Ephesians chapter one. Are you guys ready for this?

You may not be, but you think you are. No, I'm just kidding. You know, I'd like to do a little

bit of an introduction tonight, or maybe a big introduction, because I think it's important

to see the context. So we'll get into it. Why don't you turn with me to Ephesians Chapter 1?

Welcome to our Hillsborough and McBinville campus. Good to have you all with us tonight on this beautiful

evening. Let's get to it. Ephesians chapter one. Some say commentaries and what have you that Ephesians is the summit of Paul's writings.

And I can see why some would say that.

A lot of theologians describe this book as the one that sort of nails it all down.

It's almost like the commentary on all of Paul's

writings, and Paul boils it down in the book of Ephesians. Our position in Christ is a major theme.

Salvation, major theme, redemption, election, chosen before the foundation of the world. Paul doesn't

just try to describe the topics. He says what,

what it is and then spells it all out for us. F.F. Bruce. Does anybody read F.F. Bruce?

Okay, one. Do you like F.F. Bruce? I like F.F. Bruce. You can check him out, but he's a guy that I've read a lot of his

commentaries. I really appreciate his work, but he wrote this about Ephesians. He said,

The elevated themes of Ephesians make it highly praised and prized by commentators.

Ephesians has been called the queen of the epistles, the quintessence of Paulism,

Paulinism, the divinest composition of man and even the waterloo of commentators. Some say that

Ephesians reads like a commentary on the Pauline letters, and probably it has the best termed,

been termed the crown of Paulinism,

which is kind of interesting. If you want to read sort of the pinnacle of Paul's writings,

that's what the scholars are saying about the book. It's short, but it's powerful. And here in

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