Bountiful Blessings for His People part 3

That's an old one, "Rock of Ages." I think we probably all grew up on that, didn't we not? Isn't it good to hear some of those old hymns that we grew up on? And then we hear one of those new hymns. I got Keith to sing that one that we sang a couple of weeks ago, "Come, Praise, and Glorify." That's a great one. You know, that one phrase jumped out at me, "We have believed the Word." That's what we're all about. I think I challenge you to go find the Bob Coughlin version of that song. It's an extremely powerful and rich song. It would be good for your own personal worship, your own personal devotional time. We use music. I know I use music.

So I encourage you to do that. I did say this a couple of weeks ago that I would request that Brother Keith would sing that one again, and he did. Well, let's take our Bible. Let's go back to Ephesians chapter 1. Like I said in our scripture reading earlier, we'll be finishing up this section. We'll be in verses 11 to 14. Now, this morning we come to the last verses, the last verses of this second section of the chapter. The first section, I think most of you know, verses 1 to 2, that was Paul's introduction. That was Paul's greeting. We zoomed through that rather quick. And then verses 3 to 14, that's the second section of the chapter.

Now, scholars tell us that in the original, these verses are really one long sentence. Scholars describe this sentence in different ways. Some of them say it's full of independent clauses, all jammed together, and it's full of all sorts of deep theological thoughts and subjects. And if you pay attention to even your English translation, you can see one deep thought after another, one deep subject after another, and they're really just piled on top of one another. And it can make it difficult to divide so as to be able to explain it.

But back when we started these verses, I said that seeing what language scholars tell us helps us understand Paul's heart. I don't share with you that kind of information just to sound smart up here. No, I don't. As I got into the verses, I could see that Paul is just overflowing with all of these thoughts and all of these ideas and all of these teachings, and all of this explanation. He's really overflowing with all sorts of praise and blessing all throughout the teaching. I think you've seen that. One writer that I read said that we have really just a swirl of words and a storm of thought. Think about that.

Paul is giving us a swirl of words here and a storm of thought. Now, why do I say that? This just helps us see Paul's heart here. We don't want to just see what the Scripture says. Sometimes we need to see the heart behind all of this. And this is Paul's heart here. He's just overflowing with a lot of deep, rich teaching that he's wanting to give God's people, and he's wanting to give us. Now, before we get into our verses, verses 11 to 14, I want us to see a couple of things that I've taught you from the verses. First, we have seen the breadth of what's in these verses. I've taught you the breadth of what's in these verses.

I think I used a basketball analogy. I said that God has a broad reach here. Paul takes us into eternity past, and he shows us the activity of God forever ago. Then Paul takes us on into time and human history. We can identify with that. And he shows us the activity of God in salvation in human time. And then Paul takes us into eternity future. He takes us into eternity future, and he shows us the activity of God there. See that broad reach? And then we have also seen the depth of what's in these verses. I've tried to help us see the depth of what is here.

Paul gives us these deep and sometimes difficult doctrines of election and predestination. Paul gives us this deep doctrine of redemption through Christ. We understand that he's dealing with the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. Paul gives us the depth of forgiveness, and that he shows that Christ offers forgiveness for sins, plural, our many sins, really, our ultimate sinfulness. And Paul gives us the depth of the Father's heart, because he shows us that God's plan of redemption was and is according to his good and perfect will. Listen, folks, this all comes out of the goodness of God's heart.

And then Paul gives us the depth of the Father's provision for his people, in that Paul shows us the great inheritance that God has laid up for his people. Now, why have I emphasized these things? Many of these things I have repeated. Now, ultimately, practically, this all prepares us for next week's message, because I have a unique way in which we're going to wrap up this section of Scripture. But I also want us to see something that's very practical. If you're like me, you won't practical. I don't mind the theological, but let's bring it on down to practical, okay? I want us to see something practical.

John MacArthur says that Paul is giving Paul's outline of God's master plan for the salvation of man. See how practical it is? MacArthur is just showing us that Paul is unfolding God's master plan for the salvation of man. So we see something very practical that relates to us. And look, this isn't man's master plan. This is God's master plan. We are chosen in Christ in eternity past. Those are those things we can't quite understand. We are redeemed in time by the precious blood of Christ. And then we are given a great inheritance that is in eternity future when we have our full salvation. You see, we're delivered from this world in sin.

And again, I'm going to come back to this next week as well. Now, remember how I challenged us not to have the wrong approach here. We can't think of these verses. We can't think of this teaching. You know, it's like a briar patch. It's just full of thorns and thistles. But we also can't think of this teaching as a haunted forest either. Some people think that teaching like this versus like this, it's just full of ghosts and goblins. And I think pointing that out, those wrong approaches has resonated with some of you. Some of you shared that with me, that that just helped you see how some people can be in error here.

But there's another wrong approach that some have made, and I have seen this a lot throughout the years. Some see these verses and some see the doctrines that are right here in these verses like a cow pasture. Have any of you ever walked out into a cow pasture? See, if you walk into a cow pasture, you have to be really careful where you step. Isn't that right? You might step on what we might call in Mississippi a cow patty. Does anybody know what a cow patty is? Listen, when I was a kid, we used to fish.

We used to bring them fish, and we'd go out in my granddad's pastures, and we'd flip over those cow patties looking for those big black crickets, you know. The big ones lived under the cow patties. Christie's dad, back in the day, he had a few heads of cows, and I would help him work those cows. And you know whether we were out in the pasture in the catch lot, you know, you had to be careful where you stepped. And if you got off into that stuff, you know, you didn't like that. He always said it smelled like money. It's because he owned the cows.

I was in a cow pasture this week, on Friday, and I had to watch where I was stepping, and I'd already penned these words. So, oh, this illustration just resonated with me, even Friday. Now, on a more serious note, I know some that treat these verses in this teaching like a cow pasture. See, they say something like this, "Oh, I can't go into the cow pasture of these verses. I might get some of that stuff on me." Some people think that if they get some of that election and pray destination stuff on them, then it'll be some kind of stink or some kind of joke, and they just can't get that off of them.

Listen, church, we cannot be afraid of anything in God's Word. We can't. We embrace it. We study it. We dig into it to understand what God's Word says. And look, we don't interpret what God's Word says based on what a theologian says or a scholar says or an expert says. We take God's Word and we dig into it, and we interpret God's Word according to what God's Word says. God's Word will help us understand God's Word here. And look, if we are not mature enough, and if we're not studious enough, and if we're not responsible enough with these doctrines and with these teachings here, it's going to cause us all kind of problems. But we are.

And I'm thankful that we have grown to a place where we're not afraid of these types of teachings. So let's see verses 3 to 14 as a goldmine of riches. This is a goldmine, and just we're going to dig out what is here. We're going to take our time, and we have taken our time, and we're seeing the riches that are ours in Christ Jesus. And listen, the believers' riches in Christ Jesus is the theme of the book. And that's why that is the theme of the series. Now, before I get into verses 11 to 14, I want to do something I've done along the way.

I want us to quickly glance at what we've studied, because I want us to try to keep all this in our minds, and if you're like me, you need all the help you can get. I want us to see first, or number one, we saw the bountiful blessings in verse 3. Remember, this is a twofold blessing. Paul is praising and worshiping God, and then he starts to unfold the great blessings that come from God. So in verse 3, it's Paul's blessings to God, and then he starts to unfold for us God's blessings to his people.

And then starting in verse 14, we see, or starting in verse 4, excuse me, we see that Paul starts to track these specific blessings down, and he starts to unfold them. I called these bountiful blessings continued. I just couldn't come up with a better way to describe all this. And then starting in verse 4, Paul gets specific. He gets deep. And he's unfolding for us these specific blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus. First, we saw the blessing of election and predestination. In verse 4 and 5. Then in verse 6, Paul just pauses there to praise and worship a little more.

And then second, we saw the blessing of redemption through Christ's blood. We saw that in verses 7 and 8. And then we saw the specific blessing of God's purpose for the redemption of man in his son. And we saw that in verse 9. So if you're looking at major point number 2, you see bountiful blessings continued. And we see the blessing of election and predestination first, the blessing of redemption through the blood of Christ second, and then the blessing of God's purpose for man in redemption that is third. So this morning we're going to cover the fourth blessing.

This is the fourth blessing, and we're looking at the blessing of our future inheritance, right out of verses 11 to 14. Now I know that I have said over and over and over that Paul is taking us here from eternity past, into time, into human history, and then into eternity future. The week before last, we saw that starting in verse 10, Paul does begin to deal with things that are in the future. You can see that in your verses. Paul says that in the future, God will unite all things, all things in Christ.

Well, starting in verse 11, Paul is continuing to deal with the things that pertain to our future, and that is the blessing of our future inheritance. So notice our inheritance in verse 11, just the first part of the verse. Paul says, "In him we have obtained an inheritance." Now I want us to take our time here. And I want us to see how this verse reads. You might not notice it right away. Paul is saying that we have already obtained our inheritance. But a question for us to think on, isn't an inheritance something that you get in the future? Doesn't that seem a little odd?

An inheritance is something you get in the future, but Paul is saying we have, we have obtained it. Now for us to grasp what Paul is saying here, it helps us to understand the language a little. This phrase "obtain an inheritance" comes from two words. In the original it's a compound word. And it speaks of something in the future, yes, but it speaks of something in the future that is so certain that it is most definitely going to happen. I'll give you a good example. Some of you men might understand this. It's coming up on us. It's here, deer season. Now I don't know if you deer hunt. We'll help you there.

We'll lead you in the prayer of rededication and repentance and we'll help you get started. But you know guys when they get together and they hunt, you know they brag a little bit. They'll say stuff like this, "Well, you know I know I'm going to kill me a deer. He's as good as dead. I've already got him loaded on the full winner. He's already there in the skinning shed." You ever heard a guy brag like that? We could do this when we're fishing. I used to fish. I don't fish anymore. You know we talk about fishing. We're going to go out and we're going to fill up the boat.

We talk about what we're going to do in the future as if it has already happened. You see? Well that's exactly what Paul is saying here. Look back at the verse. "In him we have obtained an inheritance." It's in the future, but it's as if it's already happened. It's that certain. But there's a little more we need to see with the language and this will help us as well. This word obtained. It means to choose by lot. In their day the term casting lots or casting a lot basically spoke of two things. Sometimes things were decided by casting lots. You've heard of that. Basically they were deciding something by chance. You get that.

But at times they would use this term casting a lot which meant making a choice. So something was determined. It was chosen. And that decision was expressed by saying a lot was cast. Someone cast a lot. They made a choice in a matter. And the one receiving, well they received a lot that was determined for them. I remember my granddad when I was a kid telling me the story of a rather large plantation that bordered his place. Seven thousand acres. It had been in a particular family since the 1830s. And he told about years before he was born, he told about when the owner of that particular block of land, he had a son and he had a daughter.

Well what was he going to do with that seven thousand acre block of land? Well he had a smaller block of land that he had acquired about five hundred acres. Well he left the smaller block to his daughter and he gave the seven thousand acre block to his son. And see what we're seeing is this. That's a good example. That was chosen. It was determined by light. Well that's what we have here. And see understanding the language helps us see here. Paul is saying that this inheritance has been determined by God. And he is saying that this inheritance is so certain that we can speak of it as if it's already done. As if it's already in our possession.

Now go back to the verse and I think you'll see it when we read it. "In him we have obtained an inheritance." What a question we need to ask. What is the inheritance? Is it land? Is it real estate? Stocks, bonds, Bitcoins? I don't even know what a Bitcoin is. Some type of a trust fund. See if we're going to inherit something, don't we want to know what it is? This reminded me of when my mother's aunt died. She was a unique individual. She was single all of her life. And she acquired a little more than most people knew. Well she didn't leave a will. So it went into a state. And you understand how all of that is.

So my mother inherited a few things but she didn't know what it was. Well this inheritance here is Christ Jesus and all that comes in Christ. Go back to the verse. "In him we have obtained an inheritance." Notice that. See Christ is our inheritance. In the fullness of time, going back to our previous verses, when Christ makes all things new, we have that inheritance and it is laid up for us. And this inheritance is all that Christ has to offer us in heaven. I think we see an illusion of this inheritance in verse 3. When Paul says that Christ has blessed us with every blessing in the heavenlies. You see?

So Christ is our inheritance and all that Christ would give us. But another important question. What are the grounds? What are the reasons for this inheritance? You know if I inherit something from my parents, it's because I'm a son. If my wife inherits something from her mother, it's because she is a daughter. You see? What are the grounds? What are the reasons for this inheritance? Now in dealing with our inheritance in Christ and all that he provides us in eternity future, Paul gives us the reasons. He gives us the grounds for this inheritance and this is really important for us to see.

Paul gives us the grounds for this inheritance in two ways. He shows us from God's vantage point and then he shows us from man's vantage point. Paul shows us the grounds, the reasons for this inheritance from God's standpoint and then from man's standpoint. So let's look at that for a moment. First, from God's standpoint. In the rest of verse 11, Paul shows us God's side of the reason that we can receive this inheritance. Go back to verse 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." Now if you remember verse 4, this is just an echo of verse 4 in many ways. But what do we see? In eternity past, God determined that he would choose for himself the people and that he would bring them to redemption in his son. That is Jesus Christ. We've already studied that. So from God's standpoint, we who are redeemed, we have obtained this inheritance because God declared it to be. That's what the end of verse 11 says.

We inherit Christ and all that Christ provides on earth, yes, but in the heavenlies because God said it was to be. And God said this and did all this where? In eternity past. But a couple of important questions here. Why and how? I'm good at asking these questions. Hopefully I'm good at answering them. Why and how? Listen, God did this in eternity past, the verse tells us, "according to the purpose of his will." That's why God did this. He did these things in eternity past according to the purpose of his good, his right, his just, his loving, his perfect will. Look at the verse again.

"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." But also God did this in eternity past according to the power of his will. This word works here in verse 11. It's key for us to understand what's happening here. This word works here, speaks of God's divine and all powerful work. He determined to do these things and he did them according to his good, great, and infinite power. So the why and the how God did these things is important.

In eternity past, because God is God, he determined our inheritance in his son according to the purpose of his good will and according to the power of his will. And again, just let God be God here. So notice what we have here. From God's standpoint, we who are redeemed, we obtained this inheritance because God declared it to be. We inherit Christ and all that Christ provides, yes on earth, but really here we're focusing on the heavenlies because God said it was to be. And he did these things according to the purpose of his good will, according to the power of his good will.

Now an application, I want to give us a question or two to think about. How do we know if this applies to us? How do we know if we have this inheritance in Christ, in eternity, in the future? How do we know? See, I want you to see that this is a part of our salvation. Yes, remember John MacArthur says that Paul is giving us God's outline for the salvation of man. This is God's salvation plan for man. But what I want you to see, this is a part of our salvation which is not experiential. We don't experience this yet. To experience this, we have to leave this earth as a believer, you see?

And so we should ask our question, ask this question, does this apply to us? Are we in the inheritance? See, if we're a son, we're in the inheritance. But if we're not, we're not. But I want you to see that this is not experiential. So we've looked at this from God's standpoint. Second, I want us to see this, this inheritance from man's standpoint. And we see this in verses 12 to 13. Now here in verses 12 to 13, Paul shows us man's side of the reason that we can receive this inheritance. And here in the verses, Paul shows us three things that man does to obtain this inheritance. Yes, man does do something to obtain this inheritance.

First, Paul shows us that those in Christ hope in Christ. Look at verse 12. So that we who were the first to hope in Christ. Now there's a lot of things going on here, and I want us to see what's happening. The English Standard reads hope in Christ. If you have the old King James, it reads trusted in Christ. Now this speaks of a demonstration of faith by a man. This speaks of trusting or placing hope in someone. This speaks of a saving hope, a saving trust. And this language here, it's in the perfect tense, which means it's lasting. See, this hope was demonstrated by these Ephesian Christians in the past when they were converted to Christ.

And it was still alive at the time that Paul was writing this letter. And this hope, this trust would last. But there's another detail here in the language. This language, the language emphasizes who the hope of the trust is in. And that is in Christ. Christ was the subject. Christ was the object of their hope. He was the object of their trust. He was the object of their salvation. So Paul shows us that the redeemed hope and trust in Christ. And this is an ongoing continual hope, a continuing trust in Christ. But then second, Paul shows us that those in Christ hear the word of Christ. Just look at how this progresses.

Let's read verse 12 and then verse 13. "So that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth." Now there are several things we need to see here as well. Paul shows us how this hope, how this trust comes from Christ in the man. And listen, this is not from ritual. This is not man-made. This comes by the declaration of the word of truth, which is the truth about Jesus Christ the gospel. Here Paul is saying what he said in Romans 10, 17.

"Faith in Christ comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ." So Paul shows us that the redeemed, they hope in Christ, they trust in Christ. And this comes about from hearing the word of truth, the word of God, concerning Christ in the gospel. And then third, Paul shows us that those who are in Christ believe in Christ. This seems redundant, but I want us to see it. Go back to verse 13. "In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him." Here this believing in Christ is another way of saying what Paul has already said.

After hearing the word of Christ, these Ephesians Christians, they hoped in Christ, they trusted in Christ. They believed in Christ as well. So Paul shows us that the redeemed believe in Christ from and through the hearing of the truth of God's word, the gospel about Christ. So from man's standpoint, those who are redeemed obtained this inheritance because they have demonstrated a hope and a trust in Christ. It happened because the word was declared to them. The word of truth which contains the gospel, it was declared to them. Therefore they trusted, they believed, they placed their hope in Christ. And look, this is an ongoing belief.

Those who believed, they were converted and then they continued to believe. So notice what we have here. I know this has been a lie. Those who have trusted Christ and believe in Christ have obtained an inheritance. You see? Christ Jesus is the inheritance and all that He provides in the heavenlies. This inheritance is a sure thing. This inheritance is so sure that it can be spoken of as if it is here right now. And what are the grounds? Twofold. Because God said these things would be and because these who are in Christ trusted in Christ. Now a question or two here. How do we know if this applies to us?

Now whereas this previous part was not experiential, now we move into that which we experience. This is this experiential side of coming to faith in Christ. And notice a lost person. We do experience hearing the word of truth. When we're lost, we hear the truth of God's word. We hear the gospel. And then when we are lost, we do experience conviction of sin by the Spirit of God. And then when we are lost, we do experience a conviction and a revelation of God's righteousness. And then when we are lost, we do experience a conviction of the judgment to come. We experience the working, the mysterious working of the Holy Spirit.

And then when we come to Christ, we experience that expressive hope and trust in Christ. We experience and express believing in Christ and get this. Our belief in Christ and our trust in Christ. When we are converted to Christ, it must be in the perfect tense. Meaning that it is lasting. So we believed in Christ when we were converted. And this happens in time. And this happens in our human history. We believe in Christ now because we believed yesterday and we believe today. And we'll be believing in the future. See, it's all in the perfect tense, folks. And my question for you is this. Has this happened to you? Has this happened to you?

And we're going to talk a little more about this experiential side of salvation as we continue. So listen, folks, from man's standpoint, this is experienced. From God's standpoint, it is not. Not yet. Because we hadn't gotten there. Now, in continuing with the blessing of our future inheritance, that's what we're still dealing with, that fourth blessing. Not only do we see the inheritance that we have obtained from God's vantage point and from man's vantage point, we need to see that God ensures this inheritance. It's a guarantee. This inheritance is sure. It is insured by God and it is a guarantee.

Now, we see this guarantee in the second part of verse 13 and the second part of verse 14. Now, Paul shows us the guarantee of our inheritance in two ways. First, God gives his seal. We see this in verse 13. Look at the verse. "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him." Here's where we're going. We're sealed with a promise Holy Spirit. Here Paul tells us what happens in those who believe in Christ for their redemption. Paul says that they are sealed. They are sealed with the promise Holy Spirit. I like how one commentator put it.

He said the moment these Ephesians believe, they receive the stamp of the Holy Spirit of God. Now, this is not a reference to baptism. This is not a reference to any ritual. This is not a reference to the Old Covenant Jewish circumcision. No. Paul is speaking of the supernatural infusion of the Holy Spirit of God into those who believe in Christ. When they were redeemed, they were infused, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Now, this word sealed is important to understand. This has all types of cultural meaning. We can miss this and I want us to take a little time here. See, in their day they use seals for many purposes.

Mostly it was men of prominence who used these, but men of prominence would have a stamp and they would use a seal. That stamp would have a unique imprint on it, which was very distinct to that individual. You could say it was kind of like a signature. You know, our signatures are distinct. I thought about it like this. You ever have a stamp for your deposit? You understand what that means. It's got ink on it. You put that stamp. It's that distinct mark.

But they would take this stamp in that day, they would take that stamp, they would press that stamp into something like hot wax, and when someone saw that imprint, they knew that it bore someone's mark, really someone's signature. That stamp or that seal spoke of ownership. That stamp, that seal, it spoke of authenticity. If a letter was sealed, it bore the owner's signature and it spoke to the authenticity of what is in the letter. If property was sealed, it spoke of ownership of the property. If something was sealed, it was secure. It was official. And look at what Paul is saying here.

Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit in the believer's life is God sealed in and on that believer. This seal was and is a sign that God has redeemed the person. It is a sign that God accepts them as sons of the kingdom. It is a sign of ownership of that person. It is a sign that authenticates them as a true believer. So the seal of the Holy Spirit of God, it is a guarantee that the believer belongs to who? God. It's a guarantee that they are a son, not illegitimate. But second, God gives a pledge. God goes on and He gives a pledge. Let me go back and read verse 13 into verse 14.

"In Him you also 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." Here Paul tells us something that happens for those who hope in Christ for their redemption. Paul says that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee for that inheritance. Now the key word here in understanding what Paul is saying is this word guarantee. The New American uses the word pledge. I think the New International version uses the word deposit. Now this word was used in their day in commercial settings. It was used in banking settings.

This spoke of making a first installment. This spoke of a down payment. This spoke of a financial pledge. This first installment was a down payment ensuring that the full amount would follow. We do this often. I think about when we buy a house. You know we put a down payment down. We put that earnest money down. And that earnest money is a down payment and it reflects what is to come. There is more to come. One of the scholars that I was reading pointed out that this could be seen in an engagement. I thought that was rather humorous. That engagement ring, what is it? It is a down payment of more expenses that are to come.

I think you see the meaning there. But with the use of this word, notice what Paul is saying. Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit in the believer's life is the first installment of the Christian's full inheritance to come. In the fullness of time, going back to verse 10, when God unites all things in Christ, God will fulfill his guarantee and provide all that is stored up for his people in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. So the Holy Spirit in the life is that first installment on the full payment that is to come.

It is the guarantee that in the fullness of time, God will provide his full inheritance to his people in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. So Paul shows us the guarantee. This inheritance in two ways. First, the Holy Spirit seals God's redeemed. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of God, which is the guarantee that God will make good on the believer's full inheritance, which is laid up and stored up for them. Now, a couple of questions and application I think we need to ask here. Have we been stamped and sealed with the Spirit of God? Have we?

See, folks, when you start digging into verses like this, you realize that this really cuts the grain against the grain of these cheap decisions. See, when we're truly converted to God, we're stamped and we're sealed. We're sealed and we're stamped. In verse 13, the "you" is in the emphatic. Notice this. I really want you to see. "In him you also," when you heard the word of truth, "the gospel of your salvation and believed in him." And it's implied here. He's saying, "You, you were sealed." What am I trying to show you here? Paul is stressing that they were indeed sealed, that this work did happen.

"You, you were sealed." Now, think back on that seal. Think back what that seal said. Think back to what that seal represented. It spoke of ownership. Are you owned by the Holy Spirit of God? Have you been stamped and sealed therefore? There's the owner's mark on you. It spoke of something that was genuine and it was true. Do you have the mark of a true and genuine believer? It spoke of that which was accepted. It was official. Do you have that mark on you? Or are you illegitimate? Listen, folks, this is very much experienced as well. So my question for you is this. Have you been infused by the Holy Spirit of God in your life?

This is why I will always hold to a true, one-time, experiential work where we're born of God. It just doesn't happen and you don't know it. How can the Spirit of God seal you and you not know it? Now, in finishing up this blessing of our future inheritance, we have seen that our future inheritance is obtained by two ways. It is given by God in eternity past according to His goodwill and purpose. It is attained in time by man through hope, a demonstration of trust and belief in Christ, and our future inheritance is guaranteed by God. The Holy Spirit is the down payment, that earnest money that has been given.

And listen, when we were sealed, it was that first installment of what is to come. Now, finishing up here, I want us to quickly see the goal. You know, we understand goals. Maybe we have a goal of retirement one day. Maybe we have a financial goal of paying off our house. I've known people that had a goal to retire, to move on to a new field. Maybe you young people have a goal to finish up and go to college. We have goals, all types of goals in our life. Well, our spiritual goal is seen in the last part of verse 14. Look back at the verse.

"Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it." Until we acquire possession of it to the praise of His glory. This is real simple, folks. Paul is saying that in the fullness of time, going back to verse 10, "The believer will acquire all that which is laid up for them." "When the believer has been delivered from this world to the next, they will take possession of that inheritance which has been laid up with Christ." That is our goal. This reminds me of a man I knew years ago. He had a trust fund. He came from a rather wealthy family. Land, cattle, business, investments, oil. I mean, they were just wealthy.

And I think that he inherited his trust fund when he was 20. And within his trust fund, he inherited money. Enough money where he really didn't have to work. He inherited investments and he inherited land. You see, he knew what was coming. He knew it was coming. And see, my question for you is this. Do you know that there is a future inheritance in Christ coming for you? Do you? The only way you truly know is if Christ has sealed you and it's the work of the Spirit of God in you. And listen, folks, we should have a confidence that we will receive a future inheritance in Christ, in heaven, in His time.

So, out of verses 13 to 14, we have been studying, and you know the title of the message. I've just carried it all the way through. "Bountiful Blessings for His People." Three weeks of trying to take our time through these verses. Now, I want to show us how we need to respond to all of this teaching this morning. Two ways. First of all, I think we should respond like Paul. Have you noticed that every now and then, Paul just throws in a bunch of praise and worship in there? And I'm not talking about music. Look at verse 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." He's overflowing with praise and blessing and worship there. And then in verse 6, there's this pause in the teaching. He says, "To the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the beloved in Christ." He's overflowing with praise and worship. And then in the second part of verse 12, "So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory." Again, He's overflowing with praise and worship.

And then at the end of verse 14, "Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of His glory." He just can't help it. He's praising and worshiping. And that should be our response. Worshiping God for what? These bountiful blessings to His people. Now second, I want us to come back next week for a very, very important message. We're not going to move on to the next verses. We will look at what I am calling "Lessons from the Blessings." Now listen, this is not going to be trivial, and this is not going to be self-help. Because listen, folks, we don't need to just take a few sermons here and move on.

We don't need to pull a few verses out here and emphasize a certain theological position here. No, I want to help us work these verses out in us. In us as a local church and you as an individual, there is application and understanding that we need that is unique to us. So as your pastor, I want to share with you some lessons from the verses. I want to show you where these verses take us as a church, theologically. And I want to show you some very big mistakes. I mean big mistakes that some people make here, and we must not make these mistakes. And I have not allowed these mistakes to be made in this church.

And I want to show you how this needs to be worked out in our lives and in the life of Grace Life Church of Brookhaven. So, bountiful blessings for His people, and next week, lessons from the blessings. Let's pray. We'll commit all that we have studied to the Lord, and we're going to ask the Lord to form this in us so that we would be made more into the image of His Son Jesus. Let's pray.