If you would take your Bible and turn to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter one, we're going to read verses one through six together. Beginning in verse one, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us 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. Now, God had revealed himself to the children of Israel in the Old Testament by a sacred and special name. It's known to the Jews by the phrase, the Tetragrammaton, four-lettered name for God in the Old Testament scriptures, a name that was conveyed to the covenant people of Israel. And it was held to be a sacred name to the Jews. And so it became a custom to the Jews that they would not pronounce the sacred name of God. even when I was learning Hebrew in seminary, because my professor was involved in SPL, Society of Biblical Literature, and there's not just Christians, but non-Christians there, they actually taught us, as we were learning how to read the Hebrew Bible, never to pronounce the name of the Tetragrammaton, but to say Adonai, or to say HaShem, which just simply means in Hebrew, the name, Adonai referring to the Lord. And so the Jews have this way of showing honor and respect to the name that they do not pronounce it. They just say Adonai or Hashem. And then there are Hebrew scholars today then that debate how to pronounce this Tetragrammaton, how to pronounce this name. Some in the past have known it to be pronounced as Jehovah. And if you look in your King James version of the Bible or older versions of the New Testament or Old Testament, you'll read Jehovah in the scriptures. But then more recently, some scholars have said that it's not pronounced Jehovah, it's pronounced Yahweh. And so some of you also are familiar with that. So I think perhaps John MacArthur, his seminaries, they put out a translation, I think, or something to that degree, and they put in Yahweh. But what we find in the New Testament is that Jesus Christ gives us a lesson in how to pronounce this unpronounceable name. Jesus teaches us how to pronounce the divine name correctly. And he did so when he gave his disciples their marching orders, the marching orders of the church. He said, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name. The name. What name? The Tetragrammaton. Jehovah, Yahweh, Hashem. The name. How do you pronounce the unpronounceable name? Jesus says, this is how you pronounce. You're all getting a Hebrew lesson now. How do you pronounce rightly the divine name? Jesus says, it's pronounced this way. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The one true God, Jehovah, is a triune God. He is the Holy and Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now, the reason I bring up all this bit about Hebrew is not to give you a lesson in Hebrew. But because just as Jesus taught his disciples how to think about the one true God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul is doing something actually quite similar here in the first 14 verses, or verses three to 14 in our opening section of Ephesians. You see, Paul took what was a common Jewish prayer. a common Jewish prayer that would be used in any synagogue and it would be used to praise Jehovah. It would be used to praise Yahweh. And it's called a Barakah. A Barakah. You give a blessing to Jehovah. And as The Apostle forms this barakah in one sentence of New Testament Greek, 202 word sentence prayer. He praises the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Paul is doing the very same thing. How do you bless Jehovah? You bless Jehovah by thinking on the works of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The one God is the eternal and ever-blessed Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And as Paul was thinking about blessing the triune God, he begins with the fountain of the deity, the fountain of the Godhead, that is the Father. He begins by thinking of the fountainhead of the deity by then going to the fountainhead of salvation, which begins with God the Father, the works of the Father, in verses four and five. He thinks about the Father in his electing love. In Christ, he chose us. And then he thinks about the second act of God, the Father, in predestining us unto adoption as sons by Jesus Christ. And now as he comes to verse six, he thinks not just simply of the acts of the Father, the eternal acts of God, but now he thinks of the purpose of these acts. not only to make us holy and restore our nature, not only to adopt us and elevate us unto sonship, but also what is the chief end of all the works of God? It is to glorify His name. And that's what I want to begin to reflect upon with you this morning, the glory of God as it is revealed in these acts of the Father. And so we're going to look at this verse, verse six, under two headings. Now these are kind of lame and they could be really interchangeable, but this is the best that I could do, so we're going with it. The glory of God and the glory of grace. The glory of God and the glory of grace. To the praise of the glory of his grace. That's where we're going to begin, the glory of God. Now when we speak of God's glory, what do we mean? When we speak of the glory of God, what do we mean? We are speaking of the splendor of God. We're speaking of the brightness of God. The word doxa, it's just translated here, glory, is a word that refers to light, light shining, light bursting, light radiating forth. And the idea is to convey to us that the glory is something that speaks of the majesty of God, the sublimity of God. It really speaks to the unparalleled greatness of God. If we wanted just one word, just, well, it's not one word. If you wanted one phrase, as it were, to capture the sense of glory, it is unparalleled greatness. The unparalleled greatness of God. But notice how, in scripture, it's often related to light. That light gives us something of an image by which to understand this word glory. We read in the book of 1 John 1, verse 5, John says, God is light. That is to say, no doubt, that there is moral purity in God, but it's to say more than that. It is to say that he is glorious in his splendor. And this is how heaven itself is described. Revelation chapter 21, verses 22 to 23. We read, but I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city had no need of sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its light. It needed no sun or moon to shine because the glory of God shines there. You see, this connection of glory and light that shines, that illumines, that bursts forth, that's so effulgent, that's so overwhelming. This is exactly what Isaiah saw. And why it is that when he saw the vision of God in the throne room, in the holy place, and he saw the angelic seraphim that were surrounding him, the seraphim covered their faces. Because they cannot take in the unmitigated glory of God. It's too wonderful. It's too awesome. It's too transcendent. They are but creatures who cannot take in the effulgent beauty of God. This essential glory of God cannot be increased and cannot be diminished. It is identical with the very being of God himself. This is why Moses, we read the passage, when Moses says to the Lord, show me your glory, and what God reveals is the glory of his attributes. But what is the glory of His attributes? But the glory of God in His essence, in His very being. If you drill down, as it were, into the being of God, it bursts forth glory. And the glory is revealed in who God is in Himself. but we can't see God as he is in himself. Therefore, we must see God as he reveals and manifests himself through his works. Through his works, we see something of the beauty and glory of God. This is what The psalmist is capturing in Psalm 19.1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. As Calvin writes in his Institutes, he says, wherever you cast your eyes, there is no spot in the universe wherein you cannot discern at least some sparks of his glory. You get a sense of this, don't you? When you go to a place like the Grand Canyon, which I've been once. And you see the vastness of this creation, this great gulf, this great chasm, the creation itself, it declares the handiwork of God, the glory of the Lord. Or maybe some of you are maybe really into poetry, and when you listen to certain poetry, or read certain prose, you see something of the glory of God bursting forth in the words. Or you take yourself down to the museum and you look at some of the art, and in the art there is declared the glory of God. Or in a beautiful piece of music, there in all the universe, wheresoever you look, we behold something of the glory of God in creation and in providence. This is the Anthem of the Angels. to sing the glory of God, the praises of God. Revelation 7, 12. Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. God is jealous for His glory. and he will not share his glory with any creature. You see, this also gives us insight as to why, above all sins, God hates pride. Because the proud man is the one who seeks to eclipse the glory of God. The proud man seeks to eclipse the glory of God. He seeks to diminish the glory of God. He contends with the Lord for glory. There can be no exalting of self and at the simultaneous way exalting of God. This is why John says, John the Baptist that is, he must increase and I must decrease. This seesaw of glory, it only raises up on one end at a time, and the other must come down. And so also it is in the manifesting of God's glory. He exalts His Holy Name. He exalts Himself in His works. and we are to be clothed with humility. But the chief way in which God has revealed his glory is in Jesus Christ and in setting forth the riches of his grace. in setting Jesus Christ forth as the one who has brought salvation, and in setting the glory of His grace forth in the person of Jesus. This is what we read in Hebrews chapter one, verses two through three. Speaking of Christ, He, the Father, has appointed Him heir of all things, through whom He made the worlds, and who being the brightness of His glory. Where do you see the brightness of the glory of God? You behold it in Jesus Christ, fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature, Son of God and Son of Man. Thee will I cherish. Thee will I honor. Thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown. We read in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6, For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In the old covenant, Moses desired to see the glory of God, and he received a manifestation of the back of God. And yet it was glorious. In the new covenant, we come face to face with God in all his glory, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It shines most distinctly, most clearly, most brightly in the Lord Jesus. And of all the attributes of God that are revealed in Christ, Jesus most wondrously displays the glory of grace. the glory of the grace of God. Thomas Boston wrote, what exactly is grace? Grace, he said, is love and favor freely flowing without anything in the object to draw it out. Grace as love and favor freely flowing without anything in the object to draw it out. Clearly, for the apostle Paul, it was the reception of this grace and it was the felt impressions of the grace of God in Jesus that caused him to praise the Lord in verses three through 14. It was the tasting of the grace of God in Jesus that causes the apostle to exclaim in praise. To give worship and glory to the Father for the grace that is to be found in Jesus Christ. Oh, how His heart overflows as the flood of God's grace rushes in to the heart of this Apostle. Why so little worship in our lives? Why so little praise? Why so little thanksgiving? Why do I gotta crank my heart like one of those old cars that you gotta crank the engine to get it running? Why is it that I have to crank myself up to get into a worshipful spirit on the Lord's day? Is it not because we are so unacquainted with the glory of God as it's revealed in Jesus Christ? Is it because I feel so little of the grace of God, which is freely given and freely flowing down to me through Christ Jesus? Oh, the Apostle Paul, having tasted it, having experienced it, he gives glory to the Lord for Jesus Christ. And surely, and this is why heaven will be a place of perpetual praise, ceaseless praise, why? Because it is a place of clearest, perpetual sight of the person of Jesus Christ. No cranking of the heart. only a cracking of the heart, a breaking of the heart strings, and a straining of the vocal cords to sing the praises of Emmanuel as they behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus. The angels don't need to stir themselves up. The spirits of just men made perfect don't need to work themselves up. because they stand in the presence of Christ, ever beholding the glory of God's grace in the Lord Jesus. Isn't this such a precious verse? In light of that thought, 1 Corinthians 13, 12, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I am known. You see, this was a great insight of C.S. Lewis in his little commentary on the Psalms. If you've never read it, maybe you should read it. C.S. Lewis, in his little commentary on the Psalms, he has this great insight. He says, when I was an atheist, I could not understand why God was always going about requesting that his creatures would praise him. It's as if this creator had this inferiority complex or something and he constantly needed his creatures to affirm him. There's something wrong here. Why is God always telling people to praise him? And then he said, then when he became a Christian, it dawned on him, he began to understand that praise is the height of participation. Praise is the height of participation. Now on the lowest level, you all know this, we're at the football game. and the score, the touchdown, and it's for your side, and everybody rejoices, everybody praises, and you look to the guy at your left, you look to the guy at your right, and you want everybody to join you in the praise, to feel what you feel. To praise is to participate in the good, in the joy, in the grace of God. Therefore, When God says, praise me, what it is, it's not just a command to exalt His name, it's an invitation to receive His grace. It's an invitation to participate in the grace of God. And in that little section where C.S. Lewis talks about this matter, he then cites Westminster Shorter Catechism question one. Because he sees how these older theologians were absolutely brilliant in the way in which they tied together two things that don't always seem to go together in our minds, which is the chief end of man is to children. What is the chief end of man? To glorify God. Oh, isn't that a lovely sound to hear their voices and to hear them say that? to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. God has indissolubly joined these two things together. To glorify Him is the height of enjoying Him. And Paul, having received this grace, he bursts forth with praise and thanks. He cannot do anything but tell forth the praises of the Lord. And so also we are invited through this passage to participate with Paul to the praise of the glory of His grace. That's what Paul's doing in verses 3 through 14. He's sitting in a Roman prison cell, praising. with 202 word-long sentences. He is praising the Lord for what he's done for him in Christ Jesus. You've chosen me before the foundation of the world in him. You have predestinated me unto adoption as sons. Thou hast accepted me in Christ Jesus to the praise of the glory of your grace. You see, my brothers and sisters, we should not be so hindered by our circumstances that we cannot praise our God, no matter what, no matter what. And the more we knew of Hebrews 13, five, the more we would be able to praise him at all times. Oh, with tears, no doubt at times, but we would still be able to praise him for he himself has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. I will never leave you, nor forsake you. And does that not stir up in your heart gratitude, thanks for His glorious grace? Thou hast chosen me before times eternal, and Thou hast kept me all my life long. Thou art a faithful father. Faithful, good, and true. Oh, Paul and Silas, they sing in a prison cell the praises of the Lord. And the three Protestant boys, as one man who once was a terrorist for the, not the IRS, we all might think that people who work for the IRS are terrorists, but the IRA. for the terrorist group in Ireland a number of years ago when the South and the North were fighting against each other and the Catholics and the Protestants. And this man at one point was an IRA member and a terrorist and he was put in prison for a time and then he became a gospel minister, was saved. And I actually had the privilege along with Liam when we were in, England together to listen to this man preach. And he referred to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as the three Protestant boys. And ever since he said that, I couldn't think anything other. The three Protestant boys who would not worship this idol. And they're cast into the fire. And the glory of the grace of God is revealed in the fire. Because though they're in the fire, they are not consumed. Though fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient shall be thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design, thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine. Singing in the fire, Faith Cook wrote a little book on missionaries and their sufferings, Faith in the Fire. Oh, it's the glory of God's grace that is revealed as we are upheld in the midst of the fire. Paul is in the fire. And yet the glory of God's grace is upon his lips because the glory of God has shone into his heart to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. And what a great argument that the Apostle Paul furnishes us with for the doctrine of our assurance, that we can be ever assured of the grace of God and of our salvation, that we shall never be severed from the Lord. Because God has joined together His glory with our eternal salvation. He has chosen you in Christ Jesus, predestined you unto adoption as sons, to the praise of His glory. If God's election fails, if His predestination fails, if His salvation fails, then there is no praising of the grace of God. And so these two things, God has joined together. My salvation and His eternal glory. This is a great comfort to the saints. What a great comfort to the saints. God is jealous for His glory. Therefore, He must be jealous for my salvation. There was a minister by the name of Alexander Moody Stewart. I hope I'm not botching it. I think this is him. Alexander Moody Stewart, who went to visit an old woman near her dying days. And he goes, as ministers would in that time, they actually would kind of press you as to, are you certain of your assurance? Is it a strong assurance in Christ Jesus? So Alexander Moody Stewart, he presses this woman. Are you certain? She says, yes, I'm certain of my salvation. Why? How are you certain? Because my savior has died and he's given me his word. But what if he were to break his word? Oh, he would never break his word. But how do you know? And he presses her and presses her, and she says this, she says, oh, because he would lose more than I. He would lose more than I. And he says, what do you mean by this? And she said, because I would lose my soul, but he would lose his eternal glory. What was her assurance? What was the firm foundation of her assurance? It is that God shall be glorified in the salvation of His people. I cannot be lost, for He will not lose His glory. That's an incredible thing, that He is so bound up, my soul's salvation, my soul's happiness, with His eternal glory. What a thought. But it's not only this, it's also, it teaches me this, that God is supremely pleased in the salvation of sinners. Because God delights to see His name glorified, and His name is most glorified in the salvation of the lost. And therefore God delights to see sinners saved. You think to yourself, how could I ever bring glory to God after all that I've done in my life? So much of my life has been lived to the glory of self, which is the diminishment of the glory of God. How could I ever glorify the Lord? How could my life ever exalt Him whom I am so displeased? But what we learn from this passage is that we glorify God and trusting in and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. When He becomes your Savior, you magnify His name. And His name is magnified in your salvation more than His glory was ever diminished in our sinning. His name is more exalted in our repenting and in our trusting than His name was ever diminished in our sinning. God is glorified. His strong arm is revealed in our salvation. Well, that is for the glory of God. Now we come to the glory of His grace. And I want to look at this second phrase. To the praise of the glory of His grace, we read, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. God's grace or the glory of His grace is revealed in our gracious acceptance in the Beloved One, Jesus Christ. Now this word translated acceptance is the same word that means favored or graced. He has ingratiated us to himself in Christ Jesus. Or as one of the Puritans put it, it's as if Paul said, the Father has endeared us to himself. Now you gotta continue to follow with me here, okay? We're going back to theology for a second. Older theologians used to make a distinction between the different loves of God. The love of God in goodwill, the beneficent love of God, and the love of God in complacency or in delight. And what Paul is doing is he's showing us something of that distinction in verses 4 and 5 and 6. The love of God in terms of his goodwill to us as his elect people is revealed in verses 4 and 5. He wills our good. What is our good? That we be holy and blameless before Him in love. That we be adopted children of God. That is the good will of our Father toward us in heaven. But in verse 6, through this word accepted, accepting us in the beloved, that is not an expression of the goodwill of God toward us in love, but it is an expression of the love of delight, the love of complacency. The love of God that is glad in the person whom he has accepted. It's not merely a love that desires to do good to another, but a love that delights in another. We read something of this in Zephaniah 3, verse 17. The Lord your God is in your midst, the Holy One who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness, and he will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. Now that's not the love of God's beneficence. This isn't just a goodwill towards men. I want to do some good towards you, or communicate something of goodness towards you. But this is a delighting in you. And this is the expression of what is contained in those words, that we are accepted in the Beloved. God delights in you. Can you even take that in? Can you even grasp something of that? Can you apprehend that truth this morning? That God delights in you in Christ Jesus. He rejoices over you with singing. That gladness wells up in the heart of God as he looks upon you in the beloved one. Now, God's delight in us as his people is manifested in a number of ways, but one of the ways it's manifested, this love of delight, let's call it, the love of goodwill and the love of delight, You might choose a man to a position of power or a position of privilege. You might choose a man for a particular place in a business because you think he's gonna do a good job or whatsoever. That's very different when a man chooses his wife for himself or a woman chooses that man for her husband. One, a desire to do good to the other. One, it's a desire, it is a delighting in, and a desire to give oneself and share oneself with the other. There is a difference between this delight, this love of delight versus this love of goodwill. But the love of delight is manifested in many ways. But one of them is in the wonderful titles that the Lord gives us in scripture. These titles of endearment. That he doesn't just want to do us some good, but he actually takes delight in us as his people. Ephesians 2.19, he calls us the household of God. Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. He calls us dear children. In chapter 5 verse 1, therefore be imitators of God as dear children. We read in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 30-33 that we're called the wife of the Lord Jesus and one flesh with Christ. In James chapter 2 verse 23 we're called the friends of God. And in Isaiah chapter 62 verse 3, you'll have to look it up, to believe it for your own self, we are called the crown of glory and the royal diadem of Jehovah. When I think of myself, I think of myself as a big heaping mess, as a big pile of sin, as one large walking sore. I don't see myself as the royal diadem of Jehovah. But this is the title that I am given in the Beloved One, Jesus Christ. And He not only gives me these titles of endearment, but He also treats me so graciously at the throne of grace, that I can come to Him and pray to Him at any time, at any place, for any need. And He receives me. He receives me. and he promises to give to me that which I need in liberal abundance and without upbraiding me. Some of you are not able to comprehend this in some ways because it's so outside of your experience. When you go to your dad and you say, dad, I need some help here. Dad, could you help me out with a few dollars here? I'm in some trouble. And you had fathers, some of you had fathers who weren't there at all. So you don't know not at all what it is to go to a father and to be able to have someone to go to. But then some of you had fathers maybe who gave, but gave very reluctantly, and they would just wag their finger at you. You're in this trouble again? Why are you in this trouble again? You're always getting yourself into trouble. And okay, here's the money, go. But what we have here in the scripture is this expression of this gracious acceptance that we have in the beloved with our father, that we can come to him and that he gives liberally and without abrading us. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. How else is this loving endearment of the heart of God revealed to us as His people? It's revealed in the fact that the Father reveals the secrets of His heart to His people. He reveals the secrets of His heart to His people. Now you don't reveal secrets to people who are strangers. You don't even share secrets with even close friends at times. You don't even express certain secrets even to your own spouses. But God so endears us to him. that He discloses the secrets of His heart. You say, where in the world are you getting this from? Psalm 25, verse 14, the secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. You'll read later, not now, but you'll read in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 8 through 10, we're told that the mystery has now been revealed. to the children of God. It has now been revealed to us who are in Christ Jesus. The mysteries of God have been disclosed to the people of God. You've been brought into the family secret. The Father has disclosed all the secrets of His heart to His people. How else is this displayed? It's also displayed in the way in which he rewards our imperfect works. Our imperfect works. I was struck by this in Luke chapter 19. You need to go and read Luke chapter 19 later on this week. That's a bit of homework for you. Luke 19, and the parable of the minas or the minas. And the Lord gives the same to each person, and they're going to improve upon that which they're given. One man receives, takes one mina, as it were, he takes one dollar, and he turns it into ten. One guy takes a dollar, he turns it into five. The next guy, he takes a dollar, and he just puts it in his wallet, and then he gives it back to the master at the end. And what you see is the manner in which Jesus deals with his people, the way the Father deals with us as his children. The guy had a dollar. He turned it into ten dollars. What does he get as a reward? Ten cities. 10 cities? It's so disproportionate to $10. The only connection is the number 10. That's it. It's so disproportionate. The grace of God is so lavish. It's so extravagant. It's so mind bending that He gave me a dollar and I turned it into 10. And for that, my gracious Father rewarded me 10 cities. What a father is this? I know not the love, the endearing love of this father who rewards my imperfect and impoverished works. What are my best works but things for which I have to repent? My best works. My best sermons I have to get on my knees afterwards and ask the Lord for forgiveness for all the sin in my mind and heart when I did it, or in my preparation of it. The best works that you can do, fraud with sin, and yet the Lord He even says, if you give a cup of cold water in my name, the least bit of service will not go unnoticed. I shall reward it in glory. But the best works of the unregenerate, the greatest works, the most magnificent works that put all our works to shame, He rejects entirely as abomination in His sight. The prayer of the wicked is an abomination to God. But the sin-laden good works of the saints, He accepts and rewards. Why is it that He treats us thus? Well, we're told, He delights in us on account of the fact that we are in the Son. The love of the Father rests in delight upon His dearly beloved Son. Jesus Christ is preeminently the well-pleasing beloved Son of the Father. We read this in Proverbs 8, verse 30. We read, Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman, and I was daily His delight. daily the delight of the Father before the foundation of the world, the Father delighting in His Son. As we come to the New Testament, we see declarations of the love of the Father for His Son in the Gospels, especially the Gospel of Matthew. And one of those passages is that favorite passage of our sister Lois Bosworth. Matthew chapter 3 verse 17, this is my beloved son, the father says, in whom I am well pleased. And if you remember our dear sister Lois, the reason that she loved that verse so much was because she found that there was one in whom she could be accepted. One who was accepted, one who was well-pleasing, and one whom she could find herself hidden in. And that is precisely what we find here, as we are to be hidden in the beloved Son, Jesus Christ. And as we are looked upon in the Son, we are accepted and beloved for Jesus' sake. Now let me ask you this question. We're coming to a close, all right? We're coming to a close. If the Father's happiness is to be found in the Son of God, where does your happiness lie? If the Father's delight is in loving Jesus Christ, the Son, Where does your love and happiness lie? Shall you ever be made happy outside of Jesus Christ? Shall your heart ever be made whole without the Lord Jesus Christ? Because He is the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased. And He is the only one in whom you will be accepted. outside of Jesus Christ, all are rejected. But in Jesus Christ, the vilest sinner is accepted. The wrath of God is abated. The curse of God is removed. They receive full pardon and reconciliation and enter into full communion with God. in a very moment, in a very instant, that they believe. They come into Jesus Christ and are accepted. Do you believe that this morning? That at the very moment, dear children, that the very moment that you believe on Jesus Christ, you will be accepted with God the Father. You will be brought into His family, no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Do you believe it that all your sins can be purged in an instant, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, through faith in Christ Jesus? Do you believe that the newest convert is as justified and cleansed and righteous as the oldest, godliest, holiest saint who's walked this life with Jesus Christ for 50, 60, 70 years. What a gospel! What an offer! What glorious grace! And shall you reject the Lord Jesus Christ? Shall you reject your own salvation? Will you turn your back upon the one in whom you can find acceptance? Oh, come to the Lord Jesus. Come to Christ Jesus and put your confidence in Him. And as Jacob, or rather it was Isaac, as Isaac smelled the garments of Esau, the elder brother, as they were enveloping Jacob. As Isaac smelled the elder brother, Jacob was received on account of the elder brother. And so, if we come clothed in Jesus Christ, The Father, as it were, smells the smell of our elder brother, and he receives us for Jesus' sake. As John Trapp once put it, he said, Jacob was accepted with Pharaoh for Joseph's sake, and how much more shall we be accepted with the Father for Jesus' sake? So come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John chapter 6 verse 37, The one who comes to Me, I will by no means cast out. I will by no means cast out. Are you hesitant because you fear rejection? No doubt the Lord Jesus put that in the text because He knew it would be the case. There are some who do not come because they fear rejection. But the invitation of the Lord Jesus is come, and you shall by no means suffer rejection. Well, I'll conclude with a word to the saints. Those of you who are in Christ, those of you who are accepted, those of you who are forgiven, I'll conclude with the words of Thomas Goodwin. He wrote this. If thou art in Christ, fear not sin. For God from everlasting saw all thy sins, and yet for all that, he continued to accept thee in his beloved, and it altered his mind, not a wit. It altered his mind not a whit. He knew all your sins, and yet he has graciously accepted you in the beloved one. Don't let the knowledge of your sins keep you from the arms of your heavenly Father, but run unto the Lord who receives through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your words. We thank you for your grace. We thank you for the mercy that you show to us in Jesus. And Father, it's our desire to glorify you more. Oh, help us to lift high the blessed name of the Lord Jesus. Help us to have eyes that are enlightened by the spirit of grace and of adoption, that we might behold the mystery of Jesus Christ more and more, and that we might give you the glory that you're due. Be with us, O Lord, as we come now to the table. Minister to us as your beloved people, for we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.