Thank God, O Church, For All He Works In You!

Well, we finished the section of Ephesians 1 that's doxology, that's giving worship to God. And now the next movement in this letter is a prayer.

Starting at verse 15, Paul tells the church in Ephesus why he's praying for them. And then we get glimpses into what those prayers for the church are. Our sermon passage is only verses 15 through 18 today, but I'm going to read until the end of this little section, which is verse 23.

Please hear God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, sufficient, powerful word for you and me, his church. Ephesians 1, starting at 15. Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him.

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints?

What is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.

And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Please be seated. Let's pray.

Oh, Lord, we praise you.

We give you thanks for your mighty work. This is the work that you purposed before there was anything in us that was pleasing to you.

It's the work that you decreed for the glory of your name, the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We praise you.

We thank you, Lord, that this good news. It's not just something we we have to understand in our minds. It's something that we can know by experience, by relationship to you.

We pray, Lord, that your Holy Spirit will press home these glorious truths of our salvation in Christ to your people today. Lord, please strengthen us and those who don't know you, Lord.

We pray that you will work in power, that perhaps today, if you are pleased, will be the day that they can know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. We ask this for the glory of your name alone.

Amen. Well, the closer you get to someone, the more you start to love the things that they love.

This is true. Maybe you can relate to it in your life, in your family or with a friend. It was true for my wife, Andrea, and I. I've joked with some of you. When we first met each other, I didn't like things that I should have liked.

I didn't like spaghetti. I didn't like cookies. And she had the same problem. She didn't like soccer. She should. But the closer we got to one another, the more you come to love the things the other person loves.

Now I love cookies more than I should. And she really enjoys soccer. Well, if you think of the life of Paul, who's pouring out this prayer for this church in Ephesus, he did not used to like a certain group of people that he should have liked.

Paul hated Christians. He hated the church. But he had no good reason for this. You remember Christians in this first century, ones that Christ called to life from death.

These Christians knew from their own experience that the one true God that Paul only knew at first academically. These Christians were the living salt in light of the world while Paul was still a whitewashed tombstone.

But Paul hated Christians. He arrested them. He falsely accused them. And he had them killed. But now, do you hear his words toward these very same people, these Christians, the church?

Paul's overflowing, giving thanks to God for Christians and for the church that he once hated. So what changed for Paul? The Holy Spirit revealed Jesus Christ to Paul.

The Holy Spirit revealed Paul. Jesus Christ loved you while you still hated him. And the closer that Paul grew as a disciple of Christ, the closer he grew to Christ.

Do you see the love of Christ for his church now? It's growing in Paul. That's what changed. Paul is giving thanks for the church and he prays for the Holy Spirit who began this work in them to continue to work mightily in the church.

And by reading Paul's letter to the Ephesians and getting glimpses into how he prayed for them, it's really an invitation for us to do the same, for us to learn and pray in the similar way for the church, that our love for the church will grow because we are growing closer and closer to Christ, just like he transformed Paul.

So the sermon title for today is this. Thank God, O church, for all the Holy Spirit works in you. Thank God, church, for the work that God is doing still in you and me.

That's what Paul prays here. And he gives us five reasons to thank God for his powerful work. Five reasons to thank God for his work.

Number one. The work of God is this. The spirit breathes true faith in you. This is the first reason to thank God.

Thank God for how the Holy Spirit has breathed true faith in you and in one another. Look at verse 15. Paul said, therefore, I also. After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I pray for you.

Why is it that he prays for them? He heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all the saints. Those two reasons. And the first one is their faith.

Now, Ephesus was a place where if you're born into a poor class, you have very little chance of upward mobility. It was highly stratified, as were all these ancient Roman cities.

So your class and society, your status, it all depended on on your family connections and your ability to trade and make money. So for Paul to say to this church.

Church, I praise God for each and every one of you and your love for all of the saints. He's he's recognizing the Holy Spirit has created within the city of Ephesus a special people.

A people that's united, not by trade connections or their ability to help one another in business, but by a shared faith. That's what I praise God for.

The Holy Spirit is the one who has done this. Notice how he opens it up. He says, therefore, I also pray for you.

Now, it made me wonder, why is he saying I also? It could be, you know, therefore, in light of all of this, I praise God and I also pray. Or it could also be that I add my prayers to the prayers of others.

Well, who else might be the ones praying for the church in Ephesus? I believe he he knows at least one person who prays for the church in Ephesus. And that's Jesus Christ.

Why is it that the Holy Spirit was poured out and breathing this faith into the the believers that came together as a church? It's because Jesus from heaven is praying for them.

So it'd be right to think Paul says, I also now am praying for you. I already know Christ is. It's evidenced by your faith. And he also said, when I heard of this news of your faith.

So that means someone else visited Paul in his prison cell. And what is it that's going to lift Paul's spirits? It's telling the good news of the kingdom of God advancing. And Paul, wait till you hear what God has done in Ephesus.

He's hearing this great report. And you can almost picture these messengers that are unnamed in Scripture dropping to their knees and joining Paul in prayer right there. Lord, we praise you for the work you're doing there.

You are breathing faith into these believers. So Paul also joins his prayers, praising God for the conversion of the believers in the church in Ephesus.

The moment he heard the news, he bursts into praise. Paul prays this way because he recognizes that true saving faith is not a self-generated event.

So this faith of believing and trusting in Christ, it's something that the Holy Spirit alone can work out. These precious souls that were lost in the darkness of pagan worship in the city of Ephesus.

They were in bondage to the powers and the principalities of the kingdom of hell. These same souls are now made alive in Christ. This is the Holy Spirit doing great work.

These believers have a true faith in the Lord Jesus. They are resting upon Christ alone for his salvation. We know what this is like.

We can relate both to the Ephesians and to Paul. We sing in our testimonies like the Ephesians. Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature's night.

And it wasn't until God's own eye diffused that quickening ray that my dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off. My heart was free. I rose then went forth and followed thee because God burst in and freed me and caused me to have a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And every time, like Paul now, every time we get to hear the good news of a believer being forgiven, another orphan being adopted into God's family, another captive being ransomed, another prize that Christ purchased being claimed by the Holy Spirit.

We also rejoice with all the angels of heaven and with Paul. We praise God for that. True Christians everywhere will celebrate true faith anywhere.

Here's Paul far away at a Roman cell hearing about their true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Celebrating true Christians everywhere will celebrate true faith anywhere.

Isn't it a joy? We get to pray systematically through a people group that does not have the Bible yet that needs missionaries. And we may never hear of that great news of their conversion.

But the moment we get to hear of God working that anywhere, maybe a neighbor, maybe a family member. This is cause for all Christians everywhere to rejoice with all of heaven.

So that's the first reason, church. Thank God for the spirit who is working in you. The spirit breathes true faith into you, into all of his people.

Number two, here's the second reason to praise God. For his work among you. And I see in this passage, all of these works are the works of the spirit.

Here's the second one. The spirit implants true love in you. The same spirit that breathes true faith in believers. That same spirit implants true love in the believer.

Verse 15. Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love, for all the saints. I prayed for you.

Those two go together, don't they? Faith in the Lord Jesus and love for all his people. Once you are united to Christ, you begin to love more and more what he loves.

Can you imagine? Imagine picture out on some some grassy hills, an actual flock of sheep with an actual shepherd.

And can you imagine a true shepherd who loves that flock and knows each one of them by name, permitting someone to come up to those sheep and treat them badly?

To kick them, to tip them over while they're sleeping. I don't know if that's a real thing. No true shepherd is going to allow that. These are his precious flocks.

It's only a goat or a wolf that hates Christ's sheep. Once you're united to Christ, you will love what he loves. You will love his precious flock that he purchased with his own blood.

Think of what the good shepherd will do to one who hates one or all of his sheep. One who comes in and nips at those precious lambs with sharp teeth.

First John 421 paints it in black and white for us. This commandment we have from him, from Christ himself, that he who loves God must also love his brother.

Another, genuine affection for the church of Christ is a consequence of your new birth by the spirit of Christ.

So your faith in Christ is where it begins. The commentators from a more poetic era, they put it this way. Faith in Christ is the initial rosebud.

And love for Christ's people is the matured, sweet-smelling bloom of that same rose. Look around this congregation. Look at people and you'll see we're gathered here with others who are very different from ourselves.

Yet we don't want to be with anyone else. This is where we want to be. We're not gathered here because of anything external. And the Lord is working into us, isn't he?

A true love for his body, for the local church where he's put you and me for this time in our lives. That is supernatural. It's not something the world will ever understand. It's a sacrificial affection.

You know, Christ says, no greater love is this, that you would lay down your life for your brothers. And none of us would do that on our own. But Jesus Christ has done that.

And it's his love for the brethren that he's working into us. So you know this. You really would do anything for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

And many of you, I've been able to watch firsthand. You've shown this kind of love toward me, toward my family, toward one another. It does not come from any one of us, does it? It comes from Christ.

It's his love in us for the brethren, for the church. He plants it into us and he waters it and that love grows and matures and blossoms.

Commentator William Hendrickson gave another visual. He said, as each spoke of a wheel moves toward the hub, the spokes become closer and closer to one another in that same hub.

Well, Jesus Christ is he is the hub that all the believers are moving toward. And as we grow closer to Christ, by consequence, we become closer and closer to one another.

Yet one more image by Hendrickson. He said the same divine magnet pulling like this, like a magnet that drew you to himself, pulls all God's people closer to one another in him.

The Christian church is where people truly become one without any outside coercion. I think this is true. And this is because we have one faith.

We have the same Savior, the same Holy Spirit indwelling God's people. Christ is filling us with his same love, the very love of Christ in each of us, which is a love for one another and for all those that Christ calls and sets apart.

He calls them holy ones, his saints, his people made for his peculiar purpose. So, church, thank the Lord for this work of his in you and me.

The Holy Spirit implants true love in us. Number three, the Spirit also stirs up constant prayer and praise in you.

The Holy Spirit is the one who stirs up a constant prayer to God and praise to God inside of us. That's what Paul describes in his own experience next.

Ephesians 116, he says, For these reasons, I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. The reasons he prays for them is not because anything Paul's going to get back.

He prays for them because the Spirit is stirring up in him a love from Christ to see their faith and their love for one another. That's enough reason right there. That's why he prays.

And this is set in contrast to this culture of Ephesus, because when you would go to the temple of a demon, a temple of Diana or Artemis here, you're giving something in order to get something in return.

In Roman culture, prayer in those demon temples, as it is today, it was always transactional. There's even a Latin phrase for it.

Do you do this? And that means I give that you might give. Why would I pay money or give my my portion to the temple of Diana, this demon goddess?

If I'm not also going to get something back that serves my worldly purposes. And the Christian prayer is totally different than this. Where the pagans would go to these these, you know, civic patrons or these pagan gods.

They would just try to get more status, more power, try to get favors that are going to help their business. And it's out of that dark world that the Holy Spirit has called his people.

The Holy Spirit has turned that that view of prayer upside down. And we see this in Paul's life and here in this letter from his prison cell. He offers these unceasing, selfless prayers of thanksgiving to God simply because the sovereign grace of God has taken hold of these people in the city of Ephesus.

And he says in verse 16, I pray to God for you in my prayers. The Holy Spirit in Paul is the one who has made this now a habit of his.

He's a man who has regular prayers. I already have my prayers set. Those are already going because the spirit causes me to pray. And now that I've heard this good news, I'm adding you into my prayers.

Paul's life is a life of giving regular thanks to God. And when he hears what God is doing currently, he he makes that part of the reasons to praise God.

The reasons to praise God keep multiplying. He thanks God for this church specifically. The basics of prayer are here for us. He says, I give thanks to you.

I give God thanks for you. So he directs it at God in the name of Jesus and for specific people. We get to pray.

We get to be in the communion of God and the communion of God himself. We get to be in his presence and the presence of God. We get to to speak to God, but we also listen to God.

His spirit ministers his word to us. We're we're pouring out our hearts to him and he's speaking truth to us. His spirit is stirring up for us those that we need to intercede for those that we need to have love for and concern for.

I believe it's Jesus Christ himself who teaches Paul to pray this way. And it's Jesus Christ who teaches you and me to pray this way as well.

Paul is bringing before the throne of God specific names that he's lifting up. And our Lord Jesus Christ lives to intercede for you and me, his people.

Think of that Jesus Christ. Bringing your name. Before his God. So when we pray, we're simply receiving that prayer by the spirit that Christ is already praying.

And we're joining our words to the words of our savior. He constantly carries the names of his people before God. He's our advocate.

And the spirit teaches us to pray in the same way. There are times when we don't know the words to say. God's word promises that the Holy Spirit will pray for you in those cases.

I think of loved ones who have become nonverbal or were born that way. That promise applies to them as well. All those God elected, the spirit will pray for them.

Isn't that comforting? Isn't that comforting? The church belongs to Christ. And we pray remembering that our perseverance is secured by Christ and his prayers for us.

Christ's prayers for us do not stop. His prayers for us are unceasing. Therefore, the powerful work of the spirit answering and obeying the prayers of Christ will not stop.

The church will be preserved. You will persevere in the faith because God will not stop carrying out his prayers for you. The spirit stirs constant prayer and praise in you.

I know this was a habit for Paul because when he got arrested for preaching the gospel in another city in Philippi, what was it that they were doing in the prison cell? They were praising and thanking God, giving God all the praise.

And I know it's not because Paul was strong, because it's in our weakness that the Holy Spirit carries us. If you're like me, you might be feeling so weak. If prayer feels like one more duty, one more burden that you're going to fall short of.

It has the opposite effect. It discourages me. It zaps me. It makes me feel guilty. Well, brothers and sisters, this is the enemy accusing you, attacking, speaking lies because Christ is praying and it's his energy that he works in us.

And when we are really praying, the Holy Spirit is truly carrying us and praying in this way. It's not our energy at all. It doesn't expend anything. We come out refreshed, energized.

We feel like the darkness of the world is clouding down. It gets pulled away. And it's the light of heaven, the light of Christ himself that shines on our hard circumstances right now.

So trust this and thank God when that happens, when you get to experience that again. This is the spirit stirring it up in you. Here's a fourth reason to thank God for his ongoing work in you and me.

Number four, the spirit gives you and me wisdom and revelation in Christ. The spirit gives you and me wisdom and revelation in Christ. Remember how people would travel from all over the world to Ephesus?

It was world famous for their magic. It was a place where you could you could play around with the occult. There were secret rituals and hidden knowledge that they would sell to you as an attempt to manipulate people.

And Paul's message here, it's alluding to that. It's it's wisdom and knowledge, but it's it's made clear. It's not kept back or sold at a price.

It's a gift from the Holy Spirit to the church. Look at verse 17. What is it that Paul prays for? I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.

Him. Paul's there praying that this group of people that are already gathered, that he'd already had discipled for about three years who are hearing God's word regularly on the Lord's Day.

They're they're organized as a church. They have the Holy Spirit. He's already assured them you have all been sealed by the Holy Spirit if you're in Christ. But yet he's praying that that God will give them this ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Why is he praying that God would give the spirit of wisdom and revelation to those who already have the Holy Spirit? Those who are already sealed by the spirit.

What he's praying for is consistent with what the Bible teaches everywhere. The Holy Spirit is truly in every single believer already. It's the spirit who regenerates, who turns us from sin to Christ.

But what he's praying for here is that that same Holy Spirit will be given to strengthen them now to grow them in the same faith. He calls them.

He says it's the hope of your calling. Well, the calling was initially turned to Christ. But that same calling now continues for the rest of your life in Christ. It's to strengthen the same faith.

I want to clarify this from Scripture. If you'll look a page or two forward in your own Bible. Look at Ephesians 6. I'm sorry, Ephesians 3, 16.

He uses very similar language here in chapter 3, verse 16. Look back at 14. He says, for this reason, I bow my knees. So he's praying.

And what is it that he prays in verse 16? That God would grant you, according to the riches of his glory. You hear the similar language? To be strengthened with might.

How? Through his spirit in the inner man. That's the same prayer. He's echoing. That the church will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. In Philippians 1, 9.

He prays that your love may abound still more and more in the knowledge and all discernment that come from God. So he's praying that God's spirit will minister to them true wisdom.

True wisdom. It's not the wisdom that you're going to hear about in Ephesus. It's not the wisdom of the Greco-Roman world. It's wisdom that's beyond the reach of the sharpest mind.

The brightest intellect in any generation. It's wisdom that must be a gift from God given freely by the Holy Spirit. There are so many people with a PhD in theology who do not know God.

The Holy Spirit has not given them the gift of true wisdom and the knowledge of God. And Paul prays that that will never be the case for the church in Ephesus.

That they will have this gift. This true wisdom. This true knowledge that the Spirit gives. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you this. This true wisdom.

To you who are safe sinners and that he would do this for his glory. The God. The Father of glory will give you this. This means that true wisdom that the Spirit gives.

Is a means to a greater end. It's that we would know God in Christ. That the Spirit give you wisdom and revelation. In the knowledge of him.

Well this prayer. Has been answered in your life. And I want to help you to see how God has already done that. So that you can pray for more of this. And you can pray that. That God will give this gift to one another.

You've had a time where you've opened up your Bible. And you've read it. And it's not been clear at first. It's been hard to understand. And then God's Spirit has shown you.

He's used other parts of the Bible. He's used the church. The ministry of the word. And he's caused you to perceive and hold on by faith. To this glorious revelation.

That's been in his word all along. But he made you to see it now. And not just see it. But to trust this good news for you in your life. That's the prayer that Paul is asking for.

It's a gift from God. When you get to behold the glory of God. And the grace of God. And when God stirs you up to want to praise him. For what he's revealed to you.

When you worship the Lord. I was so stirred just now. Moments ago. Worshiping the Lord with you. As we're singing these gospel truths together. Creating me a clean heart.

Oh God. Creating me this heart. Lord. That will know you and trust you. This is the Holy Spirit ministering.

And answering this prayer for us today. When you enjoy the presence of God. You commune with him in prayer. And you grow in your relational knowledge of your creator.

Your sustainer. Your redeemer. Your king. And you turn and thank God. For this work of his spirit in you. The spirit gives you wisdom. And revelation in Christ.

Well the fifth and final reason. From our passage today. To give thanks to God. For his work in us. Is this. The spirit makes you trust. The hope of Christ's calling.

The spirit is the one. Who makes you and me trust. The hope of Christ's calling. He prays in verse 18. That the eyes of your understanding. Or heart.

Being enlightened. That you may know. What is the hope of his calling. What are the riches. What are the riches. Of the glory of his inheritance. In the saints. Paul's praying that.

The Holy Spirit will strengthen their faith in Christ. By illumining. By shining light. On their heart. Or understanding. He says.

God. God. Makes you to see. With that inner part of yourself. That part of yourself. Where the perception of truth happens.

Where your desires happen. Where you have. A moral will. To evaluate. And want something good. That the Holy Spirit. Will give you eyes.

To see what is. That glorious. Good. That you. Have in Christ. All the riches. Of your salvation. In him. The Holy Spirit.

Must cause us. To see. And enter. Into. The kingdom of God. What I've appreciated more. In studying Ephesians. With you all now. While this is true.

Initially. In our faith. It never stops. It's the Holy Spirit. Who makes us. To be born again. To see. And enter the kingdom. But then he. Continues to do that. He continues.

To make us. See the kingdom of heaven. And enter further in. Jesus preached. In John 3. 3. He said. Most assuredly. I say to you. Unless one is born again. By the Holy Spirit.

He cannot. See. The kingdom. Of God. When the gospel. Reached your ears. The Holy Spirit. Shone the light of God.

The light of Christ. On your heart. Your inner being. And he made you alive. And he called you. To himself. In a powerful way. You were that lost sheep.

You heard the loving voice. Of your good shepherd. And you. You had to follow him. Jesus said you would. My sheep. Know my voice. And they follow me.

That initial. Taste. Makes you hungry. For more. And so. The Holy Spirit. Now. Will give you more. And more. And more.

By faith. More of Christ. Until the final. Consummation. Of all things. In Christ. Which is where this prayer goes. That's not till next week. That true.

Initial. Sampling. Of union. To Christ. It makes you. Desire. That above everything else.

We want to join our prayers. Like Paul. And pray that the Holy Spirit. Will give. Each of us. And one another. And the next generation.

That's here. And that next generation. That we don't even see yet. That he'll give. This knowledge. Of the riches. Of the glory. Of his grace.

In Christ. Now. There's. A difficult phrase. At the very end. Of verse 18. And this is the part. Of my notes. I had to. Adjust a bit. After a Bible study.

This morning. With you all. Helping me. We'll call it help. No. Making it harder. It's good. So. The phrase. Is very difficult. Paul says. His inheritance.

In the saints. And our discussion. Is. Whose inheritance. Whose inheritance. Psalm 91. Psalm 94.

Says. The people of God. Are God's. Inheritance. So. There's a biblical. Principle here. And. Our previous verse. I believe. Was. Was it 14. Yeah. We're told that.

The Holy Spirit. Is the guarantee. Of our inheritance. Ephesians 1 14. The guarantee. Of our inheritance. Until the redemption. Of the purchased.

Possession. To the praise. Of his glory. So. The principles. Are both true. The people of God. Are called. In Ephesians 1 14. The purchased.

Possession. Of Christ. He purchased. With. His very own blood. We are his. Inheritance. Confirming the promises. Of the old covenant. You know. The servant of God.

All the Isaiah. Prophecies. Christ fulfills them. And he receives his people. As his prized. Possession. As his inheritance. And it's also important. That we realize.

We have no inheritance. From God. Outside of Christ. God owes us nothing. And will give us nothing. If it's not. In our union. To Christ. So. In verse 14.

He says. It's the guarantee. Of our inheritance. We do have. An inheritance. But it's. It's tied up. In our mysterious. Union to Christ. Christ receives.

All the blessings. That God. The father promised him. Way back. Before the foundation. Of the world. And the covenant. Of redemption. And having completed. This covenant. Of redemption. Jesus Christ.

Secures all the blessings. Of an inheritance. And for those. Who are. In Christ. United to him. This is. Your inheritance. Our inheritance. With Christ.

Which is his inheritance. We have nothing. Outside of him. With all the saints. Or in all the saints. Or among all the saints. If I try to paraphrase it. Differently than that. It's going to be incomplete.

But this pulls us into all of his word. I mean. You can picture the. The entrance to a beautiful cave. Packed full of jewels. And they all fit together. Gloriously. This pulls us in.

And it makes us want to dig through. All of God's word. What I want to press home for us. And encourage us. With is this. The inheritance.

In the saints. It means that the inheritance. That is through Christ. Which Christ gives to the saints. It's not something for an individual Christian.

To think of. In isolation. It binds us. With the church. A parallel passage. Helps clarify this. Colossians 1.12.

Paul writes. God has qualified us. To be partakers. Of the inheritance. Of the saints. In the light. An inheritance.

Children. Boys and girls. An inheritance. Is an. An estate. Something of value. It could be a piece of land. A big pile of money. A house.

Or a business. Which the law. Casts. On a child. Or another person. As the representative. Of their ancestor.

Who has left it. In. Their name. That's a definition. Of inheritance. So imagine with me. For a moment. And you're going to hear.

Some of my own flesh. Coming out. Probably in this illustration. Imagine your family. Had to travel. To a funeral. Of a great. Grandparent. I'm speaking to.

Our boys and girls now. And there you are. Your parents. Your aunts and uncles. Everybody is. Is gathered around. And they sit you down. And a man walks in. With a dark suit.

And he starts to read something. And what he's reading. Is what. Your great grandparents. Had left back. You find out. That they owned.

I'm just picking up. Big numbers. I have no ideas. If these are accurate. But let's say they owned. 4,000 acres. Of land. In one of the most. Beautiful parts. Of the world.

That you can imagine. This property. Has a lake. You can swim in. And fish in. And there's also. Cattle. That are sold. Every year. Bringing in.

A lot of money. There's a mansion. And this land. Is also rented out. To farmers. And their rent. Pays to the owners. Of this land.

10 million dollars. A year. And all of this. Is left. As an inheritance. For all you. Grandkids. To enjoy together. And then this man.

In the suit. Shows you. See each of your names. Is written right here. This is legally yours. It's your. Inheritance. It's all yours. Now. This is the language.

That Paul is using. Speaking to the church. This. This hope. Of your calling. In Christ. He prays. That the spirit.

Will cause them. To. To grasp. What are the riches. Of the glory. Of Christ's inheritance. In all the saints. All that Christ.

Has secured. Church. Is yours. And hit. In Christ. away. We might think that a big farm is a rich inheritance. But if you are in Christ, he promises you will inherit not just a farm.

You'll inherit the whole earth. The new heavens and the earth are yours. You will rule with Christ at the consummation of all things. You and I can sit here in this dark world and dream of owning a house.

Made out of plywood and whatever other materials they come up with. And Jesus has this call to us, the hope of our inheritance in him. He says, I am going ahead to prepare for you a mansion in my father's house that you will dwell with me.

It's so much better than anything we could imagine of this world. The glorious inheritance we will enjoy in Christ will be shared with our brothers and sisters.

With all that he has redeemed. Second Timothy 4.8 says, all those who have loved his appearing. The closer we get to Christ, remember, the more we will love what he loves.

And he loves you, his church, so much that he gave his life for you. And he rose from the dead for you so that you could be with him in his father's house.

Christ delights in sharing his rich inheritance that he secured with you, his family, his bride. And we receive his promises.

We follow his call. We start to look forward to enjoying God and the lamb consummated in our glorified bodies. But not alone. We look forward to Christ with those Christ loves.

With each other. We want to see the joy of all his saints being with him. And us in Christ together. As part of that great multitude.

His beloved. It's a beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ. Like the church in Ephesus, you, as a local church right here, you are evidence of God's good pleasure.

His eternal decree. Your faith is the fruit of God's counsel. Your Christian love one for another is the proof of God's election. Your worship is evidence that the Holy Spirit is actively working out all that God purposed in Christ before he laid earth's foundations.

So church, praise God for one another. That's what Paul does. Praise God for each other. And let's learn to pray with Paul for one another.

And for every church of Christ in the same way. That the Holy Spirit will continue to minister. Continue to show us, his church, even more of the glorious hope we have in Christ.

May his spirit give us a fervent yearning and this confident expectation in that final glory that he has promised to all who receive him by faith.

The Holy Spirit is ministering this hope to you and me today. He's the one who opens our eyes. He causes us to trust in Christ, to rest in him and to taste again this marvelous greatness of our salvation in Jesus Christ.

May we know more of the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. May we rejoice as Christ's kingdom advances and join our prayers to the prayers of Christ.

Thanking God for all that his Holy Spirit is working out in our lives, in our church and around the world for his glory. Let's pray.

Oh Lord, we praise you. You are mighty. It's only by your spirit that we can understand and receive these promises that you have secured for us.

I pray, Lord, that by your spirit, you will minister this to your church today. That you'll settle us, Lord, in this great hope of our calling. That we'll continue to hear our good shepherd's voice.

That we'll continue to follow you day by day. That you'll be glorified, Lord, in our lives and in this congregation, we pray. Amen.