United in the Father (Ephesians 1:3-5)

[ Preached at a weekend away with a local Chinese Church. Listeners were a combination of Mandarin, Cantonese and English speakers (including young children). The message was translated into Mandarin. ]

Are you Chinese?

I have a serious question for you: Are you… Chinese? How do you know… you are Chinese? Are you sure that you are Chinese?

Number 1: You can cook rice with one finger.

Number 2: Your cupboard has ten types of Chinese tea.

Number 3: You keep frozen drumsticks in ice-cream containers.

Number 4: Everything is wrapped in plastic.

Number 5: Your oven is not an oven.

(Source: Twitter #growingupasian)

It is easy to point to someone and say, “He’s Chinese!” It’s obvious. But can you point to someone and say, “That guy is definitely a Christian”?

For the next few days, we will be trying to answer that question by looking at the book of Ephesians. Why? Because Ephesians is a book about the church, that’s why. Ephesians is all about God’s family. But by the end of this weekend, I hope that we will be able to say, “Ephesians is about my church.” “Ephesians is about my family in Christ.”

Our theme for this weekend is: United to witness. Now, over the next few days, we will learn that the church has to be united in the Son as the body of Christ (that’s tomorrow afternoon). We will learn that the church is united by the Spirit. God gives us his Holy Spirit that lives in each one of us. That’s Sunday.

But tonight, we will see that the church has to be united in the Father. This is the most important lesson because what makes us a family in Christ is our Father in Heaven. The way that God unites us together as a church is by uniting us to himself as our loving Heavenly Father.

Tonight’s talk is short. We have three points from three verses (Chapter 1, verses 3, 4 and 5). Firstly, we learn that God the Father blesses us. Secondly, God chooses us. Thirdly, God loves us.

God blesses us

Firstly, God blesses us as our Father. This is verse 3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

Do you know what a funnel is? This is a funnel (see photo). When you have a big bottle of soy sauce (which you buy because it’s cheap) and you want to fill the small bottles you use at the table, you use a funnel. You pour the soy sauce on the top and fill up the small little bottles.

Now Ephesians says that God pours all his blessings into us through a funnel. That is, he pours every blessing from heaven into our lives - in Christ. It’s squeezed into our lives through Jesus Christ. Now why is that important?

Because often times, we look at God’s blessing from the wrong end of the funnel - from the big end. We say, “Where’s my blessing?” Or, we say, “Why is he getting more blessing that me?” We look at God’s blessing from the wrong end of the funnel - we look up to heaven asking God to bless us - when we should be looking at Christ. And we look around us and think that the person who is most blessed by God is the person who has the most blessing - the most money, the best health, the nicest car - and say, “Wah, God really loves that person. Look at all his blessing!”

Who comes to mind when you think of a rich person? For most of us, it’s Bill Gates. (The teens will think, ‘Mark Zuckerberg’ but the aunties won’t know who he is) Did you know that Bill Gates is giving away 99% of his money? Imagine you have a rich dad and he says to you, “I have 100 pounds, but I am only going to give you… one pound!” He gives one pound to this uncle, one pound to that auntie, one pound to your friend. He gives 99% of his money away and give you… one pound. What would you call that? A stingy dad!

Well, actually, Bill Gates is giving away 99% of his money not because he hates his children but because he loves his children. He wants to leave them enough so that they “can do something… but not a lot of money… so that they do nothing.” There is such a thing as too much - too much money. Too much blessing. (And too much, ice-cream!)

That’s Bill Gates. But that’s not God. God gives us 100% of his blessing; it says there, “every spiritual blessing in heaven” but he gives it to us in Christ. What’s the difference? Well, think about it. Christ was God’s son who had all the blessing in heaven… but he gave it up to die on the cross. Christ has all the riches of heaven but the bible says he became poor for our sakes.

It means that the person who is in Christ is not the person who has the most blessing but the one who is most generous with his blessing. He gives it away. He sacrifices for the good of others. In Christ, we have all the blessing of heaven. But that shouldn’t make us envious or greedy or spoilt. It should make us generous, sacrificial, thankful. Because God gave us his most precious possession, his only Son on the cross.

So the first thing we see is the Father blesses us. He blesses us with every spiritual blessing, but in Christ. In Christ. In Christ. In Christ. He’s the funnel. He’s the one we need to hold on to, not the blessing, but Christ.

God chooses us

Verse 4: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” This is a strange one because it says that God chooses us as our Father.

Fathers, how many of you chose your children. How many of you said, “I want my daughter… to be able to play the piano.” “I want a son who can play football.” You had no choice! Your son is your son. Your daughter is your daughter (whether she plays the piano or not!).

But the mums understand. When you were pregnant and you child was still in your tummy, you said, “Whoever you will be - boy or girl; tall or short; smart or simple - I will be your mum. I will love you.” Ephesians says that before we were born, God said, “I will love you.” Before the universe was made, in fact (verse 4: “the creation of the world”), God said, “I choose you to be in my family.”

But the big difference between the pregnant mum and God is: God knows what kind of person you are going to be. He knows you will reject him. He knows you will sin against him. But still he says, “I will love you. I will be your Father. I will send Jesus to die for your sins on the cross.”

Now look at verse 4 again. What does it mean that God chooses us to be “holy and blameless”? Why does it say that we are supposed to be “holy and blameless”? It means that God wants us to be like Jesus.

The words “holy and blameless” are used in the Old Testament to talk about two things: the priests and the sacrifices. The priests were holy - meaning, they were chosen to do a special thing - to serve God at the temple. To be holy means exclusive for God. And the priests spent their whole lives serving God and God alone (in the temple). Now the second thing it refers to are the sacrifices at the temple. The animals that were sacrificed, the vegetables that were sacrifices, were not leftovers or Sainsburys yellow sticker expiring cheapo stuff. No, they were pure and blameless.

So when God chooses you and me to be holy and blameless, what does this mean? It means we live for him. Do you get it? It means I don’t live for my own comfort. My life is a sacrifice for God.

Earlier, we said that God is a God who blesses us. With every spiritual blessing in heaven, he blesses us, like a father who empties out his whole bank account and says to his son, “Nah. For you.” But why does he bless us? So that we can be more and more like Jesus. So that we can generous, yes. But more so that we can reflect God’s generosity. Our lives are to be lived in worship of God, always giving glory to God; always giving thanks to God. Everything that God gives us in Christ is so that we will give him the glory!

A mother was praying for her son who left home. Now most mothers here pray for blessing, don’t you? You pray for God to bless your son or daughter, don’t you? But this mother’s son had left home and rejected his family and rejected God. He lived a sinful and destructive life. So she prayed, “God do everything and anything you can to bring my son to his knees.”

We want our children to be blessed by God. But do we pray for our children to worship God? Dare we say to God, “God do everything and anything you can to bring my son, my daughter, my husband, my wife, my brother, my sister… to their knees and call you their God?” We will if we understand that God has chosen us - not to be happy - but to be… holy. That’s his ultimate purpose for our lives. To be more and more like Jesus.

God loves us

Finally, we see that God loves us. He loves us.

Verse 5: “In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.” The important word there is “adoption”. God loves us so much… that he adopted us into his family. None of us were born into Christianity. All of us were outside God’s family but one day he came to us, he said to us, “I will be your Father. You will be my daughter; my son.” He adopted us.

Many years ago I went to an orphanage, which is a home for children who do not have a mother or father. I went there and asked the aunties, “What can I do to help?” They said, “Just be a big brother.”

So I sat down on the couch and read the newspaper. Immediately, two kids sat next to me, on the right and on my left. They didn’t want to talk or disturb me. They just wanted to be near me. I read my paper and put it down… and there were more kids sitting around me, this time, on the floor around my feet. Here were children who were so starved for love; so starved for attention, that even sitting around a stranger reading his newspaper was enough for them.

I distinctly remember a five-year-old boy who ran out the door shouting, “Papa come already! Papa come already!” He ran out to the driveway, shouting, “Papa come already.” I looked outside but there was no one at the gate. The auntie told me, “He does this every day. His Papa never comes.” It was heart-breaking.

I tell you that story for two reasons. Number one: God has come to be our Heavenly Papa. He says to us, “I love you. I choose you. And I was you to live with me forever.”

But number two: The church is not an orphanage. Some of us come to CCCC because people are so loving. Here we find big brothers and big sisters who love us and really pay attention to us. But we have never, ever met God and we have never ever felt God embrace us and say to us, “I love you. I am your Heavenly Papa.” I say to you: CCCC is not an orphanage. It is God’s family. And God is our Heavenly Father. Do you know Him? Do you love Him?

Our theme for this weekend is United to witness. I was talking to XM last week and he said, “When I think of ‘united’, I think, ‘Manchester United’!”. That’s true, isn’t it? We think of a football team like Manchester United that works together and is well-known around the world. And sometimes we want our church to be like Manchester United - a church that works well together and known all around the world.

Do you know why Manchester United is so… united? It’s because of a ‘hair-dryer’. Seriously. Their (former) coach, a man named Alex Ferguson, would shout and scream at his players, “Hey you! Be united! Play better! Work harder!” until they were more united as a team. He shouted at them so often and so loud, the players said, that it was like having a 'hair-dryer' blow in your face! And you see, sometimes we think that’s what God does in the church. He tells us to work harder. He scolds us to fix our problems. Until we get it perfect.

Friends, it is possible to a church that is united to one another but is dis-united from God. It is possible to be a church that loves one another but hates God. And I say to you: That’s not the kind of unity we want for our church.

Before we talk about being united together or being united in mission as the church, tonight I want us to answer one simple question: Am I united to God? Do I know God’s love as my Heavenly Father; my Heavenly Papa?

Conclusion

Three things: God blesses us; God chooses us; God loves us.

God blesses us in Christ. The most important thing is not the blessing, it’s Christ. Not: do I have this blessing or that; but Do I have Jesus Christ?

God chooses us to be holy and blameless before his sight. It means what God wants most for your life and my life is not for me to be happy but to be holy. What God wants for your children is for them to bow their knees before Him and give their lives in worship to Him as God.

Finally, God loves us. We say that a lot of times: “God loves me, of course, he loves me.” But do you know that God loves us? When you pray to him, do you call him, “Papa?” And do you hear him say to you, “My son. My daughter. I love you.”

I pray that tonight, you will.

Confessions of a church musician (Psalm 73)

What is the biggest challenge playing on the music team?

Is it playing new and unfamiliar songs? Or playing the same songs again and again?

Or maybe it’s playing in front of other people (especially at combined services with the aunties and uncles from the Chinese congregation)?

For me, the biggest adjustment was playing in a group, playing with other musicians who were real pros. That was stressful!

What about you? What has been the biggest challenge since joining the church music team? Keep that question in mind as we turn to Psalm 73, which is a song written by a musician named Asaph.

In fact, we know from 1 Chronicles 16, that Asaph was appointed by King David to be in charge of all the musicians. He was the the worship leader, in charge of all the priests, to worship God before the ark of the covenant (built during the time of Moses). And you will notice that Psalm 73, together with Psalm 74, 75… all the way to Psalm 83 was written by Asaph, meaning, he was a songwriter, too.

Here, in Psalm 73, he says.

Surely God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped,

I had nearly lost my foothold.

For I envied the arrogant,

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

I call Psalm 73 “Confessions of a Church Musician.” Why? Because, in verse 2, he confesses, “My feet had almost slipped.” He’s not talking about playing the wrong chord or reading the wrong verse. No, he is confessing - honestly admitting - that he doesn’t feel like worshipping God today.

How can you say that Asaph? You are the worship leader!

Aigoo!

Notice, verse 1: “Surely, God is good to Israel.” And that expression - Surely - happens three times in the passage. It’s like “Crikey!” (if you British) or “Wah!” (if you are Chinese) or “Aigoo” (if you are Korean).

Asaph says, “Surely!” three times (in verses 1, 13 and 18) to give us three honest confessions; he gives us three honest reflections as a church musician. He tells us (1) what he knows, (2) what he feels and (3) what is true. That’s what we are looking at today. What he knows, what he feels and what is true.

1. What he knows

Firstly, what he knows. Right from the beginning, Asaph knows that God is good. Asaph knows that God deserves our worshipped. But when he looks at this world, what Asaph knows and what Asaph sees are two different things.

I know that God blesses his people. But when I look at the world (verse 4), “they have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.”

I know that God loves the pure in heart. But (verse 7) “from their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.”

I know that God will judge on the wicked, but (verse 8) “They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression.”

What Asaph knows doesn’t line up with what Asaph sees. But here’s the confession: Asaph is tempted to worship what he sees, not what he knows about God. Even though it’s wrong, Asaph is tempted to follow wicked men rather than worship a good God.

Verse 2: “But as for me, my feet at almost slipped… for I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” You might say, “How can you let such a person be the worship leader?”

But friends, Asaph knows what worship means. Do you? Worship means giving to God what he is worth. Literally: “Worth-ship” - it’s talking about worth and value. It’s a price tag. There are some restaurants where you go in and the menu has no prices. Instead, you order the food and at the end you pay what you think that chicken or that salad was worth. Our worship to God is a direct reflection of what God is worth in our lives.

Meaning: Worship is not about singing or giving money. It’s much more than that. Christians believe that God is worth our whole lives and therefore our worship is 24/7. Paul says in Romans 12: “Offer up your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.” It means you can worship God in church and at work, while you are eating your breakfast or taking the bus to school. Your whole life belongs to God and therefore everything you do, say and think is about being thankful to God and giving him all the glory he is due. At least, that is what Christians are called to do in their worship.

But when Asaph looks at the world, they think they owe God nothing. They think God is worth nothing. Instead, they live to worship their wealth, their health and their status. Verse 4: Their bodies are healthy and strong (meaning they go to the gym). Verse 6: Pride is their necklace (They dress to impress).

And he confesses, honestly, “I was tempted.” Why? Because in verse 9, Asaph sees a different kind of worship leader - one who is popular - but one who leads people away from God.

Their mouths lay claim to heaven,

and their tongues take possession of the earth.

Therefore their people turn to them

and drink up waters in abundance.

Verses 9-10

When it says, “their people turn to them,” it could be talking about how popular these worship leaders are in the world. It might also mean God’s people are turning to them. And that’s worrying, because in verse 11, they say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?” Who cares about God? He’s not going to do anything about it.

Finally, Asaph concludes:

This is what the wicked are like -

always carefree, they increase in wealth.

Verse 12

What was Asaph tempted to do? To do evil? No. To be wicked? No. But to be comfortable. To be popular. You see, the world offers us another way to worship, one that is attractive. One that really works. Friends, it’s saying that it’s possible to love worship but hate God. It is possible to do evil but look good.

When you turn on the TV. When you check Facebook. This world is worshipping 24/7. The question is whether we are worshipping God - with our lives, our time, our money. Or are we worshipping money, our time, our lives as our God. Asaph says, “Honestly, I was tempted to do the latter.”

That’s what he knows. But next, he tells us what he feels. And in verse 13, what he feels like doing is giving up.

2. What he feels

Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;

in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

All day long I have been plagued;

I have been punished every morning.

Verses 13-14

Have you ever had one of those bad days when all you want to do is stay at home, watch Netflix and eat junk food? Not a bad thing, in and of itself. But what if you are a worship leader and you are supposed get up and lead worship that morning? What if you are the pastor and you are supposed to preach?

Asaph doesn’t feel like going to church today. He feels guilty about it (“All day long, I’ve been plagued”). But most of all, he feels like giving up. “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure.”

But then he says, Verse 15:

If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

I would have betrayed your children.

Verse 15

He’s saying, “When you step up to the mic, people are listening.” You need to be responsible as a worship leader. What you say reflects not just who you are but who God is.

Now I don’t think Asaph is saying you must be dishonest, otherwise, he wouldn’t have written Psalm 73, confessing all his struggles as a church musician. Psalm 73 is actually a song, meaning, they would have sung these words in church.

But he is saying that the times when you are depressed are tempted to say things that are hurtful and untrue about God. “I would have betrayed your children,” he says. Be extra careful about saying things on behalf of God that God isn’t saying in his Word. Eg. God isn’t good. God doesn’t care. That’s not true - and you know that it’s not true. And as leaders of God’s people, we must be careful about speaking words and singing words that go against the truth of God’s Word.

Yet at the same time, Asaph is conflicted. He is burdened with guilt. What does he do?

When I tried to understand all this,

it was oppressive to me

till I entered the sanctuary of God;

then I understood their final destiny.

Verses 16-17

He tried figuring it out on his own - “I tried to understand all this” - but it just got worse! Has that ever happened to you? You are stressed out about playing on Sunday. You are stressed out about your presentation. So you stay up all night practising and working - which is a great thing to do, don’t get me wrong - but at the end of all that hard work, you end up getting more stressed!!

Serving God is not something you can do with your own strength. The more you try, the more stressed out, the more frustrated you will get. Even an experienced worship leader like Asaph forgot this. He tried to figure it out on his own when only one thing could ever change things.

“Until I entered the sanctuary of God, then I understood their final destiny.” It is so obvious, yet we forget this. Only God can help us when we have a problem with God. It is so obvious!

And yet, most of us, when you have a problem with God, stay away. When things get tough in a ministry, we stop serving. When things get tough in church, we stay at home, thinking, “I’ll try to figure this out on my own.” It always - always - gets worse. Why? Because when your problem is God, you can’t solve it without God.

Let me put this another way. There are times when you will not feel like worshipping God. What should you do? Worship God. There are times when you will not feel like being with God’s people, when you feel like taking a break from church. What should you do? Come to church?

And you say, “What? That’s crazy?” No, that’s what Asaph is saying to us. It won’t work trying to sort out a problem you have with God by being by yourself. You cannot fix a relationship by breaking a relationship. Asaph is saying, “It’s not just about you.” Your worship before God affects your relationship with others (especially if you are responsible for them as a leader). And, at the heart of it, your worship of God flows from your own relationship with God.

So, when you do don’t feel like worshipping God, worship God anyway. You can say to him, as Asaph does in this psalm, “My feet are slipping. It doesn’t make sense. I am tempted to follow the world, not your Word.” Come near to God and the promise is: He will come near to you (James 4:8).

Which brings us to the final point - the final “Surely” in verse 18.

3. What is true

Surely you place them on slippery ground;

you cast them down to ruin.

How suddenly are they destroyed,

completely swept away by terrors!

Verses 18-19

What is your favourite love song? (The guys will say, “I don’t listen to love songs!”)

For some, it’s Ed Sheeren’s “Thinking out loud” - “Darling, I’ll be loving you till we’re seventy.” For others, it’s a classic like Whitney Houston’s, “Eyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee will always lo-ove you.” Do you notice how so many love songs have words like “eternal” and “forever”? Everyone wants a love that lasts forever. That’s eternal. But here in this last section, Asaph says they are nothing but fantasies.

As a dream when one awakes,

so when you arise, O Lord,

you will despise them as fantasies.
Verse 20

These love songs are beautiful, yes, and they are wonderful. But they are untrue. You can sing them till you are blue in your face but they are nothing but fantasies.

But the songs we were singing today were all based on God’s truth. “Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.” It’s talking about Jesus who was cleft - who was cut; who was killed - for me. And we’re saying, “Let me hide myself in you, Jesus.” His death opens up the way for me receive his life.

That is the kind of truth that speaks of eternity, not just wishful thinking. Therefore, when we long for the world’s fantasies, which will one day fade away, which God will one day judge and completely wipe away, we are being short-sighted. We are being foolish.

When my heart was grieved

and my spirit embittered,

I was senseless and ignorant;

I was a brute beast before you.

Verses 21-22

Previously, Asaph was so focussed on the world - “They have no struggles; they are free from burdens; Their mouths lay claim to heaven.” Then he was focussed on himself - “I have been plagued, I tried to understand this, it was oppressive to me.” But it’s only when he started looking to God, that he realises: It’s not about me. It’s about you, Lord.

Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

and afterwards you will take me into glory.

Verses 23-24

Here’s the thing: God allows us to go through this process to realise just how much he loves us. The difficulties, the doubts are part of God’s plan - to do what? To strip away everything else from our lives so that only He is left in our sight. The bad things as well as the good things, one by one, God allows them to be stripped away, until we realise that the only permanent thing we have is Him.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion for ever.

Verses 25-26

It’s like fasting. Muslims all over the world began fasting this week as part of Ramadhan, abstaining from food and drink. But Christians fast not because of Ramadhan. And we do not fast because we are trying to cut down on carbs and chocolate.

Rather, when we fast as Christians, we are putting aside things which are good, food and water which we need to survive (we would die without food and water) and we are saying to God, “You are more important to me than food. You are more precious to me than my life.”

Asaph says to God, “Nothing in heaven and nothing on earth is more important to me than you.” How can he say that honestly and truly? Because his heart is failing him. Because his flesh is failing him. Verse 26 can and probably should be read in the present tense. “My flesh and my heart is failing.” Meaning: Right now, my body is breaking down. I am physically restrained. Right now, my depression is acting up.

“But God is the strength of my heart.” The only thing that’s keeping me going is You.

As a church musician, as a servant of God, that brings glory to God. When others look at you and they do not see your gifts, they do not praise you for playing so skillfully on the piano this morning, but they say to you, “I clearly see that God is working through you.” Our weakness makes God’s strength easier to see in our lives. By all means, worship God with your gifts. But never forget, you can also worship God with your grief. You can worship God with your weakness.

Conclusion: I will tell of all your deeds

Asaph knows that God is good. He has known this all his life - from Sunday School, from church. He knows this.

And yet, Asaph feels like giving up. “My feet had almost slipped. In vain, I have kept my heart pure.” His heart is failing him. He feels like giving up.

But in the end, God reminds Asaph of what is true and eternal. He holds him by his right hand. He guides him with his counsel. He strengthens him in his weakness.

Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the sovereign Lord my refuge;

I will tell of all your deeds.

Verses 27-28

The only difference between the music team and the congregation; the only difference between the song leader and the song-led, is this: The privilege to tell of all His deeds. You are leading God’s people to praise God for who He is and for all that He has done.

He is the only true and eternal God. He is holy. He hates evil. And one day, He will judge the world in righteousness and truth through Jesus Christ, destroying all who are far from him and unfaithful to him.

He has sent his Son to die for your sins. Taking it upon himself, bearing our judgement on the cross, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day conquering sin, death and the Devil. All who trust in him receive full forgiveness and new life that is indestructible and conformed to the image of the Son of God.

These are truths about God that are eternal, that are revealed fully in his Word to us, that we as musicians, as song leaders, as Sunday School teachers, as pastors and bible study leaders have a great privilege to speak and teach and remind one another here in the Chinese Church.

Know this truth. Love this truth. And with all your heart, sing this truth with faithfulness and boldness to glory of our Saviour and God, Jesus Christ.