Open your Bibles to Ephesians
chapter 4, verse 11. Well, let's start at verse 11.
And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists
and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and the
full knowledge of the Son of God, and unto a perfect man unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that
we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning
craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking
the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, fitly joined
together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. This I say, therefore, and testify
in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk,
in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who,
being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness,
to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not
so learned Christ. If so, be that you have heard
him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that
you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the new man. which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore,
putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor,
for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not. Let
not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to
the devil. Let him that stole steal no more.
but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which
is good that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is
good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto
the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let
all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice, and be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as also God
for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers
of God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also loved
us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savour. But fornication, in all uncleanness
or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh
saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish
talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving
of thanks, For this ye know that no whoremonger, nor unclean person,
nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain
words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers
with them, for ye were sometimes darkness, But now are you light
in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
and truth. Proving what is acceptable unto
the Lord. And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For
it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of
them in secret. And all things that are reproved
are made manifest by the light, for whatsoever doth make manifest
is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are
evil. Wherefore Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will
of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine wherein
is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things
unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For
the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head
of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore,
the church is subject unto Christ. So let the wives be to their
own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with washing of water by the
word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So want men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, even as the Lord
the Church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and 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. Let every one of you in particular
so love his wife, even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence
her husband. Children, obey your parents in
the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother,
which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be
well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye
fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. but bring them up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient
to them that are your masters, according to the flesh, with
fear and trembling and singleness of your heart, as unto Christ,
not with eye service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ,
doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service
as to the Lord. and not to men. Knowing a whatsoever
good thing that any man doeth, the same shall he receive of
the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters, do the
same things unto them, forbearing threatening, knowing that your
master also is in heaven, which neither is their respect of persons
with him." Finally, my brethren, Be strong in the Lord and in
the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto
you the whole armor of God. that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked. and take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying
always with all prayer, supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. I'll stop there. Lord, I pray Your blessing upon
the reading of Your Word to our hearts this morning. I would like to meditate a little
on what Jude refers to in his description of the saved. He
refers to them as those that are sanctified by God the Father
and preserved in Jesus Christ. We are obviously preserved by
Christ from being lost in eternal condemnation. This is true. But
we are also preserved or literally kept in protective custody. Unto
our eternal salvation or until our ultimate deliverance from
this world at the coming of Jesus Christ. When the elect will all
be raised up by Christ. The title of my message this
morning is Resurrection Unto Life, the aim of being preserved
in Christ, in Jesus Christ. Jesus said when he taught us
from John 6, 37 through 40, all that the Father giveth me, this
is all the elect from eternity unto eternal salvation shall
come to me." Shall come to me. 1 Timothy 2, 3, and 4 says, For
this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who will have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of
the truth. And Jesus says, Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. Or him that cometh to me,
I will by no means be willing to give up, or to release from
my protective custody. For I came down from heaven,
or I came down from the holy habitation of all eternity, not
to do mine own will, That is, not to exercise only my own prerogative,
not to fulfill only my own good pleasure, but the will of Him
that sent me. That is, to be like a faithful
bond slave to Him that sent me. Philippians 2.7 says that Jesus
took upon Him the form of literally a bond slave. And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me." Here is identified the bond
slave's master. It is even his own beloved father. That of all which he hath given
me, that is all the elect from eternity for eternal salvation
that he has given me, that through his person and work and preservation,
he says, I should lose nothing. That is, that none of them should
be lost, but all will be kept in my protective custody and
preserved. And then he says, but should
raise it up at the last day. This is the goal, the end, the
culmination point, the desired aim of his eternal preservation,
their resurrection unto life. And this is the will of him that
sent me, he goes on, that everyone, he says, which seeth the Son,
this means that everyone that comes to behold as a spectator
the person and work of Jesus, and to acknowledge that he is
the eternal Son of God, and believeth literally into him, that is to
experientially enter into him by the gracious work of God,
John 6.29, Jesus told us, this is the work of God, that ye believe
on him whom he has sent to come by the grace of faith to see
and discern that he truly is in his person and work as the
Redeemer, your eternal surety and Savior. That every one of
these that experience this may have everlasting life. Every
one of every nationality of every generation throughout the history
of fallen humanity that comes to experientially see and discern
Jesus Christ as being their substitute may have everlasting life. And may I add, that's may see
they already have it. It's not may have may get it
right at that moment, but they see that they already have it. And to these persons He individually
and personally says, and I will raise Him up at the last day. Once again, this is the grand
goal and desire of all those who are being preserved in Christ. Jesus makes it clear that It
is all God's doing that these grand things are realized when
He goes a little further on and says from John 6, verse 44 and
45, No man can come unto Me. That is, no fallen man can truly
experientially come unto Me. Can see with discernment that
I am the Son of God sent from heaven to be their Savior. Except
the Father. which hath sent me, draw him."
That is, except they be caught in the net of the pure presentation
of the gospel of the glory of Christ and are drawn to him. Later on in verse 65, he clarifies,
no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my
Father. And once again, He says of this
person, and I will raise him up at the last day. But what
exactly is it to be drawn to Christ? We who see our desperate
need for Him, if we cannot come any other way, how might we know
we are drawn or being drawn by the Father? John 6.45 tells us,
It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught
of God. In Isaiah 54, verse 13, it is
written, All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great
shall be the peace of thy children. Hence, Jesus says, Every man,
therefore, that hath heard and hath learned, literally, from
the Father, cometh unto me." First of all, from verse 44,
Jesus says, no man. And then from verse 45, He says,
every man. And the difference between the
two is the teaching and learning experience that every man who
truly comes to Christ experiences from the Father. The point being
plainly made that no man has the capability to come to Jesus
Christ on his own, apart from the Father's granting the capability. The Apostle Paul is inspired
to teach on these same things in the Epistle of Philippians,
where this great end, this great goal of being given to the eternal Savior of
being eternally preserved and placed in Christ, is also expressed
as becoming the great desire of the believer. From Philippians
3, verses 3 through 11, we read, For we, he says, are the circumcision,
which worship God in the Spirit. and rejoice in Christ Jesus,
and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have
confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath
whereof that he might trust in the flesh, I more circumcise
the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law a Pharisee,
concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness
which is in the law, having been blameless." Now this is defining here the
very pinnacle of fallen, unregenerate, yet religious human achievement. and points out all that in this
context touches those same equivalent things that are, or at least
that have been, in all of us. But what things, he says, were
gained to me. or what things that I counted
as being gained, as being of value to me, as far as earning
favor with God and going to heaven in the end is concerned, those
I counted loss for Christ, who is to be so much more admired
and adored than me, who is to be worshiped in the Spirit and
rejoiced in, in truth. Yea, he says, doubtless, and
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge,
that's the full knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Nothing else matters but the
excellence of his person and work once one comes to truly
know Christ Jesus as the Lord of their lives. For whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, Paul says. When Christ comes
in, everything else has got to go. This is the suffering of
the total humiliation of seeing everything in your life that
has been accomplished in accordance with whatever it is that individually
feeds their pride. See that come to be worth nothing. This is the loss of all the things
about an individual that bolsters their arrogance and causes them
to boast to themselves about themselves. When Christ comes into view by
a genuine work of grace, they are then emptied of these things
and do count them to be literally but done. All the things of the
world, all the things of the flesh come to be regarded as
nothing but excremental waste. That I may win Christ. Or that I may gain by grace and
interest in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and
be found in Him. or be found as having been eternally
chosen and positioned in Him, not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know Him and the power
of His resurrection Here it is expressed, the burning
desire and aspiration of every true believer, the living hope
of all the elect of God, along with what all that this motivation
truly means, and the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable unto death. If by any means I might attain
Which statement is not to be understood as if he doubted his
ultimate attainment, or his arrival at his desired end, or his being
brought to what we have before observed that Christ will do
in His raising us up at the last day. But rather, this denotes
all the difficulties that we must go through in attaining
it. Acts 14.22 plainly says, through
much tribulation, we must enter the kingdom of God. As if to
say, if by whatever is personally meant to be by the trials of
this life that I personally must go through, whatever the fellowship
of his sufferings and being made conformable to his death literally
means for me so that I might attain, which literally means
I might arrive at, I might come to be united in my surety and
my substitute in it unto the resurrection of the dead. That
is, unto the last day wherein I will realize what my Savior
promises to me when he will raise me up. and to the free and total
deliverance of the eternal weight of glory that is not even worthy
to be compared with the afflictions of this life, that I may know
Him and the power of His resurrection. This is a connotation of the
grace-given appetite of the true believer's faith. This is the
hunger that all we who are in Christ Jesus have for the bread
of life, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection. This is what all who are in Christ
Jesus longingly anticipate. There is no exception of this
among the masses of God's elect. This is what becomes a part of
what it means In our scripture reading this morning, in Ephesians
4.13, when it says, till we all come in the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge, that is the full knowledge and discernment
of the Son of God. And this description begins a
lengthy exhortation that extends on down to Ephesians 5.11. which
includes touching on the personal growth and development of one's
walk in this world, and their living among fellow believers,
and which introduces us to what it means to be filled with the
Holy Spirit, and what it looks like to be a regenerate believer,
and at the same time to be a spouse, a child, a parent, a servant,
and a master. And in the midst of it all, is
Ephesians 5.14, which says, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise
from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. This is no doubt
a reference to Isaiah 60, verses 1 and 2, which says, Arise, shine,
for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon
thee. For behold, The darkness shall
cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. But the Lord shall
arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee." The power of his resurrection
is the power to leave self, selfish aims and goals and aspirations,
and to live all out for the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the power
to put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4, 22
and 24. Romans 6, 4 and 5 dogmatically
declares the description of true believers when it says, that they are like as Christ
was raised up from the dead, and should be like Him by the
glory of the Father, even so, it says, we should also walk
in newness of life. Even because the power of Christ's
resurrection has been revealed to have happened for us, The
knowledge of this gospel truth then takes control of us and
makes us to love Him where this sinful world despises Him and
makes us to want to obey Him in our walk through this sinful
world and makes us out of love want to be like Him in spite
of this world. It says, for if we have been
planted together in the likeness of His death, That is, if we
have realized by the Holy Spirit our identification with Him as
being our substitute in the likeness of His death, and we most certainly
do if it is true that we are not mere professors of Christ,
but genuine confessors of Christ. Scripture says that if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, Thou shalt be
saved. Then we do have a genuine representative
share with Him in His death. And then it says, we shall be
also in the likeness of His resurrection. As true believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ, you can't have one without the other, praise
God, to realize Him in His death is to also know Him as being
alive. In fact, this is where the truth
comes home to our awareness of the truly incredible reality
of Ephesians 2, verses 4 through 7, that says, 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 with Christ. By grace,
ye are saved. And hath raised us up together,
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace and His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. The Apostle
can only announce and not explain that which he has been allowed
to realize by the revelation of Jesus Christ to his heart,
that we who are among the chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world, though we are yet suffering the slings and arrows
of going through this world, though we were dead in our sins,
yet God in His mercy and His great love were with, He has
eternally loved us. hath quickened us together with
Christ, hath raised us up together with Christ, hath made us sit
together with Christ, having for a goal his intention to show
forth the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us as his saved ones. Praise his wonderful name. Oh,
how very obvious and true it is that by grace we have been
saved. And then Romans 6, verses 6 and
7 goes on to descriptively declare, knowing this, that is literally
experientially knowing this already stated truth of the gospel, namely,
that our old man is crucified with Him. That the body of sin
might be destroyed. That henceforth we should not
serve as bond slaves to sin. For he that is dead is freed
from sin. Or literally, he that is dead
has been justified. That's what that text means.
Or to put it another way, has been resurrected with him. Romans 4.25 very plainly says
of the Lord Jesus that He was delivered for our offenses and
was raised again for our justification. Realizing our representation
before God in Christ reveals that there has taken place a
dramatic change in our eternal standing before God. And it's
all because of His resurrection. Romans 6, verses 9 through 11
goes on to say, knowing, that is this time dogmatically knowing,
without a doubt, that Christ being raised from the dead, the
resurrection of Jesus holds a definite place in the history of all of
humanity, and because of that, He dieth no more. And therefore, death hath no
more dominion over him, and all who are in him. For in that he
died, he died unto sin once, literally once for all. But in
that he liveth, he liveth unto God. He is our substitute representative
unto God, in that He died and in that He lives. And He keeps
us eternally secure in His protective custody, preserved in this position
forever. Therefore, can we, like verse
11 says, likewise reckon? That is, likewise, take an inventory
of all that is ours by the representation of Christ. And as a result, account
Him as being our substitute. And therefore, consider it a
fact that ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive. unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Through the divine and eternal
Son of God, having come into this world in the likeness of
sinful flesh and in the person of the Lord Jesus, and who forced
sin, condemned sin in the flesh, we hear of this feat We come
to realize through revelation by the Holy Spirit that all this
was done so that we might be saved. And by the blessing of
that news, we are clearly and completely converted, quickened
by the Holy Spirit. And the joy of the Lord leads
us through this world the remaining days we have left. This then,
in our own small way, is equivalent to Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, that
was before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God. For the great passion of Christ
is not to be focused on all the blood and the gore that the event
of the crucifixion entails. No, that's only the temporary
aspect of it. He was on the cross for one day.
He was only in the tomb for three days and three nights. But he
has been by the glory of eternal God the Father raised up and
exalted to an eternal plateau of glory that is truly the glory
of the highest. He knew all through this world
of opposition and contradiction and trouble and woe of the great
glory and delight and joy of victory that he would realize
by virtue of his faithful obedience to what his father commanded
him to do, to the cup of wrath that his father commanded him
to drink, he saw through the foggy mist of the temporary darkness
of seeming defeat to the eternal joys of unfading glory in his
being raised again for the justification of all his elect seed. that we
too, by the grace of the faith of Jesus Christ, may also get
a glimpse of the glory that is predestined for us to realize. In the end of all this life of
temporary evils and miseries, we, as His elect, will come forth
from the fiery furnace of this world unto the glorious victory
of Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 6.14 declares,
And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will raise up us by
his own power. What Paul says in Ephesians 2.6
that God has already done, he says here in 1 Corinthians 6.14,
that he will yet do in our future. Surely this indicates the certainty
of time's reflection of eternal realities, showing that everything
that in Christ He declared to be on our behalf is eternally
done for us, making our experience to be the demonstration of the
fixed purpose of God. Time is therefore the arena upon
which God's sure and certain purpose and plan will unfold
in the exposing of the eternal glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4.14 tells us,
knowing, that is knowing without a doubt, that he which raised
up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus. and shall present us with you."
Here again, that which has been done with Christ makes eternally
certain that which will be done with us in order to exhibit the
eternal glory of the Lord. as has been declared in the Word
of God concerning the Savior, so it has been declared to be
true with His saved ones. Ephesians 1, verses 19 and 20
makes this explicitly clear when it declares that which the Holy
Spirit of wisdom and revelation makes manifest to the saints
is the exceeding greatness of His power. to usward who believe,
the particular ones who are predestined to be true believers according
to the working of His mighty power, who in turn believe according
to the power of the sovereign grace of God, which He wrought
in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. The very power
of grace that God worked out completely in Christ when He,
in glory, raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right
hand in the heavenly places. He raised Him up into the timeless
territory of eternity, making the event of Christ's resurrection
a victory that is as unchangeable as He is. far above all principality
and power and might and dominion in every name that is named,
not only in this world, that is literally not only in this
age, but also in that which is to come. This statement declares
the unsurpassable magnitude of Christ's exaltation. Nothing
can touch or taint His eternal holy glory, not now, not ever. And He hath put all things under
His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the
church, which is His body, and the fullness of Him that filleth
all in all." This statement declares the exaltation
of the elect, His church, His body. and his bride, all of which
are terms of the same thing. What's under his feet is ultimately
under theirs also, because of his fullness they too are filled. Praise his name. Finally, we can see that the ultimate
goal of the preservation of the saved ones is unto the resurrection
of life from John, Chapter 5, verses 28 and 29, where the Lord
takes us right to the last day and hour when He declares, marvel
not at this, for the hour is coming. It is sure and certain. We are ever hastening toward
this final hour by God's decree. The hour is coming in which all
that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come
forth. All secrets will be exposed.
Nothing will remain hidden from the eyes of Him to whom we must
give account. They that have done good to the
resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection
of Damnation. But we're focusing on the ones
that have done good. Jesus declares it is already
done. Making what is happening in our
life right now to be a predestined reality that is unfolding before
us as we live it. The saved ones all come from
being among the company and congregation of the lost. But the fact that
they are saved ones makes it inevitable that Christ Jesus
will seek them out. and enter into the equation of
their lives of sin and rebellion and living according to their
wanton ways, and will reveal to them the desperation that
they are in as being the sinners that they are, and that they
need a Savior such as He alone can be for them, having borne
all their trespasses and guilt and iniquities, and having redeemed
them from all their fallen unrighteousnesses. And He closes on their hearts. And He changes their lives. They become, on the last day,
those that have done good. And He raises them up unto the
goal and aim that their lives ultimately have longed for, the
resurrection of life. All praise and glory to God.
And the one striving, driving desire of their lives, the one
craving hunger of their hearts that unites us all together is
where it says that I may know Him. The power of His resurrection
and the fellowship of His sufferings. being made conformable unto his
death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. All the while remembering, beloved,
the reality of what Paul also admits as being true. Verse 12,
not as though I had already attained, either we're already perfect,
but I follow after, or literally, I press on if that I may apprehend,
or literally, if that I may lay hold of that for which also I'm
apprehended, or literally again, that for which also I am laid
hold of by Christ Jesus. O Lord, make this to be the crowning
desire of our lives. Amen.