If you will, turn back with me
to Ephesians, the second chapter. Primarily be looking at verses
four through 10. On this subject, by grace, ye
are saved. Pastor Todd Nyberg, I don't know,
maybe some of you know him. I grew up with him up at 13th
Street Baptist Church. He was one of our members up
there and now pastors. Todd's Road Baptist Church, or
Grace Church, I'm sorry. And he said one time that what
he wanted to hear from God, that's why we gathered here,
isn't it? We want to hear from God. What
do you want to hear? Huh? Did you come here this morning
expecting to hear? Hoping to hear? He said, what I want to hear
from God And what I hope to hear from
speakers who come there from time to time to speak at his
Bible conference or whatever is something to confirm in me
the salvation of my soul. Nothing else is going to do.
I'll just tell you straight up, it's not going to do. Nothing
else can raise my spirit to worship. We come here to worship God.
Nothing else is going to stir your spirit to worship. Nothing else is going to allow
me to leave this place rejoicing in Christ than a word from God
confirming the salvation of my soul. I want somebody to tell
me that I'm saved and why. Don't you? I don't want to leave
here in doubt. I don't want to leave here and
go out and may never hear again. I need to hear today. I need to hear from God. I need somebody to tell me the
good news. That's what the gospel means,
isn't it? Good news. I need somebody to preach to
me the gospel of God's redeeming grace in our Savior. I need to
hear about a Savior who can save. A Redeemer who has redeemed. A sovereign who rules. A priest
who intercedes. I don't need an iffy Jesus. I need one who's the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. Tell me something of that one
called Jesus whose very name means Savior. I don't know what
Joseph had in mind to name that baby. I don't know. Mary might
have had some ancient relative or some favorite relative that
she wanted to name him after. But the angel said his name is
going to be called Jesus. And here's why. He's going to
save his people from their sins. Now preaching the fall of man
is important. I have to preach that. I'm commanded
to preach that. I have to preach the fall of
man, and the preaching of that fall is important. Until a person's
convinced of sin, he's not going to seek mercy. He's not going
to do it. He'll keep laboring in ignorance
like Israel did, trying to establish his own righteousness and going
about to do this and to do that. But he's not going to seek mercy.
He's not going to submit himself to the sovereign mercy of God
until he sees himself hopeless. and helpless a sinner. It's necessary for me to preach
a godly walk. There are no epistles in the
Bible that do not persuade men and teach men and command men
concerning an upright walk and an honest walk in this present
evil world. There's no such thing. Every
one of them exhorts us. to walk in newness of life. And if there be in us a new man,
and the scripture says there is, then we ought to put off
concerning our former behavior the old man. He's the one who
dictated how we lived and how we walked. We walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air. That's how we walked before.
He was the dictator, but he's not the dictator anymore. Christ is King now. So let's
put off our former behavior, put off that old man which is
corrupt according to deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit
of our mind and put on the new man which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness. Now I'm going to tell you something.
The believer's walk is not a matter of indifference. If you're indifferent until you
walk, You're in trouble. You're in trouble. It's not a
matter of indifference. It matters. And as your pastor,
I'm to preach these things to you. Paul described the faith of God's
elect as the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness. That's Titus 1.1. That's the
faith of God's elect. It acknowledges the truth of
God. and confesses that that truth
is after godliness. And then thirdly, I'm told that
the scriptures, the whole Bible, cover to cover, is profitable
for doctrine and reproof and correction and instruction and
righteousness, and so it is that pastors are to use it, and so
it is that Paul exhorts Timothy to use it to that end. But what
Pastor Nyberg's talking about is the fact that we're helpless
sinners. We're helpless sinners. Is that
how you see yourself? Helpless. That's how you are
when you see yourself that way or not. You're helpless. And in a spiritual, I'm talking
about spiritually, you're helpless. Do you think you can just Walk
in here on a Sunday morning and sit down and worship God. Not
without the Spirit of God you can't. You're spitting in the
wind, whistling in the cemetery. What he's talking about is the
fact that we're helpless sinners prone to weakness and temptation. And as these other things are
being taught, I need to be told constantly, constantly of my
great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I want you
to examine your faith. Yes, I do. But don't examine your faith
and see the weakness in it and walk away thinking, I'm lost.
I'm lost. I have to be reminded, don't
I? I have to be reminded. I need to be reminded as often
as possible about our loving Father and the effectual working
of His Spirit in us. I need assurance of salvation
lest I walk in despair all my days. And there's a multitude of subjects
that we can preach about here in Ephesians chapter 2 But I
just want to confine myself to four. And these four things,
these are the basis of our assurance of salvation and the very foundation
of our hope before God. And I encourage you to take some
notes this morning or get a copy to this message and study it
carefully. Now, here's the first thing.
It might seem simple and basic to you. I hope it is. because
that's the way I preach. God is our Savior. Huh? Look there at Ephesians
chapter 2. And you hath equipped who were
dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the earth, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. All of your conversation was
dictated by him. All of your behavior had to do
with the lust of your flesh, but God. Ain't that what that
says? But God. God is our savior. In Ephesians chapter 1, and I'm
going to tell you something. Salvation don't begin with man. It's not maintained by man and
it's not completed by man. It's of God. It's of God. In Ephesians 1-3,
Paul blesses, now watch this, the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He blesses Him because He's blessed
us. with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. Now how did God the Father bless
us? If God is our Father, and He
is if you're a saint, He is if you're a believer. How did God the Father bless
us from all eternity? Three things. First of all, it
says he blessed us in Christ. Now, we use that term pretty
flippantly in our day. I hear men on the radio and TV
use that word all the time, Christ. I hear ungodly men use it in
vain. What's that mean? God blessed
us in Christ. What does that mean? Well, the
term Christ is concerning all of His appointments by the Father. You see, Christ, He didn't assume
these things by Himself, but He was appointed. He was appointed
of the Father. And so this term Christ has to
do with His appointments by the Father. The Father made provision
for our salvation by appointing His Son into his several offices
on our behalf. He's our federal head. Is that important? Well, we all
fell in Adam, but it said even so, we're redeemed in Christ
Jesus. We're all made alive. Yeah, it's important. He's our
federal head. He is the head of the church,
his body, the church. He's the surety of God's everlasting
covenant of grace. You know, King David, the sweet
psalmist, he wrote the psalms and he was known for his singing
and for his heart. He had a heart. God said, he's
after my own heart. And David come to die. And these
were the last words of the sweet psalmist of Israel. He said,
although it be not so with my house, God hath made with me
an everlasting covenant. And that covenant is ordered
in all things, and it's sure. And this is all my salvation
and all my desire. He's our federal head. He's the
surety. of that everlasting covenant
of grace. That covenant is ordered in all
things and sure because Christ is the surety. And he can't fail. He can't fail. He's our prophet. We don't know anything apart
from Christ. He's made unto us wisdom. My soul, I wouldn't understand
election if it wasn't for Christ. What would I know of the spirit
or of the father except what I know in Christ? He's our prophet. He's our king. And he's our priest. He's our savior. He's our redeemer.
How did he get to be those things? God the father blessed us by
appointing his son to be the Christ. You see what I'm saying? And then secondly, by way of
sovereign electing grace. God the Father blessed us by
sovereign electing grace. God the Father chose a people
unto salvation. Isn't that what that says? There
in Ephesians 1. He marked them out from all eternity. He said, I'm going to save this
one and that one and that one. I'm going to save them. I'm going
to appoint my son. I'm going to make a covenant
on their behalf. And I'm going to appoint my son
as their surety and their redeemer and their righteousness and their
priest and their prophet. And I'm going to treat them different
than anybody else. With extreme prejudice, I love
them. Jacob have I loved. Esau have
I loved. He marked them out from all eternity. He set his love upon them. and in love made all provision
for them. He blessed us in Christ, Ephesians
1, 4. Now listen, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Why did he do that? Why did he choose us in Christ?
It tells you right here that we should be holy. You got any
holiness outside of Christ? Now come on. You don't have anything,
do you? Ain't you glad He chose you in
Christ? I've been holy in His sight from
eternity because He chose me in the Holy One. You see what
I'm saying? That we should be holy and that
we should be without blame. I don't mean this in a disrespectful
way, but God can't blame me for anything because He blamed all
of that blame He put on His Son. He can't charge Him and me that we might be without blame.
Now listen to this, before Him in love. God loved us. And He chose us and put us in
His Son to secure that love. That's what this is talking about
here. Now you just think about it. You're gonna see it always
before God makes you. On your good day and your worst
day. Being loved. Because He chose you in His Son.
He always views His people in His Son. Now we view ourselves
from time to time in ourselves, but God views you as you are
in His Son. And in His Son you're holy, and
you don't have any blame, and you just sit there being
loved. It shouldn't be a shock to men
that the eternal God who declares the end from the beginning and
from ancient times of things that are not yet done, telling
us my counsel is going to stand, I'm going to do all my... It
shouldn't be a shock to you that He chose a people unto salvation
and determined their end. He's God. God, that's what I'm
trying to get across. God is our Savior. I got a little puppy dog at home.
He's actually Kathy's dog. And we crossed the lake there
going to the old church. There was a lady there on the
right that sold Yorkies. And we'd always see them out
there, little old tiny thing running around in the yard. And
Kathy always loved them Yorkies. And I made the fatal mistake
of stopping in there one day. And they brought out the runner
of the litter. I could hold him in one hand, tiny little thing.
He was a runt. And to make a long story short,
I bought him and took him home. And I've never seen a dog like
this. If he gets scared, he screams like you stepped on him. He'll
scream. You'll think he's just going
to, you broke his leg or something. But I could hold him like this
in my hand and just let his little head stick out. He'd slip in
my shoe, that's how tiny he was. I could hold him like this and
he'd stick that little head out and he'd look all around and
he was fine. As long as I held him like that, he was fine. Ain't
you glad you're in God's hands? I tell you, if you wasn't, you
got reason to scream. But in his hands, You could smile. Get the worst news. You're in
His hands. Our Lord said, I give unto them
eternal life, and they'll never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of My hands. Now listen to me. He said, my
father is greater than all. And you're in his hands too.
And nobody gonna pluck you out of his hands. In his hands you're warm, you're
safe, you're at ease. And even though these big giants
come around you, that little dog was just as He was behind. You see what he said? God is
our savior. There's no hope. What if man
was his own savior? Oh, you got reason to worry now.
But if God's your savior. You know what Paul said? He started
out that golden chain of assurance. And here's what he said. He said,
what are we going to say about these things? Whom He did foreknow,
He also did predestinate. He justified us. He called us. What are we going to say to them
things? Paul said, here's what I'm going to say. If God be for
us, who can be against us? It shouldn't be a shock to men
that the eternal God who declares the end from the beginning and
from ancient times the things that are not yet done should
determine the salvation of His people. Paul said this in Romans chapter
9, Who art thou, O man, that replies against God? Huh? You think you're somebody? You think you're greater than
God? You think you can take God to court? Who art thou, old man,
that replies against God? God has not breached his holy
character, nor has he compromised his goodness and kindness by
choosing a people. What if God had not chosen a
people? Well, Paul said in Romans 9,
29, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we'd been
like Sodom and Gomorrah. Paul talked about Israel, the
whole nation, blood up to the bridle. This 70 AD, come in and
destroy Jerusalem, probably over a million people slain in that
conflict. Oh, he said, but there's a remnant according to
the election of grace. And if by grace, if it's by grace,
it's not by work. It's by grace. Mankind fell in
their father Adam, and in so doing brought death upon themselves
and their children, spiritual death, physical death. And in
God's time, it'll be eternal death. And if God had not made
provision for some, everybody would perish. Election is not
the closed door that religious rebels sing their songs about. It's an open door. And God said,
I open doors And men can't close them. And I close doors and men
can't open them. But election is not a closed
door. It's wide open. It's wide open. God opened the
door of salvation by his election in Christ and no principality
or power can close the door. So what you're saying, preacher,
is God chose a people and they'll be saved no matter what. No,
that's not what I'm saying. That's not what I'm saying. I'm
saying that God chose a people and in that election made provision
for his people. He that chose us also determined
the means. Listen to this, 2 Thessalonians
2.13. The apostle gives thanks to God.
Because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, watch
it now, through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Same God that chose you chose
the means, ordained the means. And you know what they come down
there, Paul did, and priested Antioch, and them Jews hated
that gospel and walked away, and them Gentiles was glad and
received it. You know what it says? As many
as were ordained to eternal life believed. You know why? He chose
them unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. So God is our savior by way of
his appropriation of the Christ and by his divine and gracious
election of his saints. And then thirdly, by an eternal
act of predestination. Ephesians 1.5. After he talked
about choosing his people, it says, having predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. What's that mean, preacher? That
means everybody God chose is going to be saved. That's what
that means. Every act of their life, from
the time they're born, from the first breath they take, until
that time when God opens their eyes and gives them a new heart
and a new mind, everything in that purpose of God, God is just
working His purpose. He's working all things. Why? because he predestinated us under
the adoption of children, and children we're gonna be. That's
what you're gonna be. You may set out to do this, but
here's what you're gonna do. We used to have a bus driver
down there, Brother Mahan, went over to see him over where he
works, and he was a Trailways bus driver, and his route was
Alexandria to New Orleans. And he walked over there, and
Henry looked up, and he says, right on top of the bus says
New Orleans. That's where the bus was going,
New Orleans. But he said, when I leave here,
I got to go over here and pick some folks up. So I go east. And then he said, I got to come
over here and get some folks over in Lafayette, so I got to
go back west. And he said, I even have to turn
and go north a little bit, but he said, I'm headed to New Orleans.
That's predestination. You're going to be his children.
You're going to be perfectly conformed to his image. And you're going to be children.
He's going to give us power to become the sons of God. That's what it says in John chapter
1. In Ephesians 1.11, he tells us,
now this is on down the road from that eternal predestination. He tells us in Ephesians 111
that in him, that is in Christ also, we have obtained an inheritance. We were predestinated to it,
now we've obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. Isn't that something? And so he writes Timothy, and
he said God saved us. Oh, that's a lot different than
what I hear about me and getting saved. I got saved. No, God saved us. He saved us. And then he called us. Not according to our works. He
called us with a holy calling, not according to our work, but
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. See what he's saying? By grace
are you saved. By grace you are saved because
God is our Savior. Now if you're going to preach
a salvation by man, by man's will and man's works and man's
decision, you're going to have to preach a backsliding into
hell. You're going to have to preach that because man can't
save himself. You're going to have to preach
a fall from grace. Isn't that contrary to the scriptures?
As sin has reigned under death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life. So if you fall from grace, it
wasn't sovereign grace. You don't fall from sovereign
grace. Sovereign grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal
life. You're going to have to preach
God's purpose being overthrown, and that's not going to happen. So let this be established. Salvation
is of the Lord. God is our Savior. Take hope
in that. Get assurance from that. I can't
save myself. That's why I came to Him to start
with. He's going to save me. He's going to save me. And then
the second thing I want you to see here in our text is that
God, I want you to see God's eternal quickening of His people
in His Son. He said in verse five, even when
we were dead in sins, have quickened us together with Christ by grace,
ye are saved. Now this quickening in a context
here is talking about our quickening with him at his resurrection.
He was delivered for our offenses, raised again for our justification.
When God raised him, he raised us. But that's not where this
quickening began. That's not where this union began.
God put us in covenant union with His Son before the foundation
of the world. What's that mean? He made us
one with His Son. One body. And we're still one
body. One body. When God killed Him
on the cross, He killed me. I died with Him. When He was
buried in that tomb, I went in that time with him. And when
God raised him from the dead, read it there in Ephesians chapter
2, he raised us up together with him. And made us to sit together
with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Christ said this in his high
priestly prayer. He's praying to the Father concerning
the sacrifice he was about to make, this death he was going
to die, and that resurrection day. Here's what he said. I in
them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. How are you going to be made
perfect? in one, and that he that the
world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as
thou hast loved me." You can't even imagine that, can you? He
loves you like he loves his own son. That's love. I believe that our union with
Christ is one of the greatest sources of the believer's assurance
before God. If God has put us into union
with His Son, I'm talking about covenant union before the foundation
of the world, physical union when He was born of a woman,
spiritual union by new birth and by faith. If He's put us into union with
Him, then everything He did, we did with Him. Is that right? Oh, my. In Christ, we have exalted
the law, made it honorable. In Christ, we've satisfied divine
justice. In Christ, we perfectly obey
God and have to ourselves a perfect righteousness. And in Ephesians
2.6, Paul tells us that being quickened together with Christ,
He raised us up together with Him and seated us together with
Him in the heavenlies at God's right hand. Being quickened together
with Christ, He made us to do that. And assurance is not confidence
in your competence. I tell you that all the time.
You know, some folks spend their whole lives looking at their
faith in disappointment, constantly trying to bolster up that faith,
trying to get that faith up there to the place where they can have
some confidence in it. Faith is not your savior. Christ
is your savior. Take assurance in that. And faith
as of a grain of mustard seed can rejoice in that sovereign
Christ. Huh? You want assurance? Look to Him. Find it in him,
you can't help but find assurance. If you see him, there's nothing
in him to doubt, is there? Do you doubt who's son he is?
Do you doubt the effectualness of his sacrifice and his obedience
to God, of all of his offices? There's nothing in Christ to
doubt. He chose us in Christ that we
should be holy without blame before Him in love. And holy
has to do with the whole character of God. And that character is
perfect. And at all times in perfect harmony. And in Christ we are the brightness
of the Father's glory and the express image of His person all
the time. All the time. And then we're
without blame. Our sins were all laid on Him,
paid in full. by his precious blood. And now
he says, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
God justified you. Who's going to lay anything to
your charge? And it's Christ that died. And then thirdly, that we should
be before him in love. And I've already talked about
that. God looks on His elect, He sees
them in His Son, and He loves them as He loves His own Son. And then the third thing I want
you to see in our text is one of the great benefits of our
being chosen of God and redeemed in His Son, Ephesians 2.7. Now
He did all this, quickened us together with Christ, brought
us out of the deadness of our nature, quickened us together
with His Son, raised us up with Him, seated us with Him in glory.
Now He did all that, verse 7, that in the ages to come He might
show, who's He going to show it to? His redeemed, His saints,
His elect. That in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. When a man's given the Spirit
of God, when he's born of God, this is what all this is about,
that he can see that God would show to him His glory in the
salvation of our Redeemer. That's what he's going to see.
And boy, when he sees it, when he sees it, he can't help but
rejoice. He can't help but rejoice. God is purposed from all eternity
to manifest the glory of His great name and the salvation
of chosen sinners through the person and work of Christ. And who's He going to show it
to? Every man, woman, boy, and girl that's enabled of God to
believe. He says in Acts 13.48 that as
many as were ordained to eternal life believe. It's the gift of
God, Paul tells us, not of works lest any man should boast. It's
a benefit purchased by the accomplished redemption of Christ and determined
by God's purpose of grace before the world began. And there's
no possibility that God's elect shall not hear and believe. They're
all going to hear, they're all going to believe. Even if it's
an Ethiopian eunuch in the wilderness, God's going to send him a preacher
and he's going to hear. And when he hears, he's going
to believe. And when he believes, he's going to want to be baptized.
Huh? It's so intertwined with the
whole salvation of God that for faith to fail would cause the
whole purpose of God to come tumbling down. There's no possibility. Speaking of the glorious work
of faith, Paul says in Ephesians 2.10, we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. He's not talking about your offering
and all that. He's talking about the good work
of faith. The good work of nobody else
but a believer can repent. Nobody but a believer can love.
Nobody but a believer can believe. Huh? These are good works which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in. And when we
do, we're here as workmanship. He'll get the credit. He'll get
the glory. Faith is the work of God and
those whom He chose in His Son and made provision for in that
covenant of grace. old Pharisees said, they got
tired, he just kept coming back, putting them to shame, finally
they just looked at him and said, if thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. I told you, plainly. Told you. But you believe not. Now listen,
you're not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. And I know and they follow me. They don't argue with me, they
follow me. I open the door and they don't
run away. They just go out in front of me and eat. They're
my sheep. All the works of kindness and
gentleness and obedience and love and works of fulfilling all the prophecies,
the types and figures of the law. He said, I told you plainly,
but you're not of my sheep, and that's why you don't believe.
God's sheep are ordained to hear and believe, and while the multitude
rejects Him, we embrace Him. We embrace Him. While millions
despise Him, we love Him. I wouldn't serve a God like that.
That's because you don't know Him. While the whole world resists
His sovereign rule, we willingly and lovingly submit to it. And
while all men walk the course of this world and walk according
to the Prince of the power of the air, we of all men are arrested
by the Spirit of God and turned to walk after the Spirit. Those who walk after the Spirit
are led by the Spirit. These are the sons of God. Nobody
else is going to do it. And then lastly, and very quickly,
salvation is an act of grace. By grace, ye are saved. And by grace, are ye saved. Ye are saved by that grace, that
pervenient grace that goes before. And by grace are you saved through
that grace that comes to you in time, that grace of faith
and repentance and preservation. What's He going to show us? The
exceeding riches of His grace. That's what He manifests to chosen
sinners. And to every one of us, those
called of God is given grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ. Wherefore, he saith, when he
ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men, gifts of apostles, and prophets, and evangelists, and pastor-teachers,
gifts of faith, and repentance, and love, and worship, and prayer,
and gifts of hearing, and believing, and submitting, and committing. Gifts, gifts, gifts, all of them
given, not because of anything you are, not because of any potential
in you, not because of anything that you'll ever do. 100% by the sovereign grace of God.
He just freely says, here. Think about old Blind Bartimaeus
sitting out there on his blanket, that old stinking blanket. Oh,
myself, my dogs, I've had to throw them away. They got so
bad. You just couldn't stand to smell them anymore. Old Bartimaeus
sat on that blanket, blind man, out there, had his little cup.
Hold it out, people dropping things in it. And one day he
heard that Jesus was there. He heard people talking. Jesus
is coming. Jesus is coming. Why y'all gather
here? Jesus is coming. Oh, Jesus. You
don't know who Jesus is? Jesus is that prophet. Jesus
is the Christ. Jesus is that one who's working
all these miracles and giving sight to the blind and raising
the dead and doing all these miracles and healing the sick
and blind Bartimaeus tuned in then. Do what? And he hears them
coming. And he heard what the people
said. And when the Lord come, he said, Jesus, that son of David, Nobody else will. Evidently, the Lord ignored him
the first time. He said, Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me. And he said, what would you have
me to do? He said, give me some ice. And the Lord did. What about
you? You sitting on your blanket this
morning? Did you know Jesus of Nazareth
is passing by? Could be he'll give you eyes
if you ask him. And I'll tell you this, nobody
else can.