Spiritual Blessings in Christ (Ephesians 1:1-14)

Announcements

All Sunday morning church services are now at the Moshannon Valley YMCA located at 113 N. 14th St. in Philipsburg, PA. Same start time at 10:30am, same philosophy of ministry, same mission and vision—just a new location.

Quarterly business meeting right after Sunday’s service. It’s a regular business meeting that will just update everyone on where we are in this year’s goals and how the church is doing financially.

I do want to remind everyone to continue worshiping through giving: you can do that online either by texting 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or by visiting www.graceandpeacepa.com and selecting “Giving” from the menu bar. Everything that you give goes to building up this local church and the spread of the Gospel in Central Pennsylvania.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Sermon

Introduction

This evening’s message is from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians, we’ll be in the letter to the Ephesians for about three and a half months during our Wednesday evening Bible Study & Prayer times with the intent, of course to expositionally work our way verse by verse, thought by thought through the text. The letter itself is actually rather short—you’re looking at six chapters total, which actually makes it rather easy to sit down and read it all in one sitting and I recommend that you take the time to do just that (depending on how slow or quick of a reader you are, you can read through the full letter in about 15-25 minutes).

In many ways, Ephesians is written like a sermon, with some parts being similar in style to prayers or doxology. It isn’t a letter that’s occasional in nature, or in other words, unlike 1 and 2 Corinthians, Paul does not have a specific purpose or cause that he’s trying to address. He isn’t trying to meet a special need in the church in Ephesus, he’s simply teaching. As we study through Ephesians, we’ll see Paul write about the scope of God’s eternal plan for all of humanity—and as Paul writes about God’s eternal plan for humanity, he explains true, Christian doctrine with the implications for that doctrine. If you read the letter closely, you’ll notice that the first three chapters focus on what Christians ought to believe because of God’s grace through Jesus Christ and then you’ll notice as you read the last three chapters, how belief ought to affect our living at home, at work, and at church.

It is helpful to know, that the letter probably wasn’t written to one specific church but rather multiple churches within the area of the city of Ephesus; but because it is written to churches within that area, it would be helpful to know what the city itself was like. Ephesus was a coastal city located on the Aegean Sea coast in the southwestern corner of present-day Turkey. Ephesus was the capital city of the Roman province of Asia Minor and it happened to be a rather large city of about 250,000 people during the first century.

The city of Ephesus had a mixed population with several different religious beliefs—Rome had what was called the imperial cult through which the people would worship the emperors of Rome, the practice of magic was popular in Ephesus, Gnosticism as a religious movement was starting to get popular in the late first century, but probably the most prominent religious belief in Ephesus would be the worship of the goddess Artemis (the Greek goddess of fertility, magic, and astrology).

The temple of Artemus, which was located in the city of Ephesus was massive, ornate, and was one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World. Aesthetically, it looked similar to the Parthenon but it was on a much larger scale with Antipater of Sidon, who originally listed the world’s Seven Wonders stating, “I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, ‘Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.’”

Looking at biblical writing about Ephesus, we actually see the city of Ephesus mentioned multiple times throughout Scripture. Paul, during his missionary journeys had visited Ephesus and had had spent quite a bit of time there. In addition, if you read Revelation 2, one of the churches that John is writing Revelation to is actually the church in Ephesus and in Revelation, the accusation from Jesus to the church is that while they seemed busy and they seemed like they were enduring, that they had actually abandoned their first love. They had abandoned their love for Jesus.

Like I’ve already mentioned, Ephesians is not an occasional letter, which simply means that Paul is not writing this letter for a specific purpose. He writes this rather as a doctrinal teaching with application. Keep this in mind as we study through the letter over the next few months.

Let’s read this evening’s passage, Ephesians 1:1-14, I’ll explain how we’ll break it down, and then we’ll dig into the Word of God.

Ephesians 1:1–14 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 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 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 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, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

As we study this passage, we’re going to look at it in three parts: (1) Vs. 1-2 is simply the introduction to the letter, which really will be quick and simple. There isn’t a lot to say in the introduction because it is simply an introductory statement; (2) we’ll take Vs. 3-10 to discuss spiritual blessings in Christ; and (3) from Vs. 11-14, we’ll discuss this inheritance that we have been given in Christ. All of this should compel us to worship and praise God for his plan which bestows grace on us and ultimately results in our salvation and relationship with him.

Prayer for the Illumination of the Holy Spirit

Introduction to Ephesians (1-2)

Ephesians 1:1–2 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul starts this letter in the same manner that he starts every one of his letters. This is actually the customary way in which first-century letter would be written.

It was normal for letters to start like this, with the name of the individual writing the letter and the recipient’s name.

Though Paul does add some embellishments that show us that this letter is a distinctly Christian letter—it was normal to say, “Paul wrote this letter to you,” but Paul adds in some other details that show us the nature of this letter.

He calls himself “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”

Which reminds the Ephesians of the authority that he has—the fact that he is an apostle is significant because not everyone is an apostle. We know that Paul was an apostle because the Bible records him physically seeing the resurrected Jesus after which Jesus commissions him for a task that’s unique for him.

And he reminds the Ephesians that he is an apostle not by his own will but by the will of God.

He then states that this letter is “to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.”

Which tells us that he’s specifically writing to believers of Jesus in the area of Ephesus—we’ve already spoken about how this letter was probably written to multiple churches throughout Ephesus and not just one specific church in Ephesus.

But it is clear from this statement alone, that Ephesians is not a letter attempting to convince people to believe like the Gospel according to John is. This letter is specifically written to people who already profess belief in Jesus Christ, which is part of the reason why we’re working through this letter on Wednesdays—more than likely, if you join us on a Wednesday, it’s because you have already believe in Jesus.

And his actual greeting is this, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In writing this, he makes it clear that he isn’t writing to them with ill-intent, he’s writing them out of his care and love for them.

And in writing this, he makes it clear to us that he believes that true grace and true peace come only from God and Jesus.

In many ways, the greeting that Paul writes is similar to how greetings were typically written in the First Century, the difference is that he makes it clear that this is a Christian letter written by one Christian to a group of Christians with Christianity being the main topic.

Paul also ends Ephesians with the normal, customary final greetings.

In which he informs them that he sent someone with the letter to update them on his journeys. In some ways, it would be similar to a missionary coming to update us on their progress.

And he ends by expressing a desire for them to experience peace, love, and grace from the Father and from the Lord.

Paul introduces himself by explaining who he is and who he is writing to and he opens the letter by hoping grace and peace from God and Jesus to them. And then he doesn’t waste any time, he jumps straight into the the letter:

Spiritual Blessing in Jesus Christ (3-10)

Ephesians 1:3–10 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 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 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Paul starts this letter by speaking about spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, in particular, he says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Blessed is a term that points of praise to God. It is Paul speaking well of God, it is a declaration and acclamation of praise. We praise God for what he has done.

In particular, Paul gives us the reason for his praise, God who is the Father of our Lord, “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”

And honestly, that phrase seems a bit vague but Paul answers the question of what he means through the text itself. Vs. 3-14, is actually one long statement that’s written almost like a poem.

So, what he’s really saying is praise God for the spiritual blessings that he’s blessed us in through Christ and these are the spiritual blessings that he has in mind.

Vs. 4, “That he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

Vs. 5, “That in love, “he predestined us for the adoption to himself 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.”

Vs. 7, “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 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, things in heaven and things on earth.”

And technically, we could keep going but we’ll save the last four verses for the last section.

The spiritual blessings that Paul is praising God for are these:

That he chose us before creation (Salvation)

That we should be holy and blameless before him (Sanctification)

That all things should be united in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Glorification)

Paul states that this plan of God to choose us for salvation and for sanctification started before creation

Vs. 4 and 5 both say that God chose us before the foundation of the world and that he predestined us for adoption.

We’ve spoken about the concept of election several times before. That there’s seemingly a paradox between God’s election of Christians and man’s free will.

Somehow, despite God choosing who is to be saved, it is man who chooses to follow God—thus, God’s election is true and thus God’s free will is true.

And how exactly that works out, I can’t really give you an answer because the Bible doesn’t give us an answer for it.

And yet, God chose to save who he saved; but man chooses whether or not to follow God.

Regardless of how exactly this works out, Paul praises God for his election of believers but not only the election of believers, but the predestination of believers for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.

Paul praises God for the relationship that salvation affords believers because remember that salvation itself is not just a “get out of jail free card.” Salvation allows us to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ—something that we simply cannot do apart from salvation in Jesus Christ.

God intentionally chose us before creation for adoption Paul writes of two particular reasons for this adoption:

Vs. 4, “That we should be holy and blameless before him”

Vs. 5, “For the adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.”

God intentionally chose us before creation for adoption so that we would be holy and blameless before him

This is specifically talking about the process of sanctification that leads to our glorification after this life.

The process of sanctification is the means through which God sets us apart to be holy and blameless before him.

It is the process through which the Holy Spirit works within us to make us more like Jesus Christ.

It is a lifelong process that is both the work of man and the work of God, which means that we have to work at becoming holy and blameless before God and God works within us to make us holy and blameless.

God intentionally chose us before creation for the adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.

The terminology that Paul utilizes to tell us that we are adopted and that we are heirs with Christ, tells us that this relationship with God through Jesus Christ becomes a familial relationship.

It doesn’t place us on equal footing with God but it shows us the type of relationship that God wants to have with us.

If you believe, you’re part of a family of God that’s unified in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are a body of believers that work together for the mutual upbuilding of one another.

Why did God choose us before the foundation of the world? So that we should be holy and blameless, that we would be adopted as fellow-heirs and so that we could have redemption and forgiveness through his grace. Vs. 6-8, God adopted us through Jesus Christ according to 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, in all wisdom and insight.”

Paul then explains God’s adoption of us as sons is so that we could have redemption and forgiveness through his grace.

The idea of redemption would be that through Jesus’ sacrificial atonement on the cross, he has bought us for a price. He has paid the wages of our sins in order for us to have that relationship with him

And the idea of forgiveness, is that he no longer holds us accountable for the sins that he’s forgiven. Isaiah 43:25, after God expresses to the Israelites the love, grace, and mercy that he had bestowed upon them, God says this, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

God forgives us for his own glory because he is a gracious and merciful God.

God forgives us because it is his will to forgive us—he doesn’t have to forgive us, he chose to forgive us.

And thus the proper response to his grace, is to praise him because of his glorious grace.

It is God’s glorious grace and his love for us that motivated him to bless us in the Beloved—to bless us through Jesus Christ.

It is God’s desire to forgive us and his grace and his love that motivated him to provide for us redemption through the Son and forgiveness of our sins.

It is all done according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.

Our redemption, our forgiveness, our election as sons all are products of God’s grace to us.

He does all of these things simply because he is gracious with us.

So much so, that the Bible says that he lavishes this grace on us—when I think of the word lavish I always think of having buckets of paint dumped over you. We don’t experience small amount of grace, we experience large amounts of grace that cover us completely.

When I think of how God lavishes his grace on us, I don’t think of a light mist of water, I think of a downpour—God is pouring his grace upon us continuously.

And he does this, Vs. 8-10, “in 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, things in heaven and things on earth.”

In these three verse, Paul tells us that all of this was done intentionally—sometimes when we’re not careful, we get the impression that God’s plan has changed.

This impression typically occurs when we focus too intently on one section of Scripture and we isolate it from the rest of Scripture. We get the impression that what God is doing in the New Testament is different than what he was doing in the Old Testament

We can get the impression that God’s requirements for salvation has changed throughout history—again this would be a product of focusing too intently on one section of Scripture and isolating it from the rest of Scripture.

But the issue is, that the Bible tells us that God doesn’t change. Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Malachi 3:6, is God speaking, in which he says, “I, the LORD do not change.” and even in James 1:17, we’re told that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.”

God does not change, and thus, what occurs in the New Testament through the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ, has to be the same plan that God had even in Genesis 3 when God explains the repercussions for Adam and Eve’s sin and he states that Eve’s offspring will bruise the head of the serpent and the serpent will bruise his heel.

God’s immutability, the fact that he does not change, makes it clear that what occured to Jesus was intentional and was the plan from the beginning.

And what Paul is stating in Vs. 8-10, is that the spiritual blessing in the heavenly places—the election of God, the fact that we’re predestined to be holy and blameless, that he bestows all of this grace upon us for our redemption and forgiveness—all of this was and is the original plan of God.

It was his plan for Jesus Christ during the fullness of time to come and be crucified on a Roman cross, because in doing so, he redeems us, he forgives us, and he lavishes grace upon us.

It was his plan which he made in his wisdom and his insight that makes known to us the mystery of his will, which he set forth in Christ, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

It was his plan to reconcile us to himself, why? “To unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” I think it would be beneficial for us to read a few verses from Colossians 1 to understand what exactly this phrase means.

Colossians is almost like a sister-letter to Ephesians—they were probably written around the same time while Paul was in prison, with similar ideas and concepts being talked about—the difference really is just that they had different audiences. Paul was writing to different people.

In Colossians 1:15, Paul makes the argument that Jesus is the image of God, the firstborn of all creation because Jesus created all things visible and invisible. He continues in Vs. 17, and I think you’ll see some parallels to our passage in Ephesians, “And [Jesus] is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

In both Ephesians 1 and Colossian 1, Paul is essentially stating the same thing—that God had planned all of this in order to unite all things to Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ. God planned our salvation, our sanctification, our future glorification, our adoption as sons, our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins for the purpose of uniting us in Christ Jesus. For the purpose of making Jesus preeminent.

For the purpose of all creation bowing down and worshiping Jesus. Philippians 2:8-11 tells us that because of Jesus’ humbling of himself and obedience even to the point of death on the cross, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

God’s whole plan was to bring glory to himself through the sacrifice of Jesus and to place all of creation under submission to Jesus.

And in doing this, he provides those that believe in Jesus Christ with salvation, sanctification, and future glorification.

In doing this, he provides the redemption, forgiveness of sins, and grace lavished upon us all.

God’s plan, while it does involve us, really isn’t about us at all, it’s all about him.

We’re just privileged and blessed to be a part of that plan. We’re privileged and blessed to be redeemed, forgiven, and lavished with grace so that we as a unified creation can bow down and worship Jesus Christ. And Paul gives us his first example of how God’s plan through Jesus’ sacrificial atonement on the cross unites all of us under Jesus.

Our Inheritance through Jesus Christ (11-14)

Ephesians 1:11–14 ESV

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 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, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Paul wraps up this initial statement about redemption, forgiveness of sins, and the lavishing of grace by giving us an example of how this has worked out and how exactly the Gospel unites us. In Vs. 11, Paul explains the inheritance that we obtain through belief in Jesus Christ. “In [him] we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”

Now there is some debate here as to whether or not Paul is discussing the difference between the Jewish and Gentile believers, that the Jewish believers were the first to hope in Christ whereas the Gentile believers are now obtaining the privilege to also believe, but the issue with that is that the text itself doesn’t actually say this

You have to read into the text that Paul is speaking about a distinction between the Jews and Gentiles, when in reality the text simply doesn’t say that.

And just as a side-point, it is vitally important that as we study Scripture, we don’t read into the text what we want it to say. There are two broad words that are utilized when speaking about how we interpret the Bible—eisegesis and exegesis.

Eisegesis is the practice of reading into the text what we want it to say—it is the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading. To interpret the Bible Eisegetically means that the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text, which happens way more than what you think it does. The issue is that the person who interprets Scripture using eisegesis isn’t concerned with what the text itself says, he’s only concerned with making his point—eisegesis seeks to force the Bible to agree with us.

Exegesis is the exposition or explanation of a text based on careful, objective analysis. To interpret the Bible Exegetically means that the interpreter seeks to make his conclusions by following the text itself. Exegesis is concerned with discovering the truth of the text, respecting its grammar, syntax, and setting—Someone who interprets Scripture using exegesis is only concerned with what the text itself says and thus all of his points are driven by what Scripture says—exegesis allows us to conform ourselves into agreement with the Bible.

Someone utilizing eisegesis would start with asking, “what do I want to say about the Bible?” And they would find Scripture passages that seem to fit with what they want to say with the application then being, “What does my idea say?” This happens a lot when we ask the question, “What does the Bible mean to me?”

Someone utilizing exegesis would start by asking, “What does the passage say?” “What does the passage mean?” “How does the passage relate to the rest of the Bible?” And then “How should this passage be applied to my life?” The primary question being asked then is “What does the Bible actually say?”

Back to our text, the text doesn’t actually say that Paul is differentiating between Jewish believers and Gentile believers, rather he seems to be differentiating between people who believed in Jesus Christ first and people who believed in Jesus Christ after.

And what Paul is saying in Ephesians 1:11-14, is that both groups of people, those who believed first and those who believed second have obtained an inheritance because of God’s predestination according to God who works all things in accordance to his will.

Vs. 13, In [Jesus] 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.”

Paul finishes this paragraph by expressing that these particular people have obtained an inheritance in Christ Jesus, that these particular people have been predestined according to the purpose of God and according to his will.

And in saying this, Paul actually explains who exactly he means when he speaks of those who have obtained this inheritance and have been predestined—he means those that have Vs. 12, “hoped in Christ” and Vs. 13, those who have “heard the word of truth [or the Gospel]. . . , and believed in him”

Those of us who have responded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in faith are the ones who have obtained an inheritance and have been predestined according to God’s will, an have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance.

How do we know that we are partakers in the inheritance? How do we know that we will acquire what Jesus has promised us? Those of us that are indwelt by the Holy Spirit will partake in the inheritance. Those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit are the ones that are truly saved.

And it is the Holy Spirit, whom we receive at our moment of belief that guarantees our salvation until we acquire possession of our inheritance.

It is the Holy Spirit that provides us assurance that when this life is over, we will gain our reward. Darrell Bock, “His indwelling presence means he brings with him hope that will end in total deliverance.”

What Paul is saying as he starts this letter to the Ephesians is that those of us who believe have become partakers in spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ—our adoption as sons, our redemption in his blood, our forgiveness of our sins, our inheritance, our salvation, and our guarantee are all spiritual blessings that we partake in when we respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in faith and in hope. And what Paul is saying as he opens this letter to the Ephesians is that God planned salvation before the earth was created in order for us to glorify him when we experience his grace, which he lavishes on us and when we repent from our sins, call on the name of Jesus Christ, and believe in him.

So, the question then as we wrap up the message for this evening is, how do we apply this to our lives today?

Application

Paul writes this letter to the Ephesians and he starts this letter by speaking of the spiritual blessings that Christians gain as believers in Jesus Christ and there are several things that we can actually learn from this (though arguably, these are not the main points of the passage, they’re side-points:

First off, we ought to reflect on what God has done through Jesus Christ in our lives—We need to regularly remind ourselves of what Jesus did for us as our substitutionary atonement on the cross. Reminding ourselves of this truth daily will influence the way that we live our lives—we’ll disdain sin because Jesus disdains sin, we’ll love people because Jesus loves people, we’ll proclaim the Gospel because Jesus proclaims the Gospel. As we remind ourselves daily of what Jesus has done for us, we’ll live in accordance to that truth.

Secondly, we should be able and willing to discuss what Jesus has done in our lives—we live in a world where oftentimes we’re discouraged from speaking about certain things (in particular, religion and politics). But here’s the issue with that, Matthew 28 in Jesus’ Great Commission, he commissions us all to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We can’t make disciples of Jesus Christ if we never bother to tell other people what Jesus has done for us.

We need to reflect on what God has done for us through Jesus and then we need to be able and willing to tell other people what Jesus has done for us.

Paul reminds the Ephesians several key truths that are vital in our Christian walk—we need to regularly reflect on these truths and internalize these truths. These would be the main application points for the passage:

We are saved, we are forgiven, we have been redeemed, we have experienced the grace of God because it was God’s plan for us to be saved, forgiven, and redeemed—We regularly need to remind ourselves of our position in the sight of God through Jesus Christ. When we regularly remind ourselves of the position that we have through Jesus Christ, it influences the way that we think and the way that we behave.

It prevents us from wanting to engage in sinful activities because we’re reminded of Jesus’ sacrifice to save us, forgive us, and redeem us.

It encourages us to love and good works because we’re reminded of Jesus’ sacrifice to save us, forgive us, and redeem us.

It also exhorts us to treat other people in a manner consistent with Jesus Christ because it reminds us that until Jesus saved us, forgave us, and redeemed us; we were just as any unbeliever. It is only through the grace of God that we are who we are.

All who have hoped and believed in Jesus Christ after hearing the word of truth (the Gospel) has obtained an inheritance that is guaranteed by the sealing of the Holy Spirit—At many points during the Christian walk, we experience doubts of our salvation. This happens a lot, particularly with people who accepted the Gospel at a young age and as they grow up in the church, there are times when they question their salvation because they never had the experience of being saved after living lives of severe sin.

But here’s the truth, what Paul tells us in Ephesians 1 is that if we truly believe, we have the Holy Spirit living within us and the Holy Spirit is our seal or our guarantee of salvation. The Holy Spirit assures us that if we truly believe, we can have hope for the future.

And now you might wonder, how can I know that I have the Holy Spirit living within me? I think the best way to determine that would be to examine your own life and the fruits of your life. 2 Peter 1:5-8 says to “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Or put differently, if you’re questioning whether or not the Holy Spirit is living inside you and thus, you’re questioning your salvation, Peter says you should examine whether you have faith, you should question if you have virtue, if you have knowledge, if you have self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. If you have these qualities and you’re growing in these qualities, it reveals that you truly do believe, you truly know Jesus Christ.

And all who truly believe can have hope for the future because the Holy Spirit seals them until the day of redemption.

We all need to praise, honor, and glorify Jesus for all that he has done in saving us, sanctifying us, and for glorifying us in the future.

Give Jesus all the praise, give Jesus all the honor, and give Jesus all the glory because he saved you and he through the Holy Spirit sanctifies you, and he will eventually glorify you.

Romans 12:1-2, Seek to live your life as a living sacrifice by seeking holiness, which is your spiritual worship. Don’t be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind—this is what it means to worship, honor, praise, and glorify Jesus.

Your spiritual worship is compelled by God’s election of you, Jesus’ saving of you, and your position in Christ as someone who is redeemed, forgiven, and saved. Honor and worship him with your lives.

Put simply, (1) remind yourself daily of your position with Christ if you truly believe—you are redeemed, you are forgiven, you are saved, you have experienced God’s grace; (2) be assured that if you truly believe, the Holy Spirit seals you until the Day of Redemption—your salvation is promised by God; and (3) because of these truths, praise, honor, and glorify Jesus for all that he has done.

Prayer Requests

As we switch to prayer requests, let me encourage you to be open and willing to share prayer requests, the portion of the service is not recorded and will not be shared on social media or YouTube. So, you can openly share whatever needs prayer—though let me also remind you that unless you have permission to share a prayer request from someone else, please do not share those prayer requests. Of course, if you do have permission, please feel free to share whatever needs prayed for. Let me start with a few prayer requests and I’ll open everything up for you to give us prayer requests as well.

Pray for continued church growth—both spiritually and numerically

Pray for effective outreach into the community

Pray for the salvation of souls in and around Central Pennsylvania.