When the water went down my throat, it was supposed to clear my throat, not plug it. Please take your Bibles and turn to the book of Ephesians, chapter 1. We'll be looking at verses 11-14. But I want to read verses 3-14, a unit of praise in this beautiful, beautiful epistle given to us through the Apostle Paul. Ephesians chapter 1 and beginning with verse 3. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will, to the praise of His glorious grace which He has freely given us in the one He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will in order that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession. to the praise of His glory. Let us pray. To the praise of Your glory. Father, to the praise of Your glory is the salvation of all of Your people. It's the accomplishment of Your eternal plans Made known in the Gospel. Accomplished in Jesus Christ. Forever for His glory. Applied to Your people by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Lord, as we look today, help us and guide us. Show Your truth to us in an ever clearer way. That we would love our Lord and Savior more deeply. to Your glory. Amen. I have a question. I have a question for each of you. Have you ever, have you ever in your lifetime had a plan that didn't work out? Seems like it was kind of a joke. People laughed. Maybe I should do it the other way. Is there anybody here that your life is what you planned? That everything just ran the course the way that you set in motion? Everything that you wanted to accomplish that you did? And if you raise your hand, we'll pray that God will convict you of your dishonesty and that you repent. Men make plans. And it's a good thing to make plans. I spent a lot of years building houses and remodeling houses and you just don't do it without a plan. You spend many hours thinking, anticipating, trying to to figure out everything that you can do to make this structure as attractive as you can within the budget, as functional as you can within the budget, as good a quality as you can within the budget that you work with and you don't go out and say, hey, we want an excavator to show up on a certain day and call the lumber yard and tell them, send out a bunch of two-by-fours. I'm going to build a house. How many? I don't know. We haven't thought about that. We laid plans. And when they work out, we're thankful. When you get done with a project, if it worked out the way you thought, you stand back and you say, wow, that's great. There's a little project here. Rebecca Rice came down yesterday and painted the chapel, the training chapel. And it came out the way she planned. And I'm sure she kind of stood back and said, this is really nice, but I don't know that for certain. I know I did. I looked at it and I thought, wow, this is great. Good plan, well executed. But we have a lot of plans in life that may be the bigger and the more important plans in our own eyes. And oftentimes, they don't work out. And there's so many contingencies and so many things that we don't have control over, to the extent to which we're warned in Scripture of when it comes to the dependency upon God and upon providence in our plans, we need to be cautious about even being certain that we're going to town tomorrow. And not that it's a magical phrase, but it should be our constant attitude. Lord willing, Lord willing, this is what I will do tomorrow. We need to hold all of our plans loosely in our hands. Because our plans and God's plans might not be the same thing at all. But you know, isn't it a wonderful thing that God doesn't have to hold any of His plans loosely in His hand? Oh, I really do hope that by sending my son into the world and living a righteous life on behalf of sinners and going to the cross to be a sacrifice to pay the payment, I really do hope that works out. On paper, it's a great plan. I hope it works. I hope his life unfolds that way. And when it's all said and done, I sure do hope somebody will respond. When it's all said and done, I'd sure hate to find out that the plan didn't work. Isn't that foolishness? To speak of our God that way. And there are two things in these Eleven verses of praise concerning God's work and salvation that come out ever so boldly. Probably three. But one is according to His will. Over and over again. According to His good pleasure. According to the pleasure of the One that works out everything in accordance to His will. The second thing that's just there boldly over and over and over again in Christ. The benefits are in Christ. The glory is in Christ. The inheritance is in Christ. And a third thing that is there, it is all to the praise of His glory. To the praise of His glory. I'm glad that God's plans aren't contingent. Man's plans. Moving from, you know, things like painting a training chapel or remodeling a house or something, but to the big issues of life. To the big issues of life. It's fairly common among fallen creatures to want to take over for God. It's what the fall was all about. I'll figure out. I'll know what is right and wrong. I'll be just like God. I will know what is right and wrong. I will come to understand the world. I will come to understand myself. I'm going to come to the point of understanding what is right and wrong. And if we do that collectively as a society, we can come up with a form of law and morality that works for all of us. We'll find meaning and purpose. will leave the world a better place than the way that we found it. And the hope is that, yeah, death is coming, but I really hope I'm judged favorably. As if God's going to say, hey, good job. And it's amazing because you did it your way without even getting any help from me. You weren't like those weaklings needed religion. You're definitely a cut above my kind of guy. Wow! Come into heaven and reap the benefits of everything that you've done and deserve. That's the kind of God that man would like to create. The Bible says that God created man in his image, but in practice what man tries to do is to create a God in man's image. To create a God that's the kind of God that I would like to have. One that I'm comfortable with. And one that will let me run my course and do things my way. Scripture looks at it a little bit differently. Proverbs 16, 9 says, in his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. We're full of plans. And God executes His plans. Purpose is not found in proving what we can do independently of God. Purpose is found by faith in the living God. Trust in every one of His promises. And confidence that He will do everything that He has said that He will do. We have looked, so far in these verses, a little bit, you know, coming into the command post, the command room, for God carrying out His will. And we've seen beautiful things. The election, the choosing of God's people, their adoption, their redemption, the forgiveness of their sins, and the revelation of the mystery of the gospel of Christ uniting Jew and Gentile alike into one body to the glory of Christ. We're moving into verses today that take it out from the planning room, the command post in ages past, to see it executed in the hearts and the lives of God's people. Before going further, there is one note, one little side track I want to make on verse 11. The NIV in this particular verse has phrases something very differently, very, very differently than most of the other translations. It starts out, in him we were also chosen. And most other translations have something to the effect that in him we have an inheritance or we have received an inheritance. But there's, on the surface, it looks like a much different statement here. So, I just want to make some note on that to resolve that. The one thing in the phrasing of the NIV and using the word chosen, it sounds very much like a repetition of what's said in verse 4. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world, referring to God's election in ages past. The first thing I want to note that those words found in the NIV are translated from very, very, very different words. Very different words. In the original, the word chosen in verse 11 is not at all a repetition of God's choosing in verse 2. In verse 4, the emphasis is on the making of a choice. In verse 11, the literal meaning has to do with being given an allotment, appointed an allotment. I read several commentators, Linsky in particular, that indicated the difficulty of, you know, just in a word, bringing that forward. chosen or inheritance, either one of those words in itself doesn't completely and accurately capture. When we think of having been chosen, we tend to jump back to the issue and the doctrine of election, which is not this specific point being made here. When we think of inheritance, we tend to think of something that's going to come to us when we get to glory. And neither of those is what's being stated here. It's talking about the situation, the allotment, what our lot is within the Kingdom of God right now. What is our situation? What is our lot before God as our salvation unfolds before us? What we have received from God. What we have received from God. And before he moves forward in this, it goes back to the eternal purposes. The eternal purposes of God. What you have received right now if you are in Christ has been God's purposes from the very beginning. The One who predestined according to the plan of Him that works out everything according to the purpose of His will. Anyway, getting past that sidelight, our plans are God's plans. And the absolute certainty that God is going to work out His plan, and that's what it says, in conformity with the purpose of His will, the one who works out everything and conformity with His will. That's troubling to a lot of people. It should not be troubling to anybody that's in Christ. They should rejoice for two reasons. First of all, our security. Our plans so often don't work out as we think that they will. Would you really want Your eternal condition, the eternal condition of your soul to rest upon the shaky plans of men, even your own. Even your own. What is our security in the Lord? I've heard people phrase it this way, and I find this a troubling way to phrase it. I've heard people say, you know, once you really love Jesus, you just couldn't ever forsake Him. Really? Are you that much better than Peter? Do you really think it's a comforting thing to believe that My eternal destiny is tied right now to the consistency of my own affections. Do you love God as you ought every day? Maybe I should ask this. Do you love God as you ought any day? I've seen many marriages end in divorce. I don't think I've personally witnessed any marriage that I believed that the two people intended their marriage to end in divorce. I'm sure there are people that, you know, okay, it's kind of a sham and it probably won't work, but this is what's expected. That's rare enough. I personally do not believe I've ever witnessed a wedding where that was on the hearts and the minds of the people. But I've witnessed some weddings, some marriages that didn't last. Our affections are inconsistent. We have to guard our hearts. We have to work hard to guard our hearts even about the most important things. at life? Would it be a comfort to know, to believe that God had left your eternal destiny to nothing more reliable than your affections? Would it be more comfortable to believe that God had left my eternal destiny And nothing, no better than my works. We cannot trust in those, but if our future is held according to God's plans, if our trust is in His promise, if our hope is believing in God's purpose to save sinners through the work of Christ, if our hope is based upon seeing within my own heart and my own life and you seeing within your own heart and your own life the beginning of the Spirit of God working, the beginning of that salvation, being there in reality and your life and believing with all of your heart that the God that gave these promises is faithful to these promises and the God that gave these promises, when He begins a work, He's going to complete that work. And the God that I trust to save me is the God that I can trust to keep me. His plans will not fail. I want to tell you, friend, that is far greater security to me. that I can look and see that God has brought me to Himself and that He will not let me go. I take great comfort in the fact that God works out everything in conformity with the purposes of His will. This is not fatalism. Some people are afraid of conceding that God works out everything in conformity with His will because then my life becomes meaningless. I'll just kind of wait and see. I won't deal with anything because, you know, the world is going to click off in this particular way. It is all God's doing and it's none of mine. No, the Bible does not teach fatalism. And there's some of the mystery involved in this that maybe we can't unpack completely, but we can see the truth that God teaches about certain things. One, that God works His purposes in conformity to His will. And the other is that God says, repent and come to Me. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. All you that are weak and weary and heavy laden, come to Me. My burden is light. Come. Come. Come to Me and you will not be disappointed. Those that would come to Him must believe that God is and that He is the rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. Now, it's not fatalism. It's a very, very personal God who invites His people to come to Him and engage Him and work out their salvation and trust His unfailing hand His great power and His great purposes. Secondly, it should be a comfort to God's people because it rings true, this statement, that it's all for the praise of God's glory. This great work of salvation for the praise of God's glory. You know, when we think about praise, And Michael said earlier very accurately, so much of what we do when we come together on Sunday morning is an act of prayer. It's an act of reaching out, of communicating to God and wanting God to communicate to us. But you know, when we think of praise, we think almost entirely, I think sometimes, of those outward expressions. Let's pray and praise God. Let's sing and praise God. Let's do these things. But there's a level of praise to God even more basic than that among His people. If you are in Christ, your very existence in the body of Christ is a praise of the glory of God. Your presence there doesn't add to the glory of God. Nothing can add to the glory of God. But the presence of God's redeemed people on the face of the earth cries out in praise of the glory of God. No purpose in life can be greater than this. That my being, my being on earth is to the glory of God. My existence is to the glory of God. The salvation worked in me is to the glory of God. The family of God is to the glory of God. The glory of God. In ways that I can't understand or explain, shine forth from me in ways that would be absolutely impossible if I were not in Christ. God glorifies Himself. in his people. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2, But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers, loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. Believing, brought into Christ. Kind of the doxology of the doctrinal part of Ephesians comes in chapter 3 verse 20. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations forever and ever. The glory of Christ in the church. The glory of Christ, and we all know it's not talking about a building. It's not talking about a place people go to. In the people of God, and those that are redeemed, that are in Christ Jesus, in the church gathered, the glory of God displayed forever and ever and ever. Aren't you thankful that if you are in Christ, what's being displayed in your life is not your plan, That the display to the universe is not, wow, look at Joe, isn't he smart? Look at Joe, look at his legacy, look at his great accomplishments. But when you're seen before the universe, if you were in Christ, look at the grace of God. Look at the mercy of God. Look at the love of God. God works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. But these verses begin to unravel what that looks like in particular places, in particular times in the history of men. First of all, it comes about through the hearing of the gospel. What does this say here? And you also were included in Christ when you heard the Word of Truth. In some form or another, the Word was preached to you. It may have come from a preacher. It may have come from a neighbor. It may have come from a co-worker witnessing to you about the Gospel. But somebody brought the message. The message of truth. The message of Scripture. The message of Christ. And you heard it. And you believed it in a way that you've never believed anything else in your life. You believed it and came to a greater confidence in what is not seen than the confidence that you have in what you do see. You heard it. You believed it. You experienced the power of the gospel through the message that went out. Now, Paul alludes here to the gospel going out in two waves. Let's touch on that a minute because there's a slight disagreement on what's being talked about there. The implications don't change very much, but he says Verse 12, in order that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of the glory, and you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth. A first wave. We heard it. We believed. We received it. You heard it. You believed it. What are these two waves of the gospel going out? A common view is that it's in reference to Jews and Gentiles. And it certainly fits the context of this book. The mystery that we've seen that all the nations are going to be blessed and we're going to see later in Ephesians how the whole distinction of Jew and Gentile is dealt with in a way that wasn't anticipated in a great and glorious body made up of the two. It fits the context and it certainly fits with so many passages in Scripture. I'll read only one. Romans 15 starting at verse 7. Accept one another then just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God for I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy as it is written. Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles. I will sing hymns to your name. Again, it says, Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people. And again, praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to Him, all you peoples. And again, Isaiah says, the root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations. The Gentiles will hope in Him. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so it's very possible that's exactly what it means. That this is reference that the gospel went to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. Some don't see it exactly that way. That it's a matter of the gospel spreading out. The first viewpoint is there's two waves. The initial wave to the Jews and then a wave to the Gentiles that goes on to the uttermost parts of the end of the earth. Another viewpoint it's talking about, it started initially with the apostles and a small group of people around them in Jerusalem. It was confined to that city and the group of people that were present there and at the time of the ascension of Christ and the birth of the church. But through several things, it spread. It spread through people being there for Holy Feasts and going home, taking the Gospel back, having believed and talking about Christ. It spread through persecution. and people happen to flee in order to survive or find a better way. It spread through organized missionary efforts and people being sent out very, very, very early in the history of the church. But it started in one place with a relatively small group and it spread. And perhaps that's what it's talking about. It started with us back there and now it's spread to you. The implications of either of those viewpoints, though, I think is exactly the same. The eternal saving purposes of God are seen as the gospel is spread to people who hear the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, that come to belief in the gospel, come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, that are marked, that are set apart, that are identified Because of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as being the children of God. And that marking, that indwelling, gives confidence and faith to God's people, a guaranteeing that the complete inheritance is going to come. I know that heaven will be mine because through the Word of God and through the Spirit of God, I've tasted it now. So much greater it will be. But I've tasted it now. I have the down payment. I have the guarantee. This is not the mere words of men. It's not the mere words of men. This is the plan of God who works out everything. Everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. When you come to Christ, You don't come to somebody that might be able to save you. You don't come to somebody that hopes he can help you if things go right. You come to the eternal Son of God. One without whom anything that has been created ever would have come about. There in creation. Coming to earth as a man. Living and fulfilling the purposes and the commandments of His heavenly Father perfectly in every detail in the ways that we should, but none of us do. Going and dying a death appointed by the Father in eternity past to save a people that God set His love and affection and grace and mercy upon before the foundations of the world. To pay with absolute certainty the payment for their sins that they would never be accounted to them again. And that they would have to their account the very righteousness of Christ that would shine forth for all of eternity. Forever to be in the family of God. To the glory of God according to the One that works out everything. And conformity to the purpose of His will. And does it all for the praise of His glory. I just want to ask, why would you not trust your heart, your soul, your life, your eternity to a God like that? Let's pray. What a comfort it is that the God that calls is a God of all power, might, and wisdom. That God that calls us to put our faith and trust in Him is God who is worthy of all of that faith and all of that trust. A God that calls us and says, Having been saved, walk in my Word and my truth. You want to express your love for me. As Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Lord, we look sometimes. We don't always understand your commandments. Perhaps sometimes we don't understand why or the purpose. Sometimes your commandments don't look like a benefit. Oh, Father, why would we ever not trust the Word of a God that saves so graciously, that calls sinners to Himself so freely, who displays His wisdom so wondrously? God help us to put no confidence in ourselves and all confidence in You that we might find You, that we might know You, that we might be filled with the joy of knowing the true and living God. And knowing in ways greater than we can ever understand on earth that in being in Christ, we are displayed before all of the witnesses of the universe as an expression of praise to the glorious God. Father, in all things, Your will be done Amen.