What Stirs the Church to Sing? A Live Lab on Ephesians 1:1–6

0:00 Father, I ask that you would open the eyes of our hearts so that we can behold wonderful things out of your word. Unite our hearts to fear your name. satisfy us in the evening with your steadfast love guard us from distraction and give us compliant spirits so that we yield to the authority that's here and are changed by it for the glory of Christ in his name I ask it Amen Most of you know, I hope, that Johnny Erickson Tada, the founder of this global ministry to disabled people, Johnny and Friends, broke her neck when she was 17 and has been in a wheelchair for almost 60 years.

0:59 and she has led a life of stunning faithfulness. She's one of my Hebrews. But what many people do not know is that God rescued Johnny Erickson Tada from despair after she broke her neck and suicidal thoughts by causing her to fall in love with the absolute sovereignty of God over everything. her most recent book, I think, 2024, is this one, The Practice of the Presence of Jesus. My wife and I read it aloud to each other two years ago.

1:55 And in it, John Sloan, her friend and editor for 40 years, said this. she was astonished to learn that the reach of God's dominion covered even the granules of shifting sand below the very waters in which she broke her neck far from off-putting she found the doctrine of the sovereignty of God comforting Miss Erickson became a five-point Calvinist a theology known for its strong emphasis on God's sovereignty.

2:42 Now I was so moved not only by these devotions that she wrote but by the fact that for the first time ever that I knew she went public with that claim about Calvinism. Whoa. in the front of a devotional book.

3:02 So I wrote to her. and said, why did you do that? Because I love five-point Calvinism, and she and I know that we both love this. Here's what she wrote. This is her answer. Number one, I wanted the readers to understand that theology matters. If God is not sovereign, then any faith we place in him is foolish. His promises are empty. His intentions are suspect. He is no help in suffering. He cannot offer salvation or hope. And I could go on. A student of the Bible must immerse himself in doctrine about the character of our God and his sovereignty. And the Bible insists God holds dominion over everything for very good reasons. But mostly, number two, I want the reader to recognize that my deep roots in Calvinism have defined my happy delight in God.

4:12 The sovereignty of God from salvation to suffering is an enormous comfort to me. why wouldn't I trust my precious Lord who in one universe shaking act of mercy was ripped to shreds on the cross for me I am struck by his love and I believe him and trust him and enjoy him honestly there are times when lying in my bed when pain leaves me breathless yet I am so happy in my Savior. Glory be if God did not control evil then evil would come barreling at us uncontrolled. So praise him for his dominion even over evil and suffering.

5:14 Johnny. what kind of fruit did that commitment to the sovereignty of God bear for 60 years what kind of fruit do you want in your life John Sloan, who's writing this introduction, wrote this. After 40 years in Christian publishing, I confess that I have never met anyone who has the kind of constant communication with Jesus Christ that Johnny experiences. She sings. She sings to Jesus. as she rolls down her office corridors. She praises him when welcoming everyone she meets. She cheers the Lord for every visiting group that comes into her ministry building.

6:13 And she also praises God when times are not good. Like when she suffers unrelenting pain, she practices the presence of Jesus daily. So tonight's event is called Why We Sing. And Johnny's answer to the question of why we sing is that God is wise and good and gracious and sovereign over every molecule in her body. he was sovereign when she broke her neck and he was sovereign over this wheelchair and will be until as she says on the last day in the presence of Jesus she stands up takes her chair throws it into hell and dances before the Lord.

7:21 And that's what I want for you. And you need a theology. You need her theology. And it's found in Ephesians chapter one, verses one through six. And that's where we're gonna spend the rest of our time. Ephesians 1 through 6. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. We'll come back to that. To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. blessed You talk like this?

8:14 Blessed be the God. So he's writing a letter, and he just breaks into worship in the second sentence. blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places everything heaven can conceivably give to God's children they will have even as he shows us in him come back to that before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him come back to that in love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons. We'll come back to that. Through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace. what does the will of God refer to does that mean I wonder if you even can make the distinction between two kinds of meanings to that phrase one would be God told you to be an apostle so be one it's my will for you to be an apostle get about it that's one way of understanding his will of command he commands it do it or I willed it before you were born and it will be. Which of those is the will of God?

9:54 Now, the reason I pause here to ask that question is because I think what a glorious thing it would be if a couple thousand people walk through life knowing those two realities and the difference between them and are not swept away by some online preacher who only has one meaning for the will of God and says, Johnny's chair cannot be it. And some of you know who I'm talking about. so just to show you that there are these two meanings in the bible here's verse 11 in him we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will all things wheelchairs Thank you.

10:48 and every sorrow that comes into your life. Come now, you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit. Come on, James. Why are you so picky? I mean, we're just talking about going to Dallas. yet you don't know about tomorrow what it will bring, whether you can go to Dallas or not. Who do you think you are? Talking about going to Dallas.

11:30 What's your life? You're remiss. It appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we go to Dallas. We will live. I'm 80. If the Lord wills, I'll finish this tonight. If not, I drop over. Don't worry about it.

11:53 Right? This will be good for me and maybe good for you. We'll see. Seriously, that's what it says, right? If the Lord wills, John Piper will finish the message. That's what it says. Come on, he's sovereign over your life. He gives life, he takes life. Blessed be the name of the Lord. If you're going to get in God's face every time somebody dies, you don't know God. You don't know God. He's God. Life is in his hands. It doesn't belong to us. It belongs to him. He can take it whenever he please. If he wiped out entire Houston tonight, he would do nobody any wrong. None. even more amazing if the Lord wills we will do this or that what on earth does that mean it means everything this or that like if I look up or if I look this way or if I look this way God has decided which way I look I mean Johnny believes this I believe this many of you do not believe this and I'd like to persuade you he's that sovereign folks he is that sovereign and to her it is glory it is glory to endure 60 years in a wheelchair singing all the way is owing to this Acts 18 on taking leave of them he said I will return to you if God wills and he set sail for Ephesus one more Job 42 I know that you can do all things this is what he finally concludes after 42 chapters

13:59 of messing up I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted I'm on my face my hand is over my mouth you are God I'm not I'm going to stop objecting and criticizing you so that is the first meaning of the will of God everything that happens is the sovereign will of God or call it the will of decree but that's not what the will of God means here here. whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. Huh, wait a minute. You just said everything that happens is God's will in one sense. I said, yes. Well, that doesn't work here. Because everybody is not his brother and sister and mother. He meant keep the commandments.

14:56 God's will is don't kill, don't steal, don't lie. Obey your parents. That's God's will. His will of, what should we call it? Command. or this is the will of God, your sanctification. Or, verse 18, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, to give thanks. Give thanks, that's God's will for you.

15:27 So which is it in Paul's case in Ephesians 1? Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. He commanded me to be an apostle or he set me apart to be an apostle. Here's Galatians 1.15. He who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace. You're going to be an apostle, Paul. Period. I'm God.

16:01 So right now you hate me. I'm knocking you off your horse. I'm going to shine down from heaven. I'm going to blind you for three days. You're mine. I'm taking you. Isn't that glorious? You know an unbeliever in your life that's like Paul? I do. he can take them. He can take them.

16:23 Okay, that's my answer to the question, what does the will of God mean? Keep before your mind for the rest of your life, God's will is all things in the sense of what is decreed. God's will is his revealed will in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible that you should obey. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Now, Johnny said she's a five-point Calvinist. One of the five points of Calvinism is unconditional election. Election shows us. This is right here.

17:13 There are millions of Christians in Texas who don't believe that, don't believe what I believe or what Johnny believes. Millions. who stiff arm the absolute sovereignty of God in their own salvation. So, what does this word mean?

17:39 And there are, I think it means, he, before the creation of the world, saw a fallen humanity and picked, owing to nothing in John Piper, me out and I trust most of you. And if you wonder if you're chosen all you have to do is say do you believe? the evidence of being chosen is I trust him. I follow him. I love him. He's mine. I'm his. And you're elect. You make yourself elect. You showed yourself to be elect. Now, is that the meaning? That's what I think the meaning is. But there are two ways to escape that and say, no, no, no, no, no. That is not what this text means. The first way is to say, when it says he chose us here, it doesn't mean individuals.

18:48 It means he chose the beloved. He chose Christ. He chose us in him. So when you see the little in him, it means he chose Christ. And anybody who happens to be in Christ, he didn't decide who would be in Christ. You decide that and you get in Christ by faith. And then because he chose Christ, you're chosen. That's the first way. It's very common interpretation. It won't work. It won't work. and get a new set of slides here. is election individual or group? 1 Corinthians 1.26 Consider your calling, brothers.

19:42 Consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to the worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He chose individuals. He didn't choose a nameless group. He chose individuals. There are names. Look at this text in Revelation 13. authority was given to the beast over every tribe and people and language and nation and all who dwell on the earth will worship it except everyone whose name has not everyone will worship the beast whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of the life of the Lamb who was slain.

21:09 That means, does it not? I just offer it to you. That to have your name written in the book before the foundation of the world, a book whose name is the life of the Lamb who was slain, so the slaying of Jesus is in the mind of God before creation having your name in that book keeps you from worshiping the beast. you don't get into the book by not worshipping the beast you're prevented from worshipping the beast by being in the book this is sovereignty this is Johnny Erickson Tata's life so I don't think it'll work to say that he chose us in him means he chose Christ and then we get ourselves into Christ and then we're in the elect because we got into Christ I don't think that works and lots of other arguments could be brought but second argument for how you escape individual unconditional election, and that is to say, he foresaw your faith.

22:40 This is real common, real common, like millions of Texans and Minnesotans, human beings, believe this when they try to escape the Bible. They would say, he chose us because he looked into the future and he saw that John Piper would use his ultimate self-determination, often called free will, ultimate self-determination to choose him. And so he elects me on the basis of my autonomous, sovereign, self-determining choice of him.

23:29 Millions of people believe that. I just think that's so, so dishonoring to the Lord. Why don't I think that's right? Doesn't it say right here? I mean, good grief, Piper. Let's look at Romans 8, 28 to 30. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose, for those whom he foreknew. How's this?

23:59 He predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he called. And those whom he called, he justified. And those whom he justified, he glorified. Right there, says Piper, he foreknew their faith. and so he chose and predestined them. That's just what you just denied. You denied that. that's not what that means that for know right there doesn't mean that the biblical language of knowing is very rich and multi-layered for example Amos 3.2 you Israel you only have I known of all the families on the earth.

24:58 Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities. What in the world does that mean? When God says to Israel, you only have I known, doesn't mean you only have I been aware of. He's God. Known means chosen. Numerous times in the Old Testament. The closest I can get in English to how we use the word like that is the word acknowledge or recognize. Like in the Senate, the senator from Nebraska is acknowledged. The senator from Nebraska is recognized. Get the word cognition or the word know, acknowledged. What does that mean? The senator from Nebraska is, I'm probably saying Nebraska because I love Ben Sass. I mean, seriously, he's dying of cancer and he's just gloriously finishing his race.

25:55 But the senator from Nebraska is acknowledged, meaning I choose you to speak next. You get to speak next. That's the way we use acknowledge. That's the way we use recognize. And that's the way the Bible often uses the word know. For example, again, in Psalm 1, therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. What does that mean? You know the way of the wicked in the sense of being aware of it ahead of time. You know it, but that's not what this is saying. That's not what this means. He knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. That means he chooses the way of the righteous as is favored.

26:47 I love the way you're acting. I love this righteousness. I recognize this righteousness. I put my favor upon this righteousness. but here's a text that seals it for me Acts 13 the Lord has commanded us saying I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth and when the Gospels and when the Gentiles heard this they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. not the other way around. As many as believed, having been foreseen, he appointed.

27:43 That's not what it says. It's the opposite of what it says. As many as were appointed, believed. The believing is owing to the appointing, and the appointing is the same as the electing. So my conclusion is that this phrase right here,

28:08 the second point of the five points of Calvinism that sustains Johnny's life and my life, means before the foundation of the world, owing to absolutely nothing that you did or believed, God chose you. That's how free he is. I have mercy on whom I have mercy. I have compassion on whom I have compassion, which strips you and me of every vestige of boasting. that we should be holy and blameless before him. Why did he choose us? That we would be holy and blameless before him.

29:06 Let me get one more set of slides up here as we try to move towards the completion. he chose us he chose us in him that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ so he is choosing us so that he would have a holy and blameless family all through Jesus Christ who loved us and gave himself for us and he does it according to the purpose of his will not according to our will or our doing It's a really amazing thing to think that grace, which is what we're going to wind up praising here in just a moment,

30:24 grace was in the mind of God before there was sin. because creation hadn't happened, Adam and Eve hadn't happened, the fall into sin had not happened. And we know that because of not only this text, but what about this one? 2 Timothy 1.9, God saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of works, but because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ before the ages began. I just, I am breathless when I read that. According to Ephesians 1, the goal of election and the goal of predestination is the praise of the glory of the grace of God.

31:33 So his purpose, his will in choosing and predestining is the praise of the glory of grace. And nothing evil had happened yet. grace is God's giving bad people better than they deserve and nobody's bad because they don't exist yet He gave us grace in Christ before the ages began, which means it should just boggle us. You know you ought to be boggled by God. If you think you got God figured out. you should be mind boggled that God before he created anything was planning everything beginning to end evil included you don't need grace where there's no evil and he gave us grace.

32:43 He gave us grace before the ages began. let's take these last three words and end by just asking what they mean because we're here to talk about why we sing and this is what that is the praise of the glory of the grace of God so let's just ask one, two, three what is praise?

33:16 what is praise? You get at the answer with this text from Jesus. This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain, that means zero, do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

33:43 So, guitar, shame. Is he worshiping? And the answer is maybe. Seriously. Am I worshiping right now? Maybe. lips do not make worship. Lips do not make praise. They don't. Jesus said, with their lips, they're honoring, they're praising, their songs are going up. And in many churches, God is holding his nose because the worship leader is in bed with the secretary. So, what is praise?

34:36 Praise is the heart's affection for all the excellencies of God spilling over with song, spilling over with obedience. That's praise. Otherwise, it's worthless. Zero. That's the answer to the first question, as I understand it. This is real heartfelt affection for God or it's not praise. What is glory? We use that word. I use that word as much as any other word and it is very difficult to define but I have three go-to words that help me. it is an effort to express the greatness and the beauty and the worth of all that God is for us in Jesus.

35:36 Those three words, I've thought about them because they come at excellence in three different angles. Greatness is the magnitude dimension and beauty is the aesthetic, the moral aesthetic dimension and worth is the treasure dimension. You wouldn't trade him for anything. And those three together, defining the kind of excellency that he is, the Bible calls glory over and over again. But it's very specific here of his grace. the reason I think Calvinism, the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation is important to talk about, controversial as it may be, is because this is the goal of the universe.

36:33 Is it not? I mean, if all this is happening before the foundation of the world, then this is the point of the world. the reason that the world exists and you exist as chosen holy, blameless adopted, sons predestined is so that you will do this toward this and this that's why you exist that's why this church exists that's why the world exists therefore anything that diminishes grace is diminishing the whole point of the universe and God's purpose in it, which is to take boasting away and to replace it with praise. Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord and specifically in grace. And grace is the absolutely free action of treating sinners better than we deserve. So grace is huge. And I'll just point out one thing, and you test this, whether it's true or not. The difference between, I won't give a name to the alternatives, but just here's here's Johnny Erickson and John Piper's theology called Calvinism. And here's the alternative, that denies that God is that sovereign in salvation.

38:06 And the denial comes at this point. This is all my Calvinism right here in a sentence. And you must ask this question. So when you got saved, when you passed from death to life, you were dead in your trespasses, God made you alive in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2.5. When you passed from death to life, from unbelief to belief, from blindness to seeing, from rebellion to submission, when you crossed that line, were you decisive or was God decisive? that's the choice between Calvinism, God is decisive, and the alternatives, man is decisive. And here's something to note.

39:00 I've watched this now for 40 years or so with kind of a reformed Calvinistic resurgence in America. There are conferences all over the country put on by Calvinists. And they sing their hearts out about the greatness of God in their salvation and the absolute sovereignty of God over the universe. And he is Lord. And they love to exalt the lordship and the power and the sovereignty and the freedom of God. And it makes for such great songwriting and such great singing and worship. there isn't a single conference devoted to celebrating the centrality of man at the point of his own conversion. It's not celebratable. The very thing that distinguishes Calvinism from its alternatives is not celebratable. Like I did it. I was decisive. I got myself into Jesus.

40:15 I raised myself from the dead. I believed God was not decisive. I was decisive. That's what free will means. Piper, show me a conference where anybody is singing that. Nobody sings about that. how great is my will oh how great is my will I mean I wouldn't be saying this in public if I hadn't thought about this a long time Show me one. Show me a song, a worship song that has been written in the last 50 years that celebrates the distinction between Calvinism and the other views with that view being true. They don't exist because it's uncelebratable.

41:09 I thank God for Johnny Erickson Tata. I love the Apostle Paul. I love the doctrine of sovereign grace. Nothing makes the church sing more than the sovereign grace of God over our lives. He's good. He's wise. You may not have all the answers to how that works, but if you can see it in the Bible and you've tasted his sovereignty in your suffering, you will be glad. So Father, as we sing, or I guess we'll have a little Q&A now before we sing, but as we sing and talk, would you draw near? If I have said anything amiss, cancel it.

41:56 Just deliver these folks from anything I've said misleading. And if I've said anything true and faithful to your word, confirm it tonight. Confirm it. turn their world right side up, I pray. In Jesus' name.