Let's turn back to Ephesians
chapter 5. While returning there tonight,
I will be speaking on Paul at Jerusalem. And the text is Acts
chapter 9, verses 26-31. Let's read this passage of Scripture
again in Ephesians 5, verse 25. Love your wives, even as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it. And here was his purpose in giving
himself that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word, that he might present it to himself,
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. Marriage has as its ultimate
end the mystical relationship between Christ and his bride. Look in verse 31, for this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined
unto his wife. And they too shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery. Something we would never have
known had not God been pleased to make it known. This is a great
mystery. When I speak of a mystical relationship
between Christ and his bride, that means something believed. Not so much understood, but believed. Oh, the love of Christ for his
church. I've entitled this message, Christ's
Love for His Church. Look what the text says he did
in verse 25. Husbands love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church. and gave himself for it. You know, there's a hymn in our
hymn book, and sometimes people sing it the right way, but it
is called, All to Jesus I Surrender. I surrender all. Now let me tell
you something right off the bat, something that begins with an
I ain't right. I surrender all, nobody believes that. As long as you sin, you've not
surrendered all, but he did surrender all. He gave himself. You know, that's the same word
that Paul uses in Romans chapter eight, verse 32, when he says
that he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for
us all. He delivered himself up. He voluntarily,
willingly delivered himself up. I love that scripture. You know
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he were rich, yet
for your sakes, he became poor. He did this willingly. He did
this voluntarily, that you through his poverty might be rich. And this is what is commanded
of every believing man. Husbands love your wives as Christ
loved the church. And this love far surpasses physical
attraction or infatuation or even romantic love, although
these things are nice. But this is the love that gives
all. He gave himself. Now, which command is more difficult? Verse 22, wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands, or verse 25, husbands, love your wives
even as Christ also loved the church. I think you know the answer to
that question. Christ's love for his church.
I have to bring this out first, but I don't want to spend a whole
lot of time on it. Most of what goes under the name
Christianity, and I'll be honest with you, I despise that term,
Christianity. I despise it. It's one of the
world's religions. Christianity is religion. This
is the gospel. This is the truth. But most of
what goes under the name Christianity says that Christ loved all men
without exception and that he gave himself for all men without
exception. Now, if that were true, that
would make the verses we just read meaningless. He didn't actually accomplish
these things. He didn't actually sanctify the
church and cleanse it. He didn't actually make the church
glorious and not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
He didn't make the church holy and without blemish by what he
did. He simply made these things available. If you do your part. God loves all men without exception.
This is the message. God wills the salvation of all
men without exception. Christ died for all men without
exception. God the Holy Spirit calls all
men without exception, wooing them, seeking to bring them to
Christ. Now, first of all, that's just
not true. You're not gonna get that from
the Bible. You might've got it from a preacher somewhere, but
that didn't come from the Bible. I know God didn't love Esau. He said twice in his word, Esau
have I hated. That's God's testimony. You can
read in some of the other translations, well, what that means is he loved
Esau less. And it's even translated that
way. Esau have I loved less. Question. How can an infinite
God love less? That's offensive. God loving
less? A weak man-made God may be that
way, but not the God of the Bible. Christ laid down his life for
a sheep. Let me show you that in the scripture.
John chapter 10. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd. John chapter 10, verse 14. I
am the good shepherd and know my sheep. and am known of mine. You see, everybody he knows knows
him. Even as the father knoweth me, even so know I the father,
and I lay down my life for the sheep. Well, is everybody a sheep? Well, look at verse 26 of this
same chapter. But you believe not, because
you're not of my sheep, as I said it to you. Obviously, everybody
is not a sheep. He says to these people plainly,
you're not my sheep. You're not my sheep. He doesn't
say you're not my sheep because you don't believe. He says you
believe not because you're not my sheep. To say that God loves all men
without exception and died for all men without exception is
to say what the Bible never says that's man-made doctrine. Let me give you some implications
of this horrible, horrible teaching. Number one, it puts the burden
of salvation upon the sinner. Christ died for you, but it's
up to you as to whether or not you'll be saved. It's out there for everybody.
I got a letter recently from somebody and said, God sets the
table for everybody. And there's food for everybody,
but it's up to you to eat. This monstrous teaching is a
denial of God's justice. It says God can punish the same
sin twice. He punished it in Christ. But
if you don't do your part, he's going to punish it again on you.
Where is that just? In what way is that just? If
the sin's paid for, it's paid for. Thirdly, it's a denial of
the immutability of God. God can love you, then turn around
and send you to hell. It's a denial of the immutability
of God. And it makes God's love meaningless
at best, and in reality, criminal. What do I mean by that? Well,
let's say Your child that you love is playing in the street. And a car is coming. And you
say, I love you. I want you to get out of the
street. However, I'm not going to violate your free will. If
you don't decide to get out of the street, you're not going
to get out of the street. And then the car comes and runs
over my child that I said I love. What's going to happen to me
for that kind of love? They're going to throw me in prison for
that kind of love, aren't they? It's actually criminal. This teaching is a denial that
salvation is all of grace. There's something you need to
do to complete it. It makes Christ a failure. If
Christ intended on saving someone, and that person is not saved,
That means Christ failed in his intentions. It limits the power of the atonement.
It's limited by the power of the human will. He may make atonement
for your sins, but if your will does not accept what he did,
that atonement is no good. It makes man's will sovereign. over God's will. God wills your
salvation, but your free will trumps his will. It says there was no actual satisfaction
in the blood of Christ. He couldn't say, when I see the
blood, I'll save you. I'll pass over you. He couldn't
say that. If such monstrous teaching is
true, that he shed his blood for everybody and made everybody
payment. No actual satisfaction. It robs
Christ of getting all the glory. The difference between the saved
and the lost is not the blood of Christ. It's not the will
of God. It's not the grace of God. It's what one did that the
other didn't do. Really, in this teaching, you
don't have any gospel. There's no real good news. No one is saved under such a
message because the gospel is not preached. If a man preaches
that, he doesn't preach the gospel. If a man believes that, he doesn't
believe the gospel. You know, I've even heard people
say, well, Christ died for all men. It's efficient for everybody,
but it's only efficient for the elect. What? What's that supposed to mean? Now, here's my biggest problem
with such teaching. It takes away the only hope I
have. The only hope I have is that
Jesus Christ died for me and put away my sin so that I have
no sin. That is my hope. And if you tell me that he can
shed his precious blood for somebody and they end up in hell, I'll
end up in hell. I guarantee you. The gospel is
his perfect, complete, satisfying work in behalf of those the Father
gave him. And let me say that does not
keep anybody from being saved. Somebody says, I want to be saved,
but I'm afraid I'm not one of the elect. When you come to Christ,
you will be received. He said, him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. Anybody who calls for mercy will
be saved. Back to our text in Ephesians
chapter five, Christ's love for his and I hope that every believer
in this room is going to leave here rejoicing in Jesus Christ
what he has accomplished for them. Verse 25, husbands, love your wives even as Christ
also loved. the church, Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal,
uncreated Son of God, the second person of the blessed Trinity. Now remember what we're looking
at is the inspired Word of God. You know, people would be a whole
lot better off if they'd look at what the Bible says. This
is God's inspired, inerrant Word. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And here we read that Christ,
the Son of God, loved the church. He is the cause Of all things, you know why you're here this
morning? Because he caused it. You might not have known that.
You might have come for some other reason, but there's only
one reason you're here. He caused it because he's the
Lord. He controls everything and everybody. I love the way he's called In
verse 23, the last line, the savior of the body. He's the savior. Matthew 121,
thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
from their sins. Christ. That's not just his last
name. refers to His offices as prophet,
priest, and king, and how we need Him in His offices to save
us. He's the Word of God. He doesn't just bring the Word
of God, He is the Word of God. And He does what no other priest
does. Every other priest offered somebody
else's blood. The blood of an animal that could
never take away sin. He offered his own blood to God. And oh, what a king he is. Every
other king is a king in word only. He really is the king,
the one whose will is always done. Christ loved the church,
his bride, is elect all that are included in the name Jacob. Jacob have I loved. The church are those whose names
are eternally inscribed in the Lamb's book of life. Turn with me for a moment to
Hebrews chapter 12. He loved the church. Verse 22, but you are come unto
Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven. Now there's a church for a while
I'm gonna be on. Do you have a church role? Yeah. The Lamb's Book of Life is the
church role. Do you all have a church role
here? No. I know that every believer
is a member of the church. I know that. Everybody that's
not a believer is not really a member. I know that. But who
are members of your church? Well, whoever the believers are,
those are the members. one whose names are written in
heaven. The church, the general assembly
of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. Now, he did not love the church
unconditionally. You know, every time I hear on
the radio unconditional love, it just irritates me. I got to
turn it off quick because there's no such thing. There is no such
thing. Here's what the Lord did in his
love for the church. He made the church so it meted
all the conditions of his love. And this is his work. He did
this. And it's demonstrated in our
text. Turn back to our text, Ephesians
chapter five. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church. Husbands, do you hear that? That's
how you're to love your wife. As Christ loved the church and
he gave everything for the church. He gave himself. Now he did this voluntarily.
This is very important for us to think of the voluntary nature
of what our Lord did. He voluntarily became the surety
of every believer before time began. And we're given such a
beautiful illustration of it in Genesis chapter 43, where
Judah, Jacob didn't want Benjamin going down to Egypt. He said,
he's not going. He's not going. He's my favorite
child. He's telling all those other
kids, y'all ain't my favorite children. He is. I'm not going
to send him down to Israel. And Judah makes this statement
in Genesis chapter 43, verse 9. I will be surety for him. Now, if you're a believer, this
is what he said with regard to you voluntarily. I will be surety
for him of my hand, shall thou require him. If I bring him not
unto thee, and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. He did this voluntarily, knowing
what it would cost him. He gave himself. He voluntarily left the praise
of angels, the presence of His Father, and humbled Himself to
become flesh. He voluntarily made Himself subject
to God's holy law, the law that He Himself made. And He became
subject. He voluntarily dwelt among folks
like us. You know, I think of when he
said, how long shall I suffer you? I can see him saying that
about how long. He voluntarily came here, kept
the law that he made, and beloved, he voluntarily He drank that
cup of my sin, of the sins of his bride, of the sins of his
elect in Gethsemane's garden. What was in that cup? The sins
of everybody he died for he took into his own body on the tree. And he did this voluntarily.
He said, no man has power to take my life from me. I'm not
a victim. You know, everything he did,
he wasn't a victim. When they came to arrest him, he let them
know that, didn't he? They fell backwards at the sound of his
name to let him know, I'm in control of this situation. Everything
he did, he did voluntarily. He gave himself. He voluntarily
died. Death couldn't even come to him
until he gave it permission. He did this for his bride. for
his church. He voluntarily died, and oh,
the glory of that death when he put away those sins. He raised
himself from the dead, and even right now, he voluntarily sits
as the great intercessor of his people. Wherefore, he is able
to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. He gave himself for the church. And let's go on reading verse
26. Here's why he did this, that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the word. Now this is what
he accomplished in giving himself for the church, his bride. He sanctified her. He sanctified
her. He didn't make her sanctification
possible if she does all the right things. He sanctified her. Now, sanctification means to
take something common and ordinary and set it apart for holy purposes. He sanctified her when he stood
as assured before time began. He sanctified her when he put
away her sins and God declared her to be holy. He sanctified
her when he gave her a new heart in regeneration. He sanctified
her. And he washed her with water
I love the way this says this, with the washing of water by
the word. I'm sanctified once for all.
I'm clean. But you know what? I got dirty
yesterday. And I got dirty this morning.
I wonder how many of you all were fighting on your way to
church. Maybe none of you, but I'm sure you have before. And
you come in feeling so dirty. so unclean, so filthy. And the Lord washes your feet
by the hearing of the Word. Like I said this morning in Sunday
school, hearing the Gospel is bath time. So cleansing to your heart and
your soul to hear the Word of God. She had been defiled by sin,
but the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all
sin. Verse 27, that he might present
it to himself a glorious church. The Lord said in John chapter
17, verse 22, the glory which thou hast given me, I have
given them. That is the glory of the church. And it's so true that we read
in Romans 8, 29 and 30, for whom he did foreknow them, he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he predestinated, them he also called, and whom he called, them
he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. I'm glorified. Somebody says you don't look
very glorious. I realize that. After the resurrection, that's
when we're going to experience it in its fullness. Right now,
you have the flesh that brings you down so much, but then you
won't. That's when the scripture says,
then will the righteous shine forth as the sun in the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what it says next in verse
27. that he might present it to himself, a glorious church,
not having spot. I don't have the spot of sin. I don't have the shade of sin. That's how much he put it away. I love what The Lord says to
the church in the Psalm of Solomon, thou art all fair, my love, there
is no spot in thee. That is every believer right
now. It can only be grasped by faith,
not by sight. But that is every believer right
now. And then he says, next, or wrinkle. Now, no matter how beautiful
you may be as a person, that beauty is not going to last.
If you're old enough, if you get it old enough, you'll be
such a bag of wrinkles. I've already got what we call
that skin that looks like cracked paper. Oh, my skin looks like
cracked paper. I mean, it didn't used to be that way. But it is
now. And wrinkles are representative
of the weakness of the flesh. It's dying. It's decaying. But when the church is presented
on that day, there won't be anything of the fallen nature that is
seen, the wrinkles or the spots. Verse 27, but that it should be holy and
without blemish. Now that describes you right
now if you're in Christ. Holy. without blemish, the perfection
of beauty inside and out. 1 John 4.17 says, as he is, well,
the first thing that I think of when I think of his isness
is he is holy. Amen? Jesus Christ is the Holy
One. As he is, so are we in this world. That means not the way we will
be one of these days, it means the way we are right now. Holy and without blemish, Colossians
1.22 says he's going to present us holy and unblameable and unreprovable. Do you hear that? Holy, unblameable,
nothing to blame me for. Unprovable, unreprovable, nothing
to bore me out about. Jude 24 says, now unto him that's
able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless. before the throne of his glory
with exceeding joy. Revelation 14.5 says they're
without fault before the throne of God. Now this is what Christ
has made every believer right now, his church, all clothed
with that wedding garment, clean and white that we read in in
Revelation 19.8. Matter of fact, turn with me
there. I think it is almost humorous that if you
read most other translations, they'll say that this fine linen,
clean and white is the good deeds of the saints, the righteous
acts of the saints. And the reason they say that
is because the word righteousness in the original is in the plural.
And it is, it is. And what that is talking about
is the positive and negative righteousness of Christ. Negative
in the fact that he never did anything wrong. It's positive
in the fact that he always did that which was right. That is,
let me ask you before I read this, do you have any works at
all that you would consider clean and white? No, no, no, no, no. So the fine
linen, let's read the verse now. Verse seven, let us be glad and
rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb
has come and his wife has made herself ready and to her was
granted. graciously bestowed that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine
linen is the righteousness that was imputed to the saints. It
doesn't say that, does it? The fine linen, clean and white
is the very righteousness of the saints. Now this is the reality of the
church, verses 25 through 27, husbands, Love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. Now, how can I know if I am in
this supremely graced and blessed group. How can I know if this
describes me? Now I've got four words, all
of which go together. They can't be separated. Now
I'm going to give some scriptures. This is what we're going to close
with. Here's the four words. Sinner, need whosoever believes. Now, the first word is sinner. 1 Timothy 1.15 says Christ Jesus
came into the world to save who? Sinners. Well, you got to know what a
sinner is For that is meaningless. If it said Christ came into the
world to save car mechanics, we'd know exactly it's car mechanics
He came to save. That excludes plumbers and politicians
and preachers and just car mechanics. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. What's a sinner? It's somebody
who all they do is sin. They cannot not sin. That's what
they are. And they're not victims. Their
sin is all their fault. They're not victims. And they
can't stand in judgment on anybody alive, knowing themselves. And they have no claims on God.
That's who the sinner is. Would that be you? If you say
no, I'm sorry, I got no gospel for you. But if you say yes,
Christ died for you. He came to save you. The second
word is need. Need. What does a sinner need? A sinner needs a savior. The whole need not a physician. Now that describes every unbeliever.
Needs not. It's that simple. Needs not. but they that are sick. I need
him to save this sinner. That's my need. He healed them
that had need of healing. The third word is whosoever. Are you a whosoever? Whosoever! shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. That's better than if it said
Todd Nybert. I know no one in this room is
vain enough to Google themselves to see how much their name pops
up on the internet. Nobody's ever done that. But
if you did, if you did, you'd find out there's a whole lot
more folks with your name. So this promise is better than
it said if Todd Nybert. Because it might mean some other
Todd Nyberg. But it says, whosoever. I am a whosoever. Whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely. And the fourth word is
believes. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ? Do you believe He's God's Word, God's Prophet, God's
Priest, and God's King? I'm not asking you if you believe
that you're saved. I'm not asking you if you believe
that Jesus Christ died for your sins. I'm not asking you if you
believe you're one of the elect. I'm asking you this. Do you believe
that Jesus is the Christ? I do. That's what the Bible calls
saving Faith. Now, if you're a sinner, if you
need, somebody says, I'm afraid I don't feel my need enough.
Well, I'll assure you you don't feel your need enough, but that's
not what I'm talking about. It's not to feel your need, it's
to know dead sure that you have a need. You have a need. You need. And you're a whosoever, and you believe. Here's God's
description of you. You're one that Christ loved
and gave himself for that he might sanctify and cleanse you
with the washing of water by the word, that he might present
you to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that you should be holy and without blemish. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for Christ's
love to his church. How we thank you for the gospel. How we thank you that he came
to save sinners. Lord, how we thank you that you
have shown us our need. And that you have caused us to
believe who he is. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.