2819 Church - IN CHRIST | To You In Christ | Ephesians 1:1-2 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

Episode Date: October 5, 2026

In our new series, IN CHRIST, Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell opens our study through the book of Ephesians with a charge to know who we are IN CHRIST. Before Paul tells the church how to live, he establishes their identity, calling them saints, set-apart ones, holy ones, and faithful in Christ Jesus.But could the same reputation be given to you? Faithfulness is seen in how you govern yourself. Are you faithful IN CHRIST?Welcome to the official YouTube channel for 2819 Church. This channel features powerful and life-impacting messages from Philip Anthony Mitchell and guest communicators.As you listen to these sound biblical messages you can expect to be challenged, stirred, matured, and inspired in your faith and walk with God. For more information about us visit 2819Church.org.

Yeah. And this same energy you got right now, carry that into access on October 10th. At 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time or Central Standard Time. When 80,000 of us cry out to Jesus in AT&T Stadium, thousands outside, and I'm calling on the body of Christ across America and around the world to set aside our differences for the space of an hour. to pray from anywhere you are in the country around the world. Seven o'clock, Central Standard Time, one hour of prayer to shake heaven and to shake the nation. This is bigger than 2819.

And if you are guests, we welcome you to the sacred gathering. And this church will be serious. I am about the spread of the gospel and the multiplying of disciples. In these last days, this time is running out. And to all of our digital disciples watching live across America and around the world, we welcome you. You are our family in cities all around this country. And to the end of this earth, we pray for you. You are our family.

And if you're crept into this room and you are unbeliever, you're crepting at the right season and at the right time. And our prayer for you is that by the end of this next collection of messages that you might come to know, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today is the beginning of a brand new series called In Christ, a teaching series through the New Testament letter of Ephesians. Perhaps one of the most profound, Christological documents ever written and recorded for us in the New Testament. It exalts the person and the work of Christ. It exalts the gospel of Christ and the new life we have in Christ. It has powerful teachings about the mind of God and the sovereign work of God and the gospel and salvation and about unity and oneness and wisdom for relationships and calling and marriage and family and spiritual warfare and the unseen realm and what our life looks like in

the scene realm this letter so Christological so theological so theological so powerful so perfectly written by the Holy Spirit the first three chapters powerful theology the last three chapters, powerful practicality. The whole letter, just powerful in application. Life changing. You cannot study Ephesians and remain the same. It is impossible for the one that leans in with their whole heart. And this will be my prayer for us by the time we walk out of this letter, some 26 weeks here, that you will be a brand new man. And, you will be a brand new man a brand new woman. You will not. You cannot remain the same. I refuse by the power of the Holy Spirit. You cannot and you will, you will be a different man. And you will be a different woman by the end of Ephesians.

Our text today is coming from Ephesians chapter one. I was going to do one through six, but I can't because chapter one is so heavy. And it's so loaded. It's like somebody dumping a billion dollars on you in a moment and you have no idea what to do with it. It's like drinking water out of a fire hose to do. So I can't even do the whole thing. I was supposed to do one through six. Can't do it. Too heavy.

Too loaded. In fact, chapter one of Ephesians is so heavy. So theologically loaded. It pushes the boundaries of human comprehension and language. to even attempt to explain what is in there. No sermon will even do it justice. And for real, I don't even think a human being can understand it, apart from a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit.

So today we would just open it. So verses one and two only today. And then next week we'll break the seals on the deep theology of Ephesians chapter 1. Today we're just appetize them. Just one and two. Eternal garden of a wise father. Oh yes. We feel your powerful spirit in this room and across this camera.

We, your sons and daughters who have come to sit at your table, to feast on your word, not to feast on entertainment or emotional hype. Give us stamina to listen. We will not be sleepy or tired. we will not dishonor you in your presence. We want to break that bread with the oil on it and eat and be taught and learn. I pray, God, Lord, for just a mighty outpouring of your spirit for this entire series as we break the seals. One of the most profound documents floating around in society.

I ask for help, Lord. You know I am weak and tired. I ask for help. mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our soon-coming king the Lord Jesus Christ and all God's people say amen and amen and amen my family and I we have two pet dogs at home in our family and I think that these are wonderful creatures that God has made that he allows them to have bonds with human beings one of those dogs his name is chance he is very small probably no higher than 10 inches off the ground. He is a Shih Tzu, a breed of dog that is not known for intelligence.

And yet, we acquired Chance when he was only a puppy. And from the time he was a puppy, Chance went through rigorous training. We sent Chance to school, and then I put my hands on that dog personally. And I disciplled that dog personally. from the time that dog was a baby, I treated him like one of my own children. That dog has been paralyzed twice and has received two miracles as God has put feeling back in his legs supernaturally. He is walking on all fours today because of the prayers of the saints who remember that accident and because of the love of Almighty God. Today, Chan shows great signs of intelligence, and he understands language, and he has emotions and deep feelings. He connects deeply with every person in our home. He is confident.

He is brave. He is strong. He is thugged out. He knows who he is. He knows who he belongs to. It gives him confidence he has swagger in the house and in the street. He protected my daughter Israel from the attack of two pit bulls with no fear in his heart. Chance is a different type of animal.

He has been well-discipled. But we have another dog, a standard poodle named Orlando, who's very tall, big, muscular. who we acquired at two years of age after formation, where he was disciples by another person, a chump. Orlando was full of timidity and fear, and he's a coward. A sound will make him run. He hides when we open the door. So much of a coward and timid he frustrates us

because someone that big should not be so confused. We would corral him with a small gate, no higher than his stomach, and he would never attempt to jump over it or does not even know he could push it down with his hand. He has a powerful bark that he does not use because Orlando has no concept of identity. And so because he does not know his identity as a ferocious animal that cannot be corralled by a gate, that has a powerful bark, that can intimidate anybody if he wanted to, because he has an absolute. of identity, he walks around limping a beast with no heart. Now, that is inconsequential for an animal. It is all the more serious when you have followers of Christ who act like Orlando with an absence of Christian identity that bleeds out in the way that you post.

It bleeds out of how you show up at work. It bleeds out of how you show up on Sunday. It bleeds out of how you show up at home. It bleeds out in how you talk and how you live and how you dress and how you get down. Believers who claim Christ and limp around society like cowards. Limp around social media like cowards. Limp around the kingdom like cowards with no real sense of identity in Christ. No idea of what God has done for you in Christ.

No idea of what you have in Christ. No idea of your inheritance in Christ. So you have no swagger, no spiritual strength. No idea who you are. Don't know you're ferocious. Don't know you're anointed. Don't know you blessed. You have no idea who you father are.

You act like you have no idea who you belong to. You're in the room. And you're watching me right now. And you listen to me right now. So many of you, I'm watching you right now in your eyes. You are Orlando. And what is the remedy for that? Emotionalism, hype, a boring sermon.

The remedy for that, I read to you last week when I read to you about the high priestly prayer of Jesus. And that in his prayer, he says something very powerful to his disciple. He said, Lord, sanctify them with truth. And then he told us the location of truth. Your word is truth. The one we don't read, the one we don't study, the one we don't listen to sermons, don't go to squads, don't talk about. the one we never open, never listen to, the one you don't care about, the one you treat like just a devotional, but not like the words of God about you and about him. He said, sanctify them with truth. Your word is truth. He did not say your word is a truth, which means there is no other truth except the word of God.

And truth has the power to open eyes. Truth has the power to transform hearts. truth has the power to heal Truth has the power to tear down Strongholds and lies Built up in your mind Like Orlando Truth has the power to give you courage Truth has the power to make you bold

Truth has the power to give you spiritual swagger Truth has the power to reveal to you What is happening in this life And what is happening in the unseen life Truth makes you informed truth makes you wise Truth makes you smarter than other people Truth makes you tenacious

It makes you courage It transforms your prayer life Your marriage your parenting Your discipleship Your life And that is one of the great benefits Look at me that we have When we come to any New Testament letter

21 of them 13 written by one man And that's the power we have When we approach this particular letter Ephesians, which is like no other New Testament letter, it is one of the most important documents sitting on your lap. What we want to do today is just open the document. The year is AD 62. The writer is a man sitting in prison on house arrests in Rome. It's about 30 years after the resurrection of Christ is written to the people in ancient Ephesus, a city in Asia

minor, a mega metropolis on the coast. The ruins of that city still stands to this day in modern day Turkey. I have walked the ruins of Ephesus and so has my wife and children. We come to the beginning of Ephesians. Chapter 1, verse 1. Two verses. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. To the saints who are in Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, And the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the letter begins with the sender. The sender identifies himself. Paul, the apostle. And because Paul the apostle is well known in history, we understand that the letter of Ephesians does not begin in this moment, but the letter of Ephesians will begin 30 years prior. when a young man named Saul of Tarsus emerges on the world stage.

He is born in an aristocratic home to well-do family. He is educated in some of the best schools in the land in Israel. He excels beyond his counterparts in his education. He becomes zealous in his education in Judaism. He enters into the Phariseeical order. He becomes a Pharisee of Pharisees. He is born of the tribe of Benjamin, may be named after the king, Saul. He is aggressive.

He is stugged out. He is violent. He is very, very focused and determined. His zeal for Judaism. will now have a target when his zeal for Judaism sets his sight on a brand new religion called the way. The rise of the church in the first century. This little organism that started with 120 disciples and rapidly grew to 3,120 disciples and then rapidly grows to 5,000 and rapidly grows. It doesn't mean something that is growing fast.

That doesn't mean it's of the devil. sometimes God does bless certain things that grow fast. And now Paul, this radical, violent man, young in nature, sets his focus on this embryonic organism called the church. And he begins to go after the church with everything in him. In fact, he writes in the letter to the Galatians. In Galatians chapter 1 and verse 13, he writes his own resume about how he felt about the church. This is what he said about himself. He said, for you have heard of my former life in Judaism,

how I persecuted the church of God. What word? Violently and tried to destroy it. So here's a man that did everything he can to try to destroy the church. Persecuted the church. He was standing when they killed the very first Christian martyr, A man named Stephen, Saul of Tarsus was standing right there, holding the jackets and the cloaks of the men who was killing Stephen. Stoning him as he's preaching the gospel, Paul, Saul with his head nodding, consenting, kill him, take him out, put him to death.

This was Saul's life, watching Christians be put to death, putting them in prison, and doing everything he can to destroy the church. was what Jesus said, how a day will come when people will persecute Christians thinking they're doing the will of God. Oh, family, we live in that time right now. For their people right now won't call their names who persecute Christians thinking they're doing the will of God. Jesus said this time will come, this time is here because Jesus is a prophet who does not lie. And so Saul thought that he was doing God's will by trying to kill the Christian church. One day, and As he's traveling to an ancient city named Damascus, a bright light shines around him from heaven.

He is knocked down to the floor. And then he hears a voice speaking to him in a language he knows. Saul, soul, why do you persecute me? It's hard for you to kick against the golds. A gold was a stick with a sharp object on the end, and they were used it to hit oxen to make the move when they were stubborn. in essence he was saying

Saul, why are you not listening to the conviction I've been trying to hit you with? He says, who are you, Lord? He says,

I am Jesus who you persecute. You're not persecuting my children, you're persecuting me. Because every time Christians are persecuted it's not just

they persecuted human beings. They're persecuting the body of Christ. So he feels that and his soul the Lord does. And soul, so, soul,

you persecuting me. And Saul has a conversation with Christ and right there on the floor with that bright light. He is converted to Christianity, not with a choir, not with a preacher. He is converted to Christianity by Jesus himself. He is blinded. He is carried into a city. He is fasted for three days. A man lays eyes on him, hands on him, he sees. His name is changed to Paul. Immediately he begins to testify of Jesus. He goes away to a place called Arabia for three years. He understands process and preparation before a platform like we don't in this generation. We get saved and then we start ministries. Not just because you have a gift to teach. That don't mean you got saved on Wednesday. you should be starting a church on Thursday.

That is dangerous and irresponsible. Don't start a small group teaching people in your home until you have been disciples in the things of God first. That is dangerous and irresponsible. Butchering the Bible and leading people astray. Saved on Monday, you have a whole church on Tuesday. Paul went away for three years. We have no idea what he did,

but he was probably being disciples spending time with God. Comes back. Goes up to Jerusalem to meet Peter. goes back into ministry. 14 years later, he meets the other apostles. He goes out on his first missionary journey with other men, planting churches and preaching the gospel. He is sent out as a missionary gospel preacher to non-Jewish people

all around the Mediterranean Rim, planting churches, and winning non-believers to Christ. The apostles have gone to the Jews. Paul is sent to the non-Jews. He goes out on a second missionary journey. Pay attention. And on that second missionary journey, he plants a church in the ancient city of Ephesus.

Leaves that church. And then some three years later, he's on a third missionary journey when he comes back to Ephesus. And then he stays with that body of believers for three years teaching, preaching, preaching, discipling them,

loving them, bonding with them. Now listen to me carefully. 2819 is only three years old. Do you love me? I'm asking you a real question. This is not for sure. I'm asking you, do you love me?

Listen, I love y'all like you are my real brothers and sisters. I will take a bullet for this church. I pray, I bruise my knees. I love this. church. I feel love when I come here. I enjoy being in the gathering of the saint. I don't even know how people stay home. I want to be here if I live in Atlanta. I want to be in the room. I don't care if I'm in overflow. I want to just be in the building. I want to be on the line. I want to be in a lobby. I just

want to be amongst the brothers. I want to be in the gathering of the saints, especially if I live in Georgia. God help us plant more campuses if that's your will. But I love you and I know you love me. There is something deep that we have together that God has formed in just three years. So you understand what can happen between a shepherd and sheep in three years. The depths of relationships, the families that he knows by name, the people he probably married, the people he baptized, the funerals that he did, the homes he sat in, the kitchen tables he was at, the bread that they ate, the wine that they sip, the laughter that they had. the jokes that they crack, the streets that they walked, when they was deep in the street,

when neither of the day was outside, but not outside. And you understand in three years what kind of bond could be formed in three years. And at the end of three years, he feels the calling of God to leave them. And he writes about that emotional exit. Luke does in Acts chapter 20. I want to read to you about Paul's emotional exit. from Ephesians, from Ephesus. I hear pages turning.

Thank God for a Bible teaching church. In Acts chapter 20, Luke who traveled with Paul, who also wrote the gospel, Luke, writes about the emotional exit of Paul from the Ephesian church. And I need to read this to you before we even jump into doctrine. Ephes Acts chapter 20 and beginning in verse 17. This is Luke writing. Now from Militis, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders talking about Paul of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them. Now these are Paul's words.

It's in quotations. You yourselves, he's talking to the leaders of the church. Listen to his emotions. know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials. Is that not the Christian life? Not the fake life in Western Christianity, but the real life I preach to you. Tears and trials.

somebody try to rebuke me on social media the other day like why are you always crying so much maybe I got a real faith maybe I got a real walk maybe I'm really out here grinding for my church maybe I'm dealing with real warfare and real threats and real challenges maybe I'm not afraid to weep before my savior or shed tears over the people I love like my wife children and church family, local and digital disciples. Maybe you don't cry enough. The Lord rebuke you. Crazy how people persecute servants for things in the scriptures that they don't read.

Some of people's attacks expose their ignorance and makes their illiteracy of the Bible palpable. I know by some of your posts you don't read the scriptures. God help us if Jesus was alive and had an IG following. He wouldn't even last in our society. We'd be persecuted him for things that he's the son of God. Imagine they called him a devil and a demon. How about that. Verse 20.

How I did not shrink. Wasn't afraid. Wasn't a coward. He didn't afraid if he had to. How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house. Testifying both to the Jews and to the Greeks. of repentance towards God and of the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, man, that is a faithful preacher. I don't hear no entertainment in there. I don't hear no TED talks in there.

I don't hear no trying to keep people comfortable in sin in there. But what church you attend and what preachers you listen to and what podcasts you have in your ears? Do they sound anything like this? What verse are we on? And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem. This is like if I told you on next week, I have to step down as the pastor of 2819. God is moving me to New York to start a new 2819. And just imagine what that would feel like for you in a moment. Like, when you read the scriptures, read it with your heart and with your mind.

People would cry. They will send emails. Some people will say, pastor, don't go. Others will say, go man of God. we got you, it would be an emotional day. That's what this is. It is an emotional day. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem constrained by the spirit. That is out of obedience. Not knowing what will happen to me there. What is your five-year vision for the ministry? Not knowing what will happen to me there. What is your 10-year vision for the ministry?

Not knowing what will happen to me there. So don't condemn yourself if you don't have the five-year vision for your ministry. Maybe your vision is to just be faithful to whatever the Holy Spirit is saying to you. We put too much pressure on people to have your five-year vision and your 10-year vision, and we put too much pressure on people to know. What if you don't know? The best vision is just faithfulness and obedience. And the Holy Spirit will reveal to you as you obey. Somebody asked me the other day, what is your five-year plan for 2819? To be obedient. to the Holy Spirit. I don't know. There's nothing wrong with having a vision.

I know you're going to come with me with Habakkuk. It's not the wrong with having a vision and writing it down and making it plain. But if you don't have one, you don't have to be condemned. Just follow the Holy Spirit. Not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. Yeah, I know that life very well. but I do not account my life of any value. That's why I'm not afraid of men.

Nor as precious to myself. That's why I'm not afraid of men. If only I may finish my course, that is success. Success is not money. It's not a bag. It's not a platform. It's not fame. Success is to finish the work that God has given you.

As a mother, as a father, as a minister, as a servant, as an employee, as a fill in the blank. We get to the end and said, finished our race. That is Christian success. I finished my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, I know none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Y'all will never see me again. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood. of all. You know what that means? I did not preach to you lies so their blood would not be on his hands when they died. He told them the truth where they convicted them, confronted them,

whether they made them uncomfortable, they didn't like it. He told them the truth so he can have a clear conscience. That's a loving preacher. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole council of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves. Pay careful attention to yourselves. You're worried about everybody else's business. What about yours? What about your prayer life? What about your marriage? What about your children?

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you and not spare the flock. That is the dangerous most, that is the most dangerous thing attacking the church. It's not the devil is false teachers. That's why I said the most dangerous thing to the American pulpit. The American church is the American pulpit. False teaching is your biggest enemy. That's why you need to love truth.

I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away disciples after themselves. You better watch people that's always starting something to draw other people away. They come in churches, they stir up strife, they get into discord, gather 25 people, go and start their own thing down the street. Some of that is demonic and as people who are insecure and don't know how to be submitted to leadership. It's so rampant in our generation. Everybody got to be a chief and not called. Paul will deal with that in Ephesians about callings.

And I did not cease. He said for three years, night and day, to admonish you, every one of you with tears. And now I commend you to God. He's turning them over to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance. of all those who are sanctified. That's what the word does. It builds you up.

I taught you that last week. It makes you sanctified. Read it. Listen to it. Read it. Listen to it. Read it. Listen to it.

Don't just depend on sermons and podcasts. Don't depend on me. Read it and listen to it. Read it and listen to it. Read it and listen to it. Coven it. No one's silver or gold. that's me. I ain't paying attention to another man. I don't want nobody else ministry.

You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own necessities and to those who were with me. In all things, I have shown you that by working hard in this way, we must help the week and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said it is more blessed to give than to receive. That's why a portion of your income should be leaving your house. everybody. A portion of your income should be leaving your home, supporting gospel ministry. How do you come and take of what God is given and not support what he's doing? A portion of your income should be going into gospel ministry that helps to plant churches and spread the gospel and support missionaries and raise up disciples and put your children in formation. A portion of your income should be leaving your home.

See, notice you don't say amen because you want to be entertained, but you don't want to be. built up in your holy faith with the truth of God's word. That money should not be an idol or God to you. A portion of it should be leaving your house to support gospel ministry. That's why Jesus said it's more blessed to give than to receive. It's a shame that Christians hoard everything that you get. You clutch a check like you don't know who it came from. And then somebody has to manipulate you to give.

I will never do that. because God loves, watch this word, cheerful givers. People who understand the bigger picture and say, I can't keep all of this. I keep giving away a percentage to help gospel ministry. You ain't taking none of it with you when you die anyway. That's why Jesus taught us,

use it to make friends for yourself in heaven. Use money to make friends for yourself in heaven. That is, some of your money should be supporting gospel ministry. that's winning souls, multiplying disciples, putting people in heaven. He says, use worldly money to make friends for yourself in heaven. Never read that. So you clutch everything. You said, well, I got too much debt and I have too much.

You can't afford not to be generous. Some of you will be shocked what God would do when you take little and start giving it away. Support your ministry, support your church, support missionary. It will shock you what God would do when you start being generous. I think he only needs your job to be. provide for you. You have no idea the doors he opened or the handshakes you have when you start being faithful and being generous. You have no idea how the God who owns everything will support you in supernatural ways when you commits yourself to being faithful and giving. I didn't even say the

word tithe. What verse are we on? I'm checking you. I can't hear you. I can't hear you. And when he had said these things, he knelt the down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. How about that for a life, a conversion, a ministry, faithfulness story. That is the man who wrote Ephesians. That is the man who some 10 years later as a prisoner in Rome remembers them.

Look at me. Look right at me. That is the man who a decade later, a prisoner in Rome, remembers them and sits down with a pen and parchment. as a prisoner and writes this letter that we're about to study and sends it with Tickacus and some other men, send it back to, he remembers them. Thank God for a text from people you love in times of need. That is the man that sits down and writes this letter. And now I just want to repeat to you how he started.

Everybody pay attention now. Lock in. I need you to lock in to what we're about to read. lock in two verses just lock in to the words of the first two verses lock in this is this is school for the next 26 weeks now you know who he is paul lock in an apostle of christ jesus by the will of god not by his own will not a man who love titles to just take a will take a title for himself i'm an apostle i'm a pastor I'm a teacher, I'm an evangelist, Paul and apostle by the will of God. So we should be scared of titles that God did not give us.

And we should not want offices that God did not give us. You should not put yourself in an office. You should not put yourself in a title. Don't take stuff upon you that you don't have the strength to carry. You don't have the character to carry. You don't have the anointing to carry. We see how much of an apostle you are when hell comes, how much of a pastor you are, when hell comes, how much of an evangelist you are, when hell comes, how much of a teacher you are, when hell comes, how much of a prophet you are, when don't put titles on you that you don't have the character, the anointing, and the calling to sustain. that Christ did not give you.

Paul will get to that in chapter four. Paul, pay attention. An apostle of Christ, by the will of Christ Jesus. Whose will? Christ. Who called him? Christ. Who gave him that title?

Christ. Apostle, Special messenger. An apostle of Christ Jesus. by the will of God and then he writes the letter to now watch to the recipients everybody pay attention lock in who are the recipients to the saints oh my gosh I'm about to jump off this stage look look look lock in lock and lock look look look look look look to the saints who are in Ephesus this is so powerful and who are faithful in Christ Jesus so watch So in the greeting, he addresses the recipients with two titles and two positions.

Lord, help us Jesus. He gives them two titles and two locations. Title one, saints. Title two, faithful. First location in Ephesus. Second location in Christ. He addresses them with two titles for identity. He will unpack identity in chapter one.

and two locations in Ephesus and in Christ. They're in two places at the same time. And he gave them two titles, saints and faithful. I'm almost done. Look at me. Every time you hear the word saint, you only think about people who the church has venerated as super holy, superhuman.

Like they are above you. Like Peter and Mary and these people are above you. but Paul ascribes the word saint to the people in Ephesus. Watch, who you don't know their names. So that word saint can't just be for people we venerate as superhumans. No, the word saint means set apart ones. The word saint means holy ones. He calls them set apart from the world that they're living in.

Identity. He calls them, them holy identity. He calls them saints. That this is for people who are poor, people who are rich, people who are white, people who are black, brown, yellow, don't matter the color. People who are famous. People who are not famous. It doesn't matter. Saints is for anyone who is saved. You are a saint. If you are saved, you are a... If you are saved, you are a... This is our train chance. If you are saved, you are a As part of your identity

You are wherever you are Set apart You are different wherever you are But you don't act that way on social media You don't act that way on your job You don't act that way on your campus You don't act that way with your home You don't act that way on the platform

Because you don't know you are a lander Called you a saint A set apart one You should tattoo that to your heart So it starts to shape the way you think about yourself In every environment In every environment You are a set of part one

In school, in your class, on your job In the Uber and Target wherever you are In the restaurant talking to the waiter That botched your steak. Wherever you are, you are a set of part one. You are a holy one that he calls them faithful. At least in this season, because there's no longer. Later on, they will abandon their first love because of false teaching, Revelation chapter 2 and 3.

I talk about this in my book because this church was in Turkey, former Asia Minor, the place that gave me the burden that gave birth to my first book, contend, because we're not paying attention to what's happening in the world. We do church, but we sleep. He calls them at this time, watch this word, faithful. I got a question for you. Could we give you the same reputation? He calls them faithful. You know what a faithful person is? Ten toes down for Christ.

That's what they were. Accepted the gospel. Not playing church. Serious about the scriptures, whatever they had circulated. People who pray, people who sacrifice, people who give, people who are generous, people who labor, people who live well, suffer well. I got a question for you. Could you put the same title on yourself?

Faithful ain't coming to church. You don't come to church. You are the church. You come to a gathering. Faithful and coming here. Coming here and faithful. This is part of faithfulness. Faithfulness is seen after you leave here

and how you govern yourself in Christ every day of your life. Faithful is obeying the Holy Spirit. Faithful is obeying the scriptures. Faithful is being submitted. Faithful is being humble. Faithful is ringing out sin from your heart.

Faithful is bringing glory to Christ in whatever state you find yourself in. Now, my question for you is, are you faithful? You could be a stay-at-home mom, a business leader, a kid in a school, a high school student, a preacher, a singer, a fill in the blank. Are you faithful? And it's a great reputation that he called, now look at me. I'm landing the plane. Locking. It is powerful that he calls them faithful because then he tells about their two locations in Christ and in Ephesus.

Now, that means nothing to you, except if I would tell you that Ephesus was a mega metropolis, like New York, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, L.A., Vegas, fill in the blank. Ephesus was a crossroads of commerce. Ephesus housed the massive, massive temple of Artemis, the goddess called Diana, that people travel from all around the world to see that massive colossal temple and pay money to a false lowercase god. It was a city that housed a massive temple. Watch this. For financial idolatry.

So big was that temple. it was tagged one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Ephesus were full of brothels. Ephesus was ungodly. Ephesus, look at me, was a city entrenched in magic and witchcraft and the occult. Lord, help us today, please Jesus. Ephesus was a city that had no shortages of temptation for sin. And watch, satanic spiritual forces so strong, Paul has to teach them

about warfare in chapter six. We read chapter six without understanding where Ephesus was. So you talk about the armor and the breastplate of right. You do all of that without understanding context. So demonic was Ephesus, Paul had to teach them about their spiritual armor. But not only are they in Ephesus, God, Lord, help us. They are also in Christ. So they are in two places.

at the same time. Just like everybody, oh my God, help us. Just like everybody who saved, you are in two places at the same time. You are in Atlanta and in Christ. You are in America and in Christ. You are in the Middle East and in Christ. You are in Japan and in Christ. They were in a place that was hostile towards Christianity.

So hostile, they try to kill Paul with a riot of being a Christian. can you be in Christ and in your city and not lose your witness at the same time? I'm in Christ and in this ungodly perverted city called Atlanta. Ungodly perverted. Principalities and powers sitting on top of it with their arms folded. That's why they hate 2819. My question to you is do you recognize that you're in Christ and in your job? in Christ and in your campus, in Christ and on social media, in Christ and in your city, in Christ,

and wherever you are, and can you be faithful in both places? Can you be faithful to Christ wherever you are? Because no matter where you are, you are always, and don't matter where you are, I could be in a restaurant or in an Uber. You are always in Christ. and in wherever your feet is at the same time. But when you have no sense of identity, when you act like Orlando.

So you let demons come in your home and wreck shop instead of grabbing that oil and getting on your knees and running demons out of your house. So you go to school and you don't know how to behave yourself at school because you're Orlando. And you move around the cities you're in. And you act like Orlando. And when attacks come, you put your tail between your legs

because you act like Orlando. But I wish I just had a couple thousand chances just rise up. A couple thousand. I wish I had a couple that was properly disciples in Christ, in the word, in the spirit,

in community. I talk about gangster disciples, sanctified disciples, holy disciples, set apart disciples, prayed up disciples, demon chasing disciples. Come on, man.

Come on. What are we talking about? What are we talking about? I'm talking about mothers, fathers, children, teenagers, businessmen, athletes. I'm talking to everybody in Christ. Now, if you're in Christ, giving praise in this place right now, what are we talking about? If you're in Christ, giving praise in this place right now. giving praise in this place right now.

Come on, man. What are we talking about? Done, Frank. In Christ. And before Paul, we get to the last three chapters telling you how to live. He got to shape your theology first with three straight chapters to teach you who you are in Christ. So we're trying to preach to people. Love your wife.

Is Christ love the church? And wives submit to your husband. And church, we try to teach you all of that without the first half of the letter. That part becomes easier when you understand who you are. All of the back half, all of the stuff in the back half that tells you how to live, we'd be trying to do that for people first and get discouraged. It'd be easier to know how to live when you understand your identity in Christ. When I say stuff like, I'm wringing out my sin.

I'm striving for holiness and purity. Or I double down on our staff that we're going to be a staff of holiness and purity. And we're going to pray. You think this is a game? Pull up on us during the week. You see our staff praying on their face dealing with their sin. I ain't playing those games. Ask any one of them what our weak look like.

Ask any one of them what our culture looks like. We ain't playing around. We ain't doing access to play around. We ain't doing crusades to play around. All of my life is flowing out of my identity in Christ. How I love my wife. How I love my children. How I love and lead our church.

Lead our staff. How I deal with warfare, attacks. How I keep preaching the truth, no matter who hate me or make videos about me. Me knowing that all of that is going to dissolve in the light of God's glory and the light of his judgment. So I ain't afraid of no man. I'm only afraid of the one who says, don't fear men, not even the ones that can kill your body. But fear the one that could throw body and soul in hell. Why?

I live, talk, breathe, move like a man in Christ. They think they know me. You don't know me. Meet me in my prayer room. And before he gets into any doctrine, he prays for them. What they need to embrace everything that's coming next. Starting next week. He says to them grace and peace.

be to you. What is grace? God's unmerited favor that shows up in his love, his provision, his steadfastness, his generosity,

his giving you strength when you are weak, his wiping your tears, his meeting you in every dark season of your life, pulling you out of lowliness, that is God's grace. Him giving you what you don't deserve and protecting you from what you do deserve, earth, which is wrath and hellfire and damnation and peace.

That don't mean without trouble. That is a supernatural calm you feel on the inside that comes as a result of the Holy Spirit, God's word, truth that shows up in times of trouble, trial, and tribulation. That goes beyond human understanding. Are you in Christ? Do you know who you are? You have any idea who you are? who you are in Christ, you don't know.

You really don't know who you are in Christ. But Paul will teach us. Paul will teach us through Ephesians who you are in Christ. And my prayer for you is that you would just have a curiosity that will lead you to go read the letter for yourself, maybe four times this week. A prayer for you that you be sick and tired of the foolishness that we'll be sanctified by this word

as we learn over the next couple weeks, months, your true identity, Christ. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray this word would not leak from your sons and your daughters, and it would take deep root in them, would drive them to curiosity to reading, to listening to your word, to prayer. We've had enough of entertainment in America. Sanctify us in your truth.

your word is truth and I pray you would wreck shop in our hearts during our walk through Ephesians asking the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our soon coming king the Lord Jesus Christ and if you receive that all God's people clap your hands and Say amen. Come on. Say amen. Say amen and amen.