Everything the Lord allows us
to step in of our own making is there for a good purpose.
And most of the time it's for that purpose of bringing us right
back to Him. Drawing us nearer to Him in all
ways. I'd like to ask you to turn in
your Bibles if you would to the first chapter of Ephesians. You know, some churches out there
would probably be sitting here going, oh no, he's going to preach
from Ephesians again. Here we go. Predestination. Yeah, I like that. I've always
enjoyed that. When God convicts us of what
we are, We know how dead we were before He shined His light in
our hearts, don't we? We know just exactly how dead
that was because we had nothing to do with the true and living
God. We didn't want anything to do
with Him. We were comfortable in our own little place right
here. Some of us even thinking that that was the most peaceful
place to be. Right, Mike? The Lord brings us under the
preaching of His true, sovereign, merciful grace and teaches us
He rules it all. My dad taught me a very valuable
lesson. Come on, Dad, you guys got money.
Help me out a little bit, will you? I want to get a car." Nope. You go out and you work. You
pay for it yourself. You'll take way better care of
it. He was absolutely wrong about that. I worked hard. Making tacos every day, flipping
burgers, whatever the Lord had me doing at that time, mowing
lawns. And I bought my own first car. Cost me $25. Guy said, sold it to me, he says,
well if you want a battery for it, it doesn't have a battery,
you're going to have to take one out of the neighbor's car. So I took one out of the
neighbor's car. And we drove off in that car
for $25 and we got down the street and the front tire fell off and
I saw it just going off into the field way out there. That's
what that bag of washers he gave me is for. So I got my tire and
I put it back on there and two weeks of that stuff I had had
enough of that $25 car. I wanted to share that with you
because I wanted to lay down a little bit of something for
you. When you buy something, you want it, don't you? When
you pay for it out of your own pocket, you're going to have
it, aren't you? I was going to have that car no matter what
Dad said. I was going to have that car.
I had it for just two weeks. Then we ran it off of a cliff.
That was probably the best thing I did with that car because we
filmed it. I don't know what ever happened to that film. When
you buy something, when you pay for it, you're going to have
it, aren't you? You understand what that means,
don't you? You're all in that very same boat, aren't you? You
go out, and you've worked for something. You've taken the hard-earned
cash that you have, and you've purchased something with it.
That's mine now. I'm going to have it. You can't
take it from me. It's mine. That's why owning your own house
is such a nice and wonderful thing, isn't it, for those of
you who know? Somebody can't just come in and say, you know
what? I'm going to sell my house. You've got to move out. That was my lesson from dad. Join me at verse 1 of Ephesians,
if you would. You'll see all this come together
in just a moment. Verse 1 of chapter 1, Ephesians. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus. And I want you to catch this
next part. And to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you, peace from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
we should be holy and without blame before him. In love, having
predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood
and forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, 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, 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 ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after
that ye believed, ye 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. My title this morning
is The Purchased Possession. And we're going to look at five
points this morning. Who were the purchased? What were they purchased from? Why were they purchased? What
were the means used to purchase them? And what is the result
of their being purchased? Now, our first question can clearly
be seen in several scriptures. But allow me, if you would, to
read just a few this morning. And I'll go through them kind
of quickly. So if you don't mind, if you need the list of them
later, I'll be happy to give them to you. But let's begin with number
16.5. Remember, our question is, who are the purchased? In number 16.5, we read, and
he spake unto Korah, and unto all His company, saying, even
tomorrow the Lord will show who are His. Who are His. Who are those who are purchased?
His. He's going to show us who His
are, and who is holy. Now we know that all mankind
come into this world with a wicked heart. Scripture tells us that.
So these members, this company of Korah could not be those that
are holy there of their own, could they? No. They have to
be holy from something else. And we'll get to that question
in a moment too. But even tomorrow the Lord will show who are His
and who is holy and will cause Him to come. He will cause him to come. People aren't coming to the Lord.
People aren't coming to God. They are caused to come to God.
Because we are enmity against God from birth. We come into
this world saying, we'll not have that man rule over us. We're
our own people. Why should I have that carpenter
who went to the cross and was killed rule over me? I'll tell
you why. Because he's God. And whether
you'll have Him or not, He is ruling over you. And He causes him to come near
unto Him, even Him who He hath chosen. There's that Word. And will He cause to come near unto
Him. Deuteronomy 7 verse 6, we read,
For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. There is that
holy thing again. All men have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, but yet our Lord is talking about
a people who are holy. They were holy before the world
was ever created. Well, wait a minute, John, that
doesn't make sense. You just said they came into
this world dead in trespasses and sin. God looks at them as
holy, though, because of what His Son would do. You see, when
God says He's going to do something, there's no ifs, ands, or buts
about it. That's what I like about the
God of Scriptures. When He says it's going to happen,
it's going to happen. Because He rules over it and
it can't go any other way, can it? That's true peace. We talked about a false peace
in our Bible study. One that kept disappearing even
when we tried our tail ends to work something off, yet we knew
that the works that we did were not good enough. So that peace would go away for
a few moments and we'd go, oh, now I've got to start working
a little harder. I've got to do a little more of this. I've
got to do a little more of that. I'm just not working hard enough.
True peace is, I can't do anything. There's nothing in me that can
do anything. He has done it all. For thou art a holy people, the
Lord said in Deuteronomy 7, 6, unto the Lord thy God. The Lord
thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself
above all people that are upon the face of the earth. This is God talking to His people.
This is God talking to each and every one of His people sitting
here today. You belong to Him. He looks upon you as a holy people. Belonging to Him. You're the
apple of His eye. He's loved you with an everlasting
love, so much so that He gave His only begotten Son for our
sakes. You talk about a deep well that
we were talking about earlier. That's a pretty deep well that
God would love John Reeves to spend and shed his own blood
for me. Psalms 33 verse 12, we read,
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD. And that word LORD is in capital
letters. Lord of everything. And the people whom He hath chosen
for His own inheritance. not those who walk the aisle,
not those who made a decision, not those who are exercising
their own free will, but those that He has chosen to have His
inheritance. We have it all, just like Brother
Mike said earlier. Everything. All that is created,
everything that you can think of, everything that you can see,
it's all ours. Because we are co-inheritors
with our Our groom. Our husband. I was telling my granddaughter
and her husband yesterday, right here in this very pulpit. What a picture our Lord has given
us of marriage. I couldn't help but stand here
and think, do these two young people have any inkling of what
I'm saying means? Do they have any slightest understanding
of what it means for a husband to give himself for his wife?
And then I had to stop and think, does John have any inkling of
what it means? Someday I will. What a glorious day that'll be,
Mike. Psalms 132.13, it says, For the
Lord hath chosen Zion. He hath desired it for His habitation. He hath desired it. The God of Scriptures has a desire,
it is going to come to pass. He created it all. It's got to
come to pass, is what I think. There's no question to that. In Isaiah 43, 10, "...Ye are
witnesses, saith the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen,
that ye may know and believe Me." There you go, there's John
3, 16, "...whosoever believeth." He has chosen to give faith to
some. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. That's God's Word. I'm not interpreting
things. I'm not trying to tell you this is what John thinks.
That's what God's Word. I like election. I like predestination. Because I know He's true. His Word is true. I would have
never sought Him. He sought me. Because He's loved
me from before the world ever was. that ye may know and believe
Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God-form,
neither shall there be after Me." Or in 2 Timothy 2 verse
13, But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord." You, beloved of the Lord. I could understand why God would
let me go. Beloved of the Lord, He has loved
you with an everlasting love. Because God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. What about our very text that
we just read in verses 4 and 5 of Ephesians? According as
He hath chosen us, in Him, in Christ, See? Look here, folks. What's his next words? This isn't
John's interpretation. This is not John's, well, you
know, I think this is what this means, before the foundation
of the world. That we should be holy and without
blame before Him. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will. Election is not a whim of some
man's imagination. It is clearly declared throughout
all of holy scriptures. God chose whose sacrifice he
would take between Abel and Cain. You know, that's a pretty terrible
thing to think about, isn't it? He chose Abel's, and then Cain
slew his brother out of jealousy. We were talking about that in
this morning's Bible study. We go through some pretty terrible
trials, don't we? We talked about my brother Lee
and his wife and losing their children. We didn't mention Pastor
Gene and Judy, but they too. Pastor Gene's own son died in
his arms. Right there. What a terrible
thing that must have been to go through. How do we see the
good in that? Yet, the very things that we
see as being so terrible, we were able to sit back and look
at this morning in a glorifying Our Lord way. And I'll share
that with you. My nephew was struggling with
the things of this life. Struggling hard. But yet, there
were times when he'd sit down and confess to his father what
his beliefs were. And I have to go on what my brother
says, and I can trust I believe what he says, and he believes
his son is a child of God from those confessions. Yet, Joe had
sinned all he could. He could not sin anymore. The
Lord paid for all of his sins on that cross. All of his sins
were laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He could not commit another. It was his time to go. And even though the means of
going was terrible to you and I, if he's a child of God, can
you imagine how wonderful it is for him right now to stand
in the glory of our Savior? Thank You, Lord, for showing
us some good in that very thing, in that very terrible thing. Election is not a whim of man's
imagination. It is clearly declared throughout
Holy Scriptures. God chose a people to call unto
Himself and He calls them My sheep. John 10, 27 says, My sheep
hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me. Establishing
that God has a people, why should He need to purchase them, you
might think? Are not all things His? That brings me to our second
question. What were they purchased from?
In the book of Romans chapter 3 verse 23, I'll read it for
you. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. All mankind fell in Adam, and
sin entered in. And as we read in Romans 5.12,
Wherefore, as by one man's sin entered in into the world, and
death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned. Or in the 6th chapter, verse
23 of Romans, for the wages of sin is death. Death of the flesh comes upon
all men, doesn't it? I don't know anybody who's lived
forever, do you? Not in this flesh anyway. And it comes upon all men because
of sin. We sin because we are sinners
and most will continue in their dying sin, denying the true God
and living according to their own will, a will that is enmity
against God. You know that's God's Word. That's the Word of the Lord.
The will of man is enmity against God. That's the worst, strongest
kind of language you could use to describe the will of man.
Enmity. It's because the will of man
is sinful. And God cannot be in the presence
of sin. And as we who belong to the Lord
Jesus Christ have that revealed over and over and over again
to us, not just in the preaching, but in our own experiences. His grace is magnified even bigger
than when we saw it yesterday. It's renewed every morning. His
mercies become new every day. I wake up and think, I've got
breath in me again. Thank you, Lord. A will that will not have the
true and living God is what we come into this world. We will
not have a God rule over us, even though He does, whether
we want Him or not. And that brings us to our third
question. Why would God pay the price for some of His elect?
Look at verses 4, 5, 6, and 7 again in Ephesians chapter 1. Why? according as He hath chosen us
in Him." There's reason one. Before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and without blame before Him.
There's number two. You see the reasons coming out
in verses, folks? Why would God go to the cross?
Why would God become flesh and spill His own blood for you and
I? that we should be holy and without
blame before Him. In love. Because of His everlasting
love. Because a love that He has had
for His people, an eternal love, before time ever was, and until
time goes away. A continuing love that will never
cease. There's that deep pool again, Mike. Will you swim around
in the ripples of the top and bask in the wonderfulness of
that cool, cool pool of God's grace and mercy to His loved
ones? Having predestinated us under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, there's another reason right
there. To the praise of the glory of His grace, there's another
one. wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, another
one, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins, and here's the one I love, to say over and over and over
again, according to the riches of His grace. These chosen were chosen before
the world was, before a star ever twinkled in the sky. chosen
that God would set His love upon this people. He set His love
upon you and I before we ever even knew it. So much so that
He sent His only begotten Son to be our substitute. That's
salvation right there in one word. Substitution. What you and I should be receiving
for what we have done in the flesh, our Lord received for
us. Took it upon Himself. He bore
our sins in His body. He stood in our place and He
took our sins upon Him and He suffered the penalty in our stead. He was cursed for our sakes that
we would be made righteous in Him. In Jeremiah 31.3 we read
another reason why. The Lord hath appeared unto me
of old, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. God the Holy Spirit comes to
His chosen in the day of His love, and He gives life to poor
dead sinners. Life everlasting, life eternal.
Those who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world, as we read in verse 4. A people who were given in the
covenant between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. A pact. Another promise that must be
kept. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me." Not maybe, but shall. God the Father gave God the Son
of people to redeem, and so He did. And as Jesus Christ did
everything that He did on this earth, He walked perfectly before
the Father, even the shedding of His blood. As for the fourth
question, this is the means as needed for purchasing these loved
ones. Hold your place here in Ephesians and turn over to Acts
chapter 20 if you would please. Scriptures declare that there
is no remission of sin without blood. The wages of sin is death. We come into this world and we
walk as all do, dead in trespasses and sin, yet some, a remnant
according to the Word, shall be saved. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people." How? How could that be? By what means shall the sins
of the children of God be paid? by the perfect obedience of the
Lord in all things, even the obedience to the cross. By the
perfect blood of the One who gave Himself for us. That's how
it will be paid for. The One who gave Himself for
us that we would be with Him in eternity. Look at Acts chapter
20 verse 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased
with His own blood." That's the means. The perfect blood of Jesus
that was shed on that cross are the means for which was paid.
Our debt was paid. By His own blood, He entered
once into the holiest of holies, and He sprinkled His perfect
blood on the mercy seat. You know who the mercy seat is?
It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you see what the point is
He's making there? The point is that there's nothing
for us to do. It's all of Him. It's His blood. It's His mercy seat. It's all
of Christ. Nothing else. Once and for all, Putting away
our sins forever, never to be seen by God the Father again.
When He looks upon you and I, He looks and He sees the blood
of His Son, perfect in every way. Therefore, He sees us perfect
in His Son. He is known as the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. In Revelation 1 verse 5, And
from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first
begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth,
unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, To Him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Our Lord will not share
His glory with another, and that's what all the religions of the
world want to do. I have a very wise, and he may
listen to this, that's okay. He knows I'm the pastor of a
church, and he knows I'm the pastor of a sovereign grace church.
He's a very wise man when it comes to investing the monies
and making them grow. And the Lord has blessed me greatly
with this man. But he trusts in his decision. I walked down the aisle and gave
myself to God. You see where the glory is in
that? Not in Christ, is it? It's in what man has done. To Him, to our Lord and Savior,
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen? And because of
the debt was paid in full, the lost had been redeemed. The vessels
of mercy had been given the gift of faith, and they believed the
Word of God. How can you know, as I and many
here today, if we are the redeemed? Grab a hold of something. This
is going to be tough to understand. Believe God. All of God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. How can you know if you're one
of the redeemed? Do you believe God? Do you believe the Lord
when he says, I have a purchased possession? And that brings us
to the fifth one. What are the results? What are
the results of God calling His elect out from the world unto
Himself? What are the results of Him revealing
His Son in them? What His Son has done? Going
to that cross and shedding His blood for their sins. What are
the results of that peace? The very piece that we talked
about in our Bible study this morning, this whole world around
us can go to whatever it wants, because God's got a control on
that, and I don't have nothing to worry about. Oh Lord, help
me to remember that every moment of every day, because I forget
quite often. All I've got to do is look at
Yahoo for a second and talk about something. What a name, what
a fitting name, Yahoo. Bunch of Yahoo is what it is. Google. My goodness, where do we come
up with names for stuff? Are you getting my point, folks?
We're a purchased possession. We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. No matter what is going on around
us, in this world, it's just the flesh. There's something
greater, bigger, and eternal out there. And our Lord has predestinated
us to be right there in the midst of it with our Savior. So much so determined it, He
bought us. He paid the price for us completely. Stop looking in the mirror. And
I'm talking to myself here. Because I can walk out this door
in 20 seconds, not even that, less than that, stumble and fall
in my own sins, in my own thoughts. Stop looking in the mirror, John,
and look to my Lord and Savior. How can you know? We believe
God's Word. We believe God. He rules in our
hearts and we see Him as King of all that is. We glory in the
knowledge of Him. To Him be the glory and dominion
forever. Scripture says, He that glory,
let him glory in the Lord. This is the result of our Lord's
purchase. The revelation that we belong
to Him. We are bought with a price and the price is paid in full.
Now we belong to Jesus. Look back at your text in Ephesians
chapter 2. And you, hath He quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sin, where in times past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of air, the spirit now that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. purchased possessions. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace
ye are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us to
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. that in the
ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness toward us through Jesus, through Christ Jesus. Purchase possessions. We belong
to Him. Lord, help me to turn away from
living for John and help me to live for the one bought, paid, and will have what
he bought and paid for. Amen.