Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and
he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will
they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the
voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All
that ever came before me are thieves and robbers. but the
sheep did not hear them. I am the door, by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not but for
to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life, that they might have it more abundantly. I am the Good
Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming,
and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth them, and
scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the Good
Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and lay down my
life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life,
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. Let's pray. Our heavenly and
merciful father, we thank you for again allowing us Lord to
come to assemble to hear this glorious gospel, this good news,
these glad tidings of the Lord Jesus Christ. And father, we
thank you where we have heard this morning of that, that rest
for our souls in the, in Christ, where you have finished all that
the father has required to save poor sinners. Father, we thank
you for this full and free salvation. We are sanctified. We are redeemed. And Lord, we thank you for all
that you continue to do for us, for this local assembly. And
Lord, we do not know the future, but all things are perfectly
in your hands. And Lord, you know where all
your sheep are locally also. And Father, if it would please
you, will you call them out that they may also be able to assemble
here and to delight in your glorious gospel. Father, continue to be
with Eric, who you have given unto us, Lord. You have enabled
him to be our pastor. And Father, continue to strengthen
him, to give him courage, to pour out your mercy and your
grace and your spirit upon him as he prepares these messages. Go with him, Lord, and continue
to be with us as an assembly. Lord, you know all things that
we may also receive what we need to exist here financially and
for our health and strength. And Father, we also think of
those that assemble with us that are struggling with their health
and various difficulties, Lord, you know everything perfectly.
Will you remember them in mercy, Lord, strengthen them again,
be with the caregivers that help them, and that they may once
again return to worship with us again, Lord. Remember them
where they are today. Remember those that listen also
on the internet and various places online. Father, will you bless
the use of the means that we put forth where we send messages
out. Oh Lord, feed those people also.
Give them rest for their souls and incline their hearts that
they may also assemble with us. Father, remember us in mercy
and remember us with this second message we hope to hear. Pour
out your grace and mercy upon us. For Jesus' sake alone, amen. Let's sing our second hymn will
be Yesterday, Today and Forever, 283. We haven't sang that in
a while. And I know we all like that. I did drop the key down a little
bit to make it a little easier, so. 283, Yesterday, Today and Forever. Yesterday, a special symbol faith
may claim. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. Still he loves to save the simple,
heal the sick and lame. Hear the mourner, calm the tempest,
glory to his name. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never,
glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. He who pardoned Aaron, Peter,
never needs thou fear. He who came to faithless Thomas,
all thy doubt will clear. He who led the loved disciple
on his bosom breast, Busy still with love as tenderly upon his
breast. Yesterday, today, forever Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. He who mid the raging billows
walked upon the sea Still can hush our wildest tempests as
on Galilee He who wept and prayed in anguish in Gethsemane, drinks
with us each cup of trembling in our agony. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. As of old he walked to Emmaus
with them to abide. So through all life's way he
walketh ever near our side. Soon again shall we behold him
hasten, Lord, a day. But we'll still be this same
Jesus as he went away. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. Glory to his
name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. Thank you. Good morning, brethren. I want
to speak to you about what our Lord is teaching us in the passage
of Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 10. Let me just say
that he's teaching us about grace, and it's the grace of God given
to the people of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll notice that
God isn't teaching us about what we are to do for Him, but rather
what He does for sinners of His choosing. And the life which
is given to us of Christ is revealed or manifested in those sinners
whom Christ came and died to save. those he saved by the blood
redemption, when he spilled his blood, when he gave his life
for the life of his people. So I've titled this message,
Salvation by Grace. Salvation by Grace. And there's
three parts in these 10 verses, three small headings. The first
is sinners spiritually dead. There's a description of what
we are in Adam, being spiritually dead in the first three verses.
Then in verses four and five, we see what God does in making
the difference between those who perish in their sins and
those whom he saves, the grace that he shows to those sinners. And then finally in verses 6-10
we'll look at the spiritual blessings of our God given to us freely
in the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's begin in Ephesians 2
verse 1. It says, And you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now you'll notice if you
have a King James Bible and you're following along that these words
hath he quickened are italicized and therefore they're not in
the original text. But I looked to see why the translators
put these words there. They're true words, but where
did they pull them from? And I looked before and after
and I found it in verse five. Verse 5 says, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace,
ye are saved. And so it's declaring there that
you're made alive. You've been made alive by the
grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. But in verse 1, what
the apostle is saying, the punch of what he's saying to us, is
what we as believers, where we were, what we were when God found
us, when God came to us in that gracious purpose. Where were
we when God found us in grace and mercy? He's telling us we
were all dead in trespasses and sins. Now it speaks of death
and we look at ourselves and we see that we are physically
alive. We're physically up and able
to walk around and speak and communicate. So what is this
death? The death that he's speaking
of is spiritual death. It's the inability in man the
inability to do anything to save himself. It's not our works that
save us. It's not our will that saves
us. But God is teaching us that salvation
is by grace. Meaning you and I can't do anything
to earn or obtain that salvation by something we do or something
We don't do. It's all by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all given freely in Christ. That's grace. Unmerited favor
by God for sinners of His choosing. That's grace, brethren. And this
is what the Lord is teaching us here. When Adam ate the fruit
of the tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he
died just as God told him that he would die. The Lord said,
in the day that thou eatest thereof of that tree, of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, in that day thou shalt surely
die. But Adam lived some 900 plus
years after that. Adam died. It was a spiritual
death. That fellowship, that friendship
with God was lost in the very hour, the very moment he bit
of that fruit. We know that Adam did eat of
that fruit, wherefore, the Apostle tells us in Romans 5.12, wherefore,
because he ate it, as by one man, that one man Adam, sin entered
into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. We all sinned in Adam. And yes,
Adam began to die from that moment. And we know death. We are familiar
with death. But it began immediately with
a spiritual death. A spiritual death. That fellowship,
that friendship, that familiar knowledge of God, that boldness
to stand before holy God and speak with him as a friend speaketh
with a friend, face to face, that was lost between man and
God. And we're told that the carnal
mind, which we are in Adam, the carnal mind became, did become
and is enmity against God. Meaning there was immediate darkness. There was immediate distrust
of God. And we see what Adam and Eve
did. They immediately ran off and tried to cover their nakedness.
But hearing the voice of God, they knew that what they did
was insufficient. They were still naked. and the
enmity is seen because they hid from God, they ran from God. They tried to find a refuge from
the presence of God immediately. They never did that before. And
what Adam and Eve did in hiding from God, that's what every one
of us by nature does. We run from God, we hide from
God, we hide out in the darkness away from God. The scriptures
tell us this, I'm quoting from John 3, 319, this is the condemnation. Here's the manifestation that
we are dead in trespasses and sins. Here's the condemnation.
That light, the Lord Jesus Christ, the light and life of men has
come into the world. But men loved darkness. They hid from him. They hated
him. They showed their enmity against
him, and challenging him, and despising him, and seeking to
murder him. And they eventually were allowed
to murder him to fulfill God's gracious purpose for his people.
These people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds
were evil. We see the manifestation of what
we are in Adam. Our deeds are darkness, they're
wicked, they're evil. And so we come to the present
day and nothing has changed with man. Sadly, in our day, religion
is just as abundant as it ever was, and they speak to men as
though the power is in your hands to save yourself. If you will
just do this, if you will just stop doing that, if you will
just make a profession of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you can
be saved. Religion is telling non-stop
lies about God. They're not speaking according
to this word. They're not speaking according
to the light of the Spirit of God who teaches us that we are
sinners, dead in trespasses and sins, who need the salvation
that God alone must and does willingly, freely give to whom
he will in his Son. The religion teaches us it's
up to you. God's done everything that he
can do, but it's up to you now. You're the one who's got to make
it effectual. As if we come up with the gasoline, the faith,
as if it's gasoline that we need to pour in an engine to fire
it up and keep it running. No, that's not the scriptures. That's not what the Lord teaches
his people of salvation. The scriptures declare that all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We're not going
to save ourselves. It's not coming down to you and
me, to what we do or don't do for God. God tells us this. Why does God tell us that all
have sinned and come short of his glory? Why does the Lord
put that in our face? Believe it or not, it's because
God has a gracious purpose to make his people to know, I'm
a sinner. I cannot save myself. Lord, have
mercy on me. It's to make us mercy beggars. to cry out to him, Lord, I can
do nothing. All I see in me is unbelief and
doubt and sin and darkness. Lord, turn me, turn me to yourself. Now Paul in Ephesians 2 is speaking
to you and I who were dead in trespasses and sins. He's speaking
to those believers who now believe but were dead in trespasses and
sins. If man really believed that he
was a sinner, dead in trespasses and sins, he would not boast
about his free will. You hear men and women speak
a lot about free will. I hear it often, all the time.
They boast and celebrate and talk of their free will. Well,
if we knew what sinners we were, dead in trespasses and sins,
we wouldn't be boasting about free will. We'd be crying out
to the Lord for mercy. What man calls free will, the
scriptures give us a description of it. Did you know that the
scriptures describe to us man's free will? It's right here in
this text in verses two and three. It's in verse one too, but it
carries on in verse two and three. Here's man's free will. Wherein
in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air. That's the
devil, mind you. prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation, our walk, our ways,
the things we said, did, taught, and believed, our traditions.
We all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Now if you think that you can
will your way or work your way out of that bondage, out of that
darkness, out of that evil and hatred against God, then you're
calling God a liar and you're not believing the scriptures,
what the scriptures are saying that God must do for his people. If that's your God, that you
have a free will and you must save yourselves, then your God
is not the God of these scriptures right here. That's not the God
being declared in this book, which God has given us. Because
our Lord tells us that we are bound in bondage. to darkness and enmity which
we inherited from Adam, being corrupt in our nature, being
dead, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. And so the word of
God says in Romans 9, 16, so them, it's not of him that willeth. It's not your free will. Nor
is it of him that runneth, it's not your good works, but of God
that showeth mercy. Our salvation, we that believe
and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's to the praise and glory
of our God. who graciously delivered us from
that death and bondage in the Lord Jesus Christ. He does the
whole work for his people in Christ. The man yet dead in his
sins will never believe that God must save me completely,
wholly, entirely by his grace. He'll never believe it until
God is gracious to him. When God is gracious to you,
then you know, Lord, if not for you, I'm nothing. I would never
believe. If there's anything, even a hair's
breadth of something I must do, I will surely perish eternally
in my sins apart from you. If there's anything I must do,
but Lord, You graciously, freely give everything to your people
in your Son. And so we look to, we trust in
the Lord. All right, next we see that this
passage, having shown us what we are in ourselves, in Adam,
dead in trespasses and sins, we see that God must do the saving. God must do all the salvation. If you want to know what part
do I play in salvation and what part does God play in salvation,
we hear this scripture. We look at this passage and it
tells us that everything entirely is 100% God, 0% man. And I know that statistically
speaking, some will say, well, it's just so minuscule that we'll
call it 0%. And it's so much of God that
we'll say that's 100%. No, literally, there's nothing that man does
to save himself. It's all the work of our gracious,
almighty God in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's what he does in
showing mercy and grace, giving salvation to helpless sinners
who cannot save themselves. Man's so-called free will is
not free at all. It lies in sin, it lies in darkness,
it lies in evil, it lies in wickedness and violence under the power
of the devil. But unlike man who glories in
his so-called free will, the scriptures declare who the difference
maker is. And the one who makes the difference,
the whole difference, from beginning to end is the Lord our God in
the face of Jesus Christ. Look at verses 4 and 5. Having
seen what we are, verse four says, but God, 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,
ye are saved. Do you see how God words the
truth of salvation for his people? if salvation requires my free
will, faith of my free will, that's saying that my flesh is
responsible for some part of it. If faith is man's work, if
faith is man's contribution to salvation, then that's saying
my flesh, which is contrary to the scriptures, that my flesh
has some part in my salvation. Instead of speaking about what
man must do to get himself saved, these verses speak of God's mercy
and love, so that there is a people. who were born dead in trespasses
and sins, but are now identified by God with Christ. He sees them
in Christ and identifies these people with his beloved darling
son. And they are made alive with
the life that is in Jesus Christ. This is the grace of God being
manifest in their salvation for a chosen people who were given
to Christ, who were put in him, who died with him, and when he
rose from the dead, they rose from the dead. By his life, they
live. By grace, ye are saved. It says when we were dead in
sins, we didn't have any free will faith. We didn't have any
free will faith, any ability to believe God and to trust Him. We were in darkness. I'm going
to go back to John 3, and I'm going to quote from verse 20
and 21, where it says, for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light. They hate the truth of God and
Christ. Neither cometh to the light.
Why? Lest his deeds should be reproved. The sinner. Left to himself is
never going to come to God except God show them grace and draw
them to himself. No man cometh unto the Son except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. We're drawn by the
grace of God. The people of God are drawn by
the grace of God and they do come to Christ. And it says in
John 3, 21, but he that doeth truth cometh to the light. He that does truth. That's the
obedience of faith. The obedience to the truth. They
do come to the light. They do come to Christ. That
his deeds. And that's speaking of the power
which God manifests, reveals in his people that his deeds
may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. that God has done this gracious
work in revealing faith in his child, who was dead in trespasses
and sins, but now they live, now they hear, now they look
and believe the Savior whom God has sent. And all that, we confess,
God did that. He worked that in me. He's the
one who prepared the ground of my heart. He's the one that rooted
me, that fixed me in the root, the living root, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the fruit I now bear is all
the fruit of Christ in me, that Spirit of Christ in me, whereby
I live and breathe and look to Him and hear Him and delight
in Him. It's all the fruit of the Spirit
of God in us. God has done something for that
sinner. You that believe on Christ, God
has done a work of grace, a gracious work in you that he did not do
for countless others. He's manifested grace in you.
He's borne fruits of righteousness in you rather than those thorns
and thistles and bramble bushes that come from this flesh. He's
given you the riches of his grace in Christ. Only the grace of
God delivers the spiritually dead sinner out of that bondage
which is described in verses 2 and 3. Only the grace of God
does that. We don't deliver ourselves, we
give God all the thanks, praise, honor, and glory. Now we come
to the third and final point, the spiritual blessings. It's
the Spirit of God who manifests the life and spiritual blessings
of Christ in his redeemed people. And the basis of God's grace,
according to the scriptures, the basis of his grace, the reason
why he's gracious to sinners, born dead in trespasses and sins,
the reason why is because it's all fixed, all rooted in that
blood atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. were redeemed,
purchased by the blood of Christ. God isn't just winking his eye
and pretending he doesn't see our sin for some people. No,
he sacrificed his own son to put away, to pay the debt of
the sins of his beloved people, who he gave in Christ. It's all rooted in that blood
atonement, and that's what we see in verses six and seven.
Let me read it. and hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Now I'm going to admit that typically
when I'm reading in Ephesians 2 verses 1-10 when I'm just reading
it I skim through verses 6 and 7 usually pretty rapidly. I don't
usually take much. I'm so fixated on the glorious
things being declared, especially in verses 8 and 10 and 4 and
5, and I'm looking at those things more than anything. But there's
beautiful, glorious truths declared here concerning our salvation
in Christ in verses 6 and 7. Verse seven, speaking of the
ages to come, it's speaking of God's eternal love for his people. Now it's hard for us who are
creatures of time to think about eternity. So maybe you wanna
hear it as it's God's ancient love for us. It's that love which
was fixed, which fixed us. His chosen people in Christ before
the foundation of the world. In eternity He fixed it. He saw
us. He chose us in Christ and committed
us into the care of the God-man mediator, of his son whom he
would send as the God-man mediator to represent his people, to do
all the work for his people, to stand in the gap between his
people who would have fallen at him but be redeemed, reconciled
to God in Christ. This is that eternal love that
goes back before time, which is described in Ephesians 1 verses
4 and 5, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. in love, having predestinated
us, having laid out our steps unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his own
will. He didn't look to us for anything. He determined everything that
would come to pass for his people in Christ according to his own
will, his own will and purpose, as he saw fit, as it pleased
Him and Him alone. Now verse 6 speaks of the manifestation
of God's grace which is presently in time revealed in us, which
He brings forth, works in His people because of the blood sacrifice
of Christ. It says that He hath raised us
up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. If you have a margin or some
place in your Bible, whenever you see that phrase in heavenly
places, and it is predominantly used in the book of Ephesians,
I want you to always understand it as the place prepared. When it says in heavenly places,
it's speaking of the place prepared by the sin atoning sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ for you. It's that place prepared,
which is the covering that Christ made for you. It's a picture,
think of that heavenly firmament which he made to cover the earth
in which living souls dwell. Without that covering, there
could be no life. He said in John 14, at the end
of verse two, he said, I go to prepare a place for you. And the next verse, and if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. He prepared the place. He's finished preparing the place
through the blood offering which he made to perfect his people. to sanctify his people, to reveal
his life and glory in his people, to make you to know the true
and living God and what he has done for you by the death of
himself, to give you life, to give you love for him, to restore
that fellowship and that friendship with your God which was lost.
Every blessing of God is given to us in Christ in heavenly places
in that place prepared for you. And I'll show you this in scripture.
Look at Ephesians 1 verse 3. Look at Ephesians 1 verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings, every one of them
in heavenly places in Christ. in that place prepared for you
by Christ Himself. Ephesians 1 verse 20 Which He
wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him
at His own right hand in the heavenly places, in that place
prepared for you by the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through His sacrifice, this heavenly
place exists where God meets with you in Christ. Now back
to Ephesians 2.6, and hath raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You know when we
read in Revelation where the redeemed sing the song of the
redeemed rejoicing in the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ for
them. It's done before the throne,
in those heavenly places prepared for us by the Lord Jesus Christ,
where we meet with our God in fellowship in Christ. That prepared
place, prepared by His sin-atoning sacrifice. That's the way. He
went through the veil, that is to say, His own flesh. He went
through, leading the way, and we do follow Him. and we live
in Him, and we're seated with Him, we're raised with Him, we
died with Him. Everything's been done for us in Christ. Every
spiritual blessing that God pours out on a sinner saved is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And without Him is nothing given.
It's all in Him, that's why we rejoice. That's why we're glad
in Him and we speak of Him and can't stop speaking of Him because
it's all freely given in our Savior in that place prepared
by His own blood which has obtained for us every spiritual blessing,
every joy and rejoicing. That's what's pictured on that
second day when God created the firmament because without that
firmament, nothing's gonna live. There's going to be no life.
But when he's shown that light on it, he said, I'm going to
be gracious to a people. I'm bringing life. And the first
thing he did was make the firmament. After he brought forth the uncreated
light, the first thing he made was that firmament. that place
prepared for you to live in and to have fellowship with your
God. That's what it's declaring. So
whenever you read in the book of Ephesians, in heavenly places,
know that it's speaking of that prepared place for you by the
Lord Jesus Christ of his blood atonement, wherein he gives you
life in him. Now it's in Christ that spiritual
life is wrought in those redeemed by Christ. And spiritual life
is imparted to those who were dead in trespasses and sins.
And all the spiritual gifts of God are given to you in Christ.
And that includes faith. That includes that fruit of the
Spirit, faith. Faith in Christ is the manifestation
of God's grace in a sinner. That's why they believe. That's why they hear Christ and
look to Him and have every confidence that He is all our salvation,
that God is satisfied with Him and we're made satisfied in Him
whom God is satisfied with, whom the Father is satisfied with.
The Son, Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what's said
in verse 8, Ephesians 2, 8. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that, that faith whereby
you believe Christ, that's not of yourselves. It is the gift
of God. God gives faith. That's the manifestation
that God has been gracious to you who believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's where that faith in him
came from, from God, in Christ, in that heavenly place. The scriptures
reaffirm this. If you look at Ephesians 1, verse
19, it says that same, it says Ephesians 2, 8, in another way.
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power? That's His grace. What's the exceeding greatness
of His power? His grace to us-ward who believe,
right? Faith, who have faith manifested
in them according to the working of His mighty power. Or according to God's gift to
you. That faith whereby you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. all the spiritual fruits, all
the gifts brought in you are always attributed to the grace
of God. Nothing's attributed to this
flesh. This flesh is only shown to be dead in trespasses and
sins, to be in bondage, to be in unbelief, to be in enmity
and hatred and loving darkness. But everything that causes us,
that brings us to God is grace given in the Lord Jesus Christ. So faith is not the product of
dead flesh. It says it's in Christ. Look
at verse 9 and 10. Not of works, not of anything
we do, lest man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus, from beginning dead unto good works, bearing
fruits of righteousness, believing him which God hath before ordained. that we should walk in Him. That's
the predestination. The footsteps that He determined,
predetermined for you that you should walk in Him. That you
should be brought to know Him. who alone gives salvation to
his people of his own free choosing, whom he will. So God is teaching
his people here of the fullness and the sufficiency of his grace.
He didn't forget or leave out one thing. It's a sure and certain
thing. If it came down to something
we had to do, there would be some possibility of it derailing
and never coming to pass. but in order to bring it all
to come to pass he gives everything in his son. The one who makes
all the difference is not the sinner choosing to believe Christ
versus another sinner who didn't choose Christ. The wholeness
of your salvation all comes down to, all rests upon God alone
in Christ. He is the difference maker. He is the one who puts a difference
between you that believe and those who do not believe Him.
I'll close with Romans 1.17 which says, For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. Revealed, manifested, from faith,
that is that fruit which is wrought in Christ, to faith, that which
is born in you. As it's written, the just shall
live by faith. So that there shall always be
a manifestation that that sinner has been given life by God in
Christ. They believe, they bear living
fruits because they're connected to that living root which is
Jesus Christ. Amen. All right, let's close
in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you
for your gracious word given to us here in Ephesians 2, Lord,
which is so clear. And Lord, it's not just there,
but it's throughout all your word. Help us every time we read
it. to look for and to find, to see
the Lord Jesus Christ and what you've done for sinners. How
that you show us what we are in self, how that we are sinners
in need of your grace. And Lord, how that you show us
through the scriptures time and time again. how you save your
people, how you bring them deliverance and salvation by your grace,
not because we've earned it, not because we deserve it. In
fact, we deserve the opposite. But Lord, we see how you've provided
everything in that place prepared in the Lord Jesus Christ. Help
us to see him, to hear him. to rejoice in Him and in Him
alone. Help us, Lord, as we seek to
declare these truths and explain them to others in a loving way,
in a kind and patient way. Lord, help us as we describe
these Things which were once mysterious to us, but now are
made plain and simple and clear in Christ. Lord, you know our
weaknesses, you know that our lips are but clay and we can
overcomplicate things so easily, but Lord, help us to go away
from this word today with seeing, rejoicing, being comforted in
Christ whom you've provided. Seeing that place prepared of
our Savior by His own blood sacrifice to put away our sins and to give
us life in Him. Let us see all these blessings
in this heavenly place which you've prepared for us in Christ.
Lord, bless our brethren who are sick or unable to be here,
those with car troubles, those with sicknesses, those struggling
and dealing with various issues. Lord, please be merciful to us. Please pour out your spirit upon
us. Please gather us together as
one body to hear your gracious word, your good news, Lord, and
to rejoice in it. Lord, cause your people to hear
this word, send it forth, to help them, to bless them, to
comfort them, and to gather them into this place which you've
prepared for them. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. Let's all stand to sing a closing
hymn, 288. 288, wonderful piece. And we sing
just the first four verses. Away in the depths of my spirit
tonight grows a melody sweeter than song. In celestial-like
strains it unceasingly falls, for my soul like an infinite
calm. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
coming down from the Father above. Sleep over my spirit forever,
I pray, in fathomless billows of love. What a treasure I have in this
wonderful piece, buried deep in the heart of my soul. So secure that no power can mine
it away, while the years of eternity roll. Peace, peace, wonderful
peace, coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, in fathomless billows of love. I am resting tonight in this
wonderful peace, resting sweetly in Jesus' control. For I'm kept from all danger
by night and by day, and His glory is flooding my soul. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, In fathomless billows of love. And me thinks when I rise to
that city of peace, where the author of peace I shall see. And one strain of the song which
the ransom will sing, in that heavenly kingdom shall be. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, in fathomless billows of love. Thank you.