Let's bow together and pray. Would you join me,
please? Father, my prayer is that you would show
us the truth of the words that we have sung.
We understand those words, and yet we don't understand
them. Show us today, in a fresh new way, the
depth of your grace and its meaning. Remind us
that we are dying people. And that the only hope
that we have is the grace of God. In Jesus' name
we pray. Amen. I'm reminded this morning of standing
on a high point near a place in the Switzerland
and looking out to the out, to the south. viewing
them in their snow -capped splendor, and then
seeing the swift mountains and hills and valleys
roll all the way back to the point on which I
was standing. The cowbells were echoing in the
valley all around in stereo. At that moment,
I felt like Julie Andrews. I thought I could
go flying down the mountain singing. The hills
are alive with the sound of music. There is a
beautiful scene. I could not help but exclaim
the praise of the Lord for his creative power
and intelligence. Likewise, as we come today
to our text in Ephesians chapter 1, the Apostle
Paul stands on a peak of revelation, overviewing
God's great plan for the ages. He cannot help
but burst out with a song of praise, a doxology
of blessing to the Lord. He says, 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 blameless
before him. The Apostle Paul blesses God. When
he uses that term of God, he is using it the
only way that is used in the New Testament. Blessed
is found eight times and is always used of the
Lord. Dr. Lewis Ferry Schaefer said, it is an
ascription of supreme worship. in which all devotion
and adoration that the human heart can give is
ascribed to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. To bless someone means to speak well
of them. Our English word eulogy comes from the
Greek word here. It means that we speak well
of God, that we say God is good. that God is
worthy of blessing because of his goodness to
us. He further identifies God as the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. I think it is worthy,
as long as we're passing by that phrase, to note
that it does describe the eternal relationship
between the first two persons of the Godhead,
the Father and the Son. are titles that describe
their relationship from all of eternity. Theologians
call this the eternal generation of the Son.
That means that he did not become the Son to
the Father at some point, for example, his incarnation
or birth of Bethlehem, nor even in his resurrection
did he become the Son, but from all of eternity
past he has been God the Son. Again, I say, Dr.
Schaefer, the relation of the second person to
the first person has from all eternity been that
of a son. And like all else related to the Godhead
is not only eternal, but is unchangeable. He
did not become a son of the Father by his incarnation
or by his resurrection, nor is he a son by mere
title, nor is he temporarily assuming. such a
relationship that he may execute his part in
the covenant of redemption. Here's what I'm going
to say. He was the only begotten of the Father
from all eternity, having no other relation to
time and creation than that he is the creator
of them. It is evident that the Father and Son
relationship sets forth not only the features
of emanation and manifestation, and does not
include the usual conception of derivation, inferiority,
or distinction as to the time of beginning. In
other words, normally we think of the son of
someone as being later in time, or being inferior
to, perhaps, or deriving his existence from a
father. The priest goes on to say the Son being
their God is eternal on an absolute equality
with the Father. And that is worth pointing out
because there are some who like to cause our
Lord Jesus Christ to be inferior because of this
title of Son and of God being called his Father.
But that is not the case at all. Paul blesses
the God and Father. of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Whatever our circumstances, and here I remind
you that Paul's circumstances were prison, we
are taught to bless God. He is our Father because
he has caused us to be born again. We are regenerated
by him. He has imparted life to us as well as
family likeness. Because of that, we call him
our father. We are reminded by James that all
good and perfect things come down from the father
of life, with whom there is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. We bless God because
all good and perfect gifts come down from him.
And even those bad experiences that we have in
life, Our God is able to cause to come out for
good, Romans 8 .28. I remind you of the outline
of the Ephesians that we have discussed. In the
first three chapters, the apostle is talking
about our calling in Christ Jesus. He wants us
to understand that for which God has summoned
us and destined us by our calling in Christ.
He wants us to understand something of the riches
that are ours in our Savior. So he begins by
pointing out the blessedness of God. He says
we bless God for what he has done. Then he begins
to enumerate what God has done. He mentions in
verse 3 that he has blessed us. Notice the objects
that are in view here, us. Of whom does Paul
speak? Well, the answer is found in verse 1.
The same ones that he calls there the saints.
And then further describes them as the believing
ones. In other words, Paul is talking about all
of us who are saved. We are the objects of God's
blessings. I would have you notice the action.
He has blessed us. It's the same root word as
blessed. Blessed be God who has blessed us. Remember
the Apostle John says we love him because he
first loved us. We might say we bless him because
he first blessed us. God has spoken well. He
has spoken good to us, resulting in our eternal
benefit. He has undertaken by his grace to provide
for us something that we could not otherwise
possess. We have become endowed by God. Colleges
and universities seek to build their endowments.
Endowments are sums of money that are set aside
by that institution to underwrite certain aspects
of their program. The endowment is not touched
itself normally, only the interest is drawn from
that. And usually an endowment fund is a large
fund. There's one university in the east, I believe
it is Harvard, which has an endowment fund, a
fund they never touch, it's only invested, of
over a billion dollars. A billion dollars. Well,
I can assure you that most Christian colleges
have a little bit less than that. Some of them
don't even have endowments at this point. Endowments
refer to benefits. That is there for the good
of the institution. We have received an endowment
by God. We are blessed by God. And notice the
content of the endowment. He says he has blessed
us with every spiritual blessing. I think it
would be good to say that Paul is not talking
here about the popular theology today called
prosperity theology. God is not here promising
that every Christian is going to be wealthy and
healthy. Indeed, that kind of a gospel is actually
a perversion of what the New Testament teaches.
Notice that God has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing. That is, these blessings are in the
realm of the Spirit. We have received blessings
from the Spirit without limit, without measure.
Every spiritual blessing is ours in Christ Jesus.
Everything that we need has been dispensed to
us already. There is no need for us to have a
second blessing or some additional work of grace,
as some people speak. For already we are complete
in Christ Jesus, according to Colossians chapter
2. And here we see that we have already been
blessed by God. with every spiritual blessing.
Now, it may be that we're not appropriating those
blessings. We may not be experiencing them in
our lives. But the point that is made here by
the Holy Spirit in these words is that God nonetheless
has given us already everything we need in Christ
Jesus. Every spiritual blessing is already ours.
Peter reiterates this in 2 Peter 1, 3. And he
says that God has granted to us everything pertaining
to life and godliness through the knowledge of
him. So there's nothing that we lack. There are
some systems of belief. When you hear them taught
and preached, you come away saying, what am I
lacking? I'm missing something. God must have
something I haven't received yet. And so it causes
you to look out there for something more, some
additional thing that God might do for you. But
the Word of God tells us that God has already
blessed us, endowed us with every possible thing
that we could ever need in this life. Therefore,
Paul says in Philippians 4 .13, I can do all
things. through Christ who strengthens me. Now
notice the realm of these blessings. Every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly. Some translations say
in the heavenly places, but literally it says
in the heavenly. The realm of the heavenly. That
is not exactly heaven, where God is in a local
sense, although he is, of course, on my presence.
that heaven is said to be his throne. But this
is not exactly equal to that. It's included,
but it's a broader term than that. It is not
an easy term, frankly, to get a hold of. It's
one of those terms you have to think about. You
have to chew on it and roll it around in your
spiritual mouth for a while so you can get some
flavor out of it. And then hopefully after a
while you can begin to digest what it means.
We have been blessed by God with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly. I think we might describe
that, as one attempt anyway, as the realm of
the supernatural. It is that other dimension
that is invisible to us, but is here. And not
just here, but everywhere in God's creation.
It is the realm beyond the natural that we know.
Some people say it this way, that it's the domain
of God. I think that's a little weak, but it
gets some idea across. There's a phrase that
is very significant in the book of Ephesians.
It is found only in this book, for one thing.
But it's found several times in it. For example,
look in verse 20 of this same chapter. And we
find something else about the heavenly. It says,
which he brought about in Christ, that is the
working of his might, when he, God, raised him
from the dead and seated him at his right hand
in the heavenly. In other words, the heavenly
is the realm of Christ's present seat of authority.
It says here that he has been seated, he has
been enthroned at the right hand of God. in the
heavenly, in that realm of the supernatural.
Again, in chapter 2 and verse 6, it says regarding
us that we have been, he has raised us up with
him, with Christ, and seated us with him in the
heavenly, in Christ Jesus. And so it is also
the realm of our own enthronement with the Lord
Jesus Christ. The heavenly is the sphere of reality
that has to do with our spiritual possessions
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the sphere of
the blessings which are related to the spirit.
There's a linguistic key to the Greek New Testament.
It is found again in chapter 3, verse 10. And
you may want to underline these in your Bible.
He speaks again of God. and his amazing grace
and work, what he's done, verse 10, in order
that the manifold wisdom of God might now be
made known through the church to the rulers and
the authorities in the heavenly. He is not talking
here about President Reagan, Prime Minister Foster,
or Mr. Gaddafi. Those are not the... principalities
and authorities the rulers that he's talking
about he's talking here about heavenly authority
he's talking about those authorities and rulers
in the supernatural realm he is talking primarily
here about the holy angels and we will come to
this at some point in the future but what he's
saying is that god right now is teaching them
in that realm about his wisdom as they watch
us in this realm. Through the church and what
God is doing in the world now, calling us out,
he is instructing the angels as to his wisdom.
And he says those angels are in the heavenlies,
in that supernatural realm. And then it is found
once more in chapter 6, verse 12. He says, for
our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the powers, against
the world forces of this darkness, against the
spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly.
And so he introduces a new thought here. He says,
not only is the heavenly this realm where our
possessions are, the place where Jesus is enthroned
and where we are enthroned in him, not only is
it the place where the holy angels are being
instructed by God, but it is also the realm or
the dimension where demons work. It is that invisible
realm of reality where the forces of Satan, where
wicked spirits are in spiritual warfare. against
the purpose and the plan of God. And so we have
a lot in the book of Ephesians to learn about
the heavenly. We can certainly say this, that
you and I live in a tension between two realities.
We are quite aware of the reality of earthly
things. We are born into this in our senses.
that we receive, the five senses that we have,
related to the natural realm. And we have certain
tensions in that realm of things. But we need
to be aware that there is another tension in
our lives as well that is related to the supernatural.
We'll be learning more about this. But there
is another realm, a heavenly realm, the heavenly.
So we have relationship. Our citizenship is in
heaven, so it's called. So while we are sojourners
and pilgrims on the earth, we are citizens, that
is permanent residents, of heaven. And since
we are related also to that realm, we live in
a tension. Tension in this world and tension
in relation to that world also. It is in that
realm that our spiritual blessings are. In the
Old Testament, God gave primarily physical blessings
to his people of Israel. They were not more important
than the spiritual blessings, but his blessings
to Israel relate primarily to this earth. But
the blessings that you and I have received in
Christ Jesus are not primarily related to this
earth. It doesn't ignore the earth. that our
blessings are said to be in the heavenly, related
to that realm of the spirit, and that is far
eternally more important than the blessings that
might be upon the earth. Whoever would want a
health and wealth prosperity theology compared
to the heavenly theology that the New Testament
really teaches? What is those blessings? That
really counts. And we'll be getting into more
of them. And I hope we get to one of them yet
this morning. Now he says, going back to our
text, 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. We
don't want to overlook those last two words because
they point out to us the source of our blessing.
These blessings are ours not because we are somebody,
but because of who Jesus is and who we are in
him. It is because of our union with the Lord
Jesus Christ that these blessings are ours. They
are not ours independent of him. They are not
ours separated from him. They are ours in Christ.
1 Corinthians 6 .17 says, The one who joins himself
to the Lord is one spirit with him. That is an
amazing statement. I cannot probe that. It does
not mean that we become God, that we in some
way become deities now or ever in the future.
But it does say that there is some very literal,
organic sense. in which we become one spirit
with the Lord Jesus Christ in this union that
we have with him. That is why the apostle in
the book of Romans says, He can separate us from
the love of Christ because we're one with him.
If we're going to lose out on salvation and ultimately
undergo condemnation and judgment, And so is
the Lord Jesus Christ, because we are now one
spirit with him, having joined ourselves to him
by faith. Again, in Romans chapter 8, he says
that we are children of God, and then he says
joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Amazing truth,
that we are in Christ, united with him, in union
with him, identified with him, so that these
spiritual blessings that are ours are ours. because
they are in him, and we are in him. Again, and
for the final time this morning, I want to quote
Schaeffer, who says, As the entire unregenerate
race is in Adam and constituted sinners by his
one act of disobedience, so the entire regenerate
group are in Christ and are constituted righteous
by his one act of obedience. Likewise, because
of... its relation to Adam, the first creation,
became subject to death. So also, he says, the
new creation, because of its relation to Christ,
has received the gift of God, which is eternal
life, and added to this all heavenly blessings,
which are in Christ Jesus. It may be said of
the least of the children of God that he not
only possesses the indwelling Christ, who is
his eternal life, but he is insured in Christ
and thus enriched with all that Christ is and
all that Christ has received. To conclude by
saying these riches are beyond comprehension.
There are only two spheres of spiritual identification
in the world. Adam and Jesus Christ. The unregenerate
are identified with Adam. If you were to see
their names written down, it would be in the
circle of Adam. That's where they are. That's
how God sees them. When you and I are saved,
when we trust the Lord Jesus Christ, God works
that miracle of regeneration in our lives, then
we are changed. to the second circle. And our
names are now written down in Jesus Christ. We
have a new identity before God. Now Paul emphasizes
this over and over and over again. It is important
for us to grasp that. If we don't grasp that,
we'll not understand, really, what our riches
are. Now I want you to notice with me, we'll
at least get started in the second blessing.
Blessed be God because what he's done for us,
the first one is that he's blessed us with all
spiritual blessings. Now there are some people
who say that verse 4 is the enumeration of blessing
number 1, and that's one possible way to understand
it. But in my outline, I'm going to do it this
way. What has God done for us? Well, in the first
place, he's blessed us. Secondly, he has chosen
us. And notice again the object, us. Verse 4,
just as he chose us, that is those who were unholy
and vile by nature, the likes of you and me,
sinners, God has chosen us. Notice God has not
chosen everyone. God has chosen us. It says.
Having noticed the objects, I want you to notice
the action that's involved. He's chosen. Selection
is in view here. The verb means to take out for
oneself. It's not a complex word at all. You
have a can of cookies. You reach in there and
you pull out. some for yourself. You're choosing
them. It's a very simple concept. But is it ever
profound theologically? What it says here is
that God has chosen us. This is what the Bible
terms the doctrine of election. When God chose
us, there was no one else involved. It was not
God and... It was not God and the devil fighting
over us. It was simply a sovereign act of God.
He chose us. Now there's a paradox that is involved
here because there is a human side to this whole
thing as well. Someone responds by saying, yes,
I know it says that, but what about free will?
What about free will of man? I think it's important
to point out, at least in passing, that never
in the Bible do you find the term free will.
The term free will is not a biblical phrase.
Now, man does indeed have a will. The Bible makes
that clear. The unregenerate has a will. The
regenerate man has a will. But the will of the
unregenerate, the unsaved man, is not free by
any stretch of the imagination. The will of the
unsaved man is enslaved to evil. He does not
have the capacity in him to choose good and to
choose God. You say, yes, but I know of unsaved
people who do good things, and that is absolutely
true. That's not the point here. The point is
that an unsaved man cannot and will not, of his
own volition, choose God. He will follow evil.
There is none, says God, who seeks after him
as himself. Perhaps a better phrase than the
free will of man would be the term human responsibility.
The Bible certainly does teach that man has a
responsibility before God. Jesus said, for example,
in Matthew 11, 28, Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden. The flipping jailer
cried out, What must I do to be saved? Paul responded,
Acts 16, 31, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you will be saved. And so there is a responsibility
on the part of man to believe or to come to the
Lord. That is human responsibility. I think that
John MacArthur makes a helpful statement about
the paradox involved here. He says the only way
the paradox of God's sovereign election and man's
choice can be resolved is in the mind of God.
You see, God understands things that we can't.
And MacArthur says that's fine. Because if we
understood everything, we'd be God. So this paradox
doesn't have to be resolved. But whatever you
do, don't take God's sovereignty and man's choice
and try to find some middle ground. Or you'll
destroy them both. Leave them alone and let the
tension be there. Let God be sovereign and don't
worry. about how he harmonizes that with people
coming to Christ. That's his problem, not ours.
That's a helpful statement. Because you see,
man does have a responsibility to obey the word
of God, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
to come to him. On the other hand, in God's perspective,
it says that he has chosen those who will respond
before the foundation. of the world you see these
two truths work together in harmony macarthur
is correcting saying don't try to chop eastern
down and compromise them and find middle ground
in doing that one compromises what the bible
says on the one hand it says that god chose us
on the other hand it says that we believe on
the lord jesus christ And thus we're saved. These
two truths work together, and I want to show
you at least one passage this morning where they
do. This passage is quoting the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. Turn with me to the Gospel of John in
the sixth chapter. Now in one sentence, Jesus
includes both of these profound truths. He doesn't
try to resolve them. He simply states that both
of these things are true. John 6, 37, All that
the Father gives me shall come to me. Now notice
that God the Father is giving to the Lord Jesus
Christ, his Son, a people. And Jesus says all.
With no exception, all that the Father gives
to me, and those are all that he's chosen, all
that the Father gives to me shall come to me.
There will not be one of them who will fail to
believe. They will come to him. But then he goes
on to say, and the one who comes to me, I will
certainly not cast out. And so in the same sentence,
he speaks to the responsibility of the individual.
He says, the one who comes to me, I will not
cast out. So you see that there is in this verse
no resolution of the paradox, but there's an
equal statement of them. It may be helpful to
notice these two. work together in one other
passage in the book of Luke, here not in the
context of salvation at all, but actually in
Judith, Luke 22 and verse 22. Here once more
we see the sovereignty of God. What God has determined
will take place. And we see a man's responsibility,
not his free will, but his responsibility. Therefore,
indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been
determined. Notice that. Jesus says, what has
been determined, I am now going out to do. What
is that? Well, to be betrayed in the garden,
be crucified and raised from the dead. And then
he says, but woe to that man, by whom he is betrayed.
In other words, Jesus squarely laid on Judas
responsibility for his own actions. Judas was
absolutely not a victim of God's sovereignty.
Judas did what he desired to do of himself. That
is the human side of it. Judas was responsible
for his betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
the divine side of it, an equal truth, standing
over against its intention that only God understands,
is the fact that it was predetermined that one
of the twelve, and Judas in particular, would
betray him. And so we see God's sovereignty a
man's responsibility. These two crews are like
the two rails of a railroad track. The rails
run parallel to each other. They never meet.
A locomotive sitting on the track has to have
both of those rails to operate. If it does not
have both of those rails, if one of them is missing
for some reason, there will be a terrible crash.
I like to think of that as God's sovereignty
and man's responsibility. On those tracks runs
the locomotive of God's salvation. Both of them
are essential. Both of them are a part of God's
salvation. Without one or the other, there would
not be salvation. You can't take away man's responsibility.
You can't take away God's sovereignty. They both
are there. And because they are there, the locomotive
of God's salvation goes on. We have to beware,
beloved, of extremes. of trying to say that everything
is God's sovereignty and that man has no will.
That is absolutely not true. That is an extreme
position that leads one, ultimately, to theological
error. Nor can one say that man is free to do
whatever he wants and that God has only chosen
man on the basis of the fact that he saw that
man someday would believe. Therefore, God chose
that person. That is not true. God's sovereignty,
man's responsibility. We cannot resolve them.
Don't try to. You see, God has kept some secrets
to himself. He has that right, doesn't he? The
secret things belong to the Lord. How these two
work together? If you try to understand that,
you'll lose your mind. You really will. If you
try to compromise it or go to one extreme or
another, you'll go into theological error. Simply
accept what the Word of God tells us, that both
things are true and that God knows how they relate.
He has chosen us. What a wonderful truth that
is. But you know there cannot be one person here
this morning who would say in going out, well,
I am not trusting Jesus Christ because God has
not chosen me. You cannot say that. You cannot
use that as an excuse for your denial of Jesus
Christ's lordship in your life. In fact, God
has not chosen you. Because God has said to you
that if you will, you may come to him. If you
wish to, you may believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and be saved. And you are responsible for that
decision. Irrespective of what it says here regarding
the fact he's chosen his own, you are responsible
today for your decision to receive or to reject
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I remind you that
your eternal welfare, the destiny of your soul
in heaven or hell, depends upon whether you will
believe on him today or will not. If you have
not trusted him, will you do it this morning?
May God give you grace to do that. Let's bow
together in prayer. Father, as we begin to dip
into the blessings and riches that are ours in
Christ, we stand back with our minds amazed,
maybe even a little bit boggled, We confess that
we of ourselves cannot comprehend these things.
And thus we pray that the Spirit of God would
be our teacher. Lord, show us the blessing that
salvation is, that we may in turn then say, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And Father, if there be some sinner here today
who has not yet opened his heart to receive Christ,
I pray that you would awaken him today to that
truth. Enable him to respond in faith and repent
of his sins and be saved. We pray this in Jesus'
name. I'd like us to close by singing a couple
of verses of 545, a hymn by Charles Gabriel which
speaks to the grace of God. And as we sing this,
I want to extend an invitation. There is no greater
nor masterful preacher of the truths that we've
talked about this morning than Charles Spurgeon
in London, England, a hundred years ago right
now. But inevitably, he would give an opportunity
for people to respond to the grace of God. And
he was right in doing so. And today we invite
you to respond. If God has worked in your heart
and today you want to trust in the Savior, will
you come? I'll be standing here at the front.
We invite you to respond to him by coming. Now,
in coming itself, that doesn't save you. Understand
that. It's your heart's condition before God.
But we invite you to make a public response to
that. 545, in loving kindness, Jesus came. He
came for you. Stand please with me as we sing.
Will you come right now? i want you to sing with
me the second verse and notice the words and
how they might relate to the message this morning
as you sing he called me What a great truth that
is, that our Savior stepped into this world and
called us to himself and lifted us from the sinking
sands of our sins. Oh, Savior, thank you. Father,
thank you for the grace that sent the Son that
he might accomplish on our behalf. what we could
never do of ourselves. Thank you for awakening
us to that truth, for by your Spirit bringing
us under conviction and bringing us by new life
to an understanding of what Christ had done for
us and giving us to believe on the Savior. I
pray today that we might rejoice. You would send
us on our way blessing you. because of what you've
done for the likes of us. In Jesus' name.