Well, I am very happy to be here. Of course, not for the reason, Tim being sick, but he gave me a call. Because in Folsom we meet at 2 p.m., I'm able to minister when there's a need, so I'm very grateful to be here, very thankful. I'm very thankful for y'all because of how you pray for us and your pastor's one of my dearest friends and I just am very blessed by him and you guys so I'm thankful to be here to let you know that I think God is doing something in Folsom. I don't know, I just see what I see and I don't know what's going on in people's hearts down deep but God does and they keep coming back and so I think last Sunday we probably had about 45 people so that was And you know a handful of new people every week, and they keep coming back, so I guess that's good and yesterday we went out into to the communities and Evangelized and and so we had a good time we had about 12 people came out with us from our little group and went out and So we had a good time doing that so I don't know I think the Lord's doing something and I thank you for your prayers and your support and I'm just very grateful, very grateful. So thank you very, very much. Was there something else you wanted me to? No, that's good. Yeah. Yeah, I'll be back in August. Yeah, that's right. Don't want to take all my thunder, you know. Well, my text today is in Ephesians, as you probably have there in your bulletin. Ephesians is because that's where we're at in Folsom, and the text that I have this morning is in chapter one, and it's Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. There's two prayers recorded in the book of Ephesians, and we're all very familiar with them, but I've never studied through his prayer in Ephesians before, and I have been so blessed, personally, by what Paul prays for, and myself, obviously, being a pastor, wanting to follow in the footsteps of such a great man as Paul. This is how he prayed for his church. This is how he prayed for the saints. And so I want to follow suit. And I also want to learn why is he praying this way? I mean, there's a jillion things he could be praying for, but he chooses these things to pray for. And so with that, that's kind of how my heart is stirred. I trust that God will bless you as we examine this to see the things of which Paul prays for his church, which by extension would be us. And us here who are in the body of Christ. This is how he would be praying for us. This is how we want to pray for each other. And I think it's worth really noting that to see what is important to the Apostle. And I'm going to trust since he's moved by the Spirit, this is what's important to God. God the Spirit is concerned about these things in this prayer. So if you would take all of that and move to Ephesians chapter 1, and there's three things, and I'm kind of editing on my feet here, so forgive me, but I hope to make this worthwhile. The prayer starts in verse, well, the section is 15 to the end of the chapter. He will say in verse 15, for instance, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for the saints. By the way, faith in Christ and love for the saints is evidence that you're chosen by God. Because how do you know you're chosen by God? That's a scriptural declaration. But how do you know personally that you are of the elect? You have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and you love his people. That's what he says. I know you belong to the elect because you love the saints and you have faith in Christ. And so he goes on in 16 and says, I don't cease. I don't stop giving thanks for you. And he goes on down through there. And then in verse 18 and 19, there's three what's. that stand out. And these are three things that the Apostle Paul wants the Ephesians to know how he prays for them. And he's praying for Christians, okay? That's so, it just really grips me. This is how he's praying for me. I like to personalize things when I can, right? This is what God would have for me. And look it together here in verse 18. I pray, my new American standard says, the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know, now here's three what's. First one is, what is the hope of his calling? What is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? Verse 19, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe? Those three things, what is the hope of his calling? What are the riches of his glory in his inheritance in the saints? And what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe? That's good stuff, right? We should pray and go home and just meditate on that. But I'm here to preach. What time am I finished? Okay. And that clock's fast, right? The first thing he wants us to know is to focus on the glory of his plan. The hope of his calling, I'm gonna say, is the glory of his plan, okay? The calling of God, obviously this is wrapped up in God's effectual call. The gospel calls us and actually moves us to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. But in that call also is contained is this call to eternal life. It is to be called out of darkness into the light, out of the Kingdom of Satan into the Kingdom of His Beloved Son. It's to be called out of sin into eternal glory, out of this mournful suffering of sin's legacy into eternal joy. That's all wrapped up in this call of God, and there's much more we could add to that, but it's basically the salvation that Christ has accomplished on my behalf. Paul says to the Christians in Ephesus, I want you to get your mind fixed on this reality, the hope of his calling. Now, hope is future, isn't it? You don't hope for that which you already possess, so says Romans 8. That's ridiculous. I already have it. Why would I hope to have it? Okay, so hope is future-oriented. Hope looks future. Hope looks forward, takes God at his word, and then lives it out as though I already possess it. Okay, that's biblical hope. Biblical hope is not like we hope. Oh, I sure hope the Raiders win the Super Bowl this year. All right, because I'm a Raider fan. or that OSU beats the Okies, right? That's what we hope for, right? We're always, our hope is always dashed, of course, but Christian hope is very different. Christian hope is settled on the fixed word of the living God. Our hope is a confident, this is biblical hope. Biblical hope is a confident expectation in that which God has promised. So that I live as though it's already happened. That's biblical hope. My hope is settled in heaven. He wants Christians, in this text here, to be settled in their mind, to be focused, to set their mind on the future promise of God and the salvation that he has purchased on our behalf. Now don't we all need hope? The world needs hope just to get out of bed. Isn't it amazing that an unbeliever gets out of bed, really? I was saved at 30 years old. I remember those days. There wasn't a lot of reason to get up. I mean, really, when you think about it. But us as Christians, we're the only ones who really have any reason to get out of bed, right? Our hope is secure. That's why the world is so tragically lost and in loss and all the drug and all this stuff that's going on in our world always has been. It's just more, now we have this phone, right, that tells me all the suffering of the world just at my fingertips. I'm gonna throw that thing in the lake, right? But then I couldn't call your pastor, so I gotta keep the phone, right? So, but we're always inundated by the hopeless despair of this world. and the false hope and all the hope we put in government. Are you kidding me? I mean, seriously. Look, anyway. Our hope is settled on the living God and on his son, Jesus Christ. It doesn't waver. It doesn't change. It's fixed. It's like the North Star. It's always there. You see, our hope is fixed there. I hope today that you have that mindset. I hope you who are converted, this is what Paul's saying. Believer, have you ever lost track of your hope? Has your eyes ever been diverted? Have you ever been in despair as a believer? That means you've lost track of who's on the throne. That means you've lost track of what salvation really means. Amen? hope because think i ask this okay paul god why do you start here Why is this the first thing he wants to pray after such a glorious first half of this chapter? The spiritual blessings that we all possess, chapter one, verse three. We all possess this in Christ. All the glorious first half of chapter one is ours in Christ Jesus. And then he prays, I want y'all to just take a break here and set your mind on that which God has promised in Christ in the future. Why does he start there? Because we forget. And as Smokey prayed, you cannot live in a manner worthy of Christ without this hope being your North Star. I guarantee you. Because trials and tribulations are coming. You all know that. You've been through that. Persecutions are growing in this beloved land of the free of ours. and you'd be a fool not to focus on those things and to be mentally, spiritually, prayerfully prepared for the day that's coming where this might be illegal. How are you gonna live in a manner worthy of Christ if your mind's not focused on the hope of His calling? It won't. You'll be all over the place in your walk. Paul says to set your mind on the hope of his calling. Can I chase this around in a couple verses? Go to 1 Peter, please. And I'm going to go kind of fast, only because I know you're familiar with a lot of these things, but this is just, this is part of that hope of his calling. 1 Peter 1.3, notice what he says here. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Who according to his great mercy, mega mercy, he has caused us to be born again, notice in the New American Standard, to a living hope. Okay? Interesting he uses the adjective before hope, they're living. Which is to emphasize, right, that the hope of a Christian is vibrant. It's active, you see. And how, what does he root that living hope in? It's not just some cold, cold metaphysical, theoretical thing off there in the distance. Living means it's right now active. It's with me. It's in me What is what how did that hope become living or why is it considered living is because it's rooted in the resurrection of Jesus Christ as it says in the verse the last verse says through Channel by which this living hope comes through the resurrection of Christ from the dead Our our hope is vibrant because the one in whom it is placed is alive You see Do you expect to be raised from the dead? I hope so. I really hope so. Because if you're a believer in Christ, right, you have that hope, you have that expectation. because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, you see? And he's the first fruit. He's the prototype, the firstborn of many brethren, you see? He's raised from the dead, which is to encourage me that I too shall be raised from the dead, and that's my living hope. That's my confident expectation, okay? From there, go to 2 Thessalonians 2, please. 2 Thessalonians 2. One verse for the sake of time. 14, sorry, 2.14, look at this here. Paul writes, to a group of people, by the way, he didn't spend a lot of time with, but he gave the whole enchilada. I mean, he spoke about eschatology, second coming, he covered everything, and he was only there a few weeks. 2.14, it was for this. He called, there's that precious word, He called you, believer, how through our gospel, our gospel message is how you were called that you may what, in verse 14? Gain what? Speak to me. We're amongst friends. You ever seen Alex Montoya? He said, speak to me. Speak to me, right? You ever been in a, I minister to a lot of Russians. I love the Slavic community. But it's like pulling teeth, man. I said, you need to act more like my Hispanic, my Latino kind of. Come on, speak to me, all right? Speak to me. How, look at that verse again, 214. It was through, it was, let's see. It was, for this he called you through our gospel. So the gospel is what awakened and called that you, goal, the goal of the gospel call is that you may, what? gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you see that? Whose glory are you gonna gain? Not your glory, His glory. That's part of the hope of the calling. That's an expectation because that's a promise of God. Do you take God at His word? Do you think you're walking by faith? Do you believe this? Do you expect this to happen? I'm just crazy enough to take Him at His word. This is what He says, I expect. You won't even recognize me, I'll guarantee you, in glory because look at this, and then when I'm in glory, I will possess the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ because it's His promise. That's the hope of his calling, you see. That has to be in our mind now so that we endure all the sufferings and trials and tribulations of today. And you know what else it does? Because I'm finding out that a major theme foundation of the book of Ephesians is unity in God's church. Every one of us who are born again in Christ have this same hope. Your hope's not different than mine. There's not diversity of hope. There's one hope of His calling. That's called unity. That's called unity, beloved. We might be of different shades. Presbyterians, believe it or not, can be saved. Just kidding. They can be. I'm teasing you. They have the same hope as a Baptist, as an independent. if they're converted and believe the word of God. You see? We have this hope. Okay. Now, go to 1 Peter 5, please. 1 Peter 5. We have a living hope because of the resurrection of Christ. We expect to gain the glory of Jesus Christ, and that's the gospel's call. That's the call of the gospel. When you're preaching the gospel, you're saying to folks that the hope that they should have is that they will gain the glory of the Son of God. In 1 Peter 5, look at verse 10. Our hope is in this verse. After you have suffered for a little while, and that might be my whole life, you know, a little while compared to eternity, the God of all grace, notice, who called you, there he goes again, to what? To his eternal glory. So, you got gaining Christ's glory in 2 Thessalonians. Peter says here that God has called you to his eternal glory. in Christ. Is that not glorious? Have you thought about this lately? I hope you think. If not, I hope to awaken your mind, believer. We get so caught up in thinking, you know, the world inundates us. It depends on where you spend a lot of your time. What's informing your mind? If it's Fox News and Tucker, well, you know, you're gonna have a certain bend on life, but if it's Jesus Christ from the word of God, you're gonna have a maybe a little more glorious bend on life, right? The only hope for this world is Christians who live according to this hope. Amen? A faithful church is what the world needs. A faithful church. to the promises of God. Because if we live according to this hope, oh, 1 Peter 3, go back, there. 1 Peter 3, look at this. Because if we live according to this hope, in this world, we will be distinct, will we not? From the rest of the world. Because the world will get tougher, the world when it's hard, when the world gets really troubled, we will be not be like the world because look at 315 1st Peter 3 15 says it like this but sanctify that is set apart Christ as Lord so it see what it's the command talking to believers okay to set apart that means that that's a that's a mental act of the will to, in my soul, in my mind, in my attitude, to set apart unique, individualistic, exalted Jesus Christ as Lord. Okay? You're setting apart Him alone as Kurios, as Master. Look at what it says. In your hearts, how does that express itself? You're always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you About what? Oh, there it is again. About the hope. Now get this. How are they gonna know that you're so hopeful? It's when you're in the midst of dark times and you don't act like them. Amen? If God's just a fair weather God, I don't need him. And neither do you. That's the gods of the world. The god we worship is our refuge. The god that we worship is our living hope. The god that we worship manifests his brilliance in our darkest days. You might lose a loved one one of these days. That's going to rock your world. Is God your hope then or not? And if he ain't your hope then, he never was your hope. You see, Paul starts there because he knows this is what sets Christians apart. Because Christians will suffer like everybody else, but we won't act the same way like everybody else because our hope is fixed in Jesus Christ. Our hope is fixed in the gospel promises, the hope of his calling. We should be expecting eternal glory. We're expecting to be sharing in the glory of Jesus Christ. We're expecting to be sharing in the glory of the Creator. That's the hope of His calling. Part of the hope of His calling. Go to Romans 8, please. I hope this is encouraging. I know it's kind of scattered about, but I'm trying to cover as much ground as I can without falling off. Romans 8. If you look at verse Now, let's start in 18. Romans 8, 18. Look at what he says. For I consider that the sufferings, plural, of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Okay? Now, he's basically saying there in verse 18, They have no, they have no, they have no merit to be on the same plane. Today's sufferings and future glory, okay? Now notice, present sufferings and future, not yet experienced, glory. Interesting. The future is to dominate my present. Okay, look at what he says. In verse 19, Further explaining what he meant in the 18, for the anxious longing, anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly, right now, notice, for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it. I would guess that happened at the fall. All of creation was under the curse of the fall and the futility. They're not, creation is not functioning according to God's original plan because of the fall. And Paul is personifying creation's struggle with futility because of the fall by anxious longing, groanings, it says. Look at verse 20, notice 20, the end of 20, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. So there's present struggles, present futility, present anxious longings for that which they're expecting to happen. Creation longs for a release. He sets the day of the release at the revelation, the revealing of the sons of God. Okay, so this is future stuff when you will be shown for who you really are and you will take on the glory of Jesus Christ and the glory of God. Okay, it's all wrapped up in the second coming and the restoration of all that Christ is going to do. This then will free up all creation from its groanings. He calls it hope because it's confident expectation, okay? In, look at verse 22, for we know that the whole creation groans, present tense right now, groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. Ladies would know more about that verse than myself, but you see the, you see the picturesque way the apostle is expressing the longing. It's like a lady in labor. She's expecting something good at the end of it, isn't she? Little junior. This is the picture he's drawing here. 23, and not only this, but also we ourselves. So not only creation, but we ourselves, having the first fruits of the spirit. Notice having, that is the reality. I possess, verse 23, the first fruits of the Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit, even we ourselves grown just like creation within ourselves. Why are we groaning? Because look at verse, the second half of 23, waiting eagerly, that's another word for hope, by the way, for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. There's a whole lot there I know, but get this. Why do we as believers groan for future It's a couple of things. We know in God's Word that we have an expectation of release. But this verse brings in someone else. The Holy Spirit. The first fruit of the Holy Spirit. First fruits, an agrarian term, right? A farmer's term. What would the first fruits indicate? What's the first fruits indicate? There's more to come just like this first fruit. This first, the farmer will go cut a sample. to kind of see what he should expect in the next couple of weeks when he does a full harvest. The Holy Spirit is the first fruit. If you're in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit. And the ministry of the Holy Spirit, according to Romans 8, is to give you a little taste of what it's gonna be like when the full consummation comes. When Mama's cooking soup, And you smell it and you're outside playing. I have a fond memory of this. It gives me goosebumps. And I would come in and Mama would take and she'd give me a sample. It's not quite done yet, but man, that tasted good. Now go out, boy, and come back in an hour to be ready. Do you think I had hope that next hour? You're dang right I did, right? This is what he's saying. The Holy Spirit is the taste and it's the first fruit, it's just a sample. It's just a sample, beloved. 1 Peter 2, 3 says, if we have tasted of the Lord that he is what? Good, he's quoting Psalm 34, our favorite Psalm. Do you see our hope? is rooted in the promise of God that he's preached to us through the gospel that Christ has accomplished virtues on our behalf, and he's given us his Holy Spirit to convince us of that reality. We can't undo it ourselves. It's the sovereign mercy of God to give us his Holy Spirit, and that's just a little taste. It's like, mm, that's good. I can't wait for the full redemption. I can't wait for the consummation. If this sample tastes this good, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Do you see? This is what Paul's praying in Ephesians for believers. And so I'm going to echo to you. Get your mind right. Get focused on the scriptural promises of Christ. Take him at his word and live today in light of the future promise. And if you have to, turn off your TV. or your radio. Let Christ minister to you. Especially in these days. It's such needed. Such needed. Good stuff, isn't it? Well, look. Look. Look at 24. I gotta finish this. Look at 24. He goes to our favorite word here today so far. For in hope, we have been saved. Isn't that great? Isn't your salvation future-oriented? If today is, if Joel Osteen's right, I'm going somewhere else, right? If this is your best life now, I'm going back to the saloons, right? I had a lot more fun, right? Not much satisfaction, but a lot more fun, right? But if your salvation is all present-oriented, you're most to be pitied. Because this world's tough. But you know why you stay with Christ? Not only because he stays with you, but he's given you that hope. And you say, like Peter, well, should we go? You have the words of eternal life. Why would I go anywhere else? You have the words of eternal life. Salvation is rooted in hope, which is future-oriented. Yeah, OK. But hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? End of story. 25, but if we hope for what we do not see, notice please, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Hope is the grounds of perseverance. That's why Paul, I believe, begins that prayer in Ephesians 1 with hope, because he wants Christians to have the basis for perseverance. especially in an era, if you go back to first century, and the persecution that's about to come against the church, right? Ephesians is written in the early 60s. By not too many years coming, you're right, Paul's gonna lose his head, Peter's gonna be crucified upside down, and there's gonna be growing persecution. How will you stay the course? How do you, how do you be strapped to a stake and they build a fire under your feet. How do you not recant and sing hymns to Christ while the fires come and burn the bottom of your feet and pretty soon consume your whole body? Do you not think they had a hope, a fixed hope? And what's so glorious is our hope is reality because it's from God. Think of the hope of those dudes that flew jets into the Twin Towers. They had a hope, it just wasn't real. Didn't they have an expectation? That's why they drove those planes into the Twin Towers in New York on 9-11. But they woke up to a really shattered dream. Our hope is fixed. Scripture says, to those who put their trust in God will not be disappointed. You will not be disappointed, beloved. You will not be disappointed. The hope of salvation in the future, you're going to be free from sin. You're going to be in a glorified body. No more aches and pains, no more sorrow, no more sufferings. You're going to have the glory of God radiating from you. Because He promises that. You're going to be in such... Go to 1 Corinthians 15 real quick. Please. I just love it. This gets me going. 48 and 49, I think will be good for us. And in the context, he's talking about resurrection, obviously, chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians. Look at verse 48. Now, once you see that the language here, as, the little word as, is so powerful because that's a simile, right? In this manner, in this manner. So that's, he's drawing parallels here, picture. 48, as is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy. And as is the heavenly, see the contrast, so also are those who are heavenly. Clear enough, right? Those who are of the earth are of the earth. Those who are of the heavenly are like the heavenly. Okay, look at what he says in 49 now. How does your text start in 49? Just as, so in this same manner, in this very same way, look at 49, we, he includes himself and all the believers he's talking to, have borne the image of the earthy. The earthy's the first Adam. I, right here, have the image of the first Adam, the earthy, okay? Look at this now. Just as we have borne that image, what's that guarantee? Take the second half of that verse. we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Is that not incredible? It's real simple, maybe because I'm simple-minded, it just psychs me, but I have to, do you read that like I do? Do you see what he's saying? If you have any doubt of future glorification, just look in the mirror. Is that a real reflection of you? Just look at your hand. Touch yourself. Is this real? Yes. Then that's the guarantee you're going to bear the image of the heavenly. That's what he says. Just as so also. Our hope is to have a physical body like the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. And if you have any doubts as to whether that's going to be, and the Word of God is not breaking your conscience, then just touch yourself. That's what he says. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Wow. I like that. Because I'm simple, I like that. Now, I'm thinking this. Oh, man. Go to 1 John 3, please. 1 John 3. I want to pick it up in verse 2 and 3. Look at what he says. He says, beloved, now we are, for a fact, children of God. And it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when he appears, second coming, we will be what? Like him. Because we will see him just as he is. Do you see? It's amazing. I'm like Adam here. Touch me. Corinthians said, now, Since that's a fact, that's the guarantee that you will bear the image of the heavenly. This is saying, you're for a fact a child of God, and it hasn't yet appeared what you're going to be in the future, because just look around us, right? And he says, but when he comes, you're going to be like him. Why? Because you will see him as he is. The promise is you're going to be made in the image of God. Romans 8, 29, predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. This conformity, it's the restoration of the image of God in fallen man through redemption, through the salvation, and the promise of God is that you're gonna be restored into the very image of God of which man was first created. But even greater, you're in the image of Jesus Christ. Look what he says in verse three. Does that future hope have any present blessing? Look what it says. Everyone who has this hope, what hope? Of being in the presence of Christ in his likeness. That hope. Do you have that hope? Look what it does. Purifies himself just as he is pure. Isn't that cool? So if you're not heavenly minded, you know earthly good. So we need to be heavenly minded in order to be earthly good. You see? And our heavenly mindedness is this hope that sits there like a North Star. That hope is then, comes down to my present life and it makes, it causes me to be holy. It causes me to set apart from this world and to follow Jesus Christ, to be like Christ. If that's my expectation in the future, it then's gonna move on me now. to put off sin and to put on Christ. You see, it's gonna move me now to stay in the faith even though it causes pain, even though there's persecution. It's gonna cause me to step in his steps and still trust him even though he takes your beloved away from you. And you say like Job, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Because you have hope. You see, that's where Paul starts. The church should be the most hopeful place on the planet. People should come into our buildings and they should... Boy, this smells like hope here. Right? Those little scratch and smell, sniff things, you know? It's like, wow, this is a hopeful place. Right? Amen. Well, next, go back to Ephesians, please. Because it gets gooder. As glorious as that is, and I didn't do it justice, I know. But know that the hope of the future salvation is followed in verse 18 of Ephesians 1. Notice, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? This is amazing. Now it is true from scripture that the saints have a glorious inheritance in the heavenlies. Amen? As a child of God, we have glorious hope of an inheritance in the Father's name. But I don't think that's what he's talking about here. This is God's inheritance in you. Wait a minute, now you sound like a quack old heretic. Well, look at this again. What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, not the saints' inheritance in God? Scripture, this might shock you if you haven't thought through this. Now what does this say? This is saying that the saints are God's special possession. This is saying that the saints are God's portion of all humanity. This is saying that the elect are his special treasure. This idea is seen throughout the Old Testament in God's relationship to Israel. Can I take you to a few just so you don't stone me? Deuteronomy 7, if you haven't thought through this, this will put a bounce in your step. Deuteronomy 7, 6 through 8. Okay, now Moses is writing to the second generation that's about to follow Joshua into the promised land, okay? So 40 years has passed, basically, since the Exodus. And this generation here, he's basically reminding them of these glorious things that God has accomplished and promised in the former years. In chapter 7, verse 6, he says to them, for you, he's talking to Israel, are a holy people to the Lord your God. That means they're set apart and special. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for what? His own possession, verse six, his own possession. If you have, like my Bible has, a little number that takes you to the bottom or the middle column of your Bible, what is another way you could translate that Hebrew word? Do you see it? Then again, special treasure. Whoa, okay, look at that again. Verse six says, the Lord God has chosen you to be a people for his own special treasure. Out of all the peoples are on the face of the earth. Verse seven, the Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples for you are the fewest people. Verse eight, but because the Lord loved you. Okay, so. From this, God is saying to Israel that I made a choice of you based on my free grace entirely, nothing in you to set you apart from all the peoples of the world to be my special treasure. Israel, that's grace. Tony, that's grace. Okay, Deuteronomy 32, please. Deuteronomy 32. Look at what he says here. Then we're gonna look at some Old Testament and then I'll make a connection to the New Testament. You can say, wow, okay, the preacher was right. Deuteronomy 32, look at verse nine. For the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the allotment of his inheritance. So yes, people have an inheritance in God and all that he promises, that's true. But there's a different aspect that says that God's people are His portion, His inheritance, His special treasure. Hmm. Go to Titus 2, please. New Testament, of course. Apostle Paul, writing to Titus, uses the same kind of language to apply it to the Christian church, which, by the way, began in Acts 2. Look at what it says in 2.14. of Titus, talking about Christ. who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself, notice, a people for his own possession. Same language from Deuteronomy, zealous for good deeds. So Christ purchased redemption, purchased us for himself as a special possession, just as Deuteronomy said God chose Israel for his special treasure. Okay, all right. Now, the riches of the glory of his inheritance that Ephesians 1.18 said, there is a glory, get this, there is a glory, a value connected with God's elect. Not in and of ourselves, not inherent in me or you, but there is a value that God places on his people. which says more about him than it does about us. Okay? That's incredible. It's incredible. Go to John 17. And with the time I have left here, I'm just gonna go to as many verses as I can and speak to this so that you walk away saying, man, we are a special treasure because of grace. not works. Where are we going? John 17. Um, look at this. The High Priestly Prayer. This is glorious. My goodness. I don't know how we read this and still get it off our face. John 17, High Priestly Prayer. Look at this glorious text. Let's begin and say verse 20. Two, just for the sake of reading here, but 22 and down maybe to 25, look what Jesus, High Priestly Prayer, look what he says, the glory which you have given me, the son says to the father, the glory which you have given me, what did he do with it? I have given to them. Wow. End of story. That they may be one. See, there's a unity, just like Ephesians. You see, same hope of calling. We are all God's special possession and treasure. There's unity in the church of God. Verse 23, I in them, you in me, that they may be perfected in unity so that the world may know that you sent me. That's how important this is. And what? Love them even as you have loved me Do you see the little simile again, as in verse 23? Love them even as you have, what? Do you see what he's drawing a comparison to? The father loving the saints to the same degree and manner as he loves the son. And your mind should be going, well, how did he love the son? But does the father love the son? in infinite perfection, infinite adoration, infinite love the father has for the son. And he loves me in the same way? Verse 24 says, Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you love me from the foundation of the world. Look at the glory that we possess is Christ's glory that the Father gave to Him. The love the Father has for the Son, He has for His church. We are indeed his special possession, special treasure, set apart, marked off from all of humanity, is his church. And you are objects of his massive, infinite affection. And it's all of grace, it's all of him, it speaks of his magnificent, glorious grace, and yet our sinfulness. What a God. Paul wants his church to remember the hope of his calling and how much God loves you. Not Caleb loves you, but actually Jesus Christ, blood and gut, hanging on a cross, loves you. Is that not glorious? That should light a fire in our belly, man. That should make every one of us worshiping missionaries, even if it's across the street. Amen? Amen. This is what Paul's saying. We need this, don't we? Why do we have, what is communion? What's another name for communion? It is a, it's a sacrifice. What is it called, though? It's like the Passover is also called this. No, not a sacrament a love feast to help us what? Remember Are you telling I could forget? Sacrifice The Lord's table is called a memorial Passover is called a memorial Because we forget That's easy Paul says, I'm praying for the church to remember, in essence, the hope of his calling and the riches of his inheritance. I still have time. Look at this, because I've got, oh. Go to Zephaniah, please. Huh? Oh, sorry, Zephaniah. Somewhere in your Old Testament, right? I lost track of my... Zephaniah 3. You just write it down and listen to this if you want to, right? Seriously, this is so amazing. Zephaniah 3. God speaking to Israel, but listen to, this is incredible stuff. In chapter three of Zephaniah, and we can pick it up in verse 17, but listen. The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. A victorious warrior. Next line, he will exalt over you with joy. What does exalt mean? Another word. Lift up, rejoice. It's a pretty happy expression, right? It's not just, oh, like this. It's like, it's like. Really Pentecostal. Really Pentecostal. When I was a kid, it was a Toyota Joy. You remember that commercial? They jump up and click their feet over Toyota. It was Toyota Joy. This is exuberance that cannot be really capped. And who's doing the exuberance? But God. God. is exuberant with joy. He will be quiet in his love, settled in his love. Continuing, he will rejoice over you with what? Shouts of joy. God likes it loud. He likes music loud in heaven, he likes proclamation loud from the preachers, and he likes the worship loud from his saints, and he exalts over you with shouts of joy. You know why? Because it's deep down inside and genuine. It's real, it cannot be contained. God is rejoicing over his people whom he has saved. And if you don't like that picture of God, you need to repent and line up with God, right? This is God of the Bible. Oh man, there's more. Isaiah 62, that might be easier to find. Isaiah 62, right? Isaiah 62, four and five. Speaking of a promise to Zion to Israel's glory in the future the first four of Isaiah 62 I will know it will no longer be said to you to Jerusalem Forsaken nor to your land will it no longer be said desolate But you will be called notice what it says, but you will be called my delight is in her names matter to God right and Names matter to God. God is going to call her, my delight is in her. Wouldn't you like to hear that as a person? That God delights in you. You know what? He does. He does. Beloved, that changes lives. That changes persimmon-sour-faced Christians into radiant, hope-filled witnesses of the cross. Right there. God not only loves you. You know how we are, you know. Of course God loves you. He has to. He's God. He's God. He has to love us. Of course he loves us, because I love me too. Now get this. This might rock your theological framework. He actually likes you. Not only does he love you, he actually likes you. Right? How do I know that? Because He exalts over me. He delights in me. He has provided the way that I can come into His presence, which tells me the goal of God's salvation is that I be with Him, to enjoy Him. And He enjoys my company. God actually enjoys the company of His saints. and exalts over them, rejoices over them. Look at this. He says, my delight is in her, verse four, and your land married. Look at this picture here, verse four. He says, for the Lord delights in you, and to him your land will be married. Verse five, for as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. As the bridegroom, notice I love these similes, as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, what? Speak to me. Is that not amazing? So God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his new wife. The bridegroom is so happy he's found a daughter of Abraham, right? To be a godly woman, to be his spouse, and he rejoices over that reality. That is the picture that God gave to the prophet to tell Israel that's how he rejoices over them. plumbed. And it's unmerited. It's undeserved. You did nothing to gain it, you'll do nothing to lose it. His love is eternal. His love is everlasting. Doesn't Romans 8 say a little bit about this love at the end of chapter 8, our favorite chapter in the Bible? Can anything separate you from the love of God in Christ? Nothing. His affection for you is His own free will, choosing to set His affection on you, to cherish you, your treasure. He rejoices over you, he's happy about you, he actually likes you and he wants you in his presence forever and he's gonna make you like his son forever. Paul wants us to remember that and to live in light of that truth. That will do more for evangelism than any stump you jump up and start preaching on. All right, I still have, that clock's fast, I know it is, it's one minute, so I'm good, right? Okay, I got two verses here, right? Ephesians 5, just so you see this, well, okay, that's all that Israel stuff, you know, what about the church? Well, he loves his church. Aren't husbands supposed to love their wives like Christ loved the church? Yeah, Christ loves his church, right? But in that same passage of Christ loving his church, look at verse 29. Oh, this is good. Now, grammar matters, right? God revealed himself through the written word, therefore grammar matters. Grammar's life. You mess up grammar, you're going to mess up the message, and you go to hell. So grammar is really important. So then, when you read your Bibles, look for grammar. Look for tenses, past, present, perfect, all that stuff. Look at verse 29, chapter 5. Do you see the care of Christ there for his church? Do you see it there in 529? What are the two verbs used that describe the care of Christ for his church? What tenses are those verbs? Oh, we got grammarians, and you're speaking truth. Jesus Christ right now, presently, actually is doing those things for you. Because he loves you. Because you're his treasure. Just as a wife is for the husband. That's what he says right there. Don't you see it? Yes, you do. Then express it. Live it out. Pray to him in light of that. Oh, Lord, I thank you for Ephesians 5.29. I thank you, Lord. You see, I thank you for the truth that you are nourishing and cherishing. The word cherish is such a great word here. Oh, I wish we don't. Cherish is like find China and how you handle that. My mama had stuff from her mama that was like, oh man, as old as Benjamin Franklin, you know? And she had it in a cupboard, and it's like, my goodness. And you can take it out and put, you don't handle that thing, right? You just look at it and gaze at it. That's the word cherish here. You handle that like this. Jesus Christ is not rough and brash with his bride. He treats it, with honor and respect, like fine china. You know, in fact, if I'm in the Septuagint, the same word here is used in Deuteronomy 22.6 that speaks about a mother bird setting down on her eggs. She's not just gonna pick it down like an ostrich, you know. She's gonna sit down there like a loving bird. She wants those eggs to survive, right? That same idea. is how Christ treats you. Even in the midst of suffering, even in the midst of trials and tribulation, it's not the heavy hand of God. He loves you. He actually likes you. One last place, John 12. John 12. So if you're working hard to earn God's favor, quit it. You just trust him. Take him at his word, right? How many Christians work really hard to feel the smile of God? Too many, I'll tell you that. Too many, right? We don't serve him because he needs anything, by the way, right? Does Christ need anything? Speak to me. No. So why are we serving him? There's a lot of reasons, but the one that we're not, reason number one that we're not serving him is that he needs anything. He deserves our service. He's called us to serve him. It's an expression of our love, but it has nothing to do with my salvation in the sense of earning his favor. He's not, let me ask you this. You don't have to answer, but answer in your mind. Is Christ gonna love you anymore because of what you think you're doing for Him? If you're faithful in your Bible study, and we should read the Bible, but that one day you miss reading your Bible, in your heart of hearts, do you sense God's displeasure? If you do, I think you're missing the point. I think you're missing the point. God's love is not merit-based. It's entirely of grace. We receive it. We're stunned by it. We're overwhelmed by it. It makes us happy. You know what it does? It makes us able to love each other. I'm free to give myself away. You know why? Because my way is secured. You see how important that is? If your future is settled in Christ, and His love for you is settled by grace, you're free to give yourself away to serve everybody around you. And put yourself in vulnerable places. Take people in your house who maybe shouldn't be there, and helping neighbors that maybe don't deserve any help, but you're there, you see? It's all fixed in this. John 12, look at this. It's so incredible. John 12, and I want to pick it up. in 26, just one place. But in verse 26, what is the, look at the text there, verse 26, what is the action of the father? If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the father will honor him. What's the action of the father? To honor, who is he honoring in that text? Those who serve his son. Is that you? Yeah. Christ is saying that the father will honor the servants of his son. The servants of his son is his church. We've been saved to serve. We've been gifted to serve, empowered to serve, and the motivation to serve is the love and grace of Christ. And He will honor you. When will He honor you? Probably not in this life, but certainly in the next. There's places in Luke that says that Christ takes on an apron to serve. And it's not John 13 washing the feet. It's talking of the future banquet. And Jesus Christ is going to serve His servants. Right? That's honor. That's love. That's respect. Christ loves you, He likes you, He wants your mind to be fixed on the hope of future salvation, and He wants you to remember that you are indeed a special treasure to God. I'll just say the last one and be done. He also wants us to know the surpassing greatness of the power. That's a sermon all to itself. So look at the empty tomb and realize how much power is available to you. Okay? So there's no excuse. We have all that we need, beloved. I hope this is encouraging to you. I hope it stirs your soul to expend yourself on His behalf. Indeed, Jake, Jesus paid it all. Yeah? All to Him I give. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. We thank you for the promises that are found in there. I pray, Father, you take my attempt, place it in each one's heart as you see and know, and I pray at the end of the day that we all have a greater affection for your son and a greater desire to wanna make him known. Give you the praise and the glory. In your name we pray, amen.