1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,120 This morning we're starting a new sermon series out of the 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:07,800 book of Ephesians. Paul the Apostle wrote this 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:10,560 letter of the Ephesians to the church at Ephesus. 4 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:14,480 He did this to remind them to to teach them about who they were 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 in Christ, what they had in Christ, and then how to live out 6 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,000 that what they had in Christ. And this is a reminder that we 7 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,640 need to remind ourselves as well, in our time here at our 8 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,760 church and this church, what we have in Christ. 9 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,280 And how does that translate into daily behavior? 10 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,680 The letter to the Ephesians is a very short letter in my Bible 11 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,000 and my hard copy, it only covers about 7 pages. 12 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,360 That's a very short letter. Letters are simply written 13 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,680 documents that convey a message from the writer to the reader. 14 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:49,080 Sometimes letters can be long, sometimes short. 15 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,280 Sometimes they bear good news, sometimes bad news. 16 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:54,840 Sometimes they're written to teach, other times just to 17 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,200 inform of events and facts. Sometimes they're happy, 18 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,800 sometimes they're sad. In our day, we write letters 19 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,640 still, mostly e-mail, but we still write letters. 20 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:09,280 And I remember back in the day when I was young, there was an 21 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:11,400 Internet and so I would write a letter to a friend. 22 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,200 I would write a handwritten letter, stuff it in the mail and 23 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,360 the envelope, stick, stick, stick, a stamp on there and send 24 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,520 it off. And I might get a letter a month 25 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,840 later. Now we write a letter on an 26 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,040 e-mail and get it the same day or text instant. 27 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:32,040 When I think of letter writing, I imagine maybe something like a 28 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,120 body of water, maybe a lake, for instance. 29 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,160 It can be large. It can be small, but what's 30 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,080 visible on the surface does not always reveal what's below the 31 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,440 surface. For instance, a lake may have a 32 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,200 large surface area, but it can be very shallow, like Erie for 33 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:48,720 instance. This to the South here. 34 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:50,840 I don't know how many of you knew this, but Lake Erie is 35 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,400 about 210 feet deep at its deepest. 36 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,800 I took picture of a of a of a satellite map. 37 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,000 These are the Great Lakes in in Canada or in the in the US. 38 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,000 There's Lake Huron, a Superior Lake MI, Lake Huron, Lake 39 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:08,919 Ontario, Lake Erie. There's Lake Ontario. 40 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,480 There's 5 Great Lakes on the surface. 41 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,080 They're just puddles of water. That's all it looks, that's all 42 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,720 we see. But that tells us very little 43 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:19,040 about what's beneath. Take a cross section look, 44 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,600 that's a lake. Lake Superior is about 1300 feet 45 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:24,640 deep. Lake MI is about 900. 46 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:29,760 Lake like Huron's about 700, like here's only 210, like 47 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:35,120 Ontario is again 800. It tells us very little on the 48 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:36,200 surface. You don't see that. 49 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,720 As I was reading the letter of Ephesians, that's what came to 50 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:42,640 my mind. I thought, wow, this is deep. 51 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,200 What Paul is writing here. It's not some shallow teaching 52 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:48,080 or some shallow information piece. 53 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,080 And what we will learn as we go through this sermon series. 54 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,800 We'll do some deep diving in this one. 55 00:02:54,920 --> 00:02:58,880 We went through the book of Judges recently, and that's a 56 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,280 book of information and history. There's principles that we glean 57 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:04,160 that we want to learn from. That's good and that's true, but 58 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,520 covers the vast territory, a vast region, area of time, and 59 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:09,920 so on. But Ephesians is different. 60 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,360 It's small, it's short, but incredibly deep. 61 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,520 It's focused on what God has done and how that applies to us 62 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:21,440 today, what we have in Christ. And as we go through this, we'll 63 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:23,760 come through some of the teachings of Paul. 64 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,640 And what we find is that as we read different writers and 65 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:29,280 different commentators, they vastly disagree. 66 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,160 They don't agree on this. They don't agree about this and 67 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,120 they don't agree about that and have their own interpretation 68 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:35,360 here, their own interpretation there. 69 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:37,840 And I want to make reference this morning to some of these 70 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,120 different interpretations of what people say about what Paul 71 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,440 means. And I'm, I'm, I'm of the opinion 72 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,800 here in this body right now and listening online, we let people 73 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:49,400 say, oh, that's not what it means or that's not what it 74 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:50,680 means. It means this or it means that, 75 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,040 and we may not agree, but I do have some very clear thoughts 76 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,160 that I want to present what I believe it teaches. 77 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,720 So the plan is to go deep, look at Paula's writing and seek to 78 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:02,840 understand and apply it to our lives, to live it out. 79 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,240 So our sermon title is our Blessings in Christ. 80 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,560 You know that many people who claim to be Christians don't 81 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:11,360 experience the blessings of Christ. 82 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,200 They spend a lot of time worrying about this and that and 83 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,839 the other in life, and they don't live deep, they live 84 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:20,839 shallow. I'm going to ask you to raise 85 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,040 your hands, but do you live shallow or do you live deep? 86 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,720 And they may be going to church, they may be reading the Bible 87 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,320 and so on, and they do believe in God, but very insecure in 88 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,080 their walk, very confused. And then in our age of identity 89 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:41,200 struggle, put that in there. Yet it becomes very difficult. 90 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,400 One of the issues specifically that our culture is now engaged 91 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,920 in is identity struggle. And if we forget who we are in 92 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,640 Christ or what we have in Christ, the blessings we have in 93 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:57,240 Christ, we'll miss so much. To Paul, everything always was 94 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,760 all about Jesus and Jesus alone In Paul's life, Jesus was 95 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:03,960 everything. And whatever Paul did, he 96 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,600 focused first on Jesus, who Jesus was, what Jesus did, what 97 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,680 he, Paul had in Jesus. And from there he'd branch out 98 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:12,920 and everything had to line up with Jesus. 99 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,840 So this morning let's read Ephesians chapter 1 beginning 100 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:22,000 verse one. We read this Paul, an apostle of 101 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:26,320 Jesus Christ by the will of God to the Saints who are in Ephesus 102 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:31,760 and faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God 103 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,080 our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 104 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,320 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has 105 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,600 blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places 106 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,800 in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of 107 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,960 the world, that we should be holy and without blame before 108 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,640 Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus 109 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,960 Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 110 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:59,320 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us 111 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:03,160 accepted in the Beloved. How many times in this short 112 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,720 passage does he talk about Jesus Christ? 113 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,720 In Him, in Christ, and so on? Well, let's first look at how 114 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,760 does Paul introduce himself? He wrote the letter after all. 115 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,800 What's his identity? Paul identifies himself as an 116 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,240 apostle of Jesus. I don't think he had an identity 117 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,400 struggle. He first tells us his name, then 118 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,160 second is ministry. You know how people today in our 119 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:33,120 world, you get a business card or you see somebody's title on 120 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:35,600 a, on a magazine, There's letters behind it. 121 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,640 MA master or something. Master degree or PhD, meaning 122 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,400 doctor degree, or maybe CEO, meaning chief executive officer. 123 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:43,760 And there's a whole bunch of those things. 124 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:49,120 Paul never referenced himself as to what he was trained in or the 125 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,320 job he had trained in early in life. 126 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,240 When Paul references himself, it's always in relation to his 127 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,880 calling or position in Christ Jesus. 128 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,720 Another thing, I just want to go to a little bit of history on 129 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,720 Paul here. Before he was Paul, he was first 130 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,200 called Saul. He was born as a Jew in the city 131 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,160 of Tarsus. And what's also important in 132 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,280 Paul's life, he was also a Roman citizen by birth, which 133 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:16,800 obviously meant his dad was a Roman citizen as well. 134 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:18,840 That was a huge deal in this time. 135 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,640 Another thing about Paul, he was very educated for his time. 136 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:26,960 He was steeped and just saturated and marinated in 137 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,280 Jewish religion and culture. And to compare what kind of 138 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:35,520 teaching and education Paul had, one might perhaps say maybe he 139 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,160 went to the Harvard of his time or to Yale or Princeton, 140 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:40,000 something like that. Anyway, he was trained at the 141 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,560 highest level, the best known, the high reputable teacher, 142 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,440 Gamaliel. He of all people was his 143 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,600 teacher, but all of what he had before he was a follower of 144 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,240 Christ somehow never gets mentioned after he becomes a 145 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,280 follower of Jesus. He had a complete change. 146 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,720 Paul never once in his letters talks about I Paul the Roman 147 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,280 citizen trained by Gemalion in the givener whatever the 148 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:05,120 university of so and so. He never does that. 149 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,360 He talks Paul an apostle of Jesus, served of Jesus, slave of 150 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,880 Christ and so on. He identifies himself only as 151 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,400 who he is in Christ, never his Jewish credentials that he had 152 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:19,560 before he was a Christian. His role, his calling was 153 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:23,360 central to everything he had, his whole existence, everything 154 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,200 about him, all of it centered around his calling in position 155 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,600 as an apostle. It was not that Paul himself had 156 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:31,640 decided on this course in life as an apostle. 157 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,640 He writes here in Ephesians that his calling was by the will of 158 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,159 God. Let's look a little bit also 159 00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:40,120 what led up to him becoming a Christian? 160 00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:46,120 His ministry as an apostle was a calling Early on in Paul's life 161 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,600 when he was still Saul, we find he was a persecutor of the 162 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:50,400 church. He hated the church, he hated 163 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,960 Jesus, he hated the apostles. He hated everything about the 164 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,280 church. And when in Acts chapter 8 and 165 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:59,680 9, Stephen was stoned to death, Saul was a young man at the time 166 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:02,640 and he was agreeing to it. He was supporting that in Acts 167 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,680 chapter 8 verse three. I won't read that. 168 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,040 He went into a very he went and started going and persecuting 169 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:09,080 the church, dragging people off and putting them in prison. 170 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:12,960 But then in Acts Chapter 9, something interesting happens. 171 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,760 Saul was on his way to Damascus doing what he believed was the 172 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:21,120 will of God as a good Jew would, following the law as he thought 173 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:22,520 he was. He was blind, but he was thought 174 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,040 he was doing the right thing. On his way to Damascus, he's 175 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:29,280 going to take some more Jews to from a Damascus to Jerusalem and 176 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:32,360 put them in prison. And he thought he was doing the 177 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,240 right thing. He's on his way to Damascus and 178 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:39,280 all of a sudden there's a great light shines around him and he 179 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,720 falls and he hears a voice from the light says, Saul, Saul, 180 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,120 where are you persecuting me? And he says, Who are you, Lord? 181 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,160 And the voice says, I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting. 182 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:49,960 It's hard for you to kick against the goads. 183 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:51,880 Some translations say, against the bricks. 184 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:54,720 Trembling and fearful, he replies, Lord, what do you want 185 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,800 me to do? He said, the voice says, arise 186 00:09:57,800 --> 00:09:59,760 and go into the city and you'll be told what to do. 187 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:01,480 Those are the voice words of Jesus. 188 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,080 So Saul got up, was blind and was led by the hand and went 189 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:06,800 into the city. And he fasted for three days, 190 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,240 not eating or drinking. He no longer persecuted 191 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,440 Christians. He now surrendered his life to 192 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:13,800 Jesus, the one he tried to persecute before. 193 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:17,040 It was not that he intentionally had wanted to do wrong. 194 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,120 He thought he was doing the right thing, but he was blind. 195 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,040 Now in Damascus, he's physically blind. 196 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,960 But spiritually now you can see. We find further in Acts that God 197 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,720 spoke to a disciple named Ananias and told him go to a 198 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,040 certain St. called straight, meet Saul, lay his hands on him 199 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,440 that he may receive his sight. He's not very willing. 200 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:35,800 I know this guy, Saul. He's a persecutor, persecuting 201 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,400 your believers. And the Lord says I've chosen 202 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,520 him as a vessel of mine to go and take my name to the Gentiles 203 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:44,480 and and so on. That's all. 204 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:50,280 In Acts chapter, Chapter 9, Ananias does as he's told, lays 205 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,920 his hands on Saul, He receives his sight, Paul's baptized, and 206 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,640 from then on he becomes one of them that he had been 207 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:58,040 persecuting. And then later his name is 208 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,280 changed to Paul. In reading and studying Paul, we 209 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:06,480 never find one single time ever that he shrank back or 210 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:08,640 complained about his lot in life. 211 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:12,560 He considered it a privilege to suffer for the name of Jesus. 212 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,320 And I just want to repeat he never had intentions of 213 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:20,200 disobeying God, Jehovah God. He did what he did in ignorance. 214 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:22,280 He believed he was doing the will of God. 215 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,560 And when he met Jesus, the light went on and he suffered much for 216 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,120 following Jesus. So all the things, the hardships 217 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,640 and the struggles and the difficulties that came his way, 218 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,840 he accepted as part of this is what a disciple of Jesus called 219 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:36,560 to do. So here in the letter of Ephesus 220 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:38,640 to Ephesus, Paul writes to the church. 221 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,880 He's an apostle of Jesus, Jesus Christ by the will of God. 222 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,760 And as far as we know, this letter was actually written from 223 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,160 prison or from a place called house arrest, not quite sure. 224 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:51,800 But he was not a free man when he wrote this letter. 225 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:57,720 Who were the Ephesians? Well, briefly, the Ephesians 226 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:01,400 were in the Ephesian church, was in a church in Ephesus, a port 227 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,280 city, important Roman city and an Asia Minor, and was a 228 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:07,760 thriving idol making place as well. 229 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:11,440 And so Paul had spent some time there and he says to the Saints 230 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,040 or in Ephesus faithful in Christ Jesus. 231 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,400 There's a record in Acts chapter, I think it's believed 232 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:21,080 19 where we read that Paul had come to the city, starts a 233 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:26,920 church and trouble develops and there's this idol making factory 234 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,840 or business and guy named Demetrius building these little 235 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:34,000 silver idols and trouble erupts. And then he didn't go to prison. 236 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,520 Paul didn't go to prison there and it became a big riot there. 237 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:41,360 Gospel was taking hold, was taking root, and things were not 238 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:43,480 going well. So let's look a little bit at 239 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:49,760 what are Saints now. Saints are people set apart for 240 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:54,720 Christ, grounded in Christ and live separate from the world. 241 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,040 So trying to get a background picture here, What's happening 242 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:01,280 here, All of us who are followers of Jesus here this 243 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:05,160 morning, today we're set apart. We're Saints as the Bible teach 244 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:09,440 us, and at the end of the passage here, Paul writes to the 245 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,880 faithful in Christ. That word in Christ or in him is 246 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:14,240 key. In this passage. 247 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,160 We want to keep that in mind. In him is key. 248 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,000 We see here the relationship connection. 249 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:22,440 When a person is in Christ, that person has a relationship with 250 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,520 God. The word relationship is 251 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,640 mentioned in some translations, but not in all. 252 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,720 The NIVI mean the new King James or King James does not mention 253 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,680 relationship, but the the new living translation does. 254 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:35,320 And there's some others I think that might as well, but the 255 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:39,760 repeated reference here is to us in him to we one body and so on. 256 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,880 And I would also mention here for us this year at in 2026, all 257 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:49,360 EMC is the year of connections. And so this lends itself well to 258 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:51,640 that. He says in verse 2, grace to you 259 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,040 peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 260 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,360 So here we see the shepherd heart of Paul speaking grace and 261 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:02,360 peace to his readers and again, knowing where Paul was when he 262 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,840 wrote this, this adds depth to the text. 263 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:08,240 And as far as we know, again, Paul was not a free man when he 264 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:10,560 wrote this. Paul focused on the spiritual 265 00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:13,840 well-being of the Saints at Ephesus and he brought into 266 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:15,680 focus the source of peace and grace. 267 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,280 Peace and grace in our lives comes from God the Father and 268 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:22,280 the Lord Jesus Christ. The first few verses were not 269 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:23,920 that unique from his other letters. 270 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:26,440 He has other letters where he writes and very similar 271 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,840 introductions, but now we come to a part of the letter that go, 272 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:31,240 that start. Now it starts getting deep. 273 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,560 It goes deep very quickly. This is where a lot of people 274 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,360 have very different views and very different interpretations 275 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,320 of what it means. Verse 3, blessed be the God and 276 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,800 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every 277 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:46,720 spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. 278 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:49,600 Now again, this is deep and it's not as deep as it's going to 279 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:50,960 get. There's connection here. 280 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:53,640 Our spiritual blessings, God's grace are standing in Christ. 281 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,640 All of it is in Christ. In other words, the nature and 282 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,160 character of God are revealed in the Lord Jesus. 283 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,720 Again, the nature and character of God are revealed in the Lord 284 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,480 Jesus. So when we see Jesus, we don't 285 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:09,200 see him physically, but we know his character. 286 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,680 We know his teachings to the Ephesians he's writing. 287 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,240 That's who God was. That's how God is. 288 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,320 He's our Savior, but yet also he's God. 289 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,480 And again, we'll see in the following following verses as we 290 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:23,080 go through the relationship factor here is core, very key 291 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:27,400 part of what Paul is teaching. And again he says, blessed be 292 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,440 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us 293 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:34,520 with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. 294 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:38,600 He brings that in repeatedly. But here's where it gets 295 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,960 difficult. Verse four and five, just as he 296 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:46,880 chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we 297 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:50,520 should be holy and without blame before him in love, having 298 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,920 predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself 299 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:56,320 according to the good pleasure of his will. 300 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:57,640 And it goes on. But let's stop there. 301 00:15:58,160 --> 00:15:59,440 Now. This is getting deeper yet. 302 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:05,000 What's he saying? This is this is where you ask 303 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,400 different Bible teachers, different pastors, different 304 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,280 denominations, they give very, very different responses to 305 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,080 this. A lot of discussions and debates 306 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:14,800 and different church groups happens over this. 307 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:17,600 Volumes have been written defending one view or another 308 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,320 and the debate goes on. Today people go on arguing over 309 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,400 different points of view on what this means. 310 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,520 What I want to say this morning may well be dismissed by someone 311 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,440 that's incorrect. Incorrect at best, maybe heresy 312 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,360 at worst. I'm OK with that. 313 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,760 I want us to see what Paul is saying, not some interpreter, 314 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,600 and how what he says aligns with what he says elsewhere in other 315 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,800 scriptures and what the Bible says in general on the matter of 316 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:46,200 being chosen and predestined. Sometimes it's important to not 317 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:47,960 just look at what a passage says. 318 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:53,440 Also, look what it does not say. Remember again, in verse one, 319 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:55,680 Paul refers to the readers as Saints. 320 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:57,520 What are Saints? They're believers. 321 00:16:57,760 --> 00:16:59,960 They're saved. They're walking with Jesus. 322 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:02,040 They've repented of their sin, living in relationship with 323 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,079 Jesus, people in Christ. That's the people group Paul is 324 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:09,560 writing to now. He says in verse 4, chose us in 325 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:10,960 him. Let's pause. 326 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,520 What does chose mean? That's a decision. 327 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:18,160 That's an action. In this case, Paul is saying God 328 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:22,000 decided to choose us in Christ. Let's break this down to its 329 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,319 individual parts. Who's chosen? 330 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,760 We are US, meaning the the readers. 331 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,560 When we read this letter. We've repented of our sin. 332 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:31,880 We're following Jesus. This means us today. 333 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,920 It is us here at this church, those of us who believed and are 334 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,200 repented and are children of God. 335 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,160 That's number one. Number two, where did God choose 336 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,800 us? It says in him, not outside of 337 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:44,920 him. All who are chosen by God are 338 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,680 chosen in His Son Jesus Christ. Now the, the third question 339 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:53,920 here, when did he choose us? Let me just pause there and get 340 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:56,240 back to that a bit later. This I want to say go to 341 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,480 question #4 first, then come back to #3 it says before the 342 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:00,920 creation of the world. But what does that mean? 343 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:07,120 OK #4 what did he choose us for? And here's where it gets and I 344 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:09,400 have listened to people talk about this and preach on this. 345 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,480 And the first thing they say for salvation, it's not what it 346 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,160 says. It says that we should be holy 347 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,080 and without blame. That's what it says. 348 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,960 Remember, Paul is referring to saved people. 349 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:27,040 God chose them in Christ, that they should be holy, set apart 350 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:33,320 for for Christ without blame. He does not say chose in him for 351 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,400 salvation, not what he says. It's important to note that I 352 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,840 understand there are people who read this chose us in him. 353 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,200 They jump to for salvation. But that's not what the text 354 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:45,320 says. What is in the text is that the 355 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:47,760 Saints are chosen, that we should be holy and without blame 356 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,760 before him in love. OK, now let's go back to 357 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,480 question #3 this is before the foundation of the world. 358 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,120 What about that phrase I said before? 359 00:18:56,120 --> 00:18:57,520 We're going to do some deep diving. 360 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:02,080 This is deep. Let's look at the part that says 361 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:03,800 from before the foundation of the world. 362 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,800 Let's read verse 4 again. I'll put it on the board. 363 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,360 Just as He chose us in him before the foundation of the 364 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:13,600 world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him. 365 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,920 Again, the US here means God's people. 366 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:20,040 We were chosen from before time. That's what He says, that we 367 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:21,960 should be blaming this and holy, holy and blameless. 368 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:26,360 Listen carefully. This does not mean that before 369 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:28,760 time we were holy and blameless. It's not what it says. 370 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:34,560 Listen carefully. Or that from before time we were 371 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:36,200 saved. It's not saying that either. 372 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:39,360 God knew from before time that sin would come. 373 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,600 The Bible clearly teaches that that he would send a Savior, 374 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,040 That through Jesus Christ, all who would repent would be saved. 375 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:50,400 So God's plan for His people is to be holy and blameless. 376 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,800 That predates creation and human existence. 377 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:55,520 That's his plan. What it does not say is that God 378 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:57,800 decided to choose who would be saved and who would be 379 00:19:57,800 --> 00:19:59,760 condemned. That's not what this passage 380 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,720 says. I'm aware there's some passage 381 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:05,760 of Scripture that some people might point to and argue, and 382 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:08,520 those passages God did decide beforehand who to save and who 383 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:11,000 to condemn. If you take an A passage 384 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,720 isolated from what's before and what's after from the rest of 385 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:17,120 Scripture and read just that, then you could understand it 386 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:19,920 that way. But that's not the total 387 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,680 interpretation of Scripture. It doesn't align with God's 388 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,720 character how it's described in Scripture. 389 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,360 My understanding is that Scripture must be compared with 390 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:31,680 Scripture. I firmly believe that God works 391 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,440 in relationship and partnership with human beings. 392 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:39,000 We find that right at the start of Genesis, God created Adam in 393 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,040 his image, gave him a job to do, Adam and Eve, and he gave them 394 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:46,440 an assignment, all in the context of relationship. 395 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:48,880 And they had the freedom to disobey or to obey. 396 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,520 It was not predestined, not predetermined. 397 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:58,240 That was their free will and this does not negate or cancel 398 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,200 out the fact that we're saved by grace through faith and not 399 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,800 through works. When salvation happens, when 400 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,880 salvation happens, it's because Jesus loved us, called us, we 401 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,760 respond, repent and believe. That's relationship. 402 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,520 That's the channel. Adam and Eve, they had a 403 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,400 relationship, they decided to disobey then Cain and Abel. 404 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,920 Abel pleased God, Cain didn't. We have the story of Noah 405 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:23,560 pleased God and and God used him to rescue to perpetuate the 406 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,280 human race. Abraham, father of the faithful 407 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,840 story of Isaac and Rebecca story of Jacob, story of Joseph, Moses 408 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,960 and the Israelites at every single level and connection 409 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:33,880 there was relationship, relationship, relationship. 410 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,640 You can't deny it always a relationship factor. 411 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:46,360 Every time we you, I we have a say in our eternal destiny. 412 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,040 The text simply says God chose those who would be saved to be 413 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,680 holy and blameless. If people get the idea that God 414 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,000 from before time choose some to be saved and some to be 415 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,400 condemned, they cannot get that through consistent 416 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,480 interpretation of this or any other passage. 417 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,640 Let's read verse 5 again. Having predestined us to 418 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,160 adoption as sons by Jesus to himself according to the good 419 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:11,360 pleasure of His will. Paul does use the word 420 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:13,120 predestined, but let's pay close attention. 421 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:20,760 Predestined to adoption as sons, not for salvation. 422 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:25,400 The people in question are saved people. 423 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,800 God predestined saved people to be adopted as sons. 424 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:32,600 This was God's plan from before the foundation of the world. 425 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,000 Do I read this passage? Salvation is not the topic in 426 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,320 this passage here. Choosing people who are in 427 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:41,880 Christ to be predestined, that is. 428 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:43,880 And those are the blessings we have. 429 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:46,680 Let me use an illustration to bring a bit of clarity. 430 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:50,080 Analogies always breakdown. Somehow they don't always work 431 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:52,240 and they work for some but not for everything. 432 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,240 Imagine you want to take a trip on a plane. 433 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,920 Let's say you want to go to Vancouver and British Columbia. 434 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,840 You go online, you buy a ticket and you pay the ticket and you 435 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,400 have flight number so and so at airport number, such airport 436 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,480 such and such. And you go to the airport, let's 437 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:09,360 say to Toronto and you go into the airport and then to the to 438 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:11,520 the terminal. And then you find your gate and 439 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,160 then you find your NUM flight number and your destiny. 440 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,400 And it says Vancouver, That's you. 441 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,880 You get on that plane, you're predestined to get to Vancouver 442 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:21,280 because you decide to get on that plane. 443 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:23,160 That plane's going to Vancouver. No matter when you buy the 444 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,040 ticket, the plane's going to go there. 445 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,080 And if you get on that plane, you're predestined to go there. 446 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,200 Then there's another plane, there's beside that gate that 447 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,120 says Saint John, Newfoundland, sitting on the East Coast. 448 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:35,880 The plane you get on Predestined's where you'll go. 449 00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:39,880 And through the window you can see the two planes getting ready 450 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:41,800 and so on. And you get on your right plane 451 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,080 and off you go, and you're predestined to go to Vancouver. 452 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:48,400 I know it's not a perfect illustration, but it helps to 453 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,200 understand a little bit that we have a part to play. 454 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:55,520 We have a role in this. The truth is clear. 455 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,440 God chose and predestined all people who repent and turn from 456 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,160 their sins, who put their faith and trust in Jesus to be holy 457 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:03,800 and blameless and predestined them for adoption of sons. 458 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:08,840 That is part of the blessings that we find here. 459 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:11,720 God does not want us to just be saved. 460 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,640 That's a great point, but that's the starting point. 461 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,840 To be saved from sin, from the judgement of death, is great 462 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:19,640 blessing. It's something we need to always 463 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,200 keep in mind and heart and remember what we've been saved 464 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,280 from and for what purpose. But then we need to go a step 465 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,200 further and remind ourselves that what God did already, 466 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,800 before he created the world, he made a plan. 467 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,120 Before he created the world, He made a plan for those who would 468 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:36,280 heed His call, who would repent, that he would choose and 469 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:38,800 predestine them to a holy life, blameless life. 470 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:42,480 Maybe you're here this morning. When did God choose me? 471 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:47,640 Well, if you've heard the gospel, if you repented of your 472 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,720 sins, you are in a relationship with Jesus, then you're chosen 473 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:53,880 and you're predestined to live holy and blames before God. 474 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,840 It's that simple. I know there are some who say 475 00:24:57,840 --> 00:24:59,600 salvation has nothing to do with people. 476 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,200 It's everything to God, but everything about God, only about 477 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:03,600 God. God does the calling, He does 478 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,920 the the saving and so on, and we have nothing to do with it. 479 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:11,440 Yes we do. We must repent, we must obey. 480 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,920 That's not works for salvation, but that's a response. 481 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:20,280 In the end, it is relationship based and God never has ever 482 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:21,960 forced anyone into relationship with Him. 483 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,080 It's not, as some would say, irresistible or it's not about 484 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,480 election. This is simply God, what God has 485 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:36,400 in store for us. It's not correct to say that we 486 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,000 have no say. We have no part in this. 487 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,360 We do, and for all who received the message of grace and 488 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:46,200 accepted to repentance and faith, they're the ones as he 489 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:47,720 says. I'll read verse 4 again. 490 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:50,840 Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the 491 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,080 world that we should be holy and without blame before him in 492 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:57,720 love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ 493 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:01,200 himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the 494 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,160 praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in 495 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:08,320 the beloved. The end goal here, verse 6 to 496 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:10,120 the praise of the glory of his grace. 497 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:13,760 That's what it's all about. We will never fully know or 498 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:17,560 understand in this life what God has done for us. 499 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:21,600 We know some of what he did. It's he we know enough. 500 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,400 We know what we need to do, what we're called to do that we need 501 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,040 to obey and through our worship, God is glorified, God is 502 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,640 honored, and we've been blessed beyond measure. 503 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:34,400 And next time you want to continue with this theme. 504 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,720 And by the way, for those of you who have done sincere study, you 505 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:42,280 will know that the 1st 13 verses of Ephesians, chapter one in the 506 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,200 original language that Paul wrote, this was just one long 507 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,160 sentence. That's how intense and how 508 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:49,920 passionate, how deep this was with him. 509 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,920 He wanted the Ephesians to focus on God, to be reminded of God 510 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,280 and to understand the blessings they have in him, what God has 511 00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,960 done for them. So what does this matter for you 512 00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:02,960 and I today? We have been blessed in Christ 513 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,800 beyond what we can grasp. This is incredibly deep. 514 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,600 Our understanding is very limited how truly deep this is. 515 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:14,240 We'll never be able to fully go to the depths of this, grasp it 516 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,520 fully. We are chosen as Saints to be, 517 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:23,040 to be, to obey him, to glorify Him. 518 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,240 He's predestined the Saints for adoption of sons. 519 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,200 So if you're a follower of Jesus, you're chosen your 520 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,560 predestined. If you've not yet repented, then 521 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,640 you're not in that group. The choice to repent and believe 522 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:37,640 is our choice. We've been given that choice. 523 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:41,200 And to all who make that decision to repent and believe 524 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:43,600 to be holding the blameless. They're predestined for adoption 525 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,120 as sons in God's family for His praise and His glory. 526 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:51,960 Let us pray. Lord, we pray that we'd be 527 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,960 humble. Lord, help us to surrender 528 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,440 completely to you. Lord, You've given us so much. 529 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:00,640 Without you, we could have never come to you. 530 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,640 You came to us, You called us, you invited us, You called us to 531 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,000 repent, You called us to follow. And it means something or you 532 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,600 call us to obedience. And we find so many passages in 533 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,040 the New Testament where this is explained over and over and over 534 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:16,960 again. Help us, Lord, to be mindful of 535 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:18,640 it. Help us, Lord, to keep you 536 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:20,280 always before our hearts and minds. 537 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,280 We're chosen by you and destined for holiness and relations with 538 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,960 you as as your adopted children. Thank you, Lord, for your 539 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,360 continued grace to us. May we live it out faithfully in 540 00:28:28,360 --> 00:28:29,040 your name, Amen.