I well remember the first time
I heard Brother David sing that great song. He and I were in
New Caney, Texas. I was preaching for Brother Jack
Shanks a long time ago. David got done singing that song.
We were, just several of us, in the living room, if you may
remember. And Jack said, that's the way that song's supposed
to be sung. And knowing present circumstances
and hearing the song tonight. That's the way that song's supposed
to be sung. Thank you. Thank you. Turn with me to Ephesians
chapter 2. This chapter is all about God's
salvation. And this is what the apostle
tells us about God's salvation. It is the gift of God. It is
the gift of God. Altogether, completely, entirely,
in its totality, from beginning to end, it is the gift of God. This man, Paul, who wrote this
epistle by divine inspiration, realized by God's revelation
to him that after his death, many false teachers would arise
in the church, arise from the very midst of local churches,
who would pervert the gospel of Christ. Paul's fear, and my
fear for you, is that Satan, by his subtlety, might turn you
from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. The gospel which
is declared by this man, Paul. The gospel of God, the gospel
of this book, is a gospel that declares to helpless, guilty,
wicked, lost, doomed, damned, helpless sinners that their only
hope is God's grace. Salvation is altogether God's
work. Your only hope of salvation is
that God intervene, that God step in your way, stop you in
your mad rush to hell, and give you life and faith in his dear
son. Salvation is by the merit of
Christ, salvation by the power of God, it is altogether God's
work. Needless to say, this is altogether
different from the gospel that's commonly preached in pulpits
in this day, and indeed the gospel that has been commonly preached
through the ages around the world. That which is commonly preached
at best is no gospel at all. It is not good news at all, but
at best is just good advice. It is just men telling sinners
what they must do, giving man great honor. placing upon man
great power, putting salvation in the power of man's hands,
in the power of man's will, in the power of man's work, robbing
God altogether of his glory. It is a gospel that doesn't out
and out deny grace, but the grace that's preached is a weak, powerless
grace without man doing something. We're advised of what we should
do. But we're told little of what God has done or God will
do. We're told that God offers men
help, but they must first help themselves. How often you've
heard, don't hear much about God these days of any kind on
television that's in any way credible of giving any kind of
credit to the very being of God. But it used to be common in movies
and television programs where the Lord helps those that help
themselves. And that's the philosophy of the age. God helps folks,
but you must first help yourself. God will save you, but you must
first do something. God will be gracious to you,
but you must meet God. You must take the first step,
and God will do all the rest. The fact is, the Scriptures do
not in any way aligned with what's being preached and what passes
for gospel in this religious age. It doesn't matter where
you go. It doesn't matter where you go.
I don't suggest that you do it, but should you attend church
service across the street or down the road or back over this
way or that way, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Episcopalian, it doesn't
matter. Pentecostal, it doesn't matter.
They will talk to you about the love of God. A universal love
sounds so good, but it's love without any specific object,
without any specific purpose, that doesn't really do anything,
just sort of a good feeling in God's heart toward you. We hear
about the gift of life, but it's a gift without any definite benefactor,
a gift that waits for you to unwrap it, open it, and take
it. We hear about atonement. But
it's an atonement that doesn't atone. Atonement that doesn't
put away anybody's sins. Atonement that doesn't make any
difference. We hear about a substitute, but it's a substitute for no
one in particular. We hear about redemption, but
it didn't actually redeem. There's much talk about a savior,
but he doesn't have power in himself to save. So when the
preacher has finished his work, the poor sinner is left to help
himself. there is no help for him. Is
this the Gospel of the Apostles? Not hardly. Paul gives us a Gospel
that is truly good news from Heaven for poor sinners. He tells
us that Jesus Christ, God's Immaculate Holy Son, came into this world
brought in everlasting righteousness for somebody by his obedience
unto death, and by his death actually washed away the sins
of his people. He tells the hell-deserving sinner
that God's justice has been satisfied by the death of his son. Poor,
helpless, dead, depraved, bankrupt sinners are told in the gospel
that there is a rich, powerful, holy, living Savior who is able
to give everlasting life, able to save to the uttermost all
who come to God by Him, and He doesn't leave it to you to come
to Him. He doesn't leave it to you to
come to Him. Brother David just read that
107th Psalm. Oh, no. No, no. The gospel we
preach, speaks of a Savior, a good Samaritan, who comes to sinners
where they are. And he pours in the oil and wine
of His grace and saves them without their aid, without their permission,
making them willing in the day of His power. Paul justifiably
supposed that we might soon become puffed up and forget the pit
from which we're digged. and the rock from which we're
hewn. And are we not compelled to confess?
We, alas, forget too often. We, alas, forget too often. We very often forget the condition
we were in when the Good Samaritan came to us. We're prone to forget
what we are by nature and put it out of mind. It seems that
we would always realize what we are, we are by the grace of
God and what we are by nature, we are by our own sin and that
nothing can help us but that grace God's given us. Paul reminds
us in these ten verses of Ephesians chapter two, both of what we
were and what God's grace has done for us. In these verses,
God the Holy Ghost teaches us the exceeding sinfulness of sin
and sets forth the miserable condition of fallen man by nature. And he sets before us the superabounding
greatness of God's grace in salvation. It is the gift of God. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. Now, we're going to look at these
ten verses very briefly tonight. We'll come back to them another
day, the Lord willing. But I want to give you just two
statements, two things that summarize what we find in these ten verses.
In verses 1, 2, and 3, we see that all men are sinners by nature,
dead in trespasses and sins. And then in verses 4 through
10, We see how salvation is the gift of God. All right, here's
the first thing. We are all sinners by nature. Dead. Dead in trespasses and sins. Dead. Oh, dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. That means unless God does
something for you, there's no hope for you. Unless God does
something for me, there's no hope for me. We're by nature
sinners, dead in trespasses and in sins. These three verses plainly
and forcibly remind us that this is our condition by nature. God
give me grace never to forget this awful condition from which
you've delivered me. Listen to the scriptures. I sink
in deep mire where there is no standing. I'm come to deep waters
where the floods overflow me. Innumerable evils have come past
me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me. so that I'm not able to look
up. They're more than the hairs of mine head, therefore my heart
they lift me. Those words were David's personal
confession of his own sin, depravity and corruption. Those words were
spoken prophetically as the context of Psalm 40 and Psalm 69 where
they're found verifies. They were spoken prophetically
by our Lord Jesus Christ through David's mouth and David's pen.
When he who knew no sin was made sin for us. He felt the horrid
load of guilt and sin just as any sinner convinced of his sin
does. And this is my confession. I sink in deep mire. My iniquities have taken hold
on me. They're more than the hairs of
mine head. So I'm not able to look up, and my heart faileth
me. There's no hope in me. No hope
in me. And I know by this book, and
I know by my own experience of God's grace, You will never come
to realize that there's no hope in you until God forces you to
realize it. You will keep on trying to do
something. You will keep on trying to merit
God's grace. You'll keep on trying to merit
God's mercy. You'll keep on trying to merit
God's salvation. By something you do, you will
keep on trying to do something to save yourself until God forces
you. to recognize there's no hope
in you. This was our condition when the
Lord found us by His grace. Look at verse 1. And you hath
He quickened, made alive, raised up from the
dead, who were dead in trespasses and in sins. What does that mean,
dead? Isn't it a strange thing? that
anyone would ask that question? Who has a problem understanding
the word dead? Except folks who refuse to believe
what God says in His Word. Dead. Dead. What does a dead
man do? Nothing. What does he feel? Nothing. What does he sense? Nothing. What is he aware of? He's D-E-A-D, bone cold graveyard
dead. The only thing a dead man has
the ability to do is corrupt, to rot, that's all, nothing else. That's a pretty accurate description
of every man by nature, dead. Not physically dead, Not even
morally dead. Not rationally or intellectually
dead. Spiritually dead. God gave life
to Adam. Gave life to humanity in the
garden. And Adam sinned. And when Adam
sinned, he died. Well, what happened? He was still
walking around. He was still breathing. He was
still eating and drinking. He and Eve were married. They
had children. What do you mean Adam's dead? He died spiritually. He lost all light and knowledge
and understanding and life toward God spiritually. Created body,
soul, and spirit. He's now just body and soul with
no spirit with which to worship God. Dead. And we died in our
Father Adam. This is our condition. Dead. Without life. separated from God, dead. Without holiness, without righteousness,
and without any sense of our condition, dead. You can pour
cold water on the dead body and it won't shiver. You can pour
scalding water on the dead body and it won't jump. You can poke
it with a spear and it won't move. You can tell it sad stories
and it won't shed a tear. The man's dead. So it is with
all you who do not know God my Savior, dead, dead. We try to persuade you. We try to warn you. We try to
urge you. We try to pressure you with the
Word of God to come to Christ. But when all is said and done,
all that I can do for you, all that I can do for you, deceiving. I can persuade you to make a
profession of faith. I can persuade you to be baptized. I can persuade
you to join the church. I can persuade you to quit acting
like a fool and staying drunk all the time. I can persuade
you to start exercising some degree of responsibility if you
like, but I can't do anything for you spiritually. I can't
give you life. Only God who is life can give
you life. So we proclaim the Word of God
to you, and call upon you to come to Christ, but we don't
look to you for anything. Salvation is God's work, and
you won't come to God till God comes to you. You won't receive
Christ until He's already received you. You won't embrace Him until
He's already embraced you. All right, look at verse 2. Here's
the course of life in which grace found us. Wherein in time past
you walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. By nature, the sinner's will
is governed by his corrupt and hostile principles, so that he
goes on continually in the course of sin. We're bound by our corrupt
nature. It doesn't take anything to prove
that. except to a man who's dead. Man is totally depraved. Totally depraved. Now I know
that it's common for fellas when they speak about depravity. I've
heard fellas many times and I read what fellas say. Now we don't
mean by that that you're as wicked as you possibly could be. And
so we kind of back off a little bit. Let me tell you something.
You're just as wicked as you possibly could be. God just restrains
it outwardly. Inside, you couldn't be more
vile. Inside, you couldn't be more
vulnerable. Inside, you couldn't be more wicked. Inside, you couldn't
be more loathsome. All men are depraved. Every evil imagination of humanity
resides in your heart, rages in your heart, burns in your
heart, and the only thing that keeps you from acting like it
all the time is God won't let you. That's the only thing. God
just won't let you behave as you are by nature. So it is with
us all. Sin is man's nature. God is not
in all his thoughts. His heart's deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked. Sinners live according to the
course of this world. That is, according to the design
and custom and fashion of this world. All sinners do. All sinners do. We all live like
this in the dark course of this crooked, perverse world. The course of this world promises
pleasure and delight, but it brings pain and death. Children of God, remember, you and I once lived like all
other men, according to the lust of our flesh, under the dominion
of Satan, taken captive of the devil at his will. That's where we were when God
saved us by his grace. And the picture gets worse. Verse
3 describes our conversation. The word conversation, as it's
used in Elizabethan English, the word that's translated conversation,
refers to our way of life, our company, our environment, our
manner of living. Here Paul reminds us that our
manner of life as unbelievers was like this, among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past. That is, this is
how we lived, every one of us, every one of us, in the lust
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature children
of wrath, even as others. Now let me tell you what all
that means. We all lived according to our own fleshly lust, just
like everybody else does. Now, some of you were raised
in a moral, upright, religious, maybe even a spiritual home,
maybe by folks who really believed God. And you were taught to stand
out from the crowd. You were taught to run with the
right folks and do the right things. And that's proper that
we should teach our children to do so. We teach our children
to be mannerly, to be responsible, teach them to avoid company that's
going to lead them to to pain and sorrow where we've been.
And that's right, that's right. And we instill in them a sense
of responsibility. They don't want to be drunks
and dopeheads and harlots and whoremongers and all the stuff
that goes on. They don't want to stay out of
jail, don't want to have a good name, have a good name to pass on to their
children. So they choose the high road. And now this is according
to the lust of our flesh. They make it and say, They live
up there on Upper Street. They've got a good career, got
a good secure future. Everybody knows my son's name.
Everybody knows my daughter's name. They're respected by everybody.
Still dead. Living according to the lust
of their own flesh. No different. The other fella,
he chooses another path. He stays out every Friday and
Saturday night. If he gets married, his wife
wishes he hadn't. She runs her way and he runs
his way. And they live down here on Lower Street. They live down here on the lower
side of the tracks. And these folks up here don't have anything
to do with them. And these folks down here despise those folks
up yonder. But they all have one thing in common. They live
just like they want to. Everybody does. Everybody does.
Folks live just like they want to. They do just what they want
to do after the lust of their flesh. fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, day by day doing just what they
desire. And we were by nature children
of wrath, even as others. That doesn't mean that God's
elect were once under the wrath of God and then God saved them
and He changed His mind and decided not to have them under His wrath
anymore. No, no, no. It means they were wrathful children. Children under a sense of condemnation
because they're rebels against God. We lived all our lives with
our fists shoved in God's face. God hating rebels. That's man's
problem. That's your problem. That's our
problem by nature. Sin, like a venomous disease,
infects our vital blood. The only balm is sovereign grace
and the physician God. Our beauty and our strength are
fled and we draw near to death, but Christ the Lord recalls the
dead with his almighty breath. Madness by nature reigns within. The passions burn in rage till
God's own Son with skill divine the inward fire assuage. Now here's the second thing.
Look at verses four through ten. Salvation is God's gift. Salvation is God's gift. And
it tells us five things with regard to this gift of God. Here's
the first one. It's by God's pleasure, verse
four, but God. two of the finest, sweetest,
most blessed words in all the English language, but God. But God. We were dead. We walked according to the course
of this world, fulfilling the lust of our flesh and of our
minds, by nature children of wrath like everybody else, living
every day with a fist in God's face, saying, God, get out of
my way! But God! thank God God steps
in who is rich in mercy rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us God stepped in God intervened God stopped me in
my mad rush to hell because of his great love God's love is not at all like
men imagine. God's love is not at all as it's
described by religious people. God's love has nothing to do
with the things people commonly think about God's love. Oh no,
everybody knows what love is. Oh, very few folks know what
love is. God's love is eternal. It didn't begin in time. And
that which is eternal is immutable. It never changes. God's love
is personal. The Lord God said He loved me. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. His love is personal. That means
that He loves each of His own personally. Isn't that amazing? He loves each of his own personally. Now, Shelby and I just have one
child, and so I don't know anything about you folks who have two
or three or a half a dozen. But years ago, folks used to
have lots of children, especially folks that lived in rural areas.
They needed cheap farm labor, I reckon. But they had lots of
children. And they'd talk about loving their children. And I've
heard folks say it many times, you love each one in a different
way. You love each one in a different
way. And I'm certain that's so. And that's alright. But that's
not God's love. He doesn't love you one way,
me another. He doesn't love you for one reason, me another. He
doesn't love you for one character, me another. Oh no, no, no, no,
no, no. He loves us as He loves His Son.
Personally. For the very same reason He loves
His Son. Personally. With everlasting
love. He loves us perfectly. particularly
and distinctly. He says, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. He so loves us that God became
one of us and died to redeem us. His love,
God's love makes a difference. God's love makes a difference.
The difference between folks in heaven and folks in hell is
God's love. The difference between saved
sinners and lost sinners is God's love. The difference between
you who know God and you who don't know God is God's love. God's love is saving love. Then
in verses 5 and 6, the Apostle tells us this salvation is not
only God's pleasures performed by God's power. Even when we
were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ. Quickened
us at the same time He quickened Christ. He quickened us together
with Christ. You mean preacher? We were made
alive when Christ was made alive from the tomb? Yeah. That's just
exactly what it means. That's just exactly what it means.
And it means more than that. He came to us in time and gave
us life together with Christ. the new birth he puts this one
who is life in us. He's quickened us together with
Christ. Well what does all that mean? By grace ye are saved. By grace ye are saved. Eternal, omnipotent, free, sovereign,
irresistible grace. Oh thank God this salvation by
grace and hath raised us up together This new birth is a spiritual
resurrection. It's called the first resurrection.
And those who have it against them, the second death has no
power. And made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.
Set us right down on His Father's throne with our Savior, God the
Son. Salvation is always the result
of direct exertion and effectual application. of God's omnipotent
power. We have this salvation also because
of God's purpose. Look at verse 7. Here the apostle tells us that
it is God's purpose. The reason he chose to save us
the way he chose to save us. The reason he chose to save us,
the reason he did this is for the glory of his grace. that
he might show the greatness of his grace and his kindness in
us throughout the ages. Why did he do this? God, why
did you step into my life? Oh God, why have you been so
good to me? Why so gracious to me that in
the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Never has there been a sinner
so undeserving of God's goodness possesses greater richness of
God's goodness than the one talking to you. And it is God's purpose in taking this man. I met a young
man at lunch today from down where I was raised in North Carolina.
I saw a thing on his t-shirt and asked him if he was from
down there. He said he was. Here I am born on a sharecropper's
farm on Tenet Farm, Bladen County, North Carolina. Born to nobodies who were sons
and daughters of nobodies and raised in a hell hole and created more pain than I
received everywhere I ever went. But God purposed in the ages
to come to show to wandering worlds, to all the demons of
hell, and to all humanity, and to all the angels of glory, the
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward me in
Christ Jesus. So that God's going to take us and stand
us in glory land and say, look here what my grace has done. And everybody's going to say,
wow. Oh, this is God's work. This is for God's praise. Look
at verse 8. Got to hurry. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. And your works don't have a blooming
thing to do with not of works lest any man should boast. Let God be praised. Salvation
is His work. We receive all the blessings
of salvation by a simple childlike faith. but lest anyone think
that we can somehow claim credit for our faith. Paul asserts that
even that faith is the gift of God. You remember Peter's confession
to the Lord in Matthew 16? He said, He said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. You remember what our Lord
said to him? He said, Flesh and blood hath
not revealed this unto you, but my Father which is in heaven.
If you believe God, If you believe God, it's because one day at
the appointed time of love, God opened the windows of heaven
and shot his arrow into your heart. Opened your heart and
poured in his grace and gave you faith in his dear son. Faith is God's gift, God's operation. So there's no room for any man
to boast anything regarding this salvation. Now look at verse
10. This is God's performance altogether,
for we are His workmanship, His masterpieces. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. Created in Christ that we might
live in this world for the glory of God. Created in Christ that
we might perform good works, good works. Not religious works,
good works. Not self-righteous works, good
works. Religious works, self-righteous
works, works that men applaud and praise are never good works.
Well preacher, what's a good work? A good work involves something
always concerning love, and sacrifice and self-denial and forgiveness. Read this book. Depart from me,
ye cursed. I never knew you. Come, ye blessed
of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. I was hungry, and
you fed me. I was naked, and you clothed
me. I was sick and in prison, and you visited me. When did
we do that? When did we do that? You see,
good works, good works are always works, Mark, that you're unaware
of. When you look and say, I did
good, that wasn't good. They're always works you're unaware
of, so you can't brag too much about them. Oh, when did we do
that? When did we do that? Oh, when
you did it on the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me.
Self-righteous works are different. Religious works are different.
Why can't we come into your kingdom? Lord, when didn't we do that? We? I was hungry and you didn't
give me anything to eat. I was naked and you didn't give
me anything to wear. I was sick and in prison and
you didn't come to visit me. Well, when? Why, we always did
that. as much as you've done this unto
the least of these my brethren you've done it to me. Depart
ye cursed. Self-righteous religious works
are works that men applaud in one another and applaud in themselves
and they're done to be seen of men. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. Now watch this. Well I wonder
if we will. I wonder if this is what's going
to happen. I wonder if God's people are going to maintain
good works. I wonder if God's people are going to behave like
they ought to. I think maybe they might. I think
maybe they might. Because God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. And if God foreordained that
we walk in them, he'll see to it that we do. He'll see to it
that we do. Abraham was commended by God. He said, I'm going to show Abraham
what I'm going to do because Abraham will command his children
before me. A good father disciplines his
children and wisely, graciously forces them to obey. He forces them to obey. As long
as He's got power over them, He forces them to obey. If it
means burying their backside and blistering their bottom,
He forces them to obey. If it means putting them in a
room, locking them up and holding the key, He forces them, as long
as He's got power over them, to obey. That's what a wise,
good Father does. Our Heavenly Father is a wise
and a good Father. And Mark, he's going to force
you to obey him. If you're his. And if he didn't
force you, you wouldn't. You got that? He's going to force
us to obey. And if he didn't force us, we
wouldn't. Go back and read that 107th Psalm again and see how
God graciously, sweetly, irresistibly forces us to obey him. in initially
calling us by His grace, and He continues to do so under the
discipline of His grace. Children of God, remember the
rock from which you're hewed, and the hole of the pit from
which you've been digged. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Pray for God to show His grace
to others. Carry the gospel to others. Turn
back to Mark chapter 5 for just a minute. I mentioned this this
morning earlier before preaching after Lynch's excellent study
in John 19. Here's this Gadarene maniac,
the Lord's saved by his grace. In verse 18, the Lord's about
to depart and he was coming to the ship. And he that had been
possessed of the devil prayed him that he might be with him. That sounds to me like a good
prayer. Lord, I want to stay right here with you. Howbeit
Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends,
and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee,
and hath had compassion on thee. I can't think of a better way
to witness to sinners than just tell sinners what God's done
for you. Don't try to tell them what God did for Don. You haven't
been there, but Bill, you can tell them what he's done for
you. You can tell anybody what he's done for you. You can tell
anybody what great things he's done for you. That's our business
while we're in this world. Publish abroad what great things
God's done for you. And you who are dead in trespasses
and in sins need not despair. God who saved me can save you. God who stopped me in my mad
rush to hell can stop you. Guilty sinner, come to Christ. Oh, Brother Don, you've already
told us we can't come. I know, I know, come on, come on. If
you can, he's come to you and he'll never leave you. Receive
the Son of God, take him. Take Him, reach out and touch
the Lord as He passes by. Indeed do so. But Brother Don,
you've already told me I can't do that. I know, I know. But
if you can, He's already received you and promises He will receive
you. And if He receives you, He says, Him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. Come to Christ, believe Christ,
receive Christ, embrace Christ, believe Christ, and do so with
this blessed assurance that never been a sinner yet come to Christ
who was rejected by Him. Never been a sinner yet to call
on Him He didn't hear. Never been a sinner yet to bow
to Him He didn't receive. God give you grace to believe
on his side. Amen.