Now let's begin here in verse
2. The Apostle Paul says this like this, and this was his introduction
in all his epistles. May grace, may grace, God's unmerited,
God's unearned favor be to you, be upon you, be in you, may you
experience in your mind in your heart, in your soul, this harmonious,
this quietness, this tranquility that comes from God the Father
and Jesus Christ the Lord, the Prince of Peace, who made peace
through the blood of His cross for all believing sinners. Why does Paul mention grace here
first? Well, grace is the fountainhead
of all blessings. Until grace opens itself up,
no blessings can flow. Peace comes from grace. Mercy comes from grace. Salvation
comes from grace. So before the Apostle Paul begins
to mention blessings, he takes us to the fountainhead of these
blessings. And where is that? Grace. Grace,
unmerited favor of God. A dear top lady wrote a song
concerning God's grace. Some of you may have read it
before. Let me read some of the verses to you. Grace tis a charming
sound, harmonious to the ear. Heaven with the echo shall resound,
all the earth shall hear. Grace first contrived the way
to save rebellious man, and all the steps that grace displayed
which drew the wondrous plan. Grace first inscribed my name
in God's eternal book. It was grace that gave me to
the Lamb who all my sorrow took. Grace led my roving feet to tread
the heavenly road, and new supplies each hour I meet. while pressing
on to God. Grace taught my soul to pray
and made my eyes overflow. T'was grace that keeps me till
this day and will not let me go. Grace all the works shall
crown through everlasting days. It's grace in heaven, the topmost
stone. Well deserves the praise. It lays in heaven the topmost
stone. That's what I meant to say. That's
what grace does. It lays in heaven the topmost
stone. It well deserves the praise. And Paul is saying here, if grace
opens its fountain of blessings to you, then you experience in
a measure this peace of God that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace
be to you and peace. I've often wondered, as the Apostle
Paul wrote this in all his epistles, if he didn't often think of what
the Lord told Moses to tell Aaron, the priest, and his sons. He
said, you be careful to speak to the children of Israel. You'll
find this in Numbers 6. And you speak to them like this. The Lord bless you and the Lord
keep you. The Lord calls His face to shine
upon you. Make His face to shine upon you
and be gracious to you. What is grace? It's the Lord
shining upon them. People who deserve nothing but
His crown, but yet they get grace. And God makes His face to shine
upon them. The Lord be gracious to you,
lift up the light of His countenance upon you, and give you peace."
I wonder if Paul didn't often think of this when he wrote,
Grace be unto you and peace. And I will put my name upon them,
saith the Lord, and I'll bless them. I'll bless them. Grace
is the fountainhead. It's the source. It's the supply
of all blessing. Grace be unto you in peace. And
now we come here to verse 3, and here we begin to see God's
purpose. Here we begin to see God's eternal
purpose in grace. What's it all about? Now somebody
will say, Bruce, I thought we began to see that in verse 4,
when he told us that God chose us in Christ. No, really, we
see it right here in verse 3. Because God's purpose is to save
us from our sins. It's to save us from His wrath.
That's His purpose. But His purpose in saving us
is to make us recognize that He saves us by grace. And He
awakens in our hearts not only the truth that He saves us, but
He awakens in our hearts that attitude of worship, that attitude
of adoration, Attitude of thankfulness for His grace that has saved
us. Our Lord Jesus Christ, He doesn't
lack this attitude of unthankfulness and ungratefulness. And one of
the things that the Lord has purposed in us is when He saves
us, He's going to make us to know that He saves us by grace. You see, it's one thing to save
a man, And it's one thing for the Lord to get the glory for
it. And the Lord's going to do both of those things. He's going
to save us, but He's going to save us in such a way that it
awakens praise in our heart. Ain't that what He says? Blessed
be God. Let me paraphrase this to you.
Here's what He said. Blessed praise and adoration
and glory and thanksgiving Be to God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ who hath bestowed upon us this spiritual blessing. We praise Him because He's bestowed
upon us this spiritual blessing. The Lord Jesus one day was traveling
and these ten lepers began to cry after Him. Lord be merciful
unto us. Heal us of our lepers. And he
said, go show yourselves to the priest. And as they went to show
themselves, all ten of them were cleansed from leprosy. But only
one turned back and began to glorify God. And he fell down
at the Master's feet, and he said, Lord, thank You, thank
You for cleansing me. And the Lord said, didn't I cleanse
ten of those fellows? Where's the others at? Does this
one person return to give glory to God? So see, he's concerned
about that. It's not enough for him to just
save us, but he saves us in such a way that he's going to get
glory from it. true glory, heart glory from
those that He saved. And you probably noticed this
as I read these verses here to you. You notice it there in verses
4 and verse 5, Paul talked to us about the Lord choosing us,
to salvation, and that He's predestinated us unto the adoption of children.
And there in verse 6, He says this, He's did this to the praise
of the glory of His grace, that we may praise Him for doing it. And then He goes on in the last
part of verse 6, through verse 7, He tells us that God hath
made us accepted in Christ, that we have redemption through His
blood, that He's forgiven all our sins, and then He turns around
and says, according to the riches of His grace. And then He goes
on there in verse 9 and says that God has made known His will
to us. In verse 11, He tells us that
we've obtained an inheritance in Jesus Christ, that eternal
inheritance. In verse 12, that we should be
to the praise of His glory. See why He does it? And then
you go on in chapter 2. Look over in chapter 2 what He
says. And look in verse 5. Chapter
2 and verse 5. Even when we were dead in sins,
He quickened us together with Christ, by grace are you saved,
raised us up together, made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace. See how concerned he is about
that? He's concerned about our salvation. He's going to save
us by his grace. But he's not only concerned about
saving us, he's concerned about us praising him for it. He desires
our worship. He desires our praise. That's
why the Apostle Paul began this way. Blessed be God. We adore
Him. We render thanks unto His name. So he goes all through this chapter
saying things like that. And Peter reminds us himself
when he told us that we were a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. And he says for this
reason, that we should show forth the praises of Him who called
us out of darkness. And the Lord told Isaiah, He
said, this people I've created for Myself that they may show
forth My praises. And you go over into the book
of Revelations, the last book of the Bible, and you see these
heavenly visions that John had of those saints around the throne,
a multitude that no man could number. And what are they doing
there? Every place you see them around the throne, they're giving
glory to God and glory to the Lamb. To Him belong blessings
and riches and honor and power and glory. And they're just there
around the Lamb and around the throne. What does the saints
do in heaven? The same thing they do here.
They just praise the Lord for saving them. They praise Him
for His blessed grace. So while the Lord teaches us
here in this chapter that it's obvious that we're saved by His
grace, it's just as obvious that He saves us in such a way that
we're going to praise Him for it. We're going to ascribe all
the glory unto Him for it. That's why Paul begins there
in verse 2. We bless and praise and adore the God and Father
of Jesus Christ because He's bestowed upon us these blessings,
these blessings, these blessings that we read about on down through
verse 14. Now, in verse 4, we come to verse
4, and that you and I may know that these blessings are blessings
of grace indeed. that they flow from this fountain
of grace, Paul is going to remind us here that these blessings
are not to everybody without exception. When he mentions these
blessings, now he's going to go on and teach us that these
blessings are for those that God has chosen, for those whom
He's marked out to give these blessings to. He tells us there
in verse 3, Blessed be the Father Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with these blessings, according as He hath chosen us to these
blessings. He has these blessings set aside,
and now He picks those to whom He will give these blessings
to. See that? See that? They're peculiar blessings. They're particular blessings.
And that's the first thing He mentions in this text. Now, we come here to verse 4,
and here's what I want to see in this particular verse, and
we can't deal with all of it, but I want us to look at this.
First of all, in verse 4, it is God that chooses the objects
of these blessings. Did you notice that? He has chosen
us in Him before the foundation of the world. These blessings
aren't for everybody, but they're for a great host of humanity,
that is, they are for those whom God the Father has chosen Himself
to bestow these blessings upon. He has chosen us. When the Lord Jesus talked about
election and what it meant in Mark 13, verse 20, He says it
like this, and you know sometimes if you want a definition, of
what a word means, the best place to go is to the scripture. What
does the word elect mean? You and I see that word so often
through the gospels and through the epistles. All believers are
referred to as God's elect, as sheep. And if we want to know
what it means, what does the word mean, the Lord Jesus says
this, except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be
saved, but for the elect's sake whom he hath chosen. Now what does election mean?
It means those whom God hath chosen. Chosen. That's what it
means. That's so simple, ain't it? Now,
he could have said, the Lord Jesus could have said, for the
sheep's sake whom he hath chosen. Because they're sometimes called
sheep. He could have said, for the vessels of mercy's sake. whom He hath chosen." Because
they're sometimes referred to as vessels of mercy, but He calls
them their elect. And that simply means those whom
the Father hath chosen. Who did the choosing? The Father
does the choosing. And a man told me one time, he
said, when you talk about God choosing, when you talk about
God's elect, he said, that just means the Jews. He chose the
Jews. So I had to take him to the Scripture
to tell him. Who was Paul writing to when
he told the Colossian converts, put on therefore as the elect
of God? He was writing to Gentiles as
well as Jews. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who was he writing to? Gentile
believers as well as Jewish believers. So who are the elect? It's those
whom God has chosen. I don't care if you find them
black. I don't care if you find them white. I don't care if you
find them Russian or Mexican, Jews or Gentiles. They go under
this heading, the elect whom God hath chosen. If any man is chosen, I don't
care what race or what sex or what age he is, if he's chosen,
God has chosen. God has chosen. Why did God the
Father choose them? Why did He choose? God the Father
has chosen you. Why in the world would He choose
you? Well, look over in Romans chapter
8. And while you're looking at Romans chapter 8, I want to quote
a verse of Scripture that you can mark it down if you want
to. Probably most of you know it. In Deuteronomy chapter 7,
If you'll turn to Romans chapter 8 and Deuteronomy chapter 7,
the Lord had confronted the children of Israel with this very thing.
Because they were the smallest nation of all the nations, and
the Lord chose that little nation. And some of them began to wonder,
why would He choose us? So the Lord confronted them with
that question. He said, why would I ever choose
you? Well, he said, I didn't set my love upon you or choose
you because you were the largest of all nations. You weren't the
mightiest of all nations. You were the smallest of nations.
You were in captivity. Why, Lord, then, did you choose
them? Because I loved you. Ain't that what he told them?
Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 6 and 7? But because I loved you. Now brothers and sisters, listen
to me. If you want to know what motivated God to make His first
move towards humanity, then here it is. It was love. It was love. And look here what he says in
Romans chapter 8. And look here in verse 29. This is the first of this in
verse 29. He tells in verse 28 about His
purpose. All things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. Verse 29-30 tells us what His
purpose is. For whom He did foreknow. Now, you read the rest, all the
blessings are to those whom He did foreknow. We can read that
and it's so clear, ain't it? Those whom he foreknew, then
all the blessings are to them. The blessing of being predestinated
to be conformed to the image of Christ, the blessing of being
called, the blessing of being justified, the blessing of being
glorified. Who's it to? Those whom God foreknew. Now what does this word foreknow
mean? Those whom He did foreknow. Well, it's a very basic definition. It simply means to know beforehand.
To know beforehand. Now, brothers and sisters, that's
an attribute that's unique to God only. The sole prerogative
of God, you and I don't foreknow anybody, do we? You dear mothers
here this morning, those little children now that you nurse around
and you've watched them grow up, there's a time you didn't
know them. Even when they were in your belly,
you didn't know them. They had to be born, you had
to get acquainted with them, watch their little personalities
develop, but you didn't know them. We don't have the capacity
to foreknow. You ladies, you didn't foreknow
your husbands, and you men, you didn't foreknow your wives. You
had to meet them. You had to get acquainted with
them. But when it comes to God, He foreknows. What did He tell
Jeremiah? Before I formed you in the womb,
I knew you. Before you had a being, I knew
you. So this Word in its most basic
definition simply means to foreknow. But it means more than that.
It's a very intimate word. It expresses an intimate relationship. It means to forelove. Adam knew
Eve, his wife, and she conceived. Now that tells us that was a
very intimate relationship, a very intimate knowledge. He knew her
and she conceived. Well, God can forelove a man.
Before He's born, before God made the world, before time,
He can foreknow individuals. That is, He can forelove them. Why did God the Father choose?
Out of His love. The Lord Jesus said, Other sheep
I have which are not of this fold, and listen to this, I know
them. I know them? I know my sheep."
Now that's more than just saying, I know who they are, I know where
they are. When he said, I know them, that's
an intimate knowledge he has of them. I know them tenderly,
I know them affectionately, I love them. When he said, I've got
to go through Samaria, you know why? He had a sheep there. He had a sheep that was going
to be there at that well. She didn't know him, and we've
got no record that he'd ever met her before. But he said,
I know her. I know her. He foreknows them,
don't he? And he said, I've got to go through there. I've got
to save her. She's mine. I know her. I know her. So why
did God the Father choose those whom He chose? He loved them. He loved them. He hath chosen
us because He loved us. So we go back to eternity, the
first act of God towards the children of men, He chose the
elect, and here's what motivated Him to do it. He loved them. He loved them. Now I'll tell
you one thing, I can get my little arms of faith around election
better than I can the motive for it all. Can't you? I can look back and
say, well, here He chose them. Here it is. We can't doubt that. He chose them. But the motive
for choosing them? Can you imagine God loving you?
The eternal God loving you? Amazing love. How could it be? How can it be? And we'll never
believe such a thing, but here we find it in the Scriptures.
He set His love upon You. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. And that's what motivated him
to choose anybody. Love. Love. Now somebody might
say, Bruce, couldn't we say here in Romans 8, 29, when we were
talking about God foreknowing, that He simply foreknew who would
be saved and who wouldn't be saved? that He foreknew that
some would believe and some would not believe? And therefore He
chose those who would believe and passed by those who would
not believe? Couldn't we say that? No, we
can't say that. Because you notice this Word
here is not talking about what people do. It's talking about
the people. He didn't say those whose works
He foreknew. He said those whom he foreknew. He's talking about people, ain't
he? He's talking about people, persons, those whom he foreknew. The children being not yet born,
and having neither good nor evil, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said to her, The elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved."
There it is. Jacob have I chosen. Why? Because
I love him. But Lord, he's not done any good.
I'm not looking at his acts. I'm not looking at what he does.
I'm looking at him. I love him. And I've chosen him. I've chosen him. Oh, the Lord
looked down from heaven, all right. He did that, didn't He? He looked down from heaven. Look
down on the children of men. Psalms chapter 14. Lord, what are you looking for?
I see you looking down from heaven. What are you looking for? I'm
looking for somebody that loves me. I'm looking for somebody
that's seeking me. I'm looking for somebody that's
fearing me. That's believing in me. I'm looking
for a good person. Lord, I know so-and-so over here. I've known that man for 25 years. And I bet if you go over there...
No, I've done been over there. He's not the person you think
he is. You're looking on the outside. I'm talking about the
heart. Well, this lady over here, I know I've done been over there
too. I've done been over there too. Lord, have you found anybody
that loves you? Have you found anybody that's
seeking you? Have you found anybody that understands you? Not one
single soul. All of them is gone out of the
way. They've all together become unfilthy. They've all together left Me
and gone in their own ways. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. Aren't you glad, brothers and
sisters, that election is not dependent upon God looking down
and seeing something good in you? Because there is nothing
there. There's nothing there. And that's
what He says Himself. Oh, God looked down through time.
Yes, He did. And he saw some filthy sinners
fallen in sin. But long before that happened,
he had already said his love and chosen his elect people.
Chosen them. So what's the motive that God
chose His elect in Christ to give these tremendous blessings
to? Love. Because He loved them. Because
He loved them. The cause of them being chosen
is not found in them, but is found in Him. And in His very
nature, in His essential nature of love, God is love. Love is not an act of God, it
is God. He chose them out of that essential
nature of the love. The Lord chose you because He
loved you. Boy, ain't this very telling.
When you read this like this in verse 29 of Romans 8. Those
he foreloved. And then you go right on down
in the last part of that chapter and you read this. Who shall
separate us from the love of God? That's in Christ Jesus the
Lord. It had its rise back on in eternity. And He left in love. And I tell you, you'll see the
strength of it. In time and eternity to come, you'll see the strength
of this love, because not one elect soul will ever be separated
from it. Never be. I've loved you with
an everlasting, everlasting love, bound to Him eternally by love's
strong cords. That's the first point. The next
point is this, and it's so important. When did God the Father make
His choice? When did He make His choice?
Well, He tells us there in verse 4, He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Before the foundation of the
world. Before the world had a foundation. You know there was a time when
this world didn't exist. It didn't exist. It has a foundation. You know what a foundation is.
That's the beginning of a building there. God began this building,
this world. In the beginning, thou hast laid
the foundation of this world. Job, where were you when I laid
the foundation of this world? You're so smart, answer me that. Where were you? Nobody's around
when God laid the foundation of this world. That's the beginning
of anything, to lay the foundation. You don't start with a roof,
do you? You don't start with a floor of joists. If you want
to build a house, you've got to dig down and you've got to lay a
foundation. Me and Joe, it was the funniest
thing in the world. Probably for two or three years or more,
on our way down here on 22nd Street or somewhere, Grand Avenue
there on 22nd. This guy started remodeling his
house. And he started from the top down. It was the funniest
thing you've ever seen in your life. He started to put a roof
on it. Tore everything off and put a roof on it. Then put the
shingles on it. Then went down and put the siding
on it. Just went from a furnished looking thing. Of course, you've
got it up for sale now too, so I don't know what that might
take. But you can do that remodeling a house. But if you're going
to build a house, you've got to dig your foundation. You've
got to pour the foundation. You've got to set it down first.
That's the beginning. And that's what God did with
this world. The foundation. And you know, when He said it,
it's unmovable. Look how long this world has
stood, and nobody shook it. Look at all the people it holds
up. And it's out here in the midst of this vast universe that's
so dangerous, unknown. I was looking the other day,
and they had these planets. They had Earth. Earth was sitting
there, and you looked at it, and it looked so huge. And then
they had started showing these other planets. They're back away
with their cameras and you see a big planet and you say, boy,
the earth ain't too awful big when you compare it to that planet.
Then they backed up a little farther and that was a huge planet
and you could just barely see the earth. Then they backed up
a little farther and you couldn't see the earth. That's how small
this little earth is. But you know it's untouchable. If one of these huge planets
just got off course just a tiny bit, he'd come and just wipe
this earth right out like it never existed. If the sun's knees
began to get weak and he bowed down, you know what would happen
to this earth? It'd melt. If he got lifted up in pride
and took off just a ways from us, you know what would happen
to this little earth? It'd freeze to death. But here this little earth stands.
And it's almost like I hear him just bragging and boasting, you
fellas can't hurt me. You can't touch me. I'm untouchable. God has laid my foundation. And
you can't shake me. You can't move me. God has laid
my foundation. And he just brags. And he can
brag because God's did it. God laid the foundation and you
can't shake it. The foundation of the world.
Now, you go back just before that foundation. You go back
before the beginning of this world, before God laid the foundations
of this world, and you find another foundation. I want you to turn
over right quick in Proverbs chapter 8. There is a foundation of this
world, a physical foundation that God Himself laid. But you
go back beyond before the foundation of the world, and you find another
foundation. You find another beginning. Here
in Proverbs chapter 8, the Lord Jesus Christ is being spoken
of under the heading of wisdom. And look here what He says in
verse 22 of Proverbs chapter 8. Look at this. In verse 22
of Proverbs chapter 8. The Lord possessed me, now here
He is, here's the mediator, here's the man Christ Jesus, here's
what He said, the Son of God. Jehovah, the Lord, possessed
me in the beginning of His way. Now you figure that out if you
can. Beginning of God's way. Before, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning. Now here's a beginning that has
no beginning. You can't find it. It's from everlasting. The
earth had a beginning. God laid the foundation. But
you go back on that and you find another beginning that had no
beginning, from everlasting. Ever the earth was. When there
was no depths, I was brought forth. When there was no fountains
abounded with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills, I was brought forth. For as yet He had not made the
earth, nor the fields, nor the highest parts of the dust of
the world. When He prepared the heavens,
I was there. When He set a compass upon the
face of the depth, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when He gave the sea His decree that
the water should not pass His command, when He appointed the
foundation to the earth. Then was I by Him, Christ said,
as one brought up with Him. I was daily His delight, rejoicing
always before Him." See that beginning? And that's where God
laid the foundation. What foundation am I talking
about? I'm talking about the foundation of salvation. What
is the foundation of salvation built upon? God's election. That's the foundation. And God
Himself laid it. Go to the foundations of the
earth and step off of that foundation, if you can. And let out your little wings
of faith and soar back in eternity. And just soar and just soar and
soar as far as you can. And if you can get back to there,
to this beginning, you know what you'll find written on that eternal
foundation? We're bound to give thanks to
God for you, brethren. God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. That's what that foundation says.
And isn't that eternal salvation? And it's unmovable! God laid
it, and it'll never be moved. And everything he does, every
blessing that he gives in Christ, it's built upon that foundation.
And it's unshakable. Paul told us about two men. He
warned Timothy about two men, Hymenaeus and Philetus. They
were going around preaching that the resurrection had passed already.
The Lord has already come. The resurrection has passed.
And he overthrew the faith of some. Overthrow their faith. You want a faith that man can
overthrow? I don't want a faith that man can come along and just
destroy it. Can you? I don't want a faith
like that. I don't want a faith devils can destroy. I want a
faith that lays hold upon Christ and just keeps on believing until
I'm in heaven at last. That's the kind of faith I want.
You and I see people just falling to the right and to the left,
don't we? We see it all the time, to the breaking of our hearts.
They had some kind of faith, but it was a faith that was overcome
by this world, by the devil, but it was overcome. And Paul
said their faith was lost, it was overcome. But then he went
right on to the next verse and said, Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are His." That's it, ain't it? The foundation of God. He
laid it back yonder in the beginning. I know my sheep. There it is. That's that foundation. I know
them. And other sheep I have, they're not even born yet. But
I know them already. And I must bring them, because
the Father hath chosen them, to salvation. Election is the
foundation upon which their salvation rests, and it's sure, it's steadfast. It's God's foundation. This foundation
is not dependent upon anything seen or anything foreseen in
the elect themselves. but it's a foundation of free
grace. It's not even a foundation that's
dependent upon the elect receiving the promised blessings, but a
foundation which secures those blessings. He hath blessed us
according as He hath chosen us to these blessings. These blessings
are sure because they rest upon this foundation of God's unmovable
decree of election. And this foundation is sure because
it's not dependent upon man's will, it's not dependent upon
man's promises, or it's not dependent upon man's dissolves or their
decisions. What's it dependent upon? The
sovereign will of this trying God. God hath chosen you. That's it. That's it. That's
the foundation. And He did it before we had a
being. And He fixed it, and it's unchangeable. The number of the
elect cannot be increased, but thank God they cannot be diminished.
It's sure. It's seeable. Bruce, what if I ain't one of
them? What if you are? What if you are? Don't this make
you happy? No, if you ain't one of them.
No, it's bad for you. But how do you know you're not
one of them? I just feel like a dog. All of
those elect feel like dogs. They call themselves dogs. But
they're His dogs. Come and say, Lord Jesus, I'm
a dog. But I'm Your dog. I'm going to let Your door. Just
lay right here until you look at Me and cause your face to
shine upon Me. And when you do, then I can know,
oh, I'm one of His. If I'm one of His, that was settled
back yonder in eternity. It's sure. And I'm on this foundation
and nobody is going to move it. Nobody. What can you do before such a
God as this? Just bow down. Just bow down. You can't add anything to Him.
Just bow to Him and worship Him. Praise Him. And if you're here
this morning, and you've been brought in your heart of hearts
to trust Christ, I mean, you really trust Him. You ain't just
saying it. You don't just profess it when
we're here on Sunday morning. I mean, all week long, you trust
Christ. You've leaned your entire soul
and all your salvation upon the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm telling
you, if you can bear witness to that this morning, you're
a blessed man. You're a blessed woman. And you
know where you can trace that blessing to? All the way back
on in eternity. There's where God purposed to
bless you. And He chose you to that blessing.