Well, we're concluding today a series of messages, Sunday schools and so forth, on the Reformation and the so-called solas of the Reformation. And we heard this morning in our Sunday school class how very important it is and necessary for God's people to be firmly entrenched in God's Word. Sola Scriptura was the battle cry, really, of the Reformation. And everything that happened then really flows out of that very first sola, the Bible. It's the Bible. That's where we go. That's where we read. That's where we see our need for grace. And then where we see that grace has come from. And so we've come in a sense, kind of full circle. Uh, actually I want this morning to sort of circle back a little bit as we look at this passage, this wonderful passage in Ephesians chapter one. So, uh, have you turned there again? And I'm going to do something that Martin Lloyd-Jones, my mentor as a pastor, said you shouldn't do. And that is to give you some highlights from Ephesians chapter 1 and not go into the depth which is in this passage. Perhaps that's for another day. I believe these solas are in great need today. We live in a day of what might be called a sort of broadness having to do with Christian things and our Our thoughts about things are not sharp and clear as they ought to be. And it is the word of God that gives us a sharpness and a tendency to understand the world, but also to understand the kingdom of God. And it was prayed in your hearing just a few moments ago that the kingdom of God is great. The kingdom of God is over. all things. And whatever happens in this life and in this world from day to day that we get so tied up with, we need to have our minds taken up with the glory of who God is and the glory of what he's done. And so that's what we're going to seek to do today in looking at this passage. We'll tell you from verse 3 to verse 14 in Greek is one sentence. It's one sentence, and it's a kind of flood, you might say. We've had some experience in the last couple of months with devastating floods that come barreling through and have caused great destruction. I certainly don't want to make light of that at all. But Ephesians 1 and verses 3 to 14 reminds me of that. It's a kind of flood of God's mercies and God's grace being sort of poured out. And you can sense the apostle being caught up with the glory of God. as he is telling these Ephesian believers, new believers, what glorious things have come upon them and the grace of God that has come to them. And so that's my prayer this morning, that we would be, in some sense, gripped with that grace and gripped with the glory of God. What that will do for us is, first of all, it will humble us. If we came in today with a sort of a sense of, uh, yeah, I'm doing a great job and I'm a king of the world. Well, Ephesians one, we'll put you right in your place. It will humble you, but it will also do something else. It will raise your thoughts to this, uh, glorious God, uh, and, and, and enable us by God's grace to, to see that glory and change your life, change your life. And so let's pray to that end, that the Lord will give us grace. What Paul is doing here, it seems to me, he tells us in verse three, what is this statement of his that he's going to make here in these lines. And he tells us in verse three, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ. with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And then what does he proceed to do? He proceeds to enumerate those blessings. And so that's what I want to do for us today. I want to enumerate some of these blessings for us. And it seems to me that there are at least five, more than that, but at least five that he He speaks to us about that controversial, but he just blows it out there right from the beginning, that controversial doctrine of election. And he, as it were, blows the trumpet for God's electing grace. And then that very comforting truth of that we're God's children now. We've been adopted into his family and we have received a great redemption that leads into forgiveness of sins, and we're going to understand that, and that we have this inheritance that we are tasting now in some sense, and yet what is coming for us is truly amazing, an inheritance that is waiting for us, and all of that is really sealed to us by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Okay, so that's where we're going. And I want to say as well that these blessings, and we'll see this as the passage rolls along, are also acquainting us, showing us the glory of who God is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we follow things along we're going to see that the first three verse or three, four, five, and six really are focused on God the Father. What God the Father has done from eternity past and that he's out, he's a working out in the world now. And then from seven to 12 or so is really focused upon God the Son. It's focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ, what he came to do. what he has done and what he will continue to do for his people. And then the last two verses there, 13 and 14, really speak of the work of the Holy Spirit. And so we have a Trinitarian gospel. We have a Trinitarian God, a God who is great and awesome, but is one and God is three. And this passage speaks to that. Okay, so what is the first thing that this great blessing that has come to us? Well, we'll just read. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. What Paul's doing there, it seems to me, is laying out in one verse the history of the whole world and your history as well. In one verse, in one statement, what God has done and what his purpose is in doing that for you and for me. Really, he could have stopped there in my mind and had us just to meditate upon what he's done. Let's think about this choosing here. It's actually the word that could be translated elected and it's in some Christian circles could be somewhat controversial. There are basically two views. One is that, well, God is sovereign. He has a big view of things. He is able to look down the passage of time and look down and he can see people exercising faith in him. as time goes along and so he chooses them according to the choice that they themselves will eventually make. But that's not really what the passage is saying because what he's doing here is he has chosen, he has elected a people before the foundation of the world, before the world was even made. before there was trees and rocks and rivers and every other thing, before there were the first people, God had determined that he was going to save a people for himself and he was choosing them for salvation. Absolute sovereignty of God. And you might say, well, boy, I have a hard time Realizing that because the Bible also teaches that you and I are quite responsible for our actions. How in the world could there be this absolute sovereign election of a people for himself and yet God dealing with people in time and place as free thinking, in some sense, a people who make choices. And the answer to that is, I don't know. I'm going to be honest with you, I don't know. And yet, what the Bible teaches me is those two truths come really hand in hand. right through the Bible as we read. We read that God is absolutely sovereign in everything, including who becomes a Christian and who does not. And yet, he also holds people, you and I, sitting in these chairs today, accountable for the choices that we make. It's amazing and it's taught for us throughout the whole Bible. I want to just give you one place, there's several where we could go, but just one in Matthew's gospel, chapter 11. This is probably a favorite passage for many because it speaks of the Lord's great calling of his people. But let's go back to verse 26. Well, 25. At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and reveal them to little children. There's a choice there that's going on in God's mind in eternity. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." Now that's the sovereignty of God. We look and we say, here are these two, perhaps they're brother and sister, and they are sitting in the same pew, and they're hearing the same gospel. And one of them goes, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the other one goes, what's for dinner today? And the same truth. And yet God working by his spirit, plucking out and pulling one to himself and leaving the other. It's a mystery, but this is what this passage is saying. And then notice what verse 28 says, then appealing to us as rational thinking human beings, come to me, come to me. All who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and lowly in heart. And you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And there within the space of just a few verses, we see this almighty sovereign God knowing all things from beginning to end and knowing those who will believe on him for eternal life. And at the same time, calling them, calling them to himself and really calling all to himself. When we preach the gospel, we don't know who it is out there that God has determined from before the foundation of the world that he would save. And so our charge as preachers of the gospel is to say, you come, you come, you come, you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And I can guarantee you that that will occur. You see, these two truths are right next to each other all the way we go through the scriptures. Jesus said in John chapter 10 that he was the good shepherd. He knew his sheep and his sheep would know him. And he would call them out, each one, as he goes, and they would follow him. Why is it that some follow the Lord Jesus and all that he says and all that he does, and others say, I don't have any use for him? Is it just up to them? election before time and notice what they were chosen for and this is a kind of a determination or at least an insight into those that he saves. What do they desire to do? What are they chosen for? He says in verse four that we should be holy and blameless before him. He's chosen his people that they might be a shining light, so to speak, in the world, chosen for holiness, to be like him and blamelessness, that is, their sins are covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which we will see a little bit later in this passage. In other words, there was a purpose. for God's dealing with humanity. And really, in a sense, we'll come to this when we get down to verse 10, is that what the Lord is doing in his saving grace is really reversing the effects of the fall. You remember what happened there. There was a great communion between Adam and Eve and the God. They walked together in the garden. and there was no sin there, there was no disunity or disturbance at all, and then the devil enters in, the serpent enters in, Adam sins, and what has happened? The world is in chaos. There's disunity on every side, and sin abounds. But the thread of the gospel, the gospel thread that runs through the whole of history, God calling his people to himself. And he calls them to be holy. He calls them to be, in a sense, the new kingdom, the new people of God that he's going to do. And it helps us to understand a little bit about verse 10 as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him. Recovering, in a sense, what was lost at the fall. Joining together heaven and earth. We see a little bit of that in Romans 8, where it talks about the whole creation groaning. Well, they're groaning. The creation is looking forward to the time when all things will be united in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's coming. That's coming. Isaiah even spoke about it when he said, you know, this, those strange verses that says the wolf is going to lay down with the lamb and you scratch your head. What is he talking about? He's talking about the uniting of all things together in Christ. That's what we have to look forward to, isn't it? We don't maybe not see it right now. We see chaos and, and division all around, but God has his purpose. calling his people to himself. And I think that's part of the reason why Ephesians chapter four is so focused upon the union of the church, the unity of God's people together. Because we're united together in that we might grow into one, into Christ, as the scriptures tell us. Chosen for holiness and for blamelessness. Well, we've got to move on. We could stay there for weeks. for weeks. And he goes on. In love, he predestined us. That's an uncomfortable word, isn't it? Predestined? What does it mean? Marked out the destiny beforehand. That's what it means. You kind of go, wow, sola scriptura here, right? In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved, predestined for adoption. Now, a couple of things about adoption, very quickly. is that the Hebrews, the Jews, really knew nothing of adoption. It was not a practice. They didn't really have laws governing adoption. Adoption was a Roman thing. And it was in order that an inheritance might be passed down if there was a a Roman citizen who had great wealth or something like that, but he had no children, he could adopt a young man or young woman and bring them into his home. And they would have, adoption really in the Roman mind was a legal structure in order to pass on an inheritance. And Paul picks it up for Christianity. and tells us what God has done legally, I might add, is take a people for himself as his children. Legal rights, both the legal right of the parent and the legal right of the child. So you and I have been brought into something that is quite remarkable. American adoption and modern adoption has taken on really much of the biblical truth, this Roman idea of adoption, of taking the men and they become children. No distinction. All with the same rights and all with the same love that the father and the mother are going to give to those children. It's a great picture, isn't it, of the gospel of Jesus Christ, what God has done. There's great privileges that we can see in other parts of the scripture, great privileges that have come to God's people. So I'm gonna have you look at a couple of passages here. First of them is God's love as a father. He's adopted his children to himself, And in that adoption, not only there are legal things that apply, but the father is showing his love for the children. We see it in Romans chapter eight, so if you'll turn there. I'm gonna go quickly, this is sort of a sword drill that we're doing today for the next couple of minutes. So we look at Romans chapter eight, begin at verse 12. So then, brothers, we're debtors. Not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, he's been speaking about the giving of the spirit. And part of what the giving of the spirit does is it enables us to know the love of God, the love of the Father in Christ. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father." That was the way that a father would be known to his children was that word, Abba. a familiar term to them. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. elected for holiness and blamelessness. And this adoption then brings us into God's family to know him as a father. And then again in Galatians chapter 4. and begin at verse four. If you want to, just let me read these, and you can just maybe jot them down and go back and look quickly, because we've got to go quickly. It says, When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you're no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. These terms are going to be kind of used interchangeably, a son and an heir and an inheritor of the promises of God. God's name. As we move on in Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 2, he will speak about being a part of the household of God. That is God's name has been given to you as a Christian. And it's kind of like when you, if you're adopted into a family, you take on that name. You become that That name, that's what's associated with it. You don't have a different name because you're adopted. You have the same name. You're brought into God's family here and become a part of his household. And as we've already read there in Galatians chapter 4, the spirit of God that is given to you. Not simply, I think, and we'll talk about this in a little bit, not simply to believe, but to know him and to know him personally. I think that's really getting into the area of communion, whereby we say, Abba, Father. That's closeness. I think we need to understand that a little bit more. What are the great privileges we have of being adopted into the family of God? That we know him and that we don't just sort of know him from a distance, but we've been brought into his close family, close communion with him. as a communion that an earthly father ought to have with his children. Sometimes when we think of adoption and the love of the father, we kind of go, well, I didn't really have all that kind of great relationship with my father. And we sort of judge the love of the father by perhaps a human father that we have. And we've got things backwards, don't we? We need to understand what we think about and how we respond to our children as fathers by looking at God the Father and his great love for us and all that he has done for us to guarantee us a place in his family. So we learn about fatherhood from him, not basing our understanding of God the Father on a human father. It doesn't work that way. It works the other way. And plus, the great privilege of being an heir and a joint heir, the Bible says. Romans chapter 8 verse 23 says that we are joint heirs with Christ. We have the same, I hesitate to even say this, the very same standing before God the Father as God the Son has. The very same standing. Adopted into his family with all the privileges and all the rights and all the inheritances that our Lord Jesus Christ has with the Father as well. Well, we could stop there and say, glory be to God for his grace. And that's what the apostle does, doesn't he? He says, according to the purpose of his will, verse 6, to the praise of his glorious grace. He can't stop thinking that this has come to him, not on the basis of what he's done, not on the basis of who he is, but on the basis of who God is and the glorious grace of God with which he has blessed us in the beloved. Who's he talking about? Well of course he's talking about Jesus and there's a little bit of a transition there. He was speaking about God the Father and what God the Father has done and the blessing, every spiritual blessing. the electing to this grace before the foundation of the world, the adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. Those are the things that God the Father particularly has done. But now there's a bit of a transition to the Son. He's blessed us in the Beloved, that is, in Christ. And in him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. Let's think about that for just a second, right? Sometimes we think, we think, and I even saw a sign of this just saying flatly, God forgives, God forgives, God forgives. Why does God forgive? Is he sort of obligated somehow to forgive? He looks at us and says, well, you know, you've done some good things, you've done some not so good, so I'm going to forgive you. We think sometimes that's God's job, is to forgive. But no, that's not what he says here. This forgiveness that has come to us has come to us at a great price. That's why he puts in him we have redemption through his blood before the forgiveness of our trespasses. Right? What does forgiveness depend upon? It depends upon a purchase. That's what redemption is. It's a sort of buying and selling. It's a transaction has occurred. between the father and the son in order that you and I might be forgiven. Forgiveness actually depends greatly upon redemption. Redemption makes forgiveness possible. What is redemption then? Well, in the Jewish mind, the deliverance was by a payment, the payment of what is called a ransom. When you redeem something, you pay for it, and it becomes then yours. There's a payment that has been made. Jesus Christ paid a ransom, purchasing the grace of forgiveness for all of his people. He did that at the cross. And that redemption then makes forgiveness possible. You see, God is holy. He is holy, holy, holy, the Bible says. And because of that holiness, he must punish sin. He cannot, he doesn't do what we do sometimes, well, oh, I'm just gonna pass it by. Can't do anything about it, just pass it by. No, no, he's determined from before the foundation of the world that he was going to right the wrong. He was going to unite. in the Son, all things to himself. And the Son then he sent into the world to make a payment, to pay a price for sin in order that forgiveness might be possible. We see that, of course, in a number of places, Titus chapter 2 and verse 14. If you want to just jot that down, want to read it, for you, Titus chapter 2, actually begin verse 11. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, and here's the verse, who gave himself for us to redeem us, purchase price, buy us back, so to speak, off the slave block of sin, to redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. You see there's the whole ball of wax in there we might say. Redemption, forgiveness, purchase to bring to himself a people for his own possession. And then he's going to work in them to purify for himself a people for his own possession. Notice then as well that this redemption is through his blood. What does that mean? In him we have redemption through his blood. Why didn't he say, why couldn't he just say it was by the death of Christ that redemption has come? Well, what he's doing, it seems to me, is pointing back to the Old Testament sacrificial system. And you remember what happened there. that the animal would have been slain, he would have been killed, the animal would have died, but then there's something else that had to be done. And what was that? Would take the blood and they would sprinkle it on the altar. And it was a sign of a cleansing ritual, so to speak, so that the people, and sometimes the blood was even sprinkled on the people themselves. And so the blood became an emblem of the death. It was more than just the death of the animal, but the blood had to be taken and sprinkled and so forth. And it reminds us then of these sacrifices and the death that was followed by the blood sprinkled on the altar. And the focus there was on the death of the substitute and the price paid. and then forgiveness that was given. God has made him, Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God. A debt was paid, redemption paid, forgiveness then freely given. And these riches Paul will go on to say, again, in every one of these little blessings, the apostle can't hold back. He says, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us. It's not a sort of piecemeal thing, but this grace he's lavished upon his people, in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will. revealing to us the mercy and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven, things on earth. And the next blessing, in him, in Christ, still speaking about the work of Christ, in him we have obtained an inheritance. There's something in addition to being forgiven. There's something in addition to being chosen. There's something in addition to being adopted. All of these things are wonderful, but the Lord has not done. He's also given us or we have obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined, there's that word again, destiny marked out beforehand, according to the purpose of him who works all things. We could stop right there and we could preach several sermons on the sovereignty of God, not just in redemption, not just in salvation, but in every aspect of life. All things, not some things, not just the things that happen that we would take joy in, but the things that God brings, all things, according to the counsel of his will, we've obtained an inheritance. That word obtained is an interesting word. It comes from the idea of an allotment. And again, it takes us back into the Old Testament, doesn't it? When the children of Israel came out of Egypt and they were there on the cusp of the promised land and finally able to go in after all those years of wandering. What happened before the coming? There was an allotment. There was a, this tribe goes here, lives here, this tribe lives here, this tribe lives here. There's an allotment of the land where all the various tribes were going. And this word here that Paul uses for obtaining an inheritance, it's not like we paid for it. No, it was given to us on the basis of what our Lord Jesus has done, and that's our allotment. Not in a house or a piece of land or a piece of property. We might think, well, that would be nice if I lived in a better house or I lived on a better piece of property or I'd like to trade places with this one or that one. No, no, this is an inheritance that by allotment, so to speak, because of what Christ has done, we have this inheritance in heaven. There's something greater that is awaiting us because of what our Lord has done. He works all things, not just our salvation. When we talk about soli deo gloria, it is for everything. It's the glory of God in everything. And notice this inheritance. is tied to the adoption that had come earlier. The adoption makes legal inheritors, and now the inheritance is given. We are joint heirs, the Bible says, with our Lord Jesus Christ. We've obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him, who works all things according to the counsel of his will. So that we who were the first, I think Paul is speaking there of these Gentile believers who had come to faith in Jesus Christ recently. He's writing this letter to encourage them, to show them that they're not second class Christians because they're Gentiles, that they've been brought into the family of God. They have everything that the that the children of God have. They have this inheritance according to the counsel of his will so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. That's the resounding theme that runs through all of what the apostle is saying here in this wonderful passage is the grace of God in Jesus Christ. In order that you and I who are the receivers of grace might be to the praise of his glory. But he's not done. He's not done. In him, that is in Christ, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. Paul will go on to teach in Ephesians chapter two that we are saved by the Spirit's work. If you just turn over in my Bible, it's on the same page. Paul tells us in verse one of chapter two, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Following the course of the world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work, and the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. That is a dismal, dismal picture of humanity. And if the Bible stopped right there, God would be absolutely just in stopping it right there. and just saying, it's done, this is who they are, this is what they do, this is what mankind is like. But he doesn't stop. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. How did that happen? Do those who die come back to life? Do they bring themselves back to life, those who are dead? Well, we know the answer to that. No, it doesn't happen. Death is a final. It's a final. And the only one who has power to raise the dead is Jesus Christ himself. And what Christ has done by the Spirit The Bible tells us that he's the one who raises the dead. And these who are dead and trespasses by nature, children of wrath, God who is rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead. Notice he repeats that. made us alive together with Christ. I love that little story in Acts chapter 16 when Paul is preaching there to these people who had never heard the gospel before. And there's a woman there named Lydia. And the Bible says that something happened within her, that her heart was strangely warmed. It was turned. to the Lord Jesus Christ and she believed. That's what God does. He saves. He saves in the midst of perhaps a service like this. You're sitting there and you're hearing about the grace of God in Jesus Christ and how he raises the dead. Maybe you look at yourself and you say, I qualify for that. I feel like in things having to do with God, I'm dead. I'm dead. And God gives life. God raises the dead. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. So that we don't misunderstand this, by grace you have been saved. It's by grace. It's the grace of God in Jesus Christ that would save anyone. So we know we're saved by the Spirit's work but Paul seems to be indicating that there's something else, this sealing, this sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Again, we could preach a lot of messages on this but what does a seal do? If you're sealing, we don't do it as much today but you lick the back of an envelope and you seal it but in old days The sealing would have been done by someone of importance. When a king made a determination about something, sent out a decree, that decree would often be sealed with the king's own seal, and it would authenticate. It's sort of a mark of ownership and a mark of security. One of the things that the Spirit does is He gives us grace to believe, but then He's not done with us. He's going to work in us. He's going to sanctify us. And I think this sealing is a sort of, I'm not talking about a second blessing here, but what I'm talking about is a second and a third and a fourth and a fifth and a sixth blessing of the Lord sealing his work upon our hearts, that we might know that we're Christians, that we might know our communion with the Lord, that we might grow in our grace and our knowledge and our understanding of him. We're sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee. Now that's an okay word there, but literally that word is earnest. He's the earnest. of our inheritance. Now think about that. If you're going to buy a house, you like the house, you don't have as much money as you need to to pay for the house, you've got to make a kind of a down payment, we call it, and you put forward what may be called earnest money, right? You You are a part owner, right? You're legally owned, but the bank kind of has the deed because you're having to borrow the money. But you put forth earnest money. You have a stake in this. And the Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance here upon the earth. The Spirit's work in our lives. opening the scriptures to our minds and having a sense of who God is and the greatness and the glory of God. We're not there yet, but the spirit helps us, the spirit of promise, to imagine it with the biblical imagination of the inheritance until we acquire possession of it, full possession. When does that happen? When we die, we cross over that river of death and we are acquiring the full possession of it. And Paul can't help but to say, to the praise of his glory, to the praise of his glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Spirit is often called the first fruits, first fruits. So when the land is plowed and there's the And there's just the first popping up of the grains or whatever it is that you're trying to plant there, the first fruits. And that's what the spirit is for us. And what the spirit of promise. It's the spirit of promise. And that's the notion that there's more to come. There's more to come in this life. Folks, isn't there more to come, more to know, more to glory in our Lord Jesus Christ until we acquire possession of the great inheritance. Now, there are many, many things we could say in terms of application here. Obviously, one is humility, isn't it? but also the notion that God has saved us in his glory, that we might glorify him. How do we do that? Well, remember what we read this morning in Psalm 34. David says, I will bless your name at all times. If we understand something of the sovereignty of God in all things, and we believe his word that says all things work together for good, Then we, whatever the Lord is doing in our lives, we can say, oh, it's good, it's good, it's good. Even the things that are grievous, they're good. The Lord will make good out of them. They may not be good in themselves, but he will make good out of them to the praise of his glory. And that we're desiring, he tells us, to be holy. to be without blame with him. He's called us into this Christian life that we might grow in it. He's going to call us a little bit later on in Ephesians to love one another and to grow in grace and knowledge of him together. We do that as God's people. So there's very much that comes from just knowing this greatness and the glory of God to the praise of His glory. Now, just a quick word. What does glory mean? Among the Hebrews, it was the word kabod. It had to do with, in some cases, with light, just expansive light. That's the glory of God, to show out His greatness, right, and light. But also, it's the idea of weight. It's the weightiness of God. When I was coming along, we would have, if somebody would say something that was really deep and profound, what would you say? Oh, that's heavy. That's heavy. Well, God is heavy. He's heavy. and the weight of who God is really ought to weigh upon us, right? Not in a burdensome way, but in a way that changes the way we think about life, because he's weighty. He is more weighty than anything else that you will ever come into contact with in your life, to feel his weightiness. I think is what David is saying there when he says, I'm going to bless the Lord at all times. Why? Because he's weighty. He's weighty. And it also, though, has the connotation, too, of a boasting. We're familiar with that, aren't we? People, fallen people, and we ourselves, we can make great boasts about things. Well, what is your boast? What is it that I boast about? What am I to boast in? That's what glory is. Whatever you boast about, that's your glory. That's the thing you think is the most consequential thing about you. Maybe it's your marriage. Maybe it's your family. Maybe it's your job. Maybe it's your car. Whatever it is that we boast about, that's your glory. The Bible says, to the praise of His glory, that our boasting is we understand what the Apostle Paul has told us here in these 11 verses, that our boast can only be in him. I think that was something that, as Paul was writing to the Corinthians, what was in his mind there in the beginning of 1 Corinthians, the first chapter there, he's calling them, and we're gonna conclude here, but verse 26 of chapter one, Consider your calling, brothers. Think about what's happened to you. If it is true, believe that it is that God has chosen a people for himself before the foundation of the world and then calls them by the power of his grace out of their sin to himself. That's what Paul is talking about. Consider that. Think about that, right? Consider your calling, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. Can you agree with that? I get up in the morning, I say, Lord, thank you for saving this foolish man. What is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not. Now remember who he's writing to. He's writing to the Corinthians who were very proud to be Corinthians. And he's speaking to these Christians and saying, this is who you were, this is who you are. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. What's your glory? What's your glory? What's your boast? No human being might boast in the presence of God and because of him, You are in Christ Jesus. It's all his doing who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption so that as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. God give us grace that he is our boast. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. And we do pray, Lord, that these words today from your book might accomplish the purpose for which you sent them, according to your word, and that you might do that great work of calling sinners out of darkness and into light, out of the death of sin into the glorious bounty of the children of God. And would you make, Lord, our boast to be only in you. and would you receive all the glory. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.