1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,640 Fix our eyes on Jesus. If you're able, would you please 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:06,040 stand for the reading of God's Word? 3 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:13,600 This morning I'll be reading from Paul's letter to the 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,960 Ephesians, chapter 1, beginning with verse 11. 5 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:24,680 Apostle Paul writes in him we've obtained an inheritance, having 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,440 been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:33,040 things according to counsel of His will, that we who are the 8 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:38,280 first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory and 9 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,000 Him also. When you heard the word of 10 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,520 truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in Him 11 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:50,440 were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the 12 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:55,320 guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of 13 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,840 it to the praise of His glory. This is the word of the Lord. 14 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:07,720 You may be seated. Now. 15 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:13,000 It's often said that we live in a post Christian or a secular 16 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,600 age. Living here in Dallas, TX, I 17 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,640 know many of us are still trying to catch up to what that word 18 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:23,120 even means. What's it mean to be in a post 19 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,040 Christian age? And what's amazing, as we're 20 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:31,800 catching up, much of the western world has already moved on. 21 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,640 There is a phenomenon spreading throughout particular the 22 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:43,160 western world, on the coasts of our own country and over in 23 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:47,000 Europe that many are calling post secularism. 24 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,640 In other words, they've already moved beyond post Christianity 25 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,560 and now they're calling themselves post secular. 26 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:57,040 Now what in the world does that mean? 27 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:03,400 It means that many, especially in the younger generations, no 28 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:08,160 longer believe that the anti religious, atheistic, secular 29 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:13,720 way of seeing the world is an adequate way to answer life's 30 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:15,960 most basic and fundamental questions. 31 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:20,040 That's not to say that everybody suddenly is becoming Christians, 32 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:25,480 but they're becoming skeptical about skepticism. 33 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,520 And they're recognizing that there have been these enduring 34 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:37,000 questions that human beings have always had to answer, that 35 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,840 atheism and secularism just cannot answer. 36 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:48,920 Questions like what is truth? Who ultimately gets to decide 37 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:56,680 what is right and what is wrong? How can humanity save itself 38 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:04,160 from its own self destruction? Nearly 100 years ago, a Dutch 39 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:09,880 missionary named JH Bobink name these kinds of questions 40 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:16,360 magnetic points. JH Bobink was the nephew of 41 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,920 theologian Herman Bobink, and he was quite a theologian in his 42 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:22,320 own right. He identified these five 43 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:27,960 magnetic points, or five enduring questions that 44 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:33,440 transcend history and culture. In the very first of these 45 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:38,320 unavoidable questions that every human being has to answer, he 46 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:40,800 said, is the question of belonging. 47 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:46,720 It's that thing that fills your heart and soul when you go 48 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:51,240 outside out in West TX, look up at the sky and see the stars. 49 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,920 The sense that there is something bigger than us, even 50 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,680 though we are so small, and yet we feel somehow connected to it. 51 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:08,080 It's that sense that we get as we consider the each one of us 52 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,160 as just an individual. And yet we're part of this 53 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,840 larger human race of billions of people. 54 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,880 It fills us with this overwhelming longing to connect. 55 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,440 You see, everybody wants to belong. 56 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:32,360 We search for belonging in relationships, in our 57 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:36,720 allegiances. It's why we love sports so much, 58 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,680 why so many of us will fill entire stadiums of people. 59 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,600 Why? Because deep down, we just want 60 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,960 to belong. We search for, connecting and 61 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:54,560 connection the devices that we have in our pockets, trying 62 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,600 again and again with every swipe to connect to other people. 63 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,200 And yet, studies have shown we have never been more lonely. 64 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:08,360 We even try to satisfy this belonging by trying to possess 65 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,440 things. Somehow thinking of things can 66 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,160 belong to us. Maybe we can dissatisfy this 67 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,760 desire. And so from our earliest days, 68 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:22,240 trying to fit in on the playground or from the name that 69 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:27,680 we inherit from our families, we all want to belong to something 70 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,720 or someone. Why is that? 71 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,200 Well, here in the book of Ephesians, Paul reminds us that 72 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,040 we all want to belong because we were created that way. 73 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:46,240 We were made to belong to something, or I really should 74 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:53,040 say someone far bigger, far greater than ourselves. 75 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,360 This morning Paul's going to show us this in two ways. 76 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:02,280 The first is this. In Christ we belong to God. 77 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:05,120 In Christ we belong to God. I want you to look with me. 78 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:11,120 Ephesians one, verse 11, Paul says in him that is in Christ we 79 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,280 have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined 80 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:18,200 according to the purpose of him who works all things according 81 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:22,800 to the counsel of his will. Apostle Paul begins verse 11 82 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,280 with these words. In him we've obtained an 83 00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:29,240 inheritance. Now what is this inheritance 84 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,960 that Paul is talking about? Now, when we speak of an 85 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:37,480 inheritance, we're often talking about family, possessions, 86 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:42,520 property, and wealth that passes down from one generation to the 87 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:46,280 next. So if Paul is saying here in 88 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:50,240 verse 11 that in Christ we've been given an inheritance, then 89 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:54,000 surely he's not talking about physical inheritance, physical 90 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,200 wealth. No, he's talking about something 91 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,920 far greater as a spiritual inheritance. 92 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:05,160 And as we look back on the 10 verses that precede verse 11, we 93 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,920 see that this is what Paul has been teaching us, the opening 94 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,720 chapter of his letter to the Ephesians. 95 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:18,000 He's talking about all of the spiritual blessings that belong 96 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,240 to us who are in Christ. This morning, if you thought 97 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:27,160 call yourself a Christian, if you are a follower of Jesus, 98 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:32,080 then Paul says you've been blessed and you have been 99 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:37,240 lavished with grace upon grace. And so it makes sense that if 100 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,600 this is what Paul is saying here, opening words of verse 11, 101 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:44,560 that we've been given an inheritance that surely are 102 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,840 inheritance far greater than any kind of earthly wealth or 103 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:54,760 possession would be. That as the family of God being 104 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:59,960 adopted, as his sons and daughters, we now are due an 105 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:06,920 inheritance that is ours, not because of us, but because we're 106 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:12,680 part of this family. But you see, I don't think that 107 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,760 what Paul is really talking about here, because everything I 108 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,240 just said is true. And he will actually talk about 109 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,040 us being given inheritance in just a few verses. 110 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,200 But see, I think before Paul is talking about the inheritance 111 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:34,240 that we are being given, he's talking about a reality that's 112 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:39,280 far more gracious and far more incredible for us to wrap our 113 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:44,200 minds around. See the original language of the 114 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:50,480 Bible, the New Testament book of Ephesians is Greek, and Greek at 115 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:55,040 times can be difficult to translate, difficult to really 116 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:59,840 render into English. Here at PCPC, we use the English 117 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:02,600 Standard Version, the translation of the Bible. 118 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:07,760 It's a wonderful translation. But as I read verse 11, if any 119 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,240 of you brought your own Bible this morning, it's entirely 120 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,400 possible that you read something far different. 121 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:19,400 And often times the differences in our Bible translations is not 122 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:26,520 that significant, but sometimes it is to many scholars. 123 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:32,200 Many translations actually read verse 11 quite differently. 124 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:38,160 The word for inheritance here is hard to translate. 125 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:42,520 Where is this inheritance coming from? 126 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,720 Just what kind of inheritance is Paul talking about? 127 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,480 And I actually think a much better translation is found in 128 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,640 the NIV. In him we were chosen. 129 00:09:55,480 --> 00:10:00,520 That's how verse 11 begins the NIV in him we were chosen or 130 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:06,040 elsewhere you might see in Him we were made a heritage are 131 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:08,360 quite literally. I think the way verse 11 should 132 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:13,280 begin as this in him we were made an inheritance. 133 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:17,600 Not that we have been given inheritance, which we have, and 134 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,640 Paul will talk about that in just a few verses. 135 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:23,720 But first, what Paul wants us to understand is not the 136 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:27,120 inheritance that we've been given, but the inheritance that 137 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:32,560 we are. That because of Jesus we are now 138 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,000 God's inheritance. What does that mean? 139 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:43,160 It means that God has set His affection on you and on me. 140 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:49,280 It means you are His treasure. It means you are his prized 141 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:54,240 possession. It means that in Christ we 142 00:10:54,240 --> 00:11:00,000 belong to God. We are his inheritance. 143 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,520 And Paul put it this way in just a few verses, Ephesians one, 144 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:06,560 verse 18. It's not in your bulletin, but 145 00:11:06,560 --> 00:11:11,000 if you have a Bible, you can turn there as Paul prays for the 146 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,400 Ephesian church. He prays the eyes of their 147 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,840 hearts would be enlightened that you may know what is the hope to 148 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:19,800 which he has called you. What are the riches of his 149 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,440 glorious inheritance in the Saints? 150 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,680 Did you hear it? The riches of his glorious 151 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:32,400 inheritance in the Saints? The Saints, as we've already 152 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:36,200 learned, not these famous Christians who've gone before 153 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:38,800 us, but every follower of Jesus is a St. 154 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:42,520 They've been set apart. They've been marked and called 155 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:47,040 to be holy because of Jesus. If you're a follower of Jesus 156 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:48,200 this morning, that describes you. 157 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:51,760 What Paul is saying is the riches of God's glorious 158 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:58,080 inheritance is in the Saints. We are his inheritance. 159 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,760 And this is one of the great storylines of the Bible from 160 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:07,560 Genesis to Revelation, that God and His sovereign grace has 161 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:13,480 named and chosen a people for His own possession. 162 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:16,920 We see this in the book of Exodus. 163 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,360 After God rescued Israel out of slavery, He says to his people 164 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:25,400 in Exodus 19 verse 5. God says, Now therefore, if you 165 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:30,680 indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my 166 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:37,880 treasured possession among all peoples, God's people, His 167 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,200 covenant people, the people of Israel, or His treasure. 168 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:47,840 Moses put it this way in Deuteronomy 9, Deuteronomy 929, 169 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,280 he's speaking to God. He says they are your people, 170 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:57,240 your inheritance that you brought out by your great power 171 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:59,680 in your outstretched arm. And then again in Deuteronomy 172 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:04,040 32, when the Most High gave the nation's their inheritance, when 173 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,440 he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according 174 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,160 to the number in the sons of God. 175 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:13,480 But the Lord's portion is his people. 176 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:20,160 Jacob has allotted heritage. And what does all this mean? 177 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,960 It means that God's inheritance is us. 178 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:30,920 It means that we belong to him. Means this morning with all of 179 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:36,040 your longing to belong to someone or something you already 180 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:42,240 do because of Jesus, you already do. 181 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:47,320 And what's amazing about what Paul is saying here is that all 182 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:51,920 of this happened before the foundation of the world, that 183 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,040 God set his sights on you and on me. 184 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:59,640 And he said you are mine. And because you are my 185 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:06,760 inheritance, I will stop at nothing to bring you to myself, 186 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:13,120 and to love you to the end. So let me read verse 11 again 187 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:19,840 for you, using this translation. Ephesians one, verse 11. 188 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:26,520 In Him we have been made an inheritance, having been 189 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:29,640 predestined according to the purpose of him who works all 190 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,760 things according to the counsel of His will, that we who are the 191 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:38,560 first to hope in Christ might be the praise of His glory. 192 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,840 So what Paul is saying here in verse 11, he's building on 193 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,640 everything he's already been teaching us about the doctrine 194 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,680 of predestination. And if you're new with us this 195 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,040 morning, I encourage you to go back and listen to Mark's 196 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:54,360 sermons on this wonderful doctrine, A doctrine that 197 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:59,040 teaches us that God is not some aloof puppet master in the sky, 198 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:05,120 but a God who loved us so much that he chose us to himself. 199 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,120 What we've seen is that the doctrine of predestination is a 200 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,560 doctrine of assurance, a doctrine of love. 201 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:18,680 Paul wants us to understand so deeply just how deep and wide 202 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:25,080 and sovereign God's Love Actually is, so much that now in 203 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,400 verse 11 he's saying you belong to him. 204 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:32,320 You are his inheritance. To the other thing he's 205 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:36,040 answering for us here is why maybe you've asked that question 206 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,440 over the last several weeks. Well, why predestination? 207 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:43,320 Why would God do it this way? And it's one thing to ask that 208 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,320 question theologically, philosophically, try to wrap 209 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,960 your mind around it. But it's another thing to ask 210 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:55,000 that question personally, because I, I don't think you can 211 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,960 truly grapple with the doctrine of predestination until 212 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:00,560 eventually you ask, well, why me? 213 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:07,600 Why me? Why would God choose me? 214 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:12,480 If you ever asked yourself that question, to the heart of that 215 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:17,560 question is a recognition that left yourself. 216 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:24,880 You don't belong to God because you've abandoned him that left 217 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:26,880 yourself. You don't deserve to be called 218 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:34,400 among his family, just like me. Not only have we been orphaned, 219 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:44,760 we've chosen our orphan hood in our sin, and we turn our back on 220 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:48,560 our Creator and our heavenly Father every time we choose some 221 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:53,360 other pursuit, some other God, some other way to rescue 222 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:58,960 ourselves. What Paul is teaching us here, 223 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:08,119 because of love, he said, his affection on us, he said, You're 224 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:14,240 mine. And God, the heavenly Father of 225 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:21,319 all things, sent his only Son to die in our place so that we who 226 00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:26,800 once orphans might now become called sons and daughters. 227 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:33,320 That makes us the family of God, and that means in all of our 228 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:39,920 searching to belong, you belong to God, the creator of the 229 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:42,960 universe. That's why nothing else will 230 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,960 satisfy, because you were created to belong to him. 231 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:56,240 And I think God did it this way in order to prove that none of 232 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,680 this is about us. This is what Paul says, verse 233 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,840 12. Why did God do it this way? 234 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:08,800 Why predestination? Why choose us? 235 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:14,280 Why make us his inheritance? He tells us verse 12, so that we 236 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,720 who are the first to hope in Christ, might be to the praise 237 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:22,120 of his glory. Brothers and sisters, our 238 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:29,840 salvation is about His glory. Our redemption isn't even about 239 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:37,640 us, yet in so many ways it is. But ultimately it's about his 240 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:42,080 glory. So the world will look on us and 241 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:46,600 say, I don't get it. None of you deserve this. 242 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:54,760 None of you should belong. The only explanation is that a 243 00:18:54,760 --> 00:19:00,240 sovereign God decided to love you and call you to Himself. 244 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:07,600 The story of salvation is all about God from beginning to end. 245 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:15,000 And that is good news because from the very beginning God 246 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,640 saved us in spite of ourselves. While we were enemies, Christ 247 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,080 died for us. But now for those of us who have 248 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:27,680 trusted in Jesus as we struggle to hold on to hope and faith, as 249 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:32,160 we face disappointment and difficulty and doubt, as we come 250 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,560 into a sanctuary on Sunday morning and so many of us 251 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,400 entangled with sin and addiction, and we wonder, does 252 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,720 God still love me? What Paul is telling us here in 253 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:47,400 Ephesians 1 verses 11 and 12 is, yes, He does, because you still 254 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:53,480 belong to Him. You are his inheritance and He 255 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,680 will get his inheritance in the end. 256 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,160 He will love you to the end because you belong to Him. 257 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,480 That's the first thing. The second thing Paul teaches 258 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:09,920 us, not only do we belong to God, but he belongs to us. 259 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,760 When it's not staggering enough to think that somehow we belong 260 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:17,080 to the God of the universe, that we are his inheritance, Paul 261 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:21,080 also teaches us here in Ephesians that God is our 262 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:26,480 inheritance. Verse 13 he tells us in Christ 263 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:31,000 you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of 264 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,520 your salvation and believed in him were sealed with the 265 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,200 promised Holy Spirit. What Paul is saying is when you 266 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:44,120 first came to believe in Jesus, you were given a gift and not 267 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:50,040 only did you receive salvation through Christ by faith alone, 268 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:54,640 you also received the promised Holy Spirit. 269 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,560 You've been given Jesus and you've been given the Holy 270 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,920 Spirit. My favorite book on the Holy 271 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,200 Spirit was written by the Puritan Englishman John Owen. 272 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,240 This is what he wrote. He said when God planned the 273 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,760 great work of saving sinners, He provided 2 gifts. 274 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:19,080 He gave his Son, and He gave His Spirit. 275 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:23,200 Now often as we think of the story of the gospel as 276 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,120 Christians, we think of all we've been given in Jesus, and 277 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:29,080 that is right and good. We've been getting everything in 278 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:30,320 Christ. He died for us. 279 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,240 He rose again for us. He's coming back for us. 280 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,640 We can't forget that the story of salvation is not just about 281 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,280 Jesus, but all three persons of the Trinity. 282 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:47,000 But the wisdom of God the Father planned our salvation. 283 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:52,240 We're getting the foundation of the world that the humility of 284 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:56,920 the Son purchased our salvation when he died and rose again for 285 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:02,000 us. And now the promised Holy 286 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:05,360 Spirit. We've been given the power of 287 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:08,400 salvation. And this is what Paul is telling 288 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,040 us in verse 13. We've been sealed with the 289 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:16,600 promised Holy Spirit. This same Holy Spirit that Jesus 290 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,720 told his disciples in the upper room in the Gospel of John would 291 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,320 be a helper. This is John 14 verse 26. 292 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,200 He said, But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father 293 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:31,240 will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring to your 294 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,520 remembrance all that I have said to you. 295 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:40,480 This word that Jesus uses here being champion, counselor, 296 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:47,040 advocate, helper, well, how does the Holy Spirit help us? 297 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:54,080 I think Paul tells us here in Ephesians chapter one verse 14, 298 00:22:55,640 --> 00:23:00,080 you are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee 299 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:04,600 of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the 300 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,200 praise of His glory. Paul tells us the Holy Spirit is 301 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:13,480 our helper by being the guarantee of our inheritance. 302 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,160 Now what does that mean? I just want to mention two brief 303 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:18,800 things before we come to the table. 304 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:25,000 First, the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of our inheritance and 305 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,720 that He is the very power of salvation working now in US, 306 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:33,960 sanctifying us, causing us to be made new. 307 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:38,600 Paul put it this way in Romans 8 verse 11 where he says if the 308 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,320 Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, who 309 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:45,600 raised Christ Jesus from the dead also will give life to your 310 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:49,400 immortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 311 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:57,400 Paul is saying that as you fix your eyes on Jesus and on the 312 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:03,680 cross, and you consider all that God has given to us through our 313 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:08,640 salvation, that our sin was nailed to the cross, that there 314 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:14,640 Jesus died in our place and on the third day he rose again. 315 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:21,160 Paul is saying that you don't just look on it from afar, but 316 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:25,600 through the Holy Spirit he has brought our salvation near. 317 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:31,640 So much so that this morning, if you've trusted in that 318 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:36,640 salvation, death and resurrection of Jesus for you, 319 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:44,800 Paul says here that that same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus 320 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:54,040 from the dead now dwells in you. God, the Holy Spirit lives in 321 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:59,480 you, and he is bringing the very power of the resurrection to 322 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:06,120 bear in your life the guarantee of your inheritance. 323 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,480 So for you this morning, if heaven feels way too far off, 324 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,280 whether it be because of your suffering or your disappointment 325 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:21,800 or your grief, or if it feels way too off because of your sin, 326 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:29,080 you've been given a guarantee. The very Holy Spirit who now 327 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:34,800 dwells in you, giving life, resurrection life to you right 328 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:39,640 here, right now. The second way, the Holy Spirit, 329 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:46,080 is a guarantee. Second way is that the Holy 330 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:52,920 Spirit is ours now. God himself, His very presence, 331 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:58,760 is ours now. He's not far off, but he's so 332 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:03,120 near that he dwells in US. The Holy Spirit is a guarantee 333 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:08,480 of the greatest inheritance that we could ever fathom, not just 334 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:14,200 the blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus, but Jesus himself. 335 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,240 We can never separate all of the blessings of Christ from Christ 336 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,160 himself. Christ ultimately is our 337 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:27,280 inheritance, the fullness of the presence of God that awaits us 338 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:30,520 when we come into glory. What Paul is saying is you've 339 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:32,680 been given a guarantee of that inheritance. 340 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:39,560 Now you don't have to wait. All that awaits us in glory in 341 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:43,160 heaven. We've been given a down payment, 342 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,320 a guarantee in the person of the Holy Spirit. 343 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:52,960 And that's amazing. As the Holy Spirit now is, there 344 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:57,720 awaits us an inheritance that is even greater. 345 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:06,640 And the Holy Spirit, we're given just a glimpse with all of his 346 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,200 power and all of His Majesty and all of his presence. 347 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,680 It's still just a glimpse of the glory of the presence of God 348 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:15,240 that awaits us and our inheritance to come. 349 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,680 In the same way that now as we come to this table, it's just a 350 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,200 foretaste as an amazing of a gift. 351 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,040 This is to draw us into the presence of God. 352 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:28,240 It's just a foretaste of the feast to come. 353 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:38,320 And so as we come to this table, come trusting in Jesus, knowing 354 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:44,440 that not only do you belong to him, but he belongs to you. 355 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:50,600 And in this feast set before us as a church, may we now receive 356 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:55,600 that incredible gift again and again and again. 357 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:02,240 We belong to him, that in Christ he belongs to us. 358 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:04,280 Let's pray. Father in heaven, as we come now 359 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:08,880 to this table, we pray that you would be present with us. 360 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:16,120 We thank you that we are in you and that You, your Holy Spirit, 361 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:19,800 are in US. May we now, as we commune with 362 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:27,760 you through this feast together, taste just a small portion of 363 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,240 that heavenly feast. We ask in Jesus name.