in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 1. This evening I'm going to introduce the letter to the Ephesians that was penned under the hand of the Apostle Paul, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And on Sunday nights, until I finish the parts that I feel God wants me to share out of the book of Ephesians, I'll be speaking to you and ministering out of the book of Ephesians. Because there are rich truths in this writing that we as Christians need to get a hold of. And all of the Bible's rich. I'm not suggesting tonight that there's not other parts of the Bible that aren't rich and not important. But one of the things that I can say about the Ephesian letter is that it does minister more specifically to us as Gentiles. And from it we can glean some very powerful and very spiritual truths that I think will be very helpful to our lives. Ephesians chapter one, I want to speak to you tonight on this subject, our riches in Christ. Our riches in Christ. Would you stand with me if you're able tonight as we'll read just three verses as part of the introduction of this letter tonight, Ephesians chapter one, verses one through three. If you're there, say amen. all an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Would you pray with me? Father, we thank you for this day that you've blessed us with such a sweet presence of the Holy Ghost in the service this morning. And thank you for your presence this evening in the service. Thank you, Father, for the songs that have been sung, the testimonies that have been given. And to you, God, be all glory. because you are worthy of such glory. And Father, tonight, we just thank you for being so gracious to us and merciful to us and giving us so many bountiful, rich blessings. Lord, we thank you for that. I want to thank you tonight, along with the audience of this church, for watching over our city through the protests here on Thursday and Friday. Oftentimes we pray about those things, but we fail to come back and say thank you. And I want to thank you, Lord, that peace was kept, the protests were peaceful, and that there was no physical damage done to any part of our city as far as we know. We do know that there was some vandalism done to our police officers' automobiles, a few of them. And Lord, you know who it is. I pray that you might convict their hearts so much so, God, that they would be willing to make right the wrongs that they've committed. I know we live in a day where that just doesn't seem like it's possible. You're still God and you're still on the throne. You're still able, God, to deal with any person's heart. and help them to realize that the way they're walking and the conduct of their lives is inappropriate, and they can do right. And God, I pray that we could experience around the city of Harrison what Paul experienced in the city of Ephesus, that we could see a move of God and such a powerful move in all of our churches, that people everywhere begin to get saved. We need that desperately throughout our country. In our father tonight, there are folks that are dealing with issues in their life, health issues. My daughter-in-law's grandmother, God's critical tonight in the hospital, having suffered a stroke and the surgery they did was successful and the doctors feel that they've helped her, but they won't know. extent of the damage the stroke has done until they do some testing tomorrow. And I pray that you lay your hand upon Sister Loretta and God that you would give her grace and give her healing because you are the great physician. You don't practice anything, you do it perfectly. And I praise you for that tonight. And then I thought about, and I praise you, Lord, I know that Sister Tammy would love so much to be here. And I know she's watching right now. And I pray for her, God, and I'm speaking, Lord, of Tammy Wilson, for the sake of those that's watching and don't know who Tammy is. She's one of our own, Father, and she's dedicated. And I lift her before your throne tonight and pray you'll preserve and protect her. and keeper, God, from any possible sickness. I know that Brother Danny Sparks wasn't feeling well last week, and Lord, I pray that you'll keep your hand on Brother Danny. About the sickness he said he's ever been was what he had back in the earlier part of this year. And I pray that you'll heal Danny, and that you'll lift him up, and bless his heart, and bless Sabrina and the girls, and thank you for their family. Tonight, Christina's mother, God, we're praying for her. We're praying, Lord, that whatever has afflicted her, that they'll be able, by medical technology and science, to figure out what the issues are. And I pray that they'll give her help. I pray that they can bring a healing there, and that she doesn't have to suffer anymore. We're glad to have her husband in the service tonight, Christina's dad. We're thankful tonight, Father, for his presence. Now, Father, we just pray that you'll guide us in the deliverance of the message and lead us in the teaching and preaching of this letter. And I want to learn out of it myself, so God, instruct me. and speak to me, and help me, Lord, to be pliable, and no matter what age we get in life, help us to be learnable, God, teachable, and help us to learn. And those things that, as Brother Ryan spoke earlier, I know exactly what he's feeling. I felt perplexed, and I felt angry, and the thing that has angered me is it just, it troubles me deeply to see such disrespect throughout our nation. when people loot and tear down and burn down what other people have worked hard for, just to survive or to provide for their families. And sometimes, God, I guess the thing that makes me angry about it is a lot of those people are people that's never worked and built anything for themselves. They just walk around destroyed. I know that as long as the world stands and Satan's in the world and sins in the world, we'll have these problems. But many of those folks need to be saved. They need to get under the sound gospel somewhere and the Holy Ghost get a hold of them and change their lives and change their hearts. And I've never seen a president, regardless of whether we think he's right or he's wrong, or we like him or we dislike him, God, I've never seen a man in high office so disrespected and treated with such disdainment as our president is. And Father, whether people understand it or not, the powers that be, you've ordained them. And God, it might be that people are angry against you, I pray that you will put your hand over our president and protect him, and that you will give him wisdom, God, to lead this nation and to do it humbly before you. And do it not for selfish reasons nor for any personal gain, but do it, God, for the benefit of the people of this nation and for the glory of God. I pray, Heavenly Father, that you'll preserve our nation against socialism and communism I pray that our precious little babies and grandchildren will never know what those kinds of governments are like. Help our nation. Help us, oh God, I pray. And I will praise you and I will thank you even now, Father, for your good grace upon us. In Jesus' name, I pray. And God's children said, amen. You may be seated. As I was preparing for tonight's introduction lesson of the book of Ephesians. I read a story about a woman whose name was Hetty Green. And Hetty died in the year of 1916. And in that year, she went down in history as being known as America's greatest miser. Her estate was valued at over $100 million. But I noticed as I read her story that Hetty ate cold oatmeal. And when asked why, she said, because it costs money to eat it. And she had a son who had suffered with a leg injury and wound up having to have his leg amputated or cut off because she delayed so long while looking for a free clinic for her son that his leg became incurable. Bear in mind, she's worth $100 million. She was wealthy, yet she chose to live like a pauper. She's an illustration of too many Christian believers today. They have limitless wealth at their disposal, and yet, as Christians, they live like a pauper. This is the kind of Christian that Paul is writing the Ephesian letter to. And tonight I want us to look at the introduction of this letter, and we'll get more into the riches in future messages. But I believe it's important tonight that we look at three things. We're going to look first of all at the author of this letter. And we know that it's by inspiration from God that this letter was written. But the human author was a man, as it shows you there in verse number one, who was Paul. His original name was Saul and he was born in the land of Tarsus or in the city of Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. He was out of the tribe of the Benjamites and he was likely named after Israel's first king Saul who himself was not diligent in being obedient to the kingdom of God even though Saul of Tarsus was striving to learn the law and live by the letter of the law and was preparing himself one day to become the rabbi. But this Saul of Tarsus himself was an opposer of Jesus Christ because he felt like that Jesus was an imposter. And so you know the story on his life. He was on his way to Damascus with letters. to go in and persecute any that called themselves Christians. And it was while this Saul of Tarsus was on his journey to the city of Damascus that he met the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you remember where you were going when you met him? And can you remember what your life was prior to meeting him and what your life was after meeting him? One can only look at Saul's life and see that though he was a religious man, and you probably wouldn't have found a great deal wrong with him other than the fact that he was a persecutor, but you can see a vast difference in his life once he become a Christian, once he knew Christ. His old life ceased to be and a brand new life began in him. And did you notice in verse number one, I want to particularly point this out to you, that he would become an apostle. And that term is simply a calling of God that means that he was given a special assignment or sent on a special commission. But notice how he became that. It says there in verse number one that it was by the will of God. Paul didn't choose himself to be this, and he didn't ordain himself to this. In fact, when you study the converted life of Saul, he actually went to church, landed in a city called Antioch, and he was attending the church and ministering there in the church of Antioch, Acts chapter 13. And he was faithful to the church and he was a prayer warrior. And I believe that he was a man who studied the letters of the law. He had already been over to Arabia and studied and he come to understand the reality of who Jesus Christ really was according to the scriptures. And it was while he was in the church at Antioch, being faithful to the church, dedicated to his Christian experience with God, that the Holy Spirit separated him, called him, and separated him to become a missionary. And when you study the book of Acts, you'll see that he went on three missionary journeys. And one of the trips of his first missionary journey, it was Paul and Barnabas. And then later, it was Paul and Silas. So he was called by the will of God to this apostleship, and it was a specific apostleship. It was unto the Gentiles. He was going to the heathen. He was going to them who were no part of the commonwealth of Israel, and they were aliens. That would be a rather unique task because he's Jewish. by natural birth and the Jews had very little company and association with the Gentiles. But he would be separated from his Jewish roots and he would actually be ministering unto the Gentiles. The book of Acts records all three of Paul's missionary journeys. And those journeys was throughout the Roman Empire, which was vast in those days, and it was one of the greatest evangelistic endeavors in church history that has ever been. In fact, history will even prove to you today that only Billy Graham has had a greater impact and larger impact influence worldwide than did the Apostle Paul. If you go to Acts chapter 18 and read that chapter, you'll find that Paul was on his way back, passing through the city of Ephesus. The letter that he wrote, he came there bringing a couple of ministers that worked with him by the name of Priscilla and Aquila. And Paul had met them in another region, stayed in their home, and they were in the same line of work together. They were tent makers. And so they had something in common. But they also shared a common faith and a fellowship in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul realized that Priscilla and Aquila was well-versed and well-taught in the truths of the Scriptures. And he brought them down. I think he might have expressed to them his desire to go to Ephesus and plant a church there. And someone could have readily said, Paul, do you understand what Ephesus is? It is a large seaport city. It was considered the bank of the country of Asia because of the great vast wealth that was there. But it also was a city full of idolatry. And the primary worship in that city was of a goddess by the name of Diana. There was a temple built there in her honor. And according to history, that temple was known as one of the seven wonders of the world. And some of the greatest arts and some of the greatest jewels and wealth that's ever been found through excavation has been found in the ruins of that temple when they excavated it. And so Paul would have a monumental task on his hand. You and I look out upon our world and we see the wickedness and the sin that runs so rampantly in America and in our land and we think that it's a lost cause and it's a hopeless cause. But my friend, it's not a lost cause and it's not a hopeless cause. I believe tonight that we still have a God that can bring a revival to this land. If only God's people, which are called by His name, would humble themselves and seek the face of God, turning from their wicked ways. God has promised us that He would hear us from heaven and He would forgive our sin and He would heal our land. And I don't believe that Paul was going to Ephesus by denominational choice. I don't think that he sat down with the board of directors and said, well, where do we need church? That's where I'll go. I believe Paul had the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit to go to Ephesus. And if God is leading and God is directing to go to a specific place, then you can go there and establish a work. When you read the book of Acts chapter 18, he brings Priscilla and Aquila there. Paul goes into the synagogue, for there is one there. And he visits with them and speaks to them. And they loved what they heard. And they pleaded with him, stay with us. Paul would not consent to them because he needed to be in Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover and he decided that he would return at a later date. And so it was after a period of time that he came back there. There was also another man that came to the city by the name of Apollos. And the Bible says that Apollos was an excellent orator. And he was well-versed and very mannerly. And when he came to the city preaching to them, Priscilla and Aquila could see readily that Apollos was not very deep in his knowledge of who Jesus Christ was. And Priscilla and Aquila, this is why I said Paul appreciated the vast knowledge that they had. They set Apollos down and they taught him more than the baptism of John. They taught him about the power of the Holy Spirit so that Apollos, who was fervent in spirit and was an excellent orator, could work more effectively once he had this anointing upon his life. And so when Paul returned back to Ephesus, he came back there asking an important question. And the question that he asked every believer was this. Since you have believed in Jesus Christ, have you received the Holy Ghost? And I ask you that tonight. Since you have believed in Jesus Christ, have you received the Holy Ghost? Now you're probably sitting there wondering, well where is this going to go? Because I always believed that if I got saved, I got the Holy Ghost. Well the truth is, that's correct. If you received Christ as your Savior by repentance and faith in Him, it was the Holy Ghost who convicted you of that sin. It was the Holy Ghost who drew you unto Jesus. And when you humbled yourself to God and asked for the forgiveness of your sins and invited Christ to come in you, the Bible says that The Spirit of Christ came in you. Now some people try to make a difference in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of Christ. God the Father is one God. God the Son is one God. God the Holy Spirit is one God. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate personages, but they are one God. If you have the Spirit of Christ, you have the Holy Ghost. If you have the Holy Ghost, you have the Spirit of Christ. And Paul said, If you have not the spirit of Christ, this is what he wrote to the Roman Christians, then you're none of his. And Paul's question was, have you received since you believed? Now you can believe on Jesus. There's people out there in the world tonight that believe in Jesus, but they've not received his spirit. Because if His Spirit comes in, they can't remain the same. The old man dies and a new creation begins in their life and it's a creation that's created in true righteousness and holiness after the image of Him that created them. I'm talking about the spiritual man. When Jesus gets on the inside of an old man that lived in sin, the old man of sin will die and the new man of Christ will come alive in that person's heart. And so Paul asked them if they'd received the Holy Spirit. And he laid his hands on them. And in those days, for a while, God allowed the apostles to lay their hands on people and they'd received the Holy Ghost. You remember Philip did that in one place. And some of the disciples came down when Philip was preaching in a certain region. There was a man down there that followed Philip around, listening to him. And when the apostles come and laid hands on them, received the Holy Spirit, filled up one of them with that power, and he tried to buy it with his money. You can't buy the power of God with your money. You can only attain it through faith in God and faith in Jesus Christ. And Peter told him, your money perishes with you, and you're in the gall of bitterness. You need to repent lest God bring something upon you. And it frightened that old boy so bad that he said, would you pray for me? He obviously could see some power in them. Wouldn't it be wonderful tonight if the world around us knew We had power in our prayer life. And so God, Paul wants to know, have they received the Holy Spirit? And he laid hands on them and he prayed for them. And God would give him the help that he needed in that city. It was dedicated, yes, to the goddess Diana. It was known, Diana was known according to Greek mythology as Artemis, who was the goddess of fertility. And even in the book of Acts, they come to believe that an image had fallen from Jupiter to the earth. And therefore, this was something special and something holy, and they made little silver shrines. There was a man there who was in the silversmith shop by the name of Demetrius, and he made silver shrines, and there was other craftsmen there, and they were prospering off of that. And I know that even in the world today that there's people connected with the ministry that's prospering off the ministry. And my friend, we shouldn't turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. We shouldn't take the things of God and try to profit from them. We ought to give out the things of God freely so the world can know the riches of Jesus Christ. Now tonight I'm not rich by material goods, but I'm rich spiritually. I'm a poor, poor rich man. How about you? And I hope before that I'm through with the book of Ephesians, you'll go around singing that old song, I'm just a poor, poor rich man. I bet you guys know that song, don't you? If you don't learn it, sing it for us, alright? So effective was Paul's ministry, listen now. After Paul was there for a while, there was people in the city that practiced exorcism. One man's name was Sceva. He has seven sons. They practiced exorcism. They decided that nobody else can stop Paul, we will. And they got into one of their little seances, whatever it was they did, and one of the spirits in them leaped upon another man and grabbed him and said, Paul I know and Jesus I know, but who are you? And it's scared the fire out of them boys. A lot of people mess with black magic and the arts and the picturesque things of the world, and they have no idea what they're playing with when they're messing with that stuff. And can I tell you that even devils know who God is. They tremble at the presence of God. You remember when Jesus came where the demoniac of Gadara was and he was full of legion of devils. And the spirits pleaded with him, don't send us out into the deep. Don't send us out into the deep. And Jesus thought the best fit place for you is in the hogs over there. And he released them and sent them into the swine. And even though filthy swine didn't want the filthy dirty spirit of the devil in them, They'd rather drown than have the devil in them. They ran in the sea and drowned. I believe the hogs got a little more sense than some people in the world. If you've ever worked with them, you know they're one of the dumbest animals you've ever tried to do anything with. And these exorcists, and there was magicians. Some of them were Jews, some of them were Greeks. They were converted. And when they were converted, they came and confessed their deeds. And they even brought their books and their curious arts. And they had a big bonfire. Now there's a fire downtown Harrison. I'd like to see it with people bringing all their filthy junk and throwing it in that fire and burn and saying from here on, me and my house is going to serve the Lord. Amen? And there was people watching this. And listen, the temple of Diana was diminished by membership. And Demetrius, if you remember, he rose up and he got the silversmiths together and he said to them, let me tell you something, that's what the problem is in the world today. The great problem is sin. But a lot of the problem is money. The rich, when they get rich, they're not ever satisfied. They want more, more, more. It's all about money. And Demetrius said, this craft of ours is in danger because you see what this Paul is doing. Would to God that we had some people in a community, in a city, that had enough of the power, God, that the city council meeting was all about, have you seen what these fellows are doing? They're turning this city upside down for the Lord. And Demetrius created such a confusion that day in the temple that people started crying out for two long hours, great is Diana of the Ephesians, great is Diana of the Ephesians. And Paul intended to venture into the theater there and some told him no, don't go in there. And the town clerk came and he stopped them and he said to them, If Demetrius and his men have a problem, they have a law that they can plead with through this means. And not create this confusion because we call in question. At least the town clerk had enough sense to understand there's a right protocol of a way to do things. And rioting like they was doing and working themselves up like they was doing is inappropriate. Can I tell you what's going on in the world is inappropriate according to the Bible. It's inappropriate. And he told him, he said, I don't want to dismiss you, and I want you to go home. And Paul remained in Ephesus for the duration of two years, and he had a powerful, powerful impact and influence on that city. So we've learned tonight a little bit about the author. But the second thing I want to introduce you to tonight is the assembly there. Look at verse number one with me again. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, who's he writing to? The saints. Are you surprised? He's addressing the saints. You see, often we get things in a reverse order. We think we'll be always preaching to the sinners. If the saints get right, the sinners will come. And Paul was addressing the saints. Sainthood, in most people's mind, comes only after death. Many think that after death their life has to have been examined by some church or some group of people that will evaluate has this person done some miracles and have they lived above reproach and are they worthy of being canonized. And we know that that is exercised in certain religions today. They canonize him, they declare him like Mother Teresa. She did a great thing while she was alive. And she never got the recognition for it until after death. And then she was canonized as a saint of God. And what they're saying is that this person is worthy now to be recognized as holiness. And that's unscriptural. What do you mean it's unscriptural? I'm saying to recognize people as saints after death is unscriptural. Because when you look at the Bible, nine times in this letter, Paul addresses his readers as saints. I want you to follow me with this. Look at verse number one. In verse one, he's addressing this letter to the saints. Ephesians 1.1. Look down at verse number 15. In verse number 15, He tells the saints, I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and the love you have unto all the saints. Look over at verse number 18, and he's talking to them about their inheritance in the saints. Look at chapter 2, verse number 19. We're talking about Paul addressing the saints. Now therefore you're not strangers or foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. Look at Ephesians chapter 3 verse 8 and verse 18. In verse 8, he said, I'm the least of all saints. In verse 18, Paul writes to them that we may be able with all the saints to comprehend the breadth and depth and length of his love. Look over in chapter 4 in verse number 12. He's talking there about the perfecting of the saints. And then look, if you will, in chapter 5 in verse number 3. He said of all the fornication and uncleanness and covenants, let that not be once named among you as saints. And then look, if you will, at chapter 6 and verse number 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. So Paul is addressing saints. And all these are still living. They didn't get sainthood by canonization after death, but they were classified as saints when they become believers in Jesus Christ. They were one time dead in their trespasses and sin. That's what Ephesians tells us about in chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. You had the quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. You and I were dead in sin, but we're alive in Christ tonight because God has made us alive in the Holy Spirit, and we're no longer dead in those trespasses and sin. We weren't saints when we were in sin, but the minute we became a child of God, we became saints. And our holiness is not of anything we are or that we do, but it is of the Lord himself that puts his holiness in us. It is clear that they had never performed a miracle in the Ephesians I'm talking about. They did experience the miracle of the new birth by trusting Christ as their Savior, and that's what a saint is. But I had to ask the question to myself, what or how did these Ephesians become saints? And as I looked into verse number one, I found two words. I found the word faithful in Christ, and I found the word grace. And faith and grace, listen to me carefully tonight, go together. Now I know you'd like for me to romp and stomp and snort like a bull up here. But I'm going to try to help you learn some things while I am your pastor that you probably already know, but I'm just going to remind you. So you can rejoice in the riches that you have in Christ. You may not have much physically, materially, but you are exceedingly wealthy in Christ. And you have the ability to draw on those resources. If you've got money in the bank, you can go down to the bank and draw on what money you have there. And I promise you tonight, you can always go down on your knees and get from the bank of heaven the help you need. Because you are a child of the rich king, Jesus Christ. Paul, I want you to understand tonight that these Ephesians had faith and they were saved by grace. Because in verse 8 of chapter 2, Paul says, by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. And when somebody becomes a child of God, they've been extended to the favor of God and they put their faith in him and he saves them. And once they are saved, Faithfulness is what God wants to see in our lives. And faithfulness means that I'll learn to read my Bible, I will learn to worship God, I will learn to be obedient to the Lord, and I will be willing to surrender my heart to Him and do what God leads and directs in my lives. They put their faith in Christ and they were saved. How do you know this? Well, look at verse 12 of chapter 1. In verse 12 through 14, this is what Paul said. We should be to the praises of His glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom also you trusted after that you heard the word of truth. See, they heard the Gospel. The preaching of the Gospel had been done by Priscilla, by Aquila, by Apollos, and now by the Apostle Paul. And they heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed. They listened to that Gospel. They believed in that Gospel. They were converted by that Gospel. And then notice what he says in verse 13. You were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. If you're saved tonight, if you have been saved, you have the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost has sealed you. And you say, well, what does that mean? That means God has invested in you, and He secured you, and you should never worry about, can I make it, or will I make it, or am I going to make it? Listen to me tonight. There's one thing God requires in you, and one thing only. Never stop believing. Never stop believing. That doesn't mean you're not going to sin. It does not mean you're not going to fail or that you're not going to make mistakes. The fact of the matter is man at his very best state is altogether vain according to the scripture. And God even said in the word of God that if he should mark iniquity, no flesh should ever be saved. That doesn't mean God overlooks any wrongdoing in my life or yours and just excuses it. That's why He gave us the Holy Spirit. He sealed us in that Holy Spirit. And that's why He gave us the Word of God so that when we do not do right and there's something wrong in our lives, the Spirit of God in us will be grieved. And what is He grieved about? Because He does not want us to live unholy, ungodly, unrighteous lives. He wants us to turn from those sins and God will convict us. And He'll deal with us. But He's not doing that to condemn us. He's doing that to work repentance in our lives to turn us from that sin and help us go on living for Jesus. What is this Holy Spirit of promise? Look at verse 14. It is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory. If you've ever bought a home, you're aware of this. Many places want some earnest money. They want some money down. That tells them how serious you are about this. I don't know what they require today, but there was a time that I went to buy a house and they wanted, if possible, a 15% earnest money. And I didn't have it. And they worked it around and got it down to 70%. And I didn't have that either. And then they said, well, you'll have to have a cosigner. And I wouldn't ask for a cosigner. I decided I'd work and save until I got the earnest money. I said to the banker, why do you have to have so much down? They said, if you don't have much invested, it doesn't matter if you lose as far as you're concerned. But if you've got an investment in it, you don't want to lose that investment. Are you hearing me? God put an investment in you. And he didn't put 7%, he didn't put 15%, he put 100% in you. And he's not going to put that investment in you and then lose it. Well, preacher, look at you. You're going everything contrary to what we believe. No, I understand tonight the capability of man to sin. But I want you to understand something tonight. God didn't save us to worry about us being lost. He doesn't want you to worry about getting lost. He wants you to understand the riches you have in Christ and learn how to draw on those things. And the devil will not rob you, cheat you, and defeat you all the time. He'll give you victory. He'll make you understand God's got such an investment in me, he ain't gonna just turn me loose. I want to tell you, if you're really saved, you just try to sin. You can't get by with it. I remember how us boys used to think we were smarter than Dad, and we thought he'll never catch us. And some things we do that he called us in and talked to us about, we think, how in the world did he find out? And my little brother one day said, Dad's got eyes everywhere. He's got eyes all over the world. Did you know the Bible says the eyes of the Lord runs to and fro through the whole earth? God knows exactly where you're at. God has put his investment in you and I in seals with the Holy Spirit of promise. And I've said that tonight to help you understand that this assembly became saints because they put their faith in Christ, they heard the Word of the Gospel, they believed in Jesus Christ, and they were converted. Grace is a word that is used 12 times in the Ephesian letter, and it refers to the kindness of God towards an undeserving people. We're undeserving of the good grace of God, but He loves us. Even while we're yet sinners, He loves us. And He didn't look at it from the perspective of deserving. He looked at it as we are His creation, and He knows that we're lost. He knows we couldn't save ourselves. By the way, listen to me, if you're worried about that you're not going to make it, why do you think God would invest so heavily the way He did just to save you? He gave it all, my friend. He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for your sins. He not only invested His Son, but He invested His Holy Spirit. And you should rejoice in those two things alone. I read this that someone wrote, they didn't list who it was, but it said, God in His mercy doesn't give us what we deserve, but God in His grace gave us what we don't deserve. I didn't deserve the mercies of the Lord. If I'd have got what I deserved, I would have perished, and so would you. But God in grace gave me something I didn't deserve, and that is Christ. I want you to look in verse number one at that phrase, in Christ Jesus. This describes the spiritual position as believers that we have as being identified in the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer, therefore, is able to draw upon the wealth of his father and his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we can see that the author was Paul, and it's important for you to understand this because if there was anybody who understood one of the reasons he said that he felt like he was the least of all saints, Paul said he also was the chief of sinners. And if you look at the past examination of Paul's life, it's a miracle that God saved him. But God can take a man or a woman, no matter who they are, and save them. And with the power of Christ in their life, he can use that individual to influence and impact a city. And that's what Paul did for Jesus in this city. And that's what God wants us to do in our city here in Harrison. Here's the second thing that I want you to, the third thing I want to say to you tonight, I want you to look at the end. We've looked at the author, we've looked at the assembly, but I want you to look at the aim of this letter. Verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. You know what the aim of this letter is? For you to learn your blessings. We often say, well, I thank God for my own blessing. I thank God for the food I eat, what a blessing. I thank God for this good church I have, what a blessing. And those are blessings, but those are material blessings. We need to know what our spiritual blessings are. Every book in the Bible has its own special theme and message, even though it deals with many different topics. For example, the book of Genesis is a book about beginnings, and yet it deals with a variety of other things. The book of Matthew deals with the kingdom of God, and it too deals with a variety of things. The book of Galatians that I read from in my message this morning is a book on liberty and freedom in Christ, and it deals with a multiplicity of things. And if you think about what Paul is writing in the theme of Ephesians, you won't read this entire book without coming to the understanding that this book is about the Christians' riches in Jesus Christ. It was hard for us to preach about that because we so often, as people, we associate riches with material riches. And we're not talking about material riches. But listen, friend, there are riches that go beyond what your material possessions are. When I was in Africa, some of those, my brother Olo, he'd been an American, he'd been in our home and we would be classified as a middle class American by the standards of how our government rates are. Did you ever notice they talk about class warfare, they've got you either poverty, middle class or upper class. And then they talk about race, and the Bible says we're one blood of all nations. So there's really just one race. Yeah, some people have different colored skin, and that's because of the ethnic origin of where they're from. But friend, listen to me. All this nonsense that is created in the world is nothing but a plight to employ the devil, and it's to track people away from what is real truth so that they can really be saved and really understand how great God intended for people to have it in this world. And Mr. Olo stayed in our home, and I noticed he looked around, and he seen me get out on my lawnmower one day to mow, and he wanted to drive my tractor. He thought that was a tractor. I said, have you never seen a tractor? And when I showed him a tractor, Charlie Jameson had a tractor. He had a ball on Charlie's tractor. Charlie said he thought he was going to kill himself down in a church in the valley on the tractor. But I let him drive my lawnmower, and he wanted to turn the blades on. And my yard looked pitiful when he got done with it. I'm not kidding, didn't Brenda. It had curves like this because he turned that wheel like this and he'd never learned how to drive. So, when he introduced me in Africa, he would introduce me to preachers, he'd say, very wealthy. I had to pull him aside one day and I said, brother Olo, please don't introduce me as very wealthy materialistically because I said, that's what I feel like you're associating it with. I said, that house that you slept in, I owe for it. And I have to work every day, and I have to give a great percent of what I earn just to pay that off. And I said, that food we was eating, we don't grow it, so we go down to the store and buy it from somebody else that grows it, and that takes another percentage of what we owe. And I said, by the time we buy our clothes, buy our food, pay our light bill, pay all the bills, do you know how much money I have left over every month? And he said, no, I don't have nothing. And I said, therefore, I'm not wealthy. And I said, besides that, you need to understand, you know this, we'll all leave all this when we leave here. So he said, I'll introduce you another way. I said, how's that? He said, I still want to tell them you're wealthy, but in Jesus. I said, that you can do. Because I am wealthy in Christ. and I draw upon the riches of His glory every single day in my life. And I want you to draw upon those resources as well. I want you to see first of all that the source of our blessings comes from, in verse 3, God the Father. It is God the Father who makes you and I rich in Jesus Christ. The moment you were born again, you were born rich. And through Christ, you share the riches of everything God owns. Now listen to me carefully. I hope you'll follow me in your Bible. Turn with me to verse 7 of chapter 1. I want you to see the riches that you possess in Christ. Look at verse 7. He's talking about Jesus here, that we've been made accepted in the blood in verse 6, and then he comes on in verse 7 and says, Notice this, this is all possible according to the riches of His grace. God's favor never diminishes for you. No matter what you say, no matter what you do, no matter how you act, God's riches never diminishes. You're rich in His grace. Look at chapter 2, verse number 7. In chapter 2, verse 7, he says, in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace. in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Look back to chapter 1 and I'll show you the riches of His glory. We share in God's riches of grace, but we also share in His glory in verse number 18. Your eyes being enlightened, your understanding being enlightened that you may know the hope of His calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Look over chapter 3 with me, verse number 16. I want you to see again the riches of His glory. In verse 16, Paul said, I would grant that he would grant you, he's praying for him, according to the riches of his glory. Listen, you and I don't even know. Remember how good it felt in the song service this morning? Remember, you begin to see that glory, you begin to see that, hey friend, that is even a drop in the bucket of what we're going to experience in the glory of God. If that feels good to you now, wait till you get home. And let me tell you something, you can feel even stronger and better in the grace and the glory of God. There is such glory that God wants to pour out on His church. The church of the living God today is still alive, it's still well, it's still rich in His grace, and it's still rich in His glory. But the glory needs to fall more in our services so people can really see it. You know what will build a church? It ain't a door-to-door campaign. What will be of the church is you let the people understand how rich they are in His grace, and how rich they are in His glory, and you let them say, God, I want more of that glory in our service, and you let that glory start falling in service, and what you'll do, you'll go out and talk about it to everybody you come to. And you know, when you start talking about God's riches and God's goodness, and boy, you ought to have been at our church last Sunday. I can't explain to you what happened, but I'm telling you the glory of God fell in that place, and what a joy and a blessing it was. And you know what people start doing? They'll start coming to see what it is you were seeing. And someone like Moses, when he saw the burning bush and he drew near to see what that bush was all about, why it wasn't consumed, he heard the voice of God out of that bush and it changed his life forever. And some people can come into a church because people are talking it up. You know why our churches aren't growing? We're not excited about a church. And we're not excited about a church because we're not seeing the riches of His grace and we're not seeing the riches of His glory. What's the riches of His grace when He saves old rotten sinners that ain't worth and fit to live and He saves them out of alcohol and He saves them out of drugs and He saves them out of all kinds of unrighteousness and cleans their life up and makes new creatures out of them and changes their life. That's the riches of God's grace. And what about the glory? When the glory of God falls in a church and all of a sudden you see people jumping up shouting that you never knew shouted. Brother Gene shocked the far out of my wife the other day at the singing. Brenda said Gene hollered and I jumped. I said, well, I didn't know who it was. I thought it was Gene. And I said, I'm praying that happens all over the church. And I'm praying more earnestly that it happens to the most bashful backward laid back person in the church. Earnest Gene. I'm just picking on you. Well, why do you want that to happen? Well, listen to me. When you know people's not fake and you know people don't do that unless it's real. And when it's real, you can feel it and you can tell it. And I want to tell you, when people start seeing that and feeling that, they'll talk about that. And that's when people get an interest in the things of God. Look at chapter 2, verse number 4. Chapter 2, verse 4, not only are we rich in God's grace, we're rich in His glory, but we're also rich in His mercy. God, who is rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith He loved us. Listen to me tonight. God's mercy will never go broke. He'll never be bankrupt, ever. And I don't care how down you think about yourself, I want you to stop thinking negative about yourself. I want you to look at yourself in the mirror and say, I'm a child of the king. I am his child, his daughter, his son. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. All the gold and the silvers, my father's. And I may have my struggles and I'm only having those because God's trying to teach me something. You're going to have your struggles and your trials. God's children have always been brought out of the furnace of affliction. But here's why you'll come out of it. And I promise you, you listen to this preacher. I don't care what you're facing right now. I don't care what you're going through right now. I don't care what the devil's trying to make you believe right now. God's mercy is as rich as it's ever been. And he's going to bring you out eventually. And when you come out, you're going to know why you were where you was at. Thank God for his rich mercy. And then look at chapter 3, verse 8. Paul was writing there when he said he was the least of all saints. But he said, God gave grace to me that I should preach among the Gentiles. What would he preach? The unsearchable riches of Christ. I've been preaching for over 43 years. And I've yet to exhaust this wonderful book. I've preached a lot of these letters and preached a lot of these texts before. And, you know, sometimes when I'm studying and I'm preparing, the devil, he'll come in on me and he'll say, your wife's listening to you preach these same old things over and over and over. And you've always said you got to minister to her, so you better preach something else. She's done heard that. And she said to me one day without even knowing that the devil done that, she said, you know, I've heard you preach a lot of those sermons many times. But she said, you never preach them the same way twice. And she said, that just amazes me. And I went and got on my knees and I said, what do you think of that devil? God has a way of giving you the comforts you need. You know what I know? Church, I'll never spend the riches of Christ preaching to you. Brother Lonnie couldn't do it, I can't do it, no other preacher can do it, but you just need to know how rich you are in his grace, in his mercy, and in his goodness. Finally tonight, I want you not only to see the source, but the scope of his blessings. You are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. That's the sphere. The scope of the blessings are spiritual blessings. All the blessings, if I may say it this way, of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to bless you over and over and over again. Today God supplies all of our needs according to His riches in glory. That is in Christ Jesus according to Philippians 4.19. In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 18, God told the children of Israel back in those days, the way you'll know you're blessed is what I do for you materially. But God don't do that anymore materially. He told us in the New Testament, the way you'll know that you're blessed is because I bless you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. 4.19 of the book of Philippians. As I thought about this, I thought this, I wrote this down. To not know and depend upon the Holy Spirit's provision is to live a life of spiritual poverty. To not know and to depend upon, to not know the Holy Spirit and not depend on the Holy Spirit for my provisions is to live a life of spiritual poverty. When Brent and I were making the decision to come here, we knew we had a home to sell and we didn't know whether it would sell or not. We didn't put it on market until just a Friday or so before we was going to come down here and start doing some settling of things and we put that house on the market on Friday. We moved here and on Sunday night the realtor called us and he, on Monday night the realtor called us and he said I got a contract on your house. And he said, I don't know if you'll take it or not. And I said, well, is it an offer? And he said, no, they didn't say anything against your price. The only thing they wanted you to do is put a new hot water heater in. We'd lived in the house 15 years, never replaced a hot water heater. I thought, I was thinking about doing that anyway. And so we sold the house. And of course, Brenda, she's leapfrogging around the house. That's God. That's God. I said, you didn't know it was God before we got here? I made that decision to go to a local angle because God led me here in regards to whether I had a house in broken air or not. And I knew that if God was leading me here, he'd sell the house. I didn't know when, and that was up to him. I've learned to depend on the Holy Spirit. This little preacher boy that came to the church, I used to pastor there. He's a wonderful little pastor. And he was trying to find some insurance. He said, I've got a great investment in my home. I said, listen, son, if God's called you, follow God. And if God is sending you to another city where your home will be empty, I said, trust God to sell it. And he didn't put it on the market until just two or three days ago. And he called me up the other day and he said, you're not going to believe this. I said, God sold your house? He said, he sure did. He said, that had to be a confirmation. You needed to go to Oakland, wasn't it? He said, because it's sure confirmed that I was supposed to come to grace. I said, no, listen to me, son. I went to Oakland and foresold it, and you went to grace where you sold your house. God knew you had it. You was obedient to go where he told you. What you're learning to do is know the Holy Spirit and depend on his provisions. That's what God wants you to understand. The scope of your blessings. He wants you to understand the sources of God himself. The scope of your blessings is all spiritual blessings. And the sphere of your blessings, look at verse number three again, is in heavenly places. Now you and I operate in two spheres. We operate in the human, where we're at now, and in the divine. We operate in the visible as well as the invisible. As long as you live in your body, you're in the human sphere, and you're operating in the visible. You see the things that's around you. But the invisible things are the things that God can see and God understands, and the divine things are the things of God. And you need to understand tonight what this term heavenly places means. Your life as a Christian should be centered on things in heaven. That's where you're going. That's your destination city. Paul refers to heaven as being the place where our citizenship is in Philippians 3.20. He uses the word conversation, but the connotation of the word from its Hebrew-Greek translation also means your citizenship, where you really belong. I am a citizen of the United States of America, but I'll pass from this land one day, but I'm going to a land that I'll never leave again. I'm going to a home where my name has already been written. Your name has been written in that city as well. The Christian life should be centered on heaven. That's where your attention and affection ought to be, Paul said. Set your affection on things above, not on things of this earth. The heavenlies, by the way, is the place where Jesus Christ is right now, according to chapter 1, verse 2 of Ephesians. And it's where we are seated according to Ephesians 2, 6. Look at that verse. And he hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places. Now, why did I say we operate in the human, excuse me, in the divine? the visible and the invisible. In the human sense, in the visible, you're in Earth. Do you know when you receive Christ? In the invisible, in the divine, you've already been seated in heaven, because your name's written there. You've got a reservation, and God has given you a place there. You've heard me say this before, but I want to say it again tonight. The President of the United States was elected as the President, and no one else ever sits in the President's chair in the Oval Office. When he's not in that office, no matter where he's at in the world, he's still the seated president of the United States. And they put guards in there to make sure that even when the cleaning people come in, they don't just take the liberty to sit down, because they don't have a right to that seat. For he was elected to that seat. You were elected to your seat. You ever think about that? God elected you. You were chosen in Christ. God himself chose you in Christ. Christ redeemed you and the Holy Spirit sealed it and said you got a place in heaven. So let me tell you, before you leave earth here, you've already, if you're saved, you've got a reservation. You might as well enjoy this rich life God wants you to have. Now I'm not talking about material. Listen, I'll tell you this. God knows what you have and need of materially and he'll provide it. He said he knows no sparrow falls to the ground without God seeing it and you're worth more than sparrows. He said I want you to consider the lilies. They don't toil, they don't spin, and yet Solomon in all of his glory was not made like one of them. God knows that Gentiles, that's who we are, we worry about what we're going to eat and what we're going to wear and wherewithal we're going to sleep. And God said, I know you have need of those things. Here's what God said, if you'll do, here's what you'll never want for. If you'll seek me first. Seek my kingdom first. I'll add these things to you. I've never wanted for a place to sleep. I've never wanted for nothing to eat. I've never wanted for clothes. It may not be what the world standard thinks ought to be, or it may not be the best food in the world, but I'm still living. I'm still sustained, and I'll make it. But I'm going to tell you something. One of these days, I'm going to a land where I'll never live again. And I'm thankful tonight that I know Paul just through the letter. And I can look at his life and see what God did in his life and see how he used him to go into that city. And I want to be used of God that same way. And I want him to use this church. And listen, God didn't just use Paul there. He used that whole Ephesian church in that city. I want him to do the same thing in this church. And I can look at that assembly and I realize that when that assembly heard Paul write to the saints that were faithful in Christ, I don't know if in that day they didn't canonize saints until after death, but Paul wanted to understand that's never been scriptural. Canonization has nothing to do with you're a saint of God the minute you're born again. The minute you receive the Holy Ghost of God, you're a saint of God. And you was dead in sin, but now you're alive unto Christ and you're one of His saints. And because you're one of His children, daughter, son, be whatever person you are in orientation, you can draw on the riches of Christ because God's aim is to bless you with every blessing the Holy Spirit has. in heavenly places. He wants you to have experiences here. Hey, I wouldn't trade the experiences I've had in Christ through this life, but he also wants you to know that he's got you a seat in heaven because he's got some greater ones up there for you. Amen? Praise God for that. As Brother Ryan comes to give us an invitation song, Victoria, one of the queens that served over the monarch of England, When she was a little girl, she was shielded from the fact that she would one day be the next ruling monarch because they feared that the knowledge of such a thing in the mind of a child would spoil her. But her teacher decided to let Victoria discover it for herself. And when Victoria discovered it one day and realized, I'm going to be the next ruling monarch, here's what her response was to her teacher and her family. If I'm going to be the monarch, then I will be good. She was asked, why did you make that decision? She said, because my life will be controlled by my position. When I read that, I thought, No matter where Victoria was in the world, she was governed by the fact that she was the one sitting on the throne of England and that governed her behavior, her position governed her behavior. You and I should be governed the same way, knowing that we have a seat in heaven, knowing that we've been redeemed by the blood of our Lord Jesus and given that eternal seat in heaven where we've been sealed to it. able to govern us to be faithful in Christ, just like Paul wrote, experiencing these riches as we go along. Amen? And so the analysis that I want to give you tonight of this first lesson, this introduction lesson, is this. This letter to the Ephesians was as carefully crafted and structured by the Holy Spirit as was the great temple of Diana. But the beauty and the wealth of God's Word contains great riches. Now, you don't have to follow me, but you can if you've got your Bible open. He uses some other words connected to that. Inheritance. Listen to these scriptures. In Ephesians 1.11, Paul writes to them and says, you've obtained an inheritance. In verse 14, he says, the earnest of your inheritance is the Holy Spirit. In verse number 18, he reminds them of the riches of God's glory and the inheritance of the saints. Listen to what he said about the inheritance in Ephesians chapter 5 and in verse number 5. For this you know that no whoremonger nor unclean person or covetous man who is not adulterer hath any inheritance in the kingdom of God. You see, Peter wrote it down like this, Remember I said you have a seat reserved? You have an inheritance reserved also. And that inheritance goes far beyond what you can even imagine. He also used this word fullness. Let's know what Paul said about fullness in verse 10 of chapter 1. that he will gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, in the dispensation of the fullness of times. In verse 23 he reminds the Ephesians that the fullness of Christ is who fills all of us. In chapter 3 of the book of Ephesians and verse number 19 in speaking of fullness, he says there that to know the love of Christ, pass the knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. That's what God wants for you. Remember I asked you this morning, have you left Ur and gone toward Canaan and wound up in Haran and are delayed? You can be delayed and you may not be totally surrendered. But I ask you tonight, are you experiencing the inheritance, the fullness of the filling that God has for you? In chapter 4, verse 10, he talks about fullness this way. He that descended also ascended above all the heavens that he might fill all things. In verse 13 he said, until we come to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. You and I have never experienced His total fullness. We only get it in part. Thank God one day we'll have it complete. Amen. Heavenly Father, I thank You tonight for the riches that we possess in Jesus Christ. Thank You for saving Saul of Tarsus. Thank You, Father, for showing us his past life. Paul even said himself, I was a blasphemer, I was murderous, I was injurious to the church of God. He even said, I'm the least of all the saints. He felt so unworthy. And yet, you showed him mercy, and grace, and inheritance, and you saved him, and you sealed him, and you filled him. And you took him down to a wicked city like Ephesus that some might would think is impossible to win that city. And through what you did in the church there that believed the gospel he preached, they turned that city upside down. And others began to experience the riches of Christ. And God, if I understood what you've shown me in these passages, and I hope the church has understood it as well, That the whole aim, God, is that we would understand the source of these blessings comes from you. The scope of them is that you want to bless us with all the blessings of the Holy Spirit. And the sphere of it is that we'll receive some of it in this life in the human and in the visible. But we already have a seat in the heavenlies, the invisible, and the divine that is ours there today. And I thank you that you've invested in my life. The death of your son Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. I can look at that and say that's the greatest investment for human life that's ever been given. Greater love hath no man, you said than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. But then you said you gave us the Holy Spirit and you sealed us. And Father, I remember as a boy, my mom taught me about that scripture one day. She was canning some beans. And she told me my job was to stand there and listen for the jars to pop and tell her when they sealed and which ones sealed. And as I remember that day, God, they began to go off and I couldn't recall which ones sealed and ones that wasn't. And I'll never forget, she took my index finger And she took me to the very center of the jar lid to one of them that was sealed and it was unmovable. She said, that one's sealed and everything inside is preserved and will be because of that seal. And you know it's sealed because it's unmovable. And then she directed my finger to another jar where the lid could be pushed up and down. It was flexible. It wasn't sealed. And she said, everything in that jar, if that lid doesn't seal, will be ruined, spoiled, lost. I didn't know she was fixing to teach me a spiritual lesson, but I never forgot it. She said, son, when God saves you, he's gonna seal you just like he did, like that jar of beans there. And you'll be preserved. And you'll be protected. And you'll not be spoiled. You'll think sometimes you've failed and you'll think sometimes you won't make it. But don't lean to your own understanding. Trust Him. And I've learned to do that. And Father, I praise you that you didn't just invest a small percentage. You invested 100% of the Holy Spirit in my life. And for that I'm deeply grateful because I'll make it. And all that are under the sound of my voice can make it if they'll trust you and believe you. Thank you tonight for this opening lesson. And as we go further in Ephesians, show us, God, what we need to glean from it, I pray. It is well with my soul tonight, and it is thus because of who you are, Jesus. I praise you tonight, and I worship you, and I glorify you in your holy name. Will you stand and sing with Ryan tonight?