Sermon Tone Analysis

Sermon audio available [[here|http://www.firwoodchurch.com/podcast/his-glorious-grace-i-by-the-will-of-god-ephesians-11-2/]].

! 1. INTRODUCTION

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!! a.

The Big Picture

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I begin, up front, by setting out this morning’s sermon plan.

I am interested in three phrases that will prove to be dominant themes throughout the first three Chapters of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

The phrases are,

• ‘by the will of God’;

• ‘in Christ Jesus’;

• and, ‘Grace to you’

In order to begin to understand the second two phrases, ‘in Christ Jesus’ and ‘Grace to you’, we must first understand what Paul intends when he writes that he is ‘an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God’.

To help us unpack this further (and to provide us with a context for the remainder of the letter), we should begin by addressing the first word of the letter: ‘Paul’.

We begin with Paul, not because he is the star of this letter and nor does he wish to be the focus of our attention.

Paul is not the point of this letter, but he is a case study, an exemplar of the effectiveness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Indeed, this is why the New Testament (and Paul himself) repeatedly reminds us of the circumstances of his conversion.

Luke recounts the story on three occasions in Acts alone (Acts 9:1-30, 22:1-21 and 26:1-23) and Paul directly on three occasions (Galatians 1:13-17, 1 Corinthians 15:8-10 and Philippians 3:4-11) and indirectly on another seven occasions (Romans 10:2-4, 1 Corinthians 9:1, 16-17, 2 Corinthians 3:4-4:6, 5:16, Ephesians 3:1-13 and Colossians 1:23-29).

Paul intends unbelievers and believers to recall his testimony and therein find hope of salvation,

But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

(1 Timothy 1:16)

To make sense of what Paul intends by his opening introduction as ‘an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God’, we must consider the circumstances of his conversion and how it is he came to be an apostle of Christ.

!! b.

The Blinding Light of Christ

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Luke introduces Paul, (formerly Saul of Tarsus), in the latter part of Chapter 7. We read about the stoning of Stephen a deacon and evangelist in the early church and we are told that ‘the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul’ (Acts 7:58) and, later, that this same ‘Saul approved of [Stephen’s] execution’ (Acts 8:1).

The question we must then ask is what happened to change this Saul from a killer of Christians into an apostle, church planter and writer of more than a fair share of the New Testament?

John Calvin, the great Reformer, observes that because of Saul’s ill intentions towards the Church of Christ, the glory of Christ shines forth all the more brightly in his conversion,

'For which it was the more incredible that he could be so suddenly tamed.

And whereas such a cruel wolf was not only turned into a sheep, but did also put on the nature of a shepherd, the wonderful hand of God did show itself therein manifestly.'

Luke describes the circumstances of Saul’s conversion in Chapter 9 and, as we read, I want those of us who believe to see that the events outlined by Luke reflect the circumstances of our own conversion.

For those who do not yet believe, I ask you to read carefully and consider how a persecutor and killer of Christians could become a slave of Christ Jesus and a servant of the Church.

For those who do not believe, I pray that you would be convicted by this account and that through it, you to might be transformed.

!!! i. Breathing threats and murder (v.

1-2)

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Acts 9:1-2

'But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.'

Luke picks up Saul’s story and it appears that little has changed with regards to his animosity towards the Way, the followers of Christ.

In Chapters 7 and 8, Saul was watching the coats and approving of those who murdered Stephen, we are now told that Saul was ‘still breathing threats and murder’ and that he planned to round up more believers in Damascus and bring them back to Jerusalem presumably to be executed.

It is not clear from this text, but it is apparent from the rest of Scripture that this description matches the reality of who we once were before Christ rescued us.

Consider the following passages,

'And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.' (Ephesians 2:1-3)

And,

'And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds' (Colossians 1:21)

And again,

'For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' (Romans 5:6-8)

The truth is that before Christ reached out and saved us we were living in enmity towards God and in hostility towards the very the things of God.

This is why repentance is necessary (not merely optional) in coming to Christ.

We repent of a life of God-hating, self-pleasing, ungrateful rebellion.

!!! ii.

Suddenly (v. 3)

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Acts 9:3

'Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.'

How I love that simple word, ‘suddenly’.

Saul is intent on murdering those who follow Christ and ‘suddenly’ (as we will read) Christ intervenes.

Saul is walking in the darkness carrying out deeds of darkness and ‘suddenly’ the light of Christ shines and knocks him to the ground.

For some of us this ‘suddenly’ may have felt as urgent and as unexpected as Luke describes.

Perhaps we were actively pursuing a sinful activity when we ‘suddenly’ came to our senses and the call of a loving God seemed real and urgent and immediate.

For some of us, however, our conversion may have felt anything but sudden.

We may vividly recall the way in which Christ wooed us through conversations, sermons and the witness of friends over a prolonged period of time.

We may remember moments and situations months, perhaps years prior to our conversion which later proved formative.

Consider, however, who you were without Christ and the kind of life you pursued before he miraculously intervened.

We understand the suddenness of this rescue when we consider who we were and the life that we lived when apart from Christ.

We realise and understand that we were radically depraved sinners deserving of wrath and without a hope in this world and then suddenly and unexpectedly Christ intervened and everything changed.

!!! iii.

Why are you persecuting me (v.

4)

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Acts 9:4

'And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"'

Jesus knocks Paul to the ground and confronts him with hard words, ‘why are you persecuting me?’ Notice that Jesus does not say, ‘Paul, why are you persecuting my people?’ or ‘why are you persecuting my church?’, but he instead he asks, ‘why are you persecuting me?’.

There are two principles underpinning Christ’s perspective with regards to Paul’s persecution of the church.

The first principle is universal in its application: when it comes to sin, God is invariably the most wronged party.

When we sin we may offend others and harm ourselves, but, invariably, God is the most wronged party.

This is important to remember because you may be an unbeliever and believe that you are tolerant towards Christianity and other peoples’ view and think that you are off the hook just because you do not persecute the church.

All sin, all disobedience and all wickedness offend God.

More than this, in all our sin God is always the most offended person.

He is offended because sin is contrary to his nature (he is a holy God) and because we are his creatures (and sinful rebellion is the ultimate act of ingratitude).

The second principle is specific to the persecution of the Church.

The Scriptures plainly teach that the Church is inseparably bound to Christ.

In Chapter 2, Paul describes the Church as a household in which Christ, the chief cornerstone, holds the entire structure together and enables growth (Ephesians 2:19-22).

In Chapter 4, the Church is described as a body which grows up into the head, which is Christ (Ephesians 4:15-16).

And, in Chapter 5, the Church is a bride, betrothed, rescued and washed clean by the Christ, the great Bridegroom (Ephesians 5:22-33).

The implications of this are clearly seen in Luke’s account of Paul’s conversion.

To attack the Church of Christ is to wage war against Christ.

This also makes sense of the term anti-Christ.

To oppose the Church of Christ is to be anti-Christ.

Such is the intimate spiritual bond joining believers to Christ that Christ takes any attack upon those who are his incredibly personally; ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ (v.

4).

There is a sobering warning here for those of us who are swift to criticise other churches, ministries and believers without justification.

We should beware lest our gossiping and critical tongue lead us into persecuting the Church of Christ and, in doing so, we find ourselves in opposition to Christ.

We should be slow and exceedingly cautious before condemning those who profess to be believers lest we find ourselves numbered among those who persecute Christ.

!!! iv.

Undeniably God (v. 5)

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Acts 9:5

'And he said, "Who are you, Lord?"

And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.'

Paul’s response is equally interesting, ‘Who are you, Lord?’.

The Greek word kurios, here translated ‘Lord’; is a wide ranging term and can be used in deferring to an earthly master or someone in authority to a direct reference to God himself.

I suspect that Saul uses the word kurios because he recognises that this is a heavenly encounter (perhaps he believes the voice to be an angel).

It is unlikely, however, that he immediately concludes that this is Jesus and his question ‘Who are you…?’

should probably be taken at face value.

Significantly, however, when Jesus does identify himself, the conversation ends and we must conclude that Saul immediately accepts the truth of who Christ is.

If the stumbling block for Saul (referred to in Acts 26:14) was the notion of a crucified Messiah, then his confrontation with the risen and exalted Jesus overcame any resistance.

It is good for believers and unbelievers alike to ask deep searching questions of Scripture and of God.

However, there comes a time when Christ reveals himself and compels obedience and, at which point, conversation ends.