You can turn your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. This is indeed a befitting ending to our series, The Promise of an Inheritance for the Saints. We have gone from the beginning of Genesis and have navigated the storyline of Scripture to this point. This is certainly an appropriate way to conclude our time together as we consider what is ahead for those who, as our passage reads in verse 13, when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed in Him were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. I love verses that encompass the triunity of our God right there in one verse. Let's read Ephesians chapter 1. The bulk of our study will be verses 11 through 23, but for completeness we'll begin in verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, with which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to award us who believe, according to the working of His great might, that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." The Apostle Paul is the obvious writer here and he's writing this from a Roman prison. Paul is no stranger to the Ephesians. He spent between two and three years here on what was his third missionary journey. This letter is written from a place of love and closeness to the church at Ephesus. By way of introduction, I mentioned that the bulk of our study will be verses 11 through 23, but I don't want us to overlook some key things from the beginning of the chapter. Paul gives this typical greeting, but you'll see in verse 3 the blessing, "...blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul does this in another of his books, and so does Peter. Why is this so important? If you were to go back to the Old Testament, you would see many blessings like this. Noah in Genesis 9.26 said, blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem. David in 1 Chronicles 16.36 said, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. And many of the passages we could reference, especially from the Psalms. Why is Paul's blessing so distinctive and so important here? The designation of God as the Lord, the God of Shem, the God of Israel, being replaced with, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, communicates the change of designation to include His incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, who is the mediator of both Jew and Gentile. And it communicates much greater access to God, Yahweh. You can imagine this would mean something to the people who at one time did not have access, but now have access to the living God. The Ephesian church would read this letter from Paul and first be excited to hear from him, but secondly be overjoyed to be reminded of what they have been given. The relationship of God through Jesus Christ His Son. That's how Paul starts his letter. That is what Paul felt was really important for them to hear from the beginning. And we need that same reminder. We have access to the living God because of His incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. What an incredible thing. I'm jumping to the end of my message, but the only reason we have an inheritance is because Jesus came. We need to know that and be reminded of that, saints, just like the church at Ephesus needed that reminder. And God did not send His Son Jesus out of any kind of obligation, and Jesus did not begrudgingly come because He was made to do so. I want you to look at the beautiful language that Paul uses in verses 3-10. Paul says, God has blessed us in Christ. In love He predestines us for adoption. To the praise of His glorious grace, which He has blessed us in the beloved. according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Him." Church, that is all love language right there. Paul is reminding them how loved they are by God through Jesus Christ, His Son. And this is where we pick up in verse 11. And as we progress through our passage, let's remember the title of this message is, The Promise of an Inheritance for the Saints. I want us to consider the three nouns in our title individually this morning, but we're actually going to work backward, first considering the saints, then the inheritance, and then the promise. The saints, then the inheritance, and then the promise. Look at verse 11. In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory." Now if we had exposited verses 3-10, we would have fleshed out some of this already. So we're going to do a little of it here. I won't spend a lot of time here because the Apostle Paul himself does a really good job of explaining this clause, and I don't want it to be just a commentary. But if you look back at verse 4 of Ephesians 1, it reads, "...even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him." In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of His will. Verse 4 and verse 5 support verse 11, and we need to understand that verse 11 of Ephesians 1 is the foundation of the promise of our inheritance as saints, as believers. Christians, believers, children of God, saints, only have an inheritance because God predestined. He determined a specific outcome. That's what predestined means. We have an inheritance only because God predestined us to have a relationship with Him before the foundation of the world. That relationship exists presently and will into eternity future. and He accomplished it through the completed work of His Son, Jesus Christ. That is what verse 11 means and it is supported by verses 4 and 5. The Apostle Paul wants to make sure and to reaffirm that these saints at Ephesus know that the inheritance he speaks of is theirs. Verse 12 reminds them that the Jews were the first to hear the gospel, but verse 13 quickly lets them know that the good news of Jesus Christ was for them as well. Verse 13 says, it was the gospel of your salvation. And when they came to know Jesus, they received the Holy Spirit. Verse 14 describes the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their inheritance. Listen, that would have been so encouraging to these believers. They were adopted into the family of God when they had once been excluded. And then God sent His Holy Spirit to make sure that they knew it was true. It was an absolutely sure thing. We all have people we know that if they tell us something, it is not always something we can count on, right? We're not going to take it to the bank, so to speak. Paul tells the Ephesians, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, your inheritance is a sure thing. You can count on it. It's a guarantee. I actually prefer how the reading of the Legacy Standard Bible puts it here, verse 13, "...in Him you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge, that guarantee, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance unto the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." So the saints are those who have been chosen by God to be His and this was done before the foundation of the world. God then provided the Holy Spirit as a pledge, a guarantee of the inheritance. The ESV allows for a new paragraph for the start of the next verse because the Apostle Paul will move into a time of prayer and blessing for the church. But I want us to pay special attention to verse 15 as it relates to the saints. Verse 15 reads, For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. So Paul's saying here, I'm praying for you, and I'm thankful for you because of your faith in Jesus and how you manifest that toward other believers. Friends, we need to understand what kind of people Paul is referring to here. He's referring to saints. He's referring to saints because he uses the word in the verse. But the apostle Paul is specifically thankful for the saints in Ephesus, and he wants them to know that he knows that they are children of God, that they are saints. How? Because I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, toward other believers. Paul identifies them as believers because of their faith and their love. Now some may immediately fire back and say, so you have to have the work of love to be a saint. And my attempt at a humble yet biblical response would be to just quote exactly from James 2 verses 20 and 27. I'm quoting, Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Whereas the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead." Listen, James did not mince words. Absolutely, you who call yourselves saints must love one another or you are not a saint. Galatians 5, 6, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything but only faith working itself through love. What counts? Faith working through love. Our pastor Tom spent a good bit of time on this topic a few weeks ago when he spoke on the two great commandments. Jesus said in Matthew 22, you shall love your Lord, the Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment and the second is like to it. You shall love your neighbors yourself. Of these two commandments depend all the law and prophets. That sounds pretty important coming from Jesus and it sounds like saint requirement material. Loving God with all our being would be akin to putting your faith in Jesus and love toward the saint sounds like loving your neighbor as yourself. Jesus and Paul are in definite agreement. So some self-examination. Have you put your faith in Jesus and do you love others like yourself? That's what it means to be a saint according to this passage. So, let's look now at the inheritance of the saints. Paul, from the very beginning of our passage, speaks of an inheritance. Verse 11, "...in him we have obtained an inheritance." Well in who have we obtained an inheritance? In God we have obtained an inheritance. This passage goes back and forth between speaking of God the Father and God the Son as Him. So you have to figure out the Him by context. But here it's speaking of God the Father. So in God the Father we have obtained an inheritance. And we, we covered in good detail who the we is, the saints. But what is Paul talking about when he talks about an inheritance? In this Ephesian culture, an inheritance would have meant a great deal. You can imagine that the majority of these listeners would have had very little significant wealth. They probably weren't going to be inheriting much and a wealthy inheritance would have been greatly desired Some may have hoped for material wealth, some temporal blessing, but we know that that is not what Paul is referring to here. But what is Paul referring to? What is Paul talking about when he speaks of inheritance? Our immediate thoughts go to future glory. Am I right? Oh, the day when we will not struggle with our flesh anymore. The day when we won't see the horrendous effects of sin around us. The day of no more death. but mostly the day of being with our Savior, right? That's where our hearts and minds immediately go, future glory. And we are absolutely right to go there because that is 100% part of our inheritance. But I don't think that we can discount this passage in so many other portions of Scripture that indicate that our inheritance is also in the present. I want us to consider an aspect of the inheritance that we typically don't think about. Turn over to Romans 8 for just a minute. Romans 8, starting in verse 12, if your Bible is like mine, This paragraph has the title, Heirs with Christ. Romans 8 verse 12, So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him, in order that we may also be glorified with Him. We oftentimes cite this verse in conversation pointing out that we are heirs of God. Maybe we don't even say that part. Maybe we say that we are joint heirs with Christ, right? How many times have we said it or heard it said, yes, we are joint heirs with Christ? And our minds go to our adoption as sons and daughters or our future glory. And I, again, am not discounting the incredibleness of those things, but we oftentimes, I dare say the majority of time, leave off the second part of Romans 8.17. And if children and heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him, in order that we may also be glorified with Him, Saints, the word heirs and inheritance have the same etymology, the same word beginning. So here in Romans 18 we have present and future inheritance for those who profess to know Jesus, those described as heirs of God. If we are heirs, then we will inherit some suffering and we will inherit the glory. Paul is saying that suffering is not just possible, suffering is necessary. 1 Peter 4.13 reinforces this thought, "...but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed." 2 Timothy 3.12, "...Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." So you can see the idea here that suffering must be a part of whatever inheritance we have as saints. Now does this mean that we will be significantly persecuted or die for our faith? I think we all know believers who have lived long faithful lives and gone to be with the Lord but died without ever being what we would describe as persecuted. I think that what we can recognize here is that our suffering may simply be living in a world that has fallen. And Paul goes on to talk about that in just a few verses in Romans 8, how creation itself is groaning under the weight of sin. And that may be how we suffer, not only under our own sin, but exposure to the sin of the world. So some of y'all may be thinking, well, who wants that kind of inheritance? What kind of inheritance is that? Let's turn back to Ephesians, but let's look at Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2. We'll start at verse 1. Ephesians 2 and verse 1. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work, and the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead and our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. So saints, there is present and future talk here. And I don't know about you, but if it talks about being seated near Jesus, I'm going to go ahead and call that some kind of an amazing inheritance. And you know what? That's talking about the present. Listen to verse 4-6 of Ephesians 2 again, "...but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you've been saved, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." That's the present. You know how I know it's the present? Because listen to verse 7, "...so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." That's the future. And before you think I've gone off the deep end, I want you to look at how the Apostle Paul has worded this beautiful verse. We've been made alive with Christ and been raised up and seated in the heavenly places in Christ. So we are not literally right now in the present seated with Christ. Jacob alluded to this in our earlier message. That's obvious and the verse doesn't say that, but it does say that we've been seated in Christ. And even though we are not yet in full possession of all the inheritance that God has for us, to be in the heavenly places in Christ is to be in God's domain instead of Satan's. Colossians 1.13 reads, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." The practical importance of the inheritance of our new position of being seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus is that this position gives us power to overcome sin. by the power of Jesus Christ working in us through the Holy Spirit, we can be more than conquerors, as you're familiar from Romans 8. Friends, our inheritance is present and future. It's suffering and glory. It's being seated in the heavenly places, being delivered from the domain of darkness, and it's the assurance of being with God in the coming age. Let's now look at the promise, or as I like to think of it, the assurance of the inheritance for the saints. Flip back over to the Ephesians one passage and look at verse 16. I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you. In verse 16, Paul begins a type of prayer report for the church at Ephesus and continues in verse 17 with a beautiful inclusion of the triune God asking for knowledge and wisdom for the people there. But beginning in verse 18, Paul starts to outline what looks to be three specific promises or assurances that have been or will be inherited by the children of God. First, Paul desires that believers would know the hope to which God has called them, that we would know the hope to which God has called us. Now, I'm not a Greek scholar, but we need to know what words mean in the Bible. This word, know, here can have different meanings. And here, it means to know by perception as opposed to know by experience. We often have the example of Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bore Cain. That word knew is to know by experience. That is not the same word know that is being used here in Ephesians. Let me give you an example where the word is used that you may not have thought of. In my sermon on the Davidic coven, I mentioned how the wise men came looking for the king of the Jews. Matthew 2-2 reads, You don't see or hear the word know in the verse, but the word saw is the same word. For we knew his star when it rose, and have come to worship him. These wise men knew this to be the star that would lead them to the Messiah. This word know here in Ephesians for believers suggests the Spirit-given fullness of knowledge absolute knowledge, knowledge that is without a doubt. This is part of the promise or the assurance of an inheritance for the saints. Paul here, to the Ephesian church, is praying that they would, without a doubt, know the hope to which God has called them. Now, we need to understand that this hope is not wishful thinking. This is not equivalent to someone saying, I hope I win the lottery. Or not like when Miss Nadine came up and whispered to me, I hope the Bulldogs have another great football season. Right? Saint's hope for the believer is the absolute certainty that God will make true what He has promised. And listen, God has proved Himself over and over and over again to be that One who keeps His Word. But we must depend on the Spirit of God for an understanding of the deep things of God. The writer to the Hebrews wrote in 611 and 612, and we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, the imitators of those whose through faith and patience inherit the promises. The phrase, full assurance of hope, may seem like an oxymoron because of how we use the word hope, but it goes to show you that hope here is not wishing for something to come to pass, but confidence that God will do what He says. And what does Paul pray that we have hope in? The hope to which He has called you. And believers, all believers have been summoned by God And this should cause all believers to shout hallelujah. You can turn over one page and read the very first verse of Ephesians 2 like we just read and realize the summons, the calling we needed. You were dead in the trespasses and sins. We were dead, not dying, not in need of some assistance, dead. This summons, this calling is just like what Jesus did when He raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus said, Lazarus come out and Lazarus walked out of his tomb alive. Same for us saints. It's the same for us. God calls believers to Himself and Paul wants the church at Ephesus and ultimately us to have absolute, without a doubt, knowledge, assurance of the hope to which we have been called. And what has God called us to? This calling here refers to the call that redeems the soul. This effectual call that God declares, it speaks to the soul, grants saving faith, and ushers elect sinners into salvation. Saints, it's not just, we can hope in the incredible work that God has provided. We hope in the incredible work of God's salvation. This is a most incredible promise, an incredible assurance of the inheritance for the saints. Paul goes on in this prayer report for the saints in Ephesus to know what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. So this is an interesting clause. Paul prays that the Ephesians would know that they would have a deep understanding of a glorious inheritance. But not just any glorious inheritance. His glorious inheritance, speaking of God. And interestingly, Paul does not say that he wants them to know what are the riches of His glorious inheritance to the saints. That would have made this phrase so simple. Paul says, His glorious inheritance in the saints. So who is getting what here? Some believe this is to be God inheriting us. Now, we are His inheritance. We are precious to Him, and we will spend eternity with Him. But the broader text seems to indicate that we are inheriting something rather than God inheriting us. Just prior to Paul's prayer, he says this to the church, �In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.� who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory. The Holy Spirit is part of this inheritance. That would indicate that it's for us. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee, the surety of what we will inherit. In the second chapter of Ephesians, we referenced earlier, we read about our future inheritance. Listen to Ephesians 2, 5-7. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you've been saved and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Verse 7 speaks of the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. These things given to us are both now and our future glory. The immeasurable riches of God's greatness are beyond human understanding, both in what we receive now and in what He has promised us in the future. I do want to encourage you in what you can anticipate to inherit if you're here and you know Jesus. You'll inherit God Himself and be face-to-face with Jesus Christ, your Savior. You'll inherit an eternal home with the rest of God's children. You'll inherit a place of no more sadness and fear, no more struggling or fighting. I believe the Bible teaches that there will be a reunion with our fellow saints. And because this verse describes it as immeasurable, there will be so much that it will take eternity for us to appreciate all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Ultimately, our glorious inheritance refers to the promise, salvation God delivered, the spiritual gifts He affords, and the eternal possession He provides to every believer. So in our promise of inheritance for the saints, we see how Paul prayed for them to know, for there to be a spirit-filled knowledge of the hope to which he called them, and for them to know the riches of his glorious inheritance. Then in verse 19, Paul wants them to know, to have a without a doubt assurance of something more specific. He says in verse 18, "...having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of that to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe. According to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come." Saints, these verses hold a lot. We really cannot unpack them in the time we have and do them justice, but Paul wants believers to know, to have a spirit filled without a doubt assurance, to know what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe. Jeremiah writes in Jeremiah 10-12, it is He who made the earth by His power who established the world by His wisdom and by His understanding stretched out the heavens. It is that same divine power that created, sustains, and controls the universe which Paul speaks of here in Ephesians. We need to understand from verse 19 of Ephesians 1, it is it that focuses one key feature of God's power, and it's an incredible promise as part of our inheritance. This one key feature of God's power is His ability to secure the salvation of His people. God's power to secure the salvation of His people. And Paul prays for you to understand the surpassing greatness of that truth. You know the word power is where we get our word dynamic or dynamite. This power is active and it is always at work on your behalf even when we can't see it. Now we need to be aware that Paul did not pray for power to be given to believers. What he prayed was that we would know that we would be given a divine awareness of the power that they possessed in Christ. And saints, look how the Apostle Paul stacks his words to describe God's power here. Verse 19, that you may know what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of His great might. Paul could just have said that you would know His power. and that would have been sufficient. But he uses words like immeasurable greatness and great might, power words to reinforce God's power. Alexander McLaren said that we need to understand that there is no power shortage when it comes to God. I like the use of the word surpassing greatness in the New American Standard. That surpassing literally means to throw beyond the usual mark and figuratively means to excel or to surpass. God's power goes beyond all other power. And the power of Christ applied on the believer's behalf cannot be defeated because God the Creator's power exceeds that of all other created beings, including Satan and his workers. Saints, listen. There will never be a day when God's power is not sufficient to achieve what God purposes in us and through us to the praise of His glory. There will never be a day when God's power is not sufficient to achieve what God purposes in us and through us to the praise of His glory. That is an inherited blessing that we benefit from today. While there is future glory for certain, this is present blessing right now. And we need to recognize what that immeasurably great power to believers is. It's the same power that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. First of all, we need to see the amazing power that that is. It raised our Savior from the dead. And second, we need to recognize that it is a power that is tested and proven because it raised our Savior from the dead that it is able to work in us as it worked in Christ. And you may be saying, well, I wasn't dead three days in a tomb. And you're right. But you were just as dead as Jesus' dead body. And now you may be thinking, me being dead, that's just figurative language, that's just descriptive. Listen, brothers and sisters, dead people who aren't really dead don't need a Savior. Sick people who aren't really sick don't need a doctor. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2, "...and you were dead in the trespasses and sins, but God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive Jesus said in Luke 51, those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick. I've not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Knowing the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us is a present promise of our inheritance as believers. It's something we get to know and experience now. Yes, there are future glories that make up the inheritance of the saints, but we need to know without a shadow of a doubt the power of God that saves and sustains us. Let me start to wind this up by pointing you to the last few verses of Ephesians 1, picking up in verse 19. that you may know what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might, that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He puts all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Christ ascended into heaven and sat down at God's right hand because of His completed work. And that last phrase, who fills all in all, speaks of how Christ makes everything complete and fills His people with Himself. We see His story throughout all the pages of Scripture. All of it points to Him. Christ came and accomplished everything as it was required of Him to do so that we might become sons and daughters. He is our great Savior. And as the latter part of Ephesians 1 reads, God has given our Savior dominion and rule over everything from now into eternity. So not only is He our great Savior, He is also our sovereign. He is our forever King. We began our conference at the beginning of the book, so we'll end it at the conclusion of the book. Turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 5. Revelation 5 beginning in verse 1. Then I saw on the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within, and on the back sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, Weep no more. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain. And by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads and myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who is slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And I heard every creature in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and might, forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped." Saints, our ultimate inheritance will be Christ Jesus Himself. we will spend eternity worshiping our Savior, worshiping the One who saved us, who died so that we could have life. It is almost unbelievable, almost too good to be true. But it's part of the promise, the blessed assurance of our inheritance as His children. Praise be to our God.