Both hours we're going to be in the book of Ephesians in the fifth chapter if you'd like to turn. And I have a glorious message for us this morning that the Lord has given in our text. It is seven reasons why Christ died for his church. Seven reasons why Christ died for his church. Now I couldn't condense that down to one message, so it'll be part one and part two. We'll hear the first three Lord willing this hour and the last for the second hour. So Ephesians chapter five.

A lot of times, if you ask somebody, why did Christ die? Their answer is going to be based entirely upon their response to Christ dying, meaning that they believe that it's their responsibility to do something to make the work of Christ effectual. So he actually didn't accomplish anything. And these are conversations I've had many times with many different people over the years, and most people that are either in false religion or they have some idea or they're somewhat religious, whatever. But only the Lord's people truly know why Christ died. And I pray the Lord allows us to see that this morning clearly.

Let's read this together. Ephesians chapter five, verse 22 through 27. Wives, submit yourself unto your own husbands as unto the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let their wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Seven reasons why Christ died for the church are in those verses. Number one is love. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Number two, that he might sanctify it. Number three is that he might cleanse it. Number four is that he might present it to himself a glorious church. Number five is that his elect would be without spot. Number six is that he's elect would be without wrinkle. And number seven is that his elect would be made holy, be made holy.

I've titled this message, Why Christ Died. I told the men in the back, I didn't put a question mark on that. Why did Christ die? Question mark. No, this is actually a declaration. I'm saying this is why he died. And I hope that the Lord allows us to enter into this this morning.

All false religion has one thing in common. And they put emphasis on you. You need to do this. You need to do that. You need to do this. You need to do that. God's gospel points to him and him alone. God said, I will. and you shall." The scripture says, the Lord said, be ye holy for I the Lord am holy. Well, how am I going to be holy unless the Lord does it? He said, I will and you shall be holy.

This is the glorious truth about our great God is that everything he requires, he must provide because he only accepts what he provides. He only accepts what he produces. So if I put the emphasis on you and I to do something, what good is that gonna do if he doesn't accept anything that I do? Paul said, in me that is in my flesh will it no good thing. So whatever I produce, if it's not good enough under the Lord, what good is it to say I have to make a choice or I have to do this or I have to, that's irrelevant, do you see?

The emphasis is in our Lord doing it all, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present unto himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, that he would do all this. Do we see that? It's not about what I did or about what you do. It's about him, what he does. The emphasis is not on you and the emphasis is not on me. By his grace, we're just the, beneficiaries of a written will. We're the beneficiaries of a covenant. We're the beneficiaries of an accomplished salvation. The emphasis is not on us. It's on what he has done by himself. He purged our sin and sat down.

First reason that he died is found in verse 25, and it says, husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. It was love. It's the number one reason. Now, there is several reasons. I'm not saying that these seven completely encompass every reason why Christ died, but these seven reasons are glorious. It was love. It was the love that Jesus Christ had towards the father, and it was the love that Jesus Christ had toward the elect that the father had elected. It was love. The scripture tells us herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to do the propitiation for our sin. Scripture also says no greater love hath any man than this. The Lord said this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

The Lord loves his bride, he loves his chosen people perfectly and I love that because our love is not perfect. Somebody said God loves unconditionally. That's not true. That's not true. God's love is very conditional. It's conditioned on the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. If I'm not in him, he doesn't love me. But if I'm in him, he's loved me with an everlasting love. That word means it never had a beginning, and it'll never have an end. That means I can't mess it up. I can't mess it up. If he loves me now, he's always loved me, and he's always going to love me.

Why did Christ die? Because of love, because of love. That love caused him to be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Think about all the agony that he endured, his soul being made an offering for sin, the suffering that no man, he was marred beyond recognition. I'm talking about physically, but his soul was made an offering for sin. Think about the agony that he would have been in, yet that love, was greater than that agony. That love caused that obedience. He's God, he couldn't fail.

Somebody said, well God loves everybody. If he loves everybody, what does his love have to do with salvation? I told all you ladies I loved you the way my wife, I love my wife. She'd be madder than a wet hen. It wouldn't be good at all for me. My love has to be particular. If it's not particular, it's useless. Completely useless. God's love is particular, God's love is perfect, and it's conditioned upon his son, and he loves the bride of Christ in so much that he sent his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God so loved, he gave, he gave. If somebody he loves goes to hell, he's a weak and puny God. If I had all the power and all the love for my wife, and yet she dies and goes to hell, what does my love do? It does nothing. The Lord, oh, his love, it accomplishes something. Everything the Lord has purposed, he accomplishes. God is sovereign. He's not begging men to do anything. His people love him as well, because scripture says, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. The same love with he loves us, he gave to us to love back to him. If he requires me to love him, think about this, if he requires, and he does, but if he requires that, and my love doesn't do any good, because whether we believe it or not, our love is very conditional also. Why do we think divorce rates at an all time high? People fall in and out of love all the time. Not him, not him.

God requires me to love him. He's gonna have to give me that love, same love that he loved the son with, the same love the son loved the father with. He's gonna have to give me that perfect love. And we love him because he first loved us. God is a perfect love that existed before time. Jeremiah tells us the Lord said I have loved thee with an everlasting love. I love that that word everlasting. I just love the fact as a center. I can't mess it up. No matter what I do, I can't get out of His love.

And that doesn't motivate me to do things that's dishonoring to Him or that would bring a reproach upon the church. Quite the contrary, it makes me want to serve Him, makes me want to live unto Him. I desire to serve Him because I love Him. And you, the Lord's people, you know what I'm talking about. You love Him. We don't ever look at our love, though, because as soon as we do, we'll see how awful we are. We will look at the Lord as he's causing us to seek his face, and then no sooner do we walk out these doors, we go out, our mind drifts off somewhere else, and we're not thinking about him anymore.

I love the thought that he never, He never takes his mind off of his people. We can't escape him, his all-seeing eye, his all-knowingness. He's always in love with his people. Matter of fact, he says, one look from you ravishes my heart. Can you imagine that? These vile creatures of dust coming to the Lord in prayer, ravishing his heart? This is why Christ died, this is why Christ died, because of love, because of love.

Christ accomplished salvation on the cross, it wasn't just a... It wasn't just an attempt. I love them, so I'm going to try to do something. No, he's God. He accomplished salvation. That love is a successful love. It can't be rebuttaled or refuted. It can't be changed. It can't be altered. It can't be diminished or relinquished. His love is everlasting. And with that love, he went into obedience to the death of the cross.

in obedience under the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he went to the cross, accomplished salvation, but a lot believe that he did it to make an offer to you or to me. Now, the Lord has never We think a lot of times as, well, we only can think as humans because that's what we are. We're in the flesh. So we can't think of the spiritual matters unless the Lord gives us faith to believe. The point I'm making is when we think of love, we try to compare, we try to make God out to be like us and he's completely other than we are.

But the point I'm making is, is those that are married, you fell in love and you got married. There had to be a proposal that took place. Will you marry me? Well, you and I do not have the ability to say yes, nor the desire to say yes in the flesh. So if we're going to be married unto the Lord, the Lord's going to have to give us life first and faith to believe first, so that when the question's asked, the answer's already been given. He's going to have to make us willing in the day of his power. He's going to have to make us love him. Somebody said, well, I really don't like the idea of being a puppet. I love it. If I'm God's puppet, I have no problem with that. That means I'm not the devil's puppet. I'm not left to myself. That's glorious if I'm a puppet.

But that being said, this all was accomplished. on the cross of Calvary. This is what the Lord did out of love. He saved his people from their sin. He took our sorrow. He gave us joy unspeakable and full of glory. He took the pain due us and gave us perfect peace. He took our sin unto himself and gave us righteousness. He did this because of love, brethren, all because of love. He was despised and rejected that we might be accepted in the beloved. We're gonna get to this later, but he took our iniquity and made us holy. Think about that. This is what love accomplished. This is what love accomplished. This is why Christ died, so that we would never have separation from God. He was separated so that we would be separated. What was the motivation? Love, love.

The second reason, look at verse 25 again, 26, we'll see the second reason. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. The second reason is to sanctify the church. That word sanctify means to set apart, to set apart. And it's not just a setting to the side as if a dismissal, it's a set apart for a purpose, for a purpose. He says, you're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. He said, I have, Jacob, I've called you by your name. I've redeemed you. You're mine. You're mine.

The reason We are said to be married to the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of a covenant, not of works, but of grace. The reason that we were chosen in Christ is because of a covenant of grace. It's not because of what we do, not because of a choice that we make, but what God chose to do. In order for us to be sanctified, he's going to have to be the doer of it. We can't set ourself apart. No, every creature of dust is born the same. We're born in sin, shape, and iniquity. So what's the hope? That the Lord might sanctify and cleanse us with the washing of water by the word.

How does he do that? Well, Paul said in Romans chapter one, verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God and to salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also the Greek. You have the word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. washing us, and he calls it water here. Water is a type of purification. It's a type of, it's a picture of the spirit, but it's a type of the blood as well. It cleanses every stain. That's what he does. That's how he sanctifies his people.

This sanctification is entirely based on God choosing to be merciful. He told Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and whom I will, I'll harden. The earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof. We must never forget that God is sovereign and he will do with whatever he, whoever and however he wants to do. He's God. So if I'm gonna be sanctified, he's going to have to be the sanctifier. Here's the glorious part. He is. He is the sanctifier of his people.

What is your sanctification? The Lord Jesus Christ, his spirit. Somebody said, I thought you got sanctified over time. Have you ever heard of progressive sanctification? You get better and better? Somebody stood here one time, told me, he said, you don't see yourself getting better and better? I said, no. I see myself getting worse and worse. And they said, not me. I see myself getting better and better. I thought, my, my. Progressive sanctification is a lie. Christ is our sanctification. All that progressive sanctification is, is just somebody saying, look at me, look at me. Again, if the focus emphasis is on me, it can't be on the Lord. No, he is our wisdom. He is our righteousness. He is our sanctification and our redemption. Why? God hath made him unto us. All of those things. So without him, I have nothing. So if I want to be sanctified, I have to have Christ. That is why Christ died. He died to sanctify his people once and for all.

God the Father chose in mercy to elect a people and give them to the Son and trusting he would redeem them. Now in order for us to be sanctified, we had to be redeemed. We had to be redeemed. And you remember the story of Boaz and Ruth, whenever Ruth I love the way the scripture reads because the way the Lord's his perfect design it says that her hap fell on the lot of Boaz and to remind you she was going and gleaning in the fields trying to get some of the gleanings that was left behind but her hap fell on the on the plot of Boaz her hap like it was People call it chance. People call it luck. We don't talk about those things. We don't believe in that. It's nonsense. Purpose, glorious purpose. Matter of fact, Boaz tells the men, who's that young maiden that he finds out, and he said, well, you drop handfuls of purpose for her. He doesn't say on purpose. He said handfuls of purpose. Aren't you glad our Lord drops handfuls of purpose on us day after day after day? Grace for today, grace for tomorrow. That's why we can come boldly to the throne of grace, so we might obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.

So she's gleaning in the field and turns out she goes back to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and Naomi tells her, well, but Boaz, he's a near kinsman. He could redeem you under the law, the near kinsman of a man that died. If he didn't have any children, he was supposed to marry the widow and raise up seed under the deceased. It was just part of the law.

Well, Ruth goes to Boaz and tells him, do the pardon your kinsman to me, redeem me. And he tells her, well, there's one nigh, there's one more near kinsman than I. And so it had been illegal or wrong of him to take Ruth without first consulting in the closer kinsman.

Now, the picture here is that's the law. that had us bound in shackles and in chains, that had us condemned and convicted to die, but it could not redeem us. Could not redeem us.

But as it goes, and he talks to this near Kinsman, representing the law, and he says, redeem this plot of land. And he says, yeah, I can do that. And he says, well, the day that you redeem that land, you have to redeem Ruth, the Moabitess. He says, I cannot redeem her. Mar, mine inheritance.

God will not acquit the guilty. God will not allow anybody to stand in his presence with sin. God will not say, okay, you did your best, I'm gonna let it slide this time, no. The law cannot redeem. The law can only say guilty, guilty, guilty. This is why Christ had to die.

In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. So Boaz says, well, I'll redeem her then. And he does, he redeems her. And their child that they had was the great-grandfather of King David.

Isn't that amazing? The Lord knows what he's doing. Everything's for purpose, his purpose. And the cross was for the purpose of redeeming his people that we might be sanctified in the sight of God, by God, that he would set us apart, reserved unto himself. Reserved unto himself.

Don't miss how he does this, look at verse 26 at the end, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. If I wanna be cleansed, it's gonna take the word. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's gonna have to do it, I can't cleanse myself.

We get to, I think we get to, that's where we're at now actually, that's the third reason. That's the third reason. Why did Christ die? To cleanse the church, to cleanse his elect, to cleanse his people. And I love verse 27 where it says, and we might not get into this right now, but I want to read it. He said, verse 26 says he might sanctify and cleanse it. Verse 27 says that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, and that it should be holy and without blemish. So this word, cleanse and without blemish are actually the same, one of the same. So that's why it's not eight reasons, it's only seven.

But without blemish means that you've been cleansed. You've been cleansed. What did he tell us in Isaiah? Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. How can that be? Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leper his spots? How can that which is born of a woman be made clean? How can a leper be made whole? How can that which is born in sin be made the very righteousness of God and Jesus Christ? He's gonna have to cleanse me. He's gonna have to cleanse me. Can't cleanse myself. Can't wash myself.

Told Naaman, remember Naaman the leper, he, Naaman, I say this about every time, Naaman had a lot of problems. He was captain of the host of the king of all Syria. He was a mighty man of valor. He was, I love, it tells you all the good stuff first, and then it says, but he was a leper. So Naaman had one problem, really. Because if you became a leper, you wouldn't be worried about everything else. You'd be worried about that leprosy. And it was God's purpose that put a little Jewish maid in the home, because of the captivity that the Jews were in to them at that time, that said, there's a prophet down in Jerusalem. There's a prophet in Israel. Not Jerusalem, Israel. And so he said, I'm going to go see this prophet. He gets down to see the prophet, and the prophet doesn't even come to him. He sends out the servant. The servant comes out and says, go dip in Jordan seven times. Go dip in Jordan seven times. And he was wroth, the scripture says. I thought that he would come out, and he would do this, and he would do that, and it would be something amazing, like charismatic churches, you know what I mean? That kind of stuff, just foolishness.

No, Naaman, go dip in the Jordan. The Jordan represents death. It's a muddy, dirty river. You want to be cleansed? We have to be washed by the Lord. We have to be dipped, buried with him in baptism. When he died, I died, raised with him to live life anew. Gotta do it seven times. What does that represent? Perfection. You're gonna have to die perfectly. Well, I can't die, I can't do anything perfectly. If you're in Christ, you already have. If you're in Christ, you already have. If you're His, you died the perfect death. And death has no more hold upon you. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The Lord cleansed His people. This is why Christ died. This is why Christ died.

Story continues, Naaman did dip in the river and became clean. Servant talked some sense into him, said if he'd asked you to do something wild, something, some magnificent feat, you'd have done that, just go dip. Isn't it amazing pride always gets in the way? Can you imagine having the worst disease, and you know from the Lord that all you have to do is go dip in the Jordan River seven times, and yet we're so stubborn and we're so prideful, we'd be like, why? I don't want to do that, anything but that. Just go dip in the river. The flesh hates the things of God. You get what I'm saying? The flesh, I don't understand why I have to do that.

Aren't you glad everything he required, he provided. He's not requiring you to dip. He dipped you in the Jordan with him. He's already done it. He's not looking to you saying, okay, you need to make a choice to go down to the Jordan River. No, no. My people shall be willing in the day of my power. The Lord teaches his people. The Lord takes us, he leads us in the paths of righteousness for his namesake.

Brethren, we are born in sin, we're shaping in iniquity, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, his elect have been cleansed, made new creatures, the scripture says. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. First John chapter three tells us, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that we shall be like him for when he shall appear, for we shall see him as he is. Paul said the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to the glory that shall be revealed. in us. When is it in you? Right now. Why? Because Christ died to cleanse his people. And he did it. And he did it.

We have polluted blood. It wouldn't have done any good if we'd have died on our own. His blood's perfect. His blood's holy. His blood is acceptable. And I love the thought that the blood never loses its power, never loses its value. Everything around us decays. Everything around us loses value. When it comes to the blood of Christ, it'll never lose its value. It will never lose its power. It will never lose its ability. It will always be where the Lord put it, and the Father will always be satisfied with the blood that cleansed His people.

He didn't just cover our sins. A lot of religion talks about how the blood is a covering, and that's true. The Lord erased it, they're gone. He said, I cast them as far as east is from the west, never to be remembered again. And I've used this analogy before. Why didn't he say north to south? Well, because on a compass, if you go north and you keep going far enough north, you're eventually gonna start going south again. But if you start east, you can keep going east forever and you're never gonna start going west, that's why. Can't find them, they're gone. He made them go away. As a matter of fact, he says, in that day, Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more. How can God, who cannot forget anything, not remember our sin and iniquities? They're gone. This is why Christ died, to cleanse his people from their sin.

Another way of putting it, it's kind of improper English, but he disappeared them. He disappeared them, they're gone. He cleansed his people, made the sin go away. Brethren, it's not our works, it's not our choice, it's not our efforts, it's not anything about us. Salvation is of the Lord and that's all of grace. The Lord doesn't look upon us and say, okay, I've chosen to cleanse you because of this reason in you. No, he chose to cleanse us because we were the most wretched, vile creatures And He decided and wanted and purposed to make us vessels of honor by grace, by grace alone.

He cleansed His people. He gets all the glory. It's not our sacrifice, not our obedience, not our service, not even our faith. It's His sacrifice, it's His obedience, it's His faith. Everything God requires, he must provide, and he provided everything in the Lord Jesus Christ on the finished work of the cross to cleanse his people sufficiently forever and ever and ever.

You mean whenever I sin now, the Lord don't see that? He put it away. He put it away. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Jesus Christ the righteous. If we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Why? He already has. He already has.

He said this, it's not anything about us. He said in the book of Exodus, when I see the blood, We're going to take the Lord's table this morning after second hour. And I often say that when we take the Lord's table, because it's not by works of righteousness, which you have done, but according to his mercy, he said, when I see the blood, Abraham said, the Lord will provide himself a sacrifice. And he did the Lord Jesus Christ. When I see the blood, not your works, not your faith, not your choice, not your obedience, but by my own purpose, by my own grace, when I see the blood, I will pass by you. Why? Because it's the blood that cleansed the Lord's people once and for all, once and for all.

This, brethren, is why Christ died, because of love, that he might sanctify the church and that he might cleanse the church.

Let's take a break.