Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to Genesis chapter 25.
! Made it about halfway through the book of Genesis, if you can believe it.
Genesis chapter 25. We're going to be in verses 1 through 26 of Genesis 25 this morning.
Miss Ann shared in the Grow Class Hour that she's going to be a great grandma again.
And we've got a lot of good baby name ideas here in this chapter.
So you can pass these along as you see fit.
Genesis 25, 1 through 26. Let's stand this morning in honor of the reading of the Word of God.
Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah.
She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Midan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shua.
Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan.
The sons of Dedan were Asherim, Letushim, and Lumim.
The sons of Midian were Ephah, Ephor, Hanak, and Abedah, and Eldah.
All these were the children of Keturah.
Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.
But to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts.
And while he was still living, he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.
These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years.
Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.
Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar, the Hittite, east of Mamre,
the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites.
There Abraham was buried with Sarah, his wife.
After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac, his son.
And Isaac settled at Beir Lahairoi.
These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar, the Egyptian, Sarah's servant, bore to Abraham.
These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth.
Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar, Abdeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Duma, Massa, Hadad, Tima, Jatur, Nefish, and Kedema.
These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their villages and by their encampments.
Twelve princes according to their tribes.
These are the years of the life of Ishmael, 137 years.
He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.
They settled from Habilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria.
He settled over against all his kinsmen.
These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son.
Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean, of Paddan Aram,
the sister of Laban, the Aramean, to be his wife.
And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren.
And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived.
The children struggled together within her, and she said,
If it is thus, why is this happening to me?
So she went to inquire of the Lord.
And the Lord said to her,
Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided.
The one shall be stronger than the other.
The older shall serve the younger.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Father, we pray now as we open up your word, would you speak once more through the preaching of your word.
Help us to see your hand at work in all things.
Help us to be amazed, Father, that you often decide and choose, not based on our wisdom,
and not how we might do things, not how we would write it up, but Lord, according to your infinite wisdom.
And we pray your name be praised this morning.
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
Earlier this year, Warren Buffett announced his plans to step down as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway,
saying that now at the age of 94, he finally felt like he was starting to slow down a little bit,
and the time had come to appoint his successor.
If you don't know who Warren Buffett is, Warren Buffett is just an icon in the business world,
in the world of finance.
He's run Berkshire Hathaway for about 50 years,
and in that time, he has accumulated a net worth of about in the ballpark of $160 billion.
That's billion with a B.
Okay, that's astronomical.
And the company itself, Berkshire Hathaway, has a market cap of over $1 trillion.
And so you can imagine when you think about a transition like this,
with as much as is at stake in a transition like this,
the natural question, of course, is, well, who gets to be the heir?
Who is up next?
Who's up next in the Berkshire Hathaway world?
So as we close the chapter on Warren Buffett, who is the heir?
And he didn't keep us waiting.
He very quickly and publicly endorsed a man named Greg Abel.
As his successor.
He said that he knew that Abel was the right candidate
when he saw how much more Greg Abel could accomplish in a 10-hour workday
than the 94-year-old Warren Buffett could accomplish in a 10-hour workday.
He said that he is, by all accounts, the logical, reasonable choice.
He understands the business.
He's well qualified.
He's reliable.
He's good with people.
He's a great leader.
He's a hard worker.
By all accounts, he is the obvious choice.
And, you know, that is how things ought to work in the world of business,
in the world of finance, especially with something this large and this massive, right?
You would not want a dark horse candidate taking over.
You don't want any surprises.
You want to go with the reasonable, obvious choice.
But that's in the world of finance.
That's the way we tend to operate.
What we see in our passage this morning is that God's planning, God's choosing doesn't usually work this way.
And we've seen in the book of Genesis that the Lord God is owner of all the earth.
He's created it all.
It all belongs to him by right.
He's the owner of a much greater enterprise than Berkshire Hathaway.
The Lord is king of all the world.
And as king, he alone has the right to determine who might inherit this incredible fortune.
But again, as we see in our passage this morning, he doesn't often choose as you and I might expect.
Now our passage this morning is a transitional text.
We're closing the chapter on Abraham and now we're wondering naturally,
well who will become heir of the promises God made to Abraham?
What will become of these promises?
What will become of his inheritance?
Who gets to be next up?
And you can imagine how that would be an important question for the immediate family.
And it'll shape the family dynamics here for years to come.
But we should also recognize this morning, church, this is also an important question for us.
Who gets to be an heir of the promises made to Abraham?
How is one made an heir?
How does God choose?
By what standard?
I want us to see this morning three wrong answers to that question this morning.
This will be our outline if you're taking notes, help you follow along.
Three wrong answers.
Three ways we are not made heirs of the promises of God.
First, first wrong answer.
First, no one is made an heir by birth.
No one is made an heir by birth.
Look there starting in verse 1 with me.
And we see here that after Sarah's death, Abraham, he married again.
Even at his old age, he married again.
He had other children.
And we have a whole new family line to trace here.
A whole new family tree.
There's now six new children.
Seven grandchildren.
Three great-grandchildren.
I won't rehearse their names again.
I'll be merciful to you.
But just think about how far we've come here in Abraham's life, right?
I mean, it took a while for Abraham to start multiplying.
But now, it's like his family tree is just, it's exploding.
And do you remember what the problem used to be?
The problem used to be, he's looking around trying to find anybody to step up and be an heir, right?
But now, it's like he's got all sorts of children.
They're multiplying like rabbits, okay?
Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren.
God has blessed him and multiplied him greatly.
But notice here the priority that he gives to Isaac.
All these kids.
But, verse 5, it says Abraham gives all that he has to Isaac.
Why?
Because, you remember, God has promised.
It's through Isaac that your offspring shall be named.
It's through Isaac that this promise will be continued.
It's through Isaac, ultimately, that the promised Messiah will come.
Verse 6 says that Abraham, yes, he gave gifts to his other kids.
But then, look at this.
He sends them away.
Out of the promised land.
They go east.
Why?
Again, because God has promised this land to Abraham and to his descendants.
Not to all his physical descendants, but it is through Isaac.
Abraham's looking ahead here.
He doesn't want them competing and threatening Isaac's inheritance.
And so, off they go.
And notice where they go, too.
Off to the east.
That has some echoes of Eden, doesn't it?
You remember how Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord.
They were in the promised land.
This perfect garden paradise with the Lord.
They sin.
And where do they go?
Off to the east.
Here, the sons of Abraham, physical descendants of Abraham, are sent out of the promised land to the east, away from the promises.
Moses, as he compiles this book of Genesis, he's reminding us that the promises of God are now passing down to and through Isaac.
This is a pretty huge moment here for the Jewish people.
This is the death of a father of the faith.
Abraham was a giant of the faith.
He's a hero in the first portion of Genesis here.
But now, in verses 7 through 11, we see that his time has come.
He, like all of us, is tasting death.
And we're moving on.
Abraham lives 175 years.
He dies an old man full of years, verse 8 tells us.
Isaac and Ishmael bury their father in the cave that he purchased from Ephron.
It's his only legal piece of property here in the promised land to this point.
Abraham is gone.
So again, the natural question is,
Who gets to be the heir?
Who is the next man up?
And how do we know?
How do we decide?
By what standard?
Abraham's already showed us his faith in God's promises.
He gave everything he had to Isaac.
All his eggs are in this basket.
But what will God do now?
Verse 11.
We see this passing of the torch, so to speak, here after the death of Abraham.
It says,
After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac, his son.
Now, didn't we just list out about 100 different names?
How many children does Abraham have at this point?
And yet, there's an undeniable priority here given to Isaac.
Do you see it?
But why?
Why Isaac?
What's so special about Isaac?
I mean, all these sons, they're all biological children of Abraham too.
Why not Ishmael?
Or Zimram?
Or Jokshan?
Or all these other guys?
What about Shua?
We hardly even know these guys' names, right?
But they're still children of Abraham, aren't they?
Only according to the flesh.
Here's the point that we need to understand here.
Physical descent from Abraham does not make you an heir of the promises made to Abraham.
Paul picks up on this in Romans chapter 9.
He says,
Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.
Not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.
But, he quotes,
Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
The promises of God are not inherited by physical descent.
Physical birth does not necessarily make you an heir of the promises.
You all know I love basketball.
I follow the NBA pretty closely.
But I think you all probably know what I'm about to share with you.
You know who LeBron James is, right?
Okay, show of hands.
Do you know who Bronny James is?
Show of hands.
Okay, LeBron made basketball history last season to be the first NBA player ever to play on the same team as his son, Bronny.
Right?
And no disrespect whatsoever to Bronny James.
He is an excellent basketball player.
Better than I've ever been, for sure.
But he is not LeBron James.
At the back of his jersey says James.
Plays in the purple and gold just like his father does.
But you watch him play.
Man, he is not the heir to his father's throne.
When LeBron retires, I'm pretty sure LeBronny will probably go with him.
Right?
He's riding his father's coattails into the league and onto the Lakers.
And we may laugh about that, but church, many people who profess the name of Christ
are trying to ride their father's coattails into the kingdom.
But we should know it doesn't work that way.
Your father may have been an excellent Christian man.
Your mother may have been an excellent Christian woman.
You may have been raised up in a godly Christian home.
And we praise God for that.
But listen, that does not make you a Christian.
Man, I heard a stat this week.
Al Mohler was answering a question in a Q&A.
And so if his statistic is off, that's him.
He had it off.
But he said, quote,
From the best we can tell, more than 90% of believers are children of believers.
And that's incredible, isn't it?
If you have come to faith in Christ, that will be an incredible blessing for your whole family.
It's just a gift of proximity to the gospel.
There's an incredible grace that comes from being part of a Christian family.
You're around the gospel.
You're around the word of God.
You're around the community of faith.
And ordinarily, God will use this.
Ordinarily, not always.
Ordinarily, God will use this in powerful ways in the lives of children of believers.
But, please understand, proximity to Jesus does not save anyone.
Proximity to a believing community does not save anyone.
Having a Bible in your home does not save anyone.
Having a father who is a pastor does not save anyone.
Having a mother who is a faithful church member for generations does not save anyone.
Having a long history, a Christian lineage in your family tree does not save anyone.
God has many children, no grandchildren.
You must personally be born again into the kingdom of God.
Natural descent does not make anyone an heir of the promises.
That's the first wrong answer.
Number two.
No one is made an heir by God's general blessing.
His general blessing in their lives.
Look there to verse 12.
We take a quick detour here.
Away from Isaac.
And we get this.
The generations of Ishmael.
And we get some clear reminders here of who Ishmael is.
He makes it pretty clear for us that he is not the heir.
He is Abraham's son.
Yes, physically.
He is Abraham's descendant.
But verse 12, he says he is the son of the flesh.
This is the son whom Hagar, the Egyptian, Sarah's servant, bore to Abraham.
He is not the child of promise.
But even so, just look how God's blessed Ishmael.
And we saw this as we covered Ishmael's story.
Twelve sons.
Twelve princes, it says, according to their tribes.
I mean, fathers, you all know how proud you are of your children if they just draw you a picture and hand it to you?
It's like this is the greatest thing I've ever seen.
Right?
You are proud of the accomplishments of your children.
Ishmael here is like, oh yeah, my sons, all twelve of them are princes.
Right?
Now some of them.
No, all of them.
Twelve princes.
They are wildly successful.
The Lord has blessed Ishmael and his family tremendously.
And again, all of this is fulfillment of promise, isn't it?
You remember how the Lord met Hagar out in the wilderness and promised her in chapter 16.
He said, I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.
God's making good on his promise.
You remember how he promised Abraham in chapter 17.
He said, as for Ishmael, I've heard you.
I've blessed him.
I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly.
Listen to how specific this is.
He shall father twelve princes and I will make him into a great nation.
This is direct fulfillment of the promise of God.
Twelve princes here from Ishmael.
God says, I'm going to do this.
I'm going to bless him greatly.
But, he said all the way back in chapter 17, I will establish my covenant with Isaac.
God never wavers on this.
He has made a distinction.
He's going to bless Ishmael, yes.
But that blessing does not make him an heir.
It becomes even more clear in chapter 22.
You remember Isaac was born and Ishmael's laughing at him.
He mocks his younger brother and Sarah doesn't like it, does she?
So, prophetically, what does she say?
She cast him out.
Cast out this slave woman with her son.
For the son of the slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.
Very clearly.
God is blessing both.
But God is choosing one.
Isaac over Ishmael.
Now, we hear that and we say, well, that's not fair.
That's not equal.
I grew up in the participation trophy generation.
Where everybody gets a participation award.
Everything's even.
Everything's equal.
Everything's fair.
This isn't about fair.
God is working out a sovereign plan to redeem the world by Christ.
God is working out a plan here for undeserved, unmerited, unearned, abounding grace to sinners.
You know what fair would be, right?
Fair would be no promise whatsoever.
Fair would be no salvation whatsoever.
Fair would be no blessing whatsoever to any kind of sinner like us.
That would be fair.
But even so, here he says, I'm going to make a nation of the son of the slave woman also because he's your offspring.
I'm going to bless Ishmael greatly.
I'm going to fulfill every promise to him.
He's going to live a long life.
But notice, just like the other sons of Abraham, they go and live outside the promised land.
Where do they go?
They go off to Shur in the direction of Assyria.
Yes, they are blessed.
But that general blessing of God does not make them heirs.
You remember the term for this.
We've seen it before.
Ishmael benefits from what we call common grace.
Common grace.
This is the goodness of God and the blessing, totally undeserved blessing, that God shows to all people, believer and non-believer alike.
Like every single person on the planet benefits from God's common grace.
You know how I know?
The sun came up this morning.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 5.45, the Lord makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good.
He sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
This is called common grace.
He blesses all sorts of people with life, with breath, with good gifts like laughter and family and homes and possessions.
Many non-believers will gather with their loved ones this week and give lip service of how thankful they are for God's blessings.
That's not fairness.
That's common grace.
The wages of sin is what?
It's death.
Our sins have earned us judgment.
And yet, here we are.
Every moment his wrath is delayed.
That's common grace.
In every place where the Lord restrains evil and restrains sin, that is common grace.
God pours out this blessing on the righteous and the unrighteous alike.
The word says in Psalm 145,
The Lord is good to all.
His mercy is over all that he has made.
But, let me be clear.
This grace alone is not enough to save you.
God's general blessings alone in your life are not enough to save you.
I mean, church, would you just look at where we live?
We live in a place that's just abounding in God's common grace blessings, don't we?
Everywhere we turn, there is beauty.
This little section of the world that we live in, man, it is absolutely gorgeous.
There's blessings all around.
The coast is right here.
You can go out and see the ocean just about any time you'd like.
You can go walk in the forest if that's your thing.
Many people here in town are wealthier than you could possibly imagine.
And life is pretty much just one big blessing, isn't it?
Afternoons out on the boat, around a golf or two, go meet with your financial advisor at night, a little sweet tea, and call it a day.
And many people would give lip service to a God who has blessed them with all these things.
There's a danger here that we need to be aware of.
It is so easy to be fooled into thinking that because I have so much, because God has blessed me, that must mean all is well between me and God.
God, please understand, God's common grace blessings do not make you an heir of eternal blessings.
Ishmael was greatly blessed.
Ishmael had everything he could ask for, riches, successful sons, a large family, lots of land, long life.
But he was not an heir of the promises.
Friend, we don't want to be like Ishmael, do we?
We don't only want to be blessed in ways that only matter in this life and will not last into eternity.
Has God given you life?
Praise the Lord.
As we think about all his blessings this week, has God given you health?
Praise God.
Has he given you success in your job?
Praise the Lord.
Has he given you a home?
Has he given you family?
Has God filled your life with good things?
Praise God.
Of course he has.
We have so much to be thankful for.
But friend, that is not enough to save you.
These are gifts from God, but they are not saving gifts of God.
Ask again instead.
Has God given me the gift of faith?
Has he given me faith in Christ that says he's my salvation?
He's my only hope, not my stuff.
Has God granted you the gift of repentance from your sin?
Do you hate your sin?
Not are you perfect, but are you waging war against your sin?
If he's done that, praise him.
Has he given you love for the Lord and love for the church, his people?
Do you believe that God is worthy of all your praise and all your love and all your devotion, all your worship?
That you exist for him and not the other way around?
Has God given you a new heart?
This is a work of God's saving grace.
His special grace.
And unless God does this in your life, all the common grace blessings in the world will not matter one bit in the end.
So, physical birth makes no one an heir.
Good things, blessings from God in your life don't necessarily make you an heir.
And third, wrong answer here.
Third, no one is made an heir by worldly standards.
Or you could say by human wisdom.
Look there, starting in verse 19.
And here, we're shifting the attention now.
This is going to be the trajectory for several chapters here of the book of Genesis now.
We're in the generations of Isaac.
We had that brief detour.
The generations of Ishmael, but he's not the focus.
Isaac now is going to get the attention.
And just remember where we are with Isaac's story.
Right?
So, last time we saw Isaac, he was getting ready to receive his new bride.
And now, at the age of 40, Isaac is praying for his wife because she's barren.
Now, isn't that interesting?
You know, they're struggling with the same exact issue that faced Abraham and Sarah.
And now, it's facing Isaac and Rebecca.
How in the world are we supposed to have children?
How in the world is this promise supposed to be passed down through my line when we can't reproduce?
If we can't have children, if the wife is barren, how will God's promise through Isaac will your offspring be named?
How is that going to happen?
God, it's physically impossible.
And again, just like with Abraham and Sarah, that is exactly the point.
You know, sometimes these lessons need to be repeated, don't they?
We forget.
We need a reminder.
These promises of God cannot be achieved by human effort.
The promises of God cannot be earned by human striving.
You can't do anything physically in your flesh to bring it about.
So God providentially closes Rebecca's womb to teach this lesson.
I am the one who graciously and sovereignly fulfills my purposes.
Will you trust me even when you can't do anything about it in your own flesh?
And so Isaac prays in verse 21, says the Lord granted his prayer.
And Rebecca, his wife, conceives.
He conceives.
And oh, by the way, surprise, there's two in the womb.
You go from being barren, now we got twins.
And it says these two children in the womb are fighting with each other in the womb.
And Rebecca is feeling that tension within her.
And you know how when a woman's pregnant, you can sometimes feel the baby kick.
It's kind of like that, except they're kicking each other, right?
And they're trying to tear each other apart in there.
And she prays and she says, why is this happening?
God tells her, two nations are in your womb.
Two peoples from within you shall be divided.
The one shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger.
Now notice what God just did.
God, before these two boys are even born, lays out their future.
Two nations are in your womb.
He lays out how they're going to interact.
He says they're going to be divided.
He tells her exactly what's going to happen.
They're fighting now because mom, get used to it.
They're going to be fighting their whole life.
How can God say this?
Now hopefully we know by now, God is not just looking into the looking glass of the future.
He's not just gazing into a crystal ball and seeing what may or may not happen.
Our God, the God of the book of Genesis, is omnipotent.
Meaning he is all powerful to do as he pleases.
He is omniscient.
Meaning he is all knowing.
He knows the beginning from the end.
The end from the beginning.
He is omnipresent.
His presence is everywhere at all times.
In fact, he's just as fully present one billion years in the future for us as he is right now in this present moment.
He is eternal.
Meaning he stands outside of time.
God can reveal the future like this because God is the sovereign author of the future.
Rebecca just gives like an advanced copy of the chapter that's about to be written.
God reveals the future of these two children, but he also shares something shocking here, doesn't he?
The older will serve the younger.
Now, God, what are you saying?
That would be absolutely stunning to Rebecca, wouldn't it?
What do you mean?
Why?
That's totally backwards.
That's not how we do things.
That would be totally unthinkable in this culture.
The oldest is the next son up.
He's the rightful heir.
He's the obvious choice.
He comes out first.
So logic, reason, cultural norms, everything would tell you that he ought to be the heir.
The younger ought to serve the older, not the other way around.
But God says, that's not how I'm going to do it.
I created these children.
I formed them.
I rule over them.
I have purposes for them.
Is it not within the rights of God, the creator, to choose one and not the other?
And guess what?
I am not choosing based on your wisdom.
God's wisdom is not our wisdom.
God often chooses in ways that surprise us, doesn't he?
This is what we call election.
Now, you say that word and some people get chills up and down their spine, okay?
It kind of gives people the heebie-jeebies, right?
Election.
But it's a biblical word.
It's not a bad word.
It's a biblical word.
And it means exactly what it sounds like.
Election is choosing.
When you hold an election, what do you do?
You choose one candidate and not the other.
That's election.
Well, here, God chooses Jacob and not Esau.
In fact, this story here in the Old Testament is meant to teach us some of the origins of the people of Israel.
Pretty soon, this little baby named Jacob, he's going to grow up and get a new name.
What's it going to be?
Israel.
And who is Israel here in the Old Testament?
They are God's chosen people.
Usually, if you ask somebody, if they get the heebie-jeebies with that word election,
well, who's Israel?
It's God's chosen people.
Of course they are, right?
Yes.
How did they get to be God's chosen people?
Well, we see it right here.
God miraculously formed them.
This was not the effort of man.
This was the work of God.
God graciously chose them.
That was not the doing of Jacob.
That was the work of God.
God elected them and made them heirs of his promises.
And again, Paul picks this up in Romans 9.
He makes this connection for us abundantly clear.
He says, again, not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.
Not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.
But through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God,
but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
For this is what the promise said.
He's quoting our passage.
About this time next year, I will return and Sarah shall have a son.
And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad,
in order that God's purpose of election might continue,
not because of works, but because of him who calls,
she was told the older will serve the younger.
We can look here to the Old Testament and see this undeniable truth in the life of Israel.
God's choosing, his electing, is a miracle of his grace.
Apart from any human effort.
And often contrary to human wisdom.
But church, we also can look here and see a picture of what God has done in us.
And the incredible truth is, if you are in Christ,
if you are a Christian, God has done this same exact work in us.
How did you become a Christian?
If you are a Christian,
it is because God,
in his infinite and glorious wisdom,
formed you,
and chose you in Christ,
before the foundation of the world.
God caused you to be born again.
He has made you his people.
He has covenanted himself to you in love.
He has appointed you as an heir of all the promises of God in Christ.
Praise God.
You, of all people.
You just look around and don't answer this out loud, right?
Do we look like the obvious choice to you?
To be heirs of all the world.
Co-heirs with Christ.
Rulers of the new creation.
Heirs of all the eternal blessings of God.
Those who get to spend eternity in the presence of the living Christ.
Do we look like who the world would choose?
That's not how we would draw it up.
We would all go undrafted in that draft.
If it were up to human reason.
But friend,
God does not make choices
based on human wisdom.
Praise God.
Consider your calling, brothers.
1 Corinthians.
Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards.
Not many were powerful.
Not many were of noble birth.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.
God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
God chose what is low and despised in the world.
Even the things that are not.
To bring to nothing the things that are.
Why?
So that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus.
Because of him you are in Christ Jesus.
Who became to us wisdom from God.
Righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
So that as it is written,
Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
God's choices are often surprising, aren't they?
But it's in this way that his glory and his grace are magnified.
Not in the strong and the capable.
But in the weak and the needy.
Not in those that have no need for a savior.
But in those who by his grace see their desperate need for Christ.
Now you may ask,
How do I know if he's chosen me?
How do I know if I belong to him?
How do I know if I'm an heir?
That's a good question.
Let me turn it back to you.
Do you say in your heart,
Of course God would choose me.
I'm the obvious choice.
Born into a Christian family.
My dad was a believer.
God has blessed me so much in my life.
I'm sure I'm right with him.
I got everything I need.
I saved grace before every meal.
Or are you in absolute all that God would show mercy to a sinner like you?
Are you amazed at the love of God for you?
That he would send Christ his son to live and to die and to rise for you?
I tell you church,
That type of response is a work of God's special grace.
Do you have the spirit within you?
Causing your heart to leap at the truth,
To leap at the glory of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Paul says in Romans 8,
The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
And if children, then heirs.
Fellow heirs with Christ, he says.
Provided we suffer with him,
That we also may be glorified with him.
Do you have that assurance by his spirit?
If not, then friend, what keeps you this moment from turning from your sins
And putting your faith in Christ?
The invitation of the gospel is extended broadly
To any and everyone who would turn from their sins and come to Christ.
You too will be forgiven,
Adopted,
Made heirs of every gospel promise with him.
Warren Buffet
Chose his heir because of his outstanding qualifications.
He's smart, he's educated, he's successful,
He knows what he's doing.
This makes sense in the world of business,
But church, not so with us.
We are chosen by grace.
And in him, in Christ,
We are infinitely richer than Warren Buffet.
$160 billion, man, that's a drop in the bucket.
Compared to the riches of our inheritance in Christ.
Do you believe this?
The only way anyone is made an heir is if, as 1 Peter tells us,
According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
To an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.
Kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Church, as you gather around the table this week and eat some turkey.
When it comes to be your turn to list off what are you thankful for this year.
I challenge you to turn to Ephesians 1 and read how God has blessed you in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.
That we should be holy and blameless before him.
In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.
According to the purpose of his will.
To the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved.
How in him we have obtained an inheritance.
We have obtained it as already ours.
Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.
So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Would you share and give thanks how in him you also when you heard the word of truth.
The gospel of your salvation and believed in him were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.
To the praise of his glory.
Father.
All glory and honor and praise.
All thanksgiving is owed to you.
Lord if we are an heir of your promises.
It is because of your work and your grace alone.
We praise you for it.
Lord we pray that you would receive all praise and honor and glory in us.
And in this church.
We pray thanking you for the work of Christ on our behalf.
We pray all this in Jesus name.
Amen.