From the MLJ Archive

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The words to which I should like to call your attention this morning are to be found in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, the first chapter, verses 15 and 16. Verses 15 and 16 in the first chapter of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers." Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.

At long last we have finished that great statement which the Apostle has been making, the statement which began at verse 3 and went right on without interruption to the end of verse 14. One of the mightiest statements of the Christian faith which is to be found anywhere in the scripture, if indeed it is not actually the mightiest of all.

But at last he has completed his statement. And now he turns as it were from that, or rather having stated that, he turns to these Ephesians to whom he is writing and also the other churches to whom this letter undoubtedly was meant to go. He turns to them to apply what he has just been saying.

In other words, this is a pastoral letter. Its object is meant to be very practical. He isn't a man who sits down to write a theological disquisition. No, his object is to help these people and to strengthen them and to encourage them in their daily Christian living. But you see, this is the apostolic way of doing that.

The Apostles believe that the best way to help Christians is to teach them the doctrine and then to apply the doctrine to them. So that we must never lose sight of the fact that this is a pastoral letter, as all the other New Testament epistles are. The Apostle therefore at this point seems to say something like this: Well, there is the thing itself. There is Christianity. That's the thing that has made us all Christians.

And he knows, and he's been rejoicing in the fact, that it is something for Gentiles as well as Jews. In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. He's already said in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, we and you. It is for all.

And therefore it is also for these Ephesians to whom he is writing. And he writes to them because, as he said, they are participators in these things. So he says wherefore, because of that, therefore, or for this reason. It doesn't matter how you translate it. That's what it means.

But it's important we do start with that word because it shows us the link between what has been going before and what now is to follow. It is because of all this, he tells them, that he remembers them constantly and without failing in his prayers.

It's in the light of all that and it's because all that is so true of them, I say, that he tells them here: "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers." And then he indicates to us exactly what the nature of his prayer is.

And you notice that, as should always be the case with Christian prayer, there are two elements, there are two aspects to his praying. He starts first of all by giving thanks for them. He ceases not to give thanks for them. Well, what for? Well, obviously for this: for the fact that they're in this life at all.

For the fact that, as he's just been saying, they also have been made fellow heirs and co-inheritors with the Christian Jews in this great and glorious kingdom of God that is coming. They have been sealed. They've got the earnest of the spirit. They're looking forward to the time of the redemption of the purchased possession. He thanks God for that fact.

And that in itself is very significant. It's an essential part of the Christian life. No man can be a Christian without rejoicing that others also become Christian. There is nothing that should gladden the heart of the believer more than to know that others also are in a like position and in a like situation.

So the Apostle offers up his constant praise and thanksgiving to God. And then having done that, he begins to offer his petition. And he goes on to tell us what the petition is from verse 17 to the end of the chapter. Now it's important that we should have a kind of analysis in our minds of the contents of this great chapter.

First of all, this tremendous doctrinal statement. Then he says: Now then, I thank God that you're involved in that. I thank God that this has happened to you, that you're partakers in it all. And then because of that, I am praying to God constantly for you.

What for? Well, that your understanding of this may increase and may grow and that you may experience it more and more. That is, of course, the whole of the remainder of the Christian life. That is the Christian life. That we enter more deeply into an understanding of and an experimental experience of these tremendous things that the Apostle has already been saying to us.

Well, now then, that is, I say, the analysis of the remainder of this chapter. But this morning we start with this first section. The Apostle, I say, thanks God for these Ephesians and for the fact that they're in this plan of salvation and that they're in this Christian life at all.

But the question may arise in somebody's mind: How does he know that they are? On what grounds does he offer up his thanksgiving and his praise in this way? Well, he tells us. He has heard certain things about them. "Wherefore I also, after that I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints."

Now there are some who are stumbled by that statement. They say: Why does the Apostle say that he'd heard of this? Because do we not read in the book of the Acts of the Apostles in the 19th chapter that it was the Apostle Paul who first took the gospel to Ephesus and preached it to them and they came into the faith very largely as the result of his ministry which was used of God in their salvation? And yet here he says after I heard of your faith.

Well, we needn't be stumbled by that. It can be easily interpreted like this: What he has heard is not only that they entered into the Christian life but that they continued in it. That they were still exercising their faith. That it hadn't been some passing emotion which had come and gone. No, no, they had gone on believing. They had continued as Christians.

He's heard of this, that they are going on in the Christian faith and he thanks God for it. Not only that, there were probably many others who had entered into the church since Paul had been at Ephesus and he's heard of them, of the additions to the church, the new converts who've come in, the further additions to the great cause. And he thanks God for it all.

And if, as we said at the very beginning, it is probably a circular letter which may have included also churches which the Apostle had never visited, well then we can understand why he says that he has heard of their faith. The fact then is, I say, that he has reasons for knowing that these people are continuing in the Christian life.

Well, very well then. What is it exactly that he's heard about them? What is it that gives the Apostle this definite assurance concerning these people? What is it that he has in his mind when on his knees in the presence of God he thanks God for those members of the church at Ephesus that they are what they are?

Now that's the question that I want to consider with you this morning because obviously here the Apostle presents us with a test which we can apply to ourselves. How do we know that we are Christians? How can anybody else know that we are Christians? What are our grounds for thanking God this morning that we are Christians and why should we thank God for anybody else?

Now there must be some reasons for that. The mere fact that a man may say that he's a Christian doesn't prove that he's a Christian. The history of the church throughout the centuries proves that that is perhaps one of the greatest fallacies into which we can ever fall. That sometimes people who've called themselves Christians have been the greatest enemies of the Christian faith. Now that's history.

So that the mere fact that we may think we're Christians isn't enough. The fact that we say we are Christians is not enough. The fact that other people may say that we are Christians is not enough. There must be some test. If we are to have real assurance and solid ground, well then we must have some valid tests. Fortunately for us, the Apostle here provides them for us.

There are many tests provided for the Christian in the New Testament. That first epistle of John of which we read a chapter at the beginning was undoubtedly written with that specific end and object in order that we might be able to test ourselves to know whether we are in the faith. The Apostle Paul exhorts the Corinthians saying, "Prove yourselves. Examine your own selves whether you be in the faith or not." And the tests are provided constantly in these New Testament epistles.

But it's very interesting to observe that here at this point the Apostle reduces them all to just two. And we can be quite sure that when he does that that they are the true tests and what we may call the acid test. So that we needn't trouble to apply all the various tests to ourselves. All we really need do is to come at once to the two tests that are here suggested by this great man of God.

And if we can pass these two tests, then we can be perfectly happy. It's all right, you can go through the others at your leisure, but if you really want to bring it to a focus, well here are the tests to apply. Let me call them then the acid tests and let me emphasize the fact that we must be able to pass these tests. It doesn't matter, I say, what else may be true of us, if we do not pass these two tests our so-called faith is probably vain.

I say that on the authority of the Apostle. He gives us the grounds of his certainty and his assurance with regard to these people. And you notice that the two tests are the two that are found everywhere throughout the New Testament. One of them refers mainly to our belief. The other refers mainly to our practice.

You see once more we've got faith and works, and they go together and they must never be separated. They are indissoluble. It there is no value whatsoever in having the one without the other. Now that's a running theme which is found everywhere throughout the New Testament.

Take that great 13th chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians. That's the Apostle's whole point there. It's no use a man saying that he believes or that he can speak about these things with the tongues of men or of angels. It's no use his talking about his faith if he is lacking in love or in charity.

The epistle of James says exactly the same thing. Faith without works is dead. It's no use talking about it. It's nothing but an intellectual belief. The proof of a true faith is that it's practiced, that it shows itself in action. Well, here the Apostle confronts us with these two things. He tells us: "Wherefore I also, after that I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints."

Now there are the two things. And as this is such a vitally important subject, it seemed to me to be a good thing that we should stop for a moment and face them together in order that we may have this absolute certainty with regard to ourselves. Of all the many things that the Apostle had heard about these people and the various tests that can be applied, he says: These are the two things that tell me that you're all right. These are the things which enable me to thank God for you without any doubt whatsoever.

Now then, let's look at them. The first thing is he tells us your faith in the Lord Jesus. If you like you could translate it "the faith that is among you in the Lord Jesus," which means the same thing. That means their personal individual faith in the Lord Jesus. Now how important it is to realize this.

This is of course the most vital thing of all. This is what you may call, to use the technical jargon, the differentia of the Christian faith. This is the central vital acid test. And I say we must always come back to this. We mustn't put our life in the first position. We mustn't put conduct and behavior in the first position.

You can waste a tremendous lot of time in discussing with people as to whether they're Christians or not or whether you are a Christian or not if you're merely talking about the kind of life that is lived. The world has many, many good people in it this morning. Very moral people. Very benevolent people. But they're just not Christian. They don't claim to be. Indeed, they may be violent opponents of the Christian faith. But as regards life and living, well they're very wonderful. That's nothing to do with it. That's not the place you start. This is the thing that must come first.

In the same way, we must indicate that it isn't a man's noble ideas or his high idealisms that matter. You don't start with a general vague outlook. Oh, how vital it is that we come back to this and repeat it and emphasize it. Isn't it extraordinary to notice the confusion today? You scarcely ever read an obituary notice about a great man in the papers at the present time but that this confusion is there shouting at you.

They make this sort of remark about some man who had lived saying that he was not a Christian and who died not a Christian. But he happened to be a great man, an able man and a man who did a lot of good and who had many noble ideas with respect to life. And then they even put it in this way: They say we can't perhaps say that he was a formal Christian, but... what they mean is this: He didn't say he was a Christian. He wasn't a member of a Christian church. In actual words he didn't subscribe to the Christian creeds. But of course he was a Christian. No man could have been as wonderful as that without being a Christian.

In other words, you see a man's life or a man's ideas or a man's nobility of character or his concern about the uplift of the race or the improvement of life in general, these things are said to be the thing that make a man a Christian. And it is rampant at the present time. There is no doubt at all that the peculiar characteristic of these days in which we're living is this utter confusion about first principles and primary definitions. And alas, it's true not only in general but even in the evangelical section of the Christian church.

The landmarks are becoming less and less distinct and the whole cry today is: Don't worry about definitions. If a man says he's a Christian well he is a Christian. Let's work together and go on. Very well, in the light of that, how important are these tests. So I must go a step further. You don't even start by asking whether a man believes in God. Even that isn't the acid test, for there are many people in the world who believe in God but they're not Christians.

The Jews who put to death the son of God believed in God. Orthodox Jews today who may be violently opposed to Christianity, they believe in God. Mohammedans and others, they all are believers in God. No, no, that isn't the thing. This is the thing: Your faith in the Lord Jesus. He comes in and he's got to be in at the center. He himself. This blessed person. This test you see really includes all the other tests.

If a man believes in the Lord Jesus, he must believe in God. His ideas must be right. This is an all-inclusive test. So the Apostle doesn't worry with all the others. He says: Let's come at once to the very center. The analogy, you see, that I obviously have in my mind is the sort of analogy from the realm of chemistry when you're trying to identify a substance.

There are certain substances to be had. There's one specific test for them. There are many other tests as well, but there's one which always identifies this particular substance. Well, now if your chemist is in a hurry, he doesn't worry and bother to go through all the various possible tests. He says let's try this one acid test. And the acid test is the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

Well, what is it? What's it mean? Well, the Apostle says your faith in the Lord Jesus. A Christian is a man in whose life and in whose whole being the Lord Jesus Christ is at the center. He sees everything in him. He starts with him. He ends with him. Jesus Christ has become controlling. Oh, there are so many religious people and so many religious movements today and they're very active and very zealous and they gain their so-called converts, but Jesus Christ is often not mentioned.

They talk about coming to God and listening to God and so on. Jesus Christ's actual name doesn't come in. Then you see that's not Christianity however good they may be and however religious they may be. The Christian is a man who sees everything in him. Now let me show you how the Apostle in many places in his writings keeps on emphasizing this same thing.

In writing to the Philippians, he has to warn them against those Judaizers who went round the churches saying: Yes, it's all right to believe in Christ, but you must be circumcised as well. You must become a Jew in addition as it were. And the Apostle answers with this flaming asseveration: "We are the circumcision that worship God in the spirit, that rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh."

And here it is, the same thing here. To have faith in the Lord Jesus means this: that we see everything in him. That he is our all and in all. If a man tells me he's got faith in the Lord Jesus, he's telling me that he's no faith in himself. That he's come to see that all his righteousness is but as refuse, filthy rags, idle, useless, worthless. He's no confidence in the flesh, no confidence in himself. He relies entirely and utterly upon the Lord Jesus Christ and his work on his behalf.

To have faith in the Lord Jesus means that you trust him utterly, entirely and absolutely. To have faith in the Lord Jesus means that you believe that he came into this world to save you and that it is he himself who really does save you. That's the point. Now I'm emphasizing that for this reason: that there are some people who seem to think that to have faith in the Lord Jesus means just this, that you believe that he came into the world to tell you that God loves you and that God forgives your sins.

But as I understand the New Testament, that is not faith in the Lord Jesus. They say what happens on the cross. Well they say the cross is just a great declaration of the fact that God is ready to forgive you. That he's even ready to forgive that. But if that is so, the Lord Jesus is not the savior. He simply announces that God forgives.

But the New Testament tells us that the Lord Jesus is himself the savior. That he came into the world in order to save us himself. It is he and what he has done on our behalf that really is the means of our salvation. That's what faith in the Lord Jesus means. In other words, that if he had not come, there would be no salvation. But on the other idea, you see God would still forgive.

According to that idea, all that the Lord Jesus does is to tell us that. And to tell us that in a very poignant and a very moving manner. He does it by the display of the love and the cross. That he forgave the people who put him to death and there announces God's love. But that isn't the save. What the New Testament means by saying that he is our savior is this: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins."

Faith in the Lord Jesus means then that I cast my entire hope upon him and what he has done on my behalf. That I've no confidence in my own life, my own actions, nor anybody else's. That I realize that I'm a hopeless and a lost sinner. And that I am saved only because of Jesus' blood and righteousness. That hymn of Zinzendorf translated by John Wesley which we sang a few moments ago states it perfectly: "Jesus, thy robe of righteousness, my beauty is, my glorious dress. Midst flaming worlds in this arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head."

It's in this that I bold will stand at that great day. He's my foundation. I know that he has died for me and for my sins. That's faith in the Lord Jesus. That I have no interest in anything else and no confidence anywhere else but in him and in his blood and in his righteousness which is given to me. Very well then, there is the thing that he puts first: faith in the Lord Jesus.

But I must call your attention to the way in which he puts it. You notice that he says faith in the Lord Jesus. Now it's always important to notice the Apostle's terms. He was a man writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and he never does anything haphazardly or accidentally. When he varies his expressions and his terms, he's got a very good reason for doing so.

Now I reminded you last Sunday morning that he has used this name about 15 times already in this chapter. But you notice the way in which he puts it here. He's been referring to him as Christ Jesus, as Jesus Christ, as the Lord Jesus Christ and so on. But here he deliberately says faith in the Lord Jesus. Not faith in Jesus Christ. Not faith in the Lord Jesus Christ here. Not faith in Jesus. Faith in the Lord Jesus.

Now there is obviously a real deep meaning here, and it is our business to try to understand that. What is the Apostle conveying? You see he goes on in the next verse, or in verse 17, to talk about the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the full term. But here, Lord Jesus. Well I want to suggest that he means something like this: You see it's the acid test. He's putting in the bare essentials, the utter minimum. He's not stating it in its fullness here. No, he says these are the grounds of my certainty about you. Therefore the Lord Jesus, why well he's calling attention to the person.

In whom is your faith? Well, it's in one of whom I can say at one and the same time that he is the Lord and he's also Jesus. He's God. He's man. The term you see puts us face to face with that at once and it's all-inclusive. Between Lord and Jesus, there's everything. The Christ comes in between there. Here are the poles, the extremes that include everything. The Lord, Jesus.

The Lord of glory. The substance of the eternal substance. The second person in the blessed holy Trinity. The Lord, God eternal. Jesus. "They shall call his name Jesus." The babe in his utter helplessness. The one who came down so low. The man. The one who went to the cross. The one who was buried. The one who rose again. It's all there: Lord, Jesus.

We can't stay with these things. We've already been glancing at them as we have considered the mighty statement of the first 14 verses. But, my dear friends, we can take nothing for granted today. He alone is a Christian who believes that Jesus of Nazareth is the eternal son of God. He believes in the incarnation. He believes in the virgin birth. He believes in the whole miracle that is involved in that. He believes in the eternal generation of the son. He ascribes to him no less a term than this: the Lord.

Elsewhere you'll find the Apostle referring to him as "our great God and Savior." That's the one in whom we have faith and in no one less. The Apostle in making this same point to the Corinthians in the first epistle in the 12th chapter and the third verse says: "No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost." The natural man can't say this. The princes of this world didn't recognize him, for had they known him they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But they never knew him. They thought he was a man only and a carpenter. They didn't realize he was the Lord. The Lord Jesus. It's all there.

The whole mystery of godliness. "God was manifest in the flesh" and all the rest of it. It's all in these, just in these terms. Hence you see his particular choice of them. He's so anxious to focus light right on the person. And of course, if you believe this you'll have no trouble about believing in his miracles.

When God is on earth in the flesh you expect the supernatural and the miraculous. And you don't stumble at the gospels and their accounts of the miracles and try to explain them away psychologically. No, no, you expect the creator to give some evidence of the fact that he is, and he does. So it takes in the four gospels in their entirety: the Lord Jesus. That's the one in whom my faith is reposed. I can't save myself. No man can save me. "When all was sin and shame, a second Adam to the fight and to the rescue came."

I have such a faith and nothing less can satisfy me. God alone can save me. God in the flesh. The Lord Jesus. And therefore it tells me you see why he came. It tells me what he has done. My faith is in the Lord Jesus altogether. Not only do I look at that person, but I look at him and consider why he came. "When the fullness of the times was come God sent forth his own son, made of a woman, made under the law."

Why? To redeem them that are under the law. He came and was made under the law. He suffered. He subjected himself to that. He lived a man like a man, was pointed tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin. Yes yes, he's truly Jesus. And he was spared nothing in that respect. He was truly man as well as truly God. And he came in order to save us. He came to give obedience to the law, and he did.

He came to take the punishment meted out by the law upon sin. He's done all that. Jesus you see is the crucified one. Yes, but it was the Lord Jesus who was crucified. The son of God. God the son has died for me and for my sins. It's all included here. But finally I want to emphasize this: that you cannot separate the Lord and Jesus. The person is one and indivisible.

He is always the Lord. There is no such thing as coming to Jesus. It's impossible. You can't come to Jesus. You can't come to Christ in a sense. You can only come to the Lord Jesus. If this doctrine is true, you can't accept him as your savior only and then perhaps later decide to accept him as your Lord. He's always the Lord. The one who died for your sins is the Lord. And why did he die for sins? Because sin is under the wrath of God. It's transgression against the law. It's enmity against God.

It must be punished. If I say I want a savior, from what do I want a savior? I want a savior from sin. Well that means deliverance from the power of sin and everything connected with sin. If I really have a true conception of sin I can't just ask to be forgiven and then go on in sin. I must want to be delivered from it all. Lord Jesus. You can't believe in Jesus and leave out the Lord.

You believe in the person. And he's one and indivisible. Two natures in one person. And when you believe in him, you believe in him as the Lord of glory and the Lord of your life. If you believe that he died for your sins, well he's bought you. He's purchased you. He's ransomed you. And don't you give yourself to him when you realize that? You must. We don't come to Jesus and we don't believe in Jesus. We come to the Lord Jesus. And we believe in him as he is.

Oh, the Apostle was very concerned about this. He puts it specifically again, do you see, in writing to the Colossians: "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." You can't receive him as anything but the Lord, and therefore the Lord of your life. Well, that's the first thing. He thanks God for their faith in the Lord Jesus. Oh, I don't make any apology for asking a question before we go any further. Have you faith in the Lord Jesus? Is your faith in him? Do you rest your faith in him alone who died for your transgressions to atone? Do you say, "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand"? Are you utterly committed to him? Is your faith entirely, altogether, exclusively in him?

May I say just a word about the second thing because they must go together. Your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints. Of course it's inevitable. The one follows the other as the night follows the day. As I've already said, it's the great argument of the first epistle of John. Indeed, it's the argument of the New Testament everywhere. Peter having reminded the people to whom he was writing in his first epistle and in the first chapter says that they're born again, not by corruptible seed but by incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever: "See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently," he says at once. And of course, you can't help saying it.

Well, why is this so important? Why is this loving of the brethren something that comes in as an acid test immediately after faith in the Lord Jesus? Oh, I'll tell you. It is an absolute proof of life, this. You see, by nature we all hate one another. Do you dispute that? Well, the Apostle says so and I think he's saying the truth. It's absolutely true. Let me give you his exact words in his epistle to Titus in the third chapter. This is how he puts it: "For we ourselves also were sometimes disobedient, foolish, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another."

That's man unredeemed. That's man by nature. He doesn't love, you see, as he is by nature. But now Paul has heard that these people have love unto all the brethren. Well, something must have happened to them. Not only that, we can put it like this, can't we? The natural man, the man who's not a Christian, the man who's not born again, he has no interest in Christian people. He dislikes them. He finds them dull, uninteresting, dowdy. Those are his terms about them. And he certainly wouldn't like to spend a number of hours in the presence of such a person. He feels that there's no affinity, no community of interest. That's the natural man.

Therefore, you see, if it can be said of a man that he loves the saints, you can be absolutely sure that the man's been given a new nature. He's been born again. And this is something which is quite inevitable. Like attracts like. We are drawn to one another. Blood, we say, is thicker than water. Yes exactly. You forgive things in people who are related to you which you wouldn't forgive in others. Why well you've got the same blood in you. You belong together. There is this community of interest. Well, now when you find yourself beginning to feel like that about Christian people, about the saints, well, it's an absolute proof that you must be one of them. There must be a community of interest. There must be the same blood. You must belong to the same family.

And of course, that is the truth about the Christian. And Paul had heard that these Ephesians now were loving all the saints. They liked to be with them. They liked to spend time with them. They were the people whom they liked above all others. He says it's an absolute proof that you're born again. You've got a new nature. Otherwise you couldn't possibly do it. And it's a very wonderful test. I have sometimes thanked God for this test when I've been assaulted by Satan. When he seems to have pressed me so hard and driven me almost into the corner, I've sometimes fallen back upon this: Well, whatever I am, I would sooner spend my time in the presence and in the company of the humblest Christian than with the greatest in the land who is not a Christian. You can't answer that. That's a final proof.

If you really love the saints, love the brethren. Or I could put it like this to you: It's a proof that the Holy Spirit is in you. We don't really love and we cannot love truly unless the Holy Spirit is resident within us. It is he who produces love, and especially love to all the saints. So you see, if we love the saints, it's a proof that the Holy Spirit is in us. And the Apostle's just been talking about the Holy Spirit as a seal and as an earnest and as one who dwells within us. And here's the proof of it: They love the brethren. This says John, you remember, in a verse at the end of that third chapter we read at the beginning: "This is his commandment that we believe on his son the Lord Jesus Christ and love one another." You see it's the same thing exactly as we have here.

And I would finally say therefore that if we love all the saints, it is a proof of the fact that we love God also. It works like this, doesn't it? I ask myself why do I love these saints? And the answer is: I love them because they're in the same relationship to God as I am. These are the people who've been segregated out of the world, chosen of God, translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. These people and I are walking together through this world of sin in the direction of heaven. I'm going to spend my eternity with people like this. Why are we all facing such a glorious prospect? It's because of the amazing love of God.

I don't deserve it, they don't deserve it. Let us therefore join together in praising God. If I love them, I must love God because he's made them what they are. He's made me what I am. We all together ascribe the glory unto him. So you see, Paul needn't give us all the details. He's put one thing that covers them all. If you love the brethren, if you love the saints, it guarantees all these other things. It's an all-inclusive test. You notice that he says that he's heard of their love unto all the saints. Not only some of them. Not only the ones you happen to like, but all the saints. Not only the clever ones. Not only the learned ones. Not only the pleasant ones. Not only the ones that belong to a particular social stratum. No, no: all the saints.

You see, a Christian's a man who's got a new test. When he meets a person, he doesn't look at their clothing. He doesn't look at their makeup, so-called. He doesn't look at this general external appearance. That's how man judges, by the external appearance. That's a carnal way of judging people. He doesn't say: Where's he come from? What school's he been to? What's his bank balance? What's this? Not at all. He's only interested in one thing about him: Is he a child of God? Is he my brother? Is this my sister? Are we related?

You remember the story perhaps about the father of Matthew Henry whose name was Philip Henry. You read this in his biography. When he was going to get married, he was marrying a girl who, as we put it, was in a different station in life. She belonged to a higher circle of society than he did. And her parents were a little opposed to the match. But the young lady had become a Christian, and hence her main interest in Philip Henry. But her parents were expostulating with her and they said: This man Philip Henry, where's he come from? And she gave the immortal reply. She said: I don't know where he's come from, but I know where he's going.

That's why you love the saints. You know where they're going. We are marching together to Zion. We belong to the same father, to the same household, to the same family. We're going to the same home. And we know where we are going. And the interest of the Christian in people is in terms of where they're going. He doesn't care where they've come from. Where are they going? Love to all the saints.

Oh, some of us are very difficult and very trying and very unworthy. But, thank God, because we are God's children, we are going there. And the day will come when all these faults and blemishes and spots and wrinkles and all these things shall be done away with, and we shall all be glorified and perfect together and enjoy the same glorious eternity. Well, my friends, those are the two acid tests. Those are the tests that we apply to one another. You notice the order in which they come. He doesn't put the love to all the saints before the faith. That's what's being done today.

They say: Don't bother about definitions. Theology doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what a man believes. We must all love one another as Christians. That isn't the apostolic order. He's not interested in some vague sentimentality. Faith in the Lord Jesus first. And if a man doesn't believe that he's the Lord of glory, though he calls himself a Christian, I cannot cooperate with him. Faith in the Lord Jesus. Then, only then, but definitely then, love unto all the saints. And a man is not a saint unless he believes and has faith in the Lord Jesus.

Put them in the right order. Keep them in the right order, and then insist upon both. The first commandment is not that we should love one another, but that we should believe in him. What we are told about the disciples and the apostles was this: They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and breaking of bread and prayer. Today they put it like this: They continued steadfastly in the apostles' fellowship. Not at all. Fellowship is never first. Fellowship is always second. First the apostles' doctrine. Faith in the Lord Jesus, then love towards all who belong truly to him. Amen.