The Faithful
The people of Ephesus stand in history as great reminders of God’s love and grace. They were at one time pagans, separated from God and darkened in their understanding. However, by the Spirit enabled preaching of the gospel from Paul they freely chose to put their trust in Jesus. Their continuation of their faith in God earned them the title, “the faith in Christ Jesus.”
May we learn from their humility and love so we will be faithful to Christ in our lives (Revelation 17:14)!
SERMON TEXT
Ephesians 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.”
IN-DEPTH STUDY OF FAITH
FAITH DEFINED: Greek, “pistis,” which means, “faith, assurance and trust.” The root word for faith is also used in the words, “faithful” (pistos) and “believe” (pisteuo).
PAUL’S USAGE OF FAITH: Altogether Paul used “pistis” 12x in its positive different forms in Ephesians and 230x in his thirteen epistles; with “faith” (pistis) being the most usage at 142x.
FAITH (8x), FAITHFUL (2x) & BELIEVE (2x) IN EPHESIANS:
- 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful (pistos) in Christ Jesus.”
- 1:13, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed (pisteuo) in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit”
- 1:15, “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith (pistis) in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people,”
- 1:19, “and his incomparably great power for us who believe (pisteuo). That power is the same as the mighty strength.”
- 2:8, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith (pistis)—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”
- 3:12, “in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith (pistis) in him.”
- 3:17, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (pistis)—that you, being rooted and grounded in love”
- 4:5, “one Lord, one faith (pistis), one baptism,”
- 4:13, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith (pistis) and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,”
- 6:16, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith (pistis), with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;”
- 6:21, “So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful (pistos) minister in the Lord will tell you everything.”
- 6:23, “Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith (pistis), from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
BACKGROUND OF THE PEOPLE OF EPHESUS
Acts 19:1-20:1,
1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed (pisteuo)?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe (pisteuo) in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe (apeitheo) and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. 13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed (pisteuo) now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas [ESV Study Bible, $6 million]. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
21 After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” 22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25 He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”
28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.
32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
1 When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia.
FAITH vs WORKS vs AN IRRESISTIBLE FORCE
Faith is not a work nor an irresistible force, but a choice of man to trust God. It is made available by the grace of God through the word of God (Romans 10:17).
Romans 4:1-8, “1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed (pisteuo) God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6).
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith (pistis) is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”
Ephesians 2:1-10, “1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith (pistis)—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Notice in the verses below that first it was the choice of the people to believe the gospel to be sealed by the Holy Spirit and second faith belongs to the people; Paul is not thankful for “God’s faith,” but rather “your faith.”
- 1:13, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed (pisteuo) in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit”
- 1:15, “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith (pistis) in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people,”
HOW TO BE FAITHFUL: REMAIN IN FAITH
Revelation 2:10b, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.”
Choose today, by God’s grace, to understand and obey the Word of God so that you may be faithful to Jesus until the end!