Today we'll be in Ephesians.
Ephesians 1. Lord willing, we'll finish the
chapter today. Ephesians 1. We'll be looking at the last
two verses, but I'd like us to read from 19 to the end of the
chapter if we could. 19 to the end of the chapter. Because
they're all tied in. And basically, it's Paul again
exalting the supremacy of Christ. We've seen in our Colossians
study how Paul is continuously focusing the Colossian believers
upon Christ and His supremacy. Because the false teachers had
come in and were mentioning that it was Christ plus something
else. And this is always what happens. No matter what flavor
a false religion it is, they always like to add the but. It's
Christ's but. Well, there isn't any but. It's
Christ alone, period. It's all in Him. It's all what
He's done. And this is what we believe. This is what preachers
and believers in the past have believed. That salvation is of
the Lord. That's what Scripture declares
and that's what we believe. That's what we believe. So today
we'll finish up, Lord, well in this chapter. Look at verse 19. And what is the exceeding greatness
of His power to us who believe according to the working of His
mighty power? Now this verse right here proclaims
God's mighty power right before us. And when we look at this,
there's different Greek words that are used for the word power
here. But it speaks of His greatness
and it speaks of His majesty. It speaks of His power. It speaks
of His supremacy. And it leads right on to our
next verse, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him
from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly
places. Now that same power that raised
the Lord Jesus Christ raised us from our spiritual state of
deadness. That same power. That same power. We were dead in trespasses and
sins. We had no hope. We had no ability.
Hopeless. Helpless. Sinners. But by the
power of God the Holy Spirit, we have been raised from the
dead, regenerated, born again. You must be born again. You must
be. And think of this, if you're
struggling with sin, and we often do, don't we? We often do. If you're struggling with sin,
cry out to Christ who has all power. And let us remember that
it's God's power, that it's God's power who raised Jesus from the
dead and set Him at His right hand. And this power works in
you who believe. This power will deliver you.
So this is why we must cry out to Christ. He has all power.
He has all power. He's seated at the right hand
of the Father. Scripture says, "...and set him
at his own right hand in heavenly places." He's seated at the right
hand of the Father, which we looked at, donates a place of
power and majesty. He has all power, all majesty. He's king. He's king. And this
is the believer's God. This is the believer's Savior.
This is the believer's Redeemer. So like I say, when we do struggle
with sin, and we will, because we're sinners. I was talking
to someone the other day, and we were talking about It's just
about how much we sin as believers and how we struggle with it.
But the believer is a saved sinner. A saved sinner. The reason we
struggle with sin is because now we know what it is. Think
back before the Lord saved you. Did you struggle with sin? I
didn't. It didn't even bother me. Now I hate it. Is it so with
you? We have the power of God the
Holy Spirit within us. We need to cry out to Christ
and pray that He give us grace and strength to overcome sin
in our lives. So Christ is seated on the right
hand of the throne above. He's the God-man, the mediator.
He's at the right hand and donates a place of power and majesty.
And look at the next verse. Far above all principality and
power. He's so far above everything. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
His ways are not our ways. Far above all principality and
power and might and dominion in every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. Again,
here we see Christ's supremacy. Now we see Christ's supremacy
over all things. Turn, if you would, to Colossians
1. Colossians 1. We see Christ's
supremacy over all things. And we can tie this in with our
study in Colossians where we've seen Paul continuously exalting
the supremacy of Christ. And I'll read Ephesians 1.22.
It says, "...and he had put all things under his feet and gave
him to be the head over all things to the church." Now, Colossians
1.16-19, look at this, "...for by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth." So Christ is the Creator. He's God. Visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him. He created all things,
and they were all created for Him. For Him. For His glory. To magnify His
glory. To magnify His majesty. to magnify
His supremacy. And look, He is before all things. And by Him, all things consist.
Even the agnostics and even the people who curse Him, the only
reason they have breath to breathe is because God gives them breath
to breathe. What mercy! By Him, all things consist. And
look, He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, Why? That in all things He might
have the preeminence. Christ must have the preeminence. Must. That's why we grace preachers
continuously say, don't look to us. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. Look to the One
who's our Savior. I'm just a sinner saved by grace,
just like everyone else who believes. Look to Christ. Look to the One
who can save sinners. Look to Him. And He must have
the preeminence. He must. And look at 4, please
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And we'll
remember that verse as we continue down our little journey here
in Ephesians chapter 1. But let's go back to Ephesians
1.22. And let us remember that Paul
was constantly battling works-based religion. He was constantly battling
works-based religion. And he says, let's go back to
verse 21, "...far above all principality and power and might and dominion,
in 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 head over all things to the church."
Now we saw in Colossians that he's the head of the body of
the church. Very similar verbiage to what Paul penned by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. And as I said, now, Paul is continuously
battling works-based religions in the epistles. He's writing
the epistles while he writes Timothy for instruction, but
most of the epistles are written because he's combating errors,
different errors that have sprung up within the church. And think
of this. I was thinking about this this week. He's combating these
errors, right? It's only been 60 years since
the Lord rose from the grave. And already these errors have
crept in. These false teachers have come
already. And not much has changed, eh?
Because we battle works-based religions in our day. We trumpet
the free grace of God in Christ as opposed to works. We say that
salvation is in Christ alone plus nothing. as opposed to works-based
religion that says salvation's in Christ, but you gotta be baptized,
or you gotta belong to a certain church, or you gotta have a checklist
that you gotta follow. No. Salvation's in Christ alone,
plus nothing. Nothing. So we still today even
battle works-based systems. And we trumpet the free grace
of God in Christ. And folks, follow those false
preachers to the perishing of their eternal souls. Look at verse 22. "...and hath put all things under
his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church."
Now when we tie this in with the verse preceding, far above
all principality and power and might and dominion in every name
that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which
is to come. When we tie this into the preceding verse, it
tells us that Christ has all power, He didn't have no rivals. See, men shake their fists and
think that they're something. The Lord Jesus Christ was, and
still is, God. God became a man. And He still
remained God, but yet a man. And He went to Calvary's cross
and redeemed His people from their sins. He is a name that is far above
all names. He is far above all principalities
and powers. And let us think of this. We
see unrest in our world, don't we? Especially some of the tragedy
that played out this week. We see unrest. But let us draw
solace, let us draw comfort, knowing that our King is upon
the throne right now. He reigns supreme. He reigns
supreme. And all things are working out
according to His will. The Lord Jesus Christ is supreme.
He has all power. Look, and hath put all things
under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the
church. Turn, if you would, to Matthew 28. He has all authority and all
power. And then put your finger in John
17 if you could. Matthew 28 and John 17. And like I say, in this world
of unrest that we live in, it is comforting for the believer
to know that Christ has all power and that Christ reigns and rules
right now. Right now. I remember when I
was in religion, they were saying, well, he's waiting to come back
in rule. No, he's not waiting. The Scripture
we looked at said he's seated at the right hand of the Father
right now. That denotes power, majesty, supremacy. He has all power, beloved. Look
at Matthew 28, verses 18-20. And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth.
Now look at that, beloved. In heaven and in earth. That
means nowhere. There's nowhere that His power
does not reign supreme. Nowhere. All power is given unto
Me in heaven and in earth. 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 lo, I am..." Look at this. Okay,
the one who has all power in verse 18, right? In heaven and
earth. Look what he says. What comfort
for us. "...Lo, I am with you always,
even until the end of the world." Oh, there's a well. There's a
well where we can draw comforting cups of water when we're thirsty. The Lord will never leave His
people. Never. And He has all power. He has
no rivals, as I said. He's God Almighty. God Almighty
in the flesh. And now He's returned back to
heaven in triumph. Look at John 17, verses 2-5. He's a conquering King. He conquered principalities and
made an open show of them at the cross. Look at John 17, verses 2-5. Speaking of Christ, this is His
high priestly prayer. "...as Thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as Thou hast given Him." Now look at that. Christ gives eternal
life to His people. And we're going to look at this
morning, later on, He's the fountain of living waters. He's not up there wringing His
hands. This doesn't sound like God who's up there wringing His
hands, does it? No. No. Look at our text. And if
you're saved, let this just ring in your ears that He should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. If you're saved,
He's given you eternal life because you were given to Him, the Father.
And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only
true God in Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do."
What was that work? To perfectly fulfill the law
of God. To redeem all the elect of all
the ages from all their sins. He's going to go to the cross
and die. He's lived that perfect life. He's lived that perfect
life. I've finished the work which
Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, He's weaved
the perfect robe of righteousness that His people will be clothed
in. And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self with
the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. Triumphant
King, return to glory. Triumphant King, return to glory.
All things are under Christ, including the church. And think
of this too. Think of verse 22, "...and hath
put all things under His feet, and given Him to be head over
all things to the church." Right? This verse tells us that Christ
is supreme. That He's Lord and Ruler over
all things. He is a mighty and an awesome
God. And it also destroys the false teaching, as I mentioned
a few minutes earlier. It destroys the false teaching
of Jesus has done all that he can do, now the rest is up to
you. Doesn't this verse just destroy that? Because if he has
all power, if he's over all things, right? We saw in heaven and earth, then
these guys are lying to people. When they say, Jesus has done
all he can do now, the rest is up to you. Well, that means then
that man's sovereign, according to these false preachers. Man's
not sovereign. God's sovereign. And he gives
eternal life to as many as the Father hath given him. And we
rejoice, because we who believe, we who are saved, Now, do we
flee to Christ? Absolutely. Absolutely. When you were saved, sister,
you fled to Christ, right? Because you're made willing.
And that's what happens. We flee to Christ. We're made
willing. And we run. And it's all by His
power. And that's why we want to give
Him all the glory. And that's why we want to give Him all the
praise. Because we know, left to ourselves, we still would
have been where we were. but for the mercy and kindness
of God. And look at verse 3. Christ is
the supreme head of the church and He rules for our good and
He performs all offices for our salvation and He communicates
all good things to us. Look at verse 3. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. You could park
at that verse right there. All spiritual blessings. All
of them. Justification. Sanctification. Everything that we've looked
at in this whole chapter. Redemption. Everything. It's all in Christ. And if we
tie that in with John 17, 2 and 3, as thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, in Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. Right? And then if we tie that
in with verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places. Where? In Christ. There is salvation
nowhere. I was talking to a guy last week. Roy and I were out talking in
the parking lot after church. And it got a little late, and
we were just jazzing away, and somebody who visits here often
come over, and we were talking, and he said, well, you know,
of course the conversation came up about the Lord, and he asked
me, he said, well, you mean to tell me that all those other
people are lost? And I said, yeah. I said, anyone
trusting in Buddha, they're lost. Catholics trusting in Mary and
all this, they're all lost. Muslims are all lost. We started
talking about this, and he said, are you kidding me? You mean
they're all lost? And I said, look at the sign
out there. And we happened to be on the side here. I said,
look at the sign. Look at what our King said. I
am the way, the truth, and the life. We know that scripture
goes on to say, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. He's
the one. He's the one who has all power.
He's the only Savior. It's not Jesus plus my works. It's Jesus Christ alone. He has
all power. He has the power to save. And
He is pleased to save as many as the Father has given Him.
So let's look at our next verse. Which is His body, the fullness
of Him that filleth all in all. And we'll tie it in with verse
22, "...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." He is the head. And we are the body. The head
controls all things. The head controls all things.
We can lose limbs and live, but you can't lose your head and
live. Adam was our federal head, right? And we all fell in Him. Every one of us. We're made alive
in Christ, who is the second Adam. We're made alive. We have
a new head. And that's God in Christ. Which is His body, though, the
fullness of Him that filleth all. Paul is writing the words. And by the body here, he's speaking
to the church, universal. All the elect of all the ages
who make up the body of Christ. All the elect are the body of
Christ. We're one with Him. Think of this. Our heads are
united with our bodies, right? He's the head. Believers are
the body. United. United in Him. United in Christ. United. We may come from different nationalities,
different tongues, different countries, But all the elect
of God make up the body of Christ. And we're one in Him. One in Christ. It's incredible when
you think about it. It's incredible. And then it goes on, which is
His body, the fullness of Him. We are His fullness. He is our
mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ must have
all the members of the body for the fullness of His body. In
His satisfaction, He must gather in all His sheep. And He will. He will save all that the Father
hath given Him. He will. And He has all power
to do that, right? All power. Let us remember this, there cannot
be a redeemer without the redeemed. Let us remember this, there cannot
be a shepherd without sheep. Let us remember this, there cannot
be a head without a body. And let us remember this, there
cannot be a bridegroom without a bride. And God's people are
the bride of Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him, which is
the head of all principality and power. Our text continues,
which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all and all.
We have all fullness in Christ our King. All fullness. Now, as I said, we went through
a week of turmoil in our country, right? And things that have went
on. And we live in a world of turmoil. It just keeps coming, doesn't
it? It doesn't stop because we know it's because of sin. That's
the bottom line. It's not color. It's not... It's
sin. It's because of sin. It's because
we're a world full of sinners. That's the real root of the problem.
But in Christ, let this be comforting for us as believers. Let this
be comforting for us because we see everything going on and
let this be comforting. We have all fullness in Christ
our King. And this is a place we can rest
as believers. We have the fullness of redemption.
The fullness of redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ has fully
redeemed all His people. Fully. When He died on the cross,
He paid every single thing that was demanded of God for my sins,
and if you're one of His people, for your sins, and for the sins
of all the elect of all the ages. This is a full redemption. A
full redemption. fullness of redemption. And then
think of this, the fullness of our King. Now we've looked at
today that He has all power, right? That He's supreme. That He rules and reigns. So
think of the fullness we have in Christ our King. Think of
this, we're sinners. We live in a world full of sinners.
Think of this, for we who believe. The fullness of the pardon we
have in Christ Jesus our Lord. The fullness of the pardon. The
fullness of it. It is a full pardon of some of
our sins. No, beloved, of all of our sins. All of them. And folks, you know,
You're going to run into people who will say, well, how can you
say that all your future sins are forgiven? Just remember,
all our sins were future at Calvary's Cross. Every single one of them.
And Christ paid for them all. Now it doesn't mean we're going
to run out and go crazy. It doesn't mean that. but all our sins. The fullness of the part in which
we have in Christ Jesus our Lord has forgiven us for all our sins. The believer is redeemed and
purchased and ransomed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And again, what fullness we have
in our King. Think of this too, the fullness
of grace. Grace to cover all my sins. And it's grace that's freely
given. Freely. Flows out of the free and sovereign
mercy of God in Christ. Think of this, the fullness of
righteousness. The fullness of the righteousness
of Christ. The believer who's a sinner by
birth, nature, and choice is clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. The fullness of the righteousness
which the believer has in Christ. Oh, what fullness in Christ our
King. The fullness of sanctification
set apart, made whole. made holy. But of Him are ye
in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. And then, the fullness of heaven. One day, we will be in heaven. The fullness of eternity in heaven. One day, the believer will be
in the presence of He who has redeemed us from all our sins. What a day that will be. What
a day that will be. Oh, the fullness of Christ our
King. May we glorify and praise His
mightiness.