WEBVTT 00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:06.540 It has been said that the United States of America 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:11.080 is the first nation in the world to set aside 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:14.720 a special day just for the giving of thanks. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:19.039 It is appropriate in this land of so much blessing 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:25.280 that we do that. For those of us who are believers 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:28.219 in Jesus Christ, it is to be more than a one 00:00:28.219 --> 00:00:31.820 day a year experience, of course. Where it says 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:36.740 in Hebrews, let us continually offer up a sacrifice 00:00:36.740 --> 00:00:41.399 of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:45.840 give thanks to His name. If we were to name the 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.280 temporal blessings that we enjoy, they would 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:51.719 be many. Undoubtedly, as was mentioned by one 00:00:51.719 --> 00:00:54.880 tonight, the freedom and liberty that we enjoy 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:00.600 in this land. Others would include health. strength, 00:01:01.060 --> 00:01:09.799 food, clothing, our homes, family, many, many 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:14.599 luxuries that we enjoy in this land, some of 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:16.620 which have moved over into the category in our 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:19.120 minds of necessities, but which are actually 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:23.939 luxuries, aren't they? I remember reading about 00:01:23.939 --> 00:01:29.469 a grave marker in England. on which it said, 00:01:29.670 --> 00:01:35.090 she died for want of things. And right next to 00:01:35.090 --> 00:01:38.409 that was another grave on which the marker said, 00:01:38.689 --> 00:01:44.569 he died trying to give them to her. Kind of expresses 00:01:44.569 --> 00:01:47.609 the way we look at things. Becomes the goal of 00:01:47.609 --> 00:01:49.790 life, even to the point of death if necessary, 00:01:49.969 --> 00:01:53.769 to attain things. We know all of these things 00:01:53.769 --> 00:02:00.980 can be rather quickly. removed from us. In that 00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:05.719 case, we would pass into a test for contentment. 00:02:06.379 --> 00:02:10.319 What is the content of your contentment anyway? 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:16.800 What is the content of your contentment? The 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:19.460 Apostle Paul said, I have learned to be content 00:02:19.460 --> 00:02:22.240 in whatever circumstances I am. Notice he didn't 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:25.240 say, I do this naturally. He says, I've learned. 00:02:26.539 --> 00:02:30.060 to be content. And that's a process I suppose 00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:32.199 that all of us here tonight are in somewhere. 00:02:33.939 --> 00:02:38.360 Contentment needs to be based upon our inward 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.939 possessions, not our outward possessions. For 00:02:42.939 --> 00:02:45.280 those inner possessions, no one can take away 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:49.259 from us. We cannot lose them. The greatest possessions 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:54.250 we enjoy are those. Primarily, I'm thinking now 00:02:54.250 --> 00:02:58.169 of the spiritual possessions that we have. Since 00:02:58.169 --> 00:03:01.069 we are to continually offer up a sacrifice of 00:03:01.069 --> 00:03:04.409 praise to God, I thought it would be good for 00:03:04.409 --> 00:03:07.189 us to go to the book of Ephesians this evening 00:03:07.189 --> 00:03:12.409 and to consider Ephesians to be a vault, a treasure 00:03:12.409 --> 00:03:18.050 box, a safe in which we find various spiritual 00:03:18.050 --> 00:03:21.379 possessions. for which we should give thanks 00:03:21.379 --> 00:03:27.199 to the Lord. Here we find the riches of Christ. 00:03:28.860 --> 00:03:31.319 And in order to give some order to what we're 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:33.979 going to look at, I'd like to make an acrostic 00:03:33.979 --> 00:03:39.680 this evening using the word praise. And to find 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:43.240 different possessions in Ephesians, beginning 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:47.300 with those letters, P -R -A -I -S -E. Follow 00:03:47.300 --> 00:03:50.349 along with me. as we look for a few moments in 00:03:50.349 --> 00:03:53.409 the book of Ephesians at our spiritual possessions. 00:03:54.710 --> 00:03:57.669 I suppose the letter P could stand for several 00:03:57.669 --> 00:04:00.830 words, but one that leaps out of these pages 00:04:00.830 --> 00:04:05.389 to me is found in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 00:04:05.389 --> 00:04:12.810 14, where it says, and Jesus himself is our what? 00:04:13.569 --> 00:04:18.259 Our peace. who made both groups into one, that 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:22.300 is, Jew and Gentile, and broke down the barrier 00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:26.379 of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:29.779 the enmity, which is the law of commandments 00:04:29.779 --> 00:04:34.339 contained in ordinances, that in himself he might 00:04:34.339 --> 00:04:40.279 make the two into one new man, thus establishing 00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:44.629 peace. and might reconcile them both in one body 00:04:44.629 --> 00:04:48.069 to God through the cross, by it having put to 00:04:48.069 --> 00:04:51.430 death the enmity. And he came and preached peace 00:04:51.430 --> 00:04:56.470 to you who were far away, and peace to those 00:04:56.470 --> 00:04:59.889 who were near. Speaking about the Gentiles who 00:04:59.889 --> 00:05:03.449 were far away from the promises and the covenants 00:05:03.449 --> 00:05:06.290 in the Old Testament, and the Jews who were near. 00:05:06.529 --> 00:05:11.370 To both, Jesus came and preached peace. What 00:05:11.370 --> 00:05:18.170 would our world give tonight for peace? It will 00:05:18.170 --> 00:05:21.670 give almost everything except a repentant heart 00:05:21.670 --> 00:05:26.589 that would turn from selfishness, which is the 00:05:26.589 --> 00:05:32.389 basis for all war and strife. The world seeks 00:05:32.389 --> 00:05:36.490 peace. Psychiatrists dig at problems, but they 00:05:36.490 --> 00:05:39.029 have no solutions for people. The government... 00:05:39.529 --> 00:05:42.350 throws out its money trying to accomplish peace, 00:05:42.470 --> 00:05:46.069 but in the process only creates more discontent. 00:05:47.029 --> 00:05:50.730 Pills, alcohol, drugs, all of these furnish escapes, 00:05:51.110 --> 00:05:54.370 but these escapes are only temporary. The problems 00:05:54.370 --> 00:05:58.910 remain. The world cannot arrive at peace of any 00:05:58.910 --> 00:06:03.750 kind because of sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ 00:06:03.750 --> 00:06:06.709 came to this world 2 ,000 years ago to deal with 00:06:06.709 --> 00:06:10.639 sin. And He did that through the blood of His 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:16.220 cross. He established peace. He reconciled us 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:21.379 to God through His death. Therefore, those who 00:06:21.379 --> 00:06:24.680 come to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:29.459 have a double peace. There is in the first place 00:06:29.459 --> 00:06:34.939 a peace with God through justification by faith. 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:41.560 Formerly, we were alienated and hostile in our 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:45.819 minds, engaged in evil deeds, says Colossians. 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:49.600 But Jesus made peace by the blood of His cross, 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:53.259 so that now instead of being at war with God, 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:56.779 we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 00:06:56.779 --> 00:07:02.100 Christ. But the other aspect of God's peace is 00:07:02.100 --> 00:07:07.699 the peace of God, Philippians 4 .6. This is that 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:10.720 peace that the believer may know in his spirit, 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:14.779 a peace that comes from allowing God to be God, 00:07:14.980 --> 00:07:20.899 so that instead of worrying and stewing and being 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:23.620 anxious about things we cannot change anyway, 00:07:23.860 --> 00:07:28.720 we simply, with thanksgiving, present our petitions 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:33.000 to the Lord. We let Him be God and care for those 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.100 things that are out of our control. and then 00:07:36.100 --> 00:07:38.800 the peace of God that passes understanding fills 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:42.720 or guards our hearts and minds. Both aspects 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:46.399 of peace are ours because of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:52.279 We are in Him, and therefore we have peace with 00:07:52.279 --> 00:07:57.959 God. And He is in us, therefore we have the peace 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:02.839 of God. And so the letter P in our acrostic stands 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:07.439 for peace. We move now to the letter R as we 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:11.180 dig into this treasure box of Ephesians, and 00:08:11.180 --> 00:08:16.180 we find that in chapter 1, verse 7. It says, 00:08:16.259 --> 00:08:19.160 In whom we have redemption through His blood, 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:23.300 the forgiveness of our trespasses, according 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:27.379 to the riches of His grace. There are really 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:30.060 two significant R's in that verse, but the one 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:32.700 I'm going to focus on is the second one, the 00:08:32.700 --> 00:08:37.200 riches. of His grace. We could talk about several 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:40.120 kinds of riches in the book of Ephesians. There 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:43.500 are the riches of His glory. It says He is rich 00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:47.080 in mercy. But we speak here about the riches 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:50.379 of God's favor toward us who do not deserve it. 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:55.360 The riches of His grace in the first place purchased 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.220 our redemption and our forgiveness according 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:02.179 to this very verse. It was not God's love, my 00:09:02.179 --> 00:09:06.200 friend, that ultimately saved us. For though 00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:09.980 God loved us, His love could not contravene His 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:14.820 holiness. It was God's grace flowing out of His 00:09:14.820 --> 00:09:19.899 love that provided for us a substitute. And through 00:09:19.899 --> 00:09:23.860 the shedding of His blood, we have redemption, 00:09:24.019 --> 00:09:29.090 the forgiveness of our trespasses. and all of 00:09:29.090 --> 00:09:32.289 that according to the riches of His grace. So 00:09:32.289 --> 00:09:34.570 the riches of His grace purchased our redemption 00:09:34.570 --> 00:09:36.929 and forgiveness, but it also does something else 00:09:36.929 --> 00:09:40.889 for us. Through the riches of His grace, we have 00:09:40.889 --> 00:09:44.730 a provision of daily strength in our trials. 00:09:45.250 --> 00:09:48.210 The Apostle closes the book of Ephesians in chapter 00:09:48.210 --> 00:09:52.309 6, verse 24, by this common statement, Grace 00:09:52.309 --> 00:09:56.710 be with all those. who love our Lord Jesus Christ 00:09:56.710 --> 00:10:02.070 with a love incorruptible. Grace to those. And 00:10:02.070 --> 00:10:04.370 here he's not talking about saving grace, but 00:10:04.370 --> 00:10:08.190 rather God's strengthening grace, God's grace 00:10:08.190 --> 00:10:13.210 in suffering, God's grace in serving. So by the 00:10:13.210 --> 00:10:16.129 riches of God's grace, we have the past action 00:10:16.129 --> 00:10:19.769 of the purchase of our redemptions, of the purchase 00:10:19.769 --> 00:10:22.110 of our redemption and the forgiveness of our 00:10:22.110 --> 00:10:27.370 sins. Presently, by God's grace, we are provided 00:10:27.370 --> 00:10:32.350 with daily strength for our trials. Are you drawing 00:10:32.350 --> 00:10:34.730 upon that grace tonight in the midst of your 00:10:34.730 --> 00:10:38.029 trials? It's there. The riches of His grace are 00:10:38.029 --> 00:10:41.309 provided for you. But there is a third aspect 00:10:41.309 --> 00:10:43.570 of the riches of His grace that is future, and 00:10:43.570 --> 00:10:46.990 this is found in Ephesians 2 .7, where it says, 00:10:47.129 --> 00:10:51.470 In order that in the ages to come He might show 00:10:51.470 --> 00:10:56.639 the surpassing, riches of His grace in kindness 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:00.159 toward us in Christ Jesus. And so by the riches 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.120 of His grace, thirdly, in the future, He promises 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:07.559 our eternal joys and blessings in Jesus Christ. 00:11:08.620 --> 00:11:11.840 God has purposed that you and I should be a display 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:18.679 of His grace in the ages to come. There is some 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:22.240 way in which God is going to continue to do kind... 00:11:22.509 --> 00:11:27.350 things for us, so that all of His creation will 00:11:27.350 --> 00:11:32.690 know of His grace by looking at you and me. And 00:11:32.690 --> 00:11:36.830 so we have the riches of His grace. Let us move 00:11:36.830 --> 00:11:40.870 on to the A in our acrostic. And here we have 00:11:40.870 --> 00:11:44.230 the key word found in verse 18 of chapter 2, 00:11:44.389 --> 00:11:49.549 where it says, for through Him, Jesus, We both, 00:11:49.730 --> 00:11:54.610 Jew and Gentile, have our access in one spirit 00:11:54.610 --> 00:11:58.070 to the Father. And so we have the word access. 00:11:58.470 --> 00:12:02.490 That is another treasure in this vault that we 00:12:02.490 --> 00:12:05.649 must not overlook. This comes from a verb that 00:12:05.649 --> 00:12:09.710 means to move toward. And as many of you probably 00:12:09.710 --> 00:12:14.309 know, access is the privilege of standing before 00:12:14.309 --> 00:12:22.360 a sovereign It means that someone else gives 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:26.039 us the privilege of approach to one who is in 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:30.759 authority. We sometimes sing the hymn that says, 00:12:30.980 --> 00:12:35.620 And now for me He stands before the Father's 00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:40.200 throne. And that's a wonderful truth. It is true. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:44.379 But there's a companion truth with that, and 00:12:44.379 --> 00:12:49.519 it is that in Him, You and I also personally 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:55.100 stand before the Father's throne. He stands on 00:12:55.100 --> 00:12:58.960 our behalf, but in Him we personally have access 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:04.100 to the throne of grace. We have the right and 00:13:04.100 --> 00:13:08.259 privilege of prayer at any time, just as any 00:13:08.259 --> 00:13:11.980 child may speak to his father. There is no need 00:13:11.980 --> 00:13:16.450 in our case for intermediaries. We do not pray 00:13:16.450 --> 00:13:21.149 through saints or through Mary. We have the privilege 00:13:21.149 --> 00:13:25.409 because of this doctrine of access to come directly 00:13:25.409 --> 00:13:34.169 to God in Jesus Christ. We too easily take that 00:13:34.169 --> 00:13:40.950 for granted. Were we Jews who had to work through 00:13:40.950 --> 00:13:46.110 a priesthood, and who had to stand outside of 00:13:46.110 --> 00:13:50.309 a tabernacle while priests went inside a place 00:13:50.309 --> 00:13:54.590 we could never enter. Were we Jews who had no 00:13:54.590 --> 00:13:58.049 access to the Holy of Holies, we might appreciate 00:13:58.049 --> 00:14:04.529 more the privilege we have now in this age to 00:14:04.529 --> 00:14:07.750 come directly into the Holy of Holies to the 00:14:07.750 --> 00:14:13.830 throne of God and speak to Him personally. Let's 00:14:13.830 --> 00:14:16.929 give thanks tonight for this privilege of access. 00:14:17.029 --> 00:14:22.409 What a treasure. The I in our acrostic of praise 00:14:22.409 --> 00:14:28.049 can be found in Ephesians 1, verse 11, where 00:14:28.049 --> 00:14:32.610 it says, Also we have obtained an inheritance, 00:14:33.149 --> 00:14:36.730 having been predestined according to His purpose, 00:14:36.929 --> 00:14:40.929 who works all things after the counsel of His 00:14:40.929 --> 00:14:46.179 will. God is not the slave or the captive of 00:14:46.179 --> 00:14:50.320 any man. One of the things that He gives us, 00:14:50.379 --> 00:14:54.700 according to the purpose of His own will, is 00:14:54.700 --> 00:14:58.360 an inheritance. An inheritance that is based 00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:02.220 upon our relationship to Him. Normally, that's 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:05.940 how inheritances are received. Rarely do you 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:09.080 find someone like the millionaire in that old 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:11.480 television series who would... give a million 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:15.980 dollars to someone he did not even know just 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:20.259 to see what he would do with it. No. Almost always, 00:15:20.379 --> 00:15:23.159 inheritance is given on the basis of some kind 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:25.679 of relationship, not always familial relationship, 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:31.940 sometimes friendship or faithful service. But 00:15:31.940 --> 00:15:34.679 inheritance comes because of relationship and 00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:38.279 because of our relationship to God as His sons. 00:15:39.370 --> 00:15:43.309 We have an inheritance. And even right now, according 00:15:43.309 --> 00:15:46.950 to verse 14, we have the down payment. In verse 00:15:46.950 --> 00:15:50.529 14, it speaks about the Holy Spirit of promise 00:15:50.529 --> 00:15:54.049 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance. 00:15:54.750 --> 00:15:58.250 He is the down payment so that even right now 00:15:58.250 --> 00:16:01.970 the earnest or the guarantee of our inheritance 00:16:01.970 --> 00:16:07.039 has been received and indwells us. And that brings 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:10.940 us to the S in our acrostic. As we look at the 00:16:10.940 --> 00:16:15.220 treasures in this vault of Ephesians, we must 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:19.960 give praise to God for the S found in verse 13 00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:24.340 when he speaks about the Holy Spirit of promise, 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:27.919 the Spirit of God. For he is the one who makes 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:30.759 all of these possessions real and vital in our 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.289 lives. He is the one who is able to take them 00:16:34.289 --> 00:16:37.870 and to give us inner strength, according to chapter 00:16:37.870 --> 00:16:42.649 3, verse 16. All of the other possessions that 00:16:42.649 --> 00:16:45.950 we look at in the book of Ephesians are impersonal, 00:16:45.950 --> 00:16:49.330 not unimportant, but impersonal. But here we 00:16:49.330 --> 00:16:53.090 have a person, and it is the person of God's 00:16:53.090 --> 00:16:56.870 Spirit. Again, so often we take this for granted 00:16:56.870 --> 00:17:01.320 because we grow up with this concept. But had 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.279 we lived under the old covenant, we would know 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:07.859 what a rare thing it was for the Spirit of God 00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:12.900 to indwell a man or a woman. For only on the 00:17:12.900 --> 00:17:15.839 most rare occasions did the Spirit of God come 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:19.799 upon an Old Testament saint, and only then for 00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:24.279 a particular purpose for a limited time. But 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:26.980 now the Spirit of God, my friend, makes His home 00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:31.660 in you and in me. who are believers in Jesus 00:17:31.660 --> 00:17:37.259 Christ. And so we have the Spirit in us, indwelling 00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:41.740 us, the hope of glory. And let's close with an 00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:46.859 E on our acrostic for praise by turning to Ephesians 00:17:46.859 --> 00:17:54.960 3, 11, where it says all of this that he's mentioned 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:58.819 in the first 10 verses about the church. was 00:17:58.819 --> 00:18:02.759 in accordance with the eternal purpose which 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:07.700 He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. The 00:18:07.700 --> 00:18:11.180 E is the eternal purpose, or some people say 00:18:11.180 --> 00:18:14.119 it could be translated the purpose that runs 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:18.279 through the ages. And what is that purpose that 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:22.019 runs through the ages? Well, my friend, it is 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:25.059 that you and I should be in Jesus Christ, and 00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:29.720 according to verse 10, that God might make known 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:35.220 through us in the church His manifold wisdom. 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:38.740 And to whom is He going to make that known? Well, 00:18:38.779 --> 00:18:41.819 it says to the rulers and the authorities in 00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:44.140 the heavenlies, that is, in the spiritual realm. 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:49.859 I cannot fully understand that verse. I think 00:18:49.859 --> 00:18:53.240 it goes beyond human comprehension. It is an 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:56.400 infinite kind of verse. where it speaks about 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:58.980 something that God is now and will continue to 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:02.359 do in the future in making known to spiritual 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:10.700 beings, created beings, His wisdom, as they observe 00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:17.099 His activity in us, in the church. God has chosen 00:19:17.099 --> 00:19:21.799 that we be part of an eternal purpose. You know, 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:25.089 it could be possible that God would... have a 00:19:25.089 --> 00:19:28.329 purpose for us in life, and then it would be 00:19:28.329 --> 00:19:33.549 His will that when we expired, that was it. That 00:19:33.549 --> 00:19:37.849 we just would not be any longer. That doesn't 00:19:37.849 --> 00:19:41.230 sound real thrilling to me. I don't like the 00:19:41.230 --> 00:19:46.569 idea of not being because I enjoy being. And 00:19:46.569 --> 00:19:48.970 the blessed truth is that as believers in Jesus 00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:52.670 Christ, we are going to eternally be because 00:19:52.670 --> 00:19:56.779 we are part of an eternal life. God is not through 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:59.079 with us even when this life is over. He has an 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:03.220 eternal plan of which we are a part. And part 00:20:03.220 --> 00:20:06.640 of that, I should say the goal of that, is that 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:09.319 He be glorified throughout eternity to come. 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:12.759 And so we give thanks tonight. We offer up the 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:15.059 fruit of our lips to give thanks to His name. 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:20.279 We offer unto Him the sacrifice of praise for 00:20:20.279 --> 00:20:23.440 these riches that we find in the book of Ephesians. 00:20:24.589 --> 00:20:28.430 We live in a poverty -stricken world. I do not 00:20:28.430 --> 00:20:31.349 speak of physical poverty, though that is certainly 00:20:31.349 --> 00:20:35.970 true. But I speak of spiritual poverty, where 00:20:35.970 --> 00:20:41.009 there is no peace, there are no riches, where 00:20:41.009 --> 00:20:44.490 people have no access to God, where they have 00:20:44.490 --> 00:20:48.089 no inheritance, where the Spirit of God does 00:20:48.089 --> 00:20:51.009 not dwell in them, where there is not an eternal 00:20:51.009 --> 00:20:55.700 purpose. That is what the world is like. You 00:20:55.700 --> 00:20:59.119 and I are called out from all of that that we 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:05.299 might enjoy this praise of riches. Are you content 00:21:05.299 --> 00:21:09.200 in Jesus Christ? What is the content of your 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:13.700 contentment? If God took away your bank account, 00:21:13.900 --> 00:21:17.779 would you be content? If God took away your job, 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:24.029 would you be content? If God allows a revolution 00:21:24.029 --> 00:21:30.829 in this country and we lose our freedoms, will 00:21:30.829 --> 00:21:34.569 you have a contentment? All of that could happen. 00:21:35.230 --> 00:21:39.710 What is the content of your contentment? It reminds 00:21:39.710 --> 00:21:44.509 me of a story I heard about a Quaker. This Quaker 00:21:44.509 --> 00:21:51.049 offered 40 acres of prime land to anyone who... 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:57.720 was perfectly satisfied with what he had. One 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:01.220 day a knock came on the door. A seeker came to 00:22:01.220 --> 00:22:07.359 claim the forty acres. Are thee perfectly satisfied 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:13.039 with what thee hast? asked the Quaker. Why, yes, 00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:19.279 I am, said the hopeful guest. Then replied the 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:27.200 wise Quaker, Why dost thee want this land? We 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:33.200 say we are satisfied with Jesus. But if we are, 00:22:33.299 --> 00:22:35.579 why do we go out and try to find something more 00:22:35.579 --> 00:22:45.210 than Jesus in the world? Heavenly Father, May 00:22:45.210 --> 00:22:48.049 the content of our contentment be Jesus Christ, 00:22:48.269 --> 00:22:55.730 nothing more, nothing less. So that if all the 00:22:55.730 --> 00:23:00.769 things that we live and die for so much were 00:23:00.769 --> 00:23:04.849 taken away from us, we would still have that 00:23:04.849 --> 00:23:09.910 inner contentment because of Jesus. Thank you 00:23:09.910 --> 00:23:15.720 for the spiritual riches. that are ours, which 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:22.079 none can take away. In Jesus' wonderful name, 00:23:22.140 --> 00:23:24.539 we pray with thanksgiving. Amen.