Grace of God in Christ

to be back with you. I speak on behalf of Mandy too. We're so glad to be here with you. It's been four or five years, hasn't it? I believe, at least. And the feeling is so mutual, your pastor and and I am Indian. We've known each other. We've known Brother Clay for many years in Tennessee and been close friends. I love him. Thank the Lord for him. He's been a faithful friend to me and a faithful brother and a faithful pastor to you. I know you're thankful for him.

I know I am. Turn with me to Ephesians 1. When we say we preach the same message, we really do. We really do. I asked Brother Eric before the message what his text was and his title, and he said the title is Grace. I said, well, Grace is my title. grace of God in Christ. Asked him his text. He said Ephesians 2. I said, I want to deal with Ephesians 1. We could have just switched the order, couldn't we, of the service, but we really do preach the same message.

Your pastor preaches God's grace. Salvation is by grace. We preach for the glory of God, it's to the praise of the glory of his grace. We preach for the salvation of men, we want them to be saved, well they're saved by grace. So we preach grace, don't we?

The grace of God is in Jesus Christ. Salvation is in Jesus Christ, that's what it means. I venture to say that most of you and most who've heard the truth, believed the truth, first really began to know and believe the truth when you heard, like Ephesians 1 preached, didn't you? It just, it's so clear, isn't it? That salvation is completely of the Lord by his grace.

And now grace doesn't mean an offer. That word is not in the Bible except in reference to the burnt offering, or how that Christ offered himself to God, right? Nowhere does it say that he offered salvation to man. The high priest did not go in to the holy of, the high priest didn't take the blood of the lamb and go out there to the people and say, will you all accept this?

Did he? That's blasphemy. It was the blood of a lamb, a substitute, in the hands of one man chosen by God, going into the Holy of Holy and pouring that blood on the mercy seat. And the people outside were hoping and praying that God would accept that on their behalf. The high priest offered that blood for the people. He didn't offer it to the people. And so, The word offer, it's not there in the Bible. It's not an invitation. Salvation is not by invitation. It's by command, isn't it? Psalm 71, three. Thou hast given commandment to save me.

Grace is not an offer. Grace is not an invitation. Grace is not something God throws out there and hopes you do something with it. Grace is an act of God. Grace is something God does for his people, in and by Christ, Something he does in his people, to his people.

We're recipients. We're recipients of grace, receivers. There's a difference between the word receiving and accepting. You know that? Accepting implies that you have the ability to either take it or reject it, right? I wish I had a bottle of water. and an empty glass. It's so clear. If this glass were empty, and I took a bottle of water, and this is, if this glass were empty, that's us, empty vessels, nothing, nothing in us, okay? Well, how are we gonna get anything? We're receivers. If I poured water into this glass, I'm not saying, will you accept this? The guy has no say. And aren't we glad? Aren't we glad? Because by nature, this is what he preached. We don't want it. No. Will you accept it if we offer it? No. Right?

That's what Adam and Eve did, and that's what all their posterity from then on did. Reject God. The only way anybody bows and believes is they're receivers of this gift of salvation, grace, and faith. Grace is an act of God, not an offer. You understand that? I know you do. That's what your pastor preaches. So, and the grace of God is in Jesus Christ. It's all in Jesus Christ. It's all given to Jesus Christ. the grace of Christ that he gives, that he works the salvation for his people on their behalf, okay? It's in Christ.

I know your pastor's preached this so many times and shown you so many times. How many times it says in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ? Everywhere, Ephesians, Colossians. Now read with me again. Don't you love this? Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, how? Did he decide to be a prophet?

No, no, no, by the will of God. Everything is by the will of God. That's what verse 11 says, doesn't it? He worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Man doesn't have a free will, God does. Whoever has free will is God, right? It's the will of God.

To the saints, what's that mean? Sanctified ones. We don't sanctify ourselves. We're sanctified by the offering of the body of Christ once for all, aren't we? Okay? To the saints and Ephesus, to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Keep reading. Grace to you. He's not writing to everyone. He's writing to God's elect, God's people, those in Christ. Grace, peace. How do we have peace with God? Chapter two, verse 13. In Christ Jesus, you who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. He is our peace. He's our peace. He made peace by the blood of his cross.

I don't tire of saying these things. This is what your pastor preaches all the time. Eric, this is what you preach all the time. Time and time again. Paul said to the Philippians, to write the same things to you, to me, is not grievous. It's safe, it's salvation. We need to keep hearing that.

It's our comfort, it's our rest, to find out that we have peace with God completely by the offering of Jesus Christ. Peace with God. God is angry with the wicked every day. God hateth all workers of iniquity, scripture said. but he's not angry with his people. He is not, the wrath of God is on his people. We have peace with God through Jesus Christ.

That make me smile, I'm gonna smile. Peace, grace, peace from God our Father. We're fathers adopted, born of God, from the Lord Jesus Christ. Read on, blessed, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places." Where are they? In Christ.

And he's going to go on to talk about spiritual blessings. He doesn't mention one single material thing, does he? You hear people when they go into the convenience store and people want you to know that they're religion, and they say, have a blessed day, don't they? You hear it all the time. Well, here's what we ought to say.

Oh yeah, I'm blessed, all right. I've been chosen in Christ, predestined, adopted, redeemed, forgiven. Yeah, it's a blessed day. And that day I was blessed was in the mind, the will, and the purpose of God before there was a day. Yeah, I had a blessed day. I'm always blessed. I've been blessed from the beginning of time will be to the end of time. Just start preaching to them. Is that what you mean by that? What they mean is, I hope you don't have a flat tire. Seriously. We're blessed, aren't we? Spiritual blessings. Spiritual blessings.

We're gonna lose everything in this world. The Lord gave it, we give him the glory, he's gonna take it away. Your health, your family, all your possessions, your mind, everything's gonna take it away, yes he is. To this end, to this end, Proverbs says, Proverbs 7, 14. In a day of prosperity, be joyful, but in a day of adversity, remember this, God has set one against the other to the end, you won't find anything after that. You'll go naked in this world, and naked you're gonna go out of this world.

And you can't find any happiness, any comfort, any lasting joy, In these things in this world, in these people of the world, we enjoy them, God's given us all things richly to enjoy, but don't set your heart and your love and your affection on them, set them on things above, because God is not gonna take that away. Where Christ sits, he's not gonna take, if Christ is your dearest treasure, it will never be taken from you.

Never. Is it? Is it really your life? Spiritual blessings, they're in Christ. According, and the first thing he mentions is election. Verse four, the greatest blessing of all is if God has chosen you in Christ. You know that? It really is. This ain't just a doctrine. This is what Brother Eric was saying. What Christ has done for us, what God has done. This is what Brother Clay was repeating afterward. It's what God has done. Myron used to say, it's not a doctrine, it's a person choosing persons.

If you know yourself, and you were God, would you choose you? No, what is man? That's all I meant, that thou art mindful of him. You used to think that about yourself? Why would God think on man? Why would he choose me? In Christ. According to the good pleasure of his will. That's why. Nothing in you. It's all in him, wasn't it? Verse four. Where did he do this?

Before the foundation of the world. It's a gift of God to be chosen. That we should be holy and without blame before him in love. God in love did this to his people. That's electing grace, verse five. Predestinating grace, predestinated us. Adopting grace, to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. He's the firstborn among many brethren. He did this to himself, for himself, for his glory, according to the good pleasure of his will, not man's will, his will.

Verse six. Now this is grace. I'm preaching the grace of God. I'm preaching what this Bible, this man is preaching what this Bible says about grace. Not what man thinks about it. It's what this Bible says about it. It's God's work. It's God's gift. It's a gift bestowed. Bestowed, not offered. Conferred. Right? Verse five. Having predestinated us under the adoption of children. Anybody in here adopted? Anybody? Brother David Edmondson has preached here, hasn't he? He was adopted. His father, Leo Edmondson, his mother, what's her name?

I forget. But they adopted him. And here's what happened. David wasn't even born yet. He wasn't even born yet. And Leo Edmondson and his wife made a contract, a covenant with this woman, this young girl who's having this child, that they would take this child and love this child as their own and take it into their family and take care of it, give him a name and love him. And that's adoption. The child had nothing to do with it. The parents did it all. That's adopting grace, isn't it? And there's a new birth. The new birth.

I'll say a little more about that in a minute. Adopting grace by Jesus Christ, verse six, what is this all about? It's to the praise of the glory of his grace. Glorious grace, and that's what Eric read to us in chapter two in verse seven, in the ages to come, he's gonna show us the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through or in Christ Jesus. He made us accepted in the beloved.

You know, verse six, we have a sign, and you know, most of the churches that we are affiliated with, our sister churches, have the name Grace on them, don't they? Don't they? Grace Fellowship, Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, Central Grace Church, Daniel Grace Baptist Church, and on and on it goes, right?

Because that's what we preach. That's the purpose of the church. And we put this line on the sign out front, central grade, to the praise of the glory of his grace. That's what salvation's all about. That's the purpose of the church. That's the purpose for which he saved every one of his elect, is to the praise of the glory of his grace. and made us accepted in the beloved, in Christ, accepted.

Now let me illustrate this and look at verse three, the last line is spiritual blessings are in Christ. Verse four, we've chosen us in Christ. Verse six, we're accepted in the beloved. Verse seven, in whom, we're redeemed in Christ, in Christ. Verse 10, Well, verse nine, he purposed all things in himself. And verse 10 is gathering grace. He's gonna gather together in one, all things in Christ, even in him, in whom we have obtained an inheritance, inheriting grace. Verse 13, in whom you trusted and believed. That's believing grace, it's in him. And salvation is to be found in Jesus Christ. Christ, God has put all salvation in Jesus Christ. Now, what's that mean? What's that mean to be in Christ?

I'm gonna try to give you a couple of illustrations, okay? The best one our Lord's gonna give us. But, all right, many of you women have had children, okay? How did those children get in your stomach? The father. planted that seed in there, right? It was born of the Father. The child didn't get there of itself, did it, huh?

All right, 1 Corinthians 1 at 13 says, of God, are you in Christ? You didn't get there by your silly little decision, your choice and all that. No, no, no, no, no, no. It was God's decision. It was God's choice. He was God according to the working of his mighty power. Born of God, that's what, so many people are so ignorant of John 3, chapter 3, aren't they? He starts out by saying, you must be born again, you must be born again, that's born of God, born from above, you had nothing to do with your firstborn.

Ian crying, Ian crying. All right? That woman who has this child in her, it's a union, isn't it? They're one, and us men, when they became pregnant, we couldn't really enter into what they were going through. They're one with this child, that baby is just, there's a union there that we can't enter into. And there's a union of God's people in Christ that can never be separated.

It's a mystery, isn't it? It's a mystery, all right? To be in Christ, how God are you in Christ who's made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, acceptance, redemption, forgiveness, adoption, everything, name something. It's all in Christ. Our relationship with him, in him, in him, okay?

That woman who has this child. If she goes somewhere, wherever she goes, that baby goes with her, doesn't it? She goes somewhere and she comes in and some people, she's accepted by those people that she goes into their house. You can't accept her and not the child, can you? Well, if somebody said, well, you can come in here, but your baby can't.

Ah, they're one. Right? One, all right? Whatever she does, all her works, all her works, whatever she does, that baby's doing it. Is this making sense to you? Nod your head if you agree. All right? If you love her, you've got to love the child. You accept her, you've got to accept the child. You receive her, you've got to receive the child. Whatever she does, the baby does. Wherever she sits, wherever she goes, whatever she does, they're one.

Does that make sense? That's as good as I can do. But God gives a much greater illustration in his Bible. Come with me to Genesis 6. Everybody in here has heard the story of Noah and the ark. When Paul said this, Paul said in Philippians 3, oh, I want to win Christ and be found in him. found in him. All right? This story of Noah and the ark is the story of the one, the union of God's people in Christ. The ark is Christ. Noah is Christ. You've heard this before. You want to hear it again? This is the best illustration you can possibly give of what it means to be found in Christ. Everybody outside that ark, the wrath of God fell on them.

Where was the love of God? Where was the mercy of God? Where was the salvation of God? Where was the peace of God, huh? In the ark. How did everybody get in that ark? Noah brought them in there. What could be plainer? Huh? That's what it means, okay? When it was all said and done, and I'm just, I'm already through with this, but when it's all, I had to get to the end. I'm declaring the end from the beginning. When it was all said and done, the only ones saved were in the ark. Everybody outside that ark, the wrath of God fell on them, didn't it? Those in the ark, the wrath of God fell on that ark. The ark bore it all.

That's what it means to be in Christ. How do you get in Christ? Of God are you in Christ? All right, look at it. Here's what God says about man, verse five. And Eric made it plain from Ephesians two. God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Every imagination of thoughts of his heart, only evil, continually.

Continually, day and night. He's dead and trespasses in, right? It repented of the Lord, and he's speaking in a language we can understand. Like we would say, so we can understand, I wish I'd never made you. You know, God purposed all that. But in a language we can understand how much God detests and abhors the evil in man. That's right. It grieved him at his heart. The Lord said, I will destroy man whom I've created. Does God love every single person in the world? Does he? Would you destroy people you love? No, you would not, and God doesn't do that either, does he? All right? He said, I'm gonna destroy man. That was in the beginning, and he did.

And in the end, the same God who's a consuming fire The same heavens are kept in store, reserved under fire, that day, of this same God who hasn't changed. He's gonna pour out fire on us then. And Brother Eric made it so plain that, and such were some of you, children of wrath, hating God, everybody mad at God. Whenever we complain about anything, complaining against God is providence. Too hot, too wet, don't have enough. That same God's gonna rain fire down on us.

Yes, this is God of the Bible. Look down at verse 12. God looked upon, verse 11, the earth was corrupt before God, filled with violence. God looked upon the earth, behold, it's corrupt. All flesh had corrupted his way. And he said, the end of all flesh is coming to me. I will destroy them.

Man, women, women, That's what God said, all right? But look at verse, it sounds like Ephesians 2, 4, doesn't it? Verse eight, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. But God, who's rich in mercy. We're preaching the same message, Eric, aren't we? Oh yes, we are, same God. Same salvation, by grace. Same Savior, one. There's only one, Jesus Christ. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord. How do you know you found grace in the eyes of the Lord?

He reveals Jesus Christ to you, the ark. The ark. Look down at verse 14. He said to Noah, I'm gonna destroy all flesh, but you're gonna make an ark. Noah is, representative of Christ here. Make an ark, gopher wood, that's Christ's sinless nature, impervious to sin, that gopher wood.

Verse 15 talks about the length, the breadth, the height of it. Paul wrote about the length, the breadth, the height, the depth of the love of God, which is in Christ. Verse 16, a window, Christ is the light of the world. A window, A door, didn't Christ say, I'm the door, I'm the way? No way in except through Christ, isn't it?

You go any other way, you're a thief and a robber. Three stories, three stories. There's three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. These three are what? One, Christ. Look at verse 17. Behold, even I, even I will destroy all flesh, the breath of life, in Adam all die. Well, how are you gonna live? In Christ.

In the ark. How did anybody live? How did all these animals live? How did Noah and his family live? They were in. they found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Verse 18, with thee will I establish my covenant. When did God purpose all that? Long before it rained. When did God purpose salvation? Long before the world was ever made. Covenant he made with Christ and in Christ for us, the purpose of God in Christ before the world began.

In verse 18, he says, thou shalt come into the ark, thy sons, thy wife, and thy son's wife. Who went in the ark with Noah? Family. Family. God's family. That's who's going to be in the ark. That's who is in the ark. God's family. He's adopted. He's chosen. He's born. He's born again, people of God.

Verse 19, every living thing of all flesh you shall bring into the earth to keep them alive. Christ said, I am come that they might have life. How are they gonna get there? Verse 20, fowls, creeping things of every sort shall come unto thee. Are you with me? Christ said in John 6, 37, all that the father giveth me shall what? Come unto me. How?

His powerful voice made willing the day of his power. Did the animals come of their own free will? Oh, no. Try it sometime. Go out there and find you a lion and a tiger and say, kitty, kitty, kitty. They will devour you. But Noah went out there. This really happened. Noah went out to these wild animals and said, you and you, come. And they walked in there. How? Power, that's power, isn't it? They went in. And you know, they were made willing. He had changed their nature, didn't he, Eric? Had changed their nature. He said, now lion, you go in there and lay down with the lamb. What we got to eat? Straw. You're all gonna eat the same thing. What? Lions don't eat straw. They do in the yard. Lambs eat straw. Goats eat straw. They all eat straw. We all eat the same thing, the same food.

Noah provided the food. Look at it, verse 21. Thou shalt take unto thee all food that is eaten, gather it to thee, it shall be food for thee and for them. Christ is not only the provider, he's the food. He's the bread of life, he's the water of life. He said, my body is meat indeed, my blood is drink indeed. He not only feeds us, we feed on him. He's the provider. Verse 22, thus did Noah.

Who did this? Who did all this calling and feeding and bringing? Who did this? Noah did. That's what Jesus Christ did, according to all that God commanded him. Fulfilled the law perfectly. The obedient servant of God. Did they all come in? Yes, they did. It says, so did he. He finished the work, Johnny Parker. He finished the account was given. Exactly how many that God had numbered to bring into that ark, they came to him and he brought them in. And that's the way it is with Jesus Christ. Everyone. And he said, all that thou hast given me I've lost nothing. I'm kidding, no. Oh, we could go on and on, couldn't we? In chapter seven, you do need to see this.

So Noah went in, verse seven, his sons and his wife, his sons, wives with him into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Clean beast. Verse nine, they went in two and two unto Noah into the ark As God had commanded him, it came to pass, the waters of the flood were upon the earth. And down in verse 16, verse 15, they went in unto Noah into the ark.

And you know, when God saves people, he, Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2, shows them the grace of God in Christ. He reveals Christ is all to them. That's what I've been saying, that's all I've been saying, that's all Eric's been saying, that's all your pastor, Christ is all, he really is. He really is, like we said, in that ark.

Wouldn't it have been a mockery if Noah had, you know, God closed that door, didn't he? After seven days, he closed the door. And nobody could come in. It's over. Wouldn't it have been a mockery if Noah had walked out to that window and stuck his head out and said, have a blessed day. Smile, God loves you. It's all over.

The love of God is in Jesus Christ. He really is. And that's why this story happened. There's no other reason why this happened than to show us that all the blessings of God, the acceptance with God, the love of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God, the salvation of God, the food, the rain, everything is in Jesus Christ. It really is to be found in Him. So we preach, come to Christ, come to Christ.

We can't make Him come, but He can. That's what He does. How does He do it? What we're doing here. We just preach, preach. Can these bones live? Preach. And everyone God has chosen, they're gonna come. Come where? To Christ. They're gonna see their salvation is in Christ. And they come to him. Come to him. Look at verse, and I quit. So verse 16. that went in, male and female, all, as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in. We're shut up to faith in Christ, aren't we? We're sealed, that's what Ephesians 1 said. He sealed us.

You know, Eric, I love this thought. Somebody had to pitch the outside of that door when it closed. You know what? There's a seam, right, John? There's a seam, right, Jeff? There's a seam on that door. You got to pitch it. Who did it? I really believe this, that the people everywhere are laughing, mocking, scoffing. Rain ain't never right. What a fool Noah is. Look at him. He's shut up in there. He's going to die in there.

In a sense, he did, didn't he? Crucified with Christ. Crucified to the world. Dead, buried, ridden with crying. Oh yeah. Somebody had to pitch that door, and I really believe this happened, that all the people are watching. Who is that? There's a man up there with some pitch and a bucket. Who is that? We ain't seen him around these parts.

And Jesus cried. Wasn't his delights with the sons of men? You can preach these things. His appearances to the sons of men, his appearances to Manoah and his wife and Gideon and on and on it goes. Who is that pitching that door? Who is that sealing old Noah and the holy man? Jesus Christ.

And it says in verse 17, the flood was 40 days upon the earth and the waters increased and bear up the ark. And it was lifted up above. the earth, when it's all over, when the whole world was destroyed by flood, and all you couldn't see them, you couldn't see the beautiful houses people built, men built, you couldn't see the works of man in heaven, architecture, art, music, nothing, it's all covered, all covered, the highest buildings, the highest mount, everything. It was one thing had risen above it all, the heart. And Christ said, if I be lit today, And when it's all over, we're gonna sing to the praise of the glory of His what?

Grace. The Him who loved us and washed us from our sin, His own blood, and called us, and tamed us, and brought us in, and changed our nature, and on and on it goes. And we'll continue this again tomorrow, okay? Same subject, salvation by God's grace in Christ. Okay, Lord bless you. Who's that other man in that fire?

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