I am thankful to be back with
y'all. I was telling Shelby a moment
ago, it's been a while. It was November when I was last
here, I believe. Stacey and I were talking about
it last night, and I was trying to figure out when it was. I
was like, I know it was cold. So bring greetings from everyone
in Kingsport. And as you prayed this morning,
I couldn't help but think, this congregation is often in our
prayers, mine personally and the congregation there, that
the Lord would send a man, his man, to be pastor here once more. That the word of our Lord might
be faithfully declared here for many years to come. Our text and where we're going
to stay this morning is going to be in Ephesians chapter one,
if you wanna open there. I am sure that everyone here
this morning can relate to this scenario. You start your day
out, and it's going well. I mean, you're getting things
done. You're a cop. You've got your
checklist, and things are moving along. You actually feel like,
today I'm making progress. Things are going well. And then
suddenly, phone rings. Someone walks into your office.
Some bit of news occurs. and your day is blown. You went from feeling ahead of
the game to the straw that broke the camel's back and you're just
done. You've got nothing left in you. That basically seems to describe
my life these days. Doesn't matter what day it is,
almost every day seems like that's what it is. It just Making progress
and then we've gone back. Can't make any headway. Up and down, calm and chaotic,
from moment to moment, it changes. The only thing that I know for
certain is that I don't know what the next moment's going
to bring. Joy or pain, sickness or health, life or death, in
just the twinkling of an eye, it changes. I had one of those days this
week, and as the day drew to a close,
it was actually Wednesday, and as the day drew to a close, I
was so looking forward to going to service. I just needed a sure
word. I needed a word of comfort, a
word of exaltation, a word of encouragement, a word that doesn't
change, a sure word. And as I mused on this, my thoughts
turned to this chapter, Ephesians chapter one. And oftentimes when I'm preparing
to preach, I'm a little nervous to go to
a chapter such as Ephesians chapter one. This is a text that has
been preached from over and over again by men with a lot more
experience and a lot more ability than I have. And my pride causes
me to shy away from it. What can I possibly say that
hasn't been said? And then the thought occurred
to me, I need this. I need what is said right here. And if I need it, there's an
awfully good possibility somebody else needs to hear it too. So we're going to just read Ephesians
one, and then we're gonna come back through it, and I'm gonna
make a few comments. This is a beautiful chapter,
and it speaks for itself. Ephesians 1, verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God, to the saints, which are at Ephesus, and to
the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you. and 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,
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. to the praise of the glory of
his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the blood, in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the 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. Wherefore, I also, after I heard
of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints,
cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in
my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his
calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to us who believe, according to the working of his mighty
power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead
and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.
far above all principality and power and might and dominion
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come. And hath put all things under
his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Now let's look at this verse
by verse. Ephesians one, verse one. Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God to the saints,
which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
The first thing that captured my attention when I read this
verse was the phrase, the will of God. What comfort, what assurance
is found in those four little words? The will of God. What do I find there? The sovereignty
of God. As Nebuchadnezzar said, he, God
Almighty, doeth according to his will. God is the only one
with the ability, with the power, to do as he wills. If he wills a thing, we can rest
assured it shall be done. And if he doesn't will a thing,
it's not going to happen, regardless of what this little man wants
it to be. God's will is absolute and he
alone has the power to execute his will. That's a word of certainty. The next thing that caught my
attention was God's particular people. This letter written by
Paul is addressed to certain people. not addressed to everyone. He was writing to someone. Every promise, every blessing,
every curse, every word in these scriptures is a promise, a blessing,
a curse to someone. It's particular. This particular letter was written
to the saints, which are at Ephesus. Have you ever read a letter that
wasn't written to you? I have a stack of letters that
my grandparents wrote my, I think is mostly my grandmother wrote
to her mother and to her mother-in-law. And I'll every now and again,
look at those letters and read them. I know both parties. I knew both the sender and the
recipient, and yet I can read those letters and not know what
they're saying. There were events, there were
people that they knew that I didn't know, and they'll mention those
people, and at the mention of their names, I lose the context
of what was written. This letter is written to the
saints, which are at Ephesus. Had Paul stopped right there,
this letter wouldn't be addressed to me. I'm not at Ephesus. You're not at Ephesus. We would
have had no reason to go any further. We wouldn't understand
what was being written. But thank God he didn't stop
there. To the saints which are at Ephesus
and to the faithful. Aren't you glad he didn't stop
there? To the faithful in Christ Jesus. Can any of us claim to be faithful
apart from Christ? We try to be faithful, or at
least put on an outward show that other people will say, oh,
they're faithful. They do what they say they're
going to do. Well, sometimes, sometimes not. Sometimes I'll do it, but not
with the right heart. My parents tell me to do something
I don't want to do. I'm going to have to do it, but
it ain't going to be willingly. but not a soul born of Adam can
meet the standard of God, the holy God's standard of faithful. But thanks be to God, our Lord
Jesus Christ joined himself to us. He is faithful and the saints
both these saints which were in Ephesus and us saints which
are not at Ephesus, because he is faithful and we are in Christ,
we are faithful in him. In verse two, Paul continues
his salutation by revealing his prayer to the saints, which is,
By God's grace, the same prayers we repeat over and over again. For one another. For ourselves. Grace be to you and peace from
God, our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and
peace. What lessons? Grace to be looked
upon favorably by the holy, just God. And peace, peace, which
in our natural flesh we disdain to our own destruction. But in
Christ, because of his obtaining our peace, Paul's prayer for
grace and peace is answered. Grace be to you. and peace from
God, our father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the first sentence. That's
the end of Paul's salutation. In verse three, he jumped straight
away to the heart of the gospel substitution. Blessed be the
God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord, God the Son,
is the eternal God. And yet, he walked this earth
as a man. And as a man, he blessed God
in absolute, perfect, holy blessing. And as a man, He went to the
cross and while he hung there, he cried out, my God, my God. Blessed be the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Don't dare ask me to try to explain
the eternal God. three persons, one God. Don't ask me how God the Son
increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man
while he walked this earth in the flesh. Don't ask. I can't explain it,
but I can by God's grace, saying the praises of our God, who is
a just God and a Savior. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. What has the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ done? He continues, who hath its done? past tense, it's done. Who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And why has he blessed us? Why has he caused us to prosper
in spiritual blessings? Verse four, according as He hath
chosen us in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are we blessed? Because we are chosen in Him. And when did He choose us? Was
it when we decided for Him? When we decided we would go to
church? When we stopped doing bad things
and turned our lives around and got better? When did He choose
us? Before the foundation of the
world. And to what end? Why did He choose
us before the foundation of the world? What is that result? That
we, we should be holy. and without blame before him
in love." Think of that. Can this man,
this man full of sin, a man that's described over in chapter two,
verse one, dead in trespasses and sins. In verse two, who walks
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power there, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience." What does all that mean? What does the course
of this world mean? It can be summed up by that last
word, disobedience. That's me. In my flesh, what
I am by nature, I am disobedient, rebellious son who, the middle of verse three,
fulfills the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Is it possible
that this man, a child of wrath, even as others, should be holy
and without blame before him? Before the eternal, holy, just
God? Can this be made? It is possible. Back in Ephesians
1.5, because the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, verse
five, having predestinated us, having given us a predetermined
end, before the foundation of the
world, God the Father said, O.B. Williams, You're going to start
here and you're going to end here. I've been predestined to my final
point. And that predestinated end, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ
to himself. What's my predetermined end?
I'm welcomed into the family of God. This is welcomed into the family of
God. Why? I love the next line. 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. The triune God, according
to the good pleasure of his will, chose from a fallen race of mankind,
a race of disobedient, rebellious, sinful, dead, ungodly men and
women, he chose a number that no man can number to show them
grace and mercy. The Father of God chose these
people, and He gave them to the Son of God. And in the next few
lines, we're going to read how He redeemed us. Ephesians 1-7. In whom? In the Beloved. In our Lord Jesus Christ. We
have, have, right now, we have this. In our present sinful condition,
we have redemption through His blood. The wages of sin is death. Our sins were not swept under
a rug. They weren't silently disregarded. Justice was satisfied. The Holy
One of Israel came to His people, to His bride, and he lived the
righteous life that we cannot. Then he bearing the sin and the
shame that the bride had earned to herself, not only inherited
my father's condemnation and his sin, I went out and sought
my own and pursued it. He took that and he made it his
own. He became one with his bride. He took her burden and he went
to Calvary's cross. He endured the judgment. He suffered
under the wrath that we had earned for ourselves. He bled. He laid down his life for her
sin that he made his own. When he cried, it is finished,
our redemption price was paid. When we had nothing to pay, our
Lord Jesus Christ paid the debt we owed and he freely, freely
forgave us. Verse seven, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, For
what reason were our sins forgiven? For some good that was seen in
us from eternity past? Oh, no. No, that would leave something
to us. No. 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, he revealed
to us the Father's will, that who he will save shall be saved. According to his good pleasure,
which he hath purposed in himself, none other, he wanted to do it,
and he did it. 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. We're
adopted into the family and we've, how did we obtain an inheritance?
He put us in his family. We've obtained an inheritance. being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. There it is again, God's sovereignty,
his wisdom, his power in our Lord Jesus Christ. And here's what I wanted to get
to. Why should the holy, triune, self-sufficient God choose a
people? He doesn't need us. He's all
glory himself. We add nothing to him. Why should
the son of God come, suffer, and die for rebellious, sinful
riches? One answer. so that he gets all
the glory. Verse 12, that we, we sinners
should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. We sinners, saved by God's grace,
we do indeed, we look to and we trust in Lord Jesus Christ. By His grace, by His giving us
faith, by His calling us, we look to and we trust in Him.
But before we ever did, God the Father placed all His trust in
God the Son. And all those that He chose He
trusted to Christ and gave them to Him. The Father of God chose
us. The Son of God bore our sin. He suffered, bled, and died to
redeem us. And the Spirit of God regenerates
and seals us. Verse 13. In whom ye also trusted,
ye saints, which are at Ephesus, ye saints, faithful in Christ
Jesus, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word
of truth by the preaching of the gospel, the gospel, the good
news 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. When a man proposes
to a woman, when they get engaged, the man typically presents a
token, an engagement ring, a token that is a symbol of his promise. And from that time, that woman,
she has the hope, she has the confident expectation that she's
going to be his bride, his wife. But she doesn't have everything
that's his until the day of the marriage. She just has the promise. While we are in this world, the
Holy Spirit tells us the things of Christ. He speaks to us concerning
our Lord and his glory. But one day. One day, our full
salvation shall be revealed. We'll drop this robe of flesh. and will enter into his presence
without sin. And then one day we'll know as
we have been known. As the seasons of our life come
and go with all the changes, all the good times, all the bad
times, all the joy, all the pain, How we long for a word, a sure
foundation. In everything that we've read
in this chapter, there's absolutely nothing that has been left questionable. Every phrase is certain without
any hint of hesitancy. Listen to the declarations. He hath blessed. He hath chosen,
he hath made, we have redemption. All is in the past tense and
all of it's been declared as being done. Above and beyond
that, it's all been done without any reliance on this. He hath chosen in Christ. He hath blessed us in Christ. He shed his blood. He sealed. He purchased. Salvation is of
the Lord from the very beginning to the very end and in every
point in between. Thank God I have nothing to do
with it. I can't do it, and I can't cause
it to fail. I'm the recipient of His grace. That's all. So what will we do because of
all that He has done? Verse 15, Wherefore I also, after
I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and Love, faith in
Christ produces love, which has to be expressed. We can't help
it. And love unto all the saints. Cease not to give thanks for
you, making mention of you in my prayers. Don't we do the same
thing today? I can't say that I cease not.
I don't pray like I should. And I've never heard any man
in this position or any of us ever say that we do. But with
every mention of a brother or sister, some that we know, some
that we've never heard of, that somebody else knows, that we
hear a community where the Lord has been pleased to raise up
a group that proclaims Christ. We give thanks and we ask the
Lord's blessings upon one another. Just as Paul recorded here. Paul
prays and the Holy Spirit working in us gives us similar prayers
for one another. That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the father of glory from whom all blessings flow, may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him. Oh, that I might know our Lord
Jesus Christ more and more. Lord, teach us of yourself. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened Lord, remove the blindness of sin and show
me more of His glory. That ye may know what is the
hope, that confident expectation of His calling, and what is the
riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, And what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according to
the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead and declared. We're justified, he
did it, our sins are gone, they've been atoned, we're covered in
his righteousness. which he wrought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. Oh, that we might know Christ
and be found in him, that we might see him high and lifted
up, and that he receives all glory, all honor, and all power. I hope the Lord's been pleased
to bless this to us. and that in all of life's ups
and downs, ins and outs, we might find our comfort in the sure
word that God has given us, given to His chosen, His redeemed,
and His sealed people. May the Lord bless that to us.