Well, we continue tonight in Paul's eulogy. Actually, we're going to come to the end of his eulogy, his word of praise of the glory of the grace of God. The Father's election and predestination of sinners in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him, and to adoption as His own children. the accomplishment of the redemption and forgiveness of the sins of all those chosen by the work of the Son, God's revelation to the apostles, and through them to all His people of the mystery of the will of God. of His plan to redeem those chosen in eternity past in Christ for Himself, with the end goal of the summing up of all things in Christ. Verse 10 verses, we see that every single one of these blessings and every single aspect of all these blessings is only by His grace. That His love was the motivating factor behind these blessings. That all these blessings are according to the good pleasure of the Father. And that all of these blessings that He bestows on His children are given in and through the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't it amazing? We've got seven billion people walking the earth unaware of these things. Unaware of the only means of eternal life and glory. In God's gracious bestowal of these gifts, His glorious character is revealed. It's manifested. We see His character. His glory is not some grand palace. It's not some bejeweled crowns. His glory is His love, His compassion, His kindness, His holiness, His justice. That's His glory. Verse 6, we saw, His bestowing of all these blessings is to the praise of the glory of His grace. His grace is glorious. And so Paul says, he's worthy of our praise. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. And by the way, you can't discuss one verse here without reference to an incorporation of all of this barakah. Because it all relates to God's election of His people in Christ. In the work of Christ. And as we'll see tonight, the work of the Spirit. We're going to see tonight that God's election was with the knowledge that Adam would rebel against Him. That He would fall from grace and all of His descendants with Him. And so God knew that those He had chosen in Christ had to be cleansed and freed from the power of sin and pardoned from the penalty of their sin. God knew all these things before they occurred. Verse 7, we saw that Paul had moved from the decrees of the Father in eternity past to the accomplishment of all these blessings by whom? By the Lord Jesus Christ in time in the created world. This is why he came. Not so we could put trees up and lights and Santa Claus. He came so that we could be cleansed and freed from our sin. And freed from the power of sin. Freed from the penalty of our sin. That's why He came. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. Redemption, deliverance from captivity as a result of the payment of a ransom. That's what redemption is. And redemption in Christ means we've been freed from bondage to the power of sin. The whole unbelieving seven billion are in bondage to the power of sin. They are subject to the penalty of their sin. which is eternal misery. But He has redeemed us. He's paid the ransom to redeem us from that penalty and from that power. He's paid the ransom. His blood. He entered into the heavenly places, the writer of Hebrews tells us, with His own blood. He took on human flesh and shed His blood to redeem us. He gave His life a ransom for many. And again, I want to say this. When the Son went to the cross, it was not so salvation would become possible for sinners. At the cross, the salvation of all of those chosen in Him was accomplished. The work of our redemption was finished. Finished. And both our redemption and forgiveness of our trespasses, as we've seen, were accomplished by that same act. All the blessings of God that He has granted us are of His grace. He owes us nothing, and we can do nothing to earn His grace. By His grace, He's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. By His grace, election to holiness, blamelessness, adoption as His children, redemption, forgiveness of sins. All by His grace. And I'll remind you what chapter 2, verse 7 says, which you'll see in a few weeks. The riches of His grace are immeasurable. And we saw last week, He made known to us the mystery of His will. The only way any man could know and or understand the mystery of God's plan was how. There was only one way to know these things. God had to reveal them to us by His Spirit. They had to be revealed to us, and He does that by His Spirit. And He chose to do this. He chose to reveal to us the mystery of His will. In other words, He desires we should understand this plan of redemption. Which, during the ages prior to Paul writing these letters, was unknown, was hidden by God. It could not have been known or understood by human reason or study. And it still can't. Paul tells us this mystery, as our brother just said, has been revealed by the Holy Spirit to the apostles who have made it known to the people of God. And this too, Paul writes, he did according to his own good pleasure. It pleased him to do this. He wants His people to know Him. He wants His people to know His character, to know His love, His mercy, and His grace. He wants us to know these things. He wants us to know His Son, and His love for us, and His willingness to give Himself for us. He wants us to know the value He places on fellowship with us wretched sinners. But this mystery is not revealed to all men. There's seven billion. I just noticed the new count. Eight billion people. World population. And that's just if we include 1 billion of professing believers. But 7 billion don't even profess Christ, don't even claim to be of Christ. To all those 7 billion, to all non-believers, God's plan of creation and His plan of redemption remain a mystery. Think about it. When you didn't believe, when you didn't know these things, you lived in darkness. And the world lives in darkness. That's why the world is what it is. Seeking to govern itself without reference to God, its Creator. In verse 10, Paul reveals to us, all things are about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And the eternal plan and purposes of God are effected through Him. at the appointed time, all things will be gathered together in Him. In Christ, as we saw last week, will be a union of the eternal with that which has been created, all to the glory of the triune God. Christ will restore harmony to the whole universe. He's the focal point. He's not simply the instrument through which this was all accomplished. He's the one around whom and the means through which all things will be restored to a proper order. Now we're in week 7. And we've been in the same sentence for the last six weeks. The same sentence. Verses 11 through 14 continue this long 200-plus word sentence. Which began at verse 3. And all of which is connected by one phrase. A two-word phrase. In Christ. in Him. In whom? And we see this reference to Christ in every verse but one. Now here's our passage, verse 11. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose, who works all things after the counsel of His own will. to the end that, for the purpose that, with the objective that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him also, you, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having believed, you were sealed in Him with the promised Holy Spirit, who was given as a pledge of our inheritance. with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. There's an awful lot said in that part of this sentence, isn't there? By our union with the risen Christ, we've received eternal blessings. We've seen them throughout this study. Redemption, forgiveness of sin, adoption as children of God. And not only those blessings, but in Christ, by our union with Him, we have received an inheritance. Folks, this isn't symbolic language. This is literal language. Romans 8, 17, we have been made co-heirs with Him, with Christ. When he talks about an inheritance, he means we've received a promise and a guarantee of future glory. Now, an heir is one who, apart from any merit of his own, is given the right to certain blessings or gifts. These blessings are the blessings of salvation in Jesus Christ. We have inherited them, never to lose them. God has decreed they are ours. An inheritance is a gift that is entirely dependent on the will of the one who makes the will, who gives the gift, who gives the inheritance. It's entirely dependent on the one who makes the will, who gives the inheritance. The inheritance is declared in a will in our world, but it's not received until the testator dies. But we have the promise, and we have the guarantee, and we have a foretaste of it right now. That's why we're all here. That's why we gather here, to worship God, to come to Him in the name of Jesus Christ, because we have a foretaste of it already. This inheritance has been bequeathed to us by God. just as in a last will in Testament. Only this one is more certain. Unlike most earthly wills, this last will is irrevocable. It cannot be changed. God does not change. God is immutable. And His decrees do not change. Hebrews 9.15 tells us this is an eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9, 15, For this reason He, Jesus, is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. You realize what a gift this is? An eternal inheritance in glory with God. He's already decreed it. All those born again of the Spirit have received this inheritance. And it's all according to the Father's eternal purpose in Christ. His eternal purpose in Christ is the larger theme of this epistle. We are merely beneficiaries of the grace and the glory of God. Our inheritance is based solely, and he says it right here, on his election and predestination. We have an inheritance, Paul writes, having been predestined according to his purpose, who works all things after the counsel of his will. I hope you all find great assurance in these words. I hope you find great comfort in knowing there's nothing that you do, or could do, or have to do. God has made this gift to you. Now, it doesn't matter how we respond to this gift. So I'm always talking about gratitude, worship, and obedience. Walking in a manner worthy of Him, as Paul writes. But this inheritance, along with redemption and forgiveness of sins, was given in Christ before the foundation of the world. Not according to anything any one of us has done or will do, or which he foresaw that we would do. But according, and here it is, to His purpose and after the counsel of His will. So nothing to do with God foreseeing what we would do. It's really a spurious kind of argument. His purpose, that we should be holy and blameless, that we should be children of God, destined to glorify Him forever, is fixed. It cannot be altered. It's part of a larger plan that embraces the whole universe. All of it carried out in Christ and focused on Christ. This phrase, He works all things after the counsel of His will. How? By consulting some angels? Consulting some people? Consulting some saints? No. He works all things after the counsel of His will. That's why Paul can write in Romans 8, 28, We know that God works all things to work together for good To those who love God, to those who are what? Called according to His purpose. This isn't some novel statement in Scripture. This is the whole New Testament. This is the teaching of the apostles. The triune God is still working in fulfillment of this eternal plan. And He's doing so after the counsel of His own will. There's no input from outside the Godhead when it comes to the decrees and the working of God. Now, if you have a low view of God, you say, well, I've got some input to this, how I respond to this, how I do this. No, God's plan and His working is based after the counsel of His own will. But how He deals with you may be based in part. on how you respond. But he had, and he still has a purpose. That's what Paul's saying here. In all these things of which we read in this eulogy, they're all to a purpose. They're not just to give us a nice vacation home in heaven. And it's certain his purpose will be fulfilled. There's questions about everything in this life and in this world. We hope that godly people lead. We hope that godly people have influence in this society. But in the heavenly realm, God's Word stands and His purposes will be fulfilled. He's omnipotent, remember. He cannot be thwarted. His purposes can't be thwarted. He's immutable. He doesn't change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, as the writer says of Christ. He cannot lie. And so all He has decreed and declared will come to pass. All His children know that to be a fact. All of them know that's a fact. His fulfilling of His eternal purpose in no way depends upon anything any man thinks, says, or does. Now, if we have a man-centered view of all of this, we say, well, yeah, that might affect me. But it's not affecting God's working of His plan. It all depends on Him, and He is able. He who in His love has foreordained His people to adoption as sons will never forsake them. but will carry out His plan to the very finish. And if you believe the Word of God, you know that to be true. Nothing can ever frustrate His design. We're still here in Romans 8, beginning in verse 36. I want you to read along with me here. Romans 8, 36. Begin reading in verse 35. Now, it was in love that we read that He predestined us to adoption as sons. Well, the question Paul poses is, who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril, or sword. Can any of these separate us from the love of Christ? Because that's the greatest gift we have, is the love of Christ. Everything else is expendable. Just as it is written in Paul's writing in a time of persecution, For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced, Paul writes, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is what? In Christ Jesus our Lord. which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Isaiah 35, 10. And the same words are repeated in Isaiah 51, 11. And the ransomed of the Lord, that's those redeemed, will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, that's the heavenly Mount Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. You see, this wasn't written for the first time in Revelation 21. No, no. God was writing about this through the prophets. And the end, or the object, or the purpose of all this is that Paul writes that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. Now the we who were the first to hope, some say, well, he's talking about Jews and he's writing to a Gentile church. Maybe that's true. I honestly don't think it matters. He may be talking about those who were the first to believe in the apostolic era. Or it may be he's talking about Jews. But it's not critical to the point he's making here. Because what he's saying is, the ultimate purpose of all these blessings that we receive is the glory of God and the praise of that glory. That's why we stand before Him and praise Him in song. Verse 6, it was to the praise of His glorious grace. But here's the point. God, in giving us all of these gifts, in giving us this inheritance of eternal life and glory, He's glorified. His glory is manifested in His giving of these gifts to sinners. Verse 14, we're going to see our response to this gift is to stand before Him in worship. We become manifestations of God's glory because we're vessels of His mercy. That's a loving, kind, good, merciful, compassionate God who bestows these gifts on sinners. In Him, verse 13, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the promised Holy Spirit. Sometimes that's worded the Holy Spirit of promise. But Jesus promised John 14, John 15, John 16 to send the Holy Spirit. He would convict of sin. He would teach you of Me. He would take of Me and He would glorify Me. He promised to send the Spirit. And this inheritance, Paul reminds them here, is received by us, by the Ephesians, now by us. How? How do we receive this inheritance? Through the preaching of the gospel. We receive all of these gifts. Salvation, eternal life, faith, adoption, forgiveness, regeneration, and inheritance in heaven through the preaching of the gospel. That's why the gospel is so important. and by the imparting of new spiritual life to us by God the Holy Spirit. Why is it called the message of truth? Why is the gospel called the message of truth? Why is it called the word of truth? Because first of all, it reveals man's true condition. It tells you you can be forgiven of your what? Your sins. It tells you you're a sinner. It tells you your true condition. And it reveals and proclaims the only way of escape. There's only one way of escape from the penalty of your sin, from the power of sin, and that's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Through belief in the message of the truth, these in Ephesus were saved. Through belief in that same message, we have been saved. Gospel is power. It's the power of God to all who believe. It's called the gospel of salvation in that it's the means by which God conveys these blessings applied to us by His Spirit. New spiritual life, adoption, and now heirship and inheritance. We have different ways in Scripture that are used to describe the Word of Truth. It's called the Word sometimes. The Word of the Lord, the Word of God, the Word of Christ, the Word of Life. It's all saying the same thing. Psalm 119.43, Take not the word of truth out of my mouth. David understood 3,000 years ago. Romans 116, the gospel is the power of salvation to all who believe. It's not the keeping of some rituals, like so many churches do. It's certainly not praying X number of times in a particular direction. It's the gospel. The gospel is the only means of salvation. And here we see again, all three persons of the Trinity at work here. They're always together. But he says, "...you were sealed in Him with the promised Holy Spirit." So the third person of the Trinity here is called the promised Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of promise. Promised by Christ in John and as He departed this world in Acts chapter 1. But we see those chosen by the Father in Christ are sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit. We are sealed in Christ, in union with Christ, with the Holy Spirit. Paul speaks here of two aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit now. In those chosen, adopted, redeemed, and forgiven in Christ. They are sealed in Christ. with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is given as a pledge and earnest of their inheritance. Two aspects. Sealing refers to a spiritual reality. It's pictured by the language of contracts, really. It's pictured by the wax sealed on a covenant document. And the believer's union with Christ is sealed. It's authenticated. It's confirmed. And it's God, the Holy Spirit Himself, who's given as the seal. In this way, our inheritance, we are assured, is guarded and protected by God Himself until Christ returns. That's the meaning of this seal. 2 Corinthians 121, Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. This is not a one-verse doctrine. Ephesians 430, Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. We're protected, sealed. Romans 8.23, And not only this, but we also ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. So a seal distinguishes what is true and certain from what is false and spurious. And it also brings assurance. And not only the seal, but the pledge, of which we'll read in a moment. Now there's a phrase here, having believed, you were also sealed. It's important to understand, although there are some who would argue otherwise. But it's important to understand this does not express that the Holy Spirit sealing you happens sometime later after you believe. Believing and being sealed are two sides of the same saving event. And they're not the only two sides. Believing, being indwelt by the Spirit, and being sealed by the Spirit all occur at the moment of conversion. The sealing, in addition, identifies people, sets them apart as God's people. They're sealed. It's like an area that's cordoned off. The Holy Spirit is actually more than just this sealer, this certification, this authentication of the promise of the inheritance. He is Himself a portion of our inheritance. See, we are already receiving what we called earlier a foretaste. This inheritance has already become our possession. One way that that's true is that the Spirit of God indwells us. We have the Spirit of God. We have the Spirit of Christ. But he says he's been given as a pledge. As a pledge. This metaphor of a pledge is also taken from the language of contracts. One gives a pledge or a deposit. You agree to buy something and you make a deposit. Well, the Holy Spirit is given as that deposit to us. He's delivered to us. And once that takes place, then the contract is confirmed and there's no turning back with God. So we await the ultimate fulfillment of our inheritance, but we have the Spirit. He testifies with our spirit, what? That we are children of God. Children of God. See, when God gave us His Spirit, He promised to bestow upon us all these blessings. They were sealed and were given a pledge of all those promises. all of the blessings obtained by the atoning death of Christ. So this pledge is a guarantee of glory to come. He gave us this. Did he have to do this? Of course not. Calvin said this, and boy, he put it well here. The conviction that true believers have of the Word of God and of their salvation doesn't spring from some judgment of the flesh or from some philosophical or human arguments. The conviction that we have flows from the sealing of the Spirit. who imparts to our hearts and our consciences such certainty as to remove all doubt. Do you doubt that God will fulfill this inheritance? I hope not. Calvin goes on, the foundation of faith would be frail and unsteady if it was based on human wisdom. Therefore, as preaching is the instrument of faith, it's the Holy Spirit who makes preaching efficacious. The commencement of faith is knowledge. The completion of it is a firm and steady conviction, which admits of no doubt. And both are works of the Spirit. So God the Holy Spirit has done this work within every true believer at the time of regeneration, the time we were born again of the Spirit. And this comes with the gift of faith, the eyes by which we see the truth of all that is promised. All those who have been joined into union in Christ have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is given to every believer as a pledge of our inheritance. If He has been given to you, it's no less than a guarantee from God that your inheritance will be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit doesn't come and indwell somebody and then that person is not brought all the way to glory. The Holy Spirit doesn't indwell somebody and then leave. Some may see the work of the Spirit, may even sense the blessings of the Spirit, but once the Holy Spirit is in you, it's for all eternity. Spurgeon says, wherever He dwells, it is not possible that the inheritance could be lost. So the question, folks, for us is this. Does the Spirit of God dwell in you? Are your thoughts, your words, your acts all fruits of the Spirit? Is that what comes forth? Or are you still of the world? That's the question. This sealing and this pledge are given with a view to the redemption of God's own possession. That's His church. That's His people. So the sealing and pledge are given as assurance of what's going to happen on the day Christ returns. when we are resurrected in glorified, imperishable bodies, reunited with our spirits. And then the blessed eternity that awaits all that God has chosen as His own possession in Christ. At the day of redemption, He will gather His people to Himself, fully cleansed and freed from all the effects of sin. I mean, that's what this inheritance is. It's a life completely cleansed of and free from sin. dwelling with God and with His people who also have been cleansed and freed. And He will dwell among His people for all eternity. That's the inheritance. God is the inheritance. And again, Paul sometimes just seems he can't help it. It's to the praise of His glory. We praise You, Lord, for Your glory. The redemption of God's own possession, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the church triumphant, glorifies God. The redemption glorifies God. The glorious revelation of the saints in Christ, who, though undeserving of His grace, will share in His victory. That's the whole story of Revelation. It gets misunderstood in so many ways, but the whole point is Christ is victorious. And the point of this barakah is that those whom God has chosen in eternity past will share in His victory over all evil. We imagine a world without evil and it will come to pass in Christ. And in this, we see the glory of God. I've tried and struggled to find ways to describe the glory of God. But I don't have the language and we don't have the minds to be able to comprehend fully His glory. But we will see His glory. And this for all eternity. It's to His glory that He chose a people for Himself before the foundation of the world. And Paul ends this eulogy as he began it, to the praise of his glory. This recalls Isaiah 43, 21, where God speaks of the people whom I formed for myself will declare my praise. And all those who trust in Christ are to the praise of his glory. God is glorified in the salvation of sinners, because in them His love, His grace, and His mercy shine forth. O Lord, once again the words of the Apostle and the divine thoughts they convey are far too large for our minds and hearts to grasp. I pray, Lord, that by your Spirit you would deliver this word to us, though, and evoke in us a response worthy of you. I pray, Lord, that we would hold these words in our hearts every minute of our lives, that we would never veer from them, that we would never allow doubt to creep in to what we know as we sit here to be true. And so, Lord, we give you these words of thanksgiving. expressions of gratitude. We stand here and worship of you. We acknowledge you as our Creator, our Redeemer, and our King. And Lord, we pray that you will make us and all of your people effective witnesses of this, your glory. In Christ's name, amen.