I invite you to turn with me this morning to Ephesians chapter 1. We'll read verses 1 through 14. Ephesians chapter 1. It's been our joy at Walker to be studying the book of Ephesians. We've been at it now for some time. Sometimes we get interrupted, you know, with different things going on. We've been trying to explore this book and reap some of the great teaching that is here. We just arrived to chapter five at the end, you know, speaking to the wife, speaking to the husbands, and then into six, speaking to the children. So Paul's moving us here from general teaching into some very specific things. But what we took note of when we got to the section on husbands and wives was that we really need this section of chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, to ready us for a good marriage. So it's rather interesting. It used to be in marital counseling that when a couple came to me and were having some troubles, well, what's the trouble? And we dove into the trouble as fast as we could. I found that that's a mistake. It's good to back up and talk to the husband about where he is spiritually. It's good to talk to the wife about where she is spiritually so the two can come together and be strong instead of coming with our brokenness and be even more broken. So we really need this kind of section, of course, to prepare us. Paul didn't start out in Ephesians 1 talking to the husband and the wife directly, but certainly indirectly. We're going to be looking at five of the blessings that are here. There's more, but I'm just going to pick out five of them. So as we're working our way through, as I read it, you'll be wanting to watch for some of these blessings that pour out upon us as Christians and just how helpful, of course, they are to us to walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's begin at verse one, where we begin with Paul. an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. To the saints who are at Ephesus and the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself. According to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. According to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he proposed in himself. 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 in him. In him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, and that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. to the praise of his glory. The word of the Lord to us now this morning. If you'll just note with me verse 8, by way of introduction, note what it said, which he made to abound towards us. I'm typically using the ESV. It uses the word lavished for the word abound. That's the idea there. The idea is that he has, according to his riches of his grace, abounded toward us, lavished upon us all wisdom and prudence, that he's made known to us the mystery of his will, that he's come to us, as it were, and just poured it out on us. Yesterday, he took the grandkids over to the, Sparta Town and Country Day Parade. We were sitting there, and I was sitting with my daughter. I had five of my grandkids there, and their father's a police officer, so he was riding one of the horses in the parade. But anyways, we were sitting there, and you know, they were throwing a little bit of candy, and the kids were grabbing it, and that was all, you know, how a parade works. Well, all of a sudden, this guy was coming down the street that knew my daughter, Ruthann, and knew my five grandkids, and he had a whole pail of candy. And he comes over to my rascals, and he just poured it all on top of them. Of course, everybody all over the parade route was like, why was he getting all this candy? But he just poured it out on them. And I was sitting there, I was thinking, that's the picture. That's this. This is how God blesses his people. He doesn't, you know, drop a little tootsie roll and that's it, right? Now he comes with a whole bucket and just pours it out on us. He lavishes, I don't know, it reminds me of my grandmother, how she used to pour gravy on my potatoes. I didn't get a spoonful, you know, I got a plateful. That's the way it was, right? So this is the picture of how Paul is starting out in Ephesians. where the goodness of God is pouring out on us, the kindness of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God, just pouring out on us people. It's like a little baby just getting kissed and kissed and kissed until that poor baby cries out, okay, stop, I've had enough. So there's five gifts. There's others, but okay, here's five. And if you're taking notes this morning, you might want to just jot down the acronym, C-A-R-E-S. I don't know, somewhere on your, yeah, on the backside there, there's a blank sheet if you've got a pen. C-A-R-E-S, what are these five gifts that we see in this text? Well, we see the word in verse four that he chose us. So there's the C, we are chosen. We are the chosen people of God, to use your name, by His sovereign grace. And then the A for this word, C-A-R-E-S, He cares for us. This word is adopted. He has adopted us, verse five, having predestined us to adoption. So not only did He choose us, but He adopts us, okay? I mean, that's further, that's like blessing upon blessing. I mean, think of it a minute. I mean, it's enough to blow your mind that God would choose you and me. What, really? but to go now so far as to see that He doesn't just choose us, He adopts us. So that's the second one. And then the third one is, of course, all right, all this has got to get paid for. You know, children are expensive. Here we go, verse seven. In Him we have redemption. There's the R. Chosen, adopted, redeemed. And then the fourth one is the letter E for we've been endowed, okay, with what? Well, an inheritance, verse 11. In him also you have obtained, also we have obtained, past tense, right? It's not just some day we're gonna get this. We're in the will. Read the trust language. We're in the will. We're going to have an inheritance. We're going to have to look at that. So we've been endowed an endowment payment of an inheritance. And we'll see exactly what that inheritance is about this morning. And then finally, if that's not all enough, we have this S. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were, here's the S, sealed, sealed, stamped, if we want to use that word, with the Holy Spirit of promise. So those are the five gifts that we want to look at this morning. Again, just by way of introduction, let's remind ourselves Where are we here, what's going on? Paul is writing a letter to these Ephesian Christians in a town called Ephesus. Now bear in mind that in Ephesus is one of the seven wonders of the world. People traveled to Ephesus because they had something there that was like, wow, okay? And that was a temple, it was a temple, evil temple, Terrible worship went on there. The worship was to Artemis. And so people travel all over the world to come to this. And the sexual immorality, the drunkenness, all of that that surrounded the worship in the temple site was wicked beyond compare. And that's where these people, these Ephesian Christians, are living. So always put that in the back of your mind, that this is the backdrop of these folks. This is what they live in. The streets they walk in. This is tough to be a Christian in Ephesus. It takes the power of the Spirit of God to help these people live for Christ. They're under tremendous pressure not to be Christians. Kind of starts to remind you of the United States. But these are Gentiles. And one of the central themes in Ephesians is the coming together of the Jew and the Gentile. But not just that, but even the heavens and the earth. God has got a great plan of salvation. Now you know that in the book of Ephesians, somebody came up wisely with the outline, the wealth, the walk, and the warfare, you've probably heard that a hundred times in your Christian life. That's a great outline for the book of Ephesians. So we're deep in this section on the wealth, and that's why I say for us to walk as Christians, live as Christians, seek to imitate a God, chapter 5, verse 1, what a command. We're going to need the wealth of the gospel to be well-rooted in our hearts. We're going to need to know these five promises and a whole lot more than just He cares for us. But that's the outline of the book. We're in the wealth section. We're going to need that wealth section to be able to battle Satan and battle evil, and that's what chapter six is all about. You're probably very familiar with the book of Ephesians. Let's try to walk through these five blessings a moment. And then, what I want to do, after we've walked through these five blessings, is try to lavish upon you, pour on you, the reason why you have these blessings. Okay, so it's kind of two focuses here. First of all, the blessings we have as Christians, and then the reason why. reason why. Let's get that in perspective. So we'll get there. All right. So first of all, chosen. He chose us in Him. When did He do that? Do you see that in the text? Who has blessed us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him. When? When? Before the foundations of the world, which is an amazing truth that He chose you personally, individually, by name, before He even laid the foundations of the earth. That's what the text says. Now there's a reason that we should be something. What should we be? That we should be holy. Oh, again, in the town of Ephesus, that you should be Holy, in the midst of all this unholiness, all this crazy, sin-ridden society that they're living in, you are to be something different. You're to be holy. Oh, okay, holy, what are we talking about here? We're talking about you are to be different, you're to be separate. I know everybody's over here, but you're gonna, I'm picking you to go, I'm choosing you to go over here. I know sometimes as Christians, you know, we can, I feel out of place. I hope you do. You don't want to be in that place. So yes, God has chosen us to be holy by position. This is our position. This is where he's placed us. Holy. Fully holy. And of course, we're only holy in Christ, but that's our position. He's called us to be that. Different, separate, come out from them. Don't be a part of them. I know that's the party area. I know everybody's laughing and having a good time over there, but I'm gonna tell you, that's gonna end bad. But let me bring you over here to be holy. And then the other one isn't by position, it's by action, it's to be blameless. You see the second word there? To be holy and without blame. Before Him. So we're to go before Him, because we love Him in love, we're to go before Him as holy and blameless people. That's how we make the pathway for Christ to follow into Ephesus and what, into this community as well. So chosen. This, you know, right? Why did He choose you? We're going to answer that question in a few minutes, but on a practical level, why you? Why you? Because you are smart, good looking. I don't know how many Dutch people here today, but you know, because you're Dutch. Some of you aren't Dutch. Why did he choose you? You know, he doesn't explain it. How is he in his sovereign grace choosing some and not choosing others? Paul doesn't even mention it. It just states it as a fact. It's a fact. He's chosen me. I don't know why me, Lord, but he has. So I'm not to be confused by it, but I am to be comforted by it. Every generation has to come to balance the teaching of man's responsibility and God's sovereignty. I understand that. Every one of us has to work through that balance because the scripture's comfortable teaching both. You do have a responsibility to believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when I believe, I find out why I believed, because he worked in me. He drew me. He chose me, and when He chooses, His power completes what He chooses. Salvation comes from the Lord, which is exactly what Jonah said in chapter two. But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord. So the Israelites, they are a chosen people of God. We know that from Genesis 17. You know, we know that, that they were God's chosen people. We know that Exodus 3, 4, when the Lord saw the eternal sight, to see God called him out of the bush when Moses was called, right? We know God called him. Moses couldn't do anything but come up and look at that bush and say, here I am. Here I am. So God chooses his people. And that's a great truth for us to settle in our hearts. And that's a truth we've got to get settled. I do not believe that he chooses us only for us to have endless doubt. No, we've got to settle this. Am I one of God's children or not? Only by the grace of God, only, only, only. But yet by His grace, this is who I am. You know, John writes that in 1 John 5, 13. These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. Let's settle this thing. Satan would have us doubt. But the very first thing Paul teaches here is that he knows who he is, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. That's who I am, Paul says. And I want you to understand who you are. You are the chosen of God. And our humility, right? We should stand back and go, I just can't believe this, Lord, can't believe this. But would you help me believe? So that's the fact. All right, the A, adopted. But now we move further into the lavishing, abounding love of God. He does not just call us, as amazing as that indeed is, He goes further. We are predestined for adoption. How did He adopt us? The text tells us, through Jesus Christ. His will proposed it. That was His will. His love delighted in it, verse four, the second part of verse four. In other words, he didn't choose us and adopt us, because he was stuck. He had to do it. I was talking to one of you before the service started about just how lousy I was at basketball. And I remember in high school, they would be picking the teams, right? And so he got down to, OK, who's got to take this guy? Okay, I'll take them, you know. I was lousy at basketball and everybody knew it. So who wanted me on their team? God wants you. He didn't choose you because he had to. He didn't choose you because he was stuck with you. His love, delighted in it. Why? For the praise of his glorious grace. Don't lose that phrase. So congregation, we have a new father, we have a new brother, we have a new name, we have a new address, we are not our own, we belong body and soul to our Lord Jesus Christ. That's who we are, it's where we belong, it's where we live. We must not forget that. We do not have to do what our old father told us to do. We are no longer connected to Satan. He does not have a right to cross the street anymore and say to me, I want you to do this. I do not have to sin anymore. You do not have to sin anymore. Before you did, he was your father. But Satan is not your father anymore. He has no authority in your life. He has no position to tell you what to do. So we need to be reminded that we have a new father. He's our heavenly father. We have a new brother. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. We bear a new name, Christian. We live at a new address. We are not our own, but we belong to Jesus. He bought us with his blood. So we are adopted into his family. Have you let that saturate in? That Jesus Christ is your brother? Soak that in. All right, third one, He's redeemed us, so we take another step deeper. Redemption means being delivered from the slavery of sin, the guilt of sin, and the cost of sin. There's three ways to become a slave. We can be born that way, a slave by the result of conquest. An army comes over and takes over the land and puts everybody into slavery. You can become a slave that way, or you could become a slave because you got yourself into debt. Now you owe, and so now you're a slave by debt. Those are three ways. Biblically, you could see yourself become a slave in this culture. We are a slave in each one of these forms prior to becoming a believer. First of all, we were born in sin. We're born that way. We're born a slave. David recognizes that, that there is something desperately, deeply wrong with him. Psalm 51 5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. So right from the very beginning, I saw that I had a problem. Nobody ever sat me down and said, now let me teach you, let me tell you, let me instruct you on how to be selfish. I figured that one out pretty early in my life. How about you? Let me help you develop a bad attitude, because I know at first you've got nothing but a sweet attitude. So let me help you with a bad... No, nobody ever had to set us down and teach us how to have a bad attitude. Right? Got that one figured out. So we're born this way, and we've been conquered by sin. Again, the psalmist says in Psalm 19, keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Paul cries out in Romans 7, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this death? I'm a wretched man. I'm in trouble. And third, we're slaves to sin because we are in debt. Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is what? Is death. So we're in trouble, but Christ has set us free from each one of these. How? Text tells us, through his blood, explained with the phrase, the forgiveness of our sins. So that's how Paul defines redemption here in the text. Forgiveness. 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19. knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." And again, the text tells us, through the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us. So that's a mouthful. He's redeemed us. And He's even bringing together heaven and earth, the text tells us. One day heaven will come down and be upon the face of this new earth. I was standing out in the cemetery this week in the midst of a funeral, and we were all just thinking about the wonderful things we Christians believe, the amazing things we Christians believe. As we stood by this casket that we were about to lower down into the ground, we were just mindful that we were as it were, planting a seed, planting a body that we knew would not rise up the same way that we are now putting it in the ground, that one day Jesus Christ is going to come back and every grave in this whole cemetery is going to open and God is going to bring back the souls of those slain and have them reenter their bodies and step before the judgment seat of Christ. What wonders we believe, and they're true. So God is curing all things in his redemptive plan, even the earth itself. Earth is cursed. Heaven is a blessing, but he's bringing the two together. Earth is a physical only place. Heaven is a spiritual place, and he's bringing the two together. Of course, there's the one exception of Jesus Christ sitting on the throne today in his resurrected, physical, glorified body. Earth is unholy. Heaven is holy, he's bringing the two together. So the work of redemption is not just saving the chosen ones, but all of his creation. And so what a gift that we can be a part of that and be upon the new earth. Aren't you ready to be upon a new earth? I am. All right, let's get to the E, and that was endowed with this inheritance that's been predestined, already planned out to the praise of his glory. One of the most wonderful texts on the inheritance is Romans 8, 17. So jot that verse down. Romans 8, 17 says this. And if children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. What is our inheritance? Oh, I just want that mansion. Oh, I just want the golden streets. Oh, I just want, no, no, no. What's our inheritance? It's Christ. All that Christ has, he's sharing with us. Again, He's not dribbling out a couple of tootsie rolls. He's dumping the whole bucket on us. Everything He has, He's sharing with us. That's amazing. We are co-heirs with Jesus Christ, heirs of God. The new earth will be glorious, but it'll be glorious because Jesus will be there. And this is what we're endowed with. Let's go to the S, sealed. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Now, don't get that wrong. Don't get the idea of sealing like you put something in a bag and seal it up. Think of it more in terms of a stamp on a piece of paper that authenticates all that it says. Like a notary public, you think of that stamp, you know, they squeeze and it crunches the paper. Boys and girls, if you go home and look at your birth certificate, you'll see that the original has this stamp on it, a mark on it. The paper's been kind of crunched, right, with this seal. That's what we have been. We've been sealed. Why? To guarantee He is the guarantee of our inheritance. OK, come on. Really, I'm going to inherit everything Christ says? We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit to guarantee our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. So God is going to bring this thing to a completion, and he authenticates the statement to the praise of his glory. He authorizes the stated purpose. He assures that there is a time when this will happen. And I know, right? Our life just continues to go on. And look, we're already deep in the May in 2024. Look how fast life is going, right? That's the way it feels to me. Will the day ever come when all of this will be fully revealed to us? Yes. Just as sure as this morning came, just as sure as that alarm went off, God's got a date, and it's sealed, and we're sealed with the third person of the Trinity. All right, one last thing for us to study this morning, and that's the reason for all of this. Note how verse 14 ends, to the praise of His glory. Oh, we heard that before. Back up to verse 12. to the praise of His glory." Oh, we heard that before. And we have seen it at other times here in the text. Why did He do this? To the praise of His glory. So John Piper helps us understand the depth of that statement, the power of that statement. And he says in Isaiah 48, probably no text in the Bible reveals the passion of God for his own glory more clearly and bluntly as Isaiah 48, where God says this. And here's Isaiah 48. For my name's sake, here's why I'm doing this. For my name's sake, I defer my anger. For the sake of my praise, I restrain it for you. that you may not be cut off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it. For how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. So here's God's ultimate goal in giving you these five gifts today. for his own glory. God chose his people for his glory, and we know this. That's why the Westminster says, the chief end of man, what's it about? To glorify God. and to enjoy Him forever. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be what? Holy and blameless, we saw that before Him in love. He predestined us to the adoption as sons through our Lord Jesus Christ according to the kind intention of His will. To the praise of the glory of His grace. God created us, God saved us, God is sanctifying us. One day God will glorify us for this purpose His glory. It isn't first and foremost all about you and me. So let's be humbled here for a minute and reflect on the fact that God has done all of this first and foremost that we would discover the joy of being His people glorifying Him. So let me put it another way. This isn't all about you and me. And so if in our arrogance this morning we're thinking to ourselves, well, he chose us, well of course he chose me. I'm a good guy. Why wouldn't he choose me? Sure, of course he chose me. That would be a really wretched thing to say in his presence. Because the fact that He's chosen you and me is nothing short of amazing. It's the amazing grace of God. He chose Israel for His glory. God rescued Israel from Egypt for His glory. God raised Pharaoh up to show his power and glorify his name. God defeated Pharaoh at the Red Sea to show his glory. God spared Israel in the wilderness for the glory of his name. God gave Israel victory in Canaan for the glory of his name. God did not cast away his people. for the glory of His name. God saved Jerusalem from attack for the glory of His name. God restored Israel from exile for the glory of His name. Jesus sought the glory of His Father in all He did. Jesus said that He answers prayer that God would be glorified. Jesus endured His final hours of suffering for God's glory. God gave His Son to vindicate the glory of His righteousness. God forgives our sins for His own sake. Jesus receives us into fellowship for the glory of God. Welcome one another, Romans 15 says, as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Son of God. He says in John 16, He will glorify me for He will take what is mine and declare it to you. God instructs us. to do everything for His glory. So whether you eat or whether you drink, whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God, 1 Corinthians 10. God tells us to serve in a way that will glorify Him. Jesus will fill us with fruits of righteousness for God's glory. You're starting to hear this over and over as we walk through redemptive history, we walk through the scriptures. Herod was struck dead because he did not glorify God. Jesus is coming again for the glory of God. Jesus' ultimate aim for us is that we will see and enjoy his glory. I'll give you a text, John 17, 24. Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Even in wrath, God's aim is to make known the wealth of his glory. Romans 9, he desires to show his wrath and to make known his power God has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for his glory. God's plan is to fill the earth with the knowledge of his glory. Habakkuk 2. Everything that happens will rebound to God's glory. Romans 11. And in Jerusalem, the glory of God replaces the Son. Does He love you? A thousand times yes. The proof is His lavishing love. But is He committed to His glory? Yes, a thousand times more. And so we are lavished that we might be to the glory of his gift of himself to us. Let's pray this morning. Our Father in heaven, thank you. Thank you that you chose us for the foundation of the world. Thank you that you adopted us to be your children. Thank you that you redeemed us by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you that you endowed to us a great inheritance, an inheritance that we can't begin to fathom. Thank you this morning, Father, that you've sealed us with the promised Holy Spirit. There is no question that you will fulfill the work of saving us to your glory. Father, we know that your good name, your great name has been blasphemed and continues to be blasphemed throughout the world. We in our humanity would say that you are not good. But we know that you are good. And we're the proof. For you have taken your goodness and found a way in your wisdom to bring the gospel of hope to us. who were dead in our trespasses and sins, deceived by Satan, damned by your righteous judgment. This is what you've done. You've taken us, a people, to glorify you. You've taken that which is weak and made it strong. You've taken us who did not believe to believe. You've taken us were just nothing but failures and made us succeed in Christ. And all of these blessings that you poured out on us today, you lavished upon us, we're now just bowing our heads to say thank you. Thank you, oh Lord, our God, for being so good to us. May our lives now be lived for your glory, to announce to all the world that you are good. You are so good all the time. Thank you that we now are your children, endowed with all these precious promises. Bless us on this good Sabbath day. As we think about these blessings, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.