If you would, please stand for the reading of God's Word.
We're in our third week of the study of Ephesians, which is
going to take us in through the summer, and we're going to be
looking at one verse today. This one verse begins a section
of Ephesians which is some of the most remarkable things ever
written, one of the clearest expressions of doctrine in
theology. Don't let those words scare you.
Those words are important words. Doctrine, understood correctly
always leads to doxology. Understood correctly.
It is a deep, intimate connection between our hearts
and our minds that exits through our hands and our feet.
Primarily in doxology, primarily in worship, primarily in
repeating what we just sang together after the Carol.
And this is how Paul begins this sentence.
This sentence is over 200 words. It runs from verse 3 through
verse 14, though in most of our translation, it is broken into
five different verses. We're going to be moving slowly
through this passage today, again, looking just at a portion
of one verse, verse 3. So listen now as I read blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has
blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places. That's so short.
I'm going to read it again. I am listen, listen closely.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has
blessed us, us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places. This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God. Please be seated.
Oh Father, as we open your word, this one small portion of this
long magnificent Holy Spirit written carrying Paul along
sentence transform our lives for your glory in our good.
I pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.
The flowers behind me, the red ones represent 170 babies that
were saved through Thrives Women's Clinic and the white
flowers represent 37 new believers.
I want you to think about it for a moment.
And not move too quickly. Think about the women and how
overwhelmed they were in this moment.
The word overwhelmed, if you looked it up it will tell you
it's three things. Means to be buried underneath a
huge mass. It means to be defeated soundly.
It means to receive too much of something.
We celebrate 170 lives saved. We celebrate 37 women and men
who came to this place, this Thrive clinic, overwhelmed.
And some of you've been there and some of you did the very
thing that we call what it should be called evil.
And some of you paid for that and some of you probably parents
were overwhelmed when your daughter told you or your son
told you, and you may have done the unthinkable and gave counsel
that was anti God's word. And you feel that deep shame.
Bring it to the cross. Bring it to Christ.
I don't know one individual that's represented by these
flowers, but in the year 2000, if you're new to my this church,
you've never heard the story. Some of you've heard it before.
In the year 2000, spring, there was a girl named Aaron and Aaron
was being ministered to by Hillary Coffey, the
daughter-in-law of Roy and Janice Coffey, members of our
church, the parents of Cold Coffee who is a member of our
church. Their son, one of their twins,
Aaron, let a friend know that she was pregnant.
Not for the first time. She's had an abortion before,
maybe even to she let her friend know who's a Christian that she
was pregnant. That news reached Hillary and
Hillary and Clay were very powerfully involved in speaking
out against abortion. They found out that Aaron and
her boyfriend, the father of this child, we're going to have
an abortion. It was going to be on a
Saturday. And they came to me and said we
would like for you to go with us to the abortion clinic.
They get there before they do. They intervene.
I've never done anything like that.
I knew I had to go, and I did. We left West County, Saint
Louis, our town was called Chesterfield.
We drove across the Mississippi River, which is where you go if
you want to do this. And we got there before they
did. And we waited.
Finally, their car pulled in. And as they pulled in, I don't
know what to do but pray and act.
Same with Clay and Hillary. So I moved quickly to the
passenger's door. As Aaron opened the door, I just
kneeled down in between the door and between her.
Her boyfriend, the father of the child, hopped up out of the car.
Clay and Hillary prayed and talked to him.
Well, I just said whatever the Holy Spirit was encouraging me
to say, and it took a long time, probably an hour, until finally
she said OK. All I pleaded with her to do was
to come to my house to beat my wife, who was also pregnant with
our third child, Kaden, and she agreed to do that.
Her boyfriend said that's fine, I'll spend the money on a car
stereo. That's kind of how he thought
about it. She came.
She saw the sonogram of our little boy and they simply
talked and she said I'm going to keep the baby.
God, though, gave her courage to do more than just keep the
child, but to get involved in the youth ministry of church.
A couple months later we had our own Florida trip, much like the
one we do here, and she went in her second trimester putting on
a swimsuit with a baby bump on the beach.
And is that that week that she came to understand what
Ephesians 1/3 is all about. This represents her a woman who
came to saving faith. This represents the child that
was saved is God powerfully intervened.
I start here today because this is what Paul is Speaking of in
this long sentence that is profound.
There was a day when each of the red flowers representing a
child, that child took their first breath.
That happened in this past year. Some of them perhaps have been
born just recently, and now that child is being raised by a
parent or parents and grandparents that are going to
do what parents do. Soon.
They're going to be pointing things out to them.
And one of the first things that a child learns to do is to speak
the name of something that's being pointed out.
A light, a banana, Mama, daddy, grandma, grandpa.
And they say those words, words that they've never known are
understood. They're now able to speak even
without fully understanding. But that same thing that's
happening to those red flowers, those children that are born, is
also happening with the white flowers of those who have been
born again. They're learning to speak words
and give names to things that they've never known about words
like grace and election and adoption and holiness and favor
and inheritance, lavishness. Born again.
We are taught a new language and there is no greater sentence in
the Bible or anywhere else as great as this one and what it
clearly speaks of. So let's dive in.
What were we to tell Aaron about what just happened to her?
What are we to tell those represented by these white
flowers? Paul begins this benediction
with the word blessed. What does the word blessed mean
here? The word blessed means to speak
with favor. It means to speak well of
someone. In this case, it means to speak
glory. Paul, knowing what he is going
to write, carried along by the Holy Spirit, this rich doctrine
of who God is and His sovereignty and who we are as
sinners needing a Savior. And there's only one He can't
wait to burst into praise for all that he is about to say that
is going to be given to this church and other churches,
including this one. 2000 years later, he burst into doxology.
You should too. Constantly in our cars, at work,
in our homes, in the shower, all sorts of places, just sing the
doxology. Praise God from whom all
blessings flow. The word blessed means to speak
well of how do we bless God who needs nothing.
This word blessed is a powerful word.
Psalm one O 3 speaks of blessing God.
Psalm 145 speaks of blessing God and the New Testament.
You've got the priest Zechariah, who's told that his wife is
going to conceive a child, and this child is going to be the
one who will be the forerunner of Christ, who will speak of the
one who is to come, Christ. He struggles to believe, which
is understandable, and in his struggle he is given a
consequence, and the consequence is that he will not be able to
speak. And so for nine months, no words
come out of his mouth. When John is finally born, those
close to Elizabeth say, what is the name of the child?
She says his name is John. None of your relatives is called
by this name. And they made signs to his
father because he can't speak, inquiring what do you wanted him
to be called? And he asked for a writing
tablet. Picture this.
It really happened. The priest Zechariah, silent for
nine months, writes his name is John.
And they all wondered. And immediately this is in Luke
164. And immediately his mouth was
opened, his tongue loosed, and he spoke blessing to God.
In fact, the first words we hear that Zechariah spoke is recorded
in verse 67. And his father Zechariah was
filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying, and it's the
same word in Ephesians 1/3. Blessed be the Lord God of
Israel, for he has visited, for he has visited and redeemed his
people. He's raised up a horn of
salvation for us in the House of his servant David, as he spoke
by the mouth of his holy prophets from of all that we
should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who
hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to
remember His holy covenant. He goes on, speaks of what his
Son will speak of to the one who's coming of the one who's
coming next. Chapter Mary and Joseph take
this baby Jesus and they take him to Jerusalem to present him
to the Lord, and they're waiting for them.
The one who's been waiting for so long is Simeon, verse 27.
And he came in the spirit into the temple.
And when the parents brought the child Jesus to do for him
according to the custom of the law, Simeon took him up in his
arms. He's holding Christ, he's
holding this child who is fully God, fully man and blessed God,
and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in
peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your
salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your
people. Israel.
Simeon was overwhelmed. Zechariah was overwhelmed.
The people witnessing it were overwhelmed.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When Paul begins this benediction at the beginning of
the letter with this fantastic doxology, blessed be the God and
Father. He tells us who we're blessing,
the God and Father. If you pay attention to what's
happening in this letter, you're going to see this high value
that Paul is placing on the Trinity.
He begins with the Father because this plan of redemption
originates with the Father, the Trinity working together.
Now Jesus is born and begins to walk upon the earth, and he does
everything that is required to accomplish salvation.
And then the Holy Spirit who was promised, He is the one who
applies this redeeming work to the lives of his people.
This high view of the Trinity is present already here.
Blessed be the God and Father, the one true God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Then he says and gives us the
motivation, who has blessed us the word blessing, the root of
that word three times in this one verse.
Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places? We read our Bibles too fast.
If you're in a Bible reading plan, I'm grateful.
I'm glad you're in the word of God.
Continue to read that word each day, but don't read it just a
check a box. You are reading the living word
of God. In this one small verse
beginning of this enormous magnificent sentence, he says
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has
blessed us, who is the US, It's the Saints.
If you have trusted Christ Jesus, it's you, it's me.
This is for us who are in Christ, blessed us in Christ.
But what has he blessed us with every spiritual blessing?
What a word. Each of those words matter.
With every spiritual blessing. God blesses us with material
things for sure, even common grace, which is for those who
are in Christ and those who are not in Christ exist.
But for those who are in Christ, we have these blessings that are
spiritual, and the Word tells us that He is giving us every
spiritual blessing. While the material blessings
vary, some born into great wealth or work hard for great
material blessing, others not at all.
God's in control, some born even as our dear sister mentioned,
with really good health, others with not good health.
There's variation in the material and physical blessings
with God, but with the spiritual blessings, they're for all of
us, all of them, each of them. Yes, there's differences in the
gifts that He gives us to bring Him glory, but in terms of these
spiritual blessings, every spiritual blessing is given in
the heavenly places. This is the motivation for our
praise. What are these blessings?
Listen to this just in the sentence that is about to
follow, and these are the words I was speaking about a moment
ago, some of them that are way above your intellect, way above
your understanding, complicated and mysterious for sure.
But in this one sentence, listen to some of the blessings that he
mentions and we're going to get into each of them in the weeks
to come. Election.
It's biblical, it's here, you may not understand it.
Welcome to the club. It's mysterious, mind blowing,
but nonetheless true. Adoption, Grace.
I'm only up to verse 6, redemption verse 7, forgiveness
verse 7, riches of grace verse 7, revelation of His will verse
9, and inheritance, verse 11. Sealed and guaranteed by God
himself, the Holy Spirit. These are the spiritual
blessings that are given to us in Christ.
We must become more and more acquainted with the privileges
we have in Christ. This is what a new believer is
to hear. This is what a new believer is
to seek to understand. And old believers as well.
Notice that their spiritual blessings, they're not material.
They're from the Holy Spirit. Each and everyone is given to us
and these blessings are given now, yes, Now, not just when we
go to heaven, yes, and fulfillment there and full glory
there, but these blessings are given.
Now. This language is spoken so that
it means effective now. Now let's talk about the
location of these blessings. This is why we have to read our
Bibles slow or we would miss a statement like this.
Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places? OK, So what is the location of
these blessings? Paul doesn't do much to explain
to us what he means by heavenly places.
Remember, they're hearing this letter being read to them.
They're wondering what it means to be a follower of Christ.
They're seeking to understand these things.
What does he mean by heavenly places?
Well, it's a phrase that he's going to use throughout the
letter. And what he is speaking to is a
realm, a spiritual realm, a Kingdom that we can't see.
Yes, we can feel it. Yes, we can understand it.
But it's not a physical Kingdom. It's not a physical dynamic that
we can touch. These spiritual blessings are in
a different realm. Richard Phillips says it this
way. This is where our blessings are
found, not in the realm of things you can touch and feel,
but our spiritual blessings are real, in fact, more real than
the worldly blessings that we can see.
That is why whether you are a brand new believer or today even
is the day you come to faith or you've been walking with the
Lord a long time, this living Word overwhelms us.
It reminds us that as clearly as God has given us eyes to see,
there is always more to see. He's going to speak about the
spiritual battle that we are in, in a realm that we don't see
that comes later, probably be like in July or August when
we're there. But it's powerful.
The location of these spiritual blessings is in the heavenly
places, but there's another location, and this location is
everything. And this location is in Christ.
The most frequently used phrase of Paul describing believers is
in Christ. In Him, the location of these
blessings is in the heavenly places, and those blessings are
not in anyone except for those who are in Christ.
So if you are in Christ, all of the spiritual blessings, those
we we will see in this letter and other letters in the
Gospels, the Psalms, throughout God's Word, these blessings are
in the heavenly places and they're in Christ.
And what that ultimately means is that He is the spiritual
blessing, the person of Jesus is the spiritual blessing.
And to me, this is one of the things that the church has
missed so badly. We, in conforming to the pattern
of the world, treat Christianity like it's just another
worldview, another set of standards to live by, another
guideline for how to vote, another self help manual to help
you improve. And that is not the essence of
Christianity. The essence of Christianity is
that we who have trusted in Jesus, his life, his death, his
perfect righteousness, his resurrection, his reign, his
promised return, his kingship, his lordship, it's because we're
in him. There is this mystical union
that exists that we don't feel physically, but it's real.
There was a wedding here last night.
Tommy Overton officiated. My granddaughter was a flower
girl, along with four or five others.
My grandson was the ring bearer. I got to sit right where Clint
Harrison is, right there. It was awesome just to sit and
watch. Tommy began to explain this
covenant that between this 2 Stephen Madora and Claire
Obenshane is a mystical union that exists between Christ and
His church in Christ is the location.
So let me finish with just a couple of questions.
First, how do you obtain this blessing?
Well, the only way, please listen, the only way.
And if you're new to our church and maybe you don't even know
why you're here, this might be why.
The only way to obtain these spiritual blessings is in
Christ. It is resting and receiving
Jesus alone for salvation, as he's offered in the gospel.
Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Him.
And for all who have rested and received in Christ, this is your
privilege, privileges, all the spiritual privileges, all the
spiritual blessings. Today, if you're eager to know
what it means to be in Christ, please come and talk to us.
Even this day. If you're ready to pray for
salvation as I close in a moment, just pray the sinner's
prayer. I'm a Sinner in need of a
Savior. There is only one, the holy,
righteous Jesus Christ, Lord and King, God, Redeemer, Savior in
that moment, that grip which was born before all eternity, which
you'll hear more about even next week, becomes the reality of
your life. Now for those who are in Christ,
here's the question, does this verse mark your life?
Is your life every day? And when we gather together in
corporate worship, is it filled with the richness of this
doctrine that leads to the doxology where, like Paul, you
just can't wait to say, blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every
spiritual blessing? Ian Hamilton says this, and I
want you to lean in and listen. If our individual and corporate
lives should be marked by anything, they should be marked
by joyful, thankful, glorying and the God of our salvation.
Listen to this. Our public worship services
should pulse with the wonder of sinners forgiven by grace.
Now they're called Saints and blessed in Christ with every
spiritual blessing. The reason our worship services
do not always throb with life. The reason our worship services
do not always throb with life is not because our liturgies are
antiquated, our praise lacks modernity, and our surroundings
are formal. The reason is more basic and
serious. We are not captivated and
overwhelmed by the Gospel. There's that word again.
Overwhelmed. Overwhelmed means to be buried
under a huge mass. It means to be defeated soundly.
It means to receive too much of something in the garden.
Jesus said my soul is overwhelmed to the point of
death. Pray for me three times he said,
Father, if you're willing, take this cup from me.
And then on the cross, Jesus indeed was overwhelmed.
He was buried under a huge mass, the mass of your sin and my sin,
the sin of all of his people and the weight of the Father's just
wrath. He was overwhelmed by receiving
too much of the penalty that you and I deserved.
He was defeated soundly. They went to break his legs so
he would die quicker. Recognizing that he looked as if
he was already dead. They pierced aside and out flew
fluid, a mixture of water and blood, signifying a heart that
it burst. His heart was overwhelmed.
He was defeated soundly, and that dead body of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ was taken down.
That body was placed in a tomb, sealed, guarded. 3 days later,
Jesus overwhelmed death. Death was buried underneath the
weight of His glory. Death received too much of His
resurrection power. Death was defeated soundly.
Everyone who comes to faith in Christ has Him.
He, the one who died, is the spiritual blessing.
We are in Him. If you're not in Him, these
blessings are not yours. If you are in Him and you're not
throbbing daily with the desire to praise Him with doxology,
it's because you're overwhelmed with something else, something
far less so. Ask Him, and trust that He will
do it, to open your eyes anew to the wonder of the Gospel.
About four years after we had moved here, about four years
after that little girl was born, Aaron's daughter, I'd gone back
to Saint Louis. I just so happened to see this
young mom with a toddler and another child in tow and a wagon
and I recognized it was Aaron. I stopped my car, I got out and
she recognized me. Mark and I looked and pointed to
the little girl walking beside her and I said is this?
Her Big Blue eyes looked up at me and she said my natural
instinct was to reach down and pick her up.
Her natural instinct was to yell stranger danger.
She wanted nothing to do with me.
And she jumped in her mother's arms right where she needed to
be. And now, with confidence, she's
25 or 26, Her mother sought to raise her with the promises that
Paul speaks of in this really long sentence, beginning with
doxology. Blessed be the God.
I hope you're ready to sing this hymn to God beyond all praising.
Father, as we prepare to lift our voices to you and exit this
place, let us be overwhelmed by you, cause us to be overwhelmed
by you. Let us be completely consumed
and owned by you and this word of truth.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen. Please stand.