Okay, we're returning back now
to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. And this
evening we'll just look at that 7th verse, 7th verse of Ephesians
chapter 1. In whom we, we, gonna look at
just each word almost. In whom we, who's he talking
about? We're talking about those that
he has described in verse 3, 4, and 5. In whom we have right
now deliverance. Deliverance. Freedom. Liberty. Redemption. Redemption through
the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through His blood. His blood. Who is this one who
died? In whom we have redemption. And
we have the forgiveness of sins. All sins. Some sin. All sin. Original. Actual. Omission. Commission. You name it. The believer. There's
no charge against those in Christ Jesus. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God the elect? It is God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? Christ has already died, paid
the debt, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of His glorious, glorious grace. His glorious, glorious grace. Now, notice in verse 6 for a
moment, "...to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. He hath accepted us. He chose us in Christ. He predestinated
us in Christ. And He has accepted us in Christ. Our choosing, our predestination,
our acceptation is said to be before the world began wherein
He hath made us. Already done. Already done. Before Adam sinned, the eternal
surety, the Lord Jesus Christ stood, and we were and we are
accepted in Him, eternally in Him. He's called the surety of
the Better Testament. He's the surety of the Everlasting
Covenant. He's a Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. Before Adam sinned, the Lord
Jesus Christ stood. And it's all to the praise of
the glory of His grace, not only to the praise of His glory, but
to the glory of His grace. Notice, if He will, in Ephesians
2, verse 7, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Now, His grace is glorious. His grace is sovereign. But notice
he adds this word, the riches of His grace. Now what all is
involved in the riches of His grace? As he says down in verse
7, we have all this according to the riches of His grace. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. I'm reminded of what David said
in Psalm 115. Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto
us. But unto thy name do we give
glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake." All honor
and praise and glory goes unto God Almighty, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Now in verse 7, he talks about
our glorious Redeemer. and the glorious redeeming work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Sovereign Lord has not only
predestinated the end of all things and the goal of our salvation
to be one with Christ and to be just like Him, all to the
praise of His glory, but He's also predestinated the means
to arrive at that end, all to the praise of the glory. Paul
deals with the means of our redemption, found here in verse 7, as they
were purchased, as we were purchased and accomplished by Christ in
His redeeming work. The Lamb slain before the foundation
of the world, but what happened in the fullness of time, of the
time, he told me one time, what happened in the fullness of the
time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman. made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law. You see, what
God has purposed in eternity might come to pass in time. No,
I don't think so. What God has purposed in eternity
shall come to pass in time. God decreed the Lamb to be slain,
and in time the Lamb came and was slain to accomplish what
God purposed." You see, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is no
afterthought. Oh God, Him being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, You've taken with wicked
hands and crucified and slain the Lord of glory. God planned
the cross. He planned the cross from all
eternity. Not only that, God presided over the cross. No one
took Him and took His life. He laid down His life. He was a willing substitute for
His people. God planned the cross. God presided
over the cross. Remember Pilate said, don't you
know, saying to the Lord Jesus, don't you know I have power to
crucify you or, you know, I have power to let you go? And the
Lord corrected him, said, you don't have any power over me
except that which my father has given to you. God planned the
cross, God presided over the cross, and God participated in
afflicting his dear son. I said this, and I stick by it,
It's not what wicked men did at Calvary's cross. They drove
the nails. They put that spear in his side. They whipped him and crushed
him with that crown of thorns. But it's not what men did at
Calvary. That's not our hope. It's what
God did. That's our hope. Isaiah 53, verse
10, it pleased God to bruise him. You know what pleased old
Pilate? Another Jew's dead. You know
what pleased the Pharisees? They went out and took counsel
how they might destroy him. It pleased the Pharisees. It
pleased those Roman soldiers to kill another Jew. But it wasn't
what they did. It's what God did there around
Calvary's cross. God made Him sin for us. They couldn't have anything to
do with that. That imputation of guilt, that
imputation of sin, God made Him sin for us who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. You see, it's
God's cross. God planned it, God foreordained
it, and in time, what happened? It came to pass. Therefore, we
read, "...in whom we have redemption." to his blood. I've heard foolish
men say, well, if I'd been there, I'd stopped him. Oh, no. Oh,
no. You couldn't stop this. An army
of demons couldn't stop this. Remember what the Lord said to
Peter, put up your sword. Don't you know I could call twelve
legions of angels and, you know, these Roman soldiers are nothing.
Oh, no. He had to go to Calvary. He said,
I must I must go to Jerusalem. I must be betrayed. I must die. And I must be raised again in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sin according to the riches of His mercy in Christ Jesus. No wonder the song of glory is
unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood. To Him be all the honor and glory
and praise both now and forever. makes us to cry out unto God,
thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift of mercy and grace unto
us. Now, in verse 7, I found six
solid facts. I'm going to call them facts.
You can call them doctrine if you want to. You can call them
truths if you want to. But six solid, indisputable,
facts about the redemption we have in Christ Jesus. And it
gives us a description of our salvation we have in Christ.
Here's number one. We see who bought us. Who bought us? Look at verse
7. In whom? In whom? Who bought
us? Who bought us? It's just not
that some Jewish man died. He was a Jew. Lion of the tribe
of David. Lion of the tribe of Judah, rather. Root of David. House of David.
But it's just not that some Jew died. This one who died is God
Almighty. He's the Lion of the tribe of
David. Lion of the tribe of Judah. In
whom we have redemption. The elect are chosen in the Beloved
before the foundation of the world. the elect are accepted
in the Beloved before the foundation of the world, and most surely
we are redeemed in the Beloved." Who is that? He says we're accepted
in the Beloved. In whom? In the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one in whom we have redemption. The greatness of our redemption
is enhanced by the greatness of our kinsman Redeemer. He is
the kinsman redeemer. He is God our Savior who bought
us with His own blood. He is a God-man mediator who
bought us. We are bought with a price. God
bought the church with His own blood. In whom? In whom? If you ever, by His grace, get
settled in your mind who the Lord Jesus Christ is. What He
did will have no, you'll have no argument in what He did if
you know who this One is that's dying for the sin of His people. Because He is God Almighty, He
cannot fail to do all that He set out to do. As a matter of
fact, He said on Calvary 3, it's almost done. No, He said it's
accomplished, it's finished. It's not mission defeated, not
mission failed, it's mission, not impossible, mission completed. Mission executed to the delight
of God Almighty who said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased. You see, we have a kinsman redeemer
that fulfills all the legal requirements of a near kinsman who was a redeemer. You know, remember the story
of Boaz. in the book of Ruth. He's the kinsman-redeemer. And
he is a type and picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Three things
were required of the kinsman-redeemer. First of all, he had to be near
kin. He had to be near kin. And certainly
that is true of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is near kin to us. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld his glory." Find
Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. Boaz was near
Ken to Naomi. And that's family. And Ruth was
part of that family. She said, your God, my God, where
you go, I'll go. Hebrews 2 verse 14, For as much
then as his children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy
him that had power of death." That is the devil. He defeated
Satan, put away our sin. "...that he might destroy him,"
and look at verse 15, "...and deliver them." Them! Behold I and the children that
God hath given me, it says in verse 13. And deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject unto bondage. So a near kinsman had to be near
kin. And the Lord Jesus Christ, He's
near kin to us. He was a real man born of a woman
But begotten of God, conceived of God, He had no sin, knew no
sin, and He did no sin. He's virgin-born, but He is near
kin to me. Had to be to be my Redeemer.
Secondly, the requirement of the kinsmen Redeemer is this,
He had to be willing to redeem. What if He's near kin and He
doesn't want anything to do with me? Well then, He's not obligated
to redeem me. But old Boaz, He was in love
with Ruth. And He bought her. He bought
her. And the Lord Jesus Christ, He's
a willing Redeemer. The Lord Jesus Christ willingly
came, and He willingly laid down His life for His covenant people. He said, I'm the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep. Thirdly,
our kinsman and Redeemer had to be near kin to us. He had
to be willing to redeem. What's the third one? He had
to be able to. Had to be able to redeem. And certainly that's true of
our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our true Lord who is able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing
He ever lives to make intercession for us. Aren't you glad He is
a willing, able, kinsman, redeemer? In whom? In whom? In whom? That's the first point.
Who redeemed us? The Lord Jesus Christ of which
the Scripture emphatically said, He can't fail. Isaiah 42, verse 4. Look it up. Not now. But you look it up. I love that Scripture. He can't
fail. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Now, in whom? Secondly, here's
the second point. Now here's where a lot of people
have a problem. Not believers, but a lot of religious folks
have a problem right here. The object of redemption. The
object of... Who did he intend to redeem?
Did he intend to redeem all the sins of all men without exception? Well, if he tried to do that,
he failed. But my friend, it says in the
text here, in whom we have redemption. So for whom did the Lord Jesus
Christ die? Well, it's described, those people
are described, we are described as believers, as described as
according as He hath chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world, having predestinated us under the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved. Now, if you read this in its
context, and if you're honest, you'll have to come to the conclusion
that he's talking about a people that are chosen, predestinated,
and accepted in the Beloved. We call that particular redemption. We call that definite atonement. We call that an effectual, powerful
saving. redeeming work of the Lord, in
whom we, we, we, we have redemption. All those
chosen, predestinated and adopted, accepted, are redeemed by His
precious blood." Now, the Scripture is extremely clear on this point. Particular redemption. He delivered
us from the curse of the law. Where is that? He delivered us
from the curse of the law. Being made a curse for us. We've
studied that in the book of Galatians, right? Talking about those covenant
people. This is particular redemption.
Now listen to this scripture. Isaiah 53, 8. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. Matthew 1, 21. Call his name
Jesus. He shall save his people from
their sin. All sin. In John 10, 15. It declares, I am the Good Shepherd. Our Lord declares, I am the Good
Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Hebrews
2.18, Wherefore in all things it behoove him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful, faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement, reconciliation,
But the fruit of that and really the word in the original is atonement
for the sin of the people. Definite article. The people. None for whom Christ died will
perish. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ. Seeing he paid their debt, he
that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
all those predestinated, How shall I not with him also freely,
I like that word, freely, justified freely by his grace through,
there's the means, through the redemption of our Lord Jesus
Christ. None for whom Christ died will
perish, seeing he paid their debt. Now I want to show you
something that might help you. I want you to turn to John chapter
3 verse 16. Now everybody, when you talk
about particular redemption, they want to scream to high heavens,
well, what about this? What about that? What about this
verse? What about this word, world?
Wow, it's a big word, world. John 3, 14. I'm telling you this
just to help you, because it helped me. Look at verse 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so, The Son of Man must be lifted up. He's talking about His crucifixion.
Remember now, He's addressing Nicodemus. He's addressing here
this religious Jew. He knew something about what's
recorded in Numbers 21, how the people were bitten, and how Moses
was instructed to raise that serpent up on a pole. And all
those who were bitten and looked to that symbol, symbolizing Christ
crucified, were healed. Even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life." Whosoever, whosoever is a pretty big word,
isn't it? Look at the word right behind it. Here's a qualifier.
Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. Now, verse 16. For God so loved the world, Now,
does that all mean without exception? Well, the Scripture doesn't bear
that out. It has to be in reference to those given to Him, the world
of God's elect, the world of His chosen. You see, that world
is used in Scripture oftentimes just to mean a great many people. I'll give you another example.
In one place in the Scripture, the Pharisees complained and
said, look, the whole world's gone after Him. Well, it just
means simply a whole lot of people did. That doesn't mean all men
without exception. But, for God so loved that He
gave His only begotten Son. Now watch this. Whosoever believeth. Whosoever believeth. Now here's
the key. Believeth. How do you believe? How do we know anything about
election? Election is known by our calling.
Our gospel came not, how do you know, Paul said, we know your
elect, chosen of God, for our gospel came not word only, but
in power. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved
through him. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. He that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of his only
begotten Son. Whosoever, now here's the key,
believeth. That's according to the predestinating
grace of God that we believe the gospel. That's for whom Christ
died. Now, let me show you another
thing. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1, Luke verse 19. Well, how do
we believe? According to this religious world,
you know, it's just walk an aisle, shake the preacher's hand, pray
through, recite that silly prayer, And everything's okay. That's
not faith. That's just the exercise of the
flesh. But here's how we believe. Ephesians 1, verse 19. What is exceeding greatness of
His power to usward who believe, uh-oh, there's that word again,
according to the working of His mighty power, which He brought
in Christ when He raised Him from the dead set him at his
own right hand. You know why he sang that verse?
The same power it took to raise the dead body of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the same power it takes to raise a spiritually dead sinner
and whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, he is born of
God, already born. That's the reason he believes.
As many acts 1348, as many as were ordained to eternal
life, believe. Whosoever believeth. That's the
key. That's the elect. Now, not believe
nonsense. The faith of God the elect acknowledges
truth. True godly repentance also acknowledges
the truth. The truth. Now here's the third
fact, indisputable. Turn back to Ephesians 1 again,
verse 7, "...in whom," you got the first two now, "...in whom
we," we have redemption. "...in whom we have," we have,
we have, "...in possession," we have redemption, we have deliverance
right now. The believer resting in Christ
already has redemption in possession. Redemption and deliverance are
accomplished by the work of Christ for us. He said on Calvary's
tree, it's done. He justified us with His own
blood. And my friend, we do not have
and we do not hold to a theory of redemption or a theory of
atonement. We have atonement. We have redemption. That's what
it said, in whom we have. We have redemption. We have redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
die to make salvation a possibility for all. He died by the determinate
counsel and purpose of God to accomplish salvation for all
of His elect. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He obtained for us eternal redemption
with His own blood. The fact of redemption in whom
we have redemption Now, fourthly, the price of redemption. Through
His blood. Through His blood. Not through
our work. Not through our repentance. Repentance doesn't put away sin. I preached a funeral for a dear
brother whose father, one of our men of the church, his father
passed away. His father was not a believer
and he invited me He invited me down to Martin, Kentucky to
preach his daddy's funeral. And he said, you know what I
want you to do when you preach down there at my daddy's funeral,
it's a funeral home, I want you to declare the gospels plainly
as you can. You know what I took from my
text? Ephesians chapter 1. And I made, when I got to this
statement here, verse 7, we have redemption through the blood,
And I made the statement that your repentance never put away
one sin. There's two free will preachers
sitting right here on the front row who had the funeral, actually
the funeral service the next day. I had the evening service.
And the old gentleman on the aisle seat, I thought he was
going to fall out of his chair. because he thought that his sorrow
and his tears and his pain and his conviction paid the price,
paid the debt of his sin. Oh, no. Oh, no. If righteousness
is by the law, Christ is dead in vain, in whom we have redemption
through His blood. Who died? His blood, the Lamb,
the Lamb, the Lamb who is worthy, behold, the Lamb of God that
takes away our sin. The price of redemption, His
blood. Through His glorious, substitutionary,
satisfying blood atonement, He is the Lamb of God that's accepted
by God. I want you to look at Ephesians
chapter 5. Did you ever notice in the Old
Testament When you read about the blood on the altar, blood
everywhere. Blood sacrifice every morning,
every evening. All those different offerings,
blood offering. But it's always the blood on the altar before
the Lord. See, the blood sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ is not offered unto man. It's offered unto God. This is God's sacrifice for sin. He's the one that's offended.
He is the one that must be satisfied. He is the one we owe the debt
to, and He is the one who paid it. Now, if He paid it, it's
paid in full. "...in whom we have redemption
to the satisfaction of God." Look at Ephesians chapter 5.
Look at verse 1. "...Be ye therefore followers
of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also
has loved us, and has given Himself for us as an offering and sacrifice
to God." Look what it says there. for a sweet smelling savor. It's an aroma and a fragrance
that he is satisfied with. He smells of that atonement and
says, I'm satisfied. If you ever read that scripture
over in Isaiah 65 where it says, Come thou near to me for you're
holier than thou. And the next verse said that
it is smoke in his nose. Isaiah 65. You look at it sometime
in the first part of that chapter. You see, our works and our righteousness,
our self-righteousness is nothing but smoke in His nose. But the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is a sweet-smelling savor unto
Him. Unto Him. Isaiah 65, 5. which say, Stand by thyself,
come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. And God Almighty
said, These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day
long. It just stinks. But God is satisfied
with that sweet fragrance, that savor of the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Satisfying unto God, unto the
Lord. Peter says, for as much as you
know, you're not redeemed with corruptible things. Oh, not with
corruptible things. And he mentions silver and gold,
mentions vain conduct, morality. He mentions tradition of your
fathers, but rather with the precious blood of Christ as of
a lamb. Oh, without blemish, without
spot. Who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you." There's particular redemption again. You see it
everywhere. When God opens the eyes, you see it everywhere.
You see it everywhere. The fact of redemption, the price
of redemption. Here's the fifth thing. The results. Oh, what are the results? The
results of redemption. The forgiveness of sins. I'm
interested in that. I'm interested in having my sin
forgiven. Because I'm a sinner. Born in
sin. Shapen in iniquity. The result
of redemption, the forgiveness of some of my sin. Sin that I
can't take care of, He takes care of. No, it doesn't say that. According to the, according as
we have the forgiveness of sins. We have the forgiveness of sin.
It takes in and includes our whole being. Our whole being. All sins of past, present, future. Sin of omission. Sin of commission. Original sin. Original sin. I'm talking about Adam. Actual
sin. Actual sin. And Adam all died. You say, well, I don't like that.
Well, let me ask you this. How have you done on your own? How
have you done on your own? Well, we've all sinned and come
short of the glory of God. The blood atonement of Jesus
Christ is so efficient, so effectual, so powerful, that our Almighty
All-Knowing God says our sins, the sin of God's people, no longer
exist. They're gone. Listen to these
Scriptures. Hebrews 10, 17. He said, their sins, talking
about those covenant people from Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 32, their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. No more. God who knows all things
and can't forget anything, He said, ìThereís sin, I remember
no more.î You know why? Theyíre gone, completely atoned
for. Now where remission of these
is, thereís no more offering for sin. No more offering for
sin. First John 1, 7, ìBut if we walk
in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from
all sin. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord will not charge, impute, sin. Gone. He can't. And be just. The old songwriter
said, God's justice can't twice demand. First at my bleeding
charity's hand and then again at mine. It'd make him unjust.
If Christ paid my debt, put my sin away, then they're not on
me. They're gone. They're gone. Now listen. promises
of God Isaiah 38 17 behold for peace I had great bitterness,
but thou hast in love to my soul Deliver it from the pit of corruption
and has cast all my sin Behind thy back now you tell me where
that is. I Don't know They're gone The
psalmist said as far as the East is from the West so far hath
he removed our transgression from us Not north and south. An old pilot pointed this out
to me one time, an old navigator. He said, it's not east and west.
It's not north and south weather. It's east and west. Separated. Separated from, removed from
us, our transgressions as far as the east is from the west.
Isaiah 44 said, he's blotted out all our transgressions. In
Micah 7, 19, it says, He's passed all our sins into the depths
of the sea. That's good news, is it not?
The sin of God's elect is gone. It's gone. So effectual is the
blood of Christ. Aren't you glad it's effectual?
Aren't you glad it's particular? Aren't you glad it's definite?
Well, here's the last one. The last point is this. The cause
of redemption. the cause according to the riches
of His grace." Here's the cause. The cause. The riches of His
grace. No blessings are given according
as we are deserving. We've all sinned and come short
of His glory. No blessings are given according
to our deserving nor according to our worthiness, but according
to the fullness and the richness and the wealth and the abundance
of His grace. Sovereign grace. Of His fullness
have we all received grace for grace, according to the fullness
of His grace, according to the richness of His grace. Notice
what it says across the page there in Ephesians 2, verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved us even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ Jesus, according
to the fullness of His grace, according to the richness of
His mercy. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily, and we are complete in Christ." Now, this
word here, according. According to. Now turn to chapter
3. According to the riches of His
grace. The richness of His grace. Now,
you find Ephesians 3. Verse 11, and look at this verse. I've looked at this verse for
over 20 years and have yet to come to an understanding. According
to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord. His purpose is an eternal purpose
which He purposed in Christ Jesus the Lord. according, we have
salvation according to His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus. Now,
look down in the same chapter, verse 16, Ephesians 3, 16, that
we, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to
be strengthened with might, to be strengthened with might by
His Spirit, not in the flesh, inwardly, the inward man. according
that he would grant you." A grant is a gift. According to the riches
of His glory. His glory. Now in Ephesians chapter
1, this word according is used many times. Notice Ephesians
1 verse 11. Verse 9 says, having made known
unto us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure
which He purposed in Christ Jesus. Verse 11, in whom also we have
obtained and inherited being predestinated according to the
purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His
own will. And in the verse we've already
read, verse 19, what is exceeding greatness of His power to us
who believe. It's all according to the working
of His mighty power. In closing, one more verse. And guess what word we're going
to be looking at? Philippians chapter 4, verse
19. Philippians 4, 19. But my God,
my God shall supply all your need according to the riches
of His glory by Christ Jesus. I'm glad for that word according.
God shall supply all my need, and notice it's singular, according
to the riches of His glory by Christ Jesus. Now, Ephesians
1 verse 7, look at it one more time, and remember these six
things. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, we have the forgiveness of sin according to the riches
of His grace. To Him be all the honor and glory,
both now and forever. Amen.