Turning, if you will, back to
Ephesians chapter 1. I've got some good news for you
this morning. Could you use some? Could you
use some, Billy? Our text will be from verse 6.
We read the first 12 verses a moment ago here in Ephesians 1. But
this is our subject from verse 6. God's glorious grace. And we'll consider that from
Three views, if you will. First, we consider the glory
of His grace as to its origin, and that is God. God. Grace begins, grace flows from
God. Then consider the glory of it
and that one from whom it flows. Yes, grace comes from God, but
it comes through the fountain of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't
look for it anyplace else. Thank God there is a fountain.
Aren't you thankful that's up? There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, God with us. And sinners plunge
beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains, and then
consider the glory of God's grace in those that he bestows it upon. Sinners. The worst of the lot. Sinners, everyone. But first
of all, consider God's glorious grace as to its origin. If the grace we believe can be
traced back to anything or any other except God himself, then
it's not genuine grace. It's not the grace of God. As
we just read here in Ephesians 1, from that election of grace
in eternity past, when God dwelt alone. Can your mind go back
that far? No. A time when God dwelt alone
in eternity past, Until that day when he gathers all those
that he chose in Christ to be in glory with him forever and
eternity to come, every redeemed sinner, all we can do, Billy,
the best that we can do in the light of such amazing grace,
in the light of such marvelous mercy, is to bow down and with
hearts full of gratitude and thankfulness, oh God, help us
to do that, exclaim of him that is God. and to Him and back to
Him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. Who gets
the glory in the salvation of a sinner? The Word of God, the
Book of God declares to God be the glory. He did it all. Grace
comes only from God. Grace didn't begin with man.
Grace didn't originate with man. Oh no, you can blame man for
the sin. Give him all the credit for that.
Give him all the blame for that. Oh, but for grace, we must look
to God alone. Blame man for his ruin. Oh, but
blame God. It's God's fault that provided
the remedy. And aren't you glad? Aren't you
glad that the grace of God doesn't need your help to make it work? to make it effectual. Aren't
you glad that God's grace doesn't depend upon you for its success? God's grace is effectual all
by itself. All by itself. The Bible describes
the grace of God as saving grace, abounding grace, superabounding
grace, grace that reigns, grace that's greater than all our sin. Grace comes only from God. Look
again at verse 4 here in Ephesians 1. Paul writes according, according
as he has chosen us in him, that is in Christ. God has chosen
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. The old hymn writer
put it this way, it was grace that wrote my name. Ah, so I
don't much care. It doesn't much matter where
my name appears in any earthly ledger here on earth. Oh, my
name is written in the Lamb's book of life. My soul, it was
grace that wrote my name in life's eternal book. It was grace that
gave me to the Lamb who all my sorrows took. This is what Paul
said about this, writing to his beloved Timothy. God, who has
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works. Oh, if salvation was determined
or dependent upon our works, we could never have peace, unless
it be a false peace. Oh, but when we realize that
Jesus Christ himself did all the work, that he in his life
satisfied the righteous holiness of God's law, in his death he
paid the penalty for that broken law, and now all those for whom
he lived and died, he intercedes on their behalf in heaven. Now
that gives us sinner peace. That gives him hope. It's not
according to our works, then what is salvation according to?
What is the origin of it? Where did it start? Where is
the beginning of grace? It's with God. But according
to God's own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Imagine that. Imagine that. God saves on purpose. The multitude
of professing Christians seem to believe that salvation was
a backup plan, that God's will to save was a backup plan after
the fall of Adam. Oh no, God decreed salvation
before there was a sinner, there was a savior. Billy and you talked
about that earlier this morning before service began. Jesus Christ
is set forth as the Lamb slain from before the foundation of
the world. He's always been the Redeemer
of His people. He was set forth as the surety
of his people in that everlasting covenant of grace. Before God
said, let there be light, God chose to save sinners. Salvation
is of the Lord as to its conception. Who but God could conceive of
such a great salvation? Who could conceive of that other
than the great mind of our great God? Who but God could provide
the answer to this question? There's no answer in any other
way except through God. How can a man be just with God? That's what Job asked. That's
what the old patriarch asked. How can a man be just with God? Religion today tells us that's
not a problem whatsoever. It's easy because they don't
have any concept of who they are. They don't have a concept
of who God is. He's the old man upstairs. He's
the man trying to have his way. He's the man that's depending
upon my will, or my worth, or my worth. Oh, but get a glimpse,
just get a glimpse, of God as He is, high and lifted up, that
declares, and it's still on the books, I will in no wise clear
the guilty. that righteous holy God, then
consider the sinner as he is, and then ask in the light of
those two things, how can a man be just with God? It's not easy. It's not easy. It's not like
A, B, C. Oh no, there's only one answer.
Remember what our Lord said? The disciples asked him this
question plainly. Plainly. Who then can be saved? If this rich young ruler, this
upright moral young man, this man that's came to you and bowed
down before you, he's done more than most would do, and he even
called you master, and you sent him away sorrowful. You didn't
pump a decision out of him. You didn't give him a false hope.
That rebel wouldn't bow, so you sent him away. Who then can be
saved? And you remember our Lord's answer.
As plain as words could make it, he said, with men, it's impossible. Impossible. In the beginning,
we read in the first verse of the first book of the Bible,
in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Is
that when God chose his people to salvation? Is that when God
chose those people upon whom he would bestow his glorious
grace? No, no, no. You've got to go
by further than that. There was a beginning. before
the beginning wasn't there, before God created anything, before
there was a heaven above or an earth beneath, before there was
a star that ever shined in the heaven or a sun that ever rose
or a moon that ever was ever in heaven before there was an
angel to do God's bidding. Fly back as far as you possibly
can on the wings of faith, the things not seen that that time
when the majestic and glorious God dwelt alone in perfect solitude. The beginning before the beginning. Hear him declare, I am God and
there is nothing else. Everything, everything that moves
or wiggles It originates with God. I am God and there is none
else. Before the mountains were brought
forth, wherever you created the earth and the world, even from
everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You've always been God. Without beginning of days or
end of life or change of time, God had no beginning. God shall
have no end. My soul, you say, Larry, That's
more than I can chew. Me too. Me too. I can understand
that. I join you. I can either. Listen
to this, Psalm 102, verse 25. Of old, God has laid the foundation
of the earth, and the heavens are the work of his hands. They
shall perish, but you shall endure. Yea, all of them shall wax old
like a garment, and as a vesture shall thou change them, and they
shall be changed. but thou art the same, and thy
years shall have no end. The beginning before the beginning
is here, 2 Thessalonians 2, but we are bound to give thanks.
People say we're bound to rebel against that. We're bound to
have an issue with that. We're bound to cry unfair with
that when you speak about election. Oh, but Paul said, no, no, no,
for a child of God. who are a child of God who's
made aware of God's mercy, God's grace that was given him in Christ,
that God chose him in Christ before the foundation of the
world. Oh, he doesn't have a problem with it, does he? Paul says,
we're bound, we're obligated to give thanks always to God
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. Oh, thank God for that everlasting
grace that brings salvation. If it doesn't, if it doesn't,
there would never be salvation. Thank God that it's not. People
cry out man's will today. Oh, what about man's will? What
about man's merit? What about man's desert? I don't
want what I deserve. Oh, God, don't give me what I
deserve. Give me what Christ himself deserves. Give me what
he merited on my behalf. Thank God that our salvation
is not determined by our will or our work, but of God that
shows mercy. If Jesus Christ waits at the
tomb of Lazarus for him to take the first move, then Lazarus
is never going to leave that tomb, is he? He's never going
to walk out of that tomb, and neither would you or I. If he
hadn't come to where we were, we would yet be on our sins without
God in this world and having no hope. Thank God that salvation
is of God that showeth mercy. Thank God that he has determined,
he has decreed, he has willed and purposed that he will be
gracious. I think I made this statement
a few weeks ago. Perhaps it was somewhere else.
There's a lot I don't understand. That won't shock you, will it?
But I know this. According to God's Word, somebody
is going to experience the mercy of God. There's nothing can stop
that. Nothing that happens in the world
can prevent that. Nothing can hinder it. Nothing
can change it. Nothing can alter it. Oh, God
said, Moses, I will have mercy. That's the Word of God Almighty.
That's the purpose of God who has his way in the whirlwind
and the clouds are but the dust of his feet. That's the purpose
of God that sits upon the throne doing whatsoever he will in heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. Oh, with that glorious,
glorious truth, the hymn writer put it this way. He said, once
my soul was astray from the heavenly way and I was wretched and vile
as can be, but my soul. Why am I not yet in that condition? Only one reason, but my sake. But my sake. The great shepherd
of the sheep. But my savior in love gave me
peace from above when he reached down. Remember that child of
God? Remember when you were in that
pit of darkness? loneliness, wretchedness, and
sin, that pit and you could not get out no matter how hard you
tried. Oh, but Jesus came and he reached
down his hand for me. I was near to despair when he
came to me there. I sure was. I sure was. And he showed me that I could
be free. Then he lifted my feet and gave me gladness complete
when he reached down his hand for me. Oh, when my Savior reached
down for me, he had to reach way down for me. I was lost and
undone without God or his Son when he reached down his hand
for me. Listen, Paul said in 1 Thessalonians
5 and 9, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. And this appointment will be
kept because God is the one who made it. God will see to it.
Sometimes our reservations, our appointments don't always work
out, do they? Robin and I, because it was such
a long drive up to Nixa, Missouri, where I preached a month or so
ago in the conference there, we divided up the trip. We found
a halfway mark, and I went to one of those sites and booked
a room. I had a reservation until I got
there. When I got there, the man said, that place didn't book
me a reservation. Thankfully, he had a room for
us anyway that we were able to book. Things that we do, appoint,
reserve, don't always work out. But this one will, because God
made it. God made it. It can't be broken. Remember what Peter said to those
suffering Christians that he wrote to? He said, God has appointed
you an inheritance in heaven, incorruptible, undefiled, that
doesn't fade away, reserved in heaven for you. It is not that
I did choose thee, O Lord, that could not be. This heart would
still refuse thee if you hadn't chosen me. Thou from the sin
that stained me has cleansed and set me free. Of old thou
hast ordained me that I should live with thee. The Lord of hosts
hath sworn, the prophet said, saying, surely as I have thought,
so shall it come to pass. God's thoughts and his deeds
are in perfect, absolute harmony, never at variance. As I have
purposed, so shall it stand. I sometimes chuckle, and really
it's not humorous at all. It's to be wept over, but most
people in our day think God is trying to do something. He's
trying to save everybody. If they would just give Him a
chance, if God had His way, aren't you thankful that He delivered
you out of that lie? God does have His way. God always
has His way. Who's gonna stop Him? Who's going
to stop him from having his way? Listen to this. This is the purpose
that is purposed under the whole earth, and this is the hand that
is stretched out upon the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out. Who's going to turn it back?
That's our God. You remember what our great shepherd,
our high priest said before he went to the garden? Father, you've
given me power over all flesh. They're all in my hand, all of
them, all of them, to give eternal life to as many as thou has given
me. They're in my hand. And he said,
no man, no man can pluck them out. They're in the hands of
he who is our mighty God and Savior. And we see the glory,
that brings us to this second thought. We see the glory of
God's grace in that one by which it flows. That one that it comes
to sinners through. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth comes by Jesus Christ. Grace that reigns. Grace that is greater than all
my sins. Grace that can pardon and cleanse
within. Grace that truly saves sinners
comes only through one person, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul said in Romans 5 verse 15, but not as the offense that is
through Adam, so also is the free gift. For if the offense
of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift
of grace which is by one man. Jesus Christ has abounded unto
many, grace by one man, and it's not the priest man, and it's
not the preacher man, and it's not the Baptist man or the Catholic
man. There's only one man, and that's
the God man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace comes through him. The
grace of God that brings salvation flows to sinners through only
one channel. One reservoir holds God's grace. Who else could hold it? Then
him dwells all the fullness of God. Where else would it dwell? Who else could contain all the
fullness of God? That one reservoir holds God's
grace. That one fountain overflows with
God's grace. And sinners plunge beneath that
flood. Look what happens. They lose
all their guilty stains. Such were some of you, Paul wrote.
Don't be deceived. Don't be deceived. No, adulterers,
effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, adulterers, shall
not inherit the kingdom of God. No matter how many decisions
they make, no matter how many times they trot up the aisle,
they shall not inherit the kingdom of God. They must be made new
creatures in Christ Jesus. And Paul says, well, let's bring
it down a little closer to home. And such were some of you. Such
were some of you. My soul brothers and sisters
in Christ, how can we look down our nose at anybody? after God
for Christ's sake has forgiven us. But Paul said, such were
some of you, but not anymore. Why? You're washed, you're justified,
you're sanctified by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the spirit of his grace. Oh, thank God for that. According
to the eternal purpose which God had purposed in Christ Jesus
our Lord, when the fullness of the time was come, Paul wrote
in Galatians 4, But, but, when the fullness of the time was
come, God sent forth his son. Aren't you thankful that he came?
Made of a woman, made under the law, and being made like unto
his brethren, he perfectly, completely obeyed every precept of God's
law. And he did that as our representative. And God puts us in the steps
of his chosen, perfect, obedient son. He puts us in his steps. He puts what our Christ did in
his life to our account. Isn't that what Paul told Philemon? Put whatever Onesimus owes you,
put it down on my account. Charge it to me. I'll take care
of it. I'll pay it. And that's what our everlasting
surety did. In that covenant of grace, he
said, put that on my account. I'll pay it. I swear to you,
my heavenly Father, I'll pay it. And Jesus paid it all. He took the debt away. When the
fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son. Righteousness
shall go before Him, the psalmist said, and shall set us in the
way of His steps, steps of perfect obedience, in thought, in word,
in deed, all the time. God sent forth His Son to redeem
them. I like that, don't you? Not to
attempt to redeem, but to actually redeem. actually redeemed, neither by
the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood. Oh, glorious
Savior. Successful Redeemer. Behold him
as he entered into the holy place one time. Why one time? Why one? Because once got the job done. Once was enough. Having obtained
eternal redemption for us and on the basis of justice satisfied
God declares deliver his soul from going down to the pit I
found the ransom and that ransom was Jesus Christ himself offering
himself without spot to God is that not what he told his disciples
even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to
minister and to give his life a ransom for many complete atonement
thou hast made and to the utmost thou hast paid whatever thy people
owe. How then can wrath on me take
place if sheltered in thy righteousness and sprinkled with thy blood?
If thou hast my discharge procured and freely in my room endured
the whole of wrath divine, payment God cannot twice demand, first
at my bleeding surety's hand and then again at mine. That God would never do. That
would be unjust to demand payment for my sins from my hand that
he already found in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's
only one channel, I repeat, from which God's grace flows to helpless
sinners. We read it here in Ephesians
1. We were chosen in Christ. We're accepted in Christ. We're
redeemed by Christ. We're adopted in Christ. We're
forgiven for Christ's sake. And all this is according to
the riches of God's grace in Christ Jesus thou art my first
elect God said and then chose us in Christ our head before
he gave the mountains birth or laid foundations for the earth
who have saved us again Paul writing to Timothy chapter 1
of 2nd Timothy verse 9 God who has saved us and called us with
the holy calling not according to our works but according to
his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. That sounds good to me. In the Beloved, oh what a safe,
secure place to be. In the Beloved, wrapped up in
the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Beloved, God's marvelous
grace calls me to dwell in this wonderful place. God sees my
Savior, and then he sees me in the beloved, accepted and free. This is why old Simon, when he
went into the temple that day, being led there by the Holy Spirit,
took the babe from Mary's arms and said, Lord, let your servant
now depart in peace, because I've seen your salvation. And
he wasn't looking at Mary or Joseph or any of the types in
the temple, he was looking at the Son of God, his Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. And Simeon was prepared to die
and stand before the Holy Lord God because before he died he'd
seen the Christ. That's where salvation is. And
child of God, seeing Christ by faith, by the
precious gift of faith, being enabled to behold the Lamb of
God, so are we. We're prepared to die. We're
prepared to die. Having Christ, having beheld
him by faith, we're ready to die and stand before the Holy
Lord God without fear, because we're with him. We're with him,
our Redeemer. Here's the last thing. We see
something of the glory of God's grace in those who experience
it. Who are they? Oh, they must be
a special people. Well, in a sense, they are, but
not in themselves. No, they're all sinners. No exception. They're all sinners. Grace is not given to anybody
else but sinners. Grace is not given to good people,
those who aren't sick. That's who the Pharisees were.
No, they never feel the touch of the great physician because
they don't need it. The glory of grace is that it
saves those who are utterly ruined Completely helpless, hopeless,
who owe a debt and they have nothing to pay. That's who God
saves. Call his name Jesus. Why? He's
come to save his people. Sinners. They're all sinners.
This is a worthy, faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,
Timothy, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. If you doubt that, Timothy, look
at me. He saved me, I obtained mercy. You see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men enter the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and
weak things of the world and things which are not, to bring
to naught things that are, that know fleshly glory in his presence. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. See what wonders
the glorious grace of God perform. See, Saul of Tarsus. Oh, how
God changed that self-righteous Pharisee's tune, didn't he? His
song used to be like this, Lord, I thank you that I'm not like
other men. I'm a self-made man. I have made
myself to differ, circumcised the eighth day of the stock of
Israel to the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, a
Pharisee of the Pharisees. My conversation in times past
in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the
church of God and wasted it, and profited in the Jews' religion
above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly
zealous of the tradition of my fathers. But, God. Oh, here's God's grace, flowing
through that precious fountain of the Lord Jesus Christ, changed
Paul's tune. But to the glory of God's reigning
grace, listen to Paul's song now. But, but, when it pleased
God, isn't that a wonder? God was pleased to choose this
sinner in Christ, Jesus Christ redeemed me with his own precious
blood. I'm his and he's mine. Isn't
that a wonder? Isn't that a miracle? Isn't that
glorious grace? But when it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, I said,
I'm not gonna go. Oh no. I became willing in a
day of God's power to reveal his son in me that I might preach
him among the Gentiles. Paul would say again, but by
the grace of God, I am what I am. And this grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain. It was grace that taught my heart
to pray and made my eyes overflow. This grace has kept me to this
day and will not let me go. Oh, I like that, don't you? God's
grace will not let me go. It is to the glory of God's grace
that he saves to the uttermost and to the glory of God's grace
that we will be kept from falling and presented without fault before
the throne of God. It will be because of the glory
of God's grace that we shall enter through the gates into
the city of the living God. It will be all due to the glory
of God's grace that we hear these blessed words from King Jesus
himself upon his throne when he says, come ye blessed of my
father, come on home. Come in. Come in, come in. Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. The glory of God's
grace touches diseased lepers and says, be thou clean, and
they're made whole. The glory of grace hears the
cry of a blind beggar sitting in his rags and sitting in darkness,
and he gives him sight, the father of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
glory of grace calls dead sinners to life, and they come forth
to follow the Son of God, and they follow Him all the way to
glory. They follow the Lamb wheresoever He goes. We see the glory of
God's grace in every believing sinner. They're each a trophy
of that glorious grace that brings salvation. And the testimony
of every child of God, every believer, everyone who's tasted
the grace of God, their testimony is the same. By the grace of
God, I am what I am. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, O, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy
truth's sake. How thankful we should be if
God's done this to you and I. God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, have shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Blessed art thou, Simon and Jonah.
Simon Barjona, flesh and blood didn't teach you this, my father
in heaven taught you this, who the son of God is. Isn't that
something? May God Almighty magnify the
glory of his grace in revealing his son to us in a reviving,
refreshing look at his altogether lovely one. That will certainly
make this a good day and a good place to be. Thank God for his
glorious, glorious reigning grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. God bless you. God bless you.