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you well welcome good evening uh welcome to the evening service and um the only announcement i believe we would have would be that wednesday bible study is on as usual this this coming wednesday night and it begins at 7 30 and it's usually over by 9. so if you've not come you'd be more than welcome to to come and join us on a wednesday night well please turn with me in your bibles to psalm chapter 65 psalm 65 as our call to worship psalm 65 to the chief musician a psalm of david a song praise is waiting you o god in zion and to you the vow shall be performed o you who hear prayer to you all flesh will come iniquities prevail against me as for our transgressions you will provide atonement for them blessed is the man you choose and caused to approach you that he may dwell in your courts we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house oh your of your holy temple by awesome deeds is righteousness you will answer us oh god of our salvation you who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of the far-off seas who established the mountains by his strength being clothed with power you who still the noise of the seas the noise of their waves and the tumult of the peoples they also who dwell in the furthest parts are afraid of your signs you make the outgoings of the morning and the evening rejoice you visit the earth and water it you greatly enrich it the river of god is full of water you provide their grain for so you have prepared it you water its ridges abundantly you settle its furrows you make it soft with showers you bless its growth you crown the year with your goodness and your paths drip with abundance they drop on the pastures of the wilderness and the little hills rejoice on every side the pastures are clothed with flocks the valleys are also covered with grain they shout for joy they also sing amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to the first hymn which is 68 b as in bob 68 b and i'll ask you to please stand is oh uh is [Music] is is [Music] oh is me our gracious and our loving heavenly father we come into your holy presence this evening through your son the lord jesus christ we're grateful father for the fact that we have this day to worship you this day set aside in our week to seize from our daily labors our regular laborers and and to come in from out of the world and have this place of rest have this place of of refuge uh this uh this this pasture as it were to feed upon and we thank you father for having instituted the lord's day for giving to us uh you are a gracious god a kind god the fact that you would even compel us to rest come in and and rest and enjoy your presence enjoy you uh truly god you are you are a great god you are a kind god and so we come this evening uh with our prayers with our petitions with our requests but also with our praises that that you have uh looked upon us so kindly in giving to us your son your only son the lord jesus christ to come into this world to live a perfect life so that he might die a perfect death as a sacrifice on our behalf we praise you for the the the blessedness of of of the lord jesus christ and that justification that is ours through him we thank you for that precious blood that was spilt uh not for his sake but rather for our sake and so we come here this evening father as as as those who who are redeemed as those who come rejoicing uh for the great salvation that is ours and we pray lord that you'd receive our praises and receive uh our adoration our worship and even as we reflected in that in that hymn and in the psalm we read uh even just the the gentle rain upon upon the hillside father is evidence that uh that you are a kind god and a good god to your creation you've created all that is around us father in the space of of six days and all was very good uh and father even though it is stained by sin even though it still continues to groan uh under uh under sin yet father be speaks of of a gracious god a good god a god who continues to shower us with blessings we thank you lord for each and every one of them we pray your blessing to be upon upon those things and we pray we would not take them for granted but rather we might rejoice in them and we might reflect upon the hand that gives these good gifts to his people father we thank you for the church of the lord jesus christ we thank you for this local church and for other local churches here in chilliwack we praise you father that you've given to us that the the that institution of the church you've equipped that church you've given good gifts to that church as well in the in the people of pastors and teachers and elders uh to lead and to direct and we praise you father for for the for the gift of of our elder our pastor we pray to strengthen him this day we pray that even though he is feeling under the weather that you be pleased to give to him that which he stands in need of give him unction from on high give him that that physical mental strength to stand here and to declare your word but even more than that father we pray that you give him the spirit of the living god that he might rightly divide the word of truth and father we thank you for that word we pray that you'd bless that word here in this place this night not just on the lord's day but on wednesdays as well and saturday morning we thank you that that the word of god is is foundational to to why we are here as a local church it's to open up the word of god it's to divide that word of god for it is uh good for uh for for for our our own individual growth and sanctification and living in the world in which we go into tomorrow lord we pray that you would that you would be pleased to bless that word this night and cause us to to be to be sanctified by it we do pray so as we go into our work weeks as we go into the week ahead father we are prepared that uh those who go in with struggles those who go with trials or temptations that lie ahead all the things that live in this lord world father we pray you would be pleased to prepare us for those things and and gird us up by the word of god and by yours by the strength of your holy spirit we pray for each individual here this evening father that as they come this evening perhaps with different needs different different aches in their heart or whatever it might be father we do pray that you would be pleased to meet each one and by your gracious holy spirit we pray that you administer the word of god because we know this is by the word of god that we that we do meet with you father we do not call upon uh anything but the word of god to uh to to to to to hear from you for uh uh by and uh we just praise you for the gift of the word and for it's uh for for the blessedness of the holy spirit that is able to take that word and apply it to each one of our hearts and lives lord do bless that word here in this place and what we pray for ourselves we pray for the other churches in this community as well as those that that we pray for we think of the the dryden church that is met today we do pray lord for the the vernon church as well as they meet and the the church in south surrey as they meet this evening as well lord we pray that in each one of those places the word of god would be preached uh that you would be worshipped and that saints would be edified and and and sinners called uh to to the lord jesus christ through knowledge of christ and forgiveness of sins lord we pray that for ourselves here this evening as well that you would be pleased to bless that word and cause it to find its mark here in this place this night any and all who would come in here as strangers to grace we pray lord that you would be merciful to them and we pray that you would cause them to to to simply look and believe upon the lord jesus christ thank you that it is not our works but rather it's all christ and and it is simply even the gift of even even faith is a gift from you and that we give you our grateful thanks father it is all of you our salvation salvation is of the lord uh as as the prophet said and lord we we truly are reflec we are we do reflect upon that and worship you for that father we do pray for those in difficult circumstances this night we do think of peter and and those in myanmar this night we pray lord your blessing to be upon him and upon the the other leaders in that in that orange grove compound we thank you for the sanctity that is provided for them uh yet father even the the the the war that is going on in myanmar is not very far from their borders again and we just pray that as it as it encroaches upon them father you'll be pleased to keep them safe bless the word of god bless uh bless peter with health and strength bless them with wise and and good decisions we pray lord they might that they might be for afforded that protection that comes from you father you you led the the people of israel through the wilderness uh and you fed them you you you gave them all they required and you you led them through enemies on every side and yet they were protected because they were they they were behind your uh your hand father your mighty arm you stretched it out and you did protect them we pray the same protection for the for peter and for the the christians that are gathered together in that compound when you pray lord for the children as they seek to be a gospel a a gospel station a place where the word of god would be preached opened up where where the gospel of the lord jesus christ would be would be taught and explained to the children we do pray lord again thereto that that you would be pleased to turn the hearts of those children turn the hearts of of the the all the people associated uh with that uh with that good work that's going on there we pray that many would come to to a saving knowledge of the lord jesus christ lord we think of pastor o'gally and in kenya as well we pray jews continue to bless him and strengthen his hand we know that he is involved in in a large ministry as well it may be maybe small as far as this world is concerned but we know lord that as he pours himself into into the the crest the the the school for uh for for raising up elders and teachers and pastors there in that part of the world father it will have a great impact all across kenya across that across the continent of africa and lord we pray your blessing be upon him strengthen him from day to day give to him he stands in need of and we do pray for those young men who are being trained up to become elders to become teachers that lord you'd be pleased to bless the word of god and we pray that they would be uh set apart as as true elders and and uh and shepherds of of little flocks they're scattered throughout that nation so lord we thank you that we are part of that church that universal church that something much larger much greater much grander than what we see here before us this evening father we are part of that church universal that church that was begun when the lord jesus christ left this earth and father all those who have gone on before stand as testimonies of of those who have persevered and we pray you'd help us to persevere as well and we do look forward to our eternal glory father when we will be with the lord jesus christ in heaven we look forward to uh that uh that that that worship of christ uh one day where we will no longer be weighted down by sin our own sin and remaining sin and sin around us father we will be able to worship around the throne of the lamb and we look forward to that father cause us to to worship this night now with one eye here but also one eye firmly fixed upon that that grand and glorious worship in heaven where even this night the angels are are worshiping that the the lamb uh who is whose blood was spilt in our behalf lord bless us now uh cause us to to reflect upon your goodness your kindness and again we just give you our grateful thanks for the forgiveness of sins and it's in jesus precious name we pray amen well please turn with me in your in your handbooks once again to hymn number uh 208 we'll be seeing it to a different tune so if you read music it will be a different tune but the hymn number is 208 i'll ask you to please stand [Applause] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] we praise be [Music] is [Music] us [Music] amen you may be seated and please turn with me your bibles to leviticus chapter 21 leviticus chapter 21 just as you're turning just a brief comment about the passage i think in some ways these some of these old testament passages are easier to maybe have a little commentary before so it gives us something to think about reflect upon while we're reading it and certainly godhead we'll see here god had qualifications we've just read some qualifications last week and our last number of weeks in terms of worship and god certainly has qualifications for his servants whereas for the priesthood here in chapter 21 some regulations and and what as to what their conduct and even physical looks were to look like and uh because ultimately to lead worship uh to to to lead sacrifice in the tabernacle god god god sets the rules this is his house and he set the rules in the old testament he sets the rules in the new testament i think a new testament equivalent to this passage passage would probably be first timothy 3. we're familiar with first timothy 3 that's the qualifications of an elder of an elder and a deacon and certainly christ just as god had qualifications in the old testament christ has qualifications in the new testament for what the church would look like what elders what leader what what the leading leaders of the church would look like and certainly inferior characters that's what he deals with here in leviticus chapter 1 chapter 21 inferior characters reflect poorly upon god and god does not desire that we would be have leaders with inferior characters god ultimately uh he they have no place in the house of god why because god's a holy god if god is a holy god he he deserves those who have high character high quality and that's what we look for in an elder uh in in first timothy chapter three and that's what they were told to look for and expect in their pre in the priesthood back in the days of leviticus when leviticus was being written and living in the days of the old testament so with that in mind uh let's read leviticus chapter 21 the entire chapter and the lord said to moses speak to the priests the sons of aaron and say to them none shall defile himself for the dead among his people except for his relatives who are nearest to him his mother his father his son his daughter and his brother also his virgin sister who is near to him who has had no husband for her he may defile himself otherwise he shall not defile himself being a chief man among his people to profane himself they shall not make any any bald place on their heads nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh they shall be holy to their god and not profane the name of their god for they offer the offerings of the lord made by fire and the bread of their god therefore they shall be holy excuse me they shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband for the priest is holy to his god therefore you shall consecrate him for he offers the bread of your god he shall be holy to you for i the lord who sanctify you am holy the daughter of any priest if she profanes herself by playing the harlot she profanes her father she shall be burned with fire he who is the high priest among his brethren on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes nor shall he go near any dead body nor defile himself for his father or his mother nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his god for the consecration of the anointing oil of his god is upon him i am the lord and he shall take a wife in her virginity a widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot these he shall not marry but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife nor shall he profane his posterity among his people for i the lord sanctify him and the lord spoke to moses saying speak to aaron saying no man of your descendants in succeeding generations who has any defect may approach to offer the bread of his god for any man who has a defect shall not approach a man blind or lame who has uh who has a marred uh face or any limb too long a man who has a broken foot or broken hand or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scab or is a eunuch no man of the descendants of aaron the priest who has defect shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the lord he has a defect he shall not come near to offer the bread of his god he may eat the bread of his god both the most holy and the holy only he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar because he has a defect lest he profane my sanctuaries for i the lord sanctify them amen let's pray our gracious and our loving heavenly father we come before you as a holy god this evening father we often think too little of you our thoughts of you are too human we need to reflect upon the fact that you are a holy god and lord how we praise you that we come into your presence into the presence of a holy god this night not in our own righteousness because we that would never avail we thank you that we come in that righteousness of the lord jesus christ he is our great high priest and he is perfect and and uh there there was no there was no sin in him and he died as a perfect sacrifice lord how we praise you that we our representative this night is the lord jesus christ and truly lord lord we are grateful for the fact that you hear us you hear our prayers you hear our praises because of your son your perfect son the lord jesus christ our great high priest we thank you father you promised to build your church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it you've given gifts to your church we thank you lord for the fact you've given to us elders you've given to us an understanding of what we ought to be looking for in elders as well and we pray lord that you would be pleased to raise up uh elders both in this church and other churches as well we think of the surrey church and their desire to see another elder there and the the the church in in vernon as as we seek to raise up uh ryan and the church in in in uh in ontario they're dryden as they seek to raise up dan morley lord we thank you for these good gifts and how we pray that you would you would be pleased you would be merciful you'd showers with yet more gifts even here in this church father we would see fellow elders along with our pastor lord we thank you that we are your church we thank you that we are the apple of your eye and you will care for us in the future as you have in the past and we just commit these things into your hands father we pray that you'd be pleased to cause us with uh to to see that we serve a holy god and we desire to serve you rightly according to the way scripture has laid out here for us very clearly so lord bless us now in this next hour as we hear the preaching we pray lord that you come with power and come with unction give to us that help and aid of the holy spirit both to the preacher as well as to the hearer that we might go away from here changed by the word of god and by the by the effect of your spirit upon that word and we do pray in jesus precious name amen amen well please turn with me now your hymn books once again to him number 242 242 and i'll ask you to please stand is [Music] us [Music] oh is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] well you can turn with me in your bibles to ephesians chapter one ephesians chapter one i'll read the chapter and then our focus this morning will be on ver this evening will be on verses three to 6. so ephesians 1 beginning in verse 1 paul an apostle of jesus christ by the will of god to the saints who are in ephesus and faithful in christ jesus grace to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestined us to adoption as sons by jesus christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accept it in the beloved in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him in him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the council of his will that we who first trusted in christ 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 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 in 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 and 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 had over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all amen well let us pray father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for this glorious chapter of ephesians we praise you for the the work of the triune god and the salvation of sinners and lord help us tonight to understand these things in a in an experiential way and made it may it lead us to praise and to glorify you the way the apostle paul does in this anthem we ask as well lord god that you would forgive us now for our sins and our transgression we thank you that in christ we have redemption through his blood and we pray that even now you would wash us and purify us in that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness fill each and every one of us with your holy spirit guide us and lead us into truth and we pray through christ our lord amen well as we look at this particular chapter we'll notice that chapter 1 the apostle starts off in praise to god he blesses god we'll look at that definition of that word in just a moment but it's one long sentence that we have in this first part of ephesians 1. so chapter 1 verses 3 to 14 again one long sentence the only other long sentence in the bible or in the new testament that paul wrote is colossians chapter 1 verses 9 to 20. and essentially what paul does here is he praises the triune god for the glory of salvation specifically the father and then through the father the son and the holy spirit so it is trinitarian in nature it reflects what we refer to in theology as the covenant of redemption the purpose and plan of god most high to save his people from their sins the father elects the son covenants to go and rescue and the spirit applies that finished work of the redeemer to god's elect and in broad strokes that's how paul treats this particular section verses three to six refers specifically to the work of the father so the father is praised for what the father does in redemption verses 7 to 12 the father is praised for what the son does in the work of redemption and then in verses 13 and 14 the father is praised for what the spirit does in the work of redemption so it is triune in nature it does reflect the god that we serve the only true and living god so tonight we'll just take up that first section in verses three to six under the head the gracious purpose of the father and there are two specific points i want to observe first the apostles praise to the father you see that in verse 3a and then secondly the apostles reason reasons for praise to the father in verses 3b to 6. so notice in the first place the apostles praise to the father the definition of blessed paul uses the word bless in a in a double sense here notice 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 so there are two uses of the word bless that is used by the apostle this first instance blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ essentially means to speak well of god to praise god the word in a dictionary greek dictionary simply means that the word means blessed or praised it ha it is an act of speaking in favorable terms and then the convention that paul utilizes here is not unique to the apostle paul if we go back to the book of genesis in the oracle of noah in genesis chapter 9 at verse 2 26 he blesses yahweh before he speaks concerning what god is going to do genesis 14 melchizedek meets the patriarch abraham and he blesses god and then blesses abraham as well you have in nehemiah the the religious reformer there in nehemiah chapter five the levites take the stand and they bless the lord and then provide a whole host of reasons why god should be praised solomon does this in first kings at chapter 8 in verses 15 and then again in 56 where he blesses god and then gives specific reasons why we are to bless god and then in the new testament just a couple of examples turn back to luke's gospel luke chapter 1 verse 68. luke chapter 1 verse 68 the reason i point this out is because it ought to be a part of our praise life our prayer life it ought not to be something that only paul does under inspiration of the spirit when he composes the uh letter to the ephesians rather it ought to find its way into our hearts it ought to find our uh its way in our closets and in our prayer meetings we ought to bless god and we ought to bless him for the various reasons that the bible ascribes to him notice in luke chapter 1 specifically at verse 67 now his father zacharias was filled with the holy spirit and prophesied saying he invokes this particular convention and he says in verse 68 blessed is the lord god of israel and then notice in 68 be for he has visited and redeemed his people he blesses god he praises god he speaks well of god he ascribes praise to him and then he has specific reasons as to why he would do that turn over to second corinthians chapter one same sort of a convention used it's called a barakah which is the the hebrew word for blessing in second corinthians chapter one at verse three notice blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ the father of mercies and god of all comfort who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by god he continues on in that particular vein but you see again the convention blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ why because he comforts us in all our tribulation and then turn over to the book of second peter i'm sorry first peter chapter one same sort of a convention same sort of an issue that we see here first peter chapter one at verse three notice blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of god through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time so back to ephesians chapter one just by way of a practical observation shouldn't this be the way that we pray certainly it is right to petition god certainly it is right to ask of god certainly it is right to uh seek from god forgiveness for our sin but it's also right to praise him to bless him to honor him to ponder him to consider his works to consider creation to consider providence to consider as paul does here redemption and using those particular reasons as a vehicle for praise to our blessed god it is a wonderful convention that the people of god should employ following what the apostle does what other men do and what the church throughout her history has done in terms of her praise for our blessed god gil describes the language this way it is either to congratulate his greatness and goodness to ascribe blessing glory and honor to him or to give thanks unto him both for temporal and spiritual mercies so it's not just the spiritual that we find here but it's also the temporal that psalm that steve read at the beginning of worship that is a psalm at the time of of harvest now it certainly includes redemption blessed is the man whom you choose and cause to approach unto you but all of that language referring to nature is to extol the goodness of god because he has given them bounty because he has given them increase psalm 68 the psalmist says i i praise the lord daily why because he has loaded me with benefits when we come to pray brethren it's not wrong to ask it's not wrong to fetch blessing it's not wrong to seek forgiveness but it is wrong to do so at the expense of worship and praise and adoration to our great god now notice in ephesians chapter one at verse three the object of praise the object of blessing he says blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ and again that's the object throughout so god the father is blessed for election and predestination unto adoption god the father is praised or blessed for the redeeming work of the son of god god the father is blessed or praised for the work of the holy spirit who seals and guarantees again it reflects something concerning our triune god it reflects something concerning the notions the missions reveal or reflect the notions and this is what paul's tactic is in this particular instance so notice with reference to this blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ notice who he's not blessing notice who he doesn't say praise be to you ephesians because you are all together smarter than everybody else in your fair city because in acts 19 when i came to preach there you wise ones you good ones you law keeping ones you saw that it was quite essential for you to save yourselves yes perhaps with a little bit of assistance from on high he doesn't do that brethren if free will is the mechanism by which sinners are saved then sinners should be praised for exercising their free will but the bible will have none of that it is god's will that is prime primary in the matter of salvation and therefore it is god who is to be praised for salvation that's paul's tactic here and then notice how he describes him the god and father of our lord jesus christ notice over in verse 17 that the god of our lord jesus christ the father of glory he is referring to christ in his mediatorial office he is referring to christ as prophet priest and king he is referring to to christ as the one who became flesh and dwelt among us as gil says god the first person in the trinity is the god of christ as christ as man and mediator he chose and appointed him to be the mediator and made a covenant with him as such he formed and prepared a human nature for him anointed it with the holy ghost above measure and supported it under all his trials and sufferings and at last glorified it so god the father of our lord jesus christ is the object of blessing in paul's praise to our god now that brings us secondly to the apostles reasons for the praise to the father so not just saying blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ now let's move on to husbands love your wives just as christ loved the church and gave himself for let's move on to wise be submissive to your own husbands as unto the lord he's going to do that he is going to address the interpersonal relationships of god's people when he gets to ephesians chapter 6. he's going to deal with how we function with one another in the context of church and in the context of family but prior to that and i know this is a big you know sort of a a a blast against our ego god comes first his glory his honor his preeminence his majesty his excellence and so the apostle wants us to to reflect on this the apostle wants us to follow him in this the apostle wants us to understand that there are times where praising god glorifying god is enough practical application out of a sermon so notice he gives reasons for praise to the father there's a general statement in 3b there are specific reasons in verses four and five and then there is this goal or this redounding anthem in verse six that will be repeated again in verses 12 and 14. so not only is god to be praised but his his grace and his glory are extolled throughout now notice the general statement so blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ and now he says who has blessed us now blessing us does not entail to praise it does not entail to speak well of rather blessing us means to bestow a favor or to provide with benefits that's the difference we bless god by our words we bless god in our song we bless god in our prayer we bless god in our worship whether it be private whether it be family whether it be church worship we bless god by speaking well event the blessings that paul is praising him for is not his praise for us oh you're so wonderful you're so splendid you're so wise and you're so good that's not it at all the blessings that we find in verse 3b are the gifts that god gives to us the bestowal of benefit the provision of good things john eady says god blessed us and we bless god but his blessing of us is one of deed our blessing of him is only in word he makes us blessed we pronounce him blessed that's the difference in the usage of the word in the first part of the verse and in the latter part of the verse so we speak well of god we ascribe praise to god we extol the majesty of god because of what god has done for us now notice the general statement he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ he is going to provide specific details to follow but right now let's just focus for a moment upon that who has blessed us who's the us there the us obviously are the ephesian christians those described in verse 2 uh verse 1 to the saints who are in ephesus and faithful in christ jesus but in acts chapter 19 at the founding of the church in ephesus how was it the case that these persons became part of us it was by grace through faith in christ jesus our lord and so when we look at the us in verse 3 it includes the ephesians that were saved but it includes the early church it includes the medieval church it includes the reformation period church it includes the modern church it includes abel it includes everybody retrospectively and prospectively all sinners save by grace through faith in jesus christ but again notice who has blessed us if we weren't calvinists or reformed or we weren't in tune with some degree of biblical sort of consciousness we might think that's a pretty special class of people it's a wonderful class of people if god chose them god predestinated them they must be pretty special among the lot of humanity no as we move through the passage it's not based on the us why god chose us it's not based on the us why god predestinated us unto adoption as sons we find us in chapter 2 at verses 1-3 notice and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we're by nature children of wrath just as the others so lifeless helpless and hopeless sinners that's the us in verse 3. just or rather he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing notice over in chapter 2 at verse 11 chapter 2 at verse 11. therefore remember that you once gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands that at that time now he's talking in terms of category he's talking about gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of god israel is already there and now the gentiles have been brought nigh through the blood of jesus christ but the description that he gives to the gentiles here is true of these ephesians it is true of us it is true of the jews as well in terms of their sin and rebellion they just had a few different privileges in terms of inclusion in the old covenant people but then notice what he says in verse 12 that at that time you were without christ being aliens from the commonwealth of israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without god in the world incidentally that's the only place the word atheist appears in the bible it's right there without god it's not a positive it's not a philosophical position it's not the the default position that that resides in the universities and among the academics no without godness is a bad thing atheism is a horrific thing but notice that at that time you were without christ you were aliens from the commonwealth of israel you were strangers from the covenants of promise you had no hope and you were without god in the world but now in christ jesus you who once were afar off have have been brought near by the blood of christ so we go back to verse 1 verse 3 specifically who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ these are not deserving people we're not deserving people we're not good people we're not picked out by god because of something that we will do we're not picked out by god because something that we will be we're not picked out by god because of something that we are we're picked out by god according to the pleasure of his will it is all about god in the matter of salvation and paul doesn't do this to defend himself on facebook he's not engaged in polemics but rather this is praise to god you mention election today you mentioned predestination people raise an eyebrow and people are suspicious and people might even say are you a calvinist or are you reformed what is paul doing here he's praising god for god's sovereignty in the matter of salvation he has blessed us guilty vile helpless sinners with every spiritual blessing and i think that's better better rendered every blessing of the holy spirit it's not just a trinitarian structure verses three to six the father verses 7 to 12 the son verses 13 to 14 the spirit there's trinitarianism embedded in verse 3. notice blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ first and second person who has blessed us with every blessing of the holy spirit the third person of the triune god that's the better rendering bar argues that way and i think he's absolutely right but then notice these these blessings are associated with the heavenly places a bit of a difficult clause brethren i'm not going to lie to you i think the idea is is that god in heaven conveys blessing through the son by the spirit to the sinner on earth those things that are true of god those things that are blessings by god are received by us as gifts from him from the heavenly places and then notice he speaks specifically that these blessings are in christ he uses this emphasis on many occasions and this is something we must never forget any good that you and i have is by virtue of christ it's not by virtue of us it's not by our wisdom it's not by our power it's not by our ability it's not by our works it's all based on what jesus christ has done and who jesus christ is so that's the general statement in verse 3b but then notice specific reasons the spiritual blessings he will detail he will highlight election unto holiness verse 4 uh adoption as sons verse five redemption through blood verse seven the spe sealing and guarantee of the holy spirit verses 13 and 14. we might just sort of say in terms of theological language justification sanctification and glorification he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing everything that we stand in need of god provides isn't that glorious about our religion our religion isn't one of try harder and do better and perhaps god will accept you just stop that and do this and if you do it well enough then god will receive you unto himself no god confers every spiritual blessing upon the undeserving god gives us justification for our status with god our standing before god he gives us sanctification for our growth and grace and he promises and vouches to us this whole idea of glorification wherein we'll enter into heaven with him so paul does praise god for these specific things now let's look specifically at election in verse 4. a few things to consider here first of all the fact of it notice just as he chose us it's hard to sort of wiggle out of that right have you ever debated with an armenian or met somebody like that election's not taught in the bible i'm sorry but just as he chose us i mean you may not like election you may not like the concept you might not like the whole theology behind it but to say that it's not there just as he chose us now this word it's a tough one so you know hang in there for a moment it means selection it means choice it means special choice or or election this whole idea of he chose us shows us something again about god's supremacy and about our unworthiness the unconditional ness of election is loud and clear in the passage it doesn't say he unconditionally elected us but it says he unconditionally elected us there was no condition in the creature there was nothing outside of god's good pleasure that provoked him to set his choice upon us it was as paul says according to the glo according to the good pleasure of his will so the particular word used is simple it means a lecture it's a middle use or middle voice that means the the the subject of the verb participates at least to some degree in the action so the idea is is that he chose us for himself now brethren on most days i wouldn't choose me for myself the fact that god chooses us for himself is absolutely mind-boggling it is absolutely mind-blowing that the lord god most high does this then notice again the object of his choice just as he chose us the us in verse 3 has not shifted to a different us in verse 4. remember the general statement in 3b and now the specific details in verses 4 and following so the just as he chose us refers again not just to the ephesians in acts chapter 19 but as well to those who are in christ to those who have by grace received every spiritual blessing those who were lifeless helpless hopeless those who were without god in this world those who were afar off those who had no no spiritual life whatsoever he chose us and then again notice in him in him we'll we'll get to the before the foundational world in just a moment but i want to look at a few other passages so just as he chose us in him remember nothing good comes to us apart from the mediatorial office of our lord jesus christ it's not as if you know there's something outside of christ that comes beneficially to us our salvation is by virtue of our union with our blessed savior but in terms of election as a concept turn back to the book of romans of course you'll know that romans the apostle deals with this at great detail in 9-11 9-11 the apostle deals with election this whole idea of special choice or selection or choice just a couple of passages i won't inundate us with the the amount of data we saw in psalm 65 again as our brother read today read tonight you know blessed is the man whom you choose and cause to approach you i mean how do you get away from election in passages like that how do you get away from election in passages where they clearly state that god chose and drew them to himself notice in chapter 9 of romans at verse 11. for the children not yet being born nor having done any good or evil that the purpose of god notice according to election might stand not of works but of him who calls and then turn over to chapter 11 verse 5. chapter 11 at verse 5 even so then at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace see god in his grace chose us in him before the foundation of the world notice in 11 28 concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake talking about jews ethnic jews but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers turn over to colossians colossians chapter 3. colossians chapter 3. we not only see the verbal use of the word we see the noun form as well in colossians 3 12 therefore as what the elect of god now as we move on in verse 4 we'll notice that the election is not predicated on our goodness the election is not predicated on any conditionality the election is not predicated on what we did think or say but rather it is based on god's will god's will alone so verse 12 therefore as the elect of god holy and beloved put on tender mercies kindness humility meekness long suffering look at first thessalonians 1 at verse 4. first thessalonians one at verse well look at verse two we give thanks to god always for you all for you all making mention of you in our prayers remembering without ceasing your work of faith labor of love and patience of hope in our lord jesus christ in the sight of our god and father knowing beloved brethren your election by god how do they know or how does paul know their election by god because they have faith in our lord jesus christ and they have fruits that refl uh reflect their position in the lord jesus christ it's not because they did good things and therefore god elected them it's not that they exercised their faith and therefore god elected them you have to remember ephesians 2 1 you being what dead in your trespasses and sins dead sinners can't believe the gospel dead sinners can't just exercise their free will their will is bound by their wicked heart and the apo the prophet the apostle jeremiah says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked so the doctrine of election ensures that if anybody's going to be saved it is due because of god's grace and not because of what we do notice in second thessalonians 2 13. ii thessalonians 2 13 but we are bound to give thanks to god always for you brethren beloved by the lord because god from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the spirit and belief in the truth to which he called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our lord jesus christ therefore brethren stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught whether by word or our epistle notice that the fact that we're elect the fact that we're chosen the fact that we're set apart does not mitigate the necessity of faithful perseverance paul was not a hyper calvinist there'd be no verse 15 if paul was a hyper calvinist if god has elected you if god has sanctified you god has set you apart as a as an object of his mercy well then just don't worry about it no paul actually argues just the opposite because god does this because god's exercised is sovereignty because god has drawn you out of darkness into marvelous light it's therefore brethren stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught whether by word or our epistle titus chapter one verse one titus chapter one verse one any greeting to his ministerial companion verse one paul a bond servant of god and an apostle of jesus christ according to the faith of god's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness well who are these elect well the ones paul's talking about in ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 just as he chose us in him now notice secondly the timing of election in one form just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world again this underscores the unconditional unconditional ness of election it was before the foundation of the world to look at two passages that underscore the same thing second timothy one second timothy chapter one again a context referring to the covenant of redemption second timothy 1 9 god who has saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in christ jesus before time began you see brethren it is not conditioned upon the performance of the sinner it is not conditioned upon what we will do or what we will say it is not conditioned on our faith it is not conditioned on our repentance we have faith and repentance because god chose us in him before the foundation of the world election is the cause not the consequence of faith and repentance same emphasis emphasis and titus again turn over there titus chapter 1 continuing on in verse 2 after he speaks of god's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness in hope of eternal life which god who cannot lie promised before time began but has in due time manifested his word through preaching which was committed to me according to the commandment of god our savior so in both passages you have the covenant of redemption meets the covenant of grace what god has done in the past in terms of the triune council to save his people from their sins and then the covenant of grace where jesus comes on that redemptive mission to save us from our sins now one more passage just to underscore the unconditional ness of our election go back to romans 9. i read the text but i made no comment because it fit here better because some of course have taught that before the foundation of the world god's looked down the tunnel of time and he saw that these people would jump on these people would get on the train that leads to heaven and so those are the ones that he chose that is to get the bible absolutely backward that is to reverse the ordo salutus completely in acts 13 48 we read that all those who were appointed unto eternal life believed they didn't believe and therefore were appointed unto eternal life they believed because they had been appointed unto eternal life notice the emphasis here in romans 9 10. and not only this but when rebecca also had conceived by one man even by our father isaac for the children not yet being born nor having done any good or evil that the purpose of god according to election might stand not of works but of him who calls again could he make it any more conspicuous that this concept of god looking down the tunnel of time seeing what persons would jump on the train of faith those would be the ones that he elect this goes absolutely positively contrary to that that is again to get the bible absolutely wrong it is to reverse the order of salvation it is to put man's will as primary and it is to subjugate ultimately god under man paul will have none of that blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world now notice thirdly the purpose of election in verse 4 that we should be holy and without blame beforehand again you're going to get tired of hearing it but this is the unconditionalness of our election we are not chosen because we are holy and without blame we are chosen unto holiness and blamelessness that's the tax that's the emphasis just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him it is a most glorious emphasis we're not chosen because we're holy we're not chosen because we're without blame but we're chosen so that once by god's grace we believe the gospel once by god's grace we come to the savior once by god's grace we are freely or justified freely by his grace we then enter into the life of sanctification the holiness and the blamelessness that is true of god's people now it's true of god's people in varying degrees i would argue that paul was a lot holier and a lot more without blame than jim but with reference to the reality the reality is is that god's people manifest this and again in light of remaining corruption romans 7 teaches that the good we wish to do we don't always do the evil we don't want to do we find ourselves doing galatians 5 17 tells us the flesh lusts against the spirit the spirit against the flesh and these two are contrary to one another so that you don't do the things that you want so there's this tension there's this turmoil there's certainly struggle there's certainly a necessity to watch and pray and cry out to god and use the means and all that sort of thing but there is a degree to which the people of god who believe the gospel of god who have come savingly to our lord jesus christ will manifest a degree of holiness and blamelessness now incidentally that's a great fruit or evidence or manifestation of someone who's a believer spurgeon made the observation i don't go looking around for people who have ease on their backs before i preach the gospel to them we preach the gospel indiscriminately to all creatures we preach to all men everywhere believe on the lord jesus christ and you shall be saved but sometimes those creatures have come to faith in our lord and then they wonder well there was no fireworks display nothing felt different kind of like mormonism you know mormonism they they have you you know survey their books and and pray for the burning in the bosom if you get the burning in the bosom then you know they're right i'm not making this up brethren some of you are looking a little bit puzzled that's how you know that mormonism is right when you get the burning in the bosom i had a friend who asked a mormon how do you know it wasn't heartburn from the pizza that you had previous to that that is such a subjective and mystical approach and at the time at times god's people are like that nothing felt different i i believe the gospel and i'm still me what do you think you're going to come out on the other side of faith with bigger up muscles and you know better hair and nicer teeth it just doesn't happen that way well paul says in second corinthians 5 that we're new creatures in christ jesus yeah absolutely but not better in the sense of physical specimen so there may not be a feeling there may not be a tingling and in fact brethren if you look for that you're going to be a miserable person if you're looking for the subjective emotional response that causes you to know that god loves you you're in a sad and sorry state we believe what the bible says martin luther said feelings come and feelings go but feelings are deceiving my warrant is the word of god none else is worth believing if you are a subjective mystic you are not going to be a happy camper as christ christ person but with reference to evidences or fruits is there holiness is there blamelessness now sometimes new believers can get discouraged sometimes new believers can say well i don't have that kind of fruit well paul had been converted about 30 years when he's writing these things believers coming out of the womb of regeneration or people coming out of the womb of regeneration and then believing make sure i got my order correct they are not paul they are not peter they are not mature people brethren this ought to help us with reference to our children a 12 year old who believes the gospel is not going to be 30. he's not going to automatically be mature he's not going to automatically be ready for the big decisions in life he's still 12. you see but with reference to a 12 year old a 22 year old a 52 year old a 72 year old an 82 year old there will be fruit that manifests through his life and character again it will vary in degrees there will be ebbs and flows there will be struggles there will be heartaches there will be difficulties i am not promising you a rose garden in the pursuit of holiness and blamelessness but these fruits are evidence that god has in fact chose us in him before the foundation of the world again not because we are holy and without blame but that we might become holy and without blame because of him charles hodge makes the observation if men are chosen to be holy they cannot be chosen because they are holy if men are chosen because to be holy they cannot be chosen because they are holy you get that right i've often thought in theology that if person may persons make the distinction between consequences and causes they'd be a whole lot better off consequences and theo and and causes are most important in theological endeavors and in this instance it is a consequence of god's election it is not the cause of god's election oh that particular fellow he's going to be he's going to be holy and blameless so i'm going to go ahead and elect him that just sounds foolish even if we didn't have a bible that just sounds bizarre that a god who not only knows the end from the beginning but determines all of the all of the way to that end the god who is in absolute control look at verse 11 and see what paul says there he says in him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the council of his will god by definition brethren is a sovereign being god by definition must choose if persons are going to be saved because those persons will never choose for him it is never the case that a dead sinner will raise his hand and say i want jesus to save me from my sins we see in ephesians chapter 2 he made us alive together with him it is regeneration jesus teaching of nicodemus you must be born again in order to get from a to z god must undertake on your behalf and a beautiful a beautiful component of that is the doctrine of unconditional election as set forth here in chapter 1 verse 4. john gill says election does not find men in christ but puts them there you understand that that's so important election does not find men in christ but puts them there this is sort of the calvary chapel i know there's uh one in uh langley here brent smith faithful brother kept his church open during the lockdown a good man a solid man but that calvary chapel group tries to navigate not but as if he's you know a horrible person uh that that calvary chapel group tries to navigate well we're not calvinists but we're not arminians and they try to explain it that way the the tunnel of time and god looks down that tunnel and and who he sees will believe the gospel those are the ones he elects unto eternal life so they get to maintain election they get to maintain free will they get to maintain what their particular position is but they don't have any biblical foundation they don't have any exegetical warrant they can't navigate a verse four in ephesians 1 just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame the lord god most high is sovereign in terms of who it is that he will he will save so election does not find men in christ but puts them there he says gill it gives them a being in him and union to him it is a most glorious and a wonderful doctrine and i don't want to shove predestination in to the last 10 minutes here so we'll pick up on verse 5 god willing next week when we gather together for our lord's day evening worship but in conclusion just a few thoughts in terms of what we've seen thus far first of all the context of paul's declaration this is important the context of paul's declaration see a lot of times as reformed believers we butt heads with armenians and increasingly more now pelagians people that have you know no concept whatsoever of god's absolute sovereignty in the matter of salvation and we find ourselves defending we find ourselves fighting we find ourselves and i don't mean physically kids i don't mean we're actually duking it out over who's right but we find ourselves in embroiled in controversy well brethren that's not paul here it is paul in romans 9. romans 9 he's throwing down romans 9 he's engaged in stopping shows romans 9 he wants to shut the mouths of gainsayers who want to call into question the righteousness of god when that happens the apostle paul takes to polamix and he shuts the mouth uh mouths of his internal interlocutors but here in ephesians one it's not that way he's praising he's worshiping he's glorifying he's blessing before he gets to the demonstration of god's power in chapter one before he gets to the to the individual salvation in chapter two and then it's implications for gentiles coming into uh uh the promises of god that were given initially to israel as he waxes on that in chapter three in his particular role as an apostle to make this happen in a human way before he gets to the whole idea the ethics of the new man in chapter four on how we're to conduct ourselves leading into chapter five and and the relationships that we bear with one another in the church before he gets to the whole idea of husbands and wives and and parents and children before he gets into that combat in chapter 6 verses 10 and following with reference to fighting the good fight or rather putting on the whole armor of god before all that he praises he worships he blesses he glorifies god you see brethren that is our calling the chief end of man is to glorify god and to enjoy him forever if we're only ever debating if we're only ever attacking if we're only ever polemicizing we've missed paul's point in ephesians chapter one at verse three there ought to be seasons and occasions and times in our lives where we just bless god for the good things that he has given to us now certainly when people are there and they want to fight they want to complain and they want to argue we deal with that to a degree when it's a necessity but we don't bypass this very emphasis or this very necessary emphasis on praise to god most high that sovereignty that glory that majesty is the occasion for the apostle paul for worship and for praise and for adoration secondly the blessings of god's salvation the doctrine of election itself again brethren i don't know if you've had this interaction with people they get upset they get offended they say how could you dare suggest suggest that that god is actually god and that god actually chooses whom he chooses i mean come on how would you suggest that well i'm just parroting what paul says in romans chapter nine at the very you know basic level but secondly it's because it's who god is do you think there's any sense where god looks down the tunnel of time and sort of orchestrates the orchestrates the program of the universe based on what he sees is that the god of holy writ is that the god who is described by paul in ephesians 1 at verse 11 and him also we obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who notice who works all things according to the counsel of his will now you might say well that's just in the matter of salvation no it means he works all things according to the counsel of his will notice over in chapter 1 at verse 20 when paul is exemplifying or demonstrating the power of god he says which he worked in christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right 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 now notice and gave him to be head over all things christ has absolute comprehensive universal sovereignty to the church there is a special affection in the heart of jesus for the church if i can speak in the manner of men christ has universal authority he's over justin trudeau he's over joe biden he's over eastern europe he's over putin he's over zelinski he's over all of them that is according to the council of his will but with reference to election that is as well and it's god's choice of his people so the doctrine of election is not something that should incense or outrage christians it is something that should form as the matter for praise unto our god and if you meet somebody that has this axe to grind try and be patient with them and try to set forth the truth as it is in jesus ephesians 1 is most helpful romans chapter 9 most helpful matthew 11 25-30 most helpful john 6 most helpful intriguingly jesus feeds these people in verses 1 to 15 and 1-14 and then remember in verse 15 they want to seize him by force and make him a king why because he can make bread he can make fish a man like him would be a wonderful king he could put down the roman armies do you know when they start to depart from him at the end of the chapter it's when he preaches to them sovereignty when he preaches to them those things like no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him it is at that point that many of his disciples john calls them disciples at the end of john 6. now we hear that and we say oh they must have been saved and lost their salvation disciples has a narrow use those who believe the gospel but it also has a broader use those who follow somebody even for a little time and that that's how i think we understand those disciples who left him it's on the heels of that that jesus then looks at his disciples and says do you also want to leave and what if simon peter says lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life in other words those persons did not like the hard sayings of the savior in terms of god's comprehensive and absolute sovereignty so they left insofar as their bellies were filled they would follow jesus but insofar as jesus preached the glory the supremacy the majesty and the honor of god most high well that was too much for them and so they left off so know this that not everybody likes this doctrine not everybody welcomes this truth there's whole swaths in the history of theology that have rejected at wholesale arminianism is one pelagianism is another obviously atheists go nuts when you preach to them a sovereign god i think it's only the doctrine of god as the bible sets forth that can ever give us a good polemic against atheism i think that an armenian and a pelagian will fail in his presentation of the truth of who god is to an atheist or even an agnostic the other religions you want to get a jehovah's witness off your doorstep start talking to him about predestination start talking to him about sovereignty start talking to him about ephesians 1 4 and god chose us and see them squirm brethren people don't like this it grates against the flesh why because it extols god as god and it humbles man and we don't like that we don't like that one bit we like to be the master of our own fate we like to be the king of our own destiny we like to say with frank sinatra i did it my way well god most high is not mocked god most high cannot be shaken god most high is the one who saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto him through his son the lord jesus christ those he chose before the foundation of the world we don't know who they are we're not told to try to figure out who they are we're told to preach the gospel indiscriminately to every creature we are told to go therefore and make disciples of all the nations and to baptize them in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit we are to teach them to observe all things that the risen christ has commanded and he has promised a special blessing with us we're not told to try and figure out who's elect and who isn't who's predestinated and who is we tell sinners the truth the lord god most high is holy you have sinned against him and transgressed his law but he and his mercy sent his son to live to die and to rise again and that everyone who believes in him will have everlasting life and i know for the hyper there's a problem there well how can we tell sinners that weren't chosen because the bible tells us to tell sinners that that whether we know they're chosen or not the bible tells us to preach the gospel indiscriminately to every creature the bible tells us that in the wisdom of god the world through wisdom did not know god but it pleased god through what through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe we preach faithfully believe on the lord jesus christ and you shall be saved and we let god do god's work god chose god predestinated god works all things according to the counsel of his will and in god's time he opens the heart like he does with lydia in acts chapter 16 so that she receives the word spoken by paul and she comes out of darkness into marvelous light it is a most blessed and a most glorious and a most wonderful thing that our god saves that's why paul praises him well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for this very clear statement concerning the the sovereignty the absolute sovereignty of god most high in the salvation of sinners we know father it's not conditioned upon what we think or what we believe or what we would do we are dead in our trespasses and sins if you don't choose us or hadn't chosen us we will never choose for you so we give you praise and glory for our own salvation we give you praise that even though we were lifeless and helpless and hopeless you called us out of darkness in the marvelous light you gave us new hearts you gave us faith you gave us repentance you gave us holiness and blamelessness and we pray most high god that we would glorify you each and every day as we ponder these truths and we pray that more and more people would appreciate the godhood of god as set forth in holy scripture go with us now and bless us in this coming week we pray for the situation going on in eastern europe we do pray that there would be a cease fire there we pray most high god that you would protect your people in both countries and that you would bless your people throughout this world and give us the grace and the boldness to shine his lights and the crooked and perverse generation in which we live and give us that that zeal to hold forth your word of truth and we ask these things through christ our lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation [Music] you