Let's look at a passage of scripture
found in the book of Ephesians. I'm going to turn to the fifth
chapter of the book of Ephesians and read for you verses 25, 26,
and 27. Now, here's our subject today,
a glorious church, a glorious church. Paul wrote in Ephesians
5, verse 25, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved
the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify
and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he
might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish."
Now, my friends, the word of God often speaks of the church
as a local assembly, a local congregation of believers in
a certain place. Many times in the scripture we
read about the churches at Corinth and the churches at Galatia and
the church at Thessalonica and the church here and the church
there and it's talking about a local assembly of baptized
believers who meet together and worship God in a certain place. Now these churches are assemblies
of people who profess to believe on Christ and who have confessed
Christ and claim to be in him by faith. And these churches
have pastors, they have elders, they have deacons, and they meet
on the Lord's Day and they meet at other times for worship and
for prayer and for praise and for the preaching of the Word
of God. A church, you see, is not a building. A church is an
assembly of people who meet in a building. They may meet in
a cave. They may meet in a home. They may meet out under a tent.
They may meet in a fine, beautiful building. But the church is not
the building with a cross sitting up on top of a steeple. That's
not a church. A church is made up of people.
It's an assembly of people, and they meet for worship and prayer
and praise, and the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
local church, they observe the ordinances, baptism in the Lord's
table, they hedge them about. They've been given the responsibility
of distributing the elements at the Lord's table, and they
discipline the members, and they ordain ministers, and they train
and teach ministers, and the churches send missionaries, and
the churches teach the word of God. And the churches seek fellowship
with other churches and cooperation with other churches in supporting
missionaries and preaching the word all over the world. But
every church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an independent, local
body of believers. And they're engaged in the ministry
of the word and they're engaged in the worship of the Lord. Now
they have fellowship together and they cooperate together,
but they have no head but Christ. And they don't belong to any
organization. They belong to Christ. They're His churches.
Now, many times when you read the Word of God, the word church
has reference to those local assemblies, those local congregations
of baptized believers, people who profess to know the Lord
Jesus Christ, who love Him and who serve Him. But the Word of
God also speaks of the church. For example, in the scripture
I just read to you, Husband, love your wives. Husbands, love
your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for us. A glorious church is called,
and many times in the scriptures this church is called the body
of Christ, of which Christ is the head. It's called the whole
family of God in heaven and earth. It's called God's building. It's
called the temple of the Holy Ghost. It's called the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven.
You see that? It's the General Assembly and
Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven. And in
my text, and this is my topic, it is called a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle, not having any such thing, but holy
and without blemish before God Almighty. Now, I've heard men
say this. I've heard them say, well, I'm
not interested in where you go to church. Well, my friend, I
am interested in where you go to church. It means a great deal
to me. I'm interested in where you worship
I'm interested in where you worship on the Lord's Day because it's
important that you hear the Word of God It's important that you
hear the gospel of God's grace preached in truth And my friends
I'm not going anywhere where they're just entertained and
where they socialize and where they carry on a program And where
they do everything but preach the Word of God and I advise
you not to go But I'm interested in where you go. I think you
need to find a place where the Word of God is put. Where people
are not ashamed of the gospel of the grace of God. They're
not interested in numbers, but they're interested in His glory.
They're not interested in a competitive spirit, but they're interested
in the Holy Spirit and His presence and power. I am interested in
where you go. And it is important that you
be identified with a church of believers. You need fellowship.
You need encouragement, you need edification, you need to be taught.
The apostles said, you desire the sincere milk of the word
that you may grow thereby. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God might be
mature, spiritually mature. And when our Lord left this earth,
he left apostles and prophets and and evangelists and pastors
and teachers to teach us. And we need to get under the
ministry of some faithful God-honoring, God-called scriptural pastor
who teaches us the Word of God. But, as I say, I'm interested
in where you go and with whom you're identified, but the matter
of greatest importance is this. This is the matter of greatest
importance. Do you belong? You may not have a church in
your community that preaches the gospel. There are places
where there's no church that preaches the true gospel of God's
grace. And there may not be one in your
community, but here's what I'm asking you. Do you belong to
that glorious church whose names are written in heaven? Do you
belong to that church of the firstborn, that church which
is the body of our Lord? Do you belong to that church
which is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Are you in that church? For Christ loved that church,
and He gave Himself for us. that he might present it to himself,
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
All right, here are some marks of that church and the membership
of that church and the people who are in that church. Let me
give you some marks of those people and let's see if I'm in
that church or you. First of all, I know them, all
who are in that glorious church. the church of the firstborn,
which he loved, which he purchased with his own blood. They're all
saved by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
They are saved by the grace of God. They know it, they profess
it, they believe it, they rejoice in it. For by grace are you saved
through faith and that not of yourself, not of works, not of
works that any man should boast with his workmanship. Christ
who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him Peter said beloved, you know,
you know Every one of you know what little you do know, you
know this that you were not redeemed with corruptible things Such
as silver and gold from your vain Conversation receding by
tradition from your father's but you were redeemed with a
precious blood of Christ Now there may be false professors
in our local churches, and I'm sure there are And there may
be hypocrites in your local assembly, and I'm sure there are. No doubt
there are. There was Judas. We all know about him. And there
was Demas. Paul said, he left me. He loved the world. He didn't
love the Lord. There was Simon Magus, whom Peter
said was in the gall of bitterness. There was Ananias and Sapphira
that carried him out of the church dead, out of the building dead,
out of the assembly dead. And there may be false professors
and hypocrites and carnal religionists in your congregation, but I'll
tell you this, in that glorious church, they're all saved. They're
all saved. They're all God's elect. They're
all God's sheep. They're all God's children. They're
all God's jewels. And men don't vote them into
that church, and men can't vote them out. The Heavenly Father
chose them in Christ before the foundation of the world. The
Lord Jesus Christ, in love and mercy, came down to this earth
and suffered and died and paid for their sins. And the Holy
Spirit of God arrested them on their Damascus road to hell and
called them to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, sir, Christ
loved them, that glorious church. Christ gave himself for them,
that glorious church. Christ washed them, every one
of them, that glorious church. Christ sanctified them, that
glorious church, and Christ will present them. to himself, not
having spot or blemish, but holy and unblameable." You see, that's
the first mark of this glorious church. Christ loved them, and
he washed them, and he gave himself for them, and he sanctified them,
every one of them. They're all saved by the grace
of God. There's not a spot, there's not
a wrinkle, there's not a blemish, nor any such thing in that body
of Christ. Now, they don't claim righteousness
of their own. Paul said, I haven't arrived.
I'm not perfect. But I reach out and lay hold
upon that for which I've been laid hold of by Christ. I pursue
God. I seek the Lord, David said.
Secondly, all who are in that glorious church have several
things in common. Now, they may have lived in different
generations. They may have lived in different
generations. And they may have lived in different countries.
They may be black or white or red or yellow. They may be called
by different names. They may be Waldenses and Albertenses
and Anabaptists and Presbyterians and Episcopalians or whatever.
They may have many different lifestyles and dress habits. But I'll tell you this, they
all have these things in common. They're born again with the same
spirit. Everyone except the man born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And they all confess
their sins. Not a one of them claims to be
without sin. Every one of them confess their
sins and repent toward God. Except you repent, you'll perish.
Except you repent, you'll perish. That's so. And they all believe
Christ is the only Redeemer. He has no rivals. He's the only
Redeemer. Christ died for my soul. Every
one of them will say, I once was lost, but now I'm found.
And by God's grace, I'm heaven bound. My only hope, my only
plea, is that when Christ died, he died for me. Go back to 1500
and they'll say the same thing. Come up to 1981, they'll say
the same thing. Go over to China or Africa or
Mexico or India or France or wherever, and they'll say the
same thing. Christ is my hope. Christ in
you, the hope of glory. And they all draw their faith
from the same source, the Bible. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. I don't care where you find a
believer, the foundation of his faith is the word of God. The
object of his faith is Christ. But the foundation of his faith
is not feeling, or experience, or environment, or the visual
aids of religion, the Word of God. God hath said, so that we
may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. And they all worship
the true and living God. They worship. They worship the
true and living God. They all love Christ. And they
all love one another. It doesn't matter what aids they
are. In Christ there's neither. Bond or free, there's neither
male or female. There's neither white nor black.
There's neither old or young. They love Christ You cut into
the mind of a believer You'll find thoughts of Christ cut into
his heart and you'll find love for Christ cut into his soul
and you'll find a panting and desire to be like Christ wherever
you find them and they're all desire to walk in holiness and
truth They'll be satisfied when they awake with his likeness
and not until oh, they're happy here walking with Christ. They're
happy here in in fellowship with one another, happy as a man can
be away from home, but they'll be satisfied when they're awake
in his likeness, and they're all indwelt with the same Spirit,
every last one of them. There's not a one of them who's
not regenerated by the Spirit and redeemed by the Son and called
by the Word of God. Not a one of them, wherever you
might find them. All right, thirdly, all who are
in this glorious church, now listen to me, and I hear a lot
about Ecumenical movements and getting together and all this
stuff now you listen to me And a lot of divisions among religionists,
and I'm not surprised they worship in different cards And a preaching
different gospel. They're going different directions.
You can't walk together except they do It's an impossibility
two fellows can't walk together one going north one going south
You can't expect them to You two people can't walk together
one walking on the upper road one walking on the carnal lower
road They're not gonna walk together. They got to be agreed They got
to be born of the same spirit washed in the same blood Sanctified
with the same God and trusting in the same Lord living with
the same word hidden in the same direction But the unity among
believers They may not agree on every point in regard to church
government They may not agree on every point in regard to church
government. Charles Spurgeon and Jonathan
Edwards were poles apart on church government. John Calvin and Martin
Luther and Augustus Toplady were greatly differing in regard to
church government. They may not agree on dress.
They wear black clothes or white clothes and they dress like the
people in the tribes of Africa with few clothes And they dress
like those in Alaska with furs around their head But and then
they disagree on prophecy and days and forms of worship, but
I'm telling you this Every believer is in agreement on the weightier
matters of faith in perfect agreement There's one heart and one mind
on these things because they're taught by one spirit. These are
the weightier matters of faith of the Word of God. First of
all, every belief, I don't care where you find them. You can
find three or four of them in the farthest reaches of the world,
in the farthest corners of this world, and bring them together,
and every one of them will agree that God's on the throne. That's
absolutely right. I don't care where you find them.
He'll agree with you that God is sovereign, that the Lord,
God is king. God doeth according to his will
and the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of this
earth the scripture says be still and know one thing that I'm God
Look unto me and be you saved. I'm God I'm the ever one of them
know that God's on the throne. They worship the Lord God. They
obey the Lord God They submit to the Lord God. They surrender
to the Lord God. He's sovereign. He's King They
know that Jesus Christ is God. They don't have any doubt about
that He's not God. He's an imposter. He's a liar.
He's in hell. He's not God. He said I'm God.
I'm the father of one God said he was God the heavenly father
say he was God I don't understand the Trinity and you don't either
but I believe it God said let us make man 50 says the father
the son and the Holy Spirit three that bear record in heaven the
father the word and the Holy Ghost The father said this is
my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased the father said to the
son that throne Oh God is forever God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. Thou shall call his name Jesus,
Emmanuel, God with us. A virgin shall conceive and bring
forth a son. Call his name God with us. God,
a child is born, a son is given. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. And I'll tell you something else they all know. Every believer,
they know man's a fallen creature. They know in Adam we all died.
They know by one man's disobedience, judgment, condemnation, death
passed upon all men. They don't talk about the good
works of man or the flame of life that's in every soul and
the little spark of life that needs to be fanned by some soul
winner. They know man's dead in trespasses
and sin. And if he's made alive, God will
have to make him alive. If he receives life, it'll be
a gift. If he's saved, it'll be God who saves him. They know
that. They know man's dead in sin. They also know something
else. They know salvation is but a grace of God, not of works. Every one of them know that.
They know of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.
They know that. They know this. They know that
as many as received him, to them gave he the right, the privilege
to become sons of God who were born, not of the will of the
flesh, not of the will of man, not of natural inheritance, but
born of God. And they know that Christ alone
is the Redeemer. That Christ alone is the Savior,
that Christ alone is our righteousness and holiness. They all know it's
the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. They
all know that. And they all know the value of God's Word. And
they speak according to the Word of God. And where the Word is
silent, they're silent. Now I'm telling you this, where
you find believers, you'll find unity of faith. You'll find unity
of heart and unity of spirit. Where you find true believers,
men who treasure the Word, who bow before the throne of God,
who know their sins, who look to Christ for their salvation,
who know that in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, and that he's made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, and we're complete in him, that no flesh should
glow in his presence." They're in unity. Oh, they may conduct
their services differently. They may sing different types
of songs. They may have a different idea about prophecy in the millennium.
Some may be post-prayer. They may have a different idea
about judgments and so forth, but they know who Christ is.
They know once I was blind, but now I see by his grace that we've
been saved. Or I'll tell you something else
about this glorious church. All who are in this glorious
church will endure to the end. That's right. They'll still walk
in faith. Our Lord said they'll never perish.
He said, he said, my sheep, my sheep, they came to him. They
said, if you be the Christ, Why don't you tell us plainly? Well,
he said I told you I told you if you didn't believe me You
didn't believe me because you're not of my sheep I said unto you
my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I
give them eternal life and They shall never perish and neither
should any man pluck them out of my hand You see my father
which gave them to me is greater than all and no man can pluck
them out of my father's hand He said I'll build my church.
I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
again Not one bone of his precious body shall be broken. Not one
child of the Lord God shall be disowned and cast out, disinherited. Not one, not one sheep shall
be plucked from his fold. Not one sheep. He's going to
bring them all home. He said, I came down from heaven,
not to do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he has
given me, I'll lose nothing. Not a hook nor hair shall be
left behind. I'll lose nothing, but I'll raise it up again at
the last day. And they shall all be taught of God, and every
one that heareth of the Father will come to me, and I'll raise
him up at the last day. Not one believer, not one Jew,
shall be absent from his crime. That soul that on Jesus hath
leaned for repose, he said, I will not, I will not desert his foes. That soul, though all hail, should
endeavor to shake I'll never, no never, no never forsake. The gates of heaven shall not
prevail against me. I'll tell you something else
in the fifth place. All who are in this church, all
who are in this glorious church, shall have part in that first
resurrection, in that first resurrection. And my friend, there's just two
resurrections. The resurrection of the righteous
and the resurrection of the rebel. The resurrection of the saved
and the resurrection of the damned. They'll all have part and I don't
know what's gonna happen out yonder. I know Christ is coming.
I Know that my judgments over. I know in Christ. There's no
judgment. There's no condemnation. I face no sin I'm in Christ whether
I've been saved five minutes or five years. I'm in Christ
Justified and have all things. I know what's gonna take place
out there But I do know this when the Lord Jesus comes back
every believer is coming out of the grave Those that live
shall be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye and
caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.
I don't know much about the rapture. I don't know much about the tribulation
and you don't either. It's speculation. You're wasting
your time studying it and spending all your time when you ought
to be studying his first coming and what he did for you on the
cross. You need to be involved in the person of Christ, not
a bunch of events and advents that hadn't come to pass yet.
Leave that to the Lord. He'll take care of that. It'll
be all right. It'll be all right. It'll be alright. But I say this
to you, every believer is going to have a part in the marriage
supper of the Lamb. Every one of this glorious church
shall be raised with Christ and changed into the likeness and
image of Christ and enjoy the eternal glory of the Son. And
I'm talking about from Abel to Abraham. From Abel to Abraham. I'm talking about from Enoch
to Elijah. And I'm talking about from Noah to Nehemiah, and I'm
talking about from David to Daniel, and I'm talking about from Jeremiah
to John, and I'm talking about from Matthew to Martin Luther,
and from John the Baptist to John Calvin, and from Charles
Spurgeon to you and me. This is the church of the firstborn.
You can call it the church in the wilderness or the church
in the Old Testament and New Testament, but that glorious
church, that church of the firstborn, that church which he loved and
purchased with his own blood and watched Everlast one of them
in heaven is going to sing the same song This is church of the
firstborn the household of faith It's called the temple of the
Holy Ghost the royal priesthood the chosen generation the holy
people Somebody said when all the earthly glory is passed away
When all the earthly organizations and thrones and powers and nations
and principalities on earth have come to nothing and faded away
Then shall this glorious church be presented without spot or
blemish in the presence of the Lord God, and shall dwell forever
with him." And he said, who are these, and which came they? These
are they that came out of great tribulation. And you say, well,
that's talking about the seven years. Brother, I don't expect
you to go through any more tribulation than Job did, or any more tribulation
than Abraham did, or any more tribulation than Noah did, or
any more tribulation than Moses did. great tribulation and washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, every tongue,
every people, every nation, and you've made us kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth forever and forever." One final
thing. I ask you, are you a member of
this church? You may belong to your church, and I hear people
talk about, well, I belong to this church, and I hear preachers
talk about my church and my people. You might have the form and the
ceremony and the ritual of religion, but, my friend, I want to know
this. Are you a member of His glorious church, the church of
the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven? You may have
the outward privileges of your denomination. You may even hold
an office, Judas did. You may even recognize the right
creed and the right doctrine. You might even be a preacher
or a teacher. But, my friend, life is to know Christ. It's
to be found in Him. It's with a heart faith, with
a heart man believeth unto righteousness. It's being taught in the heart
with the Holy Spirit of the person. You may be a Baptist, or a Methodist,
or a Presbyterian, or a Nazarene, or whatever. But, my friend,
you may not be a Christian. The church's one foundation is
Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is his new creation by water
and the blood. From heaven he came and sought
her to be his holy bride. And with his own blood he bought
her, and for her life he died. Elect from every nation, yet
one for all the earth. Her charter of salvation is one
Lord, one faith, and one birth. And one holy name she blesses.
She partakes of one holy food, and to one hope she presses with
every grace endued. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. Oh, that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection, that I may be conformed to His blessed
image. Oh, that I may win Christ.