Reality of Union with Christ

In this part of the sermon: Martin reviews the series context (Ephesians 2 and God's method of saving sinners), reminds the congregation that union with Christ is one facet of a multi-faceted diamond, and…

Paul's words 'quickened, raised, and seated with Christ' are like the tip of an iceberg - visible but supported by a vast substructure of biblical truth beneath the surface that must be understood to make sense of the language.

In Christ Jesus. And for several weeks we have been attempting to grasp the meaning of the Apostle as his thought is expressed in those words, quickened together, raised and seated together with Christ. Let me remind you of the illustration that we've used as a point of reference. These words of the Apostle are like the tip of an iceberg. When you see the

1:31 - 2:01 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin reviews the series context (Ephesians 2 and God's method of saving sinners), reminds the congregation that union with Christ is one facet of a multi-faceted diamond, and…

The work of God in grace is like a beautifully cut and polished diamond with many facets. Union with Christ is one facet; one must never mistake a single facet for the whole gem.

Now at this point I need to remind you of two things before we move into our further study this morning. The first is this. The work of God in grace is like a beautifully cut and polished diamond. It has many facets or sides to it. And when we look at the work of God in grace, we

2:42 - 3:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Commit to systematic reading and preaching through Scripture so that all the facets of salvation and our relationship to God in Christ can be seen in their fullness, not mistaking one aspect for the whole.

A church member told Martin during a Friday home visit that his head felt like it was going to break trying to take in the concepts of being quickened, raised, and seated with Christ - illustrating the weight of the doctrine.

only pure and powerful place there is a bilang saying the effect one must never think of the abсылka of man in rowing together with seated with Christ. But in another sense, it is a being drawn nigh to God through Christ. And there are all these various dimensions of our relationship to God in grace, and it would be a tragedy if we only conceived of our relationship to Christ in terms of the concepts here in Ephesians 2, as wonderful as they are, as exalted as they are. And as one church member said to me this past Friday when we were visiting in the home, he said, I feel like my head is going...

3:26 - 4:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Commit to systematic reading and preaching through Scripture so that all the facets of salvation and our relationship to God in Christ can be seen in their fullness, not mistaking one aspect for the whole.

Martin notes that other biblical analogies describe the believer's relation to Christ: slave to master, servant to lord, foot soldier to the captain of salvation. Each is a legitimate facet of a many-sided relationship, not to be collapsed into one.

down the road. I am the poor, helpless, needy, imperfect saint down the road. I am the poor, helpless, needy, imperfect saint down here upon earth, approaching, in the words of Hebrews, the throne of grace, that I may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now, there are other times when I need to conceive of my relationship to the Lord as that of a slave to his master, a servant to his Lord. Other times, a foot soldier in

5:00 - 5:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Reject the spiritual infantile mentality that wants doctrine to slip down easily without effort. Be willing to gum and chew at solid biblical truth, doing the mental and spiritual work required to derive its nourishment.

The writer to the Hebrews says he cannot convey what he wants because his readers have become dull of hearing, needing milk rather than solid food - exactly the kind of spiritual infantilism Martin warns against in the congregation.

And as I was preparing again this week, I thought of the Hebrews 5 passage in which the writer to the Hebrews says, I have many things that I'd like to convey to you, but he says, I cannot because you are become dull of hearing. For when by reason at the time he ought to be teachers, ye have need again that someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk and not of solid food. For everyone that partakes of milk is without experience in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe, but solid food is for full-grown men. Now, ...

6:30 - 7:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Reject the spiritual infantile mentality that wants doctrine to slip down easily without effort. Be willing to gum and chew at solid biblical truth, doing the mental and spiritual work required to derive its nourishment.

The great difference between milk and solid food is that solid food must be chewed - or at least gummed by those without teeth or with mouth ulcers - before any nourishment can be derived. Doctrine requires active mental effort, not passive reception.

the solid food of the word of God in these days. And solid food, no matter how well it's cooked, no matter how deliciously it's served up, no matter how much it's even cut into bite-sized, pieces, the great contrast between milk and food is this. You've got to chew the one to derive its benefit, at least gum it. Even when you don't have teeth of your own, when you began to take solids as a kid, at least you gummed it. And if the teeth of your own have long since gone,

7:15 - 7:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Reject the spiritual infantile mentality that wants doctrine to slip down easily without effort. Be willing to gum and chew at solid biblical truth, doing the mental and spiritual work required to derive its nourishment.

Martin says he can labor in the kitchen of preparation, cooking the truth in the oven of meditation and careful exegesis, and serve it up looking and smelling good - but he cannot chew it for the congregation. Each person must do their own gumming.

spiritual maturity, it's a mark of immaturity. Now, we've had to do a lot of gumming these days, if not chewing, to get benefit, to derive spiritual nutrition, from the wonderful concepts bound up in the apostle's words, quickened with Christ, raised with Christ, and seated with Christ. But I would simply remind you that as much as I may labor at cooking it well in the oven of meditation and careful exegesis, as much as I may labor in the kitchen of my own preparation to serve it up so that it looks good and it smells good,

8:21 - 9:01 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin poses the theological puzzle with pastoral directness: how can Christ be substitute for one who did not yet exist, and how can the believer be said to have been quickened…

A real teacher gets sick and the Board of Education sends a substitute. This ordinary illustration works for ordinary substitution but fails to explain how Christ can substitute for someone not yet in existence - exposing the need for a deeper explanation: union with Christ.

But how could he act for me? And as me, when as yet I was unborn? That question occurred to you? How could Christ be my representative when I didn't exist to be represented?

14:01 - 14:15 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin poses the theological puzzle with pastoral directness: how can Christ be substitute for one who did not yet exist, and how can the believer be said to have been quickened…

Martin uses the colorful phrase 'I wasn't even a twinkle in my pappy's eye 2,000 years ago' to press home the temporal impossibility - apart from union - of Christ acting as representative for those not yet in existence.

How could it be my substitute when I wasn't around to be substituted for? I can understand how the teacher needs a substitute. It's a real teacher in the real classroom who gets sick and can't show up on Tuesday morning. And because she's not there, the Board of Education sends in a substitute.

14:16 - 14:36 Read in full sermon

Driving home: That which binds together the saving activity of Christ and the realized salvation of the sinner, that which brings together axiom one and axiom two is the reality of the union which exists between Christ and His people.

Martin briefly introduces the technical word 'synchronous' - as in synchronous gears that mesh smoothly in any position - to describe what union with Christ does: it makes synchronous the saving activity of Christ and the realized salvation of the sinner across 2,000 years of history.

That which binds together, and the word I wanted to use was that which makes synchronous.

16:51 - 16:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin places union with Christ alongside the Trinity and the Incarnation as one of three great biblical mysteries - realities that cannot be attained by reason but must be…

The old theologians identify three great mysteries of being in Scripture: the Triune God (one in three and three in one), the God-man Christ Jesus (two natures in one person), and the union between Christ and His people. Each is a mystery before which the mind stands as before a light too bright to look upon directly.

Three great mysteries of being. You know what they are? The first is the God who is one in three and three in one. The first great mystery of being is found in God Himself.

22:55 - 23:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Approach the mystery of union with Christ as you approach the Trinity and the Incarnation - not demanding rational comprehension before faith, but embracing it with humble, believing reception of what Scripture reveals.

Martin uses the astonishing fact of the Incarnation - Mary's womb housing God Himself for months - as an example of a mystery that cannot be understood but must be embraced by faith. Nobody withholds faith in Christ because they cannot rationally explain the two-natures mystery.

When you can fit God into a teacup mind such as you and I have, He ceases to be God. The person who says, well, I can't understand how God can become a true man. This business of Mary's womb housing for those months God Himself. Who can understand that?

26:15 - 26:37 Read in full sermon

Driving home: For faith is the evidence, the substance of things hoped for. We're dealing with true, substantial issues as we come to this wonderful, biblical truth.

Martin references a hymn the congregation sang that morning (hymn 310), quoting the lines 'Here would I feed upon the bread of God. Here would I touch and handle things unseen' - describing faith as genuine contact with real though invisible spiritual realities.

No, no, my friends. We're dealing with the things of the Spirit of God. They have substance. They're real.

30:08 - 30:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: For faith is the evidence, the substance of things hoped for. We're dealing with true, substantial issues as we come to this wonderful, biblical truth.

A poor desert traveler sees what he thinks is a pool of water on the horizon but finds only dry burning sand. A mirage is an illusion, not a reality. Critics say faith is like this. Martin insists Christian realities are not mirages but have genuine substance - substantial to faith even if not to natural faculties.

They're substantial. Though not substantial to these faculties, they are substantial to the world. They are substantial to the world. They are substantial to the world.

30:19 - 30:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The reality of your experience is not determined by the extent of your knowledge. The reality of your experience is not determined by the extent of your knowledge.

Martin confesses that even after twenty-plus years as a Christian and minister, these truths have overwhelmed him and made him feel like a child in the knowledge of God's truth - making him genuinely empathetic to the congregation's struggle with the material.

Philippians chapter 1. He says this, I pray that your love may abound. In what? All kinds of unprincipled affection.

46:29 - 46:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Press on in doctrinal knowledge, recognizing that while the reality of grace does not depend on knowledge, its stability and richness do. Growth in understanding what you are in Christ is the chief means of settling assu…

Martin describes the evangelical church as inundated with 'carrot-holders' offering spiritual experiences and novelties, with unstable believers running like silly rabbits to nibble at each new carrot in turn. The root of this instability is defective doctrinal knowledge.

The world, sin, guilt! Ephesians 2 is calculated to help you to face those problems in the triumphs of grace. And my closing word of exhortation is to those of you who sit here, strangers to God and to His grace. And perhaps you have been saying, look, if I've got to understand all that that preacher has been talking about the past few weeks, crucified with Christ, raised those big long axioms, big words, big sentences.

53:00 - 53:29 Read in full sermon

The point: If you tend to question your salvation every time you fall into sin, diagnose the root problem honestly: it is likely ignorance of what you are in Christ. Pursue knowledge of union with Christ as the cure for instability…

A newborn can only gurgle, wail, and make inarticulate sounds - but these are the living evidences of life, and no parent despises them. So the immature believer's limited spiritual expression is evidence of real life in Christ; the reality of that life does not depend on the extent of doctrinal knowledge.

Oh, make the gospel invitation effectual this morning. May they hear a voice beyond the voice of the preacher, saying, Come unto me. And, oh, may they hear it. Come.

59:16 - 59:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The balancing exhortation urges growth: while the reality of grace does not depend on knowledge, its stability and richness do. Ignorance produces instability, carrot-chasing, and…

If a father came home ten years later and found his child could still only gurgle and say 'goo,' every sound would break his heart as a monument to arrested growth. God grieves when believers who should have grown to mature articulation of praise and prayer remain at spiritual infancy.

In this part of the sermon: The balancing exhortation urges growth: while the reality of grace does not depend on knowledge, its stability and richness do. Ignorance produces instability, carrot-chasing, and…

Martin addresses new fathers in the congregation who are having their 'baptism' of parenthood, learning they can comfort a weeping bride but are helpless before a newborn. He uses this lived experience to illustrate the passage from spiritual infancy to mature self-expression in Christ.