Count Your Blessings (Ephesians 1:3-14)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.120 I'm going to read to you tonight and preach from God's word in the letter 2 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:12.230 or from the letter of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter one versus three through fourteen. 3 00:00:14.710 --> 00:00:20.190 Before I read this passage, though, I want to clear up something about 4 00:00:20.230 --> 00:00:25.500 this passage for a couple reasons. It has an effect on the way we 5 00:00:25.579 --> 00:00:31.059 read it and some other things as well, and since we're just starting out 6 00:00:31.059 --> 00:00:33.460 here, I think I thought it would be good to say it even before 7 00:00:33.500 --> 00:00:36.130 we kind of get to it. It's it's sort of a simple thing, 8 00:00:36.250 --> 00:00:41.009 but it matters at least a little bit, and it's this. If you 9 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:48.530 look at your bibles chapter one versus three through fourteen, you have things divided 10 00:00:48.570 --> 00:00:54.719 it up into a few sentences. Sometimes people have said that even this is 11 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:59.920 one long sentence, and while there's some truth to that, that's not exactly 12 00:00:59.960 --> 00:01:04.310 right. In a recent commentary on the book of Ephesians, one of the 13 00:01:04.349 --> 00:01:10.390 men in our presbytery a new a new testament professor. His name is Steve 14 00:01:10.590 --> 00:01:17.549 Baugh. He has written about this in depth and he writes from a lot 15 00:01:17.629 --> 00:01:22.099 of experience. He's not just a friend, but he's a senior scholar, 16 00:01:22.260 --> 00:01:26.099 a particularly on this book. He's been studying the letter of effusions since he 17 00:01:26.299 --> 00:01:30.340 was, I don't known, his twenties or something like that. On top 18 00:01:30.379 --> 00:01:38.010 of that, people are recognizing this commentary is not just the commentary now on 19 00:01:38.129 --> 00:01:42.329 effusions, but really one of the finest commentaries of just any commentary if you 20 00:01:42.530 --> 00:01:47.359 are looking for something to read along. It's scholarly, but it's very good 21 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:52.400 anyway, just to give you to mention him, just to give a little 22 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:57.239 bit of credibility to this, and it's this. What he says is that 23 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:00.469 this passage is not one long sentence, and the reason I say this is 24 00:02:00.629 --> 00:02:05.989 this is repeated constantly. I'm over and over and over again. That's not 25 00:02:06.109 --> 00:02:12.430 really true. The these this section from verses three to fourteen, is divided 26 00:02:12.550 --> 00:02:16.900 up into something called periods. Now you may have heard that in Greek and 27 00:02:17.219 --> 00:02:23.539 some ancient Greek documents you'll often see just a bunch of capital letters all strung 28 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:28.900 together without even any spaces. It could be very difficult to read for us 29 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:31.330 who are used to punctuation and spaces and things like that. The question is, 30 00:02:31.449 --> 00:02:35.490 then, how would they know which words were where? Well, you 31 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:38.689 would probably be able to figure it out in English if you didn't have any 32 00:02:38.729 --> 00:02:42.849 punctuation. It was just a bunch of letters because you recognize the words. 33 00:02:43.810 --> 00:02:46.960 But the Greeks had various ways of signaling in their sentences, or rather in 34 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:51.800 these periods, where they started and where they stopped, and they were kind 35 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:58.669 of centered around how long a breath was, from the various little aid is, 36 00:03:00.069 --> 00:03:04.750 from the various beginnings of one's education, the your elementary school years, 37 00:03:05.590 --> 00:03:10.830 you would be taught how to scan for syllables and you would be taught how 38 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:15.300 to speak. Rhetoric in the ancient world was all about speaking, and so 39 00:03:15.659 --> 00:03:21.580 these periods, which are kind of like our sentences, were largely built in 40 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:24.539 rhetoric around these breaths, sort of how much you could kind of get out 41 00:03:24.580 --> 00:03:30.330 at once. Well, that's significant because at the end of these oftentimes authors 42 00:03:30.370 --> 00:03:34.650 who were writing according to these rules of style would put some emphasis on the 43 00:03:34.729 --> 00:03:38.689 end of those for emphasis right. They were sort of the things that where 44 00:03:38.729 --> 00:03:43.000 you would stop and pause and they would rest in the mind of your hearers. 45 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.840 And so this is helpful because Effesians three through fourteen, as you will 46 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:52.520 see as I read it, is a little bit overwhelming. There's a lot 47 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:58.030 of clauses built one on top of another. On top of another and in 48 00:03:58.229 --> 00:04:06.349 Greek it doesn't feel quite so stream of consciousness, if I might say that 49 00:04:06.509 --> 00:04:11.180 that way. There are these pauses and I'm going to attempt to bring those 50 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:14.259 out as I read them. I'm going to not read it in Greek, 51 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:17.259 but I'm going to read it in English, but in accord with where about 52 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:21.779 those periods would happen that you know, translation doesn't that happened perfectly, but 53 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:26.930 I'll hope you'll give you a sense of how it might have sounded, because 54 00:04:26.970 --> 00:04:29.810 when we look at it here it looks like a big block and it's a 55 00:04:29.850 --> 00:04:33.009 little overwhelming, but there are all kinds of parallel things going on in the 56 00:04:33.129 --> 00:04:39.120 text. It's very well crafted, very highly crafted, so much so that 57 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.879 people have even wondered if this passage was one of the early hymns in the 58 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:46.199 church, one of the first hymns. Now we don't have any evidence that 59 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:51.040 shows that conclusively, but I like to say it's him nick kind of get 60 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:57.350 around that, because it is. It's very it's full of praise, it's 61 00:04:57.430 --> 00:05:00.670 full of wonder and it does sort of pile up in a way to sort 62 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:06.899 of overwhelm us and help us to know and to express the great glory of 63 00:05:08.019 --> 00:05:14.259 God. So I'd like to read it now and as I read it, 64 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:17.819 I want to continue to encourage you over the next several weeks as we go 65 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:24.370 through this passage, to work to memorize it and to understand it and hear 66 00:05:24.449 --> 00:05:28.410 it, hide it more and more in your heart, treasure up these things. 67 00:05:28.490 --> 00:05:31.209 There is much to be wondered at and to give praise God for, 68 00:05:32.569 --> 00:05:42.399 praise to God for. So let's hear it now. Blessed be the God 69 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:46.360 and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is blessed us in Christ 70 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:50.029 with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly place. Is Even as he chose us 71 00:05:50.069 --> 00:05:54.829 in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holly and 72 00:05:54.949 --> 00:06:00.670 blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as 73 00:06:00.790 --> 00:06:03.579 sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the 74 00:06:03.660 --> 00:06:09.139 praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. 75 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:13.500 In Him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses 76 00:06:13.899 --> 00:06:17.730 according to the riches of His grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom 77 00:06:17.769 --> 00:06:21.290 and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to 78 00:06:21.370 --> 00:06:26.970 his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness 79 00:06:26.970 --> 00:06:30.209 of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on 80 00:06:30.290 --> 00:06:36.000 earth. In Him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according 81 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.639 to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his 82 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:43.839 will, so that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, 83 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:48.069 might be to the praise of his glory. In Him. You also, 84 00:06:48.110 --> 00:06:53.509 when you heard the word of truth, the Golospel of your salvation and believed 85 00:06:53.589 --> 00:06:58.189 in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee 86 00:06:58.189 --> 00:07:02.420 of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his 87 00:07:02.579 --> 00:07:10.259 glory. Man. Well, what we have just heard is one of the 88 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:15.370 most remarkable passages of scripture, as I said, so finely crafted that people 89 00:07:15.410 --> 00:07:23.209 have wondered if it was perhaps a hymn in the language is so exalted. 90 00:07:24.050 --> 00:07:27.089 What example of this is when Paul says in verse three, which will be 91 00:07:27.370 --> 00:07:30.959 my focus for this evening, the heavenly places, he doesn't use the normal 92 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:35.360 word for heaven. He uses kind of an extra exalted word. You might 93 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:41.920 translate it high heavenlies or something like that. It's it's sort of extra big, 94 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:46.709 extra grant. Everything's extra wonderful, and we read that over and over 95 00:07:46.829 --> 00:07:54.310 in many different ways. It's full of lavish praise for God in response to 96 00:07:54.350 --> 00:08:00.540 the lavish gifts of His grace that he's poured out on us. This passage 97 00:08:00.540 --> 00:08:07.420 is simultaneously simple and complex. It expresses some of the most basic and important 98 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:15.290 truths about Jesus, and yet it's infinitely rich, holding mysteries that are confounding 99 00:08:15.410 --> 00:08:20.610 and marvelous, to paraphase, paraphrase something Matthew Henry once wrote about the visions 100 00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:26.480 of Ezekiel. This passage contains both the shallow waters in which a lamb can 101 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:33.159 walk and both the depths that can submerge in elephant. To compare it to 102 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:41.080 something else, this passage reminds me of a beautiful symphony that begins with the 103 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:46.389 lovely and even in toxic, a cating melody here of God's grace, the 104 00:08:46.429 --> 00:08:52.110 kind of melody that you can hear a hundred times, a thousand times and 105 00:08:52.590 --> 00:08:56.299 never tire of it. Maybe you've done this before. You've put a CD 106 00:08:56.700 --> 00:09:00.940 on and listen to it all day, maybe all week. Maybe you keep 107 00:09:01.059 --> 00:09:03.539 returning to it again and again and again over the course of your life, 108 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:09.580 the kind of thing that you put on repeat. These beautiful notes of God's 109 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:13.850 grace appear early. You might imagine again, a symphony perhaps happening, perhaps 110 00:09:13.889 --> 00:09:18.610 being played by a flute or clarinet, and then moving from the section of 111 00:09:18.690 --> 00:09:22.090 the orchestra, one portion to another, each building on the other, layers 112 00:09:22.129 --> 00:09:26.360 upon layers upon layers. It's getting deeper and deeper and deeper, and yet 113 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:31.519 that melody just keeps soaring up above it all, until the whole room is 114 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:39.149 bathed in the glory of praise. This is what this passage is like and 115 00:09:39.190 --> 00:09:43.230 honestly, it makes me a little hesitant to preach it, not because I 116 00:09:43.230 --> 00:09:48.629 don't believe it's truths or not, that because they're not here for us to 117 00:09:48.669 --> 00:09:52.379 understand they are, but because I'm a little bit afraid that my sermon will 118 00:09:52.379 --> 00:09:58.139 end up sounding like the program notes for a symphony rather than the symphony itself. 119 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:03.460 And while that is likely going to be true, and I'll ask that 120 00:10:03.500 --> 00:10:07.490 you bear with me in that, we all know that God is gracious and 121 00:10:09.009 --> 00:10:15.690 perhaps even our Lord and King can use program notes to help you know and 122 00:10:15.889 --> 00:10:24.039 experience and participate in the exalted praise of this passage. And so, if 123 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:28.799 you will, are a spiritual elephant, so to speak, let me ask 124 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:33.240 that you take a moment enjoying us lambs in the shallows and notice just a 125 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:37.509 couple things, maybe two or three, as we have time for, so 126 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:43.669 that we might learn to give God our praise. The first thing I want 127 00:10:43.710 --> 00:10:48.990 you to notice is this expression, this way of speaking. At the beginning 128 00:10:50.019 --> 00:10:54.820 of Verse Three, the Apostle Rights blessed be the God and father of our 129 00:10:54.940 --> 00:11:01.500 Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God of Jesus Christ, blessed be the 130 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:09.649 father of the Lord Jesus Christ. This blessing is based on the frequent blessings 131 00:11:09.730 --> 00:11:11.970 of God that we find in the Old Testament. They sound like this. 132 00:11:13.769 --> 00:11:18.600 Blessed be Yah Way, the God of Israel. That's what they sound like. 133 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:22.600 I'll give you some examples. First, Samuel Thirty two, and David 134 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:26.919 said to Abigail, blessed be Yah Way, the God of Israel, who 135 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:31.320 sent you this day to me. Here's another one. Second, chronicles six 136 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:35.070 four, and he said, blessed be Yah Way, the God of Israel, 137 00:11:35.470 --> 00:11:39.549 who, with his hand, has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth 138 00:11:39.710 --> 00:11:43.990 to David, my father saying you have to read on to hear what he 139 00:11:43.029 --> 00:11:48.940 said. Psalm one, forty eight. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of 140 00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:54.139 Israel, from everlasting to everlasting, and let all the people say Amen, 141 00:11:54.019 --> 00:12:00.580 praise Yahway, the last of these Old Testament ways of saying it are actually 142 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:03.370 found in the New Testament, on the lips of Zachariah, one of the 143 00:12:03.409 --> 00:12:07.490 last Old Testament prophets, we might say, along with John The baptist, 144 00:12:09.330 --> 00:12:13.850 least speaking in the old covenant language, he says, blessed be the Lord 145 00:12:13.889 --> 00:12:20.720 and God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. After 146 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:26.919 pentecost, however, though, after the spirit comes, this blessing changes in 147 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:31.990 the mouths of God's people. Here, in Ephesians and Second Corinthians, one, 148 00:12:33.230 --> 00:12:37.590 three, first Peter, three, Romans, fifteen six, second Corinthians 149 00:12:37.149 --> 00:12:43.029 thirty one, and at least four other places this blessing changes to this blessed 150 00:12:43.149 --> 00:12:50.539 be the God and father of Jesus. So instead of blessed be the God 151 00:12:50.820 --> 00:12:58.850 of Israel, blessed be the God and father of Jesus. Why the change? 152 00:13:00.370 --> 00:13:03.610 The reason is is because there has been a change in the covenant. 153 00:13:05.889 --> 00:13:09.649 God, of course, remains the father and God of Israel, as we 154 00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:15.759 read in many places, including Romans Eleven. But through Jesus, the mediator 155 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:20.679 of a new and better covenant, the Blessed Salvation of God has been extended 156 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:24.399 out in a grand and new way to the whole world, and Ephesians in 157 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:30.990 particular emphasizes this point again and again. If you have your bibles open, 158 00:13:31.190 --> 00:13:35.149 you can look at Ephesians chapter two, Verse Twelve, where Paul Speaks to 159 00:13:35.190 --> 00:13:41.259 the gentiles of the EPHESIAN church and says, remember that you were at that 160 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:50.299 time separated from Christ, alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the 161 00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:58.009 covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But 162 00:13:58.210 --> 00:14:01.409 now, in Christ Jesus, you, who were once far off, have 163 00:14:01.570 --> 00:14:07.649 been brought near by the blood of Christ, an amazing, amazing thing. 164 00:14:07.129 --> 00:14:13.039 skipped down to verse Nineteen, Chapter Two. So then you are no longer 165 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:18.000 strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and the members 166 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:24.470 of the household of God. The New Testament teaches us that Jesus is the 167 00:14:24.629 --> 00:14:31.309 new Israel. He is the second adom that infolds people under his he is 168 00:14:31.470 --> 00:14:35.549 the new Mo this he is the new Elijah, and in this book we 169 00:14:35.830 --> 00:14:41.179 learn about this Jesus, the absolute sovereignty of the ascended Jesus and how, 170 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:48.700 through his blood, we who were once strangers, aliens, so the promises, 171 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:52.049 people that were far off, as Paul said, have now been brought 172 00:14:52.250 --> 00:14:56.690 near, have been made part of the family, so that, through faith 173 00:14:56.970 --> 00:15:05.529 in Jesus, we can belong to Israel, this King Jesus that was so 174 00:15:05.769 --> 00:15:11.600 well prefigured in chronicles. As we went through those books, and now this 175 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:18.240 King Jesus has reported in Ephesians, we learn how we will learn what God 176 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:22.950 has done through the sun, as he has created one people in this inaugurated 177 00:15:24.190 --> 00:15:28.990 new creation. Jesus, you see, came into the world to fulfill what 178 00:15:30.230 --> 00:15:33.870 Adam failed to do, what Israel failed to do and who Israel failed to 179 00:15:33.990 --> 00:15:43.620 be. The Sun that God wanted is Jesus Christ. What Adam failed in, 180 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:50.409 what Israel failed in, Christ succeeded. He was fruitful and he multiplied 181 00:15:50.529 --> 00:15:54.690 and he is filling the new heavens and the new earth with a holy people, 182 00:15:56.009 --> 00:16:00.490 and this is why Paul speaks in this way. Blessed be the God 183 00:16:00.450 --> 00:16:07.320 and father, yes, of Israel, but all the more so of the 184 00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:12.360 Lord Jesus Christ, who is the new Israel and includes even people like me 185 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:18.710 and perhaps you in this new family theme that will come up again and again 186 00:16:18.750 --> 00:16:25.029 in this book. And so we ought not to read this and think that 187 00:16:26.110 --> 00:16:30.190 because God is called his God and father, that Jesus is not God. 188 00:16:32.549 --> 00:16:37.100 Right. Paul is not making a distinction between God and Jesus. He is 189 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:42.139 saying that they are one and the same. How could we have so great 190 00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:48.129 a salvation unless God himself had come to fulfill the promises of his covenants that 191 00:16:48.250 --> 00:16:53.769 he had made? To kind of think about this way of speaking, one 192 00:16:55.970 --> 00:17:02.360 reformer from Vienna, Wolf Gang Mukes Muscalus. He reminds us of a verse 193 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:07.039 in Psm Eighteen Forty six, where David says the Lord lives, and blessed 194 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:12.799 be be the Rock, exalted, be the God of my salvation. Wolf 195 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:17.069 gang musical is he says. Does this mean that there are two gods, 196 00:17:17.789 --> 00:17:21.269 the God of his salvation and then this other God, the Rock? Just 197 00:17:21.430 --> 00:17:25.589 because there's an and in there doesn't mean we're talking about two gods. Or 198 00:17:25.670 --> 00:17:30.779 look at a passage like Ephesians one one to the saints who are in Ephesus 199 00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:34.339 and are faithful, and those who are faithful in Christ Jesus. He's not 200 00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:38.140 talking about two groups, the saints and those who are faithful, he's talking 201 00:17:38.180 --> 00:17:42.500 about the one and the same. The same is true here in verse three. 202 00:17:44.140 --> 00:17:48.289 Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, yes, 203 00:17:48.450 --> 00:17:55.529 distinct father and son, but also the one, same true God. And 204 00:17:55.730 --> 00:18:00.160 it has as God and as man that he saved us. Paul writes in 205 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:07.799 Philippians that this Jesus, the son of God from all eternity, became man, 206 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:14.589 he humbled himself, became obedient, went to a cross for our salvation 207 00:18:14.910 --> 00:18:19.309 in order to bring us this glorious, Glorious Salvation that Paul writes about here. 208 00:18:21.309 --> 00:18:25.269 And he has done this, he is ascended into the high heavenly places. 209 00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:32.940 What does all this mean? It means that our ability to do anything 210 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:37.619 for God is only and always because of what he has already done for us, 211 00:18:38.619 --> 00:18:45.450 and that includes blessing him and praising his name, as Paul blesses him, 212 00:18:45.690 --> 00:18:48.809 blesses God. Here, blessed be the God and father of our Lord 213 00:18:48.849 --> 00:18:52.329 Jesus. He is only able to give God that praise because what God has 214 00:18:52.369 --> 00:18:59.799 already given to him, and we ought to remember this in this passage and 215 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:03.920 in every service on which we worship the Lord in all of our lives. 216 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:07.759 Whenever we lift up our heads, whenever we lift up our hands to praise 217 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.630 the Lord and the king, it ought to be because of what he has 218 00:19:11.670 --> 00:19:19.630 already done in our hearts. He is our God. Blessed be his name. 219 00:19:19.710 --> 00:19:29.900 Let's now consider a second thing. The implicit blessing we have received in 220 00:19:30.339 --> 00:19:33.579 the first part of this verse is now unveiled for us to see and to 221 00:19:33.660 --> 00:19:40.569 give God glory for in the second part. This often happens with these kinds 222 00:19:40.609 --> 00:19:45.609 of blessings. Blessed is he who did these things right, the reason for 223 00:19:45.730 --> 00:19:49.289 which these HAP this happened, the kind of warrant. And so in verse 224 00:19:49.369 --> 00:19:52.599 three, blessed be the God and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 225 00:19:53.640 --> 00:20:00.480 Why? Because he has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the 226 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:10.750 heavenly places. Here we have a very simple but profound point. Our Lord, 227 00:20:10.789 --> 00:20:15.390 our Savior, our king, Jesus of Nazareth, son of God and 228 00:20:15.549 --> 00:20:22.180 son of Man, has ascended on high. He's not here and bought in 229 00:20:22.259 --> 00:20:26.539 his body here on earth and we miss him. We wait for him, 230 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:32.460 we long to see him, we watch for him, even as he told 231 00:20:32.500 --> 00:20:37.450 us to. But though he is absent, he has not left us. 232 00:20:38.690 --> 00:20:41.849 He has given us, as we are taught throughout the scriptures, a helper, 233 00:20:42.609 --> 00:20:48.250 an advocate, his holy spirit, and through the spirit who dwells in 234 00:20:48.369 --> 00:20:53.599 us, even as he dwelled in the Old Testament Temple, we are brought 235 00:20:53.799 --> 00:21:02.279 into union with God. We experience his presence. These spiritual blessings, as 236 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:08.589 it's translated here, are not non physical blessings. They are the blessings of 237 00:21:08.750 --> 00:21:15.910 the spirit capital S. they're the blessings that the Holy Spirit gives to us 238 00:21:15.950 --> 00:21:18.619 as he unites us to Christ and gives us his life and all of the 239 00:21:18.700 --> 00:21:25.019 benefits of it. Theodora at, a fourth century Bishop, said this about 240 00:21:25.059 --> 00:21:29.660 this passage. He has conferred on us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 241 00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:33.690 He has given us the hope of Resurrection, the good news of immortality, 242 00:21:34.009 --> 00:21:38.529 the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven, the dignity of sonship. These he 243 00:21:38.690 --> 00:21:44.970 calls the spiritual blessings, and he adds in heavenly places us, because these 244 00:21:45.130 --> 00:21:55.240 gifts are heavenly. This brings us to my third and last thing. What 245 00:21:55.400 --> 00:22:03.269 are these blessings exactly? What are the blessings that he gives us? Well, 246 00:22:03.269 --> 00:22:06.109 if you think that we can list them out, you've failed to remember 247 00:22:06.109 --> 00:22:11.349 the greatness and goodness of God, not to mention there is this little word. 248 00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:21.980 Here is little word every every spiritual blessing, not just one over here 249 00:22:22.299 --> 00:22:26.900 and one over there, not a handful or a basketful or even a boatload 250 00:22:26.980 --> 00:22:36.410 of blessings, but every spiritual blessing, every blessing of the Holy Spirit. 251 00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:45.880 We have way more than you could ever list. This some little phrase that 252 00:22:45.960 --> 00:22:49.480 we have, and we sometimes say count your blessings is really a good thing 253 00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:56.480 to do. It makes us a thankful people to reflect and consider the ways 254 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:02.190 that God preserves us and keeps us. Take, for example, something that 255 00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:07.349 both read. The redeemed and unredeemed experience a blessing from the Lord, something 256 00:23:07.430 --> 00:23:15.299 we always forget. How many of you awake up every morning? Well, 257 00:23:15.539 --> 00:23:22.019 stopped there right. We jump out of bed, we start thinking about the 258 00:23:22.140 --> 00:23:26.019 things that we have to do. Where are my clothes? Is My share 259 00:23:26.180 --> 00:23:29.089 clean? What am I on time? Who's going to do what? And 260 00:23:29.289 --> 00:23:33.170 on and on on. Have we not yet realized that God has just preserved 261 00:23:33.329 --> 00:23:41.319 our lives when we were just laying there, helpless, defenseless for five, 262 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:49.920 six, seven, eight, twelve hours, barely conscious? I don't know 263 00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:56.349 what goes on when we sleep. Don't take that for Bible Truth. We're 264 00:23:56.430 --> 00:24:03.349 helpless. That's my point. And we wake up, shouldn't we? The 265 00:24:03.509 --> 00:24:07.470 very first thing that we do say to the Lord who has kept us and 266 00:24:07.589 --> 00:24:15.140 preserved us. Thank you. Take just a moment, five seconds, to 267 00:24:15.299 --> 00:24:21.619 say thank you. Your mercies are new every morning, is the psalm saying. 268 00:24:23.019 --> 00:24:29.170 Robert Rolick, one of the reformers. He talks about all these different 269 00:24:29.170 --> 00:24:32.130 kinds of blessings that we have, and I think this is sort of a 270 00:24:32.210 --> 00:24:36.730 fun way to think about it. He talks about there are three kinds of 271 00:24:36.890 --> 00:24:41.960 blessings that we receive, some that belenefit us, particularly is people who have 272 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:45.480 been born again in the spirit, and other general blessings that we share. 273 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:51.160 He says, the first kind of blessings that we receive consists of those blessings 274 00:24:51.880 --> 00:24:56.349 that even the animals and belong to every living soul. He talks about the 275 00:24:56.470 --> 00:25:03.390 things that can be found in plants, even like motion life in a sense. 276 00:25:03.470 --> 00:25:07.380 And then there's this blessing that consists of things that the born again shares 277 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:14.740 with the unregenerate technical and liberal arts, he says, moral and civic virtues, 278 00:25:14.779 --> 00:25:18.819 all the sciences in the world of philosophy, all of these things God 279 00:25:19.380 --> 00:25:27.730 pours out generously on the whole world, kindness and love and knowledge and beauty. 280 00:25:30.009 --> 00:25:33.170 And then, on top of all of that, despite the fact that 281 00:25:33.250 --> 00:25:38.079 we take all those blessings and we take them for granted, we don't want 282 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:42.359 and we don't give things for them, we sin in them and abuse them. 283 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:48.799 God takes sinners and he pours out them yet a whole another category of 284 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:56.710 blessings. Through Christ. He gives to us our justification. He takes us 285 00:25:56.789 --> 00:26:03.910 before his throne and he says you are innocent of sin because I am Pew. 286 00:26:03.190 --> 00:26:07.819 All of your sin to Christ and I impute all his righteousness to you. 287 00:26:08.619 --> 00:26:14.059 Fair are no, Gracious, yes, and it's my gift to you. 288 00:26:14.460 --> 00:26:23.609 Why? Because in love, because I loved you. He gives us 289 00:26:23.609 --> 00:26:29.369 our sanctification. He gives us this union with God, with him, that 290 00:26:29.809 --> 00:26:33.160 in which is Holy Spirit dwells in US and is constantly putting to death those 291 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:37.000 evil things in us, those things that we hate, those things that make 292 00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:42.400 us dirty and defiled. Every day he's working in us, changing US and 293 00:26:42.599 --> 00:26:48.630 helping us to see. He takes even the trials and the difficulties of our 294 00:26:48.750 --> 00:26:53.470 lives and he turns them for good. Classic example is Joseph of the Old 295 00:26:53.589 --> 00:27:00.950 Testament, right sold into slavery, unfairly put in prison. All kinds of 296 00:27:00.029 --> 00:27:04.500 terrible things happen to him, but God continues to work through those trials to 297 00:27:04.619 --> 00:27:11.420 persevere him. Many and many, many other examples, Daniel Paul, on 298 00:27:11.539 --> 00:27:17.170 and on and on the list goes. How about you? Are there things 299 00:27:17.250 --> 00:27:22.369 that God has taken in your life? Difficulties, trials, illnesses, sicknesses, 300 00:27:22.529 --> 00:27:26.089 broken relationships, trouble in your soul, trouble in your mind and your 301 00:27:26.130 --> 00:27:33.359 community, all kinds of things which he is using to test you and to 302 00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:38.119 purify you and to bring out good things in you. It's hard and it 303 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:44.160 hurts, but his Christians, we know that God is sanctifying us, he 304 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:48.430 is setting us apart for him and his service. He's making us holy. 305 00:27:48.470 --> 00:27:52.549 On top of all of that, he promises that, as he does all 306 00:27:52.589 --> 00:27:56.670 of this, treating us as his sons and daughters, he promises to us, 307 00:27:56.869 --> 00:28:03.819 and inheritance in the heavenly places that cannot be shaken. It's eternal, 308 00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:11.819 a city of the Living God in which we will dwell forever, that the 309 00:28:11.019 --> 00:28:18.130 trials of this present time can't even be compared to the eternal weight of glory 310 00:28:18.369 --> 00:28:26.890 that lies ahead, the beautiful crown and creation that God promises to give us 311 00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:33.160 in Christ, to wipe every tear from our eye, to bring us into 312 00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:41.029 his presence where we will live in this moment of praise and glory and love 313 00:28:41.349 --> 00:28:52.990 and joy forever. All have all given to US freely because he loves us. 314 00:29:00.099 --> 00:29:10.809 That's why Paul says ble blessed, be blessed be the God and father 315 00:29:11.009 --> 00:29:18.970 of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every 316 00:29:18.049 --> 00:29:26.680 spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. If your faith is in Christ, this 317 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:33.799 is yours, your inheritance, your life, your savior, your everything, 318 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:41.190 and this is what can be yours if you are not in Christ, but 319 00:29:41.349 --> 00:29:45.309 you turn to him like the blind men we read on the low road in 320 00:29:45.509 --> 00:29:52.099 Matthew, calling out to him, Lord, have mercy. The Lord always 321 00:29:52.259 --> 00:29:57.779 responds to those who call on him in faith and he opens our eyes and 322 00:29:59.940 --> 00:30:04.740 helps us to walk forward and follow him. If you do not trust him, 323 00:30:07.099 --> 00:30:12.730 why wait when this is what is being offered to you? And when 324 00:30:12.809 --> 00:30:21.009 you despair and are sorrowful and your trials, remember what he has given you. 325 00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:27.160 Remember the hope that is set before you. Do not despair. You 326 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:30.359 have Jesus. Let us pray