EPHESIANS RESEARCH * all research done by !e Docent Research Group ! 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS EPHESIANS OVERVIEW 3 PREACHING OVERVIEW 41 SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL 112 WHAT IS SAINTHOOD? 114 PAUL’S USE OF “IN CHRIST” 122 HOMILETICAL TIPS 131 SERMON BRIEFS I AM A SAINT | Ephesians 1 : 1 - 2 173 I AM BLESSED | Ephesians 1 : 3 - 14 181 I AM APPRECIATED | Ephesians 1 : 15 - 23 190 I AM SAVED | Ephesians 2 : 1 - 10 198 I AM RECONCILED | Ephesians 2 : 11 - 22 206 I AM AFFLICTED | Ephesians 3 : 1 - 13 214 I AM HEARD | Ephesians 3 : 14 - 21 222 I AM GIFTED | Ephesians 4 : 1 - 16 230 I AM NEW | Ephesians 4 : 17 - 24 238 I AM FORGIVEN | Ephesians 4 : 25 - 32 246 I AM ADOPTED | Ephesians 5 : 1 - 21 254 I AM LOVED | Ephesians 5 : 22 - 33 261 I AM REWARDED | Ephesians 6 : 1 - 9 270 I AM HATED | Ephesians 6 : 10 - 24 280 ! 2 EPHESIANS OVERVIEW I. Commentaries and Bible Studies Technical Commentaries Peter O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians (PNTC). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999. (536 pages). ISBN: 0802837360 D.A. Carson describes O’Brien’s book as “the best English-language commentary on Ephesians.”1 O’Brien includes an abundance of technical information in the footnotes, yet his book is much more readable than Hoehner’s tome. Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002. (930 pages) ISBN: 0801026148 After decades of teaching the book of Ephesians, Hoehner’s commentary is his magnum opus on this epistle. It is the most detailed English commentary on the Greek text of Ephesians. Hoehner does hundreds of word studies throughout his commentary. His introductory section (pp. 1-130) is particularly helpful. Clinton E. Arnold, Ephesians: Power and Magic – The Concept of Power in Ephesians In Light of Its Historical Setting. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. (244 pages) ISBN: 0801002273 While this volume is not a commentary, it does provide some helpful analysis of the epistle, particularly its historical background. Arnold’s book is one of the most influential dissertations written on Ephesians in recent Pauline studies. Arnold argues that the “power” language that fills the book of Ephesians is connected to the local fears of the demonic “powers” associated with pagan idols in Ephesus like the cult of Artemis. In Ephesians, Paul is pastorally highlighting how Christ has defeated these “powers.” Non-technical Commentaries Francis Foulkes, Ephesians (TNTC). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008. (187 pages) ISBN: 0830842403 Klyne Snodgrass, Ephesians (NIVAC). Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996. (384 pages) ISBN: 0310493404 F.F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (NICNT). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984. (442 pages) ISBN: 0802825109 Devotional Commentaries R. C. Sproul, The Purpose of God: Ephesians. Christian Focus, 2006. (168 pages) ISBN: 1857926099 John R.W. Stott, The Message of Ephesians (BST). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1979. (291 pages) 1 D.A. Carson, New Testament Commentary Survey (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1986/2007), 108. ! 3 Simple Bible Study Guides Ephesians: A NavPress Bible Study. The LifeChange Series (127 pages) ISBN: 0891090541 II. Ephesians Preaching Order John Calvin considered Ephesians his favorite letter and he preached a series of forty-eight sermons on the book from May 1558 to March 1559.2 (Days before his death on November 24, 1572, the wife of Scottish Reformer John Knox read to him daily Calvin’s sermons on Ephesians.3) John MacArthur preached verse-by-verse through the book of Ephesians in a sixty-one-part series that lasted from January 1, 1978 until June 24, 1979.4 J. Ligon Duncan also preached a sixty-one-part series on Ephesians beginning June 26, 2005 and finishing November 12, 2006.5 Sinclair Ferguson preached through the entire book of Ephesians in only fourteen sermons during the mid-week services at Park Cities PCA in Dallas, TX, from January 7, 2004 until April 28, 2004.6 Neither Mark Dever nor John Piper has systematically taught through the entire book of Ephesians. Dever did preach an overview sermon on the book where he identified the message of Ephesians to be "grace."7 John Piper has preached fifty-three sermons from Ephesians,8 but he has not yet preached consecutively through the entire epistle. Bible teacher John Stott divides up the book for preaching as follows: “Introduction to the letter (1:1-2) I New Life 1 Every spiritual blessing (1:3-14) 2 A prayer for knowledge (1:15-23) 3 Resurrected with Christ (2:1-10) 2 John Calvin, Sermons on the Epistle to the Ephesians, trans. Arthur Golding in 1577 and re. in 1973 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1973), viii. 3 David Laing, The Works of John Knox, vol. 6 (Edinburgh: Thomas George Stevenson, 1864; reprint, New York: AMS Press, 1966), 639, 643. 4 See http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/scripture (accessed November 14, 2009). 5 See http://www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/Ephesians/index_to_ephesians.htm (accessed November 14, 2009). 6 See http://www.pcpc.org/midweek/audio/ephesians/ (accessed November 14, 2009). 7 See http://www.capitolhillbaptist.org/audio/1999/11/14/grace-the-message-of-ephesians/ (accessed November 14, 2009). 8 See http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/3/?pageSize=25&pageNumber=1 (accessed November 14, 2009). ! 4 II New Society 4 A single new humanity (2:11-22) 5 Paul’s unique privilege (3:1-13) 6 Confidence in God’s power (3:14-21) III New Standards 7 Unity and diversity in the church (4:1-16) 8 A new set of clothes (4:17-5:4) 9 More incentives to righteousness (5:5-21) IV New Relationships 10 Husbands and wives (5:21-33) 11 Parents, children, masters and servants (6:1-9) 12 Principalities and powers (6:10-20) 13 Conclusion (6:21-24)”9 III. Author The Apostle Paul, the author of Ephesians, is one of the most towering figures in the history of the world. Martin Luther called him “the wisest man after Christ”10 and thanked God for sending him as an apostle to the Gentiles: “We should rejoice and take comfort and also thank God, who has called such a glorious apostle, Paul, for us Gentiles and has sent him to us. Paul himself testifies to this mission in his letter to Timothy when he says (2 Tim. 1:11) that he is appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles in the faith and the truth. Therefore the beloved Paul is our apostle, although all the other apostles are also ours; for all have together received one and the same doctrine from Christ and have taught it.”11 Biblical scholar Paul Barnett argues that no matter how we view Paul, we must reasonably regard him as one of history’s truly remarkable figures. Barnett helpfully summarizes Paul’s quest to establish churches and spread the gospel throughout the Greco-Roman world: “During his decade-long burst of energy he walked thousands of kilometers (almost thirty per day) across forbidding mountain ranges and through arid wastelands proclaiming the message of the crucified but risen Messiah. For preaching a message that was offensive to both Jews and Gentiles he was repeatedly and severely flogged, and on one occasion stoned. Virtually penniless, he labored throughout the night to earn money to preach by day. This ex- Pharisee brought the message about Jesus the Christ to the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, and wanted to repeat this achievement in the western province, Spain. Apart from Paul’s Herculean efforts, it is difficult to imagine how the gospel of Christ would have taken root so comprehensively in the Greco- Roman world. Paul’s intrepid and energetic travels and tireless work, however, do not in themselves explain his achievements. Here we must understand that for Paul his relationship with Chris and his work for him were inseparable. He regarded all that he did as ‘the work of the Lord’ (1 Corinthians 15:58) that the risen Christ was doing ‘through’ his servant, Paul (Romans 15:18)…In short, to understand Paul’s achievements we need to appreciate his driving passion, which was that Christ loved him and seized him, 9 John Stott, The Message of Ephesians: God’s New Society (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1979), 7. 10 Martin Luther, What Luther Says: An Anthology, comp. Ewald M. Plass (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959), entry no. 3258, p. 1026. 11 Martin Luther, What Luther Says: An Anthology, comp. Ewald M. Plass (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959), entry no. 3268, p. 1028. ! 5 and that he could never be separated from his love (Rom 8:35, 39), sinner though he was and persecutor though he had been.”12 Barnett also emphasizes the intelligence of the Apostle Paul: “Closely connected with his relationship with Christ and equally basic in explaining those achievements was Paul’s spiritual intelligence. His considerable native intelligence may be inferred by his precocity as a younger rabbi in the prestigious school of Gamaliel (cf. Gal 1:13-14) as well as by his multilingual abilities (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin [?]). Through that rabbinic school Paul became a master of the Old Testament, from which he makes more than one hundred identifiable quotations, more than half being from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Tanak (Hebrew Bible). Additionally, his writings contain innumerable echoes from and allusions to biblical texts. Frequently these quotations, echoes, and allusions do not reproduce the original text exactly, suggesting that Paul was in many cases relying on a well-stocked memory; carrying voluminous OT scrolls was likely not practical for a penniless itinerant preacher who walked everywhere! Through the Holy Spirit this man ‘in Christ,’ who was steeped in the OT, and who had likely been catechized at his baptism, became the first theologian in the early church, and arguably the greatest in the history of Christianity.”13 The early church father, John Chrysostom wrote of Paul: “Put the whole world on one side of the scale and you will see that the soul of Paul outweighs it.”14 Bible scholar Paul Barnett summarizes Paul’s life as follows: “Paul was many things.