Join Dr. John Kyle as he delves into the practical application of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Learn how doctrine and application intricately weave together in the life of a Christian. Discover the profound spiritual blessings that believers receive through Christ and how these gifts can transform our daily lives. Through Scripture, we explore the call to live worthy of our high calling, embracing both humility and the service of others as central to our faith journey.
Welcome to Expository Truths, where we exalt Christ by bringing clarity of truth through the scriptures with Dr. John Kyle, pastor of Faith Community Church in Vacaville. As Christians, we’re called to know the truth and be able to proclaim it. We can know truth when we know the Word of God, which is precise, without error, and powerful and effective for both salvation and spiritual growth. Enjoy digging deeply with Dr. Kyle as he takes us verse by verse through the powerful book of Ephesians, giving us a marvelous summary of the good news of Christ and its implications for our daily lives.
SPEAKER 01 :
Please turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 through 3. Ephesians 4, 1-3. The letter of Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul to the Christians living in the city of Ephesus. Paul wrote this while he was under house arrest in Rome, and he wrote it to lay a proper doctrinal foundation for these believers, chapters 1-3, so they could then live out those doctrines for the glory of God, chapters 4-6. Last time we finished the doctrinal section of this letter, and now we begin to look at the practical section of this letter. How we can practically live out that doctrine for the glory of God. Now please note that while that’s true, There was indeed great application for us found in chapters 1 through 3, even though we were in the doctrinal section. And there’s still some deep doctrines that’s found in these final three chapters of Ephesians, even though this is the application section. See, doctrine and application aren’t really that separated, but they really do flow together. And we see that here in Ephesians. If you remember, Paul just finished a wonderful prayer. For these Ephesian believers, and now he begins this section with the word, therefore. Okay, therefore what? Well, let’s look. Chapter 4, verse 1. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love. endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Now, here in this passage we see the fact, which is this, that Paul the prisoner beseeches these Ephesian Christians. Again, he starts out by saying, I therefore, and note that word therefore. Therefore is a term of conclusion. And it shows us what should result from what he’s been previously saying. Okay, so what then has he been previously saying? Well, just a few important things. Like what? Like how these Gentile believers have been blessed with every spiritual blessing like that. All right. Blessings like what specifically? Well, as believers, how he chose us and he adopted us and he showered us with undeserved grace and he redeemed us. He forgave us of all our sins that condemned us. He revealed his truth to us, his saving truth. He promises a great inheritance in the future for us as believers. And He gives us His Spirit who lives in us and who guarantees what is to come. Okay, just blessings like that. Just a few of them. Incredible. Incredible blessings. This is true blessing He’s talking about. Eternal blessing. Soul-saving blessing. And that’s just the first 14 verses of chapter 1. the rest of chapter 1 all the way through to the end of chapter 3, continue to show these believing Gentiles in Ephesus how amazing God has been to them. I mean, they were once spiritually dead in their sin and condemned to eternity in hell, but look, they’ve now been made alive in Christ, which is absolutely everything, right? It means everything that truly matters. They once belonged to Satan, but now they belong to God. They were by nature children of wrath, but now because of Christ, they’ve been made new and they’re now beloved children of God. See, God poured out His mercy and His love upon them when they didn’t deserve it in any way. They were once far off from Christ and they had absolutely no hope, but now they’ve been brought near by the blood of Christ. Christ alone is our peace. And He’s the one who’s broken down the enmity between us and God. And also between Jewish believer and Gentile believer. And so He reconciles us to God. And He reconciles us to each other. And He makes us one. And now we have access to God. And now we can cry out to Him and say, Abba, Father. And He will respond to us in love. Come on, how good is our God to undeserving sinners like us? And we’re still only in chapter 2. It goes on, but the point is very clear. Look at all the amazing things that God has done for these believers in Ephesus. And then there’s this. He’s done the same thing for us as Christians today, right? The same thing. Not to mention the incredible love that God has bestowed upon all of us in Christ, let alone the power that He’s given to us as His people that He indwells. It’s incredible. So now what? Now what? In light of all these incredible truths, now what? Well, Paul tells us. Before we get to that, please note that Paul is a prisoner. He mentions that at the beginning of chapter 3. And here at the beginning of chapter 4, he mentions it again. Why? Why? Because he wants them to know that following and honoring Christ is worth it. Even if it lands you in prison. It’s worth it. that because of what Christ has done, for all of us who believe, chapters 1 through 3, look, living out our faith and glorifying Christ is worth it, even if it comes at a very, very high cost. It was certainly worth it to Paul, and so Paul highlights the fact that he’s Christ’s prisoner, and guess what? Paul has no regrets. No regrets. None at all. I mean, after Paul got saved on the road to Damascus, God said, I will show Paul how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake and ever since that day paul did indeed suffer greatly because of his faith he suffered greatly because of his calling but again no regrets no regrets at all why because christ is all that matters and to have him is to have everything right he saved your eternal soul from hell and gave you heaven what else matters compared to that what else matters compared to him remember what happened It was at the end of his third missionary journey, near the end of the book of Acts, that Paul lovingly raised a gift from the Gentile churches and he had personally taken that financial gift to Jerusalem to help alleviate the suffering of the Jewish Christians in that city. It was a wonderful gift, a generous gift, and it was something that would unite the Jewish and Gentile wings of the church together in love. But remember, when he got there to Jerusalem, some Jews saw Paul in the temple and then they started a riot by falsely accusing Paul of bringing some Gentiles from Ephesus beyond the barrier in the temple, which was forbidden. The riot led to Paul being beaten nearly to death, which was their intention. They wanted to kill him. And then it led to Paul’s imprisonment, which got him entangled up in the Roman judicial system. that led him to being transferred to Rome where he suffered a shipwreck during the transport. And now Paul’s finally under house arrest in Rome. What does that mean? It means that while he was chained to a guard 24-7, he was also able to conduct a limited ministry. Like what? Well, he was able to receive visitors. That’s good. He was able to write letters like the Ephesus. He was also able to minister to those who came to him. And note that while this isn’t as bad as it could get, hey, it’s not a cakewalk either, right? He hadn’t done anything wrong and he’s in prison. I mean, that’s not easy even if it’s under house arrest. Now look, at this point, Paul is about five years into this particular prison thing. He started out as a prisoner in Jerusalem. He was then moved to Caesarea, where he spent a couple of years there in that prison. And then he was transferred to Rome, and he was there for two more years, wrongfully. And this is where he now finds himself. So be it. Right? Because he trusts the Lord. See, Paul knows that God knows what God’s doing, and Paul rests in that fact. So what does he do? Well, he glorifies God in prison. Right? Note that Paul’s imprisonment in Rome wasn’t the first time that Paul was put into prison, nor the last, remember? In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison for troubling the city with the good news of Christ. These men exceedingly trouble our city. They teach customs that aren’t lawful for us being Romans to observe. The leaders of the city then tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And then they laid many stripes upon them. They were then put into the painful stocks in prison. You remember what they did? Remember? They sang, right? They sang. They weren’t in there for long, like Paul was now in Rome, but long or short, it doesn’t matter. I’m just along for the ride. And my call is clear. Be faithful and honor my God, whom I love, wherever my God has me. That’s it. Later on, Paul will again be put into prison in Rome. But it won’t be under house arrest, no. It’ll be the dreaded and miserable Mamertine Prison, which is where Paul found himself when he wrote 2 Timothy about five years later. According to tradition, the Mamertine Prison was constructed in about 640 B.C., and it was originally created as a cistern, as a well. And so prisoners were lowered through an opening into that lower dungeon. The only light was through that opening and there were no bathrooms there either. It was wretched. It was wretched. Dungeons like that were temporary because they were so horrible. And since the prisoners in this prison were most certainly going to die, hey, who cares how wretched their conditions were before their actual deaths? That was the thought anyway. The conditions were filthy. And living for a long time in those conditions wasn’t possible. Many of these prisoners were tortured before their incarceration, and that very well could have been Paul’s reality. An ancient historian named Salus said that it was 12 feet underground and described its appearance as disgusting and vile by reason of the filth and the darkness and the stench. That’s what lay ahead for Paul, and it’s going to end with his head being chopped off because of his faith. because of his love for Christ, because of his calling by God, because of his one aim in life now as a saved man of glorifying the Lord. So yeah, Paul knew prison well. Not before he was saved, not at all, but after he was saved. But again, here’s the point of Paul bringing up prison again, that Christ is worth all of it. That living out your faith is worth all the pain that this world can give. It’s even worth your head. And so Paul beseeches the Ephesian Christians and all of us in Christ today. He begs. That’s what the word means. He earnestly asks. He continually pleads. What? Walk worthy of your calling. I can hear Paul. Oh, please. I beg you. I can’t beg you enough. Please, please. Walk worthy of your calling. Note that this isn’t a command by Paul, but instead this is a heartfelt appeal from the depths of Paul’s heart to our hearts as Christians. Walk worthy of your calling. What calling? It’s talking about your calling to salvation. You’re calling from death to life. You’re calling to Christ. The calling that all Christians have. So the plea here is that these Christians would walk worthy as children of God, as citizens of heaven, as the saved, as the redeemed of God. You’re saved now, see? And God has done so very much for you when you least deserved it, so now live up to that. Live worthy of that. The word for worthy is from the Greek word axios. It refers to having the same weight as something else. Like a set of scales that balance with the same weight on one side as on the other side of the scale. The word indicates equivalence. For example, a person is worthy of his pay was a person whose day’s work corresponded to his day’s wages. And here we see that a person’s walk is on one side of the scale and his calling is on the other side of the scale. The idea here then is this, that our manner of life weighs as much as the gospel that we profess to believe. that there’s a corresponding balance between our profession and our practice. Look, our profession is that we are Christians. We are saved by God’s grace alone, by faith alone, by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. That’s our profession. Our practice then is that we live like that, that we live like Christians, that we live like Christ himself. And so our conduct should balance the scales with the other side of the scale being Christ. Talk about a high calling. This is indeed something that will never be truly attained to in this life, this side of glory. However, this is our aim, right? This is our goal as lovers of Christ. And this is indeed something that we can be growing in more and more with God’s Spirit living in us and with His mighty Word at our fingertips. In Philippians 1.27, Paul tells those believers to let your conduct be worthy of the gospel. Same idea as in Ephesians. The word conduct is interesting, however, because it’s the word used for citizenship. So in Philippians, Paul ties in a worthy walk with understanding where your true citizenship is at. So in Ephesians, Paul says to walk worthy because of who you are, right? You’re a Christian. You’re a child of God. You’re a soul that’s been called out of darkness into His marvelous light. And then in Philippians, he says the same thing, but with just a little different twist. Walk worthy because of who you are. You’re a citizen of heaven. Same idea, right? Good to remember, too. Good to remember. In many places, the Apostle Paul says that we are strangers and pilgrims on this earth as Christians. Same idea. Peter… uses the term pilgrim in 1 Peter as an encouragement for suffering Christians who were being tortured and killed by that psycho Nero. Nero not only persecuted Christians and he not only killed Christians, but he had fun doing it. He loved it. See, Nero had parties at night in his gardens and to give light, Nero would nail Christians on crosses and he would then light them on fire to serve as torches as the people celebrated. Within a few months, Christians were imprisoned, racked, seared, broiled, burned, scourged, stoned, and hanged. Others were lacerated with hot knives and some were thrown onto the horns of wild bulls. It’s believed that Peter himself was put to death under Nero’s persecution. And it’s no wonder why Peter starts off his first letter by calling these Christians pilgrims. Why? because they desperately needed to remember that fact. It’s coming, and it’s going to get worse. Better remember who you really are. Better remember who your true king is. Better remember where your real home is at. Better remember what this is really about, right? We are pilgrims who are only passing through. We are citizens of heaven, not here. Christians, that’s who we are. We are Christians who have God Almighty as our good Father. That’s good to remember, and that’s important to live in light of. Look. This world has nothing lasting to offer us. Right? Don’t we see that more and more? This world’s joys are fading and fleeting. We can’t say that enough. This world’s goods all rust and rot. They never, ever, ever can truly satisfy. This world is miserable and empty without Christ. What this world has to offer leads to emptiness and it leads to vanity. Because Christ alone is the only one who can truly satisfy. Money can’t. Fame can’t. Other people, even your spouse, even your child can’t. Drugs and alcohol can’t. Sex can’t. Earthly goods can’t. Nothing can truly satisfy and fill that void except for Jesus Christ alone who saves and forgives and rescues us and gives true purpose and gives true meaning and makes everything else seem meaningless because guess what? Everything else is meaningless. Stop wasting your life away being miserable And surrender to Christ. And when you do, you’ll see this truth for yourself. You’re so frazzled, you know, searching and seeking and looking for meaning and everything except for Christ. When He’s the one thing that you’re searching for and He’s right here. And He saves all who truly surrender to Him in repentant faith. Anybody? He changes everything. Anybody? Right? And with forgiveness in eternal life comes meaning and purpose and joy and hope and love and grace from God. A God worth living for and a God worth dying for. He changes everything. And there’s many here who would gladly die for Him today because we know that He’s worth it. Here’s my head, Lord! Instant glory! Here’s my head! You’re worth it! Like Paul. And so because of him and what he’s done for us, and because of who we are, and where our true home is, and because of what’s coming for us as his beloved children, our great aim in life is to live worthy of his high calling. Because this matters, this lasts, this pleases him. The one that we love so very much. Alright, how? How do I live a life worthy of his calling? Well, Paul has five ways that we can walk worthy. Now, of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list, no, because the rest of the book shows us how we can walk worthy of our very high and holy calling. But this short list is a good way to start. And look, it all has to do with how we treat one another in Christ. Isn’t that interesting? It starts here. This is where it begins in the family. So let’s look. Five ways to walk worthy. First, walk with lowliness. With all lowliness, it says. The word for lowly here literally means to think or judge with lowliness. It speaks of humiliation of mind, lowly thinking, unpretentious behavior, a humble attitude, and of being without arrogance. The word indicates the esteeming oneself as small and of recognizing one’s insufficiency, but at the same time recognizing the powerful sufficiency of Christ. So it’s not really about lowering ourselves. It’s all about lifting up God and others. And if we concentrate on lifting up others and lifting up the Lord, putting down ourselves will take care of itself. He’s everything. I live in light of that, you know. The word is interesting because neither the Romans nor the Greeks had a word for humility. See, to them, humility was a pitiable weakness that was to be scorned and despised. Slaves were lowly, and they said, we are not slaves. We’re too good for that. But the New Testament turns the despised idea of humility and lowliness of mind on its head. This, see, is indeed a good godly quality. And while the world around us exalts pride and exalts ego, we in Christ are called to lower ourselves and to exalt Him and others. Matthew 5.3 says it well when Jesus says, “‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'” What does it mean to be poor in spirit? We’re talking about spiritual poverty, about true spiritual humility, about true lowliness of mind. Okay, what’s that? It speaks of utter dependence on the Lord for salvation first, and then where you remain there as you live out your Christian life. Look, in the Greek, there are two words for poor. One of those words describes a man for whom life and living is a struggle. He’s not destitute, but he’s just getting by. He’s not well off at all, but he’s making it barely. The other word for poor, a word that’s used here in Matthew 5, describes absolute and abject poverty. Literally, the man who has nothing at all. And so Jesus says, blessed is a man who is abjectly and completely poverty stricken, spiritually speaking. Blessed is a man who is absolutely destitute, spiritually speaking. Really? Yeah, that’s what it says. Why? Because that’s the kind of person that realizes that he is nothing without God. And then once he has God, he will then see that life is all about God. I’m a beggar in need of bread. Jesus came along and He fed me. I am nothing without Him. And in light of that, guess what? I can serve you. See? In light of that, I can turn the other cheek. In light of that, I can forgive you. In light of that, I can lower myself and exalt Christ and you ahead of myself because I’m nothing without Him and I have Him. See? That’s the idea. Note that lowliness of mind or humility is unresoundingly biblical. Proverbs 11.2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with a humble is wisdom. Psalm 51, 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise. James 4, 6, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. I want grace. I don’t want that resistance, do you? James 4, 10, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up. The point is clear, right? We are nothing. He is everything. Live like it. All right, how? Well, by seeing yourself clearly. See, the person who really knows himself and his own heart, the person who really knows God and his infinite majesty and holiness, the person who really knows Christ and what he did for him on that cross, that person will be a humble person. He has to be, right? We’re beggars. We’re wretched sinners. We in Christ are saved by grace alone and not because of anything good in us. We’re nothing. And we’re definitely no better than anyone else around us. So we simply focus on Him and on glorifying Him and also on how we treat others. Loving Him, loving others, putting Him first, then others, and I’m down here. Because He’s all that matters. One said, the truly humble person knows himself and accepts himself. He yields himself to Christ to be a servant, to use what he is and has for the glory of God and the good of others. Where his eyes are turned away from himself and focused on the needs of others, all for the glory of God. So question, are you lowly of mind because you see and love God so very much? Does it show? And not bragging about yourself? And not talking about yourself and all your accomplishments and serving others while without wanting something in return and not being defensive and being quick to forgive and not being jealous of others but being happy for them when good things happen to them and turning the other cheek and not having to win every argument and being teachable and compassionate and minimizing the sins and shortcomings of others and guarding your tongue and choosing to edify rather than cut down and so on. Look, if Christ’s blessings mean anything to you, then this is what you’ll be striving for in your Christian walk more and more. God wants His followers to be humble and to lower themselves so that He can be raised high.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thanks for joining us for today’s exposition from the book of Ephesians on expository truths with Dr. John Kyle. Continue on with us next week at this same time and to find this sermon in its entirety as well as other sermons, visit vacavillefaith.org. Faith Community Church seeks to exalt Christ by bringing clarity of truth through the scriptures with a commitment to glorifying God through the pure, deep, and reaching message of the gospel through faithful exposition. Pastor John is the preaching pastor at Faith Community Church of Vacaville, a seminary professor and a trainer of preaching pastors overseas. Join Faith Community Church for worship Sundays at 9 and 1045 a.m. Located at 192 Bella Vista Road, Suite A in Vacaville. To learn more, visit vacavillefaith.org or call 707-451-2026. That’s vacavillefaith.org.
