I suppose if I had one place
to turn to in scripture to tell someone the truth, to preach
the gospel, the truth, to someone who's never heard it before,
I suppose it might be Ephesians 1. In Ephesians 1, three times
he says this is to the praise of the glory of His grace. In
verse 6, verse 12, verse 14, to the praise of the glory of
His grace. That is, salvation is to the
praise of the glory of God's sovereign, electing, saving,
keeping, predestinating, redeeming, forgiving, abounding, revealing,
gathering, inheriting, healing, believing, sealing, Grace. For by grace are you saved. It
says in chapter 2 verse 8, Through faith, and that is not of yourselves,
that's grace too. Grace is not an offer, but it's
an act of God. Grace is not an invitation, but
it's an operation of God. Verse 19 of chapter 1 says, Those
who believe do so according to the working of His mighty power. Repentance is a gift. Faith is
a gift. Fruit is a gift. Life, sight,
healing, hearing is all a gift of God. By grace are you saved. Chapter 2, verse 1 says of some,
you were dead and God quickened you. Yes, by grace He gave you
life. Not an offer. You don't offer
life to a dead person. You must be given. Christ said,
I am come that they might have life. Not to offer life, but
to give life. In Ephesians 1, Paul says, I'm
an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Everything's
by the will of God. Verse 9 says, He works all things
according to the good pleasure of His will. His will. All things. Verse 11, Who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will. They said to
David, Where is your God? He said, Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. That's the God of the universe.
That's the God of the Bible. Any God who cannot do anything
unless man lets Him do it is no God at all. The God of the
Bible, the God who is God, lets man do what He does, not vice
versa. It says, by the will of God,
this is to the saints. Paul is writing to the saints.
That means the sanctified ones, those set apart by the Spirit
of God, chosen by the Father. Sanctified by the Spirit of God.
Redeemed by the Son. To the saints. You don't make
yourself a saint. The Pope in Rome doesn't make
people saints. God makes them saints. The Holy
Spirit makes them saints. Sanctified by the Heavenly Father. Sanctified by Christ. Sanctified
by the Spirit of God. He says, to the saints which
are at Ephesus, or any other church where God's saints are
located, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. He says, those
who have faith are full of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is the testimony of God's people. This is the confession, the faith
of God's elect, delivered to the saints, the Scripture says.
The faithful in Christ Jesus are those who know salvation
is in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? It means
if you're found in Him, Philippians 3, if you're found in Him in
that day, not having your own righteousness, which is of the
law, a goodness, a morality, a law keeping that you came up
with, but rather found in Him, covered by Him, in Him, robed
in His righteousness, which He wore, covered by His shed blood
for the remission of your sin, then you will be saved." You
are saved. Like the children of Israel in
those homes in Exodus chapter 12. Those under the blood were
saved. It wasn't their works that saved
them. It was the blood. It was the salvation of God revealed
to them. They were in the house, under
the blood. They all had a lamb. That's Jesus
Christ. To the faithful in Christ Jesus.
What does it mean to be in Christ Jesus? It means like Noah and
his family were found in the ark that day. God doesn't love
everyone. He destroyed a world full of
people. Oh, it would have been mockery
to put a bumper sticker on the outside of that ark saying, smile,
God loves you. No, the wrath of God had come
down on these people. He destroyed them all, millions
of people. But God's love, God's salvation,
God's favor, God's grace was for those in the ark. In the
ark. Why were they in the ark? God
called them. God chose them. God brought them
into the ark. Salvation is to be in Jesus Christ. He is that ark, like Noah's ark. He goes on to say, Grace to you
and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
God is not the Father of all mankind. He is the Father of
His people by adoption and by new birth. You must be born again. You must be born again. You're
not born of the will of the flesh or the will of man, but born
of God. Born of His Spirit. Born of His
Word. And you, James wrote, hath He
begotten of His own will, are we begotten by the Word of Truth.
Born of God. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on to say,
ìBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.î
Where are they? Where are the blessings of God?
Well, theyíre spiritual blessings, and theyíre in Jesus Christ.
election, the blessing of adoption, the blessing of predestination,
the blessing of being accepted, of being redeemed, of having
the gospel revealed to you, of being gathered, of being kept
by His power. Not one single material blessing
is mentioned in this chapter, but they're spiritual blessings.
And all of God's people know these are the blessings of blessings.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us, the saints, with all spiritual blessing,
and those blessings are in heavenly things, heavenly places, in Jesus
Christ. And he says, verse 4, the very
first blessing that he names is, 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. God chose a people. God has an elect people. And
He chose them in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the
world. Let me ask you a question. I
don't know if you believe in God's sovereign election or not.
It's certainly true. It's the Gospel. It's the truth.
It's God's Word. Over 27 times the word elect
or election is mentioned in the New Testament. Well, He says,
according as He hath chosen us in Christ." You ask someone,
let me ask you, are you saved? Well, you might say, yes. Well,
let me ask you. According to the Scripture, answer
this question. Answer these questions. According
to the Scripture, did you choose God or did He choose you? What's
the Scripture say? Here it says, according as He
hath chosen us in Christ. Alright? If God chose you, when
did He choose you? When did He choose you? After
you believed? Oh no, that's not what Scripture
said. According as He had chosen us in Christ before the foundation
of the world. All right. Why? Why did He choose
a people? Why? In verse 5 it says, according
to the good pleasure of His will. He didn't choose a people because
they were good, because they were holy, because they were
righteous. No, they're sinners. He chose them to be holy, to
be righteous, to be without blame before Him. And He did it in
love to them. Verse 5 talks about predestinating
grace. Verse 4 is electing grace. Verse
5 is predestinating grace. Having predestinated us under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will. God purposed to have a people.
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore. He chose
them. He chose them. The foundation
of God stands assured, having the seal. The Lord knoweth them
that are His. How does He know them? He chose
them. He gave them to Christ. Christ
said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Where did He get these
sheep? He said, the Father gave them
to Me. He said, I don't lay down my
life for goats. There's goats and there's sheep
that He came to give His life for His people. And they were
predestinated, predetermined by God, preordained to be in
the family of God. Let me ask you, are you a parent? Do you have children? Did they
decide to have you or did you decide to have them? Huh? Did
they cooperate? Did they let you be their parent?
Did they decide one day for you to be their parent? You say that's
absurd. Well, so is this notion that
we let God be God, that we let God into our life, that we decide
to have eternal life. No. No, you must be born again,
born of God, chosen of God. And all of God's chosen people
were predestinated. Everything about them predetermined. God's people loved that. They
loved that. They were predetermined. Everything
about them down to the very hairs of their head are numbered. Bless
His holy name. Predestinated to be adopted into
His family by Jesus Christ who bore their sins on Calvary's
tree, prevailed in birth, as it were, on Calvary's tree. Out
of His side came blood and water. And not only that, the church
of God came out of His side. And it's all according to the
good pleasure of His will, verse 6, to the praise of the glory
of His grace. Salvation is by grace. It's a
gift. It's an act of God for His people,
to His people, in His people, and by Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He goes on to say this grace
is being accepted in the Beloved. Wherein He hath made us, that
is, His saints, His chosen, His predestined people, accepted
in the Beloved. Accepted in the Beloved. There's
nothing acceptable about us. Oh no. All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. We're unacceptable to God. Sinful. Unrighteous. Scripture says the
Lord looked down upon from heaven upon the children of men to see
if there were any that did understand, any that did seek after God,
any who said, no, they're all together become unprofitable,
none that doeth good. No, not one, but God chose a
people. to the praise of the glory of
His grace, and accepts them in the Beloved." Oh, it's not their
work. It's not their righteousness.
It's not their decision. It's not them turning over a
new leaf that God accepts them for. It's the blood, the blood,
the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, imparted to them by
the Holy Spirit of God. Yes, this is accepting grace. In whom, verse 7 says, we have
redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sin according
to the riches of His grace. Yes, this is redeeming grace.
There are no redeeming qualities in any son of Adam, but the blood
is the payment price, the forgiveness of sin, forgiving grace. It goes
on to say, He made known unto them the mystery of His will.
That's revealing grace. Verse 10 says He's going to gather
them all together in Jesus Christ. That's gathering grace. Verse
11 says they inherit, they inherit, they're joint heirs with Jesus
Christ. They inherit heaven and eternal
life. Inheriting grace. Verse 13 talks about being sealed
with the Spirit of promise, the Holy Spirit. That's sealing grace.
Sealing grace. Oh, it's all to the praise of
the glory of His grace. What about you? What is your
salvation? Confession. What is your testimony?
Are you saved because of something you did? Something you decided
to do? Something you let God do? Or
are you saved by grace, 100% by God's grace? If so, you're
going to give Him all the glory and all the honor to the praise
of the glory of His grace. Oh, I pray, I hope, by God's
grace, that He will open blind eyes and deaf ears and give you
the knowledge of the glory of His grace and His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Until next Sunday, Amen.