Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Ephesians chapter 5 and reading
for our text verses 26 and 27. Ephesians 5 and verse 26 and
27. That he, that is Christ, might
sanctify and cleanse it, that is the church, with the washing
of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5
and verses 26 and 27. The Apostle giving in this portion
a very clear directions, a duty of wives to the husbands to submit
unto them in love as unto the Lord and for the husband to love
their wives in the same way that Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it. It is a reminder of the creation
ordinance of marriage, that it is not of man's design, but of
God's. And how important it is that
the institution of marriage exactly follow the pattern that God himself
has given, because it is a type of Christ and the Church. We read in verse 32, This is
a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. It's the most solemn thing, when
in the world there are those that are deliberately undermining
this type. And not only this, but there's
other types in the world as well. And every perversion of marriage
Marriage that is instituted by God between one man and one woman,
to the exclusion of all other, for the duration of their natural
lives, till death us depart. That is God's institution. And
here we have a most noble, precious explaining of what it is setting
forth. and any undermining of that undermines
this beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Heavenly
Bridegroom and the Church of God, the people of God, as His
Bride. And so, in this passage, direction
is given to husbands and wives, and Christ and His Church is
used as the example to follow. On the other hand, there is the
time of marriage, the husband and the wife, illustrating and
setting forth Christ and the Church. But it is the words before
us this evening that I specifically want to look upon as Christ preparing
the Church for This is something, of course, that a young man going
out with a woman cannot do. They can get to know each other,
but they cannot, the husband or husband-to-be cannot prepare
the woman for himself. Many mistakes have been made
with the thought that, well, There are things that I don't
like or don't get along with, but I'll change them, I'll change
her. And yes, throughout Mary's life,
there is that moulding together as one. But for the most part,
we look where the Lord has already made compatible and joined together. What God has joined together,
let not man put asunder. But with the Church of God, We
have our Lord Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom, and He is
fitting and forming and working in His people so that they can
be with Him forever. When our Lord was to wash Peter's
feet, and Peter objected to it, the Lord said, if I wash thee
not, thou hast no part with me. And the people of God are to
be not in their natural state, not as they were born, but as
they have been formed and fashioned by the Lord. And that is how
they will be presented at last. And our Lord shall say, behold,
I and the children whom thou hast given me. Thine they were,
he says to his father, and thou gavest them me." Well, I want to look at three
points this evening. Firstly, the church in its natural
state. And then secondly, the church
being prepared for Christ by Christ. And then lastly, the
Church presented to Himself at last. But first we have the Church
in its natural state. And may we remind ourselves,
the Church of God, of course, is not a building, is not a chapel. It is people. It is men and women
and children. It is already a Church. We read of a people already being
a people when they are given by the Father to the Son. They
are chosen in Christ from the foundation of the world. And
when our Lord comes into the world, His name is given as Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. He already has. a people and is those people
that he is coming to save from their sins. They have been, as
in Jeremiah 31, loved with an everlasting love and therefore
with loving kindness the Lord will draw them. But there is
then an election of grace, a people through nothing foreseen in them,
nothing known to be in them, have been chosen by God to be
the bride of Christ, to be partners with Him in His throne, to be
with Him forever and ever. And in the mystery and purposes
of God, those people were seen as, through the fall and through
the scenes of time, and to be at last with the Lord. So the
church in its natural state is a fallen church, fallen in Adam. Adam was created in God's image
and perfect, pure, no sin, all pronounced as good. But in rebellion
against God, breaking the commandments of God. Adam brought on him and
on all his descendants the sentence of death and the curse of God. And we are all born in sin and
shaped in iniquity. We are already under the sentence
of death. We are already condemned. We
do not have to do anything at all to bring upon us eternal
destruction and wrath of God that is already upon us by nature. The apostle has already said
to the Ephesians that they were, but where in time past you walked
according to the course of this world and according to the prince
of the power of the air. a 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. The church as it comes
into this world is indistinguishable by those that are not the Church.
They are for them the same as all. They are lost, they are
ruined in the fall, no soundness in our flesh because of our sin. We've gone, every one, to our
own way. We're at peace with hell, with
God at war, and we have no hope in ourselves. The law condemns
us, the wrath of God is upon us. The state of the church by
nature is pictured in the scripture as a baby that is just born and
cast out to the loathing of its mother, helpless. And we read,
I pass by thee when thou wast in thy blood. And when thou wast
in thy blood, I bid thee live. It cannot be emphasized the Depth
of the Fall, to be described as being dead in trespasses and
sins, describes the total inability of hearing or seeing or knowing
or doing anything spiritually good, or any ability to recover
ourselves. But in one sense, the idea of
being dead does not fully convey the state that we are in. Because
someone that's dead, you might say, is passive, they're not
active. But we are active against God. In our thoughts, our words, our
deeds, we are walking in a way totally opposite from God. And this, the apostle pictures
and portrays through these passages, and pictures how we once were
in all the deeds of the flesh, in all our uncleanness, covetousness,
filthiness, and foolish talking, jesting, and walking in a way
of idolatry and sin. This is a picture of a natural
man, a natural mind. Yes, modified it may be by upbringing,
modified it may be by the teachings of men, but at heart, in the
heart of man, is full of deceit and uncleanness and evil. The
Apostle Paul, when the commandment came to him, he said, sin revived
and I died. The good that I would, I did
not. The evil that I would not, that
I did. He says, if I do that which I
would not, is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. And he spoke of that principle
of sin, that which is so active, that is not a quiet thing, but
is there for the nature, that which loves the world, sides
with the world, that which loves Satan, and Satan presents the
things it likes to it. and the world presents the things
that it likes to it as well. And we go after it by nature,
after those things. That is the Church of God. The
Church of God is like that. Emre Aydin says, he saw me lost
and ruined in the fall, and loved me notwithstanding all. The more we understand and realise
what our natural state is and the church's natural state, the
more that we will value grace and mercy and the more clearly
will we see what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for his people. And the more easily we discern
as well between what is natural and what is spiritual, what is
God's Word, and what is man's work. So the church in that state
is not fit for God. In heaven nothing unholy can
be there, nothing unclean can be there. In our fallen state
we are alienated from God, even here below. And in that state,
we cannot appear in the presence of God, God cannot look upon
sin, but without utter abhorrence, we are under that condemnation. And that is evident when we come
to Romans 8, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. But before that, we are under
condemnation and under the wrath of God. So something needs to
be done. They're still a chosen people,
they're still a people eternally loved, but they are under the
wrath of God and they need the Lord to save them, to redeem
them, to fit them and prepare them to be with himself. And I hope this evening, perhaps
to to look upon what the Lord does with his people and with
his church here below. We can look on many things. We
can look at the tribulation that is in the world and those things
that we go through and seeking for help and grace from the Lord
to go through them. We might in those things also
be looking for a token of being one of the Lord's children to know that we are called of
God, whether we are born again of the Spirit or not. But this
evening to think of it in this way. If we are saved, if we are
to go to heaven at last, we'll be part of the Church of God. Part of those already that are
chosen in Christ. And rather than excluding, it
is the only way that one can ever be saved. If there was not
election, if there was not a choice, if there was not a people, then
none could be saved. Then there would be no reason
for preaching, no expectation of gathering together, if we
are told, well, there's no hope of being saved. The idea that
God would tell men who are his people, who are the elect and
who are not, is something completely foreign to scriptures. We do not know. The Jews, as
they have been persecuted by Saul of Tarsus, the Lord never
said to them, look, this man is part of my church. He's one
of my people. He was an enemy. to the people
of God until God stopped him and turned him around. Yes, we are told regarding Jacob
and Esau, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. One of
the only times in Scripture to illustrate and teach to us the
doctrine of election, eternal love of God, eternal predestination. When we're born into the world,
when we have children, when we meet with people, when a preacher
preaches, he does not know who are God's people and who are
not, who are chosen and who are not. God reveals it by that work
that he does in his people's lives. And the emphasis this
evening is what the Lord does in preparing a people for himself. How the Lord prepares a people. And so the thought I want in
this way is to think this. If I am one of the Lord's dear
people, then the Lord will be using providence using the word of
God, using all things I go through to form me and make me to be
what he would have me to be. We read, we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them that are
the called according to his purpose. Our text tells a purpose of God. what his end is in view, what
he's aiming at. How often we're reminded of things
like that in our daily lives, when someone is building a house
or next door to us at home at the moment, a complete renovation
of it, and the various things that they're doing. They've got
a plan. They've got an end in view. Halfway
along the plan, it looks a bit like a tip and just holes dug
everywhere, concrete in some, concrete not in others, and bits
and pieces everywhere, and yet slowly, slowly it's starting
to take shape. But we know that that builder
has an aim in view, a plan. Everything he does has a purpose
to it, there's a reason for it, however strange it might be.
The pulling down, the taking off of the plaster, the breaking
down walls, all of that. Though it looks strange, but
you're supposed to be making a house inhabitable, but now
you're pulling it to pieces. But it's all part of that plan. There's as much need to take
away as to add, if it's to achieve his own aim and end in view. And it is with the Lord's work
with his children as well. So the end that he has in view
is then realized, if we keep that in mind, as to what the
Lord does through our lives. In our text it tells us the very
first thing that must happen, that must be done, before the
Lord could do anything in the lives of his people. And that
is, he must redeem them. He must pay their debts. He must die for them and suffer
for them. And so we read in verse 25, just
before our text, that Christ loved the church and gave himself
for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it. You think again,
perhaps, of the illustration with our house next to us. Before that builder could start
doing anything on that house, he had to purchase it, he had
to buy it. While it was owned by its previous
owner, he had no right to go in and start breaking down walls
and digging up the place, changing it. But as soon as he purchased
it, As soon as it was his, and he'd got the title, and he'd
paid the money, then he can do what he likes on that property.
I can't interfere. Previous owner, well, he passed
away, but the family, they couldn't interfere. It is his. And the apostle says to the people
of God, you are bought with a price. You are not your own. glorify
God in your body and in your spirit, which are His. And it puts a very different
picture on it then, because we have a two-way thing. If we are
the Lord's, if the Lord has suffered, bled and died for us, we must
expect then that the Lord will begin to do work. He won't just Believe us, we
think it's strange if someone paid out a lot of money for the
house and then did nothing with it. Year after year went by and
nothing happened to it at all. But when the Lord purchases His
people, there is a time in their lives He will begin. He which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. And so we are to expect that
beginning. But when the Lord begins, then
we are not to think, well, that is the only beginning. That is
the only time when the Lord has started. We're to think the reason
why the Lord has begun is because we are His, because He has purchased
us, because we are not our own. That is why the Lord is working
in this way. In Romans 8 you have the golden
chain of the foreknowledge of God, the love of God, the predestination,
then the calling and justifying and glorifying of his people.
They are all linked together and you have the link as it were
here. They're purchased first and they're
purchased for a purpose that they are then going to be prepared
for him. We sung it in the way of prayer
in our middle hymn. Prepare me, gracious God, to
stand before thy face. Thy spirit must the work perform,
for it is all of grace. So the work of our Lord on Calvary
is absolutely vital for there to be ever a beginning. God must
be just. He must be righteous. He must
be faithful. What he has purchased, he will
have. And that which he has paid for,
he will redeem and have for himself. And this work is God's work.
It's not the church cleansing itself. And this should be a
great encouragement for us. Encouragement for everyone that
feels their sinful heart, feels their corruptions, feels how
unfit they are for the Lord. He is the Lord and He will do
the cleansing. He will do the sanctifying. You
might say, well, what does that leave us then? We have in 1 John
chapter 1, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us. from all unrighteousness. As sin is known and brought before
us, the path is the confession before God, and the Lord has
promised in that He will cleanse us. He will cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. But in the text there is set
before us what the Lord will do to prepare His church for
Himself. First is that he might sanctify
it. That is, set it apart for himself. The churches are called out people. When we were at school, often
we used to have things where someone was called out from the
class to do something or another. And then they were separated
from the class to do that duty or to go to a certain place. Well, the Lord is doing this
with his church. He is calling them out, separating
them from the multitude. At first indistinguishable, at
first unknown, but then he puts his mark upon them. and there
begins to be a separation. And do mark that. You might think, well, isn't
the beginning of the work calling by grace the new birth? It is. It is the new birth. But in the
picture that is here, it is calling out and separating. Such were
some of you, but now you're washed, you're cleansed. It is a difference
that is being made by the grace of God. Paul says, what I am,
I am by the grace of God. The people of God should never
be ashamed of the difference between them and the world. The Lord says in John 17, I have
given them thy word and the world hath hated them. As soon as a
people begins to follow the Lord and follow his word, then the
world will dislike it. Because it's a contrary way,
it's a different way, it is God's way, it's a holy way, it's a
pure way. And so when we read here that
he might sanctify, separate it, and cleanse it, cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word. The means of cleansing is through
the word of God. And yet often it's joined together
with things that we are brought through in our lives. The fire
shall try every man's work of what sort it is. We think of
Job. We think of those that are brought
into severe tribulation, afflictions, manasseh, so against God, such
an enemy, such a wicked man. And yet when he was brought into
trouble, he cried unto the Lord in his trouble. And the Lord
was entreated of him, brought him back to his own land and
blessed him. The Lord uses these things. Tribulation,
working right. The Lord using it to bring a
people unto himself. When the Lord called me, there
was two sides to it. The first was given a real conviction
of my ignorance of the things of God. and a real hunger and
thirst to know the Lord and to know His ways. And the other
thing, and I didn't put the two together, was that my worldly
pursuits and activities, not sinful in themselves, but of
this world, lost all their attractiveness, and vanity of vanity was stamped
upon them. And those two things, they gather
together, go together, If we've been shown the pearl of great
price, if we've been shown our state in this world and that
this world is under the curse and everything is empty and will
pass away, and we've been drawn unto Christ as the one thing
needful and a need of being washed and cleansed and to be saved
from our sins, then this world, our view of this world will change. In Hebrews 11, those that embraced
the promises, they saw them afar off, they didn't only do that,
but they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims in
the earth. So you see this called out and
separated On the one hand, it is leaving. Come ye out from
among them. Touch not the unclean thing.
I will receive you. You shall be my sons, my daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty. You might view that as a direction
to the Lord. But I believe it's also a command,
that which the Lord does with his children. He brings them
out. He separates them. You see, with
Lot, he clung, as it were, to Sodom until the Lord took him
by the hand and brought him out, delivered him. And this is what
the Lord will do for his people. If we want a clear token of being
prepared by the Lord, the Lord will deal with us in these two
ways, separating us from the world, from those things that
are attractive to us, to our natural flesh, that are contrary
to Him, and bring us to cleave unto Him. Especially is set before
us here the fruits of the Spirit and the fruits of the flesh. In the beginning of the chapter
is that picture of Those things are anything but a sweet-smelling
savour. All the uncleanness and covetousness
and fornication. And it's those things that we
are to be delivered from, and those things that cling so close
to us as fallen creatures. And the Lord will use His chastening
hand, His teaching, teaching us through the Word of God, It's
a beautiful picture really here. Cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word. Not all done at once, but as
the word washes over us, service by service, occasion by occasion,
we are taught the right way, God's way. Conform to his image,
conform to that which is right. Made teachable, made willing. and gradually, you might say
imperceptibly, cleansed and made me to be partakers with the saints
in light. Grace makes a difference. But
grace does not change our old nature. And here below, we are not perfect. We are not spotless. The work
is going on. It is only when we are presented
in Christ we are perfect. In ourselves, as the hymn writer
said, we're nothing but sin and disgrace. Though the outside
be kept clean, we feel the filth within. And we won't be content of that,
you know, we'll be mourners over the sins that are within. that
which only God sees and knows. And the Lord will work in us
concerning those things as well as outside. It's not just a outward
reformation that is needed. It is the heart, right from the
heart, to have that heart right before God. And so this is, God's
work and my spirit and what I want to convey is be able to look
at what the Lord is doing in our lives with this aim in view. That this is what He is working
in all we're going through. Sometimes we might think, why
this Lord? Why this trial? Why this affliction? Why this cross? Why this path? And the Lord's answer would be,
this is what is necessary. This is what I am doing because
you need it. I need to do this with you. You
need to walk through this. You need to experience this for
your cleansing, for your teaching, for your instruction. And may
that be a help to bear some of the things and also to put in
focus If the Lord's aim is that, may that be my desire as well,
that that fruitfulness or that good come out of the things that
we go through, that it makes us more like the world, more
like the Lord, less like the world, more separated unto the
Lord in thoughts, affections, desires, hearts, made to desire after
him. So, on to then look lastly at
the church presented to himself at last. Our text says that he
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing water by the
word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy without blemish. He said, God's people are not
spotless and perfect here below. They are in Christ, as seen in
Christ. Their righteousness is, his righteousness
is made theirs and they are viewed in the Lord Jesus Christ in whom
they have been chosen. The effect of it, as designed
by God here below, has been seen, has been noticed, grace that
Barnabas, he saw in those believers in Antioch, he saw the grace
of God and was glad. He didn't see perfect men and
women. He didn't see sinless people.
He saw the grace of God. And where the grace of God is,
who is it that's gonna say, Well, the Lord's going to not make
a good work of it. He won't finish it. He won't
fully cleanse it. This case is too hard for him. He won't be able to present this
one perfect. Where the Lord begins, he will.
The work is in his hand and not in our own. And so that presenting
is beyond the grave. When this corruptible, says the
apostle, shall put on incorruption, when this mortal shall put on
immortality. That is when it is perfect. At
the moment, the whole creation groaneth with travail until now. All sin has marred everything,
and God's dear children, they groan. Not, says the apostle,
that we be unclothed, but clothed upon with our house which is
from heaven. One of the effects of the Lord's
sanctifying, cleansing, separating work with his people is that
they decide to be with Christ, which is far better. They are
a prepared people for a prepared place, not for nothing. They're not being prepared without
an end in view. There is an end in view, and
that end is to be with Christ. So may we be encouraged and strengthened
in the Lord that he which has begun will continue and that
those things he does is for a purpose and that it is that we be delivered
from this present evil world and brought at last to be with
him. And may the Lord grant us to
be part of that church and to see those evidence of it, that
the Lord is dealing with us and we are in his hand, the heavenly
potter forming us, making us more like him. Amen.