If the Spirit of God will enable
me, I want to set before you as clearly as I can some of the
blessedness and wonder of God's eternal grace. I want to show
you from the Scriptures God's full, blessed grace eternally
bestowed upon chosen sinners in Jesus Christ our Lord. Our
text will be Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 through 6. Now three
times in the scriptures, three times in the scriptures, this
is stated plainly, clearly, and in considerable detail, so that
there is no reason for anyone not to understand at least what
is said. We may have difficulty, indeed
we will have difficulty, ever beginning to grasp the fullness
of what is said. But understanding the fact that
this is stated is not a problem unless someone is willfully ignorant
of what is written in the Word of God. We are told plainly in
2 Timothy chapter 1, that God saved us and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Now that's the language given
in Scripture. Salvation, grace, was given to
us in Jesus Christ before the world began, and our works cannot
have anything to do with that which was given to us in Christ
before the world began. In Romans chapter 8, The Apostle
Paul explains to us the wonder of God's great providence, working
all things together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose. And then he tells
us what God's purpose is. For whom He did foreknow, that
is, whom He loved from eternity, those whom God Almighty took
into His heart and loved. Do you ever notice the book never
speaks of God loving us? I can't think of a single place
where the word of God speaks of God loving us. It's always
in the past tense. Always in the past tense. Because
this is that which possessed God's heart from eternity. possesses God's heart now and
possesses God's heart forever. He loved us. And loving us, he called us,
justified us, and glorified us in Jesus Christ before the world
was. That's the language of the book.
That's exactly what's written in Romans chapter 8 verse 29.
And then here in Ephesians chapter 1, the Spirit of God tells us
by this same Apostle Paul exactly how it was that we were saved
by God's maximus grace in Christ long before the world's foundation
was laid. He tells us that it was all accomplished
in all eternity, if I can use such language, that's redundant,
I know it, but I'm a redundant man of time. This was accomplished
in all eternity by the purpose of God to the praise of the glory
of His grace. Let's read it together. Ephesians
1 verse 3. 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," that
is to say, this is the way it was done, "'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 Or perhaps the word would better be translated with reference
to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. I reckon why he did that. Why would God do such a thing?
Why on earth would God Almighty choose somebody determined to save somebody,
love somebody from eternity, and predestinate those whom he
chose in everlasting love unto the glorious possession of all
the fullness of the glorious liberty of the sons of God. I'll tell you how it goes. To
the praise of the glory of His grace. Boasting excluded, pride I abase,
I'm only a sinner saved by grace. If you find yourself at last
planted in heaven, if you find yourself at last an heir of God's
salvation, heir of God and joint heir with Christ. If you find
yourself at last one of that great multitude seated with white
robes pure and white before the throne of the Lamb singing his
praise forever, you will have nothing of which to boast. You'll say, God did that. God did that. God did that. All this work. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. Now watch this. Wherein? That
is this great, great grace. He hath made us. Not is making,
not shall make, not hopes to make. He hath made us accepted,
favored, graced in the beloved. Now in these verses, Paul calls
for sane sinners, that is, men and women who have been made
to taste that he is gracious. many women who have experienced
the grace of God in salvation, many women who believe on the
Son of God. He's calling for us, who know
God's grace and experience, to bless, extol, honor, praise,
adore, and worship God our Father for His great, great grace given
to us in Christ before the world began. He begins by telling us
about God's sovereign election. And then he briefly states something
about divine predestination. And he wraps up this work of
God the Father by declaring to us that he has made us accepted
in the beloved. Now let's look at those three
things. First, the apostle mentions here that the Lord God our Father,
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has blessed us
with all spiritual blessings according to, according as, He
hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Our eternal election in Christ. is the source and cause of all
blessings and blessedness to time and eternity. Now, please
listen to me. People, somehow, we have a natural inclination
to invent religious notions, and we have a natural inclination
to accept passed along religious notions as though they were truth,
while we reject what God says plainly in his word. People talk
about God's grace and the blessings of common grace. What stupidity! What stupidity! There's nothing
common about God's grace. So, well, there's a sense in
which God blesses all men. Listen to me. Listen to what
this book says. All God's blessings flow to sinners
because of God's election, and only in Christ. That means, outside
of Christ, everything that you stupidly, vainly, ignorantly
imagine is a blessing, is a curse. It's a curse. God gives you light, what a blessing,
not unless you walk in the light. God establishes the gospel in
your midst, what a blessing, not unless you believe the gospel.
God's given us such a great blessing, living in this land of liberty,
not unless you live for Him in it. Everything outside Christ is
darkness, damnation, and death, but the forerunner of eternal
wrath in hell. Not a blessing. All blessedness
is in Christ and flows to centers because of God's electing love. Turn to Psalm 65 for a moment.
Let me show you. Apart from election, There are
no blessings here, and there are no blessings hereafter. But
for the elect, all things are blessed things. Look here at
Psalm 65. David sings in verse 4, Blessed
is the man. He's the only man in this world
who is. It would be alright to read blessed
is the woman too. The only woman in this world
who is. The only one. Oh, he's so rich and handsome. Oh, he's blessed. He's so smart and talented. He's
so blessed. He's got everything heart could
desire. He's so blessed. His children never cause him
any trouble. He's so blessed. He never has to lack for anything
indeed. He's so blessed. Let's see. Who is this man who's
blessed? Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. Now David puts election here
in the present tense, not because he's teaching that election is
something that takes place now. But he's telling us that it is
something men and women come to enjoy in the blessed experience
of grace when they are called to approach unto God. Here's
the blessed man whom thou choosest and callsest. Isn't that a great
word? Callsest to approach unto thee. He's the only one who is. One whom God chose. He, in the fullness of time,
at the time of love, by the sweet constraint and irresistible force
of omnipotent grace, causes to come to Christ. So I don't like that. If you're
ever caused to come, you will. This is blessedness. This is
the only man, the only woman in the world who is, has been,
or shall be blessed. The man whom thou choosest and
callest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts,
that he may dwell with God Almighty and be satisfied with the goodness
of thy house. satisfied with Jesus Christ,
in whom is all the goodness of God, the goodness of God's house,
in everlasting salvation, in everlasting glory, even of thy
holy temple. No wonder David sang, Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest. No wonder He leaped and danced
before the ark of God, made himself bow before men as he thought
on God's electing love to him. No wonder he slept with confidence
as he was about to leave this world singing concerning God's
electing love and grace, saying, although my house be not so with
God. I've got a house full of rebels,
and it looks like to everybody else God's curse is upon this
man. Because God's curse is on all
my sons and daughters, upon my wives, all that looks to me like
except for Solomon and Bathsheba, Abigail, everybody else, everybody
else uttered darkness. Although my house be not with
God, God's church, it looks to me like, is in troublesome times. The kingdom of God looks to me
like it may be on shaky ground at times. But all those things
are not like I might want them to be according to my own puny,
ignorant understanding of things. Yet He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things insure, and this is all my salvation. and all my desire, this is the
only thing that satisfies my soul. That's it. That's it. Blessed is the man
whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee. And look
back in Ephesians 1 again. According as he hath chosen us
in him. In him. election, like all other
blessings of grace, is something that is done or was done in Christ. The hymn writer said, Jesus we
bless thy father's name, thy God and ours are both the same,
when what heavenly blessings from his throne flow down to
sinners through the sun. Christ being my first elect,
he said, then chose our souls in Christ our head before he
gave the mountains birth or laid foundations for the earth. Thus
did eternal love begin to raise us up from death and sin. Our characters were then decreed
blameless in love of Holy See. Christ is our surety, our mediator. And we were chosen of God in
Him. Do you remember what the Lord
said in the garden when He had made Adam? Gathered up a pile
of dust, formed it into a nice looking clay doll and then breathed
into his nostrils and Adam became a living soul. God looked at
him in the garden and He said, it's not good for man to be alone. I will make and help meet for
him. So it was, from all eternity,
when Jesus Christ, the last Adam, who is really the first Adam,
though the last to be revealed, the first in standing, stood
forth before God as that one brought up with Him from everlasting,
in whom were the Father's delights from everlasting. The Father
looks on His Son and says, it's not good for Him to be alone.
I will make and help meet for him. What a word. What a word. Not a help that
he can live with and gratify his pleasures with and enjoy
life with and raise a family with. No. And help meet for him. And help worthy of Him. And He chose us to be His holy
bride. A bride worthy of Him. Worthy of Him because He made
us worthy of Him. This was done for the glory of
Christ that he might be the head over all things to the church
which is the fullness of him that filleth all in all. But
when was all this done? Back in Ephesians 1-4 again.
Before the foundation of the world. Have you ever looked in
the scriptures and taken notice as you read through how many
things are declared plainly to be done by our God for us before
or from the foundation of the world. Any idea? Our election
was in eternity when our names were written in the book of life
of the Lamb before the foundation of the world. the Lamb of God
slain as our substitute and mediator from the foundation of the world.
The kingdom that awaits us, that which we have now already obtained
as an inheritance in Christ by Christ possessing it for us,
was a kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world.
Indeed, all God's works of grace The whole of this thing called
salvation. We're told in Hebrews chapter
4 verse 3, we're finished before the foundation of the world. What language? Why are those
things so stated? I think perhaps John Gill stated
it best. He said, no new will or act of
will can ever arise in God. no new decree can be made by
him which was not from eternity and of those things we plainly
understand that God Almighty having loved us and chosen us
and having done so before the foundation of the world did so
with absolute immutability so that it can never be altered
and can never be changed. He loved us with everlasting
love just because He would. He chose us to Himself to the
praise of the glory of His grace. How I rejoice to hear my Savior
say, ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Well brother Don, that looks
like the Lord Jesus is declaring that salvation and His having
us and us having Him has absolutely nothing to do with anything we
might do. You got it. You have not chosen
me. But I've chosen you. And you
won't choose me if I hadn't chosen you. Now, having chosen you,
I ordained you that you should go and bring forth much fruit
and that your fruit should remain. Having chosen you, I redeemed
you. Having chosen you, I call you by my grace. But my calling
and my redemption are all the outflow of this one thing. I chose you. Oh, is God the Holy
Spirit? will stick into your heart this
day the hand of His omnipotent grace and calls you right where
you sit right now to come to Christ. You understand now, it's
because He chose you. He chose you. Now look what He
did. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before Him. How can my poor understanding of these things
be set before you in brief sentences, much less the wondrous mystery
contained here? Be sure you get this, God Almighty
has always viewed us in Christ, only in Christ, holy and without
blame in Christ. He chose us that we should be
holy and without blame. Indeed He did. And we'll see
in a moment when He did this, when He chose us before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame, we were
already holy and without blame. because he hath made us accepted
in the beloved. And if you think that God Almighty
has accepted from eternity something that wasn't holy and blameless,
you don't understand anything about the character of God. He's
a purer eye than to behold iniquity, much less hug it. He said we
were accepted in the beloved. But what does this mean then?
He chose us that we should be holy and without blame before
Him. He chose us in order that He
might perform His work of grace in us to the praise of the glory
of His grace. And this is that means by which
He makes us holy and without blame before Him in the experience
and work of His grace. He does so first by redemption. When Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, died in the womb instead of his people at Calvary, he
put away our sins. brought in everlasting righteousness,
we were acquitted from all sin, and made perfectly righteous,
so that we're only before God, and without blame before God,
judicially, because Christ's righteousness is imputed to us,
laid to our charge. Wonderful, blessed gospel truth. But I want to tell you something.
You ain't getting the glory on imputed righteousness alone. You ain't getting the glory on
imputed righteousness alone. Ain't gonna happen. Ain't gonna
happen. God's not gonna take that corrupt
thing there just by declaring it righteous and bring you to
glory. He gonna make you righteous. In regeneration. He puts in us
a holy nature without blame, without sin, without guilt, without
the possibility of blame, without the possibility of sin, without
the possibility of guilt, a holy nature. That's called imparted
righteousness. You see, in order for saints,
in order for believers to be made saints, they must be sanctified
by His grace internally. That's not something that we
do, that's what God does. He puts a new nature in you,
in the new birth. God doesn't take away the old
nature. We'll talk about that in a minute.
He doesn't even change it. He doesn't even change it. Flesh is flesh. Always has been,
always will be. But God puts something new in.
He puts something new in. I think I told you this already,
but Todd Niber called me a couple of weeks ago, and he was reading
in Job, where Job asked the question, who can bring the clean thing
out of an unclean? Not one. And he said to me, he said, does
that include God? I said, yes sir. In the new birth, God doesn't
bring a clean thing out of an unclean. He puts a clean thing
in an unclean. He puts Christ in you. Christ
in you. Christ in you. Did you hear me? Christ in you. You were dead
and then He who is life invaded your dead corpse and gave you
life. And that new thing he puts in
you, Paul calls the new man. This is how Paul describes it,
in Ephesians 4.24. He said it is the new man which
after God, now listen, is created in righteousness and true holiness. What a word! Christ, didn't you? Created in
righteousness. and true holiness. This is what
Peter calls being made partakers of the divine nature. He who
is God the Son, our mediator, comes into us and lives in us. This is what John calls God's
seed. That which is born of God, he
says, cannot sin. It is His seed. And He cannot
sin. I love the way he puts that. First he says that which is born
of God, now he says He. It's God's seed, now he says
He. He cannot sin. He and who? He and you. Oh, but not me. Not me. No, not me. Yeah, really me. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. I'm alive, but
I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about Christ. That one in me, believing God,
that one in me, loving God, that one in me, walking with God,
is not old man Adam, but new man Christ in you. Do you understand
that? Do you understand that? Christ
in you. He says you cannot sin because
he is born of God. Christ in you can no more do
evil than Christ incarnate could do evil while He walked on this
earth. But brother Don, what about our
sin? What about all the evil we do? Is that what you want? Larry, Chris, you lose your temper,
you get upset, you unbelief floods your mind, You pace the floor,
you worry, you fret, you get angry, your heart's dead, cold,
lifeless. Is that what you want? My God, that's not what I want.
That's not me! Is that what Paul said? It's no more me, but sin that
dwelleth in me! I delight in the law of God after
the inward man. That new man in me! That man
is Christ, created in me in righteousness and true holiness. And then, in the resurrection, in the resurrection, I'm going to get rid of this
old thing. And I will be presented in a
new body. This same body, altogether new. This same eyes, altogether new. These same ears, altogether new. This same mouth, altogether new.
This same body, sowed in corruption, raised in incorruption. Never
to know sin again. And presented faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Ah, in the ages
to come. This is why He chose us. That
He might show forth the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us. through Christ Jesus. Now look
at the last two words of verse 4, in love. Every time I read those I try
to read them as though they should begin verse 5 because I really
think they ought to be read that way, but I'm not sure. I don't
know whether they ought to really be at the end of verse 4 or at
the beginning of verse 5. Really, there ought not be the
verse division in our minds, but Should these words in love
begin the thought of predestination? Or do these words in love conclude
what God has done for us in election? Yes. Read it both ways. Both are true. And both are blessed. He hath chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will. In love, He blessed us. In love,
He chose us in Christ. In love, He beholds us holy and
without blame. In love, He predestinated us
to the adoption of children. In love, He accepted us, O my
soul. The God of glory, the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ loves me from everlasting to
everlasting. He loves us in Christ. He loves
us because of Christ. He loves us as he loves Christ. Because we are one with Christ. I started to say because he looks
upon us as one with Christ. Or because he considers us one
with Christ. That doesn't quite get it said.
Listen to me. If God Almighty looks on you
as one with Christ, that's because you really are one with Christ. No matter how it looks to you
or anybody else. If God Almighty considers us
one with Christ, that's because we really are one with Christ. No matter how we or anybody else
may consider things. You see, God does not look upon
things as though they were when they are not. God does not consider
things so that are not so. He loves us as He loves Christ. Because Christ is me. And I am Christ, one body. One body. One body. Now, look at verse 5. In love
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, we recognize and rejoice in the
fact that the Word of God teaches this glorious fact of divine
predestination. It is not a theory, it is not
a theological point, it is not a matter of doctrinal speculation,
it is not a denominational opinion, it's a fact! God Almighty predestinated
us. Oh, that's deep, deep, deep doctrine. Man, this is scratching the surface
of the shore. Ain't nothing deep about it. Is there anybody who doesn't
understand what predestinate means? If so, I'll get a dictionary
and read it to you. Determined before. Is that alright? Ordained before. Is that alright? Fixed the end before the beginning. Remember what it is? He predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. That is, with reference to the
adoption of children. The adoption was done when He
chose us. Paul tells us in Galatians 4,
because you were sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into
your hearts, crying, never father. The experience of faith has nothing
to do with the performance of adoption, it's the experience
of it. And when we come into everlasting
glory, we will come into the possession of this thing to which
we were predestinated, and that is the glorious liberty of the
sons of God. But all these things are but
bringing to light and bringing to pass in our experience what
was done from eternity. when he says he predestinated
us under the adoption of children. He predestinated us with reference
to this, that we should at last stand before him in the glorious
liberty of that inheritance which was given us in Christ in that
kingdom, prepared for us from the foundation of the world as
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. He's predestinated
that we attain it. Predestinated all things with
reference to that. What's that mean? That means
God Almighty, before the world began, arranged and ordained and fixed
unalterably and absolutely everything that comes to pass in time, including
the way the blood flows in your veins or doesn't, including the
fall of man and the fall of Lucifer, including the hoots and hollers
of men in rebellion against God, and including the works of God
in wrath and in judgment, and including the works of God in
all things, so that even the particles of dust flying through
the air that cannot be seen by the human eye, everything is
ordained exactly according to God's purpose and comes to pass
exactly according to God's purpose to land us safe in glory land. That's it. That's predestination. That's predestination. To Himself. Isn't that wonderful? predestinated us unto the adoption
of children in Jesus Christ to Himself. What's He predestinated us to?
Oh, happiness and blessings in time and blessings in eternity. Oh, look what God's given me. Oh, look how good God's been
to me. Yes, He has. To Himself. You can have everything
else as far as I'm concerned. To Himself. Oh, I want good health. I want Himself. Oh, I want to
live a long time. I want to live forever with Himself. Oh, I want everything this way,
that way. I want everything His way. His way. And I want to be reconciled
to it in my heart. To Himself. He predestinated
us to himself. This is what he says. The Lord
hath chosen Jacob unto himself. This people, he says, I have
formed for myself, and they shall show forth my praise. Can you get hold of that letter?
God forendeared for himself to be his portion forever to show
forth his praise. According to the good pleasure
of his will. Not according to our will, but
according to the good pleasure of His will. We were not chosen
according to our will, but according to the good pleasure of His will.
We were not adopted according to our will, but according to
the good pleasure of His will. We were not predestinated according
to our will, but according to the good pleasure of His will.
We were not accepted according to our will, but according to
the good pleasure of His will. Our Savior's delights were with
us from everlasting. And it was His Father's good
pleasure from everlasting to save us. Well might we then pray. Do good in Thy good pleasure. In all things, God performs His
good pleasure. and in my heart in my heart God
forgive me I don't always act like it and I don't always talk
like it but in my heart I want God to do his good pleasure all
the time everywhere with me and mine and you and yours for it is God which worketh in
you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Wherefore also we pray always
for you, Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, and I say to you, that our God
would count you worthy of his calling, and fulfill All the
pleasure of His goodness. All the good pleasure of His
goodness. And the work of faith with power. God fulfill the good pleasure
of His goodness in you. Fear not, little flock. Merle, why should we be afraid
of anything? Anything? Anything? Fear not, little flock. It is your father's what? Good
pleasure to give you the kingdom. And that's what he's doing. And
then in verse 6, he tells us this is all for the praise of
the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. That's enough. Accepted.