Reading
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Our blessed God and Father, we thank Thee for sitting and only begotten Son to come into this world, to go to Calvary's cross, to die for our sins. You think of this hymn that we just sung.
That tremendous well came mercy hope for just a place within thy door, but we thank thee that we were given much more all the crown. The mansion was all prepared before we most of all we look forward to being a thy presence. We just ask for help that we would enjoy those blessings that we already have right now. Pray that we would live view of heavenly things. Pray that we would.
Detach ourselves from this world and all the material things.
Thank You for Thy mercies that haven't been provided, but pray that we would look for those spiritual and the heavy things we just ask for help as you open Thy word and the precious name, Lord Jesus, Amen, Amen, Amen.
But we kind of talked about things in a general way. Brother Bob, how far did we get in our chapter?
Yeah, we got down to four and five, but I would suggest we start with three just to take the contacts of it, if that's all right.
Ephesians chapter one and verse three. 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 had chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before Him, in love, 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.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.
Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will.
According to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him.
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things, after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of His glory. Wherefore I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the Saints.
Cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you and my prayers.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints? And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward, who believe according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.
Far above all principality and power and might and dominion.
And every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all.
One thing that we learn very definitely, not only in Ephesians, of course, but.
It's very evident in what we have been reading.
That to put it.
In straight terms.
What we have in Christianity.
Is not primarily all about us. Yes, there is plenty in Ephesians that is about us.
00:05:08
And it could be described if you could put the emphasis there. In Ephesians, it is we who are emphasized as being in Christ.
Whereas perhaps in Colossians the emphasis is more on Christ being seen in US, and there is plenty in Ephesians, as we have already been talking about, about those spiritual blessings which are ours in Christ.
And the development of them, but at the same time, Paul's ministry is characterized.
By the fact that it begins with a risen Christ in glory.
And all God's purposes in him and that is going to be brought out in the next few verses concerning the mystery of the will of God and how it concerns his beloved Son and so on. But here in verse six it says.
To the praise of the glory of His grace, and then later on in verse 12 That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.
I say it from a practical side.
It's very, very important to get hold of that. It's very easy for us to look at all that we have in Christ and everything that is ours in Him.
As making everything in Christianity revolve.
Around us, is it right to enjoy those spiritual blessings as we had this morning?
Indeed it is, and God means us to do so, but at the same time.
God wants to take us to a higher plane than that, Not in the sense of forgetting the enjoyment of our blessings.
But rather occupying us with the source of those blessings.
And all God's purposes in him.
That takes us right out of ourselves, so that no longer are we emphasizing everything that is ours and isn't this wonderful, all the things that we enjoy, but rather God wants us to be occupied with the one who is responsible for it all His glory. And you see that illustrated in some of the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
I'll just take time to refer to it. We don't need to turn to it. It's in Luke 11 I believe.
Where the disciples? Well, let's turn to it.
Luke 11 I believe it is.
No 10, Luke 10. Sorry, wrong chapter. Luke 10.
And here the Lord Jesus has sent out seventy of his disciples to go out and preach.
There they had the express command from the Lord and His power to do it. So there could be no question that what they had been doing was of the Lord and by His power. And they come back in verse 17 saying, Lord, even the devils or demons are subject unto us through thy name.
And the Lord shared in that joy, and he says in verse 18, And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.
And nothing shall by any means hurt you.
But then he draws them back in a very gentle way.
Just to adjust their thinking in the right way. Verse 20.
Notwithstanding in this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you.
But rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
In other words, he is saying, don't rejoice so much in what you have and in what you have done.
Rejoice in what I have done.
Where does that what? What did we have to do with our names being written in heaven?
00:10:00
Nothing.
Accept our sins. It humbles us, doesn't it? And so going back to Ephesians one, I just say.
Let's remember that when we are considering all those wonderful blessings that are ours in the heavenlies.
And God's call to enjoy them at the same time.
God blends with all that His purposes concerning His beloved Son, which was characteristic and is characteristic of Paul and his ministry, and so He would occupy us not only with those blessings, but with the one who has been responsible and is responsible.
For giving them all to us.
Do you agree with that, Bob? Sure do.
Have the heart of God, don't we, in the purposes that He has?
Yeah, I think we mentioned it this morning, but I'd just like to say it again because I think it's important to distinguish.
Between verse four and verse 5. Verse four is election.
Verse five is predestination, and it's that election concerns our person. He chose us before the foundation of the world, but in that choosing He had a purpose in mind. And that's predestination, isn't it? Here it is. He predestined us unto the adoption of children or sons by Jesus Christ Himself.
If you look at Romans 8, it's interesting it uses the word predestination to.
In verse 29 after that verse that we so often quote verse 28, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the.
Born among many brethren, so predestination is that he's going to conform us.
And this is the way he's working in our lives now, to the image of His Son. He wants to fill heaven.
With sons that are just like the Lord Jesus. This is predestination and so this is what he has predestinated us tomb and then I like the end of verse five of our chapter. It says according to the good pleasure of his will.
Why did he choose me? Why didn't he choose somebody else? Brethren, we can't answer that. We say it was according to the good pleasure of his will. He willed it so, and so we rejoice in that. That's.
I think is beautiful.
And then it goes on in verse six to say to the praise.
Of the glory of His grace.
Wherein he hath made us.
Accepted in the Beloved.
And that beautiful bread accepted in the beloved.
I find so many people.
My travels that don't feel accepted, even sometimes an assembly context, they don't feel accepted.
And it's, I guess, the way people react to each other. I think if we could get a hold of this, it would deliver us from that problem.
You are accepted in the highest level possible.
Accepted in the beloved, it doesn't say in Christ, it says in the beloved. The place you occupy is a place that he looks at you with supreme love. And I like to think of it, brethren, that it is so amazingly wonderful that even the things that seem to be negatives, even the things that seem to be.
Against us.
Can and only work for our good in the end?
00:15:05
That's the only thing that can happen. You know, sometimes we make mistakes and we get into problems.
But God is so great that He can even take that if we can admit our mistakes and He can turn it into means of blessing for us, That's our God because we are accepting in the planet. I think it's incredibly wonderful. So if there's anybody that doesn't feel accepted, take a look at this verse.
He's made us accepted in the Beloved.
Once you get a hold of that, it doesn't matter whether you feel that others accept you or don't accept you.
Who are accepted in the high level possible?
So there was a distinction made.
Or a comparison of Ephesians and Colossians. And it's also been said that in Colossians you have what Christ is to the Church, and that's why they are encouraged to hold the head, not to be drawn aside to some modern teachings or whatever it was that was afloat doctrinally at the time there was.
In that day, it was the beginnings of the Gnostic system.
Which was a spiritual elitism which took elements from both Judaism and Christianity and paganism. They weren't.
To let go of the head, the heavenly head.
Whereas in Ephesians we could say we have what?
The churches to Christ, but as it was emphasized.
That it's not a matter of our eyes on ourselves and if we look at the comparison of two verses.
Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 10.
Where he's talking about the mission of Christ when he came.
The one who ascended, he's the same.
That descended into the lower parts of the earth than verse 10. He that descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens.
That's where he is now.
That he might fill all things.
The Old Testament looks ahead to Israel's Messiah.
But it's veiled the fact that he was to fill all things. And another thing that wasn't revealed to them was when he is there, the one who fills all things, he has a compliment with him. And if we go back to chapter one of Ephesians, the end of the chapter here is the one in verse 22 who fills all things.
God has put all things.
Under his feet and gave him to behead over all things.
To the church or the assembly?
Which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all things. So he fills all things. That is the purpose and counsel of God for His Son in manhood. He fills all things, and with him is the fullness of him that fills all things. Would be hard to think of a higher calling.
Wouldn't it now?
All of this if we turn over to chapter 3, where the apostle in a parenthesis and.
Something that Bruce said this morning regarding sonship. You have a collective sonship in the Old Testament. Let my son go that he may serve me in Exodus Chapter 4.
I have called my son out of Egypt, which we know refers to.
The Lord Jesus that's prophetic of the Messiah. But as it's been emphasized, this.
Individuality of sonship, that which each one of us is given to know by faith in the Word of God, is a result of chapter 3 and verse 3. Paul says that by revelation the mystery has been made known unto me.
Go over to verse nine. He speaks of the administration of the mystery.
I'm reading the new translation Hidden throughout the Ages in God.
00:20:08
Who has created all things?
The mystery is something that was hidden in God. So, Bob, when you were speaking this morning, I was thinking to myself, we have the word of God before us. You even asked Brother Bill about redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Do you know that? Yeah, we know that, don't we? But we also know things that are characteristic, the teachings of the mystery that's been revealed.
The truth of the one body, so the Lord said in the 5th of John.
He tells the Jews that Moses will accuse you.
In whom you trust.
For he wrote of Maine.
Why are these things that we have here not in the books of Moses?
How about Isaiah? Isaiah has been referred to as the Gospel in the Old Testament. The the the 5th gospel you might say.
The book of Isaiah is full of Israel's Messiah. Why are the things that we're reading here not in the book of Isaiah? Well, it was touched on earlier. Something had to happen first that showed that there was no distinction.
Between Jew and Gentile. I'm talking about the cross of Christ.
What's been referred to as the center of two eternities.
And right here we look at the cross of Christ, because there.
He was rejected by his own.
And upon the occasion of the cross of Christ, his resurrection, his ascension to heaven, to the right hand of the Father, and the sending of the Holy Spirit, he forms 1 Newman in Christ. And that's the mystery. So go back to that chapter 3, verse nine. It was hid in God. It wasn't hidden in the Old Testament.
We don't have a type of the body of Christ the bride Yes, and when brother Don was talking about.
Marriage.
Remember exactly how you put it. But I was thinking, did the Jews know when they had the books of Moses, when they had that account of Adam and Eve in the garden and she being brought forth as a compliment to him because it wasn't good that the man should be alone? Did they know that that looked ahead to?
The one who is filling all things and has a compliment, who is the fullness of him that fills All in all. No, they didn't know that. That was waiting for the revelation of the mystery that was to be given to that man, Paul.
A few thousand years later, 1500 years later.
And that's the foundation of the things that we are talking about when we open a book like Ephesians and we read these verses here. This is not something that could be conceived of in the mind of man. This was hidden in God and at the time determined by God after the Lord Jesus was raised.
And became the head of a new race of men.
These things were revealed and that's why we're here talking about these things today.
Couple of thoughts in verses 6:00 and 7:00.
About Grace.
In verse six, to the praise of the glory.
Of his grace in verse seven, it's to the riches.
Of his grace.
And it's the fact that.
As has been said many, many times, but it's helpful to us. Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve. It's preserving us or keeping us from what we actually deserve. And that's mercy.
But grace is connected with the liberty that God has to show when He's in his heart.
When there's no hindrance to doing so. So mercy has looks upon us as a focus and says God says I'm going to have mercy on you and I'm going to keep you from what you really deserve. But grace has to do with God.
00:25:11
Being free.
To act toward us.
Because of what's in his heart toward us and so in verse six to the praise of the glory we don't have mercy brought out in chapter one. It's not the point here for us not to get what we deserve, but rather the chapter is it gives expression to God acting.
With liberty and holiness and truth and righteousness.
And be free to do so because of what Christ has done and what God can do for us in Christ. And so in verse six, it's to the praise of the glory. Glory is the display of excellence. And the more we know God, the more we see a display of excellence.
God is morally and in every other way.
Everything that he does is done in a way that displays himself in his honor and in His glory. And so our acceptance in the Beloved produces in US.
Praise. It's good to think about, good to appreciate. We don't think, you know these things. We don't produce them in ourselves really. It's like we don't just say, well, I'm going to do this for God or I'm going to do that for God as if it started with us. But here it starts with God and it results in what's to the glory, the display.
Of the glory.
Of his grace.
And why making us accepted in the Beloved? But in the seventh verse, it's another aspect of it. It's according to the riches of his grace.
You can have good feelings and a good desire towards somebody and would like to do good to them.
If I could put it this way, you'd like to be like God and show grace.
But then you stop and you say I haven't got it, I don't have the capacity to do it.
I wish I could take this person and show them how much I care for them.
By what I'm able to do for them and you have to stop and say I wish, but I can't do it. I I don't have what it takes.
Here's a God who has rich.
He's not limited as we are in His grace. He is at perfect liberty and He has everything that's needed.
He owns everything, he has all power, and so he can show us the riches.
Of His grace. And to me it connects itself as well with what's the most precious thing there has ever been? What's the most valuable thing that has ever been. I don't know if I'm expressing it very clearly, but redemption, the price that had to be paid.
Exhibits the riches of God.
God could have thought of Oregon purpose.
The rework of redemption and again we've been emphasizing in Christ.
There is no such thing as redemption outside of Christ. It's His blood. The redemption we have is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that was paid our price of forgiveness. And yet God was rich enough in His grace that He.
Predetermined that his son.
Would pay that price and the sons. How did he act when he was going to pay the price? He says to his father, here am I send me. And so he came with the perfect unity of heart with God to display and to bring out for us the riches of God's grace.
00:30:10
Comment please on chapter 2, verse 7.
Where it speaks about the exceeding riches of His grace. Listen to what you have to say.
Go ahead.
I don't know if I can but.
Brother, it makes me think of when the Lord Jesus and the temptation the devil shows him all the kingdoms of this world.
And their glory in a moment of time.
And here.
When he's going to display the exceeding riches of His grace, it takes the ages to come.
O brethren, how little we grasp of it all.
When the coming day of glory for the earth, When Christ comes and displaces glory and establishes the Kingdom of God for 1000 years.
Those who are on Earth.
Are going to look at us.
As the bride of Christ.
And they're going to praise God.
That he could do such things for people. Thankfully, they will not because of the work of God in them, envy us.
In that way.
Abraham's You look at the life of Abraham and all the Bible, he's probably of a man.
Of everything apart from the Lord Jesus. But as a man, he's the most characteristic man of faith.
And when God sees, and so we admire, we appreciate, we respect Abraham.
As the heir of promise by faith, and the life that he exhibited as a life of faith.
But stop and think. Abraham's going to look at you.
And whatever you once were.
And he's going to say, how rich is the grace of God?
That he took you and brought you into a relationship with himself that he did.
Which is a more wonderful relationship than Abraham will ever know forever. That's the riches of his grace because it emphasizes what's in God, not us. Again, I say mercy. We're the objects of mercy because of how God treats us. But when it comes to grace, it's God revealing and expressing.
What's in his own heart?
Totally without respect to the worthiness or anything else of the object of it. And so it's all because of what God is that we have all that we will ever have and not didn't have anything to do with us being anything.
God started with.
Sin filled sinners.
That's you. Consider that a worthy object of God's attention. You know, not really.
But in grace it was and it is, and in the glory of that riches it will be displayed, I think in chapter 2, particularly in that day when God displays Himself and his Son in his millennial glory.
So even the prophet Isaiah.
Looks ahead to a time when Israel's God would be glorified.
And I was thinking of this, we have the word display.
And this morning, Bob, you referred to the prayer beginning in verse 17.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. It seems the emphasis in the prayer in chapter 3 is on Father, but here after he says that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, it says the Father.
Of glory. Now that can take the mind back to the Lord's.
Prayer in the 17th of John.
In verse 24, I believe it is, he says I will, that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am.
00:35:07
That they may behold my glory, which thou hast given to me.
So there is to be a display.
We know that the display is there now, we know where He is by faith, but there's going to be a display before all the principalities and powers of the universe, that which the creation has awaited, the manifestation of the sons of God, the glory of Messiah with his heavenly.
The bridegroom with his heavenly bride.
The entire creation has awaited this display. It isn't displayed yet.
That's part of the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.
But there is going to be a display in a coming day, determined by God.
Hey, does that mean that this is millennial? Is that what you're talking about?
In flight of the 10th verse of the first chapter, that in the dispensation of the fullness of time, that's millennial. So this display you're talking about is millennial. It's going to be displayed.
In in the millennial Kingdom where he will be head over all things in the heavens and the earth according to prophecy, but there will also be the eternal state and that's after all administrations or dispensations have run their course and God shall be All in all. And I like to think of that verse.
God shall be All in all. That's the highest truth in the Bible.
The Millennium has already passed.
Everything where the sun is there as the mediator, it's it's already passed and God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit will be exalted and the temple of God will be with men and everything is going to be over as to the testing of man.
An eternal display.
Yes, that's so beautiful to see that, Dave, and I'm glad you brought that out.
What we get, and I know it's going ahead a couple of verses, but what we get in verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together all things in Christ.
Both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him, as you say, and I don't mean just to repeat what you've said, but.
It's very important to have it clear that that will be displayed in the Millennium.
But perfection will not be there.
Again, quoting an old brother that I sat under, he said remember that the Millennium is really only the front porch.
To the eternal state, and that is true. And so, yes, there will be tremendous blessing in the Millennium, unprecedented, and there will be the full display as we get in Revelation 21 of all that the churches, and they will be displayed with Christ in that glory visible from the earth.
And the Earth will.
Have Christ reigning and being vindicated here.
But again to re quote that verse from cursed Corinthians 15 when God becomes All in all.
Very little said about that eternal state and we don't need to get dwelling on it in this meeting particularly except just to recognize that ultimately everything heads toward that point. Verse ten of our chapter ultimately is in view of that time when.
All the evil will be done away. Sin will never raise its head again.
The Kingdom of God, which will be eternal, will be fully manifested with Christ at its head.
And everything in every way according to God's mind. I like your expression. That's the highest truth in the Bible.
00:40:02
So Bill, is the 7th verse that we just had in the second chapter, is that eternal or is that Millennium?
I'd like to hear what others say, but I wouldn't restrict it to the Millennium.
Would others agree with that? What about that, Brother Dawn? Would you? Would you think that verse seven of chapter 2 would go right on to eternal ages?
I only think it's the doorstep.
Sorry, we didn't catch that. Yes, I believe it's a millennial display. I'd like to turn to Romans Chapter 11. That gives us a little bit of insight, perhaps as to how God works through the dispensations of time.
And.
Romans, Chapter 11.
Concerning what God displays, and when He displays it, and so on, He tells us in verse 33 all the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out for who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who have been His counselor? We talk about the purposes and counsel of God.
Counselor to help inform them, or who hath first given to him.
And it shall be recompense to him again. And then he gives us somewhere summation. I think that's very important to keep track of and all thoughts about the word of God.
For of him.
And through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen.
And it's well to keep before the soul that.
The beginning of everything is of him.
The fulfilling of anything that is going to last and be is through him.
And the purpose for which it's done, and the one to whom it's done is to him. This is referring to God in deity. And it says, To Whom be glory?
Forever Amen. The end result of everything in bringing us into what's called the eternal state will be the perfect eternal.
Expression of the glory of God.
And everything leaning up to it, going back to the way in which God accomplishes it, it's through him, through Christ Jesus.
And so to get just a little idea of how that works in Revelation.
Primary book in the New Testament that gives us anything we call prophecy.
In the revelation we see in the first chapter.
An introduction and then chapters two and three. The responsibility of the church to be the light of the world when the Lord Jesus is not here, and the evaluation of the church's performance. It comes short.
And so the end of chapter 3 as a display of testimony for God in the earth during the time you and I are living.
God says, as it were judges, that the Lord judges it, and said I have to put you aside as a testimony.
For me, but then the question is who is worthy to set things right?
And so in chapter 4 of Revelation, the question is raised, Who's worthy? Who can do it?
Through him we see in chapter 4 the creator of the Earth.
And the creator of the earth has the rights to do what he wants with the earth that he created.
And so as creator, he has the right to step in and act as he chooses to set things right. But that's not his only qualification in chapter 5.
00:45:00
Who hath redeemed the Redeemer is brought out as the Redeemer, the one that paid for everything to have the earth have a right to it.
He sure does, and in chapter 4 he's worthy to do it as Redeemer.
And chapter 6 to somewhat the end and the eternal state comes in in one of the last chapters, the.
Redeemer with all rights for the glory of God. I go back to the Word glory and all things are from Him, for him, and to Him. That Son perfectly glorifies God in setting everything in order before the God. And when is the work is done, the completion of the glory of it will be such that in the eternal state.
There will be no longer sin, there will be absolutely no sin, and none of you and I in this room will have a single thing in us that would ever make anyone recognize that sin had ever existed. There's one thing, though.
Ought to bring our hearts to worship that will. There's going to be one and only one thing that will be seen in eternity that we will ever know that sin existed. There'll be a new heavens, there'll be a new earth, there'll be new bodies, there'll be everything. Satan will be banished. And so that there's absolutely nothing physical.
To make us know that sin ever existed.
Except Loki in the hands and the side and the feet of our Redeemer, and we will see the marks in him forever.
And it will produce, as it should, eternal worship, as we see that eternal reminder of the riches of God's grace and the price of redemption.
Well, since we're talking about redemption, maybe that's a good point to get back to verse seven of our chapter.
And here's one of the blessings of the.
Believer we have redemption in whom?
We have redemption and like has been brought out. It's really the basis.
Of all blessing the groundwork that's so important.
Through his blood, and then one of the results of that redemption through his blood is the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.
O brethren, to realize we are forgiven, our sins are all gone. I know it seems like such a basic subject that sometimes I think we don't stop.
To think about the wonder of it all before a holy God.
I am forgiven.
My sins according to the riches of His grace.
But remember years ago?
With Ted Frazee going out to the penitentiary out here in Walla Walla and speaking about the forgiveness of sins and how that we can have it.
And there was an older man sitting in the back row. I don't know who he was.
Or his name or what he was in there for. But he came up after the meeting and said.
All these years.
I have been asking for the forgiveness of my sins.
Now I understand. I accept him. Thank God for him. It is a wonderful blessing. And sometimes, like I say, sometimes we don't. We think it's so basic. Well, that's for those that just got insane. Yeah. OK. Thanks for us, dude. Enjoy it. Oh, brother, what a wonderful thing that we have.
00:50:02
The forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.
I'd like to point out one other blessing that we have. It's in Romans.
Chapter 3 that is based on redemption as well.
Just to point it out to show that it is the basis of all blessing. Redemption is Romans 3 and reading verses, well, let's read from verse 23 and 24.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. There it is again mentioned the basis of this blessing justification.
Being declared righteous. God has been so vindicated.
And glorified in the work of the Lord Jesus, that now he can not only forgive our sins, but he can declare righteous those guilty sinners. Oh, whatever.
Lord help us to enjoy it.
The fact that we have gone through.
From the beginning of the chapter.
Series of.
Blessings. Spiritual blessings.
And we finally get down to verse 7.
Speaks about forgiveness, redemption through his blood.
Is evidence of what one of the brothers said 1/2 hour ago how God centered and God oriented the view is in Ephesians?
We're familiar with the book of the Epistle to the Romans, and after an introduction, the apostle goes through every company, the moral characteristics of every company of men and women that have lived on the earth.
Brings them all guilty. And then in the verses you read in Romans 3.
Shows how God has been pleased to come in and address.
Man's fallen responsibility by the work of his son on Calvary's cross.
And it builds up from there in Romans 3, in chapter 4 and chapter 5, and reaches up one of the peaks where the believer is able not just to joy in his salvation, but he joys in God. Beautiful. So in Romans, it's built from the bottom up.
Because it's more what are we going to do? How are we going to justify fallen man?
Guilty man because for thousands of years, because man is a moral being.
He has a desire, he says. As Job said, how can a man be just with God?
We drink in iniquity like water. We're born under trouble like the sparks fly upward.
How can he be clean that is born of a woman. That was the aspiration and it finally awaits Romans. The building up from the bottom, from the foundation, the laid in the blood of Christ and so on and up it goes in the Epistle of the Romans doesn't go as high as Ephesians, but in Ephesians it's top down. It starts at the very top. And we've been working our way down through these these these blessings that are owed not.
Much demands responsibility, but to the free action of God, because he wanted did it so he wanted it so He wanted to bring mine near to himself, with the capacity and a desire to understand Him and to enjoy Him.
And that's what God has done, and that's what he starts in in in Ephesians. But of course, God being who he is, righteousness is maintained. And so he gets, when he gets down to verse seven, redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.
In the construction business, as most everyone knows, you generally go down to build up. You got to go down and lay the foundation.
00:55:03
But there's certainly there's a type of construction that's called top down. We're in a big city with all of these buildings and all of the utilities underground and all the complexity. You can't just open up a big hole. You you have to stabilize everything as you go. And so men have learned to build from that. They'll build the top floor at ground level and dig down and build the next level and work their way down. It's called top down.
And in a complex, crowded city with high rises, that's what they do. And it always reminds me of Ephesians chapter one. It's top down.
It's his desire.
It's him displaying the glory of his grace and then by the way, I can afford to do this and I want to the riches of his grace goes down and and as they say, pulls bottom, it's the bottom layer. So I appreciate that very much. Responsibility has been addressed. I know the young people get get a little bit vexed with trying to reconcile.
The sovereignty of God with man being responsible in these two themes they can see.
Are incompatible in a way, because responsibility says give me, provide for me, show me what you have. But in the sovereignty of God, he's giving those to give and to. There are two different things. Of course. They meet at the cross of Christ. That's where responsibility was met, gloriously so. And that's the display of God's sovereignty and every aspect of his being.
So I appreciate as we've gone through these different spiritual blessings and we're not done yet.
Get down to the fact that yes, God's desire was what it was, but still God is holy in the blood must be shed to enable him to justify the vilest Sinner and still be just in doing it.
Bruce, could we say that when the Lord chose us out before the foundation of the world?
That from there on, he took our responsibility to bring us into that place. We're not even responsible. He he became, he made himself responsible to bring us into that place.
Say in my in my considering your question, it was at Calvary's cross that he addressed our responsibility.
There's in Romans chapter five I think it is, or four.
And this has been the source of a lot of misunderstanding in Christianity.
They say that by the righteousness of one, many were made righteous, many made just.
And they point to Christ's life and say, yes, he lived a perfect life. And so therefore that somehow imputed to you and me.
But in a good translation and you can look it up for yourself, it's by 1 righteousness. It's when he stood in the breach for you and for me and addressed our responsibility fully at Calvary's cross. To me, that's where the sovereign love of God in providing him.
And the wrath of God being poured out on sin, with fury let together at Calvin's cross.
Tom, 8510.
Voted.
Birthday and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
And where do they meet?
I look at the cross.
It's wonderful to rejoice in the mercy and the grace of God.
But we will stand there in his presence, fully justified.
Because of his righteousness.
It just happens to be according to the eternal counsel of God.
That the punishment was meted out to someone else and not us, the Lord Jesus.
He has brought us to that place.
Without sacrificing the least of his nature as God.
01:00:05
No attribute of God was ever compromised.
I can still remember.
Seeing.
A video of Richard Dawkins talking about God's forgiveness and saying well, why can't he just forgive us?
Just abhorring the thought that someone would have to die in our stead.
Why can't he just forgive them?
It doesn't work that way.
Because God is holy.
And every attribute of God.
Will be fully satisfied and was in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our responsibility has been fully proven.
But the fact that we are in Christ has nothing to do with my responsibility.
Was all on him.
Could we have ever learned the depth of the love of God?
Any other way and that he gave his son to Dionne Calvary's cross.
For all eternity. And what Don had said that the wounds in his hand and his side.
And his feet will be recognized in eternity, will be an eternal.
Display of his love for all that were redeemed and so if he just saved somebody.
It would never understand God's love, but we have to remember that the angels are learning.
The love of God, something they never knew before. We're learning the love of God. Christ will be on display and will be on display with Him. It's all connected with the love of God. So it's absolutely necessary that He died to save our never dying souls. You'd never know it any other way.
And not only the love of God, but the truth that God is like, isn't it in the same time?
Fully vindicated.
Maybe seeing #100 and 35135?
01:05:43
42 as well.
Glory to God on high.
Glory to God.
Side. All sides.
Of.
Give us.
A.
Guilty.
Break. Not anymore.
Wrong.
Nothing.
Alone.
Love, I know the and teach.
Love.
God can raise.
No love like this.
No.
It was and sores down there now.
All sins work together.
Your dreams.
Of our Lord.
To sleep now and.
Forever be here.
Our God and our Father.
Our great.
You are just.
We're grateful that there are consequences for evil actions.
Consequences for goodness. You are a good God.
Just holy, separate from sin.
As the supreme being in the universe.
That there is responsibility.
Consequences.
And yet, because there's consequences for sin.
01:10:06
We all stand condemned.
But for your grace.
Your mercy.
The love that has been poured out.
To rescue.
Content centers proving that our God would rather dive and live without us.
We give thanks for the blood of Jesus Christ, your Son.
Given.
His own life.
For hours.
But he would bear.
On himself, the consequences that we deserve.
And so that we would be welcome.
In communion with our God.
We offer praise.
We offer thanks.
We recognize and revel in Your glory.
And.
We're so happy.
To be able to joy in our God.
Instead of the terror.
That would be our place, so we offer.
A sacrifice of praise.
The glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.