It has been said that the United States of America
is the first nation in the world to set aside
a special day just for the giving of thanks.
It is appropriate in this land of so much blessing
that we do that. For those of us who are believers
in Jesus Christ, it is to be more than a one
day a year experience, of course. Where it says
in Hebrews, let us continually offer up a sacrifice
of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that
give thanks to His name. If we were to name the
temporal blessings that we enjoy, they would
be many. Undoubtedly, as was mentioned by one
tonight, the freedom and liberty that we enjoy
in this land. Others would include health. strength,
food, clothing, our homes, family, many, many
luxuries that we enjoy in this land, some of
which have moved over into the category in our
minds of necessities, but which are actually
luxuries, aren't they? I remember reading about
a grave marker in England. on which it said,
she died for want of things. And right next to
that was another grave on which the marker said,
he died trying to give them to her. Kind of expresses
the way we look at things. Becomes the goal of
life, even to the point of death if necessary,
to attain things. We know all of these things
can be rather quickly. removed from us. In that
case, we would pass into a test for contentment.
What is the content of your contentment anyway?
What is the content of your contentment? The
Apostle Paul said, I have learned to be content
in whatever circumstances I am. Notice he didn't
say, I do this naturally. He says, I've learned.
to be content. And that's a process I suppose
that all of us here tonight are in somewhere.
Contentment needs to be based upon our inward
possessions, not our outward possessions. For
those inner possessions, no one can take away
from us. We cannot lose them. The greatest possessions
we enjoy are those. Primarily, I'm thinking now
of the spiritual possessions that we have. Since
we are to continually offer up a sacrifice of
praise to God, I thought it would be good for
us to go to the book of Ephesians this evening
and to consider Ephesians to be a vault, a treasure
box, a safe in which we find various spiritual
possessions. for which we should give thanks
to the Lord. Here we find the riches of Christ.
And in order to give some order to what we're
going to look at, I'd like to make an acrostic
this evening using the word praise. And to find
different possessions in Ephesians, beginning
with those letters, P -R -A -I -S -E. Follow
along with me. as we look for a few moments in
the book of Ephesians at our spiritual possessions.
I suppose the letter P could stand for several
words, but one that leaps out of these pages
to me is found in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse
14, where it says, and Jesus himself is our what?
Our peace. who made both groups into one, that
is, Jew and Gentile, and broke down the barrier
of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh
the enmity, which is the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, that in himself he might
make the two into one new man, thus establishing
peace. and might reconcile them both in one body
to God through the cross, by it having put to
death the enmity. And he came and preached peace
to you who were far away, and peace to those
who were near. Speaking about the Gentiles who
were far away from the promises and the covenants
in the Old Testament, and the Jews who were near.
To both, Jesus came and preached peace. What
would our world give tonight for peace? It will
give almost everything except a repentant heart
that would turn from selfishness, which is the
basis for all war and strife. The world seeks
peace. Psychiatrists dig at problems, but they
have no solutions for people. The government...
throws out its money trying to accomplish peace,
but in the process only creates more discontent.
Pills, alcohol, drugs, all of these furnish escapes,
but these escapes are only temporary. The problems
remain. The world cannot arrive at peace of any
kind because of sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ
came to this world 2 ,000 years ago to deal with
sin. And He did that through the blood of His
cross. He established peace. He reconciled us
to God through His death. Therefore, those who
come to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
have a double peace. There is in the first place
a peace with God through justification by faith.
Formerly, we were alienated and hostile in our
minds, engaged in evil deeds, says Colossians.
But Jesus made peace by the blood of His cross,
so that now instead of being at war with God,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. But the other aspect of God's peace is
the peace of God, Philippians 4 .6. This is that
peace that the believer may know in his spirit,
a peace that comes from allowing God to be God,
so that instead of worrying and stewing and being
anxious about things we cannot change anyway,
we simply, with thanksgiving, present our petitions
to the Lord. We let Him be God and care for those
things that are out of our control. and then
the peace of God that passes understanding fills
or guards our hearts and minds. Both aspects
of peace are ours because of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are in Him, and therefore we have peace with
God. And He is in us, therefore we have the peace
of God. And so the letter P in our acrostic stands
for peace. We move now to the letter R as we
dig into this treasure box of Ephesians, and
we find that in chapter 1, verse 7. It says,
In whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses, according
to the riches of His grace. There are really
two significant R's in that verse, but the one
I'm going to focus on is the second one, the
riches. of His grace. We could talk about several
kinds of riches in the book of Ephesians. There
are the riches of His glory. It says He is rich
in mercy. But we speak here about the riches
of God's favor toward us who do not deserve it.
The riches of His grace in the first place purchased
our redemption and our forgiveness according
to this very verse. It was not God's love, my
friend, that ultimately saved us. For though
God loved us, His love could not contravene His
holiness. It was God's grace flowing out of His
love that provided for us a substitute. And through
the shedding of His blood, we have redemption,
the forgiveness of our trespasses. and all of
that according to the riches of His grace. So
the riches of His grace purchased our redemption
and forgiveness, but it also does something else
for us. Through the riches of His grace, we have
a provision of daily strength in our trials.
The Apostle closes the book of Ephesians in chapter
6, verse 24, by this common statement, Grace
be with all those. who love our Lord Jesus Christ
with a love incorruptible. Grace to those. And
here he's not talking about saving grace, but
rather God's strengthening grace, God's grace
in suffering, God's grace in serving. So by the
riches of God's grace, we have the past action
of the purchase of our redemptions, of the purchase
of our redemption and the forgiveness of our
sins. Presently, by God's grace, we are provided
with daily strength for our trials. Are you drawing
upon that grace tonight in the midst of your
trials? It's there. The riches of His grace are
provided for you. But there is a third aspect
of the riches of His grace that is future, and
this is found in Ephesians 2 .7, where it says,
In order that in the ages to come He might show
the surpassing, riches of His grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. And so by the riches
of His grace, thirdly, in the future, He promises
our eternal joys and blessings in Jesus Christ.
God has purposed that you and I should be a display
of His grace in the ages to come. There is some
way in which God is going to continue to do kind...
things for us, so that all of His creation will
know of His grace by looking at you and me. And
so we have the riches of His grace. Let us move
on to the A in our acrostic. And here we have
the key word found in verse 18 of chapter 2,
where it says, for through Him, Jesus, We both,
Jew and Gentile, have our access in one spirit
to the Father. And so we have the word access.
That is another treasure in this vault that we
must not overlook. This comes from a verb that
means to move toward. And as many of you probably
know, access is the privilege of standing before
a sovereign It means that someone else gives
us the privilege of approach to one who is in
authority. We sometimes sing the hymn that says,
And now for me He stands before the Father's
throne. And that's a wonderful truth. It is true.
But there's a companion truth with that, and
it is that in Him, You and I also personally
stand before the Father's throne. He stands on
our behalf, but in Him we personally have access
to the throne of grace. We have the right and
privilege of prayer at any time, just as any
child may speak to his father. There is no need
in our case for intermediaries. We do not pray
through saints or through Mary. We have the privilege
because of this doctrine of access to come directly
to God in Jesus Christ. We too easily take that
for granted. Were we Jews who had to work through
a priesthood, and who had to stand outside of
a tabernacle while priests went inside a place
we could never enter. Were we Jews who had no
access to the Holy of Holies, we might appreciate
more the privilege we have now in this age to
come directly into the Holy of Holies to the
throne of God and speak to Him personally. Let's
give thanks tonight for this privilege of access.
What a treasure. The I in our acrostic of praise
can be found in Ephesians 1, verse 11, where
it says, Also we have obtained an inheritance,
having been predestined according to His purpose,
who works all things after the counsel of His
will. God is not the slave or the captive of
any man. One of the things that He gives us,
according to the purpose of His own will, is
an inheritance. An inheritance that is based
upon our relationship to Him. Normally, that's
how inheritances are received. Rarely do you
find someone like the millionaire in that old
television series who would... give a million
dollars to someone he did not even know just
to see what he would do with it. No. Almost always,
inheritance is given on the basis of some kind
of relationship, not always familial relationship,
sometimes friendship or faithful service. But
inheritance comes because of relationship and
because of our relationship to God as His sons.
We have an inheritance. And even right now, according
to verse 14, we have the down payment. In verse
14, it speaks about the Holy Spirit of promise
who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.
He is the down payment so that even right now
the earnest or the guarantee of our inheritance
has been received and indwells us. And that brings
us to the S in our acrostic. As we look at the
treasures in this vault of Ephesians, we must
give praise to God for the S found in verse 13
when he speaks about the Holy Spirit of promise,
the Spirit of God. For he is the one who makes
all of these possessions real and vital in our
lives. He is the one who is able to take them
and to give us inner strength, according to chapter
3, verse 16. All of the other possessions that
we look at in the book of Ephesians are impersonal,
not unimportant, but impersonal. But here we
have a person, and it is the person of God's
Spirit. Again, so often we take this for granted
because we grow up with this concept. But had
we lived under the old covenant, we would know
what a rare thing it was for the Spirit of God
to indwell a man or a woman. For only on the
most rare occasions did the Spirit of God come
upon an Old Testament saint, and only then for
a particular purpose for a limited time. But
now the Spirit of God, my friend, makes His home
in you and in me. who are believers in Jesus
Christ. And so we have the Spirit in us, indwelling
us, the hope of glory. And let's close with an
E on our acrostic for praise by turning to Ephesians
3, 11, where it says all of this that he's mentioned
in the first 10 verses about the church. was
in accordance with the eternal purpose which
He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. The
E is the eternal purpose, or some people say
it could be translated the purpose that runs
through the ages. And what is that purpose that
runs through the ages? Well, my friend, it is
that you and I should be in Jesus Christ, and
according to verse 10, that God might make known
through us in the church His manifold wisdom.
And to whom is He going to make that known? Well,
it says to the rulers and the authorities in
the heavenlies, that is, in the spiritual realm.
I cannot fully understand that verse. I think
it goes beyond human comprehension. It is an
infinite kind of verse. where it speaks about
something that God is now and will continue to
do in the future in making known to spiritual
beings, created beings, His wisdom, as they observe
His activity in us, in the church. God has chosen
that we be part of an eternal purpose. You know,
it could be possible that God would... have a
purpose for us in life, and then it would be
His will that when we expired, that was it. That
we just would not be any longer. That doesn't
sound real thrilling to me. I don't like the
idea of not being because I enjoy being. And
the blessed truth is that as believers in Jesus
Christ, we are going to eternally be because
we are part of an eternal life. God is not through
with us even when this life is over. He has an
eternal plan of which we are a part. And part
of that, I should say the goal of that, is that
He be glorified throughout eternity to come.
And so we give thanks tonight. We offer up the
fruit of our lips to give thanks to His name.
We offer unto Him the sacrifice of praise for
these riches that we find in the book of Ephesians.
We live in a poverty -stricken world. I do not
speak of physical poverty, though that is certainly
true. But I speak of spiritual poverty, where
there is no peace, there are no riches, where
people have no access to God, where they have
no inheritance, where the Spirit of God does
not dwell in them, where there is not an eternal
purpose. That is what the world is like. You
and I are called out from all of that that we
might enjoy this praise of riches. Are you content
in Jesus Christ? What is the content of your
contentment? If God took away your bank account,
would you be content? If God took away your job,
would you be content? If God allows a revolution
in this country and we lose our freedoms, will
you have a contentment? All of that could happen.
What is the content of your contentment? It reminds
me of a story I heard about a Quaker. This Quaker
offered 40 acres of prime land to anyone who...
was perfectly satisfied with what he had. One
day a knock came on the door. A seeker came to
claim the forty acres. Are thee perfectly satisfied
with what thee hast? asked the Quaker. Why, yes,
I am, said the hopeful guest. Then replied the
wise Quaker, Why dost thee want this land? We
say we are satisfied with Jesus. But if we are,
why do we go out and try to find something more
than Jesus in the world? Heavenly Father, May
the content of our contentment be Jesus Christ,
nothing more, nothing less. So that if all the
things that we live and die for so much were
taken away from us, we would still have that
inner contentment because of Jesus. Thank you
for the spiritual riches. that are ours, which
none can take away. In Jesus' wonderful name,
we pray with thanksgiving. Amen.