Blessing Upon Blessings - Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Ephesians Series)

Ephesians one chapter one verse one. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God, our father, and the lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the god and father of our lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for our adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved.

In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, and all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, in heaven and things on earth. In him, we have obtained an inheritance, having predestined according to the purpose of him, who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the foe first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who was the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. Would you bow your heads and pray with me, please? Father, we need you this morning, and we are so thankful for your word and the truths that are presented in it.

An endless treasure chest of insight and revelation concerning who you are and who we are in you. And father, we ask for a specific request this morning that there would be a clarity of interpretation of the scripture, that lord you would enable us to understand rightly what your word is trying to say to us. And so, lord, for this morning, would you clear any confusion? Would you, in our hearts, lord, help us understand what your word says regarding who you are and who we are in you, regardless of our presuppositions or our pre understandings. Bring us to what your word says no matter what we think or believe that might not be according to your word.

So, Lord, we just ask that you would give us humility, deep humility to understand you in your fullness. And, lord, we just ask even for hearts of love this morning, hearts of love, tenderness, compassion, and understanding. Lord, would there be even the ability to teach that no man would be seen, but lord your voice would be heard, and that lord we would leave here as we just sang about, and as even brother Gorgis mentioned with an understanding of our sonship, with an understanding of your love and your destiny for us. We worship you and we honor you in Jesus name. Amen.

You may be seated. In second Peter three sixteen, interesting insight concerning the Apostle Paul. As Peter is writing to the churches and his specific audience, he says something along the lines of, Paul and his writings. And he declares Paul's writings as scripture, which is very significant for us in concerning the New Testament canon that the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Peter, wants to let us know that the epistles and the rest of the New Testament in completion is scripture. But he also gives us another insight about Paul and his letters.

He says this interesting phrase. He says, some of the things that he has written are hard to understand. They're difficult to understand, which is comforting to all of us. It should be at least. Because what seems to be just some statement is actually the Holy Spirit trying to tell us something, that when we read the letters, specifically the letters of Paul, it's not as clear cut as we would perhaps like it to be.

It it speaks of the fact that the letters, especially Paul's theology, is deep and rich. And because it is deep and rich in meaning, it requires careful study. It requires our attention. It requires time. It requires studying well because the warning also in second Peter three sixteen is that people would take these what seems to be complicated scriptures and make their own doctrine out of it and twist it to their own benefit.

And so there's a warning there as well. Because Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is writing about deep matters, once again, we need to be able to be careful, lean on the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, be open to what God wants to say to us, and to ultimately trust in him to give us the proper interpretation concerning what is being said. And so that's what we're gonna do together as a church. That's what we're gonna do together as a body. We are going to dedicate the next few weeks to one specific letter, and that is the letter to the Ephesian church.

And we begin in chapter one verse three, where Paul is going to speak to the Ephesians church, but not just the Ephesians church, to us being the church as timeless truths about what? Blessed be the god and father of our lord Jesus Christ. That's that's a proclamation. That's an exclamation of worship. Blessed be the Lord.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we bless him? Why? Because who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Do you know you're blessed?

And there is a specific insight of this blessing. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing, and its nature is in the heavenlies. These blessings are heavenly in nature. Meaning what? They are not material.

They are not temporal blessings. They're not something that we can necessarily grab a hold of. There's something of another realm. There's something of another nature. It's not material we're talking about.

It's not possessions we're talking about. We're talking about spiritual realities. And they are not temporary. They are of eternal worth because they are heavenly. They are of timeless truths and guarantees concerning what he has given us.

Not only that, these blessings are only available through one avenue, through one association, and that is in Christ. You and I are gonna find out something in this first chapter especially is that this term in him, in Christ will come over and over. And between those phrases, you'll see also this proclamation of worship, to the praise of his glory, to the praise of his glory, to the praise of his glory. And we don't have to guess what these heavenly blessings are. We don't have to we don't have to sit there and wonder, okay, what part of scripture can we put together to see what these treasures are concerning our association with Christ?

He lists them for the rest of these verses. He tells us what the nature of these blessings are, specifically. He says, verse four, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. We have to read that very, very, very carefully. Let's read it again.

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Now when you read that, I'm sure 90% of our minds are going in one direction. That God chose people before the foundation of the world concerning who will be saved, who will be in Christ, who will be those who will attain salvation. That would be true if it was read like this, even as he chose us to be in him. But it doesn't say that we are chosen to be in him, it says that we are chosen in him.

Major difference. Major difference. If it said, even as he chose us to be in him before the foundation of the world, that conclusion would make sense. But it doesn't say that. That one little phrase is missing.

It says that we are chosen in him and it has to read like this and we can carefully read it like this. God chose that those who are in him to be something. Do you understand? This verse is not speaking about those who were chosen before the foundation of the world to be saved. It's speaking of those who are in Christ to have a certain destiny.

It speaks here that those who are in Christ are chosen to attain something. What is that? To be holy and blameless before him. So because we are in Christ, there is something that we are to experience in Christ, and that is that those who are in him will be holy and blameless before him. This is so important for us to understand because we can go a different direction with this.

And there's another commonly referenced text concerning this idea of being chosen. It's in Romans eight twenty eight twenty nine. Romans eight twenty eight twenty nine says, and we know for those who are who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose. And so we know that verse.

Right? We put on coffee mugs, we tell each other, we encourage each other with that verse that those who love God, we can be encouraged with this truth that everything works together for the good, for those who are called according to his purpose. So that means this, that no matter what circumstance you're going through in life, the end goal of it is for your benefit. It is for your good. And we stop it there and we don't realize the next verse solidifies that truth by saying what in verse 29?

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined. Now stop. Once again, where does our mind rush to when we hear that? We have to finish the the verse and we have to see it in context. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

So so what is that saying in context? It's saying this, that all things work together for our good. Everything in this life is targeted towards your benefit and my benefit and for the glory of God. Why? Because you're in him.

And because you're in him, you are predestined for a purpose. What's the purpose? That you would be conformed to the image of Christ. So because you're in him, there's a destiny for you. And what's that destiny?

You are going to look like Jesus Christ. You are going to be, so to speak, as his sibling one day. And because of that destination that has been set for those who are in Christ, everything will work together for your good. Now we all go back to two Peter three sixteen, like, yeah, this is hard to understand. When we when we see this word predestination, we have to understand the context.

We have to understand who the audience is. We have to understand what they are being predestined to, because some of us have automatically associated predestination to salvation. When in most cases, if not, we see the the four places that predestination you know the word predestination is mentioned four times in the bible? Twice in Ephesians one and twice in Romans eight. And when you see it in its appropriate context, what you'll realize that predestination has way more to do with sanctification than with salvation.

That when we are in Christ, there's a destination that is set for you. And one is to be holy and blameless before him, according to Romans eight, that you would be conformed to the image of his Son. That's why you can guarantee that everything in your life will work together for your good. So predestination is not about God's choosing for future and conversions of those who are lost sinners. It's about the guaranteed future of those who are already believers.

It's not this idea that God, before the foundation of the world according to Ephesians one four, I choose you, I choose you, I choose you. No. It's it's talking about, remember, we're we're gonna see this phrase, in him, in him. The reality is the destiny for those who are in Christ. Major difference.

Major difference. And on top of that, we got to look at the audience of the book of Ephesians. Is there a reason why Paul is speaking to these Gentiles concerning blessings in Christ? Is there a purpose behind this? Is he just listing these things because he got bored one day and he just wants to write them and say, you know, I just want to tell you how blessed you are.

No, there is a purpose behind this. There is a reason why Paul himself is writing to Gentile believers. Because in Ephesians one, and Ephesians two, and in Ephesians chapter three, what we're going to learn is how Gentiles and Jews become one in Christ. Pay attention please. Gentile and Jew become one in Christ.

That is the mystery of the gospel, and we're gonna see that in chapter two more than anything. So when you think about the Old Testament, this word chosen comes up a lot, but it is targeted towards who? The nation of Israel. We see that in Deuteronomy. We see it in Isaiah where God speaks to the people of Israel and says, You are chosen.

You are chosen. You are chosen. You are chosen. And then we come here to the New Testament and we understand that because of the cross, now Gentiles have access to the very same thing that the Jews had access to. And So when we see words such as predestination or chosen depending on its context, what is Paul trying to say especially in this chapter, in this verse?

What he's saying is this, the Jews are not chosen now. Now you Gentiles are chosen. Now you are a part of this. So the the benefits of being a Jew are now your benefits. The promises that were given to Israel are now yours.

You are now chosen. And not only that, you're not just chosen as a Gentile group. You're not only now partaking of this, you're not second class citizens to the Jews in salvation. It's not like the Jews have an elevated place in the gospel and you're second class. No.

All these blessings are yours. All of these now belong to you that you'd be holy, that you would be adopted, that you would be redeemed. And he goes on and on to list these blessings that are now available to the Gentiles, and that's gonna be its exclamation mark in in the second chapter of this book. So so Paul is writing to a specific audience, and he's using language that was given just to the nation of Israel, but now is available to the Gentile nations. You're chosen.

You're destined. You have all these blessings now. They are now available to you. It wasn't just it's not just for the Jews anymore. Now it's for you Gentiles.

And so I am fully aware that there is much debate and much tension concerning this specific teaching and this specific understanding, but I personally believe that a lot of that tension can be released by understanding the doctrine of the free will of man. And the purpose of this message is not to speak of this specifically, but here's just an example of that because the other side of predestination that others hold to would say, because man is totally depraved, man is so overcome by wickedness, so overcome by evil, he has nothing within himself to even seek God or choose God for himself. So it is God's work alone, his power to come into the heart of man and to regenerate his heart and to stir his heart, to receive faith as a gift, to believe in the cross because man himself is so deep in darkness, is so dead in his trespasses that he himself can't choose God. He doesn't have the ability to do that. So the work of salvation belongs to God alone and He has chosen who will be saved before the foundation of the world.

But then here's the tension. When you look at verses like second Peter three:nine, which says that he desires for none to perish but to all reach repentance. And when you look at verses as that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. In Ezekiel thirty three eleven that God does not delight in the death of the wicked, in Micah seven eighteen that speaks the fact that God delights in expending mercy and steadfast love, it begs the natural question. If the work of salvation belongs to God alone, it does, but in the understanding that man has no ability to choose.

That's all God's work. Clear. Nobody can deny that. Why doesn't he save all men? What's holding him back?

He has the desire. It's a burning desire in his heart. It speaks of his character, and he has the power because according to some, man has no ability to choose. Why not redeem all humankind? And the argument to that is, well, because in the wisdom of God, the way he chose to do it somehow gives him more glory.

And those who adhere to that understanding would say, we don't know. And they would go to scriptures like Romans nine and different places to say, all we we are left to do is ask as to say, you know, he's sovereign and who are we to say to God, why did you do it this way? But I believe that tension can be loosened. I believe that tension can be released when we understand that, yes, he has a desire, but he also gave man a choice. He gave man a choice.

And so it is the the the heart of God to say, all men, yes, that they would be saved. And he does have the power, and he plays a significant major role to save. But in the mystery of all of that is that he has given us free moral agency to say, I can choose, and I can resist, and I can say yes, and I can say no. And some would say, well, that understanding robs God of his power and his glory. And I would counter argue to say, no, I think it speaks more of his power.

Because in his power, he gives these men that were created in dust the ability to say yes or no to almighty God. And it speaks of his character, that he is in this for a love relationship with humankind. He's in this because he wants us. Now how ridiculous would it sound if a man loved a woman and wanted to marry her and would go up to her and put her in a headlock and say, you better marry me. You better marry me.

That's a that's a natural and very limited way of understanding it. But any person in here, there's some who are engaged, there's some already married, understand that, especially from a male perspective, you want to propose to somebody, and you want them to respond because they want to be with you. And they want to be in that relationship and that covenant with you. And once again, I know that can be counter argued and we can spend the next three weeks talking about this, but that's not the purpose of this message. What I really want to show you is in Ephesians one four, we're not talking about how God chose people to be in Christ.

He he chose that in Christ, these realities, these availabilities, these experiences are destined for you. As though there was a package, and it's this gift that you receive, and that gift is Jesus Christ. And when you open that gift, there are other gifts within the gift. And one of those gifts is the first blessing that we would be holy and blameless before him. God destined you, believer, because you are associated with Christ, that you would be holy and blameless, That you would be, at one point, totally perfect in the sight of God.

That you would stand blameless without fault. And that is so significant for us to understand because God has a standard for righteousness. God has a standard for those who would stand before him free from eternal punishment, and that standard is perfection. And if you know yourself, you would say I am not perfect. And there was only one man who was perfect, the God man Jesus Christ.

And that's that's important. Now pay attention to this. This is very important. This might shock you. Jesus' mission to come on the earth was not just to die on the cross.

It was to live a perfect life. It was not just to pay for the penalty of sin. It was to live a perfectly spotless observance to the law according to God's standard of perfection. Why is that important? This is why.

He did not just live simply to prove to other people perfectly that I am God. No. No. No. He lived perfectly so that by faith in him, his perfection would be transferred to us.

That his perfection would be imputed to us. This is what we call the imputed righteousness of Christ. That he observed the law, he observed the Torah, he did everything right. He became that perfect Israelite, and by faith in him, his perfection is transferred to our account. That is grace.

That is mercy. And we say, well, where's God's justice? Because he just dismisses our sin by us just receiving mercy and and Christ imputed righteousness. That doesn't sound very just for us. Oh, it is just.

Why? Because our sin was transferred to Christ. And our sin was punished, but somebody took the punishment for us. So God's mercy and justice is not compromised. It is compatible through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The imputed righteousness of Jesus, your account is paid in full. You stand before God holy and blameless on one thing. You know you're saved by works? Not your works, Christ's works. That's the difference, is that in Christ, you perfected the law.

You walked in God's standards completely and wholly and without fault because Jesus did it for you. So when you look at Jesus' life, you should, you should worship when you see his compassion. You know why? It's as though you were compassionate. When you loved and you whenever you see his life, guess what?

That is transferred to you. We kinda focus on the cross and we should, but we have to understand his life too. He lived it perfectly. Yes, to be the spotless lamb, but also for your account to be paid in full and for your standard of righteousness to be met to God's standard of righteousness, which is an amazing truth. And that is the first blessing that you would be holy and blameless before him because you are in him.

He chose that. He chose for those that would be in Christ that they would be holy and blameless before God Almighty. And it says here in verse five, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will. He predestined us. Once again, we have to understand this understanding of predestination.

We can understand this verse as such, that it was planned in the package of accepting Christ that you would be adopted in the family of God. Once again, it's that understanding that because I'm in him, I am in Christ. My second blessing, that, that gift that I opened up, which is Christ, that gift. Oh, look. I'm holy and blameless before him.

Wow. And I look in and I see something else that I'm destined to be adopted into the family of God. So now I have these two gifts, these two treasures, these two blessings, which is once again so important for us to understand because when you accepted Christ, you did not sign up to be a part of this cold organization called Christianity in which you received an ID number and you're just a number amongst thousands and millions of others. Nor does it mean that you just signed up for something, a country club in which you meet with other people who believe the same thing as you do once a week. Nor does it simply mean that you received this fire insurance in which you escape hell and now have eternal life.

No, this is what it means, that you are adopted into a warm, loving, eternal family with God. That there is no such thing as an orphan in the kingdom of God. There's no person in Christ that walks aimlessly and blindly stumbling around in this world wondering their purpose and wondering if they're really loved. No. You are adopted.

You have a father in heaven, and this adoption is two part. We know in Galatians four, four to six, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because we are sons, it says God has sent his spirit of his son into the hearts crying out, Abba, Father. Abba, Father. So the two part adoption is the first part, and this is it.

That right now you are considered a son and a daughter. That God has sent his spirit where you have every right to address God Almighty, the one who names the stars and raised the mountains and told the seas to stop at a certain point, you have every right to say father. You have every right to call him dad. And I understand that because somebody you some people use that term in a very irreverent way. I'm not trying to be irreverential here, but it's this call to intimacy.

It's this access to God as a father. And once again, that's hard for some people to understand because they probably grew up with a father that wasn't good, that didn't reflect Jesus Christ. But you can know one thing about God, that he'll never disappoint you, nor will he fail you, nor will he ever reject you. I knew growing up as a son that if I ever needed something from my dad, I could wake up three in the morning and open that door and say, dad, are you awake? And my dad does not hesitate to say, yes, son.

What is it? And you have that same access to God. You could run to him, cry to him, ask him, and he looks at you with a perfect love and answers, yes, son. Yes, daughter. I hear you.

We are adopted. And the second part is in Romans eight twenty three. And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons. So the first part is that we are sons and daughters in this present world. But the second part is that there's this future reality that one day we will be adopted, meaning we will be caught up with God, and we will be in his presence forever, and we will be adopted so to speak.

So it's this idea of an orphan overseas who receives the news that he is adopted into a family in North America. And he receives this letter and he reads about his family. He reads this letter from his father and this father begins to send letters throughout the weeks about his new family and what it's gonna be like when he comes home and what's it gonna be like when he has his own room and all the activities that they're gonna do, and he sends pictures and, and the son who is adopted but doesn't have that connection yet, that face to face reality is excited, is being stirred, is discovering things about his father, but one day that door is gonna knock and that father is gonna come and bring that son into his arms and they're gonna have that face to face communion forever and ever. That is true of you and me concerning this understanding of adoption. That yes, it's true now, but it will be even greater when he does pick us up to go home.

And there's this story of this family that was adopting a child. And with a specific agency, they had a policy that you could if you had a sibling, if you had a son or a daughter adopting another child, if that sibling was old enough, they can go back with that aid worker to to pick up that baby themselves and to go to the father and mother and present the child. And so with this specific family, the one son had just passed that age requirement to be able to do that. And so they come to this agency. They're ready to pick up their child.

And the son goes back there with that worker. Picks up the baby, comes to the parents, he said these words, isn't she pretty? Doesn't she look just like me? And that's true with Jesus Christ. Says that he will predestine us, that we may be, conform to his image, so that he may be the firstborn among many brothers.

And we'll present you to the father and say, isn't he beautiful? Isn't she beautiful? She looks just like me. He looks just like me. And you are adopted into the family of God.

And that's where we get this understanding of Jesus being our elder brother, is that God has destined for us in some sense to be siblings to Christ, him being preeminent, and that we would partake of his nature. And that day is coming. It's now, but it's coming in which Christ will present us and say, he's just like me. She's just like me. Why?

Because we are in him. Holy and blameless. I'm adopted in the family of God. And we see to the praise of his glorious grace in which he has blessed us in the beloved. Do you see that?

He is this blessing is in the beloved. We can't confuse this. All of these things are talking about the destiny that was set forth, the destination that has been put into the GPS of your life because we are in the beloved. Verse seven. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight.

So I open this gift and I and I see that this gift is Christ and that gift alone is marvelous, but I'm holy and blameless and I'm adopted and also I'm redeemed by his blood. Redemption is this understanding being ransomed with a price and that's important because there's a psalm and it says this in Psalms 40 nine:seventy nine, Truly no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life. No man can ransom another life or give to God the price for his life. Why? For the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice that he should live on forever and never see the pit.

So that psalm tells us right there, nobody can ransom another, nobody can ever pay amount of money or do amount of good works to ransom the life of another individual. Why? Because it's way too costly. No matter what you bid, no matter what you put on the auction, nothing will be able to pay that price or meet that cost. Except one thing.

Because when you go to Matthew ten twenty eight, it's for the son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Only through his blood can a man's life be ransomed. That was what was necessary to redeem humanity. The shed royal crimson red blood of Jesus Christ. Nothing else.

And we were talking about this Friday in Exodus twelve thirteen, that when he asked the Israelites to put that blood on the lintel of their doors, he says, when I see the blood not your good works, not your church attendance, not how much you do Only when I see the blood, I will pass over you that no plague may befall you when I strike the land of Egypt. And so in the surface level, we understand, yes, his blood saves me from his wrath. His blood saves me from judgment to come. But we we fail to understand the long term picture is that his blood and that Passover lamb blood not only just saves them from judgment, it was the means by which they received liberation. It was that blood that gave them the ability to leave Egypt and to leave the lordship and the ownership of pharaoh into the ownership and the lordship of Yahweh.

And that is true for us. Every person on this planet that's not in Christ is a slave. The Bible tells us clearly that they are a slave to sin, and they are a slave to Satan. And there's only one thing that can redeem us from the clutch. It's the Passover lamb.

It's his blood. It's his blood. That is the payment necessary and the only way in which a man can be ransomed. And so once again, we know this. This is the gospel truth.

No person in heaven will ever be able to boast how they got there. Not one person. Every person will worship the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb.

And so we are delivered. We are redeemed through his blood. What a glorious blessing for those who are in him. What does he mean? And there we see in verse 11.

In him we have attained an inheritance, having been, there's that word again, predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. So once again, in him we have this destination, we have this blessing. What's that blessing? It's an inheritance. It's an inheritance.

And in first Peter one to four one verse four rather, it tells us the nature of this inheritance. To an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. So this, this inheritance will never decay. It will never be corrupted nor will it ever disappear or be lost. In fact, it has a place for you in heaven with your name on it.

It's there right now as you're here. There is this inheritance in heaven waiting for you to grab a hold of it. What is that inheritance? It's very simple. That inheritance is a place in heaven itself.

The inheritance that's given to us is the reality that you and I will exist for eternity. We will never die. We will have life ongoing, ongoing, ongoing, ongoing. Now that's hard for us to understand. And one of the preachers that I look up to gave an illustration of eternity.

He said, think of a marble granite, granite. One mile length. And once a year, this little sparrow comes and flies on that marble granite, lands on the corner of it and sharpens its beak and then flies away. Comes to that marble granite, lands on it, sharpens its beak, few seconds, flies away. And it comes again next year, sharpens its beak, flies away.

By the time that bird gets through that marble granite, eternity would have just begun. You and I will exist for eternity. And whether you believe it or not, that is the cry in so many people's heart that they would live as long as possible. Why do you think so many things are being pumped into health, pumped into surgeries? Because we want life.

In fact, it has gone to the extreme where there is this new thing now, and the term is cryonics. Cryonics. What is cryonics? Cryonics is this process that some companies are doing, I don't know how many, where they they take a deceased person and they freeze them to a degree in hopes of which down the line, when science is advanced enough, they would be able to take that frozen corpse and perform whatever they need to perform in order for them to be revived again. This is a real thing, and people are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy into this kind of a program.

And so these people that, for whatever reason, trust in that, they say, I want to live longer, and I want to live in the future, and I want to have this sense where I can come back to life and live on this earth a little bit longer. I'm willing to pay any amount of money for that. And they're attempting to do this. But here's the truth. You can't attempt to do what only God can do.

Put your faith in Jesus Christ? It's a free gift. It's available. That is the glorious hope. That is the inheritance for those who are in him.

That is the the predestination for those who are associated under him that you and I would exist for eternity, that we would live on forever, and death will only be a memory. And it doesn't even end there. I mean, we have all these blessings now. I don't I can't even carry these blessings, but there's something else in there. And so I reached down, and what does it say?

In him, in verse 13, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory, to the praise of his glory. Now this understanding of the sealing of the Holy Spirit, that's one of the many ministries of the Holy Spirit. And concerning this, it is the idea of God putting his label of ownership on us as believers. He himself is that seal upon the believer. Why?

To perform a guarantee. And that word guarantee is the word down payment. To put a down payment upon the believer, to say without a shadow of a doubt, you are my possession and I have every intention to keep you for myself. And so this idea of sealing is very important concerning the ancient times. It was it was concerning kings, a seal of approval without revoke.

Let me read this to you in Daniel six seventeen when Daniel was assigned to go into the lions' den. It says in verse 17 of chapter six, and a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring. And the signet of his lords that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. So when that seal was placed by that king, there was no changing the fate of where Daniel was destined to. So when we talk about the sealing of the Holy Spirit, God is placing that brand upon you to say you are mine, and I have no intention of changing my mind.

That's why later on as we whenever we come to it in Ephesians four thirty, it says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. So the purpose of that sealing is to bring you to that place where you will be redeemed. What does that mean for you and me? What does that mean for you believer?

It means this, that there's a permanence. That the Holy Spirit is in you, and guess what? He'll never leave you. He'll never be able to why? Because that is the truth in Christ.

That is the blessing. That is the predestination of those who are in him. And the one who is immature in their understanding of this says, so I can live however I want. So he's in me. So and people think this way.

There are people who've gone to the place where they say fruit doesn't matter, change doesn't matter, because by faith you accept Christ and you receive that seal, so just go gung ho and live how you want. But remember, that's one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit, the sealing. That's not all of his ministries. And so guess what? You forfeit when you kind of live that way.

You forfeit all the other things that he wants to do through you. Bring you into an intimacy with Christ on this side of heaven, fill you with boldness to go and make an impact for the kingdom of God. All these different things. That's why in Ephesians four thirty, he says don't grieve him. He's in you.

Don't walk into places that would grieve God. Don't watch things that would grieve God. Don't listen to things that would grieve God. Yes, he'll never leave you. He sealed you into redemption, but you will not experience the fullness of his realities in you now.

And so a believer pay attention a true believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit, but not every believer is walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and that is up to us. How we cooperate and obey and walk in the spirit will determine how we can experience not just his seal, which is by faith, which is through grace, but now we can walk in this intimacy with God, sanctifying power of God, and the boldness that he wants to give us to go and make an impact for the gospel. And you go back to verse three. It says, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you go down to verse 14, where it says, to the praise of his glory.

Everything we just learned about is sandwiched between this proclamation and exclamation of worship. Blessed be the Lord God. And when he comes to the end of this, he says, to the praise of his glory. Are you stirred to worship because of the truths that you just heard? Because that is the goal.

That was the goal for Paul to the Ephesians that they would be so stirred by the things that they have in him as Gentile believers that they would say, he is worthy of our worship. He's worthy of our praise. He's worthy of our obedience. He is worthy of our service. He is worthy of my song.

To the praise of his glory. Blessed be your name, God, That in Christ, what? I'm holding blameless before him. That I'm adopted. That I'm redeemed by his blood.

That I have an inheritance with my name on it. There's a table, my seat, with my name reserved for me. And there is this ceiling of the Holy Spirit that guarantees my redemption. Praise be to his name. And it's amazing with this last one.

It's this idea of our inheritance is the fact that God has made us his inheritance. Our possession is that God has made us his possession. You're his property. You're sealed by his ownership. You're his.

So you will stumble in this life. And there will be tough days. But he guarantees that the Holy Spirit's mark is on you, and he will get you through. He will pull you through. And so that's to produce a sense of, yes, he's for me.

He's not going to look at me and say, you know what, I kind of changed my mind. I'm done with you. Nor does he look at me and say, yeah, you're saved now. Go figure it out. Here's my word.

No, no, no, no. He works with me. He speaks to me. He convicts me. He leads me.

He opens the scriptures to me. And he's with me, and he'll never leave me nor forsake me. That is the reality in Christ. That is the inheritance that we have as believers. And this should cause us to worship him.

You are predestined for these things, believer in Jesus Christ. These are the things that you will have because you are in him. Let's pray together.