Introduction:
I. How many of us here this morning would say,
A. I just want to praise God all the time,
B. I never have periods of doubt or disappointment,
C. I just always trust, and God always comes through.
II. Probably many of you might say, “Yep. That’s me” but perhaps others of you would be a bit like me.
A. I always know that I can always trust God.
B. I always know that I should always be praising God.
C. But sometimes reality hits me square between the eyes, and I end up saying things like,
1. Where are you God?
2. 2. Why have you deserted me God?
III. Maybe it’s during those times when you have an illness that just doesn’t seem to want to go away.
A. Maybe it’s during those times when you get fired or laid off, or in my case just about one year ago, I felt that I really had no option except to resign from a church and a job that I truly loved,
IV. If we are honest, we would probably all have to say, “Yep. That’s me.”
A. Sometimes up, But
B. Sometimes down,
C. Sometimes even way down.
V. The reality is, probably all of us have times like that, even the writer of this
VI. The write of Psalm 60, seems to have had those times
B. Read Ephesians 1:3-14
Chosen for Holiness (vs. 4)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love
I. Paul is excited.
A. He is going to be writing, as he often does, about salvation through faith in Christ.
B. One of the great by-products of telling other people about Christ is that it reminds us of what we have in Christ.
II. At it’s core, Paul’s message is,
A. God loves you,
B. Listen to Ephesians 2:8,
1. “For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God.”
2. God loves us so much, that He even gives us the faith that we need to believe in Him.
III. As Paul is recalling his salvation, he says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and he is going to list at least 5 reasons why in these next verses.
IV. Prompt number one, “We have been chosen for holiness and blamelessness.”
A. When you see the word “holy” or “holiness” I want you to automatically see, “Set apart for God’s purposes.”
1. Something is holy, it is set apart for God’s purposes.
2. When we trust in Christ for our salvation, we are made “holy” we are “set a part for God’s purposes.”
V. I want to ask us to disregard a couple of things for a moment.
A. Disregard the arguments of who chose who.
B. Disregard the ramifications for those whom God does not chose.
C. Just read the words, “God chose us,” and think about what it feels like to be chosen.
VI. If your husband or wife, or boyfriend or girlfriend are with you this morning, I want to ask you to take their hand for just a moment, look them in the eye, and consider this.
A. Just think;
1. That person whom you pursued, has probably been pursued by many others.
2. That person, who knows you so well, knows your limitations, knows your faults, in some of our cases, who sees us in the morning before we even brush our teeth.
3. That person could have chosen anyone of hundreds of other people, BUT, they chose you.
B. That’s a little bit like God choosing us.
1. God knows us intimately, He made us, YET He chose us.
2. God knows every one of our faults, because God knows everything, YET He chose us anyway.
VII. And look at the verse again; it says, “God chose us, BEFORE the foundation of the world.”
A. When was that?
1. It was a long time ago.
2. It was before we were even born,
3. It was certainly before we were “Holy and blameless” since we can’t come close to holy or blameless without Christ.
B. God chose us when we were, “unholy and rightfully blames.
C. God chose us, and because He chose us, we are “set apart for His purposes, and we are without spot or blemish.” if we are in Christ.
VIII. Prompt Number One - We were chosen to be “Holy and Blameless.”
IX. Prompt Number Two, We were chosen for adoption.
Chosen for Adoption (vs. 5&6)
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
I. That word “adoption” is a big word.
A. We must consider for a moment that not everyone views adoption from the same perspective.
1. If you were adopted into a good situation, then you probably see adoption as a positive them.
2. If on the other hand you are adopted, and it was a bad situation, then you probably see adoption as a negative.
B. In the context here though, “Adoption” is meant to be seen as a very positive and desirable situation.
II. A Prompt for Praise, maybe especially when we feel alone and deserted.
A. The fact is, we are never truly alone.
B. God has decided that through faith in Christ, we can be His adopted sons; and daughters.
III. One of the idea’s of “son ship” whether through natural means or through adoption, is that once it occurs it can never be taken back.
IV. I have already told you that my name is Ronald Murphy.
A. But I was not born a “Murphy.”
1. I kind of enjoy it when someone says, “O. You are Irish.”
2. My response is often, “No. Not at all.”
B. My birth name is Ronald Bouvet.
1. Bouvet is from French descent.
2. In fact, my response, even now might well include, “My REAL name is Bouvet.”
C. So who am I, Murphy or Bouvet?
1. The answer is both.
2. I was born to one father, and adopted by the other.
D. And while I remain a Bouvet by physical birth, I was adopted by Darrell Murphy, and I can never give that up.
V. That is a bit of the picture.
A. Darrell Murphy wanted me to be his son,
B. God wants us to be His son’s, so He made it possible for that act to be accomplished.
VI. You see the verse adds, “Through Jesus Christ.”
A. The Apostle John reports that Christ once said, “No one can come to the Father, except through me.”
B. God predestined us to be His sons, but it can only be accomplished through believing that Jesus Christ died in order to make that transition possible.
VII. Prompt for praise number one, - “God Chose us to be Holy and Blameless.”
VIII. Prompt number two, “God Predestined us for Adoption as sons.”
IX. Prompt number three, “We Were Chosen for Redemption.”
Chosen for Redemption (vs. 7-8)
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, 8 which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight.
I. The word redemption means “to buy back” or “to deliver”.
A. Either way, the meaning is the same,
1. At one point we were on our way to one destination, but because of the Love of God, He chose to redeem us,
2. Our destination has now changed.
B. Paul is overjoyed at the prospect that we have been redeemed, but there is an important qualifier her
1. The verse begins with two little words, “In Him.”
2. In Christ.
II. When you understand it, you must love verse 8; you simply have no choice.
A. Paul has just said, “You have been redeemed through (or by) His blood.”
B. Then he adds verse 8, “which He lavished upon us...”
III. Lavished, now that is a word we can understand.
A. It means to get something which you don’t deserve.
B. It’s a bit like the bonus’s that those AIG honcho’s got.
1. By most people’s estimation, they didn’t deserve to get 165 million dollars in bonus pay.
2. What did they do to deserve all that extra money?
a. Mishandle the finances,
b. Make loans that made no sense, to people that couldn’t afford it.
c. Come begging to the government for a hand out, which comes out of my pocket.
3. Yet someone, or some group of someone’s decided that they should be lavished with millions of dollars in bonuses, so that you and I wouldn’t get mad; guess what, I’m mad.
IV. But our verse say that God “lavished” His grace upon us, despite the fact that He knows every little spot that we have.
V. The meaning is exactly this,
A. We have been chosen for redemption, not because of our goodness, but because of God’s love.
B. We don’t deserve the bonus, but God provides it anyway.
VI. Prompt for praise number one, - “God Chose us to be Holy and Blameless.”
VII. Prompt number two, “God Predestined us for Adoption as sons.”
VIII. Prompt number three, “We Were Chosen for Redemption.”
IX. Prompt for praise four, “We were chosen for knowledge” specifically, the knowledge of God’s will.
Chosen For Knowledge (vs. 9-12)
9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. In Him, 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
I. 2 Corinthians 4:3 reads, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
II. A prompt for praise, You and I, if we have placed our confidence in the finished work of Christ are no longer perishing.
A. God’s will, at it’s very simplest to understand is this, “It is God’s desire that the relationship between God and man would be restored.”
B. God wants you and I to live with Him forever in heaven.
III. Forget about God wanting you to be healthy, wealthy and wise;
A. That is approaching God from what we want, not what Gods will is
B. What God really wants is for you to be with Him.
C. And he has made that possible only through Jesus Christ.
IV. He has made that “knowledge” known to us.
A. Maybe you didn’t know it before, but
B. You certainly have been informed of it today.
V. Verse 11 states, “We have obtained an inheritance.”
A. That inheritance is eternal life; it is ours.
B. All we have to do is believe.
VI. Prompt for praise number 4, God has revealed his will to me.
VII. Our final prompt for today is “We are Chosen Forever.”
Chosen Forever (vs. 13-14)
13 In Him, you also after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view of the redemption of Gods own possession, to the praise of His glory.
I. There seems to not be much you can trust in these days.
A. My wife walked into her office a couple of weeks ago, and she had an e-mail telling her she had just received a 5 percent pay cut; better than a job cut I suppose.
B. I have heard repeatedly from people that have lost 50% or better of their retirement funds, and are now working AGAIN in order to maintain their standard of living.
C. We could probably go on for hours on what you can’t trust.
II. It is a bit like when you seal an envelope with a stamp and put it in the mail box.
A. Once a letter has been placed in a mail box, the only person authorized to open that letter is the person it is addressed to.
B. Even the sender is no longer authorized to open it.
III. Paul says here that once having listened to the gospel and coming to that place where you say yes to Jesus, you are sealed or “STAMPED” with the Holy Spirit.
A. That stamp is our guarantee that our ultimate resting place is heaven.
B. And I think this knowledge prompted even Paul to great praise, for even Paul realized that he needed a savior.
C. Listen to what Paul writes in Romans 7, verses 15-17 - 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
IV. If going to heaven is dependent on our being perfect, or even on our good out weighing our bad, then heaven is going to be a very lonely and very empty place.
A. But these verses say, “hear and believe” and the Holy Spirit takes up residence as the guarantee that we will one day live with God.
V. So the question is, “What will you do with what God has said this morning?”
