to continue to grow in grace and knowledge. And it's God's grace that helps us grow. But we also still need God's peace, peace for ourselves and peace for others. And again, Paul sets the example of how to pursue and receive God's peace. It's an appeal. It's through prayer. What does Paul say? What do we find, I should say, in Hebrews 4, 16, when it says, Do you need grace in your life? Yes. Do you need peace? Peace that no one else can take away? The world cannot take away, that we were saying about earlier. Like Paul, make this same appeal. Grace and peace to you. And you know, we can make that appeal, that prayer, because God will give it to us. It says here, from God our Father. You know that God is your Father and God cares for you? And since God cares for you, do you think that he's going to withhold a prayer like this? Lord, I need grace. Paul says, God, give them grace. Do you think God is going to, as the Father who cares for his people, going to restrain and withhold that grace that we need? No. God cares, and he's willing to give these blessings to us because of the riches of his grace. We can also make this appeal because it's from the Lord Jesus Christ as well. God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Lord, Jesus is in charge of us. He's the one who commissioned Paul. He's the one who sends us. Do you not think that he will give us what we need to live for him, no matter what trouble we face, no matter what sin we go through, no matter what struggle we have, no matter what suffering we experience? Because God cares. Because God is in charge. He will give us all the grace and peace when we need, when we just go to him for it. So these are some things that we need to remember, especially as we come to the book of Ephesians. And really, you could probably take this template of a message and apply it to every single book that it's introduced this way. But what do we need to remember? Three things. Remember the testimony of the author. Remember the truths of the audience. And remember the troubles that brought about the appeal for God's grace and peace, and then strive to live according to those things even today. Appeal to God. Appeal to God for the grace and peace that we need as we remember these truths and as we share our testimony. Let's close in prayer. Father, we want to thank you again for this day and for the opportunity we've had to look at these two verses from the book of Ephesians. Lord, what a way to start a letter. I can't remember the last time I actually got a personal letter from someone, but even the ones that I did get usually didn't start off this way. But Lord, what a way to start a letter. What a way for you to inspire Paul to bring to remembrance his testimony, the truths about them as your people, as well as the troubles that they have in their own life in which they still need your grace and peace. And Lord, we recognize in that author and in that audience and in that appeal ourselves. Oh Lord, if there's someone here who does not have the testimony like Paul has, a testimony of real spiritual change, where they were changed from one thing into another, where they were transformed from one kind of creature, one kind of person into another, because of your grace. I pray, O Lord, that you might save them. Save them through Christ. Help them to see their need for Christ. And then, Lord, help us to remember that we also then have a testimony of commission, of being sent to others for Christ, to tell others about Jesus. Father, I pray that you'll help us also to, with that testimony, remember the truths These wonderful truths about our privilege and about our position in Christ, even while we're still in this world, a dark, dark place. And so, Father, help us to make that same appeal because of the troubles and the trials that we go through even today. Lord, we need your grace. We need your peace today. because I don't have the kind of testimony that I need to have, or because I've forgotten the very truths that Paul tells me about and reminds me about here, Lord. I need your grace and truth. And so, Father, pour it out upon us. Pour it out into us as your people, so that we can live according to the very nature that you've given us in Christ. I pray, Lord, that you'll bless our time in this book. For it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.