Take our Bibles and turn with
me to the book of Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Going through this glorious book
that Spirit of God moved upon the Apostle Paul to pen, to reveal
unto God's sheep the blessedness of their security in their election
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd like to deal tonight with
verse 7. Let's read verse 7, and then
we'll ask our Lord's blessing. Ephesians 1, 7 says, concerning
our Lord in whom we have redemption. through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Let's pray together. Our Father, as we call upon you
only in the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for
this blessed privilege to read your word. Lord, we ask that
you might be pleased. Teach us this evening. Lord,
grant that we might be able to worship. We are needy people. And we pray and praise you for
your goodness and your mercy and your grace and compassion
to us and our precious Savior. Forgive us where we failed you,
for Christ's sake. Amen. We considered, in these first
six verses that we dealt with, what the Scriptures revealed
to be these spiritual blessings, verse 3. in heavenly places, that is in
heavenly things, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now when we consider
spiritual blessings, now people, we talk about we've been blessed
of the Lord, we have. And we just took a breath of
air that we all desperately needed. That was God's air. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. But how thankful I am for the
blessing of being able to breathe. But the scripture sets forth
concerning God's people, those chosen in him, spiritual blessings,
That's what verse 4 says. Now you think about this. One
of these days, we're going to stand before God. And do you want to know all of
the hope that a man or a woman is going to have standing before
God Almighty? Here it is. That God chose to
show mercy to His people. The Scripture says in verse 4,
according as He hath chosen, that is, that He has selected,
He chose us in Christ, in Him, when? Before the foundation of the
world. And here was the reason that,
or in order that, We should be holy, that is sacred, pure, before Him. You talk about a
spiritual blessing that we'd be holy before Him, blameless
before Him, holy and without blame, without blemish, without
fault, before Him in love. What a spiritual blessing. God
Almighty chose to show mercy. Here's the second spiritual blessing
that we consider, verse 5. Having predestinated us, determined
the destination beforehand, God Almighty determined this destination. What? That we would be adopted. in the beloved. Whenever we read, I've been reading,
looking, preparation for the class, means class, for this
Saturday. We'll consider this issue of
prayer. Disciples ask the Lord one day
to teach us to pray as John taught his disciples to pray. And our
Lord in teaching them to pray was teaching them the characteristics. I don't want to deal with my
whole class tonight, but he was teaching them the characteristics
of a believer in that prayer. When we say, our Father, you
know what we're saying? Lord, by your grace, by your
mercy, and your compassion, and kindness, and electing grace,
you chose that you show mercy to me in
adopting me in the beloved, our father. I am your son by grace,
not by my will, not by my choice, but God chose to show mercy,
predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself. And listen to this, according
to the good pleasure of his will. Whose will was involved in any
son of Adam, of any man, any woman, whose will was it that
determined that a man or a woman born in Adam would be adopted
made a son of God, a child of the King, an object of His mercy. Who chose that? God chose it. Not me, not you. He did so according
to the good pleasure of His will. And here's the third blessing
that we consider. Verse 6, to the praise of the
glory of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. O object of his mercy, if he
has chosen to show mercy to you, if he'd given your heart to believe
that salvation is of the Lord, salvation's all of grace, no
works, Not of works. Not by the works of righteousness
that we've done. But according to His mercy. He chose to show mercy to us. Chose us in Christ. Outside of God's electing grace. The Apostle Paul said we'd all
been like Sodom and Gomorrah. Without hope. God the Father
chose a bride for His Son. And the scripture says, according
to Hosea 2.19, that the Son eternally betrothed Himself to her. Hosea 2.19, I will betroth thee
unto Me forever. How long has the bride been betrothed
to the Lord? How long has he been the husband? Ever. And in time, he's going
to reveal that to her. In time, he's going to teach
her that. In time, he's going to call her out of darkness.
Not only is he her husband, the husband of the bride, I'll tell
you what else he is. He's always been her priest. We need a priest before God. The scripture says in Hebrews
7.25, He ever liveth to make intercession for them. Hebrews 5.6, He is a priest forever. after the order of Melchizedek. No beginning of days, no end
of days, no father, no mother. He's forever been her priest. Let me tell you, when Adam rebelled
against God in the garden, and you remember the Lord told Adam,
He said, of all the trees the garden may freely eat, but of
the tree, the knowledge of good and evil. You're not going to eat of that
fruit. In the day, Adam, that you eat of that fruit, you're
going to surely die. In that day, in that day, that
Adam ate of the fruit, Do you know why Almighty God did not
obliterate mankind? Mankind was in that garden, Adam
and Eve. Do you know why God Almighty
did not obliterate? Adam and Eve, all of mankind.
You know why? Because He ever liveth to make
intercession. Because He's a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. The Father has ever seen the
blood, that blood slain from the foundation of the world that
the Father trusted Christ in. The priest answered. The priest
answered. The priest, out of the loins
of Adam, all of mankind would come forth. In Adam, they fell. But they never fell out of that
covenant of grace that David said, this is all of my hope.
This is all my salvation. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things. And sure, the priest answered. The priest stood. The priest
who is the altar, the priest and the sacrifice. I'll answer. I'll answer for her. I'll stand
for her. Almighty God's wrath was spewed
out upon the sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ himself and the
sheep. redeemed by the blood that in
time would actually be shed. But God ever saw it. Adam rebelled
against God. Mankind rebelled against God.
But the priest answered, the surety. The father had chosen
her to show mercy. Out of the loins of Adam, I was
going to say a while ago, was going to come all of mankind. Now, you think about the long-suffering
of God. God is long-suffering. Now, here's
a verse that's always misquoted. No, not always, but by and large,
it's misquoted. Man, by nature, will half-quote
a verse. You know, they give you half
a verse. Had somebody quoted this or called me here about
a week and a half ago. was informing me that he said,
you know, the scripture says that God's not willing that any
should perish. Well, that's half the verse.
The scripture says that God is long-suffering to usward, to
God's elect. to those he's chosen in Christ,
to those that the Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood. John chapter
10 verse 15, I laid down my life for the sheep. God is long-suffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. All that the Father chose to
show mercy. Christ redeemed, and the Spirit
of God is going to call him out. The Lord said that. All that
the Father giveth me, John 6, 37, shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast him out. How many
is going to come? All that the Father gave the
Son. In our Lord's high priestly prayer,
in John chapter 17, I'll read this to you if you want to turn
to it. John 17. Listen to these words, verse
2. As thou has given him power over all flesh, that means that
all things are in his hand. He orders all things, he worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. Thou has given
him power over all flesh. What are all men doing? whatever
the Lord determined. He turns the head of the king
like the river. God's in control. Thou has given
him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
who? To as many as thou has given
him. God's going to have his people.
He's going to save them. He's going to save them by grace.
And he's not looking to them. to fulfill all the requirements.
Christ finished it. The Lord Jesus Christ paid the
debt. God the Father chose a people
that He gave to the Son and the Son has forever stood for them
as their surety, as their priest, as their husband, as their Redeemer,
as their Savior, as their Lord, as their King. God Almighty is
going to show mercy to His people. And Christ is going to fulfill
all the obligations. The Father ever beheld the glorious
and willing sacrifice. His servant, His elect, His chosen,
Christ Himself. God's chosen and He chose us,
His people, in Him. And the Father who trusted the
Son looked to Him for every obligation that we owed. I think about this,
I heard Brother Henry say this years ago. He said, God the Father
chose a people in Christ, chose a people, Mitch, in the surety
and never looked to the sheep again. for the fulfillment. He looked to the surety. That's
a great comfort to me because I can tell you the little bit
I know about myself. If Almighty God was looking to
me to fulfill the obligation owed to God, owed to God's law,
I'm gone. I don't have any hope because
I'm telling you I know that in me, that is in myself, there
dwells no good thing. Now concerning him in whom all
these spiritual blessings are found, verse 7 says, in whom
we have redemption. We have the ransom paid in full. Redemption. Deliverance from
the bondage. The bondage of what? The bondage
of sin? The bondage of Satan? The obligation
to the law? The law says do and live. He must do for me. I can't fulfill the law of God. The law of God is holy, pure,
and just, and right. And I'm a rebel against God by
nature. We have redemption. You know,
there's no mortgage on God's people. Everything in this world
is subject to a mortgage. You say, well, my house is paid
for, my car is paid for, I don't owe anything. I said it's subject
to mortgage. What are you going to do if you
find yourself between a rock and a hard place? You've got
to put up your house for collateral. Everything is subject in this
world to a mortgage. I've got a house. It's my house.
Is it paid for? Well, yeah, it's paid for. Well,
it may not be. In whom we have redemption. There is no mortgage. There will
never be a mortgage on God's people. Our precious Savior says,
I give unto them my sheep eternal life, and they're never going
to perish. What was owed, he paid. And what
he paid was finished. And it'll never be brought up
for mortgage again by one sacrifice. The scripture sets forth, he
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, set apart by
God. The gifts calling of God or without
repentance. Everything that the Father eternally
purposed to bestow upon his people in Christ, holiness, acceptance,
sonship. The scripture says, in whom we
have We have redemption. We, possessed in His hand, we
have redemption and can never be lost. No man is able to pluck
them out of my hand. You know, if you, if somebody
says, well you can be lost, Well, then it wasn't eternal life then.
He said, I give unto them eternal life, and they're never going
to perish. Well, men said, well, you can
have it and lose it. Well, I'll say this then. Let God be true,
and every man a liar. God's sheep have redemption. Having assumed our nature, Having
assumed our guilt, he was made sin. That's what 2 Corinthians
5.21 says. Having answered to every demand
for God's law and for justice, having stood as our representative
before God Almighty, we have redemption. I said a moment ago,
he said, it is finished. So in whom we have redemption,
And here's where it is. It's through His blood. Through
His blood. Here's the foundation of our
redemption. Christ shed His blood, paid the
debt. That's when the ransom is paid
in full. The payment demanded was the
death, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Now, our Lord knew
no sin. There was no sin found in him
personally. But here's a great mystery, as
we've said before, and I'll be the first one to tell you again.
2 Corinthians 5.21, that I just quoted, he hath made him sin. who knew no sin, ye have made
him sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. I've seen men try to explain
that, and I'm sure gave a very good stab at it, but I'm telling
you the holiness and the mystery of that glorious verse I can
say, Lord Jesus, You who were made sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in You. Lord, for Your mercy and kindness
to us. Thank You. We have redemption
through His blood. And the Father, whoever sees
the blood, When I see the blood, I'll pass over you. When I see
the blood. You know, you walk into a store and the sign says
cash only. Cash only. You know what that
means? It means no checks, no credit
cards, no barter, no loans. It means cash only. What, the song says, what can
wash away my sin? Wash it away. What washes away, what cleanses
from the stain of sin, the pollution of sin, what cleanses the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not my will. My will does not cleanse me. My will is an evil will. That's what I'm born with. I'm
born with a wicked evil. Paul's little article wrote in
Saturday's paper, entitled, Are You a Wretched Sinner? Are you
a wretched sinner? That's what Paul said he was.
Oh, wretched man that I am. I think the last thing I put
on that article was this, but thanks be unto God. That's the
kind of people Christ came to save. Came to save sinners. Not the righteous. Sinners. We have redemption through His
blood. Through His sacrifice, and I
know we hear these precious words of redemption through His blood
and think to ourselves, I can't plumb the depth of that. I agree
with you. I can't either. But one of these
days, by the grace of God, we're going to see Him as He
is. All of those that Christ ever answered for, all that the
Father chose, all that He put in the Lord Jesus Christ, all
that He died for, all that He was buried for, all that He was
raised for. In that day, we're going to see
Him as He is. And we're going to know Him as
we're known. There's another depth that I
can't plumb, Neil. We're going to know Him as we're
known. We're going to be like Him. We're going to be like Him. You talk about a mystery. Greg
is the mystery of godliness. God manifests in the flesh. came into this world to redeem
a people that God Almighty everlastingly purposed would inhabit new heaven
and new earth. God purposed that these people
would inhabit that. Let me tell you how great a mystery
that is. First Peter 1.12 says the angels
desire to look into that. They desire to look into that.
This thing of redemption. in whom we have redemption through
His blood. Listen to this. The forgiveness
of sins. You know what that says to me
first? We're sinners. We're sinners. Sinners. Struggling with the presence
of sin. I know that the scripture sets forth Ezekiel 36, that He
has Taken out that stony heart. I'll remove that heart of stone.
As I've told you before, it means I beheaded it. I took away power to have dominion
over you. The presence of sin is still
there. If we say we have no sin, we
make God a liar. There's an old man that's still
struggling. A sinner. But what a blessing. even though we fail to realize
the depth of our rebellion against God. We know something of it. Paul, when Paul said, Oh wretched
man that I am, the Spirit of God had taught him that. And
for that he was thankful. And we are too. We're thankful.
But Almighty God has put away the guilt of his people. by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we have the forgiveness of
sins. Why? Because God's just. God is faithful and just to forgive
us of our sins. Now, you know, I know that man
thinks by nature that the Lord just says, oh, well, I know you
didn't mean it. Boys will be boys. God's just. God Almighty will not in any
wise clear the guilty. He's not going to clear the guilty.
Sin is going to be dealt with. It's going to be dealt with either
in that sinner or it's going to be dealt with in a substitute.
But God's going to deal with sin. And the only reason that
we have the forgiveness of sin The pardon of sin, forgiveness,
is because of the blood that paid the debt of it. When God's
people ask for forgiveness for Christ's
sake, God faithfully, justly forgives their sin because it's
been paid for. Not that he just overlooks it,
sweeps it under the rug. He paid the debt of it, redeemed. And we have the forgiveness of
sins. God's grace is the remedy. We have the forgiveness of sins
according, the scripture says, to the riches of His grace. In closing, remember this. Almighty God has been pleased
to put away our guilt in the precious Lord Jesus Christ. That, verse 4 says, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. There's only one
way. that we're going to be without
blame before Him in love. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
is going to have to be shed. The only way we're going to have
no blame is for Him to take our blame. And He took the blame
of His sheep. And He paid the debt. And now
Almighty God forgives us for Christ's sake. Always and ever will be. looking to the Son. Yes, in Adam we sinned, and we
died spiritually. We possessed that old heart of
stone. We were children of wrath, even
as others, wrathful toward God. All of God's elect were born
in Adam, hating God. The carnal mind in which we were
born is enmity against God. But God, who is rich in mercy,
showed mercy to his people with the praise of the glory of his
grace. He did something for us that
we couldn't do. For by grace are you saved through faith.
and that not of yourself. It's the gift of God. Redemption purchased our pardon. Look again, closing. In whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of his grace. The scripture says, blessed
are they, what, who are healthy, wealthy, and wise? No. Blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Lord, for Christ's sake,
bless these words to our heart.