Well, if you have a copy of the scriptures this morning, let's turn to the New Testament and to Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, which we commonly call Ephesians. It does feel kind of weird not to say turn to Genesis after making the transition last week from Genesis to Ephesians. But we are in Ephesians. We're going to continue in chapter 1, verses 7 through 12. Ephesians 1, verses 7 through 12. And let me invite you, as you're able, once again, let's stand in honor of the reading and hearing of God's word. Again, I'm reading from the epistle of Paul the apostle to the Ephesians, chapter 1 and verse 7, wherein the apostle writes, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. May God bless again today the reading and the hearing of his word, and let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. Gracious and living God, we ask for the illumination of thy Holy Spirit that you would open our eyes, unstop our ears, loosen our hearts to be able to receive and hear thy word not merely as the words of men, but as what it is in truth, the word of God. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen. And you may be seated. So we are returning again today to this ongoing exposition of Ephesians, Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, addressed in verse 1 of chapter 1 as all the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. I was reading this past week part of a commentary written on Ephesians by one of the Puritans, a man who lived back in the 17th century. His name was Paul Baines. And he was talking about the Ephesians, the persons who were the recipients of this letter. And he said of Ephesus, that great city, he said that that city was famous for idolatry and conjuring. And we saw last time when we were talking about Ephesus how one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the temple to Diana or Artemis was there. And how there were people there when the gospel came who brought their magical books and stacked them up and they were burned as they were turning from paganism to Christ. and also how, remember, the craftsmen there had pushed back against the Paul and the gospel coming to Ephesus. But anyways, Paul Bain said of this city, he said it was famous for idolatry and conjuring, as the acts of the apostles testify. And then he said this, he said, this people, the people of Ephesus, were so wicked that heathens themselves did deem them from their mother worthy to be strangled. I'm not sure where he got the evidence for that. He said that the surrounding people knew Ephesus to be such a city of paganism and debauchery that they said it's better to strangle them when they're born in the crib to get rid of them. And then Paul Baines in that commentary said this after that. that description of the Ephesians, he said, yet here, God had his church. Yet here, God had his church. Did you know that there's no place in this sinful world that deserves to have a church? There's no place in this world that deserves to have a gospel preaching church. planted within its borders. Do you think Louisa deserves to have a gospel preaching church? Gospel preaching churches planted within its borders. Does Virginia deserve such? Yet here, God has his church. Yet here, God has his church. God will have his church in all such places so that the gospel might be proclaimed. So we resume Paul's instructions to this church. Believers, people have been called from their old life to a new life in Christ. And Paul's writing this, we've noted, from prison. It's one of his prison epistles. We said the churchly prison epistles are Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and also Philemon was written while Paul was in prison. And we could call attention, look at chapter 3, verse 1. For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. He describes himself as a prisoner. It's not metaphorical. He's in prison, probably in Rome. Chapter 4, verse 1 of Ephesians, he says, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation or the calling wherewith ye are called. And we called attention last time how in Chapter 6 of Ephesians, in verse 20, Paul described himself as an ambassador in bonds. That, therefore, I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. A diplomat in chains, an ambassador in bonds. So we've got a wicked city where God has called a person from the darkness into the light. We have an apostle. who is in a prison, but who can't be chained, who can't be contained as even through the medium of this letter he's writing to these believers, this church he planted to edify them, to build them up in the faith. I also noted last time Martin Lloyd-Jones' comment about Ephesians. He called it the most mystical of Paul's writings, where under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, We can see Paul's inspired mind soaring to great heights. We started to see that last week, didn't we, in some of the doctrine. We're going to continue to see it today. There are great doctrinal truths explored in this letter. And there are also great practical and pastoral truths. We're going to see later the Household Code, for example, practical teaching on how husbands and wives, Christian husbands and wives, are to respond to one another, how Christian children and parents are to respond to one another. But there's also this soaring, mystical, doctrinal truth, these great truths that are explored. And we saw that, didn't we, at the beginning last week after we got through the practical matters of the center of this letter is Paul. an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, the recipients, verse 1, the saints which are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus. After we got through the practical orientation of the letter, Paul almost immediately went into this soaring doctrinal truth. And we noted last week three doctrines that we meditated upon. The first of those in verse 4 was election. where Paul could say that God have chosen us believers in him before the foundations of the earth, foundation of the world. And then we talked about in verse five, two great doctrines. One is predestination, having predestinated us. And the third doctrine we talked about last week was adoption, spiritual adoption. having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. And as we move forward today in the next part of our passage, we're going to see more of this mystical teaching, more of this teaching about Christ, elevated teaching about doctrine, soaring doctrine that's going to be placed before us. As we commence looking at this letter, I was thinking and preparing this About the contrast, we were in Genesis for such a long time. And Genesis is primarily what's called historical narrative. It's telling a story, the story of Israel. It's a real story, true story, historical account, a record that's infallible and historically reliable. But it's kind of, in some ways, pretty, everybody likes a narrative. But when we switch over to Ephesians, we switched over to something that's different in what the literary people would call genre. And that is, we switched over to didactic teaching, instruction. We could call it catechesis. Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is our teacher. And he's catechizing us. And he's teaching us these mystical, soaring, doctrinal truths so that we can understand who we are in Christ. As we come to verses 7 through 12, I want to suggest that there are at least four great truths that are placed before us in this passage. The first of those we'll look at in verse 7 is redemption. It's kind of an evangelical word. We throw the word around, but what is meant by redemption? The second of those in verse 9 is something Paul refers to as the mystery of his will, the mystery of God's will. The third is in verse 10, a term that Paul uses here called the dispensation of the fullness of times. And then fourthly, in verse 11, we want to focus on a term that Paul uses. And that is inheritance. The believers have an inheritance. So redemption, the mystery of God's will, the dispensation of the fullness of times, and the believer's inheritance. And then it'll all culminate when we come to verse 12, where there is a declaration of the believing man's purpose for his existence. Why are we here? Why have we been chosen? Why have we been adopted? To what end? Have we been saved? And so that's, in effect, what we want to work through as we look at this passage today. Now, I could say in addition to that, as I read through the passage again, I was reminded, thinking over these opening verses, of just how Christ-centered Paul's writings are as he begins this letter. It's very Christ-centered. And we like Christ-centered things. It's in the name of our little flock, isn't it? Christ Reformed Baptist Church. We want to be Christ-centered. We want to be Christ-saturated. And if you look at the opening verses here, again, just notice how many times in the first five verses or so, there's an emphasis on the name of the Lord Jesus along with all of his titles. Look back at verse one, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God to the saints, Richard, Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Look at verse two, where he says, grace be to you and peace from God, our father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Look also at verse three, the blessing, blessed be the God and father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And he also talked about how we're blessed in the heavenly places. Where? Verse 3. In Christ. And look at verse 5. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children. By what means? By Jesus Christ to Himself. And so, we could call attention to the fact just how Christ-centered, how Christ-saturated this is. And it's there also in the little prepositional phrases in these opening few verses. It's just a few sentences, just a few words. But notice how many times it's oriented towards Christ. Look at verse 4. According as He hath chosen us in Him. What's the referent? Who is to Him? It is Christ. It's repeated again over and over in these opening verses, these references unto Christ. In verse 5, it talks about us having received our adoption by what means according to the good pleasure of His will. Or in verse 6, God hath made us accepted in the Beloved. And we talked about how the Beloved refers back to Christ. The one who is the right object of a perfect God's love is the perfect son of God. And so we've got doctrinal teaching, mystical high teaching. We've got Christ-centeredness, Christ-saturatedness. And so with that, let's go ahead and walk through our passage today with an eye to looking at these four doctrinal truths that are before us. And so let's start looking at verses 7 and 8, where there's an emphasis on this doctrine that is redemption. Notice in verse 7 how this begins. Paul starts off, in whom? Well, let's pause here. Who is the whom? Who is the referent? The referent is Christ, in Christ, in the Lord Jesus Christ, again, this very Christ centered Christ saturated passage just before it in verse 6 there had been a reference to in the beloved now the beloved being Christ now in whom and then next he says we in whom we Remember the Apostle Paul is writing this church Or this letter rather to the church at Ephesus to the Saints the faithful in Ephesus but here Paul uses the first person plural and in whom we. And so here is another place where Paul is reminding the saints that he's writing to that he is among them also as one who is a believer in Christ. He is one also who has been a recipient of the grace of God in Christ. We learned last time that believers are those who have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, verse 4. Those who have been predestinated to be spiritually adopted, verse 5. And now, Paul says, in addition to all of that, we have redemption through his blood. We have this, Paul says. He's an apostle, but first and foremost, he is simply a Christian man who has received redemption through the blood of Christ. As believers, Paul says, we have, we possess, we have received redemption. What is redemption? If we took an ordinary dictionary and consulted that term, we might find some response that would say something like a transaction involving the release of an item or a person in exchange for some type of payment, a redemption. That notion, that ordinary definition, is still relevant for what this term means theologically. The notion here is that a transaction has taken place for the believer whereby we are released from some penalty we deserved in exchange for something that God has done for us in Christ, in whom we have redemption. One might ask, what was the penalty from which we were released? And the Bible would answer, that penalty was the just or righteous wrath of God. Paul makes this point in Romans 5. Much in Romans sheds light on Ephesians, and much in Ephesians sheds light on Romans. But in Romans 5, verses 8 and 9, Paul wrote, But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Continuing, Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. We shall be saved from wrath through him. This is the evangelical language of salvation. We ask one another, when were you saved? How were you saved? What were the means God used to save you? And we might ask, though, saved from what? And Paul gives us the answer. Not saved from ourselves, not even saved from our sin, not saved from our temporal enemies, But we were saved from the wrath of God, from receiving the just wrath of God that we deserve for our sin, in whom we have redemption. And how did this come about? How was this redemption granted to men? By what means? Well, Paul said in Romans 5, 9, we are justified by His blood, by Christ's blood. And here in Ephesians 1, 7, Paul says essentially the same thing. The means of bringing about our redemption, the means of bringing about the release from the penalty that we deserve is the blood of Christ. Verse 7, in whom we have redemption, through his blood. It was by means of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, and especially by the shedding of his blood, that we have this release, this redemption. This was prophesied long ago before the incarnation, the birth of Christ in Bethlehem by the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 53. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed. After Christ was conceived in the womb of the Virgin, born, and even when he commenced his public ministry, John the Forerunner, John the Baptist, saw him walking in the area of the Jordan And John predicted this as well, John 129, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And the reference to a lamb would have made everyone think about the lambs that were sacrificed in the temple for sin. Christ himself prophesied this. In Mark 10.45, he said, The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom, a redemption payment for many. I've noted in the past how a famous liberal minister of the 20th century, early 20th century, a past generation, ridiculed the preaching of the blood of Christ as a means of redemption. This was Harry Emerson Fosdick. He said, he said, you evangelicals who are always talking about the blood of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ being the means of redemption, you are preaching a slaughterhouse religion. You are preaching something that is too primitive and too crude. We should talk about the great ethics of Jesus as a great teacher and his moral example. Why do we have to say that a righteous man had to bleed and die on a cross so that we might have redemption, release from the penalty of God's wrath? Why do we preach that? Well, it's because this is what Scripture teaches. This is what Paul taught. By the once for all bloody death of this one just man, righteous man on the cross, redemption was gained for those who trust and hope in him. And with him, with his once for all sacrifice on the cross, there came an end to all sacrifices. This is the astounding thing. Men who had been raised and In the religion of the people of Israel, early Judaism, who had always gone to the temple, and there had been many sacrifices morning and evening. Once Christ died on the cross, they never went to the temple again to participate in the morning and evening sacrifices. And they would even write things, as is written in Hebrews, the blood of bulls and goats profits nothing. Now there has been the once for all sacrifice of Christ. And interestingly enough, Fosdick criticizes the preaching of the blood. But see, what happened is because there was a once for all sacrifice of Christ, Christianity emerges as the world's first bloodless religion. There's no need for sacrifice. There's no need to take the goat out to the altar and sacrifice it. There's no need in these various religions all over the world to take chicken's blood and splatter it here and there. There's no need to pour out libations on your family altar to your family gods. A once-for-all sacrifice has been achieved. Redemption has come through His blood, through the sacrifice of Christ. Notice also in verse 7 that Paul, in good Semitic fashion, they loved parallelism. After he describes the redemption we have through the blood of Christ, he further describes it in the second half of verse 7 as the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. We have, through this redemption, forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. The biblical picture of forgiveness of sins is not merely having the slate wiped clean. That's the way most secular people think about forgiveness. It's just, you forget about it, and here are the wrong things I did. They're written on the slate, and now you just wipe it clean. Biblical forgiveness, however, says that someone has to pay a penalty for the sin. It can't just be wiped clean. There has to be the satisfaction of the just and righteous wrath of God. There has to be an acceptable sacrifice. Again, Paul's words in Romans are helpful. In Romans 3, verses 24 and 25, Paul said, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. And there it's all laid out, isn't it? Redemption, His blood. Remember that term from our study of 1 John? Propitiation, which is not expiation, not merely taking away. but satisfying the wrath of God, the righteous wrath of God. And the result is remission of sins that are past, forgiveness. This is the biblical versus the secular understanding of forgiveness. In verse 8, Paul continues, wherein, in this redemption, forgiveness of sin that comes through Christ's blood, he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. God has abounded toward us with this knowledge. The cup is filled to the top and it runs over. We have understood what God has done for us in Christ and it's overflowing, it's overabounding. What it has given to us who are fools, it's given us wisdom, it's given us the way and an orderly way to live our lives, orient ourselves to what is the meaning of our existence, why we're here, what we're doing. It has given us prudence, wisdom and practical living of our lives, prudential wisdom. It's changed everything. These pagans who had been going to the temple of Artemis are now saying, no, there's a once-for-all sacrifice through Christ. I have redemption. I have forgiveness of my sins. And it has poured out on me more wisdom and more prudential wisdom for living than I can hold. The cup overflows. This takes us to our second of these four points, verse 9. the mystery of his will. We should note here that Paul is making reference to something that to the believer has already been made known or revealed. And so look at verse 9. Having made known unto us, there's Paul including himself as an apostle, ordinary Christian man first, also a recipient of the grace of God in Christ, having made known unto us the mystery of his will." The term mystery is an important one for Paul. It's an important one in Ephesians. And it's used in a couple of different ways. And it's going to stand out later. We'll spend a lot of time talking about this term mystery when we get to chapter 3. And one of the key ways he uses the term mystery in chapter 3 is, He describes the mystery of Christ, which is the fact that not only Jews but also Gentiles now are incorporated into the people of God, Jews and Gentiles who believe in the gospel, the good news, what God has done in Christ. And so later, we'll spend quite a bit of time talking about this, but just look at chapter three, verse four, whereby when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known under the sons of men, as it is now revealed under his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit Something so something is happening in the first century in the life of Christ in his death on the cross and his resurrection and his Ascension and exaltation and now in the sending forth of these apostles to preach a mystery is being revealed the the the cloth that hid it has been torn away and what is the mystery verse 6 that the Gentiles are should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. So in a larger sense, that's what the term mystery means. When we go back now to Ephesians 1.9, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, I think he's saying to these largely Gentile believers in Ephesus, not only that it's been revealed to them that now those who were not a part of the people of God have been made part of the people of God, but it's a personal revelation. The mystery of why this has been made known to you, not just to some amorphous group, the believers or the Gentile believers, but it's the mystery of why you, why you heard the preaching of the gospel, and you heard it not just externally. But why was your heart grabbed by it? Why was the effectual calling appropriated to you? That's the mystery of his will. Why were you among those whom God was pleased to make himself known, that God was pleased to save? And he stresses here in verse nine that this has come about due to the sovereignty of God, the Godhood of God. It has come about by God's will, by God's purpose. Look at verse nine, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he had purposed in himself. The mystery of his will is that he chose to make known to me who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And he did this for some inscrutable reason. I can't figure it out. I can't rationally understand it. But he has made me to know what I, at one point, did not know. He's made me to understand what, at one point, I was indifferent to. He has revealed the mystery of his will to me. It's interesting in the language here in the second half of verse 9, this language of his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself. It's an interesting reference. Again, now we're understanding why Lloyd-Jones said this is the most mystical of Paul's letters. He's telling us really something that's deeper than our puny brains can understand, that somehow in eternity past there were the counsels of the triune God in which he purposed in himself to please no one but himself the salvation of sinners. Theologians call this the covenant of redemption or the pactum salutis, the covenant of peace. God hath purposed in Himself." There was a time in the counsels of God, the one God who is three persons from all eternity, where the Father decreed, sought, where the Son bought by His blood on the cross, and where the Spirit wrought by the work of conversion. the outplaying of the mystery of his will, that there would be people who were sinners who would be brought to Christ and given redemption through his blood. Third theological doctrinal idea that our catechist is teaching us comes in verse 10. And it's going to focus on this term, the dispensation of the fullness of times. Uh-oh. Pastor Riddle's become a dispensationalist. No, I have not. This is just the biblical term, dispensation, which is talking about something very concrete in the administration of God's plan of salvation, and also his administration of, indeed, how all things will end. What is the goal towards which all things are straining? So look at verse 10. that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. Yes, Dr. Lloyd-Jones, perhaps the most mystical of all Paul's letters. that in the dispensation, the Greek word behind the word dispensation is oikonomia. It might sound a little familiar. It's from the word from which we get the term economy from, oikonomia. And it has within it a shorter word in Greek, oikos, which means house or household. So that in the oikonomia, Some would render it as administration, God's economy, his working of things out, his providing in the in his the dispensation of the fullness of time. What is God administering? What is he working out through the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and people being saved by his blood? is telling us that God has so determined to manage this world in such a way that He will bring about in the end the perfect fulfillment of a plan. And what is that plan? Also stated in verse 10, that He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him. that he might gather together in one all things in Christ." Eventually, Paul says, everything comes under the headship of Christ. That term, that he might gather together in one, in Greek has within it the noun kephele, meaning head. He brings everything under one head. The dispensation of the fullness of times, the administration of the fullness of time is that God is working out a plan of salvation whereby he is bringing all things under the headship of Christ. And he uses the description here, things which are on earth. Things which are in heaven and which are on earth from the highest things, the things in heaven to the to the earth, the lowest things we might say from the top to the bottom. He's bringing all things, putting all things under one headship. Everything eventually comes under the headship of Christ. The wording here brings to mind Philippians 2, 9 through 11, where Paul says at the end of the ages, at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. Mystical. Cosmic eschatology, we talk about that in our afternoon series. One day, all things are going to be brought into one under the headship of Christ. The fourth theological idea comes in verse 11. And it's Paul's mention here of the believer's inheritance. In whom, again, orienting everything back to Christ, our passage started in verse 7. In whom, in Christ, we have redemption. Now it's in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. Notice once again, I don't want to be too repetitive, but notice the we, the first person plural. Paul, he's an apostle. He's also a Christian man. He's been affected by this, and he knows the Ephesian believers have been as well, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. He speaks of this as an accomplished fact. It's not in whom we might obtain an inheritance, even that we will obtain an inheritance. He speaks of it as it's already finished. It's already a done deal. We have already obtained an inheritance. This concept of an inheritance, or here it's a verb, obtaining or gaining an inheritance, is one that Paul will return to a number of times throughout Ephesians. If you look at Ephesians 1.14, we'll probably talk about this next Lord's Day. Perhaps, if God is willing, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of His glory. Look also at verse 18. The eyes of our understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of His calling and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. We also see it in chapter 5, Ephesians 5 and verse 5. You can also find it in Colossians, another of his prison epistles, in Colossians 112 and Colossians 324. Paul talks a lot about inheritance or obtaining an inheritance. It's interesting. Some of the people interpreting this passage suggest that the language here ought to call to mind the Old Testament. Because when the Israelites enter into the promised land, the land is divided. Each of the tribes receive an inheritance. So maybe he's saying we are like. the Israelites of old, and that there is an inheritance that is meant for us. Others suggest, however, that this language of inheritance is speaking more directly to believers who have experienced spiritual adoption. And of course, that's referred to directly within our passage, especially in verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children. And Paul likes this term. comes back to it again and again. And I think probably it's right in both aspects. It's talking maybe about comparing the Christian inheritance to being like the Israelites of old. But it's also talking about we are like orphans. And all of a sudden, we had nothing, and we are adopted by the king. Anybody here like to be adopted by Elon Musk? and get a part of his will? Some of you are saying, no, no way. You're right. Yeah, just the analogy. We have received, we have obtained already an inheritance. Our status has already been completely changed. We were nobodies. We deserve to be strangled in the crib But we have obtained an inheritance. Through spiritual adoption, we have a new status. We are the sons of God. There's a bluegrass group from the mountains in North Carolina, the Primitive Quartet, that has a song called, I'm No Longer an Orphan. And the chorus is repeated over and over, which says, I'm no longer an orphan. Someone has rescued me. My garments no longer are tattered. My family is royalty. And that little tagline chorus in that bluegrass song is really the experience of every Christian who has been found in Christ. We might note that this is not only a favorite concept of the Apostle Paul, but it's also used by the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1, verses 3 and following. He talks about believers who have, in verse 4 of 1 Peter 1.4, an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. In the second half of verse 11, we run into the term to predestinate again. being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. We saw this term to predestinate already in verse 5, having predestinated us. And when we talked about this last week, I also called attention to what's called the golden chain of redemption in Romans 8, 29, and 30, those whom he foreknew, Those whom he foreknew, he predestinated. Those whom he predestinated, he called. Those whom he called, he justified. Those whom he justified, he glorified. And I suggest if anybody says to you, do you believe in predestination, the proper answer for a Bible-believing Christian is yes. It's there in the Bible. It's there in Ephesians 1. It's there in the golden chain of redemption. Being predestinated. We have been chosen in Christ, foreordained. God's decree has gone out. A sovereign God has made us the recipients of His largesse. How and why has this taken place? Paul says in verse 11, it's taken place according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. It's happened because it was according to the purposes of God. It's according to the counsels of His own will. There's an emphasis here on the providence of God. The God of the Bible, the God who saves sinners, is not a God who sleeps. He is not a God who is passive and indifferent. He is a God who is constantly working all things after the counsel of His own will. That language of God working all things according to the counsel of his will may bring to mind one of our favorite verses for most Christians, Romans 8, 28, especially when we're going through difficulties. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. There's also a stress here on his work being according to his own will. who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." Throughout these opening verses, Paul has stressed the theme of the will of God. We see it, look back at verse 5. Again, the last statement there, according to the good pleasure of His will. Look at verse 9 again, the mystery of His will. And now we see it yet a third time, just in these few opening verses. The stress and the emphasis is upon the will of God. This past week, I had a fellow who's a friend of mine, never met him in person, but an internet friend, corresponded with, and a fellow who's kind of looking for truth. And he sent me links to some various videos he'd been watching of some guy who is challenging, I think, a biblical understanding of the book of Romans. I did watch some of the videos. I haven't sent my response back to him yet. But over and over again, this guy on the video was trying to work hard to explain a different meaning for exactly what Paul says in Romans, that salvation comes about by the will of God. We don't deny the will of man. We believe in the will of man, the free will of man. We have a whole chapter in our Confession of Faith that discusses free will. As I said last week, we believe with Martin Luther that man's will is in bondage to sin. And the only way that we escape from that bondage of our will to sin is by the will of God, the sovereign will of God. The focus of the Bible is the will of God. It's not my sin-enslaved will that will bring about my release, it is the will of God, the sovereign will of God. And that's what Paul is talking about here. He will bring this about after the counsel of his own will. Well, those are the four doctrines. And let me hasten to look at verse 12. So we've got the four doctrines. Redemption in verse 7. The mystery of his will in verse 9. Verse 10, the dispensation of the fullness of times. Verse 11, the Christian's obtaining of an inheritance. And then Paul closes it all up in verse 12 with this exhortation. To what end has God done all the things that are described here? Verse 12, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted The AV has a little note in the margin that rightly says the word there could also be rendered as hope, because it's really a participle from the verb el piso, which means to hope. We are those who first hoped or trusted in Christ. Paul's exhortation is, in light of all the other things that he has explained, that men who are saved, men who have received such a great salvation, that we should live to the praise of God's glory. And this is something also, so much repetition. I often say we read through Paul, he knows that we are slow of mind, we're dull in our thinking, and we need simple instruction. And so what does every good teacher, every good homeschool teacher, you got to do? You got to repeat lessons over and over and over again. And finally, through repetition, it begins to sink in. And he's repeated over and over again this emphasis upon, in response to what God has done in Christ, living to the praise of His glory. Look at verse 5. It's there. You'll see it. Actually, verse 6. To the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted and beloved. There's this emphasis within it, we'll see it later in verse 14, end of verse 14, unto the praise of his glory. And it's here in verse 12, this final salvo, this final exhortation, to what end all these things, to what end redemption, to what end the obtaining of an eternal inheritance, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first hoped or trusted in Christ. This is the great biblical theme, isn't it? The Apostle Paul says something like this in 1 Corinthians 10.31 when he said, whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. It's encapsulated in the answer to the opening question to the Westminster Shorter Catechism. What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. It also affirms one of what we call the great five solas. There's sola scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, sola Christus, and soli deo gloria, to the glory of God alone. Paul says, in the light of the inheritance, in light of the redemption we have in Christ, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted or hoped in Christ. So we've worked through the passage. And we come finally to ponder these key doctrines placed before us by the Apostle Paul. And this is the part of the sermon where you join me in the pulpit, as it were, to do the application. OK, we've worked through this. Now, in light of this, what now? What's significance? Here are some things. that I might suggest we could ask. First, with respect to redemption, do I acknowledge myself to be among those who have redemption through his blood? Do I acknowledge, see, recognize myself as one who has received redemption? released from the wrath of God through his blood, the forgiveness of my sin. Secondly, talking about the mystery of his will. Has God made known to me the mystery of his will? Has he made known to me Christ? Have I come to know Christ and the gospel through the preaching of the word? As God, in a mystery that I can't explain, and it wasn't according to my will, but according to His will, as He made known unto me this mystery, and am I among those who know Him? Thirdly, with respect to the dispensation of the fullness of times, Do I acknowledge that God in Christ is bringing all things together in one? He's working out a great, all history, cosmic encompassing thing where he's bringing everything into one head. And do I understand that that is what God is doing in Christ? And again, am I blessed to be one segment of that as he is bringing me and my life and my family and my vocation and everything that I am. And he's bringing it all under the one headship of Christ. When you understand that, it's so silly to waste your time and so many other things, isn't it? There's a place in life for recreation and art and entertainment and so forth. Those things can be healthy. But if that's all you live for, what a pity. Because you're missing out on the fact that God is working all things to bring all things under the headship of Christ. That's the main thing that's going on. And you're dithering at a sideshow if you're investing your life in anything less than that. Fourth one, I'd ask, have I obtained an inheritance As He has worked all things according to the counsel of His own will, can I join the chorus of that bluegrass group and say, I'm no longer an orphan. Someone has rescued me. I have received spiritual adoption from the King, and I have gained from all of His riches and all of His wealth in Christ, spiritual riches and spiritual wealth in Christ. And then finally, I could reflect on verse 12. Having set my hope in Christ, this is addressing those who are clear about their standing and being believers. Am I living in such a way that all things and all aspects of my life are to the praise of his glory? And this is truly the part of this message that only you can complete as you review. And think yourself, is there something right now in your life that is not to the praise of his glory? How would the Lord be pleased to subdue that and to make that aspect of your life to the praise of his glory? He doesn't demand just a little of us, does he? Demands everything, all. And friends, the apostle is exhorting us, to what end are we living? That we should be to the praise of his glory who first hoped in Christ. Friends, let us continue to meditate upon these things as our catechizer has instructed us. And may we prove to be good and able and thoughtful students. as we receive this instruction from God's Word. Amen? We invite you to stand together. Let's join in prayer. Gracious and loving God, we give thee thanks for thy servants, like the Apostle Paul, who was specially used of thee as an apostle to write down these words, these spirit-driven words, so that they might apply not only, as they did first, to the saints at Ephesus, but that they might apply to believers in every generation awaiting Christ's coming. And allow your word to have its full freedom to speak to us today and to grow us in the faith, whether that's affirming things that are right or discouraging, challenging things that are wrong. Help us to profit from thy word today. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen and amen.