The following message was delivered
on Sunday evening, June 5th, 1994, at the Trinity Baptist
Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now may I urge you to turn with
me in your Bibles to a portion of the Word of God that is frequently
read at weddings, Ephesians chapter 5. This portion was read at the
wedding conducted here on Friday night at which time Clare de
Juana and Randy Burbard were joined in marriage, Ephesians
chapter 5, and I shall read just verses 25 through 27. Husbands,
love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave
himself up for it or for her, it is a feminine pronoun agreeing
in gender with the word church, which is feminine, that he might
sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with
the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any of such things, in the
plural in the original, but that it, or she, should be holy and
without blemish." Now the Christian faith has many
things that are utterly amazing about it. And one of the most
amazing features of the Christian faith is the way in which its
most profound doctrines are intertwined with statements of its most practical
duties. The Christian faith is described
by Paul in one of his letters as the truth which is according
to godliness. In other words, there is a direct,
vital link between the truth and practical godliness. In another setting, Paul commands
the people of God to adorn, to dress themselves up in the doctrine
of God in all things. clearly implying that there is
no doctrine that is not to be worn as part of the garb of a
Christian's behavior. Now, because this is true, it
should not surprise us to find some of the most intensely doctrinal
statements embedded in sections of the most patently practical
focus. For example, one of the most
marvelous statements of Christology, or the doctrine of Christ, is
to be found in Philippians chapter 2, right on the heels of an exhortation
to Christians, have this mind in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus, who being in the form of God. And then for the next
several verses we have a statement concerning the person of our
Lord Jesus Christ that is one of the most profound doctrinal
statements with respect to his person to be found anywhere in
the scriptures. So with the text that we will
look at in our communion meditation tonight. having directed all
of God's people not to be drunk with wine, but to be ever filled
with the Spirit, and having indicated the five conduits of activity
by which a Spirit-filled life will be manifested, Paul mentions
as the fifth conduit of the manifestation and outworking of a Spirit-filled
life in verse 21 of Ephesians 5, as one of subjecting yourselves
one to another in the fear of Christ. And therefore, he directs
us to understand that people filled with the Spirit will manifest
it, not by bragging about their experiences in the Holy Ghost,
but by joyfully manifesting the Spirit of Christ, who came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life
a ransom for many. They will count it their joy
to submit themselves to their brethren out of reverent regard
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then having stated that one of
the manifestations of a Spirit-filled life is this general mutual submission,
The Apostle then focuses upon some specific areas of specific
submission that are warranted within certain specific relationships. And he mentions explicitly wives
in verse 22 and the submission they are to render to their husbands. Chapter 6 in verse 1, children
who are to obey their parents and then in chapter 6 and verse
5, servants who are to be obedient unto their masters. Then in conjunction
with giving these three specific areas of specific submission
that are warranted by wives to their husbands, children to their
parents, servants to the masters, the apostle then gives a word
to the one who is in authority. So having spoken to the wives
and their submission that they owe to their husbands, he then
speaks to the husband who is in the place of authority. And
then in chapter 6 he speaks to the parents, verse 4, ye fathers,
and then also to the masters in verse 9. So there is a very
definite, discernible structure to this entire passage. And if
ever we had a passage filled with practical directives, we
have such a passage before us. The general subject is the submission
that the people of God owe to one another in general, and the
specific submission that wives, children, and servants owe to
those who are over them in the Lord. But in the midst of this
intensely practical section, marking out specific duties of
specific classes of Christians, we have one of those profound
doctrinal statements. And when they come, as they do
here and in Philippians 2 and in many other passages, those
statements could be extracted out of their context and set
almost anywhere in scripture and find their weight, if not
diminished at all, very, very little diminished because they
are profound statements of truths concerning Christ which though
they are given a particular application in the setting are true even
if totally extracted from that setting. And such a statement
is the one we are given in verses 25b through 27 of Ephesians chapter
5. Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for it. That's a glorious truth. Whether
or not there ever was a husband to love a wife or a wife to be
subject to a husband, Christ loved the church and gave himself
up. for it, in order that he might
sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with
the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it
should be holy and without blemish. Now Paul goes on to make a practical
and specific use of that truth, even so, but the truth stands
on its own two feet, and therefore I am not twisting the scriptures
nor handling them irresponsibly to simply focus upon these statements
concerning Christ. and his love and the purpose
of that love to his own as we prepare our hearts to come to
the table of the Lord. Note with me first of all in
verse 25b a simple affirmation. Here is the simple affirmation. Christ also loved the church
and gave himself up for it. And then there follows in verses
26 and 27 an expanded explanation in order that two major clauses
of purpose telling us why he loved and gave himself for the
church. So then, in the time allotted
for our meditation this evening, consider with me, first of all,
the simple affirmation of verse 25b. Christ also loved the church
and gave himself up for it or for her. Note, first of all,
under this heading of the simple affirmation, the object of what
is affirmed. Everything in this simple affirmation
pertains to this distinct object, the Church. That is, the people
of God as marked out and given to Christ in sovereign, eternal,
electing love, The people of God, for whom the Savior became
surety and substitute, whatever is said in this passage has a
distinct and exclusive object. It is the Church. Christ also
loved the Church. gave himself up for her, in order
that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her with the washing
of water, with the word that he might present, and now he
comes back to the noun again, the church, to himself, not having
spot or wrinkle or any of such things, but that she, the church,
should be holy and without blemish. Whatever is said in this simple
affirmation, the object of what is affirmed is an exclusive object. It is the church, the people
of God, marked out and loved by God and given to Christ in
eternity. The people of God, as they shall
be gathered in one by one by the effectual call of God, This
is an exclusive object, but thank God it is inclusive. It doesn't
say he loved the most sanctified within the church or the most
mature within the church, the most consistently godly. Though it is exclusively the
church, it is inclusive of all of the church in the full range
of all who are found within his church. But then notice the substance
of what is affirmed. The object is the church. The
substance of what is affirmed points first of all to the disposition
of Christ towards the church and then the action of Christ
on behalf of the church. Christ also loved the church
and gave himself up for her. Here the focus is not upon the
abiding, eternal, unchanging, constant love of Christ for the
Church, But it speaks of His love in conjunction with the
supreme manifestation of that love, which has time boundaries
around it. And so it is not said that Christ
loves His church, though that is a truth clearly taught in
other portions of the Word of God, that Christ loved. there was an expression, a manifestation
of His love that was temporally bound. And that is explained
in terms of His action on behalf of the Church. Christ also loved
the Church, and that particular time-bound expression of His
love was found in that he gave himself up for it. Now this verb, for gave himself
up, parabidimi, is the word used with reference to the father's
action in conjunction with the son. Romans 8, 32, he that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. and there
is a real sense in which the Father delivered Him up for us,
this text tells us that it is Christ who delivered up Himself
on our behalf. And it is in this sense that
Paul uses it in a parallel passage in Galatians 2.20, where he makes
it individual and personal. I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. Notice the
parallel. Who loved me, not who loves. Who loved me! There was a time-bound,
temporally expressed dimension of His love, and, here's our
verb, gave Himself up for me. So in this simple affirmation,
the object of what is affirmed is the Church. The substance
of what is affirmed is that Christ's disposition to the Church was
one of intense love, and the action to which that love led
was his once for all giving up of himself on our behalf. And we don't have time to answer
the question, to what did he give himself up? Giving himself
up to the worst that men could do to him. giving Himself up
to rejection and spittle and scourging and mockery, giving
Himself up supremely to the outpoured fury of the wrath of His Father,
and all that the Scripture teaches of our Lord Jesus voluntarily
bearing in His own body our sins up to the tree, swallowing up
in his own soul all of the billows of divine wrath against the sins
of his people. Suffice it to say that in this
simple affirmation, Paul is taking us to the heart of that central
truth of the gospel, that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures. The simple affirmation of verse
25b, Christ also loved the church and gave himself up. for it. And if we are here tonight
as the people of God with any felt sense of the confidence
of sins forgiven and the knowledge of communion with the reconciled
face of God, it's because of all of the realities embedded
in this simple affirmation, Christ also loved the church. and gave
himself up for it or for her. But then we come secondly to
an expanded explanation. An expanded explanation. We have two main purpose clauses. Look at your Bibles and you'll
see that. Christ loved the church gave himself up for it, in order
that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of
water with the word, in order that he might present the church
to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. In this expanded explanation,
an explanation of the purpose Christ had in view when He loved
the Church and gave Himself up for her, we have first the intermediate
purpose and then the ultimate purpose. What was the intermediate
purpose? Why did He love us and give Himself
up for us? We are told in the language of
verse 26, in order that he might sanctify her, that is the church,
having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word. Now I might give you a detailed
explanation of the various views of the interpretation of these
words, but suffice it to say, this much is clear. The church
for which Christ died, The church that he loved was in itself defiled
and unclean. Rather than being set apart unto
God, it was enmeshed in defilement and sin. It was embedded with
its taproots in the world, in the flesh, and under the control
of the devil. It was unclean and needed cleansing. It was defiled and needed to
be sanctified. And the intermediate purpose
of the Lord Jesus in loving and giving Himself up to the Church
was that the Church might be set apart unto God. That's what
the word sanctified means, that He might sanctify it, that the
Church might be set apart unto God, having been cleansed from
its natural defilement through the blessings held out in the
word of the gospel and validated and illustrated in Christian
baptism. In my judgment, that is the sense
and the thrust of the apostles' words, and it has the weight
of many responsible commentators. What was the intermediate purpose
of Christ? when that time-bound expression
of His love drove Him to give Himself up to the death of the
cross? It was in order that His church,
though in itself natively defiled and polluted and unclean and
under condemnation, might be set apart unto God as holy, set
apart unto God for His service, having been cleansed by the marvelous
provisions held out in the word and truth of the gospel, and
marvelously illustrated and manifested and sealed to believing hearts
in the ordinance of baptism. Christ's death upon the cross
secured the sanctification and the cleansing of all for whom
he died. In ourselves, we were unfit for
the service of God, for communion with God, but Christ died to
provide the just basis for our sins to be cleansed. that we
might be reconciled to God, that we might be set apart unto communion
with God and the service of God. And therefore, if the gospel
is come to us in power, this is our present condition. We
are a sanctified people. Christ loved the church, gave
himself for it in order that he might sanctify it. And that
sanctification occurs here and now in conjunction with the cleansing
that comes to every believing sinner in the context of the
preaching of the gospel to which he bears witness in his baptism. Therefore, as you sit here tonight,
If the gospel is come to you in power, you do not merely sit
here rejoicing in sins forgiven. You rejoice that you've been
sanctified, that is set apart unto God, that you have in the
virtue of the cleansing of the blood of Christ and the renewing
work of the Spirit of God, you have been fit for the service
of God. You are sanctified in union with
Christ. Jesus, as Paul said to the Corinthians,
some of whom had been enmeshed in the vilest of sins, such were
some of you, but you have been washed, you have been sanctified,
you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and in
the Spirit of our God. You've experienced these blessings
of the gospel in conjunction with the revelation of God's
mercy in the person and work of Christ and by the mighty operations
of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if you are truly a
part of that church for which Christ died, The proof is not
that you have a head full of the facts of the gospel, that
you have ascended to those facts, that you've given a good explanation
of those facts before a group of elders or church leaders,
and have been welcomed into a company of God's people called the church. If you are a part of the church
for which Christ died, then his purpose has been realized in
you. His intermediate purpose has
been realized in you. You have been sanctified, having
been cleansed with the washing of water with the Word. And therefore, if you are not
a sanctified man or woman, boy or girl, if you're a stranger
to that fundamental, initial cleansing that occurs when through
repentance and faith there is a divorce from the reign and
the volitional submission to the tyranny and to the lordship
of sin, and the fundamental commitment of yourself and of your members
unto God to be set apart unto him, my friend, Christ did not
die to have a church of people who claimed to be cleansed and
pardoned and forgiven, still wedded to their sins, wedded
to self, and wedded to the world. Christ did not die for any such
purpose according to this text. He loved the church, gave himself
for it in order that he might sanctify it, having cleansed
it with the washing of water by the word. And my Bible says
he shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. He
will receive what he died for. And if that intermediate purpose
is not realized in you, you have no biblical grounds to claim
you're a Christian. But as blessed as that intermediate
purpose in its realization is, notice that our passage points
us in verse 27 to the ultimate purpose. Look at the ultimate
purpose. Christ also loved us, loved the
church, and gave himself up for it. Skip right over to the second
clause of purpose. In order that He might present
the church to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. The ultimate purpose is stated
in terms of a general statement and then a specific amplification. What's the general statement?
He loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might
present the church to himself glorious. Or as Hendrickson renders
it, brilliant in glory, that he might present it to himself
glorious. He loved the church, he gave
himself to the church, because in his eye, by faith, he saw
that moment in time. And as the heavenly bridegroom,
he himself would be, as it were, the father who gives away the
bride, he will present the bride to himself in a state that can
only be described as glorious, or as Hendrickson paraphrases
it, brilliant in glory when he hung upon the cross bathed in
the glory and shame of crucifixion he had in his eye that day when
he would present his church to himself, glorious, brilliant
in purity, resplendent with glory. That's the general statement,
but now notice the specific amplification of that, and it's given to us
in a negative and a positive. in order that he might present
the church to himself glorious, not, here's the negative, not
having spot or wrinkle or any of such things, positively, but
that she should be holy and without blemish. What will it mean for
him to present his blood-bought church to himself, glorious? It will mean, negatively, she
will have no spot, no wrinkle, or no such things, no such imperfections. And the linguist and the commentators
differ. Do the words spot or wrinkle
refer on the one hand to specks, flecks, or stains upon the face
and wrinkles to the garment or upon the skin? What are the other
such things? Well, one thing is clear. Whether
a bride appears before her bridegroom with her face spattered with
mud, or her bridal gown spattered with ink stains and ugly wrinkles,
there's very little difference. And I'm not going to waste your
time giving what my opinion is, because the matter in my judgment
is not that clear, but one thing is clear. When Christ realizes
in his own experience that which he died to have, it will be glorious
because in that church for which he gave himself there will be
found no spot, no speck, no fleck, no stain, no wrinkle. There will be no such things
that are indicative of imperfection. One commentator wrote this way,
Paul's picture is that of a bride and he makes us think of one
that is beautiful indeed. But at first we see her with
her bridal robe spotted here and there with ugly stains and
her lovely face marred by ugly wrinkles. What bride could appear
like that on her wedding day? Why every eye would at once fasten
on such blemishes of robe and face feel the argumentative force
in these terms so perfectly chosen how the church must long to be
all glorious. And we are his church. The ultimate purpose of Christ
in loving the church in giving himself up for her was that he
might present her to himself, having no spot, no wrinkle, no
such things positively, but that she might be holy and without
blemish." Now those two words, holy and without blemish, with
the exception of being plural in one case, singular in the
other, are the exact two words found in Ephesians chapter 1.
Turn there for a moment as we bring Our meditation to a close,
Ephesians chapter 1, Paul says, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, even as he chose us
in him before the foundation of the world, in order that here
was the purpose of his choice. Here's the end he had in view,
in order that we should be holy and without blemish before him. God's purpose in the first motions
of his heart toward his elect was that they whom he conceived
in his own mind and heart, in their native and fallen condition,
as unholy and defiled, besmirched and befouled with sin, he chose
them that they should, when he is done with the purposes of
his electing love and saving mercy, be holy and without blemish. Now we come to Ephesians 5 and
we read, that the very purpose of the Father in electing love
and choice was the very ultimate purpose of the Son in His dying
life. He loved the Church and gave
Himself for it to do what? To accomplish the very purpose
of the Father in electing love. But now it is not holy and without
blemish before Him, the Father. But it is holy and without blemish
presented as the bride to the loving bridegroom, the Lord Jesus. Holy and without blemish. That's the ultimate purpose for
which Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. And
in the light of that truth, I want to bring First, a word of comfort
and consolation to the people of God as we come to the table. Every true Christian, whatever
else he's weary of, is weary of his sins. Whatever tasks you
may be called upon to bear that make you physically weary, whatever
trials you are called upon to pass through that make you emotionally
weary, Whatever relationships you must live with that make
you weary to the very core of your appearing, there is nothing
that wearies the true child of God like the horrible reality
of His own remaining self. Having known the intermediate
purpose of Christ realized in His life, He has been sanctified
fundamentally and radically, set apart from the world and
the dominion of sin, unto God and to His service, having been
cleansed in the blessings held forth in the gospel, those things
declared in the waters of baptism. He has died to sin in union with
Christ and risen to newness of life. He does not minimize those
realities, but they have given to Him in a sense, a far greater
problem he ever had when he was in the world, with a dull and
a seared conscience and blind spiritual eyes. He now has a
heart sensitive to the voice of God, and to the will of God,
and to communion with God, and it's sin that marrs and jars
his inner being. Child of God, listen, listen,
listen. As you come, and you take of
these elements, the bread broken, the cup The fruit of the vine poured
forth. As surely as Christ died, a day is coming when there will
no longer be any weariness with sin. You shall be holy and without
blemish. The eye of Christ, that is the
eye of the omniscience of God himself, will not be able to
find a spot without or within. a wrinkle without or within,
no such things without or within, His death will accomplish its
goal in you. Coming to the table tonight,
you need to take fresh hope and courage. Lord Jesus, you loved
your church. You gave yourself for your church,
not only that you might sanctify it, having cleansed it with the
washing of water by the Word in this intermediate purpose.
But just as surely as that purpose has been realized, Lord, You
loved the church and gave Yourself for it. In order that You might
present it to Yourself glorious. Lord, I'm not yet glorious, but
I shall be. And that will mean nothing less
without spot, without wrinkle. It will mean nothing less than
holy and without blemish. And your faith, child of God,
in the certainty of the fruition of the death of Christ, needs
to be strengthened as you come to the table. And there is nothing
like the certain, ultimate, total, complete glorification of the
saint, rooted in the virtue of the death of Christ, that will
give us greater strength in the ongoing battle with our remaining
sin. Child of God, tears and shame
and grief and remorse for sin will not be your companion forever. Holy and without blemish! And he's going to make you just
that. Take comfort, dear child of God. But then this text is
a word of conviction to the formalist and the hypocrite. Some of you
sit here saying, oh yes, I'm part of his church, saved by
his blood, redeemed by his grace. Are you? Has your so-called faith
in the work of Christ resulted in you being part of a sanctified
church? a company of people radically
and fundamentally cut off from their willful, deliberate, loving
attachment to the world, its standards, its perspectives,
its goals, its people, its ways? Have you been set apart from
the world unto the service of God so that you joyfully acknowledge
you're not your own? in your person, in your appetites,
in your capacities, abilities, your purse, your bank account,
your car, your home. Nothing is yours. You are His. Is that your posture? If it isn't,
you're a self-deceived hypocrite and a formalist if you claim
to be part of Christ's true Church. Because He secures the intermediate
goal of His death before He ever brings anyone to the ultimate
goal of His death. And some of you need to stop
playing games with such sacred things as the blood of Christ.
He did not die for sinners to leave them wedded to their sins,
married to the world. No, he loved the church, gave
himself up for it that he might sanctify it, having cleansed
it. Concurrent realities. He cleanses. That's the participial emphasis. He cleanses in conjunction with
that washing that comes in the context of the proclamation of
the word and truth of the gospel, thereby actually not only declaring
us righteous in the court of heaven, but setting us apart
unto himself. Some of you need to take the
heart, the word preached by Pastor Hendricks a few weeks ago and
examine yourself whether you are indeed in the faith. And
for you who are not Christians, what a marvelous word. Christ
loved the church, gave himself up for it that he might. sanctify it, that he might present
it. You say, oh, if I only could
know that I was a part of that church. My friend, there's only
one way anyone knows it. That's by becoming attached to
the living head of the church, the Lord Jesus. And the only
way you get attached to him is to get detached from your sin
in the world himself, in true repentance, and united to him
by faith. So that everything that is here
said as certain of the church, because Christ died to procure
such blessings, they are all in Christ. And if you get into
Christ, they're yours. My friend, it's not complicated.
Get to Christ, and these things are yours in Him. Miss Him. And there's nothing outside of
Him but despair and darkness and death and damnation. May God grant that as you see
the people of God take the bread and eat and take the cup and
drink, the Spirit of God will open your eyes to see. That's
what faith is likened unto in the Scriptures. It's an eating
of Christ. It's a drinking of Christ. It's
a taking of Christ and the virtue of his death for sinners to myself. And my friend, though we're a
miserable bunch of sinners, who, if I may say it reverently, have
drained much from the ocean of virtue that is in the death of
Christ, I want to tell you something. We haven't drained it dry. It's
still an ocean full. And you may know the same blessings
in the same Savior. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you again
for your holy word. We marvel at how the most practical
duties do indeed shoot us, as it were, into the loftiest doctrines
and glorious truths. We pray that the Holy Spirit
will shine upon the face of Jesus and upon the glory of the work
that he has accomplished and will yet accomplish for his church. Comfort and encourage every true
Christian in this place tonight. O Lord, convict and strip away
the facade from the formalist and the hypocrite, and effectually
and powerfully draw every needy, bleeding, helpless, hopeless
sinner unto Christ. Bless us now as we further meditate
upon these glorious realities. and strengthen our faith as we
take the emblems of bread and the fruit of the vine, that Christ
himself will be more precious to our hearts. We ask in his
worthy name. Amen.