Address—C. Hendricks
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Let's begin this afternoon by singing 330.
What raised the wondrous thought? Or who did it suggest that we the Church?
Through glory brought should with.
The Son be blessed.
330 Someone raised the tomb, please.
I shall be.
Let's pray.
Our God and our Father.
We've been singing about.
Thy wonders thought of centering in thy beloved son.
And we have a part in this wonderful part, And as we open Thy word this afternoon, we ask Thy help by the Spirit.
To guide the speaker and the hearers as well.
To take in these precious things that come from thee, we ask thy help. We ask thy blessing in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen.
When Brother Wigram composed this hymn, I have no doubt that he was thinking of the Epistle to the Ephesians. And that's where we're going to turn this afternoon, Ephesians Chapter One. Now it's not going to be possible to cover.
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Everything that I'll read.
But it's always good to have the word read before us, and then we can glean from it some of these precious thoughts that are His that come from Him. And the unique character of this epistle is that it? It's God disclosing, revealing to us what His plan for eternity, for us, for His Son, and for us is.
Marvelous that he has let us in to his.
Eternal thoughts concerning Christ and His assembly in this scene and then forever with Him the Lord. And let's just read Ephesians One and then we'll go on from there.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. And I want you to notice how often in this chapter we read of the will of God the the purpose of God.
The intent of God in all that he's doing, you'll come across these words that express this. And Pauls apostleship was by the will of God to the Saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us.
With all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him. In love, having predestinated us unto 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 council of his own will.
Purpose, counsel, will, that we should be to the praise of His glory.
Who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted? After that she heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that she believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession unto 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 in my prayers, that the God.
Notice He prays 3 things here. 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 she may know. Here's the first thing that she may know what is the hope of his calling? And secondly, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints? And thirdly, what is the exceeding greatness of his power?
To us word 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 have to put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church.
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Which is his body, the fullness of him.
That fill us All in all.
I want you to imagine.
Maybe that's a bad word. I want you to put yourself in the position you may choose either either being a Jew with the knowledge that the Jew had from the Old Testament scriptures, or a Gentile. I mean, it might be very difficult to put your your yourself in the shoes of a Gentile, not knowing what part of the Gentile world I'm talking about. And I don't know what part I'm talking about, I'm just talking about Gentiles. But this chapter contains blessings for.
Jews and Gentiles, In fact, the whole epistle does, and they form something brand new that was never known before in the Old Testament scriptures.
You can search the Old Testament through and through, and you won't find it there. This body he talks about in verse 23, which is his body, The fullness of him that filleth. All in all, his body doesn't tell us who makes up the body, yet he tells us that as he goes on into this wonderful epistle.
Isn't it wonderful that in this portion of God's Word we have the truth flowing from God, originating in God and flowing to us from God, His thoughts, his purposes, his counsels? And we are. We're part of that. We're brought into a a relationship with him that is something that was never known before. I was talking to a brother, and the question was raised at the outset of the first reading.
The question is, what is Christianity? And the brother came to me after and he said one word tells us Christianity is Christ. Well, not quite. Yes, that's true, that's true. But Christ as he was down here as Messiah to Israel, No, that's not Christianity. Christianity didn't even begin while the Lord was here on earth. It didn't even begin. And after he rose again from the dead, it didn't begin until he ascended to heaven.
Down at the right hand of God and then sent down the Holy Spirit to unite into one body, the believers, His disciples, His Jewish disciples, to unite into one body. That was the birthday of the church. That's when Christianity began.
So it's not enough to say that Christ is the answer.
As far as what is Christianity, when he comes back and establishes his Kingdom and reigns here for 1000 years, we'll be with him and share in that reign. But that's not Christianity either. That's when righteousness will reign. Today, righteousness is not raining. Grace is reigning through righteousness. And it's different. What is Christianity?
Means the question, at least that was raised, means what is the true character of the day in which we live? Christianity. Because when the Lord comes and takes this home, Christianity will cease to exist here on earth and then he'll start dealing again with his ancient people. Israel and other another order of blessing will be introduced with a view to the establishment of his rights here as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But he's not reigning today.
He is in rejection today, and that was brought out in the readings. He's in rejection, and we are identified with him in the most intimate and blessed relationship and place ever known before, something that goes beyond any revelation to the Jew in the Old Testament, and certainly infinitely beyond anything the Gentiles had because they didn't even know the true God. They were without God in this world. The Jews had the knowledge of the true God insofar as he had.
Been pleased to reveal it to them at that time, but the truth, the full truth that we have unfolded here couldn't be brought out until the Son of God, the eternal Son became a man and came into this world. And as he walked here for 33 years he spoke of God as my Father.
ABBA father.
In the most intimate way, and the Jews were very offended by this. Who is he?
Who art thou? You're making yourself equal with God. Yes, he was, because he was equal with God.
But in order to introduce Christianity, he had to become a man, present himself to his earthly people, Israel. They rejected him and put him to death. And then he rose.
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And then he ascended and sat down, the right hand of the majesty on high.
And then he sends the Holy Spirit down to form the assembly.
The Church of the living God. And that's when Christianity began and that's when we are living. We are in a different dispensation today than the dispensation of the law. That was 1500 years when they were under law. And the dispensation of the Kingdom which is to follow this one is entirely different. When righteousness will reign when every morning.
Outward sins that have been committed will be dealt with and judged.
Not so today. Today, grace is reigning through righteousness.
Very different. And it's important. If we are to know how to conduct ourselves in this present day of grace, we have to know what Christianity really is.
Really is. So if you can put yourself back in the 1St century.
When you didn't have a complete Bible and someone says we've received an epistle from Paul. This is at Ephesus, the assembly at Ephesus. I'm going to read it to you. I've just read you the first chapter and we have. We've got the tremendous privilege in this 21St century to have a whole chapter, to have the whole book, to have the whole Bible complete. Tremendous, tremendous advantage we have over those early Christians.
He says in verse three. I'm not going to comment on every verse. Blessed be the God and Father.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You notice he doesn't ever in the Epistles address him as Heavenly Father.
It's always the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He taught his disciples on earth, his Jewish disciples, to address him as our Father, which is in heaven, and so on. There are some Christians that still do that. It's not wrong, but it doesn't. It doesn't come to the the blessedness of what we have.
In Christianity he is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that one who was God and become a man, and now has put our sins away by his death on the cross, raised again, and seated at the right hand of God.
Well, he pronounces God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, blessed, who hath blessed us. Now if you were a Jew, you can contrast what I'm going to read here with what the promise for the Jew was If he had been an obedient Jew and a godly Jew and lived according to the law, He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
The Jews blessings were material, and they were earthly ours our spiritual.
And heavenly, according as he hath chosen us in him.
Before the foundation of the world, the earthly people, Israel was chosen.
From the foundation of the world, because when he established this world and he chose some to.
To live here, and to rule here, and to represent him here. But we were chosen before the foundation of the world.
Before this world ever existed, he had in his thoughts a bride for his son, whom he would have to assume manhood, and that was before man was ever created.
These are all thoughts of God.
In Genesis 1, the Trinity speaking among themselves, they said, let us make man in our image.
And after our likeness, and then he put him here as the head of this earthly creation.
And everything was subjected to him. Well, that was just. That was just a prelude to what he would do later. After the first man failed, he would send the 2nd man the last Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, who never failed. And just as he made a bride for Adam, he has made a bride for Christ. And you and I are part of that, part of that heavenly bride, not an earthly bride. He has an earthly bride as well. Jerusalem, Song of Solomon is about the earthly brightness, not about the heavenly bride.
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It's often.
Ministered on that way, But it's not about the Heavenly Bride.
Heavenly Bride is the Church or the Assembly.
The called out ones were not a part of this world. The earthly bride was a part of this world. Jerusalem.
He has chosen us in him verse 4 before the foundation of the world.
That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Now we know from Johnsky Epistle that God is light and that God is love.
If we're going to be in his presence, we must be there according to his nature.
And he is light, his absolute holiness.
He's absolutely holy and righteous, and he is love. God is love. And so if we're going to be there, we have to be there as he is. And so we have to be holy and without blame, blameless before him in love. So verse 4 answers to him being the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we're going to be in the presence of his God, we have to be holy and blameless before him in love. But he's also the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And so he goes on to say in verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, the placing of sons. Literally, if I correct the King James, I want you to know I'm using Mr. Darby's translation to do it, I'll just say a new translation and we'll leave it there. A better rendering.
Of this passage having predestinated us unto the adoption of sons literally.
By Jesus Christ to himself, he's going to fill heaven with those that are just like him.
But we're not going to be just holy and blameless in love as servants. We're going to be there as sons.
According to the good pleasure of his will, this all flows from him.
Now think of it if he chose you and me before the foundation of the world.
Can we ever be lost?
Does it depend in any way upon us?
Our security? No, no, not a bit. You are absolutely secure.
And nothing can change that. The only thing that Satan can do in attacking us.
Is to get us to not enjoy what we have in Christ. He can't take it away from us.
He can try to rob us of the enjoyment of it.
So here's children. And this is all to the praise of the glory of His grace. You'll see in this epistle, especially grace repeatedly mentioned, because everything that God does in blessing towards us for us is grace. We haven't earned it. We don't deserve it. We haven't done anything for it. It's grace. He is as he is, As much as says I'm going to bless you, no matter how bad you are or whatever your character, I'm going to bless you.
And that's exactly what he has done. Everyone of us has a different character, some a better character than others, but this is not dependent on our character or on our disposition or anything about us. It's his purpose to bless, and nothing can change that to the praise of the glory of His grace, The glory of his grace, That's the that's the highest glory you can think of, the glory of his grace, that everything.
That he has in store for us everything that is in his counsel for us, in his purposes and will for us.
It comes to us by grace, the glory of his grace.
Wherein now I'm going to correct this wherein he hath taken us.
Into favor in the beloved.
Made us accept it is not incorrect, but it's it doesn't. It doesn't really convey the the full force of what the apostle is saying here, to the praise of the glory of his grace. He hasn't just.
Put us inside as a servant, Some low place within the door, so to speak, as we sing. But the crown, the throne, the mansion, all were ready long before.
He has taken us into favor in the beloved He sees us.
Doesn't even say in Christ, which would be not incorrect, but it says in the beloved.
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Beautiful. This is my beloved son, he said. And he sees us as he sees him.
And the nearness that we have to God is the nearness that his Son has.
It's nearer than the angels. The relationship that we are brought into is more blessed than the angels. They're not going to dwell on the Father's house that you and I are. That's a special place for His bride, for His children.
And the angels are not that close. Their servants may do his bidding.
But we are more than that.
Far more than they had in the Old Testament.
He has taken us into favor.
In the beloved made us the objects of His grace.
In the beloved.
So everything that's in his heart to bestow upon us is yours.
And mine. Whether you enjoy it or not, you may not enjoy it. There's a measure of an enjoyment in our crowd this afternoon. Some of you enjoy these things far more than I do.
And others. But they're they're here for all of us.
And then it says in whom we have redemption. Well, let's pause a minute here and let's reflect upon this surely, this, this, this calling, this choosing that we're going to be holy and blameless before him in love. Who is he talking about? Is he talking about the some angels that have never sinned? He must be talking about?
Some very elevated creatures to be brought into such a place of favor and blessing.
No, he's not talking about angels that have never sinned. He's not talking about anyone that's never sinned, it says.
In whom we have redemption through His blood. We needed to be redeemed. We were sinners. He's talking about you and me. He's talking about us. He's talking about those that have sinned against him and His Majesty. We're the objects of His love and blessing, so we needed to be redeemed.
So that's something lower than verse 6, which is to the praise of the glory of His grace, all that he's going to bring us into.
But He has to redeem us first, in whom we have redemption. Through His blood we were sinners, and that precious blood has met the eye of God and put our sins away. And we're redeemed, set free the forgiveness of sins. We have that.
We were at AI was at a hospital bed the other day visiting a young man with my wife and.
A friend of his was there, and he prayed, and at the end of his prayer he said, and and forgive us our sins.
And I just nodded to my wife and and he's a real believer and he he knows the Lord and he loves the Lord. Very sweet Christian. But he didn't seem to know that he has the forgiveness of his sins right now. He prayed for it and there's so many in like that in Christendom forgive us our sins.
No. We have the forgiveness of sins through His blood. We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace when it comes to meeting our need. It's the riches of His grace when it comes to the outflow of His heart of love, the boundless love that is in His heart to bless us.
The glory of his grace.
And wherein verse 80th abounded toward us in all wisdom.
And prudence.
He hath abounded toward us. Now whenever he uses language like this wisdom, it's God's wisdom. You can, you can, you can look for the the mystery, the truth of the mystery. It's going to be mentioned in some form, and sure enough, it is in the next verse wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, The mystery is something which in the Old Testament was a secret. Not known, not disclosed, not revealed there. But now it's out. Now it's revealed. It's the mystery of his will. What is it?
According to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself.
It's his good pleasure. It's what flows from him. It's the purpose that he has in himself, and he's going to bring it to pass. And no one of us can stop it. Satan can't stop it. Satan. Satan can rob us of our enjoyment, of our blessings, but he can't rob it. They're fixed. They're sure they've come from God, and nothing can take it away. That's precious eternal happiness and security. You can. You're just as secure and sure of heaven as you will be when you're there.
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Right now you're just as sure of it.
If you believe God.
So he's 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. And here it is verse 10 that in the dispensation.
Of the fullness of times, the other translation renders that the administration.
Of the fullness of times. When is that? Well, that's the millennial reign of Christ. When he reigns here for 1000 years, he will administer the affairs of the Kingdom here on earth, and we'll have a part in that, that administration. But that's not our highest blessing at all. Our highest blessing is to be with him in the Father's house. But in the dispensation of the fullness of times, which is still future, he might gather together in one. Again, I'm going to read that.
In the other translation to head up to head up all things in the Christ, that's important. The article before the Word Christ is Christ and the Church. Here it is not always, but here it is Christ and the Church, the Christ.
That's a truth that was never revealed in the Old Testament. You get in Daniel seven that the Lord Jesus has given a Kingdom and he will reign over it. We get that in the Old Testament, but in the New. Here this mystery of his will is to head up all things in the Christ heavenly.
And earthly, not just earthly things, but heavenly things that he might head up in all things in the Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in him.
These are God's thoughts. These are God's purposes. This is God's will. This is what He's doing in the forming the assembly here. And we're a part of this heavenly company, not an earthly company. We don't have earthly blessings as our heavenly, and we're waiting for that time when we'll be there and when the dispensation of the fullness of times arrives, we'll we'll be there as well in helping in the administration.
Of the affairs of the Kingdom, but our proper place. Take just as an example of that. President Bush has a family. He lives at home. He has his family life, and then he has an administrative responsibility as the head of this country. That's his administration.
But his family life in in his heart much higher and more dear to him than his administration administrative position. And so it will be with us.
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance.
We have obtained an inheritance.
Being.
Predestinated, marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him.
Who worketh all things after the Council of his own will.
That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Who's the we in this verse? It's the Jews who believe the gospel.
They're the ones that first trusted in Christ. They pre trusted in Christ before the nation has come to faith. The nation is still in blind unbelief. They don't believe.
Israel is over there in unbelief. But everyone that's a Christian who is, who was a Jew and is now a Christian, he's one of those that have pre trusted or first trusted in Christ. And he says in verse 12 of them that we should be to the praise of his glory who pre trusted in Christ in whom ye also trusted. Notice it changes from the we which were Jews to the ye Gentiles.
In whom he also trusted after that she heard the word of truth. So if if I had just read through verse 12 and you were a Gentile here in the 1St century, and you read that, you might say, well, what part do I have in this? Well, verse 13 says in whom ye also trusted you Gentiles. After that she heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that she believed you were sealed.
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With that Holy Spirit of promise, just as the Jews who believed were brought into this blessing, so the Gentiles now he develops this in this epistle, and especially in the second chapter.
The Holy Spirit. And then he says, which is the earnest of our inheritance.
I said to this, brother, that said that what is Christianity? He said the answer is Christ. I said what about the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is the formative power down here on earth for the Christian testimony. The Holy Spirit is the one who has united us into one body and to Christ the head in heaven.
Christianity involves more than just Christ. It involves the whole Trinity.
And now we know God is our Father. They didn't know him as Father in the Old Testament. The Jews knew him as Jehovah. That was the covenant name of relationship. And they had circumcision as a sign of that covenant relationship that Jews had Israel had with Jehovah. They didn't know him, his father, though. What had to happen to introduce him to us as Father? The son had to come. Until the sun came, He wasn't known as Father.
But in Christianity we know God is our Father. We are in dwelt of the Holy Spirit.
Sealed of the spirit, we can never lose that and.
We know the sun to be our Savior, our Lord, our Redeemer.
Our justifier and all that we have in him.
Christian Truth.
We are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance.
Until the redemption of the purchased possession. Now the Saints are not the purchased possession.
The whole creation has been purchased by the Lorde death and when he comes and sets it free.
You get that in Romans 8.
When we come back.
With the Lord and have the establishment of the Kingdom here, this whole creation which grown us and travail us and came together until now, we'll be set free from the ******* of corruption. It will be redeemed.
That's what he's talking about.
The earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. And when he does that, when he sets everything free and he reigns, he's going to head up everything in the Christ which is Christ, and the assembly we're going to be reigning with him. That was never revealed in the Old Testament.
That Israel would be the head nation, yes, and the Gentiles subordinate to them, Yes, they would be blessed, but not what we have here.
This is something infinitely better.
And it's our portion.
Do we live? Do I Let me address myself because.
I'm a failure.
Do I live consistently with these truths?
Do you do it?
I know I don't.
But they're true. They're my portion.
And as one brother said recently, oh, that we might enjoy what is really ours, enjoy it being living in the good of it. Satan has spread a mass of attractive items before us, toys. I said to a lady in the store, her little sun was right there and playing with one of these little cars. And I said to her, I said, well, we have toys too, but ours are much more expensive than that one.
We all have our toys.
They're not worth They're not worth anything eternally.
Not worth anything eternally will not take them to heaven.
No, but.
What we have is a head. We have it now.
We enjoy it by faith.
Notice.
In verse 16 of chapter 3, that's his second prayer. He says that he would grant you, according to the rich of his riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. The only way he can dwell in our hearts right now is by faith that we have the conscious sense of his presence with us. Wonderful prayers. Two prayers in Ephesians chapter one. We haven't come to it yet in chapter 3.
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The first one is what he wants us to know. What is really ours. That you know these things. Three things. And then in chapter three, that it might be subjectively lived out in our souls in our life down here.
So he says in verse 15. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the Saints. Faith in the Lord Jesus produces love to all the Saints. That's beautiful.
So if you're reading his, you love all the Saints, whether they're gathered or not. You love all the Saints, if they're Saints.
You love them because they're his and he loves them.
Cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers.
Now here it is that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, the fountain. He had the source of glory, but he's, he's, he's here, the Father of our our, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in verse 14 of chapter three, he prays to the Father by my bow, my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But here it's the God verse 17 of chapter one, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father. There the thought of Father is the the source of it, The Fountainhead of glory.
May give unto you the Spirit of wisdom, and when he talks about wisdom.
He's going to talk about his.
Purposes and plans for us and revelation that are revealed to us. Something that is not found in the Old Testament in the knowledge of Him, the full knowledge of Him, full knowledge of Him. Now here it is, verse 18, The eyes of your understanding or the eyes of your heart. Other translation, being enlightened, that you may know.
This is what he wants us to know. What is the hope of his calling? The hope of his calling is not just the Rapture when he's going to take us home.
But it's everything that follows that, it's everything that he brings us into that is we're going to be in his presence, we're going to see him and we're going to be like him.
As he is. It's not just I want to go to heaven.
When I was a kid, I wasn't a Christian. I remember talking to another third grader and we went into this deep theological discussion whether there was a God or not. And we came, we came away with the conclusion, yes, there is a God, but I didn't know him. Do you want to go to heaven? Yes. Everyone wants to go to heaven. I had no idea There was a man in the glory. And sometimes a person will talk to you. I remember I was on the elevated after we had that tremendous snowstorm in Chicago and there was a black man there. And he said the man upstairs, he done showed us. He done showed us because no one was moving that day.
That was 3 feet of snow on the ground.
Well, he didn't know that there is a man upstairs. I don't think he knew he was talking about God.
But there is literally a man in the glory. Oh yeah, you ask other Christians do you know.
There's a man in the glory, and as he is, so are we. God sees us just as he sees him. We are as acceptable to God as he is.
Well, that's who do you think you are to make such a claim?
That's what they might say.
Who are you to make such a claim? Well, it's not my claim. It's what God has told me that He's brought me into. And if you're a true believer, he's brought you into that as well. Whether you enjoy it or not, whether you believe it or not, it's still true of you if you know him as your Lord and Savior.
The eyes of your heart being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling and that goes far beyond just getting there. But then he's going to display it all to us. What has he called us to? And secondly, what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints? It's the Saints are not his inheritance, but it's it's he's going to take everything in the persons of the Saints. Everything. He's going to he's that he's won here as a man down in this scene. He's going to share it. The second Psalm.
The Jehovah says to his Messiah, Ask of me, and I'll give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the world for thy possession. Everything is his, and he won't take it alone. He's going to take it in his Saints. You and me, we're going to have part in that.
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And thirdly, what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe?
According to the working of his mighty power, what is he talking about? His power in creating the universe?
When he spake and it was done, he commanded, and it stood fast. No, you're not talking about his creatorial power. He's talking about taking that man, the blessed Lord Jesus, who lay dead in that tomb and quickening him and raising him and setting him in the highest place in glory. That's the power he's talking about, the power that establishes a new creation with him as the head.
The second man and the last Adam, and we are there with him.
Now if you were a Gentile in the 1St century or a Jew in the 1St century.
And you heard this, and you entered into it, and you understood it. You would be absolutely awed.
Amazed at the immensity of the grace blessedness.
Of what He has brought us into so he praised what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us 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. There's a man at the right hand of God tonight, set there by God the Father. He set him there far above all principality and power and might and dominion, all created intelligences, all the angelic hosts, the hierarchy of heaven.
He's gone beyond that. There's a man that's gone beyond that.
And we're in that man before God. We're in a place of nearness and favor and blessing. He's taken us into favor in the beloved, and all that is his is yours and mine.
And we get interested in the little toys of earth when we have all this.
I'm guilty.
You probably are too.
And he hath put all things under his feet.
Now let me read verse 21 before I go on far above all principality and power and might and dominion in every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be or as head over not the church, here all things to the church, So he gives him as head over all things to the church.
Which is his body? First mention of that in this chapter in this Epistle, the Church, the Assembly, Which is his body, the fullness?
The completeness.
Completion of him that filleth All in all Brother asked me and says, does that mean that that without the church Christ is not complete? I said yeah, that's exactly what it means.
Christ as a man is incomplete without his bride, without his church, which is his body.
The fullness of him that filleth All in all.
Now I'm going to read verse one of chapter 2.
Without the italicized words because they really spoil it, and you who were dead in trespasses and sins.
But it says here the translators have brought hath he quickened up from verse verse.
Five. But it shouldn't be in verse one. It's not wrong, but it sort of fuzzies the point. You who were dead in trespasses and sins. That's what we were. Whether Jews or Gentiles doesn't matter. That's what we were by nature.
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world.
According to the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, when it says ye walk, he's talking about those that had been Gentiles and that's how they walked. That's how we walked wearing in time past. Ye walked according to the course of this world. This just the the flow of this world. That's the way we used to walk as Gentiles. According to the Prince of the power of the air, he's the one that man likes to think in this country that he's free. He's free not. He's freezing servant to to Satan and his servant to sin.
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He that committed sin as the servant of sin. But if the Son shall make you free and deliver you from sin in its power, then you're free indeed.
And he's the only one that can free us. Yeah, that we walked according to the Prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. And then verse three brings in the Jews that had believed, among whom we also we all be Jews. We were no better. We were just as bad as these Gentiles we were used to in Judaism. Looking down upon them. We were cut above them. But he says, among whom also we all had our conversation, our manner of Life and Times past.
In the lusts of our flesh, having the law didn't stem the lust of the flesh, didn't quench it, didn't prevent it. We still lusted, just like the Gentiles.
Whom also we all had our conversation in times past, and the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh.
And of the mind fantasies?
Let your mind go just to meditate on the worst evils.
That there are in this world. That's what these Jews did.
And we're by nature the children of wrath, even as others now he's described.
In verses one we were dead in trespass and sins, Jews and Gentiles. Then he describes the Gentiles in verse two and the Jews in verse 3. And now he comes to God.
And it says but God, who is rich in mercy, when he's described our our lost condition, our being dead in trespasses and sins, and living according to the course of this world and and fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. That's what we were, whether we were Jews or Gentiles now He We needed mercy. We needed deliverance from that state of sin.
And that's the thought behind mercy. Mercy gives deliverance. And so it says God who is rich in mercy.
He can deliver us from that awful condition that we were in for his great love, wherewith He loved us even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. Now that's where the quickening belongs. After he's described our lost and ruined condition. And then He says God comes in in mercy and delivers us by giving us life, a new life, the very life of Christ.
Quickened us together with Christ, and then he says by grace you are saved. Now he brings the word grace in.
Now we can expect that he's going to unfold blessings, further blessings. The riches that He's brought us into mercy delivers us from the evil, and grace brings us into the blessing that He has for us.
Even when we were dead in sins, verse 5 hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace you're saved. And then hath raised us up together. Not only given us life, that's the opposite of being dead in trespasses and sins. That's mercy. He's given us life and delivered us from that dead condition, but now he's raised us up together with Christ. That's grace. That's going beyond just reversing the condition we were in is bringing us into something better, a new creation.
He's raised this up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now if you're seated in heavenly places, if you've been raised, that means you no longer have to do with this world. You've died to it and you were dead in sins and.
He was dead and he was quickened. He was raised, and now he's quickened us and raised us and seated us there. What part do we have?
In participating in the affairs of this world to improve it.
We will improve it. If we live Christ, we will improve it. That will have the most powerful effect.
That we can have if all Christians would walk as Christians. What a tremendous impact.
That would have on this world and it would stem.
The type of evil, the very presence. Our presence still here with the spirit of God. All Christians. I don't mean just us. I'm talking about all believers, stems the tide of evil mystery of nicotine. I've already worked Only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. There's the restraining power and we're still here, but we don't. We're not called upon. We had that brought out in the reading. We're not called upon to set the world right.
He will do that. We're called upon to represent the place that He's brought us into and to try to deliver those that are still ******* to sin and to Satan out of that condition and bring them into the place of blessing that as he's brought us into.
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Verse 6 Again he hath raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
As one who's sitting there and has entered that scene.
We are out of this world and for us to get engaged in it in.
Setting its affairs right is not acting consistently with our place in Christ. I know we have to pass through it, we have to make a living and so on. But we don't have to try to be someone, or to obtain any kind of fame or a position of status or a hero.
Or a someone they look up to.
No, we want to point everyone to Christ.
Not I, but Christ. He must increase, John said. I must decrease.
That ought to be our attitude.
Now that's true of us. Right now we're seated in the heavenlies in Christ. But then the next verse tells us what's ahead, That in the ages, verse seven, in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of His grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Will this ever end? I don't think so.
In the ages to come, he's going to show to us the exceeding riches of His grace. Will that ever be exhausted? Will he ever exhaust that?
I don't think so.
And we go out after the soap bubbles of this world. Shame on me. Shame on any of us to do that.
When all this is ours already, we're just waiting to enter into it in its fullness.
We're being tested.
How much do these things really mean to us?
How important are they to us?
Does the world really have something to offer?
That can even come close to what is ours already in Christ.
We enjoy it by faith.
By faith.
That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace.
In kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. That's inexhaustible. That's something like his prayer in the third chapter to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. How can you know something that passes knowledge that's beyond knowing. To know Something that's beyond knowing. I like what a brother wrote on that, he said. The apostle supposes us. Launched upon a shoreless sea, and we'll have all eternity to explain. It will never come to the shore.
All eternity.
The love of Christ.
And this is something like that.
Then he says in verse 8, For by grace are you saved through faith. Grace is what made all of this possible for us.
And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
He puts that in there so that we can be absolutely certain that all of this comes from God, flows through Christ, and by the Spirit we enter into the enjoyment of it.
But we don't. We didn't. We didn't earn it. We don't deserve it in any way. Pure sovereign grace.
Let me tell this story. Some of you have heard me say it before. Two older ladies were talking together.
Someone came up to them and said, did you hear that John Smith got saved last night? He'd been a thief, he'd been a.
A drunkard. He'd gotten into drugs. He'd gotten into all kinds of things.
And he got saved last night in an evangelistic meeting. Oh, so the other sister said. I you read, you're sure he's saying, Oh yes, he's just bubbling over with Christ.
And she said, well, if he got saved, that had to be nothing but sovereign grace.
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You get the point.
How did you get saved? How did I get saved?
Just as bad as you were.