1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:05,960 There's an exercise that you can do with a group of people if you 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:08,920 want to demonstrate the significance of the identity 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,080 that we gain from our group relationships. 4 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:12,600 We did this with our elders recently. 5 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,560 We gain significant portions of our identity from the groups 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,720 that we belong to. And the exercise is this. 7 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:23,280 You have someone introduce themselves, preferably to a 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,680 group of people. And the rule is you cannot 9 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:30,440 appeal to any group identities, any shared identities. 10 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,400 And what normally happens is it goes something like this. 11 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,840 An individual will introduce himself and say, my name is 12 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:37,120 Aaron Hembree. And you stop him immediately and 13 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,200 you say him, sorry, Hembree is a group identity. 14 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,920 Try again. And it's that point they begin 15 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:43,960 to get apprehensive and they start to think this is going to 16 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,880 be difficult. And as you're thinking, you say 17 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,360 I can't confess that I'm a father, I can't confess that I 18 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:52,600 go to Heritage Church, I can't confess I'm an American, I can't 19 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,080 confess I'm a New Orleans Saints fan. 20 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,760 All of these are group identities. 21 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,960 And so you're stuck saying something like my name is Aaron 22 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,120 and I like enchiladas. And that's about as deep as you 23 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,040 can get without people, without groups. 24 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,520 And so if you take away or strip away all of your group 25 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,080 identities, you, you take away all of your shared meaning and 26 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,960 purpose, you take all away your security and your sense of 27 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:20,560 belonging. It gets wrapped up into this. 28 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,080 And that's how it's meant to be with you as an individual. 29 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,760 You are designed and created for community. 30 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:29,880 You're designed to belong and you get satisfaction from being 31 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,880 included. And Paul began last week. 32 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:34,960 If you want to go and turn to Ephesians 1 and you can look at 33 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:37,840 verses one to two where we looked last week and he made a 34 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,280 statement about group identities and it's amazing he only 35 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,520 mentions 1 for himself and for his recipients because there's 36 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,720 only one that takes his focus and attention because there's 37 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,480 only one that's of any eternal significance. 38 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,000 It's the Christians group identity as being found in Jesus 39 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,360 Christ. That was all of it. 40 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,520 Look at how we started the book, verse one, Paul, an apostle of 41 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,960 Christ Jesus to the Saints in Christ Jesus, grace to you and 42 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,039 peace in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he continues in verse 43 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:09,880 4. We were chosen in him. 44 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,800 He predestined us through him. He blessed us in him. 45 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,360 We have redemption through him. He set forth his purpose in him. 46 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:18,760 And what he begins in the beginning, he never lets up. 47 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:20,520 He starts at the beginning. He says your identity is in 48 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:25,320 Christ and throughout the book some 35 times he appeals to your 49 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:30,600 new identity in Jesus. So there's a a lot of exemplary 50 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,320 and noteworthy places that Paul could have started. 51 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,400 He has a lot of really incredible group identities. 52 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,040 He could have started saying, I'm Paul, a Roman citizen, which 53 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:40,760 if you're in the the Roman Empire, that's that's a big 54 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:42,240 deal. He could have started saying I 55 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:47,120 am a Greek educated scholar or I am a Pharisee. 56 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,360 What a privilege that could have been, or I'm Paul, a Hebrew of 57 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,320 Hebrews, Ron Paul of the tribe of Benjamin. 58 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:54,520 These are all of his group identities. 59 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:56,960 He says those aren't of eternal weight and significance. 60 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:58,760 The most important thing you need to know about me is that I 61 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,440 am Paul, an apostle by the will of God. 62 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,040 I belong to Jesus. I'm found in Jesus. 63 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,800 And now for the next two weeks, Paul wants to show you how you 64 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,000 came to be in this privileged position that you're found in 65 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,360 now. Privilege of being in Christ 66 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,160 Church. How did you get there? 67 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,400 And there's 12 verses from verse 3 to verse 14, and they're going 68 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:24,640 to show you going back to the foundations of your faith. 69 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:28,120 This is absolutely essential, a bedrock principle of your faith, 70 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:31,880 how you came to be in Christ, how you came to be a Christian 71 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:34,400 in his church. And you get to see in this a 72 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,920 glimpse of the magnitude of God's grace, what it means when 73 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,960 God says, I have been gracious to you, what it means when he 74 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,320 said in verse 2, grace to you and peace from God our Father. 75 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:49,080 You see it's an ocean of grace, It's an ocean of meaning and 76 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:50,960 understanding. It's a it's a deep well of 77 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,320 theology. And when you look and you see 78 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,440 exactly what God the Father has done, what Jesus, the the only 79 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:58,520 son of God, the only begotten Son of God has done what the 80 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,000 Holy Spirit has done. Your only response is verse 3. 81 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,320 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 82 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:06,400 It gives you your response ahead of time. 83 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:08,800 Read it with me. Ephesians one we're going to be 84 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,520 in verses 3:00 to 6:00 today where Paul says blessed be the 85 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,160 God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed Christ 86 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,040 with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he 87 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,840 chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we 88 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:27,440 should be holy and blameless before him in love. 89 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,400 He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ 90 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,280 according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his 91 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:38,040 glorious grace with which he blessed us in the beloved. 92 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,200 So I wanted to introduce this section on Ephesians 1/3 to 14 93 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,480 by showing you that these verses contain some of the richest. 94 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,760 This will be one of the richest theological truths of the Bible, 95 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:53,880 and Paul is going to give these to you for you to collect and to 96 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,760 cherish like treasure to remember frequently. 97 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:00,280 And he says your identity is found in Jesus Christ. 98 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:02,440 If you skip to Ephesians 4, stealing time from future 99 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,880 sermons, he says we're united in one body and in one spirit, just 100 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:08,400 as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. 101 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:12,960 1 Lord, 1 faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. 102 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,640 And he says, and that identity, this shared identity was 103 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,800 solidified in eternity past before the foundation of the 104 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:23,720 world. He says your salvation is a 105 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,200 trinitarian work that started before time did. 106 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,200 Or at least time as we know it. And he says that this teaching 107 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:32,240 will continue forever. So important to understand. 108 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:33,560 Like like any. Doctrine. 109 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,160 Your salvation is from God the Father, Your salvation is 110 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,680 through God the Son, and that redemption is applied by the 111 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,880 Holy Spirit. And each member of the Godhead 112 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:50,120 is working in, in, in harmony and in unity to bring about your 113 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,320 salvation past, present, and future. 114 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:54,880 God has been working. He decreed it, He accomplished 115 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,520 it, and He applied your salvation. 116 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,400 And you go to verses 3 to 6. That's our subject for today. 117 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,400 He shines the spotlight on God the Father. 118 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,440 And eternity passed. And he says He has predestined 119 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:07,720 you. The Father did before time began 120 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:10,480 and next week will be verses 7 to 10 and he's going to shine a 121 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,760 spotlight on God the Son and he's going to say he redeemed 122 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:14,640 you in time. He bought you. 123 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:16,600 And then he's going to shine the spotlight. 124 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,720 And then on the next week on the Holy Spirit looking to eternity, 125 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:21,960 future, from everlasting to everlasting. 126 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,600 He is God, He is your God. And he's going to say, the Holy 127 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:28,920 Spirit has sealed you as a promise, the down payment of 128 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,400 your inheritance until you acquire possession of it to the 129 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:35,520 praise of his glorious grace. And the rich theological truth I 130 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,320 want you to see first is the perfect unity of the Trinity as 131 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:41,520 they work to accomplish your salvation. 132 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,240 And this, this is the great demonstration, the greatest 133 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:47,840 argument, the greatest truth that came to us from John Owen. 134 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:49,680 He was just reading Ephesians One. 135 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,320 This is the premier passage he went to to show this truth. 136 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,680 He says there's harmony in the work of the persons of the 137 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,680 Trinity. God the Father is working in 138 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:00,920 harmony with the Son, who's working in harmony with the 139 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:05,120 Spirit because they're one God existing in three persons. 140 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:10,520 And so we could say it this way, Who in this life possesses God's 141 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:14,240 Holy Spirit? What what people is the Spirit 142 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,000 dwelling covenantily with them? Who possesses the Holy Spirit? 143 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,960 Who did God the Father predestined in eternity past? 144 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,320 Or if you've got the King James Version predestinate in eternity 145 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:29,800 past, who did Jesus Christ die for? 146 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,520 And we have to say, did God the Father predestined one group of 147 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,840 people? God the Son die for a separate 148 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,000 group of people. And the Holy Spirit indwell a 149 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,360 third group of people. Or is there complete harmony and 150 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,080 unity? Paul is teaching in these verses 151 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:53,800 that those the Father chose in eternity past, the Son came to 152 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,640 seek and to save and to purchase in time his church. 153 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,840 And those whom the Son purchased in time the Spirit sealed for 154 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:06,280 all eternity as adoption adopted you into the Godhead, into this 155 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:10,280 family, into this baptism, there is perfect harmony and unity. 156 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,640 And we we, we ask what is this group of people? 157 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:16,640 And the answer is they're the beloved. 158 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,320 They are the chosen ones. Paul calls them in verse one we 159 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,720 saw last week, the Hagias, the chosen ones, the set apart ones, 160 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:29,080 they are the elect as Paul calls them, the chosen. 161 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:34,400 And there was a definite plan made in eternity past. 162 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:36,960 There was a decree that was made from all eternity that salvation 163 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:38,960 would be achieved for the church. 164 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:42,919 And if you possess the Spirit of God, this truth is glorious. 165 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:45,360 It is because God the Father chose you. 166 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,640 And if you have the Spirit of God, it is because Jesus Christ 167 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:53,200 died for you and redeemed you. You belong to God and you belong 168 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:55,200 to His church. You've been set aside for His 169 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,080 purposes. And he says this is the most 170 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,800 important thing about you. This is the most important part 171 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,080 of your identity is that this is the truth that you belong to. 172 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,800 He says it was established beforehand. 173 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:10,080 Look at verse 4 of Ephesians 1. You were chosen before the 174 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:12,840 foundation of the world. Verse 5 In love you were 175 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:16,720 predestined for adoption. And you come to verses 3 to 6. 176 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,720 Paul finally begins to unpack this glorious truth, His 177 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,400 sovereignty in your salvation and his purpose for your 178 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:24,880 salvation. That's what he's showing you. 179 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,520 And he says not only that you were chosen, but he says when 180 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,040 you were chosen, why you were chosen, the motivation for his 181 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,640 choosing you, the goal that he chose you for He. 182 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,240 It's all here. And to understand. 183 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,760 This spiritual blessing, he says this, this is the spiritual 184 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,120 blessing in the heavenly places, and you get a glimpse into what 185 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,200 they are and to understand what the spiritual blessings are. 186 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:51,120 Verses 3 to 6 say we'll take it in two parts, His sovereignty 187 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,240 for your salvation, His purposes for your salvation. 188 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,280 Said a little more specifically, we'll say God's election 189 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,240 highlights His sovereignty and your salvation, and God's 190 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,960 predestination highlights his purpose for your salvation. 191 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,440 And we'll begin here. God's election highlights his 192 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:14,040 sovereignty and your salvation and, and these verses 3 to 14 193 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,520 and all of three to 14, Paul's unpacking how you came to be in 194 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,720 this new identity. And when he does it, he does it 195 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,360 in one sentence. Many of you already know this 3 196 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:28,960 to 14 is 1 long sentence. We say it's a sentence begun in 197 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,440 eternity. And the original autograph of 198 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:33,440 Paul and his original manuscript. 199 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,800 These 12 verses are again one sentence, 202 words. 200 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:43,160 It's 26 lines of Greek text in the United Bible Society's Greek 201 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:45,240 Testament. And he just keeps heaping up 202 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:49,000 prepositional phrases to make it go on and on and on. 32 203 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:51,320 prepositional phrases in one sentence. 204 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:55,760 Have you ever done that before? Your group, your grammar 205 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:57,360 teacher, your English teacher would cringe. 206 00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,560 But he does this. He goes on and on for adoption 207 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:02,240 through Jesus Christ to himself, in accordance with his goodwill 208 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:04,280 and pleasure, to the praise of his glory. 209 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,680 And I think that he's, he's heaping up all this beautiful 210 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:10,880 language and all of this prepositional phrases because 211 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,400 this truth is like a diamond and it deserves a beautiful setting. 212 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,120 You say this is some of the richest Trinitarian theology 213 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:19,360 that exists anywhere in the Bible. 214 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:21,440 And so we're going to magnify it. 215 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,400 We're going to emphasize it. It's worthy of a glorious garb. 216 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,800 And so he's dressing it up. And then these. 12 verses. 217 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:31,520 This is so significant to know there's only one verb in all 202 218 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,680 words that is not tied grammatically to some other 219 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:37,120 element. It is the premier word. 220 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,840 It gets conceptual priority. All the the rest of these 221 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:43,360 prepositional phrases, all these words hinge on this one verb. 222 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,720 The word is in verse 4. God chose. 223 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:54,120 The word is chose, and it says that God chose us, His church in 224 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,040 him. God chose us in him. 225 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,880 So if you want to know how you came to be included in God's 226 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:04,760 church or even this local fellowship, people want to know 227 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:08,200 how God's wrath has been turned away and what it means that 228 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:10,680 grace has been poured out on you and peace with God has been 229 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:12,880 achieved and how you came into this new identity. 230 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,000 Paul says here it is. You were chosen. 231 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,280 He chose you and he did it in Christ. 232 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:19,960 The word choose is the word elect. 233 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,080 It's this word here, Excel exoto. 234 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:27,560 It means to choose or to select one out of many options. 235 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:33,520 And when it's used in the middle voice, it's used like I got this 236 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:35,600 here. It says he chose for himself. 237 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:37,040 That's how it's translated that way. 238 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:39,680 He chose for himself. And those who are chosen are 239 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:42,240 called the elect. And in Scripture, the doctrine 240 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,200 is so warm. The elect is a synonym or a 241 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:47,160 synonym for the elect is the beloved. 242 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,960 To be elect is to be beloved and to be beloved or loved by God is 243 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:52,960 to be chosen. And you can see this has been 244 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,800 all throughout the Scripture in the Old Testament where election 245 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,400 was was not for every tribe and tongue and nation. 246 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,960 You see glimpses of that as people like Rahab kind of come 247 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,200 into the fold. But election was for a specific 248 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,080 racial ethnic group, Israel. And it says of Israel, Israel 249 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,560 was chosen and Israel was beloved of God. 250 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,520 And it says that Abraham and Moses and Solomon were called 251 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:20,440 beloved of God. And Jesus, we saw last week, was 252 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:22,600 the premier apostle. He is the apostle. 253 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:24,760 And now we see he is the chosen one. 254 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,360 He's the elect. The elect is Jesus, and he's 255 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:32,440 also God's beloved. Remember the two times that God 256 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,600 comes down in the glory? Cloud at the Mount of 257 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:37,360 Transfiguration in the baptismal. 258 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:42,280 What does he say? This is my beloved son, in whom 259 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,040 I am well pleased. This is my chosen. 260 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,240 And now here he calls Jesus again in the beloved. 261 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,080 We're adopted in the beloved. But now he calls you beloved. 262 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:53,600 And we confess, we sing the song together. 263 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,240 I'm the beloved you've bought me with your blood, and on my hand 264 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,240 you've written out my name. I'm your beloved, the one the 265 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,600 Father loves. Mercy has defeated all my shame. 266 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:04,840 This is what we're. This is what we're learning 267 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:06,400 about. You see it straight from the 268 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,680 Scripture here. And we see the church began not 269 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:13,200 by our initiative. The church began with God's 270 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,320 purpose of election. We say that no. 271 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,920 Man is the author of the church. No man was the author of Israel. 272 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:21,720 We did not appoint ourselves to this. 273 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:23,520 Israel was chosen. We've already read it in 274 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,240 Deuteronomy 7. Not by any merit. 275 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:26,840 Not because they were more than all the peoples. 276 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:28,160 Not because they were so impressive. 277 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:30,200 Actually, because they were the least of all the. 278 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,440 Peoples and. You get a little bit of insight 279 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,920 into the purpose of his will. And he says in the New Testament 280 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:39,920 election continues to every tribe, tongue and nation. 281 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:41,400 People from every tribe, tongue and nation. 282 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:42,720 Not because of anything they did. 283 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,040 He says in order that his purposes of grace and election 284 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,480 might continue, it goes beyond ethnic and national borders. 285 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,200 And there's a paradox here that you have to understand. 286 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,400 It's not a puzzle to be solved or or Riddle to be solved. 287 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:59,320 He says God has given you the free exercise of your will and 288 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,280 yet you have to recognize your faith rests completely on the 289 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,600 work of God and not the unsteady foundation of anything that you 290 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,560 have done in yourself and you have to hold that together. 291 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,000 It's all according to His plan. His plan was set forth before 292 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,680 the foundation of the world. This is said all over the New 293 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,000 Testament. John 1516. 294 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:24,600 Jesus says you did not choose me, but I chose you and I 295 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,120 appointed you that you should go and bear fruit. 296 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,800 Paul says in Romans 829 for those whom he foreknew. 297 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,480 He also predestined that we should be conformed into the 298 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:35,040 image of God. We're always predestined unto 299 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,320 something. To be conformed into the image 300 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,920 of His Son. 2nd Thessalonians 213 God chose you to be saved 301 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:45,920 through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the 302 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:49,280 truth. Second Timothy 19 God saved us 303 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,000 and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but 304 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,480 because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in 305 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,880 Christ before the ages began. First Peter 1-2 To those who are 306 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,480 elect exiles according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. 307 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,240 Acts 1348 That monumental time when the salvation is coming to 308 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,680 the Gentiles, Luke notes as many as were appointed to eternal 309 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:14,640 life believed so. God the Father foreknew you. 310 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,160 This is the truth. God the Father foreknew you. 311 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:23,760 Jesus redeemed you. God chose you. 312 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:30,040 This is amazing, Amazing Grace. And so Scripture doesn't just 313 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:31,880 tell us that we were chosen. Look to verse four. 314 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:36,040 He tells us when we were chosen, even as He chose us before the 315 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,480 foundation of the world. There's another glorious truth. 316 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,200 God's choice of His church happened before the foundation 317 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:44,080 of the world. That's a word that's used in 318 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:45,640 connection with a lot of themes in the Bible. 319 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,000 I think it's helpful to see what else was chosen before the 320 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,240 foundational of the world. John 1724 says that God's love 321 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:53,480 of Jesus has been from all eternity. 322 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,640 Because you loved me, he says, before the before the foundation 323 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,440 of the world you come to first Peter 120. 324 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,560 The purposes of God for Jesus Christ were established before 325 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:04,640 the foundation of the world. He was a land without blemish 326 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:08,000 and without spot, foreknown before the foundation of the 327 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,160 world. His purposes for His church come 328 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,200 from before time as we know it. Second Timothy 19, He saved us 329 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,880 and called us to a holy calling because of His own purposes and 330 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:23,240 grace which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began and 331 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:25,800 now has been manifested through the appearing of our Lord Jesus 332 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:30,320 Christ set on the horizon from all eternity, realized in time 333 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,560 by the appearing of Jesus Christ through belief in Him, through 334 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:37,120 faith, by grace. And you come to verses 4 to 5 335 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,560 and they're underlining the fact that there is no human merit in 336 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:44,160 salvation whatsoever. It's purely the work of God and 337 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:45,360 God alone. There's no historical 338 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:47,040 contingency because there was no history. 339 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:49,960 There's no human merit because there was no humanity to merit 340 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,680 anything. That's why Romans 9 says of 341 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,880 Jacob and Esau, though they were not yet born, though they had 342 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,880 done nothing good or bad in order that God's purpose of 343 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:04,240 election might continue. God chose, and we call this 344 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,240 sovereign grace more than when he chose us. 345 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,000 Verse four goes on to say what his motivation was, what what 346 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,160 was the motivation of God to choose his church? 347 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:18,760 And it comes at the very final words of verse 4, very simply in 348 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,440 love. In love He predestined us and we 349 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,840 confess first John 419. We love him because he first 350 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,720 loved us. He's the initiator of love. 351 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,720 He chose you in love. Another amazing theological 352 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,000 truth for you to collect and to know and to love is that in that 353 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,680 in this economy of salvation, when you shine the spotlight on 354 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,680 God the Father, you see his love. 355 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:45,520 And we all we think of Jesus as loving us, and of course he. 356 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,000 Does, he says over and over. I'm your friend, I love you, but 357 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,880 to highlight God the Father is to is to see the love of the 358 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,080 Trinity. This is why it says in John 316 359 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:58,160 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, 360 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,760 that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have what 361 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,640 everlasting life. God the Father loved you so much 362 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,920 that he sent his Son, and you come to the Trinitarian formula. 363 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,960 At the end of 2nd Corinthians 13, it says the love of the 364 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,520 Father, the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Spirit 365 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,120 be with you all. And so when it's attributing 366 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:20,840 attributes to to these persons of the Godhead, love always goes 367 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:22,880 to the Father. Doesn't mean the Son doesn't 368 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:24,280 love you, doesn't mean the Spirit doesn't love you. 369 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:28,040 It's the it's shining the spotlight on the Father's love. 370 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:32,200 Love was the motivation of God the Father to build His church. 371 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:36,040 And you go on. Romans, the book of Romans adds 372 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:37,560 to the list of motivations. There are many. 373 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,560 It says he desired for his purpose of election to continue. 374 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:44,240 He desired to show His wrath and to make known his power. 375 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,640 He desired to display His mercy, the vessels of mercy which he 376 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,120 prepared beforehand for glory. He wanted to show the riches of 377 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:52,000 His glory. He goes on and on all of my 378 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,680 motivations and here it highlights He did it in love. 379 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:59,600 Love was the initial motivation. It tells us when He chose us. 380 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:01,240 It told us what His motivation was. 381 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:04,160 But Ephesians here in verse 4 also tells us what His purpose 382 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,920 was. He had a goal for you when He 383 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,800 chose you, and the goal comes right here in order that you 384 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,960 should be holy and blameless. Ephesians 2 is going to add to 385 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,240 that and walk in all the good works that He also prepared for 386 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,000 you before the foundation of the earth. 387 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:22,000 You are to be holy and blameless. 388 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:25,040 God's choice of individuals has a goal, that you would imbue a 389 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,960 certain quality of life, that you would be a certain kind of 390 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,240 person. That's why he chose you. 391 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,480 Moral separation from the sinful world and act of love. 392 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:36,840 There's a negative and a positive here. 393 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,600 Moral separation from the world and act of love. 394 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,960 And the most beautiful place I know to go to illustrate this 395 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,360 would be James 127. What is pure and undefiled 396 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:47,120 religion? What is this pure and undefiled 397 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:49,320 Christianity before God the Father? 398 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:52,240 It says that you care for orphans and widows in their 399 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,360 affliction. Act of love, and then the part 400 00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:57,720 that's always forgotten and keep yourself unstained from the 401 00:20:57,720 --> 00:20:59,800 world, keeping yourself blameless. 402 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:02,160 Showing act of love, demonstrating the holiness of 403 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,240 God, demonstrating his ethics and his character. 404 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:08,240 That's why you were chosen. That's why we exist as a church, 405 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,280 to make Christ known, to show him, to show his love, to 406 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:13,720 proclaim his salvation. That's our group identity. 407 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,120 That's our goal. That's what we do as Christians. 408 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:21,680 We ask another question that this text can answer for us. 409 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,640 What kind of person understands the doctrine of election? 410 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,840 What kind of person is created when you understand these 411 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:33,400 truths? Verse 4 says that you will be a 412 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:37,200 grateful or humble Christian. Verse 4 teaches it produces a 413 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,000 humble Christian. You go to verse 6 and it says it 414 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:44,280 produces a grateful Christian. When you understand these things 415 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:46,640 and you truly have them in your heart and in your soul, you 416 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,080 become humble and you become grateful. 417 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,320 Which means that the doctrine of election and the doctrine of 418 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,160 predestination are not incentives to sin as often as 419 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:58,640 thrown at them as if now you become the frozen chosen. 420 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,800 If you've heard that you can, you can do whatever you want 421 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,000 because right you've been secured in Christ. 422 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:04,480 It gives you license to do anything. 423 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:06,200 This verse is saying the opposite. 424 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,640 You've been chosen so that you can be holy and blameless. 425 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,880 You've been chosen so that you can it's the exact opposite. 426 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:16,960 And it also means that this out in the culture that this young 427 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,040 restless and reform movement that comes from Packer and D 428 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,520 Lloyd Jones and all these guys. And we, we've kind of begin as a 429 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:24,960 culture to emphasize the sovereignty of God and the 430 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:26,480 election and the predestination of God. 431 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:31,720 And it comes with inner culture pride, as if knowledge of 432 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,240 election and predestination gives you some kind of elite 433 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:39,400 status or an ability to look down on people who haven't 434 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,120 learned about it or have a different view on election and 435 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:45,000 predestination. And Paul says it ought either to 436 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,440 create humility. Because when you understand 437 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:52,320 this, what you understand is that your fruit in this world 438 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,800 without God has brought wrath on you. 439 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,160 It's brought damnation, it has brought hell, and it's brought a 440 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,600 lot of ugliness in the world. That was your contribution to 441 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:03,400 your salvation. That's your contribution to this 442 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:07,240 world. And we say God in his grace, 443 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,240 being rich in mercy, has snatched you from the fire. 444 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,400 So where is your boasting? Where is your ground for 445 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,640 boasting? Where is your pride? 446 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:19,000 When you understand these things, it makes you low and it 447 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,640 makes you humble and it makes you grateful. 448 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,520 Stewart Town and sings, I won't boast in anything, no gifts nor 449 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:30,160 power nor wisdom, but I will boast in Jesus Christ, his death 450 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:31,880 and resurrection. And then he asked that powerful 451 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,200 rhetorical question, what shall I gain from his reward? 452 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,160 What are we going to gain from his reward? 453 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:41,800 Colossians 312 is a kind of a sister passage. 454 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:43,680 And Paul addresses the elect there. 455 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,320 And again he calls them beloved and he calls them elect. 456 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:48,040 They're synonyms. And he moves on. 457 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:53,360 He says I charge the elect, put on compassionate hearts, put on 458 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:58,480 kindness, put on humility, put on meekness, put on patience. 459 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,440 These are the kind of things that are to come out from 460 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:05,040 somebody who truly understands this doctrine of God. 461 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:09,640 It's election is all of grace. It brings humility and 462 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,640 thankfulness. So before the foundation of the 463 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:16,000 world in love in order that you should be holy and blameless. 464 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:20,400 This verse is used by Paul to show that the authorship of your 465 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,160 new identity in Christ is the work of God and God alone. 466 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:30,320 And so, having set forth this election, he now sets forth the 467 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,680 doctrine of predestination to highlight His purposes for your 468 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:35,040 salvation. He showed you election 469 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,480 highlights the sovereignty. Predestination highlights the 470 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,160 purpose. Read verse 5 with me. 471 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:45,200 It says he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus 472 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,200 Christ according to the purpose of his will. 473 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:50,080 So again, I hope you see the doctrine of election drives you 474 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,520 toward humility. It drives you toward warmth. 475 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:54,080 That's what I want you to get from this. 476 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,280 It drives you toward warmth. It drives you toward compassion, 477 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,320 warmness, and in the. Same way the doctrine of 478 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:03,240 predestination is meant to be warm and compassionate. 479 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,680 It's supposed to be evoked feelings of warmth and affection 480 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,400 and safety and compassion. It's why Spurgeon, when he's 481 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,440 talking about election, he says it sets the soul on fire with 482 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:16,920 enthusiastic delight in God. And even when you begin to read 483 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,680 the old dusty confessions, the Westminster and the Scots, and 484 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:21,880 you read all of these and the Anglican confessions, all of a 485 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,320 sudden when they begin to talk about predestination and 486 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,560 election, it gets warm, they perk up and all of a sudden 487 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,000 these documents come alive. Listen to the the Anglican 488 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,480 Confession. The godly consideration of 489 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,600 predestination in our election in Christ is full of sweet, 490 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,080 pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons. 491 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,400 So you, you err, and I err. If we begin to think about God's 492 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,800 predestination and election as some kind of cold and 493 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:49,640 calculating exercise where it's a lonely and deciding thing, 494 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:52,040 that's not how Scripture presents it. 495 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:57,200 In Scripture it appears in the warmest and most beautiful of 496 00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,880 all the passages in the Bible. Romans 8. 497 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:04,440 Ephesians 1. And I think that part of this is 498 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,640 due to the the doctrines that the Bible attaches to the 499 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,440 doctrine of predestination. Predestination is never alone. 500 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,600 It's always accompanied by the metaphor of adoption. 501 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:15,520 They go together, they're inseparable. 502 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,840 Adoption of you as a son, the confession by which you call 503 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:23,240 God, your ABBA and your father is with inseparably 504 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,400 predestination. And this is another great 505 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:27,200 treasure. And if you're going to 506 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,040 understand this treasure, we have to understand what this 507 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:30,880 word means. What does, what is 508 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:32,920 predestination? What does it mean to predestine? 509 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:37,040 It's a word that's used six times in the New Testament. 510 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:38,440 I'll say the word in the original because you'll 511 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:39,960 recognize it in English in a moment. 512 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:43,760 The word is pro oridzo. The word oridzo means to 513 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:47,160 determine or to appoint literally to mark out by 514 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:49,000 boundaries. Oridzo is where we get our word 515 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,400 horizon. It's that great boundary in 516 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:54,080 front of us, so we can see it all the time. 517 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,760 And so if you add the word pro or beforehand to the word 518 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:01,640 orizzo, all of a sudden that means to determine or to a point 519 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:05,560 beforehand or to mark out the boundaries beforehand. 520 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,520 And you say before what the text has already answered that in 521 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:13,480 verse 4, before the foundation of the world, this was set in 522 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,560 place. And you look at the etymology of 523 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,320 the word, you look at the usage in these 6 verses of the Bible. 524 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:22,880 It lends to the meaning. To decide upon beforehand or to 525 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:27,360 predetermine God predetermined his church. 526 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:29,960 And I want you to see again, getting into the grammar for 527 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,200 just a minute that chose as the premier word. 528 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:34,040 We've already said chose as the word that brings this whole 529 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:35,640 section ties the whole section together. 530 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:38,480 Predestination is a verb that's attached to that word. 531 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,400 When you're looking at how they go together, it could be one of 532 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,880 two ways. It could be means meaning God 533 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:48,440 chose us by predestining us. Or it could be a causal 534 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:53,440 participle, meaning because God predestined us, he chose us, and 535 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:54,560 you can make that choice yourself. 536 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:59,200 God chose us by predestining us. Or because God predestined us, 537 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,000 he chose us. And while we're in the grammar 538 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,560 again, we'll say that you are not just predestined. 539 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,640 That word can't stand alone. You're always predestined unto 540 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:09,600 something else. And what Paul is saying is 541 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:15,080 you're predestined unto adoption, the warmest, the most 542 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,840 beautiful of every metaphor for your salvation in the Bible. 543 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,320 And so God not only chose us to be in Christ, but at the same 544 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,920 time decided to bring us into relationship with himself to to 545 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:28,520 overcome what happened in the Garden of Eden when we became 546 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:30,600 enemies of God and we were separated from him. 547 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,840 And he said the only metaphor that explains this relationship 548 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:37,640 well, that the perfect metaphor in this world to explain that 549 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:39,520 relationship is the metaphor of adoption. 550 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,480 This is what God the Father has done for us. 551 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,240 And once you see, adoption and predestination are inseparable, 552 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,440 inseparable elements of God's grace, inseparable expressions 553 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:53,280 of his eternal purpose for you. You were predestined for 554 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,440 adoption. Romans says it, Ephesians says 555 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:58,720 it, Paul says in Romans 828. You all know that passage. 556 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:00,840 God. God works all things together 557 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,640 for good for those who love Him. For those who are called 558 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:06,560 according to his purpose, for those he foreknew. 559 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,200 He also predestined the words that were immediately before 560 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,200 that was Romans 815, where he says you have received the 561 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:17,920 spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry ABBA father, he is 562 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:21,320 our father. That is his purpose for you in 563 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,680 Christ adoption. Again, the warmest metaphor of 564 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:27,360 all those metaphors for your salvation and I want to stop for 565 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:31,400 a moment and highlight adoption and say what is what is that 566 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,160 metaphor communicating? Why adoption? 567 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:39,440 Why is it so warm? Adoption, above all in this 568 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,720 metaphor, is about an identity change, and I think that's why 569 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,000 Paul uses it right here. He's saying you have a new 570 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,800 identity in Christ 35 times, and the premier metaphor for that is 571 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,840 adoption. The greatest identity that you 572 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,000 have is now being with the church in Christ. 573 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:59,520 He's using this doctrine because of it's tied to intimacy and 574 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:01,520 relationship. You're not just some kid 575 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:03,560 anymore. You're not like one of the kids 576 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,360 that was running around in England when there's just 10s of 577 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:06,680 thousands of them all out in the streets. 578 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:09,680 You have become adopted and you are now his child, his son. 579 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:11,720 There's something that changes in the relationship. 580 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,120 There's no intimacy between he and you. 581 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:19,520 It's about inheritance, a certain future, he says, more 582 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:21,520 than adoption. You've become an heir where 583 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,520 everything that he has, you now have. 584 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:26,280 He's prepared things for you. He's giving you things again. 585 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,680 They're not spiritual blessings because they're somehow part of 586 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,760 our internal invisible person. They're spiritual blessings 587 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,200 because these are all the blessings that have come by the 588 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,960 Holy Spirit. And when I think of adoption, I 589 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:40,360 think of my own adoptions. When we were bringing Thomas and 590 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,120 Logan and Timothy into our home, we knew that they were coming. 591 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,840 I think of John 15 where Jesus says I go to prepare a place for 592 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:49,840 you because he's adopted us. And so when we were bringing 593 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,040 these boys into our home, we went and we, we got them beds 594 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:56,320 and we got them comforters and we got them dressers and we put 595 00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:58,280 posters up and one kid like zombies. 596 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:00,560 So we put zombie posters up on the walls because we knew we, 597 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:04,640 they like it. And we got toys and everything 598 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:06,960 ready for them. And they were becoming part of 599 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:08,760 our identity. They were coming up, they got an 600 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,160 inheritance. They got things because we love 601 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:12,440 them. And the same is true for Tay and 602 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:14,040 Alec. When they were coming into our 603 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,560 home, we prepared beds for them. We got them their own Lego boxes 604 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:19,120 full of Legos with their name on it. 605 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:22,600 This is them. This is for them because I loved 606 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,640 them. Adoption is about security. 607 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,960 And I want to highlight this. Sonship is irrevocable. 608 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,480 Period. It's not about an emotional 609 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,200 decision, it's a legal change of status. 610 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,480 If you are adopted, you cannot be unadopted. 611 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,040 And he's talking about Roman adoption in this passage. 612 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,600 And Roman adoption is exactly the same as American adoption. 613 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,640 This is why the purpose exists. If you adopt, you cannot 614 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:50,960 unadopt. If you adopt, you cannot give 615 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,520 your children back. It's a legal change now and 616 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:55,880 forever. Period. 617 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:59,600 It's permanent. God gives His Spirit and does 618 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,840 not take it away. God declares you to be a son and 619 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:06,120 it's fixed for eternity. He makes you an heir and it says 620 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,560 that he brings that good work to completion at the day of Jesus 621 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:10,320 Christ. It will begun an eternity past. 622 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:11,640 It's working through eternity future. 623 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:15,600 There is nothing that you can do to change your status once it's 624 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,440 been given in Christ. And finally, the metaphor is 625 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:23,080 about family, meaning you are never alone ever again. 626 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,720 You will never be lonely. You will never be alone. 627 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:28,640 I mean, you may come to terms where where you're lonely, but 628 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,640 you have a church, you have people, you eternally have 629 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:35,080 people and you alternately have a sense of belonging. 630 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,760 And there's, there's loneliness, a sense of loneliness that comes 631 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,520 from being in this world. And you see people try to, to 632 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,200 secure their identity in other groups outside of the church. 633 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:47,560 You were made for your identity to be found in this church, this 634 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:51,680 local body being an expression. And the world tries to, to, to 635 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:55,000 satisfy that craving of loneliness by going to onicons 636 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,840 and by going to comic cons and by going to furry conventions 637 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:00,200 and by going to whatever it is that's out there where they can 638 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,080 find community. And it it can fulfill in part. 639 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:05,240 Because it's a picture in a metaphor of the church, but it 640 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,480 will never satisfy. Like the church satisfies. 641 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:10,760 This is where you were made to belong. 642 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:12,240 This is your people, this is your home. 643 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,520 This is where you belong. It's illustrated in the Old 644 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:19,800 Testament where Elijah was feeling lonely and he says, I 645 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:20,920 feel like I'm the only Christian. 646 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,080 I feel like I'm the only one that's doing anything good for 647 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:25,400 God. And it's at that moment that 648 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:29,160 actually God comes to him and speaks to him, and he uses his 649 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:32,360 purposes of election and predestination and sovereignty 650 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,200 to comfort him. He says you'll never be alone 651 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,680 because I have kept for myself 7000 men who have not bowed the 652 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,440 knee to bail. And what he's saying is you're 653 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:44,600 not alone. You will never be alone. 654 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,120 And he's able to make that promise to you because it's up 655 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:50,240 to him. And the same is true for you. 656 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:53,200 You have people in this city and you will never be alone because 657 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,120 God has a church in this city. And you will, you are part of 658 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:59,920 this body, and you will never be alone because you have this 659 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:01,880 community. This is where you belong. 660 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:06,520 This is your home. And so unless you get lost in 661 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,719 the the heady Trinitarian theology of Ephesians 1, the 662 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:13,639 epistle brings all of this affection and all of this warmth 663 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,199 from eternity past in love. God predestined you for a 664 00:34:17,199 --> 00:34:20,080 family, for relationship, for sonship. 665 00:34:21,159 --> 00:34:24,600 Ji Packer understood these words here and his his words are 666 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:26,280 profound. He says this quote. 667 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,080 Everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New 668 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,760 Testament new and better than the old, everything that's 669 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:35,719 distinctively Christian is summed up in the knowledge of 670 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,679 the fatherhood of Godfather is the Christian name for God in 671 00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:42,239 quote. He goes on. 672 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:44,840 If you want to know how well someone understands biblical 673 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,440 Christianity, find out how much they make of the thought of 674 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,520 being God's child and having God as their father. 675 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:56,120 Do you agree with them? So this was set in stone. 676 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,200 Paul says beforehand, before the foundation of the world, you 677 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:02,160 hear it in the language by his foreknowledge, you were 678 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:06,880 foreordained, you were fore loved, you were predestined in 679 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:09,440 the Greek word pro. These New Testament authors, 680 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:11,600 especially Paul, they throw it before all these words, showing 681 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:13,520 that the things that are happening in this world are not 682 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,360 by accident. These are things that that God 683 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,160 has written beforehand. He throws this word pro to show 684 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:20,840 that this is all part of His eternal plan. 685 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:24,840 It's pro genosco he knew before Romans 829. 686 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:27,960 It's pro orizzo. He set it on the boundaries 687 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:33,240 before Ephesians 15 and 111, pro tithami he planned in advance. 688 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:37,520 Ephesians 19 pro katartizzo, he prepared beforehand. 689 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:41,440 Romans 923 pro grafo, he wrote beforehand. 690 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:45,120 Galatians 3 one pro UN galizzo my he announced good news 691 00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:50,400 beforehand. Galatians 38I think you see the 692 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:53,640 theme. And so one major question that 693 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:57,560 the subject brings up that Paul anticipates us asking is how 694 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:00,400 does he choose? Is it arbitrary? 695 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:05,400 Do you have to win a divine lottery in order to be loved by 696 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:08,080 God? Or is there something else going 697 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,240 on? And the answer brings us to the 698 00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:14,520 end of verse 5. It says that this was all done 699 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,280 according to the purpose of His will. 700 00:36:18,240 --> 00:36:22,160 And so how do you come to be in this state of being in Christ in 701 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:23,640 His church? How do you get this new 702 00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:27,040 identity? It says the emphasis is it's His 703 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,200 will. He determined this. 704 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:32,760 Romans 916 the opposite. So it depends not on human will 705 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:37,160 or exertion, but on God who has mercy in verse 5. 706 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:39,480 It's according to the purpose of His will. 707 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:43,280 That same word elect that came in verse 4 comes up many times 708 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:45,920 in the Old Testament and you have in the Old Testament in 709 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:48,520 First Samuel 1740. This. 710 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:52,280 Exact word elect in the exact same grammatical form when it's 711 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:56,000 talking about David taking those smooth ancient stones out of the 712 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,640 out of the brook to use for his purposes of slaying Goliath. 713 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:03,840 And it says David took his staff in his hand and chose for 714 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:08,720 himself five smooth stones and put them in the shepherd's bag. 715 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:10,960 And so we can ask the same question of David. 716 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:12,520 How did David choose those stones? 717 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:16,080 Was it arbitrary? We say, no, He chose them 718 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:17,880 according to the purpose of his will. 719 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:20,880 He had a purpose to accomplish. He chose the few out of the many 720 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,880 to accomplish that purpose. And we say in the same way, God 721 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:25,880 chose for himself the few out of the many. 722 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:28,840 And it says nothing more than according to the purpose of his 723 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,960 will. Second Timothy 19 because of his 724 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:36,360 own purpose and because of his grace, Ephesians 15 according to 725 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,680 the purpose of his will. Romans 9 in order that God's 726 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:42,680 purpose of election might continue. 727 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:46,760 And even in that chapter, the 9th chapter of Romans, he goes 728 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:49,680 on to anticipate the response where people are saying it, then 729 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:56,000 it's not fair, Is God not good that he would choose a few? 730 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,280 And God answers back. He doesn't answer his question. 731 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:04,600 He says, Who are you, O man, to answer back to God? 732 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:09,360 Who are you to accuse God of not being good? 733 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:12,120 And he, he moves on. And then he immediately says, 734 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:14,760 The following words will the clay say to the one who moulded 735 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:15,960 it, Why have you made me this way? 736 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:19,960 Is it not up to the Potter to use for the clay of 1 vessel? 737 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:22,440 For he can do whatever he wants. 1 vessel for honourable use, one 738 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,680 for dishonourable use. Who are you to accuse God of not 739 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:30,920 being good? And so his election demonstrates 740 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,200 his sovereignty. His predestination demonstrates 741 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:38,120 his purposes. We see that God chose you, He 742 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:39,960 made you. And I want to point out his 743 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:42,760 purposes are good. He's a good, good father. 744 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:45,080 It's who he is. This is who you are. 745 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,680 God's word unambiguously teaches that God's divine election and 746 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:52,040 his subsequent predestination. It's not a puzzle to solve of 747 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:53,760 how does my will fit into God's will. 748 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:56,760 It's, it's a blessing and it's comfort and it's warmth and it's 749 00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,400 grace and it's not a doctrine to argue. 750 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:03,000 It's a blessing and a truth to be remembered frequently and to 751 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:06,360 be cherished. That God for loved you so much 752 00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:09,480 that he sent his only begotten Son into the world to seek and 753 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:13,840 to save you who are lost, and you were to be holy and 754 00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:16,920 blameless forever. So you wake up to the reality 755 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:19,920 that salvation has come to you by God's grace, that you were 756 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:22,720 deserving of death and hell. And then God's God set his 757 00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:26,320 electing love on you and made you alive in Christ Jesus and 758 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:28,840 that and locks Ephesians 1/6 to you. 759 00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:33,760 Our final verse says to the praise of his glorious grace 760 00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:36,240 which he has blessed us in the beloved church. 761 00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:39,920 We're blessed in the response to the doctrine of election and 762 00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:43,360 predestination is praise. Praise God from whom all 763 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:46,920 spiritual blessings flow. There used to be a song in the 764 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:49,040 the old version of the Baptist hymnal that's in front of you. 765 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:51,160 I wanted you to turn to it when I looked, they took it out. 766 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:54,440 So the old one that was for James Woodward, and not the new 767 00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:58,720 one it was, had a hymn in it that was called My Lord. 768 00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:02,200 I did not choose you. And the words went like this, my 769 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:04,440 Lord, I did not choose you, for that could never be. 770 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,480 My heart would still refuse you had you not chosen me. 771 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:09,320 You took the sin that stained me. 772 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:11,560 You cleansed me and made me new of old. 773 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:13,400 You have ordained me that I should live in you. 774 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:17,960 And the chorus came like this. Jesus, you've saved me and taken 775 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:21,560 all my sin, all my sins away. Jesus, you've called me before 776 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:23,600 the world began to glorify your name. 777 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:28,000 I was without hope and dead, but you chose to save my life. 778 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:30,920 Say that again. I was without hope and dead, but 779 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:36,720 you chose to save my life. So, Christian, you are rich, you 780 00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:38,680 are blessed. You're going to see this week 781 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:41,840 and in the next two weeks all of the treasures that you have in 782 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:44,800 Jesus Christ, treasures that maybe you didn't even know, all 783 00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:47,640 of these treasures coming, that you're adopted, you're a child 784 00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:49,160 of God. More than that, you're an heir. 785 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:51,320 He's graciously given you all things to enjoy. 786 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:54,680 And I hope you see out of the many applications how much 787 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:57,360 you're loved. I hope you see just how much God 788 00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:00,600 the Father loves you, how much Jesus Christ loves you so much 789 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:03,560 that He died for you and that the Spirit sealed you. 790 00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:06,160 And the God the Father adopted you and is preparing a place 791 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:08,920 with you even now so that he can be with you forever. 792 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:13,040 So adoption is from the foreknowledge of God the Father 793 00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:15,400 through the redemption of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by the 794 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:19,000 application of his Spirit to the praise of his glorious grace. 795 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:23,160 This is now your identity, and this church is where you belong. 796 00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:30,200 Church, please pray with me, Lord, what immeasurable riches 797 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:32,200 that you've given us in your Son. 798 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:35,800 All things are from him and through him and to him. 799 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:38,360 And we pray now and sing with praises on our lips. 800 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:40,160 To you be the glory forever and ever. 801 00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:43,240 Amen. Lord, thank you for the gift of 802 00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:46,720 salvation. And we see this new identity 803 00:41:46,720 --> 00:41:48,600 that you've given us and this mystery. 804 00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:51,240 And it was a mystery and now it's been revealed through your 805 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:53,720 apostles. And we confess it's, it's too 806 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:56,880 lofty for us. We had no idea the treasures 807 00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:58,840 that you've given us. And so now thank you for this 808 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:02,720 glimpse into them. God, give us comfort and knowing 809 00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:05,120 that we belong to you from everlasting to everlasting and 810 00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:08,200 help us to call you Father through the name of Jesus. 811 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:10,080 Thank you for your many blessings to us. 812 00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:12,280 We pray all this in Jesus name, Amen. 813 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:16,240 Thanks for listening. To learn more about Heritage 814 00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:19,240 Church or if you'd like to respond to this sermon, visit 815 00:42:19,240 --> 00:42:23,600 our website at www.heritageshawnee.org.