The message is all about grace. The name of the message today
is the Gospel of Grace. The Gospel of Grace. 2 Timothy. We'll be reading verses 7 to
11. For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power and of love and
of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us within holy
calling not according to our works, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and has brought life and
immortality to light through the Gospel, whereunto I am appointed
a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles." Now
here before us in our text, it is evident that salvation is
all of grace. It's all grace. It plainly declares
right in verse 9, not according to our works." Now, work is anything
you think or do. And I don't know of a more plainer
portion in Scripture that denies salvation is by works. It's right there. And look what
else it continues, but according to His own purpose. God's purpose. In what? In grace. If we're saved,
it's according to His purpose and His grace. And look, which was given us
in Christ Jesus, and Brother John brought that out in the
reading, in Christ, right? In Christ Jesus when? Before the world was made. How
does anybody claim? that salvation is by their works.
See, no grace person will proclaim that because it's done before
we're even born. We're chosen in Christ. Oh, my
goodness. And then that which was purposed
and planned by God, right, came to pass when Christ came to this
earth and died the sinner's substitute. And it was by His works that
we're saved, not by ours. We're receivers of the grace
of God. It's incredible. It's amazing
grace. It's wondrous grace. It's marvelous
grace. And the scriptures proclaim how
a sinner is saved in the same verse. It's according to God's
own purpose, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. And salvation's entirely by grace,
or it's not salvation. It's both unearned. Salvation
is both unearned and undeserved. It's just as much undeserved
as it is unearned. As I said, we're recipients.
We who believe are recipients of the grace of God in Christ.
Peter proclaims, we are now the people of God which had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Paul told the church in
Rome, for as ye in times past have not believed God, yet now
have obtained mercy through their unbelief. In 1 Timothy 1, verses 12-15, turn there if you
would. One book over. 1 Timothy. Verse 12, And I thank Christ
Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
put me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, an injurious, but
I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And
the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love
which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. Look at verse 13, but
I obtained mercy. I was thinking about this this
morning. If we're saved, we've obtained
mercy. Back when I was in the world,
before the Lord saved me, I was a blasphemer. And I was a persecutor
of God's people. And I was thinking this morning
about a guy on a construction site who I worked with back in
Oregon. And every third word out of his mouth was a curse
word. And I was telling Brother Newell about this this morning. And I could hardly stand to be
around the guy. That was me before the Lord saved
me. And the people who I persecuted
and hated, now I love. And the Savior whom I cursed,
now I praise. I know what Paul means when he
says, I obtained mercy. And if you're a believer, you've
obtained mercy. Mercy. And this mercy that a believer's
obtained is only in Christ. It's only in Him. It's through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we saw in our text, it's
all according to the purpose of God. Isn't it marvelous? It's not by accident you're saved. It's about out in Sunday school.
We're saved on purpose. On purpose. Mercy. The Greek definition for
the word mercy is to have mercy on. To help one afflicted or
seeking aid. To help the afflicted. To bring
help to the wretched. That's where we were. To experience
mercy. See, when Paul writes, I've obtained
mercy, he's experienced it, beloved. He's experienced it. And grace
is the unmerited favor of God towards sinners. Towards those
who do not deserve mercy. I don't deserve the mercy God
gave me. As I said to my shame, I used
to curse his name. But he had mercy on me. And this
is why I proclaim, He's a wonderful, merciful Savior. I've experienced it. He's a great God. And when I
look, and Vicki and I were talking about this, and Vicki, this morning,
I was telling her a little bit about how I was feeling, and
I said, Honey, all my sins are forgiven. And she said, All. All of them. That's mercy. That's undeserved mercy. And
that's what God has on His people. He's a real God who really saves
sinners. And God Himself, God Himself
became a man and died in the place of sinners. It's incredible. And it was all
planned in purpose. It was all according to His own
purpose and grace. God has had mercy upon sinners
in Christ. He's helped the afflicted ones,
is the Greek definition. He's helped the afflicted ones.
He's helped the ones who were plagued by the disease of sin. He's helped the ones who cannot
help themselves. He's given us hope. He's given
hope to the hopeless. And we have a good hope through
grace. And only those who trust in Christ
alone have this hope. And it's a hope for our eternal
souls, isn't it? It's a hope that we can rest
in because it's in Christ. It's not in ourselves. As Brother
Scott Richardson says, and I love this, we look outside ourselves
and up, up to Christ. Before we used to look inward
before we were saved. But now we don't. We look to
the crucified one. We look to the one who's done
the work that we could never do. Oh, what a wonderful Savior. The whole Gospel is called, it's
the Gospel of God's grace. Why? Because it flows from the
God of all grace, through Christ who is full of grace. And it's
applied by the Spirit who's called the Spirit of grace. Grace, grace, grace, marvelous
grace. God, the Father of all grace,
The Son who is full of grace and the Holy Spirit is the author
and giver and applier of all grace to His people, the elect
of God. It's the grace of God. The gospel
of the grace of God. And the Apostle Paul pens by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit that believers are saved by the
grace of God when he proclaims this in Ephesians 2, verses 8
and 9. For by grace are you saved. And
that, not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. What do
you do when you get a gift? What do you do when you get a
gift? You receive it. You didn't do anything to earn
it. It's a gift from someone. Salvation's a gift of God, not
of works, lest any man should boast or brag like Brother John,
because man liked to brag. But there's no room for bragging
and boasting in the grace of God in Christ. Now, we boast
in Him, don't we? That's who we boast, that's who
believers boast in. I proclaim to you the one who can save the
most wretched sinner if it's his will. My oh my. And he's never denied
one who's come to him. Come unto me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Oh my. That's the master. The grace of God is free like
light from the sun, right? It's free. or the rain from heaven. It all flows from the grace of
God. Now, there was a price paid.
Christ paid that which was demanded, but it's given to His people
freely. We can't earn it without money
and without price. We come as bankrupt sinners. And let us also think of this. Grace acts from itself to itself. Nothing of human power, nothing
of human merit moves it to be bestowed upon one person or another.
It is given according to the pure, free, and sovereign grace
of God in Christ. It's mercy. It's pure, unadulterated
mercy. Mercy. And let us think on this also,
the unworthiness of the receiver. I'm not worthy of this grace. Not at all. But the unworthiness
of the receiver will not keep God from giving it to whomever
he pleases. If it was based upon that, none
of us would receive the grace of God, would we? But God gives
his grace to whomever he's pleased. This is why we preach the gospel
to all. And God does save him. There's a general call that goes
out, right? Flee to Christ. And God, the
Holy Spirit, moves as he will and draws his people to Christ. And they're receivers of the
mercy and of the grace of God in Christ. I obtained mercy. Have you? Have you obtained mercy? Give Him all the glory that you
have. Give Him all the glory. The grace we receive is by Christ
and through Christ and through His merit and through His works.
To suppose one act by us or any merit in us would cause God to
have grace upon us, to cause God to have grace upon us would
alter and destroy the very property of grace. Romans 11.6 says this, And if
by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is
no more grace. You add a pinprick of works into
grace, it's no longer grace. You've ruined it. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. It's by grace alone we're saved.
Plus nothing. And it's in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ in Him alone. Turn, if you would, to Genesis.
Genesis 39. And I'll read. Do you know that
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord? I'll read Genesis
6, 8, well you turn to Genesis 39. Genesis 6, 8 says this, but
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. What distinguished
Noah from all the others? The grace of God. What distinguishes
you and I from anyone else? It's surely not by anything we
do or deserve. It's the grace of God. The only
reason we're saved is because we found grace in the eyes of
the Lord, just like Noah did. It's incredible. It's amazing. Do you know Joseph found grace?
Grace is also favor. It's called favor in Scripture
sometimes. Grace is favor, but it's favor
in the sight of his master. Look at Genesis 39, verses 1
to 6. bought him of the hands of the
Israelites, which had bought him down thither. And the Lord
was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house
of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord
was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper
in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his
sight, and he served him, and he made him overseer over his
house, and all that he did and all that he had. he put into
his hand. And it came to pass, from the
time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that
he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's
sake. And the blessing of the Lord
was upon all that he had in his house and in his field. And he
left all that he had in Joseph's hands. And he knew not ought
he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a
goodly person and well favored. Moses, Moses found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. Exodus 33, 17 says this. And turn, if you would, to Ruth.
Ruth, chapter 2. Exodus says this, though, in
Exodus 33, 17. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing
that thou hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight.
See, God's people have found grace in the sight of the Lord.
And then the Lord goes on to say to Moses, And I know thee
by name. He knows His people. He knows
every single one of His sheep. The Lord Jesus Christ knows every
single one of His sheep, a number that no man can number. And the
Lord Jesus Christ knows every single one of us by name. It's
incredible. And what? Someone say, well,
how would he know them all? Because he paid everything God
demanded for every single one. Oh, and he's loved them with
an everlasting love. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. Now, Ruth. Ruth here, Ruth 2,
verses 10 and 11. Ruth is a picture of God's elect
who found grace in the sight of Boaz, and we know that Boaz,
her kinsman and Redeemer, is a picture of Christ. Look at
Ruth 2, verses 10 and 11. Then she fell on her face, and
bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I
found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge
of me, seeing I am a stranger? And Boaz answered and said unto
her, It hath been fully shown me all that thou hast done unto
thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband, and how thou
hast left thy father and thy mother in the land of thy nativity,
and are common to a people which thou knowest not heretofore. She found grace in the eyes of
Boaz. And Boaz is the type of Christ.
In God's people, we find grace in the eyes of the Lord, just
like Noah, just like Joseph, just like Moses, just like Ruth. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
16. All the sheep of God whom the Lord The Lord has saved,
will experience the same grace of God in the salvation of their
souls. We are saved by grace through faith, just as in the
case of Lydia, when God granted her faith to believe. God granted
her faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul was preaching
on the gospel of the grace of God in Christ, look at Acts 16,
verses 13 to 15. And on the Sabbath we went out
of the city by a river, where prayer was wot to be made. And
we sat down and spake unto the woman which resorted thither.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city
of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us. whose heart the
Lord opened. You always hear people say, just
let Jesus into your heart. You can't open your heart. The
Lord opened her heart. The Lord gave her faith. The
Lord granted her repentance to believe on Christ, whose heart
the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken
of Paul. She believed. And we know who Paul was preaching.
He was preaching Christ. And she believed. But the Lord
opened her heart, the Lord granted her faith. And when she was baptized
in her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged
me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide
there. And she constrained us. So let us ponder. Let us ponder
now some things about the grace of God in Christ. This grace,
again, is given to us. We're receivers. It's in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. It's unmerited.
It's undeserved. And it's grace which flows from
the pure mercy of God. So the first point I'd like us
to consider about this wonderful, wonderful matchless grace of
God in Christ towards His people is this. We are chosen by grace. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1. We're chosen by grace according to His good pleasure.
And it's all... Why are we saved? To the praise
of the glory of His grace. It's incredible. He gets all
the glory. He gets all the praise. Look
at Ephesians 1, verses 4-6. According as He hath chosen us
in Him, the believers chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Well, our text even mentioned
that, didn't it? That we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. Sinners without blame. My goodness. before Him in love. Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."
Again, in Christ. Like Brother John, by the way,
in the reading, in Christ. It's a constant theme all through
Scripture. In Christ, in Christ, in Christ. "...according as He hath chosen
us in Him before the foundation of the world." Sorry, verse 5, look at verse
5. Heaven predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of what? His
will. That's very similar to what we
looked at when we saw in 2 Timothy 1.9, but according to His own
purpose and grace. It's all God's will. To the praise... To the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the blood. To
the praise of the glory of His grace. Oh, what grace God has
bestowed upon His people in Christ. We really can't even fathom it.
We're just scratching the surface. That's all we're doing. But isn't
it marvelous when He reveals to you? When He shows us? As we read and study Scripture, He reveals His grace even more
to us in what He's done for us. The second point I'd like us
to consider about the wonderful, matchless grace of God in Christ,
which is given to His people through Christ, is we are given
to Christ by grace. Turn to John 6, verse 37. We are given to Christ by grace. John 6, verse 37. And remember, this is speaking
of all the elect, of all the ages, in whom Christ is the head. All that the Father giveth me,
and we know from Ephesians 1, they were given to him in eternity,
shall come to me, there's no doubt. Preachers are on the trail
of God's sheep. And Christ will get all his sheep.
He won't lose one, not one. And him that cometh to me, now
this is good news for sinners, I will in no wise cast out. Those who were chosen by God
the Father, they were given to Christ and put into the hands
of Christ as His seed, His spouse, His sheep, His portion, His inheritance,
will be saved by Him with an everlasting salvation. And they're
redeemed by the shedding of His precious blood on Calvary's cross. We were given to Christ by grace.
It was the grace of God that moved him to give us to Christ.
It's amazing. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians,
chapter 2, verses 4 and 5. And the third point I'd like
us to consider about this wonderful, matchless grace of God in Christ
is this. We are made alive together with
Christ. We are made alive together with Christ. Look at verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, and that was our natural state, right? Hath quickened
us together, that's regenerated, born again of the Holy Spirit
of God with Christ, by grace ye are saved. We're made alive together with
Christ. We're spiritually dead and we're
made alive. And we know chapter 2, from the
beginning of this chapter, we come into this world spiritually
dead. And the Greek word there means dead. It's graveyard dead.
And a dead person can't do anything. He can't walk an aisle. He can't
pray a prayer. See? We're dead. That's our natural
state. As Brother Norm says, dead means
dead there. You can't get around it. Now,
religion says you're mostly dead, but the Bible says you're dead. A dead person has no ability. But look at verse 4, of God who's
rich in mercy. He saves us by his grace, beloved.
Born again by the Holy Spirit of God, we're given life. And
what happens when we're given life? We run to Christ. We flee
to Christ. He's our hope and our refuge.
Just as I said many times, as the Avenger of Blood is on the
heels of one seeking refuge in the cities of refuge, and that
guy's running to that city, isn't he? And if he gets in there,
he's safe. All those who are in Christ are
safe. Safe from the Avenger of Blood. Again, here is something to ponder
when people pop off about salvation being something that you do.
People say, I hear it all the time. I like what A.W. Pink said. He said, did you have
anything to do with your first birth? Why do you think you have anything
to do with your second? It's true. It's true. Mercy. We who are redeemed know
that salvation is a gift of God and that we are receivers. We're
receivers of the mercy and grace of God in Christ. It's bestowed
upon us. Undeserving sinners receive mercy. What a Savior! What a Redeemer! What a God! The one true God
manifests Himself and saves sinners. in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him alone. The fourth point I'd like us
to consider is He has glorified us by grace. Look again in Ephesians
2, verses 4. to six, but God who is rich in
mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved and hath raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And this is a spiritual
resurrection from the dead. Just, we were dead. Look at verse
five, right? Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ. We're quickened into
spiritual life, a living union with God in Christ. A living
union with God in Christ. Christ, our representative, our
federal head, has already entered into heaven. He's already seated
in heaven. And we're seated with him because
we're in him, aren't we? We're seated with him because
we're in him. And where the head is, the body soon falls. Oh my. Beloved, we are loved, forgiven,
accepted, and made one with Christ in Christ, one with God in Christ. And he is our head. He's the
head. We're the body. And we will worship and praise
him in eternity forever. And throughout eternity, God's
people will be displayed as trophies of the grace of God. It's incredible. Undeserved mercy, undeserved
grace bestowed upon sinners. Sinners by birth, sinners by
nature, and sinners by choice, and sinners by practice. But
yet God has mercy upon us. It's amazing. This is why we
say it's truly amazing grace. It's wondrous. I love that song. What wondrous love is this? Oh,
my soul, oh, my soul. I think that God loved me in
eternity. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1. And think of this too, to add
to that point, He has glorified us by His grace. All the elect
angels and elect men will forever praise the Lord, men and women,
will forever praise the Lord for His mercy. Forever. Forever. for His mercy and His kindness
towards us in Christ. We'll spend eternity praising
Him. It's amazing. The fifth point
I'd like us to consider, again, about this wonderful matchless
grace of God in Christ is this. We are redeemed by grace. We
are redeemed by grace. Look at Ephesians 1 verses, again,
I'll read 3 to 9. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us, and if you're
saved, you are blessed. With what? All spiritual blessings
and heavenly places in Christ. According as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. And every time I
read that I marvel, without blame, without blame. Having predestined
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted and abloved, in whom
we have redemption, who all were redeemed, were redeemed through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to what? The
riches of His grace. We're redeemed by grace. We're
redeemed by the riches of the grace of God in Christ, wherein
He is abounded toward us. Now, that word, abounded, that's
superabounding in the Greek. He's superabounded towards us.
His grace isn't just abounded towards us, it's superabounded.
It's super abounding grace toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according
to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself. And that
ties right in with 2 Timothy 1, 9, which says, who has saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Christ has redeemed us by his
own precious blood. We were in the bondage of sin.
The law and justice, I've said it many times, had a rightful
claim upon us. But beloved of God, according
to the riches of His grace, the Lord Jesus Christ has honored
the law of God by His works in our place. And He has been obedient
to God both in His life and in His death as our substitute. He has satisfied the justice
of God in His death, and we have complete, full forgiveness of
all our sins. All of them. All of them. And we've been redeemed according
to the riches of His grace. Paul here before us brings the
cause of of our grace, our redeeming grace. It's the precious blood
of Christ. God's superabounding grace toward
us in Christ. Calvin says this about this phrase,
according to the riches of His grace. He now returns to the
efficient cause, the largeness of the divine kindness, which
has given Christ to us as our Redeemer. Riches and corresponding
word overflow in the following verse are intended to give us
large views of divine grace. The apostle feels himself unable
to celebrate in a proper manner the goodness of God and denies
that the contemplation of it would occupy the minds of men
until they are entirely lost in admiration. Oh my. How desirable is it that men
were deeply impressed with the riches of that grace which is
here commanded. No place would any longer be
found for pretended satisfactions or for trifles by which the world
vainly imagines that it can redeem itself. as if the blood of Christ,
when unsupported by additional aid, had lost all its efficacy.
So what he's saying is that the world, by saying that their works
have part of salvation, is denying the power of the blood of Christ. That's our hope, that Christ
did it all. Christ has enlightened us to
the mystery of his gospel of redemption. The gospel is a hidden
mystery to the natural man, Jew and Gentile. Romans 16 says this,
Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my
gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation
of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began.
but now is made manifest, but now is made manifest, and by
the scripture of the prophets, according to the commandments
of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the
obedience of faith. To God only wise be glory through
Jesus Christ forever. Amen. So when Christ, the believer,
sees the wisdom and the power of God and redemption, and He
reveals, God reveals Christ when He is pleased to do that. And
it's only in His time. The sixth point I'd like us to
consider is this. We are justified by grace. Turn, if you would,
to Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3, verses 5 to 7. And Paul is here
before us in Titus describing our salvation from beginning
to end to the grace and mercy of God in Christ. All that we
are and all that we have and all that we shall be is by the
grace of God in Christ. Look at Titus 3, verses 5 to
7. Not by works of righteousness which we have done. Again, very
plainly stated, we're not saved by our works. But man wants something to do.
But there's nothing for us to do. We'll either be saved by
the grace of God in Christ plus nothing, or we'll not be saved.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy. There it is again. Remember Paul
said, I obtained mercy? This is according to His mercy.
He saved us. He saved us. We didn't save ourselves.
He saved us. By the wash and the regeneration
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior. That being justified by what?
His grace. Oh, there it is. We should be
made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Justified by
the grace of God. This is exactly why we don't
exalt ourselves. This is exactly why we give him
all the glory. Because we're justified by his
grace. He's the one who's done all the
work. Neither regeneration or justification
or sonship is acquired by our labors. There's nothing we can
do to save ourselves. Not one work, not one law keeping
to justify ourselves. But we are justified by His grace,
by the free gift of God. by the free gift of God and by
God's mercy in and through the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone.
We are made heirs. We are made heirs. My goodness. We are justified by His grace.
And justification is an act of God by which He wills not to
impute sins to His people but to Christ. But to Christ. We are righteous through the
righteousness of Christ. We are totally free from all
judgment and condemnation. by the sacrifice of Christ. When
Christ was raised from the dead, we rose with Him. We are justified
in Him, free from guilt, free from sin, according to the hope
of eternal life. We're still in this world, aren't
we? And though we're heirs of life
and we possess all spiritual blessings in Christ, we do not
yet enjoy the reality of it, do we? But our hope is in Christ. Our hope is in our Savior, who
is our hope. And we have complete certainty
of eternal life in Christ, in Him. So we've seen so far that salvation
is grace, grace, grace, haven't we? From beginning to end, it's
all of God's grace. We've looked at and seen It clearly
proclaimed in scripture that God does not give any credit
or merit to man's work regarding salvation. It's very plain. We've seen it. Salvation is by
the grace of God in Christ plus nothing. And it is amazing grace. It's glorious grace. He makes
us alive in Christ. And this is undeserved favor,
as I said. Undeserved. But it's given to
us. He's made us accepted. Christ has made us accepted by
His grace. We have forgiveness by the grace
of God in Christ. As I said, the believer is a
trophy. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians chapter 2. The believer
is a trophy. Trophy of the grace of God. And
do you know that any works that we do, Any good works that we
do after we're saved, number one, we don't even know when
we do them. Because we know that from Scripture, when those standing
before the Lord said, when did we do this? And they have no
clue, right? They're the fruit of the work
of God, the fruit of the Spirit, which is being wrought in us.
Look at Ephesians 2, verses 10. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. So it's no wonder that Paul writes
in Galatians, "...but God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ." Right? Because anything that
we do, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. Any good works we do is work of God working in us. And as I said, we don't even
know when we do them. We don't have any clue. We don't have
any room to boast. We glory in Christ and Him alone.
And Paul, this is Paul penning this too. Remember this. This
is Paul penning this. And he's telling us that we cannot
boast in anything except the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we boast in what Christ
has done for us, it's another way of saying salvation
is accomplished by grace and it's all He's doing. It's all
His doing. Everything we know, any gift
we have, is all from the grace of God. We have absolutely nothing
to boast in. Nothing. We boast in the grace of God
in Christ as it's revealed in the person and work of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. And as I said, that's why we
give Him all the glory. That's why. It is Christ who
has obtained salvation for us. Acts says this, neither is there
salvation in any other, for there is none other name given among
men whereby we must be saved. God's grace brings sinners to
Christ. That's exactly what it does. It brings sinners to Christ
and nowhere else. And we are regenerated, born
again by God's grace. And we look to Christ. And by
God's grace, we live every day upon this earth. And by God's
grace, we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
And by God's grace, one day we'll see Him face to face. It's all
the grace of God. from beginning to end. That's
why he says he's the author and he's the finisher. It's all his
doing. And the believer says, praise
his mighty name. We give him all the glory. Grace,
grace, glorious grace. in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him alone. So, we can close with this. We
can say this. Grace then is this. Grace is free grace. Number one.
It's free grace. It's a gift of God. We're receivers.
And He gives it to whomsoever He's pleased. The second point
we can say is that it's saving grace. God's grace is saving
grace. It brings us to eternal salvation
in Christ. And it's keeping grace. It keeps
us too. He preserves us. He keeps us. And God's grace is sovereign
grace. Sovereign grace. It's by God's
sovereign will. He gives it to whomever He pleases.
Salvation is not of him that wills nor of him that runs, but
of God that shows mercy. And as I said, it's sustaining
grace, because how are we kept? We're kept by the power of God.
We're kept by the power of God, by God's grace through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. And our prayer,
our prayer is if you're here and you don't know Christ, oh,
that God grant you grace and faith to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father, we come before
Thy throne, the throne of grace, the throne of mercy. And we who
believe, we marvel that we have obtained mercy. We have obtained
mercy in You, Lord Jesus. In and through You. And we give
You all the glory because we know it's nothing we've done.
Some of us were blasphemers. Some of us were persecutors. Outright we're... Outright just hated You, Lord.
But You've... Oh, Your wondrous, amazing grace
has saved us. We who believe, You saved us
by Your grace manifested to us in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. You've revealed to us what we are. And we're still
sinners. but we're saved sinners now. But You revealed to us that
we were sinners in desperate, desperate need of Thee. And we
pray that You would reveal to Your lost sheep their state.
And oh, we pray that if it's Your will, the Holy Spirit would
draw them to Christ. And we love You and we give You
all the glory because You first loved us. In Jesus' name, Amen.