So thank you very much for being here. I'm going to start this lesson by saying to you that this is, I don't know whether I should do this or not, but I'm going to. I've already started, so I'm going to have to do it now. This is kind of a catch all. I've been thinking about this and some of the lessons that I preached this past week had some of these thoughts in there. And as I'm driving back home early Saturday morning, about midnight to one, I just was thinking about what I wanted to say this morning, and this lesson is pretty much a result of those things. So I want to share that with you this morning.
It is hard to describe, I think, things that are spiritual, because we can't touch them, can't see them, can't really hear them. They are things that we accept by faith, and it doesn't make them less real. They're every bit as real as the things that we see and can touch and hear and feel, but they are things that are spiritual. They are things that we sing about. We talked about this morning, and it's interesting how the song leader sometimes picks songs unintentionally that fit what I'm trying to say. But Anthony read or led O Thou Fount of every blessing he led, Count your many blessings, and just thinking about some of the things that I have, am thankful for that I want to share with you this morning, because we are abundantly blessed. I know, and you know that we have a lot of things. We have more things than we need, and I don't know why God has blessed us with those things, but he has, and He expects us, I think, to use those things as we can to help others. That's another lesson for another time, but he's blessed us all equally with spiritual blessings that we have in Christ. And I think sometimes it's hard for those things to be expressed adequately. Let me give you an example in Second Corinthians nine, I'm going to read a few verses from there. If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn there. I don't have any charts this morning, so if you're going to follow you need to have your Bibles open, which I would expect you to do as well. In verse eight of Second Corinthians nine, the text says, "And God is able to make all grace abound towards you that you always have all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good work." And then in verse 14, he says, "and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift." You hear what he says? Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. You know how you describe something that's indescribable? You say it's indescribable. I think there are times in Scripture where the writers of Scripture, even though they were being led along, Peter, would say they were being led along by the power of the Holy Spirit. And I don't know how all that worked practically, but I know they were led along, and I know they were using their words and their minds to articulate what it was that God wanted them to say. But there were times when that was hard. That's like when you're trying to express just what a spiritual blessing is that we're going to look at in just a few minutes. But he says that is an indescribable gift. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. And sometimes that is said by many to being Christ. I don't think that's what that's referring to in second, Corinthians nine, I think that's referring to something else. I think it's referring to the grace that he's been talking about, and that grace really is indescribable.
Peter talks about in first Peter one, a mercy that's abundant. And I think that term of abundant describes something that's indescribable. What? What is abundant? When I say we have blessings abundantly, or we've been blessed abundantly, what does that even mean? Well, it means we've been blessed beyond that which we're adequately able to describe. And so you find all through Scripture writers using those kind of terms. Jesus said, I have come that you might have life. And what else? That you might have it more abundantly. Hard to describe exactly what Christ has done for us. And as I think about that, and as I think about how abundance is stated, and how something that's indescribable is stated, my mind goes to a text that's found in Ephesians one. That's where I want you to turn your Bibles to this morning. Ephesians, the first chapter. And if I'm talking to you about spiritual blessings, for many of you, if not most of you, your mind's going to go there to Ephesians, the first chapter. Last week, in the meeting I talked about all week, I talked about things that related to improving ourselves spiritually. So every one of my lessons related to something and some way for us to improve spiritually. And in the final night, Friday night, I went to this passage, and I shared with them some things that I want to share with you this morning from Ephesians one. So I want to read it, and I want you to think about what all God has done for us, what all of these blessings are, and how abundant these blessings are. Now I'm going to tell you right up front, if you're not inclined to think about spiritual things the way God wants you to think about spiritual things, what I'm about to read is not going to mean much to you. It's just not. Because these are not things that, these are not blessings that, you're going to go home today and you're going to see. These are not blessings that you're going to open as you open up your bank account. These are not blessings that you're going to see by looking at your bank account. This is not a blessing that you're going to drive home today. This is not a blessing that you're going to eat at lunch today. These are not blessings that affect your fleshly, your carnal desire, that's not what we're about to read. So I'm just going to tell you that right up front, that if, if that's what, if you're expecting to be thrilled by what we're about to read, and you're not spiritual, this is not going to affect you. Now I'm hoping that, if you're not, I'm hoping that by going over these and by thinking about these just briefly, that it's going to affect you in a positive way, so that you may want to take part in this. That that's what my hope is. But if you are spiritual, I hope these things as I read them and as we read them together, I hope they resonate with you, and I hope they stir you up so that you say, yep, that's what it's really about.
If I lose everything else in this world, I have these, let's read it together. Ephesians, one, beginning in verse three. "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, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace by which he made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of his will according to His good pleasure, which he purposed in Himself that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him. In him, also, we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory, and in Him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemtion of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory."
Does that move you? Does that resonate with you when I read those verses and we read those verses together? Do you grasp the relationship that a person has with God through Christ, that is sealed by the Spirit? Do you grasp what all is involved with that? That he says here? These are these spiritual blessings. A spiritual person would readily appreciate those kind of things. 12 verses that are a good spiritual test, that don't mean anything to a person of no faith. But to the person of faith, they mean everything, and that's part of why this past week, I delivered some of these lessons. It is a, it is a church of about 60, 70 people made up predominantly of older folks, older folks who are living toward the end of their lives, who I think are, are moving away from what this life offers, moving toward what the next life offers. And their their reaction, I found it-- I found it exciting for someone who's delivering the message. I found it exciting for people who are predisposed to thinking about something more than what's happening in this life. It was exciting to preach these kinds of lessons to them, I think, because they, for the most part, we're reflecting on the very things we were talking about, and that's really all I'm trying to accomplish this morning. I just want you to think about what you have in Christ.
Now let's go back. I just want to go back and mention three, four things about this text. Five or six times in the verses I just read it says, it uses these two words: in Him. In Him. I want to say this to you this morning, and the only way I know to say it succinctly is Just be direct about it. If you're not in Christ, you don't have any spiritual blessings. None of what we talked about in those verses is yours if you're not in Christ. I mean, that's the point of that text. In him, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Him, in Christ. So the clear, the clear question that comes from that passage to me is, what does it mean? What does it mean to be in Christ? If you're here this morning and all the things I read, and you think, you know, I love the fact that I have forgiveness of sins, and I love the fact that I've been-- that I've been chosen by God, and you have been predestined. It you predestines the way the Lord wants you to be predestined, though. You have the Holy Spirit as a guarantee. All those things are yours, but only if you're in him. And I think it's my obligation to be clear about that. I don't see anywhere in scripture that says, you know, everybody, everybody's going to heaven because they want to. No, no. But if you're in Christ, you have spiritual blessings, not some. You have all spiritual blessings. And I want to emphasize that this morning, and I want to say to you that there are those who are in Christ and there are those who aren't, not in Christ. You either are or you aren't, and if you are, you have everything that we just mentioned. And if you're not, you have none of that. I want you to think about that this morning.
Well, the obvious question is, then: I want to be in Christ. I want those blessings. Okay, listen to what Paul said in Galatians three. You ready for this? Galatians 3:26, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ, Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." You hear that? You're all sons of God through faith in Christ, Jesus. And let me tell you how that happened. Paul would say. He said, as many of you as were baptized into Christ, you've put on Christ. There's the key. There's the key. If you want to have these spiritual blessings, you need to be baptized into Christ, that allows you to put on Christ. You see, all those statements are saying you were, you weren't in Christ, and now you are in Christ. Or this is the way Paul would say in Romans, the sixth chapter in verse three, listen carefully. "Or do you not know?" He would say. "Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ, Jesus were baptized into his death?" So this morning, I want to be very clear. I want you and me and everyone and everybody to have these spiritual blessings that are in Christ. But the only way that happens. This is going to sound very exclusive, and I understand that, and let me preempt that statement or what I'm about to say by this statement, God can save whomever he chooses. I can promise you, that's God's business. But what God said through the Holy Spirit, is, if you want the blessings that I've extended to you, you need to be in Christ. And the way you are put into Christ is you're baptized into Christ. And there are plenty of places in Scripture, other places that show that that's the way that happens. And I would be making a mistake if I tried to encourage you to be in Christ some other way, God would hold that against me, and I don't want him to hold it against me. I want to always state and proclaim what God wants you and me to do. And so let me just ask you this morning, are you in Christ? And we've just read what what it takes for that to happen? Have you done that? Have you done that? If you've done that, then you are in Christ. You have all these blessings. But if you haven't done that, you don't have these blessings. So that's something you really ought to consider. And I always want to preach that, and I don't always state that in lessons like I should. I have I realized that. I don't always state those things that I just stated probably as often as I should, but I wanted to state that this morning, because this passage says you've got to be in Christ in order for these things to happen.
So understand, I'm asking you this morning, if you're not in Christ, I want to give you an opportunity to do that in just a moment. And he talks about these spiritual blessings. We don't have time to we don't have time to talk about all of these. I just want to mention two or three. We are people who are blessed by God. We have been adopted by God. We're we are a part of a family because we've been chosen that. That's, that's some of you understand the idea of adoption better than I do. You've been chosen to be part of a family, and that's what this text tells us, that God has chosen us. In him, he's not selected some and not others, in the sense of he totally decided that he's given us the ability to decide whether or not he chooses us. He has made a plan, and if we will follow his plan, he will give us these spiritual blessings that we have in him. Again, a lot of things we could talk about that, but that's important, and only a spiritual person appreciates that. The text also says that we have forgiveness of sins through his blood. He has redeemed us. He has has bought us back. He's given us the remission of our sins through his blood. How much do you appreciate that? We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise as a guarantee. The passage that Mike read from Second Corinthians one just verifies that even more. I just, I just want you to appreciate these spiritual blessings that we have, not, not blessings that, as I said, that we eat, that we drive, that we live in, not, not that, not that, because those things can easily go away. But what we just read about, what we're talking about are things that will not go away. So I want you to appreciate those things as we should.
And then the third thing that I would call to your mind is something that he says in verse five and verse nine of this text of this chapter. And I mentioned this a lot, and I've even mentioned it recently. I'm going to mention it again because I mentioned this past week. God has given us these things because he wants to, not because he has to. It is according, as Paul would say, according to the good pleasure of His will. Let me, let me tag that, if I may. According to the good pleasure of His will. He wants us to be saved. But as Peter said in Second Peter three, he's not going to save us unless we repent. The text specifically says he's not willing that any should perish, but what? But that all should come to repentance. As I have taught the first part of Revelation, and as Randy continues to teach that I am impressed with the fact that what John sees are people who have repented, who have been sealed and who have been saved as a result of that. And I see people who he wants to repent so that they can be saved. The two primary things that I want to get across to you this morning is first that you're in Christ, and second of all, if you're in Christ, but you're not living like you ought to, you need to repent. You need to repent. And I think that sometimes might be difficult for us to do. We sin and we do things, and I'm talking about when we rebel against God. That's what I'm talking about this morning. We need to repent of a mindset that's changed from what it was when we first obeyed the gospel many times. We need to be willing to repent of our sins, and that requires a change of heart. I think that's why in Peter's in Peter's epistle, he said you need to repent. About he didn't mention all the other things, because if a person's heart is such that you're willing to repent, then you'll do what God wants you to do. So this morning, understand that.
And then the last thing in terms of of this particular part of the chapter, why do we live the way we do it is, according to verse 6, 12, and 14, it is to the "praise of his glory." I would suggest that when we wake up each and every day, each and every morning, that one of the first things we think about is today I'm going to live to the praise of his glory. I'm going to live my life today thinking about what it is that he wants, and knowing that people are looking at me and they're seeing Christ hopefully live in me, and they're glorying him because of what they see in me. And then let me, I hope you're still in Ephesians, because I want you to turn to the third chapter of Ephesians. I want to call your attention to something. And I think I even mentioned this a few weeks ago, but I want to mention it again, because it as I said, these are things that are kind of my heart and mind right now, and I'm thinking about these things. This is Chapter Three of Ephesians, beginning in verse eight, "to me, who am less than the least of all the saints. This grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles insearchable riches of Christ." You see what Paul calls what he'd been given to do? Calls it a grace. "And to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which, from the beginning of the ages, has been hidden in God who created all things through Christ Jesus, To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places according to the eternal purpose which was accomplished in Christ Jesus, our Lord." I love this. We are statements about the manifold wisdom of God. Do you see yourself like that? At one point, when I read this, I thought, what he's saying is we are statements that God is making about his wisdom to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. I thought for a long time this had to do with the devil and his angels, and I think that's included in that. I think those are part. That's part of it. As Paul would say in Ephesians six, I think that's part of the principalities and powers. But when I think about that verbiage, I think I think of all the bad. But I've changed, because it's not just the bad who are in the Principality. It's not just the devil, His angels, but it's everybody. It's It's the Lord and His angels. And I think what Paul is saying is, is that now in the church, who's that? That's us, as Randy talked about this morning, the church. That's the spiritual body that Jesus has. I mean, again, Paul talks about that at the end of Ephesians one, it's the church that feels all in all. And he says, When the spiritual realm, I'm just going to say it that way, when the spiritual realm both the good and the bad, but when they see what happens in the church, they see God's wisdom. Do you see yourself as the product of God's wisdom? I think that's what Paul is saying. And when let's let's use the devil. When the devil looks at you, who is in Christ, who has these spiritual blessings, who put your trust and confidence in God, I would say it this way, when the devil looks at you or when he looks at me, who trust, I think the devil says, That's remarkable. That's remarkable. It's remarkable that somebody would do what somebody else wants, and not just what they want, because what the devil allows is you do whatever you want, but what God demands is you do what I ask you to do to the praise of my glory. And when spiritual beings see you continue to commit your life to being what you ought to be it shows the manifold wisdom of God. That's powerful, that's powerful.
So the bottom line? What's the bottom line? Well, are you in Christ? And does your life reflect all of these things that show this, in this spiritual-- does it reflect that? So that when those in that realm look at your life, they say, I understand what God is doing. They may not like it, but they understand that. Let me just close with a couple of comments, I hope and I even pray that God continues to bless me physically. We thank God for our physical blessings, and apparently he keeps doing it because I keep being blessed. But I will say that if it reaches a point with me that my physical blessings keep me from appreciating the blessings that I have in Christ, I hope he takes every one of them away, and I hope, I hope he takes yours away too, because they're temporary. They don't last. So what am I encouraging all of us to do today? Find the perspective that says, Thank You, Lord for everything you do for me, but thank you mostly, as we often pray, what? But we thank you mostly for the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ Jesus. How many times have you heard that in your life, in prayers? Lord, thank you for all the blessings you give us, but thank you mostly for the blessings that we have in Christ Jesus. Amen to that.
If you're not in Christ this morning, you don't have any of that. None. But what God asked you to do is to commit yourself through faith in him and his son, commit your life to Him, and then in order to have your sins forgiven, be baptized into Christ, you can walk away here this morning having gone from no spiritual blessings to all spiritual blessings. Isn't that not what you would want this morning? I pray that it is, and if we can help you this morning, accomplish that in your life, would you come as we stand in as we sing.
