For our text this morning Ephesians
chapter 3 Good to have each one of you
out this morning. We have a number that is away today and Be wonderful
to get everybody here at the same time But it's not gonna
happen. And so you might as well just
face it won't happen always good to see and to have our loved
ones to come out and to gather with us. We're thankful. Now I want us this morning to
read verse 14 and verse 15 of Ephesians chapter 3. For this
cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. I want to speak this morning
on the subject, the family of God, the family of God. The family of God, we read here
in verse 15, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is
named. Now, there's not a man or woman
on earth who is not the member of some family. The poorest as
well as the richest hath his kith and kin and can tell you
something of his family. Now, I don't know whether you
ever heard that expression or not, kith. You've heard people
talk about kith and kin? Well, kith is friends And kin
is relatives. And so whether we're poor, whether
we're rich, we all have our kith and kin. And God is the author
of the family. We believe that God started the
family back in the Garden of Eden. Family gatherings are natural,
and they're right, and they're good. It's always good to have
family come together and to have a time of blessing. Now family
gathering is a type of the family of God. It's a type of God's
family. Now God has a family. He has
a family and the purpose of God in salvation is that he would
have a family, that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, would
have a bride, and that the Holy Spirit would have a temple. That's
the purpose of God in salvation. Now I'm for family gatherings,
and I'm for them with all my heart. It does me good to see
them kept up. And they're one of the few pleasant,
the very few pleasant things which have, I think, survived
the fall. I see no principle which unites
people so, next to the grace of God, unites people so much
in this sinful world as the family. Anything which helps to keep
up family feelings ought to be encouraged and commended. I remember a brother-in-law of
mine who, a couple of years ago, passed away. And he was on the
tractor out mowing hay and he passed away and went on into
eternity. And he had a saying concerning
family, concerning getting along in the family that I thought
was real good. He said, the less said, the less
mended. And I think it's real good when
we consider each other's feelings, members of the family and that
we try to encourage all we can the family to come together and
that we're very careful of one another's feelings and remember
that saying the less said the less mended. You don't have to
go back and apologize if you're very careful with what you say
but I think these family gatherings ought to be encouraged. Now anything
which helps keep this feeling going, I think, is commendable. It's a good thing, a wise thing,
when it can be done, to have, I think, family reunions. Now
we're way off up here, stuck up here in the boonies, and getting
together is not an easy thing. Somebody has got to put out a
lot of effort to get up here. Got to buy them airplane tickets,
or you got to drive that automobile two or three days to get up here. But I think family reunions and
getting together on holidays I think is a very good thing.
I don't have much to do with religious holidays, and most
of you know that, but they do give families a chance to be
together, and I think that's one of the good things about
holidays. Well, the family of which Paul
speaks here in our text is a family of far more importance than any
family on earth. To belong to this family entitles
a man to far greater privileges than to be the son of an earthly
king. It is the family of God, the
whole family, Paul said, in heaven and earth. And I want to speak
to you a little bit about this family. I want to ask and try
to answer three questions. The first one is, what is the
family that Paul speaks of here? And then the second thing is,
where is the family that Paul is talking about? Where's that
family now? And the third question is, what are the future prospects
of this family that Paul's talking about? And I invite your serious
consideration as I try to unfold these three things to you this
morning. Our family gatherings on earth
must have an end one day. they're definitely going to come
to an end. Our last reunion, our last earthly reunion must
come. And happy indeed if we are members
of the living family which will never know an end. to its gatherings. Happy, indeed, if we'll all meet
again in glory, if the circle will not be unbroken in eternity. Happy will we be. Well, first
of all, what is this family, which the Bible calls the whole
family, in heaven and in earth? Of whom does it consist? Well,
it consists of all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, of
all of those who have come to faith because we're all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. It consists of all who have the
indwelling Spirit of God. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, Paul said in Romans 8 and 9, then he's none
of his. But it consists of all of those
in whom the Holy Spirit has taken up residence. It's made up of
all the elect of God of every age and every nation and every
tongue. It is the household of faith.
It is the body of Christ. It is the bride of Christ. It's
the living temple of God. It's the sheep that never perishes. It's the church of the firstborn.
All these expressions are only the family of God. under other
names. Notice membership in this family
does not depend upon any earthly connection. It comes not by natural
birth, but by spiritual birth, a birth in and of the Spirit
of God from heaven. To be a member of this family,
you must be born again. Preachers cannot impart to you
this blessing. and neither can parents give
to their children membership in this family. It cannot be.
Now you may wish to, but you're unable to do so. Wouldn't it
be wonderful if we could save our children, but we cannot.
God is the author of salvation. Salvation is God's work from
the beginning to the end, and no one can be saved except God
take up their case and accept God born them from above, they
cannot and will not have membership in this family. You cannot be
born, or you might be born into the godliest family in all of
the land. You may enjoy the means of grace
of the soundest church in all the world and yet not belong
to the family of God. And that, my friend, is something
that we need to think a great deal about because there's a
whole lot of people that's trying to get in on the shirt tail,
maybe of some relative or some friend. You can't get in that
way. You individually must be saved
by the Lord. Now to belong to it, then we
want to make it clear you must be born again. None but the Holy
Spirit can make you a living member of this family. And all the members of this family,
those that are on earth or those that are in heaven, they're all
living unto God. They're all made alive unto God. Maybe some of them have already
passed and we know they have. But they passed out of this life,
but yet they're living. God put within them the principle
of life while they were yet in this world, and that is eternal
life. It's like God himself. It's like
the life of God that we have once we're saved. It's eternal
life. They that are born again are
born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God. John 1 and verse 13. Well, why are they called a family?
Why did Paul call the Lord's people a family? Well, true believers
are called a family because they all have one father. Every one
of them have one father the text very clearly tells us for this
cause I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ
of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named now there
are also the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, but
God is the father of Jesus Christ and the father of all of those
that are in him. They're all born of one spirit,
they're all sons, sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty, and
they have received the spirit of adoption whereby they cry,
Abba, Father, my Father, is that in your heart? Do you call God
your Father? Now the words, Our Father which
art in heaven, are not just mere words in the mouths of true believers. We have been begotten of Him,
and no wonder that we call God our Father, because He is indeed
our spiritual Father. But notice next that true believers
are called a family because they're united by one name. Just as a common family name
is the uniting link to every member of a family on earth,
so does the name of our head and elder brother even, Jesus
Christ the Lord, tie all believers together in this one vast family. As living members of Christ,
they all with one heart and mind, they rejoice in one Redeemer. They rejoice in one Savior. Now,
not a heart among the members of the family, but feels drawn
to Jesus as the only object of their hope. Not a tongue among
them, but would tell you that Christ is all, just like the
young ladies just sung to us about. Sweet and precious to
them all is His doing, and His dying, and His intercession,
and His coming again. To every member of that family,
the Lord Jesus Christ is precious. In fact, you might as well take
away a believer's breath as take away the name, the person, and
the work of Jesus Christ. Now to the world, there may seem
little in His name, but to a child of grace, His name means comfort. His name means joy, His name
means hope, His name means rest, and His name means peace. And
so no wonder those that are bound together by the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, no wonder they're called a family. Next, true Christians
are called a family because there is a strong family likeness. To them, first of all, they're
led by the same spirit. All God's children have the same
spirit, that is the Holy Spirit. They're all marked by the same
general features of life, heart and taste and character. Just
as there is a resemblance between brothers and sisters of a family
on earth, so there is a general spiritual resemblance among all
the sons and daughters in the family of God. And whenever the
children get together, you can tell generally whose family they're
from. You get the parents and you take
a look and you can see where the children have come from.
And so it is true in among the family of God. They have a general
resemblance. And they all, let me tell you
a few things about them and their character. They all hate sin
and love God. Romans chapter 7 and verse 15
tells us that the things that we would do, we don't do, but
the things that we hate, we do. Well, the true people of God,
members of this family, they all hate sin and they love God.
They all rest their hope. on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
they have no confidence in themselves, Philippians 3 and 3. They all
endeavor to come out and be separate from the ways of the world and
to set their affection on things above and not on things of this
earth. They all turn naturally to the
same Bible as the only food for their souls and the only guide
for their feet. You know, David said, thy word
is a lamp unto my feet. It's a guide unto my step. Now they all go to the same throne
of grace and prayer. They find it as needful to speak
to God as to breathe naturally. Now this is the people of God.
They all have two natures. All of these children in the
family of God. They all have inward conflicts,
their flesh. lusteth against the spirit, and
the spirit against the flesh, so that they cannot do the things
that they would." Galatians 5 and 17. They're a family indeed,
and they're all alike in these general characteristics. And
this family likeness among true believers is the thing that I
think deserves special attention. To me, it is one of the strongest
indirect evidences of the truth of Christianity. Some of God's
true people live in so-called civilized countries, and some
live in heathen lands. Some are highly educated, and
some are unable to read a letter. Some are rich, some are poor.
Some are in the church, some out. And yet, notwithstanding
all of this, there is a marvelous oneness of heart and character
among the members of this family. Their joys and their sorrows,
their love and their hatred, their likes and their dislikes,
their taste and their distaste, their hopes and their fears are
all most curiously alike. Let others think what they please.
I see in all this the finger of God. His handiwork is always
one and the same. No wonder the body of Christ
is compared to a family. Now it is a touch of the grace
of God and not of nature that makes all of the elect kin spiritual
kin. That's why we're kin, spiritually,
members of the same family. It's a touch of grace and not
because of that family we were born into back several or many
years ago. Second, I want to ask and answer
this question, where is this family now? We tried to identify
the family. Now, where is this family right
now? Well, our text gives us the answer.
Some are in heaven and some on earth, yet one family. For the present, the two parts
are entirely separated from one another, but they form one family
in the sight of God, though they're resident in two places and their
union is sure to take place one day. Because those that have
went ahead, they just went around the corner and they're waiting
for us around the corner. Or they went up to glory, but
they're waiting for us. And some are just inside the
Eastern Gate over there, and they're waiting for the rest
of the family. to come and together. But I would
have you to know that there are two places and two only that
contain the family of God. There's no third place, there's
no purgatory, there's no house of purifying or probation for
those who are not true believers when they die. There are but
two parts to the family. The part that is seen and the
part that is unseen. And the part that is in heaven
and the part still on earth. Those not in heaven are on earth.
Two parts Two places only. So some of God's people are or
have been gathered safe. above to heaven. They're at rest. They have finished their course.
They have fought their battles. They fought the good fight of
faith. They have done their appointed work. They have carried their
crosses. They have passed through the troublesome world and reached
heaven and reached home. Little as we know about them,
we know they're happy because the Bible says, blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord. They're no longer troubled by
sin and temptation. They have said goodbye forever
to trying to make ends meet in this world, to worry and to pain
and to sickness and to sorrow and to disappointment and tears.
They said goodbye forever to those things. They're with Christ
who loved them and gave themselves for him. Now there are three
things that these blessed souls that are in heaven that they
await. Three things that they await.
First of all, they await the second advent of the Lord Jesus
Christ because, you see, they're coming back with him when he
comes. So they're waiting that time when the Lord Jesus says,
well, we're going back. We're going back. And then the
next thing that they're waiting is the resurrection of their
own bodies out of the grave, because you see their spirits
have gone on to glory, their souls have gone to be with the
Lord. Absent from the body, present with the Lord, these bodies are
sown into the dust of the earth, but the soul of man goes back
into God who gave it. And so these have gone on back
to God, but their bodies await the resurrection that is sure
to come. And then they await the gathering
together of all the saints, of all believers, and awaiting that
rest when the many-membered family of God meets by the river of
life, and enjoy the fellowship and blessing of each other, and
there for all eternity to be with one another. These three
things are sure to come, beloved, and they will come for these
that have already passed on. Now, some of God's family are
still here upon earth. They're scattered to and fro
in the midst of a crooked and perverse world. A wicked world,
might I say. A few here and there's a few
there. All are running a race. All God's
people doing work. They're warring a warfare. They're
carrying a cross. They're striving against sin,
resisting the devil, crucifying the flesh, struggling against
the world, witnessing for the Lord Jesus Christ, mourning over
their own hearts, hearing and reading and praying according
to the measure of the grace of God in them. But however divided
God's family may be at present in place and habitation, it is
still one family. Now, notice next, if you will,
that both parts of the family loves the same Savior, delights
in the same perfect will of God. The part on earth loves with
much imperfection and infirmity and lives by faith and not by
sight. The part in heaven loves without weakness or doubt or
distraction. It walks by sight and not by
faith and sees what it once believed. We on earth are weary pilgrims. The older we get in the flesh,
the more weary we seem to become. They, there, enjoy perpetual
rest. They have begun an eternal holiday. They are called the spirits of
just men, made perfect in the book of Hebrews chapter 12 and
verse 23. And both parts of God's family are alike in that they're
soldiers of the cross. The soldiers on earth are yet
militant, and their fight is not over. They need every day
to put on the whole armor of God. And the soldiers in heaven
are all triumphant. No enemy can get to them now.
No fire dart can reach them. Helmet and shield, it's been
laid aside. And they have sit down. They
need not watch and stand on their guard any longer. Last, if you
will listen to me in this point, but not least, both parts of
the family are alike safe and secure. Isn't that wonderful?
Christ cares as much for his members on earth as his members
in heaven. you might as well try to pluck
a star out of God's heaven as to pluck the feeblest and the
weakest member of God's family out of his hand. You cannot get
it out. They say both parts of the family
are secured by an everlasting covenant that was ordered in
all things and sure, 2 Samuel 23 and verse five. Now the members
on earth, through the burden of the flesh and the dimness
of their faith, may neither see nor know nor feel their safety
while they're here. I say you may never feel or know
your safety while you're here, due to the weakness, dimness
of your faith, and the fact that you can't read your title clear
to mansions in the sky. But you are safe nevertheless. The whole family is kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation. Not one shall be missing
at the last day. Now that to me is a glorious
thought. More happy but not more secure,
the glorified spirits in heaven. Now the greater part of the family
of God is already safe home in heaven. That's a conviction of
mine. I believe the greater part of God's family's already gone
over. They've already crossed the river of death. They've already
ascended up yonder. They're already home with the
Lord. We see just a little bit of the
family of God left here in the world, just a little bit of that
family. So beloved, here we have then,
first of all, answered the question, what is this family? And then
secondly, we've asked and answered the second question, where is
this family? Part of it's here yet, and most
of it's already gathered home in glory. Now the last question
is this, what are the future prospects of this family? Well,
the future prospects of the family, what great and perplexing uncertainty
these words open up when we look at any family now in this world.
Well, who can tell the things that's coming on any of our families
who can tell. Where will your family end up? What trials will your family
face ere this world and ere your life in this world comes to an
end? What a mercy that we do not know
the sorrows and the trials and the separations through which
our beloved children may have to pass when we have left this
world and gone on. We must look to God to preserve
the institution of the family, because He started it, and God
only can preserve it. What will become of your boys
and of your girls? Every one of us, it seems, live
next door to Sodom and Gomorrah. As long as we live in this world,
it seems, that the world is getting worse. Seducers are waxing worse
and worse, deceiving and being deceived. This is indeed a place
where there is so much temptation and where there is so much sin,
so many pits to fall into, so many situations to get yourself
trapped in what will become of our children. what will become
of our families. There are certain drugs out that's
available. One try, and you're hooked. One
try, and you have to go through a center someplace where somebody
will have to deal hardly with you in order for you to ever
be able to escape. And so this is a very difficult
world. I think Montana may very well be the last best place on
earth, but it's still a long way to go. It's still a long
way from heaven. Some of you here could testify
that even here, you can get yourself in an awful lot of trouble, regardless
whether you got the good air to breathe and whether you got
good water to drink, and you got sparsely populated area,
still you can get yourself in an awful lot of trouble right
here in this world, right here in Montana. So what are the future
prospects of your family? You think of it a little bit.
You meditate on it a little bit. Well, whatever the prospects
of our families are, There is one family, the one I've been
talking to you about this morning, the prospects of that family
are not uncertain to any degree. Not uncertain to any degree.
They're good, they're only good. Happy, only happy. We have already
told you all of the members of that family are safe and shall
be brought home at last. The members of God's family shall
all have glorious bodies one day. glorious bodies. The dead shall be raised, the
living changed, no longer a vile, weak, dying body. Here we've been dying ever since
we've been born. These bodies are dying. And there
we shall not have to live in that kind of a body. We have
a body that's not made with hands, that's eternal in the heavens.
A body like His, without the slightest liability to sickness
and pain. No more sickness, no more pain,
and no more parting over there. The former things will have all
passed away. The Word fulfilled in Revelation
21 5, Behold, I'll make all things new. I make all things new. Won't that be glorious? There
will be no more separations. The earthly partings of God's
family are only for a few days. Their meeting then is for eternity. And when we come together in
eternity, then there will be no more separation. We'll be
united in mind and judgment on that day. Not now, but then. No more disappointments. Now
we know in part, our destination is one of perfection by God's
design, literally perfect in holiness without spot or blemish.
And our state then will be as our position is now in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Accepted in the beloved one now.
Forever blessed with him throughout eternity. We are glorified together
in him. We shall be glorified even as
God already now sees us. Glorified in Christ. And we're
joint heirs with him. And we shall share in all of
his glory throughout eternity. without spot or wrinkle or blemish.
He will present us fall-less with ecstatic joy. We shall be
eternally provided for in that day when the affairs of this
sinful world are finally wound up and settled. There shall be
an everlasting portion for all the sons and all the daughters
of the living God. The smallest vessel of grace
as well as the greatest shall be filled with glory. We will
all be satisfied. David said, I'll be satisfied
when I awaken his likeness. The prospects of God's family
are great realities. Do you belong to the family of
God? I think that's a question you need to ask yourself, and
you should ask yourself that question every time your family
meets together, whether it be around the dinner table, whether
it be around the far side. or otherwise, you should ask
yourself this question. I'm a member of this family,
but am I a member of the family of God? Do I belong to God's
family? Now, I know some things about
your families, and you know some things about my family. But many
things we do not know and need not know about each other's family,
but the things that I have told you about God's family, you need
to know. You need to know these things.
Let us live worthy of the family to which we belong. Let us do
nothing that may cause our Father's house to be spoken against. Let
us behave as if the honor of the family depended upon our
behavior. so living by the grace of God
that we shall recommend our Father's family to others, and perhaps
by God's blessing, incline them to say, We will go with you. We will go with you. Well, may
the Lord be pleased to bless these thoughts this morning.
And if you're here and you say, it is my conclusion, preacher,
after listening to you, that I'm not a member of the family
of God, I do not belong to God's family, I have not been born
again, the Spirit of God is not in me, I do not bear the resemblance,
I do not bear the spots of God's living family, of God's children,
then may the Spirit of God move your heart toward Christ. and
to true faith in Him. And may you come to rest your
soul in Him ere your day of life in this world is over. And you
must face God in eternity. So may the Lord bring you into
His family. Our Father, we're thankful that we have had this
privilege this morning to bring this brief message from Your
Word. And I pray that You'll bless
the hearing of thy word, and may it please you, dear Lord,
to draw those that are strangers to you, and those that have never
experienced the adoption through grace, to draw them into your
living family. And I pray that ere they die
and leave this world, that they'll know what it is to have this
blessed hope. of meeting at last with all of
your family, gathering home, gathering home in that day. Father,
bless your children and may they rejoice in this hope and in their
security in Jesus Christ. We pray in his name and for his
sake.