Ephesians 1, verse 12. Paul says that we, and the we
he is speaking of is the very same group of people he has been
describing from verse 3 right down to this twelfth verse. He
is describing those who are blessed of God with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places, accepted in Christ, those in whom God
has revealed his wisdom and prudence in his saving operations of grace. The we, then, speaks of all God's
elect, particularly it is speaking of we who now believe on the
Lord Jesus, that we should be to the praise of his glory who
first trusted in Christ." Now, I want us to look at that statement
distinctly this evening. And I want you to see how that
God, our Father, first trusted in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer
and our Mediator. He trusted in And upon the basis
of his trust in him, he blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The word who is in the
plural, and that has led a good many folks, most commentators
that I have read, most good commentators, to suggest that Paul must be
talking about either the Jews who first trusted in Christ,
or the apostles who first trusted in Christ, or the earlier Christians
who first trusted in Christ, because the word is in the plural.
But that fact, the fact that this word is in the plural, has
nothing to do with the number of men who trusted in Christ,
but rather it refers to God our Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all
who trusted in Jesus Christ our Mediator, our God, Man, Savior,
who was to come into this world. All three persons in the Holy
Trinity trusted our Mediator and surety with all the purpose
of God, all the will of God, all the determination and the
glory of God, and with all the people of God." Throughout this
paragraph, and indeed throughout the New Testament as these things
are spoken of, God the Father is spoken of here as the covenant
spokesman in the Holy Trinity. And these things, again I stress,
are spoken in such language that we can get some handle on things,
so that when the Scripture speaks of the Father trusting the Son,
it is not as though God the Father is separate from the Son and
the Holy Spirit, but the Father trusts in the Son as our mediator,
as the divinely appointed servant of Jehovah, as we read in Isaiah
chapter 50. Christ Jesus, our Mediator, the
Son of God, is represented throughout this passage and throughout the
Scriptures as the spokesman for his people, our covenant head
and representative. Now, this interpretation that
I'm giving this is obvious when you look at this word that's
translated, trusted. Actually, it's one word translated,
trusted in. It is used nowhere else in the
Word of God. except right here in Ephesians
1 verse 12. It is a perfect active participle. Now, if you're like me, you have
to stop and scratch your head and say, what do all those things
mean? It is a perfect active participle, implying an action
completed in the past, once and for all, never to be repeated. God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
at one time in the past, once for all, with finality, trusted
in Jesus Christ, our Mediator. When the Scriptures speak of
our faith in Christ, another word is used, a word that's not
even similar to this. The words here translated, or
the word that is translated, trusted in, would actually be
more properly translated this way, for hoped in, or hoped in
beforehand, or hoped in in advance. So when the apostle speaks and
says that we should be to the praise of his glory who first
trusted in Christ, he is saying that God's purpose in all this
great work of grace and redemption and salvation that we now enjoy
and shall enjoy to eternity, is designed and intended by the
triune God that we should be to the praise of His glory who
trusted first in Christ Jesus. Nothing else will fit the context. Let's begin reading at verse
7 and go down to our text. And then let me show you something
about our God's trust in Christ. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.
that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven
and which are on earth, even in him, in whom 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, I've read that because I wanted you
to notice, again, that this is one sentence. Verse 7 down through
verse 12, just one sentence. And Paul is here telling us once
more, as he's told us three times in this chapter, that the purpose
of the triune God in saving us is that we should be to the praise
of His glory, or to the praise of the glory of His grace. And
this is the thing that he uses to inspire in us a desire for
God's glory in all that we are, in all that we do, and in all
that we experience. God's purpose is that you and
I should be to the praise of His glory. And for that end,
he first trusted in Christ. Our Heavenly Father entered into
a covenant with his Son, the Lord Jesus, our Mediator, before
the world began. In Hebrews 13.20, turn there
if you will, Hebrews chapter 13, I want you to see this, it
is called the everlasting covenant. It is frequently called the new
covenant. This covenant made between the
triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and Christ, our
Mediator in surety, was made for us. And insofar as the blessings
and benefits of the covenant are enjoyed by us, it is altogether
free and unconditional. The Lord God said, I will love
them freely, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Here in Hebrews 13 verse 20,
the apostle is bringing his epistle to the Hebrews to a conclusion.
He's been talking about this covenant. It's the covenant described
in Jeremiah 31 and in Jeremiah 32. It's the covenant David spoke
of as he lay on his deathbed and said, The Lord hath made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, ensured.
This covenant is that which is summed up, brought into efficacy,
and secured in all things, being fulfilled by the death of Christ
as our surety. Hebrews 13.20. Now the God of
peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. Why did Paul use that phrase? Through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. He brought him again from the
dead. Remember what we read in Isaiah 50? He is near that justifieth
me. We have some understanding of
that when we get to 2 Timothy, where the apostle tells us God
was manifest in the flesh. justified in the Spirit. When our Lord Jesus was raised
from the dead, he who was made sin and went to death being made
sin, was raised up the third day, manifestly justified from
all sin, freed from all sin, as our Mediator, for he had put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And the Lord Jesus was
raised up from the dead by the blood of the everlasting covenant,
by the one stipulation, by the one condition that he had to
meet in order for the covenant to be fulfilled and its blessings
to flow to us. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect. in every good work to do his
will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight
through Jesus Christ, the covenant surety to whom be glory forever
and ever. Having found a ransom for our
souls, in the person of our blessed Savior, the Son of God, our Mediator. The Lord God gave His chosen
into the hands of His Son, as sheep are given into the hands
of the shepherd by the one who owns them, and trusted our souls
to His Son to redeem and save us. Let's see if the Scriptures
show that clearly. Turn to John chapter 6. John
chapter 6. If you hire a faithful man to
do a job, and you depend on him, you count on him, you give him
a job to do, promise him his reward when the job is done,
and you go about your business because you're confident that
this man will do his work. You trust him with the work. A shepherd, a man who owns sheep,
gives them to the hands of a shepherd. and tells the shepherd where
to take his sheep, and when to bring his sheep home into the
fold. And the man who owns the sheep
goes about his business, and leaves everything to the shepherd's
care, because the shepherd is responsible for the sheep. That's
the picture that's given us throughout the New Testament. Christ is
our shepherd, to whom the Father has trusted His sheep. Look here
in John chapter 6, verse 37. Our Savior says, all that the
Father giveth me. Now notice the verb tenses. All
that the Father continually is giving unto me. All that the
Father throughout this dispensation of grace, all that the Father
throughout the ages of time giveth unto me in regeneration, in effectual
calling, all that the Father causes to come to me. shall come
to me, and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out."
What a word of grace! Every sinner given of the Father
to the Son by His grace comes to the Son, and every sinner
who comes to the Son is received by Him and cannot be cast out,
and your coming to the Son, believing on Christ, is proof positive
that the Father has given you to the Son. For I came down from
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will, the Father's purpose, the
Father's desire, the Father's heart, which hath sent me, that
of all which he," look at it now, "...hath." That's not talking
about present tense, is it? "...all which he hath given me."
all that he from eternity gave to me as a trust to my hands,
I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day."
Turn over a page or two to John 10. This is how our Savior speaks
again of his people, those who come to him, those who are redeemed
by him. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Some of these
folks, down at the end of the chapter, listening to him talk
about his distinguishing grace, and they said, we don't like
that. He said, I didn't expect you to. I didn't expect you to.
You believe not, because you're not of my sheep. As I said unto
you, my sheep, hear my voice, I know them, and I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Now look what he
says about them in verse 16, John 10, 16. Other sheep I hope
to have. Other sheep I may have. Other sheep I plan to have. No. Other sheep I have. They're already
my sheep. I've got them in my hands. They
belong to me. They were given to me long before
I came into this world. Other sheep I have, but look
at it, which are not of this fold. They haven't yet been brought
into the fold. They haven't yet been called
by grace. They're my sheep. I have them, I have them as a
trust from my Father. Now watch what it says about
this handful of sheep he has, his handful of sheep. Them also
I must bring. What a word. How can it be said
that the Son of God must do anything? How can such language be used,
even by him, about anything he must do? How can anything be
binding upon him? Only in the sense that he stands
before God as our good shepherd, our covenant surety, who was
trusted to do the work, and being trusted as our surety, he must
do the work. Them also I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Now, turn over a couple more
pages to John 17. In the everlasting covenant of grace, God the Father
trusted his Son, our all-glorious Christ, with the salvation of
his elect, and thus with all the glory of his own name from
everlasting. And when our Savior had finished
his work of redemption, by which he secured the salvation of all
the chosen, He asked the Father, and the Father gave him, as the
just reward of his obedience, the glory he had with him before
the world was. So that the time came when the
Father manifestly, openly gave him this glory. You remember
the disciples saw him ascend up into heaven. Angels come to
meet him, and he's carried away in a cloud. so that he is openly,
manifestly given glory as a man to sit down on the throne of
God. But notice what he says. The
glory that was openly, manifestly given him in time was the glory
he had with the Father before the world was. Look at it. Verse
1, John 17. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, The hour has come. Glorify thy
son, that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him
power, dominion, authority over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Now watch this, "...I
have glorified thee on the earth." I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do." Remember those words. We'll look at them
again in a minute. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own
self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Oh, he's talking about the Father
giving him back his glory as God the Son. He never lost that. He never laid it aside. He never
ceased to be God. He is not in any way less God
when He bare our sins in His body on the tree than when He
created the universe. He never ceased to be God. The
Father doesn't give the Son anything in His eternal divinity, but
rather the Father, looking on Him as our covenant surety and
mediator, trusting Him as such before the world was, gave to
Him the dominion and rule over all things, so that all things
were created by Him, and without Him was not anything made that
was made. Everything from eternity was
given to him as our mediator, that he might give eternal life
to all the Father had given him. And now, in this open manifestation,
the Father says, see here, I give it all to him. And it's manifestly
given to him. Now look at verse 13 in Ephesians
1. Paul said that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. And now he
changes gears. He's writing to the Ephesians,
those folks he addressed in verses 1 and 2. And he's writing to
you and I, God's saints, the faithful in Christ Jesus, you
who believe, in whom you also trusted. In whom you also trusted. At the appointed time of mercy,
grace, and love, every chosen redeemed sinner is born again
and called by the irresistible power and grace of God the Holy
Spirit to life and faith in Christ. This God-given faith is not trust
in some imaginary Jesus who tries to save but can't. No, no. This
God-given faith is faith in that Christ whom the Father trusted
before the world was. Trusted to redeem and save His
people. So thoroughly and completely
so that trusting Him, He gave all things into His hands. He
it is whom we are called to trust. our Almighty Covenant surety
who cannot fail. Upon the basis of this covenant,
our Heavenly Father accepted and blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in Christ from eternity, and as the Father trusted Him,
He demonstrates Him to be trustworthy. Oh, my soul, learn to trust Christ
your Savior. Learn to trust Him implicitly
with everything all the time. If the triune God has trusted
to Him everything, how much more ought we to trust
in Him with everything? The Lord Jesus is our surety. having assumed total responsibility
for us as our surety before the world was. The Father trusted
us to his hands. Let me show you one more picture
of this great matter of suretyship. The picture you've looked at
with me so many times, but look at it once more. Genesis chapter
43. Genesis 43. Joseph is determined to fetch
all his family down to the land of Goshen, so he'd take care
of them. And Joseph's hatched a plan.
He kept one of his brethren, and he commanded these brothers
to go get their brother Benjamin and bring him back to him. And
they told Israel, and Israel said, Oh, all these things are
against me. You're going to bring me down
to the grave. He didn't have any idea what Joseph was secretly
doing. And in verse 8 of Genesis 43,
Judas said unto Israel, his father, Send Benjamin with me, and we
will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and
thou, and also our little ones. Now watch this, I will be surety
for him. I will be surety for him. Of
my hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not unto thee,
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame for ever." And you know what Jacob did?
He said, There he is, take him. Take him. But if you back up
to Genesis 42, you'll see that Reuben had asked for the very
same thing. Verses 35 down through verse
38, Reuben said, Dad, give me this boy, and I'll take him,
and I'll be surety for him, and I'll bring him back to you. And
Jacob refused to give Benjamin to Reuben's hand. He said no.
And no. How come? Because our Lord Jesus
is not the lion of the tribe of Reuben. He's the Lion of the
tribe of Judah, and Judah was typical of our Savior in this
suretyship engagement. As Judah became surety for Benjamin,
Christ became surety for God's elect before the world was in
the covenant of grace, and the Father trusted His Benjamins
into the hands of His Son, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, our
blessed surety, who said, And I will bring him back to you,
and if I don't bring them, everyone back to you, and present them
faultless before the presence of your glory, saying, Lo, I
and the children which thou hast given me, let me bear the blame
forever." Now, who is responsible for Benjamin? Who's responsible
for him? He's a grown man, but he's Jacob's
baby boy. He is that child that's the fond
son of Jacob's heart. And if Judah fails to bring Benjamin
back, no matter how unruly Benjamin may become, the blame goes not
to Benjamin, but to Judah. Listen to me. Jesus Christ became
surety for your soul. Surety for my soul. Surety, children
of God, for you and for me. And when He became surety for
us, before the world was in covenant grace, and the Father trusted
us to His Son, the Lord God ceased to look to us for anything. Darwin Freud, he doesn't look
to you for a thing. If he did, you'd go to hell. Oh, but that's talking about
before we were saved. Yes, sir. And since you're saved. What are
you going to offer him now? We've got to keep ourselves.
If so, if so, you're going to hell. Even in preaching we don't
have to keep ourselves? No, you must keep yourself, but
you can't. We must walk in faith, but you can't. We must obey,
but you can't. God's ordained that we walk in
good works, we must, but you can't. You can't. Except the
surety holds you in his omnipotent hand. and order your steps. And when you fall, hold you in
His omnipotent hand and order your steps. And when darkness
encompasses you, hold you in His omnipotent hand and carry
you in His light even when you can't see light. Everything,
everything depends on the surety. That means, Rex Bartley, everything
is perfectly safe and secure. If I'm His, glory is mine. If I'm His, everything He is
and has is mine. And the whole of it doesn't depend
in one iota on me. Not me. The surety became responsible
for me. He became responsible to bring
in everlasting righteousness and to do it. And when he stood
in John 17 and called from the Father and said, I finished the
work thou gavest me to do. Two chapters later, he said virtually
the same thing, didn't he? John 19.30 said it's finished.
For it couldn't have been finished in both places. No, it wasn't.
He's talking about two different things. In John 17, when he says,
I finished the work thou gavest me to do, our Lord Jesus had
lived the full life of a man. The full age of a man. And after thirty-three years
walking on this earth, he had fulfilled all righteousness. not for himself, but as our surety. He had obeyed all the will of
God, fulfilled all the law of God, satisfied all the demands
of righteousness, and then, just a short while later, when he
was made sin for us, and he had satisfied all the
justice of God for our sins. as he is pouring out his life's
blood unto death, just before he breathed out his spirit and
said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. The Savior
cried as a triumphant victor, as one who has put his shoulder
to the work, who set his face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem.
who came here on a mission, who came here on an errand of mercy,
who came here to save His people from their sins. And when it
was done, He said, yet He is finished. And the work was done. It was finished. Everything that He spoke of back
in Psalm 40, before the world was, when He struck hands with
the Father and said, Lo, I come. in the volume of the book it
is written in me. I delight to do thy will, O my God." Everything
he swore to. And then as he's coming into
the world, that same thing is repeated. Hebrews chapter 10.
He says exactly the same thing in Hebrews 10 as he is coming
into the world, as he's coming into his mother's womb, as the
eternal God is stepping into a woman's womb by the miraculous
conception of the Holy Spirit. He said, Lo, I've come to do
thy will, O my God. And as he's leaving the world,
he said, I did it. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. He lifts his hands to heaven. It's done. But he's still got
his people, whom he must bring home to the Father, and present
faultless before the presence of his glory. And he shall bring
them, every one, home to the Father, and present them faultless
before the presence of his glory. What are you saying, Master? The Lord God trusted Christ as
our surety for the glory of His name to make us glory by Him. Put us in His hands from eternity. And we've been in His hands from
eternity. And we shall remain in his hands
until he brings us to glory. Some years ago I started corresponding
with a fellow I hear from just not more than once a year anymore.
He lives out in Tempe, Arizona. He used to be a professional
golfer. He lost his right arm now and
makes golf clubs for Peen Golf Company. Every time I hear from
him, he signs his letter this way, in his grip. What a place to be in His grip. In the grip of omnipotent grace. In the grip of an omnipotent
surety. I was in His grip before Adam
transgressed. And I was in His grip when Adam
fell. And I was in His grip when I
came forth from my mother's womb speaking wise. And in His grip,
all the days of my rebellion, in His grip, when He called me
by His grace. And the reason I'm still here,
because I've been in His grip all these days. And the reason
I have confidence of everlasting glory, causing me to look For
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life is because
I am in his grip. And he will not let me go. He will not let me go. How do you know? Well, John Jasper,
the old black preacher, Richmond, Tennessee, many years ago, Ask
him how he knew he was going to glory, how he knew his salvation
was certain. He said, God, he's got more to
lose than I do. If I perish, John Jasper will
just lose his soul. But if I perish trusting him,
he'll lose his glory. And that ain't going to happen.
Amen.