1 00:00:01,144 --> 00:00:02,887 Well, if you would, turn with me 2 00:00:02,887 --> 00:00:10,193 in your Bibles to Ephesians 1. 3 00:00:10,193 --> 00:00:17,848 I want to complete verse 6. 4 00:00:17,848 --> 00:00:19,916 We began to look at it last week 5 00:00:19,916 --> 00:00:23,972 as we thought about 6 00:00:23,972 --> 00:00:28,623 "to the praise of the glory of God's grace." 7 00:00:28,623 --> 00:00:30,066 We talked about praising, 8 00:00:30,066 --> 00:00:37,825 we talked about God seeking worshippers. 9 00:00:37,825 --> 00:00:45,805 Let's read Ephesians 1:5-6. 10 00:00:45,805 --> 00:00:48,504 Picking up the last two words of verse 4. 11 00:00:48,504 --> 00:00:52,378 "In love, He predestined us for adoption 12 00:00:52,378 --> 00:00:56,680 as sons through Jesus Christ. 13 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,552 According to the purpose of His will, 14 00:01:00,552 --> 00:01:04,461 to the praise of the glory of His grace." 15 00:01:04,461 --> 00:01:06,507 We looked at that, that's not an adjective, 16 00:01:06,507 --> 00:01:08,085 that's a noun. 17 00:01:08,085 --> 00:01:10,899 The glory of His grace. 18 00:01:10,899 --> 00:01:14,588 These are the words I want to deal with today. 19 00:01:14,588 --> 00:01:22,010 "With which He has blessed us in the Beloved." 20 00:01:22,010 --> 00:01:23,569 With which. 21 00:01:23,569 --> 00:01:25,604 What is the "which" referring to? 22 00:01:25,604 --> 00:01:32,484 His grace is that with which He has blessed us 23 00:01:32,484 --> 00:01:36,590 in the Beloved. 24 00:01:36,590 --> 00:01:41,399 And what I want us to think about right here 25 00:01:41,399 --> 00:01:50,582 in the first few minutes is the word "blessed." 26 00:01:50,582 --> 00:01:54,606 He has blessed us. 27 00:01:54,606 --> 00:01:56,213 And I want us to think. 28 00:01:56,213 --> 00:01:58,938 I want us to do a bit of a word study here. 29 00:01:58,938 --> 00:02:02,308 Blessed. 30 00:02:02,308 --> 00:02:03,825 Now listen to this, 31 00:02:03,825 --> 00:02:07,180 and I know not all of you have the ESV, 32 00:02:07,180 --> 00:02:10,620 the English Standard Version. 33 00:02:10,620 --> 00:02:16,216 The New American Standard says this, 34 00:02:16,216 --> 00:02:18,743 speaking about His grace, 35 00:02:18,743 --> 00:02:21,570 the glory of His grace, 36 00:02:21,570 --> 00:02:27,104 "which He freely bestowed." 37 00:02:27,104 --> 00:02:30,718 The ESV says, "blessed us." 38 00:02:30,718 --> 00:02:33,891 The New American Standard says, 39 00:02:33,891 --> 00:02:42,556 "He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." 40 00:02:42,556 --> 00:02:46,517 Now, it's interesting. 41 00:02:46,517 --> 00:02:49,143 I cut my teeth on the King James Bible. 42 00:02:49,143 --> 00:02:52,407 Listen, the King James reads this way: 43 00:02:52,407 --> 00:03:00,168 "Wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." 44 00:03:00,168 --> 00:03:04,260 Now, accepted. 45 00:03:04,260 --> 00:03:06,720 That sounds a little bit different than blessed. 46 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:08,856 Or freely bestowed. 47 00:03:08,856 --> 00:03:11,987 The translators of the King James Version 48 00:03:11,987 --> 00:03:17,797 basically followed Tyndale right here. 49 00:03:17,797 --> 00:03:20,651 But you know what's interesting? 50 00:03:20,651 --> 00:03:24,532 They also followed Tyndale in his translation 51 00:03:24,532 --> 00:03:28,688 of Luke 1:28. 52 00:03:28,688 --> 00:03:36,453 This word is only used twice in all of our Bibles. 53 00:03:36,453 --> 00:03:38,544 It's used here in Ephesians 1:6, 54 00:03:38,544 --> 00:03:44,835 and it's used in Luke 1:28. 55 00:03:44,835 --> 00:03:47,146 The translators of the King James Bible 56 00:03:47,146 --> 00:03:50,225 followed Tyndale there, 57 00:03:50,225 --> 00:03:56,877 where the King James Version reads this way: 58 00:03:56,877 --> 00:04:04,666 "Hail, thou that art highly favored." 59 00:04:04,666 --> 00:04:08,748 Why they departed - "highly favored" in one place, 60 00:04:08,748 --> 00:04:11,121 "accepted" in the other - 61 00:04:11,121 --> 00:04:13,854 it's interesting. 62 00:04:13,854 --> 00:04:17,877 I think the KJV should have stayed consistent. 63 00:04:17,877 --> 00:04:21,808 Highly favored - you know what's very interesting 64 00:04:21,808 --> 00:04:29,093 is I could not personally find a single lexicon 65 00:04:29,093 --> 00:04:32,378 that gave a meaning to the word here as "accepted." 66 00:04:32,378 --> 00:04:35,856 And what "accepted" does is it makes it sound 67 00:04:35,856 --> 00:04:37,843 like we're perhaps dealing with 68 00:04:37,843 --> 00:04:39,769 the doctrine of justification. 69 00:04:39,769 --> 00:04:43,224 We're accepted in Christ. 70 00:04:43,224 --> 00:04:44,745 On the basis of Christ's merits. 71 00:04:44,745 --> 00:04:50,575 But this is not speaking about 72 00:04:50,575 --> 00:04:54,833 necessarily our acceptance. 73 00:04:54,833 --> 00:04:59,680 There's a fuller meaning here. 74 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,144 Listen to how the Holman Christian Standard 75 00:05:02,144 --> 00:05:06,786 Bible renders Ephesians 1:6. 76 00:05:06,786 --> 00:05:09,800 "To the glory of His grace, 77 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:15,428 that He favored us with in the Beloved." 78 00:05:15,428 --> 00:05:17,848 It's the word "karitoo." 79 00:05:17,848 --> 00:05:21,341 Now, what's interesting about that is 80 00:05:21,341 --> 00:05:26,336 grace is "karis." 81 00:05:26,336 --> 00:05:28,635 It's a word that is in the same 82 00:05:28,635 --> 00:05:32,602 word group as "grace." 83 00:05:32,602 --> 00:05:35,734 I mean, you could almost literally read it, 84 00:05:35,734 --> 00:05:39,252 to the glory of His grace with which 85 00:05:39,252 --> 00:05:45,468 He graced us in the Beloved. 86 00:05:45,468 --> 00:05:49,866 Listen to Thayer's lexicon: 87 00:05:49,866 --> 00:05:55,843 It means to pursue with grace. 88 00:05:55,843 --> 00:05:58,899 It's the idea of somebody's over there, 89 00:05:58,899 --> 00:06:03,225 and God sets His sights on them and says, 90 00:06:03,225 --> 00:06:08,053 "I am going to go after them with My grace." 91 00:06:08,053 --> 00:06:10,732 "I'm going to track them down." 92 00:06:10,732 --> 00:06:15,600 You see that's really what happened with Mary, right? 93 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,534 Brethren, isn't this what Christianity is? 94 00:06:18,534 --> 00:06:20,734 It's God coming to us. 95 00:06:20,734 --> 00:06:23,492 Scripture says there's none that seeks God. 96 00:06:23,492 --> 00:06:25,854 We need to get this idea out of our head 97 00:06:25,854 --> 00:06:28,313 of Christianity being, people just woke up one day 98 00:06:28,313 --> 00:06:31,143 and said well, I think I'm going to go after God, 99 00:06:31,143 --> 00:06:32,530 as though they're initiating 100 00:06:32,530 --> 00:06:33,713 this whole thing. 101 00:06:33,713 --> 00:06:35,677 They're going to pull themselves up by their book straps. 102 00:06:35,677 --> 00:06:36,951 They're going to reach out to Him. 103 00:06:36,951 --> 00:06:38,282 They're going to search Him. 104 00:06:38,282 --> 00:06:40,201 This isn't how Christianity is. 105 00:06:40,201 --> 00:06:43,575 Christianity is us - we heard it from Hector. 106 00:06:43,575 --> 00:06:46,565 Dead, Ephesians 2:1, Dead in trespasses 107 00:06:46,565 --> 00:06:47,503 and sins. 108 00:06:47,503 --> 00:06:49,120 We're out there in our deadness. 109 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:50,325 And you know what the truth is? 110 00:06:50,325 --> 00:06:52,822 He loved his sin. I loved my sin. 111 00:06:52,822 --> 00:06:54,101 Pete loved his sin. 112 00:06:54,101 --> 00:06:56,383 We loved it. 113 00:06:56,383 --> 00:06:58,902 Until He came and made us not love it. 114 00:06:58,902 --> 00:07:00,817 We loved it. And we despised Christ 115 00:07:00,817 --> 00:07:04,299 until He came, and by His grace, 116 00:07:04,299 --> 00:07:08,578 He caused us to behold loveliness in the Beloved. 117 00:07:08,578 --> 00:07:10,583 Because we didn't care for Him at all. 118 00:07:10,583 --> 00:07:12,120 We liked our sin much better. 119 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:17,849 Brethren, the picture is Mary going along in life. 120 00:07:17,849 --> 00:07:20,221 Mary did not have... 121 00:07:20,221 --> 00:07:23,403 somebody's even got some herbal stuff up here... 122 00:07:23,403 --> 00:07:26,108 She wasn't going along and saying, 123 00:07:26,108 --> 00:07:27,760 you know, I think I'm going to take the herb 124 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:31,177 that might make a virgin pregnant, 125 00:07:31,177 --> 00:07:34,642 make a virgin pregnant with the Messiah. 126 00:07:34,642 --> 00:07:36,128 You know what was happening? 127 00:07:36,128 --> 00:07:37,908 She was going along in life, 128 00:07:37,908 --> 00:07:39,845 and suddenly there is Gabriel, 129 00:07:39,845 --> 00:07:41,521 she's terrified, 130 00:07:41,521 --> 00:07:44,672 and he says, "Hail, highly favored." 131 00:07:44,672 --> 00:07:46,198 That's how it happens. 132 00:07:46,198 --> 00:07:48,050 God comes to us. 133 00:07:48,050 --> 00:07:49,416 He surprises us. 134 00:07:49,416 --> 00:07:51,056 I mean, isn't that what happened? 135 00:07:51,056 --> 00:07:53,187 I was going through life in 1990, 136 00:07:53,187 --> 00:07:55,817 and I was loving my sin and loving that life, 137 00:07:55,817 --> 00:07:58,421 and the truth is when God first came 138 00:07:58,421 --> 00:07:59,879 and began to convict me, 139 00:07:59,879 --> 00:08:01,500 I wanted Him to leave me alone. 140 00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:03,092 In fact, I think I said as much. 141 00:08:03,092 --> 00:08:06,319 Just leave me alone! 142 00:08:06,319 --> 00:08:08,025 But see how it is? 143 00:08:08,025 --> 00:08:10,976 He pursues us with His grace. 144 00:08:10,976 --> 00:08:14,429 Even though I was saying, back off! 145 00:08:14,429 --> 00:08:15,670 I don't want that. 146 00:08:15,670 --> 00:08:18,871 Just let me be happy with my old life again. 147 00:08:18,871 --> 00:08:23,367 He says, "No, I'm pursuing you with My grace." 148 00:08:23,367 --> 00:08:27,450 It means to pursue with grace, 149 00:08:27,450 --> 00:08:32,090 to compass with favor, 150 00:08:32,090 --> 00:08:34,735 to honor with blessings. 151 00:08:34,735 --> 00:08:41,054 The commentators Jameson Fawcett Brown 152 00:08:41,054 --> 00:08:45,474 say that this word means 153 00:08:45,474 --> 00:08:47,908 that God has embraced us 154 00:08:47,908 --> 00:08:51,540 in the arms of His grace. 155 00:08:51,540 --> 00:08:53,763 One other commentator says 156 00:08:53,763 --> 00:08:59,129 He freely engraced us. 157 00:08:59,129 --> 00:09:02,215 This verb only appears twice. 158 00:09:02,215 --> 00:09:06,409 With Mary, "Hail, highly favored one." 159 00:09:06,409 --> 00:09:08,168 That's the King James. 160 00:09:08,168 --> 00:09:10,105 But they really should have brought that over 161 00:09:10,105 --> 00:09:13,555 because that is exactly the meaning here. 162 00:09:13,555 --> 00:09:19,543 Hail, highly favored ones, in the Beloved. 163 00:09:19,543 --> 00:09:21,322 The Lord is with you. 164 00:09:21,322 --> 00:09:23,683 That's what was said to her. 165 00:09:23,683 --> 00:09:27,828 Paul is using the same exact word 166 00:09:27,828 --> 00:09:31,117 that was used with Mary to describe 167 00:09:31,117 --> 00:09:34,796 those of us who are predestined for adoption. 168 00:09:34,796 --> 00:09:37,996 Same word that the angel used there. 169 00:09:37,996 --> 00:09:39,902 What does that mean? 170 00:09:39,902 --> 00:09:41,998 What does it mean when it's used of Mary? 171 00:09:41,998 --> 00:09:46,882 It means, Mary, highly favored. 172 00:09:46,882 --> 00:09:50,005 God has singled you out. 173 00:09:50,005 --> 00:09:54,933 Singled you out of all the women in the world. 174 00:09:54,933 --> 00:09:58,355 To carry and give birth to the Messiah. 175 00:09:58,355 --> 00:09:59,877 You see, it's the same thing. 176 00:09:59,877 --> 00:10:01,438 Highly favored. 177 00:10:01,438 --> 00:10:06,104 Because brethren, I'll tell you this. 178 00:10:06,104 --> 00:10:11,290 To be saved by Christ is a greater favor 179 00:10:11,290 --> 00:10:15,402 than to give birth to the Christ. 180 00:10:15,402 --> 00:10:20,998 Highly favored. 181 00:10:20,998 --> 00:10:22,650 One of the commentators actually 182 00:10:22,650 --> 00:10:24,033 would translate that 183 00:10:24,033 --> 00:10:27,565 "to the glory of His grace, with which 184 00:10:27,565 --> 00:10:36,982 He graciously favored us in the Beloved." 185 00:10:36,982 --> 00:10:38,123 He favored us. 186 00:10:38,123 --> 00:10:40,562 He did it. 187 00:10:40,562 --> 00:10:42,971 This is what makes the salvation 188 00:10:42,971 --> 00:10:44,543 offered in our Bibles 189 00:10:44,543 --> 00:10:47,092 so absolutely unique and separate 190 00:10:47,092 --> 00:10:51,784 and different from everything else. 191 00:10:51,784 --> 00:10:55,593 So I just want you to get a feel for that word 192 00:10:55,593 --> 00:10:58,679 as we take off here, 193 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:00,512 and we're going to look at 194 00:11:00,512 --> 00:11:03,702 another very important word. 195 00:11:03,702 --> 00:11:11,435 Brethren, it's interesting. Online, I have 196 00:11:11,435 --> 00:11:17,555 all these commentaries available to me. 197 00:11:17,555 --> 00:11:23,065 I love studylight.org if you have never checked that out. 198 00:11:23,065 --> 00:11:24,912 It is a list of all these commentaries. 199 00:11:24,912 --> 00:11:26,449 Now, for whatever reason, the guy who 200 00:11:26,449 --> 00:11:28,834 puts this together, he actually throws in 201 00:11:28,834 --> 00:11:32,894 like one Catholic commentator 202 00:11:32,894 --> 00:11:37,888 and he throws in one Church of Christ commentator. 203 00:11:37,888 --> 00:11:44,392 And I read the Church of Christ guy 204 00:11:44,392 --> 00:11:47,862 and he's talking about being 205 00:11:47,862 --> 00:11:51,516 highly favored in the Beloved, 206 00:11:51,516 --> 00:11:54,472 and he's got to talk baptism. 207 00:11:54,472 --> 00:11:57,334 And I thought he totally missed this. 208 00:11:57,334 --> 00:12:00,091 He's talking about faith in baptism. 209 00:12:00,091 --> 00:12:01,770 Brethren, we are saved by faith 210 00:12:01,770 --> 00:12:03,479 and we should be baptized, 211 00:12:03,479 --> 00:12:06,380 and Peter even says we're saved by baptism, 212 00:12:06,380 --> 00:12:11,444 it's an appeal to God with this conscience 213 00:12:11,444 --> 00:12:15,117 that is right before God and it's calling out, 214 00:12:15,117 --> 00:12:17,523 but brethren, I'll tell you, 215 00:12:17,523 --> 00:12:19,120 that's missing it even to go 216 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:21,281 to faith and repentance right here. 217 00:12:21,281 --> 00:12:24,673 The idea is that what he is showing us 218 00:12:24,673 --> 00:12:28,055 is our highly being favored doesn't 219 00:12:28,055 --> 00:12:29,518 have to do with us, 220 00:12:29,518 --> 00:12:31,988 it has to do with being in the Beloved. 221 00:12:31,988 --> 00:12:33,265 That is the issue. 222 00:12:33,265 --> 00:12:35,724 If you lose sight of Christ in all this, 223 00:12:35,724 --> 00:12:37,165 you're really losing sight of 224 00:12:37,165 --> 00:12:39,261 what the emphasis is. 225 00:12:39,261 --> 00:12:42,480 Brethren, my focus right now 226 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,905 wants to go off this word favored, accepted, 227 00:12:46,905 --> 00:12:49,779 in your Bible, however it comes out, 228 00:12:49,779 --> 00:12:55,984 highly favored, freely bestowed, 229 00:12:55,984 --> 00:12:58,766 blessed us with... 230 00:12:58,766 --> 00:13:05,271 I want to move to the word "Beloved." 231 00:13:05,271 --> 00:13:10,564 I come to Scripture and I constantly 232 00:13:10,564 --> 00:13:12,892 before I prepare to preach, 233 00:13:12,892 --> 00:13:16,691 I'm asking questions of the text: 234 00:13:16,691 --> 00:13:18,092 Why? 235 00:13:18,092 --> 00:13:19,983 I'm asking questions why. 236 00:13:19,983 --> 00:13:24,018 Like, verse 6, "in the Beloved." 237 00:13:24,018 --> 00:13:29,740 Well, brethren, if you look back at verse 1, 238 00:13:29,740 --> 00:13:33,286 Paul doesn't address Christ as the Beloved, 239 00:13:33,286 --> 00:13:39,334 but as Christ Jesus. 240 00:13:39,334 --> 00:13:41,924 And you see "Christ Jesus," 241 00:13:41,924 --> 00:13:45,336 you see "Christ Jesus" again in that verse. 242 00:13:45,336 --> 00:13:50,026 In verse 2, "the Lord Jesus Christ." 243 00:13:50,026 --> 00:13:53,276 In verse 3, you see "the Father of 244 00:13:53,276 --> 00:13:56,015 our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us 245 00:13:56,015 --> 00:13:59,185 in Christ." 246 00:13:59,185 --> 00:14:03,385 In 4, there's a pronoun: "in Him." 247 00:14:03,385 --> 00:14:07,828 In 5, "He predestined us for adoptions as sons 248 00:14:07,828 --> 00:14:11,442 through Jesus Christ." 249 00:14:11,442 --> 00:14:14,665 In 6, why doesn't he just say the same? 250 00:14:14,665 --> 00:14:19,077 Why doesn't he say that He has blessed us 251 00:14:19,077 --> 00:14:25,382 or highly favored us in Christ? 252 00:14:25,382 --> 00:14:26,865 I mean, I wonder that. 253 00:14:26,865 --> 00:14:28,505 He's been using it so frequently. 254 00:14:28,505 --> 00:14:30,960 And let's just talk about that a second. 255 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,623 Do you notice how much he keeps going back? 256 00:14:33,623 --> 00:14:35,618 Do you know what's interesting to me? 257 00:14:35,618 --> 00:14:37,112 Is in the first part of this, 258 00:14:37,112 --> 00:14:38,835 and we dealt with this in the past. 259 00:14:38,835 --> 00:14:42,333 How important it is that we start 260 00:14:42,333 --> 00:14:44,070 with God the Father, 261 00:14:44,070 --> 00:14:47,027 because that's what Paul does here. 262 00:14:47,027 --> 00:14:49,203 He shows us the Father. 263 00:14:49,203 --> 00:14:51,409 He shows us God the Father 264 00:14:51,409 --> 00:14:53,013 and God the Father has a purpose 265 00:14:53,013 --> 00:14:54,784 and He has a will 266 00:14:54,784 --> 00:14:57,028 and in the beginning, He is choosing 267 00:14:57,028 --> 00:15:00,007 and He is predestinating who will stand before Him 268 00:15:00,007 --> 00:15:02,685 in love and purity, 269 00:15:02,685 --> 00:15:04,777 and who's going to be adopted into this 270 00:15:04,777 --> 00:15:06,974 holy, divine family. 271 00:15:06,974 --> 00:15:08,116 And we see this. 272 00:15:08,116 --> 00:15:11,269 We see God the Father as behind this. 273 00:15:11,269 --> 00:15:12,962 And He is the one that is coordinating 274 00:15:12,962 --> 00:15:14,363 this whole plan. 275 00:15:14,363 --> 00:15:17,132 But even when the focus goes to the Father, 276 00:15:17,132 --> 00:15:18,739 and what the Father's doing and the part 277 00:15:18,739 --> 00:15:23,588 He's playing in our salvation, 278 00:15:23,588 --> 00:15:29,141 Paul is hitting us with Christ 279 00:15:29,141 --> 00:15:34,968 over and over and over and over again. 280 00:15:34,968 --> 00:15:36,931 Has that jumped out at you? 281 00:15:36,931 --> 00:15:41,135 I think sometimes, there's so much of it, 282 00:15:41,135 --> 00:15:45,042 that you almost can read and begin to miss it. 283 00:15:45,042 --> 00:15:51,227 But it's as though Paul is saying to us here, 284 00:15:51,227 --> 00:15:52,997 you don't want to forget Christ 285 00:15:52,997 --> 00:15:54,259 in your salvation. 286 00:15:54,259 --> 00:15:55,690 He's not letting us do that. 287 00:15:55,690 --> 00:15:57,570 He just keeps striking the same note 288 00:15:57,570 --> 00:15:59,083 over and over and over. 289 00:15:59,083 --> 00:15:59,801 Why? 290 00:15:59,801 --> 00:16:01,859 Brethren, there is a text in Acts 4 291 00:16:01,859 --> 00:16:04,631 that says that there is salvation in none other, 292 00:16:04,631 --> 00:16:06,441 there's no other name under heaven 293 00:16:06,441 --> 00:16:08,477 given among men whereby we must be saved. 294 00:16:08,477 --> 00:16:10,392 Brethren, this is the issue. 295 00:16:10,392 --> 00:16:11,780 He keeps bringing us back. 296 00:16:11,780 --> 00:16:13,399 Again and again. 297 00:16:13,399 --> 00:16:15,329 He's setting an example for us. 298 00:16:15,329 --> 00:16:16,695 You know what it tells us? 299 00:16:16,695 --> 00:16:18,711 We must never speak of salvation 300 00:16:18,711 --> 00:16:22,318 except we speak much of Christ. 301 00:16:22,318 --> 00:16:25,374 Don't talk about coming to God 302 00:16:25,374 --> 00:16:27,804 without speaking much about Christ. 303 00:16:27,804 --> 00:16:29,661 Don't talk about making it to heaven. 304 00:16:29,661 --> 00:16:31,300 Don't talk about these things 305 00:16:31,300 --> 00:16:35,958 except you bury it in all manner of 306 00:16:35,958 --> 00:16:38,117 reference to Christ. 307 00:16:38,117 --> 00:16:40,522 We've got to go there. 308 00:16:40,522 --> 00:16:43,999 Brethren, there is no standing before God 309 00:16:43,999 --> 00:16:45,940 without being in Christ. 310 00:16:45,940 --> 00:16:47,033 There is no blessing. 311 00:16:47,033 --> 00:16:48,862 Every blessing in the heavenly places. 312 00:16:48,862 --> 00:16:50,143 Unless we are in Christ. 313 00:16:50,143 --> 00:16:52,654 There is no holiness and blamelessness 314 00:16:52,654 --> 00:16:54,559 before Him unless we're in Christ. 315 00:16:54,559 --> 00:16:55,749 There's no adoption, 316 00:16:55,749 --> 00:16:57,627 except it's through Jesus Christ. 317 00:16:57,627 --> 00:16:59,436 There is no - call it acceptance, 318 00:16:59,436 --> 00:17:01,029 call it being highly favored, 319 00:17:01,029 --> 00:17:02,982 unless we are in the Beloved. 320 00:17:02,982 --> 00:17:06,233 And brethren, what it makes me 321 00:17:06,233 --> 00:17:09,157 recognize is this: 322 00:17:09,157 --> 00:17:15,254 Don't talk to people about faith 323 00:17:15,254 --> 00:17:17,979 and leave Christ out. 324 00:17:17,979 --> 00:17:21,269 Don't talk to people about Christianity 325 00:17:21,269 --> 00:17:22,813 and leave Christ out. 326 00:17:22,813 --> 00:17:24,698 Don't talk to people about the church 327 00:17:24,698 --> 00:17:25,732 and leave Christ out. 328 00:17:25,732 --> 00:17:27,865 Don't talk to people about repentance 329 00:17:27,865 --> 00:17:31,569 and leave Christ out. 330 00:17:31,569 --> 00:17:33,076 You know what Paul shows us? 331 00:17:33,076 --> 00:17:34,885 You know what he will not allow? 332 00:17:34,885 --> 00:17:37,677 Is a Christ-less Christianity. 333 00:17:37,677 --> 00:17:39,401 Not at all. 334 00:17:39,401 --> 00:17:41,590 It's in the Beloved. 335 00:17:41,590 --> 00:17:43,589 But here's the thing, 336 00:17:43,589 --> 00:17:50,648 what makes verse 6 so unique 337 00:17:50,648 --> 00:17:53,358 is that instead of speaking of Christ 338 00:17:53,358 --> 00:17:56,545 or Jesus Christ or the Lord Jesus Christ, 339 00:17:56,545 --> 00:17:59,435 or using a pronoun, like in Him, 340 00:17:59,435 --> 00:18:03,520 here at the end of verse 6, we have this, 341 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:07,780 that He has favored us or He has blessed us 342 00:18:07,780 --> 00:18:11,574 in the Beloved. 343 00:18:11,574 --> 00:18:15,508 Now, I already told you, this term 344 00:18:15,508 --> 00:18:17,313 is found nowhere else in our Bibles 345 00:18:17,313 --> 00:18:22,665 except Luke 1. 346 00:18:22,665 --> 00:18:27,130 Paul doesn't use this term anywhere else 347 00:18:27,130 --> 00:18:33,523 in Ephesians or in any of his writings. 348 00:18:33,523 --> 00:18:35,313 See, that strikes me. 349 00:18:35,313 --> 00:18:37,299 As I'm studying and preparing, 350 00:18:37,299 --> 00:18:41,226 here's a name of Christ, 351 00:18:41,226 --> 00:18:44,396 a title, 352 00:18:44,396 --> 00:18:46,931 that Paul in all of his writings 353 00:18:46,931 --> 00:18:49,362 only chooses to use right here, 354 00:18:49,362 --> 00:18:50,530 and I recognize this. 355 00:18:50,530 --> 00:18:52,102 This is like you and me writing 356 00:18:52,102 --> 00:18:53,722 where sometimes we're just, 357 00:18:53,722 --> 00:18:55,438 we're kind of reaching for something 358 00:18:55,438 --> 00:18:57,110 that might seem nice. 359 00:18:57,110 --> 00:18:58,521 This is a man under inspiration. 360 00:18:58,521 --> 00:18:59,725 This is a guy sharing the 361 00:18:59,725 --> 00:19:01,327 very truth of God with us. 362 00:19:01,327 --> 00:19:07,367 His use of terminology is not random. 363 00:19:07,367 --> 00:19:09,540 And so I'm asking the question, 364 00:19:09,540 --> 00:19:11,280 why, Paul? 365 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,371 Why here? 366 00:19:14,371 --> 00:19:19,506 Why would you do this? 367 00:19:19,506 --> 00:19:23,689 Why only once? 368 00:19:23,689 --> 00:19:28,292 Now, I don't know brethren. 369 00:19:28,292 --> 00:19:37,266 I'm kind of surmising that it's almost like 370 00:19:37,266 --> 00:19:40,067 this title is too sacred 371 00:19:40,067 --> 00:19:42,486 even for an inspired apostle to use 372 00:19:42,486 --> 00:19:44,528 in a common fashion. 373 00:19:44,528 --> 00:19:47,625 And let's think about this word. 374 00:19:47,625 --> 00:19:53,403 God speaks from heaven 375 00:19:53,403 --> 00:19:57,611 only three times in our New Testament. 376 00:19:57,611 --> 00:19:59,762 And I'm not counting 377 00:19:59,762 --> 00:20:02,026 the stuff that you find in Revelation. 378 00:20:02,026 --> 00:20:03,732 But I'm just saying when Jesus 379 00:20:03,732 --> 00:20:08,146 walked this earth. 380 00:20:08,146 --> 00:20:14,785 God audibly spoke three times. 381 00:20:14,785 --> 00:20:17,320 Once He spoke in John 12, 382 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:18,516 you remember? 383 00:20:18,516 --> 00:20:20,534 That's where Jesus said, 384 00:20:20,534 --> 00:20:22,325 "Father, glorify Your name." 385 00:20:22,325 --> 00:20:26,372 And how did the Father respond? 386 00:20:26,372 --> 00:20:30,684 Anybody remember? 387 00:20:30,684 --> 00:20:33,345 "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 388 00:20:33,345 --> 00:20:35,221 Now what's interesting about that 389 00:20:35,221 --> 00:20:41,108 is that He doesn't address His Son specifically. 390 00:20:41,108 --> 00:20:43,036 I mean, He's speaking to Him, 391 00:20:43,036 --> 00:20:44,953 but He doesn't use a title or a name 392 00:20:44,953 --> 00:20:46,427 in addressing Him. 393 00:20:46,427 --> 00:20:50,528 On the other two occasions, He does. 394 00:20:50,528 --> 00:20:54,140 Do you know what those other two occasions are? 395 00:20:54,140 --> 00:20:56,850 At His baptism 396 00:20:56,850 --> 00:21:00,318 and on the Mount of Transfiguration. 397 00:21:00,318 --> 00:21:01,424 And I'll tell you this, 398 00:21:01,424 --> 00:21:02,828 those early Christians knew. 399 00:21:02,828 --> 00:21:04,928 The Apostle Paul knew. 400 00:21:04,928 --> 00:21:07,097 Those early disciples who had walked with Christ, 401 00:21:07,097 --> 00:21:09,083 they told the story over and over again. 402 00:21:09,083 --> 00:21:12,339 You see there when Peter's writing His epistles, 403 00:21:12,339 --> 00:21:14,026 he's talking about the glory they saw 404 00:21:14,026 --> 00:21:15,266 up there on that mountain. 405 00:21:15,266 --> 00:21:16,378 He never forgot that. 406 00:21:16,378 --> 00:21:21,013 Those disciples told the story everywhere. 407 00:21:21,013 --> 00:21:22,558 Then when they wrote the Gospels, 408 00:21:22,558 --> 00:21:24,127 and when they wrote their epistles, 409 00:21:24,127 --> 00:21:25,873 and when they were talking to 410 00:21:25,873 --> 00:21:27,986 Christians around this world, 411 00:21:27,986 --> 00:21:29,472 when they were telling what happened, 412 00:21:29,472 --> 00:21:31,622 when they were telling what they observed 413 00:21:31,622 --> 00:21:33,119 when they walked with Christ, 414 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:34,736 they never forgot. 415 00:21:34,736 --> 00:21:37,380 Because you see there were certain seasons 416 00:21:37,380 --> 00:21:42,261 when suddenly the veil would be pulled back 417 00:21:42,261 --> 00:21:44,214 and some glory... could you imagine? 418 00:21:44,214 --> 00:21:45,729 The Father speaking? 419 00:21:45,729 --> 00:21:47,153 They're there with Christ, 420 00:21:47,153 --> 00:21:49,501 and suddenly a voice comes from heaven? 421 00:21:49,501 --> 00:21:53,408 And on those two accounts, 422 00:21:53,408 --> 00:21:59,248 God used this term in addressing His Son. 423 00:21:59,248 --> 00:22:01,887 Either in speaking directly to Him, 424 00:22:01,887 --> 00:22:06,044 "You are My Beloved Son, 425 00:22:06,044 --> 00:22:08,599 in Whom I am well pleased." 426 00:22:08,599 --> 00:22:13,168 Or, speaking to His disciples, 427 00:22:13,168 --> 00:22:15,369 "He is My Beloved Son, 428 00:22:15,369 --> 00:22:17,263 in Whom I am well pleased. 429 00:22:17,263 --> 00:22:19,673 Hear Him." 430 00:22:19,673 --> 00:22:21,272 The Father uses this. 431 00:22:21,272 --> 00:22:23,732 And you know what's interesting to me? 432 00:22:23,732 --> 00:22:28,542 The Father has at His disposal, 433 00:22:28,542 --> 00:22:31,266 God the Father has a perfect command 434 00:22:31,266 --> 00:22:33,905 of every language. 435 00:22:33,905 --> 00:22:39,171 And out of all the terminology at His disposal, 436 00:22:39,171 --> 00:22:45,564 He uses this term to describe His Son. 437 00:22:45,564 --> 00:22:51,189 Beloved. 438 00:22:51,189 --> 00:22:56,088 Just think about this, 439 00:22:56,088 --> 00:23:00,357 have you ever seen a situation 440 00:23:00,357 --> 00:23:04,135 where two people are really fond of each other, 441 00:23:04,135 --> 00:23:06,695 they love each other, 442 00:23:06,695 --> 00:23:09,729 intensely love each other, 443 00:23:09,729 --> 00:23:12,452 and they have a pet name for one another, 444 00:23:12,452 --> 00:23:17,542 or we call them terms of endearment. 445 00:23:17,542 --> 00:23:20,134 And one uses it to address the other. 446 00:23:20,134 --> 00:23:22,622 If you as an outsider come along 447 00:23:22,622 --> 00:23:24,938 and use that term, 448 00:23:24,938 --> 00:23:28,097 you better be very careful. 449 00:23:28,097 --> 00:23:30,315 In fact, often it might not be 450 00:23:30,315 --> 00:23:33,982 appropriate at all. 451 00:23:33,982 --> 00:23:35,278 Have you ever seen that? 452 00:23:35,278 --> 00:23:37,893 Where somebody from outside comes along 453 00:23:37,893 --> 00:23:40,042 and uses one of the terms 454 00:23:40,042 --> 00:23:42,878 that is a term of endearment among these two 455 00:23:42,878 --> 00:23:44,728 and somebody comes from the outside 456 00:23:44,728 --> 00:23:47,675 and addresses one of them with such terminology? 457 00:23:47,675 --> 00:23:50,412 It's almost like you get the feeling it's like that here. 458 00:23:50,412 --> 00:23:54,117 Where Paul in all of his writings, 459 00:23:54,117 --> 00:24:00,668 will only reach out and pull in this term once. 460 00:24:00,668 --> 00:24:07,622 And I think it is, brethren, 461 00:24:07,622 --> 00:24:11,910 it is so significant 462 00:24:11,910 --> 00:24:14,131 as to why he did it. 463 00:24:14,131 --> 00:24:20,257 At first, I was kind of grappling 464 00:24:20,257 --> 00:24:24,090 for why. Why? Why here? 465 00:24:24,090 --> 00:24:26,237 He could have done it anywhere. 466 00:24:26,237 --> 00:24:28,792 Couldn't he? 467 00:24:28,792 --> 00:24:31,143 But then I saw it. 468 00:24:31,143 --> 00:24:34,166 I saw it as I was searching Colossians. 469 00:24:34,166 --> 00:24:37,630 Colossians is a very similar, 470 00:24:37,630 --> 00:24:39,619 in many ways, it's a similar 471 00:24:39,619 --> 00:24:42,179 letter to Ephesians. 472 00:24:42,179 --> 00:24:46,072 You find some of the same ideas over there. 473 00:24:46,072 --> 00:24:50,003 And it was in cross-referincing them 474 00:24:50,003 --> 00:24:53,727 that it really came to light. 475 00:24:53,727 --> 00:24:55,939 Jumped out at me. 476 00:24:55,939 --> 00:25:02,204 Brethren, I view this 477 00:25:02,204 --> 00:25:05,107 as like a picture of treasure. 478 00:25:05,107 --> 00:25:09,479 I imagine all these precious stones. 479 00:25:09,479 --> 00:25:11,232 A great treasure. 480 00:25:11,232 --> 00:25:13,771 But in the midst of that treasure, 481 00:25:13,771 --> 00:25:18,882 is one stone more rare than all the others. 482 00:25:18,882 --> 00:25:20,952 That's what this word "Beloved" is like. 483 00:25:20,952 --> 00:25:24,338 And Paul reaches out and grabs that 484 00:25:24,338 --> 00:25:25,560 stone of rarity, 485 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:30,011 because he only uses it this one time. 486 00:25:30,011 --> 00:25:33,999 The thing that I want you to understand here is, 487 00:25:33,999 --> 00:25:41,583 the term "Beloved" is not a noun. 488 00:25:41,583 --> 00:25:47,358 It's actually a verb participle. 489 00:25:47,358 --> 00:25:53,260 And it implies a noun that isn't there. 490 00:25:53,260 --> 00:25:57,566 It's like saying that, 491 00:25:57,566 --> 00:26:01,115 you could take the -be off of this. 492 00:26:01,115 --> 00:26:02,663 Instead of saying beloved, 493 00:26:02,663 --> 00:26:05,965 you could say loved. 494 00:26:05,965 --> 00:26:11,125 It's like saying that we have been blessed 495 00:26:11,125 --> 00:26:14,149 in the loved. 496 00:26:14,149 --> 00:26:15,377 Beloved what? 497 00:26:15,377 --> 00:26:19,299 There's a noun that's implied. 498 00:26:19,299 --> 00:26:23,172 It's just not there. 499 00:26:23,172 --> 00:26:30,084 Beloved is loved with a -be on the front. 500 00:26:30,084 --> 00:26:34,743 The -be is an intensification. 501 00:26:34,743 --> 00:26:36,746 It's old English. 502 00:26:36,746 --> 00:26:39,478 It intensifies a word. 503 00:26:39,478 --> 00:26:41,413 Maybe you're familiar with other words 504 00:26:41,413 --> 00:26:43,221 that have the -be on the front. 505 00:26:43,221 --> 00:26:50,467 Like beware, or bewail, or bestir, 506 00:26:50,467 --> 00:26:52,557 or bemoan, or bedazzle. 507 00:26:52,557 --> 00:26:54,026 When you add that, 508 00:26:54,026 --> 00:26:55,767 it instensifies it. 509 00:26:55,767 --> 00:26:59,161 It's meaning is to eminently love. 510 00:26:59,161 --> 00:27:01,100 It's an intensification of love. 511 00:27:01,100 --> 00:27:03,461 But a noun is assumed. 512 00:27:03,461 --> 00:27:11,162 We're highly favored in the loved, 513 00:27:11,162 --> 00:27:13,427 or the beloved. 514 00:27:13,427 --> 00:27:15,939 The beloved what? 515 00:27:15,939 --> 00:27:18,404 I mean, certainly the term 516 00:27:18,404 --> 00:27:23,356 that is implied is "Son." 517 00:27:23,356 --> 00:27:24,470 Because like I say, 518 00:27:24,470 --> 00:27:27,959 Paul well knew what the voice 519 00:27:27,959 --> 00:27:30,893 from heaven spoke. 520 00:27:30,893 --> 00:27:33,794 He well knew that when the term 521 00:27:33,794 --> 00:27:35,574 Beloved was used, 522 00:27:35,574 --> 00:27:40,165 it went hand in hand with this. 523 00:27:40,165 --> 00:27:42,795 In fact, there's a similar usage. 524 00:27:42,795 --> 00:27:45,057 Paul doesn't use the same term, but he uses 525 00:27:45,057 --> 00:27:47,693 a similar terminology over in Colossians. 526 00:27:47,693 --> 00:27:51,005 We're going to look at it in just a few minutes. 527 00:27:51,005 --> 00:27:53,526 But where that idea comes out, 528 00:27:53,526 --> 00:27:58,611 God speaking - this is My Beloved Son. 529 00:27:58,611 --> 00:28:02,003 Paul is undoubtedly taking his cue 530 00:28:02,003 --> 00:28:04,145 from what he knows is there 531 00:28:04,145 --> 00:28:05,066 in the Gospels; 532 00:28:05,066 --> 00:28:07,674 from what he knows those disciples 533 00:28:07,674 --> 00:28:10,490 that were in the Lord before Him - 534 00:28:10,490 --> 00:28:12,432 the stories they would have told 535 00:28:12,432 --> 00:28:13,526 about what they heard 536 00:28:13,526 --> 00:28:17,367 and how God addressed the Son. 537 00:28:17,367 --> 00:28:19,774 Paul well knew those accounts. 538 00:28:19,774 --> 00:28:21,265 He well knew of the baptism, 539 00:28:21,265 --> 00:28:22,400 and the Spirit descending, 540 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:23,646 and the voice that came, 541 00:28:23,646 --> 00:28:24,909 and Peter, James and John 542 00:28:24,909 --> 00:28:27,910 and how they were just amazed. 543 00:28:27,910 --> 00:28:31,227 Brethren, each time the veil 544 00:28:31,227 --> 00:28:33,597 was drawn back, 545 00:28:33,597 --> 00:28:34,925 and the voice of God 546 00:28:34,925 --> 00:28:39,761 audibly echoed across this landscape, 547 00:28:39,761 --> 00:28:42,521 they were given a glimpse into glory. 548 00:28:42,521 --> 00:28:47,838 And you have to recognize, 549 00:28:47,838 --> 00:28:50,638 when God speaks about the Son 550 00:28:50,638 --> 00:28:52,943 it's like there's an intensity of love, 551 00:28:52,943 --> 00:28:55,018 it's like you get this feeling 552 00:28:55,018 --> 00:28:58,113 of the Father looking with such delight, 553 00:28:58,113 --> 00:29:00,148 with Him I am well pleased, 554 00:29:00,148 --> 00:29:01,903 My Beloved, 555 00:29:01,903 --> 00:29:05,808 this is the object of My love. 556 00:29:05,808 --> 00:29:10,808 My Son. My Beloved Son. 557 00:29:10,808 --> 00:29:12,656 You are My Beloved Son. 558 00:29:12,656 --> 00:29:16,441 Or, My Son the Beloved, it can be. 559 00:29:16,441 --> 00:29:18,766 Well pleased. 560 00:29:18,766 --> 00:29:21,197 Paul knew God had chosen this terminology 561 00:29:21,197 --> 00:29:23,736 out of all the language that could have 562 00:29:23,736 --> 00:29:26,914 possibly been chosen. 563 00:29:26,914 --> 00:29:29,511 And you think about the Beloved Son. 564 00:29:29,511 --> 00:29:33,414 Think with me about the terminology that we find. 565 00:29:33,414 --> 00:29:36,119 In John 1:14, you don't need to turn there, 566 00:29:36,119 --> 00:29:42,944 but at times, Scripture uses a term, 567 00:29:42,944 --> 00:29:44,489 monogenes 568 00:29:44,489 --> 00:29:48,903 sometimes we translate that "begotten." 569 00:29:48,903 --> 00:29:50,984 The new KJV translates that 570 00:29:50,984 --> 00:29:56,481 the only begotten Son. 571 00:29:56,481 --> 00:29:58,940 It's extremely contested whether 572 00:29:58,940 --> 00:30:00,581 the "begotten" should be there. 573 00:30:00,581 --> 00:30:02,724 But that's not the issue. 574 00:30:02,724 --> 00:30:06,164 Some places, some translations, say 575 00:30:06,164 --> 00:30:09,982 "the only Son." 576 00:30:09,982 --> 00:30:11,632 But I'll tell you this, 577 00:30:11,632 --> 00:30:14,516 what this draws us to 578 00:30:14,516 --> 00:30:19,212 is that Christ is the only one of His kind. 579 00:30:19,212 --> 00:30:21,386 He's in a class by Himself. 580 00:30:21,386 --> 00:30:22,726 Utterly unique. 581 00:30:22,726 --> 00:30:24,566 There is none other like Him. 582 00:30:24,566 --> 00:30:28,390 When you drop down to 1:18, 583 00:30:28,390 --> 00:30:33,348 the ESV says He's the only God, 584 00:30:33,348 --> 00:30:38,240 in the bosom, or at the side of, His Father. 585 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:40,086 He makes Him known. 586 00:30:40,086 --> 00:30:43,000 The KJV calls Him the only begotten Son 587 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,393 who is in the bosom of the Father. 588 00:30:46,393 --> 00:30:48,523 He declares the Father. 589 00:30:48,523 --> 00:30:54,183 Brethren, if you just think about that term, 590 00:30:54,183 --> 00:30:57,187 "bosom." 591 00:30:57,187 --> 00:30:59,383 Maybe, if you're not familiar with it, 592 00:30:59,383 --> 00:31:01,377 maybe you almost want to smile or laugh 593 00:31:01,377 --> 00:31:02,707 when you hear it. 594 00:31:02,707 --> 00:31:07,309 It is a precious term. 595 00:31:07,309 --> 00:31:13,063 The bosom, you just look at that term. 596 00:31:13,063 --> 00:31:18,759 It calls it the area between the arms. 597 00:31:18,759 --> 00:31:20,817 And I don't imagine the arms like this, 598 00:31:20,817 --> 00:31:22,881 I just imagine the arms out like this. 599 00:31:22,881 --> 00:31:25,032 It's the area between the arms. 600 00:31:25,032 --> 00:31:27,297 That's where the Son has 601 00:31:27,297 --> 00:31:29,757 eternally dwelled. 602 00:31:29,757 --> 00:31:31,762 And He comes into this world, 603 00:31:31,762 --> 00:31:33,629 He leaves that, 604 00:31:33,629 --> 00:31:36,042 He leaves the glory that He had 605 00:31:36,042 --> 00:31:39,827 with His Father before the world began; 606 00:31:39,827 --> 00:31:41,900 there was a glory. 607 00:31:41,900 --> 00:31:43,773 You think of what Scripture says, 608 00:31:43,773 --> 00:31:47,096 He is the radiance of the glory of God. 609 00:31:47,096 --> 00:31:50,338 He declares the Father. 610 00:31:50,338 --> 00:31:52,786 When you see Christ, 611 00:31:52,786 --> 00:31:57,388 what you see is God declaring Himself. 612 00:31:57,388 --> 00:31:58,267 Behold Him. 613 00:31:58,267 --> 00:31:59,636 I'm well pleased with Him. 614 00:31:59,636 --> 00:32:00,809 Look at Him. 615 00:32:00,809 --> 00:32:02,129 When you look at Him, 616 00:32:02,129 --> 00:32:05,422 what you're beholding is Him in whom 617 00:32:05,422 --> 00:32:07,748 the whole fullness of the Godhead 618 00:32:07,748 --> 00:32:10,421 was pleased to dwell bodily. 619 00:32:10,421 --> 00:32:17,310 This is the very image of God. 620 00:32:17,310 --> 00:32:18,506 Loved. 621 00:32:18,506 --> 00:32:23,745 My Beloved. 622 00:32:23,745 --> 00:32:30,788 Well, brethren, you find terminology 623 00:32:30,788 --> 00:32:36,422 about Him that describes Him as 624 00:32:36,422 --> 00:32:41,217 the eternally generated one. 625 00:32:41,217 --> 00:32:42,611 Origen was the first to use 626 00:32:42,611 --> 00:32:45,953 that kind of terminology in describing Christ. 627 00:32:45,953 --> 00:32:52,506 As though He was eternally generated 628 00:32:52,506 --> 00:32:54,811 by God from eternity past. 629 00:32:54,811 --> 00:32:58,352 Eternal generation. 630 00:32:58,352 --> 00:33:00,137 Eternally begotten. 631 00:33:00,137 --> 00:33:01,805 How do we even describe that? 632 00:33:01,805 --> 00:33:03,406 We think about a man and a woman 633 00:33:03,406 --> 00:33:05,566 coming together and a child is conceived, 634 00:33:05,566 --> 00:33:07,592 and there's a begetting of a child. 635 00:33:07,592 --> 00:33:09,408 Obviously, we don't want to bring in 636 00:33:09,408 --> 00:33:11,795 some human construction behind this. 637 00:33:11,795 --> 00:33:13,925 But what you do want to imagine is this: 638 00:33:13,925 --> 00:33:16,821 What it intends to imply, 639 00:33:16,821 --> 00:33:20,012 Listen, those early church fathers were grappling. 640 00:33:20,012 --> 00:33:22,309 We've got Robert Raymond on our shelf, 641 00:33:22,309 --> 00:33:25,386 and we've got this systematic theology over here. 642 00:33:25,386 --> 00:33:28,678 We can go look at Hodge and what he said. 643 00:33:28,678 --> 00:33:32,084 Brethren, we've got resources from 2000 years. 644 00:33:32,084 --> 00:33:33,807 But imagine in the beginning, 645 00:33:33,807 --> 00:33:38,405 they're going into Scripture and they're saying, 646 00:33:38,405 --> 00:33:44,751 in the beginning, He was with God, 647 00:33:44,751 --> 00:33:46,475 and He was God. 648 00:33:46,475 --> 00:33:50,508 He's with God. He was God. 649 00:33:50,508 --> 00:33:55,459 Ok. What do we do with that? 650 00:33:55,459 --> 00:34:00,096 He was in the bosom of the Father. 651 00:34:00,096 --> 00:34:03,040 He declares Him. 652 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,886 He came into the world. 653 00:34:05,886 --> 00:34:10,244 He took upon Himself flesh. 654 00:34:10,244 --> 00:34:12,036 He's God. 655 00:34:12,036 --> 00:34:14,938 He's the Son. 656 00:34:14,938 --> 00:34:17,417 The Father delights in Him. 657 00:34:17,417 --> 00:34:19,934 Did He have a beginning? 658 00:34:19,934 --> 00:34:22,509 He had a beginning as a man, 659 00:34:22,509 --> 00:34:27,113 but before that He was with the Father. 660 00:34:27,113 --> 00:34:29,197 And they're looking at this and they're trying... 661 00:34:29,197 --> 00:34:32,175 Father. Son. 662 00:34:32,175 --> 00:34:34,903 But He's God. 663 00:34:34,903 --> 00:34:37,711 God can't change. 664 00:34:37,711 --> 00:34:39,504 They're trying to find definition. 665 00:34:39,504 --> 00:34:41,369 And somebody like Origen says 666 00:34:41,369 --> 00:34:46,167 eternal generation - that's how we'll describe it. 667 00:34:46,167 --> 00:34:49,557 But it's this: 668 00:34:49,557 --> 00:34:52,543 My son, not too long ago, 669 00:34:52,543 --> 00:34:54,892 we went to the restaurant where he works. 670 00:34:54,892 --> 00:34:56,920 And the girl working behind the counter said, 671 00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:00,034 "Oh yeah, I can see it. He looks like you." 672 00:35:00,034 --> 00:35:05,348 You see, I beget a son, 673 00:35:05,348 --> 00:35:07,935 and I beget to him my humanity. 674 00:35:07,935 --> 00:35:09,885 Many of my characteristics. 675 00:35:09,885 --> 00:35:12,720 In the same way, 676 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:14,696 God the Father begets a Son, 677 00:35:14,696 --> 00:35:15,796 though it be eternal, 678 00:35:15,796 --> 00:35:18,186 because you can't go to a date 679 00:35:18,186 --> 00:35:20,422 when He came forth. 680 00:35:20,422 --> 00:35:22,770 But He's begotten by the Father 681 00:35:22,770 --> 00:35:25,764 in such a way that in the same way I communicate 682 00:35:25,764 --> 00:35:28,398 to my son my humanity 683 00:35:28,398 --> 00:35:31,625 and characteristics and attributes about myself. 684 00:35:31,625 --> 00:35:35,124 So in the same way, the Son is begotten 685 00:35:35,124 --> 00:35:37,807 or eternally generated by the Father. 686 00:35:37,807 --> 00:35:39,923 So that God the Father 687 00:35:39,923 --> 00:35:45,420 communicates His deity to His Son. 688 00:35:45,420 --> 00:35:47,384 The Nicene Creed says 689 00:35:47,384 --> 00:35:50,679 God of God, light of light, 690 00:35:50,679 --> 00:35:54,244 very God of very God. 691 00:35:54,244 --> 00:35:57,183 This is the Beloved. 692 00:35:57,183 --> 00:35:58,929 He's none other than the substance, 693 00:35:58,929 --> 00:36:03,843 the very substance of eternal substance of God. 694 00:36:03,843 --> 00:36:06,734 The only Son, the only Begotten of the Father. 695 00:36:06,734 --> 00:36:09,618 The eternal Son. 696 00:36:09,618 --> 00:36:12,910 And it's like when God would express 697 00:36:12,910 --> 00:36:16,175 what He feels, 698 00:36:16,175 --> 00:36:17,771 because the terminology you use 699 00:36:17,771 --> 00:36:19,744 when you talk to one another 700 00:36:19,744 --> 00:36:21,778 it's expressive. 701 00:36:21,778 --> 00:36:27,572 And when God expresses as completely 702 00:36:27,572 --> 00:36:31,318 and as perfectly as human language allows, 703 00:36:31,318 --> 00:36:35,130 just what this One is to Him. 704 00:36:35,130 --> 00:36:39,267 The One who is a reflection of His own glory. 705 00:36:39,267 --> 00:36:41,169 No other terminology does God the Father 706 00:36:41,169 --> 00:36:46,115 find more fitting in the divine mind than this: 707 00:36:46,115 --> 00:36:49,022 My Beloved Son. 708 00:36:49,022 --> 00:36:51,213 Brethren, what we need to remember is 709 00:36:51,213 --> 00:36:57,293 who it is that came to rescue us from our sin. 710 00:36:57,293 --> 00:36:58,928 Because, I'll tell you this, 711 00:36:58,928 --> 00:37:01,018 I'm asking the question, 712 00:37:01,018 --> 00:37:04,450 why at the end of verse 6? 713 00:37:04,450 --> 00:37:07,085 Why there? 714 00:37:07,085 --> 00:37:11,706 And of course, we have a tendency, 715 00:37:11,706 --> 00:37:14,534 especially because I'm preaching 716 00:37:14,534 --> 00:37:18,651 this in order, there's a real tendency 717 00:37:18,651 --> 00:37:22,425 to think most about what's gone on before. 718 00:37:22,425 --> 00:37:26,392 But you know what happened, 719 00:37:26,392 --> 00:37:30,830 I got to looking over at Colossians 720 00:37:30,830 --> 00:37:34,510 where the next closest expression to this 721 00:37:34,510 --> 00:37:37,546 is found in Paul's writing. 722 00:37:37,546 --> 00:37:40,182 Anything close to this in these two times 723 00:37:40,182 --> 00:37:41,713 in all of his writing. 724 00:37:41,713 --> 00:37:42,845 Look over in Colossians. 725 00:37:42,845 --> 00:37:45,618 I want you to see this. 726 00:37:45,618 --> 00:37:47,678 Hold your finger there in Ephesians 1, 727 00:37:47,678 --> 00:37:51,172 because I want you to compare this. 728 00:37:51,172 --> 00:37:53,518 Keep a finger in Ephesians 1 729 00:37:53,518 --> 00:37:58,566 and with your other go over to Colossians 1. 730 00:37:58,566 --> 00:38:01,849 You see the significance isn't so much 731 00:38:01,849 --> 00:38:06,554 what's already been said, 732 00:38:06,554 --> 00:38:09,223 it's that Paul is coming to a transition 733 00:38:09,223 --> 00:38:15,543 in Ephesians where he's going to turn the focus now. 734 00:38:15,543 --> 00:38:19,124 Up to this point, he has primarily been focusing 735 00:38:19,124 --> 00:38:22,180 on what the Father does. 736 00:38:22,180 --> 00:38:26,789 At the end of verse 6, the transition is taking place 737 00:38:26,789 --> 00:38:30,563 to begin to talk about 738 00:38:30,563 --> 00:38:36,363 the Son's primary place in our salvation. 739 00:38:36,363 --> 00:38:39,881 It's got to do more with what's to follow, 740 00:38:39,881 --> 00:38:41,713 than what has preceded, 741 00:38:41,713 --> 00:38:44,882 in the fact that this terminology comes. 742 00:38:44,882 --> 00:38:47,847 Why here? 743 00:38:47,847 --> 00:38:49,171 Why "Beloved" here? 744 00:38:49,171 --> 00:38:55,490 Well, notice Colossians 1:13-14. 745 00:38:55,490 --> 00:39:02,545 Because you have almost the same thing 746 00:39:02,545 --> 00:39:08,072 that's happening in Ephesians. 747 00:39:08,072 --> 00:39:11,420 "God has delivered us from the domain of darkness..." 748 00:39:11,420 --> 00:39:13,971 Colossians 1:13-14 749 00:39:13,971 --> 00:39:19,859 "and transferred us to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son." 750 00:39:19,859 --> 00:39:27,353 Now this is literally "the Son of His love." 751 00:39:27,353 --> 00:39:29,696 The ESV has "Beloved," 752 00:39:29,696 --> 00:39:32,709 but it's not an adjective, it's a noun. 753 00:39:32,709 --> 00:39:35,090 It's the Son of His love. 754 00:39:35,090 --> 00:39:38,148 It's the closest terminology in Paul's writing 755 00:39:38,148 --> 00:39:40,330 to the Beloved 756 00:39:40,330 --> 00:39:44,268 that we find over in Ephesians 1:6. 757 00:39:44,268 --> 00:39:46,353 But now, notice this, 758 00:39:46,353 --> 00:39:50,381 as soon as he uses this terminology, 759 00:39:50,381 --> 00:39:57,554 he says almost precisely what he says 760 00:39:57,554 --> 00:40:01,614 after he uses it in Ephesians 1:6. 761 00:40:01,614 --> 00:40:04,082 Notice this: 762 00:40:04,082 --> 00:40:06,338 The Son of His love, 763 00:40:06,338 --> 00:40:09,486 in whom we have redemption, 764 00:40:09,486 --> 00:40:11,078 the forgivenes of sins. 765 00:40:11,078 --> 00:40:14,027 Now notice that. 766 00:40:14,027 --> 00:40:16,771 Redemption and forgiveness. 767 00:40:16,771 --> 00:40:19,398 Now go back to Ephesians. 768 00:40:19,398 --> 00:40:21,620 And notice this. 769 00:40:21,620 --> 00:40:23,977 Verse 6 770 00:40:23,977 --> 00:40:25,778 "With which He has blessed us 771 00:40:25,778 --> 00:40:29,950 or highly favored us in the Beloved." 772 00:40:29,950 --> 00:40:31,111 Verse 7 773 00:40:31,111 --> 00:40:35,990 "In Him we have redemption through His blood, 774 00:40:35,990 --> 00:40:38,523 the forgiveness of our trespasses." 775 00:40:38,523 --> 00:40:43,690 It's almost identical. 776 00:40:43,690 --> 00:40:49,864 Brethren, you know what it's telling me? 777 00:40:49,864 --> 00:40:54,423 I recognized in all of Paul's writings, 778 00:40:54,423 --> 00:41:01,257 he uses this terminology to introduce 779 00:41:01,257 --> 00:41:08,251 redemption and forgiveness. 780 00:41:08,251 --> 00:41:11,672 And brethren, what he's doing undoubtedly, 781 00:41:11,672 --> 00:41:14,640 is he means to show us 782 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:19,121 the measure of God's love for us. 783 00:41:19,121 --> 00:41:26,358 He takes the choice gem, 784 00:41:26,358 --> 00:41:30,762 I mean the rarest of all the gems, 785 00:41:30,762 --> 00:41:34,823 in the terminology by which he may call Christ. 786 00:41:34,823 --> 00:41:37,882 And he sets it forth, 787 00:41:37,882 --> 00:41:40,127 and see you look at it, 788 00:41:40,127 --> 00:41:41,675 and the first thing you do is 789 00:41:41,675 --> 00:41:44,204 you look at it and you recognize, 790 00:41:44,204 --> 00:41:48,953 Wow, that is a valuable gem. 791 00:41:48,953 --> 00:41:50,940 And then the next thing he says is 792 00:41:50,940 --> 00:41:53,589 He gave it for you, for your redemption, 793 00:41:53,589 --> 00:41:56,741 and for your forgiveness of sins. 794 00:41:56,741 --> 00:42:00,814 You've got to be kidding me. 795 00:42:00,814 --> 00:42:03,358 In all of his writings, 796 00:42:03,358 --> 00:42:06,158 he uses this term Beloved once. 797 00:42:06,158 --> 00:42:08,090 He uses the Son of His love, 798 00:42:08,090 --> 00:42:10,634 which is almost the same thing. 799 00:42:10,634 --> 00:42:12,155 And in both cases, 800 00:42:12,155 --> 00:42:15,673 immediately after the rarity 801 00:42:15,673 --> 00:42:17,304 of such a name, 802 00:42:17,304 --> 00:42:21,236 the preciousness of the very terminology, 803 00:42:21,236 --> 00:42:24,502 the term of holy endearment 804 00:42:24,502 --> 00:42:26,048 and divine tenderness 805 00:42:26,048 --> 00:42:30,995 used by the Father for the Son. 806 00:42:30,995 --> 00:42:33,136 It's like communicating, 807 00:42:33,136 --> 00:42:35,713 look at the preciousness between, 808 00:42:35,713 --> 00:42:38,101 look at the intensity 809 00:42:38,101 --> 00:42:42,506 of the divine love for the Son. 810 00:42:42,506 --> 00:42:45,587 You were redeemed and forgiven 811 00:42:45,587 --> 00:42:48,152 because God didn't spare Him. 812 00:42:48,152 --> 00:42:49,745 This is meant to throw you 813 00:42:49,745 --> 00:42:52,490 in the back of your seat. 814 00:42:52,490 --> 00:42:53,876 This is meant to floor you, 815 00:42:53,876 --> 00:42:55,517 right at this point. 816 00:42:55,517 --> 00:43:00,912 Beloved, what this does is shows constrast. 817 00:43:00,912 --> 00:43:08,333 There's glory, and you, the leper. 818 00:43:08,333 --> 00:43:12,800 Ransomed, redeemed, pardoned. 819 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:15,646 Your iniquities washed away. 820 00:43:15,646 --> 00:43:17,012 Paul would have us to think 821 00:43:17,012 --> 00:43:18,443 of the sweet intimacy between 822 00:43:18,443 --> 00:43:20,093 Father and Son, 823 00:43:20,093 --> 00:43:23,428 the intensity of which God loves the Son, 824 00:43:23,428 --> 00:43:25,455 with all of His divine being, 825 00:43:25,455 --> 00:43:27,449 and then this: 826 00:43:27,449 --> 00:43:29,745 God has a Son of His love. 827 00:43:29,745 --> 00:43:32,665 God has a Beloved. 828 00:43:32,665 --> 00:43:40,295 In the bosom. 829 00:43:40,295 --> 00:43:43,483 And He let Him go. 830 00:43:43,483 --> 00:43:45,938 He didn't spare Him. 831 00:43:45,938 --> 00:43:53,316 God didn't spare the Beloved. 832 00:43:53,316 --> 00:43:57,487 For a leper. 833 00:43:57,487 --> 00:44:02,851 Between His arms. 834 00:44:02,851 --> 00:44:08,863 And the Beloved. He didn't hold Him back. 835 00:44:08,863 --> 00:44:12,969 When John comes along and he says, 836 00:44:12,969 --> 00:44:16,516 "In this the love of God was made manifest, 837 00:44:16,516 --> 00:44:18,466 that God sent His only Son into the world 838 00:44:18,466 --> 00:44:20,019 so that we might live through Him." 839 00:44:20,019 --> 00:44:26,818 Or he says, "God so loved the world, 840 00:44:26,818 --> 00:44:30,642 that He gave His only begotten Son." 841 00:44:30,642 --> 00:44:33,986 Brethren, we have redemption and forgiveness. 842 00:44:33,986 --> 00:44:38,938 Not from some cheap gesture by God. 843 00:44:38,938 --> 00:44:39,949 I'll tell you this, 844 00:44:39,949 --> 00:44:41,868 the people that just think 845 00:44:41,868 --> 00:44:45,080 God just sweeps sin under the rug. 846 00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:49,617 They have no idea what God did. 847 00:44:49,617 --> 00:44:53,434 None. 848 00:44:53,434 --> 00:44:55,687 Because the Beloved Son 849 00:44:55,687 --> 00:44:58,002 came from heaven 850 00:44:58,002 --> 00:45:02,734 a lamb for the sacrificial slaughter. 851 00:45:02,734 --> 00:45:04,103 If you want to know how to 852 00:45:04,103 --> 00:45:08,815 properly estimate God's love for us, 853 00:45:08,815 --> 00:45:13,280 behold the Beloved. 854 00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:17,507 Bosom. 855 00:45:17,507 --> 00:45:21,714 God held Him tight. 856 00:45:21,714 --> 00:45:24,221 The Beloved. 857 00:45:24,221 --> 00:45:26,992 Eternally in the bosom of the Father. 858 00:45:26,992 --> 00:45:33,999 Enjoying the love, the glory, 859 00:45:33,999 --> 00:45:36,934 the joy, 860 00:45:36,934 --> 00:45:42,576 the smile. 861 00:45:42,576 --> 00:45:45,051 There was such delight. 862 00:45:45,051 --> 00:45:49,423 Brethren, if anything, this tells us, 863 00:45:49,423 --> 00:45:53,006 God didn't save us because there was 864 00:45:53,006 --> 00:45:55,687 some void in His bosom, 865 00:45:55,687 --> 00:45:58,809 that He needed to fill. 866 00:45:58,809 --> 00:46:01,907 It was full. 867 00:46:01,907 --> 00:46:05,466 The Son of His love. 868 00:46:05,466 --> 00:46:10,982 That eternal Trinity was quite happy 869 00:46:10,982 --> 00:46:20,685 and content and full without us. 870 00:46:20,685 --> 00:46:25,550 He was in the embrace of the Father. 871 00:46:25,550 --> 00:46:29,204 When Scripture says, 872 00:46:29,204 --> 00:46:34,541 "If He didn't spare His only Son." 873 00:46:34,541 --> 00:46:37,595 He didn't spare Him. 874 00:46:37,595 --> 00:46:42,025 Brethren, how can that even be? 875 00:46:42,025 --> 00:46:44,459 He didn't spare Him. 876 00:46:44,459 --> 00:46:45,891 In the fullness of time, 877 00:46:45,891 --> 00:46:48,616 the Beloved is sent forth, 878 00:46:48,616 --> 00:46:52,365 to be born of a woman, of a virgin, 879 00:46:52,365 --> 00:46:54,462 to be born under the law. 880 00:46:54,462 --> 00:46:56,829 We could just hasten right past the manger, 881 00:46:56,829 --> 00:46:58,670 we could hasten right past him 882 00:46:58,670 --> 00:47:01,327 stooping, becoming weak, 883 00:47:01,327 --> 00:47:05,077 taking upon Him the likeness of sinful flesh. 884 00:47:05,077 --> 00:47:07,686 Brethren, can you see Him? 885 00:47:07,686 --> 00:47:10,875 Brethren, you have to think, brethren, think! 886 00:47:10,875 --> 00:47:14,623 This God from heaven who spoke to Christ, 887 00:47:14,623 --> 00:47:16,857 and called Him His Beloved Son, 888 00:47:16,857 --> 00:47:23,858 or the Son the Beloved One. 889 00:47:23,858 --> 00:47:25,766 He's watching. 890 00:47:25,766 --> 00:47:29,080 He let Him go. 891 00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:30,591 He sent Him. 892 00:47:30,591 --> 00:47:32,233 He didn't spare Him. 893 00:47:32,233 --> 00:47:34,608 He's watching. 894 00:47:34,608 --> 00:47:38,781 Do you see Him there in the garden? 895 00:47:38,781 --> 00:47:44,513 Here is one distressed... 896 00:47:44,513 --> 00:47:47,333 bloody sweat? 897 00:47:47,333 --> 00:47:50,012 This is the Beloved. 898 00:47:50,012 --> 00:47:51,438 You need to see Him. 899 00:47:51,438 --> 00:47:52,708 The Beloved. 900 00:47:52,708 --> 00:47:57,235 He's contemplating the horrors of Golgotha. 901 00:47:57,235 --> 00:48:02,880 And His body can't keep it's own blood inside 902 00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:06,310 because of the strain. 903 00:48:06,310 --> 00:48:11,245 And the Father lets Him endure that. 904 00:48:11,245 --> 00:48:13,932 And that's not even the cross yet. 905 00:48:13,932 --> 00:48:15,656 That's just anticipation. 906 00:48:15,656 --> 00:48:17,789 This is the Beloved. 907 00:48:17,789 --> 00:48:19,880 And why is He doing this? 908 00:48:19,880 --> 00:48:21,327 He's doing this for the joy 909 00:48:21,327 --> 00:48:22,521 that's set before Him. 910 00:48:22,521 --> 00:48:26,036 He's doing this to redeem a people 911 00:48:26,036 --> 00:48:28,595 that they might be adopted sons of God, 912 00:48:28,595 --> 00:48:31,278 that they might be brought to stand holy 913 00:48:31,278 --> 00:48:33,673 before God. 914 00:48:33,673 --> 00:48:37,047 It's the Beloved. 915 00:48:37,047 --> 00:48:40,927 And God the Father is watching, 916 00:48:40,927 --> 00:48:43,598 He's tracking, He's well pleased with Him, 917 00:48:43,598 --> 00:48:47,950 He's watching every motion of this. 918 00:48:47,950 --> 00:48:50,532 He goes out of the garden, 919 00:48:50,532 --> 00:48:53,347 He's captured, He's taken away. 920 00:48:53,347 --> 00:48:56,022 He's accused. 921 00:48:56,022 --> 00:48:58,517 Brethren, they spit on Him. 922 00:48:58,517 --> 00:48:59,697 They spit on Him. 923 00:48:59,697 --> 00:49:01,418 The Father is looking. 924 00:49:01,418 --> 00:49:03,153 This One whom He held in His arms, 925 00:49:03,153 --> 00:49:04,666 in His bosom. 926 00:49:04,666 --> 00:49:06,042 The Beloved. 927 00:49:06,042 --> 00:49:07,403 They're spitting on Him. 928 00:49:07,403 --> 00:49:11,025 This is the only begotten Son of God. 929 00:49:11,025 --> 00:49:13,372 Glory. 930 00:49:13,372 --> 00:49:16,570 All it took was slightly pulling back the veil. 931 00:49:16,570 --> 00:49:18,723 That glory bursts forth there on 932 00:49:18,723 --> 00:49:22,417 the Mount of Transfiguration. 933 00:49:22,417 --> 00:49:24,429 They spit on Him. They hit Him. 934 00:49:24,429 --> 00:49:25,772 They put a bag on His head. 935 00:49:25,772 --> 00:49:28,891 They accuse Him. They condemn Him. 936 00:49:28,891 --> 00:49:31,188 They ship Him off to Pilate. 937 00:49:31,188 --> 00:49:32,523 Pilate sends Him to Herod. 938 00:49:32,523 --> 00:49:35,933 Herod just berates Him. 939 00:49:35,933 --> 00:49:38,706 It's the Beloved. 940 00:49:38,706 --> 00:49:42,208 You have kings and governers; 941 00:49:42,208 --> 00:49:45,002 Jews and Gentiles; 942 00:49:45,002 --> 00:49:48,560 men and women, 943 00:49:48,560 --> 00:49:53,309 the crowd, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" 944 00:49:53,309 --> 00:49:56,864 Brethren, you think, 945 00:49:56,864 --> 00:49:58,149 those Roman soldiers, 946 00:49:58,149 --> 00:50:00,131 they nail Him to the cross. 947 00:50:00,131 --> 00:50:03,126 They mocked Him. 948 00:50:03,126 --> 00:50:05,566 They put a crown of thorns on His head. 949 00:50:05,566 --> 00:50:07,821 This is the Beloved. 950 00:50:07,821 --> 00:50:12,237 And He goes to that cross. 951 00:50:12,237 --> 00:50:14,304 He goes there. 952 00:50:14,304 --> 00:50:16,787 The Beloved. 953 00:50:16,787 --> 00:50:18,577 The Father looks down upon Him. 954 00:50:18,577 --> 00:50:20,625 He sees all this. 955 00:50:20,625 --> 00:50:22,956 The crowds are coming by. 956 00:50:22,956 --> 00:50:24,653 They make fun of Him. 957 00:50:24,653 --> 00:50:26,223 Even the thieves. 958 00:50:26,223 --> 00:50:27,926 The thieves have spikes through 959 00:50:27,926 --> 00:50:29,413 their hands and their feet, 960 00:50:29,413 --> 00:50:31,165 and even in their agonies 961 00:50:31,165 --> 00:50:32,616 - it was no fun deal - 962 00:50:32,616 --> 00:50:35,086 can you imagine? 963 00:50:35,086 --> 00:50:36,976 It's one of the most horrendous, 964 00:50:36,976 --> 00:50:40,487 torturous deaths you can imagine. 965 00:50:40,487 --> 00:50:42,985 And while both theives on either side of Him 966 00:50:42,985 --> 00:50:48,690 are in the throngs of their own sufferings, 967 00:50:48,690 --> 00:50:52,693 they've got enough detestation for the Beloved 968 00:50:52,693 --> 00:50:55,096 to mock Him. 969 00:50:55,096 --> 00:50:58,028 One turns, but in the beginning, 970 00:50:58,028 --> 00:50:59,842 the other gospel accounts tell us 971 00:50:59,842 --> 00:51:04,831 he was just as vile a mouth as the other one. 972 00:51:04,831 --> 00:51:08,020 Everybody's forsaken Him. 973 00:51:08,020 --> 00:51:14,146 Everybody's against Him. 974 00:51:14,146 --> 00:51:18,088 And then God Himself lets loose. 975 00:51:18,088 --> 00:51:23,752 He stretches forth His hand. 976 00:51:23,752 --> 00:51:26,709 Christ, He says, in Psalm 22, 977 00:51:26,709 --> 00:51:28,687 I'm poured out like water. 978 00:51:28,687 --> 00:51:30,396 My bones are out of joint. 979 00:51:30,396 --> 00:51:31,892 My heart is like wax. 980 00:51:31,892 --> 00:51:33,496 It's melted within my breast. 981 00:51:33,496 --> 00:51:35,699 My strength is dried up like a potsherd. 982 00:51:35,699 --> 00:51:38,535 My tongue sticks to my jaws. 983 00:51:38,535 --> 00:51:47,845 You - get this - You lay Me in the dust. 984 00:51:47,845 --> 00:51:51,259 It's like the Father takes the head 985 00:51:51,259 --> 00:51:53,860 of the Beloved by the hair, 986 00:51:53,860 --> 00:52:00,137 and drives His face into the dirt. 987 00:52:00,137 --> 00:52:03,517 You, this is Christ, this is the Beloved. 988 00:52:03,517 --> 00:52:06,358 You. 989 00:52:06,358 --> 00:52:09,539 This is the same one who said, 990 00:52:09,539 --> 00:52:14,632 "My Beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased." 991 00:52:14,632 --> 00:52:19,822 Christ is saying, "You." 992 00:52:19,822 --> 00:52:23,882 You lay Me in the dust of death. 993 00:52:23,882 --> 00:52:25,456 The dogs encompassed Me, 994 00:52:25,456 --> 00:52:28,207 a company of evildoers encircles Me, 995 00:52:28,207 --> 00:52:30,828 they pierce My hands and feet. 996 00:52:30,828 --> 00:52:32,723 I can count all My bones. 997 00:52:32,723 --> 00:52:34,269 They stare and gloat over Me. 998 00:52:34,269 --> 00:52:36,074 They divide my garments among them, 999 00:52:36,074 --> 00:52:38,940 and for My clothing, they cast lots. 1000 00:52:38,940 --> 00:52:42,843 God pours Him out like water. 1001 00:52:42,843 --> 00:52:48,854 Just melts Him. 1002 00:52:48,854 --> 00:52:50,694 We know Isaiah 53. 1003 00:52:50,694 --> 00:52:51,451 We sing it. 1004 00:52:51,451 --> 00:52:57,017 Stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 1005 00:52:57,017 --> 00:53:03,288 God does not spare His Beloved. 1006 00:53:03,288 --> 00:53:07,824 Though He's loved Him. 1007 00:53:07,824 --> 00:53:09,161 He's loved Him. 1008 00:53:09,161 --> 00:53:14,397 He's be-loved Him from all eternity. 1009 00:53:14,397 --> 00:53:18,915 But He's pierced for our transgressions. 1010 00:53:18,915 --> 00:53:23,031 Crushed for our iniquities. 1011 00:53:23,031 --> 00:53:24,751 There's the Father with all of His 1012 00:53:24,751 --> 00:53:31,183 intensity of love that He has for His Beloved. 1013 00:53:31,183 --> 00:53:35,953 But though He is the Beloved, 1014 00:53:35,953 --> 00:53:38,871 His own Father will not spare Him. 1015 00:53:38,871 --> 00:53:40,218 Because I'll tell you this, 1016 00:53:40,218 --> 00:53:44,979 if He spared Him, you and I wouldn't be saved. 1017 00:53:44,979 --> 00:53:46,201 He didn't spare Him. 1018 00:53:46,201 --> 00:53:47,803 He crushes Him. 1019 00:53:47,803 --> 00:53:50,435 For our iniquities. 1020 00:53:50,435 --> 00:53:55,601 If the Father's hand had been in any way held back, 1021 00:53:55,601 --> 00:53:57,554 there's no hope for us. 1022 00:53:57,554 --> 00:53:58,875 He cried out on that cross, 1023 00:53:58,875 --> 00:54:02,145 "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 1024 00:54:02,145 --> 00:54:04,055 And what is this? 1025 00:54:04,055 --> 00:54:08,229 Is this the cry of a forsaken man? 1026 00:54:08,229 --> 00:54:09,941 Who could that be 1027 00:54:09,941 --> 00:54:12,509 that would say something like that? 1028 00:54:12,509 --> 00:54:16,925 And see, this is what Paul wants us to come back to. 1029 00:54:16,925 --> 00:54:19,600 Don't you know who that is on that cross? 1030 00:54:19,600 --> 00:54:21,393 Don't you know who it is that's crying out 1031 00:54:21,393 --> 00:54:25,196 "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" 1032 00:54:25,196 --> 00:54:30,107 It's God's Beloved. 1033 00:54:30,107 --> 00:54:33,419 If I'm going to talk to you 1034 00:54:33,419 --> 00:54:35,920 about redemption, 1035 00:54:35,920 --> 00:54:37,579 if I'm going to talk to you 1036 00:54:37,579 --> 00:54:39,440 about a price being paid, 1037 00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:40,738 if I'm going to talk to you 1038 00:54:40,738 --> 00:54:43,819 about your forgiven sins and iniquities 1039 00:54:43,819 --> 00:54:48,156 and transgressions; 1040 00:54:48,156 --> 00:54:49,519 then I'm going to have you 1041 00:54:49,519 --> 00:54:52,790 behold the Beloved before we go there. 1042 00:54:52,790 --> 00:54:55,500 So that you can recognize, 1043 00:54:55,500 --> 00:54:58,540 brethren, you've got to recognize what 1044 00:54:58,540 --> 00:55:01,753 this salvation cost. 1045 00:55:01,753 --> 00:55:03,209 As I said before, 1046 00:55:03,209 --> 00:55:06,694 this is no cheap gesture on God's part. 1047 00:55:06,694 --> 00:55:09,283 None. 1048 00:55:09,283 --> 00:55:11,804 It's the Beloved. 1049 00:55:11,804 --> 00:55:13,181 Get the tape measure out. 1050 00:55:13,181 --> 00:55:18,455 Let's measure His love correctly in all of this. 1051 00:55:18,455 --> 00:55:21,190 To the lost, 1052 00:55:21,190 --> 00:55:23,268 if you don't know Him, 1053 00:55:23,268 --> 00:55:25,013 I would just admonish you in this. 1054 00:55:25,013 --> 00:55:29,380 If all of this is true, 1055 00:55:29,380 --> 00:55:31,672 I would say this, 1056 00:55:31,672 --> 00:55:36,018 open your own heart to the Beloved. 1057 00:55:36,018 --> 00:55:37,736 Let Him be your Beloved. 1058 00:55:37,736 --> 00:55:38,902 Fall down. 1059 00:55:38,902 --> 00:55:41,385 He is worth trusting. 1060 00:55:41,385 --> 00:55:44,814 He is worth loving. 1061 00:55:44,814 --> 00:55:48,473 None. None. You will find none 1062 00:55:48,473 --> 00:55:51,431 who has done so much for sinners 1063 00:55:51,431 --> 00:55:54,892 as the Beloved has done for sinners. 1064 00:55:54,892 --> 00:55:57,214 Redeeming sinners with His own blood. 1065 00:55:57,214 --> 00:55:59,525 We sang the song. 1066 00:55:59,525 --> 00:56:02,028 My hope is built on nothing less. 1067 00:56:02,028 --> 00:56:03,624 And it's the Beloved. 1068 00:56:03,624 --> 00:56:04,831 It's His blood. 1069 00:56:04,831 --> 00:56:06,480 It's His righteousness. 1070 00:56:06,480 --> 00:56:08,674 He poured out His blood to redeem sinners. 1071 00:56:08,674 --> 00:56:09,862 He did that. 1072 00:56:09,862 --> 00:56:11,275 He made a way for sinners 1073 00:56:11,275 --> 00:56:12,533 to be forgiven, 1074 00:56:12,533 --> 00:56:13,859 that they might stand before God 1075 00:56:13,859 --> 00:56:17,822 holy and blameless before Him as children. 1076 00:56:17,822 --> 00:56:20,191 In the Beloved. 1077 00:56:20,191 --> 00:56:23,390 Highly favored. 1078 00:56:23,390 --> 00:56:27,234 In the Beloved. 1079 00:56:27,234 --> 00:56:29,189 Father, I pray 1080 00:56:29,189 --> 00:56:36,891 that we might just be impressed, 1081 00:56:36,891 --> 00:56:38,163 may we feel this, 1082 00:56:38,163 --> 00:56:41,905 Lord, may You cause the glory... 1083 00:56:41,905 --> 00:56:44,823 I know there's so much about this 1084 00:56:44,823 --> 00:56:46,814 that we have to have our eyes opened, 1085 00:56:46,814 --> 00:56:48,082 the scales removed, 1086 00:56:48,082 --> 00:56:52,862 we have to feel the weight in our own souls. 1087 00:56:52,862 --> 00:56:54,640 Bring this reality home to us, 1088 00:56:54,640 --> 00:56:57,693 I pray, Lord, 1089 00:56:57,693 --> 00:57:03,810 I pray that You would help us, 1090 00:57:03,810 --> 00:57:08,102 help us, Lord, to do what You tell 1091 00:57:08,102 --> 00:57:10,930 those early disciples: 1092 00:57:10,930 --> 00:57:13,944 My Son, in whom I am well pleased, 1093 00:57:13,944 --> 00:57:17,462 My Beloved Son; 1094 00:57:17,462 --> 00:57:21,348 Hear ye Him. 1095 00:57:21,348 --> 00:57:24,996 Oh Lord, give us ears to hear. 1096 00:57:24,996 --> 00:57:27,117 Give us eyes to see 1097 00:57:27,117 --> 00:57:29,643 the altogether loveliness. 1098 00:57:29,643 --> 00:57:33,794 Touch us, Lord, with a touch of Your hand, 1099 00:57:33,794 --> 00:57:35,626 that we might all the more embrace 1100 00:57:35,626 --> 00:57:38,451 these realities. 1101 00:57:38,451 --> 00:57:41,275 Lord, I know we could even cry out 1102 00:57:41,275 --> 00:57:42,574 as the song writer, 1103 00:57:42,574 --> 00:57:44,388 what language shall we borrow, 1104 00:57:44,388 --> 00:57:47,241 to thank Thee, dearest Friend? 1105 00:57:47,241 --> 00:57:51,251 We thank You. 1106 00:57:51,251 --> 00:57:54,313 Father, what have You done? 1107 00:57:54,313 --> 00:57:56,556 What have You done in giving the Beloved 1108 00:57:56,556 --> 00:57:58,980 for wretches like us? 1109 00:57:58,980 --> 00:58:00,738 What have You done? 1110 00:58:00,738 --> 00:58:03,151 Thank you, Lord. 1111 00:58:03,151 --> 00:58:05,443 We thank You. 1112 00:58:05,443 --> 00:58:07,873 Father, we thank You. 1113 00:58:07,873 --> 00:58:09,914 Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You. 1114 00:58:09,914 --> 00:58:11,259 Spirit of God, we thank You 1115 00:58:11,259 --> 00:58:14,105 for any enlightenment You give us. 1116 00:58:14,105 --> 00:58:18,925 For any eyes that are open to behold the glory. 1117 00:58:18,925 --> 00:58:21,764 We thank You, Triune God, 1118 00:58:21,764 --> 00:58:23,834 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1119 00:58:23,834 --> 00:58:25,886 Amen.