Eph 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This morning, Lord willing, we will continue our introduction concerning the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. In our introductory remarks, we have already covered many of the major themes of this letter. We have seen that everything has its place and purpose in Jesus Christ. It is in Him that we are made to be the saints of God. As well, in Christ, we are fully included into the family of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. We have also seen that everything is under the dominion of our Lord Jesus Christ. All things are under His feet. His power is so great that we are brought into the placement of being already seated in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ, the Beloved of God. As well, the Holy Spirit, in and by the Word of God is at work to bring us into all the fullness of Jesus Christ. In line with this we are fully covered in the grace of God. That means that our earthly lives are being brought progressively into conformity with our heavenly position in Christ. His grace is so overwhelmingly showered upon us that we cannot survive on this earth without it. It was all in the Grace of God that we were saved through the gift of God’s love in giving His only begotten Son to die on the cross at Calvary for our sins. In that all-powerful Grace of God, Christ was raised up from that grave in triumph, and we were raised up with Him, in the Grace of God.
To see these glorious truths, we have been looking at God’s grace from a variety of viewpoints, each one adding a bit more to our understanding, limited though it is, of the superlative nature of God’s grace. As a reminder, we are using Adam Clarke’s study of grace as a loose framework for our consideration. More than that, we are using a large number of scriptures to detail the fullest aspects of the grace of God, active and powerful in the lives of believers.
Adam Clarke continues our consideration with the following statement concerning grace, It signifies all the blessings and benefits which Christ has purchased, and which he gives to true believers, both in time and eternity. End of quote (from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1996, 2003, 2005 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
As John 1:16 states And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. In Jesus Christ, we are filled with all the fullness of God. It is grace upon Grace. This is evident as we live our lives on this earth. It coincides with the progressive work that He has undertaken in our lives. We have already seen the excellencies of God’s grace from the vantage point of being active and powerful to bring about the conformity of Christ within these lives that we now live on this earth. But consider it from the vantage point of not just being the means of that life of Christ from within us, but the evidence of what Christ has already accomplished, has already put into place in our hearts and souls. Our lives should be filled with graciousness one for the other, as Christ was and is so eternally gracious to us. One of the surest expressions of the heart of God at work in us is the heart of grace that exudes from us unto others. This is a tremendous expression of all that Christ has done and is doing in us. 
When we first experienced the wonderful grace of God in our salvation, a change was begun within us. Our eyes were forced, lovingingly, but forced to see others from a different vantage point. In our selves, all that mattered had been was what we could get; that we were the center of attention, that we received all that we saw as our right plus more. It didn’t matter how we got it as long as we were the focus of all our efforts. In Christ, however, His vantage point begins to be evidenced, and it is only by and in the grace of God that that can take place. We begin to see the need of others for Christ. We begin to consider them worthy of notice. We begin to understand that there is more to life than just what we were getting out of it. As we mature in the Lord, as our walk becomes more and more reliant upon Him, upon His Word, upon the guidance and ministry of the Holy Spirit, our view of others becomes all the more Christ like. This means that as they are precious in the eyes of Christ, in the heart of God, they become the object of Christ’s graciousness expressed through us. The same love evidenced in the heart of God in Christ is becoming our heart after others. And, as Christ’s heart more and more expresses Him in our lives, we are, by the Grace of God, brought into a grace-filled relationship with those in need. 
This is effective not only in the individual believer, but in the church corporate. The heart of Christ must be expressed by His Body. The expression of that heart singly and corporately requires all the grace of God. This is not just in terms of supplying every earthly need. The grace that is needed is that which is necessary to deal lovingly with one another. 2 Cor 9:8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work. As we grow in our relationship with God, we must grow in relationship with one another. That growth is not a feeble, shallow, surface joining together of people with like interests. That growth is a deep rooted, stronger than blood union into one heart before God. For that intense, vital, and living relationship to develop, we need to be able to look at each other in love. That can never be done with these human eyes of judgment and self-elevation and conceit. No, we must see each other though the eyes of Christ filled with love and deepest longing for a purer and purer expression of Christ to be produced in all of us. That means that we are placing ourselves before God for the sake of one another. We have been joined together in the resurrection life of Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself wholly for our salvation. To look at one another with those eyes requires grace. To stand together with one another demands grace. To hold each other up before God is only by the outworking of God’s grace. Paul gave expression to this grace in Rom 9:1-3 I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. How many of us, who know precisely what the cost entails, would be willing to set aside our salvation for another? Not just our earthly lives, but our eternal life that the love of Christ would envelop and draw near another person. Thank God that we can never lose the glorious salvation of Jesus Christ. But that is the expression of the heart of grace that Paul held forth for his Jewish brothers. These were the same people who had persecuted Paul, as he describes in 2 Cor 11:24-27 Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure…. Would we, after having endured all this physical torment and abuse, be willing to lay aside our salvation for those tormenters? Paul was. There was grace in his dealings with his Israelite brethren, the grace that indwelled and impelled Christ even to the cross. This is a grace beyond our comprehension, it is grace incarnate. To treat each other with this grace goes beyond civility, manners, and proper behavior. Yes, these are fully a part of being gracious toward one another. But that grace, seen in the outward treatment of others must be worked into our very fiber of being. Think on this, that Paul, even after being stoned and whipped and beaten, always returned to the temple to share Christ in the undying hope that Christ would be received by the people whom he loved to the uttermost. That was done by grace, the grace of God that indwelled his total life.
	There should be, in evidence, in every aspect of our lives, the living grace of God. We should be treating others, Christians or not, with defined dignity and grace of purpose. For that to be the very core of our lives as lived on this earth, requires a complete, absolute, and utter death of all that we, in our earthly nature demand as satisfaction. We need to join ourselves with the heart of the Apostle Paul as described in 2 Cor 1:12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience that we have behaved in the world, and still more toward you, with holiness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God. 
	The nature of the grace that is now our heritage in the Lord was all the more evident in the Apostle Paul’s desire and concern for the church. Beyond the Jews, he loved the church despite all the disappointments and trials and tribulations. There were rumors, there were accusations, there were false teachers, all trying to discredit the witness of this Apostle, and yet he writes, so very often as in 1 Cor 1:4 I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus. To think of one whose heart was so burdened for his people, and then, when he delivers the message of Christ to the Gentiles, receives their condemnation, betrayal, and all the other problems associated with being a pastor of the flock, yet still thanks the Lord for them is an incredible life of grace. This is beyond all measure of grace in this world. Yet, the work of Christ, the life of Our Lord and Savior, shines through to the very core of the matter in the thanksgiving that Paul continually offers up to God. 
	This brings up a most important aspect of being filled with grace, before God and before man. Thankfulness. Thanksgiving. Accounting all things with a heart filled with appreciation for the work of the Lord. That is what was going on in the Apostle Paul. That is why he could continually celebrate the goodness of God in Christ Jesus. He was seeing things from a completely different aspect; an aspect of how the grace of God was at work to bring about the glory of God, even in the midst of all the seemingly terrible events, betrayals, and trials happening around him. Let us read a few of the scriptures that detail this thanksgiving of Christ’s grace as established in Paul. 
1 Cor 15:55-58 "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Are we thankful, so truly thankful for the victory that is ours through Jesus Christ? Is our thankfulness to such an extent that we never give up our hope of the Love of God? Is our thanksgiving so rich that nothing interferes with our heart of praise unto Him in everything? If so, our lives should show forth that thanksgiving in every manner in which we deal with others. That thankfulness should become the life that we live before each other, before all men, but especially our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Cor 2:14-16 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life… Are we thankful as we learn more and more about the heart of God? Do we thank the Lord that we have been taught through His Word all these years. Are we thankful that we read the Bible together every Sunday? Are our lives that pure fragrance of thanksgiving unto God and man? Does the grace of God arise from our hearts, in thanksgiving, as a pure fragrance of unadulterated love? 
2 Cor 9:15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! Have we been indwelled with thanksgiving for the Holy Spirit? We are given the gift of life, spiritual life, and eternal life in Christ. The Holy Spirit is our moment by moment gift to guide our steps as we now live in Him. Is that recognized within our hearts? Do we thank God that we are so inexpressibly loved and that each one in this room is so loved? Have we offered the Holy Spirit hearts that are thankful beyond measure for His indwelling grace? Hearts that are truly filled with thanksgiving for His ministry of making the Word of God to be our life?
Eph 5:17-20 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. Always giving thanks for everything. What a manifold and powerful statement! Does God really intend for us to be so deeply indwelled with thankfulness to Him no matter what? So thankful for His grace in our lives and in the lives of others as to consider Him in thankfulness during tremendous trials as when our loved ones pass away? Absolutely! There should be an immovable assurance that God has all things well in hand, from the beginning of life to the end of our days on this earth. Have we thanked Him for that faithfulness? 
This is an area that we all need to understand ever more fully. When we look at the tragedies of life, at the losses, at the terrible circumstances, that is what we see. We tell ourselves that there is no manner in which we can give thanks for this or for that, it is just too painful. We base our thanksgiving on that which we can see and understand. That focus of our old nature is what needs to be uprooted and removed from us. We can only thank God in Spirit and in truth when we see everything from His vantage point, the glory that He brings forth even in the midst of the worst earthly tragedies. We do not have the omniscience of God. We do not know the end from the beginning. But we do know that God is faithful. That God can be fully trusted, no matter how things look to us. He is in complete control and He always does everything in His perfection, to the glory of Jesus Christ. It is in that truth, that knowledge, that trust that we can give Him all thanks, no matter what!
Col 1:11+12 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Do we hold a deep thankfulness within our beings for what God has done? It is easy to thank Him for each thing that we see as He meets our needs, but what about the truth that is not visibly evident, but all the more real in our lives? Do we hold constant thanks within us for what He has done in becoming our salvation? Are our lives focused on Him in all His beauty as He has loved us unto Himself? For that, our lives should express eternal gratitude to God Almighty. Our lives must become an eternal witness of thankfulness in the Grace of God.
	Col 3:16+17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. How about in terms of the fact that God meets the needs of His fellowship of believers through ministers and teachers that are appointed for that task? In our youth, did we thank the Lord for our parents, for our Bible study teachers for their instruction in the ways of the Lord? As young adults, did we thank Him for those mentors and loved ones who stood by us through our deepest depressions and rebellions, always holding us up before the Lord? As adults, young or old, do we thank Him for the manner in which the Lord provides His teaching and His ministry day after day after day? Do we thank Him for His grace through the lives that we live as a testimony to the endless grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ?
1 Thess 1:2+3 We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
	2 Thess 1:3 We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, as is fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 
And 2 Thess 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 
 	In these three passages, we see that we are bound to give thanks. This is not an option for the people of God. Whether pastors, or leaders, or teachers or hearers of the Word, we are instructed to thank the Lord in all things. Sure, maybe our lives are not turning out the way that we saw them in our minds. Thank the Lord because His manner for our lives is far better than any we could hold forth. Are our bodies decaying ever more and more rapidly? Thank the Lord! Despite our weakness, He meets the every need of each day. He provides every grace to see us through and to give us the strength and the endurance to meet each challenge: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
	1 Thess 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 
There is a question that we need to ask ourselves before the Lord. It is a seemingly simple question, but it holds the greatest sway in our lives as Christians. Do we see everything from our earthly vantage point or from the Lord’s heavenly vantage point? Please do not dismiss this as one of those questions that can only be answered philosophically. This is a very vital, necessary question with which to wrestle and to struggle through it in our daily life on this earth. When we see things only from the vantage point of this earth, it will always be tainted and defiled with the dust, the dirt, the smears, and the filth of this age. It will always be a most negative vision which can never afford the heart a reason for thanksgiving. Even in the greatest of triumphs, we find depression right around the corner taking away the joy and the thankfulness. When we see things from this earthly view, the circumstances dictate whether or not we are thankful. The situations supply or deny our hearts of gratitude.
	However, if our eyes are being trained to see everything in terms of God’s grace actively at work within these lives and the lives of others, we are blessed with the opportunity to thank Him in everything. Even in the direst circumstances, we can join our hearts together in the absolute knowledge that we are held by the power of God’s triumphant and glorious grace in Jesus Christ. We are not enslaved to circumstances and situations; we are freed to rejoice with all thanksgiving in the glory of God’s Victory and Lordship over everything, despite all the trials and circumstances. 
	As God’s people, we should be seen by this realm in the thankfulness of the sovereignty of God Almighty, no matter what the circumstances seem to be. That is what will serve as an attractant unto the Lord. That is when our neighbors, family, friends, even enemies will be seeking to know why we can deal so successfully and confidently with crises that would devastate the basis of their lives. Thanksgiving is not an attitude, it is not a demeanor, it is not a determination. True thanksgiving is the life of Christ livingly and lovingly seen in absolutely every moment of every day. It is the expression of the life hid in Christ, and sealed with the Holy Spirit. Thank God Almighty that He has shed forth His grace into our lives, to bring forth hearts that are a living sacrifice of thanksgiving unto Him in this world. 
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Introduce guests
Announce baby shower
Birthdays and anniversaries
Meetings – men’s meeting next week Brocks?
Women’s meeting on Wednesday
Prayer meeting at Beverly’s
Thursday evening youth meeting
Help with AM set up

Our benediction this morning is from Ps 107:31-43 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to the sons of men! Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants. He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in; they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield. By his blessing they multiply greatly; and he does not let their cattle decrease. When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, trouble, and sorrow, he pours contempt upon princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes; but he raises up the needy out of affliction, and makes their families like flocks. The upright see it and are glad; and all wickedness stops its mouth. Whoever is wise, let him give heed to these things; let men consider the steadfast love of the Lord.