Turn back in your Bibles this
morning to Ephesians 1. Every time I read or someone
reads this chapter, it's like you want to stop almost with
every word or phrase. Think about the multitude of
things that could be said about what is stated, or I guess I
should say who is declared here. But I call this this morning, Loved and the Beloved. You know, there are many glorious
names for the Lord Jesus Christ in Scripture, just like a many-faceted
jewel He set forth in this book. And there is one in this text
that should stand out to such unlovable sinners as we are. He is called here the Beloved. Sometimes I wonder if anybody
ever stops to think about what is said in religion, how it contradicts
not only the Scriptures, but how it contradicts the statements
themselves. people are told, God loves you. And then they are also told that
they are to accept Jesus Christ. But if you're honest, what true
comfort could any sinner ever get from that statement or that
sentiment alone, God loves you. And not only that, but what assurance,
what assurance could anybody ever have in their accepting
Jesus? Well, I can tell you this, on
both sides, none. And one reason, the main reason
is because neither of these are in God's Word. I know it says God is love, but
it doesn't say to all men universally that God loves them, and neither
is anybody ever told to accept Jesus. You see, if salvation is by grace, it has to be by the grace of
the true and living God. It has to be the grace of the
God of the Bible. And here in the sixth verse,
as well as everywhere in this chapter, as well as everything
in this entire book, but here we read about His grace. Look down at verse 6 with me. Paul says, all of this is done
in Christ. to the praise of the glory of
His grace." That's the grace of the true and living God. And I can tell you that there
is no other grace other than His grace. Men can call it grace
if they want to. And as they do, they can mix
a mixture of works in it as they do. But it won't be saving grace. It won't be the grace of God. Because everything in salvation,
as we read here a number of times, is to the praise of the glory
of His grace. And man can never do anything
that would ever be to the praise of the glory of his grace. And Paul writes to these believers
here at Ephesus, and he says that it is his grace wherein
he hath made us accepted in The Beloved. The Beloved. And he's talking
here, as we know from the very beginning of this epistle, he's
talking here about the Lord Jesus Christ. And as he sets forth
the Gospel, he sets forth not what men are to do, but he tells
us what God has done for his people in Christ. And what we have today, and what
we have all around us, is man by nature looking for something
to do, and false religion giving him lots of things to do, but
this is contrary to grace. Grace is almost indescribable. And I say that because it will
not in any way fit into our minds or our natural scheme of things,
because it means totally unmerited, undeserved, and even unwanted
favor. It's grace. And the reason why
religion offers a kind of grace that is more works than grace
is because men and women by nature cannot receive the grace of God. Because it is all His work, and
it is all for His people, and it is all for His Glory. Grace is what God has done. And Paul says here that He hath
made us accepted. Now, I know that His grace is
always present to His people, and I know that He gives more
grace But as Paul says here, he has made us something. He gives grace that enables us
to do some things. He gives grace in so many ways. But here he says that God, by
His grace, has made us something. He has made us accepted. He has graced us. in the Beloved. And there is no grace in any
other thing or in any other person. And all the grace of God and
all the mercy of God and all the goodness of God and all the
salvation of God is right here in the Beloved. And I suppose that the first
thing that we need to consider and the first thing that we need
to know in order to be assured of God's love for us is to be
assured of God's love for His Son, the Beloved. In other words, if God does not
really, in the fullest sense, love The Beloved, He surely can't
love those who are in the Beloved. And God does love His Son. And He has always loved His Son. And not only has He always loved
His Son, He has therefore always loved those who are in His Son,
and loved His Son for what His Son would do. Let me read you one of my most
favorite passages of Scripture of late. And that is to be found
in Proverbs chapter 8. where the Lord Jesus Christ,
where the Messiah says things that if He did not say it, we
could hardly believe it. Proverbs chapter 8 and verse
22, he says, The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way
before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting."
What does that mean? It means set up as the mediator,
as the messenger and angel of that everlasting covenant, as
the surety. He did not come to have existence
then, but before all these works of creation and such, He was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth
was. When there were no depths, I
was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth. while as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world. When he prepared the heavens
I was there, when he set a compass upon the face of the when He
established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains
of the deep, when He gave to the sea His decree that the water
should not pass His commandment, when He appointed the foundations
of the earth. Now, listen to this. Then I was by Him as one brought
up with Him. And I was daily his delight."
You see that? He says, before anything was
ever created, not only was God the Son there with the Father,
both being eternal and co-equal, But because of what Christ was
set up to be as the Savior and mediator of His people, it says
that He was the delight of the Father. And I was daily His delight,
rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable part
of His earth, and my delights were with the sons of men." How
amazing a statement that is. But turn over also to the Gospel
of Matthew. Matthew chapter 3, and listen
to what is said concerning the love of the Father for the Son. He says in Matthew chapter 3
and verse 16, And this is when Jesus was being
baptized. It says, And Jesus, when he was
baptized, went a straight way out of the water, and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him. And he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And by the way, If
there were not another couple of verses in Scripture to set
forth the triunity of God as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
this would be sufficient. Because here is the Son incarnate
being baptized in water, and the Holy Spirit in the form of
a dove coming and bearing witness to Him, and then it says, and
lo, a voice from heaven. saying, this is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. Look over in Matthew's gospel
a little further. chapter 12 and verse 18. When they started to raise up
counsel against the Lord Jesus Christ and how they might destroy
Him, He says that when he knew it, he withdrew himself from
thence, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them
all, and charged them that they should not make him known, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah, the prophet,
saying, Behold my servant, whom I have
chosen, my my Beloved, in whom my soul is
well pleased. I will put my spirit upon Him,
and He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive
nor cry, neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall He not break,
and a smoking flax shall He not quench. till he send forth judgment
unto victory." Who's that? God's Beloved. Turn over to Matthew
17. Matthew chapter 17 and look down
in verse 4. This is when they were on the
Mount of Transfiguration. And Moses and Elias appear before
Peter, James, and John there on that mount. Verse 4 says,
Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good
for us to be here, if thou wilt. Let us make here three tabernacles,
one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. Now, God spoke
through Moses without a doubt, and God spoke through Elijah
without a doubt. But look at what the next verse
says. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice out of the cloud
which said, This is my beloved son. in whom I am well pleased, hear
ye Him." Hear ye Him. And then, if you'll
look over in 2 Peter, 2 Peter and the first chapter, and listen to what Peter is led
by the Spirit of God to say. 2 Peter 1, beginning in verse 16. Peter said, For we have not followed
cunningly devised fables. In other words, we aren't preaching
somebody's tradition or some group's position doctrinally,
any of these things. But he said, we have not followed
cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. And he's talking about that very
same thing. He's talking about that very
same experience on the mount. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from
the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount."
But now look at what he says. we have also a more sure word
of prophecy. Whereunto ye do well, that ye
take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place until
the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." That means a revelation by God
the Spirit of Him who is the Son of Righteousness in your
hearts. Knowing this, that no prophecy
of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Everywhere you look, you see
God pleased with, you see God's love spoken of concerning this
one called the Beloved. And God's love and His faithfulness
to His Son. Now, God is faithful just in
that one attribute. He is faithful. But he is faithful
to his Son, and therefore faithful to his people, because they are in the Son.
Listen to what John says. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into his hand, He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Now there are some things that
were given into the hands of the Son. that have to do with
the salvation, the total salvation and deliverance of His people.
And it is for this reason that the Father loves the Son. Listen again in John 10. Our Lord says, As the Father
knoweth Me, or loves Me, So, even so, know I, or love
I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other
sheep I have, which are not of this foal, them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one shepherd."
That sounds like the whole package, doesn't it? That sounds like
a total salvation. of all the sheep by the shepherd
himself. All right, listen to what he
says. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. You see, the grace of God, the
grace of God which brings salvation. The grace of God and that salvation
that it brings is in the Beloved. And that's it. Well, I know, preacher, but don't
you think you need to tell me what to do? Are we talking about
salvation or are we talking about obeying God? If we're talking
about salvation, If we're talking about the whole package upon
which a sinner stands before God safe and sound and secure
and blessed for all eternity, it's in the Beloved. God in grace put His people in
Christ. He justified them in Christ. He reconciled them unto Himself
in Christ, and He redeemed them in Christ. And they, by His Spirit,
will every one be brought to believe on Him, and also to desire
to be found in Him. How has He saved them? In the
Beloved? When the Spirit of God works
that work of grace in them, where do they want to be found? Above
all places, in the blood. Paul said all that other stuff,
Philippians 3, that I counted as essential, as I counted as
the very things that were going to put me in good stead with
God. All those things, I count them
as absolutely nothing but useless trash that I might be found in
Him. Having not that righteousness
of my own, I don't have any. And having not the one I thought
I had, but having that one that is through faith in Him and Him
alone. When Paul wrote to the church
at Colossae, he closes out that first chapter saying something
like this, giving thanks unto the Father. which hath made us
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son." And that's God who did all that. And that literally means that
He has translated us, He's made us meet or suitable to be the
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, and has
delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into
the kingdom of the Son of His love. And if we're in Christ, We have been loved, and we are
being loved, and we shall be loved. Because the love of God
in the Lord Jesus Christ is an unchanging and eternal love. that God gave to His prophet
Jeremiah are the same words that are spoken to every one of His
people, every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, Yea,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,"
or I believe that's about the equivalent in the Old Testament
of grace. Therefore, with grace, have I drawn thee. Everyone that is drawn by the
Spirit of God to the Lord Jesus Christ, was loved with an everlasting
love in Christ before the world began. And that's why when Paul
writes to the church at Rome and he says probably more about
the love of Christ than we could ever comprehend, he says, who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? shall distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. And that shows that outside of
the Lord Jesus Christ, to every sinner, God is simply
a consuming fire. If we ever receive any benefit
of God loving us, it will have to be in Christ Jesus. Why? Because God could only love
a sinner in Christ. That's where everybody makes
this bad mistake. They think it's a glorious thing
to talk about God loving everybody, but that's a denial of who God
is. That's a denial of the character
of God. That's a denial of the justice
of God. God can only love that people
that is in Christ Jesus. When it says that He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved, that means literally something
like this, He has graced us in the Beloved. Or, He has made
us subjects of His grace. Or this one that I really like,
which someone gave, He has embraced us in the arms of His grace in
Christ. But we know nothing about the
love of God. We know nothing about the affection
of God that he shows to a people in Christ outside of what the
gospel declares concerning his life and death. I could stand up here this morning
and I could say, God loves you, and that would be a lie. Or I
could stand up here and say, God loves everybody in Christ,
And that would be partially true, but that wouldn't be the whole
picture of it. Because we never see the love of God. As a matter
of fact, we never see a full display of the character and
attributes of God except in Christ crucified. Somebody said, well, look at
Him healing all those people. Oh, the love of God. No. Oh, look at him over here. He's healing all these people.
The love of God. No. Some of those very people
who ate, and some of those very people who had physical health
restored to them, probably went out into eternity and perished.
Is that right? Exactly. Turn to 1 John 4. Look down with me in verse 9. Now, I don't really know. We don't know anything about
the Beloved or the love of God which is in the Beloved unless
we're brought to know something about what John is led by the
Spirit of God to say here in 1 John 4 and verse 9. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us. Now, I may be a dummy, and I
am in a lot of ways, but when I read a statement as clear and
plain as that, I'm expecting from God the truth of what's
being said here. In this. In this. was manifested the love of God
toward us. Because God sent his only begotten
Son into the world that we might live through him. And here it is. This was God's
love manifested to his people. He sent his Son into the world
that they might live through him. Now, how are they going
to live through Him? He goes on. Herein is love, not
that we love God, but that He loved us and sent
His Son, and this is actually the way it is,
and sent His Son the propitiation for our sins. Now, how in this world can religion
stand in the name of God, in the name of Jesus, and preach
about the love of God apart from what he says is the very central
thing that demonstrates the love of God? And that's the cross death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look back in verse 7 of Ephesians
1. You see, you can't talk about
the love of God without talking about sin. You can't talk about
the love of God. You can't talk about this Beloved
One, the Son of God, say everything you will about Him and turn aside
from His most important and most glorious work. Look down at verse
7. The Beloved in whom we have. Oh, the Lord will redeem you
if you will just come do this. No. In the Beloved in whom we
have redemption, which is what? Redemption from sin through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His
grace. The love and grace of God got
something to do with what Christ did on that cross outside of
Jerusalem. And that's why to say that He
died for everybody, and then admit that everybody won't be
saved, diminishes the love of God, diminishes the work of Christ,
and diminishes the work of God's Spirit. In the Beloved, what do we have? We have redemption through His
death, through His sacrifice, through His substitutionary suffering
on that cross, in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins. You say, well, if God loves everybody,
He'll surely forgive everybody. That's the problem. The only way he can forgive sin
is if sin is put away, if the debt of sin is paid, if that
which is required under the law and justice of God on the behalf
of the sinner is satisfied. Where is that in the Beloved? And most especially in the fact
that God's love is demonstrated fully, clearly, and to the satisfaction
of His own self and the salvation of His people in the Lord Jesus
Christ. What about this one, where John
says concerning Christ? This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. And one of the first things he
says is this, unto him that loved us. Did he just leave it like that?
No, he says unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood. And if He didn't wash me from
all my sins in His own blood, then how could it ever be said
that He loved me when that is my greatest need in time and
eternity? You see, the fact of love does not come from feeling. No, the feeling comes from the
facts. The facts. And that's what the
gospel sets forth. That the love of God is in Christ
Jesus. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. And we experience God's loving
us now when we look at the love that He demonstrated in giving
His Son for us as the sacrifice for our sins. And unless we've been enabled
by God to look at, and I'm not talking about with the natural
eye or the mind, I'm talking about with a thoughtful meditation
and consideration from what is declared in this book, if we
have not been able to look to that cross work of Christ and see demonstrated in that
work that he accomplished, in that death that he suffered,
that this really is the love of God toward us. And I'm afraid we don't know
anything about the love of God. Because it's the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus. Paul says it about as simply
as it can be said. He said, but God commendeth His
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. in our place. That's God commending. That's
God demonstrating, God exhibiting, God manifesting His love toward
us in the fact that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. And if you'll listen to that,
that'll tell you a whole lot about what being a sinner is.
And that is the fact that we are not sinners by virtue of
what we do. We are sinners by virtue of what
we are and became in Adam, because when Christ died, you did not even exist in flesh. But you were a sinner, because you fell in that representative
man, Adam. And that was so that you might
be resurrected in that last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. It says
in Scripture that He, our Beloved, was made sin for us, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him. You can talk about the love of
God all you want to. I'll hang my hat right there.
This is love that Christ died for us, that He, the sinless
One, was made sin for us in our place, in our room instead, and
in doing so, we are made the righteousness of God in Him. You see, if we are unable to
believe on Christ, This is the evidence that God
loves us and has accepted us in Him. We don't believe for
God to love us. If we believe it is because He
loved us with an everlasting love, that He showed that love
in the death and suffering of Christ in our place, and He manifested
or shed abroad that love by His Spirit in our hearts. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved us even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace. Are ye saved? O the Lord's people! when they're
brought to see his love and his suffering and his death in their
place and believe on him, they love him. But like John says, we love him
because he first loved us. Now, I want to read to you something
just utterly amazing. You'll turn over to John 17. What if you could eavesdrop on
a prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ this
morning? That's about what we do here
in John 17. Look down at verse 20. He tells us that he prays not
for the world. but for those that were given
him by the Father." Verse 20, "...neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their
word." He's praying for his whole church. He's praying for the
whole bride and body of Christ. "...that they all may be one
as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may
be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me, and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them,
that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one." All this has
to do with Him being the Beloved and all His people being in Him. and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me," now listen to this, "'and hast loved them
as thou hast loved me.'" Loved his people. as he loved his Son, in whom
his people are. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me."
Now, he loved them, he says, as he loved me, and thou lovest
me. before the foundation of the
world. That's surely the only way that
any sinner could ever be loved. And that's
in the Beloved. And they were loved in Christ
before the world? They were surely loved in Christ
as He went to the cross in their place, and they were loved in
Christ when He shed that love abroad in their hearts by the
Spirit of God. And so they can say, as His bride there in the Song
of Solomon, when they are asked by the the rest of the world. What's
so great about your beloved?" And the bride says, he's altogether
lovely. He's lovely to God. He's lovely
to me. He's lovely in who he is. He's
lovely in what he did. He's altogether lovely. He's
especially lovely. for suffering in my place." As
a matter of fact, she says this, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. Sometime in the most likely turn between the Eighteen in
the 1900s, a lady wrote a hymn, and it just well expresses what everyone in the beloved,
everyone who's been brought to turn from their own ways to Him
who is the way, She wrote, In the Beloved, accepted
am I, risen, ascended, and seated on high, saved from all sin through
His infinite grace, with the redeemed ones afforded a place. In the Beloved, how safe my retreat! In the Beloved, accounted complete. Who can condemn me? In Him I
am free. Savior and Keeper forever is
He. In the Beloved I went to the
tree. There in His person by faith
I may see infinite wrath rolling over His head. infinite grace,
for He died in my stead." This is the refrain. In the Beloved,
God's marvelous grace calls me to dwell in this wonderful place. God sees my Savior, and then
He sees me. In the Beloved, accepted and
free. I would have been glad to have
such voice and talent as to be able to sing that to you this
morning. In the beloved, accepted and free. Our Father, this morning we give
you thanks for your grace, your free and
sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for Him who loved
us and gave Himself for us. as the payment for our sin debt,
as the price of our redemption and ransom, as the satisfaction
of your justice in the matter of our sins. We thank you for
such a display of divine love which is and always shall be
unsurpassed by any creature. We thank you for mercy that comes
forth in love demonstrating a saving hand to those who are unable
to save themselves. For love unchanging, for that
one who never changes, therefore your love never changes. Lord, we ask that we might be
made in our hearts and minds to be
among those who appreciate, who recognize, and who are thankful
for that love that is in Christ Jesus. Lord, grant to us faith that
we might look to Him, cast off every other hope, and be able
to rejoice Meditate and think about, for worlds without end, that you loved us and made us
accepted in the Beloved. To rejoice with the Bride there
in the Song of Solomon and to be able to say, I am my Beloved's and He is mine. We thank you and we praise you
and ask for your continued grace and mercy upon us as we go out
into the day and into the week. May all honor and glory be yours
forever and ever. Amen.