Let us turn again to God's Word
and turning to the portion we were considering this morning
in Ephesians chapter 2, considering verse 17 this morning, I said
we'd come back this evening and look at the following verse 18.
I'll read then these two verses, Ephesians 2, verses 17 and 18.
Remember at the end of verse 17, We have the final clause, as
it were, of a long sentence that starts at verse 14 and runs through
these four verses. Not untypical of the authorized
version and the punctuation, we have long sentences often
with clauses and sub-clauses and so forth. And we look at
the final part of the sentence. concerning the Lord Jesus Christ,
the one who came and preached peace to you which were far off
and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have
access by one's spirits unto the Father." Interesting that
that long sentence is followed by what appears here as a short
sentence. But I said we look at that 18th
verse. But just to remind you that previously we were thinking of
verse 17 where we considered Christ as the preacher. Not so much Christ as the content
of gospel preaching, but Christ as the one who is the preacher. And how remarkable it is that
the Lord does actually come by the preaching of the words. We
refer to those words that come in later in chapter 4 and verses
20 and 21 where Paul says to the Ephesians, this church at
Ephesus, reminding them of how they'd come to salvation. He says, But ye have not so learned
Christ, if so be that ye have heard him and been taught by
him. as the truth is in Jesus. It wasn't that they just heard
of Him, but they actually heard Him, that mark of the sheep of
Christ. They hear His voice. They know
that voice. And so they follow Him and He
gives to them eternal life. We thought then of Christ and
the preaching. Christ as the preacher, the great
prophet of the Lord. But then I said, what is to be
our response when the Lord thus dying is to come to us? When
we gather together, we don't want to hear the voice of the
preacher, we want to hear the voice of Christ. Well, what is
to be our response when we hear that voice? Well, it should be
prayer, and that's what we're reminded of, of course, in this
18th verse that I want us to turn to now. To say something
with regards to Christ and prayer. Christ and preaching, no Christ
and prayer. For through Him, through Christ,
we both, that is Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit unto
the Father. It's a remarkable verse because
in it, of course, we have the three Persons of the Godhead,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And it is quite Interesting,
well more than interesting it's most instructive of course to
see how in this particular epistle we have many Trinitarian statements
we see that in the opening chapter don't we? Chapter 1 is quite
remarkable we have the words of greetings quite common in
Paul's epistles in verses 1 and 2 and then from verse 3 through
6 in chapter 1 we read of the father and the great eternal
purpose of the Father and we chose a people in Christ Jesus
before the foundation of the world and then from verse 7 through
12 we have a sentence in which we're reading of the work that
Christ came to do that great work of redemption as the Father
had chosen a people in the Lord Jesus Christ So in the fullness
of the time God sends forth that Son and He appears as a real
man, He is a real man and He stands in the place of sinful
men and He dies the just for the unjust and that whole section
there in chapter 1 verse 7 through 12 speaks of Christ's redemptive
work and then in verses 13 and 14 we have the ministry of the
Spirit, how He seals He seals what the Father purposed and
what the Son procured and purchased. He seals that great salvation
in the hearts and lives of those who by nature were dead in trespasses
and sins. It's a Trinitarian salvation. But look at what we have later
in chapter 3 and there at verse 14 following. Here is Paul praying again for
this cause. He said, I bow my knees unto
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man. All that ministry of the Spirit
in the inner man, But now we see him praying again in terms
of the Father and of the Son. He bows his knee to the Father
of the Lord Jesus Christ as he is praying for the whole family,
the Church, that God would grant that they be strengthened by
His Spirit, by the Holy Spirit. We're living in that dispensation
of the Holy Ghost. The Pentecost has fully come
and we're dependent upon the Spirit for all our religion,
all our salvation. And He comes to us as that One
who is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the language
that we have later in chapter 4 and verse 4 following, there
is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope
of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.
Here we have the spirits and the Lord Jesus Christ and God
the Father. These Trinitarian statements,
they Now to be found right through the epistle in every chapter
we find something. Again look at chapter 5 and there
at verses 18, 19 and 20. Be not drunk with wine wherein
is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. speaking to yourselves
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things
unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are to be filled with the Spirit and in our worship, we
are to give thanks unto God the Father in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Our very worship in its nature
is Trinitarian. So it shouldn't surprise us that
here in the text that speaks of prayer we also see the Trinity. I know I've said we're going
to speak of Christ and His place in prayer
and that's the primary thing here. He's speaking very much
of the Lord Jesus Christ as we saw from what we were saying
this morning. from that long previous sentence. And then he
turns, you see, in verse 18, through him, this one who is
spoken of so fully, through Christ, we both have access by one Spirit
onto the Father. And so as we come to consider
the text, first of all, to speak of Christ and his work of mediation,
he is the mediator, of course. He is the mediator, through Him.
It's only through Him that we can have access. There's no other
way whereby we can approach unto God. He Himself says, I am the
way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by Me. There is no other mediator. The Roman Church might speak
of of Mary, but Mary is no mediator. Mary is a blessed woman. Of all
nations I have to call her blessed. But she was a sinful woman, who
in the Magnificat can rejoice in God her Saviour. She only
knew God through the mediator, that holy thing that was conceived
by the Holy Ghost in her virgin womb, There is one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And when we think of him as the
man Christ Jesus, there we see it. All that man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, so suitable when we think of the person of the Lord Jesus.
I know we've mentioned this so many times, but what a truth
it is. The mediator between God and men is the man Christ Jesus.
That is the God-man. We know that he is God. And we
see him even in his ministry as he begins that ministry, his
preaching ministry. He comes, we were saying this
this morning, he comes as the great prophet. When John is cast
into prison, John, the greatest of all the Old Testament prophets,
there's not a greater ever risen, says the Lord Jesus, than John
the Baptist. But with John, there's the end
of the Old Testament prophets. And when John is put into prison,
the Lord Jesus comes into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom
of God and saying, the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel. But how that ministry is authenticated
time and again in the miracles. That first miracle in Cana of
Galilee, the changing of water into wine, it's the beginning
of miracles. And it says Jesus manifested
forth his glory and his disciples believed on him. There's a manifestation
of his glory in the miracle. There's something to be seen
and wondered at here. Now the people do wonder at the
things that he does when he raises the son of the widow of Nain. They'd never seen it in this
fashion. He manifests his glory. Or we see it in John chapter
5 at the pool of Bethesda where he gives feet to the lame man
who can never get to the waters. The Lord says, take up thy bed
and walk, and he rolls up his bed and walks away. And the Jews,
how they sought to kill him, but we're told they sought the
more to kill him because he not only had broken the Sabbath day,
it was all happening on the Sabbath day, and that's what they were
picking at, those Jews, those Pharisees, those scribes, criticizing
him because he'd healed a man on the Sabbath day. But they
sought the more to kill him, it says, because he not only
had broken the Sabbath date, but said that God was his father,
making himself equal with God. Why? He is equal with God. He is God. Oh, he says, doesn't
he, again in John 8 to the Jews, if you believe not that I am
he, or literally, if you believe not that I am, you shall perish
in your sin. He is the I Am. Before Abraham
was, I Am, he says. He is God. And surely we recognize that
as one who is God, he is fit to stand between God and men. You might come to learn how these
things are brought out in the writings of the Apostle John
time and again, be it in the Gospel, be it in his epistles
and of course even there in the last book of scripture, the revelation
of Saint John the Divine. The language that we have there
at the end of that first epistle of John, he says we know that
the Son of God is come and hath given to us an understanding
that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that
is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God,
and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves
from idols. Amen. God preserve us from idolatry. But God grant that we might be
clear on this, that Jesus Christ is the true God. and eternal
life. He is God. He is God and yet the wonder
he is man. And that human nature, you know
that human nature never professed any distinct personality but
ever subsisted in union with the Son of God. That's the truth,
is it not? That's the union. He never, as
a man, professed any distinct personality. But he, as a man,
always subsisted in the person of the Son of God. that that
was conceived in the womb of the Virgin, that holy thing was
to be called the Son of God the person of the Son of God takes
to himself a human nature and we cannot divide the natures
and yet we see him truly as a man or the person of Jesus Christ, the
person of Jesus Christ in his human nature knew what it was
to grow weary and sit on the well of Psyche and their discourses
with the Samaritan woman you know the portion in the fourth
chapter of John but how we see the reality you see of that human
nature subsisting in the person of the son of God he was wearied
And then again in his human nature, John 11, he's at the grave of
his friend Lazarus and what does he do? He weeps. He weeps. That's human emotion, is it not?
We're told how he groaned in spirit, how he was troubled. He's like us. This God-man is
just like we are. We have not a high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He's tempted,
tried and tested in all points like as we are, yet always without
seeing. We read of him, don't we, in
the days of his flesh, offering up prayer with supplication and
strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him
from death. and how he was heard in that he feared. All the fear
of God was in that man's heart. The God-man, he knew the fear
of God. He's the person of Jesus Christ
in his human nature. And so he was heard. Though he
were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things that he suffered,
it says. And I find that statement that
we have at the end of The second letter to the Corinthians, there
in chapter 13, the last chapter of 2nd Corinthians, we're told
how he was crucified through weakness. What does that mean? Well, he knew a real death. He
actually died. He died. That seems utterly impossible. Because he's never anything less
than God. But in his human nature, the
person, Jesus Christ, died upon the cross. Almighty God sighed
human breath. The Lord of life experienced
death. How it was done, we can't discuss. Ah, but this we know. It was
done for us. He died for sinners, because
he loved sinners. That's the wonder of it. He loves
sinners not only of the Jews but also of the Gentiles. And
that's what we said this morning. Or when he comes to preach peace,
who does he come and preach peace to first of all you which were
to fall off? And to them that were nigh. Of
course, as we said, those nigh are the Jews. They had all the
blessed privileges. All the great privileges. And what of the Gentiles? They
were far off, they were cut off from all those privileges. In
verse 11, Wherefore remember that you, being in time past
Gentiles in the flesh, you are called uncircumcision by that
which is called a circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world. Oh, far off, but now in Christ. You sometimes were far off, I
made nigh by the blood of Christ. Oh, here is that man, you see,
he has such a love for sinners. He has such a love for sinners.
You know, I connect these two verses that we were looking at. Verse 17 this morning, verse
18 this evening. when we think of what it says
there in that 17th verse he preaches to them afar off and to them
that are nigh and then we read of prayer through
him we both those afar off and those nigh have access by one
spirit unto the father and I think this it's not our feelings is
it that's important when it comes to our prayers It's not whether
we feel we're at a great distance and we're crying out at a great
distance. We looked at those words in Psalm 61. David there
at the end of the earth. But it's not because we're at
a great distance that he hears us. It's not because we're near
to him really. And we feel his nearness and
sometimes we do feel that. We feel that we're very nigh.
The Lord is very real to us. And then we feel a wonderful
liberty in our prayers, but it's nothing in us, is it? It's only through Christ, the
Mediator, wherever we are, whether we're far off, whether we're
near. You know the hymn, I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name. That's where we rest. We rest
in Him who is the Mediator. the only mediator between God
and men, the mediator of that New Testament, says Paul. And what do we have in this one? What do we read in the following
third chapter at verse 12 in whom we have boldness and access
with confidence by the faith of Him? It's not how we feel.
Oh, it's that blessed faith that centers in Him, that's the object
of our faith, the Lord Jesus, just looking onto Jesus. The
author and finisher of our faith, we're to come boldly to the throne
of Christ as we come in His name. How this high priest, oh, he
becomes us, he suits us so well. There is the mediation then of
the Lord Jesus Christ through Him. through him we have access both
Jew and Gentile both those who might feel themselves to be very
near others who might feel themselves to be far off maybe they've sinned
and they feel they've sinned grievously or whether we're favored
in our spirits or whether we're those who feel we grievously
offend against the Almighty our only way of approach is through
Christ but then we read also of the Spirit by one Spirit. You know, it's the same preposition
as we have in those verses we've been looking at on Thursdays
at the beginning of Philippians 4. You know, amongst them we
rejoice in Christ Jesus. And again I say rejoice. It's
the same preposition. Here it's translated by. I've
said many a time, haven't I, that we could use the word by
in that passage in Philippians. And so here we could use the
word in. Through Christ we have access
in one's spirit. And we need to pray in the spirit. Well, we need to pray in the
Spirit. We need the Spirit's help in all our prayers. He's
the one who helpeth our infirmities, and maketh intercession for us
with groanings that cannot be uttered, says the Apostle. And he that searcheth the hearts,
he knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he makes intercession
according to the will of God. And we come then sometimes and
we can't pray, we can't speak, we can't articulate words. We
stumble, we stutter. We're groaning before God. David
knew what it was to be in that place. He had a great desire
towards God. All my desire is before Thee,
he says. And my groaning is not heard
from Thee. Although to speak they'll be
not able, always pray and never rest. Prayer's a weapon for the
feeble. Weakest souls can wield it best. Are we that weak that we need
to pray and we need to keep on praying though we cannot pray?
That's what the ministry of the Spirit is all about. And the
Spirit, of course, is that one who directs us to Christ. Oh,
when we know that blessed ministry of the Spirit, when we're in
the Spirit, are we not then found looking to Christ? He shall testify
of me, says Christ. He doesn't speak of Himself.
And the promise that we have, that great text back in Zechariah
chapter 12, those wonderful portions we often
find in the mind of prophets. I think I made some reference
to that this morning. You know those words in Micah
5, this man shall be the peace. Don't overlook the minor prophets.
They're not minor because they're less prophets or they're less
inspired than other parts of scripture. We only use that unfortunate
word because their writings are somewhat shorter and more condensed.
But they're as much the Lord's servants and the Lord's prophets
as Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel and those great men, Elijah,
Elisha. And those words that Micah utters
there concerning that man, the man who is the peace when the
Assyrian comes into the land. Historically we might say the
reference is to that good king Hezekiah. When the Assyrians
did come and they were laying siege to Jerusalem and then Sennacherib,
their great emperor, he returns to his capital and there he's
killed. There's deliverance. Well, this man shall be the peace. Historically, we recognize Hezekiah. But is it greater than Hezekiah?
The Lord Jesus. This man is the peace. Now in
these minor prophets you see we have these tremendous statements
concerning the Lord Jesus. He's everywhere in the Scriptures. And I think of those words in
Zechariah 12, I will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications and they
shall look upon me whom they have pierced. And they shall
mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son, and shall be
in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn. Or what does the Spirit do? When
the Spirit is poured out, they shall look upon me, whom they
have pierced. Well, we need the Spirit, you
see, if we're going to be looking on to Jesus. He must come to
us then as that One who is the Spirit of Christ. That's how He comes, it's always
Christ. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of His. It is the Spirit, is it not,
who works that saving faith in the souls of men. No man can say that Jesus Christ
is Lord. but by the Spirit of God. You
can say the words, Jesus Christ is Lord, but to say it in all
sincerity, believing that Jesus Christ is Lord, you can only do it by the Spirit
of God. It is faith of the operation of God. This is the work of God,
that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. All that faith is the gift of
God. It's God's gift. It's God's work. It's a spirit.
And if we know that ministry of the
Spirit, we'll be brought to the end of ourselves. We'll see it's
nothing of ourselves. It's nothing of the natural man.
The Spirit will teach us what we are, where we are, dead
in trespasses and sins, depravity, total depravity, utter impotence,
we can do nothing. He magnifies Christ, He shall
take of mine and show it unto you. Or He comes as the Spirit
of Christ, He comes as that Spirit of adoption. that spirit of adoption. What has God predestinated his
people to? Well it says there in chapter
1 and verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ. We are predestinated unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. All we are predestinated to be
the sons of God. The language of Romans, Romans
8 and verse 14, as men are led by the Spirit of God. They are
the sons of God. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Well, we need that. What are we by nature? Oh, what
are we by nature? We're told, aren't we, previously
here in the chapter? We're dead. We're children of
wrath, we're children of disobedience. You know the passage there at
the beginning of the chapter, "...who were dead in trespasses
and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom Also, we all had our conversation in times past in
the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. That's where we were. That's
what we are by nature, children of wrath, children of disobedience. And yet, all we would call upon
God Through Him, through Christ, we have access. By one Spirit. How we need that Spirit of adoption. Whereby we cry, Abba Father.
The Lord Jesus, in His patterned prayers, we read them there in
Matthew 6 and again in Luke 11. In Luke 11 and verse 2, He says,
When ye pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven. or to call
upon God as our Father how can we do that only if we have that
spirit of adoption whereby we can cry in all sincerity Abba
and of course in many ways that's like our word Dada I suppose
maybe one of the first sounds a little babe ever makes when
that little one says Dada And we come and we say, Abba. Oh,
we come, of course, we come in all due reverence, but all the
familiarity of coming, and calling upon God as our Father, and remembering
where He is, which art in heaven. He's in that high, He's in that
holy place, and yet, oh, what freedom of access we have. Oh,
that boldness, that access with confidence that is by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Oh, there's that mediation then,
but now we need the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But where
does it all end? Well, is there not a meeting
with the Father? Is there not a blessed outcome
to it all? It's on to the Father. It's on
to the Father. And what is prayer ultimately?
It's communion. It's communion with God. Truly, says John, our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Or are we those who have a desire
that we might enter in some measure into this great mystery of the
Trinity? The Trinity in our prayers really.
the Trinity in our prayers. Remember how the Apostle goes
on, doesn't he, to pray at the end of that third chapter? He bows his knees unto the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, he says in verse 14. And what does
he pray? Verse 17, that Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. Is that what we desire when we
pray, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God?
And where is all the fullness of God? Christ, in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That's what our prayers
are about. It's life eternal, says Christ.
to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent. And so here we have it, the one
who comes to us in the preaching. Now I remind you, I do often
think of what our dear friend John Underwood said, more than
once, I said it this morning. He said, you know, when we're
advertising services we shouldn't name the preacher. Men like to go and hear men.
But really, when we come into the house of God, we come not
to hear the words of men, we come to hear the word of God.
We come to hear the voice, not of a man, but the voice of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And there he comes. He came,
says the Apostle, to these in the church at Ephesus, principally
Gentiles, but doubtless some Jews amongst them. He came and
preached peace to you which were afar off, you poor Gentiles,
to them that were nigh. For through Him we both, you
and Gentile, have access by one Spirit unto the Father. There's
no more the old division. It's gone. It's gone. He has broken down every barrier. He's abolished the Edmonton. Even the Lord of Commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain of
the two, the old division, the Old Testament division, it's
God. One new man, so making peace. And you know, we're continually
hearing of all the troubles in the Middle East between Jew and
Arab, and yet here is the Word of God. What is the solution? Oh, it's the Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ. It's the only solution for anything
in this poor, sinful world in which we have to live our lives.
And it's ours to pray. And we're those who, as we pray,
come to discover something more of the wonder of this great God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the author of salvation. Through Him, through Christ,
we both have access by one Spirit, unto the Father. The Lord be
pleased to bless his word to us. Amen.