Blessed Be God

Introduction to Ephesians and the First Doxology

0:03 Those who were with us last week will have received, and I trust will have consulted, this little pink sheet that sets before you in diagram form the broad outlines of thought as the Holy Spirit has given them to us in Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. The two main divisions of the book are explanation chapters 1 to 3 upon which is based exhortation chapters 4 to 6. God tells us what we are in Christ before he delineates what we ought to be for him in the world.

0:47 And then we indicated that the first division of the book, that is, explanation as found in chapters 1 to 3, divides itself into seven distinct paragraphs or units of thought and we've given those units of thought in those seven equal-sized rectangles moving all the way from chapter 1, verses 3 to 14, the first paragraph, a paragraph of doxology, ending in chapter 3, verses 20 and 21, with praise. I trust that you have familiarized yourself with those basic structures and now this morning we want to focus our attention,

1:30 in some detail, upon the beginning of paragraph 1, which is a paragraph of doxology, of praise to God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And I would ask you to remember that as we consider in great detail, in careful and almost perhaps applauding manner, the tremendous concepts squeezed into these words, blessed be the God and Father of our...

2:00 Lord Jesus Christ, that you will remember the relationship of this little phrase to the broader context of the whole doxology of chapter 1, 3 to 14, the relationship of that doxology to all that follows and its relationship to the book as a whole. And as we continue to keep that structure before us and it's filled in with greater and greater detail, I trust that the end result will be that in a very real sense we could sit down and write the letter to the Ephesians as the expression of all that we know and by the grace of God all that we feel.

Sermon Outline: Three Questions for Ephesians 1:3

2:41 So that the more we delve into the meaning of Paul's words, the more we shall rise to the level of Paul's spirit and shall share with him this great doxology, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So much then for what we purpose to do. Now how shall we approach these words with which the doxology begins, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the first thing we want to do is try to come to some understanding of what it means to bless God.

3:21 When the apostle picked up his pen or dictated, whichever the case was, and said, blessed be God, what was, what is he doing in this activity of blessing God? So we will spend some time seeking to answer the question, what does it mean to bless God? Then secondly, we shall attempt to discover from what distinct perspective he blesses God. Does he just say bless God and leave it go at that?

3:53 No, we have blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In other words, he blesses God from a distinct perspective bound up in these words, the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And then thirdly, and this will have to wait next week, the Lord willing, for what specific things does he bless God? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spirit, spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

4:34 So then, what does it mean to bless God? From what distinct perspective does he bless God? For what specific things does he bless God? These are the three units of thought found in Ephesians 1 and verse 3, and we will attempt to grapple with the first two this morning.

What Does It Mean to Bless God?

4:54 First of all then, what does it mean to bless God? The word, used here by the Apostle, is found eight times in the New Testament. And in every case, it is used with reference to the divine being, never with reference to the creature. You have examples, such as Romans 1 and verse 25, where the Apostle Paul says in this section, where he is showing the universality of the sinfulness of man, Romans 1 and verse 25, Romans 1 and verse 25, Romans 1 and verse 25, for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie,

5:38 and worshipped and served the creature, rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Indicating that blessedness in this sense is ascribed to God the Creator and to Him alone. Now I wish I could give you a simple little synonym or phrase which would capture the full sense of the word blessed.

6:06 But if I tried to do that, I would be butchering the meaning of that word. You see, many times we have even physical symbols as well as verbal symbols that cannot have their significance explained in one word or even a sentence. Explain in one word. The physical symbol of the sprinter Evans who stood upon the award box there at the Olympics and raised his fist in the salute of black power.

6:40 You can't describe that in one word. Packed into that whole symbol of the raised, clenched fist with the black glove is a whole sociological drift and pattern of thinking. And you'd be foolish to try to explain it in one word or one sentence. How could you explain in one word the symbolism of a fanatical follower of Hitler who in the days of his power when they saw Hitler coming by would say Heil!

7:10 You couldn't put in one word what that meant. It embodied a whole context of strands of thought. Well, in the same way, when the apostles said Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we can't say the word blessed simply means praised. That's a part, but if you make the part the whole, you end up with an untruth.

7:35 And so what I'm going to do and what I'm going to attempt to do is what you do with a beautiful gem. You hold it up this way and certain light reflects off it and there are certain insights as to its intrinsic beauty. Then you turn it this way and you get other insights. So we're going to hold up this little word and looking at it from several perspectives seek to grasp something of the meaning which the Holy Spirit has bound up and deposited in this word blessed.

8:03 The word itself is the very word from which we get our English word eulogy.

8:11 You've heard of people being eulogized at a funeral. Well, this is the very word from which we get our English word eulogy. They've just taken the Greek letters and one by one translated them or transferred them into English. We call that transliteration.

8:26 It's not a translation. We've just taken the word and anglicized it. Well, when someone is eulogized, what happens? Well, someone speaks well of him.

8:38 Someone praises the excellence of his person and his deeds. So then as Paul thinks of how God has blessed us in conferring specific mercies upon us, he then blesses God by declaring that God is infinitely excellent in himself. That he deserves to have his infinite excellencies acknowledged and praised and praised. And celebrated.

9:07 So he breaks forth in this declaration of the infinite praise worthiness of God. That's one strand of thought bound up in the word blessed. It is a celebration of the excellence of God's person and his deeds. As another of God's servants has stated, to bless God is or by the act of blessing God has bound up God up.

9:36 In it, the ideas of adoration, of thanksgiving, and of praise. Blessing God involves the highest expression of veneration and of thanksgiving which the creature can render to the creator. What is it to bless God? It's to render the highest expression of veneration and thanksgiving which a creature can render to the creator.

Goodwin's Definition of Blessing God

10:05 The most helpful thing that I came across in my preparation were the comments of Goodwin in his commentary in the book of Ephesians in which he defines blessing God in the following way. Blessing God is to wish well to and speak well of God out of goodwill to God and a sense of his goodness unto us. Now let's just exegete that definition. Right?

10:36 I believe it more than any other human writing that I've encountered embodies the main strands of biblical thought. What does it mean to bless God? Blessing God is first of all to wish well to and speak well of God. He is the blessed God.

10:58 We saw that he was called this in Romans 1.25 the creator who is blessed forever. All that is infinite praiseworthy is bound up in the person and being of God. When we bless God we are putting our amen to that fact.

11:18 Just as the apostle does in Romans 1.25 the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. You see that's how he concludes that verse.

11:30 It is to wish well to him and to speak well of him. Is he the sum total of all? Of all perfection and blessedness? Yes.

11:41 Then when we bless him we gladly acknowledge that that's what he is in and of himself. The second phrase in Goodwin's description is this. It is not only to wish well to and speak well of God but to do so out of good will to God himself.

12:03 All rational creatures will one day confess the perfections that reside in God and in his dear son. Philippians chapter 2. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. But that confession which will be forced from men who see no intrinsic beauty in God to delight in him is not the essence of what it means to bless him.

12:40 This is why Psalm 145 and verse 10 indicates that blessing God is the peculiar activity of the saints of God. Though all creation does and will praise him only the saints bless him. Psalm 145.10 All thy works shall give thanks unto thee O Lord and thy saints thy people those who've experienced thy salvation they shall bless thee.

13:15 There's a distinction. All his works praise him. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. But it is the saints and the saints alone who bless him because their hearts have been brought into a frame in which they love God as he is revealed.

13:38 By nature their attitude was described in Romans 8.7 The carnal mind is enmity against God and is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can it be. But because they have become the recipients of eternal life that life described by the Lord Jesus this is life eternal that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent they can bless him that is they can ascribe the praiseworthiness that is due to him that is due to him that is due to his name out of good will to God himself. They not only acknowledge him to be infinitely praiseworthy they are glad that he is that way

14:23 and they are willing to embrace all the implications of it. Then the third thought that Goodwin ties into his description of blessing God is this and a sense of his goodness unto us. Blessing God is to wish well to and speak well of God and to be out of good will to God and a sense of his goodness unto us. Notice in this particular text this is part of the focus of the Apostle's blessing of God.

14:57 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us. In other words Paul's blessing of God is rooted in his consciousness of being blessed by God.

15:16 Isn't that the whole perspective of Psalm 103? Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name. Why? Well because of all the benefits he has showered upon us who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies and he lifts the blessings from God.

Requirements for Scriptural Blessing of God

15:37 So then to bless God is to wish well to him to speak well of him out of a disposition of good will to God involving the sense of having received great tokens of his goodness to us. So then you see to intelligently and scripturally bless God involves at least these three things. There must be some sight and understanding of who God is. You cannot bless him if blessing involves ascribing unto him his worthiness unless you know something of that worthiness.

16:20 So in some measure knowledge true knowledge accurate knowledge precedes the blessing of God. Ignorance is no fuel to the holy art of blessing God. But there must secondly be some delight in that God. For you see it is not the confession wrung out of demons and unconverted men but the confession of demons and unconverted men such as we will find in the fulfillment of Philippians chapter 2 but it is a glad overflowing spontaneous delightful response in the light of what I know of God.

16:58 I delight to say blessed be God and then thirdly there must not only be some sight or understanding some delight but some participation in his blessings. We must see ourselves as the recipients of the gifts which he bestows in Christ before we can say blessed be God who hath blessed us unless I know that I am blessed by him I will not bring blessing to him. And all three of these requirements meet in some degree in every true child of God. Every true child of God has been brought to some basic understanding of who God is

Application: Testing Our Hearts and Continual Doxology

17:43 his heart has been turned to delight in that God and his hands have received blessings from him and so the child of God is equipped to say blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me say by way of application before we move to the second area of our study as you and I contemplate the specific aspects of God's character as revealed in this first paragraph this eulogy this eulogy this doxology where we will encounter such sweeping concepts as God's eternal purposes in Christ those purposes of election those purposes

18:27 of foreordination the concept that he works all things after the counsel of his will it's a good test as to the genuineness of our professed experience as to whether or not those concepts of God lead us to bless him or lead us to curse him.

18:51 You see it was Paul's contemplation of the God of Ephesians 1 3 to 14 which led him to say blessed be this God and how was he contemplating him? He was not contemplating him as a God made in his own image no no he was contemplating him as the God who is who is absolutely free and free and sovereign in every realm of his working the God who is set before us in such lofty concepts and he says blessed be that God yet it's a strange thing that when the obvious meaning of the words of Ephesians 1 3 to 14

19:35 are often preached in our day people say cursed be that God I don't want him something's wrong for to bless God is to acknowledge his worthiness and his worthiness his praiseworthiness to delight in him as he is revealed and so may God search the heart of every man woman fellow or girl in this place that as we contemplate certain aspects of the character and works of the God whom Paul had in mind that we may honestly assess the reflex response of our hearts is it one saying blessed be such a great God

20:20 and a mighty God or is it one of resentment that he should be that kind of God and then the second thing I want to say by way of application is that if we rightly understand by the spirit Paul's concepts of God is set forth in Ephesians 1 3 to 14 it should be leading us back to the first word of verse 3 again and again and again blessed be this God that he is we must never think that as we move onward in the book we move on from this description of blessedness to God no never everything that we come to understand

21:05 with greater clarity if it is understand by the understood by the ministry of the spirit should enlarge our hearts and increase our longing to bless and to magnify this great God it's interesting that this whole first chapter is made up of doxology of thanksgiving and of prayer now you look it up for yourself just don't take my word for it but don't do it now and yet people say the very doctrines Paul deals with in this first chapter make people dead lead them to the place where they don't give thanks and where they don't have devotional warmth

21:49 and yet this whole first chapter is comprised of the three purest expressions of worship doxology thanksgiving and prayer and so I say if we understand it as Paul did we'll find ourselves abandoned in doxology abandoned in praise and giving ourselves to prayer alright so much then for what it means to bless God I haven't sent you out with one little phrase but I hope you'll go out this morning with some biblical understanding of what it means to bless Him secondly from what distinct perspective does the Apostle Paul

From What Distinct Perspective Does Paul Bless God? (God's Relationship to Christ)

22:33 bless God notice blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ it's amazing how we just slip over these things and think Paul's just putting words together as one has said this name by which God is here described is a concentrated confession it puts into this name all that the scriptures reveal concerning our Savior God this is no careless wording every word is pregnant with meaning and since the first commandment is thou shalt have no other gods before me the only worship which God

23:18 receives is that which is rendered to Him as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ you do not bless God aright unless you bless Him as Paul does here the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and bound up in those words are two distinct areas of thought and this is the best way I know to break it down for you first of all there is a tremendous statement about God's relationship to Christ and secondly our relationship to Jesus Christ and it's only within that perspective

24:02 of acknowledging and understanding God's relationship to Christ and our relationship to Christ that we can truly bless God first of all then what is this perspective from which the Apostle blesses God is found in the words the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the construction in the original language is such to make clear that Paul is contemplating the God whom he blesses as the God and the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ now what does that mean to Paul what should it mean to us when you bow to pray and say oh God

24:47 I come unto you as the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ what should that mean to you if it's going to be something other than words you've picked up in your religious associations what's what should they mean first of all they should mean that you have an understanding of God's relationship to Christ and that has two facets in this text first of all as the mediator the man Christ Jesus God was his God as the Son of God God the Son God was his Father notice those two thoughts blessed be the God of our Lord Jesus Christ blessed be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

25:31 God was Christ how do we know that well he calls him that you remember that plaintive cry upon Calvary Matthew 27 in verse 46 my God my God why hast thou forsaken me and then that great statement of our Lord in John 20 in verse 17 when in that dialogue with his own disciples our Lord Jesus says and I now read from John 20 in verse 17 I am not yet ascended I'm sorry this is his statement with Mary for I am not yet ascended

26:16 unto the Father but go unto my brethren and say to them I ascend unto my Father and your Father notice he didn't say unto our Father there's similarity but distinction he is my Father in a unique sense that he's no one else's Father but there is a sense in which he is the Father of my disciples and my God and your God so here in this text our Lord Jesus acknowledges that his relationship is one in which he can say God is my God God is my Father now what is

27:00 the distinct or the precise focus of these two ideas well the first is as the mediator the man Christ Jesus God was his God in other words it was God who appointed Christ to his office directed him in the discharge of that office sustained and strengthened him in the performance of all the duties of that office as such God was the object of his prayers the focus of his faith the object of his praise you know how the Jehovah's Witness likes to make traffic in this he says now look if Jesus was God who was he praying to

27:45 when he prayed and lifted up his eyes to heaven was he talking to himself you've heard the irreverent blasphemous cavillings of these who have no knowledge of who Christ is how do you answer them you see their basic fallacy when they use these verses is that they do not understand that as the mediator as the one appointed to be the covenant head of the people of God as the one appointed to take the sins of men and bear them in his own body to the tree Jesus as man entered into a relationship of subservience to God the Father he'd entered into a relationship of a servant

28:29 who did always those things that pleased his master and so within that office as the appointed redeemer and mediator God was the God of our Lord Jesus Christ he prays to him he depends upon him he seeks direction from him he gives praise to him he gets all of his sustenance from him that's why he prays that's why the Father sent angels to strengthen him in the period of his weakness following the temptation in the wilderness but then Paul contemplates him not only as the God of our Lord Jesus Christ but notice

29:14 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ here he is acknowledging Christ as the Son of God or God the Son and in that sense God was his Father there was this uniqueness of relationship now we have a problem because in our western minds the connotation of Father is primarily thought of in terms of a relationship of derivation of life who is your Father from whom do you derive your physical life but not so in the Hebrew concept there was more the concept of identity of essence

29:57 in life now I want to prove this from the scriptures notice in the fifth chapter of the gospel of John in the fifth chapter of the gospel of John and verse sixteen Jesus had been doing some strange things on the Sabbath that sort of upset the existing patterns he was showing mercy to needy people and he justifies it by saying my Father works and I work verse sixteen and for this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus because he did these things on the Sabbath

30:41 but Jesus answered them my Father worketh even until now and I work now notice how do they understand his words for this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him because he not only break the Sabbath but also called God his own Father making himself equal with God you see it if he had said the Father worketh and I work it wouldn't have bothered but he said my Father worketh and I work and the Jews

31:26 got the message by claiming God was his Father they sensed our Lord's claim to equality of dignity in the essence of being God and this is what caused them to want to get rid of him he was guilty of blasphemy in their eyes notice the same thing as it occurs in the tenth chapter of John here our Lord has made the claim that he and his Father are one John 10 in verse 30 I and the Father are one the Jews took up stones again to stone him and why did they do it

32:11 Jesus asked them that many good works have I showed you from the Father for which of these works do you stone me and the Jews answered him for a good work we stone thee not but for blasphemy and because that thou being a man makest thyself God how did he make himself God by using this term my Father my Father claiming equality of essence sharing I say it reverently in the very life of the Godhead and so as the Apostle Paul blesses God how does he bless him he says

32:55 the God to whom I ascribe worth and praise the God in whom I delight the God from whom I have received blessings in grace that caused me to bless him in worship is none other than the God and the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ what does that mean in practical conclusion it means that the only God revealed to you and to me is the God revealed in this unique relationship to Jesus Christ the Lord in other words God is rightly blessed only when the scriptural

33:40 truths concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ are known believed and embraced as the life of the soul if God is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and everything Christ said and did is true and valid for God is not the God of a liar or an imposter he is the God of Jesus Christ all that Christ did he did in obedience to his Father all that he said he said in obedience to his Father he said my words are not mine my works are not mine therefore you don't bless the true and living God unless you embrace all that Jesus

34:24 is and all that he said for he said I am the way the truth the life no man cometh unto the Father but by me he said in John 10 I have come to lay down my life for the sheep so all that he says must be embraced if God is his God and if God is his Father then all of his claims must be acknowledged for he makes them as God and unless we fall at his feet with Peter saying thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God unless we take our place with Thomas crying out my Lord and my God

Application: Honoring the Son to Honor the Father

35:09 we never truly bless God unless we bless him as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ see how that answers the question what about sincere people who don't know about Jesus Christ and yet who still worship God they don't worship God for the only God that is is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ what about so-called Christians who deny the essential deity of Christ well look at those Mormons and look at those Jehovah's Witnesses they have some kind of faith in Christ and they're sincere

35:54 no no no they don't know the true God for he is the God and the Father of the Lord Jesus and until they honor the Son as they honor the Father Jesus said they do not honor the Father John chapter 5 does this all sound confusing to you do you see the concept that the Apostle had before him and he says in his blessing of God that I bless him from that biblical perspective that he is the God and the Father of the Lord Jesus and now I must hurry quickly to what this says about our relationship to Christ and it's only in that context that you can truly bless him notice he does not say

From What Distinct Perspective Does Paul Bless God? (Our Relationship to Christ)

36:38 blessed be the God and Father of Jesus nor does he say blessed be the God and Father of Jesus Christ nor does he say and listen to the one difference nor does he say blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ what does he say blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in the original, this is the way it would read. And I just wish somehow I may do this. I may get real courageous and give you one little Greek lesson some morning so that you can get this visibly before your mind. Because almost

37:18 every place where it occurs, it occurs in this form. This is a literal translation. Blessed be the God and Father of the Lord of us comma Jesus Christ. That's how it appears in the original. The word Lord

37:35 is followed by the pronoun of us. The preposition and pronoun together of us. And then you have who is Jesus Christ would be a more literal rendering. So then do you see what this confession acknowledges?

37:52 It not only is an acknowledgement of the unique relationship between God and His Son and without an understanding of that relationship we don't bless the true God, but that blessing of God can only occur within the context of such a relationship to Christ that we can say our Lord Jesus Christ. So then we bless God not only when we submit to the validity of the work of Christ and embrace the uniqueness of the person of Christ, but only when we know the reality of subjugation to Christ as

38:34 our Lord. All that's bound up in this phrase. Blessed be God. What God? The God who's the

38:43 Father of Christ. Who directed Him in all that He said and did and therefore it's only by embracing what He said and did that I can know God. He is the Father of the Lord Jesus. The one whom I embrace is God and if I would truly bless God it can only be from a context not only acknowledging the validity of Christ words, the sufficiency of His work, the uniqueness of His person, but subjugation of my life unto Him.

39:15 Now look at the meaning of those titles very quickly. He is called our Lord Jesus Christ and that word Lord binds together the thoughts of Master who has full authority, Owner who has complete possession, Conqueror who has absolute triumph and all those strands of thought are bound together in the word Lord. Jesus, that's the distinguishing word given to Him as Savior. Jehovah our salvation thou shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins. The word

39:54 Christ means the anointed office bearer, the long promised Messiah. Now put them all together and Paul says I bless the God and the Father of my Lord Jesus. Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

40:18 Paul acknowledges that He along with all true believers have come under the rule of Jesus Christ the Lord. They gladly acknowledge Him to be what His name indicates. Lord, Master, Owner, Conqueror, but who is also Jesus the Savior, the anointed prophet, priest, and king? You see what he's confessing?

40:43 He's saying I am in subject subjection to Him who is a conqueror upon a throne who came to that throne by way of a virgin's womb, by way of a bloody cross, by way of an open tomb so that all of my hopes of acceptance and mercy are bound up in what He is and what He's done and the sight of what He is and what He's done. He has brought me broken to His feet, crying, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? So there's no orbit within which men can bless God but the orbit of the saving, subduing work of Jesus

41:27 Christ the Lord. Unless by grace you've been brought broken to His feet, looking unto Him in faith, a true faith that involves submission, you can't bless God. You're still a rebel against Him. You still hate His laws and defy His government.

41:47 And though you may give lip service to everything bound up in the words, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus, you can't bless God until you say, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus.

Concluding Application: Kiss the Son and Bless God

42:05 And so I would call upon you who sit here this morning strangers to grace, kiss the Son, lest this mighty conqueror, this absolute sovereign, this one to whom all judgment has been given, lest he be angry and ye perish in the way, quoting from Psalm 2. Don't think that you can despise His saving work and defy His government and go on unscathed. For He sits now as a prince and a priest upon a throne dispensing mercy. But from that same throne, He will dispense judgment for all judgment has been committed into the hands of the Son. Kiss Him

42:48 with the kiss of faith, with the kiss of submission, lest He be angry and ye perish in the way. And oh dear child of God, how can you help do anything other than bless God? This God, who is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. May I say it reverently? Unless it

43:12 had been the necessities of arising out of your sin and my sin, Scripture would never record that God was the God of Christ. For that brings us into the whole relationship of a mediator who comes in subjection to the Father, who empties himself of many of the prerogatives of Godhead and becomes a man and joins himself to us in our weakness, in our sin, in our misery, in our sorrow.

43:45 How it should cause us to bless Him, that we can even bless Him as the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. How it should fill our hearts with desire to bless Him as the Father, to think that we have been given to see the mystery, a stumbling block to the people who walked close enough to touch Him, and all they saw was a carpenter's son and his kid brothers and sisters. That's all they saw. If being in physical proximity to the Son of God and seeing His miracles was wasn't enough to open the spiritual eyes, oh, how blessed are we if our eyes see Him

44:27 as the One who is the Son of the Father. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is He your Lord? This whole talk about Saviorhood, Lordship, Business, so much of it is just mere trivia, when just a text like this absolutely as far as I can see.

44:55 For the Apostle cannot conceive of the people of God as any other kind of people than those who are in subjugation to Christ the Lord. And so he uses it as a phrase of common identity. Blessed be the God and Father of the Lord of us who is Jesus Christ.

45:15 We haven't even touched on now what occasions, what specific things draw forth this peon of praise and blessing of God. The Lord willing, we shall focus our attention next Lord's Day morning upon the phrase, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Every word, every word filled with meaning. So I trust you not be weary at the slow rate that we're plotting, for I'm convinced that a grasp, a clear grasp upon one phrase of scriptural truth will become the key to unlock many others rather than a surface encounter with many, which leaves us

45:59 devoid of any true understanding. When you pray today at your family table and you address God as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I hope it will be with a new measure of understanding and that you'll bless him that he is such a God. Let us pray.

46:30 O our God, we thank you for the revelation you have given to us of yourself in your word, and we would intelligently as well as fervently bless you as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus.