And let us turn to Ephesians chapter 1. As I said, we're going to be looking at Ephesians in the coming Lord's days. And we look at the gospel really laid out for us historically in this opening chapter here. As we see the predestination of God, we see God's gift to us as His people. And one of the things we always remember when we look at Paul's epistles is he tends to have a section at the beginning which is what we have in God, in Christ. And then in the later section of the epistle, we have the reminder of how then should we live as God's people? And so we look at the opening here and it is so rich with what we have given to us by God. So let us hear together, read together God's word. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and 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 our 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 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. 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. Thus far the reading of God's word, may he add his blessing to our consideration of it this morning. Brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, we hear a number of ideas repeated regularly in the scripture reading, don't we? We hear the word predestined. As we think about God laying this out before the foundation of the world, As we consider God laying it out, notice the other words and ideas that come up regularly. To the praise of the glory of His grace, verse 6. For the glory of God, according to the riches of His grace, verse 7, which He made abound to us, verse 8, in all wisdom and prudence. The glory of God. What are we here about as human beings? What's the purpose of life? It's about the glory of God. It's about the glory of the God who saves us. And God lays that out in front of us in these verses this morning. He makes known to us the mystery of His will, continuing there in verse 9, which He purposed in Himself. God's direction, His will, laid out before the foundation of the world, come together, bringing all things together, what does it say? In Christ. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together and one all things in Christ. The whole of history comes together in Christ. Heavenly and earthly history. God's purpose in creating this universe comes together in the sending of Christ. And so it's always funny nowadays, if you do any studying of historical stuff, they like to say BCE and AD, and I can't even remember. Is it ADE? Anyway. Because they don't want to use the before Christ and the year of our Lord ideas that were used in the B.C. and the A.D. But brothers and sisters, the center of history is the coming of Christ and his satisfaction for our sins and his ascension into heaven. And that is distinctly the center of the history of this world. I'm not talking years wise, that's up to God. But it is where all things come together as we read there in verse 10. And so as we look at this passage, We see that God's people at His choice receive the predestined redemption and inheritance obtained through the blood of Christ, sealed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. God's people at His choice receive the predestined redemption and inheritance obtained through the blood of Christ, sealed for us by the gift of the Holy Spirit. In verses 1 through 6, we see that we are predestined to adoption as sons of God, according to the pleasure of His will. In verses 7 through 10, we see that according to the riches of God's grace, according to His wisdom, God gives us the forgiveness of sins. And in verses 11 through 14, God gives us a predestined inheritance, sealed to us with the gift of the Holy Spirit. So God's people at His choice receive the predestined redemption and inheritance obtained through the blood of Christ, sealed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are predestined to adoption as sons of God. We begin, and I read a commentary that said, oh, the apostolic salutation. And that was the extent of its commentary on these first two verses. Brothers and sisters, there's so much here. And Paul's going to forcefully talk about predestination here. What does Paul open with? Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, Now think about Paul for a second and Paul's conversion. This is his opening salvo. This is not something that we should just jump over. How did Paul come into the church? Willingly? Quickly? Ready? You know, there are those who are Arminians who tell us that God will not drag us into the kingdom of God kicking and screaming. Sorry, we read about Paul. God did. God does. Now, I would not say that we treat this as a paradigm for how we expect God to work all of the time. But brothers and sisters, for people to say that God does not bring us into the kingdom of God, that God does not change our hearts and all those things that we understand, is just poppycock. God addressed Paul on the road to Damascus. What was Paul doing on the road to Damascus? And God said to him, Paul, it is hard for you to kick against the goads. Now some of you have had cattle. I don't know how many have driven a team of oxen. What's a goad? It's a pointy stick, right? To get the ox to go forward, because oxen can be kind of like donkeys, not wanting to go forward. Like a cattle prod. What does God say there to Paul? It is hard for you to kick against the goats. Not only does the cow not want to get going forward, it's kicking the cattle prod. So, Paul's perspective and direction was not, hey, let's believe what God has to say. He was kicking against the goals. And so Paul, as he begins this section of this letter to the Ephesians in which he will forcefully address God's predestination, he reminisces on God changing his heart. Paul was not a seeker whom God convinces. Paul was a scoffer God whacked over the head. And he says to the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus, We don't talk about saints very much in the Reformed Church. And I think partially because we're afraid it gets confused with what the Roman Catholic Church talks about for saints. Saints means holy ones. Holy, of course, means set apart. These are saints. He doesn't say to the saints and the rest of y'all who aren't quite so hot over there in Ephesus. He calls the whole church saints. And brothers and sisters, we are saints. Not because we're so perfect. We're saints because God has worked in our hearts and we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We are holy not in our righteousness as we saw in the Belgic Confession. We are holy in Christ's righteousness. We are clothed in Christ's righteousness. But notice it also says, to the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful. We are called to faithfulness. But as I said right away, remember, we are in the section of the book of Ephesians in which we are reminded of what God has given to us. Where does that faithfulness come from? It is the gift of God. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, we know this is the apostolic blessing. But what's going on? Grace and peace from God. Brothers and sisters, these are the most important things we need as human beings. We need grace from God, we need God's undeserved favor, signifying and reminding us of the forgiveness of our sins, and peace with God, who is of ourselves our enemy. And so the apostolic benediction that we use Sunday by Sunday in our church is a reminder of what God has given us. Paul doesn't say, let's work toward grace and peace. He says, grace and peace to you are given to you, are applied to us as God's people. And we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. as predestined, as adopted children of God. But notice where it goes. And all of this is about the glory of God. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Notice the word used a lot there. Blessed. We are to glorify God. We are to bless God. God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. And how are we to respond? We can't give God anything He doesn't have. But we are called to glorify and to honor and to praise God because of what He has done for us. The blessing. that God has given to us. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Let that sink in for a second. We as human beings always think, well, I'm missing this or I'm missing that. God has given to us every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ. Romans 8.33 tells us that God has given his son for us. How shall he not freely with him give us all things? God is not going to short us if he gave his beloved son for us. And we're told that God gives us every spiritual blessing. We are not missing one. On this earth, we might say, well, I need that or I need this. God says, I have given you every spiritual blessing. And we have the major ones of those laid out before us in this passage. This is kind of the center of what's going on here. In verses 4 and 5 and 11, we talk about predestination and election. In verse 5, we all talk about adoption. In verse 6, we have our acceptance in the beloved. In v. 7, we have the redemption and the forgiveness of sins. In v. 9-13, we have the revelation, God's Word. The revelation of the mystery of God's will. In v. 10, we talk about union with Christ. V. 11, we have an eternal inheritance. And v. 13-14, we have the seal and the promise of the Holy Spirit. So going back, God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Notice this, God's decree before he ever created anything was the coming of Christ, was his sacrifice, and was his choice of us, his predestination of all of these. Not that any of these should make us proud, they should make us humble and amazed at God's undeserved grace to us. But we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. We are holy and without blame in Christ. Again, as we looked at in the Belgic Confession, it's not our righteousness, it is Christ's righteousness. We are blameless before God, seen by God, because of God's love for us. And we are adopted, verse five, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Again, who chose to adopt? God chose and we are adopted. We are children of God by adoption. And we think about adoption on this world and what that means. And I very much appreciated in Eureka, we had the opportunity with Reverend McGee, who was adopted, talking to us about what it meant to be adopted. And brothers and sisters, it is such an amazing thing. You know, our parents just got us to be adopted. God chose. And the parents of a child who adopt choose that child. And brothers and sisters, we are chosen by God in Christ to be His children. To be able, as Paul says, to cry out, Abba, Father, Daddy, to God. That we are children of God. Not, of course, equal to Christ. Christ is the only eternal natural Son of God. But we are children of God according to the good pleasure of His will. Again, this is according to God's will. According to God's pleasure. And we are accepted in the Beloved. Brothers and sisters, perhaps sometimes we pass right over that. We are accepted by God. And brothers and sisters, too often, I know I feel, and as I consider my sins and my failures, I see and say, how can God even want me anywhere? God accepts us as His people because of His beloved Son. We are accepted in the Beloved. And according to the riches of God's grace, according to His wisdom, God gives us the forgiveness of sins. In Christ, we have a redemption according to the riches of God's grace. Redemption from the judgment which we deserve, Redemption from God's wrath against our sins. The forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ. We read in verse 7, in Him we have redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of sins. We are redeemed. We are bought back. We are purchased. We are paid for by Christ. And in that as well, we have the forgiveness of our sins. Our sins are paid in full. According to the riches of His grace. According to the abundance of His wisdom and of His prudence. God demonstrates the riches of His wisdom, the riches of His prudence toward us in saving us, in redeeming us. And according to the riches of His grace as well, He gives to us the revelation of the mystery of His will. That God has given to us His Word. It's so easy for us to overlook that as well. That we forget that God has given to us and spoken to us His love letter. That tells us of His love. That tells us of who He is. That's one of the reasons, you know, I'm so passionate about us being in it and reading it. Because it's so easy for us to get into theology without actually knowing the God of the Scriptures. And how do we get to know somebody? We read what they write. We love what they write. We communicate with them. And I think too often we get deeply into systematic theology without knowing the God that we're studying. And so as we continue, we have God's Word revealed to us. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, God has revealed them to us through His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the Spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that we have been freely given to us by God. The Spirit of God, and we'll talk about Him in a few moments, given to us by God, and God reveals to us His Word. His, by His Spirit. And at the perfect time, God gathers together in Christ all things. in the dispensation of the fullness of times, at the time of God's choosing, he gathered together in one all things in Christ. And I always struggled as I read through this, and what does that mean? Gathered together all things. God's purposes in the world all come together in Christ. God predestined before the foundation of the world And all of that points together toward Christ, and Christ coming, then we go forward out, looking forward to Christ's return. But all things come together. All of the themes of Scripture come together. All of religion. The Jews and the Gentiles were united in Him. And we are in union with Christ. And things of earth, and things in heaven, When we read about where we come in worship in Hebrews 12-22, we come together with an innumerable company of angels. Brought together with the church. In one, the union with Christ. In one thing. We have all of history come together in Christ's coming to this world. All of God's plans work together in Christ. And another set of words we see a lot here, and I want to take note, is in Him. In fact, this whole section is very much in Christ, in Him. and so central in what we are as Christians is in Christ. And God gives us an inheritance, a predestined inheritance, seals that inheritance to us by the gift of the Holy Spirit, an eternal inheritance. In him, verse 11, we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things together according to the counsel of his will. So we're going back pre-creation to post-judgment in one sentence. That in him, we have obtained an inheritance. Excuse me. Being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. God works everything together. And God gives to us an inheritance, an eternal inheritance in the new heavens and the new earth. And that God works all of these things together according to the plan of his will, which he predestined before the foundation of the world. And God does this to the glory of his praise. And we see that in these verses, verse 12 and 13, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. Okay, who are these? Let's break that down for a second. Paul and the apostles and the early church who had seen Christ, specifically the witness of the apostles to us is what we're going with here, is we who first trusted Christ should be the praise of His glory. They would praise and glorify Christ, having seen it with their eyes. And verse 13, then, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also you believed. So, the message of the gospel gets passed down from generation to generation of Christian, from parent to child, from child to grandchild. In him you also trusted. All of this, of course, to the praise, the glory of God, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." God gives to His people the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our eternal inheritance in the new heavens and the new earth. We have that guarantee, we have that gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, pointing us forward to the day of Christ's return until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory. Again, all of this to the praise, to the glory of God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, all together here, the praise of the God who worked together predestining before the foundation of the world, sending Christ into the world to save sinners, and at the end of the world in judgment, but also pointing us forward to eternal, the eternal inheritance which we have in Jesus Christ. And so as we look at this passage, we see so many threads of the gospel, of the Bible, brought together in front of us. And perhaps, as we look at it, we run past very quickly. But Paul doesn't spend a ton of time here laying out each one of these in its stark awesomeness designed by God. What does Paul do? He's drawing these threads for us to show us from beginning to end what God is working for us, His people, but most importantly, for His glory. In predestination, in adoption, in salvation, in all of these things that God brings about to the glory of the triune God. And brothers and sisters, that we get to be a little part of this ought to drive us to our knees in thanksgiving and in praise to the God who has saved sinners. As we look at the Ephesians, and as we consider ourselves a part of the church to which Paul writes, as members of the universal church. Brothers and sisters, how awesome is our God who stands over all things and works them together according to the wisdom of His prudence, according to His will. Amen. Let us then rise for prayer, and we'll close this prayer together with the Lord's Prayer. Shall we pray? Almighty, gracious, heavenly Father, help us to stand in awe. of your working everything, every atom, every quark, if there's something smaller than that, every one of those together as a part of your perfect plan. Help us to consider the awesomeness of the fact As we see here laid out the work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The work of God in the decree before the foundation of the world. The work which you did in saving us in Christ. In changing our hearts and providing for us the inheritance which we cannot even begin to ask or imagine. that we know that You did all of this according to the wisdom of Your prudence, out of Your love and to Your glory. Help us, Lord, to praise, to glorify You, who is the true and awesome God, and that You in your awesome desire sent to save sinners, to save us. We pray this, Lord, to the glory and to the honor of your name, in thanksgiving and in praise to you. For we pray it in Jesus' name, praying as he taught us to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.