Hannah and I had some people
over for dinner a few years ago. And Hannah asked me, what do
you think we ought to have for dessert? And I told her, I think
we ought to have banana splits. You remember that? And she said,
banana splits? I said, banana splits? I hadn't
had one of those, and that's old school dessert. Simple and
good. You know, well I could make a
trifle upside down layered stacked thing. No, let's just do banana
splits. Cut a banana open and put ice
cream on it and squirt something on it and eat it. We have people over for dinner.
What should I make? Meat and potatoes. Meat and potatoes. Roast and potatoes. Simple and
good. If you need something savory, spiritually
speaking, I have roasted potatoes this morning. And if you're craving
something sweet, I have bananas and ice cream. I have Ephesians
1. Does it get any better than Ephesians
1? Look at verse 1. It says, Reverend. No, it says Doctor. Bishop. Your Grace. Worst one yet, Father. No, it just says Paul. Just Paul. Men love to turn their collars
around backwards and they love to be praised by other men. You know that? I want to show you something
though. Go with me to Matthew 23. Matthew 23, this is our Lord
speaking and He's talking about false preachers. Matthew 23,
look at verse 5. He said, "...all their works
they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries
and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost
rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues, and
they love greetings in the markets. They love to be called of men,
Rabbi, Rabbi. How you doing, Rabbi? Great Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi, that
means master, for one is your master, even Christ, and all
ye are brethren. and call no man your father upon
the earth." Now, he's not saying, don't call any man dad. This is talking about religion.
It's talking about preachers and religion. He says, call no
man your father upon the earth, for one is your father which
is in heaven. He said, don't do it. Don't do
it. Don't walk up to a man in a black
dress with a white collar and say, Father, don't do it. Go to Psalm 111
with me. Psalm 111, look at verse 9. He sent redemption unto His people. You know who that is? You know
who redeemed His people? Jesus Christ. He sent redemption
unto His people. He hath commanded His covenant
forever, holy, And reverend is His name. Did you know that's
the only time the word reverend is in the Bible? That's the only
time. And this says, holy and reverend
is His name. The name reverend belongs to
one man only, and that is Jesus Christ. You're welcome to call
Him sinner. How are you doing today, sinner?
People love to do that. How are you doing, reverend? You doing all right today, sinner?
That's what he is. Galatians 6.3 says, If any man
think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth
himself. So go back with me to Ephesians
1. Verse 1 says, Paul. Now, do we love our brother Paul?
Yes, we do. Do we respect our brother Paul? Yes, we do. I respect the office
that God has given him. I really do. But he does not
demand that respect out of anybody. Never. I usually refer to him
as the Apostle Paul. When I'm talking about him, normally
I say the Apostle Paul. But you will never hear him refer
to himself as the Apostle Paul. Never. Now, he does not shy away
from the truth of what God has done. He says right here, Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ. But he never went around telling
anybody, hi, how you doing, the Apostle Paul. Never. Never. Let me show you what he did tell
people. Turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1, look at verse
15. This is Paul speaking. He said, This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Did you notice he didn't say
was? Oh man, I used to be something.
You ain't going to believe what I used to be. No, he said, I
am. But don't you preach? Yes, I
am. I am chief. He said, I am the
greatest sinner on the earth. Be very leery of men who introduce
themselves as Reverend so and so. Father so-and-so, Bishop
so-and-so, Pastor so-and-so. Don't just be leery of them,
run from them. Run from them. Now, you'll hear men and women
introducing others that way. They'll say, this is my pastor.
I love the men that God called to preach the truth to me. Thank
God somebody told me the truth finally amid all these lies.
And I love and respect those men, and I might introduce one
of them as Pastor So-and-so, but you won't hear God's men
calling themselves in a reverent way. They just don't do that.
They don't do that. Go with me back to Ephesians
1. Verse 1 says, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the decision that I made to turn over a new
leaf." It does not say that, does it? He said, I am what I am by the
will of God. By the will of God. You see,
chapter 2 says, without God, without the hand and the work
of God, We are all dead in our trespasses and sins. Isn't that
what it says in verse 1? Chapter 2 verse 1. You hath he
quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. And a dead man has
zero will. If he's really dead. A dead man cannot will. A dead
man cannot decide to do anything. Well, isn't it about time you
make your decision? No, I'm dead. Right? A dead man cannot give his heart
to Jesus. He's dead. A dead man cannot
rededicate a life he does not have. He's dead. And the only hope that a sinner
has of living, chapter 2, verse 5 says, if a man is going to
live, God must quicken him together with Christ. We'll just continue
the theme we started in the Bible study. This is all about Christ. Life
comes through the gift of Jesus Christ. Life comes to whoever
God gives Christ to. So Paul says in chapter 1, verse
1, I was made an apostle of Christ by the will of God. And I'm here
to tell you this morning, everything that I am, most importantly to
me, is a believer. I was made that by the will of
God. Everything I am was by the will of God. God did it and God
gets the glory for it. Verse 1 says, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to every single person
which is in Ephesus. No, it doesn't say that. It says
to the saints. To the saints. This epistle was
not written to every single person in Ephesus. You know that? And
this entire book was not written to every single person on the
face of this planet. It just was not. But false preachers
have lied to men and women by telling them that the promises
of God are to every single person born into the world. Now, if
I wrote my wife a letter, and if I said, I love you, and
I commit myself to you, wholly, completely to you, and everything
that I have, everything that's in our house is yours, and everything
that's in our account is yours, I have a ring. that was my grandfather's. It's a gold ring. It's got to
be worth billions. But it's worth something to me,
I tell you that. I have a ring that was my grandfather's,
and he gave it to my father, and my father gave it to me.
And it's yours. If something happens to me, it's
yours. All right? Now, what if somebody got a hold
of that letter and posted it on Facebook? And the headline as you scroll
down through there that comes up in the headline said, Gabe
Stoniker has written a letter to every woman in the world.
Good news. He wants to give you everything
he has in his bank account. It would be lies. Did I say that? Yes, I did. But did I say that
to every woman in the world? No. I said it to her. It would be nothing but lies.
They would have then turned the truth of Gabe Stoniker into a
lie. You see that? This is a letter from God to
His bride. That's who this letter is to.
The bride that He redeemed. Who did Christ redeem? Who did
He die for? That's what redeem means. He
died for them. He shed His blood and He paid the debt that their
sin incurred. Who did Christ die for? Who did Christ die for? I heard it was everybody. Where in His letter does it say
that? John 3.16. Okay, well let's go to John 3.16.
Turn with me over to John 3.16. John 3.16 says, For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Okay? Well, while we're here, why don't
we see what it says before verse 16 and after verse 16 so we can
make sure we understand verse 16. Look at verse 3. Jesus answered
and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." So whoever
is not born again, Christ didn't die for them. Because I'm telling
you the truth, whoever Christ died for is going to see the
kingdom of God. All right, verse 8 says, The
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.
You can stand in your yard and all of a sudden, you didn't see
it coming, you don't know where it's going. He said, So is every
one that is born of the Spirit. Whoever Christ did die for, to
bring them back to life. That's why He died. To bring
them back to life with Him. Whoever Christ did die for, they
were chosen by the will of God. And they didn't see it coming.
They didn't make a decision. It happened to them without their
ever seeing it coming. So is everyone that is born of
the Spirit. God's Spirit is the one who brings
faith. That is what God's Spirit does.
He brings faith, this ability to believe. Now look at verse
18. It says, He that believeth on Him is not condemned. Whoever believes, that's whoever
has received God's Spirit. But he that believeth not, whoever
has not received this gift from God, totally by the will of God,
is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God." Did Christ die for everybody? No, He didn't. And I say that
truthfully. Truthfully, that's what the Word,
His own Word says. He said over in John 17, I pray
not for the world, I pray for them which thou hast given me. He died for the ones that His
Father chose to send His Spirit to. He died
for the ones that His Father chose to make them full of faith,
causing them to believe on Christ. Now look back at Ephesians 1
with me. Verse 1 says, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are
at Ephesus, and to the faithful, those that have been made full
of faith in Christ Jesus, wherever they may be, those who are full
of faith, made that by the will of God. Verse 2 says, Grace be
to you. The gift is to you and peace
from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord means, and we just said
this a minute ago, but it means Jehovah God. Jesus Christ himself
said, Moses wrote of me. Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. And he said, every bit of that
that Moses was talking about, when Moses met God in the burning
bush and God spoke out of that bush, he said, that was me. Jesus Christ, the one who was
born of a virgin and walked this earth, is the God Jehovah. Lord. Jesus means that very same God
became a man. lived as a man for us, as a substitute
for me, a man died for me. The Lord Jesus Christ means the
union of both, God and man in one being. 100% God, 100% man and one being,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Not this man Jesus everybody's
talking about. And they put him on their bumper
sticker and all those kinds of things. And he, this man is a
good man and he wants to save you. Now, come on, what's wrong
with you? Why won't you let him save you? Because I'm dead. That's why. And if He's not God, and if He
doesn't do something about it and grab a hold of me and create
life, I will never let Him save me. Whoever has the final say
is God. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 3, He 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." Now here's what's
amazing. This God, who is the God, this
God who does not put up with sin, has blessed some sinners. And it's amazing. He has blessed
us. Who? The saints, the faithful in Christ. And every spiritual blessing
of heaven is only going to be had in Christ. All of heaven's blessings are only going to be had in Christ.
That's it. Christ is the blessing. And if
we're in Him, if we have Him, then the blessings are to us.
Now what are some of the blessings? Verse 4 says, according as He
hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world."
He chose us to be in Christ before the foundation of the world.
What a blessing that is. Do you know why? Go over to Romans
9. Romans 9, look at verse 11. It
says, For the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to
election, might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth,
it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger, as it
is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Can't believe God would hate
somebody. I can't believe God would love somebody. You know
us? Before the children were ever
born, before any good or evil was done, long before any of
that, that's when God did all of His choosing. What a blessing. The reason is because every single
person in this room has done nothing but evil since the day
he was born. Oh, that ain't true. No, I gave
to the children's home and I did some things and I'm proud of
it, which is the first thing God hates. Right? Some men lie and and tell people
that God looked down through time to see who would do good
and who would come to Him and that's who He decided to save.
That is not true. God looked down all right. Psalm
14 says, God looked down from heaven and all that He saw was
a bunch of unworthy sinners. That's all He saw. He said there's
none that doeth good. No, not one. No, not one. So here's the blessing. Here's the blessing to all who
were chosen to be put in Christ. Go back with me to Ephesians
1, verse 4 says, 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. He chose for us to be this. Amazing grace we sing, right? Does anybody in here actually
believe that they're holy? Think about the thoughts that
go through our minds. Think about the rage that comes out in our
heart. Do you think we're holy? No. Do you think we're without blame?
No. But whoever is in Christ is holy
and without blame. As He is, so are we. Whoever
God puts in Christ. Why? Because you've become a
new person? No. Because we're in Christ. And
He has covered our sin, covered our wickedness, covered our everything,
and all God sees is Christ. That's why. And He chose us. He could choose
whoever He wanted to choose, but He chose us. Had He not chosen us, I would
have never chosen Him. You know that? I want to show
you this in John 5. Go over to John 5 with me. This is our Lord speaking. In
John 5, verse 40, He says, And you will not come to me that
you might have life." Who is he talking to? Somebody
individual? An individual right there who
was rebellious? Nope, he's talking to every soul on earth. You will
not come to me that you might have life. Why? Look at John 6 verse 44. No man can come to me, except
the Father which hath sent me draw him." You never leave where
you start. We're right back where we started.
A dead man can't come. Well, if you just come to Christ,
I know that, but I'm dead. I'm dead. He has to be put in
Christ, and if he's put in Christ, verse 44 goes on to say, Christ
will raise him up at the last day. What a blessing God's election
really is. It's such a blessing to be chosen
to be in Christ. Go to John 15 with me. John 15 verse 16 says, Henceforth
I call you not servants. No, I'm sorry, verse 16. You
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. That's Jesus Christ
speaking. You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you. That's the truth of salvation.
God does all of the choosing. Now go with me back over to Ephesians
1. Here's another blessing. Verse
5 says, "...having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will." God is the Father of every soul
on this earth. And the reason is because He
made every soul on this earth. Alright? Those old westerns say,
get ready to meet your maker. And that's true. God is the creator
of every soul on this earth. The God and Father of all. But
here's the blessing. Here is the blessing to all those
who are in Christ. Not only is He their Father by
creation. He is also their father by adoption. And let me see if I can explain
the blessing to you. This is a true story of a man,
but a man and his son down in Mexico. And I know I've told
most of you this before, but you'll hear it a lot more in
my lifetime. I love this story. Brother Walter told it to me
and you know the men down in Mexico,
they don't make much money. Not at all. Those men work hard
for five dollars a day or something like that. And this was years
and years ago. And anyway, this little boy wanted
a kite. and he wanted his dad to buy
him a kite and his dad did not have the money. So that little boy tore all the
pieces. So his dad said, I tell you what,
we'll make a kite. So he got him some straight sticks
and whittled them down and got him some twine and made him a
frame and he got a real light cloth and they stitched it up.
And he got some streamers for a tail and he put a string on
it and let it fly and the thing took off. And it went up and
it went up and it went up until finally the string broke. And the kite blew over the trees
into their village, their little small town. And the boy was crushed. The next day, that little boy
was walking through town, walking right down the main street, and
he looked over in one of the shops, and sitting on a shelf
is his kite for sale. And he got so excited, he went
in and told the store owner, he said, Mr., that's my kite. And he said, no son, it's my
kite. He said, but sir, I made that
kite with my father. We made it together. He said,
son, I found this kite and now this kite belongs to me. And
if you want this kite, it's going to cost you two pesos. So the
little boy ran home and he said, dad, I found our kite. It's in
a store in town. It's in bondage. He won't let
it go. And if I'm going to get it back,
I'm going to have to pay the amount of money he demands to
get the kite back. And he said, it's two pesos.
So his father reaches into his pocket and he pulls out two pesos.
He says, there it is, son. That little boy runs back into
town and he lays the money on the counter and he said, two
pesos. The guy got the kite. handed it to that little boy,
and the store owner heard him say, and as he was walking out,
he said, you're mine. He said, you're twice mine. I
made you, and I bought you. That is the blessing that is
in Christ. God made every soul on this earth
and there's not one soul on this earth that hasn't sinned against
God. And He must punish sin. He cannot clear the guilty. But
in Christ, Christ paid the price. And Christ bought them back and
said, now you're mine. I made you and I bought you. And in Christ, you're going to
get to go back home. That is the blessing of being
in Christ. That's why salvation is in Christ. Verse 5 says, "...having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will." Why did that little boy go by
that kite? Because the kite willed for the little boy to come by
it? No. That kite was dead. There was no life in that kite. Anything that kite does is by
the will of the child, the son. Right? And He willed to redeem
that tithe. And that's what He did. Verse 6, He said, He did it to
the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us
accepted in the Beloved. How did He do that? Verse 7 says,
in whom we have redemption. That means that payment. What
was the cost? His blood. through forgiveness
of sins, and He did it all to the riches of His grace. God made every soul, and every
soul sinned, but thank God for that blood. Thank God for that
blood that God gave some sinners to Christ, and Christ gave His
own blood, shed His own blood, and they're accepted. In the
Beloved, they are accepted. Now look at verse 8, we're almost
finished. wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
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." This is what he just said. God
purposed everything. Men say, God has a wonderful
plan for your life. No, He doesn't. He purposed everything about
your life. Predestinated it. Isn't that
what we just read? God purposed everything and then
God accomplished everything. And then He told us about everything
He purposed and accomplished. That's what that just said. That's
the truth. Well, what am I supposed to do about my salvation then?
Well, if God puts you in Christ, your salvation was accomplished
before you were ever born, before the foundation of the world.
If God puts you in Christ, rest in Him. rest in His promises. Verse 11 says, we have obtained
an inheritance. What is the inheritance? You
know what His letter says? All things. All things. Isn't that what Romans 8 says?
He spared not His own Son. How shall He not freely give
us all things? With Him, all things. Verse 11, 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. And He doesn't beg anybody to
let Him. He just works them. Verse 12, that we should be to
the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ. If God puts
you in Christ, trust Him. Trust Him. How will I know if
God put me in Christ? Here's where we have, we can't
stop without asking this question because I have told you that
Christ didn't die for everybody. He died for whoever God put him
in Christ, right? So here's what I need to know
before I walk out of that door. Who did God put in Christ? How
can I know if God put me in Christ? Verse 13 is the answer. In whom
you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth."
Somebody finally came and told me the truth. The gospel of your
salvation. The gospel means good news. That
means somebody finally told me it is done. Rest. In whom also after that you believed,
Somebody said, Christ did it all, rest. And I said, oh, that's
wonderful. Thanks be to God. He put that
faith in me. And I didn't say, I don't believe
that. Surely I've got to do something. He said, after 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. If God put you in
Christ, He will give you a heart. God will do it. He'll give you
a heart to believe His Word. If God put you in Christ, He
will give you a heart and a mind to believe His Word. That's your
evidence. Faith is the evidence. That belief
is the down payment. Verse 14 says it's your earnest. Your earnest. Have you ever bought
a house? Did you have to put some earnest
money down? Do you know what you were saying when you put
that money down? I promise. I promise. That heart of belief
for the Word of God is your promise. Now listen, it's not your promise
to God. It's God's promise to you. See,
God is doing all the paying here. The Lord Jesus Christ paid it
all. All the debt I owe. There was
a mortgage on me and Christ said, I will pay it. Now I'm going
to give you some earnest money that the price is already paid. Until I redeem you to glory,
take you off of this earth, I'm going to give you a heart to
believe not what the world is saying, but what my Word is saying. And that's your promise. That
is your earnest. Verse 13, in whom you also trusted
after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation, in whom, that's Christ, 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 already
purchased possession, and it's all unto the praise of His glory.
If God has placed us in Christ, we will all give God the glory.
We won't give man the glory. We won't say, man, I did a good
job on that one. We'll say, thank God. To God
be the glory. All right, let's stand together.