Thank you, Ryan and Debbie, for detecting emphasis today. If you've been here for Sunday school, you certainly can find the blood with emphasis. They gave me the privilege of selecting the speakers to come for my ordination. You heard John Wagner say last night that the usual tradition is for the last ordained minister to come and speak, but David McClellan couldn't make it. Next time I see him, I'm going to dump a lot of guilt on him and see if maybe we can get him to come down the road. But it gave me the wonderful opportunity of inviting some men, and I'm thrilled with those who have come. I think most people here know that Dave Brain and I went through the theological hall together. Interesting, I told some of our own folks this, but I can't help but tell it again. When I was at the last week of prayer, David McClellan had to go through a little bit of an examination process, just a procedure, and one of the questions that was raised pertained to his grades. And I'm thinking, one of the purposes for which I was down there was for them to talk to me, to get my feelings about the ministry again. And I'm thinking to myself, I think I want to know what grades I made. And I'm thinking real hard, and I don't remember what I did. But I do remember this. I finished second in my class. And they may try to dispute that. Second in a class of two. But the biggest difference between Dave, Blaine, and I, and I illustrated this at a prayer meeting the other night by calling to mind one of the questions on the exams. It was, trace the doctrine of Christ through the epistle of Hebrews. And I look at an assignment like that, and I'm thinking, it's a good thing I didn't study for this. It wouldn't have done me any good. But then I'm banking back on my memories from previous tests that I've taken through my undergrad years, and I think very easily, I know the answer to this. That's true. Now, the difference between David Graham and me is that it doesn't take me 30 seconds to write proof. It took him a day and a half. But I am so thrilled to have Dave Brain with us. He's been here before, but it's been a long time. He was with us when we met in the house years ago. In fact, as he was recalling to me, it was when I lived in Braeburn Village, the very first townhouse complex in which we lived. So it has been a long time since he's been here, but I'm so happy to have him back with us today. I think it's important for the people in this church to be exposed to these men, all of them, to our brother John Wagner and Dr. Allison and Dave Brain. We're all very keenly aware, I think, in our denomination that some of the men, the senior ministers for whom we are so thankful, but they're advancing in years and they're starting to retire. Some of them have retirement in sight and we are going through what could be called a period of transition and the new generation, the new leaders are coming to the fore, as it were. And we have those leaders among us today, and I'm thrilled to have them. And so, Brother David, we are so happy to have you again, and come ahead and give us what the Lord has given to you, and thank you for being here. Well, it certainly is a joy to be here, especially on this occasion. It just rejoices my heart to know how the Lord has led and what He has done. I know many years ago, even in the theological hall, that I was greatly blessed by Jeff Bannister's ministry. There's only two of us, and that was a trial, believe me, the preaching part of the theological hall. Dr. Cairns would sit in the middle, and Jeff Bannister would sit over here, so you're preaching to these two incorrigible sinners week after week, and you never hope of seeing a change. Actually, it was just a great joy and I greatly appreciate the gifts that they've given Jeff and he ministered to my heart many, many times. In fact, that year was a particularly difficult one for Dr. Kim because there were many things going on at that time. Our class was supposed to start at 9 o'clock in the morning. There were many, many days where we just sat in fellowship until 11 or 12 and then he came in and said, sorry, we can't have class today. But I learned a lot from that. And I believe that the Lord is in the news, our brother, in a great way in these years to come. And I trust that we were praying yesterday that the Lord would make last night especially not only memorable for the sense of those presents and goodness among us, but also for what it would be beginning of. And we trust that that will be the case in the days ahead. So please know we will be praying for you and seeking to just rejoice with you in how the Lord works and how and the Lord grows his work and it is ahead. It was very encouraging. I also want to express just my thanks to the Badgerter family for housing me and for my hospitality. It's certainly been good to be with them. I remember them, Elizabeth and James, especially a long year ago when they were little. I remember James one night and I'm being so excited about the opportunity to go home in the car of the girl that also lived in the Triple Park there, Judy Groff. And I remember him saying, I get to ride home in a duty book car. And so I'd never have gotten duty off in a car. So he looks a lot different than he has been. I will say to you. So nonetheless, the Lord has been good over these years, and we'll lay some money aside and look forward to what's going to do at the age of 80. I would like for you to turn with me to Ephesians chapter 1, this morning. Ephesians 1. We're going to begin our reading at the first verse. Ephesians chapter one, let us begin to read it at verse one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, said that the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Praise be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places and in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. having redestined us under the doctrine of children by Jesus Christ himself, according to the good pleasures of his will, according to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, and having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself. In the dispensation of the wholeness of times, ye might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him. In Him also will ye obtain inheritance, being redestinated according to the purpose of Him, the work of all things after the counsel of His own we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. We'll end our reading in verse 14, and we trust that the Lord will indeed seal his word to our hearts this morning for his own name's sake. Let's now seek the Lord's face in prayer. Let's seek his grace and the outpouring of his spirit as we open his word this morning. Let's all pray. Our blessed Lord and gracious Father, we are glad to be here in the house of God today. Lord, how we bless thee for thy grace that we are found here and not many other places with many other people this How we thank Thee, O God, that by Thy grace we are here under the sound of the Living Word, that we have been singing the songs of Zion in praise to Thy name. We bless Thee, O God, that this day, by Thy grace, we have been kept from that course of self-destruction which so many are engaged in in these days. O Father, how we rejoice in all Thy kindness to us. How we thank Thee for Thy grace to this church. How we thank Thee preservation and mercy. How we thank Thee, O God, for an earnest people here who desire to walk with the Savior and to serve Him to His glory. How we thank Thee for giving them a man ordained of Thee, called and gifted of Thee, a humble man, a man willing to own his need of the Savior. O Father, we pray that Thou wilt be pleased to grant Christ to be much glorified in this place. We pray, Father, that many will be the days of that strange sense of Thy presence, that just everything. Oh, Lord, that many will be the souls who come to Christ and many will be the family members who are brought up under the nurture and admonition of the Lord and who come to know the Savior through the preaching and through the ministry of this church. Oh, God, grant that, we pray. Father, we are here this morning. Lord, we are conscious of living today in time. but, O Lord, in that only time which establishes our eternity. We pray, therefore, that Thou wilt this day give us grace. Pour out Thy Spirit upon us, O God. Let us not leave this house the same as we came in. Grant, O Lord, that Christ will be formed in us. Grant today that Thy Spirit will be poured out upon us. Grant that we will see the Savior in His glory and in His beauty. Grant, Father, that the things of earth will indeed grow strangely dim to us. in the light of his glory and grace. Grandfather, that we will be conscious of living that eternal existence. Conscious, as the Apostle Paul said, even purposed of heart to look not at the things which are seen, which are temporal, but the things which are unseen, which are eternal. O Lord, this day, speak to our hearts. Open now thy word, we pray. Lord, we cry out again, who is sufficient for these things? Open our hearts. Oh, give us joy and peace in believing. Grant the power of this truth to enter into our hearts. Grant us, O Lord, this day that we will indeed rejoice as we leave this house for having seen Christ, and that we will know indeed that we are a different people. We pray it all in Christ's holy and precious name. Amen. There are many lives in this world that have been shaped by gifts they never earned. Some are born rich, and that shapes their entire existence. There are some who are born to be kings, and that likewise dictates how they live. There are some who, especially in our country, are born with gifts of talent and of beauty and of skill, whether it's in athletics or other things, born with such gifts that, again, shape how they live, that in a sense are always determining for them their destiny. And for some, those unmerited gifts make life a lot easier than it is for other people. But as much as that may be so, there are, and we think of this sometimes, we talk about the haves and the have-nots. We talk about those who live in light of that. What was that? There used to be a TV show, Lives of the Rich and Famous. It was stupid. On a Saturday afternoon, you watch them walk in a store and plunk down thousands and thousands of dollars and buy all this stuff. You were supposed to just enjoy that to no end, because you couldn't do it. I never saw much enjoyment in it myself. But still, there's this fascination with those haves and have-nots. believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is also given such an undeserved, unmerited, unasked-for gift that not only makes life easier in a sense, but also guarantees an absolutely glorious eternity. Now, you may say right off the bat, yes, you're right, I understand, I know where you're going, that blessed gift of salvation. Well, yes, that is true, but I want to go a little further back. You say, well, okay, I understand what you mean, I know my doctrine. You mean that gift of faith and repentance by which I came to salvation. And yes, I would acknowledge the truth of that, but Scripture tells us that that repentance and that faith are indeed gifts of God of grace. I want to go a little further back. You may say, well, again, I know my ideology. You're talking about the gift of regeneration, the moving of the Holy Ghost, whereby He imparts life unto me, that gives me, that changes me, and transforms me, makes me see my sin for what it is, and lead to the Lord Jesus Christ, and see Him for who He is, and embrace Him as my Savior. And the gift of regeneration, as I say, and I know it's in me. But no, I want to go a little further back, even then. I want to go back all the way to God's eternal victory. I want to go all the way back to that great eternal plan of living God, by which, in His great love and His boundless grace, the people of God get to give them that blessed gift of the believer's union with Jesus Christ. We were, by that great act of God, we were united to the Lord Jesus Christ. We were placed in a union with Him and identified with Him in the sight of the living of God forever, by that act of grace. And from that gift, our whole life, our whole destiny, is absolutely determined. In a more general sense, to be honest, that by that act as well, the history of this world By that, God is being, and working on this purpose, and bringing out of this sinful people, living in the world of people, into themselves a determinate history in this world, a determinate course of events. But I'm going to stick with this specific sense in which it determines our lives. Now, there are a few truths that are as simple, and instructive, and impressive to say, that disunion with the Lord Jesus exists. And what I wanted to do this morning is to think and correct in that sense. of the fruit of union with Christ. What does it mean? Again, it can be a point of theology in something we say, well, boy, that really is good. I'm telling you, it ought to color everything we are and do. It ought to fill us with this knowledge of the covenant blessings which are ours in Jesus Christ because we are in union with Him. And so, therefore, to that end this morning, let's think about the fruit of our union with Christ. I want to do that really in a simple fashion. And I want to begin by thinking about the fact of our union with Christ. Now this isn't something you should take for granted. This isn't something you should take my word for. Let's see that played out in the Word of God. Now there are many ways in which the Word of God represents to us this union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That Christ's people are chosen in the end. That they are given to him. But this is part of that decree. This is what God did. Now let's see that reflected even in the language of the passage we read here to begin this morning. Look at Ephesians 1, and let's begin at verse 3. And just trace this emphasis in the very language used in these passages. Verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Where do we have those? How do we have them? They are given to us in Christ. Verse 4, according as He, the Father, hath chosen us in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, at that eternal decree, as it were, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He made us accepted in the beloved, accepted in Christ. Verse 7, in whom we have redemption through His blood. We have that in Him. It's not just given to us as one of a list of benefits handed over because we got our membership card. Maybe we walked an aisle or prayed a prayer. We got that. And look, this comes along with it. No, no, no. It is all wrapped up in Christ, in whom we have redemption, in whom all these riches are made over to us. So in whom we have, verse 7, redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself. Then look at verse 11. in whom, again, Christ, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. And then verse 13 again, in whom ye also trusted after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Christ. Now again and again and again, this great emphasis in whom, this picture of what we have been given in Christ. We were united to Him and being in union with Him. All these other things flow to us, are made to be a reality for us. I think a great summary of the perspective is given in Paul's words in 2 Timothy 1.9. Listen to what he says. Who has saved us, what God has done, and called us with unholy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. It was given us in Christ. We are in union with Him. Now Christ spoke of this as well. Turn with me for a minute, perhaps put your finger here on Ephesians 1, and turn to John's Gospel. John chapter 6 to begin. Now, what I'm trying to do by these passages is really give representative samples, because they are just samples. All through the New Testament epistles, you have this emphasis, this kind of phrase, likewise in the Gospels. But notice particularly, John chapter 6, let's begin at verse 37. Christ says, all that the Father giveth me. He's giving me a people. They shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Well, that is a wonderful verse. There, in that verse, you have God's realm, His prerogative, His work, to give a people unto the Lord Jesus Christ. But there, right next to it, you have that work that you and I do. We come to Him. And what does the Savior say to us? You know, and there are people who get tied in knots. Am I a knot? Well, you know, really, that's not your business. But your business can be this. Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. You come to him and you may bank on the living word of God. You may bank and bring to him, so to speak. Lord, I didn't say this, thou didst say it. Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. But it's a people, a people given to the Son. Look at verse 39. This is the Father's will, Christ says, which it sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. Every one of those people given by the Father to the Son shall come to know Him, shall exercise faith and repent, and shall be with Him where He is in glory. They are saved. They are redeemed. There is a people. Turn to chapter 10, John chapter 10, verse 29 in particular, but to get the context, let's read beginning at verse 7. John 10, verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, as they follow Christ's voice. And I give them each life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any hand plucked out of my hand, but the Father which gave them me. It is greater than all, and no man is able to defend it. They are given to the Lord Jesus Christ as a shepherd out of that blessed youth. I'll turn to John chapter 17. John chapter 17, this is a remarkable chapter, a unique chapter in the word of God. It's a God-given consent to the most holy place. You remember in the Old Testament that the priest on the Day of Atonement Only one day a year could a priest enter in behind the veil into the most holy place where the Ark of Atonement was. He could enter without the Scriptures. Only on that one day. And you remember, such was trembling. that they had bells at the bottom of his gullet so you could hear if he was still alive in there. They would often, in various generations, take a rope and tie it to his leg and have the rope leading out so that others wouldn't have to die if he struck dead in the presence of God if they could pull him up and bury him. So it was no small thing. But what is Eucharist to Jesus? That is just a picture that Dr. Appleton teaches at Sydney High School. That's just a picture of a grisly sacrifice, greater than the equivalent And what did Bruce Teller have for an acolyte, a later temple, a more perfect version of it? They were just pictures of the temple. And even Moses, when he was acting the builder of it, was doing it according to Adam, given from heaven. The real temple is Paul's maiden, not with him. So that revealed, and so it was presented to John chapter 17. We have a glimpse of those Jesus Christ, taking his own blood as the one God. He is the good high priest, and entering into the very presence of God behind that veil. And with that blood, intercede for the eternal welfare of the people of the whom he is leading. We have a glimpse into that prayer in the most holy place in John chapter 13. Now I want you to mark what language he used, how he describes the people. Look at verse 17 beginning at, excuse me, chapter 17 beginning at verse 2. First of all, he says, Thou hast given him, not the son, power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given to them. There they are, that, go, go, go. Who's in union? Look at verse 6. I have manifested Thy name, I says, on the men which are of David, out of the world. Thine they are, and Thou givest them. But look at verse 9, I pray for them, I intercede for them, I go into them, I am sacrificed for them, I shed my blood for them, and I take that blood, and I pray for them. I intercede for them, and I uphold them. So what does he say? I pray not for the world, I pray for them with which thou hast given me, for they are thine. Now I am no man in the world, but thee that in the world have come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thy own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be with me as we are. And then down to verse 24. Verse 24, he says, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, For thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. But again, who are they? Those whom thou hast given me." Do you see, Christ emphasizes again and again this people chosen in Christ, united to Christ, given to Christ, elect from the foundation of the world, that God is this blessed people, that Christ is immune to them. That is the picture that he gives us. And this is why you have this constant language, you see it there in Ephesians chapter 1, of being in Him, of being in Christ, of being viewed by God in Christ. And think of that, what a thought! That God never views Christ without viewing you and me. That God never views you and me without viewing Christ. We are in an inseparable union which God has purposed from the foundation of the world. What a glorious picture. And it is a picture. The Word of God takes that very relationship and gives us a multitude of pictures, each one of them incomplete in and of themselves, but each one revealing some greater aspect of what it means that we are in union with Christ. Christ speaks about, we dwell in Him and He in us. That's how we're pictured. But think about it, just some of these that the Scriptures give us in this relationship. The bridegroom, Christ as a bride. What are we taught? For this cause shall a man be his father and mother, and pleased to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. There's a union there. And there's therefore a responsibility that that bridegroom has for his bride. He loves her as his own soul. He is willing to sacrifice everything for her. Her welfare is his welfare. That's how he views her. And again, remember, what we know in those relationships is the imperfect picture. of what the reality is like between Christ the bridegroom and his bride. There's the picture as well of the vine and the branches. You remember in John chapter 15. I am the vine, ye are the branches. And what does he say? He draws the picture there of the fact that the health of those branches is rooted in that vine. So he says there in verse 5 in John 15, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, The same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing." There's no bearing of fruit by the branches if you're cut off from the vine. There's a union, and everything is to flow through that union. Likewise, there's the image, and we heard this referred to last night in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, of the foundation Christ and the Church built on that foundation. His people built on that foundation. The foundation has gone, the building crumbles. It rests on that foundation. Everything it does as it grows and goes forth is built on that foundation. It's an inseparable foundation. Likewise, there's the picture, and this one is very easy for us to see the point, the head and the body. Christ is the head of the church. His people are his body. We certainly know better than to think that the body's going to be in good health if it's separated from the head. It's just not going to happen. In fact, that passage in Ephesians chapter 4 that was referred to, Likewise, it's picturing that very thing, that necessity, every joint supply, how it all flows down from the head to the welfare of the body. And again, it's inseparable. Absolutely inseparable. Then there's also the picture, the language of being joint heirs. I mean, right here in Ephesians 1 we read, "...in whom we have obtained an inheritance." That inheritance is in Christ. Romans 8 teaches us that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, our title deed, all that the Father has, is in Christ. Again, there's that image, that picture. Then there's also the picture of our citizenship in Him. The citizenship which we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. And again, here in Ephesians, the language that expresses that very thing. Here in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 6, to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, accepted among the people of God, citizens who belong there because we're in union with Christ. Then chapter 2 and verse 6, similarly, hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places, or in the heavenlies, in Christ Jesus because of our union. All those pictures. You know, there's one of those pictures that that the Lord has used to encourage me many, many, many times that I find one of the most wonderful. And that is that picture wherein such is that union with Christ that our welfare is His welfare in a very real sense. Our brother referred to this. Filling up the sufferings of Christ. You remember Christ as the high priest, that picture in the Old Covenant. And you remember the stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel. He wore them on a breastplate on his heart. He wore them on two patches on his shoulders. He was responsible for that. Their welfare was his welfare. His heart moved with their welfare. You remember the language of Isaiah 49, where he says, you're engraved on the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before me. He asked the question, he says, Israel was saying, oh, we're just forgotten of the Lord. And he says, can a mother forget her secondborn child? Is that conceivable? And he says, well, in some rare case, that does happen. But I will never forget you. You're engraven in the palms of my hands. The walls are continually before me. He says, he that touches you touches the apple of his eye. Think of that, just that most sensitive part. If I came near any one of you and waved in your face, you would flinch. You're just instinctively protected, the Lord says, such then. Such then is the care that I have over my people. And many other images. You see it in Isaiah 63, where he says, in all their afflictions, he is afflicted. God is afflicted? The Lord says, oh yes, I bore my people on my shoulders. I carried them on eagles' wings. And when they were afflicted in a very real sense, I felt that. We see that in the Lord Jesus Christ. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me, he says. I mean, in a very real sense, we might say, well, Lord Jesus, without anything to do here in heaven, what's Saul done to you? Oh, every time he touched his people, our Lord felt it. Every time his people were suffering, they were indeed filling up the sufferings of Christ. Likewise, John chapter 11, you think about that. Jesus wept. There's the shortest verse in the Bible, and for years and years, It meant nothing to me but that it was the shortest verse in the Bible, that any time in Sunday school, you know, you had to memorize a passage of scripture. Well, I'll memorize John 11, 35. Jesus wept. That's easy. You know, and it was that kind of joke. One day it struck me reading that passage. Jesus wept? He had already said he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead? What's there to weep over? I mean, they're going to all be rejoicing in glorious fashion in just a few minutes. But that did not keep Jesus Christ from entering into the sorrow of Mary and Martha. Already having said, already knowing what He was going to do, that's alright. His people were in Hades. His people were bearing that affliction, that difficulty, that trial. It was real to them and therefore it was real to Him. And Jesus wept. He wept. So you see, this union, this union means so much to us This union, in every sense, whether it's our provision or whether it is how we feel, the afflictions, the difficulties, the trials, we are in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes through it all with us. We are in Him. You know, there are many other pictures here, many, many more than we can fathom. A. A. Hodge, who was the son of Charles Hodge, a great theologian, and both of them, He said this about this union, he said, the technical designation of this union in theological language is mystical. He says, for this reason, because it so far transcends all the analogies of earthly relationships in the intimacy of its communion, in the transforming power of its influence, and in the excellence of its consequences. Yet Holy Scripture illustrates different aspects of this fountain of graces by many apt, though partial, analogies. None of the pictures can give us all of it. It's just so great, the fruit of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when you look at this, you may ask the question, well, why? How could this bounty be poured out upon us? I mean, this is more than we can begin to conceive. And to be honest, I think that's part of the problem. We really doubt sometimes whether that could really be meant for me. Could that be for me, Lord? I mean, look at my failings. Lord, I know what I ought to do and have not done. And Lord, I know what I have done that I ought not to have done. Certainly these riches cannot be for me, though they are for us. And they are for us because of the very nature of our redemption. Because you sit in that redemption, we stood as condemned sinners before the living God. He couldn't give us anything. He couldn't treat us. There was nothing for us but that wrath from the living God for his just punishment of our sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the people with whom He was in union, He went to do to them what they did not do themselves. He lived out the righteousness in every detail. He fulfilled all the laws. He loved to look at his God with his heart, soul, mind, and strength every day that he lived. And he loved neighbor as himself. This is absolutely perfect. But he was not doing it for himself. He was doing it for us. He was doing it in our person. He was in union with us. And then, of course, because we had a great outstanding death, he went to the cross. And he hanged in our place. He had our visit on his head. His visit was more than any man's, not any sinner's alone, for all of us. He did all that. If you think about it, when you look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, I could ask every one of you, and none of you would have difficulty to answer if I said, do you think that Jesus Christ deserves the smile of the Father? Do you think that He deserves the inheritance that we would give Him? Oh, yes! But that's the belief. In the state of the living God, you are in union with Christ, inseparably united together. And therefore, you deserve everything Christ deserves. Obviously not anything you've got. But what He has got. That's what you're taking in believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. The figure of His work. His act of obedience and obeying God. His practice of obedience and taking that penalty. It all becomes yours when you stand before the living God. And boy, you may stand as Zinzendorf says. You can stand before Him and lift up your head and rejoice! because in Jesus Christ, you have the smile of the Father. You have deserved all the covenant blessings that he would delight to pour out upon you. So you see, they're undeniable. All that Christ is, all that Christ has, all that Christ has done is ours. He's deserved it for us by that undeniable union, by that great degree of God. Now that's the fact of our union with Christ. Let's very briefly, as we come to the end of our service this morning, think about these results. Well, what did that do? And I want to really do it from two perspectives. I want to think, first of all, of those results in the sight of God. What was the fruit of our union with Christ to the Father in His sight? And then we'll look at it in regard to us. The fruit of our union with Christ to the Father was, in a sense, everything that we need. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30 says, Of Him, of God, are ye in Christ Jesus. He puts you in Him. Who has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. God has made Christ and given you in Christ everything you need. You have it in Him. So, from the Father's perspective, what has Christ done? What's the fruit of that union? Well, first of all, it's justification. He can see no sin in us. We are justified. He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. You remember the hymn, What Will the Accuser Roar, of crimes that I have done? I know them all, and hundreds more. Jehovah findeth none. Why, he sees that blood of Christ. He sees His righteousness. Another hymn, No Condemnation, Neither. Jesus, and all in Him is mine. Alive in Him, my living head enclosed in righteousness divine. Bold I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own. I'm justified in the sight of the living God. Likewise, our adoption. Our confession, our catechism, speaks about the fact that in our adoption, because we're in union with Christ, we have access, title to, all the rights and privileges of the sons of God. Remember, I began by talking about kings and people born to rich people. And they get pretty cocky sometimes, don't they? But you just think about it. You are somebody. You are in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you really see the terms of it, you won't do it in cockiness, but in utter humility. But all the rights and privileges that go with that union with Him are yours. They belong to us. You think about just the fruit of the Spirit. What is that fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, weakness, temperance. They're all yours. Yours in Christ. Those rights and privileges of the sons of God. Our welfare becomes His responsibility. He gives us all these things. There's an inheritance. The Father says, I have delighted, I have purposed to pour out what I have upon my Son. Since you are in union with Him, I give it to you as well. So 1 Corinthians 3, Paul says, all things are yours. Don't you see that? It says, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Joint heirs with Christ. Then our glorification. Romans 8, verse 29, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called. And whom he called, then he also justified. And whom he justified, then he also glorified." Glorified in Christ, sharing in that great glory, all of which he has earned. And I tell you, if there's anything we learn from that, I think it's this. One second into eternity, I don't care what your service to Christ, what your honoring Him and following Him, what it has cost you. it will be worth it. It will be worth it. One second into eternity, it will all be clear. We will wonder how we lived so many days of our lives, worrying about the tiny little circumstances of the day, instead of recognizing that our soul has to go somewhere forever, and living in the light of eternity. But then there's also the fact that, as Ephesians 1 teaches us, we are sealed with the Holy Sealed with the Spirit. The Father says, you are in Christ. I seal you with the Holy Ghost. It's kind of like a down payment of what He is going to do. And what did Christ say when He was telling His disciples that He must go? It was expedient for Him to go. He says, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. I will give you in the Holy Ghost my presence. He is the Spirit of Christ. So that's sealed with the Holy Spirit of God. leaning daily upon Him. And I asked you this morning, are you conscious of that? Are you conscious of how dependent you are upon the Holy Ghost day by day? Are you dependent? Are you leaning upon Him? Do you humbly confess that without Him you can do nothing? Oh, how we need, how much, in my own heart, forgetting that truth. You know, what folly there is in thinking, yeah, I can do this. I remember when I first entered the ministry in New Hampshire, there were certain things I thought I was competent for. I don't know those, but there were a number of things that I'm telling you I had to do, though. I would seek and believe and tie out to the Lord. You've got to help me. Well, I know this pattern very early on. Those things where I was paying out, the board seemed to trust, and they went about those things where I thought I was competent to handle, seem to fall flat on their face on a regular basis, until I found out anything that I'm competent to do. There isn't anything when I don't lead that ministry of the Holy Spirit. So it is, that's the fruit of our union with the Father, and He's been given by Him. Let us think as we close about the fruit of our union with Christ, too. He has made us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and rejuvenation. But let's think about that for a second. Is my savior rich? And can he be poor? Can I, in other words, just be left with this promise, me, all me, with this promise that my welfare is bound up with his welfare? Can I be out then? Can I be left, as it were, without strength or ability to do whatever it is He's told me to do? I'm not on my own. I'm in union with the Lord Jesus. What need I fear? What should I fear? Is He all-knowing? And can I be left and confused without any guidance and help from Heaven? No. Is He the King of Kings? And can I be left, as it were, at the whim of my circumstances or my enemies? Need I fear any of that? If I'm in union with the king of kings, is he victorious? And can I be left subject to the ravages of sin? No, he tells me, sin shall not have dominion over you. It shall not have dominion over you, because I am victorious, and you are in union with me. Are his prayers, as we see, all prevailing? And do I get no help from heaven? Oh, not so. In him, my prayers are God's delight. There is help for me. He has told me to call upon Him in everything. I am in union with Him. And when you look at that, and you can go on and on, any kind of implication, any particular problem, whatever it is right now that is robbing you of joy, whatever it is right now that is that problem that you don't know how to handle or how to deal with, you are in union with Jesus Christ. Take the fruit of Take that and set it side by side, whatever that difficulty is, and say, My Savior has prevailed, and I will prevail in Him. As Romans 8.37 says, We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. That's the fruit of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And may the Lord grant us to dare to believe that, to dare to believe it, to lean on it day by day, to humbly ask of Him that help for whatever it is. that we need day by day, and which is given to us by a gift from the foundation of the world, an eternal decree that has put us in union with Christ and has made Him our Head, our Bridegroom, our Prophet, our Priest, our King, our Friend, our Defender, our Lord, who has made Him everything to us. So may the Lord grant us then that we will make Him indeed everything to us. and we will trust Him, and we will lean on Him, and we will call upon Him for help in all things. Let's bow and pray. Let's all close our eyes. Our blessed Lord and our gracious Father, what can we say, O Lord, for the riches we've been given in Christ? Lord, there's some things in these passages today that we look at and we would say, Lord, we wouldn't dare to say such a thing. hath thou not said it, but thou hast said it. And, O Lord, I pray that thou will deliver us from dishonoring thee by not believing it. O Lord, I pray today, fill us with that sense of wonder for who we are in Christ. Grant us today that those riches which are ours will indeed affect how we live. Grandfather, that we will make no truce with sorrow, no truce with confusion, no truce with difficulty, no truce with defeat. Father, we will war against those things by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ and by all we have in Him. So Lord, we ask Thee this day that Thou will receive our thanks and praise for these riches which we have in our Savior. And we would ask Thee, Lord, that Thou will send Thy Spirit, that Thou will pour Him out upon us in a new and more powerful way that he might minister to us with believing hearts all that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, Father, do us good this day. Oh, we are thankful we've been in thy house this day. Thankful to worship him. Thankful that our praise and our worship is accepted because, as we heard, the sprinkling of the blood. Oh, Lord, we pray today that we will dare to believe these gracious gifts and promises thou hast given us in Christ, and that we will walk with our Savior all the day We ask it in his holy and precious name. Amen. It's a beautiful thing to do. I don't know what to do with my life. I don't know what to do with my life. I don't know what to do with my life. I don't know what to do with my life. I don't know what to do with my life. I don't know what to do with my life. I can't help but think of you. I can't help but think of you. I can't help but think of you. I can't help but think of you. I can't help but think of you. Thank you. So, I'm going to play a little bit of that. All right, let's go.