Go with me, if you would, back
to Ephesians 1. While I was studying for the
Bible study in verse 2, I read on down through the chapter.
And as soon as I read verse 3, which says, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Those last two words. When I read those last two words,
I read them like it was the first time I'd ever seen them in my
life. It blessed my heart. In Christ. In Christ. That is the key to
it all. That's the key to it all, isn't
it? I mean, if you want to cut down to the heart of it all, It's all in Christ. It's all in Christ. It's all in Christ. God is a
God of love. But only in Christ. Only in Christ. Outside of Christ, He said He's
a God of vengeance. God is a God of mercy. He is a God of Wonderful mercy. Kind, loving, tender mercy, but
only in Christ. Outside of Christ, he said he's
a God of wrath. Hebrews 10 says, it is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And the reason is because Exodus
34 says, He will by no means clear the guilty. And we're all
guilty. We're all guilty. Every soul
is going to have to stand before God. And they're either going to stand
there one of two ways. They're either going to stand
there in Christ or outside of Christ. The only hope that we
have is if God will put us in Christ. I mean, you can strip
down everything else but that. You can take away everything
else you want to talk about. It comes down to this. Has God
put us in Christ? In Christ. Because chapter 2 verse 1 says
we're all naturally in the flesh dead in trespasses and sins. It's really not about what a
person, you know, thinks or believes or does or this or that. We're
all dead. Spiritually dead in trespasses
and sins. Verse 2 says we naturally walk
according to the course of this world. We're just going the way
of the world, the course of the world. According to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. Verse three says, none of us
are exempt. It's all of us. Among whom also
we all had our conversation in time past in the lust of the
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Verse 11 says, Wherefore remember
that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, and that's us,
who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands, the Jews, that at that time you were
without Christ. being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope, and without God in the world." To be without Christ
is to be without hope. No hope before God. No hope at all. Oh, verse 13 says, but now in
Christ. in the Lord Jesus Christ. All the spiritual blessings of
God come to a sinner who is in Christ. All the spiritual blessings
of God. If you'll turn back a few pages
to 2 Corinthians 11. 2nd Corinthians 11 verse 3 says,
but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through
his subtlety So your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ. And that's what I want us to
look at this morning. The simple, simple truth. The simple blessings. The simplicity of what we have
in Christ. The blessings of God. Back in
Ephesians 1, from verse 3 to verse 14, Seven blessings are named. Seven blessings are given that
we have in Christ. Seven great, wonderful, spiritual
blessings that we have in Christ. Verse 3 says, Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, Here's the
first one. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. What a blessing. What a blessing. He chose us. He chose us. God choosing sinners
who were at enmity against Him. Enemies of Him. Dead in the corruption
and the decay of sin. God choosing to reach down. Don't you love that song? When
He reached way down for me. God choosing to reach down and
lay hold of some of those sinners. and draw them to himself. That
has to be the sweetest, most loving, most kind, most precious declaration that
could ever be told. The blessing, God's great blessing
of election. What a blessing from God. Look
with me at John 15. John 15 verse 16 our Lord said. You have not chosen me. But I have chosen you. And ordained
you. Remember that word ordained I've
chosen you and ordained you. That you should go and bring
forth fruit. And that your fruit should remain. that who whatsoever you shall
ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. He said,
you have not chosen me. Who is he talking to? All of
us. He said, you have not chosen
me. The flesh naturally will not
choose God. There is no rejection in election. I'm gonna let that sink in for
just a second. There is no rejection in election. I'll let it sink
in a little more. There is no rejection in election. Many people naturally think that
God's election is God choosing to accept one and choosing to
reject another. That is not so. That is not so. If God makes a sinner willing
to come to Him, not willing to come to His own works, not willing,
I mean willing to come to Him. If God makes a sinner willing
to come to Christ, He Himself said in John 6, I will in no
wise cast that sinner out. I will not do it. I will not
do it. There is no rejection in election. Men will not come to Christ on
their own. On their own. The flesh is the
natural enemy of Christ on its own. Condemnation comes to sinners
when God leaves them alone. He leaves them alone. The Pharisees
and the people that were Following the Pharisees in religion. He
said leave him alone. Just leave him alone They're
blind leaders of the blind and they're all gonna fall into the
ditch Had God left us alone we would
have just remained dead in trespasses and sins Had he left us alone
but in his loving kindness He chose not to leave us alone And because of his choice, Romans
8 verse 33 says, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's
elect? It's God that justifies. Turn
with me over to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Second Thessalonians 2, look
at verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning, from the beginning of the world,
before the foundation of the world, chosen you to salvation. Election is unto salvation. chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. What
a blessing. What a blessing. Go with me back
to Ephesians 1. Here's the second great spiritual
blessing. Verse 5. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. Predestinated means to appoint
beforehand. It means to ordain to. He said, I have ordained you.
It means to limit in advance. Here's a great blessing of God,
a great, great blessing of God. For every sinner that he chooses
in Christ, he ordains. He limits in advance everything
about that sinner in order to bring that sinner and every sinner
that he ordained to one spot in the end. They're all ordained. They're all limited into one
final place. Christ. Christ. We first start out running
over here and running over there. And I mean in the things of religion
and in the things of the world. But what about this? And what
about that? And He starts taking these things away from us. Stripping
them from our mind. stripping them from our hearts.
And He narrows us and narrows us and narrows us until we finally
arrive at the feet of Jesus Christ, bowing down before Him, believing
on Him. That's predestination. Look with
me at Acts 13. Turn over to Acts chapter 13. Acts 13 verse 48 says, And when
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word
of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And every time we come here,
I have to say, notice how it doesn't say, As many as believed
were ordained to eternal life. It does not say that. It says
as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. That's predestination. That's predestination. God's
spiritual blessing to a sinner. Go with me to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 29 says, for whom
he did foreknow, and the word translates elect, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. He brings
his people to Christ. And 1 John 3 says, we don't know
what we shall be, but we know that as soon as we see him, we're
gonna be just like him. He's gonna bring us straight
to Him. And when our eyes physically see Him, we're gonna be changed
in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, we're gonna be just like
Him. And it says in verse 29, whom He did foreknow, He also
did predestinate. He limited them in advance to
bring them to Christ, to be conformed to the image of His Son. that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
That's amazing, isn't it? That's amazing. All right, go
back to our text. Here's the next blessing. Verse 6 says, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. He chose us, He predestinated
us, and He made us accepted. He made us accepted, and all
of this happened, it says, in the Beloved, in Christ. It all
happened in Christ. What had to take place in order
for Christ to make sinners like us accepted by God? What had to happen? Chapter 2. We just read the first three
verses and it told us what terrible, wretched sinners we were. But
verse four says, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins. And is that not glorious? I tell
you what, if you want God to love you, you better get rid
of your sins and you better clean up your act and make yourself
worthy to enter heaven where even when we were dead in sins.
He quickened us together with Christ. What does that mean,
He quickened us together with Christ? Look at verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For He is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished
in his flesh the enmity." That hatred, the enemy. Abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances for to make in himself, in him. This all happened
in him. He bore our sin in his body. And He sanctified us and cleansed
us and redeemed us in Himself. And He made of twain one new
man, so making peace. That's what it took for the beloved
Christ to make us accepted by God. Back in chapter 1, verse
7 says, In Christ. In whom? In Him. We have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace. Can we fathom the blessings?
Can we fathom the blessing that God has given us in Christ? He
chose us. He predestinated us. He accepted
us. He redeemed us. in full, paid our price, reinstated. Verse 8 says, wherein he hath
abounded toward us, he's enlightened us, notified us of these things,
called us to it. Verse 8 says, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, whose will is it? having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he
hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him."
The notification is everything he has purposed to do, everything
he's done. And everything he has purposed
to do, he has called us to an understanding of who he is and
what he's done for us. And this is the greatest blessing
of the call to me. When he calls a sinner, this
is, this is the greatest blessing to my heart. Look with me at
first Corinthians chapter one. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 26 says, For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble, are called. I'm not a wise man. Not in the flesh. I'm not mighty. I'm not noble. But God said He's
hid these things from the wise and prudent and He's revealed
them unto babes. Simple minds like mine. If it's
not simple, I can't do anything with it. I can't retain it. I
can't understand it. Verse 27, God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
that are mighty. Is it not interesting that when
He came, And he walked this earth. He did not walk into the temples
and the colleges and draw disciples out of those. The teachers and
the leaders and Gamaliel. Saul of Tarsus sat under Gamaliel. Gamaliel was the most famous
professor of seminary. And the Lord didn't call him.
He went and called a bunch of stinking fishermen. And everybody
they talked to said, man, these are ignorant and unlearned men. You mean you don't know about
this and you don't know about that and you don't know? No, we know
about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. None of those things I have,
but what I have I give to you in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Verse 28, He said, Base things
of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen,
yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that
are. Why? That no flesh should glory in
His presence. Throughout eternity, there's
not a soul there that is going to glory in His presence. Not
a soul there. They're all gonna know what verse
30 says. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus. We have to be in Christ. We have
to be in Christ. How do we get in Christ? How
do we get in Christ? If it is this vital, how do I
get in Christ? Of God are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. I'm not wise, but if I have Him,
I have all the wisdom of eternity. I'm not righteous. There's none
righteous, no not one, but He's my righteousness. Walk up to the gate. What right
do you have to come in? Everything He did. He's my righteousness. He's my righteousness. Did you
forgive? Yep. I did in Him. Did you hold your tongue? I sure
did. I did in Him. Did you love your neighbor as
yourself? Were you willing to lay down
your own life for your neighbor? I sure did. I did in Him. He's my righteousness. He's my
sanctification. How pure are you? Did you keep
yourself pure? I sure did. I did in Him. Have you paid everything that
was owed in order to come in here? Sure did. I did in Him. Verse 31 says that according
as it is written, He that glorieth, Let him glory in the Lord. Where
is boasting then? Right there. Right there. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Oh, if God reveals to a sinner
what it means to be in Christ, buddy, he'll glory in the Lord.
He will. He will glory in the Lord. He'll
say, what a blessing. Man, what a blessing. Go back
to our text. Almost finished. Verse 11 says, In whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, He has enriched us. Not only
did He not kill us. Once a person gets a hold of
his sin, can't be washed off. Once a person gets a hold of
what he is inside. Sin is not what we've done, it's
what I am. what I am. And once we get a
hold of that, it is amazing that not only did He not kill us,
the wages of sin is death. Not only did He not kill us,
and not only did He pay the price to redeem us, but He has enriched
us. Turn back six or eight pages
to 2 Corinthians 8. You have to see this. 2 Corinthians
8. Verse 9, For you know the grace, you know
the freely bestowed gift, the kindness, the favor. You know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet
for your sakes He became poor. that you, through his poverty,
might be made rich." That means everything he had. What does
he have? All things. Everything he had, he gave it
to his people. Everything he had. He became
poor, all the way to the grave. In Christ, we have been given
all things. And that's not figuratively,
that's literally. He said, I've created a new heaven
and a new earth for you. All things. If we have him, we
have it all. We have it all. One more blessing
is listed in our text. Go back to Ephesians 1. Verse
11 says, In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom you
also trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, you
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession
unto the praise of His glory. He sealed us. He sealed us. We are sealed until the day that
He returns to receive His possession to glory for all eternity. He has sealed us by His Holy
Spirit. In Christ, we're preserved. In Christ, we are being kept
by the power of God. We are being kept Preserved by
the power of God. He said they're in my hands and
I'm in my father's hand and no man is able to pluck them out
of my father's hand No, man Seven great blessings in Christ. He
chose us He predestinated us he accepted us he redeemed us
he enlightened us he enriched us and he sealed us and And the
end of verse 14 says, every bit of that is unto the praise of
his glory. If any man glory, let him glory
in the Lord. All right, let's all stand together.