which turned back to Ephesians
3. Now last Sunday evening, we looked at this entire prayer
of Paul to the church at Ephesus. And we're going to spend the
next six or seven weeks looking at some glorious aspects of the
gospel that are found in this prayer. I've entitled this message, For
this cause, that's the way he begins this prayer. For this
cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I remember when we're reading the Bible, we're reading a translation.
It was written in the Old Testament in Hebrew and Aramaic, and it's
written in the New Testament in Greek. And you don't need
to understand Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic to be able to understand
the scriptures. I hate it when preachers try
to present, well, the Greek means this, like you can't really understand
the scriptures if you don't know the original languages. That's
just not so. These are good translations. But in this particular word,
cause, for this cause. There are 15 different words
in the Greek New Testament that are translated cause. 15 different words, all inspired
by God, the Holy Spirit. And what I think is particularly
interesting about this particular word is it's derived from the
word grace. That's interesting, isn't it?
It's the preposition form of the word
grace. And so when it's talking about
this cause, it has something to do with this gracious cause. I like that. This gracious cause. So when Paul says to this cause,
I bow my knees to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The cause is the grace that he had been writing of. For this
cause, for this grace, I bow my knees to the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what scares me just
about as much as anything else? Is grace being no more than something
I have intellectual understanding of from the scripture. That just scares me. I want to know something about
amazing grace. How sweet the sound. It saved
a wretch like me. Oh to grace, how great a debtor. May that be my continual, the
continual thought of my heart. Oh to grace, how great a debtor. daily I'm constrained to be for
this gracious cause. You know, that was always on
Paul's mind and in Paul's heart. Grace. Look with me in Ephesians
chapter one, look at the things that he said. No wonder he's
saying for this gracious cause. Verse three, blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now, if I'm a believer, that
passage of scripture says I have all spiritual blessings. Whatever God has to give, I have. He hath blessed us. Now, whether you feel good or
you don't, here is the fact. He hath blessed us. May God give me grace to believe
that and enter into that. He hath blessed us. There's no
blessing of God that I do not have. Verse four, according as
he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him. God chose me to be holy. You know what that means? I can't
be anything but holy. God chose me to be without blame. You know what that means? I am
without blame before him right now. Now that's grace isn't it? Verse five, in love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, the will of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved. For this cause, I bow my knees
to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse seven,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of His grace. Look in verse 13. In whom you also trusted after
that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. You know what? When you're saved,
you find out you've been saved. You know, whenever you hear somebody
say something like, I got saved, that's so contrary to what salvation
is and whose salvation is. You heard the gospel, you heard
the good news of your salvation. That's what you heard. You heard
God saved me for Christ's sake. In whom also after that you believed
or having believed you were sealed. with the Holy Spirit of promise,
which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase
possession under the praise of his glory. Look in verse 18,
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may
know what is the hope of his calling. Now, what is the hope
of his calling? I have a hope that on judgment
day, Christ is going to answer for me. And God is going to say
to this sinner, well done, thou good and faithful servant, because
I'm in Christ. And I have a hope that everything
between then and now is working together for my good and for
his glory. What a hope of his calling. Look in chapter two, verse one,
and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins,
wherein in times past you walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
devil, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lusts of the flesh, our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath,
even as others. We weren't different from anybody
else, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith
he loved us even when we were dead in sins. hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace, you are saved and hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. Now, you know what that means?
That means that when somebody says, I'm just as sure for heaven
as if I'm already there, they're not saying it right. I'm there. In the person of Christ, I'm
there right now. seated with him in heavenly places,
that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast for we are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus and two good works, which God had before ordained
that we should walk in them. Now, for this cause, what I've
been reading, for this cause, for this gracious cause, I bow
my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the first
time this word is used is found in Luke chapter seven. Would
you turn with me there? Luke chapter seven. This is toward the end of this
story, verse 47. Wherefore, I say unto thee, Luke
chapter seven, verse 47. And anytime the Lord says this,
there's such power behind it. I'm saying this. I'm saying this. He spake as one having authority
and not as scribes. Wherefore, I say unto thee, her
sins, which are many, are forgiven for she loved much, but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Now that word
in verse 47 is the same word translated for this cause. For
this cause, I say unto thee, her sins, which are many are
forgiven. For this cause. Now, if you want
to understand the cause of the forgiveness of sins, listen real
carefully. Let's go back to verse 36 when
this story begins. And one of the Pharisees desired
him that he would eat with him. I don't know what his motive
was, but that's what he asked for. He desired him that he would
eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's
house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner. Now, what this is a reference
to most likely Is this woman was a prostitute or a very promiscuous
woman who is well known in that city because Simon the Pharisee
knew her. He goes on to say, if the Lord
knew what kind of man or woman this was, he wouldn't let her
touch him the way she is for she's a sinner. She was a notorious,
immoral, sinful woman. And I have no doubt that he heard
the Lord preach. This is what brought her into
the Pharisee's house. She had heard the Lord preach. And behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in
the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster box of ointment
and stood at his feet behind him, weeping. and began to wash his feet with
tears and did wipe them with the hairs of her head and kissed
his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now picture this
in your mind. This woman is so enamored with what he has said
that she gets this box of ointment that was so precious to her.
and comes behind the Lord weeping and breaks that alabaster box
of ointment and pours it upon his feet. She's kissing his feet,
wiping his feet with the tears that are falling from her eyes.
And then she takes her hair and wipes his feet off with that.
What a picture. Verse 39. Now, when the Pharisee
which had bidden saw it, He spake within himself. He didn't say
this audibly, but it was audible to the Lord. He heard exactly
what he was thinking. Now, when the Pharisee, which
had bidden him, saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This
man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner
of woman this is that toucheth him, for she's a sinner. He's
obviously not a prophet or he wouldn't be letting this woman
touch him like this. Verse 40. And Jesus answering, he's answering
his thoughts. He knows what's going on in my
mind right now. He knows what's going on in your mind right now.
He's reading our thoughts right now. You know, there's no point
trying to hide anything from him. There's no point in trying
to pretend to be what we're not, he knows. He read this man's
thoughts. And Jesus answering said unto
him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith,
Master, say on. There was a certain creditor.
Which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence. and the
other 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly, freely, graciously forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them
will love him most? Now, the answer is built into
the question. They both had this in common,
they had nothing to pay. Would that be you? They had nothing
to pay. They had nothing to bring to
the table. They had no way of absolving their debt. They both
had nothing to pay. And he, frankly, that means he
freely, he graciously, with no cause in them, forgave them both. He didn't ask them if they'd
try to make payment over time. He frankly, freely, completely
forgave them both. Now, the only way we'll be forgiven
is to be forgiven graciously and frankly. I love to think
of this. Salvation begins. This is so important. Salvation
begins with the complete forgiveness of sins. You know, I heard a
preacher Say, this week, I heard him say, if you turn from your
sins, God will forgive you for them. You've got that guarantee. Now, is there anybody here that
thinks we ought not turn from our sins, that we ought to continue
in sin? I don't believe anybody in here believes that. But let
me say this, the man that made that statement really doesn't
understand the gospel. If me being forgiven of my sins
is contingent upon me doing anything, I don't have any hope. None at
all. But that's not the way this man
forgave these people. I'll forgive you if you can at
least come up with 1% of what you owe me. No. He frankly, freely
forgave them both. And that is where salvation begins. The complete, total forgiveness
of sins. Beloved, if you're a believer,
all your sins, even the sins you haven't committed yet, have
been forgiven. Put away. Canceled. blotted out by the blood of Christ.
Now that's what forgiveness is. It's not the end of some formula. If you repent, and if you're
real sorry, and if you start fighting sin and getting better,
then you'll have the forgiveness of all those sins. That's salvation
by works is all it is. It's all it is. He frankly, He
freely, He graciously, when they had nothing to pay, He graciously
forgave them both. Then he asks this question, tell
me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he to whom he forgave most. Now, the way he answers this
exposes the state of his heart. I suppose I guess if you try
to put math together, the one who had the most sins was the
one who was forgiven the most, and that's going to be the one
who's most grateful. I suppose that is the case. But this man
demonstrated how blind he was. You see, he thought that this
man who owed less was really, really a little better off because
he didn't owe as much. And he thought, that's the better
person, and that's me. I'll admit, I've committed sins,
and I've done things that are wrong. better than that woman. That woman has nothing. I mean, she is a sinner. I know
I'm better than her. That's what comes out in this
language. But I suppose I'll grant, if you're going to try
to put me to it, I'll grant that the woman who is forgiven most
or the man, the servant who is forgiven most is the one that
will love the most. And he said unto him, thou hast
rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and
this woman never says anything during this whole transaction. And he turned to the woman and
said unto Simon, seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house,
thou gavest me no water from my feet. but she hath washed
my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in
hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil, thou didst
not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. For this gracious cause, I say
unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Now I've got a
question for me, and I've got a question for you. Have you
been forgiven little, or have you been forgiven much? Have you been forgiven little
or have you been forgiven much? Your love to Christ and my love
to Christ will be seen in our answer to that question, whether
little or much. Verse 48, and he said unto her,
thy sins are forgiven. You reckon she loved much? Thy
sins are forgiven. And you know, the Lord says that
to every one of his people. Thy sins are forgiven. And they that said it meet with
them, began to say within themselves, who is this that forgives sins
also? Who does he think he is? Forgiving
sins. Only God can do that. Who does
He think He is? And He said to the woman, Thy
faith has saved thee. Go in peace. Forgiven much. She loved much. Don't you want that person to
be you? Somebody who's been forgiven much. And you love much. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
3. Here the word is used again. Verse 19, wherefore, then serveth
the law. What's the purpose of the law?
If God doesn't say by the law, what is its purpose? It was added
because, and that's the word, it was added for this gracious
cause because of transgressions till the seed should come, that's
speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the promise was made. That's talking about the eternal
covenant of grace, that promise God made with Christ before time
began, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now, verse 18 says, For if the
inheritance, eternal glory, salvation, be of the law, if it's in some
way conditioned upon some act of obedience on your part, it's
no more a promise. But God gave it to Abraham by
promise. You see, Abraham staggered not
at the promise of God through unbelief. strong in faith giving
glory to God. Now what does salvation by promise
mean? Salvation by promise means when Christ agreed to be my surety
before time began, God promised I'm going to give him to you
forever and my salvation was accomplished then by God's promise. Outside of any personal subjective
experience, my salvation is according to the promise of God. It's not
because of any works that I do, it's because of the promise of
God. David put it this way, although my house be not so with God,
yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant. That's that promise.
Ordered in all things and sure, and this is all my salvation,
and all my desire, though he make it not to grow." That's
God's promise. Salvation by the promise of God. Not salvation by my words or
me responding to something, but salvation by the promise of God. That's all my salvation. That's
all my desire. Now, somebody thinks, if that's
the case, what's the purpose of the law? If I'm saved by the
promise of God that doesn't have anything to do with anything
I do, why did God give the law in the first place? Well, notice
the word in verse 19, it was added. It was added. It wasn't a part of the original
promise. It was added because of transgressions. Now, the best way I can think
of to illustrate this is In Galatians, I mean, in Genesis chapter two,
when God gave marriage, for this cause shall man leave his father
and mother and cleave unto his wife and the two shall be one
flesh. Do we read anything about divorce
there? No. You remember when the Lord
was speaking to some Pharisees and they said, Can a man put
away his wife for any reason? And they were speaking of divorce. And the Lord said, No, no. Divorce was given because of
the hardness of your hearts. Now, The fact of the matter is,
if there was no divorce, somebody might beat his wife to death.
The wife might murder her husband. I mean, it's because of the hardness
of man's hearts. That's the reason for that. It
was an add-on. It was an add-on. It didn't have
anything to do with the original promise. Now, the law was an
add-on because of transgressions. Moreover, Romans 520, moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound. That's the add-on because of
transgressions. Now you think of the Ten Commandments. I can't
think of the Ten Commandments without feeling my guilt. Anytime
I quote them, I can see where I've broken every one of them
all the time, and I haven't kept one of them once. No other God
before me? What have you not put before
God? Even today. No idolatry you've made and I've
made so many idols, so many idols. Remember. Don't take the Lord's
name in vain. Anytime I use the Lord's name,
there is a lack of reverence and a lack of fear and a lack
of of. Fear of his holy name. The commandment
concerning the Sabbath of rest, not to work. I've never rested
any time in and of myself. The commandment concerning honor
your mother and father. The commandment concerning a
respect for authority. All it says is guilty, you haven't
done it. Thou shalt not murder. Well, I've never physically killed
anybody that I know of, but how many people have I killed with
my gossip, with my tongue, with my murdering them by innuendo
or even by silence, not speaking when I should? Thou shalt not
commit adultery. Well, I've been faithful to my
wife up to this point, but I tell you this. Every one of us are
guilty before God of much sexual sin, much sexual sin. Somebody says I'm not. Don't
believe you. Don't believe you for a second. Thou shalt not
steal. Rob God of glory. Rob your employer
of doing your best, whatever it might be, thou shalt not steal.
I'm a thief. Thou shalt not bear false witness,
even when I tell the truth. I put a slant on it, and it's
not really the truth. I might be telling the truth,
but I'm saying it in such a way as to either make me look good
or somebody else look bad. I bear false witness. Thou shalt
not covet. When have I ever been perfectly
committed? I haven't kept one commandment. I'm talking about
right now. I'm not talking about before I was saved. I'm talking
about right now. I have not kept one commandment
one time. And neither have you. And if
you think you have, all you demonstrate is the blindness you have towards
God's holy law. You have no idea what it means.
Moreover, the law entered, and I'm feeling it right now. The
law entered. that the offense might abound. I've heard people say, well,
God gave the law to restrain men. Well, the Bible doesn't
say that. The Bible says the law entered
that the offense might abound and overflow to where you see
all there is, is sin. But I didn't quote the rest of
that verse in Romans 5 20, but where sin abounded. And this is the only place where
grace abounds. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. You find me a place where sin
abounds, I'll find you a place where grace does much more abound. You see the gracious cause of
the law? You're the, what a blessing to find out, to own before God
and to find out that you're nothing in and of yourself but sin. That's
it. You haven't kept one commandment
one time. Somebody says, well, I try to keep the law. You do
not. You do not. I mean, that's, I don't believe
it. Don't believe it for a second. When you break it, you know you're
breaking it. And well, I'm doing my best. That's no good. That's
no good. That doesn't measure up. Thank
God the law is this add-on to show us our need of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Turn to Ephesians chapter 3, verse 1. The word is also used,
I know we looked at verse 14, but it's also used here in verse
1, for this cause, this gracious cause, I, Paul, the prisoner
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if you've heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God which is given me to you, how that by
revelation he made known unto me the mystery. And the reason
he made known to me the mystery, I'm talking now, I'm not reading,
but this is, the reason he made known to me this mystery is not
so I'm the only one who'd know it, but I could communicate it
to you. For this gracious cause, I've
been made a steward of the mysteries of God. I have been taught the
gospel by Christ himself, not because of anything special about
me. I'm the chief of sinners, but that you might know these
mysteries. Remember when the Lord said to
his disciples, it's given to you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom. And everything in the Bible is
a mystery. I realize that. It's something
we would not have known had not God been pleased to make it known.
But there are mysteries specifically mentioned, like the mystery of
the resurrection. You know, I know what's going
to happen after I die. I'm going to turn to dirt, and then God's going
to raise me from the dead, and I'm going to be perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ, and I'm going to live eternally with
Him, forever beholding His face. What about the mystery of Christ
in you, the hope of glory? I know something about that.
I know what Paul meant when he said, I live, yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. What about the great mystery
of godliness? Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
justified in the Spirit. That means the Spirit testifies
to us that everybody He represented, He justified. He was seen of
angels. I love thinking about angels
watching the Lord, don't you, while He was here on earth? He
was seen of angels. He was preached to the Gentiles,
believed on in the world, and received up into glory. And what about the great mystery
of the church? This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. All marriage does
is illustrate the perfect relationship between Christ and his bride. I'm his wife. Every believer
is his wife, and what a husband he is. And this speaks of our
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. What a relationship. the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then there's the revelation
of the great harlot in Revelation chapter 17. You know, it has
been made known to me by the grace of God that religion is
nothing more than a harlot. I see that. I don't want to have
any part in it. I know it's corrupt. I know it's
evil. Human religion is ungodly. I see it. Most other people join
in and participate in it. How is it that I know that because
of this gracious cause? God may known this mystery to
me, that I may known this mystery to you. The mystery of the faith. The mystery of trusting Christ
only and not looking to my works. What a mystery that is. The mystery
between faith and law. God's made it known for that
gracious cause. Now one other. Turn with me to
Titus chapter 1. The book of Titus. Verse 5. For this cause. There's the word. for this gracious
cause. For this cause left I thee in
Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are
wanting or lacking, that are left undone and that are not
up to stuff. For this cause left I thee in
Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are
wanting and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed
thee." Every believer is complete in
Christ. You believe that? Wanting nothing. Holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight. As a matter of fact, Colossians
chapter 1 verse 12 says we're already right now fit. Let me
read it so you see exactly how it's stated. Colossians chapter
1 verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us
meet fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light. Now those ones in heaven, they don't have anything more
than what I have right now. That's how fit I am. Now, they
don't have the flesh that I still have. That's been obliterated.
They don't have to deal with that. But they don't have anything
more than what I have right now. And that's true of every believer.
You have a holy nature right now. And you know, you won't
be any more holy in heaven than you are right now. Now, that's
a hard thing to get a hold of. I realize that. We don't realize
just how much the flesh drags us down. But it's true. Holy. Unbelievable. done reprovable
in his sight." Now, that being said, do you sin? Do you commit sins? Do you commit the same sins over
and over and over? Now if you do, and you do, there's
something wanting. There's something lacking. I think of what James said when
he said, if any lack wisdom, how much wisdom do you have?
You have all the wisdom you need in Christ. He's made it into
his wisdom. Scripture says that. But do you
lack wisdom? Sure you do. Sure you do. Everybody in this room lacks
wisdom. But he sent Titus to address
that which is lacking. And that's what the preaching
of the gospel continually does. I have a lacking in my faith. If I had perfect faith, I wouldn't
sin anymore. If I had perfect faith, I would not sin anymore. There's a lacking in my faith.
There's lacking in your faith, too, isn't there? I have a lacking, a wanting in
my love. My love is nowhere near what
it should to be. I ought to love him much more
than I do, and I'm ashamed to say that. You know that he that's
been forgiven much loveth much. And when I read that, I think
I had been forgiven much and I don't love near enough. I know
I don't. And you don't either. And you
know that none of us will love Christ the way we ought to love
him. There's a lacking. My zeal lacks. It ought to be more. My striving
against sin, oh, how it lacks. How it lacks. My sincerity lacks. My confession of sin lacks. As a matter of fact, I know I've
never truly confessed my sin as I ought to. Pride, but always
deep down in my mind, I'm justifying myself. I'm vindicating myself. I've been put in such a situation
who could resist whatever it is I'm not resisting. My confession
lacks, my humility lacks. You know it's amazing that somebody
who's sinful to me is still self-righteous. That's amazing. It's amazing
to me that I still carry about such pride. And it's amazing
to me that while I say I'm the chief of sinners, if you agree
with me, I'm going to get mad at you. And I'm going to say
I'm as good as you are at any rate. That's lacking, isn't it? That's lacking. My contentment lacks. I still have covetousness. I'm still envious of people.
That's such a base emotion. But I can see somebody being
blessed and I envy them. I'd rather be me. Jealousy. I lack in. Obedience and being
merciful and being forgiving. But what a grace. That the Lord. Is going to. Set in order those
things that are wanting. He's going to do it through the
preaching of His gospel. And you're stuck with the flesh
for the rest of your life. I realize that. And it's not
going to go away until you die. But thank God for the gospel,
the preaching of the gospel that sets in order those things that
are wanting. There's plenty of things that
are wanting. In one sense, I'm completing Christ. And this is
not talking out of both sides of my mouth. This isn't saying
things that are contradictory. I am completing Christ. But as
long as I still sin, I'm wanting. And Paul did say, now is our
salvation nearer than when we believed. You see, I'm not plumb
safe yet. I won't be until I put away this
flesh and stand before His presence. But I love what David said. He
said, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied
when I awake in thy likeness and all before thee. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
gracious cause of the gospel. the grace that's in our son. How we thank you for the grace
that causes us to bow our knees. To be the father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer, our husband. Lord,
how we thank you for the grace that causes you to forgive those
whose sins are many. How we thank you for the gracious
revelation of the mystery. And Lord, we confess we're so
wanting in and of ourselves even now, but how we thank you that
you by your grace through your word will set in order that which
is wanting. And Lord, how we long for that
day when it's all set in order and we stand before your presence
without sin. Bless this message for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen.