For our Scripture reading tonight, turn with me to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 as we read together verses 3 through 14 of that chapter. Ephesians 1 beginning at verse 3 as we give our attention to the Word of God. 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. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will. To the praise of His glorious grace which He has freely given us in the one He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace, that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. unto the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of His glory. And for our confessional reference, turn with me in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 16. We find Lord's Day 9. Lord's Day 9, question and answer 26. Page 16. As I read the question, and together we respond, reciting the answer. Question 26 asks, What do you believe when you say, I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, that the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by His eternal counsel and providence is my God and Father because of Christ His Son. I trust Him so much that I do not doubt He will provide whatever I need for body and soul and He will turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because He is Almighty God. He desires to do this because He is a faithful Father. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as many of you recall, I trust last week we considered together the riches of the triune God, the first of which is God the Father and our creation. As believers, we confess, even as we did earlier in the service, we confess, I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. He made me. He is my source. He is my ruler. He is my governor. He owns me. And do you know what, congregation? For the Christian and only the Christian, by grace through faith, this truth leads to blessed confidence. To be owned by our Heavenly Father, to belong to Him. Those who do not believe in the God of Scripture do not have this confidence. Those who fashion gods of their own making often think only of a God who is far off, not near, and one who causes them to be terrified with fear because the power of their God is frightening. And we know even from the testimony of Scripture that the heathen would often bring their dearest and most valuable possessions, such as their children, to sacrifice to their God in order to appease His wrath. But the God of Scriptures has revealed Himself in His love, grace, mercy, patience, wrath, and anger as our Father. And this is to be most comforting to us because having a father means having a special relationship. We are familiar, at least most of us, with having a relationship with our earthly fathers. Now, in some instances, the mother has to pick up that role and does a fine job by the grace of God. But boys and girls, is there a connection between God, our Heavenly Father, and our earthly fathers? Is there any sort of a connection between the two? Well, yes, there is. However, we need to understand that that connection is not a two-way street. That connection only flows one way. For those of us here who are fathers, no matter what kind of father you may be, Our children are not to look at us and examine our lives and then imagine the kind of father God is supposed to be. Many have done that and therefore because of abusive situations or whatever the case may be, so many have had a hard time seeing God as father because of the bad taste from earthly fathers. Now, our children are to learn from Scripture what God the Father is like. And then they can know what we are supposed to be like as earthly fathers. Now, that's frightening, isn't it, dads? It ought to be. But the truth is, we are to reflect the Heavenly Father. Our children ought to be able to see a little bit, even a taste, of what the Heavenly Father is like through us as earthly fathers. God the Father is to be our pattern of fatherhood. He is not a faint impression of earthly fatherhood for which we ought to be ever so thankful, but we are to be an impression, however faint that may be, of heavenly fatherhood. Now the catechism summarizing the teaching of Scripture teaches us of the believer's blessing of confidence in the living Father. We consider tonight, first of all, the foundation of that confidence in the living Father Secondly, the expression of that confidence in the living Father. And then third, the guarantee of that confidence in the living Father. Now this answer which we testify together says some great things about God's work of creation. Who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by His eternal counsel and providence. And in the next Lord's Day, Lord's Day 10, we consider more in detail the providence of God. But what we need to notice here first of all is that God's work of creation is not the foundation of His fatherhood. In other words, He did not become Father at some point in time, for example, after He created all things. He always has been Father. Fatherhood is a part of His very being. As the Catechism says, He is the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus prayed in John 17, verse 24, Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. And therefore, beloved, because and only because God is the Eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore I may have confidence in the Living Father as a Christian. The foundation of God being my Heavenly Father is the fact that He is eternally Christ's Father. If we were to reconstruct this sentence, this first sentence of the Catechism, I'm not the best grammarian in the world, but if we were to reconstruct it, we would find that the main sentence of the Catechism says this, that the Eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is my God and Father because of Christ His Son. And that means that God is my Father for Jesus' sake, even before He made me. You see, Paul says in Ephesians 1, verses 3-5, 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. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will. Congregation, outside of Jesus Christ, there can be no father love for man. But the believer's confidence is that God does not deal with us according to that which our sins deserve, as the psalmist says, according to His wrath and hot displeasure, but in His grace, He deals with us according to the merit of His Son. Paul also says in verses 7 and 8, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. God is my Father because He chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world. God is my Father because of Christ's redemption on my behalf and the purchasing power of His blood. Jesus Christ lived in righteous perfection for me. He suffered the wrath and punishment of God against sin for me. And even now, He intercedes for me. And He prepares a place in His Father's house for me. Why? Because He has opened the way for God the Father to bring me into His family, but not only for me. For all those, as Paul says, who have loved His appearing. John 1 verse 12 says, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in His name. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the foundation of our confidence in the living Father. But then we need to understand that this means that God's fatherhood is restricted. That's right. It's restricted by His Son. It's true, of course, that God is the Father of all men in the creative sense, who of nothing made heaven and earth and all things in them, who continues to uphold and govern all things. But God is not the Father of all men, we could say, in the redemptive or in the saving sense. And this is important for us to remember, especially in these days, even as we have been discussing Islam with Dr. Bergsmuth these last two weeks in Sunday school, and as this whole topic has arisen in greater detail in the recent months. Just this past week, I believe it was, on a Christian radio show, I heard a Jewish woman say, along with many others, that all are God's children. We are all God's children anyway. No matter what you call Him. Allah, Buddha, Jehovah. It doesn't matter. We are all God's children with or without Jesus Christ. Simply not true. That, my friends, is a lie. The intimacy of being one with God the Father is restricted by Jesus Christ and applied by God the Holy Spirit. He is only the Father of those who confess and honor Christ as God's Son and as their Savior. And only those who have been regenerated by God the Holy Spirit for the sake of the blood of God the Son receive the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. Congregation, God is not the Father of those who do not believe. The Bible is clear about that. Jesus boldly said in John 8 to those who would not believe in Him, If God were your Father, you would love Me. For I proceeded forth and came from God. Nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My Word. You are of your father the devil and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it. Unfortunately, there are many in the church who believe Satan's lie, who claim God as their father, but who believe and teach that Jesus Christ is not the only way of salvation. Beloved, those who reject Christ's soul-saving sacrifice then turn around and blaspheme God when they call Him Father in prayer. And for those who ignore Jesus Christ, God is not Father, but eternal Judge. And they are those who, apart from Jesus Christ, must try to make satisfaction for themselves, by themselves, and then they will be condemned on account of themselves. But the believer has confidence on the foundation of Christ. And that's why the words that are so familiar to us, for Jesus' sake, Amen. At the close of our prayer is so packed, full of meaning. Boys and girls, when we say that, we are saying that we believe Jesus sends us to the Father with the assurance that all that we ask the Father in His name, according to His will, He will give. For Jesus' sake, amen. We can only come to God for the sake of Jesus, for the sake of the merits that Jesus Christ Himself earned for you and me. But the comfort and confidence of Christ's foundation is also far-reaching. As God's fatherhood is not only restricted by His Son, but it's also extended by His Son. A contradiction? Not at all. You see, on the one hand, God is the Father of only those who confess and honor Christ. But on the other hand, He is the Father of all those who confess and honor Christ. Only those, but all those. The fatherhood of God gloriously extends over all who come to Him for Jesus' sake by grace through faith. Again, John says, as many as received Him. Through Jesus, God's fatherhood extends as the number of God's children as Christ's church grows out of all generations and languages and nations and races. And what a comfort for God's people as we marry, as we have children. What a comfort that this extension is not yet finished. And what a comfort for Christian parents as we bring our newborn children for baptism, as we witnessed this morning, to receive the sign of God's faithful covenant promises to be a God also to our seed. Beloved, in Jesus Christ, my confidence is that God the Father transfers to me the same Father love and care that He has for His only begotten Son, His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased. And that means by the grace of God through the application of the Holy Spirit, I share in all the rights and privileges of Christ the Son. Paul says in Romans 8, verse 17, that as children of God, by adoption, we are also heirs. Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Therefore, Christ's Father is my Father. Christ's Heaven is my eternal home. His angels are my protectors. But there's a difference, isn't there? His cross is not my cross. Yes, indeed, we are called to take up and carry the cross and follow Him. But it's so different. For Jesus, the cross was a curse. As the curse of our sin was laid upon His shoulders. But for you and me, the cross that we bear is a blessing. As that cross identifies you and I with the Savior. But the chastisement for our peace was upon Him. We also have fellowship in His suffering, but again, so differently. His suffering was substitutionary. It was eternal. It was hellish. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Our suffering is that we bear only the scars. You know what that means, don't you? You boys and girls, do you have any scars? If you have a scar, maybe on your elbow, maybe on your knee, you know that that reminds you that there was a wound there at one time. We bear only the scars. That means that the wound is already healed. By His stripes, we are healed. The confidence that the believer has in the living Father is that in Christ, God has given us the highest and most beautiful proof of His love for God so loved the world. He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Sometimes we measure God's love as our Father based on our feelings and our experiences. But how terribly dangerous that is. Because as sometimes we often say, we are on an emotional roller coaster. We go up and down and this way and that way. And therefore, when things seem to be against us in this life, we might doubt the love of God. And congregation, it's then that we are called to lift our eyes to the cross. To see the most beautiful demonstration of no greater love. You see, God's love never leaves or forsakes His children. Never. There are times in this life when we push God's love away. When we close our eyes to His love. When we ignore it. But God's love never leaves or forsakes His children. The Catechism adds to the confidence of this foundation that the Eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and my Father for His sake, again, of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them who still upholds and rules them by His eternal counsel and providence. Now what a wonderful description of the might and strength of my Father. He not only created the heavens and the earth and all things in them in the beginning in six days, but He also ordained every day of existence for all that He has made. He's not a God who is far off as the deists claim, who, as it were, wound up the universe in the beginning after He made it and backs off from it and lets it unwind until the end of time to serve itself. Sometimes small children, and as dads we would hope as well are grown children, but especially small children, brag about their dads and what their dads can do. My dad knows everything. My dad can do anything. my dad is the strongest man in the world. Not quite a year ago, there was a four-year-old son of a minister, a new minister in this place, who told his Sunday school teacher when she was reprimanding him for doing something wrong, he looked at her and said, my dad can beat you up. Now I'm glad that we didn't have to find that out. But the truth is, there's often a certain amount of exaggeration. And dads, we don't want to often admit that. But there's a certain amount of exaggeration that goes along with this. But with God our Father, there is no exaggeration. In fact, the truth is, beloved, sadly, that often we speak and think too little of Him. We are often more embarrassed about Him, especially when we are in the company of those who do not know Him. How sad. And shame on us. Those are the times especially when we should want to brag about our Heavenly Father and all that He has done for us. Beloved, as God's people, we confess today, we confessed today, I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. But on Monday, does that confession fail you? Does it? If you are only paying lip service to God, it will fail you. If you are one whom Isaiah describes who confesses with your mouth but your heart is far from Him, then you have no foundation and therefore you have no confidence in the living Father. But if you believe on Jesus Christ by grace through faith, then for His sake, God is your Father right now, right this very moment. You are adopted by the Heavenly Father. And the adoption papers have been signed and sealed with the blood of the Lamb. And therefore you come before and you live in the presence of a God who knows you personally and whom you know personally and you can confidently confess then this is my Father's world. The Lord is King. Let the heavens reign. This then is the expression of confidence in the living Father of which the Catechism speaks. It says of this eternal Father, it says, I trust Him so much that I do not doubt He will provide whatever I need for body and soul and He will turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this sad world. Now, the older version of the Catechism says this veil of tears. Sad world. Veil of tears. Now, we must confess that we often have to say, this doesn't describe me. The phrase, I trust Him so much that I do not doubt. This doesn't describe me. I do doubt once in a while. I doubt often at times. In fact, apart from Jesus Christ than His saving sacrifice. All we can and will do is doubt. But standing firm on the foundation of Jesus in the power of the Spirit, the Spirit of whom Paul says in Ephesians 1.14 is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. Standing firm on the foundation of Christ in the Spirit, He gives us faith to sing as we did this morning. In doubt and temptation, I rest, Lord, in Thee. You see, beloved, real trust shuts the door to doubt. That's not to say that we don't fall into periods of doubt. Sometimes we do. Sometimes drastically. But the truth is, the two cannot go hand in hand. Real trust and doubt. When we begin to look to ourselves, then our faith is weakened and indeed we begin to doubt. But in the power of the Spirit, when we are restored from that doubt and when we look only to Jesus, then we may have the confidence to express, I trust Him so much that I do not doubt. With God as my Father, I do not doubt that He will provide whatever I need for body and soul and congregation. He does this perfectly because He knows my need perfectly. And God Himself confirms this for me in His Word when He tells me that He clothes the lily of the field and He feeds the birds of the air. And you see, if He takes care of the least of His creatures such as these, then He will surely care for those for whom His Son shed His precious innocent blood. But then don't forget, faith does not want to go beyond what God has promised. It trusts in what God promises. But it does not want to go beyond what God has promised. Whatever I need. All things necessary. Of course, we know that what we think is necessary and what God knows is necessary for us often are very different. He promises necessities. He promises things that we cannot do without. And to expect more than what is necessary is to go beyond God's promises. And I trust that no one knows better than we do that God often goes way beyond what we need no one here had better deny that but you see often we take his super abounding gifts for granted and we make them necessities I need to have cable tv I need to have a cell phone and so many other things in life and then of course we are disappointed in his love of course when he withholds the luxuries of life and he limits us to what we need. We could say the same thing about evil. God never promised us that evil and afflictions would never strike. What did He promise? He promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail, but they will certainly try. And often they cause deep scars on our life. His provision is for body and soul, for our temporal life and our eternal life. Many fathers in this life are concerned about the physical needs of their children and they provide for them abundantly so that they have no earthly concerns. And as I heard one say once, as long as he or she is happy, as long as my children are happy. But then, of course, they turn around and let them die of hunger in their soul. And the world applauds these fathers as being good fathers, loving fathers, because they give their children anything, everything. But the truth is they are cruel fathers. Those who do not care about the eternal well-being of their children. But our Heavenly Father is faithful to His children. And He provides what we need for both body and soul. Sometimes that may include discipline or chastisement, things that are not so pleasant. Sometimes God withholds earthly things from us in order that we will not suffer harm to our soul. Well, beloved, what love, huh? Because of sin, this life is indeed considered a sad world, a veil of tears. The psalmist says, the days of our lives are 70 years, and if by reason of strength they are 80 years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow. In truth, there is no house without its cross. And yes, as the catechism says, God sends me evil in this sad world. But that doesn't mean He is the cause of evil. That doesn't mean He is the author of sin. He's not. but at times He withholds His hand of favor from us, but it is always subservient to my salvation for the good of my salvation, as Lord's Day once says. He turns it to my good. And therefore in trust I can confidently express that all things work together for good, for my eternal good, for Jesus' sake. For the believer, this veil of tears will pass. One day all things will be made new. So that in this confidence, I know that through this veil, through this sad world, indeed, the Lord is my shepherd. But for those without the Heavenly Father, this sad world is a preview. However tiny it may be, it's a preview of eternal weeping. Those who claim that this life is hell on earth have no clue what they are talking about. But why can we as Christians have such confidence? Because all of this comes with a guarantee. Only a few words here. It says, He is able to do this because He is Almighty God. He desires to do this because He is a faithful Father. As earthly fathers, we know that it is true that there are times when we are willing toward our children. We desire to give to them, but we're not able. And there are other times when we are able, but we are not willing. We do not desire to give to them. But the virtues, the knowledge, and the love of our Heavenly Father cannot be measured. Nothing is impossible or too difficult for Him. He can do everything He wills. As someone has said, what His love desires to bring about, His ability will not deny. And we have no need to doubt, beloved, that the One who called light out of darkness, we have no need to doubt that He is able to sweep away the dark clouds of life. And the One who called the vast universe into being, we have no reason to doubt that He is powerless with regard to the difficulties of your little life and my little life. So often our needs are great, but we need to remember, never forget that our Helper is always greater. And our enemies can be strong, but our God is always stronger. Why can we have such confidence in our Heavenly Father? Because of who He is. He is faithful in Himself, to Himself, and through Himself. He has given His people this guarantee as Paul outlines so often in his writings, but especially in Ephesians 1 as we summarize, He blessed us, chose us, predestined us to adoption according to His will, redeemed us, given us an inheritance which is sealed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Congregation, all of this belongs to the child of God for Jesus' sake. Is this your confidence? Is it your confidence? Is this God, your Father, for Jesus' sake? Only in Jesus Christ can you confidently answer no one to the following question. If God is for us, then who can be against us? No one. Without repentance and faith in Jesus Christ by God's grace, God is not for you, but against you. But confidence in the living Father by grace through Christ in the power of the Spirit means eternal victory through the triune God. Beloved, this God is wonderful. This God is majestic. Is this God your Heavenly Father? Amen. Shall we pray? Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, indeed we bow our heads and our hearts before You once again for the sake of Jesus Christ. We thank You, O Lord, that You care for us so much that You will indeed give to us all that we need for body and soul. And Father, we pray that You would cause us to be content with that which You give to us even when it come by way of sickness or difficulties in life. That then too we may have the blessed confidence that all things work together for good to those who love you, to those who are the called according to your purpose. We thank you and praise you for your love and your care for your church, the bride of your dear Son Jesus Christ. We pray to you that you will continue to preserve her and uphold her until the day of Christ Jesus, until the day of that blessed heavenly banquet when we shall be seated at our place at the table prepared for us. Father, we praise You. We thank You for Your goodness to us. We pray that You would continue to watch over us and care for us as we go forward day by day throughout the days of this life. We ask these things in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.