That was a blessing, as always. Ephesians 1. Paul begins where he is, where
he and the Ephesian church is. In verse 3, he says, "...blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us." He blessed us, God has blessed us. I don't know any people as
blessed as we are. But in particular, he has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings, all that we need, all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. He has made us meet,
qualified, fit right now to enter into the inheritance of the Saints.
And these, we're not talking about earthly, material, physical
blessings that fade away with the passing of time. We're talking
about spiritual blessings, redemption, righteousness, forgiveness of
sins, holiness, eternal life, seated with Christ in the heavenlies.
We're talking about an inheritance. Peter said it's an inheritance
that's incorruptible. I guess I'm the only person that
feels sorry for that girl that won the lottery, but I'm sure
some of you do too. Twenty years old, and she's won
all these earthly possessions that'll change her life, complicate
her life, and maybe ruin her life. And all of it will be gone
someday. She'll stand before God with
an eternity to spend. Her family has gone to Florida.
in the summertime for many years. One thing that impresses me a
great deal, in the afternoon you walk along the beach and
hear these daddies and families. We go to a family place down
in Pensacola and families are gathered there on the beach and
daddies and children are building these sand castles. They build
some really complicated outfits. I'm telling you, they've got
moats, they've got these huge bulwarks and they've got, they
just work for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours
getting those things done. Now if you go out on the next
morning, go down the next morning, about six o'clock or seven, they're
all gone, washed away with the tide. And that's, we spend our
years accumulating, accommodating, compromising, gathering together
and Job summed it up, he said, naked I came into this world, and naked I'll go out of it.
But not everybody, we're going out of here clothed with the
righteousness of the Son of God. That's right. Incorruptible,
undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Got your name on it. I told the
folks Wednesday night, in heaven, there's plenty of room, but there's
no vacancies. Every chair is already spoken
for by Christ. Has a name tag on it. You ever
go into a banquet and you look for your name, you know? Go around
the tables and there's all the name tags. Now here's mine, and
you're right beside me. Isn't that wonderful? That's
the way it is there. Everyone's got a name on it. He has already
blessed us in Christ Jesus with all spiritual blessings. It's
paid for, it's purchased, it's preserved, it's laid up in heaven
for you who are kept to the fire of God. That's right, you don't
have to add a thing to it, not a thing. Verse 4, "...according
as he chose us." You see, the Father has blessed
us with all these spiritual blessings in Christ because he chose us. He chose to do it. He chose us
in Christ before the foundation of the world, not because we
were holy, not because we were any better than anybody else.
We weren't. We aren't. But that we should
be holy and without blame before him. That's right. Let me ask you
a question. Did you choose God or did he choose you? Well, you know the answer to
that. Christ gave us the answer. He gathered his 12 apostles around
him and looked right at them. He said, you didn't choose me.
I chose you. I chose you. Why? Not because you were holy,
not because you were smarter or better or more holy than anybody
else, but I chose you. according to the good pleasure
of my own will." Well, when did he choose you? One fellow said
one time to me, he said, he chose me when I believed. I said, is
that what the Bible says? He said, no, it's not what the
Bible says, that's what I believe. He chose us in Christ before
the world began, before the foundation of the world. That's right. Second
Thessalonians 2.13 says, brethren, Paul writing to the church at
Thessalonica, he said, brethren, Beloved of God, I thank God for
you. I thank God for you because he
hath from the beginning, from the beginning chosen you to salvation,
not to an office, to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth, and he calls you by our gospel.
And he says to the elect, listen to what he says in Jeremiah,
he says, I've loved you with an everlasting love. All of your members were written
in my book when there were none of them. I purchased you and
possessed you from your mother's womb. God who separated me from
my mother's womb, I'll say it, I've known you from your mother's
womb. I've loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with
loving kindness have I drawn you." That's what he says to
the elect. What does he say to those religious
people at the judgment? that laid a claim on heaven's
inheritance by what they did. They said, Lord, open to us. We preached in your name. We
cast out devils in your name. We did many wonderful works in
your name. What did he say to them? I never knew you. I never knew you. But to their
lips he said, I've always known you. I've always known you. I've separated you from your
mother's womb, from the foundation of the world. He chose us in
Christ that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. If you look at verse 5, the last
line, here's another reason why he chose us. He did it according
to the good pleasure of his will, not for anything he saw in us
or he saw would be in us. but because he would. One day
our Lord stopped, people were following him, he was speaking
to them, he just stopped and lifted his eyes to heaven. Matthew
11, he said, Father, I thank you, I thank you. You hear these things, these
things, these wonderful, spiritual things. You've hid them from
the wise and the prudent, but you've revealed it to babes.
Even so, Father, it seemed good in your sight. That's good. It
seemed good to God. It seemed good to God. That satisfies
me. If it seems good to God, it seems
good to me. And it's according to the good
pleasure of his will. It says in verse 3, the Father
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. Jesus Christ has made
to me all I need. Verse 4, he said, according as
he chose us. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Everything God does, he does
in eternity. He declares the end from the
beginning. The foundation of God stands sure, having this
seal, he knows them that are his. They don't know him, some
of them, but they will. He knows them. Now verse 5, he
predestinated us unto the adoption of children, out of every tribe,
kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven. That's what John said
in the Revelation. He predestinated us. What does
that word mean? He predetermined it. He ordained
it. God doesn't know something is
going to happen because he has vision into the future only. He knows something's going to
happen because he ordained it to happen. That's what the scripture says,
he ordained it. God in his sovereign will has
purpose to have a kingdom. God's going to have a kingdom.
He's going to have a kingdom of people, like I said a moment
ago, out of every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven, and
every one of them. of going to bear the likeness
and image of Christ. You read that verse again. Having
predestinated us, he chose us. He blessed us with all spiritual
blessings according as he chose us, having already predetermined,
preordained, predestinated. He is going to have a people
out of every nation, tribe, tongue unto heaven just like his Son. just like his son. His son became
the son of man, that the sons of men might become the sons
of God. And John said, Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. I like that psalm, My
Jesus, I love thee, I know thy heart, mine, for thee all the
pleasures and follies of sin I resign. But really, I don't
like it as well as I do if they'd sing, My Jesus, I thank you,
you love me. That's the key, he loves me. When the sisters of Lazarus,
when he was sick, they sent word to Christ, Lord, they didn't
say, he who loves you is sick. He said, Lord, he whom you loveth
is sick. And behold what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
sons of God. And it doth not appear what we
shall be, but we know this, when he shall appear, we shall see
him as he is, and be what? Like him. That's what predestination
is. God elected people, but he predestined,
he predetermined, he ordained that every one of those people
will bear the likeness and image of Jesus Christ. They're going
to like what he likes, and love what he loves, and do what he
does, and think what he thinks, and sees what he sees. That's
right. Some of you have large families,
and most of them are a whole lot alike, aren't they? You can
recognize families by, they're like, my mother used to say to
me, you're just like your daddy. What do you expect? He gave me
birth, you know. What do you expect? I'm just
like my Father, by God's grace. I like what God likes. That's what we're talking about
here. And over in Romans, see, you know, you've seen that word
predestination over in Romans 8. Why don't you look at it with
me again? Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, verse 28, you
know, we We read this over and over. We hear it read at funerals
especially a lot of times. Romans 8, 28, listen. We know
this. And we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. They are called according to
what? To their will, their decision, their profession. Oh, no. His
purpose. Who works all things after the counsel of his own
will. Why? whom he did foreknow, whom
he did predestinate. By whom he did foreknow, I've
known you before the foundation of the world, I've known you
from your mother's womb. I've known you because I chose you.
Whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate, predetermine, listen,
ordain to be conformed to the image of his son. That's what
predestination is all about. They're going to be like Christ.
They're going to be like Christ. David said, I shall behold thy
face in righteousness, and I shall be satisfied when I awake with
thy likeness. That's it. If a man doesn't believe that,
he doesn't believe God. That's right. The next time you
hear these things, I don't believe in predestination. You better
wait a minute before you go too far out on that limb. This is God's purpose and plan
and covenant. He's predestinated that everybody
whom he saves is going to be like his Son, according to the good pleasure
of his own will. Now, the Father blessed us, all
right, with all spiritual blessing. And I know why, because he chose
to do it. And he chose to give them to
me. That's right. And he chose to give them to
you and me because he predestinated us, he ordained us to be like
Christ. Verse 6, to the praise of the
glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted. in the Beloved. I want to give
you an illustration that I gave the folks Wednesday night. About
half of you were not here, and half of you are going to hear
it again, and the other half are going to hear it for the first time.
That word, made, is so important. He hath made us. He hath made
us. You don't turn to this, this
is so familiar to you, but I'm going to read a verse from Psalm
100. Verse 3, we've read this a hundred
times, but I've connected it this week to this verse. He hath
made us accepted. Know ye not that the Lord, he
is God? It's he that hath made us. I've always connected that
with creation. Well, he made the snakes too,
but I'm not a snake and don't want to be one. He made the animals, he made
all things. But he made us like Christ. Not we ourselves, he
made us. We are his people. Everybody is not his people.
He said in Deuteronomy, you are my people. It pleased the Lord
to make you his people. You were not the most, you were
the fewest. You were not the strongest, you were the weakest.
But he made you his people because he would. We're not our own,
we're his. He made us his people. Listen, and the sheep of his
pasture. He's not everybody's shepherd.
David said, the Lord is my shepherd because he's my shepherd. I don't
want anything. He made us, not we ourselves. And now some church or preacher
or priest, he made us, not we ourselves. We're his people.
with the sheep of his pasture, and he made us accepted in the
beloved." Now, over in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, somebody says, is
the gospel summed up? And I believe it is. For he,
God the Father, hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin. That's saying that Jesus Christ,
our substitute, our Redeemer, our Federal Head, our Representative, Son of Man, God Almighty made
him to be our Representative, and he made him to be sin. He
became sin. Our sins were transferred to
him. They were laid upon him. And he was made sin to such an
extent that God forsook him. My God, why have you forsaken
me? Just sin. Just sin. Sin like it's never
been accumulated in one place before. Sin. He was made sin
to such an extent, so completely. The wrath of God not only fell
upon him, but the presence of God left him. Now, that we might be made the
righteousness of God. God doesn't see us as just covered
with a righteousness and robed in a righteousness, hiding our
wickedness from his view. That'd be pasted on righteousness,
wouldn't it? That wouldn't really be true.
I wouldn't be, you couldn't say I was righteous if it was just
pasted on me. I could get a mask, I could get
a mask of Ron Traybant made and put it on my face, but that wouldn't
make me Ron Traybant. I may walk in a room and you
say, hey Ron, I'm not Ron. I just got him pasted on. If that's all the righteousness
I've got, I'm in trouble. The believer doesn't just look
righteous, he is made the righteousness of God in Christ, and made so
righteous that God accepts him, embraces
him, loves him, looks with favor upon him. He belongs to him. That's what that verse is saying,
made sin, made righteous. And it's not an image, and it's
not a charade, and it's not a Halloween mask. We don't have any sin if
we're in Christ. In him there is no sin. If you
had any sin at all, God wouldn't accept you. To be accepted, it
must be perfect. And the only one who can make
us perfect is Christ Jesus. And what's this now? Verse 7, here's that means of
grace. In whom we have redemption, in Christ we have redemption
through his blood. We are redeemed through the blood
of Christ. Christ hath redeemed us. He paid
the price. He paid the ransom. Let him go,
God said. Turn him loose. I found the ransom. Deliver him from going down into
the pit. I found the ransom. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. I've given you
the blood upon the altar to make an atonement for your soul. It's
the blood that makes atonement for the soul. People in modern America and
other countries don't want anything to do with a bloody religion,
but let me tell you something. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. It's the blood that makes atonement.
It's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanseth us from all sin.
It's your blood that cleanses you physically. It's his blood that cleanses
us spiritually. We have the redemption through
his blood. I don't have any apologies about
preaching the blood of Christ. We are not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
the Lamb of God. And then he says, we have forgiveness,
we have the forgiveness of our sins. Can you think of a verse
of scripture in Hebrews that talks about how sins are put
away? You know, the Bible talks about
how God has separated our sins from us as far as the east is
from the west, behind the back of God, to be remembered no more,
into the depths of the sea. Well, how did he do it? Hebrews
9.26. In the end of the world, in the
last days, Jesus Christ appeared in human flesh to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself. That's how he put it away. In whom we have forgiveness of
sin according to the riches of his grace. Now look at verse
8. Talk about the means of grace. Wherein he hath abounded toward
us. He hath where sin did abound,
grace did much more abound. He hath abounded toward us in
all wisdom and insight, having made known unto us the mystery
of his will. Now, listen to me. Old Brother
Mews said, Don't move a hand nor hair. Listen. The Lord Jesus Christ toward
us, who are chosen, predestinated, accepted, redeemed, forgiven. The Lord has made known unto
us the mystery of his will. You see, the gospel of the cross
is the wisdom and power of God. That's what the scripture says.
It's the wisdom of God, the cross. In the cross of Christ, in the
perfect life of our Lord and his vicarious death, All of the
attributes of God are revealed. All the purpose of God is manifest. All of which he hath purposed
in himself in redemption is declared in the cross of Christ. And God
hath given to us an understanding of those mysteries, an understanding
of his will. We understand. 1 Corinthians 2. This is where
I was last week, 1 Corinthians 2, verse 8. Now verse 7 says, in 1 Corinthians
2, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. What we are dealing
with here is Christ has abounded toward us and manifested to us
the mysteries of his will. That's right. The wisdom of God. Even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained and purposed before the world unto our glory, and
which none of the princes of this world knew. None of the
leaders and rabbis and pharisees of this world knew, had they
known it. Had they known who he is and why he came, and what
he came to do, and why God sent And in his life and death, what
he fulfilled, they wouldn't have crucified him. Somebody else
would have, but they wouldn't have taken part in it if they
had known who he is. For it is written, I have not seen,
and the ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart
of man the things God hath prepared for them that love him. But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. You know in Christ how
God can be just and justify. You know the mystery in Christ
how God can be just and yet forgive you and me. How he can be righteous
and yet merciful. How he indeed can be truthful
and yet exercise forgiveness. That's a mystery. The world doesn't
understand. That's the reason they preach
a social gospel and not a gospel of substitution, because they
don't understand the mystery. 1 John 5 says, "...the Son of
God hath come, and given us an understanding, that we may know
him that is true, and Jesus Christ, whom he sent." This is the true
God. This is eternal life. You see
that verse again, look at verse 8 and 9 of Ephesians 1. He hath abounded abundantly,
mercifully toward us in wisdom and insight, understanding, having
made known unto us the mystery of his will. I'll show you a scripture that
I found this week that fits right here with this verse. Wisdom,
insight, understanding. He hath abundantly given us. Turn to Matthew 13. You need to look at this, Matthew 13. Remember the parable
of the sower, Matthew 13. Now look at this. Matthew 13. And in Matthew 13,
verse 18, the Lord sums up the parable of the sower. Sowing
the seed, the Word of God. Verse 18, Matthew 13. Watch it
now. Here are you, therefore, the
parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom,
the gospel, and understands it not, no insight, no wisdom, no
understanding, Then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away
that which he has heard, that which is sown in his heart. And
this is he that receiveth the seed by the wayside." See that?
The seed fell on the wayside, but no understanding. "...he
that receiveth the seed in the stony places, the same is he
that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it." Yet he
had no root, no understanding, no root in himself. He endures
for a little while, but when trouble comes and persecution
arises because of the Word, he is offended and he takes out.
Verse 22, he that receives the seed among the thorns, cares
and riches, is he that heareth the Word, and the cares of this
world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, he becomes
unfruitful. He chooses these cares and riches
instead of the Word, so he didn't have any understanding But, watch this, he that receives
the seed in good ground is he that heareth the word and understands it. And he brings forth fruit. God has blessed us with all spiritual
blessing because he chose to do it. Because he predestinated
us one of these days to be just like his Son, the image of his
Son. And he accepted us in Christ. And in Christ he put away our
sins by his precious blood and forgave all our sins. And bless
your heart, he gave us wisdom and insight and understanding
of what this is that we believe. Who this is that we believe.
And he told that parable of the sower, just as the seed goes
forth, we preach and folks, you know, they do whatever they do. But those that are planted and
grow and prosper in the gospel are those to whom God has given
understanding and abounded in wisdom and insight, the mysteries
of his will. And you can't do that, he has
to do that. And I know we try to argue with
him, we say, well, this is so whether you like it or not! Well,
I know he's not going to like it anyway. But when God the Almighty
is pleased to understand him, I say, That fellow came out the door
of that church years ago, he's been coming to this church time
and time again. He said, I see what you're saying!
I see it! You couldn't run him away with
a bulldozer. He's planted! Let me wind this up. He did all
this that in the dispensation of the fulness of time, that's
in God's own time, he might gather together. Almighty God is going
to gather together his elect from the four corners and the
four winds. He'll send his angels, Matthew said, to gather his elect
from the four corners. In Christ, everything in Christ,
which is in heaven, which is on earth, even in him, in whom
we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh
all things from the falling of a sparrow, not a sparrow falls
to the ground, Christ said, without your to the falling of the hairs of
your head, which are numbered. All things are purpose-ordained,
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will." I wouldn't have it
any other way. Let God be God, and ever man
a liar, ever man, ever man a liar. They said to David, they said,
Where's your God, David? He said, Our God is in the heavens.
What's he like, David? He doeth according to his will,
whatsoever the Lord pleases. That's what he does in heaven,
earth, and the seas, and unto the earth. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Then we'll start tonight, verse
13. Listen to verse 12. That we should
be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
That the glory of his grace should be known to us in heart, mind,
and experience, giving him all the glory. That the glory of his grace and
goodness in Christ should be known of us and through us in
our preaching. in our witnessing, give God the
glory. And that the glory of his grace
might be known to all nations and all people in the universe
throughout all eternity. For he says in chapter 2, verse
7, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Show it to whom? To us, to the angels, and to
the whole universe. Show what? The riches of his
grace and his glory.