Now today we're going to look
again at the exceeding greatness of God's power to us who believe. The Apostle Paul prayed for the
Ephesian believers that God would enlighten the eyes of their understanding,
that they might know more fully this exceeding greatness of God's
power. We'll begin reading in verse
19. He says, that you might know what is the exceeding greatness
of His power to usward who 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,
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come. And hath 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. Our text uses the strongest words
possible to talk about this power. The exceeding greatness of God's
power. It means super abounding, super
excelling, super triumphant power. And then he says according to
the working of his mighty power. And that literally means according
to the working of his effectual, irresistible power. God's power
is irresistible. It's effectual always. Our text
declares that same exceeding greatness of power, that same
mighty power that raised Christ from the dead is the power God
exercises toward us who believe. Last time we focused on the act
of raising Christ and how that was God's working power to us. Justice demanded Christ be raised.
He satisfied divine justice for his people. He paid all the debt
they owed when he laid down his life at Calvary. And so justice
demanded he be raised. God's faithfulness demanded it.
God promised him he would raise him. Once he finished his work
of declaring God just, and justifying His people. And God raised Him,
faithfully raised Him. And the grace and love of God
for His people demanded He be raised. And so when God raised
Him, He raised all the elect of God in Him. Mystically, He
raised His whole body with Him. So now, we're the ones that are
lost and dead in their sins. They've got to be made to see
what Christ has done for them. They've got to be called. They've
got to be made to see. So today we're going to focus
on the power of His exaltation. That's our subject, the power
of His exaltation. Whenever God raised Him from
the dead, He exalted Christ. And this power that He worked
when He raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him to glory
was exceeding great power to us who believe because He made
Jesus both Lord and Christ head over all things to His church.
We're going to see first Christ's exaltation and power as Lord
over all. And then we're going to see Christ,
His Lordship, His exaltation and His power as head over His
church, over His people. And then we're going to see the
power that He works toward His church. when He calls us out. First of all, let's look at Christ's
exaltation and power as Lord over all. Verse 20 says, God
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 has put all things
under His feet. It means Jesus, the God-man,
is Lord. He's King. That's what it means.
He's Lord. He came down as God the Son,
but He returned as the God-Man. the man who is God, God who is
man in one body. That's how he returned. God the
Father was so pleased and is so pleased with his son having
finished the work that he sent him to do whereby he redeemed
his people, paid the debt they owed, ransomed them from the
curse of the law wherein he reconciled them to God. God was so pleased
with that he raised Christ as He promised He would and exalted
Him to this great power. And when it says here that Jesus
is Lord over all principalities, it means that Christ Jesus is
Lord over every form of government there is in heaven and in earth. He's the head, the Lord, over
all forms of government. And then when it says here, it
says the Lord Jesus is over all power, over all might, over all
dominion. That means anyone in heaven or
earth that has power, that has any ruling power, whether they're
visible or invisible, good angels, bad angels, all earthly civil
magistrates, and even the devil himself, all either receive their
power from Christ or they can only do what He allows them to
do. They all are ruled by Him. They
all are accountable to Him. They all are set up and disposed
of at His bidding, whenever He pleases. Now we're talking about
that man Jesus of Nazareth that everybody turned thumbs down
on and wanted to crucify. This is Him. And then when it
says here that the Lord Jesus is over every name that is named,
not only in this world but also in that which is to come, it
expresses the extensiveness of His rule and His reign, His glory
and His power. It extends to both worlds, to
this world and to the world to come. And it tells us the eternality
of His Lordship. He will rule when this world
is no more, and He will rule in eternity as well. This is
the Lord we're talking about. Now, for you who are children
of God, that He's called by His grace, do you see how that when
God exalted Him and gave Him all this power, how that He worked
power to us? It's great to know, we rejoice
to know that God is absolutely sovereign over all things. That's
a great comfort to the believer. We can rest knowing He's in control
of everything. But it's even greater comfort
knowing that the One who's Lord over everything and everybody
is a man, like we are. He's the God-man. like we are,
so that he knows the feeling of our infirmities. He knows
everything about us. He has authority and power to
dispose and subdue all things, everything. to work His sovereign
will effectually for His people. That's what He can do. And nobody
can stop Him. Nobody can hinder Him. Nobody
can frustrate Him because He's got all power to do as He will. Now that's comfort. That's extreme
comfort for a believer. That's His lordship over all,
over everything and everybody. Now let's see His exaltation
and power as head of His church. Verse 22 says, And He hath 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. God the Father put all things
under His feet and gave His Son to be head over all things to
the church. Head over all things to the church.
Now, when the Scripture speaks of Christ being head over the
church, it means two things. I want you to listen carefully
to this. First of all, it means Christ is Lord. It means He has
the rule over us. And within us. He brings His
child into subjection to Him. like a wife is brought into subjection
to her husband. And then secondly, it means Christ
is the Savior of his body. He's the Savior of his church.
Let me show you that in Ephesians 5. Go to Ephesians 5 and look
at verse 23. The husband is the head of the wife,
even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior
of the body." He's the head. Now wives, the reason that God
gives, this is right there, the reason God gives for wives to
be in subjection to their husbands in everything, He says in everything,
is because it glorifies, it's showing the glory of the church
being in subjection to Christ our head. We're in subjection
to Him. Christ doesn't give His child
choices. He tells His child the way and
causes His child to walk in the way. And that's what we as children
want. We don't want to be left to try
to decide, well, should I go this way? Should I go that way?
Should I do this? Should I do that? Because we're unstable
as water in ourselves. But God doesn't do that. He takes
all choices away. Christ takes all the choices
away and He brings us to His feet so that we're in subjection
to Him and we do as He bids us to do. We follow Him. That's
what we want. And then, likewise, husbands,
the reason that God charges us to love our wives even as Christ
loved the church. is because it glorifies, it's
a glorifying picture of Christ who is the head over his church.
So if you really love your wife, you won't, you'll You'll be solid
in what you say and what you do. You'll be solid in the directions
you're going to go in leading her. Just like a child wants
a father who leads them and tells them the way to go. That's what
every woman wants. That's what every child wants.
That's what we want as we are in subjection to the father.
We want to know he's got control of everything and he's providing
and he's leading us in the way we should go. So we see Christ
as our head. It means that He's the Lord and
He's the Savior of His church. Thirdly, we see the power our
head works toward His church as Lord and Savior. First notice in verse 23, it
says the church is His body, the fullness of Him. The church
is His body, the fullness of Him. Every elect child was chosen
of God to make up the fullness of Christ's body, the fullness
of Him. Back to Ephesians 5 with me. Look at this in Ephesians 5 verse
30. We are members of His body, of
His flesh, and of His bones. We're members of Christ. Look
down at verse 32. This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. We're one with Him. Now, we were dead in sins. We were absolutely thoroughly
dead in sins and some are still dead in sins. So since each child
in particular is the fullness of Him, the fullness of His body,
each one must be quickened, regenerated, created anew, and given life
and faith to come to Him, or else His body will not be complete. There'll be a schism in His body. Now get a hold of that, because
that's great comfort as well. You know, we've got the justice
of God, it's satisfied, so that means That justice demands we
be saved or else it's double jeopardy. You can't punish somebody
twice for the same sins. And if Christ has already been
punished for them, we can't be punished for them. But then we've
got this assurance too. Because where He is, we make
up His body. That means each child shall be
quickened and shall be called to faith in Him so that Christ's
body will be complete. His body is the fullness of Him.
Now, notice here too in verse 23, it says that Christ filleth
all in all. He is the one who fills all in
all. Now get this point because this
point is extremely important. It's extremely important. Part
of Christ's mediatorial work in bringing the elect of God
to God is not only what He did when He walked this earth, but
it's what He's doing now that He is risen and has received
all this exaltation and this power. Now, He finished the work
the Father gave Him to do on this earth. We know Christ is
our wisdom. God makes Christ unto us wisdom.
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he
shall bear their iniquities. He finished that. He did it.
He justified many. He's our righteousness. He hath
made him sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. He finished that work. And he's
still, he's making us, calling out his people and making us
righteous. He is our sanctification. By one offering, He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. He finished that work when He
was on this earth. He's our redemption. By His own
blood, He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. He finished that work. but it's
our head's exultation glory. It's Christ's exultation glory
promised and given Him of the Father to now call out His sheep
that are yet lost and bring them into His body. bring them in
to His church. And He's going to give us all
the spiritual blessings that the Father gave Him to give to
us and that He procured for us by His death, burial, and resurrection. Every child's going to have it.
He's going to do this for every child. It's not at the exclusion
of the Father and Spirit. All persons of the Trinity are
working together in this, but we're looking here at Christ's
exaltation glory. It's His exaltation glory to
do this. That's why God the Father has
put all things under His feet and gave Him to be the head over
all things to the church. It's our Lord and Savior's resurrection
glory to fill all in all. Now that's important. This is
the power that this world of religion in our day, this is
the power that God said they would deny. This is Him. So what
all does the Lord Jesus fill when it says He filleth all in
all? Well, He fulfills all the Scriptures
that speak of what He will be doing in this gospel dispensation
from His seat in glory. He's fulfilling those Scriptures.
He's filling all His pulpits, sending His pastors, and He's
filling all His saints with life and all the spiritual blessings
God has for them. And by calling each child into
His body, He's filling His body. Now first, he fulfills all the
scriptures that speak of Christ's resurrection work in this gospel
age, one of which is to fill his pulpits with his preachers.
For instance, in Jeremiah 3.15 he said, I will give you pastors
according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge
and understanding. Now do we dare deny that Christ in fulfilling His Word?
Do we deny that He can fulfill His Word, that He's able to?
You see all this power He's been given. He can do this because
He has the power to do it. And it's His glory to fill all
in all and to fulfill that Scripture. That Scripture's got to be fulfilled.
It's got to be fulfilled. He said He would do it, so He's
going to do it. Look at Ephesians 4, verse 8. Some of this This part of my
message is familiar to you. I've preached on it before, but
I just want you to see this. Ephesians 4 verse 8, Wherefore
he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men. Look at verse 10. He that descended
is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that
he might fill all things. And then he tells us what gifts
he gave to men, verse 11, and he gave some apostles and some
prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers.
He gave his preachers because he's fulfilling the scripture
in doing so. Paul said, if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching
in vain. And one reason it's in vain is
not only because we wouldn't have a Savior in glory to save
us, but the other reason it would be in vain is we wouldn't have
a sovereign, all-powerful prophet to teach His people in their
heart. And so it would just be vanity to preach. But it's the
power of our Lord and Savior to give His preachers the message,
to keep His preachers, and to fill His lost sheep with life.
That's the glory given to Him. And He Himself based the confidence
of his preachers on this power that he has. Look at Matthew
28. When he sent forth his preachers in the beginning, he told them
the confidence that they had to go forth and to preach is
the very fact that he possesses this power. Matthew 28, 18. Jesus
came and spake unto them, saying, All power, Matthew 28, 18, Jesus came and spake unto them,
he's speaking to those that are going, he's sending forth to
preach, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in
earth. Go ye therefore. Therefore means
he's basing it, he's saying, now you can have confidence,
you're going to be a success in what you do, because I have
all power. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And He continues to command us
what to preach. He continues to tell us what
to preach from His throne in glory. And He says, and lo, I
am with you always, even unto the end of the world. So we see
He fills His pulpits. He fills His pulpits. Well, also
Christ fills all His saints. In Philippians 1.11, Paul puts
it this way, speaking by the Spirit of God. He says, being
filled with fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to
the glory and praise of God. He fills us with the Holy Spirit
by whom we are created anew. He fills us with newness of life. He fills us with all the fruits
of the Spirit, joy, love, faith, repentance, all of these things.
He fills us with these things. He filleth all in all. Look at
Zechariah 12 and verse 10. Why does He do that? Because
it was written in the Scriptures that He would. And He's fulfilling
the Scriptures as He does it. He said He would. Zechariah 12, 10. He says, and I will pour upon
the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that's
his elect people, the spirit of grace and of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Look at chapter
13, verse 1. In that day there shall be a
fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanliness. He's that fountain. And He said there, I will pour
upon the house of David the Spirit of grace and supplication, and
they'll look upon Me whom they've pierced, and they'll mourn for
Me. That means He's saying, I will pour out the Spirit upon them,
I will give them faith to see Me, and they will see Me, and
when they do, they're going to repent from their sin and believe
on Me. Can He do it? Look at Acts 2.
Acts chapter 2. On the day of Pentecost, 3,000
were quickened, regenerated, given life, and converted. 3,000.
And Peter declared it was done because it is written. He quoted
Joel, the prophet Joel, and he quoted the prophet David. And
then Peter said of David in Acts 2 and verse 30, he says, being a prophet and knowing that
God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his
loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit
on his throne. That's what our text tells us,
that he's raised up now to sit on his throne. He, David, seeing
this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we're all witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, And having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed
forth this, which you now see and hear. He's doing this. For David's not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore,
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus whom you've crucified, both Lord and Christ. Do you see this? Now understand
also Christ did this work in the Old Testament age. He was
doing it then. But then the reason that you
see so many converted at the beginning of this Gospel age,
and so many converted after the beginning of this Gospel age,
when before there were a lot fewer that were called and converted.
Even though Christ was doing it then, the reason that you
see more now is because He's actually now risen and been exalted
and given that glorious power to do this work. Do you see that?
Do you understand that? So when we begin to deny that
He can fulfill the... If we say He can't fill His pulpits
with preachers, if we say He can't fill His people with the
gifts that God has given, the Father has given for them, we're
saying He can't fulfill the Scriptures. And then everything He accomplished
at Calvary is nothing. because we're saying He didn't
accomplish it. You see what I'm saying? Everything is linked
together. This is all His glory. And this
is power toward us because it makes it certain that each lost
sheep is going to be quickened and converted. This is what He
said in John 5, verse 21. He said, As the Father raiseth
up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom
He will. For the Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth
on Him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death into life." Now we just
saw how we hear. He pours forth the Spirit of
grace and supplication. We have to be created anew. We
can't believe on our own. The next time we look at the
exceeding greatness of His power, we're going to focus on this,
on His regenerating power. It takes the same power that
it took to raise Christ from the dead to regenerate a dead
sinner and give Him life. And we'll look at that next time.
But what I'm trying to show you here is, He says He can quicken
whom He will. Well, who is it He's willing
to quicken? This is what He said in John 17, 24. 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 from the foundation
of the world. He said, I have declared unto
them thy name. And he said, and I will declare
it. I'll keep declaring it." He's fixing to go to the cross
and go in the tomb. But he said, when I come out
of that tomb and I arise to your right hand, I'll keep declaring
your name in their hearts. When a preacher comes and he's
preaching the gospel, Christ is speaking through him. And
he makes the word effectual in the heart of his people. And
a man could have his heart set that he's not going to bow. He
could have his heart set that he's not going to listen. He's
not going to pay attention. But God will break through that
armor and break that wall down and go right in and give him
a new heart and give him faith and he can't help but believe
him. And no other way. He have no other choice but to
believe him. And that's what God does effectually.
So all the elect will be saved, brethren, because His power and
grace can never be frustrated. He's got all power over all things. And since He satisfied justice
for them, if He fails to call one of them out, it's all this
exultation glory and all the glory of the Father and of the
triune God that is at stake here if He lets one perish. But the
Scripture tells us, he shall not fail nor be discouraged till
he has set judgment in the earth. And the isles shall wait for
his law. Those Gentiles, now there's no Israel, there's no
real nation Israel now, he destroyed it. And they're all scattered
out into the four corners of the earth. We're all just Gentiles
now. He took that nation and formed that nation to show us
how he saves his people, to show us various pictures through the
law using that nation. But when he got finished with
it, he disintegrated that whole outfit that he made and now they're
scattered into the four winds and now we're all Gentiles. All
his elect, the ones who are lost are Gentiles. They're all the
same and they're just waiting now for him to come with his
word and quicken them and call them into his body. So how long
will our head and our Lord and Savior do this? How long is He
going to send forth His preachers? How long is He going to keep
sending them forth? Scripture answers that in Ephesians 4.
Look over there with me. Ephesians 4. After Paul declared that Christ
sends forth His preachers, He also declares it's for this reason
until this certain thing happens. Ephesians 4.12. He sends them
forth for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ. The body of Christ. You see that? The body of Christ.
Now here's a till. This means this is how long he's
going to do it. Till we all come in the unity of the faith. and
of the knowledge of the Son of God." Now listen to this, "...unto
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ." Now you remember His church, His body, the fullness
of Him. You ever played hangman? You
ever played a game hangman? You draw your little, you draw
your gallows, you know, and when you, I can't, it's been so long
since I played it, but you draw a head, And then the next move
you go and you draw in a body. The next move you go and you
draw in an arm. Draw in another arm. Draw in a hand. You keep
doing that until you have a whole body form there. And that's when
you lose. It's just the opposite. With
God, that's when we win. Because he keeps adding members
to his body, his people. He adds an arm, one of his children. Then he adds a hand, another
one of his children. Then he adds a leg, another one
of his children. And then a foot, another one
of his children. And he's going to keep doing that until his
body is completely full of every last elect child. And then, will
go to glory to be with Him. So Christ is going to continue
sending His preachers till every last child, every member is added
to His body. And when the last member is joined
to Christ's body, we will be a perfect man, the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Christ. You see, this is all
power He worked toward us because with this power, He's ruling
us, He's calling us, He's keeping us, He's doing all these things
for us. It means not anything or anyone can stop Christ from
bringing His lost child into His church, into His body through
the sound of the Gospel, nor can any prevent Christ from quickening
and converting His child through the Holy Spirit by the Gospel,
nor can any prevent Him from keeping us until that day when
He brings us to glory with Him. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in His hand. And I pray He'll reveal this
more fully to us because our Lord and Savior really has all
power. He has all power over all things and He is our head. He's head over all things to
the church. He's in our midst and He's in each of His children.
And He's able to rule and to govern our brethren through His
gospel. And He's able to govern His whole
church like He did when He walked this earth. We walk around most
of the time like those two men on the road to Emmaus, murmuring
and complaining and sad and dejected and doubting when he's right
there walking with us the whole time. The whole time. And he has to enlighten our eyes
and make it where we can see. He's right there with you all
the time. So you got nothing to fear, nothing to dread. And
we need to understand this more because the marked majority in
our day this is the power they're denying. And when he brings men
to behold Christ, the power and the wisdom of God, he becomes
Lord as well as Savior. And that's when men quit playing
their foolish games, their foolish church games. And first and foremost,
it's what preachers are doing in this day and time when they're
lording over God's heritage. Instead, His preachers preach
the power of Christ to work obedience in His children, and we preach
it as fully as He will enable us to do so, and we preach it
as unapologetically as He will make us to do so. So whenever
Paul encouraged... Philippians 2, I got just two
more scriptures for you. Philippians 2. To your right
there from Ephesians. Whenever Paul was encouraging
his brethren at Philippi to humble themselves, and to walk humbly,
treating their brethren and love them more than they love themselves,
esteem them greater than themselves, provide for one another more
than they provide for themselves. He spoke about Christ's humility.
He showed how Christ came down lowly and served us. And then
he spoke of Christ's exaltation and glory, that God also highly
exalted Him because Christ exalted the Father in what He did in
going down low. So now he's exalted high because
he exalted the Father when he did that. And then after he did
all of that, he said this, 1 Philippians 2.12, Wherefore, my beloved,
as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation, your
daily affairs, with fear and trembling. For it is God which
worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
So do all things without murmurings and disputings, that you may
be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke,
in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you
shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life."
Do you see that? Always remember, always remember,
that Christ is in your brethren and Christ is in our midst. So
when we have an erring brother, instead of thanking ourselves
something when we're not, we take him to our sovereign head
in prayer and pray for him. And then we encourage him to
continue to listen to our sovereign head through the preaching of
the Gospel. And we wait on our sovereign
head to work obedience in his heart And if he doesn't, and
the man goes on in obstinacy and leaves us, we submit to the
sovereign head who rules us. Because he's able to subdue all
things. And if he didn't, there was a
reason. There was a reason. Look at Philippians
3.15. Paul says this then, let us therefore
as many as be perfect, that means mature, that understand these
things, Philippians 3.15, let us therefore as many as be perfect
be thus minded. Let us be thus minded. And if
anything you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto
you. Christ will teach you. One of
the best words of advice I ever heard, a man said something one
time from a pulpit and it was just blatantly wrong. I mean,
it was just off the wall. And he asked an older pastor,
he said, should I say something about that? And the old pastor
said, God will teach him. You just keep your mouth shut.
God will teach him. And he will. He will. And so look down at
verse 21, at the last phrase there in verse 21. He will do
so according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all
things unto himself. Do you see that? That's the God
we serve. That's the God we serve. Amen.