Our Great Savior, Part 2

i have to tell you as uh your pastor that i i have you on my heart all the time i i normally do but it seems in the current situation we're in that the burdens that you are all carrying are very very different very unique life has changed dramatically dramatically for all of us and i just want you to know that i'm praying for the lord to give us all wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him so that we can keep our focus on him in a time like this go back to a way to understand this by looking at romans chapter 1 and i'm just going to comment on it you've heard me comment on it before the romans chapter 1 starting in verse 18 says that the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness if there would ever be a nation of people who held the truth it would be certainly our nation as well as most of the western world we have had the bible we've had the revelation of god we all are very much aware that that has been rejected in our nation wholesale and as a result of that the wrath of god has been revealed it is revealed against any society any culture any people who hold the truth in unrighteousness who turn from god and that's exactly what our society has done and romans chapter 1 defines the wrath of god it says this is what it is god when he judges the society for rejecting him turns them over to a sexual revolution it's explicit we have had that 30 years ago i suppose the sexual revolution that was the first sign of divine judgment he lets men go into sexual [Music] unrighteousness pornography [Music] really the death of any sense of biblical morality but there's a second step in romans one and that is there will be a sexual revolution and then there will be a homosexual revolution paul explicitly mentions that men with men women with women and this produces many effects one he talks about i think he's referring even to venereal disease which could be seen as aids so when god judges a a nation that has rejected his truth there will be a sexual revolution followed by a homosexual revolution which we've been watching for the last couple of decades but the third point is he says god gives them over god gives them over to sexual perversion god gives them over to homosexuality then god gives them over to a reprobate mind reprobate mind is a non-functioning mind and what that means is the final step in divine judgment is a kind of insanity where nothing makes sense and out of that paul in romans chapter a long list of every imaginable kind of wickedness and sin that will literally flood and drown a society in the middle of that list of course is deceit and the hatred of god so there's a reason why this country is in the insanity that it is in and it is the judgment of god god has allowed this nation that has rejected him to go down the path of romans 1 through a sexual revolution a homosexual revolution to the point where there is an insanity that really makes no sense to any thinking person it's a reprobate mind it's a mind that does not function and out of that mind that doesn't function comes every imaginable kind of evil it was john calvin who made the interesting statement that when god judges a people he gives them wicked rulers when god judges the people he gives them wicked rulers so this judgment of god that has sent us down this careening path of transgression iniquity and sin is also aided and abetted by wicked rulers because they tend to be the architects of all of this if not overtly certainly covertly so i just want to say that you have to look at this in the light of divine judgment what is happening in our country the chaos the insanity the nonsense the things that you can't figure out the confusion the disorder the disruption is all part of divine judgment and if you understand it that way you're going to realize that you can't fix it you can't fix it the next election will not fix it no election will fix it a new governor in california will not fix it it cannot be fixed it is divine judgment and it is obviously unleashed on us and we're in the final stage the stage of insanity the folly of all follies in a situation like this is to think there's anything you can do in the human realm to stop the divine judgment of god that's not possible this is god judging and he laid it out in detail we are under judgment at a severe level the most severe level revealed in scripture short of final global judgment yet to come in the end of the age and eternal judgment in hell so what is wrong in this country is not fixable this is god bringing judgment the good news is that he protects his people in the judgment that his cover is over us we are in the shelter of his protection we are saved from the wrath to come and we are protected in the current judgment but i just want you to understand that the church has one great responsibility in the midst of this judgment it's not to try to fix what's wrong in society that same chapter romans 1 gives us our mandate paul says i am not ashamed of the gospel of christ for it is the power of god and the salvation to everyone who believes the jew and the gentile our responsibility is to preach the gospel not to be ashamed of the gospel but to preach the gospel which is the only answer the only hope is christ the only appropriate response to christ is to embrace him as lord and savior and to embrace his glorious gospel i guess what i'm saying to you is don't expect it to get better but it raises the stakes for what we as believers in the world are called to do and while so many churches so many churches ranging from the liberal churches to the even evangelical churches are caught up in trying to fix what's wrong in the world everything is a result of judgment even the racial hostility the insanity of teaching people to hate and living on vengeance and revenge all of these kinds of things are part and parcel of what happens to a culture when god lets them go they go to an insanity where nothing makes sense that's where we are for us we know the truth because we have the mind of christ in the word of god and our responsibility is not somehow to figure out how to fix the world but how to proclaim the gospel that can deliver people from the world from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of god's dear son the church needs to focus on the person of christ and sadly it's all over the place on social issues which cannot be fixed first of all because people are sinful and what's wrong in the world in society is the reflection of sin and secondly because that sin is compounded when god removes normal divine restraint and it becomes a judgment so the judgment is that sinners get what they want and it gets worse and worse and worse the church has one calling in the midst of this and that is to be the church it should dawn on people about now if it hasn't already that for the church to reach the world it can't keep trying to be like the world it amazes me that you have the world cultivating hate and trying to put it in elementary schools and all of that and then you have evangelical churches feeling like they need to adapt to the issues of the world and filling churches with the same kind of deceptive ideologies and all it does is rip and shred and tear you have to see those things for what they are they're not fixable they're a reflection of fallen sinfulness the reflection of a nation that has abandoned god and a reflection of divine judgment itself so what do we do in a time like this well we have very clear calling as i said to preach the gospel of jesus christ the church needs to become christ-centered for the church to reach the world it has to stop trying to be like the world because why would you want to identify with a society under judgment understand that what's going wrong in our society is divine judgment we have to be the church we have to be the haven we have to be the the eye of the hurricane we have to be the safe place we have to be the place where christ is exalted and the word of god is proclaimed truth is known and believed and lived and taught we have the mind of christ and it's in the pages of scripture jesus said in john 12 if i be lifted up i will draw all men to myself this is the time for the church to focus on lifting up christ and that of course is the theme of the text that we're looking at turn to ephesians chapter one ephesians chapter one this marvelous epistle directed at the church and the life of the church starts out with an entire first chapter that is as magnificent a portrait of christ as you will find anywhere in the bible it is so profound and it ties the person of christ to his people to his people it shows us christ and it shows us our place in christ you remember in verse 3 this amazing comprehensive statement blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ in the middle of the judgment we are the blessed and our blessings are in christ and follow the flow of this because verse 4 we were chosen in him because verse 6 saving grace was freely bestowed on us in the beloved verse 7 in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins verse 9 at the end of the verse god's purposes are in him verse 10. everything is summed up in christ the end of verse 10 into verse 11. in him we have obtained an inheritance verse 12 we who were the first to hope in christ would be the praise of his glory in him you received the truth the gospel of your salvation verse 13. end of verse 13 in him you're sealed with the spirit of promise everything is in christ everything is in christ and christ is everything that's what we've been trying to say having given all those glorious realities in verses 3 through 14 paul in verse 15 prays for us to understand that it's a prayer for us to get a grip on these great doctrinal truths that speak of things that we possess in possessing all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in christ let me just remind you of this passage for this reason verse 15 because of all that is ours because we are in him of all that he is to us he says i too having heard of the faith in the lord jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers i'm thankful for you i know you're true believers because two things you have faith in the lord jesus verse 15 and you have love for all the saints you believe in christ and manifest itself in love so i do not cease giving thanks so he knows he's talking to a believing church evidenced by their faith in the lord jesus and their love for all saints but i have a request he says verse 16 while i make mention of you in my prayers and here's my request verse 17 that the god of our lord jesus christ the father of glory may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him you already know him in terms of salvation you already know him in terms of understanding the gospel but i want you to have far more understanding of christ i want god to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation and of course that spirit is produced in us by the holy spirit who in isaiah 11 is called the spirit of wisdom i want the spirit of god to give you wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him i want your knowledge of christ to increase knowledge is knowledge deep knowledge there's a specific greek word for that so that you spend essentially your christian life getting to know christ better and better and better over in chapter 3 and verse 18 well verse 17 paul talks about christ and he prays in verse 17 that christ made literally settle down and be at home in your heart through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love and here it comes may be able to comprehend this again is this is mental to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled up to all the fullness of god how do you get to the fullness of god how do you get to the place where you're literally filled with the spirit of god where you're literally controlled by the knowledge of christ he says this is a work of the holy spirit but it is a work of the holy spirit as he brings you an understanding of the divine scripture the goal is to be filled with the fullness of god the way is to love christ the way to love christ is to know him in his fullness over in chapter 4 even he's talking about christ in verse 12 and then in verse 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and what is the unity of the faith it's the unity of the knowledge of the son of god to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of christ so in chapter one we had the fullness of god we have the fullness of god again in chapter 3 verse 18 and 19. we have the fullness of god again in chapter 4 verse 13 which is equated to being a mature man which is equated to knowing christ the christian life is not complicated to understand it's all about knowing christ in colossians chapter one so just call a couple of things to your attention chapter 1 verse 9. again here is paul's prayer for this reason also since the day we heard of it we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding again it's the same prayer it's for us to have deep wisdom and knowledge concerning god concerning christ and then where you have that verse 10 shows the result so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the lord pleasing him in all respects bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of god even in the process of having the knowledge of god and living in the knowledge of god increasing in the knowledge of god is still a necessity it is a continual growing in grace and the knowledge of god as peter says in his epistle so paul's prayer again is that we would increase in the knowledge of god increase in the knowledge of christ so that we would walk in a manner worthy of the lord over in colossians chapter 2 verse 2 that your hearts may be encouraged having been knit together in love and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding resulting in a true knowledge of god's mystery that is christ himself and whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge again the prayer is the same thing that you would have a full assurance of understanding that you would have a full knowledge of christ in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are placed so the christian life is not hard to figure out it's coming to know christ and know him more and know it more you have the apostle paul in philippians saying that i may know him that i may know him and you might say paul you know him you know him you preach him you love him you live for him but i want to know him more know him more this is not some wish for some mystical experience this is for his mind to be able to grasp the fullness of christ as revealed from heaven and for us in scripture when paul writes to titus in titus chapter 1 he introduces the letter by saying paul a slave of god and apostle of jesus christ for the faith of those chosen of god and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness godliness is connected to the knowledge of the truth godliness doesn't happen apart from a knowledge of the truth listen to first peter one according to the foreknowledge of god the father by the sanctifying work of the spirit to obey jesus christ and be sprinkled with his blood i don't know how much you give to knowing christ i don't know how much time you spend reading the four gospels or any other new testament book that reveals him i don't know how much time you spend buying books about christ there are lots of books in christian bookstores about a lot of other things there rarely appear to be books concerning christ and he is everything absolutely everything even john first john 2 he's the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world and then he says in verse 3. so key by this we know we have come to know him if we keep his commandments you can know whether you know him if you keep his commandments if there are areas of your life where you're disobedient your knowledge of him is deficient it is incomplete and as you gaze at the glory of the lord and the knowledge of him becomes yours paul says to the corinthians you will be changed into his image from one level of glory to the next this is what the christian life is about the church exists in the process of sanctification to become like christ which happens when you look at christ and you grow in your knowledge and love and you are better able to reflect him i don't see this very often in churches and i fear it even in our own church but let me give you a little bit of background about the church at ephesus this was a remarkable church basically the first to bring the gospel to ephesus that pagan city in asia minor were aquila and priscilla according to acts 18 they brought the gospel a couple who were in the trades but they were believers they were then joined by a powerful old testament preacher named apollos he was a jew from egypt and the book of acts says he was mighty in the scripture and he was zealous and passionate so he joined them so they had the influence of aquila and priscilla and they had the influence of apollos then came the apostle paul and paul was in ephesus for a period of three years to the degree that all in asia heard the word of the lord from paul coming from the church at ephesus the whole province the whole nation if you will heard the gospel because of the power of the preaching of paul over those three years there were miracles wrought by paul there was an amazing influence the church flourished grew exploded and we read in acts 19 as the chapter comes to an end that the pagans were fearful that the gospel was so powerful so many people were being converted they were going to literally put paganism out of business in ephesus it would have been enough for a church to have had the apostle paul as a pastor for three years but paul was followed by timothy and then timothy was followed by another faithful faithful man named onaciphurus who when everybody else was unfaithful to paul was faithful to him onicipharus was followed by another one of paul's companions by the name of tychicus and finally the church at ephesus was pastored by none other than the apostle john it's not possible that a church could have any greater pastoral lineage than that which makes you wonder why the apostle paul is so concerned that they grow in their knowledge of christ he commends them for being true believers based on their faith in the lord's saving faith and their love but he obviously is concerned about their spiritual growth in understanding christ and that's why he prays for it again in chapter 3 verses 14 and following that they would grow in their understanding of christ this is his passion why pretty simple it's amazing how fast churches move away from christ it's amazing how fast churches move away from christ let me show you revelation chapter 2. a few decades later after paul wrote that epistle jesus sends a letter this is a letter to the messenger of the church no doubt a leader in the church at ephesus and here's what i want you to hear you believers in ephesus from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands that's referring to jesus those are elements of the image in chapter one so the lord himself is writing to this church and he says this in verse 2. i know your deeds and your toil and perseverance and that you cannot tolerate evil men and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not and you found them to be false and you have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake and have not grown weary boy that's a lot of commendation i know your works their good works your toil your endurance steadfastness you have discernment you don't tolerate evil men somebody who comes along and says he's an apostle you put to the doctrinal test and you discern that they are false you persevere no doubt through persecution you have endured for my name's sake you haven't even grown weary this is a flourishing church but verse 4 is a shock but i have this against you that you've left your first love how can that happen this is a church commended on every possible level but you left your first love and so in verse 5 he says remember repent and repeat you left your first love what's your first love your love for the lord remember the early days when you had just come to know the lord jesus christ and you were caught up in love to him what happened to that what happened to that over the years you left your first love this is such a concern to the apostle paul to any pastor that he speaks of it in another place that i want you to look at second corinthians chapter 11. second corinthians chapter 11. and paul is burdened deeply here we'll pick it up in verse 2 second corinthians 11 2 writing to the church at corinth i am jealous for you with a godly jealousy for i betrothed you to one husband so that to christ i might present you as a pure virgin but i'm afraid that as the serpent deceived eve by his craftiness your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to christ how could that happen how could that happen well verse 4 he says if someone comes and preaches another jesus whom we haven't preached or you receive a different spirit other than the holy spirit which you have not received or a different gospel which you have not accepted you bear this beautifully i'm afraid for you because you tolerate deception deception about the person of jesus deception about the spirit of god and deception about the gospel how sad you bear this beautifully yeah that's that's what the greek word means you don't seem to have a problem with it at all this is a form of i guess you could say being a traitor this is disloyalty and we all see a traitor or someone disloyal as the most repugnant and despicable of persons but somebody who's faithful and loyal is hard to find proverbs 20 verse 6 says many a man proclaims his own loyalty but who can find a trustworthy man proverbs 21 21 he who pursues righteousness and loyalty finds life righteousness and honor but loyal people are hard to find when you came to christ he's saying you you confess jesus as lord that's what's required for salvation you basically denied yourself took up your cross and followed him and now i'm afraid i'm afraid that you have shown a tendency to be distracted another jesus a jesus of somebody's invention part biblical and part not biblical or a different spirit you haven't tested the spirits to see if the spirit of god is behind whatever is coming at you and distracting you or a different gospel somebody who wants to take away from the gospel or add to the gospel and you seem to be able to accept this beautifully and so he says backing up to verse 2 i'm jealous for you with a godly jealousy on behalf of christ because i betrothed you he's like a spiritual father he tells the corinthians first corinthians 4 15 i'm your spiritual father so i'm your spiritual father you're my spiritual daughter as it were and i betrothed you to the husband who is christ i betrothed you legally and i gave you to christ as a pure virgin no other loves are acceptable as the serpent deceived eve by his cunning i'm afraid your mind should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to christ you can underline that the simplicity and purity of devotion to christ that's the christian life that's it simplicity purity of devotion to christ for me to live is christ philippians 1 21 i am crucified with christ nevertheless i live yet not i but christ lives in me the life which i live i live by faith in the son of god the enemy is always trying to deceive the church deceive believers to leave the preeminence of loving christ for something else personal social political whatever and you bear this beautifully how could they possibly do that when paul writes colossians he says set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth set your affections where christ is he says this loyalty to christ is so easy in spite of the great history of the ephesian church sound doctrine loyalty to the things that were necessary good works by the time you get to the book of revelation at the end of the first century they had left their first love so if i may i want to [Music] call the church of jesus christ back to that first love and that's what ephesians 1 will help us do we could spend months on what remains of this passage but i want just to give you the passage in a sort of overview sense we are to focus on christ and we are to focus on christ in three dimensions in three dimensions the greatness of his plan is the first one the greatness of his plan for that one [Music] look at verse 18. this is so comprehensive i pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened again we're talking about understanding knowledge wisdom revelation thinking the mind that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints now you could look at every detail of that and it would be an enriching experience but let me just give you the big picture i want you to understand your calling what is that your calling is the call of god that occurred in eternity past your calling your divine calling you the effectual calling it's often referred to go back to verse 4 of chapter 1. that calling occurred because god chose us in him before the foundation of the world that calling occurred because he predestined us to adoption as sons verse 11 we've obtained an inheritance having been pre-destroyed according to his purpose who works all things after the counsel of his will to the end the result that we who were the first to hope in christ would be to the praise of his glory what do you mean we would be taken all the way to eternal glory verse 14 calls it the redemption of god's own possession to the praise of his glory now look at the sweeping reality of verse 18. i want you to understand the doctrine of the election i want you to understand the doctrine of predestination some people say if you if you believe in predestination it'll make you lazy it'll make you indifferent if you really understand the doctrine of predestination it'll make you thankful and then it'll make you holy and then it'll make you joyful and then it will fill your life with security you need to understand that you were chosen predestined called to eternal glory it began with the choice and the calling and it ends with the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints the very inheritance of christ is with the saints it's in union with the saints that christ receives his inheritance and we receive it with him think about it before time began god chose you predestined you to eternal glory called you in time granted you faith to believe the gospel justified you and set you for glory and it's going to take place because in verse 13 it says you were sealed unto that glorious end by the holy spirit who is god's guarantee the holy spirit of promise so when you're focusing on christ focus on that that which is eternal you have to fly over life in this world go from eternity past to eternity future think on that set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth it's not going to get better you can't fix it let's set our affections in the heavenlies we live whatever happens in the world around us we are just a vapor that appears for a little time and vanishes away this is a very short time and while we're here we need to set our affections on things above contemplate the greatness of the doctrine of election this doctrine is so powerful and so important a couple of years ago we wrote a big book called biblical doctrine it's over a thousand pages and in some ways it barely scratches the surface of the full wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him but it will take you into the depths of god's saving purpose in ways you have never ever thought of when you know his plan there's no fear no anxiety no neurosis no panic no [Music] dread because it's all planned and you're protected to the end of the plan you say well how am i protected because christ is your protector you say well okay he has a plan and he's my protector does he have the power to protect me look at verse 19. so we want to know if we're going to have this glorious inheritance in the future that our protector is able so he says i want your heart the eyes of your heart to be enlightened regarding what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe you not only understand the greatness of his plan but you understand the greatness of his power power in accordance with the working of the strength of his might there are four words here that describe his power the word power the word working the word strength and the word might he has the power he has the energy and our gaia is working he has the strength he has the might this is the good news he not only has a plan has the power to execute that plan how do we know that how do we know he can get us out of this world to glory how do we know that it can come to pass answer verse 20. he put all of his power on display in christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places if he did it for christ he can do it for you the resurrection of christ and the ascension of christ demonstrates the power of god to bring you through death out the other side into his presence even as he did for his own beloved son he has a plan and he has the power to execute that plan you say well maybe somebody might come along and thwart that plan what about the devil can the devil come along and stop the plan and that leads us to the third point the greatness of his plan the greatness of his power the greatness of his person this is critical nobody is going to thwart that plan why verse 21 because christ is far above all notice that far above all rule and authority and power and dominion in every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come for now and as long as time exists even on into the millennial kingdom to come he far exceeds all rule all authority all power all dominion possessed by any persons that that's what it means those people who are named these are persons there is no person who has the power and there's no person secondly who has the authority no one can usurp his authority all persons are subject to him now and into the future verse 22 all things are subject to him he put all things in subjection under his feet there is no person there is no thing sounds like romans 8 doesn't it what's going to separate us from the love of god in christ jesus and paul lays out a litany of things no no persons no things he has a plan he has the power to execute that plan and he is the person [Music] who is the absolute sovereign and that is summed up in verse 22 he has put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things this is amazing another way to say that is he gave him a name above every name and the name is lord he has a plan he has the power and he has the position and isn't it amazing that the one who is head over all things god gave to the church as the head he didn't give us angels he didn't give us a committee of godly men he gave us the head of the universe as head of the church and we are his body and as his body the fullness of him who fills all in all this is just overwhelming he lives in us [Music] the one who has the universal eternal redemptive plan has the power to execute that plan and is the person superior to all other persons and all other things the one who is head over all things ruler over everything is ruler in his church and not only does he rule his church but he lives in his church we are his body and he fills us with his fullness there's so much doctrine and so much theology in this this is the message we need to preach it's about jesus christ who is absolutely everything and the only hope of salvation and the only deliverance from judgment father we thank you for leading us as you do through your spirit and your word to understand the greatness of christ his plan his power this person thank you for the choosing of us before the world began predestining us to be joint heirs with christ and to receive an inheritance with him in your glorious presence help us to live with our affection set on things above and not on things on the earth and live transcendently triumphantly even in the midst of judgment and help us not only to love christ worship christ increase constantly in the knowledge of christ but to proclaim him who alone can rescue sinners from the kingdom of darkness may this be our passion amen

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 137,877

Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You

Id: cLCcIMexF5Y

Length: 48min 56sec (2936 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 23 2021