Well, I would like you to turn
back with me to Ephesians and the first chapter. On Friday,
Christmas Eve, I was prompted to buy a newspaper. Now, I normally
buy a copy of the Times, but on Friday it looked like an awfully
thin Times for the pound that they wanted for it, and sat next
to it was the Daily Mail, which was much thicker and half of
the price. So I bought that for the simple reason that these
days we need newspaper to wrap up things from the kitchen to
fit in with the local council's new recycling scheme. So in a
way it was that that prompted this particular approach to this
message, because in the Daily Mail, I ended up reading part
of it, and there was an article by a journalist by the name of
Tom Utley. And what he was saying was that,
being a Christmas Eve article, it was fairly light-hearted,
and he was saying how blessed he had been to grow up in Britain. He was born in 1953. He'd always had things go his way.
Even the other night, he'd been to the office party and found
himself in the streets of North London at three o'clock in the
morning, with no way of getting home, no taxis he could see,
the underground trains had stopped running, and just when he was
in a state of desperation, wondering what he was going to do, along
came one of the night buses that he knew nothing about, and it
stopped, asked him if he wanted to get on, and then took him
right the way to the depot that was just at the bottom of his
street, and he didn't realise it had been there. and so he
went on saying that he must have a guardian angel you might have
heard that expression, a guardian angel looking after him in all
matters of health and well-being and he finished up the article
by saying this, truly I belong to the most blessed generation
of Britons ever to have lived but there's one final service
I wish my guardian angel would do me I wish I could believe,
heart and soul, and all the time, that 2010 years ago, tomorrow,
or thereabouts, God sent his Son to earth in Bethlehem to
redeem our sins and give us the hope of eternal salvation. Faith
like that must surely be the greatest blessing of them all.
And so what I've called this message is, The Greatest Blessing
of All. Remember what he said, faith
like that, faith to believe that God sent his son to earth to
redeem our sins, you might quibble about the terminology but we
know what he means, to redeem our sins and give us the hope
of eternal salvation. Faith like that amongst all the
other blessings must surely be the greatest blessing of them
all. So look at Ephesians chapter 1 because here The Apostle Paul
tells us that those who are Christ's, who are believers, are blessed
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
They are indeed. To have that faith is to be blessed
above all else, the greatest blessing of them all. but he
says in verse four that he has blessed us, he has chosen us
in verse four, chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. Who's the us? Who is the we in that phrase? Well look back at verse one it's
the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ
Jesus, so it's saints and faithful wherever they might be the saints
and the faithful. They are the ones whom God has
blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
They are the ones whom he has chosen before the foundation
of the world that they should be holy and without blame before
him in love. But how did they get to be saints
and faithful? how did they become that? Is
Paul talking about every man and woman that has ever lived
he has blessed us, all of us, every single one of us whether
we know it or believe it or not with all spiritual blessings,
is that what he's saying? Well no it's the saints and the
faithful ones they're the ones who he's blessed look at verse
nine having made known unto us the mystery of his will according
to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. He
has made known to us the mystery of his will. God reveals to those
whom he intends to bless, and indeed does bless, the mystery
of his will. If you read Colossians chapter
1 and verse 26, Paul there talks about even the mystery which
hath been hid from ages and from generations but now he's made
manifest to his saints. The mystery that the natural
man cannot know is made manifest, made open, made obvious to his
saints. Look at verse 13. in whom, talking
about Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also,
after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit
of promise. He says there, this is the order
of things, you hear the gospel preached. God uses preachers. You hear the gospel preached.
he sends a preacher and you believe that gospel and you're sealed
with the Holy Spirit, you're confirmed by the Holy Spirit
that you are the saints of God, the set-apart ones of God. In
Romans chapter 10 verses 13 to 17 There, following on from the
verse that says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on
him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? You see, God's way is that a
preacher is sent. and that when a preacher is sent
he causes his people chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world to hear the gospel in a way that the natural man
does not, for the natural man does not have that spirit of
spiritual discernment that gift of spiritual discernment that
which is necessary to hear and to believe and to see the gospel
so the preachers sent and the words are heard and those words
that are heard by the awakening of the Holy Spirit are believed
in this one who is the saint, the set-apart one of God and
they believe it and they call upon the name of the Lord they
call upon the one in whom they have believed believing him to
be the Son of God and the Saviour and when they call They're saved. They come into the fullness of
it. In Romans 8, 16, Paul again writes that the Spirit of God
bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
That's the ceiling of verse 13. Confirmation that we are the
children of God. These are the ones who are blessed.
You see, faith is not something that you do. It's the gift of
God. Do you know you're a sinner?
Is that something that you're aware of? Do you know that your
sin has separated you from God? Do you know that He is just and
holy, and that you justly deserve hell in your sins as you are,
for an offence against a holy God? Have you experienced soul
hunger and soul thirst for righteousness, to be right with God? And have
you come to Christ, believing Him? You must come to Him. Come
to Christ alone, not your own efforts or anything else, not
anything that anybody tells you you must do, but come to Christ,
believing Him. This is what He said. In Matthew
11, verse 28, Jesus said, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden. The invitation wasn't open to
everybody, without exception. The invitation was to those that
labor and are heavy-laden. That laboring and heavy-laden
sense is one of sin, and that is the gift of God. As we read
in the Acts of the Apostles, God granted to the Gentiles repentance
from their sins, a sense of heaviness, a sense of hard work, a sense
of an impossible burden to be right with God. And Jesus says,
come to me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, for my
yoke is easy and my burden is light. In Revelation 22 and 17
we read that the Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that
hears say come and let him that is thirsty come thirsty for righteousness
and whosoever will who wills to come to God those whom God
has made willing in the day of his power and let him take of
the water of life freely without cost You see, the blessing of
faith is not something you wish you could do, like Tom Utley
in his article wished that he could have that faith, but the
ability wasn't quite in him. Well, the ability isn't in the
natural man. The ability isn't there, but it's not something
that you do by whipping up enthusiasm in yourself. This faith is not
something that you do. It is the gift of God. If He
makes you feel your need, if He makes you hungry and thirsty
and points you, believing to Christ, and you come and you
trust Him, then you are among these people, calls us, us. He has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing. You're among the saints, you're
among the faithful, the ones that God has set apart, the ones
to whom faith has been given by the Holy Spirit, making that
which was dead, alive. Thank you. You see, it's the
evidence of faith that is the indication that you're among
the elect of God. Look at verse 15. Wherefore I
also, says Paul, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and love unto all the saints. Wherefore I also, after I heard
of your faith. Faith, you see, brought to faith.
How do you know you're among the elect? You believe the gospel
of his grace. You don't argue with it. You
don't say that's wrong. I'm going to have my own way.
I'm going to have a God of my own imagination. You believe
Him. So the blessing of faith is the gift of God. Paul writes
to the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 2, 13 and 14. We are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification, that is setting apart, of the spirit
and belief of the truth whereunto he called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. How do
you know these Thessalonians are saints and faithful, Paul?
How do you know that they have been eternally loved by God with
an everlasting love? How do you know that? They believed
the gospel. That's the evidence that Paul
saw. They believed the truth. Their hearts were open to believe
it and to receive it. So I want us to look at five
blessings that we see in these first fourteen verses. Five blessings. Remember the message is the greatest
blessing of all. Faith like that, said Tom Utley,
must surely be the greatest blessing of them all. Well here's the
first one, it's in verse four. no doubt there are many more,
but these are five that I've picked out according, talking
about Christ, blessings in heavenly places in Christ, verse four,
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. Chosen to be holy. Chosen to
be holy. That's a blessing. Oh, hold on,
you might say, isn't that a great burden and a great responsibility?
Chosen to be holy. Oh, and God's standards are so
high. How are you ever going to... Is that a blessing? Is
that not a curse? Is that not a great burden to
put upon you? Read Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
14, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no
man shall see the Lord. Pursue it without which no man
shall see the Lord. How then can we be holy enough
to see the Lord? How can we be acceptable to God? Is it by our own efforts of keeping
the moral law? Well you know what Isaiah says
in 64 and verse 6, all of our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags in the sight of God. Our very best efforts pursue
holiness without, is that holiness good enough to see God? It's
filthy rags in his sight, the works of the flesh, the works
of the law, they're filthy rags in the sight of God. but in Christ
his people are holy and without blame before him in love because
that was what he chose us for in verse four as he has chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love he chose us for that
because he was going to make us holy in the Lord Jesus Christ
he was going to impute to us that righteousness and holiness
of Christ and make it ours. In Christ, God's love for His
chosen people is fulfilled, without violating His justice. You see,
God loved his people from before the foundation of the world.
How would that love be fulfilled and be brought to fruition in
its object, in bringing its object to safety? They're sinners. They
must be condemned. The law of God is absolutely
unbending. The soul that sins, it shall
die. God is angry with the wicked
every day. His justice cannot be overturned. It cannot be swept under the
carpet. How is it to be done? Christ, in Christ who stood as
the sinner's substitute, as the surety for all of his people,
as the one to bear the burden for all of his people, in him
God's love was fulfilled without violating his justice, for his
justice and his wrath against sin was poured out on his beloved
Son. If your name is in the Lamb's
Book of Life, you are holy in Him. You are as holy as Christ. If you read in Revelation 19.8,
you'll see this. It talks about the wife being
ready, the Bride of Christ, the Church, His people, ready for
that great marriage supper of the Lamb. And it says, And to
her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean
and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.
Oh, what am I saying? Is it the works, the good works
that they've done? All of these good things following
the moral law of God as the believers' rule of life, is this what they're
clothed with, that clean? No, no, no, no. Filthy rags. Filthy rags. the very best filthy
rags. No, well how do we get this righteousness
then? How is it fulfilled that she
was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen? Ah, the
fine linen is the Lord our righteousness. He is the righteousness of His
people. It is His righteousness that
clothes His people. It doesn't need the patches sewing
onto it of the filthy rags of our own righteousnesses, it's
perfect in itself. Paul says to the Colossians,
you are complete where? In Him. In Him you are complete. The best robe awaits you in glory. The best robe, just like that
prodigal son coming home. The ring awaits your finger. You are counted holy and pure. You're chosen to be holy and
without blame before Him in love. Does that not cause peace? The blessedness of peace? What
a blessing! You see, it doesn't matter what
you have, all the riches of this world, all the trinkets and the
playthings of this world, all the pleasure and all the money
and all the places to go of this world, but what if your soul
is burdened with sin and you cannot lie down and sleep at
night for fear of death, because like all other men you are in
truth through all of your life subject to bondage because of
the fear of death? because you know it's appointed
to man to die once and then the judgment, you know it's a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God but to know
that you're chosen in Him that you should be holy and without
blame and he's done it all to make you holy and without blame
what blessed peace that is Psalm 4 verse 8 David says this I will
both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou Lord only makest
me to dwell in safety the blessing of being chosen to be holy being
made holy pursue righteousness, holiness without which no man
shall see the Lord chosen to be holy in the Lord Jesus Christ
what a blessing secondly here I see that the people of God
are predestined to adoption predestined to adoption, chosen justified
in the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world in
eternity look at it, verse 5, having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will, and then verse 9 having made
known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself chosen in him in the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world and all of this
is in accordance with the good pleasure of God's will and it's
purposed in himself alone it's not in anything else, it's not
dependent on anything else it's purposed in him it's dependent
on him and he never changes he never changes his mind he never
changes his plans he never changes how he's going to fulfill something
he does it because he's God He performs all of His will. We're
children of wrath by nature, in this flesh as we're born.
We're children of wrath even as others, as says Ephesians
2 and verse 3 if you just look over the page. we're just like
everybody else, but these people who are chosen in Christ, who
are the us of whom Paul is speaking for them the legal papers of
adoption into the kingdom of God, the family of God are already
drawn up and they're sealed, they're sealed in the blood of
Christ who has paid all of the legal costs in order to make
these people the children of God, the adopted children of
God in Christ and you know with adoption comes all of the privileges
and all of the benefits and all of the status of the natural-born
children. That's what it is, adoption,
predestined to the adoption of children. Do you know this? Think again of the Dickens story
of Oliver Twist and how, as far as anybody can make out, the
boy is a pauper. He is born in poverty in the
workhouse. his mother dies early he's cast
out into the street he falls among thieves he gets into crime
and all of these other things and finally he's found by his
real grandfather who happens to be a man of substance and
you remember the point in the story perhaps where he wakes
up in that beautiful bed in that lovely room in lovely clean sheets
like he's never experienced before to know that he is truly an heir
of all that is his grandfather's in that great big house. And
so it is. A sinner under the wrath and
condemnation of God finds that in Christ he's predestined to
adoption. Is that not a great blessing?
You're not an outcast. You're not poverty-stricken in
him. You're a member of the household of God by legal adoption because
the price has been paid. You have all the benefits of
the safety and security of the household of God. You're a citizen
of Christ's kingdom. And verse six, what's the basis
of your acceptance? You're accepted in the beloved.
And the beloved is our Lord Jesus Christ himself. It's all in him,
accepted in him. justice's price is paid in the
precious blood of Christ, for as Peter says, you are not redeemed,
bought back with corruptible things like silver and gold and
precious stones and the things that just pass away with the
using but you're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ
that which has eternal value for the salvation of a soul and
because of that the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace and all of that leads to legal adoption, the
adoption of his people in Christ. What a blessing to be blessed,
to be chosen to be right with God legally, to be chosen to
be adopted into the family of God and then thirdly to be blessed
with spiritual knowledge. Knowledge is a good thing. Obviously,
we always say to the children, get whatever knowledge you can.
Knowledge is a good thing. It's good and it's satisfying.
Ignorance is not a good thing. Some people wallow in a state
of ignorance, but that's a dreadful thing. But to know facts, to
know facts on which you can make judgments, is very satisfying,
to know about history, how did society become as it is, to know
something of science and to know why things are the way they are
and how things work, to understand elements of engineering, so that
you understand why things work the way they do to know something
about geography and where countries are in relation and places to
one another to know something about astronomy and how our planet
fits in the solar system and in the galaxy and in this vast
infinite universe that God has created to know these things
is good but oh surpassing all of that the blessedness of spiritual
knowledge. Who am I really? What have I
been made for? What's my eternal destiny? What happens to me when I die?
Do you believe in an afterlife? No, many people say no, it's
just like the light being switched off. They're just trying to comfort
themselves because truly they do not know. truly as mortal
beings, but nevertheless with an immortal soul, they cannot
envisage it just suddenly coming to an abrupt end. They know there
must be something else, but to know these things, what a blessing
to know the mind of Christ, to be blessed with spiritual knowledge. Look in verse 8. wherein His
grace this is, in His grace He has abounded toward us in all
wisdom and prudence this wisdom and prudence is the wisdom and
prudence of the gospel you know, in our Lord Jesus Christ dwell,
says Colossians 2 verse 3, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
all the treasures not just some of them, all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge dwell in Him if you truly want to understand
the way things are It's in Him. It's the only, only understanding,
really, of the way things are. This isn't just head knowledge,
but it's heart knowledge, and it's experience. And it leads
to hope that He's in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
You see, the natural man has none of this. He only fears death. but you have a solid hope of
eternal security if you're His. If you're among the us that Paul
is talking about here, you truly have this tremendous blessing
of knowing the things of Christ. Look at verse 9, having made
known unto us the mystery of His will according to His good
pleasure which He has purposed in Himself. were blessed with
God's secrets concerning salvation. I'll read the verse again, Colossians
1 verse 26, Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages
and from generations, but is now made manifest to his saints,
that mystery is the gospel of his sovereign grace and salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hidden from ages and generations
of historical peoples down the generations, but is now made
manifest to his saints, to his people. Jesus said in John 15
and verse 15, he says, I no longer call you servants, but I call
you friends. And why does he call them friends?
Well, many reasons, but one of them is this, he tells them his
secrets. That's what friends do, they
share secrets. Jesus says, all things I have
heard of my Father I have made known unto you, my friends. And then in verse 10 he says
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 all that is fulfilled and
completed in Christ He is, read in Revelation, He says I am the
Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end, everything is encompassed
in Him there's much that I don't understand, much in the flesh
that evil heart of unbelief wells up in the flesh, because there's
much I don't understand about the way God has ordained that
things should be. But I do know this, that all
things are in Christ, all blessing, all knowledge truly, all peace,
all understanding, all wisdom, all of it on earth and in eternity,
it's all in Him. All things in Christ, in heaven
and on earth. And then fourthly, the promise
of an inheritance, look at verse 11 in whom Christ, 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 in Christ all that is his is mine. Everything that is his from the
Father is mine in him and is the possession of all of his
saints. You know in the marriage ceremony,
the traditional marriage ceremony between a man and a woman according
to the scriptures and in that ceremony they become one flesh,
they become totally united so that in law they act as one,
or at least that's the way it used to be and that's the way
it should be if the will of God was being worked out as he has
ordained and everything that the wife did the husband was
responsible for and everything you know they say that with my
body I you worship and all my worldly goods I thee endow all
of it is shared there's no more this is mine and that's yours
it's ours it's shared and so it is with Christ you see Paul
wasn't speaking in Ephesians 5 about men and women marrying
he says I rather speak about Christ and the church And in
that, Christ and the church, all that is Christ's, all that
belongs to Him, belongs to His bride in Him, belongs to His
people. And if you're amongst His people,
then you're part of His bride, and everything that is His is
your inheritance in Him. and again what a blessing that
must be and it must be fulfilled exactly as He has revealed because
He is God and what is the inheritance? nothing that is corruptible that
we know here and now but eternal things eternal life eternal light
eternal knowledge eternal bliss and read those chapters at the
end of Revelation about the bliss and the lack of sin and the holiness
and the delight of the people of God in the presence of their
Saviour. All that is His is mine, the
promise of an inheritance that must be fulfilled. And then fifthly,
the comfort of His Spirit the comfort of his Holy Spirit, verses
13 and 14, who first trusted in Christ, verse 13, 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. sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise. He's the earnest, the guarantee,
the down payment of our inheritance until the redemption, until the
buying back, until the claiming it as his own, handing in the
ticket at the pawnbrokers to say this is mine and it's paid
for, I'll have back my purchased possession. the Holy Spirit is
that earnest, that guarantee and it's all to the praise of
his glory, you see this is the blessing of Christ, we saw it
a few weeks ago in the Gospel of John, in those chapters fourteen,
fifteen, sixteen the much that Christ had to say about the Holy
Spirit and how he would not leave his people comfortless look at
John 14 verses 16 to 18 he says and I will pray the Father and
he shall give you another comforter that's the Holy Spirit that he
may abide with you forever even the spirit of truth whom the
world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth
him but you know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you
I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you this is a
blessing this is a tremendous blessing for we walk through
this life as believers in this body of flesh in this body of
sin and corruption yet with a new nature within implanted by the
Holy Spirit and not just that but the Spirit of God within
as well so that it's as if we're always with Christ, not physically
not physically as the disciples were as he walked this earth
as a man but by his spirit he's with all of his people all of
the time, I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you
and so the psalmist speaks in that best loved of Psalms, Psalm
23 though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil for thou art with me, thy rod and thy
staff comfort me and so it is we go through all sorts of ups
and downs in this life but we have the comfort of the Holy
Spirit. We have the promise of His presence with His people. In place of the physical presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have this glorious presence of
the Spirit of God taking of the things of Christ and making them
real and vivid to each of His people. To know all of these
things in head and heart and experience by faith is surely
the greatest blessing of all. We should pray for that journalist.
We should pray that by God's grace he will be granted repentance
and he will be granted spiritual sight to see those things. We
should pray for all that read those words that they might be
prompted to look. We should pray that in these
days that God would come and do a mighty work and save his
people and use and bless the preaching of his word to the
praise and glory and honour of his name.