When I got into my office yesterday
morning and started studying Exodus chapter 10, the more I
studied, the more my mind and heart was turned to Ephesians
chapter 1 and again today. And I believe God's given me
a message for you. Turn with me to that blessed, blessed familiar
passage of Scripture in Ephesians chapter 1. We'll begin at 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. This is how he did it. According
as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him. He chose us before the world
began to make us holy when the world has ended. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace. What a sweet word to my soul,
grace. free, sovereign, eternal, immutable,
indestructible grace. By grace, you are saved. Grace, grace, grace. Oh, wondrous, wondrous grace. in this grace. He hath made us accepted, not
acceptable, accepted. He hath made us accepted in the
Now I want us to focus our hearts on this one great, great statement. I've tried to preach it to you
many times. One of these days, I'd like to
preach it. Accepted in the beloved. With those words, God the Holy
Spirit declares one of the most comforting, delightful, soul-cheering
truths to be found in all Holy Scripture. He declares that there
is an everlasting, eternal, indissolvable, immutable union between Christ
and His people. We are one with Christ from eternity. Accepted in Christ, accepted
for Christ's sake, accepted with Christ from eternity. And that never changes. That
never varies. And notice at the very outset,
that our acceptance with Christ is spoken of as something accomplished
by God himself and accomplished by God from eternity. It is not something accomplished
in time and it is not something accomplished by us. It is not
something that we do or something to which we make any contribution. It is something done by God alone
and done by God before the world began. And that means it cannot
be in any way dependent upon us. It is not dependent in any
way upon our feelings or our deeds, be they good or bad. Our acceptance before God is
altogether Christ and the work of God in Christ. I know that
whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever. What a word. And nothing can be put to it
nor anything taken from it. That's the language of the book
isn't it? You can't add anything to it and you can't take anything
from it. You can't improve it and you
can't borrow it. And God doeth it from eternity
that men should fear before him. Let men hoot and holler thus
all they will about man's part and man's salvation and man's
will and man's work and man's contribution. The book says he
hath made us accepted in the beloved. John Kent wrote a great
hymn. Twixt Jesus and the chosen race,
subsist the bond of sovereign grace, that hell with its infernal
train shall ne'er dissolve nor end in vain. Hail sacred union,
firm and strong, how sweet the grace, how sweet the song. that
worms of earth should ever be one with incarnate deity. One in the tomb, one when he
arose, one when he triumphed over his foes, one when in heaven
he took his seat while seraphs sang all hell's defeat. This sacred song forbids our
fears for all he is and has is ours. With Christ our head, we
stand or fall. Our life, our surety, and our
all. Now give me your attention as
we look at what is plainly revealed in this sweet declaration of
scripture. He hath made us accepted in the
beloved. Plainly revealed. and yet that
which men cannot and will not ever receive except they are
taught it by God's grace in the sweet experience of being accepted
altogether by grace. First, the Holy Spirit here speaks
of Christ as the Beloved. He supremely is the Beloved. I cannot imagine a title more
appropriate for our Redeemer in all his character as the God-man,
our Mediator, in all his relationships to God the Father and God the
Spirit, in all his relationship to the Holy Angels, in all his
relationship to all his Redeemed, than this term, the Beloved. He is the Beloved of the Father's
heart. The Lord God spoke twice from
heaven when our Lord Jesus was baptized and again at the Mount
of Transfiguration and said, this is my beloved son. This is he. Paul calls him his
dear son. That is the son of his love.
And it speaks of Him, this term Beloved, speaks of Him in His
covenant character, in His mediatorial character. Jesus Christ, the
God-man, as our head and representative, is here spoken of as the Beloved. The definite article is there
to distinguish Him from any other who might be beloved. He is the
Beloved, the Lord God. looked upon Christ, our surety,
as his dear son, the beloved, our mediator, and our surety
before the world began. Hold your hands here and turn
to Proverbs chapter eight. Proverbs the eighth chapter.
I'm beginning to learn, and I hope you will, that the book of Proverbs,
this book of wisdom, was not written by God the Spirit, was
not penned by Solomon, merely to teach us carnal, earthly wisdom. That's not the reason the book
was written. The book was written to show us Christ who is made
of God unto us wisdom and to teach us the wisdom of God in
Jesus Christ. The book of Proverbs, like every
other portion of Holy Scripture, is designed to direct our hearts
to our Redeemer. And here in the eighth chapter,
the wisdom spoken of is personified. The Lord Jesus takes this name
wisdom and says, this is me. Look at verse 22. The Lord possessed
me in the beginning of his way before his works of old. In the
beginning of his way? In the beginning, that's before
anything was begun. In the beginning of His way,
before His works of old, He possessed me. I was set up from everlasting. That's not talking about Christ
as the second person of the Trinity, but rather as the God-man, our
mediator, as our surety. He was set up from the beginning,
wherever the earth was. Now, some folks are so ignorant
in their determination to deny the teaching of Scripture, they'll
say, that doesn't mean that it was before the world was made,
but somewhere between eternity and the beginning. Anybody reading
the language of Scripture, reading plain English understands when
it says, before ever the earth was, it's talking about before
ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I
was brought forth. when there were no fountains
abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills was I brought forth, while as yet He had not
made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world. When He prepared the heavens,
I was there. When He set a compass upon the
face of the depth, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when He gave to the sea His decree,
that the waters should not pass His commandment. When He appointed
the foundations of the earth, then was I by Him as one brought
up with Him, brought up with Him in covenant mercy. And I
was daily His delight, now watch this, rejoicing always before
Him, rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth. Well, the
earth hadn't been made yet. It was done in God's purpose.
rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights
were with the sons of men. In covenant grace, all the blessings
of grace were bestowed upon us as chosen sinners in Christ the
beloved before the world began. I want you to turn to 2 Timothy
chapter 1 again. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Paul is writing his last letter,
and he knew it would be his last. He knew he is about to be put
to death for the gospel sake. And he's writing to his beloved
son in the faith, Timothy. And he's giving Timothy his final
words of instruction. When I think about this last
epistle to Timothy, this was the last one Paul wrote, I try
to always remember This is the last thing he wrote by inspiration
of God, the very last thing. And he's writing it to one who's
dear to him, leaving a final word of instruction. And he knew
full well he was leaving the final word of instruction that
God the Holy Spirit would inspire him to write. I think he must
have carefully weighed every word. If I were giving you, if I knew
I were giving you my last, my very last message, I'd never
speak to you again. Believe me, I would carefully
weigh every thought expressed. Paul is now speaking to Timothy
and he says, don't be ashamed of me. And don't be ashamed of
the gospel for which I suffer these bonds. And now he's going
to define that gospel in a rather unusual way. Not defined like
this often, though sometimes it is. Romans chapter 8, Romans
chapter 9, he certainly defines it this way. But here he expresses
it like this, verse 9. The gospel of God who hath saved
us and called us The word is named, named us His own with
an holy naming, not according to our works. Our works didn't
have anything to do with it, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us. His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. He blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
before ever he spoke the world into being. But is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished
death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Years ago, when I was in school,
I heard a message by Evangelist Dusty Rhodes. The title of the message was
The Reading of the Will. And he set something forth I
had never heard anyone speak of before. He said preaching
the gospel is like reading the will of our Redeemer. It's like going to a lawyer's
office. He calls the family together
after one has died and he said, now it's time for us to read
the will of your beloved father. In the preaching of the gospel,
I come simply to read out to you the will of our Redeemer. I wonder what he has for you.
I wonder what he has for me. He brings life and immortality
to light. The life and immortality He gave
you before the world began. The life and immortality He gave
you in your crucified, risen, exalted Redeemer before ever
He was crucified, risen, and exalted in the flesh. He was
crucified, risen and exalted as our Redeemer and you in Him
before the world began. Brother Don, it looks to me like
Paul is saying to Timothy, God saved us before the world began. And when we experience His saving
grace in time, He is simply bringing to light in our souls that which
He did for us from eternity. You know what? I think that's
exactly how it reads. I'm positive that's exactly how
it reads. Well, that's hardshellism. I don't care if it's Buddhism,
it's true. It's true. Everything God Almighty has done
for us and will do for us in time, He did for us in eternity
in His Son. seeing to it that his son has
preeminence in all things even when he stooped to create the
earth when he stooped to create the earth he said to his son
our covenant head and mediator let us make man in our image
and after our likeness and he created the first Adam in the
image of him who would come the last Adam that in all things
he might have the preeminence Christ is the beloved of the
triune God. No question about that. The Holy
Spirit comes as the gospel is preached, and by the word of
His grace, and by the operation of His grace, constantly exalts
the Son, magnifies the Son, turns our hearts to the Son. I know
we live in this crazy Pentecostal age, and I know, I know what
I just said. Crazy. Nothing crazier than folks
who are insane with religious And this Pentecostal age is absolutely
insane with religious nonsense. Insane with religious nonsense.
Folks, I think they check their brains at the door and walk in
churches and look at the nonsense goes on in the name of religion
and think they're worshiping God. They talk about the Holy
Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit and the power of the Spirit and
being slain in the Spirit. People who, I mean these are
not folks in a loony bin. They go to huge crusades and
somebody slaps them on the head and they fall down on the floor
and roll around, expose themselves and they have to be able to cover
them up. And they call it spiritual things. Oh, God was with us today. I could feel his power tingle
all the way down my spine. When God the Holy Spirit's present,
Christ is exalted. And Christ is honored. And Christ
is magnified. Christ Jesus is that one before
whom the angels bow. He's described in Isaiah chapter
6, and he said, Isaiah saw me in my glory. You can read it
in John chapter 12. Our Lord explains Isaiah 6 very
clearly. He says, Isaiah saw me. He speaks
of the mercy seat and the ark of the covenant, those typical
things that were found in the temple and in the tabernacle.
He says, Isaiah saw me. And the angels, the seraphim,
looking on me, cried continually, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Holy is the triune Lord of hosts. And they swiftly fly to do his
will. And certainly every sage sinner
in heaven and in earth, scattered throughout the earth, delights
to sing. As Isaiah said, I will sing the
song of my beloved. I love to read the song of Solomon,
how often our Lord Jesus speaks of us as his beloved, and how
often the words are echoed in the hearts of his people as we
read the words with which his bride speaks of him. Behold,
thou art all fair by love. As the apple tree among the trees
of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. My beloved is
mine, and I am his. Someone asked, well, what makes
him so special? Chapter five, Song of Solomon,
that very question's asked. What is thy beloved? More than
another beloved, O thou fairest among women. Well, my beloved
is white and ruddy, the cheapest among 10,000. His head, his head
is as the most fine gold. His locks are bushy. Black as
a raven, his eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of
water, washed with milk and fitly set. His cheeks, his cheeks are
a bed of spices, sweet flowers. His lips are like lilies dropping
with myrrh, with sweet-smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold
rings set with beryl. His belly is as bright ivory
overlaid with sapphires, his legs, Oh, the mighty legs of
this mighty Savior are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of
fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon,
excellent as the cedars. His mouth, so sweet grace is
poured into His lips. Yea, He is altogether lovely. If ever you meet Him, Your heart
will cry, Amen. This is my beloved and this is
my friend. Never was the term beloved so
full of meaning, so well deserved, and yet so incapable of expressing
all that's meant by it as when it's used with reference to our
Redeemer. Do you know Him? Do you trust
Him? I want so much for you to know
Him. To know Him. Oh, to know Him. Not know about
Him, to know Him. These days, fellas spend so much
time defending doctrine and dogma and splitting hairs and splitting
people. They talk about, we're saved
by trusting the blood of Christ alone. I wish you'd show me that
in this book. We're saved by trusting the righteousness
of Christ alone. We're saved by believing this
doctrine or that. We're saved by imputed righteousness
alone. Find me that in this book. Nowhere
in this book are we told to trust the blood of Christ, or to trust
the doctrine of Christ, or to trust the righteousness of Christ.
Salvation's not a doctrine. Salvation's not a fact. Salvation's
not a theory. Salvation's not a piece of dogma.
Salvation's not a principle. Salvation's a person. Salvation's
trusting Him. Trusting Him. We're called to
trust Him, to seek Him. We're urged to know Him, to walk
with Him, to believe Him, to love Him. Sometimes I pick up the language
of others and I say like others, I love the doctrine of election.
Well, I don't really. I don't really. I love the Christ
who chose me. Do you understand the difference? Now, let me spend a little time
on this next thing. He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. With those words, the Spirit
of God speaks of the believer's union with Christ. Our union with Him. I've called your attention to
the fact numerous times over the years. In these first 14
verses of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul 14 times tells us everything's
in Christ, in Christ. That doesn't mean that it's in
Christ like this glass is in this room. That's not what it
means. It's not a physical thing. It
is a spiritual, wondrous, mysterious thing. It's in Christ like this
finger is in this body. No, that won't quite do it. Like this breath is in these
lungs. That won't quite do it. It's
in Christ in such a way that all the wonders of our union
with Christ adequately expressed by any illustration and so the
Spirit of God uses numerous illustrations to give it to us. We were blessed
with all things as we were ourselves one with Christ from eternity. One with Him. What does this
mean? What does this mean? The Scripture
speaks of our union with Christ. this everlasting union by which
we are made accepted in the beloved as that which is the whole basis
of, and that which ultimately is the whole of our salvation. Now, no doctrine is sound that
fails to recognize the believer's everlasting union with Christ,
and yet no doctrine more mysterious more profound, more utterly incomprehensible. I think I might come nearer comprehending
God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one person, one God in three
persons, than I can comprehending me being really one with Christ. But I am just as confident that
God's people are one with Christ from everlasting as really and
truly as He is one with the Father from everlasting. What does this
mean? I'm not talking about our manifest
union with Christ. That's what we discussed at the
beginning. When this light and life is brought to light by the
gospel in the experience of grace, our manifest union with Christ
is but the fruit of this everlasting union with Christ. Our manifest
union with Christ, our faith in Christ is the result and the
evidence of this everlasting union with Christ. This union
with Christ is set before us in Scripture in numerous ways.
Let me give you a few. You're familiar, of course, with the
fact that we are in Christ, one with Christ, in union with Christ
by election. This election union, oh, how
sweet, how dear it is. God chose His Son to be our mediator,
our Savior, and He chose us in His Son. When the Lord God chose
his son as that one in whom he would reveal his glory. He chose
us with his son as one with his son before the world began. Election. I don't know why on earth folks
get upset with election. I never have been able to fathom
that. I don't know why anybody would. Salvation's got to begin with
somebody's choice, either yours or God's. and it dead sure didn't
begin with yours. It begins with God's choice and
that was done in eternity. This is the blessedness of our
election. It guarantees our eternal security. Our election and our savior's
election stand and fall together. We were chosen with him and in
him. And this union, this everlasting
union is a legal union, it's the union of a surety with those
he represents. Surety, we don't hear much about
it these days. When I was a boy, I think I've
told you this, I talked to my dad and let me buy a car. Before
I had a driver's license, I had the money, I had a job, I didn't
have a driver's license. And dad wasn't around much, and
I talked to him and he'd buy me a car, or let me buy a car. That meant that he had to go
sign the note. They call that a surety. That's
not really a surety. That just means if the bank can't
get it from me, they get it from him. And I talked him into doing
it. I don't recommend you fathers
doing that. It's not a good idea. It's not a good idea because
you're going to pay. You're going to pay. But I talked
him into doing it. Now, in the scripture sense,
Hebrews 7.22, He is surety of a better covenant. Proverbs speaks
of the surety, swearing to his own hurt and sparting for it. That's Christ our surety. As
surety is used in the scripture, it speaks of one who steps in
the place of another before law. And that means the law can't
touch the one whom the surety represents. Is that right, Susan? That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. The law has no claim. The law can't speak a word. The law can't make any accusation. The law can't seek anything from
one who has a surety representing him. Now listen to me. Christ
is our eternal surety. He stood up for us before the
world began in covenant mercy and grace and assumed total responsibility
for our souls. And the Lord God ceased to look
for anything from us. He doesn't look for righteousness
from you and he doesn't look for satisfaction from you. He
looks to Christ for righteousness and satisfaction for you. And when the Lord Jesus stood
before him as our surety, we read in the scripture that he
stood before him, before ever the world was made, just like
he does right now, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. What on earth does that mean?
God accepted His sacrifice as that which was done from eternity
as our surety and accepted us with Him. Accepted us with Him. It didn't change because He created
Adam. It didn't change because Adam
failed. It didn't change because we came forth from our mother's
womb speaking lies. It didn't change because after
He saved us we proved to be such wretches. No. Nothing changes God's decree
and God's will and God's salvation and God's Savior, our Savior,
the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
surety from everlasting and our everlasting salvation was done
in him before the world began. You remember what the Lord said
in Exodus 12? He said, you put the blood on
the doorpost and the lintel, and when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Judgment is taken away from you
when I see the blood. There's no condemnation for you
when I see the blood. There's no possibility of sin
being imputed to you when I see the blood. It can't be done.
Not when you see the blood. Bob, he saw the blood a long
time before you saw it. He saw the blood before the world
was when he accepted Christ as our surety. He saw the blood
at Calvary when his son poured out his life's blood unto death,
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He saw the blood
when you saw it, you saw it. And if you lose your mind tomorrow
and can't see it, he still sees the blood. And when your soul
is full of doubts and fears, as it often is, and you can't
see, God still sees the blood and nothing changes. The Lord
Jesus is not only ours, we are his in this election union and
in this surety union, but we are his and one with him in a
mystical union that's just inexpressible. Turn to Ephesians chapter five,
Ephesians five. The Apostle Paul here gives instructions
concerning husbands and wives and sons and daughters and all
those things. But when he gets to the end of
it, he says that this is a great mystery. A man leaves his father
and mother and joins his wife and they too become one flesh.
He says this is a great mystery. But that's not what I'm talking
about. That's not my point. That's not what I'm telling you.
I'm talking about Christ in the church. Men everywhere, men everywhere
will, they'll pass right by that and spend decades talking about
the family, focus on the family. Everybody wants to focus on the
family. Everybody, everybody, oh, family
values, most popular thing on the political circuit for liberals
and conservatives, family values. Everybody wants to talk about
family. You know how come? Because we're all proud and we think we're
good at it. I'll get to preaching to you.
If I were to announce and promote it, I'm gonna be preaching a
series of messages on the family, and folks actually believe it.
You know, you wouldn't have any trouble getting folks to come
hear it? No, you wouldn't have any trouble getting, and after
a while, you'd hear a couple of sermons, and you'd say, oh,
man, boy, I sure, I wanna be that kind of husband. I wanna
be that kind of wife. And after two or three, you start,
you know, Being nicer to your wife, being nicer to your husband,
not fussing so much, not complaining so much, not being so hard to
get along with, and come hear me preach again. Oh boy, I sure
wish Lindsey had heard that. How come? Because we got it all
straightened out now. Look at me. Now I know I'm a
good Christian because I've been focusing on being a good husband.
Now be a good husband, but the message is not about you. And
if ever you find out what it is to be one with Christ, it'll
make you a better husband. You ever find out what it is
to be one with Christ, it'll make you a better wife. Look
at verse 30. Paul says, I'm talking about Christ in the church, for
we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. He is not ashamed to call us
brethren, because we are partakers of the same, Paul tells us in
Hebrews chapter two. I'm in deep waters here. I don't
pretend to understand what I'm telling you, but I'm delighted
to tell you it's so. We are one with Christ, more really and truly. Then we
can speak of anything multiple being one, members of the body.
These members can be separate. Husbands and wives. Dear as it
is, it's going to soon be separate. Soon be separate. We've got a
better relationship than that. We're one with Christ. You understand that? One with
one another for we're one in Christ. We are one with Christ as the objects of His Father's
love. One with Christ as really and
truly as Christ the God-man is one with God. And now he comes and makes that
a willing union. Hosea speaks well of the love
of the Lord for the children of Israel. Go love a woman, Harlot, beloved of her friends. Love her according to my love
for my people, he said. And Hosea went down and found
Gomer and provided for her, took care of her while she hated him,
while she mocked him, while she derided him. His love for her
never changed, never varied. He provided for her, protected
her, wouldn't let anything happen to her. He said, I will allure her unto
me. I'll bring her out into the wilderness,
and I'll speak comfortably to her. I'll speak to her heart.
I will woo her to me. That's how God, the Holy Spirit,
calls us by His grace. He takes the things of Christ
and shows them to his own and charms our hearts by the irresistible
force of his sweet grace so that we cannot resist his call. We cannot resist his love. We cannot resist his mercy. We cannot resist him. I've told you before, but I'll
tell you again because I like to tell it. Shelby and I first started
dating. We hadn't been dating any time.
I told her I was gonna marry her. And she looked at me and said, well,
you're crazy. You don't know what you want. And she was probably
right on both counts, but I wanted her. And I proceeded to do everything
I could to charm her. I mean everything I could. I
wasn't about to let anybody get any breathing room between me
and her. Every minute I could get to myself, I spent it with
her if I could persuade her to do so. Bought her everything
I could think of to buy her. Just as nice as I could be. And
it wasn't long. She wanted me just as anxious
as I wanted her. All I did was show her everything
about myself I possibly could that might be considered good.
That's all. Now this is how the Savior gets
His own. I'll tell you when He'll get
you. when he shows you himself. When it pleased God to reveal
his son in me, he called me by his grace. And now this union,
this blessed union is vital. Without me, our savior said,
you can do nothing. Like the vine and the branches,
we're one. But not only that, if you want to read the last
verse in chapter 1 in Ephesians, the Spirit of God tells us that
Christ as our mediator, Christ as our mediator must have us or he can't be complete. You're complete in him, you're
complete in him and he's complete with you. Look at it. He tells
us about the church, which is his body. Now watch this. The
fullness of him that filleth all in all. What's that mean,
Lindsay? That means Christ can't be a
complete mediator, savior, and surety without you. That's what it means. Oh, but
he's the fullness of God. Yes, he is. And we're the fullness
of him who is the fullness of God. But he's the fullness of
all things. Yes, he is. And we're the fullness
of him who's the fullness of all things. No wonder Paul said,
and you are complete in him. in him, just as complete in him
as he is our complete God, man, mediator, and savior accepted
in the beloved. If right now God gives you faith
in his son, that faith is the fruit of this eternal acceptance. And it is the evidence of this
acceptance. Everything, everything, everything
gives praise to Him. Let us do the same. And He who
accepted us from eternity will accept us today and tomorrow
and forever for the glory of his son. Amen.