Well once again we'll turn to
the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians in the second chapter and we'll
read tonight verses eight and nine. The eighth and ninth verses
of the second epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. For by grace
are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is
the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. these verses surely are some
of the most important verses in the Word of God. That doesn't
mean to say that we're really putting verses above each other
but this has such a depth of teaching for us all to realize
the great work of God and the tremendous effect it has. And
so the Apostle writes these glorious words and of course the first
few he's already spoken about in the fifth chapter Fifth verse
rather, where we read, by grace ye are saved. And how true it
is, for by grace are ye saved. We have no ability to save ourselves. And yet all of us need to be
saved. Saved from the wrath to come. Saved from ourselves. And may
we therefore recognise the wonder of such a word as this, for by
grace. You know, the apostle tells us
in regard to his own testimony, he says, but when it pleased
God, who separated from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. The apostle knew that it was
through the grace of God that he received that call from God. that call which brought that
enlivening, quickening work into his soul. And all of us need
to have the same testimony, the same blessed favour of knowing
that we are amongst those who have received this grace of God,
this free, unmerited favour. That's why really it is so valuable,
because it's nothing that you and I could ever attain to. We can never merit the blessing
of being saved. We are undone sinners. We're
lost sinners. We're ruined sinners. We're black
sinners. We're dead sinners. No life at
all, totally dependent upon the grace of God. The Apostle Paul
was, and every true believer has been so dependent upon this
grace. And we today are in the same
category. And what a blessing it is if
therefore this evening, We can come and say, yes, for by grace
I am saved. And then the apostle goes on
to just explain a little, and he says, through faith. Faith to believe. Again, that
also is the blessed gift of God. Faith to believe. Left to ourselves,
we have no faith. And yet what a wonderful thing
it is to receive faith. to believe in our own lives that
all things are working together for good to those who love God
and to those who are called according to his calling. It is therefore
a wonderful blessing to receive this great and blessed gift of
faith. And it's a wonderful chapter,
is it not? The 11th chapter that the Apostle
wrote to the Ephesians. And in that chapter, it commences
with that very simple and wonderful definition of what faith is. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for the evidence of things not seen." So it's not something
that you and I can grasp physically or view with our natural eyes. It is something which we are
blessed with that belief to hope in the mercy of God. And so he
says, now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. And as we read through that 11th
chapter, the many wonderful examples that the Apostle sets before
us of the saints of God who were blessed with this wonderful favour
and what was accomplished. We think of Noah, we think of
Abraham, we think of Moses, all those giants in the Word of God
were all blessed with this wonderful gift of faith. And we need it
today. Faith to believe. Without faith
it is impossible to please God. And we walk by faith and not
by sight. And so for by grace are you saved
through faith. And then he tells us so clearly
and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. A gift
is a wonderful thing. Naturally we enjoy gifts when
people give us things, but this is the greatest gift that you
and I could ever receive, because this gift of faith is to believe
the truth of God. And so he says it's not of ourselves,
we could not generate it, we could not produce it, Because
we have no ability to do anything which is good, anything which
is worthy of our salvation. And therefore we are so dependent
upon the grace of God to grant us this great and wonderful blessing
of faith. And so, for by grace are you
saved through faith. Well tonight, what a mercy it
is if you and I can trace that in our lives. We receive this
faith and it hasn't been in ourselves. It's been outside of ourselves.
And if we think perhaps of just the Apostle Paul's life himself,
you know, there he was on that Damascus road, fulfilling the
desires of his flesh and thinking he was some great person. But
you see, God, in his amazing love toward the Apostle Paul,
stopped him, we might say, in his mad career on that Damascus
road. and called him by the grace of
God. What a blessing it was. And then
you see, it was an amazing occasion in his life. And therefore he
was given that faith then to believe. And as we know, he had
that desire to do what the Lord will have him to do. What wilt
thou have me to do? What a change there was in the
life of the apostle. what a change there is in our
lives when the Lord gives us this blessed gift of faith to
receive the grace of God. And then he goes on to say, not
of works, lest any man should boast. The truth is that if you
and I had been able to put anything towards our salvation, towards
our new birth, if we didn't need any part in it, we would most
assuredly have claimed some merit and we would have been proud
of that which we had done. The truth is we could not do
anything because we were spiritually dead. There was no spiritual
life until the blessed Lord called us out of darkness into his glorious
light of the glorious Gospel, and it shone forth in the face
of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful blessing it
is then, as the Holy Spirit leads us to show that it's not of our
works, it's the work of our blessed Saviour. It's His work, that
finished work upon the cross at Calvary, that has redeemed
our soul. It's that blessed work which
fulfilled all the law on our behalf. And it was that which
was acceptable unto the Father, which was a wonderful favour. And as a result, we received
the gift of faith, the gift of grace, and the gift of eternal
life. And therefore, it's not in ourselves.
And therefore, we are not able to boast but what we are able
to do is to praise God. What we are able to do is to
thank God for his unspeakable gift of the Lord Jesus Christ
to us as our Saviour. That blessed one who was willing
to die on our behalf, yes, it's not of our works, it's the blessed
work of the Saviour which he accomplished upon Calvary's cross
in a suffering for us, shedding his precious blood for us, so
that all our sins are forever washed away. Well, what a wonderful
truth these verses are, how foundational they are to our spiritual life,
And what a blessing tonight, if we have the evidence that
we have received the grace of God, we received faith, and we
received this glorious gift of faith, and to realize it's not
in ourselves, and as such, we're not able to boast of what we've
done, but tonight, we can boast in what Christ has done and glorify
his great and holy name. Well, may the Lord instruct us
and bless us in these great truths. Amen.