Access to the Father
A Sermon on Ephesians 2:18
Scripture
18For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Sermon Description
In this sermon on Ephesians 2:18 titled “Access to the Father,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks of the solution to the struggle to understand the love of God. It could be because people don’t understand that the three persons of the Trinity have acted in time, each to pursue the Christian’s salvation who must feel the weight of that truth. The Father planned salvation, the Son was sent by the Father to give of Himself to accomplish salvation, and the Holy Spirit has been sent by the Father and the Son to apply redemption. Also, this shows the wretchedness of sin. “Sin is as great a problem as this: that it necessitated the three person of the Trinity to deal with it,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones states. However, removing enmity with God was not the ultimate reason, but God’s “objective” was to bring His people to Himself. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones notes, this is the “whole object and purpose of salvation.” He made His people to enjoy Him and that is His end goal. Therefore, the questions must be asked: “Do you enjoy God? Do you enter into His presence? Do you go before Him with confidence because of what Jesus has done on your behalf? Do you come before Him by His Spirit?”
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon text is Ephesians 2:18 - "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."
- This verse highlights the doctrine of the Trinity - the Father, the Son (him), and the Holy Spirit (one Spirit).
- The three persons of the Trinity are interested in our salvation and work together to accomplish it.
- The ultimate goal of salvation is to know God as our Father. We have access to the Father through the Son by the Spirit.
- The word "access" means introduction or approach. Jesus introduces us to the Father and gives us access to him.
- Knowing God as our Father is the grand end and object of salvation, not just being happy or freed from sin. Eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son.
- Under the Old Covenant, only the high priest could enter the holiest place of the tabernacle, and only once a year. But now we all have access through Christ.
- God becomes our Father through Christ and the Spirit. We can call upon God as our Father.
- As Christians we have the same relationship with God as Jesus - he is our Father. God loves us as he loves Jesus.
- Do we enjoy and experience this access to the Father? Do we know his love? Do we approach him with confidence as our Father?
- Have we entered the "holiest of all" - have we experienced intimate fellowship with God? Do we go to him instinctively with all our cares?
- The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. We can enjoy fellowship with God now, even in this life.
- God's love is so great that the Trinity worked to give us access to enjoy companionship with the Father now and forever.
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.