I had Brother Robert read the
whole of Ephesians chapter 1 and my text this morning begins at
verse 15. I wanted to see the context of
all of this to remind you how verse 3 to verse 14 is one long
sentence setting forth the work of the Father, the work of the
Son, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the salvation of sinners.
And then verse 15, where I'm going to begin today, down to
verse 23, is also one long sentence concerning how God the Holy Spirit
as he inspired the Apostle Paul to open this epistle with one
of the most glorious and comprehensive statements found in the Bible
of the full salvation of God's chosen people. Think about this,
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. That comprehends the whole of
all the blessings and benefits of salvation that come to God's
people from the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ and applied
to our hearts and our minds and our understandings by the Holy
Spirit. All three persons of the Godhead
involved in the salvation of His people. And what we see there
is the glory of what the Bible calls the Godhead. The Godhead
being the Trinity, and we've talked about that, and it shows
us that the only way that we can enter into that glory, the
glory of the Godhead, is through God the Son incarnate, who is
the Lord Jesus Christ, and based upon the righteousness that he
accomplished in his obedience unto death for our justification,
for our adoption, for our very lives, And that's why I opened
up the service today with Colossians 2, 9, and 10, where it says,
for in him, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead,
bodily. That is, in Christ, the God-man. And you, think about this, you
are complete in him. What does it mean to be complete?
It means nothing's lacking. We read this morning in our Bible
study and out of the Old Testament, Daniel chapter five, how this
great king named Belshazzar was weighed in the balance and found
lacking. Well, that's the way we all are
by nature. And our works cannot balance
the scales. Our decisions cannot balance
the scale. Only God's grace through Christ
can balance those scales. You are complete in him. And
so Paul concludes this, this portion of Ephesians by giving
thanks. And so the title of this message
is the fullness of God in Christ. And listen to what Paul says
in verse 15. He says, wherefore, for this reason, I also, after
I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all
the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention
of you in my prayers. I pray for you, Paul says. You
are God's people in a cruel, sin-cursed, fallen world, and
you face it every day. You have the three great enemies,
the world, the flesh, and the devil, and you struggle with
them. I preached a message several
months ago, or maybe years ago, I lose track of time, talking
about the Christian life, the summary of the Christian life,
And it's in three words that we can kind of simplify things. The first word is standing. We
have to live a Christian life by the grace of God. We have
to realize our standing before God in Christ. And what are we? How do we stand before God in
Christ? Well, we stand having our sins forgiven. Look back
over there in verse six. He speaks of the praise of the
glory, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of our sins on
a just ground. And what is that just ground?
Well, it's not anything we can do. It's not anything that God
enables us to do. It's all in what Christ did in
his death on the cross, shedding his blood as the complete payment
for all the sins of his sheep, all the sins of God's elect.
And so we receive that. That's our standing before God.
Our sins cannot be charged to our account. We're sinners and
we will remain so as long as we're on this earth until God
brings us to go home. But our sins are not imputed
to us, they're not charged with who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect. Now that doesn't give us an excuse
to sin, we don't need excuses. That's what we are, sinners saved
by the grace of God. And then it also means this,
our standing means that we are righteous in God's sight, not
by any works we do, and not by anything that God enables us
to do. And I think about that because, you know, by His grace
and power, He enables us to do some miraculous things. The most
miraculous of all is He enables us to believe on His name. But that's not our standing before
God. Our standing before God is having
Christ's righteousness imputed to us. When Paul says here, he
talks about your faith in the Lord Jesus, They don't believe
in themselves. That's what most religion today
is all about, loving and believing in yourself. No, we believe in
Christ. He's our hope. He's our standard. And then he says, love unto all
the saints. You are together with all the
saints. Who are the saints? Sinners saved
by grace, sanctified ones. and we stand before God equally
having Christ's righteousness imputed to us. That's our standing. And then the second word about
the Christian life is our state in this world. We all start out
as spiritually dead, fallen in Adam, spiritually dead, born
spiritually dead and depraved, indicated by our ignorance and
unbelief mainly, there are other things, But that's how we start
out. But at the appointed time, God's
appointed time, he sends his spirit to bring us under the
preaching of the gospel. And our state changes. And it
doesn't change because we make a decision or we walk an aisle
or we get baptized. It changes because God changes
it. And we become sinners saved by
grace, believers. That's our state in this world.
We're sinners saved by grace who cling to Christ by the power
and goodness of God. Our clinging to Christ is not
even by our power and goodness, it's by His. And then the third
word that describes a Christian life, standing, state, and the
next word covers just about everything you can cover, struggle. It's a struggle. In Galatians
chapter five, the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to call it a warfare. Warfare is not easy, is it? Well,
what are we at war with? The government? No. What are
we at war with? Some other nation? No. You know,
the main part of that warfare is this. We're at war with ourselves. because of the remaining presence
of flesh, sin in our lives, a struggle within. Paul described it in
Romans chapter seven. How are we gonna win this? Well,
I'll put it to you this way. It's really already won, the
victory, because Christ already did it. If our struggle in this
warfare with the flesh depended upon us, we'd all lose. We'd lose. But when Paul said,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body
of death? He said, I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord.
We struggle with the world, that's the unbelieving world, who stand
against us and our Savior. That warfare's over too. Christ
told his disciples, he said, in the world you'll have trouble,
tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. You
didn't overcome it, I didn't overcome it. Christ overcame
the world. He said, if the world hates you, marvel not, it hated
me too. And then we'd struggle with the devil. Satan can attack,
but he can't win. because Christ has already put
him down. That's right. And so we struggle. So when Paul gives thanks here,
think about it this way. Who is he thanking? He's not
thanking the Ephesian brethren. And even though I say thank you
to many of you for things that you do for me and my family.
And I mean it, gratitude. But when it comes to this thing
of salvation, saving sinners, who do we thank? We thank God.
We thank God. Cease not, verse 16, to give
thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. And listen,
he makes it clear. Now look at verse 17. He says
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
praise unto the father through the son may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him." Now
some translations may say in the acknowledgement of him and
that's true also but I believe the emphasis here is this, that
he may give you the spirit of wisdom The spirit of revelation. What is revelation? That's God
revealing things unto you, not without his word, but in his
word. That's why the scripture says,
study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So many people
read Bibles, study Bibles, but they're no better than the Pharisees,
to whom Christ said, you don't know what they're saying. He
says, in them you think you have eternal life. Well, they are
they which testify of me. Wisdom and knowledge, this is
life eternal, that they might know thee. the true and living
God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And so he prays, look
at verse 18, that the eyes of your understanding be enlightened. To know the difference between
good and evil. To discern what you're hearing.
And he says that you may know what is the hope of his calling. What is that hope? That's the
assurance of salvation. an eternal life under which we
have been called to look to Christ, the author and finisher of our
faith. That's His calling. His calling is not for us to
look within ourselves to find hope and assurance. His calling
is not to look at each other to find His hope and His calling. His calling is to look to Christ
and to plead His blood, His righteousness as our hope That's what he talks
about. Look over at Hebrews chapter
six with me. You know, there are people, preachers, who discourage assurance of salvation. And I will agree that what most
people base their assurance on is ungodly. If your assurance of salvation
is based upon something you did or do, whether it's your decision,
your baptism or whatever, that's ungodly. The hope of our assurance,
the hope of our calling is looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. Look at verse 16 of Hebrews chapter
6. Ryder writes, for men verily
swear by the greater and an oath of confirmation is to them an
end of all strife. Now what he's saying is when
two people make a covenant or a contract, they usually swear,
this is the word of mouth here, not a written contract, they
usually swear by something greater than themselves. And then that
ends all discussion. This is for that day and time.
But he says in verse 17, wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath. You see, God didn't swear by
anything greater than himself. You know why? Because there's
nothing greater than God. And it says he swore by himself.
He confirmed it by an oath. Verse 18, that by two immutable
things, his oath and his promise. And he says, in which it was
impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
assurance, comfort, peace, who have fled for refuge to lay hold
upon the hope that is set before us. And what is the hope set
before us in the gospel? Christ crucified, risen from
the dead, ascended unto the Father. Again, looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith. Brother Richard Wormack in our
conference last week, he preached from this passage. In Isaiah
32, I've got a preaching date scheduled for January in another
place, and I've been assigned a topic. And the topic I've been
assigned is a biblical view of assurance. And this verse here
plays a lot into that. He says, Verse six, verse 15
of Isaiah 32. Until the Spirit be poured upon
us from on high, that's the Holy Spirit, and the wilderness be
a fruitful field, that's the result of the Spirit being poured
out. It's the salvation of God's people, the fruit of God's grace.
And the fruitful field be counted for us, many, God's elect. Then judgment shall dwell in
the wilderness and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
Whose righteousness? God's righteousness through Christ. But now look at verse 17. And
the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in
a peaceable habitation. That's God's kingdom. And in sure dwellings, like that
rock upon which Christ builds his church, the gates of hell
cannot prevail against it, and in quiet resting places. Now
you know what that verse tells us? Whatever assurance we have,
whatever assurance we claim, The ground of that assurance
has to equal righteousness. The perfection of righteousness.
Not the best you can do, because the best you can do will fall
short. That's right. Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, who would stand? It's not your believing, even
though we do believe, and that believing is the gift of God.
Where are we gonna find righteous? In Christ, that's it. The glory
of his person, the power of his finished work. The only way that
I can stand before God and plead anything that equals the perfection
of righteousness is by what Paul wrote in Philippians 3, oh that
I may know him and be found in him, in Christ. Not having mine
own righteousness which is of the law. but that which is through
the faith or the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. That's what
he's talking about, the hope of his calling. Go back to Ephesians
one. And he says in verse 18, the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. You know what
that's talking about? Now in Christ, we who are sinners
saved by grace, we are the recipients of a glorious inheritance. All
benefits, all blessings of salvation, the riches. In Christ, we have
all of that. All spiritual blessings, none
of which we earned, none of which we deserve, but all which is
freely given in Christ. But you know what this is talking
about? It's talking that the saints, sinners saved by grace,
his sheep, his elect, his church, are given to him. And you may
say, well, he didn't get them as an inheritance, he earned
it. Well, that's okay. But what it's saying here is
this. Every sinner for whom Christ died on that cross, for whom
he was buried and arose again the third day, and for whom he
makes intercession right now, they're going to be brought into
the kingdom and delivered up unto glory. He will not lose
even one. That's right. Not this Christ. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, he said, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. This is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
no one, but raise him up again at the last day. There'll be
no vacancies in heaven. It'll be a full house, there
won't be any empty pews. Everyone whom God chose and wrote
their names down in the Lamb's Book of Life before the world
began will be right there according to His will. And he says, verse
19 now, now, what kind of power can do that? Is it the power
of your works? Is it the power of your will?
Absolutely not. Look at verse 19, and what is
the exceeding greatness of His power? To usward who believe,
even our believing is by His power, according to the working
of His mighty power. Salvation, in every stage of
it, the beginning of it, the continuing of it, the fulfillment,
final fulfillment of it. It's not by our power. It's not
by our goodness. It's only by God's power and
God's goodness. And what is the power of God
under salvation? It's Christ. That's what he spoke
of in 1 Corinthians 1. We look to Christ as the power
of God, the wisdom of God. You see, this is the glory of
God in Christ. And that's what it's all about.
It's the fullness of God in Christ. It's the fullness of the Father.
No man knows the Father save the Son and he to whomsoever
the Son reveals, the Father reveals him. And it's the glory of God
the Father, how he can be both a just God and a savior. how
he can be a righteous judge and exact truth and law and be true
to that, but as well as a loving, merciful, gracious father. A
just God and a Savior. You see, God is a merciful God,
but not at the expense of his justice. God is a loving God,
again, but not at the expense of his truth. God is a merciful,
gracious God, but not at the expense of righteousness. How can God be just and justify? Only by his grace through the
righteousness of Christ. And it's the glory of the Son
too. Christ said, glorify thou me with the glory which we had
before the beginning, in the beginning. And what's that based
upon? He said he had finished the work
which God the Father gave him to do. We see the glory of Christ
as the God-man who fulfilled all righteousness for his people. And it's the glory of the Spirit
because it's the Spirit's work to apply that within our hearts,
give us a new heart. Eyes to see, ears to hear, what
a glory that is, the new birth. It's all by his power. None of
it is by our power. None of it. Verse 20, he says,
which he wrought, he worked in Christ when he raised him from
the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.
You know, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is
the exact same power that raises us from the dead spiritually
in the new birth. And it'll be the exact same power
that'll raise us out of our graves when he comes again to unite
us with our spiritual bodies. Verse 21, far above all principality
and power, there's nothing on earth that exceeds the glory
of God in Christ, the power of God in Christ, the goodness of
God in Christ. We see that, look at this world.
Look at the shape it's in. Look where it's headed. Not much
optimism there, is it? We're all looking forward to
the next few weeks, aren't we? To see how it all comes out.
You know what, God already knows how it's gonna come out. In fact,
he's determined how it's all gonna come out. It may not be
to our liking, but I'll tell you what, whatever happens, glory
be to God. Isn't that right? We know that. Somebody said, well, I know it
in my head, but I can't feel it in my heart. Get away from
that kind of language. Listen, which he wrought in Christ. He's far above all principality
and might and dominion. There's no kingdom above God's
kingdom. and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And
he's put all things under his feet, under Christ's feet, and
gave him to be the head over all things to the church. Look
at Philippians chapter three with me, or chapter two. This
is the exact same language that Paul was inspired to use here
in what many call one of the high priestly prayers of Christ.
when he spoke in verse five, wrote this down in Philippians
two and verse five. Listen to this. It says, let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Now what's
he talking about? He's talking about humility.
Christ humbled himself to be made like unto his brethren.
And we're to be humble. And that's a grace of God. We're
not humble, naturally, But by the grace of God, and here's
how he describes the humility of Christ, who being in the form
of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Now think
about that. For any of us to say we're equal
with God, or to try to bring God down on our level, that's
robbery. God's high above us. There's
none like God. There's no one even to compare
God with. That's how high he is. But when
Christ claimed to be God, which he did, it wasn't robbery at
all. Why? Because he is God. He's
God manifest in the flesh. But how far did he go in his
humility? Look at verse seven. He made
himself of no reputation. We spend our lives trying to
build a good reputation, don't we? Some of us are successful,
some of us aren't. But you know what? In the kingdom
of God, we don't deserve any reputation. Christ does. But he made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant. Is it too much to ask us to be
servants? Well, he took upon him the form
of a servant. Made in the likeness of men,
he took upon him the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without
sin. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Oh my soul, the cross of Christ.
Think about it. The very one who put breath in
the bodies of the Roman soldiers and the Jewish religionist, submitted
himself to be crucified by the very same. The very one who made
the tree from which the cross was made. Think about it. The very one who stood on nothing,
spoke to nothing, and created something, the world, submitted
himself to death, even the death of the cross. That was for our
redemption. That was for our righteousness. He is our righteousness,
that's why he did it. That was for the glory of his
father, the glory of God in Christ. And for that reason, verse nine,
God has also highly exalted him, given him a name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow.
things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth, and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of the Father, the glory of God in Christ. You see it? And then
look back just for a moment of Ephesians 1. Verse 22, now, he gives us the
reason for all of this. God hath put all things under
his feet. We read about that in Philippians
2. and gave to him to be head over all things to the church. Now when you think of the church,
don't think of all these religious buildings that you see around
you. That's not the church. The word church means called
out. Called out of the world and into
the family and the kingdom of God. By the grace and power and
goodness of God. And that's what the hope of his
calling is. It's where the gospel, the church
is made up of the children of God. And we're met together this
morning under the preaching of the gospel, the truth, which
is the hope of his calling. Whenever you see a religious
group meeting together and the gospel, the true gospel is not
preached. where salvation is conditioned
on sinners and not Christ alone, where holiness and righteousness
is measured on a sliding scale and not by Christ alone. That's
not the church that he's talking about here. That's just a religious
group of people gathered together to do religious activities and
to try to get some comfort of their own. But the church, look
at verse 23, is his body. He's the head, we're the body. And he says, the fullness of
him that filleth all. In his body, in Christ's body, the church, it says that this body is the
fullness of him that filleth all. That's what we are as children
of God. The fullness of the Godhead bodily.
in Christ, recognizing that He is everything to us. He's all
and in all, the scripture says. All that we need, all that God
requires, all that it takes, Christ is it. So run the race of grace in the
power and grace of God, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. That's our only hope. When we
die and go to meet God, He is all and in all. He is our only
hope. All right, let's get our hymnals,
turn to hymn number 227, The Cleansing Wave. That cleansing
wave is the blood of Christ.