Father, we are grateful that we may say in the face of the greatest sorrows and fear, the greatest turmoil and conflict, that it is well with our souls. And You have taught us truly to know these things. And so we want to think and pray at this time out of what we know to be true, not what we are feeling. And I ask, Heavenly Father, that You would Take the sorrow and even the weariness of heart that we know Mary Lou feels at this hour and draw her to yourself. And may she know the power of Christ's hope. May she know more of the riches of the inheritance that is found in him. And may she understand more of the presence and the comfort that comes by the Spirit in this hour. We thank you for Art. Thank you for his testimony. Thank you for the many years of faithful service that he piled up. often serving in ways that the vast majority of us would never even know of, and yet out of love for you and a sense of call upon His life, exercising His gifts for the blessing and benefit of others. We are grateful that we have hope through the power of the Gospel and the evidence of grace that we have seen in Him, that He is with you. We are grateful, Heavenly Father, that this is not the end. that he has not ceased to exist and that we have not been separated from a brother for eternity but rather we may even now look forward to a reunion. We are mindful father that many have preceded us and many now await our arrival even as we anticipate being together with them. And in it all we praise you that the Lord Jesus is central Lord Jesus, you are the hope of our hearts. You are the one who has lived and died and risen again that we might have life. We're praying that you would pour it out into our hearts and into our minds, that you would sanctify us and cleanse us on this day, that you would make us more like yourself. I pray for help to preach the word as it ought to be preached. There is a great inadequacy within us and yet you have ordained that human instruments be the means of communicating this great truth. So we all feel our inadequacy, I on the preaching end and that we as a congregation even on the receiving end. Apart from the Holy Spirit, there really won't be anything lasting that is accomplished here. So we're asking the Spirit of God for you to pour out your presence and power upon us and around us and in us. In Jesus' name, amen. Would you open your Bibles this morning to Ephesians 1? Ephesians 1, page 976, if you're using one of our Pew Bibles. I'd like to read the first 14 verses. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood. the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory. In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the Holy Spirit, with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. That really is just the beginning. It's the beginning of one of the most astonishing portions of Scripture, I think, one of the most powerful and condensed expressions of all that God is accomplishing for us in Christ by His Spirit. One of the things that strikes us as we read through the first three chapters of Ephesians is that God is always on the acting, initiating side. We are always on the receiving or passive side. Over a year ago, our staff was discussing the life of the church. We do that nearly every week. We pray for you all Tuesday afternoons. We talk through some of the needs and work through a list. Everything from those who are physically ill to those who are spiritually hurting. We were sharing a number of thoughts and challenges that the body faces, and as we work through particulars, we again were identifying some of the particular topics and issues that always seem to need clarification in the body of Christ. I liken it to the work that a college or university faces every year. There's always a freshman class, always a group that arrives choosing to be there of their own will, yet not fully understanding life in that setting. So there's always work of orientation to be done. You work through questions like, who are we? Where are we going? What's our mission and purpose? What makes us unique? What do we hope to accomplish with these few years that are in front of us? And those are questions that the people of God are always wrestling with. That last one in particular is poignant for us. What do you hope to accomplish with your few vapor-like years? What do you hope to do with your life? When you breathe your last, where do you want to be? What do you want to have accomplished behind you? What do you want to have in motion? Where do you want your children to be, your grandchildren to be? Where do you want your money to be? Where do you want to be? Out of those larger questions come more specific questions like, for a church like ours, well, who are we theologically? Who are we philosophically? Who are we stylistically? And in that meeting, Eric Seip, some of you don't know him. You're so recent that you missed him and I'm sorry for you. But Eric interjected a very important reminder and it served all of us in that conversation and I think it will serve us. He asked a simple question, but one of those questions that makes a very important and powerful point. Because we were talking about even developing a series, like I'm starting today, on who we are. I've done things like this before, so it's not going to be brand new, not announcing a new direction, really just going back to the basics again. But Eric said, isn't having people see who God is more important than having them see who we are? We all believe that and are committed to that. We were assuming that going into the conversation, but I thought that's a great reminder. Without a doubt, it is. It's infinitely more important that people see God for who He is. If Heritage Bible Church is to remain a healthy, vibrant body of believers through another generation, it will only be as we continue to display the glory of God as it has been revealed in the person, and specifically as Scripture instructs us, in the face of Jesus. It will only be as we press deeper and deeper into knowing him. to walking in His Spirit, to savoring His Word, making it the only true food for our souls. It sounds counterintuitive, but if heritage is to survive and thrive, because I'm not interested in just surviving, Thriving is what is in my heart. We cannot make our goal the preservation of this church, small c. We must not center our efforts on the name or reputation or future of Heritage Bible Church. The name is nothing more than an address that identifies a location and a place of assembly. Our own history bears that out. Do you know in the early days this was not Heritage Bible Church? It was Bible Believers Church. And that name, thinking through the metaphor of an address, was actually confusing because there was another group of people who took that name to themselves who had some aberrant and even heretical doctrine. So what did we do? We changed address. We clearly don't want to be identified with that. It's error. It's false. So that shows you how important a name is. We could change our name again. If enough of the congregation got excited about something and wanted to call for a vote, that's the way the Constitution and Articles of Faith are set up. But rather than a name or a future or even a present reputation, our goal must be nothing less than the proclamation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Our goal must be nothing less than the building and service of His Church. Now I write it with a capital C. His Church. That's the church in the world. We are a part of it. A very small part, by the way. Very small. Very small. And if we are ambitious for ourselves, or even something good, yet less important than Christ Himself, We are sure to fail. Guaranteed to fail. But if by faith we take the commission to go into all the world and make disciples of Christ, not disciples of heritage Bible church, not disciples of conservative culture, not disciples of American nationalism, But disciples of Christ, we are sure to succeed because we have the authorization of the King over all. The one who commissioned us is the one who said, all authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore, in light of that authority, go therefore and make disciples of all nations. So return with me this morning to the foundational truths. We began to read of some of those and before we can even talk about what kind of mission or vision this local assembly has, let's set our hearts in who we are in relationship to the God of the Scriptures. This morning we will look simply at God, as he has been presented here, God the Father, specifically, if you want to think in a Trinitarian form, and that is great, it's right. Tonight, I anticipate that we will come to a look at Christ, all that he is and what he has done, and may have time, probably will hurry through that, but even get to the Spirit. So today really is a look at the three persons in the Godhead. Here's the big point. Write this down. We are a God-blessed people. We are a God-blessed people. Now, I want to work through chapter 1 and then we'll even get into chapter 2 and 3 and just touch on some things that speak specifically to what God has done to bless us. Verse 3 is rather amazing. We first eulogize God, the Father, But notice what Paul says, we eulogize him because he has eulogized us in Christ. Now, I'm using some more literal terminology there, not doing a very good job really of translating it, and your English translation is outstanding. Who has blessed us in Christ. But that word bless is the same word from which we get the word eulogy. You know what a eulogy is. If you eulogize another person, you speak well of them. You recount the highlights of their life. You recount the things that are admirable about their character. A eulogy is a speech or piece of writing that praises another person. It could praise something, but typically it praises another person. It is a spoken or communicated word of praise. And we sometimes use the word of acts or deeds that bless us. We might say to a person, you were a blessing, and then we speak of an act that they performed toward us, or words that they spoke to us that blessed us." So it could be a gift, it could be a kindness done, it could be a word spoken. But here the Scriptures say that God has blessed us. And there is something very rich here for us. It begins to convey the idea to us that He has distinguished us, the people of God, with favor. God has done you a favor. When your boss sent the paycheck your direction Friday or last Wednesday or whenever it came, you may have thought of that as a blessing, but you worked for that. You didn't see that really as a favor because you've worked out some agreement. I work this many hours, I get this much salary. I do this job or make that sale, I get this commission. What God has blessed you with, the favor that He's bestowed upon you, has nothing to do with what you have earned or accomplished. Rather, what you and I have actually merited would be God's judgment, would be condemnation that flows through His justice and is poured out upon us in wrath. But now Paul is speaking of something here that God the Father has done. He has blessed us in Christ. He is acting, not just speaking a word of eulogy over us, but acting in such a way that we are recipients of the greatest favor. This terminology appears in Acts 3, verse 26. Where we read, God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness. An act of God whereby he changed the course of the individual life, changed the course of those who have repented of their sins and believed. He blessed them by redirecting them. Now notice what Paul says in verse 3, he has blessed us in Christ, only in Him. And I'm going to come back to that in just a moment, but go on with me. God blesses us in Christ. God blesses us completely with every spiritual blessing. It's not a partial blessing. It's not a down payment with something extra that could be negotiated in the contract later, but rather it's all been done. It's all yours. The blessing is full. There aren't people sitting in this room who got a greater blessing. There aren't some that will be less blessed, but rather he says that we are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing. Notice the next phrase, in the heavenly places. The heavenlies, as you could literally translate that, speaks of a different location, doesn't it? That term appears multiple times in the book of Ephesians. Go to chapter 2, where we are reading in verse 5, that by grace you have been saved, that's the very end of verse 5, and raised us up, this is the action of God, raised us up with Him, that is with Christ, and sealed us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now go to chapter 3 and look at verse 10. Here is part of the purpose of God in gathering a church in the world, of gathering assemblies like these, of redeeming people, forgiving them for their sins, sanctifying them, transforming them by the power of His gospel in their hearts. Verse 10, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Go to chapter 6, look at verse 12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Beloved, you cannot read the book of Ephesians without being impressed with this fact. There is more to life than the earthlies. There's more to life than the temporal. There's more to life than what you can see with these eyes and touch with these hands and feel underneath these feet. Now, God has done something, though, before He even speaks of wrestling with the forces of darkness by means of prayer, faithful living, and all of that, chapter 6 will speak. Before He even gets to chapter 3, telling us that His purpose in saving us, in part, is to manifest, to reveal something to those heavenly powers, He tells us that we are blessed. completely, all spiritual blessings which have been located in Christ in heavenly places. You cannot meditate on that very long before you begin to remember, as Paul wrote to the Philippians in chapter 3, verse 20, that our citizenship is in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven. We think far too much like, and the vast majority of you are American citizens, so I'll make that point, but some of you have citizenship in other countries. You tend to think that this is what creates my identity. It's where I was born, it's where I live, or it's where I immigrated to, and now I have citizenship here. This is home. In one sense, absolutely. I'm not quarreling with that. But if you are God's child, you really aren't a citizen of the U.S. It's your temporary residence. The Old Testament term is sojourner. You're sojourning. International travel has been one of the blessings, one of the privileges of serving in this congregation. And it's provided many marvelous experiences for ministry, but it's also added a dimension of understanding to this very component of the Christian life. And as I've traveled for heritage to visit missionaries, representing you. Each trip is marked by a realization which actually shapes an expectation that this is home. There have been occasions when either because of the schedule was fairly intense that my heart longs to be at home, much prefer to sleep in my bed, eat my wife's food, sit on my couch, watch my news station. I mean, the list goes on. There have also been times where monetary resources start to run a little low. You plan ahead, you try to figure out what it's going to cost to eat, exist, to take care of the things that need to be done, but every once in a while, the currency that you have in your pocket starts to run a little thin. But it's always wonderful to think that in the back of my mind, there are resources at home. maybe financial resources that I can tap into as needed through electronic banking. Sometimes it's just the prospect that this trip will come to an end, I'll be home. I love being there. I've loved every experience. And I wouldn't want anybody to think that travel is not a blessing. But this is home. It's where my church family is located. It's where I'm most comfortable on a Lord's Day. One of the greatest frustrations is worshiping in a context where you don't know the language. They can sing beautifully and play beautifully, but trying to follow along and just figure out some of the words, and not even trying to pronounce them, but just to set your heart on that, you miss a lot. So there's no gathering of people I would rather worship with and serve alongside than this one. And there is no sweeter homecoming than when I finally pull into my driveway and hug my children and kiss my wife and bury myself in their embrace. It's home. Beloved, spiritually speaking, the heavenly places that this book speaks of is home. We get that backwards so often. The heavenly places of which Paul speaks is the actual location of our eternal citizenship. And isn't it good to know that while we travel this earth and lodge here for a brief time, as foreigners lodge when they travel abroad, that in the location of our true citizenship there is preserved for us every blessing. It's all there. So while we're out and about, traveling internationally, if you want to put it that way, no, we don't have all the comforts of home. We don't have everything we want or we need here, but it's all there. It's all there. Now, Paul's going to go on to describe some of those blessings, and I don't think this list is comprehensive. I think it is deep and it's rich. And actually, as I look through my list, there are 17 things that I'm going to just touch on very briefly, and I'm not even sure I got all that are in here. I don't think I got all that are here. I know I didn't. But I just want to walk you through this for a second so that you can set your heart on what it means that you are blessed of God the Father in Christ with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. So what are some of those blessings? We'll go to verse 4. even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him." Who chose? God did. When did He choose? Before the foundation of the world. Wait a second, Genesis doesn't start before the foundation of the world. Nope, it doesn't. So a lot of stuff was going on before that. Oh yeah. Who was doing it? God. It's a blessing, beloved, for us to set our hearts on this, that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Number two, verse five, He predestined us for adoption through Christ. Predestined simply means that He predetermined it. He foreordained us. We weren't even here. We didn't have a conscious thought, hadn't done anything good or bad yet. Why would He choose us? It's all of grace. Because of his nature to be kind and do favors for people who really need favors? Number three, look at verse seven. He's redeemed us through the blood of Christ. The terminology for redemption speaks of letting prisoners go free, recalling slaves from captivity through the payment of their ransom. You couldn't buy your way out of the slave house of sin, but God did it. And did you notice the currency? Currency is the blood of Christ. Number four, he forgave us in Christ. God's forgiveness is more remarkable to me every day that I live because I need his forgiveness every single day. And so do you. Isn't it amazing to think this morning that He's not holding one sin against you? And remember, as I've often told you, God doesn't actually forget our sins. The Scripture uses terminology to say that He remembers them, not against us. You can't be God, knowing all things, and forget something. And I've told you many times before, but I will say it again here. This makes his forgiveness more powerful that though he has a clear memory of every offense that you and I have ever done, he files that away, locks it away, as it were, and says, I'll never bring it up again. It's done. The blood of Christ cleanses. It's covered. You see, when He forgives, He releases the debt, never to take it back again. We don't forgive one another in that way, do we? We wrestle every day with taking up a debt. We do it in our marriages, we do it with our children, they do it with us, we do it with our friends, do it with believers in the context of the church. We are not much like God when it comes to forgiving people. But God forgives us in Christ. Number five, He's revealed to us the mystery of His will. Look at verse 9. Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His purpose which He set forth in Christ. Look at verse 10. Here's another one. As a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Him. Sin has just broken the planet apart, broken our relationships. It's divided us one from another. racial barriers, economic barriers, class barriers, educational barriers, all kinds of barriers. Everywhere you go in the world, there's a barrier. It's a barrier. There's a barrier. But God has this ultimate plan to unite all things in Christ. We'll look at this probably tonight, specifically from Chapter 2, of what He has done in the context of the church. But if you are one of His people, you are blessed in that grand plan. Look at verse 11. He's predestined us, already looked at this term once, predetermined that we should have an inheritance according to His purpose. One author notes the idea expressed here is that Christians have become heirs of God due to the fact that God predestined them according to His purpose. That's it. You say, what did I do? How did I get that? God does favors. He's an exceedingly kind God. 8. He sealed us with the Holy Spirit. 9. He makes sinners alive in Christ. Look at verse 5 with me. The first three verses describe you and me. It tells us about our nature. not just a location, not just a geographical setting where we could be located and as if we had slipped and fallen to skid row somewhere, but rather he's talking about what we were by nature. And then the glorious word in verse four, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us. Now, verse five, even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ. Here comes another one in verse six. Not only makes us alive, he raises us and seats us with Christ. And again, where is Christ? Seated in the heavenly places. Verse seven, here's another one, God shows the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus, he is displaying that immeasurable, the immeasurable riches of his grace. Now he will display it for all eternity in you, in me. Verse 8, number 12, God gives the gift of salvation. By grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. Go to verse 10. Here's another one. He has prepared good works beforehand, saved us with a view that we should walk in them. Good things. Good things for you to be busy about. Not pointless enterprise. Not work that will waste your few vapor-like years on planet Earth, but there are good works that he has prepared for us. Number 14, found in verse 13, God brought us near by the blood of Christ. What an astonishing act of his kindness. Go to verse 19. Here's number 15 on my list. He's made us fellow citizens and members of his household, of his household. When you consider where your sin should have placed you and yet the kindness God has shown you, wouldn't it be a mercy of His if He just snatched you from hell and then gave you the lowest position in His servants' quarters? But we're more than that. Go to chapter 3. Look at v. 10, so that through the church, we read this just a little bit ago. Through an assembly like this, let's pause there for just a moment and think about who we really are. Messed up, fouled up, wrestling with our sin, wrestling with our pride, wrestling to understand, doing our best to serve, yet still coming short, wanting to grow in knowledge, yet so much more that we need to learn. Okay, the church, the present church, it's being sanctified, but it's not there yet. But look at this, beloved, and marvel. so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." What an astonishing blessing that through us, right now, imperfect as we are, God is revealing His many-sided wisdom. That's what manifold speaks of. His many-sided wisdom to heavenly rulers and authorities. And you thought this salvation thing was about you? God has so many more purposes at work. I'm convinced that there are things He hasn't even told us about that are centered in this plan of redemption that He is accomplishing, that He is displaying, that He's doing. Now here He opens just a little door. We can't really see and understand heaven, but He opens a door and kind of lets us glance in and says, I want to show you some things that I'm doing here right now in heavenly realms. I'm displaying my many-sided wisdom to all of these beings. And wouldn't you like to know what kind of beings and creatures these rulers and authorities are? But through you, Church, right now, in its present existence, showing my many-sided wisdom. What a blessing. And by the way, if you haven't thought of the kinds of churches that were in existence in that day, you need to think carefully about the truth of that in Ephesus, certainly. But the Corinthian church? Does that display the many-sided wisdom of God? Yes, in some respects. In many respects, it does. Church of Galatia? Yeah. Colossae? Mm-hmm. Philippi? Yes. Heritage? Remarkable as it is, He's doing it. Here's the final one I want to direct your attention to. Look at verse 20, chapter 3. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen. Beloved, here's the final blessing. God is the one who is able to do far more abundantly than we could ever ask or think. Do you see why I would say that before we even talk about who we are, what our mission, what our vision is, what some of the unique things about us are that would be helpful for people to know, we've got to come back to this foundational place of who is God and what is He doing? It's not a comprehensive or exhaustive list, but it is a rich one. We are a God-blessed people. Will you bow with me, please? Father, as we make our way through a study in familiar territory, we pray that You would bring these things to us afresh and that You would grow us and change us And I pray that if people should ask us this week, tell me about yourself, that we would think immediately of this descriptor that we are God-blessed people. Certainly, we're not the only church that can make this claim. We're just one among thousands many of whom even at this present hour call upon Your name and worship different locations and settings, different contexts, different styles. Such beautiful variety being manifested today, and even all of that is part of revealing Your many-sided wisdom. Thank You for what You are doing here. Thank You for what You are doing abroad. And I pray that as we study over the next several weeks some very important scriptures that you would strip away an ambition for ourselves, an ambition for this church, an ambition for our reputation, and that you would put into our hearts a profound humility and joy and strength and zeal. for Christ and for His church. Thank you for the privilege of serving in this context and we ask now for your abiding presence and blessing with us this day. In Jesus' name, Amen. I'm going to be here at the front of the church if it would help you to talk through some things or maybe questions from this message or even something unrelated to what we have looked at today. It would be my joy to serve you. After the service in that way if you're a guest with us, we have Sunday school classes that are about to start and There are folks at the welcome centers both here in the North Lobby in the South Lobby who could help Direct you to a class that might be helpful for you And we hope you'll stay around with us and and take advantage of that opportunity to continue in the word Thank you for being here today. We look forward to seeing you tonight. God bless you