Sermon Tone Analysis

The Beauty of Sovereign Grace

LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

The Beauty of Sovereign Grace

December 17, 2017

Intro

A. For several weeks now, we have been discovering the spiritual blessings that belong to everyone who is in Christ.

My hope is that our journey has

invigorated you and awakened you to the beauty of the gospel.

B. Reviewing

1.

We have learned about the preeminent blessing (v.

3).

• The fountainhead of all the blessings we receive find its origin in God the Father and that each of these blessings are linked to Jesus Christ.

• Each of these blessings are totally undeserved.

2. We have learned about the priority of election (v.

4).

• This is a doctrine that is found throughout the Scripture.

This is an undeniable reality that we need to not only acknowledge; it is a reality that

should cause us to rejoice!

3. We have learned about the plan of election (vv.

4).

• God the Father chose us in eternity past, in Christ, according to his good pleasure (v.

5).

4. We have learned about the purpose of election (v.

4).

• God chooses us to be “holy and blameless in his sight” (v.

4).

5. We have learned about the motivation for election (v. 4b).

• We were predestined because he loved us.

• We were predestined for adoption as sons (v.

5).

• As sons and daughters, we may approach the Father ().

• As sons and daughters, we share in Christ’s suffering as well as his glory ().

6.

And then we spent time lingering over the spiritual emancipation proclamation ().

• We have been granted freedom.

• We have been granted forgiveness.

• We have been granted spiritual focus.

B. In the passage before us today, we have one of the strongest statements of sovereign grace in the Bible.

Paul continues to unpack the spiritual

blessings to God’s elect.

C. Raising Need

1. Do you realize the blessings that have been given to you?

2. Do you understand the magnitude of those blessings?

3. Do you understand how these blessings impact your life at practical level?

D. The title of the message is The Beauty of Sovereign Grace.

E. Text -

1. What does the Bible tell us about sovereign grace?

It tells us this —

• We have been given an inheritance from God, according to the purpose of God, all for the glory of God - Truth Point

I. AN INHERITANCE FROM GOD[1] ().

A. WHAT IS THE INHERITANCE?

1. κληρόω[2] - “An inheritance; a chosen or appointed lot.

Implies a new relationship.”

a.

Under the terms of the old covenant, Israel was God’s inheritance.

“And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.”

(, ESV)

b. “God has brought Jews and Gentiles together as his heritage for the praise of his glory.”[3]

2. The source of our inheritance is Christ.

a.

In him (ἐν ᾧ) points to Christ (see.

vv.

9-10).

b.

Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, here’s what people can expect to receive from God - eternal judgment and eternal condemnation.

3. A powerful union with Christ.

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs (κληρονόμοι)—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

(, ESV)

4. A promise from God.

“Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance …” (, ESV)

5. A promise fulfilled from God.

• “In Jesus Christ, believers inherit every promise God ever made … Our every conceivable need is met by God’s gracious provisions in accordance with His divine promises.

We are promised peace, love, grace, wisdom, eternal life, joy, victory, strength, guidance, power, mercy, forgiveness, righteousness, truth, fellowship with God, spiritual discernment, heaven, and eternal riches.”[4]

Transition - How did the “lot” (κληρόω) happen to fall upon certain people?

II.

AN INHERITANCE ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF GOD[5] ().

A. AN INSIDE LOOK AT GOD’S PURPOSES

1. God predestined our inheritance.

a. προορίζω[6] - “To decide beforehand; foreordain; to fix or determine.”

• “Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which He has determined in Himself, what He would have to become of every

individual of mankind.”[7]

determined in Himself, what He would have to become of every individual of mankind.”[7]

• “In the infinite wisdom of the Lord of all the earth, each event falls with the exact precision into its proper place in this unfolding of His

eternal plan; nothing, however small, however strange, occurs without His ordering, or without its peculiar fitness for its place in the working out of His purposes; and the end of all shall be the manifestation of His glory, and the accumulation of His praise.”[8]

the exact precision into its proper place in this unfolding of His eternal plan; nothing, however small, however strange, occurs without His ordering, or without its peculiar fitness for its place in the working out of His purposes; and the end of all shall be the manifestation of His glory, and the accumulation of His praise.”[8]

• “What predestination means, in its most elementary form, is that your final destination, heaven or hell, is decided by God not only before we

final destination, heaven or hell, is decided by God not only before we get there, but before we are even born.

It teaches that our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God.

Another way of saying it is this: From all eternity, before we ever live, God decided to save some members of

get there, but before we are even born.

It teaches that our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God.

Another way of saying it is this: From all eternity, before we ever live, God decided to save some members of the human race and to let the rest of the human race perish.

God made a choice - he chose some individuals to be saved unto everlasting blessedness in heaven and others he chose to pass over, to allow them to follow the consequences of their sins into eternal torment of hell.”[9]

the human race and to let the rest of the human race perish.

God made a choice - he chose some individuals to be saved unto everlasting blessedness in heaven and others he chose to pass over, to allow them to follow the consequences of their sins into eternal torment of hell.”[9]

b.

In verse 5, we saw that God the Father predestined his people to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.

c.

Now we see that God the Father predestines his people to an inheritance.

d.

The Bible is clear about predestination.

“who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,” (, ESV)

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined (προορίζω) to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined (προορίζω) he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

(, ESV)

2. Predestination is purposeful.

a. God’s people have been “predestined according to the purpose of him (God the Father) …” (v.

11).

b. πρόθεσις - “setting forth a plan, a purpose, or a will.”