Would you turn back to Ephesians
chapter two? We're deeply saddened by the
passing of Tony Gonzalez and the visitation for him will be
tomorrow night between five and eight at Millward Funeral Home
on Southland Drive. Tonight, I'm going to be speaking
from Genesis 42, if you can read that passage of scripture this
afternoon. I've entitled the message for this morning, But
God. You know everything we believe
is found in that statement. But God. I want to introduce this message
by going back to Genesis chapter 6, if you'd turn there with me. Genesis chapter six. Now the event that is recorded
and the words that recorded took place 2,000 years after the fall. Now let me remind you what took
place in the fall. God said to Adam, In the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die." When he ate of the fruit, he died. He didn't die physically, but
he died spiritually. What does that mean? Short answer,
he became evil. He wasn't evil before. He became
evil. He lost the ability to perform
the functions of spiritual life. Because of his wickedness, he
couldn't believe, he couldn't repent, he couldn't love God. He was totally depraved, everything
about him was sinful, and he was totally unable. That's what
spiritual death is. That is what you and I are by
nature. 2,000 years later, man has had a lot
of opportunity to act on this spiritual death.
And this is what God testifies regarding man in Genesis chapter
six, verse five. And God saw Don't miss that. This is what
God saw. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart, everything that went through
his brain, Not even talking about what he did yet, just talking
about the thoughts. Every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. Now, did you hear that description
of what God saw? God saw. that the wickedness
of man, me and you, every man, was great in the earth and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only, only,
no mixture, only evil continually. Non-stop, this is what God saw. Now we've all heard the saying,
perception is reality. How we perceive things is what
is real to us. And that's so true. Perception
is reality insofar as our experience goes. What we perceive is how
we think it is. Now here's the problem with that.
It's true, I'm not denying the truthfulness of it, but here
is the problem with that. Our perceptions are wrong. Our perceptions are wrong. We never perceive right. Now, we have our perceptions.
It's how we think things are. But our perceptions are always
wrong. You believe that? Well, it's
so. How God perceives things is how
they are. When God sees something, he sees
reality. And here's God's perception.
You know, we really don't have that perception. Not really.
We read it in the word. We say we believe it. I hope
we do. But God saw that the wickedness,
the evil of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil nonstop. We may not appear this way to
men, But this is what God saw. And this answers to what David
said in Psalm 53, verse 23. Or verses two and three, God
looked down from heaven upon the children of men. Picture
that in your mind, God, the holy, omnipotent, eternal, omnipresent,
immutable God. look down from heaven upon the
children of men to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one
of them is gone back. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. That's what God saw when he looked
down upon the children of men. Verse six, and it repented the Lord that
he'd made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man
and beast, and the creeping things and the fowls of the air, for
it repenteth me that I've made them. But, but, Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. Question, did Genesis 6, 5 describe Noah? Was Noah one of these people?
Or was Noah somehow cut above this? Noah was better. Noah wasn't like everybody else.
He was somebody who sought God. He was somebody who loved God.
He was somebody who sought to obey God and to avoid sin. He was different. Noah was different.
Is that the truth? No. No. But Noah found grace. in the eyes of the Lord. Now,
what exactly does that mean? Well, look at verse 9. These
are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect
in his generations. And Noah walked with God. Now, that's what happens when
somebody finds grace in God's eyes. God sees them as just. and perfect. Look in verses 17
and 18 of this same chapter. And behold, I, even I, do bring
a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh, wherein
is the breath of life from under heaven, and everything that's
in the earth shall die, but with thee. There's that but, but,
With thee will I establish my covenant and thou shalt come
into the ark thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons wives
with thee. Look in chapter 7 verse 1. And
the Lord said unto Noah come thou and all thy house into the
ark for thee have I seen righteous before me. in this generation. Let me remind you how God sees
is how it is. And if you or I find grace like
Noah did, that means God sees me as righteous. He doesn't see me as if I were
righteous. he sees me as righteous before
him. Now look in chapter nine, we
would be remiss if we didn't consider this. This man who is
righteous and perfect and just, verse 20, and Noah began to be
in husbandman, this is after the flood, And Noah began to
be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the
wine and was drunken. And he was uncovered within his
tent, and Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father,
and he told his two brothers without. And Shem and Japheth
took a garment and laid it upon their shoulders and went backwards
and covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces
were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And
Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had
done unto him. Now, I don't know what all's
involved in that, but I know it's not good. And I know that
Noah committed a great sin. And God said Noah was righteous. Now, was God wrong? No. This is not excusing this man's
sin in any way, but when you find favor with God, that's what
grace is. But God. But God. This is you, Noah. He found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. Now with those things in mind, turn back to our text
in Ephesians chapter two. Now, these first three verses
describe the prison that we're in and cannot get out unless
there's a but God. This is where our first father,
Adam, left us. When he died, we died. When he
sinned, we sinned. When he became evil, we became
evil, unable to do good. Let's read these verses together.
Verse one, and you hath he quickened who were dead. Don't miss that. Most people
present man as sick, as weak, as needing help, as needing assistance,
But that's not what the Bible says. It says you were dead in
trespasses and sins. There's nothing you can do to
change this state. And he goes on to describe the
actions of a dead man in this prison. Verse two, wherein, in
time past, You walked according to the course of this world that
hates God. You walked according to the prince
of the power of the air, the devil. He was your Lord, though
you did not know it. The spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past. Now, remember who's speaking.
This is Paul. This is the one who said, touching the righteousness
which is in the law, I'm blameless. We're talking about, outwardly
speaking, maybe the most moral man to ever live. But yet, look
how he describes himself and me and you. among whom we all
had our conversation, our conduct, our life in times past, in the
lust, the desires of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind. And we were by nature. This was
our nature. We were born this way. The nature
you're born with. We were by nature children of
wrath, even as others. just like everybody else. Now, before I go on, I want to
say this to myself and to you. This description I've just given,
this is not what keeps you from Christ. If you ever see it, it'll
drive you to Christ. If God ever shows you that this
is what you are, you're gonna come running to Christ. What'll
keep you from Christ is that perception you have that's wrong,
that you have some righteousness, some ability. something in you
that can cause you to turn things around, that you're going to
get to one of these days. That is what will keep you from
Christ. Not this description we've just
given. And look what Paul says. among
whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind. And
we were by nature the children of wrath, children who hated
God just like everybody else. I love that scripture in Romans
chapter 30. There's no difference. Are you
saying I'm just as bad as the most wicked man to ever live?
Is that what you're saying? No, I'm not saying it. God is.
There's no difference. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Verse four. But. You turn things around. But you came to yourself. But you accepted Jesus Christ
as your personal savior and asked him into your heart. But you
changed and now you have a changed life. Is that what the text says? No. 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. And here's what
I mean by all this. By grace, you are saved. Somebody says, I've turned from
my sins and my life has been changed. Short answer, you're a liar. You're a liar. Nobody believes
it. That's the short answer. The
long answer is you're a liar. You're a liar. You can't claim
any changed life. Well, I've turned from my sins.
There's all kinds of sins that you commit right now that you
haven't turned from. All kinds of them. So don't say that. Don't
say that. Somebody says, well, I've turned
from my sins. You're a liar. Liar. You're not telling the
truth. You're not being honest. Somebody
says, well, I'm becoming more holy and less sinful by grace.
You're a liar. That's all it is. It's a lie.
It's not real. It's not true. And it's not according
to the scriptures. Oh, I'm so thankful for this
glorious statement, and this is everything we believe, but
God. Not but you. But God, in spite of you. You like that? in spite of you. Somebody once
called God's grace, in spite of. But God, you couldn't get out of the prison
of verses one through three, but God, but I did, no, get I
out of it. Get I out of it. If I is in the
equation other than I'm the chief of sinners, it's a wrong. But
God. That is the difference. But God. Adam falls and plunges our race
into ruin. But God. Christ is nailed to a cross by
wicked men, but God. You meant it for evil. God meant
it for good, but God who is rich in mercy. He's rich in power, I know. He's
rich in gold and silver. It's all His, isn't it? You know,
people talk about money. It's all His. It's all His. He's rich in so many things. He's God. But what does our text say? But
God who is rich in mercy. He delights in mercy. He delights in bestowing his
mercy on people who are described in Ephesians 2, 1 through 3. God delights in giving people
like that mercy. Now, if you're not like that,
sorry, no mercy for you. But God delights in mercy. Now, Get hold of this. May God give me the grace to
get hold of this. The gospel is a sinner's religion. The gospel is a sinner's religion. It's the only message that can
do a sinner any good. God is rich in mercy. Good people are not interested.
People with some ability are not interested, but sinners are. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. Now, go on reading. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love, wherewith he loved us. Now, who's the us? the ones he quickened, the ones
he gave life to. If you look in the entire context
of this, go into chapter one. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself. The
us is every believer. The us is all of the elect. The
us is all for whom Christ died, all whom he chose. The great love wherewith he loved
us. Verse five. Even, now this is the great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened,
given us life. Together, I love this, together
with Christ. Now three times in these verses,
Lord will, I want to deal with that next week. But three times
he says, together with Christ. You were quickened together with
Christ. You were raised together with Christ. You're seated in
heaven right now together with Christ. Now that's what his great
love has done. It's made it to where everybody
he loves is right there with him right now in glory, united
to him. Now that's love. That's love. Oh, the greatness of his love.
The greatness of his love is seen in the gift. God so loved the world that he
gave. Oh, how he gave. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes,
he became poor. He gave everything. that you
through his poverty might be rich. Oh, the greatness of his
love is seen in the gift, and the greatness of the love is
seen in the completeness of salvation. Right now, every believer is
already in heaven. Somebody says, you're standing
here on earth, how can you make such a statement as that? Because
the Bible says, we're seated together in heaven. He blesses in Christ. Right now,
if Christ is in heaven, I am too. Literally. Literally. If Christ is in heaven, I'm united
to him. I'm his. If Christ is in heaven,
I am too. That's how secure I am. When
people say, I'm as sure for heaven as if I were already there. It's
better than that for me. I am already there in Christ. Now
that's how great this love is. 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. And
notice this parenthetical statement in verse five. You see the parentheses. Paul says, this is what I mean
by all of this. By grace, you are saved. By grace, you are saved. And
everybody that's saved by grace knows that's so. Don't have to
argue with them. Don't have to convince them.
Everybody that's been saved by grace knows that is so. By grace, you are saved. I think perhaps There isn't a better definition
of grace than this. But God. But God. Not but you. That works. But God. By grace, you are saved. And let me say these things in
closing about the grace of God. By grace, you are saved. and every believer gives in their
heart a hearty amen. I know that's so. By grace, you
are saved. God's grace is eternal. You know
what that means? That means it never had a starting
point. It never had a starting point. It's eternal grace. Second Timothy 1 9 says, He saved
us. He called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which were
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. You see, if
grace did have a starting place, that means God is responding
to something. That means God is not immutable.
He changed. But beloved, grace is eternal. It never had a starting point.
And you know what that does? That means it has absolutely
nothing to do with my or your works in any way to any degree. Grace is eternal. And grace is free. Look what Ephesians 2, 8, 9 says.
For by grace are you saved. Through faith and that that faith,
it's not of yourselves, it's not. Something you came up with,
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Grace is free, it's absolutely
free, there's nothing you do to get it. Grace is free, absolutely
no strings attached. Not grace is free if. Grace is
free. And what does God's grace do?
It saves. By grace, you are saved. Saved from yourself. Saved from
your sin. You're justified in God's sight
without guilt. You're redeemed. Your sins have
been paid for. You've been called, you've been
given life, quickened together with Christ. God's grace saves. And his grace will not. Listen to me real carefully. His grace can't be resisted.
You can't say no to it. You can't reject it. Any more
than Lazarus could have said no when Christ said, Lazarus,
come forth. No. It doesn't work that way,
does it? He that was dead came forth.
This grace won't take no for an answer. It's saving grace. It can't be rejected. It can't
be resisted. God's grace isn't offered to
you. God's grace saves you. It's not an offer. Look in Romans
chapter five for just a moment. Verse 20, moreover, the law entered
that the offense might abound, overflow. Now, if you've ever
seen what God's law means, you see that all you do is abound
in sin. That's it. But where sin abounded, Grace
did much more abound that as sin hath reigned unto death."
Now, how much power do you have to prevent your death? None. You can't do anything to
prevent death. If the Lord doesn't come back,
for sure you're going to die. No one has ever, except those
people, a couple of people God brought straight into heaven.
I don't understand how he did that, but he did. But everybody
else, the billions that have ever lived, they've all died.
And how much power do you have to prevent death? Absolutely
none. That a sin hath reigned unto
death, even so, in the same manner might grace reign. How much power
do you have to prevent grace? You don't have any power to prevent
it. I don't care how dead and sinned you are. God gives you
grace, you're going to live. You're going to stand perfect
and accepted before God. You see, His grace will not take
no for an answer. Aren't you happy about that?
There's nothing you can do to mess this up. God's grace is all-inclusive.
I've heard of people taking all-inclusive vacations. I'm gonna take one
of those days, but this is a lot better. All-inclusive grace. I am what
I am by the grace of God. That's what Paul said. By the
grace of God, I am what I am. I'm a sinner, and it's only the
grace of God that's taught me that. I'm justified, and that's
because of His grace. I'm redeemed. That's because
of His grace. I'm preserved. That's because
of his grace. Whatever I am, a sinner, a saved
sinner, a saint, it's by the grace of God. It includes all
things and it's all sufficient grace. My grace is sufficient
for thee. You don't need anything else.
My grace is sufficient for thee. One closing thought, turn to
2 Peter chapter 3. We've been talking about God's
grace, it's eternal, it's free, it saves, it won't take no for
an answer, it's all-inclusive, and it's sufficient. Now look
what Peter, brother Peter says about grace in 2 Peter chapter
3 verse 18. I love these words. But grow in grace. Grow in grace. Well, how do you
grow in grace? By grace. By grace. Grow in grace. And in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to him be glory both
now and forever. Amen. Now, everybody in this
room, ought to be encouraged with this. There is such a thing
as growth in grace. And growth in grace is like growth
of a tree. First, you grow downward. A tree that's strong has its
roots deep. You grow downward in your thoughts
of yourself. and you grow downward in seeing
your sinfulness and your need of grace, that's growth and grace.
You know, I can say this truly, in this way I've grown, I see
more of my need of grace than I've ever seen. I do. I need
salvation to be utterly by the grace of Christ. you grow in
your sense of need of grace. And if you if you think you're
getting better, I'm becoming more holy by grace, I'm becoming
less sinful by grace. That's not growth. Matter of
fact, that's death. That's all that is. If you're
not growing down, you're not growing. But not only do I grow
down, oh, I want to grow outward in grace in the sense of being
gracious, being merciful. Being like the Lord Jesus Christ,
where people aren't threatened being around me. People don't
feel judged by being around me. I want to be that way. I know
I'm not. I want to be. I want to be. I want to grow in my graciousness,
being merciful, seeking to preach the gospel to other people. Growing
my love to men. Growing, I want someone to see
in me like that article. If you read that article in the
bulletin, let your moderation, let your graciousness. You're
not holding people to the law. Let that be seen. If you want
somebody to see, let them see that. Read that article if you
haven't read it. And I want to grow upward in my love to God. I want to love him more. I want
to love Christ more. I want to believe him more. I
want to trust him more. I want to, I want to love to
him that's real, not just in word, but in deed and in truth. Grow in grace. Bible says, commands
us to. You can only do it by grace,
but since it's done by grace, there's no reason why me and
you can't grow in grace, is there? Grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Aren't you thankful for
these words? But God. Not by you. But God. That's his grace. Let's pray. Lord, how thankful we are for
the butts that are because of you. Lord, we confess. There would
be no hope of any of us being saved apart from 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, you're saved. Oh, Lord, cause that to be real in every heart here
according to your blessed will. How we thank you for the Lord
Jesus Christ. Lord, he is altogether lovely,
altogether glorious, and we confess by your grace that he is all
in our salvation. Bless this message for your glory
and our good. In Christ's name we pray.