Sermon for 7/11/21 - 15 Minutes - The Mystery of Praise!

Ephesians 1:3-14

This morning I'll be reading Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 through 14. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Ephesians 1:3-14 Ephesians was a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus. Paul writes to them to explain what he calls “the mystery.” By that he does not mean something that cannot be explained,,, but instead,,, a wonderful truth never revealed before but now made known. Ephesians 1:3–14 (HCSB) 0— 3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. 4 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved. 7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him 10 for the administration of the days of fulfillment —to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him. 11 We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory. 13 When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. 14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- With last Sunday being Independence Day,,, we looked at David’s ability to do everything that he accomplished because of his “Freedom by Keeping God First”.

That freedom is available to us today,,, as Christians,,, even easier than it was for David,,, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

This morning we will look at the mystery that Paul is talking about to the church in Ephesus,,, although,,, if you have been a Christian for very long,,, this shouldn’t be a mystery to you,,, and we will end with the same words that we begin with.

But we will look at these verses this morning and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 3 says: 3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

The very first word that we see this morning,,, reminds me that we should praise God,,, which is something that we don’t do enough of.

And when do we praise God?

All the time!

We need to give God praise for all that He has done in the past,,, what He is doing for us today,,, and,,, for what He will do for us,,, tomorrow!

We should praise Him no matter what we are going thru.

It’s easier to praise Him when something that we have been praying for is answered the way that we want,,, but we shouldn’t wait until then.

When we pray,,, we can praise God,,, right after prayer,,, even before we have an answer to prayer,,, this praise helps us to keep our focus on His power and His ability to get us through whatever it is that’s bothering us,,, which is what is desperately needed at that time!

The same thing when we are going through a trial or hard time,,, praise helps us to remember who is in control,,, who is with us,,, and guiding us through it all.

We can do this because we know that God is faithful and He will answer our prayer in the way that will help us the most.

Paul is also talking about thanking God because of the blessings of grace that we all share,,, Jews and Gentiles,,, that share in the inheritance that we all receive,,, because of Jesus Christ.

Notice also that Paul is talking about spiritual blessings,,, and my Believer’s Bible Commentary says that the easiest way to explain this is to contrast them with the blessings of Israel under the law.

In the OT, a faithful, obedient Jew was rewarded with long life, a large family, abundant crops, and protection from his enemies (Deut. 28:2–8).

The blessings of Christianity,,, in contrast,,, are spiritual,,, that is,,, they deal with treasures that are nonmaterial,,, invisible,,, and imperishable.

It is true that the OT saints also enjoyed some spiritual blessings,,, but as we shall see,,, the Christian today enjoys blessings that were unknown in previous times,,, at least up to this point.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 4 through 6 say: 4 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.

Paul is applying a concept that was only available to the Israelites before Jesus.

Just as God chose Israel as His treasured possession,,, He now chooses believers to receive the blessings because of the reconciliation done through Christ in His life,,, death,,, and resurrection.

Verse 5 says that He predestined us,,, and for us,,, with our limited human understanding,,, this can be troubling to us if we aren’t careful,,, because God does choose men for salvation.

At the same time,,, the Bible never teaches that God chooses men to be lost,,, or send them to hell.

We have a choice,,, and we have the chance to make the correct choice,,, but it’s still our choice to make.

Anyone can be saved by repenting of his sins and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore,,, if a person is lost,,, it is because he chooses to be lost,,, not because God desires it.

We can see this in a single verse,,, John 6:37,,, which says: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out”.

The first half of the verse speaks of God’s sovereign choice; the last half extends the offer of mercy to all.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 7 and 8 say: 7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

We have been bought by the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice and forgiven of our sins,,, if we choose to answer the call from the Holy Spirit,,, and not because of anything that we have done or will do,,, but because of God’s “grace”!

A “grace” that He gives in abundance and is free for us,,, simply because of His love for us,,, even while we were still sinners!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 9 and 10 say: 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him 10 for the administration of the days of fulfillment —to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.

This is the “mystery” that Paul was talking to them about.

This plan that God had in place,,, even before sin was brought into the world,,, was hid to them,,, but is now brought out for all to see.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 11 through 13 say: 11 We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory. 13 When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

Paul is talking about the Israelites here in verses 11 and 12,,, then the Gentiles in verse 13.

God’s plan was to bring salvation into the world for all the earth through the Israelites.

Through the life,,, death,,, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,,, that has been accomplished.

Now,,, the Gentiles are able to share in the inheritance made available because of Christ.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 14 says: 14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.

Jesus Christ,,, is the only thing that could have saved us.

His life,,, death,,, and resurrection were the down payment for our inheritance,,, our share in the glorious richness of grace,,, to the praise of His glory!

----------------------------------------------------------- We began with “praise” in verse 3 this morning,,, and we end these verses in “praise” here in verse 14.

As I said at the beginning,,, we must praise God all the time,,, not just when He has answered our prayer,,, or when things are going great for us,,, but even through the bad times,,, even through the hard times,,, even when we can’t see how we can get out,,, we must remember,,, who is in control!

And that’s where “praise” comes into play,,, because it keeps our eyes on Jesus,,, and paying attention to the “One” that can truly help us in any situation!

----------------------------------------------------------- When I began writing this sermon,,, I thought the direction God was leading me,,, was to talk about the “mystery” of salvation,,, but instead,,, I was led from the very beginning,,, to talk about “praise”.

And that’s why we need to remember “praise” as we go forward this week.

Apparently we,,, and when I say we,,, I’m including myself,,, need to keep our eyes on the “One” that can truly help us,,, through anything,,, and everything,,, and “praise” can help us,,, do just that!

----------------------------------------------------------- Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction -----------------------------------------------------------

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