Go with me back to Ephesians
chapter 3. Monday morning, I was talking
with a brother about our desire. We were both talking, agreeing
with each other about our desire and the desire of every believer. to just be close to our Lord. We just want to be close to the
Lord. We just want to feel like we're
near Him. It makes everything okay. The world's not going to get
any easier. But if we can just be near Him, then everything's okay. I know, we all know that salvation
is not a feeling. Feelings come, feelings go, feelings
are deceiving. Feelings are very, very deceiving. Usually, we don't feel saved. Usually, God's people don't feel
saved. Even though in Christ we are. Feelings are deceiving. Feelings
come, feelings go. And aren't you so glad that our
salvation is not dependent on our feelings? Because The reality
for a lot of people who are lost in religion is they feel saved. They feel saved. They always
just feel saved even though outside of Christ they're not. They're
not. So salvation is not a feeling.
But it is nice and I tried to think of a better word. But this
is this is the word I want to use. It's nice. It's just nice
when our Lord touches our hearts. Through his word. By his spirit,
all the sudden for just a moment in time, it's not words on paper. I mean something happens. The
Lord reaches way down and He touches our hearts. And it's
nice when we know that He's pulling us close. Causing us to know that He is
ours and we are His. It's nice. It's very nice. When our hearts burn within us. Wouldn't you rather your heart
burn within you over the joy of the Lord and what He's done
for us than just feel that coldness, that deadness? And thank God, I say it again,
it has nothing to do with our standing in Christ, but wouldn't
you rather your heart burn within you? It is so nice when we spiritually
hear His voice. Spiritually, through this Word,
God's people know when the Lord speaks a word to their heart.
Somebody asked the question one time, does God speak out loud?
And the response, the wise response was, nope, He's much louder than
that. And it is. It is. Well, as we were talking, I started
thinking about the comfort that we have in knowing our union
with Him. What gives us comfort is the
promise of His Word, the promises that He's made to us in His Word. That's what comforts a believer,
that absolute promise. Knowing that He will never leave
us and never forsake us. And the reason he will never
leave us and never forsake us is because blood is thicker than
water. That's the reason our union with
him is a family union. We have a family union, we are
united to him in his blood. by His blood. We're united by
blood. That whole pew right there is
united by blood. Blood family. We have been made
to be blood relatives with Him. And this verse of scripture,
as we were talking about those things and I was thinking about
these things, this verse of scripture popped into my mind. Ephesians
3 verse 15 says, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth
is named. Is that, hmm, of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named. We have been accepted
into the family of God. We've been accepted into God's
family. Our union is a family union. Look with me back at Ephesians
chapter 1, verse 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
whom we have redemption through His blood. the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace. The blood of Jesus
Christ has accepted us into the family of God. Verse 3 said blessed
us. Verse 4 said chosen us. Verse
5 said predestinated us and adopted us. Verse six said accepted us
and verse seven said every bit of that was through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the riches of his grace. We have a family union with our
God. This union is so close and it's
so personal it cannot be described by one family dynamic. it cannot
be illustrated to us and told to us and declared to us through
one family dynamic one family relationship so in order to give
us just a small glimpse i mean a small glimpse of the fullness
of our union with our lord he has described to us three separate
unions in a family throughout this Word. All through this Word,
He's given us three separate relationships. Three different
family unions to tell us what we have in Christ. And I pray
the Lord will allow us to really take a moment and enter into
this union. I pray He will really comfort
our hearts and let us just enjoy this union for just a minute.
Alright, here's the first family union for us to enjoy. Go with
me if you would over to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 verse 13 says, Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him think about
the loving union of a father and a child or a mother a parent
and a child ask a mother ask a mother do you love children i'm gonna ask a mother do you
love children All children equally or one in
particular? Does one in particular stand
out? You can ask a child, do you love
adults? All adults equally or do two
in particular stand out? It goes both ways. The indescribable
love in the family union of a parent and a child. Indescribable love. It is particular love both ways. Both ways. It's a particular
union that surpasses every other union like it. Parents love children. I mean children. Children. But there's a particular love
involved in our own. And that's the loving union that
we have with our God. The love of a father to his own
child. Particular love. He said, when
you pray, you pray our Father. That's an amazing statement.
He did not say, when you pray, most high God, although He is. And we do cry, hallowed be thy
name. But He said, when you pray, you
pray, our Father. Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Like a child says to his parents,
I'm hungry. Would you please give me something
to eat? I can't get it myself. I need
for you to feed me. Lord, would you please feed me? Our Lord said, you can cry that
to your father. Lord, would you please, please
feed me? Look with me at Luke chapter
11. Luke chapter 11 verse 9 says, And I say unto you, ask, and
it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth. And to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he
ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he
shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? if ye then being
evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more
shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that
ask him father i am so hungry have you ever been there Father,
I am so hungry. Would you please give me some
of your heavenly bread? Would you please give me some
heavenly bread? Would you please feed me by your
Spirit? Please, Lord, please. If you
won't turn away your own child who is coming to you in that
way, I'm so hungry, please. How much more Will our heavenly
father not turn away his own child who comes to him in that
way? He said, suffer the little children
to come unto me. Suffer those little children
to come unto me. Whose little children? He said through the Apostle John,
my little children. My little children, what a union,
what a union we have, how close that union is. The apostle John
also wrote, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ in everything
that that means, not just that that's his name, everything that
it means to say he's the Christ, God manifest in the flesh, the
only mediator between God and man. Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth
him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him. And
that'll lead us into the second family relationship our Lord
has illustrated to us. Go with me over to Romans chapter
eight. Romans chapter 8 verse 29 says, For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Look back at verse
15. It says, For you have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, But you have received the
spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children
of God. And if 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. Think about the loving union
of siblings. Now, I know that sin has a way
of ruining this illustration. Siblings can fight like siblings. I know that. But whenever you
get down to the heart of the matter, when all that sin takes
a break for just a minute, and you get down to the heart of
the matter, siblings love each other. They love each other. There's a special bond there. If we cannot see it in our physical
family, we can see it in our spiritual family. In Christ,
we are siblings. We are brothers and sisters. And brothers and sisters love
each other. And we do, don't we? We do. Brothers and sisters love each
other. I physically have three sisters.
I love them with all my heart. I love them with all my heart.
We have a history. We've been through some things
together. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ endured some things with
his brethren too. Turn with me over to Hebrews
chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 10 says,
For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all
things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He that
sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for
which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, behold, I and the
children which God hath given me. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For
in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to
succor them that are tempted." Everything he endured, he endured
it for his brethren. Everything. After he rose from
the grave, the first person that he revealed himself to was Mary
Magdalene. And he said to her, Mary, I want
you to go to my brethren and say unto them, I want you to
tell them that I ascend back to my father and your father. my father and your father, you're
now officially heirs of the same promise. Joint heirs. Our union
with our God is a union of a parent and a child. It's the union of
brothers and sisters. And our Lord describes it to
us one other way. Go with me to Revelation 21. Revelation 21, verse 2. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. When I read that earlier, that
just struck me as so loving. He said, I saw new Jerusalem
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned
for her husband. Look down at verse nine. There
came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials
full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me saying, come
hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. Just for a moment, enter into
the loving union of a husband and a wife." A husband and a
wife. Don't go back over there, but
our text said, "...of whom the whole family in heaven and earth
is named." The whole family is named. In this union, we get
His name. As soon as Christ arose from
that grave, We all got a brand new name. The moment he arose,
we all got a brand new name. What is the name that we all
received? His name. We received his own
name. What is his name? The Lord, our
righteousness. That's His name, the Lord our
righteousness. According to Jeremiah chapter
23 and Jeremiah chapter 33, His name is her name. She gets His
name. Jeremiah 23 verse 6 says, He
is going to save His people. And His name shall be called
the Lord our righteousness. And then Jeremiah 33 verse 16
says, his people are going to be saved. Jerusalem is going
to be saved. And this is the name wherewith
she shall be called the Lord, our righteousness, same name
as he is. So she is. What a what an amazing. Thing for God Almighty to say.
What an amazing love to say about His bride. As He has, so she
has. Whatever is His is hers. She
gets it all. She gets it all. Even His name.
Everything. Isaiah 54 verse 5 says, For thy
maker is thine husband. The Lord of hosts is His name,
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole
earth shall he be called. That's the union we have with
our Lord, the union of a husband and a wife. Song of Solomon. He described that, the Lord described
it through Solomon in a very real and very personal way. That book, very really and very
personally, as you read that book, you realize you are peering
into secret things. Things meant for a husband and
a wife. And that's exactly who it was
meant for. A husband and a wife. When we leave this earth, God's
people, when God's people leave this earth, we are not going
to be citizens of a city. Everybody talks about dwelling
in His kingdom. I want to live in His kingdom.
He'll be our God. We'll be His people. Everybody
sings, I want to build a mansion next to Jesus. I just want to
live in a mansion. I just want to live on one of the back streets.
That'll be fine. I'm going to go dwell in a city.
That's not what we're going to do. We're not going to just be
citizens of a city. When we leave this earth, we
are being ushered to the head table of a wedding reception. That's where we're going. Look
back at Revelation 19, one page back, Revelation 19 verse 6 says,
And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and
as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering,
saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let
us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage
of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white." If you have
a margin for white, it says bright. I can't wait to see that fine
linen. Glycerine. Whiter than no fuller
on this earth can get. For the fine linen is the righteousness
of the saints. They're going to wear it. Right
now, we're wearing robes of sin. Alright? We're God's sanctified
people. Holy and pure and justified. As He is, so are we. Wearing
a robe of sin. In that day, we're going to wear
His righteousness. It's the righteousness of the
saints. Verse 9, And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they
which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He saith
unto me, These are the true sayings of God. He said, You tell them
all this is the absolute truth, if it has ever been told. What
a union we have. It takes a real consideration
of every family union, every relationship that we have to
get some kind of glimpse of our union with our Lord. I've literally
listed every immediate relationship that I have. My relationship
with my parents, my relationship with my children, my relationship
with my siblings, and my relationship with my wife. It takes every
relationship I have to get some kind of glimpse of the union
that God has given us with Christ. And this relationship can be
added to each one of those unions. Friend. That's how he describes the relationship. Our Lord describes his union
with us as friends and that applies to all the ones we just said.
That's my wife. That is my best friend. You're
my best friend. She's my best friend. My bride. My best friend. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
has said to his wife. You are my best friend. I laid
down my life for my best friend. I'm going to close with this.
I want to close by showing you the verse before the one we've
been looking at. Go with me back to Ephesians
3. Look with me at verse 14. For this cause, I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Does the glory of our
union humble you like it humbles me? Is it not so humbling? So
humbling. Hearing just how glorious it
is. Hearing just how close he's made
us to be with him and allowed us to be with him. That produces
such a grateful, humble, happy heart. Doesn't that produce a
happy heart of humility? For this cause, we bow our knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named. We bow our knees. Lord, thank
you. Father, we bow our knees to the Father. Heavenly Father,
We thank you for our union in Christ. Thank you. All right,
let's all stand.