We can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 1 as we continue our Lord's Supper meditation through covenants. We are continuing and will be in for a while that covenant of redemption, that pre-temporal intra-trinitarian agreement between the Father and the Son and the Spirit regarding the salvation of sinners in the Son. So certainly Ephesians 1, 3-14 is an important text. There are many other texts as well, but we'll look at verses 7-12. Certainly in 3-6 we see the father plans, 7-12 the son accomplishes and the spirit applies in verses 13 and 14. So we'll look at the son tonight in verses 7-12, but I will begin reading at verse 3 all the way to verse 14 to set the context. So Ephesians chapter 1, begin reading at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him, who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Amen. Well, let us pray. Oh Lord our God, we are thankful that we get to come again this evening and consider the blessed truth of salvation. We know, oh God, that it was part of that pre-temporal plan. We know that we were predestined before the foundation of the world. Thank you, oh God, for this promise. Thank you, oh God, for this truth. Thank you, oh God, that it is a blessed pillow for which we can rest every day. That salvation comes not from ourselves, it comes from God who wills. And so may we put our faith and trust in you. May we take great comfort and encouragement in these truths, O God. And we're thankful that our redemption is found in the finished work of the Son. Thank you for His accomplishment. Thank you for what He has done. Thank you, O God, that in Him we have an inheritance. In Him we have redemption. In Him we have all these blessed benefits, O God, these spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. Thank you, oh God, for his work. Thank you for what he did. And thank you again, that is founded on that blessed eternal transaction. So God, as we come to consider these high and lofty things that truly are too wonderful for us, help us to make sure we don't say things we ought not. Help us to focus on your word, focus on the truth, focus on the blessedness of these realities. Thank you for men of old who've hashed out these things and thought of these things, oh God, that we can stand on the shoulders of those men. But more importantly, oh God, we need your spirit. Give us illumination from on high, we pray. Give us strength from on high, we pray. to be awake and attentive, to hear the things that you have for us. For our minds truly are weak and feeble, so often we consider other things. But help us tonight, O God, to set our mind upon Christ, set our mind upon His redemption, set our mind upon His revelation, set our mind upon the reward that is found in Him. So God, we pray that you'd help us now by your Spirit, Strengthen your saints, we pray. Encourage us, uplift us, we pray, in the finished work of the sun, in the mystery revealed, in all these blessed things that you give. And so may we praise you, may we honor you to the praise of your glory, for all the spiritual blessings you give to us. So be pleased to strengthen your saints, be pleased to save sinners, we pray. And in all things, O God, we pray that you would be glorified. And we pray these things in the name of Christ. Amen. But when we looked at verses three through six, I start off by highlighting the importance to confess the mystery of the Trinity, one God in Trinity and Trinity and unity. But also there are other great mysteries about the Christian religion that are difficult for us to comprehend. And that really focuses in on one of those things, namely the decree. how it is that God who is perfect, how it is who God who is eternal engages in a decree in which there is no succession. You see, we think in succession, we think in movement, but God simply just is and God simply just will. So there is a great mystery there when we consider God's decree and who he is. There's also a great mystery as well when we consider the redemption that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. How is it that this eternal God works in time and space? Well, thankfully, the Bible reveals our God to us by way of covenant. And certainly there is a lot of covenantal language descriptive of the relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit. Luke 22-29 especially, which we will look at, the Lord Jesus Christ says to his disciples, I bestow or actually covenant to you a kingdom. There I think referring to the covenant of grace, which we've talked about. But also he says, just as my father has bestowed or covenanted one to me. So there is clear covenantal language with a descriptive of the Father, Son, and Spirit's plan of redemption. Sam Ranahan says, Scripture presents that eternal purpose and promise of salvation to mankind metaphorically in the mode of a covenant transacted between the persons of the Trinity. So it is a blessed and high doctrine. And it really is focusing in on the kingdom of Christ. As we've gone through our covenant series, we first looked at the kingdom of creation. So the covenant made with Adam, the covenant made with Noah, then we looked at the kingdom of Israel, the covenant made with Abraham, then the covenant made with Moses and the covenant made with David, which you all remember, right? Y'all remember everything I said about all those things. And then we looked at the new covenant. In time and space, the New Testament, the covenant of grace wherein God offers salvation unto sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the kingdom of Christ. But that covenant of grace given to us, given to sinners, the gospel proclamation is founded on this covenant of redemption. This blessed eternal transaction between Father, Son, and Spirit. And so in Ephesians 1 verses 3 through 14, there is a lot of Trinitarian language here for us. And we see the work of all three persons of the Trinity, one will and threefold execution. Because the hope of the world is found in the plan of God, and the hope of the world is found in the accomplishment of the Son who came down, of the Son who took on human flesh, of the Son who redeemed us by His blood. And so in Ephesians 1, 7-12, Paul praises God the Father for the accomplished redemption that believers have in Christ. So the Father plans and tonight the Son accomplishes. And we'll look at this under three headings this evening. First of all, we'll see redemption by the Son, verses 7-8a. Secondly, we'll see revelation by the Son, verses 8b-10. And then lastly, we'll see the reward of the Son, verses 11 and 12. So three R's, redemption by the Son, revelation of the Son, and reward of the Son. So let's first look at the redemption by the Son in verses 7 through 8a. And notice he says, in him, we have redemption through his blood. He starts off, though, in verse 3 by saying, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. He goes on then to talk about the predestination by the Father, the plan in eternity. Now it is, again, Father, Son, and Spirit who engage in this plan. But we appropriate certain things to certain persons of the Trinity as it's revealed to us. Because we don't think the way God thinks. We think as we learn. We think in succession. We think as we hear different things. That's the way we think. And thankfully, God reveals himself to us in the way that we think. So the father plans and then we see again in verses 7 through 12 the son accomplishes. How is it that we have all these benefits? How is it that we have the spiritual blessings? Well it has to come from the finished work of the son. So in him in the beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ. A, we are united to him, but B, in what he has done for us, we have, as he says, verse 7, redemption through his blood. You see, what's important to understand about that word of redemption is it's typically connected with the idea of slavery. Now slavery was a larger institution, and the Greco Roman world and it is perhaps for North America today although certainly slavery is still prevalent. But when we think of slavery in the Greco Roman world it was not always man stealing, perhaps people were born into it perhaps people sold themselves into it. Perhaps people had to do it for paying back something they stole as a form of punishment. So it's much more than just man stealing. When we see slavery in the Bible, we can't just think the slave trade from the United States of America. We have to think of what's going on in that world. But so this word, redemption, has a backdrop when it comes to slavery. And typically, brethren, for us, when we think of it in a spiritual manner, we were once slaves to sin, right? This is how Paul speaks in the book of Romans. We were once slaves to sin, now we are what? Slaves to righteousness. So the beautiful thing about Christ and His redemption is that He's redeemed us. Those who were once slaves, He has freed us. Those who were once enslaved to such things, He has made us and set us free. Now the Ephesians would have understood the concept much more than we do. The Gentiles around the world would have understood that context much more than we do. The image comes up in Colossians chapter 1 as well, describing the spiritual work of Christ. That is, we are redeemed in Him. We who were once slaves have now been set free. Now, certainly there is an Old Testament illusion. When you think about the Israelites in Egypt, they were once slaves and God had set them free. And it's no surprise that in the Bible, the illusion of the Exodus is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. It points to Him. It points to what He would do. Not only the Old Testament people had redemption from physical slavery, well, in Christ, we have redemption from spiritual slavery in Him. So in Him we have redemption. In Him we have been set free. And notice the means by which we have been set free. Through His blood. through His crucifixion, through what He did in time and space. See, how is it that the eternal God saves? Well, the way in which the eternal God saves is the one who is born in time. You see, when we think of the Son who is fully God and fully man, we must remember that as He is fully God, He is of the same substance as the Father, right? Begotten before all ages. But when it comes to His manhood, He was made like us, of one substance with us, born into the world. That's hard for us, right, to grasp. We must see there that the One who is Son is fully God and fully man. And the way in which God, who is eternal, and He eternally decrees to save, is in the work of the Son who comes and lives in this world. And so what we're seeing here is what he does in created effect, what he does in time and space, the one who is son. He comes down, he redeems, and he redeems through sacrifice. He redeems through the shedding of his blood. That's why we can improperly say the Lord of glory shed his blood, or they crucified the Lord of glory. It's not as though God and his divinity died, right? Because he cannot die, but it was the son. It was the son in his human nature who bore the brunt of it upon himself, which we can just uh, What you can say about the nature you can say about the person I know it's a lot more Christology tonight dear brethren But we have to think in these terms to make sure we don't say something we shouldn't about our god and our christ But again, it's to magnify what he has done for us, right? redemption through his blood how He went to that cross willingly, how He laid down His life willingly, how He raised up His life willingly for wretches like you and I. We have redemption through His blood. And certainly the Old Testament sacrifices point forward to this, point forward to the greater sacrifice who would come as the book of Hebrews certainly highlights for us. So in Him, we have redemption through His blood. Now notice the nature of redemption, what he does, what he gives to us, what is bestowed upon us through the shedding of his blood, the forgiveness of sins. The implication there, brethren, is that we were once dead in our trespasses and sins, right? That's exactly what Paul is going to say in Ephesians chapter 2. You, he made alive, you are dead in your trespasses and sins. We were born into this world sinful. We were born with a sinful nature, born with that corruption, and born with the guilt of Adam. We were born with those things. We are vile, we are wretched, we only did what was wicked and what was wrong. And yet, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It's how God manifests His love according to Romans chapter 5. That this one who is Son, this one who is perfect, this one who is God took on human flesh to die for wretches like you and I. That we might have forgiveness of all of our sins. All of the things we think, all of the words we say, all of the deeds that we do, past, present, and future, are forgiven in Him. And we can take great comfort in the fact that He is the one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And though even brethren, even though we have remaining corruption, we still struggle with sin, those sins are forgiven in Him. That ought to be a great boon and a comfort to the people of God concerning the redemption that we have. Forgiveness of sins, forgiveness of our trespasses, that He willingly just cancels the debt. in the Son. He takes away, He carries our sins away in the Son and in His blood. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. And notice, I mean this is all just one big him to God. One big eulogy, the word blessed there is to describe the blessedness. I know we use that in a funeral sense, but typically we describe someone's life and hopefully the good parts of their life. So we're praising God for what he has done. Paul, you can kind of sense the enthusiasm sometimes in him, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. God is not some divine curmudgeon. He's not some giant jerk in heaven. Yes, He is righteous in every way and He rightly will pour out His wrath and rightly does pour out His wrath. But notice, He bestows all these gifts. He gives us redemption according to the riches of His grace. And then in verse 8, which He made to abound toward us, which He made to abound toward us. And the image there of abounding is one with a ton of money and an exorbitant amount of money just giving it away. One who doesn't have so much wealth, they don't know what to do with it. Now again, that's for us, right? God is perfect life and perfect blessedness in Himself. And again, should highlight all the more the goodness that is found in the redemption that we receive from Him. It is according to the one who is good. according to His mercy and goodness, that He bestowed all these things and gave us forgiveness, to the riches of His grace. He is merciful, He is gracious, He is good, He is long-suffering, He is abundant in goodness and truth, having made all these things to lavish all these things upon us, all according to His sheer good pleasure. And when you consider who he's writing to, and you consider the language of adoption in verse five, and you consider the language of redemption in verse seven, typically slaves would not have been adopted. If someone was looking for an heir, someone was looking perhaps for a son to perhaps carry on the family name or to give their inheritance to slaves are not the choice. They wouldn't even been thought of, they wouldn't even been considered. But yet, when you consider the fact that we were once slaves to sin, and we've been redeemed in Him, and He bestows all these things upon us, and He gives us adoption in the Son, what love the Father has for us, doesn't He? The goodness and mercy that is found in Him is really abounding, and we do not even scratch the surface, do we? When we consider all the good things that He has given, we would never have been picked who would never have been chosen, yet God in His goodness, He predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will. This is why the Son came, to redeem us, that God would lavish His gifts upon us. This is the purpose of the second person taking on human flesh. It is for salvation. And much like we considered this morning with God's love, and for God so loved the world, brethren, just stop and ponder the riches of His grace. Stop and ponder the redemption that you do not deserve, yet is still given to you anyway. That is still applicable, isn't it? That is still application, thinking and pondering and meditating on those things. And we ought to stop and ponder every day. We ought to do it every day. We forget. But we ought to stop and ponder and remember. When we consider what we once were, Consider what we are now. Consider what he has done for us. Does he not deserve our praise? Consider the redemption that is found in him that we were once dead. We are made alive. So that's the redemption in the sun. Let's then look secondly at the revelation of the sun in one B through 10. Now commentators are divided on what to do with wisdom and prudence. Does it go at the end of verse eight or does it go with verse nine? I'm not going to die on that. But I think it goes with verse nine. I can't remember why, but that's okay. You can go read the commentaries later on. But perhaps it does. So perhaps again, I can't remember why that's unfair. I know, but just go read the commentaries another time. But in any case, in all wisdom, and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of his will." That is, mystery of his will is done in wisdom and in prudence. Again, it further highlights the fact that the revelation of the Son, who is the Word, John 1, is not willy-nilly. God knows what he is doing. Again, that's for us. God wills according to his perfection. God is perfect wisdom. God is wisdom itself. God is Knowledge itself, God is perfect will itself, and yet God knows what he's doing, right? And all those things highlight the fact that God, as he works in time and space, knows exactly what he is doing. It is a perfect and wise plan, right? And sometimes we balk at it. Sometimes we turn our noses up at it. Sometimes we think we would do better than God. Well, that's not the way Paul speaks here, is it? He's talking here and he's praising God for all the wisdom and prudence, wisdom and understanding, wisdom and intelligence. He has made known to us the mystery of His will. Again, the cross is foolishness, isn't it? The cross is a stumbling block to men. When it comes to the plan of God, it is perfect wisdom. When you consider what we did against God, when you consider the way in which we needed to be saved, and the fact that it must be one who is perfect to save us, yet it must be one who is meant to save us. When you consider all those things, is it not perfect wisdom and understanding of God to bring about salvation in this way? And notice he says the mystery of his will, he doesn't just do it right away. He has the, you know, by farther steps, the gospel is proclaimed in Genesis 315. And by farther steps, something about the one who would come is further revealed, which has been our whole covenant series, right? Reveals something about the one who would be Abraham's seed, the one who would be the greater Moses, the one who would be the perfect sacrifice, the one who would be the greater David, all those things point to him. And so when we see the language of mystery of His will, that's what He's referring to. He's referring to the finished work of the Son. And not just the finished work of the Son, but also the fact that the Son is going to save not just Jews, but Gentiles. That is the mystery of His will. Whenever you see the word mystery in the Bible, it refers to something that was once hidden, but has now been revealed. And the thing that has now been revealed in the coming of Christ is salvation is not just for Jews, but it's also for Gentiles. That is the mystery revealed, isn't it? And that ought to be a blessed thing, because if you're not a Jew, you can find salvation, right? If you're one who is not a Jew, you can find mercy in Him. Again, it's not based on ethnic descent, but based on faith in the Son. And it's in Christ. All of the promises of God of the old pointed to. Brother Cam Porter is going to preach on Luke 24 in the evening next week. So don't miss it. And in Luke 24, what does he say? Jesus is speaking to the disciples. He says, all the law and the prophets point to me. That is the mystery revealed. It all points to the sun and the work of the sun is to bring all things, even Gentiles in him. And that certainly applies to the book of Ephesians. Later on in Ephesians chapter two, he does describe how those who are far off have been brought near how he is making one body, how he's making one temple, how he's building one together in And even, sorry, Ephesians 3, 9, he says, well verse 8 he says, talks about the purpose of the mystery. which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ, to the attempt that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church." Verse 11, according to the eternal purpose, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus. So Christ was always the plan. Christ coming and dying was always the purpose to bring all. together in Him, to save Jew or Gentile in Him. Not willy-nilly, but something that was once hidden has now been revealed. And again, the Old Testament we could describe as drips and sparks and darkness. The New Testament is a river, a fire, and the light that has dawned. Former days, He spoke by the prophets, but in these last days, He has spoken by the Son. So He's made known to us, brethren, the mystery of His will. And notice, He's continuing the lavish discussion of God's good pleasure, God's purpose, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself. It was always God's plan, always God's purpose for Christ to die, for Christ to be buried, for Christ to be raised, and to save sinners in Him. That was always the perfect plan. according to God's perfect sovereignty, according to God's good pleasure. God really is good and he works all things for good for those who are called according to his purpose. Then he goes on to say in verse 10, that at the appointed time, that in the fullness of the times, very eschatological, the word is dispensation, the dispensation of the times. I'm not for dispensationalism, I'm for what the Bible says. But certainly there was the Old Covenant, and now we are under the New Covenant. And the New Covenant is new creation, is it not? And Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.20, if anyone is in Christ, he is new creation. And in Ephesians chapter 4, he's going to describe how we are the new man in Christ, right? The old man has been put off. We are the new man in Him. Do we not live then as the new creation people? And really 1-3 is describing how the Son purchases for us new creation. And chapters 4-6 is then how we live as the new creation people in Him. And even, too, in verse 16 of chapter 1, when Paul prays, he prays that they would know these things, that they would know the riches of what God has done, that they would know the greatness of His power, that they would know that the Christ who's been raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, who has been given dominion, that they would know all these things. and that he would be filled all in all, that he behead over all in his church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. So it was always God's purpose that in the proper time, the dispensation, the plan of the fullness of the times, he might gather together in one, Jew and Gentile, all things in Christ gather all things it's a cosmic reconciliation in him which are in heaven and which are on earth in him Was there not a cosmic fallen Adam, all man brought in sin because of that one man? Wasn't there one man who brought sin into this world, yet by another righteousness comes into this world? Even too, David was not perfect in any means, by any means. He could not keep the law, he could not do it, yet we have one who does. We have the last Adam in Christ. So even though we're talking about the eternal plan of redemption, we do see it beginning to be unfolded in the Old Testament with the promises, with the Old Testament texts, with the Messiah, all pointing to Christ, all things converging with the Lord Jesus Christ. Seriously, the Sunday school answer suffices. What do all things point to? Jesus. If that's all you know and all you remember, that's all you need to remember. All in him, the dispensation of the fullness of the times he would gather in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth. Dr boss says Christ messianic work is a royal. forceful conquest over all the things in heaven and things on earth, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. And thus God has acted definitely in the Messiah to bring the world history to a climax in the fullness of all eras. We just long for the end of the present age. But brethren, we're already living in the overlap, are we not? He has been given power in this age and the age to come. And if you are in Christ, you are of that new creation. We just long for its fullness to come in. We still live in the present creation. That's why we're exiles in the land. But we long for the fullness to come in, in Him. And all of these things have been revealed in Christ. This is where we have revelation. This is where we have all things revealed in Him. God, Christ is our prophet who speaks. Christ is the word who is with God and who is God, according to John 1. He is our prophet who reveals all these things to us. And thankfully, by his spirit, he still helps us to see because we're not the sharpest bulbs in the shed, or that's not the proper saying, is it the brightest bulbs in the shed, the sharpest tool in the shed? It's late, I need a holiday. But verse, if you notice verse 16, what he prays, sorry, verse 17, that he may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation. In our Christian walk, we still need God to give to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, because it takes us time to learn things, doesn't it? Even the things that are supposedly easy for us to understand, it takes us a very long time for us to understand them. That's why, you know, the prayer always before the preaching is called the prayer of illumination. Lord, help us by your spirit to understand what's going on. And I said this morning, and I'll say again as the sermon goes on, the Bible is baby talk, is it not? The scriptures are accommodating to us, and yet we struggle. We struggle with the baby talk part of it, right? We struggle with the fact that it's for us, yet we have the difficulty comprehending that. How we need the spirit of revelation, the spirit of illumination, the spirit of wisdom to see the knowledge of Him. That's why we need to read our Bible daily and be prayerful when we do. That's why we need to read it a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot a lot. I mean a lot a lot a lot. You need to read it, hopefully at least once a year, right? Twice? Maybe. Three? I don't know. Four? I'm just kidding. That's a long time. If you read three chapters a day, you can get through it in a year, okay? But we really need to know our Bibles. And we need to read things that help us understand what the Bible says. That's why we don't just jettison history, right? I mean, how arrogant are we to think we can just read our Bibles on our own and figure it all out with no help from anybody else in history? I'm sorry, I'm not that smart, and I'm sorry, you're not that smart either. I love you all, but you know, we're not. We need God's wisdom and mercy and men of old to help us with all of this, because thankfully we have the revelation of Christ and what He has done. So that's the revelation of the Son. Let's then look thoroughly and finally at the reward in the Son, verses 11 and 12. Verse 11, in Him, a lot of in Hims, in verses 3 through 14. Also, that is in Christ, in him also, we have obtained an inheritance, have obtained an inheritance. This language comes from a word that is typically used in the Old Testament to refer to the distribution of the promised land. He's in Joshua 19, especially when they divvy up the tribal allotments, talking about that inheritance. So what's he doing here? The Old Testament promised land is a type of heaven, is it not? It's a type of the inheritance that we have in Christ. The inheritance that he has given to us. So he says here, we have obtained an inheritance. Then in verse 14, we have the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of that inheritance until the redemption and that fullness comes in. But brethren, whether we see it or not, we have that inheritance. Whether we see it or not, we have that inheritance that is unfading, undefiled in the heavenly places. We have that inheritance that does not rot. We have that inheritance that does not decay. In Him, eternal life, perfect blessedness with Him, in Him also we have obtained such blessed things and again this refers not just to jews but clearly spiritually jew and gentile those who believe those who are predestined in him have have obtained this inheritance already so if you have nothing in this world brethren know that you are rich if you have nothing in this world dear brethren know that you are rich in the son rich in god rich in our triune father son and spirit for what they have done for us In Him, we have obtained such things. And he goes on, he continues on to talk about predestination and purpose, being predestined according to the purpose of Him, who works all things according to the counsel of His will. But God had predetermined beforehand. God cannot look down the corridors of time. God cannot look down the corridors of time. And what I mean by that is, God does not think in succession, right? God knows all things by one undivided act. We know by succession, He knows it all by one undivided act. So even to say that God looks down the corridors of time is just to talk about God in a way that is not proper to God. So often we do this, right? We bring God down to us rather than simply confess who He is. Because if you think of the language of the fact that God is infinite, who can search the limits of the Almighty, Job 11, or the fact that He is eternal from everlasting to everlasting, you are God, Psalm 90. Or the fact that he does not change. I'm not like a son of man who changes. Numbers 23. Or the fact that in him there is no shadow due to change. James 1 17. We have to make sure we don't say what we ought not to say about God. And to say that God can look down the course of time would be to say that he doesn't know something. And that would mean to say that he is not then eternal. So we have to be careful with that. And even, you know, Exodus three, I am who I am. I am who I am. He is, dear brethren, and because of him we exist. And that's important when you consider his plan of redemption. Now I'm going to talk about some things that are really difficult for us to grasp. I know I should have done this at the beginning. I know we're getting to the end. And so if you're a little sleepy, just pinch your leg, slap your face, go, I don't know, just do something to wake up for a second here. So hopefully you can track with me just a little bit. So that covenant of redemption is, as I've said, it is eternal, right? And notice a lot of the language of what Paul says here is predestined, purpose of him works all things according to the counsel of his will. So how is it the God who is eternal works in time and space? Well, we must remember that the God who is eternal doesn't stop being eternal as he works in time and space. But when we consider especially the plan of redemption, that is again for us. So as though God decide to wake up one day and that morning decide to have a deliberation between the Father, Son, and Spirit. Hey, we're going to save people. Let's see how this goes. No, it's God's eternal decree. And in God's decree, there is no succession. The succession, once again, is for us. There's not 0.1, 0.2, 0.3. There's not that. That's for us, dear brethren. So we must understand that and recognize that we're speaking in baby talk. And so when we think of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit willing to save sinners in Christ, we must make sure we recognize it's one will in threefold execution. And the Son is in no way subordinate to the Father in eternity. There is a doctrine, I referred to it this morning, and sometimes I get my sermons mixed up, especially when they're talking about sometimes the same thing. But I started talking about monogamies this morning from which is only begotten. I did have in my mind a certain doctrine that comes up in conservative theologians. It's called the eternal functional subordination of the son. What they're trying to highlight is that within the Godhead, within God in Himself, the Father has somewhat of a higher authority than the Son. That is, the Son in eternity, not in His human nature, but in eternity, submits to the Father. What's wrong with that, dear brethren? The implication is that there are three wills. And if you talk about three wills, you begin to fall into what's called tritheism. Not one God, but three gods. One will, threefold execution. We good? One will, threefold execution. We have to understand that. It's when the sun comes down, he obeys, right? Philippians 2, the one who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself of no reputation, took on the form of a servant and appeared in the likeness of man. And when he was found to be in the appearance of man, He became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. That is, the eternal plan of God would be that the Son would take on human flesh without any change in the Godhead, and it would be the Son in His human nature who would obey without any way going back into eternity from what the Son has done in this world. Okay, I got a little bit more. One more thing. And in Trinitarian language, we have to talk about the missions and the processions. And this helps us with the will, I think, with the triune plan of God. The processions are what we talked about this morning, the eternal relation of origin. And when I say origin, it's not as though there was a beginning. It's just how we speak, right? The father unbegotten, the son eternally begotten, the spirit eternally proceeding from the father and the son. That's ad intra, that's in God. How then that is revealed to us in time and space to finite creatures is by the mission. When the sun takes on human flesh, that is his mission. And how do we see the Trinity, dear brethren, then? In the revelation of the sun. so everything we're talking about in verses 7 through 12 is the mission of the son based upon the eternal plan of God in that eternal relation of origin anyway next week we will talk about the work of the store the mission of the spirit and what he does specifically even though it's a triune work of God what he does specifically when it comes to the salvation of sinners. We must recognize that God is the one who is perfection. God is the one who wills perfectly, that is in perfect act, but the things in which he wills could be otherwise, that is creation and redemption. The things outside of God do not contribute anything to God. If you get that, that's probably the best thing to get. If we just understand that it's one will, threefold execution, the son does not obey in eternity. That's fine. If you tuned out the other stuff, that's fine. I can give you other books to read on that. That's okay. But we must understand again, to make sure we don't fancy God to be what he is not. That's why we rely upon men of old to hopefully make sure we don't posit three wills in God. Father, Son, and Spirit. There is the Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God, yet they are not three gods. And the reason I say that as well is because perhaps what Paul is combating here is the pagan idea of Zeus. Zeus looks human, for one, Also, he was bound and constricted by something outside of himself, namely a will. There's nothing outside of God in which God needs. Because if there's something outside of God, then God stops to be God, right? He is who he is. He is perfect perfection in and of himself. God is not bound by will. He is will. We have to understand that. Otherwise, we will make God to be like Zeus and make God to be like man rather than recognizing who he truly is. I know that's a lot. I know that's heavy. But brethren, as I said this morning, this stuff was just part and parcel of Christian language. It shows how so far we have fallen in this. I was telling a brother beforehand, Stephen Charnock has his existence and attributes of God. Those were sermons, dear brethren, for the people in the pew. You realize John Calvin was written for the people in the pew? Wilhelmus O'Brackell's four volumes was written for the people in the pew. So I know it's a lot, but rather we must, we must understand that perhaps the best thing is just read Nicaea, the Council of Nicaea. It's like, you can do it tonight in five minutes. Read the Athanasian Creed. You can do that tonight in 10 minutes. Read the Council of Chalcedon. You can read that tonight in three minutes. You can do it. It's not, you can just read through it. How they hammered all these things out. But brethren, something has been lost and we must make sure we don't fancy God to be what he is not. And really all of this, we consider the will, consider who he is, consider Christ and his redemption for us, is to put us in our place. Theology hopefully isn't meant to puff us up, but to bring us down. And the more we study theology proper, the more it ought to bring us down, and the more it ought to cause us to, verse 12, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. This whole thing is all about the praise of God. who He is and what He has done for us, who He is in His perfection, and what He has done in our salvation. How do we not sing loudly? How do we not praise Him more often? How do we not thank Him for all that He has done? Father, Son, and Spirit. Father plans, the Son accomplishes, and the Spirit applies to the praise of His glory. All things in Him. So let us pray. Oh Lord, our God, we confess we do not comprehend who you are. We cannot know you or understand you in your essence. We cannot comprehend you in your being. Yet we know, oh God, you reveal things to us in your word in finite ways to help us at least apprehend or to make sure we don't say things we shouldn't. So often, O God, we like to make you in our image rather than to recognize that you are holy and you are wholly other than we are. And that even so, O God, even in your decree, even in your plans, we like to think our plans would be better than yours. But thank you, O God, that your decrees are perfect. Your decrees are infinite. Your decrees are wisdom. Your decrees are perfect understanding. And even as we see things fold in time and space, as you're the one who changes not, you're the one who works in time and space, which changes without changing yourself. Thank you for this. And thank you that we have a rock in which we can lean upon and cling to in this time. Thank you, O God. We have a God we can look to day by day. The one who is I am. The one who is everlasting. The one who is infinite. These things really truly are too high and lofty for us. And we pray that you would forgive us, forgive me for anything that I have said I ought not to. Please forgive us for all the times we have said things we should not have. Thank you, O God, that there is mercy and forgiveness in you. And thank you that we see your plan come to its fulfillment. in the incarnation, in the crucifixion, in the redemption that is found in the Son. Thank you that we have redemption in Him. Thank you that we have forgiveness of sins through His blood. Thank you for the lavish grace which you bestow upon us. Thank you, O God, for your eternal plan. Thank you, O God, for the inheritance that we have. All these things are so glorious, yet so often we forget them. So, God, may we remember them, May we be reminded of them, may we know who we are in him, and may we confess the God of heaven and earth that you are, and you are Father, Son, and Spirit. So we ask, O God, you help us now as we come to partake of the bread and the wine. May we do so, O God, with faith and trust and understanding. Thank you that you do stoop to our nature and give us these blessed signs of Christ's body broken and Christ's blood shed. So we ask God that you'd be with us now, be pleased to strengthen your people, be pleased to save sinners. And we pray in all things, you would be glorified. We pray these things in the name of Christ. Amen.