Ephesians chapter 1. I want to recap just a little,
and then we'll move ahead and cover verses 11 through 13. I don't believe anyone, any honest
person who's honest with themselves and who just take words at their
meaning. just take words at face value,
could read through Ephesians chapter 1 and not see the preeminence
of Christ in the work of salvation. I just don't see how that's possible.
He first states our relationship in Him, the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Anyone who knows anything at
all about the Bible knows that God the Son cannot, He, God cannot
be the Father of God. He is the Father of Christ in
the sense that He's begotten of Him as our representative
in head. He's not, He's not the God of
God and He's not the Father of God. This is where I think some
of the religions of this world get the idea of Mary and some
of the things that they talk about with her. But He is the God and Father
of the Lord Jesus Christ in that He was begotten of Him in eternity
as our representative in heaven. In that declaration, we were
fused or quickened of God in Him as one. What God says of
Him, He says of us. What God does to Him, He does
to us. What God rewards Him for, He
rewards us because we're one in Him. That's the only sense
in which God can be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And as our representative, the
Father is truly His Father and His God. We're blessed in Him, blessed
with all spiritual blessings according as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world. These blessings
are made certain and sure in the surety. All those He blessed
in eternal election, He predestinated to the adoption of sons. Now this is where Men get all
bent out of shape when preachers stand up and begin to talk about
eternal justification. When God fused us together in
Christ, He fused us together in Him that we might be redeemed
in Him, justified in Him, sanctified in Him, all these eternal spiritual
blessings. He blessed past tense. blessed
us with in Christ. Now, does that mean they're not
going to happen? Does that mean Christ don't have
to come and accomplish this justice? No, it doesn't. It just means
that God has done these things in His purpose and declared them
as done in His Son. Now, He'll manifest those things
in time. He'll bring those things to pass
in time. He's going to bring folks to
believe in time. But all these blessings that
we were blessed, past tense, with. We were blessed from eternity
in the person of Christ. Chosen in Him before the foundation
of the world. And all those He blessed in eternal
election, He predestinated to the adoption of sons. And as
He is our head, as He is holy, And without blame and before
God in love, so God has predestinated all His sons. In Romans 8, verse
29, this is the other place where predestination is mentioned.
He said we are predestinated to be conformed to the image
of His Son. Exactly as He is, we shall be. Because that is how God blessed
us from all eternity. Those predestinated to be sons
He redeemed and made accepted in the beloved. That is, by the
imputed righteousness of Christ and our sins being laid on Him,
Ephesians 1, 7, in whom we had redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins. We have it in Him, accomplished
in Him, according to the riches of His grace. And then in verses
8 through 10, he tells us how he's abounded toward us in all
wisdom and prudence. Now, Christ is our wisdom. God
hath made him to be unto us wisdom. And this word prudence has to
do with insight or being able to put things together. When
he said over there in Matthew that he's hid these things from
the wise and prudent, He's talking about people with that talent
for unraveling mysteries. With the wise, he's talking about
the wise man who's known for his ability. He'll take that
Rubik's cube and put it all together in about three minutes and hand
it back to you. That's a prudent man. But God hid these things
from the wise and prudent. He's hid them from those who
are naturally wise and prudent. But Christ is our wisdom and
prudent. And this prudence has to do with
insight or being able to put things together so that what
the apostle is saying here is that God has abounded toward
us in the wisdom of Christ so that we could put this thing
together. That's how we understand these
things of God is through the person and work of Christ. That's
how that prudence comes to you. Otherwise, even the princes of
this world are ignorant of these things. So what does He teach
us? What does He teach us here? He
teaches us that our adoption is in Christ according to the
good pleasure of His will and to the praise of the glory of
His grace and that Christ alone is our worthiness to be accepted
as sons. When He said we're accepted in
the blood, He doesn't mean that He came along and gave you a
little card like you get at the at some kind of a golf club somewhere
and you go in there and hand them this VIP card and they let
you in because you pay. That's not what this is talking
about. This is talking about being accepted in the beloved. Accepted, John, as a son. That's
one thing to be accepted. It's another thing to be accepted
as a son. As a son of God. Because as a
son, he has the right of eternal life. As a son. As a son, he
has a right to the inheritance. Huh? He has a birthright. Oh, he made us accepted. And that's what this predestination
of all things is all about. This is what This eternal gathering
of all things that he talks about down here in verse 10 is all
about in Christ Jesus. All these things in heaven and
earth, and that's what all of these things are about. And then
secondly, he teaches us this, that in His Son is that perfection
of holiness and character that God demands and set before all
men in the presence, in the appearance of Christ on this earth. Christ
was a perfect man. That's what this faith is, just
a touch of that. It's just a down payment of it. It's the evidence of it began.
But in Him, I see the fullness of it. You see what I'm saying? You wonder, well, what's the
believer going to be in Him? He's going to be just like Christ.
Just like Christ. That's it. God has predestinated
us to be conformed to the image of His Son. Can you imagine?
having a heart like His heart, having compassion like He had,
having mercy like He had, having wisdom like He had. Can you imagine
such? And yet, that's the inheritance.
And it's demonstrated and manifested in a person of His Son. And then
thirdly, He's teaching us this, that to accomplish this end,
this great salvation, all things were trusted into the hands of
Christ, the Mediator King. What do I mean by all things?
I mean creation, providence, and salvation, all in His hands. Creation, to carry out and manifest
the will of God in redemption, must be subjected to corruption. Now, I'm going to show you that
in the scriptures. Romans chapter 8 and verse 20. I don't want to get too busy
here with references, being I started late. But in Romans chapter 8
verse 20 it said for the creature. Now I challenge you to look this
word up. This word better translated is
creation. And all you have to do is read
the subject matter of these five or six verses in a row and it
will be self-explanatory that he has to be talking about. Because you can't talk about
the creature and some old writers make this out to be man he's
talking about as a creature. Well, how can man as a creature
also be brought in to this inheritance that's been promised to his sons? You see what I'm saying? That's
not even following the subject matter of the verses. But the
creature, creation, he says, was made subject to vanity not
willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in
hope." Providence. All things, he said,
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to His purpose. There is but one way that every
circumstance and every event, every tick of the clock, every
advent of time can work together for your good. And that is for
one who is wise enough, sovereign enough, eternal enough, powerful
enough to cause all these things and arrange all these things
to that end. That's the only way. There's no other way. No
other way. Chance cannot work all things
together for your good. It can't do it. Providence is that which physically
brings us to the place of conversion. That's what He does. God's providence. To the hearing of the truth,
to the place where God promises His presence, and to an intervention
in our lives to change our direction, and also to preserve us from
falling. Ain't that what He prayed over
Aaron Jude? Now unto Him that's able to keep us from falling.
How's He going to do that if He don't control providence? You'll never know until that
day in eternity how many circumstances were blocked from your way to
keep you from following. You'll never know. I was going down the road. I
went to visit my brother. This had been several years ago.
And he ran a little flea market of a thing and had booths in
there that he rented out and all this type of thing. And I
went over and visited with him for a little while. And then
I left to go back to where we were staying. And I started down
the road, and I'd bought some things at the flea market, and
I forgot them. I left them sitting behind his counter. And I was
just disgusted with myself. I was three or four miles down
the road, and I was just really upset with myself. And as you
know, my memory's going a little bit. And so I turned around and
went back and got the bag. And when I come back, right where
I turned around, There was an awful traffic accident, wreck,
whatever you want to call it, that ever was right there. Probably somebody was killed
in it. I'd have been right in the middle of it if it hadn't
been for that. One of these days, you're going to look back in
glory, and you're going to see all the things that God blocked,
blocked, blocked from your path. Unto Him that's able to keep
us from falling. And in salvation, Christ is the
basis of all our hopes before God. He's the basis of our hope
in election. Can you find any reason in yourself
why God ought to choose you? You can't do it, can you? Can
you find a reason in Christ? I can't find any reason in Christ
to not be elected. He's God's elect. And we're elect
as we're chosen in Him. That's where your worthiness
is. That's where your acceptance is. That's where all these things
are is in Christ. There is a natural election of
sorts, and I want you to hear me, whereby we're chosen of God
to be sons of Adam. God has chosen. God is the potter. He makes all vessels. He makes
vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. God is the power. There is nothing before God.
God is the beginning. You understand what I'm saying?
And he chose some to be sons of Adam. He chose them for that. That's an election of sorts,
isn't it? He chose them for that. And then
there's a spiritual election that chose us in Christ, that
put us in Christ before the foundation of the world. secure in Him,
made provision for in Him, made worthy in Him, made sons in Him. The spiritual election chose
us in Christ and then in so doing considers us in Him as sons and
heirs of God. Our hope of redemption, He provides
us with an acceptable righteousness, pays our sin debt, Sin is not an obstacle to the
believer because his sins were laid on Christ. That's the joy
of salvation, to find out that your sins were not laid to your
charge, but laid to His. Laid to His. They were given
to Him, charged to His account, and He stood responsible for
them. In God's own time, He called on His Son to appear and accomplish
our redemption. which He did on the cross and
under the law. God trusted these things to His
Son. And in the dispensation of the
fullness of times, God will gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven. You see that down there in verse
10 of Ephesians 1? All things, both which are in
heaven and which are on earth, even in Him. He's going to gather
all these things. He's going to do all these things. In John chapter 6 verse 39 it
said, This is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up
again at the last day. And he will in that last day,
now hear me, he will in that last day justify creation. That's what he's going to do,
he's going to justify it. What are you talking about preacher?
I'm talking about its fall. I'm talking about its preservation.
I'm talking about its disasters. I'm talking about all the things
that have to do with creation God will justify. He'll justify. He'll justify His providence
and the bias of that providence to the believer and the restraint
to the unbeliever. He'll justify these things. He'll
justify. Our Lord prayed this over Matthew. He said, I thank thee, Lord of
heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things. That's
what I'm talking about when I say they were restrained. God will
justify that. Well, I just don't understand
that. You will then. You will then. And right now, you better
just bow to it as the truth. And He'll justify His free justification
of believers showing himself to be just and justifier of all
those that believe. Ephesians 111, in whom this one
great one, in whom this one in whom God gave all the preeminence,
this one to whom all things were committed, in whom we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. Now, you're going to have to
take this in the sense in which I offer it. I hope I can explain
it to you. But I do not doubt the success
of His ministry. I might doubt my walk, and I
might doubt my faith, but I don't doubt His. I do not doubt the
success of His ministry. I do not doubt the conversion
of His elect. All that the Father giveth Him,
He said, gonna come to me. Every one of them. I don't doubt
that. I do not doubt the workings of
His providence. I do not doubt the gift of God's
Spirit. Did He say He would send His
Spirit? He'll send His Spirit. Did He say what that Spirit would
do when He comes? He told us exactly what He'll
do. I don't doubt it. I do not doubt the ministry of
his preachers, I do not doubt the resolve of his church, and
I do not doubt the revelation of the gospel. Because he who
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, who
predestinated us to this adoption, first trusted in Christ. Brethren, I know I've been wearing
that out over the last several weeks, but I want you to think
on that hard. You can trust. I mean, compare
yourself to the glory of creation and the glory of providence,
thousands of years of time, everything being arranged, every minute
detail. He said not a sparrow can fall
to the ground without your fall. That's how sure and how unique
this control he has over poverty. He said, the hairs of your head
are numbered. Huh? Oh, he who worketh, he first
trusted in Christ. Now I'm telling you something,
if he can trust all of that to Christ, surely I can trust him
with my soul. You see what I'm saying? And
that's why he said, who first trusted in Christ, to falter
or fail in any degree, God would have to cease to be God. Now, I hear folks talking about,
well, even God makes mistakes. If He does, He's not God. He's
not God. All that's done of God for us
and in us and by us and through us is to the praise of the glory
of His grace. And this is where this whole
first chapter of Ephesians is headed, the revelation of God
in Christ. Not in the abstract, not God
in the abstract. You know, we sit and we argue
about, was God unchangeable? Sure he's unchangeable. He tells
us he's unchangeable. But it's not this abstract understanding
of God. It's not God in the abstract,
but in the saving experiential knowledge of how God the Father
gives us the right and privilege to become sons of God. That's
where it's at, right there. A saving revelation of God in
Christ, reconciling chosen sinners to himself. by the person and
work of Christ. And all who are brought to see
him in whom God first trusted, he said, also trust him. I was saying that next word,
in whom you also trusted. Well, sure you will if you see
that in whose hands God has trusted all these things. Certainly you're
going to do that. But you're not going to do it until you
see it. I can tell you that. Until that time, if another comes
in his own name, that's who you'll hear. Until that time, if one
stands up and just talks absolute foolishness, that's who you'll
follow. But when you see Him who was set apart from eternity,
in whom God vested all things, I tell you, you'll trust Him.
You'll turn loose all this stuff. That's how I know when a man
comes to Christ, because he turns loose everything. He's turned
loose. Yeah, but that was so dear to me yesterday. That's
before I saw Him in whom God first trusted. I'm going to trust
Him. Him. That's where this whole
first chapter is headed. And all who are brought to see
Him in whom God first trusted also trust Him. And they trust
Him in the same capacity which God has set Him forth. Verse
13, In whom ye also trusted after ye heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. And I tell you this every time
New Testament epistles, if you see that word truth, you just
go back and remember what he told Lazarus' two sisters. He
said, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the truth, the
way, the life, and the truth. He's the truth. Hearing the Gospel
is understanding at least to some degree the person and work
of Christ, who He is, why He came, what He did, and where
He is now. It's to know and understand that there is no other way that
God can be God and still save fallen sinners. And Christ is
not a way, He's the way. The way. I must come to rest
the weight of my eternal soul on Him in whom God first trusted. Now watch this. To believe on
Him as God has set Him forth is to be sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise. That's what that is. I thought there's something a
guy got, the Nazarene church I used to go to, they taught
that if a man would follow the law and walk in the law and walk
righteous enough, pray enough, give enough, devote enough, commit
enough, he's going to get to this plateau. And when he gets
to this plateau, God seals him in a second work of grace. He
seals him by the Spirit of God. as a perfect man. Well, that's
foolishness. That's what that is. That's just
utter foolishness. To believe on Him as God has
set Him forth is to be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
That's what that is. That's what enables you to rest
in Him. That's what enables you to see
these things. That's what gave you that revelation.
And the one and only evidence of the Spirit of God taking up
His abode in me is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
only evidence there is. We want to feel it. And there
are feelings to be had, but they're not evidences of the Holy Spirit.
The evidence of the Holy Spirit is faith. It's faith. Listen to this. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ. The Christ is the promised one
of God. The Christ is the one whom God
set forth and how He set Him forth and what He accomplished
and all these things. Whosoever believeth that Jesus of Nazareth
is the Christ is born of God. That's that faith. Faith. Verse John chapter 5 verse 20.
We know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding
that we may know Him that is true, that we're in Him that
is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God
and eternal life. The earnest of our inheritance
is the full assurance of faith in the One who accomplished our
salvation. And it's in Him that I see my
predestinated end. I don't look around in the church
and find somebody and say, boy, that's what I want to be. It's
good to mark those out who walk well among you because they're
examples to you, but that's not your final end. Paul said, it
doesn't yet appear what we shall be. You can't look at me and
see what I'm going to be in glory. You've got to look at him. You've
got to look at him. In Him I see the love of God,
the mercy of God, the grace of God, the justice of God, the
wisdom of God. I see all things in Christ. And
in Him I see justice satisfied. What is this revelation of Christ?
It's a convincing of the willingness, yea, the good pleasure of God. I can't get over it. According
to His good pleasure, It wasn't a burden to him when he put you
in Christ. It was according to his good
pleasure. His righteousness alone honors
and exalts the law of God. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. His blood alone is sufficient
to put away our sin. It says, "...by His own blood
He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us." And faith in Christ. This is the earnest
of our inheritance. It says in verse 14, "...which
is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of His glory." This is all you're
going to get until that day when He ascends on the cloud, John,
and says, Come up to me. Then you're going to know something
of the full inheritance. Then you're going to receive
a body and a mind and a heart that is pure. No sin. No more evil thoughts. No more
drawings of the flesh. Just pure in the sight of God,
just like Christ. Until then, we have the earnest.
What's the earnest? The earnest is in Christ, seated
in glory. That's the first begotten from
the dead. And I look at Him. Faith enables me to look at Him,
and He's my hope. That's what I want to be. That's
the reason I have hope. That's the way of my hope. It's
all in Christ. And He's seated, accepted at
the right hand of God's favor, already entered into that room.
Now he said, come unto me and I'll give you that rest. That's
the Spirit of God. That's the earnest of the Spirit.