Back to Ephesians chapter 1. I titled this message, The Work
of the Trinity in Salvation. The Work of the Trinity. If we
can get a hold of this, and meditate upon this, and chew upon this,
it will give us so much comfort and peace. To know that the whole
Godhead, the whole Godhead is set for our salvation. A three-fold
cord, it says in the Scripture, cannot be quickly broken. This
three-fold cord cannot be broken. Paul starts out in this first
chapter, and he gives us the work of the Father, the work
of the Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit, and the saving of
his people. Now, Paul wrote this epistle
from prison. Does this sound like a man in
prison? You would think that a man in prison would be writing
about his shackles, his hardship, how bad things were. But right out of the gate, he
comes out praising God. He comes out giving God the glory
for salvation. He knew that his imprisonment
was of God. He knew that he was the bond
slave of Jesus Christ, and that was just Part of the journey
home, that prison. Part of the journey home. Part
of preaching the gospel. Part of what he had to suffer.
And he writes here, he says in verse 1, Paul an apostle of Jesus
Christ by the will of God. Paul was the bondservant. We
looked last Wednesday at the bond slave. He had his ear board. Paul had his ear board. He loved
his master. And he proved his love for his
master by his service. He was a servant of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And God made him an apostle,
which means what we have before us was given to him directly
from the Lord. He didn't get this from Peter,
John, or the other apostles. He got this directly from the
Lord Jesus Christ. He got his gospel from him. If
it was left up to men writing the Scriptures, if it was left
up to them, if they were not moved by the Holy Spirit, if
it were left up to them in writing the Scriptures, salvation would
not be by grace. It would be by works if it were
left up to men. But they were moved by the Holy
Spirit in writing the Scriptures. And the fact that we understand
and know that salvation is by grace from Alpha to Omega tells
me that God inspired this. Because if it was left up to
them, or us, or me, it would be my works. We wouldn't change.
We wouldn't change it. And he writes to the saints and
faithful in Christ Jesus. Paul's not casting his pearls
before swine. He's not doing that. He's casting
his pearls before God's children. They are the only ones who will
receive it. They are the only ones who will
love it. You love this. You love the fact,
the truth, that God chose you. Don't you love that? Not many
do. You love the fact that Christ
died to put away your sins. Not just sin, but your sin. Particular. Particular redemption. And you love the fact that the
Holy Spirit has taken over you. He indwells you. He owns you.
He has taken you over. You love that. But you're the
only ones who love it. The world doesn't love it. Off
religion does not love it. You love it. You who believe
the gospel, you love this. I never heard the book of Ephesians
preached from. Not the first, I'll put it this
way. Not the first part of it. Husbands and wives, submit yourselves
to your husbands. I heard that part preached from.
I heard that preached from. But this first part that God
chose me. That God chose a multitude of
sinners, and Christ died for them, and Christ put their sins
away, and the Holy Spirit comes and calls them, and they're born
of God? I didn't hear that until I heard Henry Mahan. I heard
him preaching the Gospel on television. Now, basically, somehow, the
first and second chapters got overlooked. No, Paul says, I'm
writing this to the saints, and that's who the Bible's written
to. The Bible's written to the children of God. It's written
to us. And He says, Grace and peace be to you. Is there anything
more that I could beseech God for on your behalf? Is there
grace, God's unmerited favor? You don't deserve it. I don't
either. And peace? As I grow older, peace is priceless. You see these commercials this
morning, they'll have this so-and-so, so-and-so, and then it says priceless.
Peace is priceless. Peace with God. and peace of
conscience, peace in the heart. To be able to sit down and not
look over my shoulders. To be able to sit down and know
this. Now, know this by experience.
Know this. That there is real, real peace
between me and God made by His Son. I didn't make it. I wouldn't
even know where to start. And He starts out here as He
ought to start out in verse 3. And I can just see, as he starts
to write this, and he's writing under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, and this is rushing through his mind and his heart,
and he's writing these Ephesians, and he says, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is to be praised
first. God the Father is to be praised
first in all things. It says in the Scriptures that
God is to be praised in the assembly of the saints. We've gathered
here this evening. for a little while. And for a
little while, let's give Him praise. Let's give Him thanks. Let's give Him honor for all
that He's done for us in His Son. It began with the Father.
It began with Him. He's to be praised. It says in
Psalm 89, He's to be feared. He's to be feared. He's to be
had in reverence. Reverence. You don't take the
name of God. That's God's name. That's precious. Teach your children that. That's
God's name. We don't take His name. In fact, use your own name.
If you want to slam somebody's name, use yours, but not His.
Holy and Reverend is His name. We are instructed to pray. Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed, holy, reverend is thy name. Be careful how we use God's
name. You use it in reverence. Use
it in reverence. He says He's the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the God and Father of Christ
as our Mediator. That child that was formed in
the womb of Mary is the Son of God. The Son of God. The Son
is given. But that child was created, was
made, and He's our Mediator. He's our Mediator and God's His
Father. When you and I were born into this world, Our ancestry
ran all the way back to Adam. It goes all the way back to Adam.
Christ does not go back to Adam. He doesn't go back to Adam. Adam
had nothing to do with his birth. No sin of Adam or Mary. Her womb was just used of God. That's all it was. It was used
of God to bring His Son into this world. Nothing of us, nothing
of this sinful race entered into that child, that man, the man
Christ Jesus. And notice here, it says, the
God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ have blessed us, He blessed
us, with all spiritual blessings. I watch these religious programs
off and on during the week. I'll watch them for a little
while. I don't hear of any spiritual blessings. They don't talk about
spiritual blessings. They talk about living this victorious
life, having, you know, God wants you to be rich, and God wants
you to be this, that, and other, and it has everything to do with
temporal things. Because everything is just temple
things. What is my greatest need? What's your greatest need? It's
spiritual blessings. If I have spiritual blessings,
the rest is just going to be added. It'll be added on my journey
home and your journey home. It'll be added. The things that
we need are spiritual. Because those are the things
we lost. We lost them all. We didn't even keep a trace of
them. They're all gone. He has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. The same God and Father
of Christ is also, and we need to get this and enjoy this, is
also our God and Father. The same God and Father of Christ
is our God and Father. Same One. Same One. And He has blessed us, it says,
in Christ. No blessings apart from Christ.
No son is blessed from His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He blessed
us. He blessed us. You see, salvation
started with the Father. He purposed it. Listen, before
anything existed, can you imagine that there was a time, if we
want to call it a time, there was a time when there was no
time. But there was a time when it was just the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Nothing else existed. Nothing
else existed. Just the Trinity. And the Father
purposed to have a people just like His Son, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in His sight. He said that's the way He's going
to present us because that's the way He is. That's how He
is. He purposed our salvation. He purposed our redemption. He
purposed these things. Salvation was never an afterthought
with God. It was never a rescue attempt.
The cross of Christ is not a rescue attempt on humanity. It is a
real salvation for a multitude of sinners that no man can number. And he's given us all that we
need to be with him where he is in the heavenlies. He's given
us all we need. He says, come and dine. We talked about that yesterday
going out last Sunday. He didn't tell us to bring a
dish. You don't have to bring a dish. This is not a potluck. I don't know why we call that
luck anyway. Where that ever came from? I
don't know. I guess. Something. But it's
not a potluck. It's a feast provided by Him. He said, Come and dine. If you're hungry, come and eat. If you're thirsty, come and drink. He provided it all. He provided
all of it. He's given us all we need to
be with Him in the heavenlies. And all these spiritual blessings,
listen, that He's given us in Christ is all that heaven can
bestow. Can you imagine that? It's all
that can be given. You know, you parents, you give
your children and you give them what you can give them. Let's put that on an infinite
level now. God, our Father, has given us all that He can give
us. All that there is to give. And
we have it. All things are yours. in Christ. It's just our Heavenly Father
in wisdom deals it out to us. He deals it out to us. But all
things are yours in Christ. All things. And then verse 4. According as ye have chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world. When did God the
Father give us these blessings in Christ? When we believe? At the cross? This is so clear. This is so
clear. Before the foundation of the
world. Before he spoke the first thing
into existence. Before he did anything. God the
Father never starts anything that he has not already finished. You can write that down. He doesn't
start anything that he has not already finished. He calls those things which be
not as though they were. Christ said, you didn't choose
me, I chose you. You know, election is a Bible
word. It is a Bible word. It's a Bible doctrine and it's
to be preached. It's to be preached to God's
people. God's people rejoice in it. Don't you? You rejoice in it. Now, there's
four things that the Father has bestowed on us before the world
was made. Election, He chose us. Predestination, that's a Bible
word. Adoption. You know, for someone
to adopt a child, it's one thing, you know, my parents, they didn't
have any choice about me. When I showed up, I was in me.
And it didn't matter if it was a boy or a girl, it didn't matter.
I mean, it was me. But now when you go adopt somebody, you have
a choice, don't you? You can choose a boy or a girl.
You can choose their age. You can choose whether they're
a baby or whether they're older. And he adopted us. Listen, he chose us. He loved
us. He knew us. And he said, that
was mine. That one is mine. But first, he chose us. Paul
wrote to the Thessalonians. Paul writes this to all the churches.
Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. God chose you. He chose you out of this world.
He could have left me. He could
have passed me by. He could have passed me by. We
sing that song, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior. But instead,
He didn't. He chose me. He chose everyone
whom He saves. Then He predestinated us to the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself. It says over
in Romans 8.29, for whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son. He predetermined,
the Father, the Father predetermined that those whom he chose would
be just like his Son. In nature, character, be just
like his Son. There's going to be a new heaven
and there's going to be a new earth. It's actually going to
happen. And on that new earth, There's going to be a population of sinners redeemed from this
earth. That's going to be holy. They're going to love the Father
just like the Lord loves Him, just like His Son loves Him perfectly. They'll love Him perfectly. They'll
be righteous without spot or blemish. And everyone on that
new earth will be like that. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine? Never having
to lock your doors. Never, it'll never be dark. Don't
say never be afraid of the dark. It won't be dark. He's the light. There'll be no more night. Everyone will have a kind word.
No gossip? Can you imagine? That's real. That's real. Adoption? When He chose us, He
adopted us. He adopted us. And all this—now
listen. All this is according to the
good pleasure of His will. He does not say, and all this
He did because He was obligated. He created all this and now He's
obligated to rescue it. Adam did what he wanted to do.
And men and women do what they want to do. They do what they
will to do. Everyone whom God saves, He saved
according to the good pleasure. It is God's good pleasure to save you. It's His good pleasure. It is
pleased God to make you His people. That's what it says over in the
Old Testament. I can only trace my salvation
back to the good pleasure of God's will, that's as far back
as I can trace it, to the good pleasure of His will. Not free will, not my cooperation,
but to the good pleasure of God's will. And notice, He made us,
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. He's the one who did
it. He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved." Who accepted whom? He accepted us in the Beloved. He's the one that did it. That's what Colossians 1, it
was last Sunday, he made us fit, qualified to be partakers of
the inheritance of the saints in life. And he made us accepted Not apart from Him, but in Him. By His blood, by His righteousness,
by His person, we are accepted. Now we come to the work of the
Son. It says in verse 7, "...in whom we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace." In whom we have redemption. We have redemption
in a person. The Father purposed our salvation.
The Son purchased our salvation. In Christ we have redemption. The law has no claims on us now. Now, we can, as much as we can,
we can rejoice in that now, as much as we can in this flesh,
but I'm telling you what, the day you die and you see God,
boy, is that going to mean something. That's when you're going to really
understand in whom we have redemption. We've been purchased. The price
has been paid. Instead of that judge getting
that gavel and saying guilty, he says, I find no fault. Enter
into the kingdom prepared for you by the Father before the
foundation of the world. Enter in. In whom we have redemption. He
paid the redemption price. His life and his blood. That's the redemption price of
his people. Not silver and gold, but his life and his blood. Even, he says here, the forgiveness
of sins. Even the forgiveness of sins.
We've not only been purchased, we've been completely forgiven
of all sin. And you know what? Here's what
this means. We've been forgiven of sins. We've been forgiven
far more than we know about. You know that? However bad you think you are,
you're a lot worse. And so am I. He's forgiven us. We can't describe sin. There's
not enough adjectives to describe sin. And he's put that away. That's gone. That issue's gone. The forgiveness of sins. And
this is according to the riches of His grace. Our salvation is only according
to the riches, riches of His grace. wherein he hath abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prudence. His redemption, the gospel of
redemption, hath made known unto us God's wisdom in saving sinners."
Do you know how God can be a just God and a Savior? Do you know
how God can be a just God and forgive you? How did you learn
that? You learned it through the gospel
of redemption. God sent it to you. And one day you said, I
see, I see, I see. Having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, the natural man can't see this. There was
a time I couldn't see it, there's a time you couldn't see it. But
you see now, because he's made known to you the mystery of his
will. And that mystery is the exaltation
of His Son. It's the exaltation of Christ.
I used to think, I used to think that God was just trying to keep
me from going to hell. That's what I thought it was
all about, just trying to keep me from perishing. But I have learned,
I have learned that God has forgiven me for Christ's sake. and for
His eternal glory. That's a big difference. That's
a big difference. God will save all His elect and
make them one in Christ, no matter where they're from,
no matter what their nationalities. There are no nationalities in
Christ. There are no nationalities in heaven. They're just one. Just one. And this is according
to the good pleasure of His will. We never find room for boasting.
It's always according to the good pleasure of His will. And after the counsel, it says,
of His own will, everything God does is after the deep searching. Now listen, everyone whom God
saves, Every trial he sends our way is after the deep searching
of his own will. And then he wisely executes it. And then I come to the last part,
the work of the Holy Spirit. The Father purposed, the Son
purchased, and the Holy Spirit applies it. The Holy Spirit comes
and He calls, He reveals, He regenerates, He gives the new
birth, He gives life, He instructs, He teaches. If He did not give
you life, if He did not instruct you or teach you, you'd be sitting
there saying, Is this about over? It'd be like my grandson saying,
just write one line so you can hurry up. If he did not apply this to the
heart, you would not love it. You would not hear it. You would
not be instructed. You wouldn't do it. The Word
of God would not work in you effectually. There is no salvation apart from
either one of these three. You take one of them out, you
don't have salvation. You don't have salvation. Christ
is our Messiah. We preach Christ and Him crucified.
It says in Romans, that's a gospel concerning God's Son. But a son
tells me there's a father. And the scriptures teach us that
there's three in heaven. Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God. Three distinct persons in the
Godhead. He's the one who creates faith
in the heart. He's the one who leads us, guides us, draws us,
and brings us to Christ. and instructs us all the way
home. And he's the seal. Look over
here in verse 13. Verse 14, I quit. In whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel, your salvation. In
whom also after that ye believed, you were sealed. You were sealed. Listen. The Holy Spirit is the seal of
that eternal covenant. Not circumcision. It's not circumcision. It's the Spirit of God in you.
Spirit of God in you. And He's the earnest. It's like
a down payment. It's like earnest money. He's
the earnest. He's the guarantee of our inheritance. If you have Him, you have the
guarantee that it's all yours. And He's the firstfruits of the
pledge. And all this is to the praise
of God's glory, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We have the work of the Trinity
in salvation. Take any one of them out and
you don't have salvation. You don't have the gospel. You
don't have it.