Ephesians 5, and I want to begin
reading in verse 25. This is the place that you and
I have come to in our studies of this book. I've enjoyed this
book. I've been helped so much from
going through it with you, and I trust that the Lord has blessed
it to your heart as well. We looked the last time as we
studied in this The epistle at verse 25, just the first portion,
the first line, husbands love your wives. And we looked at
that and saw the three different loves, three different kinds
of loves that the husband should have for his wife. And today
we want to go on beginning there and go on. So let's read that
together. Ephesians chapter 5 and beginning
in verse 25. Husbands, love your wives. Husbands, love your wives. Wish
everybody loved their wives. Everybody ought to love their
wives. No excuse for not loving your wife, is there? It almost
humiliates us to have to be told this, doesn't it? Husbands, love
your wives. But you know there are so many
not loving their wives. We need to be reminded of this.
But husbands love your wives, look at this, as Christ also
loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify
and cleanse it with a 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, so ought men to love their wives as their
own bodies. He that loves his wife loves
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but he nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the
Lord the Church." Now, that will keep us busy this evening if
we look at a few things in these verses. In chapter 4, the Apostle
Paul had begun to instruct us on our attitude as Christians.
What our attitude should be as we live the Christian life in
this world. But the Apostle Paul is very
wise. He had a way of speaking to us,
such a wise way. I want you to turn back here
right quickly in chapter 4, and look here how he begins to teach
us of our attitude. The first thing he does when
he begins to teach us of the attitude that you and I should
have as Christians in this world, he reminds us of who we are. Who we are. A Christian is two people. And
we said when we looked at this, this was the difference between
a believer and a non-believer. A saved person and an unsaved
person. A saved person is two people.
He has this outward man and he has this inner man. An unsaved
man is just one person. This is his whole problem. He's
never been created new. He doesn't have this inner man.
Look here how Paul says this in chapter 4, and look in verse
22, Ephesians 4, 22, and that you put off concerning the farmer
conversation the old man which is corrupt. He is corrupt. It's not that he was corrupt,
he is corrupt. Wherever you find the old man,
he's corrupt, according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed
in the spirit of your mind." But look at this. A Christian
not only has this old man that he has to put off, and he has
to put down, and he has to keep under subjection, because we
all know what he'll do, don't we? Oh, I'll never do that. Now be careful. Be careful. How
many times have we been made to eat our word? I'll never do
that. And what happens? Keep this old
man beat down. The best you can do with him
is keep him crucified. Don't let him have his way because
he is corrupt. But look at this in verse 24.
And that you put on the new man. You mean we have a new man? Yes. How did we come about to have
this new man? Well, look at this, which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness. We've been created anew. If any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature. So what Paul begins
here to tell us, he reminds us that you're different than everybody
else. You're a saved person. You've
been created anew. You're in Christ, a new creature. And then what he tells us is
this, by the grace of God, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, by
his strength, now you can live the Christian life. He never
tells us to be something we're not. He first tells us what we
are. He tells us what God has made
us. And then he says, now go live that way. Go live in correspondence
with this new creature that's created in righteousness and
true holiness, this inner man. And look here in chapter 3 and
verse 16, what he says about this inner man. I love this. This is such a wonderful thought.
Look in chapter 3 and verse 16. And that He would grant you,
that God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to
be strengthened with might. by His Spirit. We are in the
inner man. See what he said? One of the
most discouraging things in this world is when you and I as Christians
get it in our heads that God expects us to live the Christian
life apart from the Holy Spirit's strength and His aid and His
help. It cannot be done. So he tells
us here, he tells us here, here's the way we live the Christian
life. Here's the way we have this Christian attitude. It's
by the strength of the Holy Spirit working in us to will and to
do of His good pleasure. So he first tells us what we
are, that we're new creatures, and then he goes on in chapter
4 and beginning in verse 25. You don't have to turn there.
We won't read that. But you remember when we studied that? a Christian
attitude, and it all comes down to the attitude, doesn't it? It's not just reframing from
a few things. It's the whole attitude. What's
her attitude about lying? What's her attitude about cheating
people? What's her attitude about being dishonest? What's her attitude
about corrupt communication coming from her mouth? What's her attitude
about stealing? He deals with all those things.
Be kind and tender hearted. Walk after this new creature.
Be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.
He tells us what we are. We are new creatures. And then
He tells us to live our attitude. But He does more than that. And
I want you to look in chapter 5. He does more than just reminding
us who we are. That we are new creatures in
Christ. We have this new man. We are new creatures. But he
tells us here in chapter 5 in verse 1 and 2, he tells us something
else, and this is a wonderful thing. He sets forth the Lord
Jesus Christ as our example and our motivating force. He says, I want your attitude
as Christians to be like Christians. I want you to live like Christians.
But he said to do that, you not only need to be created in Christ
Jesus in you, but you need to look to Him as your example and
as your motivating force. If I keep hammering on you to
do this and do that, you better do this and you need to do that.
After all, I'll discourage you to death. But if I tell you,
look to Christ, use Him as your example. If I want you to give,
give of yourself and give of your substance, you know what
I'm going to tell you. You know the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Though He was rich, yet for your
sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be
rich. What an example of giving! Let Him be your motivating force.
And here He tells us this in chapter 5, and look in verse
1 and 2. Be you therefore, since you have
this new creature, Since God has made you new, be you therefore
followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, and look at
this, as Christ also hath loved us. Oh, what a motivating force
Christ is. You want to improve on Jesus
Christ as a motivating force. You want to walk in love? Then
look how He did. Look how He loved. And Paul did
the same thing here in our text. But I read to you in verse 25,
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. As Christ loved the church. Husbands, love as Christ. He's our example in love. He's
our motivating force in love. Love as Christ loved the church. Love your wives. It's hard to
love my wife. It's not hard to love our wives.
It's not hard to love our wives. It's hard sometimes to be patient
with our wives. It's hard sometimes to be tender
and kind to our wives. But you know what makes it difficult
to do that? You know what makes it difficult
to be kind and tender-hearted and long-suffering and patient
with our wives? You know what makes that difficult?
We don't love them as Christ loved the church. That's our
whole problem, isn't it? Love is not difficult. It's not
hard to love anybody. Love is not something we muster
up. Love is a grace of the Holy Spirit. That's the first fruit, is it
not? The fruit of the Spirit is love.
The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. It's not difficult to love. If
it's difficult to love, we need to examine to see if it's the
love of Christ in us. It's not something we muster
up. It's a fruit of the Holy Spirit Himself. Listen to this. When we love, everything else
becomes much easier. Because, listen to this, love
suffers long. Love is kind. Love bears all
things. Love endures all things. Love never fails. Many of these other things are
difficult, but we lack love. First and foremost, we should
love as Christ loved. Then I'm telling you, everything
else will take its place, dear husband. It'll take its place. I've noticed when I've got short
with my wife, when I've become impatient with my wife, when
I start finding fault with my wife, here's what I've noticed.
I've ceased to love her as I should. And these other things become
difficult things. Love. First love foremost. Then everything else will take
its place. Do you think that it's ever been
difficult for Christ to love His church. Do you think He's
ever had a hard time loving His church? No, He hasn't. He hasn't. He never has in the
past. He doesn't have difficulty loving
her now. And He never will have difficulty
loving her. Love is not difficult. It's not difficult to love people.
The Lord Jesus says this, I will love them Freely. That word means without seeing
any cause in them. Freely. I love them because I
love them. The cause is found in me. What was it in us that first
caused Christ to love us? What cause do we find in ourselves
now for Him to love us? Our wives have given us much
greater cause to love them than we've given Christ to love us. And our love for our wives has
never required us to give for them what Christ's love required
for Him to give for us. What do we give our wives, brothers
and sisters? Some of our time. Not much of
that sometimes, do we? A little consideration. A little
long-suffering. We don't give our wives much,
do we? It doesn't cost us much to love our wives. What did it
cost Christ to love His church? Everything. Everything. In verse 25, He loved the church
and gave Himself for it. And what was she when he gave
himself for her? What was she? The Scripture tells
us plainly this. He gave himself for her when
she was without strength, when she was ungodly and even the
enemy of God. Listen to Romans 5. When we were
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. When we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of His Son. You and I are told
to love our wives, who so often is worthy of our love. But Christ
loved the Church when she was wholly unworthy of His love. He could never have married His
love. Christ never gave Himself to
the Church's goodness, did He? but for the church's badness.
He gave himself for our sins. He took my sins and my sorrows
and made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. Husbands, love your wives like
that. Love your wives like that. If
you can't see anything in your wife to love her, why did you
marry her? I bet there's something there.
The problem is probably in here with you. Love your wives as Christ loved
the church. And if you can't see anything that married your
love, then love her like Christ loved the church. It didn't marry
His love either. See what Paul is teaching us
here. Love your wives unconditionally. Stop looking for their merit
so you can love. Stop looking for their service
and faithfulness. Stop looking to them at all.
Love them as Christ loved the church. And if the wife would
reverence her husband, and the husband would love their wife,
they'd shut the divorce courts down. There'd be no divorce courts. People would have to go get them
a job. Divorce lawyers, Shannon, would have to go get them a job,
wouldn't they? And probably make a lot less money than they made
off some people. Love your wives as Christ loved the church. And love her foremost. And love
her first. Let love go first. Always let
love go first. And all of these other things
will follow. When you get impatient, I tell you what to examine. Examine
your heart. You don't love her as you should.
Your love has gotten cold. And when love gets cold, it's
difficult to be long-suffering. It's difficult not to snap and
want to fuss and get in the last word. Just stop and say, wait
a minute, sweetheart. I'm going to the bedroom. I'm
going to pray. Lord, give me grace to love my
wife. That's what he said. Now, in
these few verses here that I've read to you, Paul does something
that's amazing. He does something that's absolutely
amazing. He shows us the eternal purpose
of God concerning the church. This is amazing. You'd think
that Paul was going to get off here on these practical things,
and he doesn't. But he can't get away from Christ.
That's his whole problem, so to speak. He'll go to try to
teach us on giving, and he comes right back to Christ and His
cross. He goes to teach us on husband, love, and the church,
and he comes back to Christ and His love and the cross. And that's
what he does in these places. And I want to show you these
four or five things right quickly that he does here. And He teaches
us the purpose of Christ concerning His church, and He begins, as
I've been saying, with His love for the church. Christ loved
the church. He loved the church. Now, I'm going to get just a
little bit narrow here. If you'll bear with me, I'm going
to get just a little bit narrow. He loved the church. Now, some want to dwell on the
negative aspect of this. That's their business. If they
want to say he loves the church exclusively and nobody else,
and they want to dwell on the negative aspect of that, everybody
will have to be persuaded in their own mind. But we must say
this. And we will say this, that when
he says here, Christ loved the church, we must say this, He
loves none. Christ loves nobody like He loves
His church. He loves nobody like He loves
His elect people, His chosen people, that make up His church. If somebody wants to say Christ
loves everybody the same, Christ loves everybody without exception,
you won't prove it by this verse. This verse gets very narrow,
doesn't it? This verse says there's a specific
people in this world that Jesus Christ has set his everlasting
love upon. And who is it? It's his church. I tell you, I've got a love for
that wife, my wife. That woman there, that I have
for no other person in this world, she is my wife. She is my wife. I better not love anybody like
I love her. Christ has a love for his bride, for his church,
like no other. It's unconditional, it's everlasting,
it's unending. He loved the church. Ain't that wonderful? He loves
her with an everlasting love. And you know something? We tell
men this. Don't we tell people this? That
if you're not in Christ, then you cannot believe He loves you. Don't we hear this? This is one
thing that's got us in the problem that we're facing today. So many
people going around and telling everybody, God loves you. God
loves you. I love you and God loves you.
We've heard that, telling rebels that, that hate God, that trample
under feet the Son of God, and yet people come up to Him and
say, God loves you. Without seeing whether He does
or not, I'll tell you this, you can't believe that until you
find yourself in Jesus Christ. Now, ain't that so? There's where
the love of God is. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we can't know that love and
we can't believe it until the Holy Spirit makes it known unto
us. And I don't think He makes it
known to rebels. It's when we bow to Him and He's
revealed to our understanding, then we say with Paul, He loved
me. And He gave Himself for me. Who did He love? Who does He
love? The Church. The Church. And I'm confident with narrowing
it down to there and leaving it there. And if you want to
know the love of Christ, then find yourself in the Church.
Find yourself in the Body of Christ. And then you'll say,
oh my soul, amazing love, how can it be? that thou, my God,
hast died for me." And now Paul goes on. He does his stuff there,
you see. He says Christ loved us, and
what's the next step? He gave himself for us. See what I meant when I said
love must go before everything else. First and foremost, love. Love. He loved the church. And what did He do? He gave Himself
for it. One of the things that has a
tendency to tender the hardest heart in this world, when you
see what took Jesus Christ to the cross, was His love. I tell you, there have been some
hard-hearted people that have been tendered by this. You see
the Son of God hanging on the cross of Calvary? What put Him
there? Why did He go there? Greater
love hath no man than this. that a man lay down his life
for his friends. Love. He loved us. He loved us. It has nothing to
do with our deserving it, our being worthy of it. He did it
right in the face of our sins. He loved us and gave himself. He gave himself for us. But notice verse 26 now. He doesn't
stop there. Look what else he does. Look
what else he does in verse 26. See, the first thing we find,
he loved the church. He gave himself for it. Ain't this particular? People
wonder where we get particular redemption. He gave himself for
it. For it. For it. Do you want to know what was
purposed by the death of Christ? Right here tells us, doesn't
it? Look in verse 26. In order, that's what that word
might means. When we use might, sometimes
we use it as perhaps or maybe. But the meaning of this verse,
in order to sanctify and cleanse it with a washing of water by
the Word. What was the purpose behind the
death of Christ? Did it even have a purpose? Was
it just an example of love? Was that all it was? Oh, how
kind. Look how kind the Savior was.
All of that is true. But what was the major purpose
behind the death of Christ in order that he might sanctify
and cleanse her? The death of Christ was on purpose
to save the Church. The Church was lost. The church
was in sin. His purpose by his death was
to save, to sanctify and cleanse the church. One person might
say this, that Christ gave himself for all people without any exception. But what does this verse say?
He gave himself for this purpose, to sanctify and to cleanse. How can we find out when we look
around us in our lifetime If Christ died for a particular
individual, you know what's going to happen to that individual?
He's going to be saved. He's going to be sanctified,
isn't he? He's going to be cleansed. Why? That's the purpose behind
the death of Christ. He gave himself for it in order
to sanctify and cleanse it. That's the purpose. That's the
purpose. It's so sad today, it just saddens
my heart when we hear people and preachers, and I don't mean
to be negative about this, but when we hear so many talking
about that Christ's death was just a hit or miss. That He intended
so many good things by His death, but we're just not for sure if
those things are going to come to pass or not. But this verse
tells us here the purpose of Christ's death. Why did He die?
in order to sanctify and cleanse the church. That's his purpose.
We have these two things here, these two words. First of all,
sanctify and then to cleanse. Sanctify, that word means to
consecrate, to appropriate to sacred uses, to set apart, to
dedicate or to devote. Holy to God. Now, that's a big
definition for such a little word, isn't it? It means to set
apart something holy for God's use. Holy for His glory. Holy for His pleasure. That's
what the word sanctify means. Christ gave Himself to the church
to set her apart holy for the worship and use and glory of
God. You remember under the ceremonial
law, When Aaron, God called Aaron to be the high priest and his
sons, and they set up the tabernacle, and they made all the vessels
of the temple, and the scripture says they consecrated those things. They sanctified those things,
which simply means they were all set apart to be used in the
worship and service of God. They weren't to be used for any
other purpose than that. You remember when Nebuchadnezzar,
or when Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar it was, wasn't it? The king of
Babylon came in and they took all the treasures of the house
of the Lord and all the vessels and he carried them off into
Babylon. And his grandson, Belshazzar, called for those vessels and
drank wine in them. Remember what God did to him?
Remember God killed him? He had defiled those vessels
that had been sanctified. He had been set aside for the
use and glory of God. That is the same concept here.
Christ died for the church to set her aside. To consecrate
her to God for His worship and for His glory. Do you want me
to give you a good example of what it means to be sanctified?
It's one of the best examples in the scriptures that I've ever
seen, and it's probably going to amaze you when I show you
what I'm talking about. You want me to show you the best
example that I've found in the Bible for sanctification, for
consecration to God? You turn your Bibles with me
to Isaiah chapter 6. Look in Isaiah chapter 6. We
talk about being sanctified. being consecrated. Well, look
here in Isaiah chapter 6. And look in verse 1. You will not get any more consecrated
than this. Now look at this. Look in Isaiah
chapter 6 and look at verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord. That's a pretty good vision,
ain't it? You see the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'm telling you,
that's going to have an effect on you. And look how he saw Him. Set Him upon a throne. A ruling, sovereign Christ. And look at this. He was high
and lifted up. And He's trained. You've seen
a bride. come down the aisle with her
train, following along, and you're amazed at the beauty and the
glory of that train. His train filled the temple. And look at this in verse 2,
And above it stood the seraphims, those holy angels, I imagine.
Each one had six wings, with two he covered his face, and
with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly. And
one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
at host. The whole earth is full of His
glory, and the post of the doors began to shake. They moved at
the voice of Him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. And then I said, Woe is me, for I am undone." Now you
say, Bruce, what in the world does that have to do with consecration?
What in the world does that have to do with being separated for
the worship and glory of God? Just this, brothers and sisters,
there are very few people who see this. There are very few
people who see themselves like he did. I am undone. When God is going to set a man
aside and sanctify him, the first thing he does is let him see
the Lord. that he's holy, holy, holy, and
the next thing he does is let him see himself. I'm undone. And I tell you what, you just
set that person aside. You won't find many people like
that. I saw the Lord and he's holy. I saw myself and I'm a
miserable wretch. And then look what happens. I
am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims
unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken
with tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth,
and he said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity
is taken away, and thy sin is purged. Also, I heard the voice
of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And then said I, Here am I, send
me." There it is. There is your consecration. There
is your sanctification. Here is a man who is set aside,
and he does not care about anything. The favor of man, the riches
of man, he has seen the glory, and he has seen himself. And
that separated that man. And if you've never seen that
by the grace of God, you're not sanctified. You're not consecrated. What an example of consecration. And you'll never be the same.
You'll never be the same. And the Lord Jesus gave himself
for the church in order to sanctify it. Sanctify it. You see this
all through the Old Testament. You see these beautiful, beautiful
examples of that. Remember, Joe? I've heard of
you. I've heard of you. I've heard
of you all my life, by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see
you. I see you. And what did he say? What was his whole attitude? Woe is me. I abhor myself. I abhor myself. There is a sanctified
man. He thinks rightly of God. He
thinks rightly of Christ. He thinks rightly of himself.
He is a sanctified man. He is set apart. And he won't
worship anybody but the true and living God. And he casts
contempt upon himself. You folks are so fidgety. Everybody
is just looking at every little old thing. Don't be so fidgety.
I'm not Don Porter. I'm not going to jump on to you
if something happens. Relax and listen, would you? You're just
so fidgety. Bless your hearts. Relax just
a little bit. I'll finish pretty quickly, okay? First of all,
then, he gave himself to the church in order to sanctify it. And what's the next word? He
deals with these two things. Sanctify and secondly, cleanse
it. Cleanse it. This word, cleanse,
means to purge. by purifying, to purge, purge,
to cleanse it, to purge it, to purge it. All these things suggest
that the church was sinful, doesn't it? If she wasn't sinful, why
did she need to be purged? And purge, I love that word,
purge. My son works in piping. He's
a pipe fitter and a pipe welder. And when they work, they work
in food processing sometimes, and they have to put He welds
this stainless, it's a high grade of stainless because they have
food running to it. Larry's son and daughter-in-law
works there where he's welded one stainless pipe inside another
stainless pipe. And he said when he's finished
welding, they have to purge that pipe. You know something about
that. Turns into air conditioning and
stuff like that. You have to purge all the impurities out
of that line. That's what this word means.
It means to purge out all impurities. Purge. To purge. And there are
two cleaning agents that Paul mentions here that the Lord uses
to purge. Notice this. He says here in
verse 26, that in order to sanctify and cleanse it, he mentions these
two things. With a washing of water. The
washing of water. That's a cleaning act. But what
in the world does he mean, the washing of water? Let me give
you three common interpretations of this passage, the washing
of water. Some people say this. Some people
say this is talking about water baptism. That this is literally,
water literally purges the soul from sin. Some say this. That this is water baptism. And
it only symbolizes something else that purges our sin. And
others say, and I think, at least at this point in my lifetime,
this is what I think about this verse of Scripture here. It has
nothing to do with water baptism. It has nothing to do with literal
water at all. But when he says that he cleanses
her with a washing of water, this is just a scriptural way
of speaking. You often find this in Scripture. It talks about the cleansing
of water. But it is not talking about literal
water at all. Let me read you one or two passages.
In Ezekiel 36, verse 25, don't turn there, I've got it wrote
down here for you. I will sprinkle clean water upon
them, and they shall be clean. From all their filthiness and
all their idols will I cleanse them. What with? with clean water. Now, the Campbellites would tell
you and I that that's water baptism. If that's so, they should believe
in sprinkling, not immersion. Do they believe in sprinkling,
Larry, or immersion? Immersion. Well, that teaches sprinkling.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you. But what if that's not talking
about water at all? What if that's just the scriptural
way of speaking, like he says in Titus chapter 2, by the washing
of regeneration? It's not speaking of water baptism
at all, but in regeneration there's a cleansing, there's a washing. But what is it that does the
washing? Is it really water? Or is it
something else? Well, listen to this in Hebrews
chapter 10, verse 22. Having that high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed in pure water." There that water
is again. Do we go out all the time just
finding some pure water to wash our bodies in? It's not talking
about water. And what can sprinkle the hearts? Well, he tells us that in Hebrews
9, 13, 14. If the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an
unhelper, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifying to the purifying
of the flesh, listen to this, how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience. There that word is. cleanse him,
that he may cleanse it with the washing of water. But it's not
water at all. It's the blood of Christ that
purges your conscience. When we take a shower or a bath,
if we have dirt on our bodies, especially grease, you can't
even get it off unless you use some soap or grease remover. Water cannot reach our conscience.
The only one thing that can reach the conscience and cleanse it
is the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ, God's Son,
cleanseth us. Cleanseth us from all sin. But he mentions something else
here, doesn't he? Here's another cleaning agent that he mentions.
Look at this. By the washing of water, by the
Word, By the Word. How does the Lord Jesus cleanse
His church? By His Word. By His Word. Listen to John 15 and 3. Now
you are clean. Now you are clean through the
Word that I have spoken unto you. What is it that cleanses
a young man's ways? David asked. What is it that
cleanses a young man's way? By taking heed according to thy
word. You are clean through the word.
And you know what? You're clean because he said
it. Ain't that wonderful? Ain't that a wonderful thought?
Just because he said it, it makes you clean. When he said, if we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us just because he said it. That makes it so. And when you believe it, you're
clean. Oh, haven't you ever felt so
filthy in your conscience? Your conscience felt so defiled,
and you'd sinned, and you'd fallen. But you took this precious promise
from His Word, and there it was. You just believed it. And your
conscience was purged. Your conscience was clean. His
Word. His Word. By the washing of water
by the Word. And you know something, this
process begins in regeneration. When you hear the truth and believe
it, that is where that process of cleansing begins. And it goes
on all your life. All your life. Cleansing you
by His Word. Look at the consummation in verse
27. Look at this. See what I said
when this teaches us the eternal purpose of Christ's concern in
His church? It begins with the love of Christ in verse 25. It
goes on to the death of Christ, redeeming us by His blood. Then in verse 26, and here's
the purpose behind that death, to sanctify us, to consecrate
us to God, to cleanse us from all our sins, to wash us. And
now look at the consummation of that purpose. Here's that
word again. to present us to himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it
should be holy and without blemish before him." There is the consummation. There is the fulfillment of that
purpose. That he may present it to himself. When you and I have a wedding
down here, the father usually gives the bride away, doesn't
he? Or some friend will give the bride away. It's not so with
Christ's bride. He's going to give her to himself.
He himself shall present her to himself. Nobody else is worthy
to do that, Glenda. Nobody else is worthy to prepare
and is able to prepare her To present her to Himself. A glorious, a glorious. I can't even enter into this.
I'll be honest with you. I just want to read you two or three
scriptures in closing. Look in Revelation chapter 21.
That He may present her to Himself a glorious church. Let me read you two or three
verses of scripture. Look in Revelation, look in chapter 21. And look at this, a glorious
church. Look at this, Revelation 21,
and look in verse 1 and 2. I saw a new heaven and a new
earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away,
and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared,
prepared, as a bride adorned, decked out, dressed up for her
husband. That's the church. Now look over
in verse 9. And there came one unto me of
the seven angels, which had the seven vows full of the seven
last plagues. And he talked with me, saying,
Come here, and I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the
Spirit to a great and high mountain. Ain't that a wonderful way to
describe heaven? A great and high mountain. That's why no
trouble can get there. It's too high for them to come
up there. And he showed me that great city, the brightest, lacunar
city, the church. Holy Jerusalem, descending out
of heaven from God. And look at this. Having the
glory of God. The glory of God. The church is being so conformed
to the image of Christ that someday when you look at the church,
you know what you're going to say? Well, there's the glory
of God. That's what she's got on her.
Who put the glory of God on her? Her husband. He prepared her. He sanctified her. He cleansed
her. He's going to present her to
Himself, and she's going to be glorious. You just get a very,
very little glimpse now. I look out over you, bless your
hearts, dear children of God, I don't see the great glory of
God upon you very much. Just in your love, in your faith,
in your giving, in your prayers, in your faithfulness. But someday,
someday, when He presents the church to Himself, You'll see
her then when he's finished with her. And she'll look just like
him. Glorious. Glorious. One more
passage and we'll close. Look in Psalms chapter 45. Look
here in verse 7. Let's begin here in verse 7. Look at this. We know I want to read this because
it shows you who is speaking here. Hebrews chapter 1 tells
us this is the Son of God speaking. Thou lovest righteousness, and
hatest iniquity, wickedness. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with oil of gladness above thy fellows. And
thy garments smell of myrrh, thy garments smell of myrrh,
and alluse and case thee out of the ivory palaces whereby
they have made thee glad. were among thy honorable women,
upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughter, and consider
and incline your ear, for get also thine own people and thy
father's house. So shall the king greatly desire
thy beauty, for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. And the
daughter of Tyre shall shall be there with a gift, even the
rich among the people shall entreat thy favor. The king's daughter
is all glorious within. Her clothing is a wrought work. She shall be brought unto the
king in raiment of needlework. The virgins her companions that
follow her shall be brought unto thee." Thy gladness, with gladness
and rejoicing, shall they be brought, and they shall enter
into the king's palace." All glorious, all glorious. Not having
spot, he said, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. We know something about spots
and wrinkles, don't we? Have you ever looked at yourself
in the mirror lately? Real close where you can see
yourself. What do you see? Spots and wrinkles. You know
what that comes with? Old age. I've not always looked
like this. There was a time when my countenance
was so fair and my skin so smooth, but now I've got spots and I've
got wrinkles. Some of you have got two or three
chins. Ain't it the truth? You know
what he said? There will be no spots. There
will be no wrinkles. You know why? There will be no
aging. You will have the beauty of your youth. You will never
age again. No. No spots or wrinkles or any
such thing. No pains? No such thing. No sorrow
of heart? No such thing. No tears? No such thing. No death? No such
thing. Nothing. But holiness. He shall present her to Himself. A holy church. A holy church. You know anything about that?
Oh, we know so little. Let's be honest with ourselves.
Brothers and sisters, what do we talk about holiness? What
do we know about it? Oh, we long to be holy. Make
us holy, Lord. Make us like You. In that day,
we'll know something about what it means to be holy. Never sin
again. Never again have to go to the
Lord sobbing, saying, Lord, cleanse me. I've sinned again. Never
have to go apologize to a neighbor because you've had evil thoughts
and evil words. Never sinning again. Sin and
sins will molest no more. Never again. Holy, holy, holy. Oh, if you're in the church,
brothers and sisters, if you're in the church tonight, glorious
things are purposed for you. There's coming a time when you'll
shine as the sun in His strength. You'll be as the angels of God
in heaven. You'll know no need. You'll be
holy as the Lord is holy. Oh, I want to be in that church,
don't you? I want to be in His body. God grant that all of us
be there. Let's pray.