This is the time of year and the week of the year that has been set aside, at least in our country, to count our blessings. And ultimately, we know that all blessings come from God. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 45 that God makes his son rise on the evil and on the good. And sends rain on the just and the unjust.

And we have so many blessings that are like that. That we share with the rest of humanity. That all people receive these kinds of blessings from God. And I would take it so far that we share a lot of blessings with the rest of creation. You know, rain and sunshine is something that's beneficial to plant and animal life.

And everything that God has created. And so there are blessings that we share across the board. But as Christians, in Christ, there are a myriad of other blessings that are unique, specifically to us. And while physical blessings are easy to see and name, they are physical after all, which means they're right there in front of us, we see them and acknowledge them.

Spiritual blessings, on the other hand, are more lasting and more important, even if sometimes they're a little harder to see and conceptualize. So if we counted our spiritual blessings, what would that look like? May I suggest that Ephesians chapter 1 is a great place to look and get started with that.

So if you have your Bible with you, would you take it out and turn to Ephesians chapter 1? Ephesians chapter 1. We'll start reading in verse three. As you're turning there a couple of things. Thank you for being here, especially our visitors. We have returning visitors tonight We're grateful for your presence.

And if you did not get one of those bright Neon greenish yellow handouts and you'd like one of those There are some gentlemen that can get get one of those to you If you would like one of those handouts for the lesson tonight as we see these spiritual blessings that we have in Jesus Christ.

Ephesians chapter 1 in verse 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. What a powerful statement that is. Every spiritual blessing In the heavenly places in Christ and Paul goes on to Enumerate those blessings or at least some of those blessings in verses 4 through 14 But what's interesting to me is what paul includes maybe in some ways.

It's interesting what he doesn't include as well Paul doesn't include any physical blessings that we receive from god He doesn't talk at all about our daily bread like jesus taught us to pray There's nothing about our families as important and powerful and and as big of a blessing as those are And even some of the spiritual blessings that might immediately come to mind for us are not mentioned by Paul here.

He doesn't talk about the power of prayer and that we have an intercessor in Jesus Christ who takes our petitions to God our Father. It is an interesting and thought provoking list that Paul gives us, beginning in verse 4. And I've preached out of this section many times. I think it's a vital section of Scripture.

In fact, I have Ephesians chapter 1 memorized because it's something that I come back to time and time again. But in all the times that I've preached on this here and other places, I've never listed these blessings in my own words, in a summarized sort of way that's easy to understand. And I'm not saying that I can make the list better than what Paul actually makes it in the text, but I do want to make it simpler and more to the point this evening so that we can really see.

Clearly what these blessings are and hopefully appreciate them more that as Christians in Christ We receive these blessings from our God and father I want to do that this evening as a jumping off point for you to think about your spiritual blessings That you have in Jesus Christ, so we'll consider the seven spiritual blessings in Christ that are found in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 4 through 14.

The first of these spiritual blessings is God's foreknowledge and God's planning. So, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as, so this is Paul's way of saying, here's the list, I'm starting, just as, number one, He chose us to be.

in him before the foundation. God planned and chose to bring people to heaven. And he started those plans before the foundation of the world. Before God even said, let there be light. He knew that he was going to make mankind, and he knew he was going to bring some of them to heaven to be with him. Now some, some of us wouldn't want to come.

And there are going to be some who scorn me, God knew, but to those who accept my relationship, God says, I'm going to bring them to be with me. I have chosen them. God made a decision, a determination that long before the world was created and set in motion, He made a plan to bring people to Him. What Paul is saying is this idea of people coming to God is something that God has always wanted.

And that it is possible to go to heaven, to be with God. It is what God wants, and God shows that because it is what He planned for. Another way of putting this, this spiritual blessing is, God is not just making this up as He goes along. Our God is so powerful, and so mighty, That he had a plan for all of this before he even set things in motion.

If you want to turn to Ephesians chapter 3, we see that there in verse 10. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 10.

Talking about the mystery that is revealed in Jesus Christ that we'll talk about here in just a second. To the intent that now The manifold wisdom, the revealed wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So, if you want to count your blessings, count the blessing that God has foreknowledge. But even more, it's not just God looking ahead to see what's going to happen. God planned from before the foundation of the world. for you and I to have the opportunity to be saved. The second blessing that I would point out is our spiritual family in the church.

Keep reading there. That we should be holy and without blame before Him, in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself. Now, predestined is a really strong word. He predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself. I can make a choice about something, and earlier it says He chose us in verse 4.

Now, Paul's doubling down. He predestined us. I can choose something, but I can't choose it. predestined something. I can hope something's going to happen. I can expect something is going to happen. I can anticipate in a moment that something is going to happen. I played, I played safety in high school on the football team.

So that's part of your job as a safety, right? Is to anticipate that this is where the pass is going to go and I'm going to get there before the pass gets there to either intercept it or knock it away. But I can't predestine from before the play begins that I'm going to make an interception on this play.

God has that kind of power. And if it's predestined, it is going to happen. So what was it that God predestined in this in this section? And just as importantly, how is God predestining? How does God make this happen? Well, the Calvinist would say that God messes around with you to make that happen. The Calvinist says that God controls us or zaps us.

Maybe that's offensive. He, he, he acts upon us in some way to make it happen. And you don't really have a lot of say in that, because God predestined it, and God just makes it happen in you. But that doesn't really fit. Not, it doesn't fit in Ephesians, and it doesn't fit in the rest of the Bible either.

Marking your spot there in Ephesians 1, turn very quickly to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8.

Romans chapter 8, verse 28. Now this is about God's providence, another spiritual blessing that we have. But notice what he says there in verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good, to what people? To those who love God, to those who are the called, we might say the chosen, according to His purpose, for whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called. Whom he called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these he also glorified. So who are these people he predestined and called and justified and glorified? Go back to verse 28. All things work together for good to those who love God. The ones who are called and predestined is the type of person that really loves God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Not the ones that God arbitrarily chooses. You know, I choose you, I choose you, I don't choose you, I don't choose you. But instead it is those who choose to accept Him. It is conditional in nature. It's the same way that we might choose candidates for a job. I, I put a job posting out there and I say these are the requirements for this job.

And if somebody meets this criteria, meets these requirements, qualifications, then this person can receive this job. It might be like a teacher determining, well who's going to get an A in this class, who's going to get a B in this class, who's going to get a C in this class. I don't say, well Daniel's going to get an A and Preston's going to get a C at the beginning.

What I say is this, although Daniel likes that, I say this is the criteria. And if either one of these meet that criteria, I have predetermined. that someone who meets this criteria is ultimately going to receive this grade. And so too for God, he says, I have, I have predestined and called the kind of person who chooses to love me.

And that kind of person, he says, well, I'm going to make them part of my spiritual family in the church. Now, some people have a hard time accepting this kind of group explanation of biblical predestination that God chose. Before the foundation of the world that he would save a certain type or class of person.

That those who love him in faith would be the people he would bring to himself in Christ. That this group of people who fit these conditions would be who God would save, rather than arbitrarily choosing individuals. But the reality is, we don't have any problem with that if we call it by a different name.

What is the name of that group of people that God chose to save. The Church. The Church is people. That's what it is. It's a group of saved people. And God, God determined. He chose that His Church, the Church of Jesus Christ, is people. was going to be saved. And it's the very same sort of thinking that's seen later in the book of Ephesians with direct parallels to these two verses.

Where else did God say something was going to be holy and without blame or without blemish before Him? Well, think about this. In Ephesians chapter 1, He says that this kind of person that He predestined is going to be holy and without blame before Him. And if we turn over to Ephesians chapter 5, we see another place where he talks about something being holy and without blame or without blemish.

What is it? Well, read with me. Husbands, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify her and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church. Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she should be, listen, holy and without blemish.

Did God choose before the foundation of the world That the church would be holy and without blemish before him in love. Maybe you don't understand the question. Let me ask it again. Did God choose before the foundation of the world that the church, the saved people of his church, would be holy and without blame before him in love?

Oh, that's better. Yes. Absolutely, he did. And that is the exact same phrase in Greek for this group, this type of people. But the connections don't end there. We see that this group of people is to the glory of His grace, and it's a glorious church. In love, He predestined us by Jesus Christ, and Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.

He adopted this group of people to Himself, and we see that ultimately, He's going to present the church to Himself as well. And so this is the group of people. that we would call the family of God, that group of saved individuals, the people predestined to be His family. And that includes our relationship with fellow Christians as brothers and sisters in Christ.

That's a spiritual blessing that we have. It includes God as our Father, And all of the implications of having the creator of the universe as our father. And it includes Christ as our husband, if we use the metaphor from Ephesians chapter 5. And all of the benefits of having Christ Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, as someone who's in that kind of relationship with us.

It is because of this blessing, that we are part of this spiritual family in the church, that I, that I know where I fit. That I, I really belong. And it's because of this spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ that is according to, if we keep reading, the good pleasure of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace.

And so the third blessing that I want us to see is God's graciousness and God's care. Why did God do this? I mean, it cost Him a lot to do this. He created all of this. He planned all of this. And He chose and predestined that a group of people were going to come to Him And it is because of His nature that He did this, that He is a kind and good and gentle God who wants people to come to Him.

It was in His kindness that He did all of this. And we praise God to the praise of the glory of His grace that says there at the beginning of verse 6. We praise God not just for the grace that He has shown in the things that He has done, But even more so, we praise Him because of His graciousness in showing it, because of His character, because of His nature.

And what a blessing, a spiritual blessing that it is that God is gracious and God cares for us. Imagine a God with the kind of power that God has, who was not gracious, who did not care. Thank God for His graciousness. And count your blessings. That God is gracious as it relates to us specifically if I were to ask you to list What is the greatest spiritual blessing that we have in Christ as it relates to you personally and individually?

I think you would probably come up with the next one. Our fourth spiritual blessing is forgiveness of sins Keep reading verse six, to the praise of the glory of His grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved, in him. In Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom.

So God's wisdom and God's foreknowledge, his, his prudence and understanding allowed this grace to abound toward us, this forgiveness to abound toward us. It's not just, you know, a little bit of forgiveness, you know, you get, you get a few chances and then, you know, it's all going to be, you know, That's gonna be the end of it.

It's not like Peter asked asked Jesus, How many times will I forgive my brother up to seven times? It's not certainly like the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus day. You gotta forgive somebody three times. No, it's seventy times seven kind of forgiveness. It abounds toward us because of His grace. And the greatest thing that God has done for us specifically, is that He has forgiven us.

And no other blessing would truly be possible, no other spiritual blessing would truly be possible, if God hadn't forgiven us through the blood of Jesus Christ. Yes, God's foreknowledge and planning might still be there, but, but it wouldn't amount to anything for us. We could not be a part of His family, we couldn't have that because He's holy and we, we are not.

Without forgiveness of sins, We could not have these other blessings. This is the linchpin for everything else. We were lost in sin, so God brought us back through the price of Christ's blood to give us forgiveness of sins. I've got a chance. And this is possible because God made it possible. I get salvation by obeying the gospel.

And yes, doing the things that I need to do in hearing, and believing, and repenting, and confessing, and being baptized. But all of that wouldn't be possible if God didn't first make a way for that forgiveness to be available through the sending of His Son. And so it is redemption through the blood of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins.

That is a spiritual blessing according to the riches of God's grace. If we keep reading there in verse 9, there's a nice preposition that connects this forgiveness of sins with how we become aware of it. Verse 9, having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself.

If we drop down to verse 13, he makes it even more clear. In him you also trusted after you heard what The word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. So the fifth spiritual blessing would be this. Knowledge of God's will through His word, through the word of truth, the word of God according to His will.

There is a lot of, of talk about the will of God in these verses. Verse 5, according to the good pleasure of His will. Verse 9, as we just read, made known to us the mystery of His will. In verse 11, he works all things according to the counsel of his will. But how do we know the will of God? We don't, unless it is revealed to us.

And that has been revealed to us through the word of truth, the gospel. What is the mystery? How do we know what to do and how to live in this life? In a biblical sense, and you're good Bible students, and I've taught on this before, of course, Harold has as well a mystery in a biblical sense is not something, you know, like a murder mystery.

I go and I was in a murder mystery one time. That was a lot of fun. You know, you're acting and all these sorts of things, and people have to figure out who done it, right? And there's all these clues, and we put together these clues. And there's always, you know, a few people who figure it out way ahead of everybody else, and they're kind of annoying about it.

And then you say, did they really figure it out, or are they just faking like they figured it out? This is not that kind of mystery. Where we can piece it together on our own. Instead, it is something that is unknown until it's revealed. And when God reveals it, then we know it. It's unknown and unknowable until God reveals it.

My favorite game to illustrate this, I've done this before. My favorite game is, guess what's in Reagan's pocket, right? So I put something in my pocket before I got up here. I'll even go so far as to do this. It's in this pocket right here. I'm even going to go like this so you can kind of see there's something in there.

Well, that's kind of like the Old Testament, right? So there's a shape there. There's some clues there, but it's not something we could really figure out until it is revealed. So do you know what's in my pocket? Specifically, what's in my pocket? Well, this is what it is. It's a postcard from Nelda and Joe Ruby that they sent me in 2018 that I've kept above my desk because they got me a subscription subscription.

to National Geographic History Magazine, which I thought was really cool, and so I ended up getting that for a couple of years. Now, does everybody know the mystery that is revealed? And I put it back in my pocket, maybe. Let's put it in a different pocket. Okay? Raise your hand if you know what's in this pocket.

Now, everybody does, because the mystery has been revealed. God's Word reveals what we need to know about God, about coming to God and living for God in such a way that he can and does save us. But without the word, God's will for us would be a mystery. And so it is a blessing, a great and an abundant spiritual blessing to have the knowledge of God's will through the word.

Now in Ephesians specifically, he made known the mystery that we, I'll say we, maybe it's not all of us, but But we who are Gentiles, not Jews by heritage, that we would be saved, too, in Jesus Christ. That God brought all in who are willing to come by faith. But that's not the end of God revealing the mysteries of His will.

He tells us how to be saved in Jesus Christ. He tells us how we should live, what to do, and in His kindness, Amen. He reaches out and says, this is the best way to live life so that you just don't have to stumble along in darkness. What a blessing that God has revealed the best way to live life according to his will.

And then two final things in our, our verses 10 through 14. Number six, we have obtained and or we become an inheritance. Read with me beginning in verse 10. That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times that kind of goes back to that idea of God's planning all this out for just the right time.

He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him, who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ, whether that's the apostles or the Jews, should be to the praise of His glory.

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. Now I'm reading from the New King James this evening and it talks about how we have obtained an inheritance and how it's our inheritance.

There's a difficulty in translating the Greek here because it can go either way about who it is ultimately that's receiving an inheritance. The old American standard which is the most literal of our English translations says we have been made. We have been made an inheritance, is another way of putting that.

So we are claimed by God as His inheritance. Not something that we get, but something that we are. Are both of those things true? Absolutely. Both of those things are true. That we have received an inheritance from God, that is incorruptible, undefiled, reserved in heaven for us, as Peter put it. But it's also true that we become, we have been made an inheritance to God as well.

That's swimming in the deep end of the pool to me. I, I get the idea that as a child of God I receive an inheritance from Him and, and the spiritual life that is to come and all of that's reserved in Heaven for me and, and I'm waiting to receive this inheritance from God. But in some ways it's just as impactful to realize that I am God's inheritance as well.

And that's what I suspect these verses are really talking about. God's gonna redeem His purchased possession. Who is that? That's you and me. We're His purchased possession paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. And if you drop down to verse 18, he says, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.

That you might know what is the hope of his calling? You might call that our inheritance. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and the exceeding greatness of his power in Jesus Christ? Verse 18 says that we should know the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, which brings us to the final blessing that we see in these verses.

Verse seven, we are sealed. with the Holy Spirit of promise. Read verses 13 and 14 with me again if you would please. In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed you were sealed With the Holy Spirit of Promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession to the praise of his glory.

Soon as we start, start talking about the Holy Spirit, a lot of times our, our thinking goes kind of mystical, but, but may I suggest that this is just as much practical as it is mystical, sealed in the sense of being stamped. What does a seal do? Well, I have a seal right here. Stephanie ordered this for me in the mail.

So I have this seal, and you can put some wax on this. So you put some wax on this, and you could seal an envelope like this, right? And it's got markings on it. But what does a seal do? Think, think about into the ancient world and the way they would have used a seal like this. The way a, a king, for example, might use a seal.

A signet ring with that same sort of concept. What was a seal used for? Well, a seal completes something. The old song, was that from the 50s? Signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours, right? So there's a completion there, it is complete. It also, number two, authenticates something. A seal shows that this is an official document.

When I was a little boy, my grandmother was the county district clerk for Dickens County, and I remember going and sitting at this high bar where people would come in, in order to be waited on for various documents, and she's got this huge You know, state of Texas seal. And I'm, I'm stamping all these documents, right?

So there's all kinds of illegitimate documents floating around out there. But that's saying this is official. I'm authenticating this. It also secures something. You remember what they requested about Jesus when the stone was rolled into place? They wanted to seal it with a ring or a stamp showing that this is secure and you're not supposed to open it.

But maybe, as much as anything else, a seal displays ownership. That same song, Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours. Right? We do that with cattle. We brand cattle. That's a type of seal that shows there's ownership. A number of years ago, I got this present. I don't remember who this was from. Somebody in my family, was this from you?

I don't remember. This is from Stephanie. It was so wonderful. I'm so glad Stephanie gave me this. And this is a stamp or a seal that says, From the Library of Reagan A. McClinney. Okay? So, I've got a book right here that I got a while back. Relationships in Messianic Times. Some great bedtime reading. When I was teaching the book of Philemon, right?

And so, this book is mine, right? I, I got it, I paid for it, those sorts of things. But, if I take this book, I picked one out where I haven't done this yet, and I take this stamp,

and I seal it, I knew that this book was mine. But now everybody else knows that this book is mine as well, right? So the Holy Spirit is working in that same sort of way. That we are sealed by the Holy Spirit in the sense of belonging. That we belong to God because we have His Spirit in us. We are patterned after the Spirit.

We are patterned after Christ. When we become Christians, we are like Jesus. We read from Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30 this morning. Go, turn there again if you would please. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30. Thank you, Eric. I've got too much stuff up here. Chapter 4 and verse 30. In regard to our speech, it says, if we're speaking corrupting words, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed, for the day of redemption.

Why would the Holy Spirit be grieved? Now we talked about how the Spirit is the one who gives words and all those sorts of things, but if we boil it down in a simpler sort of way, the Holy Spirit would be grieved because you are sealed by Him. but you are not acting like it. You are supposed to belong to God.

You are supposed to be authentic Christians, but you're not acting like Christians, you're acting like sinners. And so that grieves the Holy Spirit. You're supposed to be sealed by me, and yet you're not acting in that way. So what is it that identifies us as the children of God? What identifies us that we belong to God?

When we have the Spirit of our Father in us, He marks us as His. We are like Him. The same sort of terminology is used in Ephesians chapter 3, beginning in verse 14. Ephesians chapter 3, beginning in verse 14.

For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family, And heaven and earth is named. That's us. That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might. through his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you may be filled With all the fullness of God, His Spirit in the inner man, Christ dwelling in our hearts, we being filled with all the fullness of God.

The Spirit dwells in us, and Christ dwells in us, and God dwells in us when we become like them and act like. This is the guarantee, he says, in verse 14 of chapter 1, the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. The guarantee or down payment, we might say, earnest money.

You ever been to an auction? You know, you, you hold up the paddle, and they say, yes, you win, you get this item. But you don't get it right then, or at least, I've never been to an auction where you get the item right away. You know, they don't take the cow up into the stands and say, there you go, there's the thing that you bought.

Instead, there's something to designate it as yours, whether that's a number, or a tag, or whatever, until you can take possession. of the item that you've bought. We are God's possession. And He has sealed or branded us with the Spirit. And this is proof that we are His, until He comes to take possession of us, as His possession.

What does God get out of all of this? I asked earlier. The answer to that question is, God gets,

that's why He did all this. That's why He sent His Son, to receive to Himself, His people. And how very special. Must that spiritual relationship be that God was willing to make the sacrifices that he has that we might come and be with him? This is what God has wanted all along. We are what is purchased and how amazing must this relationship in heaven be that God was willing to do things that hurt him and hurt his son so that we can be there with him eternally.

I am God's inheritance as a child of God and so are you. And I want to make that inheritance as great as possible. We think about inheritance and we say, well, what do we want to leave our children for an inheritance? What do I want to leave my God? What a blessing that He wants me and He wants you too.

Well, that's Paul's list. Paul has had his turn to talk about spiritual blessings. What spiritual blessings would you add to this list? We've had seven there on your handout. I've left you room for seven more. You can do that, or more, or less. But here's what I would ask you to do. This is your assignment if you choose to accept it.

Don't just count your physical blessings this Thanksgiving. But count and thank God for your spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ. And if you're not yet in Christ, the sad reality is these blessings aren't yours, at least not yet. But God has a plan to bring you into His family by His grace. Your sins can be forgiven if you will learn His will and do it.

Being given and becoming an inheritance with the seal of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee. And if you know what you need to do in order to enter into the family of God, even this evening, to get into Christ, be baptized into Christ, because certainly there is no salvation or blessings outside of Him, we would love to help you with that if you'll come now while together we stand and while we sing.

Make me a fool