Let us turn to God's Word. We
turn to the closing verses of Ephesians chapter
1. And I'll read again at verse 18 following. Remember how the apostle speaks
of the need of that spiritual enlightenment, the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened. that ye 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 who do 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 that 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
Earlier we considered something of that ascension and exaltation
of the Lord Jesus that is spoken of here at verse 20 and verse
21. How God raised him from the dead
and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far
above all principality and so on. the exaltation of the Lord
Jesus Christ then is what we sought to consider something
of this morning. And we spoke of that position
that he occupies as the place of privilege and the place of
honour, set at God's own right hand. We remarked how that in the first book of Kings and
the second chapter when Solomon ascends the throne of Israel.
He has his mother Bathsheba seated at his right hand. Bathsheba
must be in that place of honour. Upon thy right hand stands the
Queen in gold of Ophir, says the psalmist. It was the place
then of great honour to be at the King's right hand and of
course the mother of James and John seems to realise that when
she makes that request to the Lord Jesus during his earthly
ministry that her sons James and John might sit one on his
right hand the other on his left when he comes in to his kingdom. But not only the place of privilege
The right hand is also the place of power, the place of authority,
and we are certainly reminded of that, we certainly see that
in the portion that we were reading at the beginning of that epistle
to the Hebrews. We're told there, concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, the brightness of God's glory, the express image
of his person, appalling all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right
hand of the Majesty on high. Sit on my right hand, says God,
until I make thy foes thy footstool. He is in that place then, not
only of great honour at God's right hand, but also that place
of authority, absolute authority all power all authority is given
unto me in heaven and in earth he says to his apostles go you
therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of
the father and of the son and of the holy ghost all power then is vested now
in the lord jesus christ So these were some of those things that
we were thinking of this morning and I want now to consider what
Paul goes on to say concerning the Lord Jesus Christ in his
headship in these last two verses of the chapter. 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, the headship of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And see just what the Apostle
says concerning this, he is the head over all things to the Church
or for the Church. It could be rendered either way,
sedative, it's either to the Church or for the Church, that
Christ is the head over all things. And I want to follow that simple
division as we consider these two verses at the end of the
chapter. First of all, to consider Christ's headship for the church. He is the head for his body,
the church. And we see it like this. We see
it when we think of Christ's session there in heaven. Where has God set Him? He has set Him, we are told in
verse 20, at His own right hand in the heavenly places. Of course,
He is God, He is the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father, He
is equal with the Father, He has every right, to rule and
to reign as gods. But here we are thinking of Christ
in his position as that one who is the mediator of the new covenant.
We're thinking of Christ now as that one who in the covenant
is so willingly undertaken to become the servant of God and
to accomplish all the goodwill and good pleasure of the Father,
executing the work that was committed to his charge in the eternal
covenant. And it's because as God-man here
upon the earth, he has fulfilled all that righteousness, obeyed
all the will of God and been obedient even to the death, the
death of the cross, that he is now raised from the dead and
he is now set at God's right hand. He is there in our human
nature. He's there not simply as God.
He's there as man. He's the God-man. And that's his session in glory
as the mediator. And he's there on behalf of his
body, the church, that church that was given to him. in the
eternal covenant. In the second chapter of Hebrews
that we read see how Paul there takes up the language of Isaiah
concerning the children which God has given them. Behold I
and the children which God has given me. There were people,
children given to the Lord Jesus Christ in the eternal covenant.
That's his church. And he is the head of that body,
the church. And he is there in heaven, you
see, ever mindful of his people. Ever aware of the needs of his
children. And so there in heaven Christ
is the one who is sovereign. Sovereign even over the fallen
angels. God has set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places we are told at the end of verse
20 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 not only in this material world where
men dwell but also in that world of the spirits is over. All the fallen angels, as we
said this morning. And remember, Paul will go on
to remind these Ephesians of what their spiritual conflict
is all about. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood, he says in chapter 6, but against principalities. and powers the rulers of the darkness of
this world spiritual wickedness in high places and here in verse
21 we're told now that the Lord Jesus Christ is far above all
of these He is sovereign over the devils
and the devils know that when the Lord Jesus Christ was here
upon the earth and he performs that miracle in the synagogue
in Capernaum, in Mark chapter 1, he casts the unclean spirit
out of a man. What did the demons say? Let
us alone. What have we to do with thee
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Aren't they come to torment us
before the time? They knew him, they recognised
him. Lord, the devils flare and they tremble, says James. The
Lord Jesus Christ, you see, is sovereign. He is sovereign over
all the hosts of demons. That's the comfort of the child
of God. And we see it, of course, we
see it so remarkably in the book of Job. As we were remarking
earlier on Thursday evening, those opening chapters tell us
quite plainly that the devil is no free agent. Yes, he's permitted
to come at Job and to afflict poor Job in his possessions,
in his family, in his own body. But he can do nothing without
God's leave. Yet God is not the author of sin. with regards to David and the
troubles that David had with King Saul. Remember how many
times Saul would seek to destroy David. Why? An evil spirit, we
read. An evil spirit from the Lord
came upon King Saul. God is not the author of sin
and yet God is sovereign. Here is a mystery. I don't pretend
to understand it No way can one explain it, but it's a blessed
truth, is it not, that the sovereignty of our Lord Jesus Christ is so
absolute. He's over all things. He's over
the fallen angels, the devil who comes at you and tempts you
and would seek to destroy you, who's walking about as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. He's subject to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so when you attended, God
is able to make a way whereby you may escape. He is far above all principality
and power and might and dominion and every name that is named in that world which is to come. Oh, there's comfort you see.
There's comfort in that sovereignty. But as Christ is over the fallen angels, so the
Lord Jesus Christ is also over the elect angels. There are elect
angels, there are those angels who did not fall, those angels
that are about the throne of God, the Seraphim and the Cherubim. And as the eternal Son of God,
as God the Son, Christ is clearly far greater than all those elect
angels. And again, we see it, we saw
it in our reading, He is the brightness of God's glory, the express image
of God's person. he is God and he is that one who comes
into this world and he is lower than the angels
and yet he is better than the angels he goes on there at verse
4 being made so much better than the angels as he has by inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than I For unto which of the
angels said he, At any time thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee, and again I will be a father to him, and he shall be my son.
He is greater than all the angels, because he is the eternal son
of God. And as the God-man is over those
elect angels on behalf of his church, all things are under
his feet. And God has given him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. And he is that as that one who
is the mediator of the new covenant. Remember how we read there in
that second chapter of Hebrews that he took not on him the nature
of the angel. He took upon Him the seed of
Abram. There was no provision made for fallen angels. The elect
angels who never fell, they had no need of restoration. But what
of those angels that rebelled and sinned and fell? Well, no
provision was made for the fallen angels. But God in His wisdom
did make provision for man. who was made in his image created
after his likeness and yet fell as he was tempted there in the
garden of Eden by the serpent who was the instrument of Satan
and so the Lord Jesus Christ is made a little lower than the
angel for the sufferings of death. It doesn't take upon him the
nature of an angel he takes upon him the seed of Abraham and for
as much as the children were partakers of flesh and blood
he likewise took part of the same he becomes a man a real
man and he is the head and the church is his body and what are
the angels are they not all ministering spirits we read at the end of
that first chapter in Hebrews, ministering spirits sent forth
to minister to them who shall be the heirs of salvation. And
there's a man, he receives the ministry of the angels after
he was tempted in the wilderness. Angels came and ministered unto
him, we're told. In the garden of Gethsemane,
an angel was sent from heaven or how he identifies with men. He receives the ministry of the
angels, these ministering spirits, who come to minister to those
who are the heirs of salvation. It is he who is the eternal God.
He receives that ministry. And where is he now? He's not
entered into the holy place he's made with hands, he's entered
into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us,
says Paul. He is that one then who is in
heavenly session, is there at God's right hand in the heavenlies, in the heavenlies. But then Christ
is not only sovereign in that world of spirits, sovereign over
the fallen angel, sovereign over the elect angel. Christ is also
sovereign in the world. He is sovereign in the world. Not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come. There are these two worlds. the
world of the spirits, and this world wherein men dwell. All things are under his feet. He is the head over all things
to the church, be they the things of the spiritual world or the
things of this natural world. All power is given unto him,
I remember. That's what he says at the end of the Gospel. all
power in heaven and in earth. He is sovereign then over angels
for the church. He says to Peter, there in the
garden of Gethsemane, thinkest thou not that I can now pray
to my father and he shall send me twelve legions of angels Well, he can demand the angels,
the presence of them. These angels are ministering
spirits. He speaks in the gospel, does he not, about there are
those angels who watch over his children and they behold him
in the face of God. He rules, he reigns over them
with regards to the ministry that they are to exercise in
this world. There is a ministry of angels. And as he is sovereign over angels
with regards to the ministry that they are to exercise to
the church here upon the earth, so the Lord Jesus Christ is also
sovereign over men with regards to this world. and he will so order events that
even the men of the world must serve the purpose of his job. That's the amazing thing you
see. He is head over all things here upon earth, not just the
ministry of the angels, he's over Also those things that the
men of the world do over all things to the church, for the
church. There's a statement that we have
in 1 Timothy chapter 4 that might sometimes cause some to stumble,
where he speaks of Christ as the Saviour of all men, especially
of those of belief. Now, the advocates of universal
redemption seize on that. They seize on that. It says,
they tell us, they plainly state that Christ is the Saviour of
all men, but He is especially the Saviour of those men who
believe. So, in order to enjoy that salvation,
we must believe. But doesn't it say, this is out
of the Arminian reasons, doesn't it say quite clearly that he
is the saviour of all men, therefore he must have died for all men,
but it's only those who believe who come to enjoy the real benefits
of that salvation. It doesn't mean that at all.
There is no universalism in that salvation that was wrought by
the Lord Jesus Christ. Not all, not all are saved in
that full spiritual sense. We don't just take a verse in
the Bible and rip it out of the context of the whole of Scripture,
the great analogy of faith as the old Writers used to say,
we have to interpret every statement of Scripture in the light of
the totality of what is taught throughout the Bible. And it
is quite clear that those for whom Christ Jesus shed his precious
blood, those for whom he died, shall all go to heaven. He is
to see of the travail of his soul, we read in Isaiah 53, and
he shall be satisfied. Now if Christ shed his blood
for all and sundry everyone who has ever lived on the face of
the earth, and yet everyone doesn't go to heaven, how can the Lord
Jesus Christ be satisfied? He shall see of the travail of
his soul, the fruit of all his sufferings and it will not be
in vain. That's what Isaiah is saying.
He'll be satisfied. But not only that, if the Lord
Jesus Christ has suffered and bled and died for every man and
borne the punishment that was due to their sins, and every
sin is covered by that, you know, no sins excepted, Christ has
borne the punishment of all the sins of all his people, even the sin of unbelief. And if that is the case with
regards to all men, as the Arminian would say, how can God ever visit any punishment
upon any man or woman? if Christ has been punished for
them, that would be most unjust. That sinner could say as much
as that to God. Payment God cannot twice demand. First at my bleeding surety's
side, my bleeding surety's hand and then again at mine, says
Toplater. That would be unjust double punishing.
And God isn't just God. Those words then in 1 Timothy
chapter 4 and verse 10, the Saviour of all men, especially them that
believe. What are we to make of it? Well, He is the Saviour of all
that believe in the fullest spiritual sense. But he is the saviour of all
men in this sense. He maketh his son to rise on
the evil and on the good. He sends his rain on the just
and the unjust. He is kind unto the unthankful
and to the evil. There is that benevolence in
God, that goodness in God. to all His creatures. He gives
us all life and breath and all things, says Paul in his preaching
in Acts 17, there in the city of Athens. He gives us to all life and breath
and all things. In that sense He is the Saviour
of all men. In Him we live and move and have our There is a
general benevolence in God, but this is the wonder, especially
them that believe. These are the apple of his eye,
the pupil of his eye. He kept it as the apple of his
eye. We read concerning Israel in
Deuteronomy 32. Israel, that typical people,
that people who are a type of the church, how God keeps his
church. The Lord Jesus Christ, you see,
he is the head over all things for the church, over all men.
And so Paul can say we know that all things work together for
good to them that know God, them who are the called according
to his purpose. The Lord Jesus Christ exercised
his sovereignty not only in heaven, there's not only his session
there at God's right hand, where he is set far above all principality
and power and might and dominion and every name that is known. not only his session in heaven,
his sovereignty upon the earth, where he rules, and rules in
all things on behalf and for his church. But then we can look
at the statement in another sense, as we have it in the text, not
just for the church, on behalf of the church, But he is said
here to be head to the church. He is the head of the church,
is he not? God has 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. Is Christ sovereign? when we
think of his session there in heaven, sovereign in the spiritual
world, is Christ sovereign here in this world, the King of Kings
and the Lord of Lords? Well, then Christ surely is also
sovereign in the Church. He is sovereign in the Church,
sovereign to the Church. The psalmist says, As God's mouth
preached, Psalm 2, Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of
Zion. All the holy hill of Zion, that's
a church. And God has set His King upon His holy hill. The Lord
Jesus Christ, I say, is head to the church. The great cry
of the Scottish Covenanters was that they would contend for the
crown rights of King Jesus. That's all they were concerned
about. The Christ should be seen to be king in his church. And
it was not for the civil authority therefore to seek to impose its
will upon the church. when the powers that be wanted
to impose Episcopals and Bishops. No, said the Scottish Covenanters,
it's the crown right of King Jesus. He is the sovereign in
the church. He is heads and the church is
his body. And how does Christ rule his
church? Well, he rules the church by
His Word. By His Word He rules the church.
This book. It's here where the Lord Jesus
Christ is revealed to us and revealed to us in all His offices.
Here we have His holy laws and statutes and precepts. Here we
have all those exceeding great and precious promises. What a
glorious fullness there is in the Word of God. But remember,
we're not to be those, if we profess His Name, who would be
partial in His Word. We're not just to delight in
those promises. And what comforts are promises,
really? All those great promises, exceeding great and precious
promises, says Peter. And they're all Yah and they're
all Amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he sealed them all by the
shedding of his precious blood. Always certainly to embrace the
promise, the invitations. All those gracious invitations
where in Christ calls his people and draws his people. Come unto
me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, he says, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn
of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart,
ye shall find rest for your souls. We're to love these, but we're
also to love His precepts. And we manifest our love of His
precepts and His commandments when we do them. His commandments
are not grievous to us. How are we to worship Him? Well,
he tells us quite plainly, does he not, in John chapter 4, the
true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth,
for the Father seeketh such to worship him. The true worshippers,
they worship in spirit, in spiritual worship they worship. It's not
just attending to the externals, the letter of the word of God,
it's spiritual worship, but it's also that worship that is regulated
and governed by the truth. And Christ says thy word is truth. It's interesting what we have
there in those words of Christ in John chapter 4. The true worshippers,
he says, worship the Father. And the word that's used, the
word worship, literally means to make obeisance, to do reverence. In other words, true worship
is reverential. There's awe in it. There's that
recognition of the otherness of God, the holiness of God. The Scottish commentator George
Otcherson says of that words, to worship, to make obeisance,
he says, the similitude is taken from dogs casting themselves
down at their master's feet. How a dog is so loyal to his
master and cast himself down at the feet of his master, that's
how we are to worship. Wasn't that how John worshipped
at the beginning of the Revelation? In exile on the Isle of Patmos,
he sees the glories of Christ, and I fell at his feet as death. That's worship. That's worship. That's submitting to the headship
of the Lord Jesus Christ, is it not? We just bow to his authority.
We accept the truth as we have it in his words. And so we seek
to regulate all that we do from this book, the Bible. And if
we don't follow the scriptures, what is our worship? Well, in
Colossians chapter 2 and verse 23, we have that expression,
will-worship. When we follow our own wills
and do our own sins and think, oh, this would be nice, that
would be nice. And of course, as you are aware, in multitudes
of places, that's what they do. It's entertainment. It's not
worship at all. It's an appeal to men's senses.
It's not that that is pleasing to God. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the head. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one who must therefore determine just how worship is to be rendered
unto God. Again, There's that interesting statement that we find in the
Revelation at the beginning of chapter 11. John tells us here,
There was given me a reed like unto a rod, and the angel stood
saying, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and
them that worship therein. He measures the worshippers by
this reed like unto a rod. What is the reed like unto a
rod? It's the Word of God. It is that that measures the
true worship of God. All of our worship, you see,
must be brought to this test. What do we read here in Holy
Scripture? if we are a true church, with
the body of Christ. And the head must govern the
body. We are told, remember, again,
later in chapter 5, where we have the duties of husbands and
wives. And the apostle reminds us of
the wife, that's the bride, and speaks of the bride of Christ. As the church is subject unto
Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything,
he says. But then the husband. Husbands, he says, love your
wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for
it. The husband is head of the wife,
even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the saviour
of the body. All that Christ is, you see,
can be demonstrated in the relationship between the husband and the wife.
We're not dealing with that matter of the relative duties of husbands
and wives, but what does Paul draw from as he seeks to deal
with that matter? He draws on what is taught in
Holy Scripture concerning the headship of Christ. Christ is the Head of the Church. And as Christ is the Head of
the Church, so He is the Head for the Church. He rules, He
reigns, He governs over all things and His eye is ever upon His
Church. But Christ is also the Head to
the Church and the mark of that true Church of Christ. is its
willing submission to his headship. And that worship wherein we simply
cast ourselves at his feet, we do obeisance, or we want to be
those who know what the will of the Lord is, why that we might
do that will of the Lord, to walk in obedience to all his
holy commandments, And if we have this spiritual enlightenment,
this is where we started last week, was it not? The eyes of
your understanding being enlightened, if we have that spiritual enlightenment
from God, we'll see the significance, the importance of that blessed
headship of Christ Jesus. God has 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, or that Christ might be to us not only a Saviour, but also our Head. He is, remember
those words we just referred to there in Ephesians 5.20 through
it, He is the Head of the Church and He is the Saviour of the
Body. Well, the Lord bless his word
to us. Amen.