The divine plan of salvation originates from God the Father, who chose believers before the foundation of the world according to His will. This plan is executed by God the Son, Jesus Christ, who fulfills the Father's purpose. The Holy Spirit then applies this salvation to believers, making it real and meaningful in their lives. This salvation is not only to meet human need but also to satisfy God's heart and bring glory to Him. Believers are called to walk worthy of this calling by seeking unity, working together with their diverse gifts, and growing together in Christ, which is the only way to truly mature spiritually and honor God.
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May we go again to the disciples of Ephesians and the first chapter. Ephesians chapter one. And I'm going to read again from the first verse. Ephesians chapter one and verse one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and he, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
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 hath chosen us in him, before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him, in love, had him predestinated us on the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good measure of his will, to the praise of the glory of this lady, wherein we have made our perspective into the love. according to the riches of his will, wherein he had the standards of the Lord up in all wisdom upon him, having made no matter what the mystery of his will, according to his will at later, which he had purpose in himself.
But in this meditation for all is the time he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both regard in heaven and regard in us even in thee. in whom also we have ascended inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who will be called him after the council of his own will, that he should be to the praise of his glory, who has suffered in Christ, in whom he also suffered after that he heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed you achieved with that holy spirit of God. This is the earliest of our intelligence. until the redemption of the first possession of the praise of this Lord.
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faithful Lord Jesus, yield out to all the saints he sought to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayer. But the Lord and our walking of Christ the part of the story may give unto you the service, movement, and renovation from the knowledge of gifts. the highest of your understanding, or heart, being enlightened, that ye may know what is your hope of your glory, and what of your riches of the glory of his inheritance of his sins. And what if ye see the greatness of his power to us who can believe, according to the wording of his mighty power that he will have been tried, for any raiment that is not today, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all personality and power and might and dominion, and every name of his own.
Not only in this world, but also in the magnificent house. He has been all things under his feet. Today, we may over all things to the church that he is God. The fullness of him, he has service for the Lord. This letter contains much of what we might call the gospel. It tells us about our needs. It tells us about the way the Lord has met our needs. And so I suppose we may say that there is much of the gospel in this letter. If we can hear this prophet speaks to the Book of Romans, in which also we have a fuller exposition of the gospel.
We have a heavy warfare in the gospel of God in a very wonderful way. In the book of Romans, it's interesting to notice that the note that is so struck is to note of our own sinfulness, or of our detractors, we will say. In the first chapter, and indeed on the second and the part of the third, we have an outline for us the deep need of men, how that man is unutterably sinful. However, in this epistle that we're looking at is also extant to the gospel of the legendary Christians.
By the way, Christians are all even more important. I don't mean by that gospel of the heel. I'm the same forks of the grace of God as this reading says. Every term of this epistle, we find that it's different through the Book of Romans. God does not set before us here in this first chapter the best of our youth. That doesn't come out until we get to the second chapter, where it speaks of our own deeds, daily and precious verses. And there's something very instructive in that, isn't there? The Book of Romans presents the gospel good from the standpoint of the need in the heart of man. And this, especially the Ephesians, presents the gospel good from the standpoint of the need in the heart of God.
Perhaps that means a little explanation. We understand the need in the heart of man, but many people say it. But there was a need in the humble dog when he actually said it too. Dog being newborn, the greatest, loving, compassionate, merciful, as well as righteous and holy one, is the one who has a desire in his heart to express his love and be great to all of us who are in the humble beloved. For that reason, I think, we have in this first chapter Number five, the nation or our foundation being according to his will, to the notice in verse five, that if the resignation of us, the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, that is, it was his purpose, it was his plan.
No, this again, verse eleven, in whom also we have obtained in his heritage, being predestinated for it is the purpose of him who, well, it all takes after the time of his own witness. And again, at this point, that he wrote, Nine, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good, they shall, which he has purposed to himself. This was the divine fact of salvation. This was something that was glory to the Lamb of God. Something that was free, incidentally. And in order to satisfy that need and that crave and that love and that grace, look at him in his heart. And in order to find expression for it, he looked down upon us and selected us and blessed us in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So that this salvation that we have, not only in each time we need and take time down that, as set forth in the book of Romans, but perhaps even more wonderful to this. It satisfies the very heart of God. It's something in which he takes pleasure. That new creation is in Christ Jesus. You remember the old creation. The God looked over that old creation and he said at the end of the day, that it was good. Everything that God does is good. And he's our satisfaction in that which he has done. Regardless though of the foundation which is provided for it in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in joy, over our eaves, he merges the truth, and satisfies the heart of God. In this language, that we and believers are called to satisfy our hearts.
We are part of the purpose of the command of God. This one who works all things unto the counsel of his own will. And this one who does everything, as he says in verse six, part a, is the first part of those things. Everything is to the praise of the glory of his grace. And notice again in verse twelve, that we should be to the praise of his glory. Don't be sad if it ever says we ought to be. It means that everything he affected in our salvation was that we should be to the praise of his glory. And that's how every two times of God is. And in verse fourteen, that's the last part of the verse that says, unto the praise of his glory. Now let's imagine that first section out for a very nicely.
This little quote meant to be the praise of his glory at the end that he said, For the first part, that is from verses one to six. If we take heaven and praise, a turn, action, one, four, we have the activity of God the Father. And then in the next part, from verse six, down to verse twelve, Where again, notice we have that praise and the praise of his glory, we have the activity of the Son of God. Then again, in the final short section, from verse twelve, down to verse fourteen, we have the work or the activity of the Spirit of God. And each of these is to the frame of his motive.
How do I just read, ladies? No one's going to make a solution to the section. But just an image. That, as we look at this, first section verses one to six, we see that God is the great planner, if you like, the architect of our salvation. He goes on. God's father, to him, is attributed to the plan of salvation. He has chosen unto him, before the salvation of the world. And it's speaking about the God's father, how Lord Jesus Christ, in verse three. Then when we look at the second section and we see the activity of the son, may I evidently pray that he is the executor of the daughter.
He is the one who carries the plans of the architect nation of the birthplace into effect. Without the son, the plans could not have been carried into effect. Here is something in which Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the next section are his perfect arms. And if we may look at the first section, verses one and six, as speaking to us of God as the divine architect of the plan, the one who thought to fall out and conceive him, and the son especially as the executor of the plan, then in verses twelve to fourteen, we may see perhaps as the Holy Spirit as the receiver, or as an earner of that plan, or we notice in that section that he is the one who comes to us, and lets us that hand salvation which the Lord Jesus We'll walk out on the work of the cross, in the work of the cross.
He makes the plan of salvation actual, meaningful in our life, and reveals that plan to us, and even deals us with his own grace and certainty, that we might be concerned of it and his. So then we have the New Zealot. The concern are already like the substantiator in the plan, the one who brings it into practical effect in our life. So we rejoice in the fact that our salvation has glorified God. and satisfyingly. And that indeed is a cause for worship and praise and thanksgiving. No wonder the Apostle says that God has led such as all spiritual blessings in that he lived in Christ. And how we do rejoice in all that he has done for us in his natural and unfeasible grace.
He prayed for them in verses sixteen on to the end that in the verse twenty-three is first, after he prayed for him. He says that in verse number fifteen, I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and thou art all the saints. He uses this name in the book for the attendance of the Colossians. And these are the twins that reveal a true work that means great to God. They reveal that a person is truly in birth, when these two things are properly evident in the person's life. There is, there is, a faith in the Lord Jesus. and not unto all the land.
That is the normal expression of this word. Maybe we can all think we emphasize that. That is the thinking. It's faith. There is no blessing from God unless it is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way to the past. There are not many ways to go. Oh, may it plunder. There are many ways in our experience, of course, in which we come to Christ. But Christ is merely like a God. And here, we find that many years of their faith in the Lord Jesus. And that might be a thing, though, that was just for faith. It is easy to say, oh, I believe in the Lord Jesus.
I believe that Jesus Christ, or our faith, or some faith is like this, is easy for faith. But the evidence comes out in our lives to all the faith. Notice that it's real life. How much can I make for you? You know there is some natural field about this field. Oh, it's natural for you, it's not your parents. It's natural for you to learn what is going to be of you. Those who do good will know some man will take you to teach something. What a common house and group we are. What a mix of that. The Lord's dear people, the Lord's queer people, whatever you say, we're all here. And it's unnatural that we should run each other.
Unless we think of the work of God and the tribute that lasts in the work of the Spirit. See, the Lord here said, Mar or not, if the world hate you. So if you were in the world, you would hate Christians. if you're reoccurring without the curse. If you're not saved, you don't want to be in the economy. Now, thank God that you have a desire to be in the country of the people of God. And I think what you want to hear is true as well. That's a wonderful thing. But when you are born again, there's a love that comes into your heart that is born of the Holy Spirit. How did this work out? Well, I remember when I was converted or at least when I changed it to the Lord and really under the control of my soldiers without believing that I didn't know exactly the other kind of version.
And I want to qualify that. There was a time when I realized what salvation was all about, but I think I was probably a child of God before that. Be that as it may. When I came to queer, young as a man, the work of Christ, and commit myself to the gift, a great thing came in my life, and it was something I hadn't expected, something for which I didn't make preparation or plan, but it was met. Something to submit. Something very well. You see, up to that time, I do not make the company of the Lord. I do not know how to do their work. I don't expect them. But I certainly didn't want to be like it. I had no insight into the things that they enjoyed.
Now that may have been because I was living, I'm actually a Christian because I was an exiled, or it may have been that I was not living a Christian at all. I don't know, it's just a matter. Since now I have no room I have to eat, and no room I have to eat, that's right. And I know that I love the rest. And the Bible says, because we know that we can't be dead of life because we love the rest. And by the way, that doesn't mean a certain group of Christians. You know that. What a small thing is. He said, your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love for some of you pray, to the thank you, bring of you, your God, who all thank you. Isn't it one of the things that we gather around the Lord's Supper and we remember him and we worship him straight to the Lord?
That what we are doing, the atoning of the way of representation that is, we are members of this God. But the body of Christ is not there yet entirely. We're only there in a few representations of that God. Did he carry out what the Lord Jesus was after, too? And so we come together from the Lord's Supper, and we remember the Lord Jesus, saying, The bread of your life is married. But let me do. We remember that we are one with all that love by name. And if we don't remember that, we tell you. We look beyond our four laws. We realize that there are seasons in places, perhaps, which we view as a disgrace or a dishonor under the name of the Son of God. But we realize that we did this, and we rejoice in the fact that we are all one body in Christ.
And God, for that day, we can take the down and seize the great Lord, and we shall all come to unity, to pray, and the knowledge of the Son of God, to the perfect man under the measure, and to capture the fullness of Christ. If I take it to take place, and he comes again and I'll wrap him into his prayer. God bless us with all spiritual blessings in heaven with his Christ. And that's because I've made it, and I've made it more more, more intelligent than some other Christians. Now now those spiritual blessings doesn't mean that there is more life. There is joy, frankly, even more. If I understand them, if I meditate upon these things, I enjoy them all. But another brother who knows the Lord better and who studies his world more and many days on the things of God more, he enjoys them more than I do.
We have various grades and understanding and delight and appreciation among the Lord's people. But those blessings be wrong and right to all those who have good hold them on in heaven. Each of them is sealed with the Holy Spirit of God. And how do you rejoice in that fact? Now then, we say this afternoon that it is first three chapters, then we have the wonderful spiritual legacy which are ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our love is now in the third, through the fourth chapter, it goes verse. And I'm going to begin here where I hope to continue, perhaps, tomorrow in the birth of the Lord in the afternoon.
In chapter four, verse one, he says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord. This teach you that you will walk wherever you are in a location, wherever you are called. Now I'm sure that there is a desire of your heart and in mind to walk worthy of the location where you are called. For calling, for example, God is called. And if we have the Holy Spirit of God as all, there is a desire Be it ever so buried by perhaps some carnality of ours, some materialistic spirit or whatever else may be affecting our lives. Be it ever so buried in our hearts there is a desire there to be walking worthy of the call in religion, of course.
That helps a lot in us. To be pleasing unto the one who has told it. And to behave yourself in the world in such a way that may honor the one who has claimed your salvation, the one who has executed your salvation, the one who has revealed that wonderful salvation to you. Or you say, I want the more worthy of that holy where it is, I am told. And what I want you to know to come to me, you can't do it under us. You cannot walk worthy of the calling worthy of your call, in terms of spiritual debt, going like an arm tree, out of the debt of isolation from under a tree.
There's no such thing as being able to nurture yourself and develop your own spiritual life in a sort of monastic terms. The best way to grow is to be frequently with the Lord's peace. I am repeating that. I believe the truth is everywhere now in the world of God. The best way to grow is to be free from the way which the Lord sees. Because there's an interesting thing when we come to this Lord's Prayer, when we help us to walk worthy of the Holy Spirit's Prayer that we are called in the context, we are uniquely in the country of unbelief.
That is the statement of the attempt to walk worthy by yourself. You can't die alone. For you'll notice that in this first section of chapter four, he tells us that we are to grow free, endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the vulnerable seed. Now he has you left, that's your impact without a need. And that's the real text of your spiritual growth. And then I want you to notice that he not only tells us in this first section here, to keep together, Well, that's what you might say is in this first section, really, that what few verses of verse three particularly are saying to us, keep the debt. In the next section that we come through, on from verse three, on down to verse, in, you have the thought of working the debt, working the debt.
Here's what we keep together. We ask to work together, because in verse seven, unto every one of us is given grace according to the nature of the gift and purpose. So we keep together, it's serious, in harmony. And we learn to work together, each with our different gifts. Each with that contribution and that unique contribution are even less. So the other members of the body of Christ, and let no one despise me, your brother, the earth is so well and wrong. Why ever did the Lord save you? For the same reason that he saved me, I have a unique contribution to make to the growth of the body of Christ. I say that all those good things, for I feel I do it so foolish.
I might not look like I am in the right way I do, but I might look like I am here behind the platform on duty, doing the best that I can do. Oh, I'm so conscious. That in the unconscious moments of life, or in the moments when I'm not watching myself, I'm not all the nightly. Christian life is a life of constant watchfulness that we might be glorified and honoring for him. But I have a unique contribution to make to the body of Christ. No one else can do it. See, I really believe in that faith that I found since we came home to the massacre that every man doesn't know the truth. Now, the qualifications I really believe. In the church of God, every man does the known faith.
He has his own work to do. And all the time, if I could do it, try to do the same thing along with somebody else. And one time he had decided to do nothing. And of course it doesn't mean I do it myself in the way. But that I do that thing which God has expected me to do, they must be able to take heed to the ministry which you've received in the Lord. That equal merit got to receive. Okay, that's the question. He decides, I'd like to obey you. Yes, but whether I have to do the things that the Lord wants you to do. And it's for each one of us to prove what the will of the Lord is. What is the thing that you want to do? Are you saying, that's what I'm going to do, God.
I don't know what my work is. I don't know what the Lord wants me to do. Are you not sure? You think, no, I don't know what the Lord wants to do. I don't know my destiny. Well, the Christians say that that's not going to be true, which is the testimony that it shows us. That it shows in some kind of hope from heaven that says to me, you are an evangelist. You are an unbeliever. You are not an unbeliever. You are perhaps in the church. But as we speak so without telling the Lord, doing diligently that which lies with our hands, we discover what our things really is. We find that the measure of joy in doing this work.
Now, even though it's all ill and later maybe associated with it, we're only happy when we're engaged in promoting that particular activity, doing that particular thing. And moreover, to confirm this, we find that our everyone in the body of Christ and our brethren, after our local assemblies bring it back down to the local level, they are enticing us to do this thing. Now, I would become very concerned if I felt that my thing was to keep the scriptures with my brethren, never gave him opportunity to be successful. I was going to go and tell a young man to pay for the Bible school and for all of their amazing Bible school. And he says, Mr. Smart, he said, I'm terribly disappointed. And you know, many of the Bible schools have not afraid to tell about this.
It speaks to a trans-Christian who works with God's own news. It doesn't make a lot of sense, is it fair? Well, this young man at this point, he complained very much about the brethren in Robert. He said, you know, he said, they don't understand your ideas. They don't ask you to preach the gospel. And I don't know why it is. And this was Margot that, and he said, you know, I'm not having the same time. Oh, it's not. It's just being hated everywhere. So honest, he couldn't understand it. Generally, he was not a man of the same kind. He said, no, the answer is the same, so. Well, that's a fact that there was a harsh way against the truth of God.
But you get it from him. I'm not fancy. I can do it from him. But if I'm trying to do it, you might not know this, but only this, you might never ask me. Again, for example, I do that in just a few years ago today. I think it might be the last time. I'm not sure. You might be very ready for several times again, but you have to go abroad. But you see, we've discovered what my thing is, we've proved what is the work that the Lord has us to do, like to do in what might be our hands, what our brethren encourage us to do, and what we find in our own house to do. That's the thing we serve God and Holy Spirit. And I tell you something, it's usually something that you're hungry. It's usually something that's, well, it has to give you the faith that you'd like to have.
Because in our concern, in the Gospel of Christ, and we especially deserve, we have to be humble people. We have to be prepared for what we've made peace through again. And that's how we learn through our thing as a spirit of humility. I'm going to come back to that when we study this in a little bit more detail at this time. So notice then, that beginning to give a timeline before closing. In verses one through to six, then you begin with a little bit undivided, a little bit arbitrary. But in verses one to six, you have the word keep together. In verses seven to the other, you have the four to twelve together. And in verse one, you notice this. It goes from twelve to sixteen. You have growing together. There will be all kind of unity in the place.
Notice that. Thirteen. Verse fifteen, but seeking the truth in Lord's name, groan into him, and all things which is the hair in the cross. Seeking together, working together, growing together, and that's the only way you can walk with your devotion where is your home. I don't know about you. That's the only way. Are you rosy with the people of God? Have you come up to God's word where God wants you to read? Have you found the fellowship of the whole people? Have you understood what the age he wants you to do in relation to other believers? Do you understand he wants to make your cherished? Then, Put yourself wholeheartedly into that fellowship and work for the blessing of others.
And you will grow. If you try to work for the blessing of yourself, if you try to stimulate your own spiritual life, at home you'll get nowhere. A dark end will become a dark church and no good to anyone. But if you grow together with the saints and at the very end of it, you'll need to get something good. Share it with the Lord's feet. And if it will come upon you, keep it and it will act with you. You'll lose it. I learned this secret when I used to love the telegote. And unfortunately, I still do. When I say, unfortunately, I don't find telegote. I don't mean, it goes wrong. There's a guy in bed. I have to go and look at the shoes there. But I remember in the days when I was quite a jojo at a young man.
I can tell you that you couldn't even have any jokes because as soon as I heard a good one, I told him something else. And I still remember some of those jokes together, some of my wife together. If you want to be blessed by some truth, If you want to have a kind of deep in your own soul and meaningful to you in your own life, share it with the people of God. Share it with us. Let me encourage you that at the Lord's Supper, the only other person here now, the other person, the other than the other world, the other than the old world. And you've just begun with the consumer, at the Lord's Supper, you have an opportunity to share with the Lord's people. That which will come to live in the at which you say, Lee, my household.
Oh, it's amazing how your expression of love in all Jesus will help you. I've often been going, visiting people, and I've gone and I've got in mind some scripture that I'd like to share with them, some thoughts I'd like to give them, and I'm sure there's going to be a blessing to them. And I get there and maybe I become crazy brother when I get through him and quite a few people think that this is really and perhaps not one. So the well thought has been resolved that I was minister to it. And when I get there and I get in conversation for that, it is really pleasing to me. I would enjoy it. I use more words. I have a lot of time.
And she did become very self-absorbed. Nothing very sound, nothing inclined, heavy, any, heavy, theological work or anything like that. But it can't be meaningful and precious to her, all the giving back to the Lord Jesus and nobody does to me. It makes me worse. It freels my soul. It feeds. It teaches me something more from the Lord Jesus. Now, I'm not going to reject my students, though. And anyone who lives with the Lord's people will experience that. So, let's be together. Let's work together, and in consequence let's grow together. And thus we shall fulfill, for behind this one, we shall walk worthy of the location where with we are called.