WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.410 After his rather difficult experience of being 00:00:03.410 --> 00:00:09.630 spit up by a fish, Jonah prayed. At the conclusion 00:00:09.630 --> 00:00:15.230 of his prayer, he said, Salvation is from the 00:00:15.230 --> 00:00:19.350 Lord. No one ever knew that better than Jonah. 00:00:20.629 --> 00:00:23.589 He was as good as dead and buried in the belly 00:00:23.589 --> 00:00:27.710 of that great fish that God had prepared. When 00:00:27.710 --> 00:00:32.399 he was free, He knew that salvation came from 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:36.619 the Lord and not from him. Salvation is God's 00:00:36.619 --> 00:00:40.359 work from beginning to end. The universe which 00:00:40.359 --> 00:00:44.899 God created is functioning according to his sovereign 00:00:44.899 --> 00:00:49.920 and all -wise master plan. And the salvation 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:54.920 of his redeemed people for his own glory is no 00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:59.000 exception to that. It is not left to chance. 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:05.719 It is perfect. Salvation is not 50 % God's work 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:09.859 and 50 % man's work, for if that were the case, 00:01:09.859 --> 00:01:12.540 then man would receive 50 % of the glory for 00:01:12.540 --> 00:01:17.700 it. It's not even 95 % God's work and 5 % man's. 00:01:18.859 --> 00:01:23.079 Salvation is 100 % the work of the Lord. Jonah 00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:28.200 was right. Salvation is from the Lord. In this 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:31.819 present age, God is putting together a body of 00:01:31.819 --> 00:01:36.780 people called the church to be the perfect bride 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:41.760 for his beloved son. Such an exalted destiny 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:47.260 is unthinkable for the likes of us, deformed 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:51.620 and depraved, ruined by our sin. And that is 00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:54.280 the reason that in Ephesians chapter 1 that the 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:59.420 Apostle Paul cries out with praise, to God. He 00:01:59.420 --> 00:02:03.579 exclaims, Blessed be the God and Father of our 00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:08.219 Lord Jesus Christ. Why is he praising God? Because 00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:11.280 of the great work of God. Because of what God 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:16.639 has done in salvation. He blesses God because 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:21.620 God has blessed us. God has blessed us in that 00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:26.719 he has provided in Jesus Christ a spiritual relationship 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:33.060 and resource that are complete and inexhaustible. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:37.300 Our every need has been thought of in advance 00:02:37.300 --> 00:02:42.900 and provided for because every spiritual blessing 00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:47.479 is already ours in Christ Jesus. I said to one 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:49.479 of the men this morning after our membership 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:53.400 class, God bless you, and he said, he has. And 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:57.180 he was right. God has blessed us in Jesus Christ. 00:02:58.340 --> 00:03:01.319 And then he blesses God as well because God has 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:06.639 chosen us. He has selected us before the work 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:11.340 of creation itself to be his own and his purpose 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:15.099 that we might be set apart as blameless to a 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:18.520 destiny that is beyond our wildest imagination. 00:03:19.939 --> 00:03:24.159 I have not seen... Neither has entered into the 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:27.360 heart of man the things that God has prepared 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:31.979 for them that love him. But God has revealed 00:03:31.979 --> 00:03:35.180 them unto us. In other words, we could never 00:03:35.180 --> 00:03:38.240 think on our own of the things that God would 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.740 do. But God has told us what he has done for 00:03:41.740 --> 00:03:46.300 us. And then he blesses God for a third reason. 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:49.400 That is, that he has predestined us, and that's 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:51.300 where we pick up the context this morning in 00:03:51.300 --> 00:03:55.680 verse 5 of Ephesians 1. He predestined us to 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:59.099 adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:02.300 according to the kind intention of his will, 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:05.180 to the praise of the glory of his grace, which 00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:10.740 he freely bestowed on us in the beloved. He predestined 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:13.439 us. What has God done? He has blessed us. He 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:17.839 has chosen us. He predestined us. Now briefly 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.959 notice with me again the object of what is taking 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:25.759 place here. It says he predestined us. This is 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:28.000 the same group of people that are spoken of in 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.339 the previous verses. It is those who are the 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:34.959 saints, all the way back in verse 1, who are, 00:04:35.019 --> 00:04:38.420 in other words, the believers, the faithful in 00:04:38.420 --> 00:04:41.800 Christ Jesus. In other words, it is those of 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:44.160 us who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:48.800 as Savior. for the object of this action. It 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.920 is worthy to note that predestination in any 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:57.759 context in the Bible never once deals with the 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:02.779 unsaved. Predestination, whenever it is mentioned, 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:06.980 always has to do only with the saved of God. 00:05:07.540 --> 00:05:10.970 And that is the case here. We who are saved are 00:05:10.970 --> 00:05:13.670 the objects of this work of predestination. Now 00:05:13.670 --> 00:05:17.689 let's talk about the action, secondly. The action 00:05:17.689 --> 00:05:21.269 that is involved in this work of God. The word 00:05:21.269 --> 00:05:25.829 means to mark out with a boundary beforehand. 00:05:28.310 --> 00:05:30.949 It might be compared to that work that Abraham 00:05:30.949 --> 00:05:34.750 did when God told him to walk around the land 00:05:34.750 --> 00:05:39.639 in Genesis 13. saying, I will give this to you 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:43.459 and to your descendants. Until the day that Abraham 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:45.620 died, he didn't receive it, but his descendants 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:50.980 did. He marked out beforehand by his walk the 00:05:50.980 --> 00:05:54.980 boundaries of the land. That is simply what the 00:05:54.980 --> 00:05:59.699 word means. It means that beforehand God marked 00:05:59.699 --> 00:06:04.899 out with a boundary the destiny of his own. It 00:06:04.899 --> 00:06:09.199 is an action that logically, preceded the work 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:12.259 of election. I don't know that we could say that 00:06:12.259 --> 00:06:15.819 chronologically they were separated, but the 00:06:15.819 --> 00:06:19.139 verb here, as it is written in the original language 00:06:19.139 --> 00:06:22.959 in verse 5, seems to indicate that God's work 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:26.620 of predestining gives cause for his work of electing. 00:06:27.699 --> 00:06:33.180 The idea is this, that God looked forward into 00:06:33.180 --> 00:06:37.949 time, which was yet to become, And he determined 00:06:37.949 --> 00:06:42.350 what the destiny of his redeemed people would 00:06:42.350 --> 00:06:46.110 be. He marked it out with a boundary beforehand. 00:06:46.350 --> 00:06:49.569 He said, this is going to be the destiny of my 00:06:49.569 --> 00:06:53.829 redeemed. And based upon that, he then did his 00:06:53.829 --> 00:06:57.230 work of choosing, of selecting a particular people 00:06:57.230 --> 00:07:02.449 for that destiny. Is it not a marvelous thing 00:07:02.449 --> 00:07:06.240 to you to realize that your ultimate destiny 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:11.379 was determined by God, not just before you were 00:07:11.379 --> 00:07:15.500 saved or before you were born, but before Adam 00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:20.899 and Eve were even created, before God spoke the 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:24.860 creation into existence, before the foundation 00:07:24.860 --> 00:07:29.620 of the world, he predestined you to a certain 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:33.769 destiny. Now let's talk about that goal of God's 00:07:33.769 --> 00:07:37.350 work of predestination. What did God have in 00:07:37.350 --> 00:07:40.089 mind when he marked out this certain destiny? 00:07:41.509 --> 00:07:44.910 His goal in mind is described in these words, 00:07:45.009 --> 00:07:53.269 adoption as sons to himself. The word adoption 00:07:53.269 --> 00:07:59.970 as sons means to place as a son within the family. 00:08:01.110 --> 00:08:04.069 Vine, in his expository dictionary of New Testament 00:08:04.069 --> 00:08:07.149 words, says it is the place and condition of 00:08:07.149 --> 00:08:11.250 a son given to one to whom it does not naturally 00:08:11.250 --> 00:08:19.750 belong. You and I are given adult status in God's 00:08:19.750 --> 00:08:25.329 family by this work of adoption. We are given 00:08:25.329 --> 00:08:29.949 the rights, the privileges, and the responsibilities 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:35.240 of full -grown adult sons within the family of 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:42.279 God. As far as our position is concerned in Jesus 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:46.840 Christ, God does not plan into it any babyhood. 00:08:48.059 --> 00:08:51.659 There is no childhood when it comes to our position 00:08:51.659 --> 00:08:57.269 in Jesus Christ. Now as to our condition, the 00:08:57.269 --> 00:09:01.149 state in which we live, there is infancy, there's 00:09:01.149 --> 00:09:04.490 growth, there's progress into childhood and then 00:09:04.490 --> 00:09:09.830 maturity. But as far as our position in Jesus 00:09:09.830 --> 00:09:13.110 Christ is concerned, our unchangeable position, 00:09:13.610 --> 00:09:18.549 God does not plan into it any childhood. At the 00:09:18.549 --> 00:09:22.169 moment that we are saved through our faith in 00:09:22.169 --> 00:09:25.570 the Lord Jesus Christ, God, at that instant, 00:09:25.669 --> 00:09:31.450 declares us to be adults in his family. He, at 00:09:31.450 --> 00:09:36.009 that moment, adopts us in this sense. We are 00:09:36.009 --> 00:09:38.909 not adopted into God's family in the modern sense 00:09:38.909 --> 00:09:44.590 in which we use that word. We are born into God's 00:09:44.590 --> 00:09:47.169 family through regeneration, so we don't need 00:09:47.169 --> 00:09:49.629 to be adopted in the sense that we use the term 00:09:49.629 --> 00:09:54.490 today. We are born again as the children of God. 00:09:54.549 --> 00:09:59.070 We are his born ones. But this work, the biblical 00:09:59.070 --> 00:10:04.470 work of adoption into God's family, means that 00:10:04.470 --> 00:10:10.549 God gives his born ones standing as adults. You 00:10:10.549 --> 00:10:14.309 say, so what? What does that mean to me? Well, 00:10:14.330 --> 00:10:18.190 think about this, that babies cannot use their 00:10:18.190 --> 00:10:22.860 inheritance. Whatever wealth may be in the family, 00:10:23.019 --> 00:10:26.240 whatever privileges are there, whatever responsibilities 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:30.700 are entailed into birth in that family, these 00:10:30.700 --> 00:10:34.620 are all reserved until later, when that child 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:39.139 comes of age. He cannot enjoy all of that while 00:10:39.139 --> 00:10:44.120 he is under age, while he's a baby. You see, 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:46.399 you and I have been born into the royal family 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:52.399 of the universe. But we don't have a period of 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:54.820 time in our lives when we are unable to enjoy 00:10:54.820 --> 00:10:58.820 the inheritance that God has given us. From the 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:00.960 very moment that we were saved, you and I can 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:04.340 enter into the fullness of all that God has provided 00:11:04.340 --> 00:11:08.600 for us in Jesus Christ. All of that inheritance 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.899 is ours to draw upon now. Those spiritual blessings 00:11:11.899 --> 00:11:15.500 that he's mentioned earlier may now, at this 00:11:15.500 --> 00:11:18.220 moment in your life, even if you were saved at 00:11:18.220 --> 00:11:21.470 8 .30 this morning, All of those spiritual blessings 00:11:21.470 --> 00:11:25.850 are at your disposal to be used by you. You need 00:11:25.850 --> 00:11:30.009 not wait until some later time. Likewise, the 00:11:30.009 --> 00:11:32.309 responsibilities that are ours, and those would 00:11:32.309 --> 00:11:34.250 entail all of the commands of the New Testament 00:11:34.250 --> 00:11:38.809 to God's people, all of those responsibilities 00:11:38.809 --> 00:11:42.350 are not for somewhere down the road when we get 00:11:42.350 --> 00:11:47.070 old enough. But those commands are all for us 00:11:47.070 --> 00:11:49.909 right now because we are adults in God's family. 00:11:49.990 --> 00:11:52.870 We have been adopted. We have been placed as 00:11:52.870 --> 00:11:59.230 sons into God's family. Now, there's a future 00:11:59.230 --> 00:12:01.850 aspect to our adoption that is mentioned in Romans 00:12:01.850 --> 00:12:03.710 chapter 8, and maybe it would be helpful to go 00:12:03.710 --> 00:12:06.669 back to that passage and look there. Romans 8, 00:12:06.710 --> 00:12:12.629 verses 22 and 23. You find the idea of adoption 00:12:12.629 --> 00:12:17.049 also mentioned in Galatians chapter 4. In Romans 00:12:17.049 --> 00:12:21.789 8, verses 22 and 23, it says, For we know that 00:12:21.789 --> 00:12:27.210 the whole creation groans and suffers the pains 00:12:27.210 --> 00:12:31.789 of childbirth together until now. In other words, 00:12:31.809 --> 00:12:36.070 he pictures the creation around us as groaning, 00:12:36.070 --> 00:12:40.440 as prevailing, as though in birth. It is suffering 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:43.200 under the load of sin that mankind has brought 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:47.440 into the world. And verse 23 says that not only 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:50.940 this, but also we ourselves having the firstfruits 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:54.240 of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:57.039 ourselves. Some of us did that when we got out 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:00.519 of bed this morning. But we groan in other ways 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:04.580 than physical, too, don't we? We long for release 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:08.759 from the sin principle that is within us. The 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:12.519 flesh, which is the avenue of temptation and 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:16.600 sin. We groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly, 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:21.059 he says, for our adoption as sons. You see the 00:13:21.059 --> 00:13:24.720 same phrase. And then he defines it here as the 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:30.240 redemption of our body. So in this context, in 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:32.919 Romans 8, he's pointing to a future aspect of 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:37.980 adoption when our bodies will be changed. from 00:13:37.980 --> 00:13:40.259 the lowly condition in which they are now to 00:13:40.259 --> 00:13:43.379 be like the body, the glorious body of the Lord 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:46.320 Jesus Christ. This, of course, will take place 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:49.320 at the rapture of the church. And he says at 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:51.500 that moment there will be no more cause for the 00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:56.000 groaning which we emit now as sounds of our laboring, 00:13:56.100 --> 00:13:59.600 of our suffering. But at that moment we will 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.740 be fully released from all that here causes us 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:06.559 to groan. and our adoption as sons will then 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:11.279 be complete. Warren Wiersbe has said, we already 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.659 have our adults standing before God, but the 00:14:14.659 --> 00:14:19.100 world cannot see this. When Christ returns, this 00:14:19.100 --> 00:14:22.860 private adoption will be made public for everyone 00:14:22.860 --> 00:14:28.500 to see. Now the apostle says here that all of 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:32.429 this that he has mentioned has been done. so 00:14:32.429 --> 00:14:36.389 that the church might be his own peculiar treasure, 00:14:36.669 --> 00:14:40.610 his property. Notice, he predestined us to adoption 00:14:40.610 --> 00:14:46.529 as sons to himself. In other words, he has done 00:14:46.529 --> 00:14:49.330 this work of adoption. He has taken us out from 00:14:49.330 --> 00:14:52.850 the nations. He has redeemed us. He has secured 00:14:52.850 --> 00:14:58.909 us to himself so that we might be his own very 00:14:58.909 --> 00:15:04.230 special treasure. My friend, if that doesn't 00:15:04.230 --> 00:15:06.570 do something for you spiritually this morning, 00:15:06.649 --> 00:15:09.269 then you better go back to bed and wake up again. 00:15:11.190 --> 00:15:18.250 To realize that the holy, infinite God of the 00:15:18.250 --> 00:15:23.789 universe has predestined you in Jesus Christ 00:15:23.789 --> 00:15:27.610 to be an adult son in his family so that you 00:15:27.610 --> 00:15:30.830 might be his own special, peculiar treasure. 00:15:31.610 --> 00:15:35.909 I want to do something for all of us. It brings 00:15:35.909 --> 00:15:37.950 us to the grace of God, as we'll see in a few 00:15:37.950 --> 00:15:41.429 moments. That is the goal that God has in mind, 00:15:41.450 --> 00:15:45.350 though, in this work of predestining. Now notice 00:15:45.350 --> 00:15:49.070 the means by which he does this. He says it is 00:15:49.070 --> 00:15:53.289 through Jesus Christ. In other words, apart from 00:15:53.289 --> 00:15:56.370 the Lord Jesus Christ and his work at the cross, 00:15:56.690 --> 00:16:01.080 such an action as this would be impossible. God 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:03.259 could never take a sinner like you, a sinner 00:16:03.259 --> 00:16:07.159 like me, and make us adult sons in his family 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:11.320 to inherit all things. He could never make us 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:15.139 his peculiar, beloved treasure were it not for 00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:18.740 the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ 00:16:18.740 --> 00:16:23.720 is the agent through whom the adoption takes 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:28.559 place. It is because of his cleansing blood shed 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:32.029 at the cross. You and I are able to be accepted 00:16:32.029 --> 00:16:37.129 by God, the Holy One. Have your sins been cleansed? 00:16:38.750 --> 00:16:43.629 Has your past been expunged? Is the record clean? 00:16:45.210 --> 00:16:47.629 It can be made clean only through the blood of 00:16:47.629 --> 00:16:50.529 Jesus. And that is what is entailed in these 00:16:50.529 --> 00:16:54.669 three simple words, through Jesus Christ. It 00:16:54.669 --> 00:16:57.090 is through his bloody sacrifice at the cross. 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:02.740 that we are able to be adopted by God. Now, I 00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:04.799 would like you fifthly to notice the motive that 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:10.099 is involved in this work of predestination. To 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:12.140 get this, we actually have to go back into verse 00:17:12.140 --> 00:17:15.059 4 in our English translation to pick up two words, 00:17:15.259 --> 00:17:21.000 the words in love. In love he predestined us. 00:17:21.500 --> 00:17:24.480 Now, there are some translations, and in translations... 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:27.400 and include those two words with verse 4, but 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:30.599 it seems to be a good reason to include it into 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:34.759 verse 5 as we study the scripture. Predestination 00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:40.019 has a definite motive behind it. It is the motive 00:17:40.019 --> 00:17:43.759 of God's love. In love, he predestined that we 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:46.140 should be brought into his family as adult sons. 00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:50.500 You see, love expresses the very nature of God. 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:54.920 It is his very heart. His being throbs with love. 00:17:55.019 --> 00:17:59.000 God is love, and it is that love that caused 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:03.319 him before creation to determine that there would 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:06.019 be a group of people that would enjoy the destiny 00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:11.759 of being his children. It was his love that caused 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.319 him, that motivated him to predetermine this. 00:18:14.740 --> 00:18:17.160 Dr. Skevington Wood has said, any interpretation 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:21.940 of this mysterious doctrine that is of predestination, 00:18:22.750 --> 00:18:25.430 that detracts from the love of God is rightly 00:18:25.430 --> 00:18:31.069 suspect. Predestination is absolutely soaked 00:18:31.069 --> 00:18:36.029 in the love of God. There is nothing mean about 00:18:36.029 --> 00:18:43.009 it. Predestination was motivated by the heart 00:18:43.009 --> 00:18:47.450 of God for our good, and thus he undertook through 00:18:47.450 --> 00:18:50.710 Jesus Christ to provide that we might be brought 00:18:50.710 --> 00:18:53.680 into his family. and enjoy the privileges and 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.299 responsibilities and rights of his children. 00:18:58.420 --> 00:19:01.039 And that brings us, number six, to the basis 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:07.480 for predestination. He predestined us to adoption 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:13.539 as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according 00:19:13.539 --> 00:19:18.740 to the kind intention of his will. The basis... 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:25.059 of our being adopted as children, as sons, the 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:29.200 basis of our predestination is the will of God. 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:35.319 He calls it here the kind intention of God's 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:42.339 will. God's will is sovereign. What God decrees 00:19:42.339 --> 00:19:47.250 will happen, will happen. Now, within the sovereign 00:19:47.250 --> 00:19:49.890 will of God, there is latitude for the moral 00:19:49.890 --> 00:19:54.710 responsibility of man. You say that seems contradictory 00:19:54.710 --> 00:20:00.450 to me. Well, it may, but it's not. Within the 00:20:00.450 --> 00:20:03.970 sovereign purposes of God, which will be accomplished 00:20:03.970 --> 00:20:09.789 completely, there is another aspect of God's 00:20:09.789 --> 00:20:13.170 will. He's called by various names, but perhaps 00:20:13.170 --> 00:20:18.309 the simplest name is the moral will of God. And 00:20:18.309 --> 00:20:21.069 within that will of God, he allows man a great 00:20:21.069 --> 00:20:24.730 deal of latitude. And for his decisions, man 00:20:24.730 --> 00:20:31.869 is responsible. Now it is the will of God, in 00:20:31.869 --> 00:20:35.529 the broader sense, the sovereign will of God, 00:20:35.609 --> 00:20:39.480 that he makes this statement. It is the kind 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:43.519 intention of God's sovereign will that provides 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:45.980 the basis for the work that he's talked about 00:20:45.980 --> 00:20:50.980 in this verse. Some see God's sovereign will 00:20:50.980 --> 00:20:55.420 as cold and calculating, as even sterile perhaps. 00:20:56.619 --> 00:20:59.720 But all of that is wrong. Rather, the will of 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:02.559 God, even his sovereign will, is to be characterized 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:06.369 by what he calls here kind purposes. I think 00:21:06.369 --> 00:21:08.990 the New International Version puts it, his pleasure 00:21:08.990 --> 00:21:14.710 and will. You see, God delights in saving sinners, 00:21:14.849 --> 00:21:20.509 and he has willed to do so. That's why he calls 00:21:20.509 --> 00:21:24.390 it here, the kind intention of his will. God 00:21:24.390 --> 00:21:27.769 delights to save sinners. It brings him satisfaction, 00:21:28.109 --> 00:21:33.390 because it represents the expression of his very 00:21:33.390 --> 00:21:40.190 being. It pleases God to save. As Paul says in 00:21:40.190 --> 00:21:44.829 1 Corinthians 1 .21, God was well pleased through 00:21:44.829 --> 00:21:48.869 the foolishness of the message preached, that 00:21:48.869 --> 00:21:53.210 is Christ crucified, to save those who believe. 00:21:54.910 --> 00:21:59.190 God is well pleased to save people, those who 00:21:59.190 --> 00:22:03.359 believe. It goes on to say that God has therefore 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:06.220 chosen the foolish things of the world, the weak 00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:09.460 things, the base things, the despised, the things 00:22:09.460 --> 00:22:12.839 that are zeros, that amount to nothing as far 00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:16.759 as the world is concerned, so that no one could 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:21.799 boast before him. It is by his doing that we 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:27.180 are in Christ Jesus, so that it might be fulfilled 00:22:27.180 --> 00:22:30.359 what it says in Jeremiah, let him who boasts. 00:22:31.360 --> 00:22:37.099 boast in the Lord. What is the basis of our being 00:22:37.099 --> 00:22:40.799 brought into God's family and made sons? Well, 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:43.119 the ground of it, the basis of it, is the sovereign 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:46.119 will of God, which can only be described as kind 00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:50.980 in its intention. We are told that predestination 00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:55.839 and adoption are according to God's will or God's 00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:00.480 purposes. The reason that he's saved is because 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:08.119 he chooses to save. He saves some and not all 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:11.619 because that is his pleasure and determination 00:23:11.619 --> 00:23:18.180 as well. You say, would you please explain that? 00:23:18.299 --> 00:23:20.519 Well, I don't know that we can explain that to 00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:25.859 our satisfaction. But God has not purposed to 00:23:25.859 --> 00:23:31.039 save all of mankind. Indeed, Jesus said, few 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:36.640 there be that find the narrow gate that leads 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:41.579 to life. God has not purposed that all men will 00:23:41.579 --> 00:23:47.339 be saved. Why, we do not know. That is one of 00:23:47.339 --> 00:23:49.599 the mysteries that God has not revealed to us, 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:52.019 and he has the perfect good right not to tell 00:23:52.019 --> 00:23:59.130 us whatever he wishes. God desires that all men 00:23:59.130 --> 00:24:00.970 should be saved, but that is his moral will. 00:24:01.710 --> 00:24:05.029 That is his heart. He does not delight in the 00:24:05.029 --> 00:24:10.769 death of the wicked. But God only intervenes 00:24:10.769 --> 00:24:14.589 and saves some because that is his sovereign 00:24:14.589 --> 00:24:19.369 will to do it that way. And it is kindness that 00:24:19.369 --> 00:24:25.900 he does it for any of us. It is kindness. Because 00:24:25.900 --> 00:24:30.599 if he had not intervened on our behalf, then 00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:35.480 we should forever be lost in sin and experience 00:24:35.480 --> 00:24:38.720 the judgment that we truly deserve because of 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:41.599 our sinful and wicked rebellion against God. 00:24:43.900 --> 00:24:47.039 God has predestined that there should be a people 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:54.799 who would enjoy the destiny of being sons. full 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:59.819 of grown children in his family. He chose a people 00:24:59.819 --> 00:25:03.220 to enjoy that destiny. And all of that is according 00:25:03.220 --> 00:25:08.839 to the kind intention of his sovereign will. 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:13.299 And then we come, finally, to the purpose of 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:17.519 it all, of all of the above actions. And that 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:21.539 is, in verse 6, to the praise... of the glory 00:25:21.539 --> 00:25:23.880 of his grace, which is a way of saying to the 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:27.960 praise of his glorious grace, which he freely 00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:35.279 bestowed on us in the beloved. Why has God done 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:39.599 all of this? Why has he acted kindly to save 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:43.859 some? It is so that he might manifest and that 00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:48.279 we might adoringly recognize the excellent nature 00:25:49.450 --> 00:25:54.589 of his undeserved favor, his grace. Grace now 00:25:54.589 --> 00:25:57.910 becomes the focal point of what Paul has written 00:25:57.910 --> 00:26:03.369 about. He speaks of it as being glorious. It 00:26:03.369 --> 00:26:06.390 expresses the excellency of his person, his grace. 00:26:08.309 --> 00:26:11.730 Grace which is freely, generously, and graciously 00:26:11.730 --> 00:26:19.819 imparted to us. Favor is given to us with delight. 00:26:20.019 --> 00:26:24.099 He holds back nothing. He gives to us graciously 00:26:24.099 --> 00:26:27.799 his grace. That is the meaning then in that verse. 00:26:29.460 --> 00:26:32.960 What it's telling us here is that God loves his 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:38.680 son, the beloved, so much that he wants a whole 00:26:38.680 --> 00:26:42.720 heaven filled with people who are just like him. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:47.160 And that, my friend, is the destiny that God 00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:52.539 has appointed for you, to be just like God's 00:26:52.539 --> 00:26:58.539 Son. Isn't it interesting how many times God 00:26:58.539 --> 00:27:01.779 calls him his beloved when he speaks of him? 00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:08.019 For example, at the baptism, this is my beloved 00:27:08.019 --> 00:27:13.000 son. He didn't just say, this is my son, which 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:17.109 is accurate. But he described him as my beloved 00:27:17.109 --> 00:27:23.049 son. God loves the son. The father loves the 00:27:23.049 --> 00:27:25.990 son with a love that is more deep than any of 00:27:25.990 --> 00:27:31.289 us can possibly know. On the Mount of Transfiguration, 00:27:31.529 --> 00:27:36.809 the father spoke and said, this is my beloved 00:27:36.809 --> 00:27:45.289 son. Listen to him. In Colossians chapter 1, 00:27:45.369 --> 00:27:49.589 the Apostle Paul tells us that we have been transferred 00:27:49.589 --> 00:27:55.529 out of the domain of Satan into the kingdom of 00:27:55.529 --> 00:28:03.130 the Son of His love. The Father lavishes love 00:28:03.130 --> 00:28:09.549 on His Son. We who are parents can understand 00:28:09.549 --> 00:28:13.180 something of the emotion here. But of course 00:28:13.180 --> 00:28:17.960 it falls far short of what God feels for his 00:28:17.960 --> 00:28:24.960 son. But the father loves his son dearly. He 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:31.200 is beloved. And it says here that God has freely 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:35.920 bestowed his grace on us in the beloved. Some 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:38.400 translations put it this way, in which he has 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:42.130 made us fully accepted. In his beloved. The idea 00:28:42.130 --> 00:28:46.670 is the same. That when God looks at you. And 00:28:46.670 --> 00:28:51.589 he looks at me. He does not see us. With our 00:28:51.589 --> 00:28:56.109 original roots. That go back to Adam. But he 00:28:56.109 --> 00:29:00.349 sees us as we are now. Transplanted. In his son. 00:29:02.029 --> 00:29:05.210 And listen. Just as fully as God the father. 00:29:05.369 --> 00:29:09.799 Loves his son. And calls him my beloved. He feels 00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:15.059 that same way toward you. Because you are in 00:29:15.059 --> 00:29:19.079 the beloved. All of the emotion that the father 00:29:19.079 --> 00:29:24.460 feels for his son, he feels for you. He loves 00:29:24.460 --> 00:29:29.720 you that much. And that is why the Apostle Paul 00:29:29.720 --> 00:29:34.180 calls it glorious grace. That God should love 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:36.960 us that much and put us in that kind of a position. 00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:41.259 In Romans 8 .32 he says, He who did not spare 00:29:41.259 --> 00:29:45.480 his own son, but delivered him up for us all, 00:29:45.740 --> 00:29:49.039 how will he not also with him freely give us 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:56.319 all things? Why is it the Father loves the Son 00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:59.039 so much? Well, there's the aspect from eternity 00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:03.059 past that has simply been the relationship between 00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:07.000 the Father and the Son and the Spirit. There 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:10.359 has been perfect love expressed among the members 00:30:10.359 --> 00:30:16.759 of the triune Godhead. But there's another element 00:30:16.759 --> 00:30:19.240 involved. The Son came into the world and was 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:23.599 perfectly obedient to the Father. Jesus said, 00:30:23.660 --> 00:30:27.359 I do those things, I always do those things that 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:32.859 please him. That was Jesus' attitude. Is there 00:30:32.859 --> 00:30:35.460 any wonder, then, that the Father loves the Son 00:30:35.460 --> 00:30:40.700 so dearly? When you and I are in Jesus Christ, 00:30:40.839 --> 00:30:44.660 it is that same willing obedience that God blesses. 00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:49.819 Because we are taken from an attitude of rebellion 00:30:49.819 --> 00:30:53.799 against God in our sin, so that when we are saved, 00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:56.799 that attitude changes, and it's God who works 00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:59.920 in us, both the willing and the doing of His 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:03.599 good pleasure. One of the marks of a genuine 00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:06.319 child of God is this, that he delights to do 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:09.880 the will of God. And when he sins, he grieves. 00:31:10.619 --> 00:31:15.579 He grieves and confesses it. That is a mark of 00:31:15.579 --> 00:31:19.440 a genuine child of God. The genuine child of 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:22.220 God, the one who is in the Beloved, is one who 00:31:22.220 --> 00:31:27.299 desires to perfectly obey his Father, just as 00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:33.339 the Lord Jesus Christ did. What is your walk 00:31:33.339 --> 00:31:38.299 like? If God has done this for you in Jesus Christ, 00:31:38.539 --> 00:31:41.059 if the grace of God has been active in your life 00:31:41.059 --> 00:31:44.000 and has brought you into a relationship with 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:47.920 the beloved, so that God looks upon you in Christ 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:52.279 and loves you as dearly as his own son, in light 00:31:52.279 --> 00:31:55.859 of all of that, what is your walk like? That 00:31:55.859 --> 00:31:57.859 is why the Apostle Paul later in this book is 00:31:57.859 --> 00:32:00.500 going to say to us, walk according to the... 00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:04.940 the calling that you have. See what you are, 00:32:04.980 --> 00:32:08.819 who you are in Jesus Christ. And having understood 00:32:08.819 --> 00:32:15.960 that, get your life in line. God wants a heaven 00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:18.720 of people who are like the son that he loves. 00:32:20.019 --> 00:32:22.680 God loves you, my friend, unconditionally. Nothing 00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:26.599 can ever change that love for you. But you can 00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:30.539 grieve the heart of God, and so can I. Grieve 00:32:30.539 --> 00:32:32.720 not the Spirit of God, for by you are sealed 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:36.240 unto the day of redemption. Don't grieve him. 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:40.920 That father who longed for the return of his 00:32:40.920 --> 00:32:45.720 prodigal never once lost love for his son. That 00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:48.180 father's heart beat for the return of his son. 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:51.400 He longed for it. He looked for it. Until finally 00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:55.019 that day he saw that prodigal coming, running 00:32:55.019 --> 00:32:58.380 down the road. And the father went out and... 00:32:59.220 --> 00:33:02.500 embraced his son, welcomed him home, restored 00:33:02.500 --> 00:33:07.240 him fully to his inheritance. It may be that 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:09.079 you, like the prodigal, have been walking away 00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:12.720 from God in a period in your life of disobedience. 00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:17.559 I believe with all of my heart that your Heavenly 00:33:17.559 --> 00:33:19.940 Father, who loves you unconditionally and dearly, 00:33:20.019 --> 00:33:23.940 is today brokenhearted and longing for your return 00:33:23.940 --> 00:33:29.930 to him, the walk of obedience. He has sovereignly 00:33:29.930 --> 00:33:35.690 placed you in his Son. Are you willingly obedient 00:33:35.690 --> 00:33:40.910 now to the Father? Does your daily life reveal 00:33:40.910 --> 00:33:44.990 the kind of willing, sacrificial obedience which 00:33:44.990 --> 00:33:48.009 the Lord Jesus Christ expressed in his life? 00:33:49.529 --> 00:33:54.650 Oh, my friend, may it be so today. All of us 00:33:54.650 --> 00:33:56.569 who have children have the experience of thanking 00:33:56.569 --> 00:34:01.240 our children from time to time. That is never 00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:04.880 a very pleasant experience. And when we spank 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:07.299 our children, never does it mean, I hope, that 00:34:07.299 --> 00:34:09.599 we dislike our children or that we hate them. 00:34:10.860 --> 00:34:13.199 Indeed, the very fact that we take a child aside 00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:16.900 and discipline him is an expression of love because 00:34:16.900 --> 00:34:21.179 we want the best for that child. It may be that 00:34:21.179 --> 00:34:26.150 some of us are today being spanked by God. If 00:34:26.150 --> 00:34:27.570 you're going through that kind of experience, 00:34:27.769 --> 00:34:30.090 would you understand it is not because the Father 00:34:30.090 --> 00:34:33.090 doesn't love you. It's because he so desperately 00:34:33.090 --> 00:34:36.510 and dearly does love you that he's taking you 00:34:36.510 --> 00:34:40.349 through that spanking experience so that you 00:34:40.349 --> 00:34:44.269 might learn obedience as his child. For whom 00:34:44.269 --> 00:34:48.550 the Lord loves, he takes him, even as a father 00:34:48.550 --> 00:34:53.190 his son in whom he delights. Oh, do you see today 00:34:53.190 --> 00:34:57.449 how he delights in you? Do you see how his heart 00:34:57.449 --> 00:35:01.630 loves you? Are you responding to him? Do you 00:35:01.630 --> 00:35:06.110 love him because he first loved you? Our Heavenly 00:35:06.110 --> 00:35:11.050 Father, as we talk about these things, our hearts 00:35:11.050 --> 00:35:15.030 are drawn to this truth with deep appreciation. 00:35:16.190 --> 00:35:19.409 What can we ever say that would fully express 00:35:19.409 --> 00:35:24.900 the gratitude that we feel inside? And yet you 00:35:24.900 --> 00:35:30.460 know how often we all fall. And you know the 00:35:30.460 --> 00:35:34.000 times that we stray. And I want to pray especially 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:36.679 for some of my brothers and sisters in the family 00:35:36.679 --> 00:35:40.559 this morning who are in that condition. And their 00:35:40.559 --> 00:35:43.239 walk has been away from you. Oh, Father, in your 00:35:43.239 --> 00:35:45.380 love, draw them back to yourself that they might 00:35:45.380 --> 00:35:50.599 love you and willingly obey you as your beloved 00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:54.539 son did. To that end, I pray that you would work 00:35:54.539 --> 00:36:00.380 by your Spirit in our lives. In Jesus' name, 00:36:00.559 --> 00:36:01.179 amen.