If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Ephesians chapter five, beginning in verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. That
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. I'm gonna stop right there. The church, we've said this here
many times and we'll say it again many times, the church is not
a building. The church is the people of God.
The church is, in the Greek, what? Ekklesia, which means the
called out congregation. The assembly of ye servants of
God. of God's children. The church
is not a building, it's his people. And I'm just gonna say that again,
because I want to. Well, you know, where y'all going? I'm going to church. I always
wanna stop and say, well, that's funny, I am the church. The church is not joined. That's
another thing most people won't understand. The church is assembled
by Jesus Christ for himself and to himself. Paul's letter here is addressed
to the saints, which are at Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus.
His letter in Corinth, the first Corinthians, is addressed this
way. unto the church of God, which
is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
to be saints, and here we go, folks, with all that in every
place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's the church, folks, that's
the church. We sing that song, you know.
The church of Christ we have today, a blessing from the Lord. He gave her to his son to save
and take her home above. Oh, I like that. The church of
Christ is called his bride. And what we start here for in
verse 25, it says, husbands, love your wives, love your wives. even as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it. I'm not gonna get into the husband
and wife thing, although it's true. Husbands love you wives.
Wives love you husbands. I know a lot of people wanna
throw out this, I'm not even gonna get into that, nevermind.
I'm gonna try and get done a little quicker today. So I'm not gonna
get into that, but it's true. Husbands already love each other.
And it does say, as Christ loved the church and gave himself for
it. That's what I wanna say here
right now, try and lay a hold of this. He gave himself for
his church. He gave himself. And I'm gonna
tell you something, he gave his whole self for the church. Now, when we do the ordinance
here of the Lord's table, we take bread and wine. This is
to represent his body and his blood. You understand? I know
a lot of people talk about, well, his blood was shed for us, and
it was. And we are to do this in remembrance of him, but also
it says his body that was broken, he gave himself. No part was
left out. And I'm gonna tell you something,
folks. He gave himself and his whole mind. He knew exactly what
he was doing. He knew exactly why he was doing
it. And he knew, he knew what the
results of his actions were. He gave himself for the church. for his church. And that's my
title, Paul, today, his glorious church. His glorious church. Christ gave his very life for
his church. He took in his own body, on the
tree, our sins. Our sins. And the wages of sin
is death. Even when they're upon our Lord
Jesus Christ. The wages of sin was death. The wages of sin is
still death. Now what's that mean? Well, either
his sins were upon him or they're upon you. That's the only two
places. If he took them in, they're gone. Why? Because he gave himself
for his church. Oh, he gave his body to be broken
for us. He gave, he shed his own blood
for us, for us. Now think about that and think
about husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the church.
He gave himself, he didn't just say he loved us, he gave himself
for us. Oh my. He purchased each and
every individual with his own blood. He redeemed us. And that redemption is in his
shed blood and his broken body for us. He gave himself. The church, the assembly is called
his body. In Colossians 1 and 18 it says,
and he is the head of the body, the church, the church, who is
the beginning, the firstborn of the dead, that in all things
he might have the preeminence. He gave himself for the church. He is the head of the body. We are the members of his body. and you're where you're supposed
to be in his body. But now God has set the members,
set the members, every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him, pleased
him. There are many members, but those
many members are set where? In his body. in the body, the
one body of the church. And I'm gonna tell you something,
you're set where God pleased to put you. That's where you
are. That's where I am. And I'm happy
to be here. Oh my, he gave himself for his
body. Now, you and me, love one another,
love one another, love the members of the body. He gave himself for his body,
his members, and his church, and we are in him, in him. J.C. Philpott put it this way.
It was absolutely necessary either that the sinner should suffer
in his own person or in that of a substitute. Jesus became
this substitute. He stood virtually in the sinner's
place and endured in his holy body and soul the punishment
due to the sinner. Four. He was numbered with the
transgressors. He loved us and gave himself
for us. Oh my. Then in verse 26 it says
this, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word. The church of Jesus Christ is
set apart. The people of Jesus Christ, the
people of God, the children of God are set apart. How? By Jesus Christ himself. He set
us apart. He gave himself and he set us
apart, purified and purged. That's what those words mean.
Purified and purged by him. that he might sanctify and cleanse. That's what that means. Set apart,
purify. Purify and purged by him. He gave himself to do this and
that's exactly what he did. That's exactly what he did. And
here's the thing, none of us were alive when he did this. He did this almost 2,000 years
ago. And yet, when he was on that
tree, our sins were in him and on him. And he gave himself for his church. He is sanctified and he has cleansed
his people. By the offering of himself, he
gave himself to God for us. The world has no idea what a
miracle of grace that actually is. You understand? They have this wild idea that
God forgives sin by just forgetting about it. God never forgets anything. They read, God is angry with
the wicked every day. And God must punish sin. And they say, well, that's the
Old Testament. Throw it away. You understand, God doesn't change.
He never changes. That's why Christ came. He gave
himself for us. We are sanctified, we are cleansed
by Christ himself to God. He redeemed us, he reconciled
us to God. He justified us. Oh my. And he washed us. I'm gonna tell
you something, when Jesus Christ washes you, you're clean. You're
clean. You're clean. Oh my. And he says this, that he might
present it, the church, to himself. To himself, a glorious church. Not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that he should be holy and without blemish.
He, Jesus Christ, presents us, his church, to himself. The assembly is for Jesus Christ. That just seems strange to me. But here's a thought, and this
is the truth. He is going to present us to
God in himself. In himself. And the father is
glorified in his son. Believers are gathered together.
We didn't earn it. We don't deserve it. And he does
it. He gave himself for his church. Oh my. Here's a hard saying if
you want. and especially in these days
and in these parts, the church is not for you or for me. The church is for our Lord Jesus
Christ. He gave himself for the church
and he's going to present it to himself, these three words,
a glorious church, a glorious church. Oh, I like that. How
the heck are we gonna be glorious? Because the church is his people.
There's only one way, in him, in him. Why? He gave himself. I'm gonna tell you something,
folks. He gave himself in an offering as a substitute on the
tree, taking our sins in his own body. And yes, that's glorious,
that's gracious, that's mercy for sinners. But here's the thing,
he gave himself to his church. When he calls us out of the world,
when he calls his sheep by name, voice of the Son of God, the
dead hear it, and those that hear it shall live. What's he
do? He actually places us in Christ,
in himself. He gave himself for us, and he
gave himself to us. A glorious church, a glorious
church. I'm gonna tell you something.
We benefit in the fact that he gave himself for the church.
We benefit from him taking our sins in his own body on the tree.
We benefit by the fact that he gives us his Holy Spirit within. He gave himself for the church
and he gave himself to us. Oh my, he washed the church. He sanctified, he cleansed the
assembly, and his saints are perfected forever in him, in
him. Oh my, what's it say here? Not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. I wish it was. I am in him. One day, we shall be in his likeness. But right now, by his word, by
his power, by his sacrifice, by his life, we are right now
without spot, wrinkle, and holy and without blemish, not of yourselves,
in Him, in Him, we are. I'm gonna tell you something,
that's a glorious church. It's a glorious church. Oh my. Understand, we cannot see the way God sees. We cannot hear what God hears. But we can read and believe what
Christ has told us in his word. He says you're clean in him. He says you're holy in him. He says you are part of a glorious
church and you are in him because his church is glorious. It's
not glorious because of us, it's glorious because of him. We just
sang that song, it's why I picked this song. Ye servants of God,
your master proclaim and publish abroad his wonderful name. The name all victorious of Jesus
extolled. His kingdom is glorious. Here's why. He rules over all. He rules over all. His kingdom
is glorious. Why? Because he's glorious. He's glorious. And we are, this
still astounds me to this day, We are his. I did it a little while back. You're
not your own, you're bought with a price. You're his. You're his. His church is glorious. A glorious church. We cannot comprehend the perfection
of Christ. and we cannot comprehend our
perfection in Christ. And I can preach it. I can believe it. This is the thing. You understand,
when we say trust Christ, that's not just words. We're trusting
him that he's gonna present us to himself a glorious church. not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Why? Because he sanctified and cleansed
us. He does it. We don't do it. He does it. It's his work. All his work. His church is glorious. I'm gonna tell you something.
We may not feel it, We may not sense it in any way, but his
kingdom is glorious. His people are glorious only
in him, by him, for him, but most of
all, in him. His church is glorious, the word
being splendid, noble, honorable, honorable. And the reason his
church is glorious is that Jesus Christ is glorious. Because it's
all him. It's all him. Christ is splendid. Christ is noble. Christ is honorable. And his church is in him. He's the head of the body. He's
the head of the body. Oh my. This is an amazing thing. Where Jesus Christ is, we are. Because we're in Him. We're in
Him. What Christ is, what Christ is. We are in Him. I'm not boasting, folks. Ain't
none of it's in me, ain't none of it's in you. But it's all
true. Because He is glorious. His church,
his assembly is chosen in him, redeemed by him, justified by
him, reconciled to God by him, called by him, brought in by
him, and kept by him. That's a glorious church. That's
a glorious church. He gave himself for his chosen
people, and he and his church shall appear together before
God. perfect in him, but no less perfect. Oh my, no spot, no wrinkle, not
even a blemish. You know where that word can
come from? Come from the Passover lamb. It's supposed to be without
blemish, not even a mark. And I'm gonna tell you something,
there was not any kind of a mark on our Lord Jesus Christ. He
was perfect, holy, so holy we can't understand it. God looked
at him and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.
God never said that about anybody else. And God's not gonna say it about
anybody else. And, If you're in him, you are
without spot, without blemish, holy, sanctified, redeemed, justified. A glorious church, a glorious
church. And his church, his people, his
body is complete in him. in him. It's a glorious church. I'm waiting for that day. I'm
waiting for that day when it says, what it says, that he might
present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. and ye are complete in him. A glorious church. Our Heavenly
Father, we're thankful for this timeless place. Most of all,
Lord, your Son, who has done everything for us, who gave himself
for us, who gives himself to us, Keeps us Keeps us in the
workings of his mighty power Thank you Lord be with those
who couldn't be here help Lord help us all But we need your
help Be with Paul be with Walter's they come to preach your word
in Christ's name we pray Amen