I'm going to give you something
here in Ephesians 1. Spiritual food that is so fattening. So many calories. Some of you turn your nose up
at it. Apostle Paul writes some beautiful,
beautiful things here in Ephesians chapter one. And I want to answer a question
that some have and have had for a long time. The reason that our generation mocks God and laughs at religion. is because they've been told
a lie concerning the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I dare
say there's some sitting here this morning that's never truly
heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ accomplished all he came
into the world to do. And God is doing all he decreed
to do. Satan has not won. Christ wins. Verse 11 of this chapter says
that God worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
He's not sad over any loss. He's not troubled over any dilemma
he has. He don't have any. He's God. Here's the common story. God loves everybody. He's doing
his best to save everybody. He's doing his very best to save
everybody. But he's not doing much good
because people won't let him. And then they turn right around
and preach that God is all powerful, but not more powerful than you.
You won't let him save you. That is not the gospel. That
is not. The gospel is the good news.
of the effectual work of God in redeeming his people through
the sacrifice of his son at Calvary. That's the good news. I want
to talk just a few minutes about one word in verse 7. Redemption. Referring to the Lord Jesus Christ
in whom we have redemption through his blood. in whom we, now this we is not
Adam's race. But Paul is writing to believers. And he said, we have this redemption
through Christ's blood. Who are the we? Well, in verse
one, they're called saints. That doesn't mean what the Catholics
say, somebody that's been, you know, super spiritual and lived
a good life and they make them a saint. No, no. The word saints,
which is used often in the New Testament for God's people, all
God's people comes from the word sanctity or sanctified. And it
simply means set apart. Set apart by whom? By God. Saints. Jude said it like this. We're sanctified. by God the
Father, set apart. That term sanctified don't mean
what a lot of people think it means. When I was growing up
as a boy, I'd go with a friend of mine to the Church of God
sometimes, and of course they thought sanctified meant women
that didn't wear makeup and never did cut their hair and didn't
smoke and all that kind of stuff. Well, all that has nothing to
do with it. Sanctification is the work of
God. And it means set apart, set apart. Call saints. Also, he calls them
faithful. This is all in verse one now.
Faithful in Christ Jesus. You'll have to get your Bible
and read it. Don't read your Bible like you're running a foot
race. Be still. Read it a word at a
time. God will talk to you. He calls the Lord's people faithful
in Christ Jesus. Not faithful to Christ Jesus. We'd like to claim that. But no, it's not the feeble measure
of our faithfulness to Him that's worth anything. It's much more
blessed than that. It's faithful in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus, you're as faithful
as he is. You can listen to works religionist
all you want to, hoot about there being faithful to Christ Jesus. I'll take Paul's words, faithful
in Christ Jesus. These are some good, rich statements
down through these verses. See, I'm not interested in what
we are in us. I'm interested in what we are
in him because what we are in us is sending us to hell. What we are in him is taking
us to be with him forever. Faithful in Christ Jesus. That's the good news and that's
the emphasis of this passage. Verse one, we're faithful in
him. Verse three, we're blessed in
him. Verse four, we're chosen in him before the foundation
of the world. Verse five, we're predestinated by him to be his
children. Verse six, we're made accepted
in him. And verse seven, we're redeemed
by his blood. It's all about what we are in
Christ. You're nothing outside of Christ.
But we're blessed with all these spiritual blessings in Christ. Now this word redemption, it's
a very important word. It's a very blessed word in relation
to the gospel. Now for folks saving themselves,
it's not so important. I've talked to a lot of people
saving themselves. They're actually going to obtain
God's favor by the good they do and the bad they don't do.
They don't mind telling you. This word redemption means nothing
to them. Redemption is for those locked
in a bondage and can't loose themselves from it. The bondage of sin. The bondage
of sin. So what is redemption? The word
redeem, redeemed, redemption. It means to buy back. To buy
back. It concerns a previous ownership. Something that is really yours. And you've lost it. and you have
to buy it back. That's what it means to redeem
something. You can't redeem something you
never owned, something you never had. That's just a first-time
purchase. But to redeem means to buy back. I think you've heard this common
illustration used about taking something to the pawn shop. You
need a little cash and you leave it for 30 days. Well, you can
get it back. But buddy, it's not yours until
you pay to get it back. I got my gun over at the pawn
shop. I got my boat over at the pawn
shop. No, it ain't yours. It's over there. It's not yours. You go pay for it again. It really
is yours, but you can't lay your hands on it. Do you pay? A former pastor used to tell
this illustration about this little boy that made him a toy,
made him a little boat. I mean, he carved it out, made
it nicely, painted it, put a sail on it. And he'd play with that
little boat he made every day. And he'd put it in a little stream
down behind his house and would follow it down through the ripples
and would go down there and catch it every day. And one day after
it had rained a lot, been raining for two or three days, and the
stream was really up, went down there and placed his boat in.
It went to moving a lot quicker than he thought, and he wasn't
paying attention, and it got away. He lost it. He lost it. A few weeks later, he was in town
with his mother, walked down the street, and he looked in
a window where there was just kind of a Shopped there, sold
stuff like that. Toy store, used stuff. And he saw his boat. And he said
to his mother, that's my boat. Let's go in and get my boat.
Well, they did. They went in. And he told the
man, that's my boat. And the man said, no, it's my
boat. I traded for it. I got it. And it's for sale.
And so the little boy begged his mother, and they had to buy
the boat. Well, when he got it in his hands, he started talking
to it. And he said, you're mine. I made
you. I love you. I'm sorry I lost you. But now
I've bought you back, and I'll never let you go again. That's
redemption to buy back. Now, what am I saying? God's
people. This is verse four of this chapter
now chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Previous ownership lost in Adam. but belonging to God all the
time. You say, well now, didn't Christ die to redeem all
of Adam's race? Didn't he love everybody? Didn't
he pay for everybody's sins? If he had paid for everybody's
sins, not one of Adam's race could possibly go to hell. without
him being a failure. See, that's not what's being
taught nowadays for the gospel. What's being taught nowadays
is that Christ was pretty much a failure. And what I said in
the beginning, God's doing everything in his power to get the attention of as many
as he possibly can, but he ain't doing much good in our generation,
is he? No, here's the truth. Christ redeemed all the Father
gave him from the beginning. You can read about this in John
17. Christ said it about a half a dozen times. Father, I've come
to give eternal life to as many as thou hast given me. And he
kept on saying that, them thou hast given me, them thou hast
given me. And he said, I pray for them
which thou hast given me. And he went on to say in verse nine
of that 17th chapter of John, I pray not for the world. Huh? Sure did. Our God is victorious. Christ
our Redeemer will get what he paid for. That's the gospel that Christ
wins. Christ wins. You say, well, don't
we supposed to witness to people? Don't we supposed to tell people
about the Lord? Absolutely. But I'm telling you, except God,
the Holy Ghost work in their heart. And he'll only do that
if they're his from eternity. They're not coming. It'll go
in one ear and out the other. Jesus said in John 6, 37, all
that the father giveth me shall come to me. You want to know
who's coming to the Lord? That's exactly who's coming to
the Lord. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Nobody else is coming. And the rest of the verse says,
and him that cometh to me I will in no wise, which means never
under any circumstance, cast out. I will not. And you hear
that part of the verse quoted an awful lot. Him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. But the first part of the
verse tells us who's coming. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Jesus went right on in that same
chapter and said no man can come to me except the Father which
hath sent me draw him. And yet folks run around oh we're
doing The work of God. There's a crowd asked the Lord
in the Gospel of John. Tell us what to do that we might
work the works of God. Jesus said this is the works
of God. That you believe on him. Whom God had sent. And folks are being told if you'd
straighten up, quit your meanness, God do something for you. No,
if you straighten them, quit your meanness, God's done something
for you. So we got it backwards. got it backwards. A lot of people have a hard time
making a distinction between good works because we're saved rather than good works to be
saved. You probably can't do enough
good to make us like you, let alone God. It's not in our doing. It's in what Christ has done.
And we bless His holy name for it. Redemption, redeemed. What does it involve? It involves
the payment of a price. He paid it on the cross. That little boy couldn't walk
in that toy store and just take it, take his boat. Had to be
bought back. That's what redeemed means. And
that's why Christ went to Calvary. And Peter says it like this.
1 Peter 1 18 for as much as you know. Or we ought to have sense enough
to know. That you were not redeemed. With
corruptible things. As silver and gold. From your vain conversation of
that word, conversation means lifestyle. received by tradition
from your fathers. Salvation is not inherent in
human blood. Oh, no. He says, here's how we're redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ. As of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. So a price was paid. A price was paid. Redemption, what it insures for
us. Paul told us in verse six, wherein
he hath made us accepted in the beloved. That's what God's people
are insured of, are certain of, assured of. Acceptance. Notice it said wherein
he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Not acceptable. That's what a lot of folks want
to say. Oh, you're. Christ died on the cross and
he made you acceptable. All you got to do is do your
part. No, no. The Bible don't say that Christ
died and made us acceptable. It said he died for his people
and he made them accepted. accepted. It's a done deal. It's a done deal. Christ died for us, the us being
God's people. None of the New Testament epistles,
Paul, Peter, James, John, Jude, they're all writing to believers.
They're not writing to Adam's race. You can't read all these
us's and we's and all these blessings. and give it to a God hating world
out yonder. It's for those who have had a
heart change, a heart transplant and a heart for the Lord. One
more thought and I'll quit. What this redemption inspires
in us. It inspires in us a desire to
worship him. praise Him, commit our lives
to Him, and obey Him. Paul said in verse 3, Blessed
be God. Wow. For all this He's done for
us. For all these blessings. And
he said in verse 6, It's the praise of the glory of His grace. Not us, not us, or anything we
do, but His. I heard a song this week. I was
flipping the radio. I'm crazy for doing that, but
I flipped it off. And this was a popular group
in our part of the country. And if I call their name, some
of you get mad at me, but they sung a song. And the
basic message of it was God must have seen something in me and saved me. No. Anything he saw in you was reason to put you in hell.
He saved us for Christ's sake. God must have saw something in
me. He didn't see nothing good in you. Even the apostle Paul
said that. In me, in my flesh, dwelleth
no good thing. Well, I had a two hour sermon and I've
just chopped it all to pieces here, so I just quit right there
is all I can say. All right, let's, let's, uh, receive the offering. Some of
you men come pass the plates. What have I been saying? I've
been saying that we do not worship a failing God. He's saving everybody He purposed
to save before He hung the stars. And He's damning the rest. And
He's absolutely just in doing so. When God puts people in hell,
He's just. If He puts you in hell, He's
just. Salvation is of grace. And it's His mercy bestowed upon
us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees us in His
Son, as the book of Revelation said, without fault before the
throne of God. The Song of Solomon said, there
is no spot in thee. You're perfect. You're pure.
You're clean. Not this old flesh. Oh no, don't
hand me that. It's bad news and headed for
the graveyard. But this one living on the inside,
the new creation, the work of God is doing all right and going to
live forever. Bless his holy name. So Christ, the good shepherd
came seeking after his sheep. And how many is he going to find? Every single one of them. And of course, this man-made
religion says, well, how can you know when he finds them all?
How does he know how many he's got? He knew how many he had before
he made the world. That's strong stuff. This is
the only doctrine. This is Bible doctrine. This
is the only message that gives God credit for being who he is.
This is the only message that gives Jesus Christ the credit
for being a success, 100% successful. If hell could get even one that
Christ claimed for himself, then Christ is a failure. But it can't
happen. It can't happen. That's sermon
number two. I'm through. Let's stand together. He said, well, I never heard
nothing like that before. Well, then you just go on talking about
that little Jesus that's so pitiful. He's just so desperate, and he's
just begging people to please cooperate so he can kind of save
face. And he says, no, no, no. He's
running right on schedule. All is well.