Good morning. I bring many hellos
from many different people. The congregation in Kingsport,
from my pastor Gabe and his wife Hannah, from my family and a
special well wish. Last week we were able to be
with Henry and Doris and they told me a lot of times we're
pulling out the driveway and everything. Make sure you tell
everybody there we love them and hello. So that's from them.
If you would open your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians 4. The verse or verses we will look
at is in this chapter, but in the first three chapters of Ephesians,
Paul deals with the doctrines of the grace of God. He explains
and establishes them. The headings at the top of the
pages of these three, let me read them to you, is one of those
descriptions of the portion that's so comforting and something that
we, it's kind of the backbone of what we believe. So listen
to the first three chapters says, the exaltation of Christ. Concerning
our election and adoption by grace, we are saved by grace
and the salvation of the Gentiles. In these chapters, Paul is talking
to the saints at Ephesus. He is talking to those that the
Lord has saved, to believers. And he constantly uses the words
us and we in who he's referring to. Some of the phrases that
he says in there are, God hath blessed us. He hath chosen us
in him, having predestinated us. He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption, having made known
unto us, and in whom we have obtained an inheritance." I enjoy
and find great comfort in being grouped with other believers.
Having fellowship with one another around the gospel is the greatest
thing that we have on this earth. During the conference in Kingsport
a month or so ago, I enjoyed seeing a whole lot of friends
from out of town. I saw friends that I hadn't seen in a long
time and friends that it just been too long. And I love catching
up with them, giving them hugs and those moments where we get
a time to catch up with each other. But the moment I enjoyed
the most is a moment after the preacher or a man preached the
gospel and he preached Christ. And as soon as that was over,
I somehow would catch the glimpse of someone, of a friend or something.
And we had that moment we saw each other. And in that moment,
it was more than catching up with a friend. It was more than
seeing how your kids are doing or what's going on. But it was
a moment where two people saw each other and they knew and
they cherished on the fact that two undeserving sinners had found
grace in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you knew it.
And that's the thing that you share that you love with one
another. Now, look at Ephesians four here and look at the first
six verses. I, therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
you are called with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering,
forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and
one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who
is above all and through all and in you all. These verses
tell us we are one body, we are one spirit, we are all this in
one Lord and in one faith. Now, with all of that being said
and as much comfort as I find in it this morning, I want to
look at God's grace from a little bit more of an independent point
of view. I want each of us to look at
things a little selfishly this morning. I want us to think,
what did I deserve? What was done for me? What did I get? And I'm going
to try to use two words that in the preacher school almost
40 years ago that Henry Mahan told the men, don't use the words
I and me when you preach. Now, I'm going to try to use
those two words a lot this morning. And the reason is I want all
of us to put ourselves in this position. When I say I or me,
the last thing I'm trying to do is make you think about me
in particular or to think about when we talk here, I don't want
you to think about my sins and things like that with me. But
what I want you to do is think of we always think about the
glory of God and salvation. And we so often think of it as
a group and as a people. And it is and it's wonderful
to think of it that way. But I want this morning for us
to think about salvation towards ourselves as an individual. I
want us to think how glorious it is, not only that Christ saved
his people, but the Lord Jesus Christ saved me. If you thought
about someone removing all of the sand off of an individual
beach, that would be an amazing task. I don't know where the
sand ends. I don't know where it begins. I don't know that.
That would be amazing. But think about how amazing it
would be if an individual did it one grain of sand at a time. That's how glorious the gospel
is in salvation, because our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, saved
each one of his children, particularly Each one. So look at verse seven
in this chapter, Ephesians four, verse seven. But unto every one
of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of
Christ. Each one of us, every child of
God receives grace and we receive it as an individual. In Romans
three, it says being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now, maybe I always look
at myself as a believer with a group as an us, and maybe that's
because I'm a guilty sinner and I find it easier to look at a
group as opposed to focusing on myself. Maybe it's because
I think of the words that are used in the scripture when they
talk about a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a peculiar people. It all feels like it's a lot
of people when they talk about it. And maybe it's because we're
described as Israel or Abraham seed. But possibly it's due most
to the New Testament writers always are writing to a group
of people, to a church, sometimes even friends. But it's very inclusive. And that's the way it was meant
to be written. And it's important it is because the gospel is inclusive. It's an inclusive gospel. And
when I'm at dinner sometimes with my family, we have a little
thing every once in a while. I just randomly will just be
like, I love my family and just say that and I say it as one.
But does that mean anything other than I love each one of those
individually? When we say things as a group,
when this when Paul writes an us and a we, he's talking to
in particular people as well. So we're just going to take a
few minutes and assess salvation as it pertains to me, as it pertains
to you. The only thing that needs to
be said about me is that I'm a sinner. That's the most important
thing that I can provide in this. That's why I need grace and I
need the gift of God. As a sinner, because I'm a sinner,
I deserve death. The only way that I can escape
spiritual death is if I have a savior. What did the Savior
have to do with salvation? Isaiah 53. Or what did He have
to do for salvation? Turn with me to Isaiah 53. I'm
going to read the entire chapter of Isaiah 53. And the purpose
of this and what I want you to do is keep in mind that every
single thing that is written in this chapter He had to do
for me. He had to do all of this for
each and every one of His children. Isaiah 53 verse 1, Who hath believed
our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For
He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root
out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire
Him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces
from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes,
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid
on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter and as a sheep before his shears is done. So he opened
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. And who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked. and with the rich in his death, because he had done
no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore, will I divide him a portion with the great and
he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he has poured
out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors
and he bear the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. The Lord Jesus Christ died on
the cross as a man dying for the salvation of individual women
and men. This doesn't mean that there
are only a few. The Scriptures tell us, for this
is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the
remission of sin. We have numbers such as 10,000
times 10,000, and we have the sand of the seashore. But for
me to be justified, every single sin of mine must be paid for. He had to pay for every single
one. Someone had to be punished for
every single one of my sins. It's not enough that the concept
of sin or the idea of sin be paid for. It's not enough that
the Lord went to Calvary and knew that I'd sinned a lot. And
so his death just covered up whatever there were, how many?
The Lord went to his death with every single sin I've ever committed
or will commit on his mind and on his body. He had to pay for
every single one of them, the guilt and the shame of each one. Now, you might say, why is that
such a big deal? Well, because the wages of sin
is death. And if he didn't take every single
sin of mine, then when I die, I will have to face a just and
holy God as a sinner, as guilty. And even one sin means my death. But the child of God, thankfully,
doesn't have to worry about this. Because when our Lord said, it
is finished, He was telling each of His children, I've paid the
debt for each and every one of you and every single sin that
you committed. This is the true gift of God. Now, in our text here, back in
Ephesians, look at Ephesians 4, verse 7 again. but unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. There
is nothing greater we can receive than the grace of God. With that
being said, why is it then that we struggle so much with faith
and the fear we have and doubts and all these things? Well, two
simple reasons are obvious. The first is we still have this
flesh. We still have this sin and it
mars everything that we do. But the second one is because
grace is given according to the measure. In this verse, it says,
under every one of us is given grace according to the measure. Measure means a specific or a
limited amount. Our God, in his wisdom, gives
and will give the exact perfect amount of grace to his children
in the exact perfect moments that they need them. Never has
one of his children ever not had enough grace in a certain
moment or a certain time. Now, constantly, I feel like
I need more grace. I should have had more grace
or I handled things poorly. If I just would have had more
grace, I would have been fine. But it's the same situation with
not having enough is too much. The amount's perfect. Our God
gives us the right amount that we can handle, the perfect amount.
Turn over to First Corinthians 13. I love you. Anyone doubting the fact that
we could have too much grace, is anyone else guilty of the
moments of you do something that you feel is pretty good or you
did a good work or something and the first thoughts come out
of your mind or like, I did a good job, didn't I? We always give
ourselves credit. We always take care of ourselves
and think of ourselves and everything. 1 Corinthians 13, look at verse
9. For we know in part and we prophesy
in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that
which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake
as a child. I understood as a child. I thought
as a child. But when I became a man, I put
away childish things. For now we see through a glass
darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I am known. As sinful creatures, we
are shielded and protected from so much. We see through this
glass darkly. Our eyes have a veil over them.
And it's for our own good. But there will be a day when
the veil will be lifted, when we shall see His glory and His
grace, when we see Him face to face. And at that moment, we
will understand how awesome and that word is way overused, but
the awesomeness of our God and His glory and why grace was given
to us in measure and why we were given the exact amount we were.
And it will be glorious. Now, it's important to note that
in our text, grace is the word that is given in measure because
there is no measure or proportioning of the gift of God. Salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ is a package that comes fully assembled. It
is a gift that there are no instructions to. There's no missing parts.
There's no batteries that need to be bought. There's no work
to be done. And just because we didn't know it was there when
we first saw it and our eyes were open, it's been there since
the foundation of the earth. Now, you might say, you just
told us, though, that when the Lord said it's finished, all
our sins were paid for. Well, that's true. But Our God
is so holy that the mere choice of His children before time began,
that in itself, His declaration was just the same as if it were
100% done throughout time. It will be fulfilled because
our God is holy and perfect. And that's the place we put our
trust. We put our trust in Him. Malachi says, For I am the Lord,
I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. The only reason we are not consumed
or will not be consumed is because of our God." Now let's look at
the last phrase of our text and the most important part, the
gift of Christ. In Ephesians 1, it gives us what
all is included in the gift of Christ. It's a very popular portion
of Scripture. And if you would turn a couple
pages back to Ephesians 1, And in Isaiah 53, it's much easier
for me to imagine my need and what I need for him to do for
me and my sin. What is much harder is to consider
myself with the words that are written here in Ephesians one.
In verse three, it says, Blessed be the God and father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings
and heavenly places in Christ. He blessed me. with spiritual
blessings. These spiritual blessings are
more than common or temporal blessings that we think about.
They are mercy and grace through the eternal covenant that we
have with our God. And they're all things pertaining
to justification, peace, our pardoning, our adoption, our
sanctification, eternal life. And all of this is in Christ. These gifts are all in Christ.
And in him, God has purposed, he's decreed and he is given
every spiritual blessing which heaven can bestow and that which
heaven can require. Praise God for all that I am,
all that I have and all that I ever shall be. It is his gift
through the Lord Jesus Christ that we glory in. Now look in
verse four. Starting here, we're going to
look at the next few verses at the gift of Christ as it is purposed
and decreed by the Father, purchased and accomplished by Christ and
then applied by the Holy Spirit. Verse four says, according as
he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. The
Father chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world.
John 15 says, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and
ordained you that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in
my name, he may give it to you. And in Timothy, it's written
who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began. It is
hard to imagine the Lord choosing me. I can better see him as taking
a big group and I somehow just got in the mix of that group.
I can justify in my own mind that he saved my family and all
these other people were doing so good that when he chose my
family, I just snuck right in there under the button. I can
also imagine it as somehow he just didn't see me when he was
scooping these people up. God chose me. God chose you. Any believer, God chose you individually.
And there's no mistake in the choosing, just like there's no
mistake in saving those that are chosen. Look at verse five. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will. The Father predestinated me to
be adopted as His own child through Jesus Christ. Turn to Romans
8. In Acts it tells us, And when
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and they glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life they believed. Romans 8 verse 29 says, For whom
He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
then He also called, and whom He called, then He also justified,
and whom He justified, then He also glorified." Turn back to
our text and look at verse 6. To the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, the
Father accepted me in Christ. He looks upon me in Christ and
is well pleased. He doesn't look at me. He looks
upon me in Christ. We are already seated with Christ
in heavenly places. Look across the page at Ephesians
2, verse 6. and hath raised us up together and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." That's a present tense.
They're saying currently His children are sitting with Him
in heavenly places. And all of this God the Father did for the
eternal praise of His glorious grace. Look at verse 7 right
after that, Ephesians 2, 7. That in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. Look at verse 7 and 8 in chapter
1. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will. I went too far. Wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Christ redeemed
me. He redeemed each of his children
by his blood. Romans three tells us for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. The law of God is honored by
Christ's obedience and the justice of God is satisfied by his death. And because of that, we have
full and complete forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
go back to verse nine. Having made known unto us the
mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He
hath purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him."
Christ enlightened us as to the mystery of His gospel of redemption. He taught us. He showed us. He
enlightened us. And let me look over here In
1 Corinthians 2, verse 7 through 10, it says, But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before
the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of the world
knew. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord our glory. But as it is written,
I have not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love Him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God." In Christ we see both
the wisdom and power of God and redemption. So many people don't
see this. And it's not that we deserve
credit. It's just that we were enlightened, we were taught,
we were shown these things and he reveals it when he pleases
to whom he pleases. Verse 11. In whom also we have
obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will. Christ, enriches us in Christ. We were made God's children and
we obtained that glorious inheritance of all things, everything that's
good, everything that matters. We inherited through him. Romans
eight tells us the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit
that we are the children of God. And if children then heirs. And joint heirs, heirs of God. with Christ. If so, be that we
suffer with him that we may be also glorified together. You
and me, joint heirs with Christ. It's not enough that we are brothers
and sisters, it's that we are joint heirs. There are plenty
of brothers and sisters who get left out of the inheritance,
but we are joint heirs. We have the same the same exact
gift that he has, the same place. In verse 13 and 14, our last
two verses, In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after
that ye believed. You were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession and to the praise
of his glory. I have heard the gospel. We heard
with the heart and the understanding and with faith. Matthew 13 says,
but blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they
hear. For verily I say unto you that
many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things
which you see and have not seen them. And they have desired to
hear those things which you hear and they have not heard them.
All men hear words, but the Holy Spirit quickens. The Holy Spirit
regenerates, and the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life to God's
elect. The next point is, I believe
the gospel. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 on the next
page. 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. Faith is the gift and work of
God in the soul from the Holy Spirit. And then I am sealed
with the Holy Spirit. Now, what does that mean? In
Romans 8, it says, Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not
to the flesh to live after the flesh. For as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. The seal or
the stamp or the proof of the eternal covenant from God, it
is not circumcision. It's not baptism. It's not anything
we can do on this earth. It's not an outward grace. It's
not a work we've done. But the seal and the stamp is
the spirit of God in a man. Now, in Ephesians one, look at
the last part of verse 14. Unto the praise of his glory. Look at verse 12 that we should
be to the praise of his glory and then verse six. to the praise
of the glory of His grace. Why did God do all of this and
why did the Lord Jesus Christ do what He did? All of it is
to the praise and the glory of His grace. And that's what we
will do for eternity. All the things in heaven are
all about the grace and glory of our God. Now, in summary,
to finish this, I want everyone to dwell on these verses as I'm
going to read these verses one more time. But I'm going to read
them all together as Paul was writing these specifically to
an individual. So I want you to listen to it
as it's written to you. Every believer can hear these
words, these verses, and I'll just change some of the pronouns
and listen to it because every single believer, every single
child of God can have these read to them in this way. So listen
to the gift of Christ as it has been given to you. Ephesians
1 verse 1. Call an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God to the saint which is at Ashland and to the
faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from
God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
according as he hath chosen you in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be that you should be holy and
without blame before him in love, having predestinated you unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made you accepted in the beloved in
whom you have redemption through his blood. the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward you in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto you the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him. In whom also you have obtained an inheritance being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will, that you should be
to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom
you also trusted. After that, you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after
that you believe you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
which is the earnest of our inheritance of your inheritance until the
redemption of the purchase possession unto the praise of his glory. That is the gift of Christ to
every single individual child of God that he saved. And we
should be like the Gentiles back that I read earlier when they
heard this good news that Christ saved sinners. They were joyous.
They were boisterous and they celebrated. They as sinners could
be saved, too. So I hope that's a blessing.