Flying First Class (Ephesians 1:18)

Introduction

I mentioned when I returned from Watsahatch that I had stayed in the home of Mark and Sylvia Coulson. And Mark, of course, is one of the editors and compilers of our psalm book in Iraq. And so we had a lot of time to converse and talk about things. And as we were headed to the potluck on Sunday afternoon at the home of Sister Mary Burns. We were talking, and I remember as we were pulling up in front of her house, that Mark was telling me a story of having done several funerals of family members and about the funeral director there. Now here’s the thing.

And so this particular funeral home director of a different religious persuasion than Mark and Mark and me had been listening to some of the things that he had been saying, very pointed things to family members about what God expects of our lives as Christians. And in that particular funeral service, it was the funeral director who did the brief graveside service, and he started with this, and this was somewhat maybe his subtle answer to some of the things Mark had said. He said, Well, here’s the thing. You can fly first class or second class. And the point that he was making by that statement, of course, is that once you are on the plane, the destination is secure. You know, some people don’t go all the way like they should in their service to God, but they’re not flying first class.

They’re just flying second class, and they’re still going to get there. I mean, it’s just one saint always safe, is what it is. You can fly first class or second class, but you’re still going to get there. It’s just an issue of a better way to fly. And so he was taking the edge off some of the pointed things that Mark had said. Basically, okay, some of you might need to shape up spiritually, but hey, you’re on the plane. And if you’re on the plane, ultimately, that’s all that matters. As I heard one fellow argue one time, it’s just a matter of eternal rewards. That’s all. Now, I don’t know how that works. I mean, just the size of the trophies. I don’t know. The eternal rewards in heaven, I guess some people get closer to the throne than other people.

I’m not sure what all of that means. The Bible doesn’t address all of that. It just says treasure in heaven. I’m assuming every faithful believer gets that. So that was his take on the idea. Of course, this analogy fails. There are so many passages we can refer to tonight that once you are in Christ, God has expectations of faithfulness and a failure to live faithfully could cause you to forfeit your seat on the plate. One of the passages we looked at this morning in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, run in such a way that you may win. And Paul said, I buffet my body, or even the idea of strike my butt, not buffet. I strike my body and make it my slave so that after I preach to others, I myself should be, should not be disqualified.

I mean, he sees even himself the possibility of a lack of faithfulness that could cause him to lose his salvation. And the book of Hebrews, look. If I had just one place to go in the New Testament to show people that the doctrine of once saved, always saved is not a scriptural doctrine. I would go to the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews chapter 10, there remains no more sacrifice for sins. There’s several passages just in Hebrews 10. Do not throw away your confidence, he says, which has a great reward. If you throw it away, there’s no reward. You have need of endurance. He goes on to say, we are not of those who shrink back to destruction. So many verses just in one chapter. Hebrews chapter 10. Well, there’s Galatians 5, 4, and so many others, that we could suffer. So, this could be a lesson tonight about one saved always say, Hey, are you on the plane? Well, everything’s great. Could be better, maybe, but if you fly first class. But you’re on the plane. I’ve already answered that. But is there a sense in which believers fly second class?

Sometimes.

I want to talk to you about flying first class in regard to our faith.

I get it, Jeff. That’s why you led, I’ll fly away.

Okay, I’ll just say about that song. When it’s time for you to fly away, you need to fly away first class. You need to be ready to meet the Lord. And you need to be thinking, even tonight, if I were to fly away before this day passes, are you ready to meet the Lord? I’ve got to say something about this picture of this is actually a first class seat on a plane. I’ve never been in a plane that nice. I’ve never seen that kind of first class accommodations on a plane. I mean, I fly southwest. I mean, what is first class on Southwest? I mean, that’s that’s the way I fly. And maybe I don’t see Alyssa, maybe she’s flown overseas and something. But I think I’ve only said in first class one time, and it was many years ago, and it wasn’t like that.

But I want us to fly first class in regard to our faith. And as we think about that concept, I want to take you to a passage in Ephesians, several actually, I want to talk about the prayers Paul prays in Ephesians. So many rich texts here that we can look at in Ephesians as he talks about the eternal purpose that was carried out in Christ in Ephesians 3 and verse 11. As a result of that eternal purpose, we can have boldness and confident access through faith in him. We’re going to come back to that thought in just a second. Boldness and confident access through faith in him. And therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf. There were concerns about Paul and all the things that he’s enduring for the gospel.

He says, Don’t lose heart at those tribulations, for they are your glory, he says.

For one another, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge. And then this you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. I want to explore that thought, that phrase with you. This has something to do with being, as he says, strengthened by the Spirit in the ways the Spirit works, and we’ve been talking about that in our recent study of the Holy Spirit.

Certainly that involves, for the most part, how he has instructed us here. As the Spirit works in our inner man to produce in us a certain character, a certain mind, a certain faith, that as a result of that kind of growth and development, he says, that you might know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, which is an interesting thing to express, to know something that is really beyond our capabilities to truly know. But in the process of all of that, he says, the result is you are filled up. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Jesus said.

Not some kind of a second tier satisfaction with what we are in Christ, but really being filled up to all the fullness of God.

1. Boarding the Plane

And so as we examine this prayer, and one earlier in the book, just want to make a few observations tonight. I want to talk, first of all, about boarding the plane. And I realize as I talk about that we could have a lesson on the plan of salvation. What one must do to actually get on the plane. And of course, the fact that we can even fly on this plane, that we can be in Christ speaks to the wonderful grace of God that Phil preached about in our meeting. And we should never take that lightly or not mention it when we talk about the plan of salvation. Without the grace of God, anything that we might talk about in regard to our response is inadequate.

It is only by the grace of God that any of us are on the plane. So understand, and that’s a great motivating factor. I would just quote 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9 here, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. So this is a passage about grace. What does grace mean? That though he was rich for your sake, he became poor. Okay, that’s the grace of God. But Jesus descended from heaven and took upon himself the likeness of men. He was rich, he became poor. That’s the message of grace in a nutshell. And we know what he did when he came. He paid the price for our redemption. The precious blood of a lamb without spot, without blemish, even the death on the cross.

Though he was rich for your sake he became poor, what? That you through his poverty might become rich. I want to suggest to you that there wouldn’t be any quibbling about the requirements for boarding the plane or what it means to fly first class and the effort that needs to be expended to do so. But there wouldn’t be any quibbling about that. If we truly apprehended the grace and connected with that, the love of Christ. I have been hearing about the love of God and the love of Christ my whole life. And perhaps I hope I appreciate the love of Christ right now more than I ever have. And when we sing about the love of Christ, I feel things that I didn’t feel when I was 15.

Not that you can.

As I’ve learned to appreciate just exactly the incredible thing that’s been done for me by Jesus Christ. But I tell you what, I think there’s still more to be gained. And I think when I reach 85, I’m not sure I will, but if I reach 85, that I would still say, I could have appreciated it more. To know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. But one of the things Phil mentioned is our confidence in our salvation. And he said something about, you know, asking for a show of hands and we’re going to do that. And I get it. I get it. Because a lot of folks sitting in fused like this think, well, you know, it’s I’d sort of like to make it, maybe.

But not a lot of confidence. How can we find confidence and assurance? Especially as you’ve been saying, as you said by introduction, that the destination isn’t a foregone conclusion. But once you get on the plane, that doesn’t mean your sign sealed for heaven. You can forfeit your seat. You said that. Then how can I have any confidence? I think perhaps in our answer to the false doctrine of once saved, always saved. That we haven’t spent enough time talking about how we can have assurance and confidence. Because it is obvious in John’s first epistle that he wants his audience to be confident in their salvation. These things I have written to you that you may know that you have eternal life. That it’s a very real hope that they have, that they will be with God forever.

The scriptures speak clearly. As we said in Hebrews chapter 10, that if we continue in the life of faith, that we can have assurance. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to walk perfectly. Yes, there is no darkness at all in God. And we are to walk in the light as God is light, according to 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7. But it also says if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. And we have fellowship one with another. And if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who’s the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world.

And so John makes it very clear that Christians will miss the mark from time to time. They will stumble. They will commit transgression. And so he’s not saying in 1 John that the Christian will never ever sin before God. And everybody says, thank you, because that’s not been my experience. I’ve not been perfect ever since I became a Christian. But there is a progression that he’s talking about, walking in the light as he is in the light. If we will stay on the path of faith, no matter the detours we shouldn’t have taken, the mistakes we’ve made, the sins we’ve committed since we became children of God, that can be remedied by this incredible offer of grace. We can find forgiveness. So many passages. You can be in the gall of bitterness and the bondage of iniquity, as Simon was.

And really that’s the case for all of us who sin. But we can find forgiveness from our merciful and gracious God. And we can have confidence that he who began a good work in us will complete it at the day of the Lord Jesus. Now that doesn’t mean you say, okay, God, I’m going to just let you do it all. The Hebrew writers say, no, that’s you’ve got to expend some effort here. Do not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherited the promises. Whatever we’re going to say about salvation, we need to take the entire new covenant as our text. And yes, there is expectations.

Get the grammar right. Just seeing if you’re awake, and you were. Some of you are smiling. But all is not hopeless when we have transgressed, unless we quit fighting the good fight of faith. Fight the good fight of faith and take hold of eternal life. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6 grab eternal life and don’t let it go. Regardless, I am not going to quit in this journey. Alright, back to the first prayer. And this is why Paul prays. Now remember the prayer we’ve just read in chapter 3. Now let’s go back to chapter 1. He said some incredible things there about what flying on this plane is all about. Chosen in him before the foundation of the world. That we should be holy and blameless.

He lavished his grace and his gifts upon us. Julianne’s favorite verses in chapter 2 about how the riches of God have been shared with us. And thus he says in his prayer in chapter 1, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. You know, the problem is as we fly the plane, sometimes we don’t see things as well as we should. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of his call. More on that in the conclusion. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? Now, I just got to say right there, are you one of the saints of God? Have you born at the plane?

If you’re on the plane, if you have been separated by your obedience to the Lord and the grace that allowed you to get on the plane. But I want you to know, as the saints of God separated for special service, vessels of honor, as we talked about this morning, fit for the master’s use, he says, these three words riches, glory, inheritance. In verse 18, what’s not to like about those three words? Think about it. Riches, glory, inheritance. And what is, and guess what? You’re not all by your lonesome. And what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. There you go. You keep trusting, you keep believing, you be undaunted in your pursuit of his will for you. And know that there is a surpassing greatness of power coming your way.

2. The View From the Plane

In fact, in Ephesians 3, after the prayer, he says, now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to him be the glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus to all generations. So secondly, I think I need to talk to you about the view from the plane. Once you’re on the plane, let’s talk about the view. I get to fly a lot. More than I would like. It seems like my meetings all used to be in Texas when I first came to Texas. You know, nobody enemy. And so I would get a gig in Texas here and there. First meeting, I drove an hour to college station. You know, that’s not very far, but as time goes on, especially when I preached in Alabama for three years, I had never preached in Alabama ever.

And I go to Alabama about every year, going there twice this, Lord willing. So, I’ve got a rule. If it’s more than 500 miles, I don’t drive. I fly. Don’t like it. I don’t like flying. But necessary evil. I go see my parents in Florida. That’s more than 500 miles. Southwest, direct flight. I’m going to fly. I can be there in a couple hours. If I can get across town in a couple hours, that’s another story. But whenever I fly, getting having said all of that, I can do this. Whenever I fly, there’s a seat that I always want. Well, I like to be in the front, but I don’t always get that. You know, Southwest, you gotta, you gotta pay money to get an A, usually.

I’m too cheap for that. I’m still I’m getting beat. Be morning fast. But when I get on the plane, there’s a seat I always want, and that is windows. Now, I don’t really like being pinned in, especially when you’ve landed and you’re trying to de-play, and it just seems to take forever, and I’m getting claustrophobic at that point. I’ve got to get off this plane. But what I love about sitting by the way, and it never gets old, is the view. I don’t know. I just, every single time, and I fly five or six times a year. Every single time I look out the window of the plane, I go, wow. God’s creation is so majestic. We’re flying above the mountains, and then we start descending, and we can see the mountains when you’re flying somewhere else, other than Houston.

And you can see the mountains. And you see, finally, I like we get blowing up, you can finally see the cars on the roads. Oh, we’re getting close to ground. You see the buildings. And it’s just incredible that we can even do that. That we can even fly in jets. I love the view. Now, this if you don’t like the view when you fly, maybe this lesson is really for you. You should never take that as not a big deal. It’s a big deal. But I think some people have the same problem in regard to faith. It’s the view that’s all messed up. We don’t realize what we have. Instead, we focus on things like, well, it’s a lot of work to go to services. A lot of sacrifice to be made.

It’s really not that much. But it’s a lot of sacrifices.

I’ve got to pull myself out of the recliner, got to drive 20 minutes, got to get dressed, got to look halfway decent. A lot of other things I could be doing. And we look at all the negatives, all the challenges of it. And we think it is a mountain. And some folks, it gets to be so much of a mountain, we see them less and less and less and less. And I’ll tell you what the problem is. They’re just not, the view is messed up. They don’t realize the grace that has been extended to them and how marvelous it is to bring it on the plane. And so if you’re looking at worship as, well, he’s almost done, thankfully. If it’s a have to, rather than a want to.

But you’re flying second class. When you could be flying first class.

That are troubling. That are challenging. He’s concerned about his tribulations and how they might be responding to that or their own personal tribulations. And he says, look, I just pray that the eyes of your heart are enlightened and that you know what you have here. So often, you know, we get sideways, something happens, and we get disappointed in someone, and this happens and that happens, there’s a little conflict that unfolds, and people don’t behave exactly like they should all the time. And we go through some personal crisis, and all of a sudden we’re gonna take it out of the Lord. Preaching this lesson for one reason. I’ll be doing this till my dying days. I’ve made this my mission. To try to help Christians, to realize the value of what we have in Christ.

As I mentioned in Ephesians chapter one. The fact that we are his chosen. The summing up of all things in Christ, and we are a part of it. We have a window seat to it all. And back to Ephesians chapter 3. He says, what? To know the incomparable love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge. That’s the pursuit. To know and appreciate the love of Christ more and more, to marvel at his gift, to praise him with our lips and our lives, and to imitate him. Imitate his love. However, imperfectly, I know sometimes I look at myself and I know that the way I imitate his love is far less than what he showed me. But again, there’s no reason to give up. You keep walking the direction you’re supposed to do.

You keep working at it. You don’t give up. And that’s really the point of Roman. This is something we do. It’s independent of circumstances, no matter how troubling they may be to us, we can even exult in tribulations. Knowing that the tribulation brings about perseverance and proven character and hope and a hope that does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. We have been taught how to love. And what life is really all about? We’re in the know, people. As we come to know more and more.

3. The Destination

I love that. I’m headed on this path. I don’t know where it’s going, but I don’t know where. We know where we’re going. We know the destination. What is the destination? What is it exactly? If you were to sum up what the destination is in five words or less, what would you say? The destination in five words or less. Yeah.

Heaven?

Separated from sin? Early gates. Early games.

Being with God forever. That’s four. That’s good. That’s close to where I’m going. Home. Home. These are all good answers. Anybody? I am going to heaven. Going to heaven. I think Ephesians 3 helps us to define that even better. It’s being in the presence of God. But it’s more than that. It is loving God without him. That’s what we’re working on here. That’s what we are honing and perfecting is our love for God. All that God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9. That’s what’s revealed in the gospel. What eye has not seen and ear he has not heard. All that God has prepared for those who love him. What is the pursuit? What is this plane ride all about?

It is learning to return or reciprocate the love of God and what heaven is, it is treasure, it is wonderful, it’s going to be fascinating. It’s going to fill us up forever and ever. There will never be a dual moment. There will no more boredom. Thankfully. Look, if we ever get bored in our days of technology, that ought to tell us something. We were meant for more than this. And we are going to a place where there will never be a minute where we are less than filled. Never a second where we will be less than filled. And what heaven is all about is that we will love God without end. So what we’re doing on this plane is we’re learning to love God better and deeper.

To know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge. Have you ever enjoyed an activity so much that you didn’t want it to end? Of course, the Masters has been on this weekend. That’s my favorite golf tournament. It’s the most beautiful golf course in the world. And I enjoy watching the Masters every year. But you know, if it was on every single day, if they played that tournament 365 days a year, of course they freezed to death in the winter, but it wouldn’t be the same. After about four days, I’m ready to move on. Now I know Disney World is better than that. I know Laura was thinking as well, might as well go ahead and say it. But I think Even Laura. After about a hundred days in a row, especially if she’s running around with the three kids.

After a hundred days, maybe a hundred and fifty. Days in a row of Disney World, she’d say, okay.

I’ve had enough. I don’t care what it is. That’s the nature of our lives here. Even if there was a movie that you love to watch over and over, your favorite musical, I can’t believe you’d have one of those. But being in the presence of God will never get old. Not for a day, not for a minute, not for a second. And as we make choices, as we develop character, as we worship regularly, consistently, faithfully, as we make choices out in the world to live holy lives in the midst of awful ungodliness, as we strive to be examples to others, please keep in mind where we are headed. And we are rapidly closing in. Salvation is nearer to us than when we believe. We are going to a place where we will truly, ultimately be filled up.

Conclusion

And you’ll find that only there. Where you can love God, the most awesome persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Bask in their presence forever. That’s why you need to board the plane. That’s why you need to fly with the proper view. And that’s why the destination is worth every sacrifice. Do you need to get on the plane while there’s time and opportunity? You need help with the view. We’re here to assist you. Let’s stand and sing.