Seeking for the helm of the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 5, and reading from our text, verse 32. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church, specifically Christ and the Church that is upon my spirit. But nevertheless, this is a great mystery.

In the verse before, although the many verses before are speaking of the marriage union and of Christ and His Church, the one immediately before, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Our Lord prayed that they might be one even as we are one, and He spoke of that relationship between Him and His people as being one, united as one. And when you picture the idea of a body with Christ as the head and the members, as members of that body, that is one body and Christ is the head.

But here then we have a reminder of what is said elsewhere. Great is the mystery of godliness. God manifests in the flesh. There are many things in scripture that we struggle to really understand with mortal things. Those eternal things cannot really be fathomed and understood except in the words of scripture themselves. And so we look at the truths of God from different directions in the words of Scripture.

It's like the relationship between the Lord Jesus and His Heavenly Father. I and My Father are one. And then again, My Father is greater than I. We think of how that He says, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father also. And from different angles we get a little picture of the great mystery of the Trinity, three in one, all God, and yet one God in three persons.

And so we have the mystery of Christ and the Church. And I felt, as we come on an anniversary occasion, it's good for us to think and to consider the Church of God. And I'll come to some four points that are set forth in this passage in a moment. But first, I think it is good for us to remind ourselves what is the Church.

It's interesting, the English word Church, the Church, it speaks of being the Lord's, a possession. And so when we think of the Lord's day, the Lord's table, the Lord's church, all of these things are the possession of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not man's church, it is not someone else's, it is not the pastor's or the deacon's or the elder's or even the body that are gathered together. very often we might say, or our church, we're going to our church, or we're referring it as if it was ours, but the church is not ours, it is the Lord's church, and we need to remember that, because when we do, that puts everything else in a right perspective, everything that is done, everything that is carried on within the church. is the Lord's and not our own.

We think of, if we look at the underlying word in our Bible, scripturally, then it really refers to Ecclesiastica, it refers to a gathered out people, a called out people. And so a church is those that have been gathered or called out from the world and unto the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Psalm 107 that he gathered them from the east and from the west, from the south, from the north and from the south. God's people are gathered people, gathered by grace first and then at the last day he shall send forth his angels and gather them and they shall be gathered home to glory. And so it is a picture of the Church of God that is actually belonging to the Lord. It is said in Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians that ye are Christ's and Christ is God's, ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price, wherefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are his.

And so of course the Church is not the building It is people, it is souls, it is those that have been not chosen themselves or not gathered themselves, though they may have made application rightly so for church membership, but it is the electing sovereign love of God that has chosen that people in the beginning and that then draws them and gathers them and causes them to be willingly united together, subject one to another in that one love and union in the Lord Jesus Christ. I often think of with the Lord's Table because with the gathering, with calling, it may be that some are called when they're young, some when they're old, some have a long experience, some are short, some deep, some more shallow, They're a very big difference in the experiences of God's people.

But when we meet round the Lord's table, then there's one thing that is common for everyone. Everyone was redeemed by the same dear man, the Lord Jesus Christ. They're redeemed by the same blood, at the same time, at the same place, at Calvary. And all are completely equal in that. there is no differences, no schism in that body of the Church as it gathers round the Lord's table and remembers that blood that was shed for each one of them. Not a man's table, but the Lord's table.

And what a comfort it is to really realise that this means the Church of God belongs, they belong to the Lord. We might say we belong to this church or belong to that church, but there is one worldwide universal church of all times, right through history in every nation, and there's a local church. But over that local church is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the local is part of that universal one church. which is set forth as Christ's body. So I want to look at the context here and the four things that are set before us concerning Christ and the Church. And the first is this, Christ's headship of the Church. We have in verse 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Saviour of the body. So the immediate context is the picture of a husband and a wife.

And it is the husband that is appointed by God. We think of Adam was first formed and then Eve. Adam was given the law of God, not Eve, Adam passed that on to his wife, and she was taken from him, a rib from him, and this often is referred to throughout scripture as establishing that headship of the husband over the wife.

If a man provide not for his own house, he is worse than an infidel. Christ provides for his own house, and he is set forth as the head in this way. He's the leader, he provides, and he guides his people, he's responsible for them, he's accountable for them.

Behold I and the children whom thou hast given me. And we have been using the marriage situation a picture of Christ and the church in that relationship. Then we have another illustration if we were to go to Paul's epistle to the Corinthians in chapter 11, his first epistle. He then praises first the Corinthians for following him, for remembering the ordinances as I delivered them to you.

Then he says in verse 3, But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. And so he sets forth an order with God, then Christ, then man, and then the woman. It is an order in this passage in the church. It's not speaking of marriage situation and that's important because in this passage it speaks of the head covering as a sign of recognizing that headship.

That is a sign that often is taken away today, it's not recognized and very often that comes about through The teaching, well, you've got your Bibles, but to properly understand your Bible, or the teaching, you've got to have another book. And that explains the customs of the day and the people, what they did. And it's through looking at those that the Word of God is undermined. And we do not need another book.

We are not dependent upon knowing the customs and this isn't speaking of customs because it's going back to the original creation and it is speaking not of a marriage situation but of the Church of God. It gives the illustration that a woman should have power on her head because of the angels. When we think that in the Garden of Eden The angels looked upon the situation there. There was Adam, who was the head, and there was Eve. And Satan came. Did he go to Adam? No, he didn't. He goes to Eve. He doesn't recognize the headship, but nor does Eve. Instead of Eve saying, why are you coming to me? You go to my husband.

She dealt with Satan herself. The angels saw that. They saw that twice in those two ways, the headship that God had ordained was being undermined. When in the Church of God today, the angels behold and see a woman having power on her head or willingly putting on symbolic covering on her head, then that speaks of submission to that headship. And we should remember that, not just have a head covering, but not recognize a headship. There's solemnly many churches today. They'll have a woman pastor. Sadly, we've got a woman over in Canterbury as the head of the Church of England. And these are terrible times where the word of God is laid aside.

And Timothy, he writes that the woman should not have, should not teach, should be in subjection, should be silent in the Church of God. And this passage is not saying any inferiority with the woman under the man, but an order that God has given. And it is in the Church of God.

And where that is the case, if there is a taking away of the order lower down, is it not that it's also taking away the headship. It is as if it's saying, Christ is the head, but we're not obeying Him. And we can rearrange the order, and we can do what we like, irrespective of what the Word says. And so, the illustration here, the whole passage and all that is set forth, is setting forth again this same headship. Christ is the head of the church and he's put the order underneath that.

Then we have another illustration in Paul's epistle to the Romans and also Paul's epistle again in this Corinthians 1 Corinthians 15 and he speaks of The second Adam, and it's perhaps more clear if you look at the Corinthians place, in verse 45 as it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Now be it that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth earthy, the second man is the Lord from heaven. And we have this picture of a headship, first a headship of Adam as the federal head of all the human race.

As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. Adam sets forth the covenant of works, of which the soul that sinneth it shall die, who so offendeth in one point is guilty of all, and by nature we are under his headship. But by the grace of God, when God calls a soul, when He passes by them and bids them live, and He calls them by His grace, and brings them into a covenant of grace.

And it is the covenant of grace that is slowly unfolded right through the Word of God. And it's beautiful to see how God shows it. There is only two covenants. There's only under works or under grace. There's only under Adam or under the headship of Christ. But we see right in the beginning with Noah The Lord made a covenant with Noah, with us, in that way. He smelled the sweet savour. He set a bow in the cloud. I shall look upon it. I shall remember my covenant when the cloud comes over the earth, that he will not destroy it by water again. And so we have a covenant that is a covenant of grace. There's no reason why God should have done that. He said at the same time, man's imagination is only evil from his youth. It hadn't changed. The flood hadn't erased sin at all.

And so that we get a little picture of the free unmerited favor of God, the grace of God. And that then is repeated. It's repeated with Abraham, the covenant of circumcision, the covenant made with him. And then we have the various covenants that are set forth through the Word of God. David, he says, although my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, and this is all my salvation and all my desire, though he make it not to grow.

And again and again, is not merit in man, but it is all of grace. And Peter says, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. And of course the great revelation of that covenant of grace is in the precious blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ shed on Calvary's tree. So when we think of headship and when we think then of covenants Think how vital, how needful it is, and what a precious thing it is, that the Church of God has not got Adam as its head, but has Christ as its head, and it is a covenant of grace. It's under that banner of grace. So, really the Church can say, as Paul did, what I am, I am, by the grace of God, and that could be echoed by each member of the Church. the cry that grace, grace unto it. This is bound up with that headship.

But then we have another picture later on in Ephesians 5. We look at verse 30. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. And Paul takes this up again in 1 Corinthians 12, the picture of a body. Paul is more teaching that we are to esteem one another, that our body has different members, different functions, and that we are to esteem one another and be kind one to another.

And he speaks of also as the head, if one member perishes or is hurt or injured, the head feels the pain and this is a picture again of Christ being the head of the church and as a church that is very comforting again we might think that we're on our own and with our temptations and with our trials and maybe persecutions and the difficulties that we go through we realise that whatever pain we feel, whatever we go through Christ as our head, pictured with the body, he is feeling and he knows these things. We can't imagine. I mean, Paul spoke of having a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him. We get a tiny thorn, you can hardly see it in your finger, and yet our head feels it. We know it, we feel it. You don't just isolate it and say, well, don't worry about that, you're only a little finger. the whole body feels it, and the head feels it.

And so in these ways, Christ's headship of the church is set forth, is not just in the picture here, husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the church, gave himself for it, or the verses before, verse 23, husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the saviour of the body.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ that has saved His church, saved His body by His sufferings, by His death, by His precious blood. He is the one that has saved and has redeemed them. We have to remember this. We have to remember this. Great Provider for His own house for His own body, His preserver for it.

The Lord Jesus Christ, as we gather as a church, as the church gathers, as the people of God, the gathered out ones, those gathered to the Lord gather, the Lord is their head. He knows them, He feels their pains, He provides for them, He has gathered them, and they belong to Him. I wonder what comfort that we draw from that. You picture those that may go by the name of a church and yet they do not recognize the headship of Christ.

And it follows with our next point, really a token that we truly do esteem the Lord as our Head. And that is, secondly then, the Church's subjection unto Christ. Verse 24, Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. So the comparison again is with a husband and a wife. It is the position that God has put them in. But I want to focus on what is said here. The church is subject unto Christ. Subject unto Him. In what way?

And really this is where we can really tell how we're viewing Christ as our head. His sovereignty is something that the world really hates, the idea that God could be sovereign, that he can do what he will with his own. It comes out several times in the teaching of our Lord, cannot the Lord do with his own as he will?

And sometimes in ways that we would question, when he gives the illustration of the workers that he hired, some at the eleventh hour and some at dawn, the heat of the day, and he gives them all the same pay. And we say, well, that's not very fair. But the Lord said, I agreed with every one of you for the pay when I engaged you. And when they found fault, he said, shall not, cannot I do with my own?

As I will. He is sovereign. and that sovereignty applies to everything in our lives, everything that is in the word of God, all the plan of salvation, all of the ordering of his providence, everything is all under his sovereign hand. Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth it not? It is when man rises up and says, we will not have this man to rule over me.

If one is sovereign, there's no one over him that is influencing or making the rules. In Colossians chapter 1, we have set forth the preeminence of Christ, that in all things he might have the preeminence. If one has the preeminence, there's no one above him at all. There's none influencing Him. He is far above all others.

And in the Church of God, that is where Christ's position is to be. Not to pull the Lord from His throne. Not to go against what He has said. It was said of Joseph, and his brothers recognized it when they came to Egypt, that he was in the position next unto the king or next unto Pharaoh and whatever he said went. No man could sell or do anything but that Joseph was the doer of it.

And so our Lord is sovereign and it is acknowledging this and recognizing this. As it's seen, we mentioned in Providence. Providence unfolds the book and makes his counsel shine. There are many offended at the dealings of the Lord, especially in suffering and things that come and happen in the world. How can a good, kind, gracious God allow this or appoint this?

But we have those pictures. We have, like Joseph, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. We have the crucifixion. You have taken them by wicked hands, crucified and slain. He was delivered by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God, the greatest act, cruelest act of wicked men against the eternal Son of God. And yet God decreed it, sovereignly appointed it, a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

We are sinners, and the Lord says, in the world ye shall have tribulation. Ye must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom And yet, if we were asked, well, you choose then. You choose what tribulation you should have. We've been in a greater strife than David was chosen when he had to choose three things that the Lord should do unto him when he numbered Israel. But the Lord chooses for his people. His providence chooses that, appoints it, and he causes it to come. His purposes, ripe and fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.

But then we have His Word, and especially His Word. The Word of God is given sovereignly by the Lord. It is inspired in fallible Word of God. And if we are to be in subjection unto Christ and His headship, it is vital we be subjection to His Word. What a reminder for a Church of God. The strength of the Church of God is the Word of God. It is through the Word that the Lord does everything for His people.

Thy Word hath quickened me. Thy words were found, and I did eat them. They were to join rejoicing in mine heart. Satan comes to command these stones that they may be made bread. No, says the Lord. It is written, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. It was that temptation in the very beginning hath God said.

And so if we are to have the comfort and blessing as a church or churches, that Christ is our head, and that we are submissive unto him, then we are submissive unto the word of God. So we compare scripture with scripture, and we keep things in context, we keep it in the order that is in the scriptures, no scripture, is of any private interpretation we're not to take one or two verses and say well I want to make that fit my agenda and what I wanted to say because God has already determined what he was going to say we wouldn't think of writing a letter to someone and that person get that letter and say well I think I think they're saying this and this and this wouldn't it be better to say that this is what they have said, this is what they intended, and this is what we will receive. And so that should be the desire of the Church of God. Not to be the Church like the Church of Rome that said, well, we will dictate what the Word of God is saying. But everyone, every smallest member of the Church of God is given the Word of God.

Why our Lord said, there must needs be heresies among you, that is vital errors, serious errors among you, that they that are approved among you might be made manifest. So you might have pastor, elders, those in authority, and an error comes in, they don't see it, they overlook it, don't realize the seriousness. And a hitherto unknown member, or just one that is kept silent in all the church meetings and not say anything, they put up their hand. They say, that's a vital error. And they highlight it, and they are made manifest. If the Lord gives us to see what others cannot see, then we are to speak that. The Lord has opened our eyes to see it.

The apostle Paul had a situation where Peter, before the Jews came, he sat with the Gentiles. But when the Jews came, Peter was frightened of the Gentiles, and he went and separated himself. And Paul realized that what Peter was doing was undermining the whole teaching, what he was teaching, that in Christ Jew and Gentile are one. And that which Peter knew himself, from going into Cornelius' household. It seems one weakness with Peter, the fear of man brought a snare.

It did even with the maid when her Lord was being arraigned, and so with the Jews as well. And yet you see the wonderful grace when he was able to stand, when he was able to preach. This should be an encouragement to those of us that also fall in a similar way. There'll be times that we are given grace and help to stand before men unashamedly. Jeremiah was said, be not ashamed of their faces. But sometimes we can stand, and other times the Lord leads us to make us remember that we are but dust. We need His help, we need His grace to be able to stand.

Remember years ago, over in Australia, And I think it was even when I was reading services before I was in the ministry, I was in the vestry before the service, and I put my hand on the door to go into the chapel, and I felt such a fear, a fear of going before the people there.

And I trembled to turn that handle and to go in. That happened twice. I've never forgotten it. All the years that I've been able to stand up and preach, I'll always remember that. I'm always thankful and realize if the Lord took away that confidence, I couldn't stand before men and declare his word. And the times I've been in to the schools and to teach in the schools and to take classes and sometimes quite hostile encounters, Yet the Lord has taken away the fear of man.

And yet, you see, Paul, he had to tackle Peter on that. Why? Because he was undermining the Word of God and the sovereignty of God. And so if we are a church and we're subject unto Christ, then we should be subject to the Word of God. Paul says, be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ. And it shouldn't be a minister, a pastor, a deacon saying, no, I'm the head of this church, I'm in authority, I'm going to wield my authority. If that is different to Christ, if he's not bringing Christ's Word, we are not to be in subjection to that.

I remember hearing the late John MacArthur Once he was asked, what authority have you in the lives of your congregation? He said, none, none at all. He said, the only authority I have is the word of God. Only as far as I bring that word and preach that word and teach that word, that is the only authority I have. We have the Jews coming to our Lord and saying to him, By what authority doest thou these things? Who gave thee this authority?

Well, they couldn't answer his question to them, so he never told them. But his authority was from above, and the Church's authority is the Word of God. To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to these things, it is because there is no life or truth in them. So that is the second thing in this portion. The third is this, Christ's love to the church.

In verse 25, we have the love of our Lord. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Immediately it sets forth a sacrificial love. A love, greater love, saith our Lord, had no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. The Church is to remember this.

One of the reasons the Lord instituted the Lord's Supper, setting forth His love, that He lay down His life for His sheep, lay down His life for His people. God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And this is what is set forth here and really in the marriage union, a daily realization of that, evidence of that, that with the love of God is something very different than a marriage union, if you like. It's different in this way, because when we see one another, then in one sense we can tell the other person loves us by them actually telling us, in another it is those things that they do for us, but we do not know if we love someone else, We do not know in ourselves that they love us.

But in the things of God we are told this, that we love Him because He first loved us. And so in that way, this is why when the Lord would restore Peter, He doesn't say to Peter, Peter I have loved thee, and three times tell him that. But He asks Peter, lovest thou me. Because the comfort is that the only way that Peter would love the Lord is that the Lord loved him first.

And the Church of God must remember this. The love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost is the witness of God's love. And also those things that he does for the Church of God, as a whole and as individuals, is love that is stamped upon them all, having loved his own, he loved them unto the end, and love is the spring, the constraining love of God for all that he does for his people.

You read in Jeremiah 31, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, and therefore With loving kindness have I drawn thee. Right at the very beginning, the drawing of God's people to the Lord Jesus Christ is His love that draws them, love that begins the work, love that continues that work, and love that will not let go. It is the one thing that the Apostle, when he writes to the Romans in Romans chapter 8, that he says cannot be taken away or we cannot be separated from. He says, now in all these things, he says at the end of Romans 8, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us, what from? From the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And the church then is to remember this, Christ also loved the church and gave himself for Each individual member of that church, sometimes it helps to, instead of thinking of the church as one great big mass, they are individual members. Individual members, and you get that picture with our Lord dealing with Peter, you get how the Holy Spirit sent Philip to the Eunuch, Yet the Lord's love is set upon a poor sinner. Why me? Why was I made to hear thy voice enter while this room, while millions make a wretched choice, rather starve than come, and His sweet love that constrained and drew us in? And so we have the love of our Lord to the church, but then we have And the last one is Christ's preparation of His church, to be with Him.

And we have this in verses 26 and 27. 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, that they should be holy and without blemish. Christ and the Church. This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. And there is Christ and He is forming this Church.

First He calls her, calls her from darkness to light, from being an enemy to be brought to be a friend. to change the heart, renew the will, turn the feet to Zion's hill. I think one of the greatest evidences of a call by grace is a change of heart, a change of attitude.

Instead of depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. There's a desire for the things of God. There's a desire for repentance. There's an openness to repent. There's a desire to meet with the people of God instead of a hatred, and that is a great comfort to realize that. Our love is imperfect, our following is imperfect, and especially at the beginning, our repentances, there may be many things, it certainly was with me, that were still being done, that were not right, that had to be let go of as time went on, but at the very start, The Lord turned my heart, changed, so instead of running away from the things of God, I desired them and wanted them and loved them. And that is the vital thing, a people that are made willing in the day of His power. And with that willingness comes new eyes, new ears, a teachable spirit. They shall all be taught of God. Great shall be the peace of my children. But there's a lot that needs to be done, from calling to the time the Lord takes his people home.

And they are being refined, they're being prepared. It struck me thinking of, and maybe it's not a very good illustration, but like when King Ahasuerus wanted a new queen, he didn't just get a queen from off the street. She had to be a whole year, a whole year being prepared to go to the king, with cleansing, washing and oils and everything like that. But you have the picture here, they're God's people, they are prepared people for a prepared place.

And that preparation is a work, not of a day or an hour, but it is really a lifetime of line upon line, here a little, there a little, the Lord teaching as He chooses, sanctifying them, cleansing them, taking away from them those things that are inconsistent with His will and with His work.

They gathered out people, and Paul writing to the Ephesians, he speaks of this difference. You think of Ephesians chapter 2, He said, you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. And then he tells what they once were, wherein in time past he walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in time past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together, by grace you say, together with Christ.

And then he does, as is set forth in this chapter where the text is, one of the ways that he does this, that he might sanctify, verse 26, and cleanse him with the washing of water by the word. We might not think much is done in one service, but as we go service by service, as we read the word morning and night, that word is like washing over us. And if you see a stream and it runs over stones, gradually those stones are worn smooth. I mean, how can water do that? It's not done in a moment, but just gradually, gradually.

And when we think of the analogy of food as well, if we have a meal we can't tell what part of that meal has caused us to grow a little bit, or has done this good, or healed that, or strengthened this part of us. But if we didn't have anything to eat, we'd soon find the results, we'd soon start to feel the weakness of it.

And so with the Word of God as well, it is that which the Lord uses gradually. And so as people drink into it, and drink into his ways, and drink into his Spirit, the Lord says, take my yoke upon you. Learn of me, I am meek and lowly at heart, you shall find rest unto your souls. together, you're close, like marriage-wise, they're close. You think of the disciples with the Lord, as they walked with the Lord, they learned from him what his mind was, what his spirit was.

We think of when his faith was set, as it were, to go to Jerusalem, and the Samaritans didn't receive him, so the disciples said, and they thought they had scripture So he called down fire from heaven, as Elias did, consume them. The Lord said, ye know not what spirit ye are. The Son of Man came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And in that instance, they were learning his spirit. They were learning what was his one way. They said, we saw one casting out devils, and he followed not us, so we forbade him.

And the Lord reproved them. no man can who does a thing in my name can speak evil of me. They brought their infants to him and they drove them away and the Lord said no, suffer them to come, forbid them not. And all the time they're with the Lord, they're drinking into his spirit, learning what is acceptable and what is right with him. And so the Lord uses his word in this way.

He uses also the trial of faith. Peter deals with this. The trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, shall be found unto praise and honor and glory at that last day. Chastening, Hebrews 12.

The Lord chasteneth every son whom he receiveth. Why does he do that? That he might cleanse and renew and wash and teach us his way. A child left to itself bringeth his mother to shame. But the Lord's love and care for his people, his church, is that he will not suffer them to go on in their own way. He wins them from the world.

They are brought to confess that they are strangers and pilgrims in the earth. They embrace the promises of God. and he brings them so that they are willing, as Paul says, to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. So when we have in our text, this is a great mystery that I speak concerning Christ and the church, it follows this beautiful portion where we have Christ and the church, Christ the head of that church, The Church, subjection to their head, and Christ's love to the Church and evidence in laying down His life for Him, and Christ's preparation here below of His Church, so that at last that they shall be with Him in glory for ever and ever. What a reminder of the Church and the privilege that the Church has The Church is Christ, and Christ is the Churches, and may we always feel it is the greatest blessing and privilege to be gathered unto Christ and be under Him in this way, that whenever we read this portion in Ephesians and to think of this text, Christ and the Church that cannot be separated, they are united by precious blood. May the Lord at His blessing. Amen.