This was a scripture that we
were reading in the study tonight. Brother Pruitt shared it with
us. And it's in keeping with the
message that I've prepared to bring to you on the subject accepted
in the beloved. In 1 Samuel chapter 2 verse 25,
if any man sin against another, the judge shall judge him. In
other words, if there's a conflict between me and you, we'll get
someone to serve as a mediator, someone to serve as an advocate,
someone to settle our problem and bring peace to the conflict.
If there's a disagreement between us, if there's a quarrel over
a piece of property, if there's a quarrel over a debt, indebtedness,
If there's a quarrel over a misunderstanding, we'll get a third party, another
person. He'll settle our differences
and get everything all straightened out. But the prophet asked, if
a man sinned against the Lord, now who's going to entreat for
him? Who's going to stand for him? If a man sinned against
the Lord, there's no if about it. We have sinned. All have
sinned and come short of God's glory. All we, like sheep, have
gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. Scripture says there's none good, no, not one. There's
none righteous, no, not one. We're sinners. We're guilty.
And our sins are against God. David said, against thee. And
thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. It's
established. We're guilty. We're sinners.
We've sinned against God. We've broken not one law, but
all of them. To offend in one point is to be guilty of the
whole law of God. So who's going to stand for us?
Well, let me share something with you that a young lady shared
with me this morning. And I don't often share publicly
what someone shares with me privately, but it's been on my mind all
day. It was a special blessing to me when she said it. She's
here tonight, and I just know that she won't mind me sharing
it with you. If it was such a blessing to me, I know she'd be happy
if it became a blessing to you, and it teaches us. And how I
rejoice when one of our young people is led to this particular
point. But she was talking to an individual
who is, by religion, a Catholic. And he was talking about this
situation we have seen. And there's the holy God. There's
the immaculate, infinite, holy God. Now who's going to stand
for us? It's appointed unto men once
to die, and after that to judgment. Who's going to stand? Who shall
stand in his presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. That we don't have. So somebody's going to have to
stand for us. We've got to have an advocate. We've got to have
a mediator. The very breath of God's wrath
would consume us. The very look of God's holiness
would would drive us to eternal hell. The very presence of the
living God in judgment would annihilate us and destroy us.
So who's going to stand for us? And this is what the man said,
I have the church to stand for me. And this is what is being
taught. I have the church to stand for me. I have the priest
to stand for me. And he said, who do you have?
That's a good question. I ask you tonight, who do you
have? You have the church to stand for you? The old Israelites
said to our Lord Jesus Christ, we don't need you, we got Moses.
Well, Moses can't help himself, let alone them. Somebody else
says, well, I have Mary. Well, Mary rejoiced in God her
Savior. She's not standing for herself,
let alone for you. The church certainly cannot stand.
It's not without its spots and blemishes. If a man sinned against
God, who's going to stand? Who do you have? You can't stand.
I can't stand. No man can stand. Because we've
sinned. We're already under condemnation.
Who's going to stand? Well, there's just one answer
to that. The Lord Jesus Christ. If anybody says to me tonight,
the church will stand for me. Mary will stand for me. The priest
will stand for me. Who do you have? I'll answer. As all of you will, I'm sure,
I have the Lord Jesus Christ. And that brings me to my text
in Ephesians 1.6. It says here, in Ephesians 1.6,
Paul writes, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein,
eight words, this is the text and the topic and the subject.
I hope it's impressed upon our hearts. He, God, hath made us
sinners, accepted. Accepted. God has accepted us
in the beloved. That's where it all is. In the
beloved, accepted am I. Risen, ascended, and seated on
high, saved from all sin through his wonderful grace, with his
redeemed ones afforded a place. In the beloved, God's marvelous
grace caused me to dwell in that wonderful place God sees my Savior,
and then He sees me in the Beloved, accepted and free. Who is this Beloved? Well, it's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is He called the Beloved?
Because He's Beloved of the Father. When He came to Jordan's river
to be baptized of John, the Heavenly Father said, this is my Beloved
Son. This is my beloved Son. How can
any man understand or express, how can I express or even understand
the love between the Father and the Son? The Son in Gethsemane's
garden said, Father, glorify me with the glory which I had
with Thee before the world was. He's beloved of the Father. And
I'll tell you something else, He's beloved of the angels. Everything
our Lord did, it was the joy of the angels to proclaim it.
Everything our Lord did it was the joy of the angels to sing
praises unto him who was and is and is to come at his birth
they said to the Shepherd we bring you great great tidings
a Good tidings of great joy unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Savior who's none other than Christ the Lord And
when our Lord was tempted of Satan 40 days on that mountain
without food And then he went through that heavy and great
trial. The angels of God came to the beloved and ministered
to him. And then when our Lord arose
from the grave and the women came to the tomb to visit the
body of Christ, the angel said, he's not here. He's not here. He's risen. And when our Lord
ascended back to the Father, the angel stood on that mountain
and said to his disciples, ye men of Galilee, why do you stand
around here gazing up into heaven? This same beloved that you've
seen taken into heaven shall so come in like manner as you've
seen him go. Turn to Revelation 5. He is beloved. Jesus Christ is the beloved.
He's beloved to the Father, He's beloved to the angels, and He's
beloved to that blood-washed throng in heaven. It says in
Revelation 5 verse 9, And they sung a new song, saying, Thou
art worthy, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the
seals thereof, for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and
the elders, And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. He's beloved
of the redeemed in glory and He's beloved of every believer
on earth. He's the fairest of 10,000. He's
the fount of every blessing. He's the lily of the valley,
he's the rose of Sharon, he's the bright and morning star,
he's the altogether lovely one, and the bride says in the Song
of Solomon, I am my beloved's and he is mine. That's who we're
talking about, the Lord Jesus Christ, accepted in the beloved. Beloved of the Father, beloved
of the angels, Beloved of the redeemed in glory, beloved of
every believer on earth, beloved of his bride. And of all the
titles that are given to Christ, there may be some who excel this
in splendor and majesty, but there are none that excel it
in sweetness and tenderness. And there's no title given to
Christ that's more assuring to me than this beloved. He is the
Beloved. I want to show you three things
tonight. The first is this. The Beloved
is accepted of the Father. That's what we're saying is the
Beloved is accepted of the Father. And then secondly, every believer
is in the Beloved. Every child of God is in the
Beloved. And then thirdly, every believer, if he's in the Beloved
and the Beloved is accepted of the Father, then every believer
is also accepted of the Father. All right, let's look at the
first thing. The beloved is accepted of the Father. How is he accepted? Well, first of all, he's accepted
in his person. Well, you say, Preacher, of course
he's accepted in his person. Is he not God? That he is. In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He thought it not, Robert, to
be equal with God? Yes, he is God. And being God,
he cannot be separated from the Father. But watch this. He's
not only God, he's man. The Scripture teaches us that
the Word was made flesh, that God sent his Son into the world
made of a woman, that he became bone of our bone and flesh of
our flesh, and he is a man. And this is what we're saying,
Jesus Christ is not only accepted by the Father as God, but he's
accepted of the Father as the man that he is. Christ was in
a human body. Very God of very God, and yet
very man of very man. Pilate said, behold, the man. And Paul, writing about his intercession,
says there's one God and one mediator between God and men,
He doesn't say the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who it is. But he identifies him in this
fashion, the man, Christ Jesus. There's a man on God's right
hand, a man. Jesus Christ, the God-man, but
nevertheless, the man. And he is accepted in his person
as a man. And that's where he is now, on
the right hand of God, the man, Christ Jesus. So the beloved
is accepted, not only in his character or attribute as the
living God, and this is hard to explain and impossible to
explain without the revelation of the Holy Spirit, he is accepted
as a man. And he's seated at God's right
hand. And secondly, he's accepted in his life as a man. Not only
is he accepted as a man, but he's accepted in his life as
a man. He lived on this earth. Thirty-four
years, he walked on this earth. And God said of him in the prime
of his life, in the prime of his manhood, he said, this is
my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Now, Almighty God can
never be pleased with any man, any son of Adam, but he's pleased
with Christ. because Christ did not partake
either of Adam's fall or of Adam's nature. God Almighty is love. Christ is perfect love. God Almighty
is truth. Christ is perfect truth. God
Almighty is holy and Christ is perfect holiness. God cannot
look upon sin, but he can look upon Christ because Christ as
a man. Knew no sin. The scripture says
he knew no sin. No sin was in him. He was tested
and tried in every point as we are, yet without sin. He's accepted. He's accepted
as God, he's accepted as man, and he's accepted in his life
as a man. And then thirdly, he's accepted
in his work. Now the work of Christ in the
scripture is considered in a two-fold way. And we need to know something
about this. There is the active obedience
of Christ and there is the passive obedience of Christ. Now God
has not repealed His law. The law still stands. The law
of God is a summary of the character of God and it still stands. God
has not repealed His law. God has not lessened the staying
and effect and commandments and demands of His law. It's still
the same. And Christ came down here in
the world as a man. He was put to the test as a human
being in the likeness of sinful flesh. And Jesus Christ was put
to every test. He was born of a woman in the
flesh and in subjection to the law of the home. He was in subjection
to the law of the land. He was in subjection to the Levitical
ceremonial law. He was in subjection to the moral
law. He was under every law. He was
made of woman and made under the law. And as a man, as a man,
Jesus Christ loved God perfectly. With all his heart, mind, soul,
and strength, actively, he loved God perfectly. He loved God as
we ought to love God. He loved God as we're commanded
to love God. He loved God as we must love
God if we're to be accepted. And not only did he love God
perfectly, but he loved all men perfectly. Jesus Christ as a
man loved all men. The rich young ruler who came
to him and walked away, the scripture says, Jesus loved him. Our Lord
Jesus Christ stood on the mountain and looked at the city of Jerusalem,
that wicked religious city, and the scripture says He loved them,
and He said, O Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets that
are sent unto you, how oft would I have gathered you unto myself
as a hen doth gather her brood, but you would not. Christ loved
even the Pharisees. He loved the publicans. He loved
the sinners. As a man, He loved all men. You
say, how can you justify that? with the fact that God is righteous
and God's wrath is upon rebels. The Scripture said God hateth
the workers of iniquity. The Scripture says God's angry
with the wicked every day. The Scripture says he that believeth
not on the Son, the wrath of God abideth on him. I'm saying
this, that when Jesus Christ left glory and came down here
and was born in human flesh, incarnate in human flesh, that
he was made under that law which commands and demands that a man
love his enemies. And Christ, acting as a man,
loved God with all his heart, and he loved every human being.
And he was tempted and tried and tested in all points as we
are, yet without sin. Somebody said, well, he was God,
he couldn't sin. I wouldn't spend very much time
arguing that point, but I'll tell you this. I'll say this.
that for obedience to be real, temptation's got to be real.
If temptation's not real, then obedience is not real. If Christ
Jesus had no potential or possibility as a man, and we've got to realize
this, we've got to preach Christ's deity as though he were not a
man. He is eternal God, but we've
got to preach Christ's manhood as though he were not God. Christ's
deity as though he were not a man, Christ's manhood as though he
were not God. And down here on this earth,
walking in human flesh, Jesus Christ was tested and tried and
tempted and actively, actively obeyed every law of God. He was
kind, He was holy, he was truth, he was purity, he was patience,
he was long-suffering, he was meekness, he was gentleness,
he was all things that we are supposed to be, and if his righteousness
was not genuine, then I'm a little troubled about the one he gave
to me. If it wasn't real, now, if the, if the, why do you think
he cried, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? It was real! You say, I don't understand how
God can forsake God. I don't either. A lot I don't
understand. I preach in part, and I prophesy
in part, and I know in part, but someday I'm going to know.
And I see through a glass dimly, but then face to face. But I
know this, and I must believe this, that when Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, very God of very God, the express image of his
person and the brightness of his glory, came down here and
was born of Mary, that he was a genuine real man and he endured
every trial and every sorrow and every heartache and every
test and every temptation that any human being on this earth
would ever be called upon to endure and he endured them perfectly
as my representative. Now that's just got to be so.
And if we hold out this thing to congregations that Christ
being God that the temptation wasn't real, that the temptation
wasn't genuine, that with a snap of his finger he could have blown
down his enemies. With a snap of his finger he
could have had anything he wanted. With a snap of his finger he
could have done this, that, and the other. Yet I say unto you
that he limited himself for our salvation. He became a man. And I would have you believe
that. I would have you look at his active obedience. He was
actively obedient. Otherwise, how could he succor
them that attempted? We have not a high priest that
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, for he was
tested, the Scripture says. In every point, he knows what
you're enduring. He knows what you feel. He felt
it. He knows what you are obliged
to bear. He bore it. He knows what thirst
is, what hunger is, what sorrow is. He knows these things. Yet
he never seen. That's his active obedience.
And he was accepted. God the Father looked upon the
active obedience of Christ and the Father accepted it. That's
right. Then there's this passive obedience. Now what is the passive obedience?
That is, when he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he
was hated, he did not hate in return. When he was spat upon,
He did not spit back. When he was beaten, he did not
resist. When he was lied about, he offered
no defense. In the Garden of Gethsemane,
he shows us his passive obedience. Here he is, a human, and his
soul was in such distress and such agony at the thought, at
the prospect of bearing The awful sin of this race of man and the
awful wrath and judgment of a holy God that hit the blood began
to come out the pores of his skin. His nature just was so
repulsed by it that he was going to die right there. And he said,
my soul is so sorrowful, I'm going to die. If it be thy will, let this cup
pass from me. He wasn't talking about getting
out of the cross. Don't you think for a moment that that ever,
he never resisted the way, he said, no man takes my life from
me, I lay it down. Our Lord never resisted the cross.
He told that crowd at the wedding feast, he said, mine hour's not
yet come. When the disciples tried to get
him to go in hiding, you know, he said, for this cause came
out of this hour. When he prayed, he said, Father,
the hour's come. Our Lord came down here to go
to the cross. That was ordained, and that was
promised, and that was purposed by God. He never rejected the
cross. He never resisted the cross.
He never prayed against our salvation. Well, that's an impossibility
for Christ to assume the office of surety and then rebel against
it. I'll tell you what He was praying
about. He's praying about that cup He's drinking right there
in that garden. That's what he was praying about. That cup of
anguish, that cup of sorrow, that cup of anticipation, that
cup of expectancy, waiting for the judgment of God to fall on
him because of the sins he bore. He says, I'm going to die here
rather than on the cross. And he said, Father, if it's
your will, you can let this cup pass. And it passed. God sent
angels down there to minister to him. Yeah, he was brought
through that. He was a man. He was a man and
he was brought through this trial, even the strength and power of
God brought him through it. But the strength and power of
God deserted him on that cross because he said, by God, you've
forsaken me. Of course he did, because he
was bearing our sins. But that's his passive obedience.
Our Lord Jesus Christ yielded himself to their hatred. He yielded
himself to their false witness. He yielded himself to the nails. He didn't fight back. He laid
his hand on that cross and they drove the nails in. He laid this
one over here and they drove the nails in. He gave his head
to be received the crown of thorns. He gave his back to the smiters,
the scripture says. He gave his back. No resistance,
no rebellion. He's led as a lamb to the slaughter,
as a sheep before her shearers is done. He opened not his mouth. Not one word of resistance. Not
one word. That's his passive obedience. And the Father hath accepted
him. Accepted him in his person. Accepted him in his life as a
man. Accepted him in his work. You
say what's the proof that the father accepted him turn to first
Corinthians 15 There's a threefold proof that Jesus Christ was accepted
of the father in his life in his person in his active and
passive obedience and That is the first the first part of that
proof is the fact that he arose from the grave That's the first
part. I tell you this If the Father
had not accepted him in his person, in his life as a man, in his
obedience, in his work, he'd never come out of that tomb.
For the Scripture says here plainly in 1 Corinthians 15, 14, if Christ
be not risen, your preaching is vain, your faith is vain,
and we've found false witnesses of God. Because we've testified
that God raised up Christ. whom God did not raise up if
the dead rise not. Now, if the dead rise not, Christ
is not raised, and if Christ is not raised, your faith is
vain, and you're yet bearing your sins. They're not paid for. You don't have any righteousness.
If Christ is still in the tomb, God is saying He's not accepted.
What He did is not accepted. What He gave is not accepted.
But the resurrection says that God has accepted the Beloved.
And not only the resurrection, but the ascension. He went back
to the Father. And not only the ascension, but
the enthronement. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
Him, and given Him a name above every name, and seated Him on
His right hand. All right, quickly the second
point. God's accepted the Beloved. Now that's a fact. In His person,
in His life as a man, in His passive and active obedience,
and the resurrection and the ascension and the enthronement
at the right hand of God gives evidence that He is accepted.
All right? If I can show you that we're
in the Beloved, then I can give you some confidence that you
too are accepted. All right? How are we in the
Beloved? Look at Ephesians again, chapter 1. We are in the Beloved
as our representative. Well, first of all, we're in
the Beloved by the decree of God. By the decree of God. Look at Ephesians 1, verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as He, by divine decree, according to His
sovereign purpose, hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him. In love He predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ according to the good
pleasure of His will. We're in Christ, we're in the
Beloved first by the solemn, sacred, and sovereign decree
of the Heavenly Father. He chose us in Christ. Some folks,
not everybody, because many traveled the broad road to destruction.
Many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, and Christ said,
I never knew you. But some are chosen in Christ.
That's what the Scripture teaches. Turn to John 17. Listen, we're
in Christ by divine decree, by the eternal purpose and by the
sovereign pleasure of God. Now, we don't know who those
people are. God does. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. That's what He says in the Scripture. The Lord knoweth them
that are His. The Scripture says Jesus knew
from the beginning who would believe on Him and who would
not believe on Him. He said of Judas, he was a son
of perdition from the beginning. And then in John 17, verse 9,
he's praying here. This is the Lord's prayer. He
says, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me. For father, they are thine,
and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I'm glorified in
them." God gave him his people. God chose them according to the
good pleasure of his own will. That's what the scripture said.
They're in Christ by divine decree. Chosen in Christ. Chosen in Christ. Turn to Romans 8. Here's another
scripture that tells us that. In Romans 8, verse 29. It says, for whom he did foreknow, that
is, that word's foreordained, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that Christ might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate
to be like Christ, he called them, and whom he called he justified,
and whom he justified he glorified. Now what shall we say to these
things? Well, if God be for us, who can be against us? Who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? We're in Christ
by divine decree. We're in Christ by divine choice. We're in Christ by the sovereign
will of God. He has a people given to him
by the Father before the world began. But secondly, we're in
Christ as a representative. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15 again. Not only are we in Christ by
divine decree, but every believer is in Christ as our representative. 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse
21 listen to this for since by man came death By man came also
the resurrection of the dead as in Adam all died all who are
in Adam died in that Every son of Adam was in the lorns of Adam
when he sinned Adam was our representative All men stood in Adam, all men
sinned in Adam, all men fell in Adam, and death and judgment
and condemnation in Adam passed upon all men. We're sons of Adam.
God created one man, Adam. And every other person has come
from him. Every other person has come from
the Lord. Eve even came from Adam. God took a rib out of Adam
and made Eve. Now if Eve had only sinned, now
this is hypothetical speculation, but if Eve only had sinned, Death
and judgment would not have passed upon me. I didn't come from Eve,
I came from Adam. Christ is the seed of woman.
He came from a woman conceived by the Holy Spirit, but I came
from Adam. But Adam willfully rebelled against God, and Adam
sinned, and Adam died, and we died in him. The only kind of
seed that Adam can produce is a sinful seed, just like himself.
And that's the kind of seed Christ produces, just like himself.
He and his seed. What does it say? He shall see
his seed. He shall see his seed and prolong
his days. We're the seed of Christ. Adam,
naturally, if we're born in the image of the earthly, we're going
to bear the image of the heavenly. And Adam was the representative
of all men. Now look at the next line. As
in Adam all died, that's spiritual death, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive. You say, brother man, is that
teaching universal redemption? No, sir. It's teaching this. It's teaching universal redemption
of all who are in Christ. The total, complete, universal
redemption of all who are in Christ. All who are in Adam died
in Adam. Adam was the federal head. Adam
was the representative of the whole human race. Christ is the
federal head and representative of those people given to him
by God. They're his seed. Christ Jesus
is that corn of wheat cast into the ground to die that those
who are in him might spring forth to life. When Adam died, we died. But when Christ died, we were
made alive. As Adam's seed, we died with
him. As Christ's seed, we sprang forth. You say, I just don't like imputation. Well, turn to Romans 5. Let's
see if you don't like it. Let's see if you really don't
like it. Let's see maybe if you don't understand it. Let's see
maybe if I can show you that you do after all like it and
that imputation and representation and federal headship is your
only hope. I think I can show you that.
You say, well, I just don't like the idea of being judged for
another man's sins. Do you like the idea of being
accepted by another man's righteousness? Works both ways, doesn't it,
Charlie? Huh? You say, but I wasn't here when
Adam fell. You weren't here when Christ
died either. Now you're going to have to rest on one of them,
because God only has two atoms. There's only two atoms. The word
atom means man. There are only two atoms in the Bible. The first
is of the earth, earthy. The second is the Lord from heaven.
And God's dealing, God deals with every son of atom, every
human being, either in both or one of those men. Now look at
Romans 5, verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience,
The many, that's what that's saying, the many, were made sinners. By one man's disobedience, we
were made sinners. That's where it all started.
Somebody says, well a man becomes a sinner when he reaches the
age of accountability. Who dreamed that up? It's not
in the Bible. And what is this age of accountability?
Where do you determine the age of accountability? You say babies
are innocent until they reach a certain age, then why do they
get sick? Why do they die? If a baby has no sin, why in
the world would it suffer the consequences of sin? Huh? Well,
that's what Paul wrote. He said death, death reigned
from Adam to Moses, when there was no law, from Adam to Moses,
even over those who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression. That's babies, that's infants.
They're born from their daddy Adam, and they are born with
his nature. He was their head, he was their representative,
he was the one who stood and all men in him. As by one man's
disobedience, rebellion, sin, the many were made sinners by
imputation and by impartation. You know what impartation means?
Well, imputation means to reckon it to my account, that which
is not mine, to reckon it to my account. But impartation means
to actually pass on to me, to actually impart to me. that which
you are. It's like catching a bad cold
from you. You impart it to me. You can't impute a bad cold to
me, but you can impart one to me. And you can't impute sin
to me. Adam imputed sin to me, and Adam
imparted sin to me. He gave me my nature. I came
from his loins. His seed was a sinful seed, and
I was born a sinful baby. I was born in sin, conceived
in sin, shaped in iniquity, and brought forth speaking lies.
That's right now. All right, let's go on to the
next line. So, by representation. So, by imputation. So, by the obedience of one. Who's that? That's Christ. Shall
many be made righteous. The Beloved represented me. The
Beloved represented me. I was chosen in Him by eternal
decree. God put me in Christ. And I'm in Christ by representation. When God put me in Christ, He
made Christ my surety, and Christ came down here on a mission.
He said, I'm come to seek and to save the lost. I'm come to
redeem sinners. And He came down here representing
the people. And when He was engaged in conflict
with Satan, it was me that was engaged in conflict. When Adam
was engaged in conflict with God, I was engaged in conflict
with God. When Adam failed, when he failed,
I failed. And when Christ was engaged in
conflict with Satan and with the law and with the flesh, I
was engaged in conflict. And when he obeyed it, I obeyed
it. That's so. That's representation. That's
headship. And that's what this book teaches. That's absolutely
what this book... And not only that, we're in Christ
by divine decree, we're in Christ by representation and churitorship,
and we're in Christ by vital union. Not only by decree. I'm in Christ closer than that.
A believer's closer than that. He has a living union with Christ. A living union with Christ. Christ
and His church have a living union like a husband and wife. God says they become one flesh. Christ and I are one flesh. That's
right. As the vine and the branch. Christ
said I am the vine, you're the branches. The branch does not
have any life in itself except it comes from the vine. I have
a living union with Christ. It's not I'm laying over here
on the floor and Christ is growing over here and I'm trusting Him.
That is so I'm trusting Him, but I'm in Christ. I have a living
union with Christ. I get my nourishment from Christ.
And not only that, but He's the head and I'm the body. There's
a living, vital, personal union of the believer with Christ.
We sink or swim together. And then turn to Isaiah 53. We're
in Christ. Not only by decree, not only
by representation, not only by vital living union, but when
Christ, by judicial dealings, God dealt with him in our place,
in our stead, the scripture says. He dealt with Christ in our stead.
Instead of dealing with us, well, he did deal with us, but he dealt
with us in Christ. The strikes were laid on his
back, not mine. The crown's pierced his brow,
not mine. Look at verse 4, Isaiah 53. Surely he hath borne our
griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for my transgressions. He was bruised for my iniquities,
a chastisement of my peace was upon him, and by his stripes
I'm healed. Judicial dealings. The scripture
says, Awake, O sword, against the sheep. No, sir. Against my
shepherd. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. God does not deal with any believer
as an individual. He deals with every believer
in Christ. He has already dealt with Christ.
There is no purgatory. My sins have been purged in Christ. There is no judgment for the
believer, and you can take these judgments that you're talking
about in the scripture. I know we're not going to bypass the
judgment, but we've already passed from death unto life. Already
passed from death unto life. We may be observers at the judgment,
but brother, let me tell you something. I'm not going to participate
in it. There is no judgment to them
who are in Christ. I've already been judged. I'm
in Christ. I'm in His heart. He loved us. I'm in his book. Whose book is
it? It's the Lamb's book of life.
I'm not only in his book, I'm in his hand. He said, no man
can pluck them out of my hand. And not only that, but I'm in
his care. He said, I came to do the will of my Father, and
this is the will of my Father, that of all which he hath given
me, I'll lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day. So, the
Beloved is accepted in all that he is and did. Believers are
in the Beloved. They're in the Beloved by God's
will, according to the good pleasure of His will. They're in the Beloved
as He's their representative. They're in the Beloved by vital
union. They're in Him. They've been grafted. The wild
olive branch has been grafted in. You have a living, vital
union with Christ. And they're in the Beloved in
judicial dealing. God has dealt with Christ, and
in dealing with Christ, He dealt with us. Alright, thirdly, Therefore
every believer is accepted in the beloved Every believer is
accepted in the beloved mr. Spurgeon said this unfortunately
There's some people in this world that just not acceptable to us
Now, you know, that's so Not that you hate them. You don't
hate them You don't hate any man. Not that you wish them ill.
You don't wish any man ill But there's some people in this world
whose ways and whose character and whose natures are just not
adjustable to yours. You don't seek them out as companions.
You don't seek them out as mates to live with. You don't seek
them out as comrades to walk through life with. You just,
you don't wish them ill, but you just avoid them because they're
not acceptable. And their character and personality
is not suitable to yours or adjustable to yours at all. You avoid them.
Can you think of the difference between us and God? Now you think
about that. What possible, what possible
agreement can there be between this and God? What possible? There's only one way and that's
for God in his sovereign pleasure And according to His wisdom and
purpose, His law having been fulfilled on my behalf, and His
justice satisfied to accept me in somebody who is acceptable.
And that person is Christ. God hath made us. Did you see
our text? Let's look at it before we close.
Ephesians 1 again, verse 6. It says, He hath made us. He hath made us. He hath made
our persons. He hath made our lives. He hath
made our work. He hath made us acceptable. God Almighty has actually accepted
us. He accepts our faith. He accepts
our worship. He accepts our prayers. He accepts
our praises. Oh, we pray, but oh, the flesh
in our prayers. It scares me, doesn't it, you?
We praise God, but how weak is our praise. But Jesus Christ
takes all our petitions and prayers and praises and makes them acceptable. God accepts us in the Beloved. Accepted in the Beloved. Our Father, we thank Thee and
praise Thee for the good news. It's good news to those in trouble.
It's good news to those who are naked. It's good news to those
who have no defense. It's good news to those who have
no plea. that Christ, the Son of God, so identified with these
fallen creatures that when he died, we died. When he was buried
and rose again, we arose. And when you seated him on your
right hand, all who are in Christ by your sovereign decree and
by living vital union and by surety ship are accepted in the
beloved. This is our hope and our confidence
and the joy of our souls. In Christ's name, amen. Ron,
let's sing a hymn, please. Number 125. 125. Stand, please. I hear the Savior say, Thy strength
indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and
pray. Find in me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left the grave.