The book of Ephesians chapter
3. I want to read verse 11, but
our text this morning is found in verse 12. Ephesians chapter
3, verse 11 and 12. According to the eternal purpose,
this is what God is doing. This is what He's working. This
is what He's going to accomplish in the end. Everything is according
to the eternal purpose which God purposed in Christ Jesus
our Lord. In whom? In Christ Jesus our
Lord. We have boldness and access with
confidence by the faith of Him, by believing in Him. That's our
text this morning, verse 12. I want to quote two verses of
Scripture for you. If you'd like to turn with me,
you can. In Romans chapter 5 and verses
1 and 2, it's along this same line of
our text this morning in regards to having access. In Romans chapter
5, verses 1 and 2, therefore being justified by faith, We
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also
we have access by faith unto this grace wherein we stand and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And then back over in
Ephesians chapter 2, I wanted to read these other
two places because this is the only three places in the New
Testament this word, access, is found. In Ephesians chapter
2 and verse 18, for through Him, that is Jesus Christ our Lord
and Savior, we both, Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit
unto the Father. We have access by Jesus Christ. Now, I first want to explain
this word access. I want to give you the definition
of what this word access means, because it's very important.
We have access by Jesus Christ, and it simply means admission. Admission. It includes the price
of admission, but the word itself is admission. Entry. Entrance into. Admission into
certain privileges, a certain place. Admission. Now some of
you know by now, because I've just about told everybody, that
some of us here this morning have a ticket to the Coles game.
Some of you are mad at me because I don't sell mine and take you
out to lunch. But you know that's something
to brag about, ain't it? Because having that ticket, me
having this ticket, Terrence has a ticket, Jalen has a ticket,
Ben has a ticket, but me having that ticket gives me access to
Lucas Oil Stadium. Now that's amazing to me. I'm
a little bit apprehensive about it all because I don't know exactly
how it's going to work. I just know when I walk up to
that gate, I've got the ticket, and I'll have admission to get
in to what they tell me is an immense and beautiful stadium. And I've got a ticket that will
get me not only into the stadium, but almost down on the field. Is that right, Carl? And I'll
be close to some famous athletes, and I may even get to speak to
one. I may get an autograph. And I'll get me a huge hot dog
while I'm in that place. And I don't know what it looks
like in there. I don't know exactly how it's
going to be, but I know this, I've got my ticket. I've got
my ticket to get into that place. That's my mission. And all I
have to do is go there and give them that ticket, and that gives
me access into that place. They won't look at me and say,
wait a minute, just who are you? What's your occupation? And I'm
not going to write on a little note and say, my name is Bruce
Crabtree, and I'm Pastor So-and-So. Okay, Mr. Crabtree, Pastor So-and-So,
we'll let you in. No. I have the admission. I have that ticket. My only hope,
any reasonable hope of gaining access into that place, and seeing
that game, and those famous people, and enjoying all those beautiful
surroundings, I have that ticket. See what I'm saying? That's what
this word access means. It means admission. Admission. To get in to that place. The verse of Scripture there
in Romans chapter 5 and verse 2 that I read to you said this,
by Jesus Christ we have access unto God's grace. Ain't that amazing? To have access
unto that which will save a man's soul? By grace are you saved
through faith. Grace will save a man. Grace
will justify man. Grace will give a man eternal
life. Grace will help a man get through
this sorry, sin-cursed world and open heaven's gate to him
at last. Grace will give a man an inheritance
that's incomprehensible, that's undefiled, and fadeth not away. Oh, I tell you, what price could
you put on the grace of God? And we've got access to it. We've
got admission to it. If I could brag about going and
watching the coach game, how much more should I boast myself
in having access into the wonderful, sovereign, and free grace of
God? Paul was ready to say goodbye
to the Ephesian elders. He got them all together. He
said, you'll see my face no more, but I've got something I want
to say to you. And it's about the grace of God. I want to encourage
you, he said. I commend you to God's grace
which is able to save you and build you up and make you strong
and give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified. Oh,
grace, brothers and sisters. What price could we put upon
it? There is no price. It is beyond price, isn't it?
And Paul says, by Christ you have access unto this grace. There has never been a lost sinner
saved and made his home in heaven at last, except it is by this
grace of God. There is a grace. There is grace
to save a man. There is grace to keep a man
and to open heaven's door at last. And Paul said that grace
is by Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior. He's the ticket,
you see. He's the admission. And you know
something? He's the gate. He's the gate. He's the ticket. He's the price
of the ticket. He's the gate through which you
enter. And I tell you, He's the sum
and the substance of all the wonderful things that's inside. for a man to enjoy, by whom you
have access unto this grace wherein you stand. That's the first place
that this word is used in the New Testament, Romans 5. The
second place I read to you here is in Ephesians chapter 2 and
verse 18, and he says it like this, Through Him, through Christ
our Lord and Savior, We Jews and Gentiles have access by one
Spirit unto the Father. Not only do we have access through
Christ, admission through Him and in Him and by Him to God's
grace and all His blessings here and to come, but we have access
unto God the Father Himself. Access. in prayer to the Father. You know the world, the world
talks about praying, don't they? We hear them talk, we'll be watching
the TV sets and some tragedy has taken place in somebody's
life and somebody will say, we'll keep you in our prayers. You
know, some dreaded disease has come and we'll keep you in our
prayers. Or some drought has come and
let's all get together in the community and let us pray for
rain. The world talks about praying.
The world talks about praying to God. But you know there's
only one access to the Father. You know the world may not believe
this, but you know according to the Bible there's only one
access to God. And that's through Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior. And you know, when we think of
the way the Bible describes God, there's no wonder there's but
one access to it. It tells us of His eternality,
that He's not like you and I are. He's from everlasting to everlasting. It talks about His majesty. It talks about His holiness.
That he's of two pure eyes to behold evil? That he can't look
upon sin? Angels in his presence? They
cover their eyes with their wings and say, Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of hosts. There's been great men. Daniel,
Brother Larry, when they came into his presence and got just
a glimpse of him, they fell at his feet. The brightness of His
glory. And the Scripture talks about
Him being a consuming fire. It talks about God being light,
and in Him is no darkness at all. When we begin to describe
Him from the Scriptures, no wonder He says that we want access into
His presence. You know, when the Lord began
to call the Jewish nation, and He told them, about Himself. He began to describe to them
and instruct them how they were to approach Him, to worship Him,
and pray to Him, and commune with Him. And He called the tribe
of Levi to be priests. And He chose Aaron to be a high
priest, and He told them to build this tabernacle. And he says,
you see that you build everything after the pattern that I've showed
to you. He said, Moses, this is crucial. And they had this
holy place that they would go into and light the candles, kept
them burning, and put incense and bread on the altar and so
on. And then the high priest went
into this holy place once every year, and he took blood with
him and this sweet incense. And he would set it there on
the mercy seat, and he would sprinkle that blood, and God
said, that's where I'm going to meet you at. And he told them
to be certain not to come into that place, but as they come
there, the very way that he ascribed for them to come. Or he said,
I'll kill you. And you remember Aaron's sons,
when they took that incense that was strange fire? And they tuck
it in before the Lord, and fire came down from God and consumed
those two men. What's God saying by this? He
is saying, I'm a holy God. You cannot approach unto My presence. If you do, fire will consume
from Me. It will consume you. It will
come out from Me and consume you. Take heed how you approach
unto My presence. Do it after the manner that I
have ascribed unto you. I tell you, the world just doesn't
believe this, does it? The world just rushes into God's
presence as if they're rushing into some familiar person's presence
that they have no regard to at all. But oh, God is greatly to
be feared in the congregation of the just and to be had in
reverence of all of those who are about Him. He is indeed a
consuming fire. And the Lord Jesus said there's
one way, there's one access into His presence. I am the way. I am that way. No man comes to
the Father but by Me. So when you and I think this
morning of the way in which the Bible describes God to us, that
makes us realize we need a way into His presence. We need access
unto His presence. And you know what this word access
also means? It implies that there were obstacles
that had to be removed. That's why we must come by Jesus
Christ. God sent Him to remove all obstacles. And now in Him we have this free
access. unto God's presence, even though
God is holy, and just, and a consuming fire, and light in whom is no
darkness. But secondly, think of this,
the way the Scripture describes you and me. Not just the way
it describes God, but the way it describes us. What does the
Scripture say about you and me? Uses. You know what it says about
us? It says our ways are crooked,
our ways are perverse, our ways are sinful. It says of us that
we're ignorant and out of the way. It says of us that our natural
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. It says of people just like you
and us, in our best state, we're altogether vanity. That even
when we do that which is good, we corrupt it by the sin that's
mixed with it. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. How can such as you and I are
have access unto such an eternal being as God is? Paul answers
this question. By Him, in Him, through Him,
we have access unto the Father. Having an High Priest over the
house of God, therefore let us come boldly. Having an High Priest
between us and between God. This one mediator between God
and between man. having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus." That's it. That's it. This is a way a holy
God can accept an unholy sinner and sit with him and hear his
prayer and be a father to him through this meeting. Through
His blood that cleanses us from all our sins. Through His robe
that clothes the shame of our nakedness. Through His intercessions
that pleads and maintains our cause. It's through Him. It's through Him. That's why
we're so careful. Not just in our words, but in
our thoughts. When we approach unto God, we're
so conscious of our need. of this meat-eater only, of His
blood, of His righteousness to clothe us, of His intercessions
on our behalf. I tell you, just come unto His
presence, unto God's presence, come right into His presence, but come in Christ's name. Boy,
when he hears that name, I tell you, the Father loves His name.
He said it's above everything. Whatever you ask in My name,
go to the Father in His name." You remember Esther, when they brought all the virgins
together. The king was going to pick him
out a new wife. And the king set a chamberlain,
his man, over all of these maids, these virgins. And on a certain
day, each virgin would come and appear before the king. And Agia was a hazardous chamberlain. He set Agia over all of those
ladies, those virgins. And all of these virgins were
picking out earrings. They were picking out their own
makeup, their own dress, their own shoes, and they were just
docking themselves out. And Esther, she came up to the
king's chamber. She said, you know the king very
well. Oh yes, I know king Ahasuerus. I know him very well. She says,
you know what he likes. You know what he requires, don't
you? I know exactly what he likes. She said, I want you to tell
me what to put on. I want you to bring me the dress.
I want you to pick out the ring that goes on my finger. I want
you to put the makeup on my face. I want you to dress me. Because
you know what He requires. You know what He likes. And you know who the King picked? Every time Esther went in, into
His presence, He took His scepter out and held it out to her and
said, You're welcome here. You're so beautiful. Who dressed
you anyway? You're the most beautiful woman
I've ever seen in my life. How do you know what I require?
How do you know what I love? When we come into God's presence,
how are we dressed? Just what He requires. Dressing
in just what He loves. What's appealing to Him. Jesus
Christ our Lord. Coming in His robe, and God says,
how beautiful you are. You're the prettiest thing I
ever laid my eyes on. Coming with His sweet incense
of obedience and intercession, and God smells us, and He said,
where in the world did you ever get such a sweet smell? You smell
just like My dearly beloved. What are you going to say to
Me? You're welcome. What are you going to say to Me? Jesus.
Jesus. Oh, what a sweet word. What a
sweet name. I love that name. Come on into
my presence. See how we enter God's presence.
He is eternal God. We're nothing but sin and shame.
But we have access through the Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell
you this, brothers and sisters, there has never been a sinner
with all the millions who've came. There's never been a sinner
who come through the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that was
ever turned away, that was ever rejected, and there'll never
be. There'll never be. By whom we have access. Ain't that wonderful? That's
wonderful. But the Apostle doesn't stop
there. Notice what he adds to that. in verse 12 of chapter
3. Not only have we access, but
we have boldness and access. Boldness. This word boldness,
it means all outspokenness, frankness, bluntness, fearlessness, freedom
from apprehension and doubts of being rejected or cast out. You know fear will keep us from
praying. No tormenting fear of going into
God's presence. Well, if we believe that we have
access by Jesus Christ, then we have freedom. That tormenting
fear is gone. Listen to what the writer said.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness, let us come boldly to the throne
of grace. without fear, all outspokenness,
approaching Him to God's presence with reverence yet, but with
freedom. Why can we approach boldly? Because
we have an High Priest which knows us. He knows us. And He's been tempted
in all points like as we are, without any sin. And He can be
touched with the feelings of our infirmities. And He's removed
all these obstacles that would keep us from coming. And now
He tells us to come and you're welcome by Me. By Me, you're
welcome. Listen to this, as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. You have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. Fear will keep
us from coming to our Father in prayer. We've not received
the spirit of fear, but the spirit of adoption. See, we not only
have one on God's right hand to represent us, Our Mediator. But we have the very Spirit of
the Mediator in our hearts. And we come saying, Father, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are the sons of God. Boldness. Boldness. Without fear. Boy, you've seen some people.
They ain't afraid of anything. They just ain't afraid of anything.
They're bold. They're fearless. That's the
way we ought to be in prayer. Bold. Fearless. I'm not afraid
to come to God. Are you? I'm afraid not to. Oh, come and hug up next to Him.
Get as close to Him as you can. Call Him your Father. You've
got freedom to do that. He's not going to cast you out.
You have access. This word confidence, not only
do we come boldly, but we come with confidence. This word confidence,
it means a trusting or reliance, an assurance of mind, a firm
belief. Now listen to this, you've got
to get this. This is what confidence means. A firm belief in the integrity,
in the stability, in the veracity of another. The firm belief in the integrity
of God, of the Word of God, of the faithfulness of God. I love
confidence, don't you? I remember when I first started
flying, I couldn't go anywhere. I was scared to death to enter
an airport because I knew nothing about getting through an airport
and getting on an airplane. And I was just going around asking
everybody, you know, how do I do this and how do I do that? And
I was getting lost. I was a mess, scared to death.
I didn't have a bit of confidence that I could get in an airport
and get on a plane and get where I was going. When I finally did
make it to the plane, I thought, what if I wind up in some other
state? And there they sent me off, and I'm in a mess. My daughter-in-law. Told me one time, she said, you
come and go to me, with me, you go with me, and I'll teach you
how to have some confidence and fly. And what she did, she took
me and said, that up there is called a monitor. I mean, she
just, just basic, just basic. That's called a monitor. That's
how the airport's going to communicate with you. They're going to tell
you what gate, there's your flight number, they'll tell you what
gate, what time it's leaving, all the information is right
there. And you can depend on that. That's trustworthy. You know what? I'll go anywhere,
I'll fly anywhere in this country, even to Mexico, and I'll go by
myself with all the confidence in the world. Because I know
how to get there. I just look at those monitors
and I say, right there is all I need to know. Those monitors
are not going to lie to me. They'll tell me everything I
need to know. Confidence. Ain't it wonderful
to have confidence? Wouldn't you hate to go on your
job in the morning and they called you out to weld something and
you never struck up a welder in your life? That would be awful,
wouldn't it? The reason you don't mind to do that, Terrence, is
because you've got confidence, experience. Listen to what the Word of God
says. It's better to trust in the Lord, trust in His integrity, trust
in His stability, trust in His trustworthiness, trust in His
Word, than to put your confidence in man. Be not afraid of sudden fear.
neither of the desolation of the wicked when it comes. For
the Lord Himself shall be your confidence." This is why the Apostle adds
here in our text in verse 12, look how he says these last few
words. By whom we have boldness with access and confidence by
the faith of Him. See that? You know what's going
to determine the degree of boldness of your freedom and your assurance? Your faith in Christ. Your faith in His Word. Your
faith in His promises. How much regard do you have for
Him? How much trust do you have in
His promises, in His Word? If He tells you that He's between
you and the Father, and through Him you've got perfect liberty
to come into the Father, do you believe Him? Do you believe that? Your freedom that you have in
your conscience and your assurance when you pray and approach Him
to God will be determined by how much faith you have, how
you exercise that faith in Him. and in His integrity. Boy, it's got a lot to do with
faith, hasn't it? According to your faith. How
much do you believe me? How much do you believe me? I
am the resurrection and the life. Believest thou this, Martha?
You believe me? What would you think of me If
you call me tomorrow and ask me how I enjoyed the game, you
call me tomorrow. Boy, how'd that game go? Why
don't you tell me all about it? Tell me what all happened. And
I said, well, you know, I'll say I got over there and I got afraid, got a little apprehensive. Boy, I saw the crowd. And I wondered for these tickets.
Did Carl make these? He gave them for me. And who am I anyway? You know,
this is such a privilege. To get to go into a place like
that. I just didn't even go in. Didn't
even go. You had a ticket and you didn't
go in? No, I didn't go in. What would
you think of me? What would you think? Especially
after somebody went to the trouble of getting those tickets for
me. You say, well, you ungrateful, you unthankful wretch. You had a ticket to get in? And you wouldn't even go up in
there and give it to the man and walk in and enjoy that? You ungrateful wretch. What would you and I say to a
man who has access to God? It's opened, and he's given access,
and yet he makes all these excuses. I'm afraid to come. I'm just
afraid I won't be accepted. But here's access. Here's the
ticket. Christ is the ticket to the Father. Well, I'm just, you know, Bruce,
look at you. You're a preacher. And see why
you don't have access. You mean you think my access
is because I'm a preacher? That's not my access. That would
be like riding that little motor, handing it to the gate attendant,
and say, I'm a preacher. Let me into this game. He'd have
me arrested. My access, brothers and sisters,
is just like your access, and just like the harlot's access,
just like the murderer's access, and the thief's access, and everybody else's access.
Jesus of Nazareth, the mediator between God and man by His blood,
by His intercessions, that's our access. I'm the vilest sinner this world
has ever known, and God knows it. I'm amazed that I'm not in
hell already. Aren't you amazed at that yourself?
Luther used to shake his hand up to his fist towards heaven
and said, Why haven't you damned me? Why haven't you damned me? He got so frustrated and so down
when he saw himself. That's how the believer feels
about himself sometimes. Peter said, Lord, depart from
me. I'm a sinful man. Can you imagine a prayer like
that? Why do we come there? How can
we come there? Disaccess. Disaccess. God sent His blessed Son. to remove every obstacle. And now He turns to us and says
this to us, Come to Me. Come to Me. Come through My Son. Come through His righteousness.
Come through His obedience. Come to Me through His blood.
I'll be a Father to you. I'll forgive you all your sins. And I'll sit with you, and you'll
sit with Me. And I'll hear your prayers, and
I'll answer them according to My own good pleasure and will.
And when life is over, I'll bring you from that sin-cursed world
up here to My house to be with Me. Come to Me. Come to Me. And what would you think? And what do we think of those
who refuse to come? What excuse can they plead? Is the Lord not sincere? Is He
not honest? Is He not trustworthy? What are
we to think of those who refuse to come when there is such free
and gracious access? I'll tell you what the Bible
calls them. You fool. You foolish person. You unthankful,
you ungrateful wretch! The door of mercy is thrown wide
open through my Son, and nobody hindered you from entering in
but your own wicked heart and your own unbelief. Ain't that
so? No, I'm going to that game. God's
with me. I'm going to hand my ticket in.
And I'm going in and eat me a big hot dog. And I'm going to enjoy
that game and all the surroundings. And I'm going to brag about it
when I get out of there. And I'm going to God. And I'm
going to say, You're my Father. You're my Heavenly Father. And
I approach unto You through Your dear and blessed Son. And the
gates of hell cannot keep me away. And flesh is not going
to hinder me from coming. I believe You. I believe Your
integrity. I believe You're honest. You're
not out to deceive me. I'm coming to You, my Father. I don't have feelings. I'm not
trusting in anything. No evidence at all. But the integrity
of God Himself that tells me to come. I've given you admission
in My Son. If I don't feel anything, I'll
come anyway. Feelings come and feelings go,
and feelings are deceiving. Our warrant is the Word of God. All else is worth believing.
And whoever comes to God through Christ and was rejected because
he didn't feel something, we don't come on our feelings. We
come at His Word. And when we bring His Word, brothers
and sisters, we can come with freedom and we can come with
assurance that we'll be accepted. Millions have come, and we hope
we live to see millions more come. And there's never been
a 1K that was rejected when they come this way. In closing, let
me say two quick things. You and I have been considering
in this text, in the context, the purpose of God. We looked at it there in the
verse that I just read to you, in verse 11, according to His
eternal purpose. And we tried to see that last
week, that God has this purpose, this eternal purpose. And He's
working everything to fulfill His purpose. His purpose is not
contingent upon the fickle will of men, but upon His sovereign
will, His power. He is working, and His purpose
has a time when He is going to say, I have finished it. Then
He is going to unveil it all. Then everybody is going to say,
oh, praises to God, the wisdom of God, the power of God, look
what He has done. But right in the midst of talking
about this eternal purpose, We have this verse 12. Ain't that
amazing? According to the eternal purpose.
And then Paul says, let me tell you how practical this eternal
purpose is. What's God doing in His purpose?
Will He send His Son to remove all obstacles and give us access
to Himself? What is God's eternal purpose?
It's to bring us to Himself. Ain't that wonderful? People
say, well, I don't like to hear of God's eternal purpose. I don't
believe that. It makes me afraid and takes away the free will
of man and all of this. When you love this, and don't
you love this when you look at it in this light? What is God's
eternal purpose? What is He purposed to do? Bring
us to Himself in fellowship. and friendship. That's what he's
doing. Oh, the Apostle Paul, there's
nobody like these apostles, the way they write. We look at these doctrines, and
Brother Larry said this different times, we begin reading these
epistles, and they establish these doctrines. They just give
us all of these facts. And we go through and sort out
these teachings and we say, what wonderful doctrine. We didn't
even know God had a purpose. We didn't even know God had already
chosen who He was going to save. But here we put it all together,
you see. And we establish this doctrine. But then we take one step further. And what happens? We see how
practical these doctrines are. And here we see it in our verse.
How does this doctrine affect us? When we find out God has
a purpose, and He's working everything after this purpose, and He's
redeemed people, He's calling those people. How does that affect
us? You know how it affects us. It
makes praying people like us. Some people love doctrine. We
have to have it. How in the world are you going
to believe? How are you going to know what to believe without doctrine?
But some people just love doctrine, doctrine, doctrine. When you
start talking about the practical aspect of it, they say, no, we
don't want that. That confuses us. We want doctrine. We've got
to have both of them, haven't we? We've got to have doctrine
to have knowledge and faith. How shall we believe in Him whom
we have not heard? You can't believe in somebody
you don't know. You can't know him except somebody
tell you about him. But this all turns to practical,
God's eternal purpose in Christ Jesus, having access in Christ. It turns to prayer. Brothers
and sisters, if I preach to you doctrine, which I must do, and
it doesn't lead to an application in your daily life of prayer
and worship and following Him, I may not have failed in my purpose,
but I failed in the application. Doctrine in the heart will always
lead to an outpouring of that heart in prayer. It must. It must. One Scripture in closing. Look in 1 Peter chapter 3. Here's what I'm saying. Here's
God's eternal purpose. Look at it. 1 Peter 3, verse
18. If somebody wants to know why
Christ died, here it is. If somebody wants to know what
the work of the Holy Spirit is, here it is. Look at it in verse
18, chapter 3, verse Peter. For Christ also hath once suffered. He's once suffered for us. What
a beautiful doctrine. What a wonderful doctrine. The
just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. We're coming to God, aren't we?
We begin here, don't we? We come to God in prayer. We
come to Him with our hearts, seeking Him with all our hearts,
in Christ and through Christ. And I tell you, when it's over
and said and done, we're going all the way to God. There in
heaven. That's God's eternal purpose.