I invite you this morning to
take your Bibles and turn with me to Ephesians chapter 1. I very rarely preach from the
book of Ephesians because I use it so much in reference as proof
text to other things that I preach from. But this morning I want
us to focus our attention down here in verses 17 through the
end of And we'll go over some of these
things that he says up front in these beginning verses, but
I'm going to kind of start here because this is what I want to
talk to you about. That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, this is Paul's prayer for this Ephesian church. This
is what he's asking God to do for him. This is what I'm asking
God to do for you and to do for me. He said that the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the
eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know
what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints. and what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to us who believe according to the working of his
mighty power." Now, that tells me, before I even get into this
message, I was talking to you back before I prayed about his
grace. Here is what he is saying here.
This thing of believing God is not as simple as making up your
mind. There is more to it than that.
This is a leaning of the heart. This has to do with the affections,
it has to do with the will, it has to do with the desires. It's
not just something you just make up your mind one day, this is
what I'm going to do, and this is where religion has brought
me. They say all you have to do is come down front and say
the sinner's prayer and accept Jesus, I think is the terms they
use, as your personal Savior, and you're all fixed up. But
there's a keep more to it according to the Word of God. And this
thing of believing God according to the Scriptures is having your
understanding being enlightened and knowing what is the hope
of His calling. and experiencing somewhat of
the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according
to the working of his mighty power which he brought in Christ
when he raised him from the dead." Peter hearkens faith in Christ
to that resurrection of Christ from the dead. This thing of believing God is
not easy believism that they teach today. This is not the
same thing. He raised him from the dead and
set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above
all principality and power and might and dominion and every
name that is named, not only in this world but also in that
which is to come. And he put all things under his
feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church,
which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all."
Now, there are three things that I hope to set forth for you this
morning and talk to you about. And the first of those things
is that everything that has to do with the salvation of sinners
is of God. It's of God. Let's just sink in for a minute.
It's of God. One of the most comprehensive
verses in the Bible is 1 Corinthians. Chapter 1, verse 30. Of God are
you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glorieth in the Lord. It is of God, and
it is of God in its eternal design and purpose. Go back as far as
you can go back into eternity past, and there you find this
salvation being the determinate counsel of God. It's His design. It's of God in its eternal design
and purpose. It's of God in its promises and
prophecies, of God in its accomplishment, of God in its application, and
of God in its ultimate perfection and end. Salvation is of the
Lord. It's of the Lord. And then secondly,
I want to talk to you about this. This salvation is accomplished
by an eternal union, an eternal union of Christ and his church.
He is the head of all things to the church, which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all. That's what Paul
is talking about when he said he wanted you to understand,
understand God's inheritance. the riches of God's inheritance
in the saints, because that inheritance is Christ, Christ in you, the
hope of glory. And then thirdly, that this union
is made known by the gift of God through faith, giving us
the wisdom and revelation of God in the knowledge of him.
Now, let's just begin here with these things this morning. Salvation
is of the Lord. And one of the most shocking
revelations to me of my life was when I found that out. It
shocked me. I was raised in religion. I was
raised in what grace preachers call Arminianism, free will works
religion. Everything up to the center.
It's all up to you. God's done all he can do, and
now it's all up to you. Free will works religion. That's
Arminianism. That says God can do nothing
apart from your will. Everything God does is dependent
on your will. That's what religion teaches.
That's not what God declares. He says salvation is of the Lord. Beginning to end, it's of the
Lord. And it was shocking to me. It
was just shocking to me. Because I've been told all this
time that salvation was a reaction of God to the fall. Adam fell,
and God said, Oh, no, I've got to do something. And so he scrambles
around, and he comes up with this promise, and the promise
didn't work, so he had to destroy the world with a flood. So he
comes up with the law, and he comes up with Israel, and he
comes up with all kinds of things. And finally, in desperation,
because he can't do what he wants to do, he sends his son. Now,
isn't that what religion preaches and teaches? And before man can take things
completely over, he's going to come back. That's what they teach. But I tell you this, it was a
shock to me. I opened this book up and found
out who God was, and found out that this whole thing was of
God from the beginning. Before ever a man was created,
a substitute was named. He is the Lamb slain, identified
in this book, the Lamb slain, Christ is, before the foundation
of the world. Ain't that what it says? He was a Savior before
there was a sinner. That's right. God appointed a
substitute for man before he ever created him and put him
in the garden. This thing is of God. And it has to do with
his glory and his name and his power and his grace. We're just grasshoppers. You
read the book of Isaiah. You read through those fortieth
chapters through the end of the book of Isaiah, and you'll find
out who God is. He said the nations are just
the drop of the bucket. Now, some of you kids don't know
what that is. But I remember down at Grandpa's house, he had
a well with a bucket. And we'd pull that water up in
a bucket, and they had a little dipper there, and you'd get your
drink and pour the rest of the water, take it in the house.
But the bucket, you didn't stand there and shake the last drop
out. You just threw it back in the well. He said, the nations,
to me, are just the drop of the bucket. He said, the isles are
just a small thing to me. He said, I am he that sitteth
on the circle of the earth, and all the inhabitants thereof are
his grasshoppers. Just grasshoppers. We're somebody. That's what religion says. God
says you're nobody. Who art thou that replies against
God? Shall the thing formed say unto
him that formed it? Why hast thou made me thus? We're
just grasshoppers. We're nobodies. God's everything. Christ is all. All. Listen to this, God hath from
the beginning chosen you unto salvation. When? From the beginning. When was that? That's as old
as God. As old as God. I like the old
writers used to talk about the council halls of eternity. Don
likes to use the term old eternity. It's as old as God. This was
God's intention from eternity. He blessed us, he says over here
in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Ain't that what
that says? It's of God. It's of God. Now, if salvation is of God,
then I need to find out what God has to say about it, don't
I? If he's the author of it, the
designer of it, the wisdom of it, the accomplisher of it, the
revealer of it, why do we go to one another for answers? Why
don't we go to him? Why don't we go to him? And I say to you what Paul said,
let every man be a liar and God be true. Let's hear what God
has to say. This thing, it's of God, of God. And true saving faith believes
God. It takes God at His word. Somebody
said this one time, one of these TV evangelists said this. He
said, God said it, I believe it, and that settles it. No,
sir. No, sir, that ain't how it is. God said it, and that
settles it whether you believe it or not. That's how it is. That's how it is. Here's Paul's prayer for this
church, not that they figure things out, try to get together
and have some conferences around the table and try to find some
common ground, but in verse 17 of Ephesians chapter 1, that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, Give unto
you, that's what grace is, the gift of God. He may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge
of Him, and that's the only way you're going to get it. That's
how you're going to get it. Otherwise, He may just cause
you to be satisfied and sit over there in some religion, whatever
it is that suits your taste, and sit there week after week
after week until you get satisfied with it and let you go to hell
in it. Wake up in it. I couldn't tell
you how many thousands upon thousands upon thousands that it talks
about in the Scripture. Just think of the Jewish nation
alone in bondage, how many were blinded. He said he saved some by an election
of grace, a remnant, and the rest were blinded. Ain't that
what it says? They just left to themselves
to figure it out. And you can't figure it out.
Salvation is of the Lord. And I say this to you and to
myself. If I was seeking to know the
true and living God, I'd spend more time on my knees asking
God to give me the answers than I would reading the old writers
and trying to figure it out on my own. He has to give it. It's of Him.
So let's ask Him. Let's ask Him. Let's come down
off our high horse. Let's lay our knowledge down
and call it what it is, ignorance and darkness. Just lay it down
and just pray to Him, God, give me some understanding. Give me
some understanding. That's what Paul prayed for.
God would give him some understanding. If I was you and I sincerely
wanted to know the Lord and experience true faith and find some assurance
that I know the Lord, I'd shut my mouth. And I'd find me a pew
somewhere, and I'd sit down, and I'd incline my ear and listen. Maybe God will speak to you.
He did to me. He did to me. If He'll speak
to me, He'll speak to you. He'll speak to you. We want salvation,
but we want it our way. We want it in our time, when
we get ready. We want to dictate all the terms
about it. I'll tell you this, if I was
you and seeking to know the Lord, I'd spend as much time in this
book as I could possibly spend. That's the foundation of faith
right there. Salvation is of the Lord. And
then secondly, this salvation is accomplished by an eternal
union. I want you to hear me. An eternal
union of Christ in this church. All spiritual blessings come
to the church by, through, and in the Lord Jesus Christ," I
just read it to you, "...according as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world." That's where the blessings are.
There's not going to be any blessings apart from that. No blessings
apart from that. There's one mediator, Paul said,
between God and man, or men, the man Christ Jesus. He's the
God-man. He's the heir. He's the firstborn. head of the family, the head
of the church, it's his body. And when God the Son took to
himself the body of man, he stood before God as a servant, as a
representative head. He who thought it not robbery,
it says in Philippians chapter 2, to be equal with God, made
himself of no reputation and took on him the form of a servant.
He stood before God. as the head, this mediator, this
representative. This representative before God. It was said of him that God was
his God. You go study on that for a while.
I've been thinking about that for weeks and weeks and weeks.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says it twice
in this chapter. He says it twice. He says it
once up here, and then he says it again down here in verse 17,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
was his God. And as this head, this mediator,
this representative, God the Father, now is said to be his
God and his Father. He is God whom he worships. He
went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and worshipped God. This
was God come into the flesh, and yet he worshipped God as
his God. He was God whom he obeyed. As
a servant, he become obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. He was God to whom he prayed.
He was God before whom he agonized
and wept, his God, to whose will he submits, nevertheless, not
my will, but thy will be done." Isn't that what he prays? His
God before whose justice he stood, his God into whose hands he committed
his spirit, and his God at whose right hand he now sits and intercedes
and rules and reigns. His God. Whose God? This mediator, this representative. And he is his Father, his Father
as the beginning of all things, his Father as he loves and gives
and sends his Son, his Father as the giver and provider of
a great inheritance, his Father as the Father of all blessings.
His Father. Every good gift, James said,
and every perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights. And as he is God and Father of
the Lord Jesus Christ, he is our God and our Father who are
in Christ. You see how this thing works?
God has put us in a union with Christ, and all that relationship
that he has as this mediator is ours, too, because we are in union with
him. If God be his Father, if he become the Son of God in that
respect, Not the Son of God equal with God, but the Son, the Mediator. Then He's my Father if I'm in
Him, considered in this union. And
I'm not even going to attempt to explain this. I just receive
it by faith as the Word of God. But there is a mystical union,
a mysterious union between God the Father, God the Son, and
all that the Father chose and put in Him. There is a union.
God looks at this union, and he just sees one. He doesn't see you and me and
somebody else and then somebody else down here in time and then
Christ. He just sees Christ. And in seeing Christ, he sees
you in this union. Turn with me to
John chapter 17. John chapter 17. This is the
Lord's high priestly prayer. He prays to his Father. And down in verse 7, it talks
about these people. God give him power over all flesh
that he should give eternal life to as many as the house given
him. He goes on and on and on. It talks about what that eternal
life is. It's to know him and to know God. Jesus Christ whom
he has sent, that's eternal life, is to know the Son, and through
him to know the Father. That is eternal life. But he
gets down here to verse 7, and he says, Now they have known
that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are this. For I
have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they
have received them, and have known surely that I come out
from thee. And they have believed that thou
didst send me. I pray for them, I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am
glorified in them." One person. Now look on down there to verse
20. This here was talking about his followers. He was talking
about those eleven disciples, or twelve if you want to include
Paul. Down in verse 20, he said, "...neither pray I for these
alone, but for those also which shall believe on me through their
word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me." God just sees one. He just
sees one. From eternity, he looks and he
sees one. He sees that mediator, and he
sees all that he put in this mediator. There is a mystical,
mysterious union in which God has joined his elect with Christ
before the world began, and they are never again considered outside
this union, blessed in him, chosen in him, predestinated under the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, accepted in
the beloved. Redemption through His blood.
All of these are in these first few verses here of Ephesians
chapter 1. All in Him. In Him. In Him. In Him. Nothing apart from Him.
All depending on this union. Actually, if you want to get
right down to it, faith has nothing else to see outside this union
because it sees through the eyes of God. And God just sees one. He just sees one. It is in Christ
and this union with God's elect that God abounds toward us, he
said, in wisdom and knowledge, verse 8. Verse 9, having made
known unto us the mystery of His will, that all things are
going to find their final end and purpose as they are gathered
to Him. That has been placed in Him.
That has been purposed in Him. They are all going to be gathered
in that day. Things in heaven and things in earth. Verse 11. in whom," that is, by this union,
also, we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory
who first trusted in Christ. Now, let's just think about that
verse here for a minute. This verse is talking about the
trust of the Father in the Son. This is not talking about us.
who first trusted in Christ, he gets to us in the next verse,
in whom ye also trusted. This is talking about the trust
that God the Father had in his Son from his very appointment,
from the very beginning, this trust. And he goes over all these
things that he's trusted to his Son and the accomplishment of
those things as he goes. When he gets down here into this
verse, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first
trusted in Christ. It literally means this. I looked
it up. I looked up the word trust. Here's
what that word means verbatim. It means to trust before the
confirmation. Wow! to trust before the confirmation. When was the confirmation on
the cross? When did God trust him? From
the beginning. From the beginning. He trusted
in Christ when he vested the glory of his name in him. He
trusted in Christ when he secured all his promised blessings in
him. He trusted in Christ when he
chose his elect and joined them forever with him. He trusted
in Christ as the revelation of his glory. He trusted in Christ
to uphold the honor, integrity, and glory of his name. He trusted
in Christ to fulfill all that would be required of him as the
Redeemer, as the substitute for sinners, as the surety of that
everlasting covenant. He vested everything in Christ. He relied on him before the confirmation,
before ever he took to himself the body of a man, submitted
himself to be born of a woman, made under the law. Before ever
he walked as a servant, stood as a priest, or reigned as a
king. God trusted him. God trusted
in Christ. So much did God trust in His
Son that He imputed His righteousness and justified every Old Testament
believer thousands of years before Christ was ever born. You read
about it over in Romans chapter 3. So much did God trust in Christ
that He allowed a sinful world to continue long past the Garden
of Eden. Why didn't God just wipe out
this plague? Because he had a substitute appointed,
a mediator. And this whole outfit was turned
into his hands, laid into his hands, and God stood back and
trusted him that he would do what God required to be done. See, we are worried about making
Jesus our Lord. He is your Lord. Period. End
of story. To this end, he both died and
was raised and seated at the right hand of God, that he might
be Lord of the dead and the living. He's Lord. He's Lord over the
devils. He's Lord over everything. He's
Lord over the Sabbath. He's Lord. He's Lord, undisputed. God so trusted in his Son, it
says in Romans chapter 8, that all creation, not willingly,
but by reason of him who subjected the same in hope. Who did that? God who trusted in Christ. That's
who did it. Why did he do it? Because he
knew one day in the Son he trusted this old corrupt creation. is going to be delivered, and
it is going to enjoy all the freedom of the glorious liberty
of the sons of God. You can read it in Romans chapter
8. He trusted. He trusted in Christ,
and then that trust was confirmed. Salvation is of the Lord, and
salvation is accomplished on the basis of that eternal union
with Christ. And then thirdly, how are we going to know for
whom he died? How are we going to know who's
been united to him? How are we going to know who's
in union with him? How are we going to know if we're God's
elect? How are we going to know that? We're going to be laying in our
bed one night and have this vision of God? How is this going to
come about? This he does by the gift of faith
that comes through the hearing of the gospel. Now, watch this.
Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13. First, God trusted in Christ.
Now, listen. Here's what happens next. In
whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth.
the gospel of your salvation, and whom also, after that you
believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
There will never be a confirmation, I want you to hear me, until
there is a believing. There's not going to be a confirmation
until there is a trusting. That's the way it is with the
Father, that's the way it is. with us. Believe. You won't find
anywhere in the scripture where he talks about these confirmations.
Here's what you're going to find. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Ain't that what he says? Believe. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel. Preach it to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. And then I read it to you in
John chapter 3 this morning. He that hath the Son hath life,
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. How shall they
call? Listen to this. This is Romans
chapter 10. How shall they call on him in
whom they had not believed? Has to be a believer. And how
shall they believe in him of whom they had not heard, and
how are they going to hear without a preacher? You see how this
thing works? You trusted after that you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. As you trust
Christ, God will confirm that trust. Now, that's how it happens. It's not going to happen any
other way. Well, if he'll just give me a
sign, he ain't going to give me one. He said an evil and adulterous
Generation seeketh after sign, and no sign is going to be given
them except that of the prophet Jonah, who was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly. Jesus Christ was three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth, and then God raised
Him for our justification and set Him at His own right hand.
That's all the sign you're going to get. And you're going to trust
Him the same as God trusted Him, or you're going to hell, one
or the other. As believers, we will hear who
He is, and hearing and seeing His glory, be persuaded of His
ability, His willingness, His power and His grace and His mercy
to save sinners. We'll come to see the honor and
integrity of God in Christ who would not compromise His justice,
He would not compromise His righteousness, but manifested those things in
His Son. Provided, though, say, everything
that God requires in salvation, God provides. Everything. That's why I say it's all of
grace. All of grace. And he says, trust him. He said,
here he is. I trusted him. Here's my son.
I set him up from everlasting. I ordained him, anointed him,
gave him that name, gave him that trust. And I sent promises
and pictures and tithes to show you who He is, to confirm His
coming. And He came and He manifested
Himself above all doubt. God confirmed who He was by miracles
and wonders and signs, which He did by you, He said, right
in your midst as you yourselves also know. It wasn't done in
a corner. It was done out in the open,
right out in the open where everybody could see. Even His resurrection,
He was saw of the apostles. And then he was seen of over
500 brethren. Undeniable. Undeniable. The only one who really doubted
was Thomas. And he said, Thomas, here's the
hole. Stick your fingers in it. Stick your fist in my side. He
ate fish and drank in their presence. The same Jesus who went to that
cross who was buried. God raised him from the dead
and set him at his own right hand. That's the only sign we're
going to get. Now, what I'm saying to you this
morning is if God trusted him, if God trusted him, why can't
I? Why can't I? Trust him. Trust him. No salvation outside that union.
There was a man of years gone by, his name was Rolling Hills.
And it was said old Rolling Hill had a dream. And he found himself
out in this big valley. And he said he sat there on the
hillside and it was pretty pleasant. He said there was a kind of a
lighted fog out over that valley. And he said you really couldn't
see down into it, but there was just multitudes. They were everywhere,
sitting in the grass. He said, like going to a big
concert of some kind. And he sat there, and as far
as he could see was people in all directions. And he said this
lighted kind of misty fog out over this valley. And he said
he could hear a voice down there, and this voice would thunder,
and you could hear this voice. And this voice stood and read
charges and so on and so on, and then would call a man's name.
And as he called his name, he would thunder out and he'd say,
Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. Bind
him hand and foot and cast him into hell." And he said, I just
sat there in awe. And people around him were getting
up and going forward and disappearing into the fog, and he could hear
the words and hear the judgment and then silence. And he said
he sat there for a while and this continued on. He said, after
a while, he said, I heard that voice say, Rollin' Hill. And he said, I sat there and
he said, I couldn't move. He said, my knees began to shake
and my body began to tremble. And he said, the voice said again,
Rollin' Hill. And he said, as I struggled to
get to my feet, he said, I heard a voice from behind me. And he
stood and he said, I'm Rollin' Hill. I was rolling hill when you put
him in me before the foundation of the world. And I was rolling
hill when I appeared as a man on this earth and kept your law
in every jot and tittle. I was rolling hill when I went
to that cross and suffered the wrath of God and drank the bitter
dregs of the cup dry. I was rolling hill. I was rolling
hill when I went down to that tomb and was laid in there, wrapped
in the linen and laid in that borrowed tomb. And I was rolling
hill when you resurrected me from the dead and set me at your
own right hand." And he said, I heard the voice. He said, Well
done, my good and faithful servant, enter thou in. That's what I'm
trying to preach to you this morning. This thing's all together
in Christ. How do I know I'm one of them?
Can I trust in Him? That's how they're known. They
trust in Him. They let go of this world. They
let go of self. They let go of reason. They let
go of all these things. And they lay hold of Him. They
embrace Him. Not His. Him. Not His benefits. Him. Because in Him they see. They see the exceeding sinfulness
of their sin. They see sin exposed on that
cross in its true colors, what it is. And they see in Him the
love of God, the mercy and grace of God. They see all that in
Christ. And they embrace Him. And you
will too if you see it. If you see it.