Again at our text found in Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 6. Ephesians 1 verse 6. Underscore these words carefully. The last line in verse 6. He hath made us accepted in the beloved. Now
the Beloved is the name given the Lord Jesus Christ by the
Father. When our Lord came to the Jordan
to be baptized of John, the Scripture says the heavens opened and a
dove descended upon Him, and the voice of the Father cried,
This is my Beloved. This is my Beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. Again, when the Lord Jesus Christ
and His disciples went to the top of the mountain, where Christ
was transfigured in their presence, when they saw the glory of God,
the voice from heaven again said, This is my Beloved. This is my Beloved Son, hear
ye Him. Turn, if you will, with me to
Proverbs chapter 8, and I'd like for you to read this scripture.
Proverbs 8, verse 24, The Beloved was beloved from all eternity. The Lord Jesus Christ was with
God, was God, and all things were made by Him. He was beloved
from all eternity. In Proverbs 8, verse 24, these
words are said of Christ. Verse 24, When there were no
depths, I was brought forth. when there were no fountains
abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills was I brought forth. While as yet He had not
made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when He prepared the heavens, I was there. When
He set a compass upon the face of the depths, when He established
the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, When
he gave to the sea his decree that the waters should not pass
his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth,
then I was by him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him." The son is one with
the father, and the father is one with the son. And the Father
will glorify the Son, and the Son will glorify the Father. He is the Beloved. In Colossians
chapter 1, verse 14, the Scripture says, All that the Father hath
done, all that the Father hath made, all that the Father hath
purposed, is for the glory of the Son. In Colossians 1, 14,
in whom we have redemption through His blood even. the forgiveness
of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by Him, and all things were created for
him. It is impossible for you and
me even to imagine the depth of the affection, the intensity
of the affection that exists between the Father and the Son.
It is impossible for us to even imagine. Somebody said one time,
never did a human word become so full of meaning and divinely
rich as when the Father applied it to the Son my Beloved. And then he is the Beloved to
the church, for the Beloved is the name given him by the church
in the Song of Solomon. My Beloved is mine, and I am
his. Again, now will I sing to my
well Beloved a song of my Beloved touching his vineyard. In 1 Peter
2, verse 7, Peter, writing, talks about the
preciousness of Christ. In 1 Peter 2, 7, he said, Under
you, therefore, which believe, he is precious. He is precious. Peter talks about
the precious blood, and the precious promises, and the precious Son. The Beloved. The Beloved. Beloved to the Father, and Beloved
to the believer. Now having looked at the word
Beloved and established the fact that Jesus Christ is the Beloved,
I want us to look at three other words in this text, in Ephesians
1, verse 6, and I want to dwell for a few moments on each word.
I think if we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to see the meaning
of each of these words, I believe this text will open for us as
never before. Look at it carefully. He hath
made us accepted in the Beloved. Now, the Beloved is Christ. I
want to consider the word in. I believe it teaches vital union
in the Beloved. Vital union. Then I want to look
at the word accepted. He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. I see in the word accepted blessed
union. And then I want to look at the
word he. He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. And I see in
the word he, divine union. Now look at the word in. He hath
made us accepted in Christ, in the Beloved. Here we see vital
union with Christ. A thousand sermons could never
exhaust the theme of Christ's union with the Church. One with
Christ. Chosen in Christ. Redeemed in
Christ. Loved in Christ. Accepted in
Christ. Crucified in Christ. Risen in
Christ. Seated in Christ. One with Christ. No theology. No theology is sound. that does not recognize vital
union with Christ. No theology is sound that does
not recognize the church and Christ and their vital union. And no experience, whatever that
experience may be, is valid, which does not realize a personal,
vital, living union with Jesus Christ. We are accepted in the
Beloved. Now, what does this mean? Well,
it means four things. It means, first of all, that
we are in His heart. We are in His heart, and we're
in His heart from all eternity. The Scripture says, I have drawn
thee with an everlasting love. Before the skies and the stars
and the sun were made, before the morning stars sang together,
before God formed the rocks and the trees and the seas, before
God made Adam, before Adam fell, Christ loved His people. The Scripture tells us that He
was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Slain for whom?
For His beloved, for His brethren. for his people. The scripture
says, having loved his own which were in the world. Having loved
them which were in the world, he loved them even to the end. So to be in Christ is to be in
his heart, and in his heart from all eternity, drawn with an everlasting
love. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. I declare the end from the beginning. I am the Lord, I change not."
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And if He
loves today, He loves tomorrow. And if He loves today, He loved
yesterday. And then secondly, to be in Christ. Now turn to Psalms 139. To be in Christ, in vital union,
is not only to be in his heart, but it's to be in his book. In
his book, in Psalm 139, verse 16, this is one of the Messianic
Psalms talking about Christ. Thine eyes did see my substance,
Psalm 139, 16, yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members
were written. which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them. I'll call a people my people
who were not a people. All my members were written in
the book. Moses stood one day interceding between God and Israel,
and Moses cried, Lord, if you cannot forgive Israel of their
sins, blot me out of the book which thou hast written. Turn with me to Luke 10, verse
20. What book are you talking about,
preacher? I'm talking about the Lamb's Book of Life. I'm talking
about the book sealed with seven seals, which only the line of
the tribe of Judah has the power to open. I'm talking about His
book, the Book of Life. In Luke 10, verse 20, the Scripture
says, the Lord Jesus talking to His disciples. Notwithstanding,
in this rejoice not," that is, do not rejoice that the spirits
are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are
written in heaven. And in Revelation 13, verse 8,
the Scripture says, talking about how people shall worship the
beast and worship the false prophet, and it says in verse 8 of Revelation
13, and all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, that
is, the false Christ, the Antichrist, whose names are not written in
the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. The whole family of God's in
that book. Christ the firstborn and all
his brethren, the head and all his members, and until some power
greater than God can destroy Christ's sonship, our sonship
is secure and our names are secure. We're in that book That book
of life, that book of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world, that book sealed with seven seals, which none but the
Lion of the tribe of Judah can open. We're in His book. We are
accepted in the Beloved. What does that mean? It means
vital union. It means that we're in His heart,
love from all eternity. It means that we're in His book.
are names written from all eternity. God does not change, God does
not forget anything, God does not learn anything, for God knows
all things. And known under God are all His
works from the beginning. And then thirdly, what does it
mean to be in the Beloved? It means to be in His heart,
drawn with an everlasting love, love from all eternity. love
when as yet we had no existence. It means to be in his book. It
means to be written by the hand of God in the book of life. It
means an unchangeable sonship. And then thirdly, it means to
be in his hand. We're in the heart of Christ
as the heavenly lover. He never changes. We're in the
book of Christ as the elect of God, chosen in Christ. We are in the hand of Christ
as our divine surety. Turn to John chapter 10. In the
tenth chapter of John, verse 27, the Lord Jesus Christ here
tells us how that his sheep are in his hand. When Jacob came
to Laban, his father-in-law, He was going to leave. He was
going back to his home country. He'd been serving Laban for twenty
some odd years. He served seven years and then
married Leah. He served fourteen years in all
and then married Rachel. He served many years after that
as the shepherd and keeper of Laban's flock. And when he came
to him before he left, he said, Now Laban, Laban, you've cheated
me. You've changed my wages ten times. You deceived me in regard to
your daughters. You gave me Leah when I was supposed
to marry Rachel. I have been a faithful surety
for you. You delivered your sheep into
my hand, and I have kept them all. Here they are. I have been
responsible for them, and I return to you that which is yours, completely
intact." And that's what Christ has done. The Heavenly Father
hath given into his hand all his sheep, and he says not one
of them is lost. As the surety of the sheep, in
John chapter 10 verse 27, my sheep hear my voice, I know them,
they follow me, I give them eternal life, they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. The sheep of
Christ are in the hands of Christ as the divine surety. Read on. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. All that the Father hath given
to the Son were given into His hand as a divine surety. And as the shepherd is trusted
with a sheep to protect them, to provide for them, and to bring
them home, Christ Jesus is trusted with the sheep of God, and he'll
bring them all home. Turn to John chapter 6. In the
6th chapter of John, verse 38, I came down from heaven not to
do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me. that of all which he hath
given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day." Fourthly, what does it mean to be in the Beloved? It means first to be in his heart,
loved with an eternal love. It means secondly to be in his
book, written from all eternity. It means thirdly to be in his
hand. secure, I marvel that anyone could possibly believe that Christ
should lose one of those sheep entrusted in His care by the
Heavenly Father. I marvel that anyone could possibly
believe that Jesus Christ could fail, fail to return with that
entrusted in His care and keeping, fail to purchase that which the
Father had committed unto Him to purchase. fail to accomplish
that task given him by the Heavenly Father to accomplish. I came
not to do my will, but the will of Him that sent me. Can Christ
fail to do that will? And then fourthly, it's to be
in His loins. Now if you'll stay with me for
a moment, you'll learn something that's very vital. Turn to Romans
chapter 5. In Romans the fifth chapter.
Now my friends, no theology. No theology is sound that does
not recognize vital union with Christ. It's an unsound foundation. I don't care whether it's Baptists
or Methodists or Presbyterian or what it is. If it doesn't
recognize the believer's vital union with Christ, the Church
and Christ, Christ the head, the believer the body, Christ
divine, the believer the branch, Theology that does not recognize
vital union is heresy. And any experience, any experience,
any religious experience that does not recognize and realize
vital union is unreal. Now, we are in his loins. We
were all in the loins of Adam. Adam was the father of every
one of us. We have come by natural generation
from Adam. You know that and I know that.
Adam was the federal head of the whole human race. All Adam's
acts were representative, all of them. When Adam was obedient,
we were obedient. When Adam fell, we fell. When Adam lost divine communion,
We lost it. When Adam died in his rebellion
and sin, we inherited his nature. In Adam all died. Look at Romans
5 now, verse 17. For by one man's offense death
reigned. That's Adam's. Verse 18. Therefore, as by the offense
of one judgment came upon all men the condemnation. Verse 19.
As by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners." My friend,
Adam was a representative. Adam was a federal head. We were
in the loins of Adam when he stood before God, and when he
stood, we stood. We were in the loins of Adam
when he was obedient, and when he was obedient, we were obedient.
We were in the loins of Adam, every one of us, when he fell,
and when he fell, we fell. Now then, by divine grace, by
the mercy and purpose of God, we have been put in Christ. We are in the loins of Christ,
so that what Christ did, we did. Christ was the representative.
Christ was the federal head. Christ was the representative
of his people. Read verse 19 of Romans 5. For
as by one man's disobedience we were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous." When Christ
stood on this earth as a man, as God in the flesh, He was a
federal head of a race. He was a representative person. And what he did, he did as a
representative. When he obeyed the law as a sinless
man, all who were in his loins obeyed the law. When He suffered
divine wrath on the cross, we suffered divine wrath. When He
was buried, we were buried. When He arose, we arose. And when He ascended to glory
and was seated at the right hand of God, we ascended. Turn to
Ephesians chapter 2. When He was seated at the right
hand of the Father, we were seated. When He was accepted in His offering
and in His sacrifice, And in the accomplishment of his work,
we were accepted in the Beloved, in his loins. Turn to Ephesians
2, verse 4. The first three verses talk about
our depravity and sinfulness, and then it says, But God, who
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us. He
loved us even when we were dead in sin. And he hath quickened
us, or made us alive, together with Christ, by grace ye are
saved. And he hath raised us up together,
us and Christ. And he hath made us sit together
in the heavenlies in Christ, that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. Levi was in the lorns of Abraham
when he paid tithes to Melchizedek. And even so, we were in the lorns
of Christ Jesus when He fully satisfied God's law, and when
He suffered under God's wrath, and when He arose from the grave,
and when He ascended to the right hand of the Heavenly Father.
Let's read Ephesians 2 verse 11 now. Let me make this statement.
I have said four things so far. We are accepted in the Beloved,
and to be in Christ is to be in his heart loved eternally. It's to be in his book written
eternally. It's to be in his hand as surety,
in his hand as the trusted one to accomplish the Father's purpose
And that task was given him before the world had a being, for he
is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in his hand. He
will bring home all who were given in his hand. It means to
be in his loins, personally, intimately. It means when Christ
stood on this earth, I stood on this earth 2,000 years before
I was born. It means when Christ faced the
law and obeyed it, I obeyed it. When Christ died, I was crucified
with Christ. That cross was my cross, that
grave was my grave, that resurrection was my victory, that ascension
was my ascension, and that exaltation at the right hand of God is our
exaltation. We are in Christ. Now you take
heed to yourself, and you deal honestly with your souls. If
you do not know what it is to be in Christ, I know there are
a lot of folks who are basing their eternal salvation on the
fact they're in the church. But we're not accepted in the
church. I know there are a lot of people who base their eternal
salvation on the fact that they've had a religious experience, but
it doesn't say we're accepted in our religion. It says in the
beloved, in his heart, in his book, in his hand, in his person,
And to be without Christ is to be without God. Look at Ephesians
2 verse 11 now. Remember, wherefore remember,
in time past you were Gentiles in the flesh, called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision of the flesh made by hands. At
that time You were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, strangers from the covenant of promise, having no
hope, and without God. To be without Christ is to be
without God. And it means having no hope. But now in Christ Jesus, you
who sometimes were far off or made nigh by the blood of Christ,
in Him, We are accepted in Him. Now look at the second thing
quickly. It says we're accepted in the Beloved. Underscore the
word accepted. In is vital union. Accepted is
blessed union. First of all, acceptance in Christ
means justification before God. Look at verse 7, Ephesians 1.
In whom we have redemption. redemption. Through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins. David wrote, happy is the man
to whom God will not charge sin. All my sins, every one of them,
past, present, and future. All my offenses, all my iniquities,
all my transgressions are under the blood. Paid for, put away,
separated from me as far as the east is from the west, God says
to remember them no more. And the justice of God is fully
satisfied in Jesus Christ. I'm justified. That's what it
means to be accepted. It means to be redeemed. It means
to be pardoned. It means to be forgiven. And
it means more than that. It means to be totally without
sin, as though I had never sinned. And then acceptance. What else
does it mean? It means divine favor. Look at
verse 4. He says, "...according as he
hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world."
And we were never considered any way but in Christ. We were
chosen in Him, redeemed in Him, loved in Him, accepted in Him. I'm never accepted because of
anything I have done or anything I am. I'm accepted because of
who He is and what He's done, in Him. Look at it, "...that
we should be holy." I know it's not a title that
we like to ascribe to ourselves, but we are holy. We're a holy
people. We're a holy nation. We're a
chosen nation. God says we're holy, listen to
this, and without blame. And without blame. Before God
today, I know before me and I'm not without blame. I never profess
to be, and you don't either. But before God, because of Christ,
I am without blame. Even the Heavenly Father, with
his sovereign, piercing, holy eyes, cannot find one spot in
the believer who is in Christ." And then verse 11, he says, "...in
whom we have obtained an inheritance." We're joint heirs with Jesus
Christ. and we're heirs of God. And my
friends, we're not accepted anywhere but in the Beloved. Now let me
ask you this question. Should the Father accept you
in yourself? I say God changed his whole purpose
and his whole nature, and God accepted you in yourself today,
right now. How long would you stand? Adam
was accepted in himself and he soon fell. Well suppose God accepted
us in our experience, in our religious experience, would you
feel safe? How long would you be safe? Sometimes
you're up, sometimes you're down. Sometimes you love everybody
in the church and sometimes you want to quit. Sometimes you feel
real pious and sometimes you feel like a little devil. How
long would you stand accepted in your experience, huh? Would
you feel any security? Suppose God accepted you in your
works, in your good works, in your Christian works, in your
moral works, how long would you stand? Sometimes your works are
good and sometimes they're not too good, are they? Sometimes
your attitude is good, but sometimes you'd like to choke people to
death, wouldn't you? You'd like to get even. Huh? Sometimes your works aren't
so pretty, are they? Huh? Well, how would you feel
very secure if God says, from here on now, you're going to
be accepted by your works, by your moral works, by your good
works. I'm going to accept you totally
on the basis of your goodness. How long would it be before God
shut the door and banished you from His presence? There's no
security there, is there? But my friends, there's security
in Christ because He's always at the right hand of the Father,
always with the Father. And in Christ, I am secure, unchangeable
His will, though dark may be my frame, His loving heart is
eternally the same. My soul, through many changes,
goes. His love, no variation knows. Once in Christ, in Christ forever! And nothing from His heart, His
book, or His hand can sever. You brand me anything you want
to, but that's what I believe. I don't care about names, it
doesn't make a whole lot of difference, but I do know that we're accepted
in the Beloved. Totally, completely in the Beloved. Last of all,
and I close with this. Look at it carefully, our text.
He hath made us. accepted in the Beloved. He did it. That's divine union. It was the divine will of God
that brought about your union with Christ. It wasn't your will.
As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, That is not of
fleshly inheritance, not of the will of man, not of the will
of the flesh. They were born of God. It's not
of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. Look at Ephesians 1, verse 5
again. He predestinated us, and don't
be afraid of that word. That's a blessed word. That's
a precious word. If it hadn't been for God's eternal
sovereignty, you'd have been in hell a long time ago. having
predestinated us to the adoption of children. You believe in election,
don't you? You chose the person you
married, didn't you? You picked her out or you picked
him out, huh? You chose the city in which you
wanted to live, didn't you? Huh? I've heard some of you say,
I wouldn't live in New York City if they gave it to me. Well,
you have a choice. You don't have to live in New
York City. You chose Ashland or Arlington. You chose the company
you wanted to work with. You chose the color suit you
got on this morning, didn't you? Huh? Somebody make you buy that?
You choose it. You choose the neighborhood in
which you want to live. You choose the church to which
you want to go. You choose the friend with whom
you want to associate, don't you? You choose the party with
whom you want to be registered, and yet you deny God that privilege
of choosing His bride? Huh? You go down to an orphan's
home and adopt a child, and you choose the child. You don't have
to adopt them all because you want one or two. And you don't
do the others any injustice because you don't take them all. That
blessed privilege that you reserve for yourself, you deny to the
God of glory. He chose his people. That's what
scripture says. Look at it according to the good
pleasure of his will. You defend your will, yet you
prostitute God's will. You say that God has no purpose
and God has no will and God has no plan and God has no blueprint,
but you do. You choose the house you want
to live in. You choose whether it's one floor
or two floors. You choose the place you want
to eat dinner today and what you're going to have. And yet
you say, God Almighty has to take what I give Him. No, He
doesn't either. Not the God of glory. He's infinitely
more powerful than you. and has an infinitely more holy
purpose, and he predestinated us according to the purpose,
good pleasure of his own will." Look at verse 11. It says, "...in
whom we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose in him, who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will." His own will. You better, I tell
you this, you run around bragging about your will if you want to,
but tell you whose will you better get in, that's God's will. God's will. That's the place
of safety in God's will. Christ said, if you ask anything
according to my will, it shall be done. Whose will? If you ask
anything according to my will. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1. I want you to look at this very
carefully. We are in Christ. We are accepted in Christ. We
are secure in Christ. We're in His heart, in His hands. We're in His book. We're in His
loins. We're in His person. Who put us there? He did. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse
30, listen, "...but of Him are you in Christ Jesus." You know
what it says? Of Him, are you in Christ Jesus? I am what I am, Paul said, by
the grace of God. Who maketh thee to differ? Huh?
What hast thou that thou didst not receive? It was Christ that
put us in His heart. We love Him because He first
loved us. Herein is love, not that we love
God. He loved us! We're in his heart because he
put us there. He loved us. We're in his book. Who wrote that book? Moses said,
the book which thou hast written. We're in his hand. Who put us
in his hand? All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, Christ said, and he that cometh I'll in no
wise cast out. If God asked anything of you
to be qualified to be in Christ, you couldn't produce it. It comes
to you by grace alone, O precious salvation that is the free gift
of God, and all I have to do is receive it. It's a gift. The gift of God is eternal life.
I do believe, I will believe that Jesus died for me and on
that cross he shed his blood from sin to set me free. Believe. If it required anything
else, I'd fail. I believe, do you? I believe
in the eternal purpose of God. I believe in the eternal security
of Christ. I believe that through his death,
burial, and resurrection, his perfect righteousness, that I'm
accepted, accepted, not in myself, never, but in the Beloved. Our Father, anoint this message
with the power of thy Spirit. Make it effectual, make it a
blessing to all who've heard it. Help us to put down our tradition
and prejudice. Help us to look into the open
word with an open heart, willing to follow the leadership of Thy
Holy Spirit. God speak to us. Thank Thee for
Christ. Thank Thee for all that He is
and all that He's done and all that He's doing right now. We
are accepted in Him. In His name we pray. Amen. Brother Fitzgerald, you come
lead us please in a closing hymn. Everyone get a songbook and turn
to what number? 469. We'll stand together while
we sing this closing hymn. If anyone here would like to
come forward and make a public profession of faith in Christ,
we invite you to come while we stand. I found a friend, oh, such a
friend He loved me ere I knew him He drew me with the force
of love And thus he bound me to him And round my heart still
closely twine Those ties which not can sever For I am His and
He is mine, Forever and forever. I found a friend, oh, such a
friend He bled, he died to save me And not a loan, not a gift
of mine But his own self he gave me Thought that I had my own,
I thought my own My heart, my strength, my life, my all are
His and His forever.