Ephesians 1 15 Did you notice there where brother
D read the Lord's covenant he said I will not turn away from
you To do you good and I'm gonna put my fear in your heart. So
you're not gonna leave me either Isn't that beautiful? This is a mutual love affair
in that we've got to have one another by his grace And he's
the one that did it Thank God for that Alright, verse 15 of
chapter 1. Wherefore, 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, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of
glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his
calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to us were to believe according to the working of his mighty
power. which he wrought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand
in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and
might and dominion in every name that's named, not only in this
world but also in that which is to come, and have put all
things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things
to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, that filleth
all in all. In verse 15 of this chapter,
Paul applies all that he has said in the first part of the
chapter. And I'm sure most of you are somewhat familiar with
the first part of the chapter. What a glorious passage of scripture. Paul praises God for His electing
grace and electing people to be conformed to the image of
His Son. Blessed be God. according as He's chosen us in
Christ, before the foundation of the world. And He talks about
salvation through these first verses, all the way to grace
and love. All the way down to the experience
of salvation, when the sinner trusts in Christ. Verse 13, you
trusted in Him. That's the result of all that's
gone before. God's choice of you, His love
for you, His choice of you, His predestinating you, His sending
His Son to redeem you, and then you trusted in Him. Of course
you did. God's not going to shed His own blood for you and let
you go. He not only does he say I'm not going to turn away from
you to do you good But I'm gonna put my fear and love and respect
for me and you're gonna trust in me Isn't it good to see the
grace of God To see his grace he describes salvation and then
in verse 15 he says I heard I heard also that you trusted in him
I've heard that you trusted in him It's so good to see God's
grace. In verse six, Paul said that
God's sovereign election and his predestinating love are to
the praise of the glory of his grace. These things are true
because of his grace. And he did them so that we might
praise and glorify his grace. And I rejoice in the truth of
God's distinguishing grace, his free grace to sinners. But do
you know what else I rejoice in? The experience of it too,
don't you? Don't you delight to see God's
grace? I want you to turn to Acts chapter
11. This is what Paul is saying about these believers that he
sees in them. What this passage in Acts 11
talking about. Look at verse 19 of Acts 11.
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that
arose about Stephen. Talk about that in the Bible
class. Stephen was stoned. He was a man approved of God
and blessed of God to preach. He preached the gospel and they
killed him for it. And the persecution that arose
about that It traveled as far as Venice, those that were scattered
abroad, and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word, doing the
very thing that got Stephen killed. To none but unto the Jews only,
and some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when
they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching
the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was
with them. That's the key right there. I pray for that, don't
you? May the hand of the Lord be with us when the word goes
forth. It's just going to be vain otherwise, isn't it? The
hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and
turned unto the Lord. That's part of that covenant
that we just read about. I'm not going to turn away from
you and you're not going to turn away. You're going to turn to
me and you're not going to turn away. They turned to the Lord the tidings
of these things came into the ears of the church Which was
in Jerusalem and they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as
far as Antioch who when he came and had seen the grace of God
We talked about this before had we how do you see God's grace? You look at a bunch of wretched
sinners and see them worshiping God see here them preaching the
gospel of his grace and delighting in the truth and and honoring
the Son of God and not themselves. That's how you see God's grace.
He saw the grace of God and he exhorted them all that with purpose
of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. Isn't that beautiful? That's what Paul's saying here.
I've heard of your faith. I see God's grace in you that
I hadn't even met you. The hand of the Lord was with
you and you trusted in Him. I heard of your faith in the
Lord Jesus and your love to all the saints. That's another evidence,
isn't it, of God's grace. If you love Him, you love His
people. If you don't love His people, you don't love Him. John
said, how can you love God whom you hadn't seen? You don't even
love your brother who's standing right in front of you. These things go together every
time. Love for Christ and faith in Him and love for the brethren,
every time. John said you're a liar if you
don't love his people and you say I love God you're a liar
So Paul hears of these two graces in these believers at Ephesus
he thanks God for it look at verse 16 He said I cease not
to give thanks for you Make him mention of you He doesn't say
I've heard of your faith and your love for the brethren and
so I say good on you now I thank God for that because that came
from him and Faith and love are his gift. They're the fruit of
his spirit. I thank God for you. I'm saying that to you this morning. And you know I mean it, don't
you? You know I do. You look me in the eye and you
tell me I don't love you. Thank God for you. Now I'm pretty
sure all of us have wanted to kill one another at one time
or another. We might not have admitted it. But I thank God
for you and you know I mean that. And I pray for you. And I've
told you this before, and I've asked you for your prayers for
me. And here's the thing about that. There is nothing any more
humbling or any more encouraging to my heart than to know. Now
you think about this. Put yourself in my shoes here.
To know that even one saint of God Even one of my brothers and sisters
in Christ is actually praying for me. Has actually stopped
what they were doing. Has actually gotten out of the
fast lane for a little while. And just quit with the business
of this world for a little while. And stopped and bowed to God
and mentioned my name. Isn't that a wonderful thing
to think about? That's so encouraging. Ask God to bless me. Paul said
that he would give me a door of utterance. Open a door of
utterance. And that I might preach the gospel boldly like I ought
to. Ask God for that for me. To lift me up before the Lord.
To comfort me. To ask God to comfort me. Ask
Him to use me. I don't want to just be a statistic
in this world. Do you? Don't want to be of this
world. I don't want to be part of this
world. I don't want to be in on the rat race. I Want God to
do something with me? Whatever it is, don't you just
do something with me? I don't care what it is That the God and here's his prayer
to verse 17 and that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the
father of glory May give unto you the spirit of wisdom and
revelation. Now, he's not being repetitive.
That's never the case in the word of God. In knowing him,
you need a couple of things in order to know him. You need something
to happen in here, in your mind and heart, and you need some
light. That's what he's talking about there. But first, we've
got to talk about who it is Paul's praying to here. You think about
this. What a delight to pray to the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ. You think about that. When you
are praying, you're praying to the one who sent his son to be
the propitiation for your sin. His name means Jehovah's Savior. His name means I'm gonna save
my people from their sin. the God of him, the God who sent
him to be your sin offering, that you, if you're praying to that God
now that sent his son for you, you might just have a good expectation
that he might just hear your prayer. You reckon? If he sent
his son, Paul said, he that spared not his own son, but delivered
him up for me, how shall he not with him also freely give me
everything? That's who I'm praying to. The
one who's bound to give me everything since he gave me a son. The God
of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's who we're talking about.
And look at it. He's the father of glory too.
The father of glory. The father of glory. The fact that he is
the God of my, my Lord Jesus. You notice that word, our Lord
Jesus Christ. Makes me believe that he wants
to bless me. I think that'd be a reasonable
inference, wouldn't you? If he's the God of my Lord, if
Christ is mine, And it's because of him, he's
the God of the Christ who is mine. I believe he wants to bless
me, I'm pretty sure he does. And the fact that he is the father
of glory reminds me that he can get it done. If he wants to bless
me, I'm fixing to be blessed. Isn't that wonderful? Think about
who you're praying to when you pray. What he wants, he does. He sent His Son to pay for my
sins. And what He desires comes to
pass. No one can stay His hand or say unto Him, what are you
doing? Remember to whom you're praying when you pray. And here's
what Paul prays for, that this great and loving God, this mighty,
the Father of glory now, who sent His Son for me, to die in
my stead, to pay for my sin, to live for me and to die for
me, that he may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
to what purpose? That we might know him. That
God might reveal Himself to me without which nobody can know
God. You're not gonna know it. That's a pretty good prayer You
know, we pray for it for what we need. We also pray to thank
God, but we pray Let your requests be made known unto God. We have
some needs too if God doesn't reveal himself to we're not gonna
know him The Lord Jesus said all things
are delivered unto me of my father and no man knoweth the Son but
the Father I And no man knoweth either the father save the son
and He to whomsoever the son will reveal him Lord give me
the spirit of revelation Turn the light on so that I can see
revelation of him, but also wisdom wisdom think about this Wisdom
to be a doer of the revelation and not just a hearer. I Wisdom
to apply our hearts into the revelation. Wisdom to preach
and teach what we've heard and not what we think. Wisdom to obey the gospel. Wisdom to hear the truth and
be a doer. What's the gospel called? Come
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And wisdom, if he gives me wisdom,
that's what I'll do. And notice that both wisdom and
revelation are given so that we might know him. That's what
it's all about now. Paul said in Philippians 3.10,
that I may know him, that I may know him. And the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable to his death. Our Lord said in John 17.3, this
is life eternal, that they might know thee. the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Oh, God, give us understanding,
minds and hearts, and give us some light. Why? So that we might know God. I
want to know God, don't you? Do you know God? Do you know
His Son? Jesus Christ I Pray that as we
open this book God would give us wisdom and light to know him
To know him whom to know his life everlasting Verse 18 the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened He's already said that you may
know him now he says that you may know what is the hope of
his calling? Know him in the the sure hope
of Of the good news that he calls sinners out of darkness into
his marvelous light You need to know something about that.
I pray that you would And what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints His inheritance in the saint
not not his inheritance to the saints Or or even just for the
saint The inheritance is not things. The inheritance is in
us, and it's Him, not things. Now, we know from God's Word
that nobody knows anything about God unless and until God gives
that man faith to know Him, to believe. Lydia in Acts 16 14
she is beautifully described there as Lydia whose heart the
Lord opened That's who I want to be Chris whose heart the Lord
opened And it says this whose heart
the Lord opened that she attended unto the gospel which was spoken
That's what will happen when the Lord opens your heart you
hear the gospel and say That's the truth Christ is all. Christ is life. Christ is the
only hope. Christ is the only sin offering
God will accept. He is the only righteousness
God will accept. So, we're not even going to attend
unto the things of Christ, much less understand them unless God
opens our heart. Luke 24 44 he said to them. These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets
and in the Psalms Concerning me. That's all the Old Testament
all the Word of God at that time It all he said concerns me and
when he said it he opened their understanding They might get
it He revealed the Scriptures to them, and He gave them wisdom
and revelation, both. He revealed the Scriptures, but
He gave them some understanding that they might understand what
He said. That they might understand the
Scriptures, that they concern Him alone. They concern Him in
His glory, and in His redemptive character, and in His power to
save, in His sovereignty. And when God opens your eyes
that you might see, may you see, Paul said, the hope of his calling.
What is the hope of his calling? This is a sure, I know this,
the hope of his calling is a sure hope. Because when he calls, his people
come. Whom he called are those that
he foreknew. Because whom he did foreknow,
he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, and
whom he did predestinate, those are the ones that he called,
Paul said in Romans chapter 8. And whom he called, him he also
justified. That's a sure calling now. That's
a calling that's a sure hope. If God has called you, that's
why Paul, he didn't say Dr. Paul or Reverend Paul, he said
I'm Paul, called of God. That's all you need to know about
me. That's what O'Hannan asked. He said, I don't want anything
to do with Paul. He's been killing people like
me that believe on you. The Lord said, I've called him.
I chose him. That's good enough. He also justified and glorified.
Do you know something about that? Of the hope of his calling? of
the power of his, we have hope, the hope of his calling because
his calling is a calling of power and of free grace. He doesn't
call out those that qualify. His is a calling of free love and
grace. If his calling is him trying
to get you to take the first step, then there's not a whole
lot of hope in that calling. But in his divine calling, there's
sure hope. His calling is powerful and invincible.
He says, follow me. And he said, my sheep hear that,
and they follow me. Do you know something about that?
Have you heard his call? Do you understand? What great
hope there is in that, if he called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light, he's not ever going to let you go. Quit
worrying about that. That you might know something
of the hope of his calling and of the riches of the glory of
his inheritance in the saints. Do you have any idea how rich
you are in Christ? Do you have any idea? Paul said,
I want you to know something about that, and I want you to
know something about it. That's a good prayer. Lord, show
your people something of the riches of the glory of your inheritance
in them. Oh my. You talk about the end of worry.
You talk about rest. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we're the children of God, doesn't he? And if we're children, then heirs. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. If so be that we suffer with
him that we may be also glorified together. And you know what I
reckon based on that? If the Holy Spirit bears witness,
if I can just establish before God that I'm his child, then
you know what else I know? If I'm his child, then I'm an
heir of God. Everything that's his is mine
That's his will That's his covenant. That's his testament his will
and testament to his people and joint heirs with Christ Whatever's
Christ is mine You know what I reckon based on that verse
18 I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are just
not worthy to be compared with the glory of The glory that shall
be revealed in us. What's Paul talking about in
our text? That you'd know something of the riches of the glory of
his inheritance. The sufferings of this present
world are not worth thinking about. Don't waste any time fretting
over them. Think about it. Here's what you
think about. The glory that shall be revealed in us. There it is again. The inheritance. in the saints, the glory which shall be revealed
in us. How can we even talk about that
right? Can you think that big? I'm having trouble thinking that
big. Paul said, I want you to know
something about that now. When this world gets you down,
when the afflictions of this world, as he mentioned there
in chapter eight of Romans, When your own heart gets you down,
think of the glory of His inheritance. And know that as joint heirs
with Him, His inheritance is my inheritance. He's heir of all things. And
I'm a joint heir with Him. Verse 19, and what is the exceeding
greatness of His power? Oh, we need to know something
about that, don't we? Did you make a decision for Jesus? Is
that how you got saved? Then you, boy, we need to know
something of the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe. You see that? Us believing has
something to do with His power. It has a whole bunch to do with
His power. It has everything to do with
His power. We believe according to the working
of His mighty power. Don't ever forget that. Don't
ever forget that. If you glean a crumb this morning,
thank God for it. It's according to the working
of His mighty power that you believe anything I say. Do you wanna rest? Do you wanna
be able to just relax in the arms of the Savior? Do you wanna be comforted? Think
about the exceeding greatness of His power to usward. You start thinking about your
power to Himward, hear anything to Himward, oh boy, you're gonna
get in trouble quick like that. But His power to usward, that's
salvation. That's faith. Faith is not a,
people talking about let's make a decision for Jesus. Faith is
not you doing something for God. Faith is God did something for
you. It's the gift of God. The hope of his calling is sure
and steadfast. It is the sure and steadfast
hope that it is. Why? Because of the exceeding
greatness of his power. If the one whose hand is not
shortened and he cannot save says, I come to save you, guess
what's fixing to happen? The God who said, I have purposed
it, shall not I also do it? And you know what he's purposed?
The salvation of his sheep, that's what. That God, the God who speaks
and it's done, he's in the business of saving you and blessing you
if you're one of his. Do you have that witness within
you? The Holy Spirit beareth witness that we're his children
Well then know this, you're an heir of God and a joint heir
with Jesus Christ and his power, all of the creative power of
God is exerted in blessing you. I want you to know something
of the exceeding greatness of his power and you see how feeble
I am to talk about it. I want you to know something
of the power of his precious blood. The power of that blood. No one
can condemn you if he died for you. You're perfect before God. You're without spot or wrinkle
or blemish or any such thing before God now. That's the power
of his precious blood. He obtained eternal redemption
for us with that precious blood. Think about what John said in
Revelation 1 5 unto him that loved us and washed us from our
sins in his own blood. How much power is that? How much
power does it take to wash away all of your sins before God and
make you clean? May you have wisdom and revelation
to know that, to know something of the power that works in you,
that was exerted for you. The creative power of God, the
power that raised up his son from the dead, raised you from
the dead. He is able by his incomparable power to save to the uttermost
those that come to God by him. And may he give you a knowledge.
If you know, if you have the revelation and wisdom and the
knowledge of him, you'll say what John did right after that.
He said he loved us and he washed us from our sins in his own blood.
And then he said this, unto him be glory and dominion forever
and ever. Do you know something about that? Save to the uttermost, he's able
to keep us from falling, Paul said. and to present us faultless. That's the power of his precious
blood right there, to present you spotless before the presence
of his glory, and he's gonna be happy about it with exceeding
joy. He is able, listen. Listen to
what Paul said in Philippians 3, 21. He said, he is able to
change our vile body. that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue all things unto himself. The same power
with which he subdues all the nations and knows how to abase
the pride and haughtiness of man and brings everyone to his
feet. He touched Jacob and brought
him in the dust at his feet. He subdues all things unto himself,
and by that invincible, almighty, preeminent, victorious power,
he's going to change me from a worm into a holy saint, into
a holy spotless. I don't even know what to call
me when I'm in his presence. Do you? I'm not an angel. I'm
not a sinner anymore. What are we? I'm not even sure if Saint cuts
the mustard anymore. When we're like him, perfect. He's going to change our bowel
bodies and fashion them like unto his glorious body. By the
same power with which he does everything he does. Now unto him, Paul said in Ephesians
3.20, who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. Unto
him be glory. In the church, right here, by
Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end, amen. That's a big amen right there.
That's a big amen, because that was a big statement. According
to that power which worketh in us, we know this. May you know something
about this, Paul prays, and me too. May you know something about
this. He's able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that you can even think about or ask him. Do we know
who we're praying to? Notice in verse 19 that His power
results in us believing. It is according to the working
of His mighty power that we believe on Him. Verse 20, which He wrought in
Christ. Christ, He's a stumbling block
to the Jews, to the Greeks, He's foolishest, but what is He to
you? Perhaps the power of God? the power of God and the wisdom
of God. Everything that God has done
by his almighty power for his people, he did it in Christ. He accomplished it in Christ
and by Christ and through Christ. He wrought it in Christ and we
see it in that he raised him from the dead. The same power
that raised him from the dead raised you from the dead. And
set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. Did the
same for us. Paul said in another place, we're
already seated there in him. We're raised up and seated in
glory in Christ. This verse and the one before
it are saying that the same power that raised Christ from the dead
was the power that raised us from the dead, that brought faith
in us. That's what life from the dead is in our experience.
Faith. He gave us faith in him. He saved
us by resurrection power. Salvation is a resurrection from
the dead. It is a creation. I want you
to know, Paul said, just what a mighty work God hath wrought
upon you who believe. Salvation is not a decision by
man. It's a miracle of God, the power of God, the power of his
love and grace. Now Christ is risen from the
dead and set on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting
till all of his enemies be made his footstool. We learn something
about him being set on the right hand of God in Hebrews chapter
10. You can turn there with me if you'd like to, but I'm gonna
read it to you. We learn about him being set. That's what Paul's
talking about now, that you might know something about these things.
What do you mean? Hebrews 10, 11, and every priest
standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sin. But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God. That's what Paul's talking about
in our text. Him sitting down on the right hand of God. Well,
what does that mean? Well, he did it after he had
offered one sacrifice for our sins. That's why he sat down,
because he had offered that one sacrifice for our sins. Then
he sat down, that's why he sat down, because his work was finished,
and his work was offering himself for our sins. From henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. Why did he
sit down again, Paul? Because by one offering he hath
perfected forever them that are holy. We're talking about us being
spotless and without blemish before God, how does that happen?
One offering for sin. And by our precious Savior, with
that precious blood, he washed them all away. He died in our
place under the wrath of God for our sins, that we might go
free, that we might live, that we might be the righteousness
of God in him. And as we see in the context
there, if we read the rest of chapter 10, which we don't have
time to do, we'd see this, that because he did all of that, all
of the blessings of the eternal covenant of grace are ours in
him. That's what it says in the rest
of that chapter. Because of that 100% all the blessings of the
covenant of God. Paul said, I want you to know
something about that. I pray for you. We see not yet all things
put under him, do we? He's despised and rejected in
this world still, but we see him and knowing him, we don't
have to see everything put under him with these eyes because we
see him. And if you see him, you know
that they're under him, right? You know they are. We know that
he's preeminent. We'll see soon in our very experience
all things put under him. And Paul is saying, I want you
to see it now. Maybe through a glass darkly, but I want you
to see it. I want you to see him exalted. Look at it in our
text again. Verse 21, far above all principality
and power and might and dominion 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. God the Father has put
all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over
all things to the church. Thank God for that. If we know
anything about that, we'll do what everybody else that we've
seen in these places where we've read these things, we'll do what
they did. Glory and honor and power, dominion and blessing
unto him forever and ever, world without end, amen. Oh, that he might show us, give
us a glimpse of his glory in Christ. Don't you hunger for
that? Isaiah said in Isaiah 6, one,
in the year that King Uzziah died, I also saw the Lord sitting
upon a throne high and lifted up and his glory filled all of
the temple of God. And Paul is saying here in our
text, I want you to see him like that. Don't you want to see Him
high? I tell you this, if you see Him
at all, you're going to see Him high. Because that's where He
is. He's on His throne. That's where John saw Him. Behold,
there was a throne in heaven and there was somebody sitting
on it. The Lamb of God. His glory everywhere. His glory
filled everything. Under, He's put everything under
His feet. Turn to 1 Corinthians. Chapter 15 verse 20 The scripture talks about this
a whole lot better than I can expound upon it but now is Christ
risen from the dead first Corinthians 15 20 and Become the first fruits
of them that slept for since by man came death and By man
came also the resurrection of the dead, for as in Adam all
died. Everybody that was born of Adam
died, and even so in Christ. Everybody that's born of him,
born of his spirit, everybody he represented, all will be made
alive. But every man in his own order,
Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his
coming. And then comes the end. When all of us are raised. When all of us have life. All of his people who died in
Adam have life in him. Then comes the end. When he shall
have delivered up the kingdom to God. That's me and you and
him as well. The king and all of his people.
The kingdom's not a place, it's a people. It's the king and his
people. Even the Father, He's going to
deliver it up. The Father sent Him. Gave Him
a people and sent Him so that He might bring them. He died
for the unjust that He might bring us to God. And when He's
brought us to God, He will have put down all rule and authority
and power, for He must reign. People talk about, let Jesus
be Lord. Really? He's going to reign. He's going
to reign. You're going to be under his
feet now, one way or the other. And I am too. Till he hath put
all enemies under his feet. All of his friends. We already
got up under there. Haven't we? Where are you? The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. For he hath put all things Is
this the Christ that you worship? All things are under His feet.
But when He saith, All things are put under Him, it is manifest
that He has accepted which could put all things under Him, and all in all. And then verse 23, we'll be through
that, which is his body. He put all things under his feet
and he's head over all things to the church. He's our authority. He's our ruler. He's our king. He's our everything.
He's exalted in the church. He's over all things to the church
and in the church, which is his body. Now you think about this
now. This could be the most wonderful
thing we've talked about all day right here. The church is
His body. The fullness of Him that filleth
all in all. God filleth all in all. He's
everything. And we're the fullness of Him. I just want to make a couple
of brief statements about this because I know from experience
that if I say a whole bunch about this, I could come up with seven
or eight points on this. And a whole lot better preachers
than me have come up with them about the church being the fullness
of Christ and Christ filling all in all. And it hadn't helped
me because I can't get a hold of it. And I think God reveals
himself in simple truth. That's what I think. I think
a multitude of words is not the answer here. But two things. The church is his body. You think
about that. Christ is the head and we are
his body. Integral to him and he to us. There's not many ways
you can look at that. We're his body and he's our head.
We're one. We are integral to one another.
Now this nonsense of the Lord has no hands but your hands,
that's not being taught here. We know the truth is what he
said, not what religious people say. What he said is without
me you can do nothing. That's the truth. It's not the
other way around. He don't need us. That's not
it. We know that's not right because he clearly taught. And
both can't be true. It can't be true that without
him we can do nothing And he needs us, too. That just can't
both be true. This is not teaching that. What
it is teaching, though, is that Christ and I, Christ and we,
his church, are one. We are one. We've already seen
that we're joint heirs with Christ. The truth is that we are joint
everything with Christ. Joint everything. Now we're not
rivals to his throne. We shall reign with him, but
we don't reign as rivals to him. We're one in him. We're one with
him. We're joint everything we cry
except our sin. As he is, so are we in this world. I don't know how to clarify that.
It's simple. I know you can't grasp it because
I can't. We're gonna not grasp it together,
but we're gonna learn something, I pray by His grace, of the truth,
that as He is, so are we, because we're one with Him. We are one
in Him. We are His body. And here's the
other thing. The church, we the church, are
the fullness of Christ, it says here. The fullness of Him. How can that be? We are the completeness
of Him. We ought to be careful here,
don't we? Now, I know that I'm complete in Him. I'm complete
in Him. What I am, if I'm, if I am... A saint, if I am spotless, if
I am sinless before God, if I am accepted of the Father, that's
all true in Him. I'm complete. Whatever I am,
I am in Him. I am what I am by the grace of
God, and the grace of God is in Christ. I'm complete in Him. He is our fullness without question. We're utterly empty without Him.
We're not part full and then He fills the rest. We're devoid
of anything good. We're devoid of life. We're devoid
of light. We're devoid of anything good.
Devoid of joy and peace. Without Him, we are nothing.
We have nothing. We can do nothing. But with Him,
we're complete. We're full. But what our text
is teaching here is that in some sense, this is mutual. Is that amazing to you? He can't
be who he is. Dare I say it? Yes, I will because
he said it without me. We're not his fullness in the
same sense that he's ours, of course. But it is a marvel that
in any sense he could be incomplete without us. You think about that. It is a marvel of his love. I
know that. And since I don't know a whole
lot about what I'm talking about, and I've never heard anybody
say anything that does, but I know this about that, nobody that
loves can be complete without the object of their love. Isn't
that right? I mean even our pathetic love
teaches us that. I'm not going to be me without
her. And that's at least part of what
this is now. I know that. And that's about
all I know about it. He loves me so much That not
only can He not live without me, but He can't be Him without
me. And that's not a testament to
my worth, I know that. But it is a testament to His
divine, eternal, infinite, immutable
love and grace. I'm not worth anything, but to
Him, I'm worth everything. You know how I know that? That's
not just empty words. I'm worth everything to Him.
You know how I know that? Because He gave everything for me. And I know this is teaching that,
and that's about it. But I think that'll probably
do me for today. Thank God. Let's pray.