Eph 1:1+2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
	This morning, we continue with our introductory passages of the Apostle Paul to the readers of this Letter to the Ephesians. We are laying down a somewhat comprehensive introduction to the Epistle, because the contents are so vital to all of us. The Holy Spirit directed the Apostle in the intense manner in which he was to encourage and uplift the church, the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus. This great mystery of Christ is set forth in superlative descriptions that boggle the mind and heart of the reader in the depth and length and height and breadth of Jesus Christ. The words used to begin this descriptive declaration of the mystery of Christ and His church are very specifically chosen to dig deep into our hearts. 
	We began our considerations of this epistle by looking at a few of the words and statements of these first two verses. We have seen that everything was foreordained and accomplished by the expressed and divine will of God. There is nothing that is happenstance in our lives. Jesus Christ’s birth, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and glorification were all in the heart of God operating before time began. All that is accomplished by, in, and through Jesus Christ is expressed in His incomprehensible love to us. He chose to call us unto Himself, through no efforts of our feeble abilities. In His power, He made us His saints, and gives the Holy Spirit and His Word to be our guide, our strength, our encouragement, our power of obedience, our wisdom, our comfort, our very life. 
	Continuing on, we will consider some of the aspects of being faithful in Christ and begin our consideration of God’s grace. Again, it is with humbleness of spirit and a contrite heart before God that we look into these tremendous truths for but a glimpse of that which God established in the giving of His only begotten Son. God’s Grace, alone, is worthy of intense pondering before the Lord for the rest of our lives and through all the eternal ages to come. It is only by God’s grace that we will be enabled to see a few aspects of Our Lord Jesus Christ, throughout this letter. It is only in the grace of God, that we will be enabled to comprehend with all the saints the fullness of Eph 1:17-20 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, 
	It is only because He has made us the ones who are also faithful in Christ Jesus that we have the promise of Eph 3:16-19 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God. These are so much more than words; this is the basis, the very core of our life in Jesus Christ. This entire epistle can only be approached through faithfulness and the grace of God because these attributes are the umbrella under which the rest of the tremendous and glorious passages of truth and life dwell.
What does it mean to be faithful in Jesus Christ? First of all, it means that this letter is specifically addressed to us, today, as is all scripture. It is not just a document of history; it has an immediate and intense purpose right now in our hearts and beings. The contents of this letter are to be considered, accepted, rejoiced in, and lived right now by us. Paul was led to write this letter to the living Body of Christ in which we are joined together. This is a written assertion of who and what the church is in our oneness with Jesus Christ. This is not theory. These are not just pleasant sounding doctrines from which we can pick and choose for our personal system of belief. This is the expressed heart of God, the mystery of Christ, laid out in the best, albeit it limited, human language. This is the voice of the Holy Spirit telling us what is now true of us in our death of self and our life in Christ, His church, His body on this earth. We need to know what is now true of us in our being faithful in Christ Jesus, so we can live in that glorious truth today and forever. 
In line with this, we will look at several commentators’ views with regard to this word faithful, used to describe those who belong to Jesus Christ. According to Barnes, quote The apostle addresses those who were firm in the faith-another name for true Christians. The Epistle contains great doctrines about the divine purposes and decrees in which they, as Christians, were particularly concerned; important "mysteries" (Eph 1:9), of importance for them to understand, and which the apostle proceeds to communicate to them as such. End of quote (from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
This word faithful describes the course of the path on which we walk in steadfastness, in confidence, in trust, and in obedience to Christ Jesus. It is the manner in which we conduct ourselves as we tread on this earth. Matthew Henry states the following concerning this wording of the Apostle Paul, quote He calls them the faithful in Christ Jesus, believers in him, and firm and constant in their adherence to him and to his truths and ways. End of quote (from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.) The UBS gives an even stronger aspect to those who are faithful in Christ Jesus. They are those "who, as they are joined with Jesus Christ in their life, never give up" or "...always remain firm." (from the UBS New Testament Handbook Series.  Copyright © 1961-1997, by United Bible Societies.) 
And finally, according to Wuest’s Word Studies, Quote Paul uses the word in his directions to the Philippian jailer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31). He exhorts him to consider the Lord Jesus worthy of trust as to His character and motives. He exhorts him to place his confidence in His ability to do just what He says He will do. He exhorts him to entrust the salvation of his soul into the hands of the Lord Jesus. He exhorts him to commit the work of saving his soul to the care of the Lord. That means a definite taking of one's self out of one's own keeping and entrusting one's self into the keeping of the Lord Jesus. That is what is meant by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ… they were those who had put their trust in Him. End of quote (from Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, Copyright 1940-55 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Copyrights © renewed 1968-73 by Jeannette I. Wuest. All rights reserved.)
	This Letter to the Ephesians was written to the established church. It is not a letter specifically written for the purposes of salvation, although one cannot limit the Holy Spirit from using any of the Word of God to draw hearts unto Him. None the less, this epistle deals with those things of God that are vital to those believers who are already established, already faithful in Christ Jesus. These are readers who are fully aware of the miraculous truth of being in union with Jesus Christ. These are the members of the church who more and more desire to live in that union with Christ more and more perfectly to the complete glory of God on this earth. As such, it brings forth a major theme in this letter, that of thanksgiving to God. The established church is one that expresses gratitude to God for all He has done, for Who He is in our lives, and for His boundless grace which has been so fully and abundantly showered upon us in Jesus Christ. Throughout this letter, the Apostle Paul expresses thankfulness to God for all that He has done in Christ, and that is a model for the church. Let us look very briefly at only a few of those passages in this Ephesian letter that express the reasons and the encouragement of thankfulness. Even as we read these passages, there should well up within us unsurpassing expressions of gratitude to God for all that He has done in Christ, in us.
	Eph 1:16+17 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
Eph 2:4+5 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God
Eph 3:7+8 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 
Eph 3:20+21 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.
Eph 4:31+32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 
Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 
And Eph 5:18-20 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. 
These are but a few of the tremendous passages of this letter that should cause us to rejoice in thankfulness in and to the Lord. This is a letter of encouragement and instruction as to how the church is to live in Jesus Christ. That can only develop as the church learns to be grateful to her husband for so loving us that we can not do other than express our heart’s full capacity of thanksgiving in and for everything. 
This thankfulness is a vital characteristic that is sadly missing in many generations of Christians. It is so against all that this world teaches. It does not mesh with the defiling, worldly lie that we deserve all that we can get, whether we earn it, buy it, steal it, or sell our souls for it. Thankfulness does not reside where an attitude of self righteousness and entitlement rules. Quite frankly, the only thing we are entitled to, or deserve, is death. Thank the Lord, that He has set aside that deserved punishment in His Love and Grace, through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. As our passages indicate, we will be encouraged to be thankful, to be more thankful, to be filled with endless thanksgiving to God as we proceed throughout this Letter to the Ephesians. This heart of thankfulness is a key aspect of those who are faithful in Christ Jesus.     
This, then, brings us to one of the greatest attributes of God’s Love to us, for which we must be eternally thankful – Grace. To quote the USB Handbook, Grace is the one word which most vividly expresses God's unconditional, unmerited, and uncaused love and favor which he displays toward mankind in Christ. End of Quote (from the UBS New Testament Handbook Series.  Copyright © 1961-1997, by United Bible Societies.) Grace is one of the most important words, not only in this epistle, but in the whole of the New Testament. There is no word that more eloquently describes the heart of God in His omniscient consideration of mankind than grace. It encompasses the entirety of our relationship, in Christ Jesus, with God Almighty, God Our Heavenly Father. It is by grace, the incredible, tremendous, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, superabundant grace of God that we have life. The grace of God is so vital that we will most likely be pondering it together for a several Sunday mornings. Then, after that, we will be pondering it throughout this epistle and throughout the rest of our time together as His Church. 
Without God’s grace, there is no church. Without His grace there is no life. Without His Grace, there is no manner in which He has, does, and will continue to fully express His heart of Love. Without the grace of God, we have nothing, we know nothing, and we feel nothing because we would be nothing. Everything that was made was made by virtue of the Grace of God, expressed in His Son. Heb 2:9+10 But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for every one. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. 
	What is the purpose of life, the purpose of all the history of mankind before and after Christ, if it is not to glorify Him in all creation? It is only by the grace of God that we can offer all glory and honor and praise to God Almighty, Our Lord, Our Savior, Our Comforter, Our Wisdom, Our Strength, Our purpose, Our Life. It is only in and by God’s grace that He Loves us and we love Him. Listen to John as he begins his writing of the book of Revelation, Rev 1:4-6 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 
Lord willing, and by the grace of God, we will see a glimpse of the endless treasury of God in Christ that has been fully opened to us by His Grace. There is so very much more that we will see in and by the grace of God. There are many different aspects to grace as used in scripture, and many passages which declare the great Grace which has been showered upon us in Jesus Christ. 
God’s nature is defined, as best as it can be in human language, in grace. That grace has made us alive in Christ. It is by grace that we are brought more and more into conformity with Christ. It is grace that sees us through every trial and tribulation. It is only by grace that we can offer up sacrifices of true praise unto God. It is only by grace that our prayers ascend unto Heaven to be heard and answered by Our Most Gracious Heavenly Father.
All of the aspects of the word grace stem from the Greek word charis. Wuest states quote, It is hardly too much to say that the mind of God has in no word uttered itself and all that was in His heart more distinctly than in this. End of quote. (from Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, Copyright 1940-55 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Copyrights © renewed 1968-73 by Jeannette I. Wuest. All rights reserved.)
How do we deal with a word, which in effect, tries to give expression to the impossible, the fullness of the mind and the heart of God? This charis, this grace, is filled with manifold connotations. The Greeks viewed this word as follows: Quote Charis referred first of all to "that property in a thing which causes it to give joy to the hearers or beholders of it ... After awhile it came to signify not necessarily the grace or beauty of a thing, as a quality appertaining to it; but the gracious or beautiful thing, act, thought, speech, or person it might be, itself — the grace embodying and uttering itself, where there was room or call for this, in gracious outcomings toward such as might be its objects ... There is a further sense which the word obtained, namely, the thankfulness which the favor calls out in return. ... In the ethical terminology of the Greek schools charis implied ever a favor freely done, without claim or expectation of return. ... Thus Aristotle, defining charis, lays the whole stress on this very point, that it is conferred freely, with no expectation of return, and finding its only motive in the bounty and freeheartedness of the giver" End of Quote. (from Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, Copyright 1940-55 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Copyrights © renewed 1968-73 by Jeannette I. Wuest. All rights reserved.) 
While this is a statement of the classical Greek usage pattern, the New Testament writers, guided by the Holy Spirit, elevate this Grace to the heavenly spheres. It is the free hearted giving of the unmerited gift of Christ Jesus to us, by Almighty God, the Holy One, the I am. When this grace, even with its limited capabilities, describes the heart of God, it stresses the unmerited favor of God upon sinful man in such overwhelming abundance and power as to bring forth the life of Christ from within our spirits. It is by grace that we are saved. It is by grace that we are loved. It is by grace that we are filled with thankfulness. It is by the Grace of God that we are made new again, holy in the power of Christ’s death and resurrection.  
We close this morning with the writing of John in chapter 1, verses 1-17. This is the ultimate expression of God’s essence of Grace, the grace of which we all partake in Jesus. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. (John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'") And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 
… And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. Amen

Lord willing, we will begin our new year continuing to consider the grace of God. Next week, we will share together in a Christmas message, and the following week we will rejoice in a New Year’s message. Lord willing, we will pick up the course of our consideration of our Ephesian text and God’s Grace on the first Sunday of the new year.

Our benediction this morning is from 1 Cor 1:3-9 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge - even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you - so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen