Will you turn with me to Ephesians,
Ephesians chapter 1. This is the place we preached from
last Sunday morning and our text is the same as it was then. I've
hardly been able to get away from it. As a matter of fact,
you have the outline of the message in the bulletin this morning.
The article in whom? In whom? As I thought about those
of our number that Brother John prayed for, that we mentioned
in our bulletin, that are going through difficult times, trials,
heavy hearts. God's people are not immune from
those things. They feel them keenly. To see
a loved one suffer and just to feel helpless to do anything
about it is a heavy, heavy trial. And the most we can do, and the
best we can do, is to take them before our God. We don't know
what a week might bring forth, do we? The old hymn writer said,
change and decay all around I see. When we're young, we don't see
that. We don't believe that. Oh, but
as time so swiftly goes by and we grow older and older so fast,
we realize the truth of that old hymn. Change and decay all
around I see. Where can I find comfort? Where
can I find hope? Is there nothing constant? Is
there nothing unchanging? Is there nothing I can rest upon? Oh, yes. The hymn writer said,
O thou who changes not, Thou who changest not, our great God
and Savior, abide with me." Look, if you will, at verse 7 in Ephesians
chapter 1. We read, "...in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace. In whom? If we would consider those two
words just in the context of the verse, that is verse 7, in
which we find them and ask ourselves if we would read no more in the
chapter just those words, in whom with what follows Of who else but the Lord Jesus
Christ could they be speaking of? Of whom we're told we have
redemption. We have redemption. God's people
have been redeemed. He did that at Calvary. That
glorious redemption that he obtained for all of his people, is one
of the things he referred to when he cried, it is finished.
We have redemption through his blood, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the consequence of that, the sure result of that, those
he redeemed will in time experience this. Every one of them will. Every one of them will, without
exception, just as surely as he redeemed them. just as surely
as he shed his precious blood, just as sure and just as certain,
all those for whom he shed his blood will in time experience
the sweet forgiveness of all those sins that he carried away. Those blessed realities of God's
rich grace, and they are realities, they are realities, can come
only from one source, through one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout the chapter, Paul
tells us of those other things God has given us in his Son 14
times. In these 14 verses, the first
14 verses in chapter 1 of Ephesians, Paul tells us of those blessings
we have in Christ are words very much like that, by him, through
him. Of whom? Of who else could it
refer except that one who changes not? Is that not comforting? Is that not comforting, child
of God? Weary pilgrim, do you not find
a source of comfort in just those very words, knowing of whom it
speaks? Our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse
3, the apostle tells us that God has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings, all that we'll ever need, all that we enjoy we have
in Christ, the choosing, to salvation, the adoption, the adoption into
the family of God, the acceptance that we have before a holy God,
accepted and to be loved. They all rest upon this one and
sure foundation that never changes, that never grows old. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the Rock of Ages. In verse 6, he's referred to
as in the Beloved. And in our text, it speaks of
him when it says, in whom we have. Will you turn with me to
Isaiah chapter 40? God told the prophet there to comfort his people. That is,
to comfort God's people. You see, it doesn't matter what
age they live in, whether it was in this time that Isaiah
spoke the words, or whether in our time, God's people always
need company. And what is that that is most
comforting to our souls? Look what God says. Tell them
this, Isaiah. Verse 1 of chapter 40. Comfort
ye. Comfort ye my people, saith your
God. They need comfort, Isaiah. So
tell them this. Remind them of this. Speak ye
comfortably. The word is to their heart. to
Jerusalem and crying to her that her warfare is accomplished. What warfare? Her sins have all
been taken away. That her iniquity is pardoned. For she had received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins. Oh, be of sin the double cure. Cleanse from sin and wrath and
make me pure. Can anything be more comforting
to God's people in this world than to be reminded of this?
We have these blessings. including the pardon of our sins. Complete, irrevocable forgiveness
because of Him. In whom? In whom? No better place. No better place. I've used the expression, and
perhaps you have too. You've certainly heard it used.
There's no place I'd rather be. Sometimes, that might be a bit
of a stretch. Sometimes, perhaps, we're just
being polite. Because we may say those words
at times when we're thinking, well, I would rather, there are
other places I'd rather be, but not here. Not concerning what
Paul says, this rich blessing of being in Christ, in the beloved,
in whom. There is no better place, child
of God. You know it so. Oh, but how much
more? I think of this often. How much
more blessed and comforting, how much more appreciative will
we be in that day when we stand before that just and holy God. And we hear Him say the multitudes,
among them many, who say, we've done many wonderful things in
your name. And they hear Him pronounce those
awful words, depart from me. into outer darkness. I never knew you." That's a reality,
too. But then there's another multitude. And he says to them, oh, what
words. Enter in. Enter into the joy
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Enter in. What made the difference in those
two groups? Who made the difference? In whom? In Christ. Oh, how precious. Will his person himself appear
in that day? Oh, then I shall know even as
I am known, and then I shall know as I can't now, because
I see through a glass darkly. That's the best it can be. Oh,
but in that day, when the scales are removed, when there is no
fallen nature to get in the way, When I see perfectly, oh, then
I shall know what a debt of love I owe. When I enter in with that
one who loved me and gave himself for me, in whom I have redemption,
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Old John Kent, who lived
many years ago, expressed it so well. In a hymn he wrote,
he wrote, "'Twixt Jesus and the chosen race, subsists a bond
of sovereign grace, that, hailed with its infernal train, shall
never dissolve nor rant in twain.' Hell's sacred union, firm and
strong, how great the grace, how sweet the song, that worms
of earth should ever be one with incarnate deity. One in the tomb,
one when he rose, one when he triumphed over his foes, one
when in heaven he took his seat, while seraphs sang all hell's
defeat. Isn't that comforting? In whom? This sacred tie forbids our fears. For all He is and has is ours. With Christ our head, we stand
or fall. Our life, our surety, our all. No better place. No better place
than to rest my immortal soul. Just fall down. Oh God, give me grace. At all
times, when the sun is shining or when the storm is beating
down on my little vessel, God give me grace to remember I'm on the rock of ages. My security, my safety rest upon
the rock of ages. I read an article, a few words
by Brother Henry Mahan. I want to share them with you
along this very line. Brother Henry wrote, there is
nothing that will make a needy sinner look to Christ alone or
a believer cling to and rest in Christ alone more than to
realize that everything God is. Everything that God requires
and everything that a sinner needs or ever will need is in
Jesus Christ. We are perfect in Him. He is
perfect and our being in Him makes us perfect. This is not
speaking of what we shall be, but what we are right now in
Christ before the Holy God. In Him. No better place is there
not. First in whom? Christ. Paul says in him. In the Beloved. It was in him that the choice
he speaks of in verse 4 was made. The choice of sinners to salvation
before the foundation of the world. That choice didn't make redemption
unnecessary, did it? Did it? Of course not. It didn't
make the death of Christ unnecessary, did it? No. We were chosen to
salvation. But all those other links in
the golden chain of grace are required as well for us to enjoy
the forgiveness of sins. My brother, my oldest brother,
whom I spent some time with recently, asked me this question. He said,
Larry, I've listened to a few messages, and I was speaking
to Mom, He said, do you believe that God chooses to save people? I said, yes Jim, I believe he
does it on purpose. He said, well then, and he was
serious. He said, and I was glad that he was. He said, well then,
if God chooses people to salvation, if God chooses whom he's going
to save, then it doesn't make any difference what we do, does
it? I said, oh no Jim, that's where
you're wrong. You're wrong. You're responsible
to seek God's grace. You're responsible to believe. You're responsible to repent. You're responsible to come to
Christ. Yes, God chose us to salvation,
but we must be redeemed. We must be called in time. There must be a time that we
experience God's grace in our very souls. No man is saved otherwise. and has no reason to think he
is. I think it was William Huntington
that I read concerning. Someone came up to him one day
and said, Mr. Huntington, I had a dream last
night that I was saved. And he said, well, we'll just
have to see how you walk now that you're awake. now that you're
awake. That experience of grace is as
necessary as God's purpose of grace and Christ's purchase of
grace and that glorious redemption. Turn, if you will, to Romans
chapter 8. I could quote it, and so could you probably, but
look what Paul says. He tells us this very thing in
Romans chapter 8, verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose. Did it end there? No, no. For whom He did for know, for
love, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He, that is His Son, might be the firstborn
among many brethren, the captain of our salvation, is among many
brethren. Moreover, the Apostle doesn't
stop there either, does he? He says, Moreover, whom he did
predestinate, them he also called. He calls. And whom he called,
them he also justified. They experienced their justification
in Christ. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Turn ye forward to 1 Thessalonians. We're told this very same thing
there. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Paul tells these believers at
Thessalonica that he knew that they were elect. How did he know? How could he know? Paul tells
us in verse 4 of 1 Thessalonians 1, knowing, brethren beloved,
your election of God. Can a man know that? How can
any sinner know their election of God? Verse 5, for our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, As ye know what matter of men
we were among you for your sakes, and ye became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Ghost." You believed. You believed. Turn, if you will,
to 2 Thessalonians, just a few pages over. Paul's second epistle
to the church at Thessalonica. And look what he says in chapter
2, verse 13, another very familiar passage of scripture. But look
what he says. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you brethren, beloved of the Lord. Why? Why? In the chapter Paul speaks of
those who deliberately believe a lie. who deliberately turn
their backs upon the gospel, who deliberately say, I won't
believe, I don't even want to hear it, and they'll turn to
fables. But why weren't you there? Why didn't you turn to a fable?
Why did you sit here this morning? Why in your heart of hearts can
you say in truth, I love the gospel? I love the gospel of
God's free grace. Who made you to differ? Paul
tells us in verse 13. And he says we're obligated to
give thanks because of it. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you. For you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto He called you, here's
the means, whereunto He called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul tells us in
chapter 1 of Ephesians, all this was done according to the riches
of his grace, in verse 7, and for the praise of the glory of
his grace. The praise of the glory of his
grace. God's grace is glorious. God
is glorious in his bestowal of grace, and grace itself is glorious. There's nothing else like God's
glorious grace. that chose us, redeemed us, called
us. Grace has no rival, child of
God. You, like me, most of you, have
children, have children. Oh, how you long to see them
sit here and have an interest in the gospel. to have an interest
in their immortal souls. Oh, how your heart aches to hear
them cry out. You have prayed perhaps for years
to hear them cry, what must I do to be saved? I remember hearing
Brother Moose Parks in a message he preached right after the conversion
of his son, Daniel, who now preaches that glorious gospel himself.
But he said one night, very late, he got a call. He was awakened
by the phone. And his son was on the other
end. And he said, Dad, I'm lost. I'm lost. And Moose said, oh,
he prayed for years to hear those words. To hear his son confess,
Dad, I'm lost. That's good news. Because Moose
knew. As God's words teach us, He brings
down, but He lifts up. He kills, but He makes alive. He strips, but He also clothes. He that's begun a good work in
you will perform it until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no rival to God's amazing
grace. God's grace can bring the most
stout-hearted sinner down to the footstool of His Majesty
and make him cry. Oh, make him, preacher? Make
him? Was that a slip of the tongue?
No. No, thank God that was not a
slip of the tongue. He can make stout-hearted rebels,
be they who they are or where they are or how far they've drifted. Oh, He can make stout-hearted
rebels cry out, be merciful to me. I'm the sinner. I'm the sinner. Can He not? Can He not? He did it for you. Grace has no rival. No comparison,
no sinner can stand before the outstretched arm of God's omnipotent
grace. When he is pleased, and he is
pleased to do so, to bring sinners down, all it takes is a word. That's all it takes, John. That's
all it takes from him. Because he sets upon a throne
of grace. He's the God of all grace. And
when he says, Saul, Saul, Saul falls down. When he says, Zacchaeus,
come down, Zacchaeus comes down. Oh, bless his name. Bless his
name. That he brought this stout-hearted
rebel down. Come down sinner. He stripped me. Oh my soul, what
an ordeal. What an ordeal. Anything but pleasant. Oh, but
so necessary. But it was pleasant. When that
same grace that taught my heart to fear, spoke these words to my trembling,
fearful, doubting heart. Louie, I thought, oh, I'm a sinner. There's no reason God shouldn't
cast me into hell now. Now. If he does, he's just doing
what's right. Just doing what he should do. And then King Jesus, the God
of all grace, came like the Father in the parable of the prodigal
son. I'm going to arise and go to
my Father. I'm going to do, and he recited what he would do,
and we're told but. But the Father saw him when he
was still a great ways off. But God loved this sinner with
an everlasting love. And the prodigal came home and
said, Father, I've sinned in the butt, we're told. Again,
butt. But the father said, Get the best calf. Prepare it. Prepare a meal for
my son. And he put over the shoulders
of that poor starving prodigal who'd been down in the hall pen
eating their food. He put on him the best robe. But God, but grace did the same
for this sinner. He put on me the robe of Christ's
very righteousness." Look at that prodigal. There he sits
in the Father's house. He's the Father's son. Eating at the Father's table what the Father Himself provided. God had made Christ to be under
this center everything that I ever need, Todd. Everything. Wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. In whom I have all these things. Look again at the text. Look
at it again. In whom we have All those things that Paul mentions
in the chapter, in the context of our verse, of our text, in
the context of the entire Word of God, we're always exhorted, commanded
to look to whom? The Lord Jesus Christ. The devil's
business is to get us to look to what? Things. Self. Preachers. priests, churches, altars. But our text says, in whom we
have these things. What won't bring forgiveness
to you? It's not knowing salvation is
by grace, but tasting that the Lord is gracious. It's not knowing
the doctrine of salvation, but knowing the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, that saves. I may know much, what's, and not know whom. With the Apostle Paul, who in
another place, Philippians 3, he said, all but I, that I might
know him, that I might know him, in whom we have redemption through
his blood, redeemed, redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. This
is the theme of the song of the redeemed in glory. Unto him that
hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. That's what they sing. Thou art
worthy. Who's worthy? Who's worthy? In heaven, who's worthy? It's not the redeemed sinner.
It's the Lamb. It's the one that redeemed us.
He's worthy. Why is He worthy? Because He
hath. He had. He did redeem us. He
didn't fail. Oh, I rejoice to know that the
blood of my dear dying Lamb shall never lose its power till all
the ransomed church of God be saved of sin no more. What a Redeemer. What a great
salvation. Is it true? Is it true what Paul
tells us here? It sounds almost too good to
be true. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins? Are there really people in this
world who can truthfully look up to heaven and sing, I am his
and he is mine? Is there such an experience? Is there such a reality? Do you
mean people in this life, sinners, can know God? Paul said he did. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. This is life. Our great high
priests prayed that they might know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou didst send. It's no delusion. It's not imaginary. It's a blessed reality. The rest
upon the sure foundation of the Rock of Ages Himself. Are you
one of them? Are you one of them? Oh, you
are a blessed individual this morning. God's blessed you. He's done something for you you
couldn't do for yourself and nobody else could. Turn if you
will to Matthew chapter 16. What he says to Peter applies
to you, child of God. It applies to all God's children.
He's done the same for us as he did for Peter. You know the
passage in Matthew 16. Verse 15, He saith unto them,
that is, His disciples, Whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ. You're the Messiah. You're God's
anointed, God's chosen that He sent into the world. You're the
Son of the living God. How did Peter know that? Was
he smarter than other people? No. Didn't have anything to do
with it. Jesus tells us the reason in
verse 17. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
had not revealed this unto thee but my Father which is in heaven. My Father's done this for you.
Turn if you will to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Luke 10 verse 21, again our Lord
speaking. Verse 21 we read, In that hour,
Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from
the wise and the prudent, and has revealed them unto babes.
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things
are delivered to me of my Father, and no man, no man knoweth who
the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son,
and he to whom the Son will reveal him. And he turned him unto his
disciples and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see
the things that you see. Do you see Him? Has God performed that miracle of His mighty grace? God who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, Has he shined
into your heart to give you the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ? Has God done that for you? Nobody on earth is more blessed
than you are. Nobody. It's not that man with
the big house. It's not that celebrity with
all his fame and riches. No, no, no. It's you. It's you. Blessed are the eyes which see
the things that you see, for I tell you that many prophets
and kings have desired to see those things which you see and
have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear and
have not heard them." Oh, yes, it's true. This sinner, this sinner, by the grace of
God, can lift his eyes toward heaven this morning and join
with David in singing, I'm a blessed man. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord would not impute iniquity. Oh, Larry, you don't have iniquity?
Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. But God doesn't impute
it to me. God doesn't charge me with sin.
My soul. Am I not a blessed man? Remember what's needed, child
of God. It requires a miracle. In 2 Corinthians
5, Paul says it's a new creation. Here in Ephesians chapter 2,
Paul says it's a resurrection from the dead. Things cannot
accomplish that. Things like walking down an aisle
or joining a church or choosing to be religious. I saw in the
news just the other evening. I thought to myself, is this
worthy of national news? I suppose it was to somebody.
But they have declared that Pope John Paul, how long has he been
dead now? But they're going to, the church,
have pronounced that Paul will be a saint. because two poor
delusional people came forth and professed that that dead
man had performed a miracle on their behalf. So now the church
is going to make him a saint. If he wasn't a saint before he
died, he's not a saint now and all the priests and with all
their Abracadabra in the world won't change that. Only God's
grace can make a man a new creature in Christ. Only God's grace can
raise a sinner from the dead. Only in whom do we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. In Him and none else. Let me wrap this up. In whom? Always. Always, Louie. Always. My feelings change. They fluctuate. Up, down, on the mountaintop
one minute, in the valley the next. Rejoicing one minute, weeping
the next. But none of those things in any
way affect my relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. All the
blessings I enjoy are not dependent upon things but upon him. I think more about my mortality
now. It may have something to do with
turning 62 not long ago. I used to not think much about
it, but now I do. Because I look back, Lester,
and I think, man, 62 years? It's not possible. Like a friend
of mine, I perhaps have told you, I sat across from him one
day at work, and he had turned 60-something, and he said, man,
it's just not, I don't see how it can be, because I look in
the mirror, and I don't see a 65-year-old man. I know how he feels. But
it's so, is it not? Oh, how swiftly the years have
gone by. A whole lot more behind me than
I have in front of me. That's certain. And soon I'm
going to leave this world. I think about that. Perhaps I'll be aware. I hope so, if it's God's will. In my dying hour, What will I trust? John, soon I'm going to leave this world.
I'm going to leave it all. Everything. Take nothing. What will be my hope? When I'm
on my deathbed and the doctor tells my family, Just a matter
of time. Always has been. But now it's
a matter of minutes. My hope's not going to be in
what, Joe? My hope's going to be this, and
I really believe, according to God's Word, He promised, though you walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, fear no evil, because
I'm going to be with you. He's going to take my hand and
lead me into glory. Will I find comfort in some so-called
priest coming in and holding up a crucifix and saying, behold,
you're God? He better hope I'm dying or I'll
give him the boot. No. Will I find comfort in some
decision I made in a religious spasm? No. I hope to trust that
same glorious one in whom at this moment I have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Thou art with me. Thou art with me. No other hope,
no other plea but him. But him. He'll stand by me. In whom? In whom? No better place. No better place. God bless you. Amen.