Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1. The first 14 verses of Ephesians
chapter 1, in my opinion, is one of the clearest declarations
of the Gospel found in the Scripture. I very rarely preach from Ephesians
chapter 1 because that's my go-to for about everything that I have
to say. I go to Ephesians chapter 1.
If I want to talk about election, I come over to here. If I want
to talk about predestination, I come to Ephesians chapter 1.
If I want to talk about the purpose of God, I go to Ephesians chapter
1. It's the clearest declaration,
in my opinion, of the gospel anywhere in the Scriptures. In
language that a child could understand, the Apostle is inspired of the
Holy Ghost to tell us about the eternal appointments of Christ
and of the whole of His accomplishments on the cross. He tells us about
the faith of God's elect even to the sealing of God's elect
through the faith of the operation of God. He tells us all of this. in his first 14 verses. He even
tells us about the sovereign rule of Christ, unto whom shall
be gathered all things in heaven and earth, even unto Him, all
things. And he tells us in Ephesians
1 verse 2, he said, Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father,
and from the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's my subject this morning,
is the fountain of all grace. The fountain. The fountain is
the source. Isn't it? That's the source. The Ohio River way down where
I lived in Kentucky, it was nearly a mile wide. It looked like Mississippi
River. It was almost a mile wide there
in that one spot, but that wasn't the fountain. You had to go a
little further up to get to the fountain. The fountain is the
source. The fountain is where it begins.
The fountain is where it comes from. Grace be to you from God. From God. And I'm telling you this, these
are words cherished in the hearts of true believers. Nothing sweeter
to the ear of a seeking sinner than the free and sovereign grace
of God. I remember the first time I heard
it like it was yesterday. And it still thrills my heart
today. Grace be to you. Grace. Oh, if I look at works, if I
look at what demanded of me. And I look at my own person and
I look at my own character and I look at where I am and the
condition I am in and what a holy God demands. I can't produce
it. But grace can. Grace can. Grace, Paul said, be to you. To you. Nothing sweeter in the
ear of a seeking sinner. than the grace of God. Peter
prefaced all his remarks about the preciousness of Christ. His
remarks about the living stones being laid up, a spiritual house. His remarks of being a chosen
generation and a royal priesthood and being called out of darkness
into His marvelous light. He prefaced all those things
with this verse. If so be, that you've tasted,
that the Lord is gracious. Do you know the fountain? That's
what Peter said. If you know the fountain. Have
you been to the fountain? I wonder this morning, is there
anyone here today who can take their place with all the sinners
that come to this fountain? Could you take your place with
them? Could you take your place with those sinners that have
come to Christ as they are described in this book? Can you say with
the Apostle Paul, Oh, wretched man that I am! Is that your attitude
toward yourself? Is that your secret thoughts?
Oh, wretched man that I am! When you look over your life
and look over your walk and you examine your own hearts, is that
the expression of your heart? Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I'm like a walking
corpse. I'm chained to death and death
goes everywhere I go. It's with me. I can't get shed
of it. It's in my mind and in my heart
and in my voice. It's with me. Who can deliver
me? Can you say with Peter, I'm not
worthy of your presence? That's what he told the Lord.
Depart from me, he said, for I'm a sinful man. Can you cry
out with a dying thief and say, my condemnation is just? My soul. You're talking about
a man who was minutes from eternity. Minutes from judgment. And he
said, don't rebuke him anymore. Don't rebuke him anymore. Our
condemnation is just, but this man done nothing to me. Ours
is just. Can you identify with Job who
said, what is man that he should be clean? And he which is born
of a woman, that he should be righteous. Salvation is for sinners. It's for sinners. And the only
way a holy God can save a wretched sinner is by grace. By grace. Believers. That's what I'm saying. Believers. Those who truly believe
have tasted of this grace. They've been to the fountain.
They drank from the waters and they tasted of the grace of God. They are they that have been
given the light of grace and have seen the futility of worldly
religion and now have a good hope through grace. Salvation
is the work of God and the gift of grace, not of works, lest
any man should boast. And this grace is effectual grace. It produces fruit. Where there
is no fruit, there is no tree of God's planting. And every
tree that my Heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted
up. Isn't that what it says? Grace. Grace. Now there's five things that
I want you to see this morning concerning God's free grace in
Christ Jesus. First of all, I want you to consider
the objects. of this grace. Fallen, depraved
men. Not angels. Not angels. The angels which kept not their
first estate, which left their own habitation, he hath reserved
in everlasting chains of darkness unto judgment, unto the judgment
of that great day. He took not upon himself the
nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. I used to hear this phrase when
I was growing up, the Lord will help those who help themselves.
How many times have you heard that? Nothing could be further
from the truth. But that's how man thinks, isn't
it? That's how he thinks. The Lord will help those who
help themselves. No, He helps the helpless. He helps the helpless. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Grace is for the helpless, the hopeless, undeserving. Grace and works cannot mix. The Scripture said, if it be
of grace, then it no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. You've got a misunderstanding
of grace. If you try to mix it, it will
work. You don't mix. You ever take oil and try to
mix it in a little water? When you stir it fast enough,
it looks like it's all mixed in. As soon as it quits swirling
around, it's separate. They won't mix. They won't mix. And I'm telling you, this man
is in a bad way. His father Adam sinned against
God and plunged this whole race under the judgment of God. Men
don't choose whether or not they go into sin. You don't choose
that. They come forth from the womb
speaking lies. They sin because they are sinners
by nature. Men and women are not born innocent. Destruction and misery, the Scripture
said, are in their ways. It's in their ways. There is
no fear of God before their eyes. Their mind is enmity against
God. Paul said, I know that the law
is spiritual, but he said, I'm carnal, sold under sin. And man is the neediest creature
in the universe. And what makes him the neediest
of all is his ignorance of his need. He's ignorant of his need. Well,
I don't need anything. What do I need? What do I need? Children sitting in here this
morning, you don't have any need, do you? You know when you go
home, there's going to be supper on the table. There's going to
be food there. You know when your clothes wear
out, daddy's going to get you some new clothes. Your shoes
get old, they're going to buy you some new shoes. Why? I'm
not needy. I'm not needy. You are spiritually. You are spiritually. You can't
do anything. You're like that paralyzed man.
There's life right there, right beside of him, five feet away
off that little deck. There were five little decks
went out in that pool. And he's laying out there on
that deck. He's so close he could almost reach his hand over and
get in the water, but he can't reach his hand over because he's
paralyzed. And he can see it and he can see others being made
whole. being carried over and laid in
the water. He can see the water troubled. He can see all those
things. But he can't get from where he is into the water. And life itself came to him,
to that paralyzed man. And he said, what's your problem?
He said, I got none to put me in the water. Oh, my soul, take
up your bed. Pick it up. Stand up. And he
did. He did. Man says, I'm rich and
increased with goods and have need of nothing. I don't need
anything. I'm healthy. I'm wise. I don't have any need of anything.
I don't need a preacher. I don't need grace. I don't need
a Bible. I don't need to go to church. You're the neediest thing there
is in this universe, this fallen man. He said, I'm rich, I'm increased
with goods and have need of nothing and know not that he's wretched
and miserable and poor and blind and naked. The reason why grace is rejected
by men is because they can't see the need of it. They can't
see the need of it. The very nature of grace ought
to tell you something about its objects. I read this article
by Maurice Montgomery the other day. And he said in these ten
things, it summed up his ministry. All the years he'd been preaching.
Maurice had been around a long time anyways. He said, I preach
a God that you cannot satisfy. I preach a holy law. that you
cannot keep. I preach an obedience that you
cannot render. I preach a righteousness that
you cannot produce. I preach a sinfulness that you
can't get shed of. I preach a love that you can't
muster up. I preach a judgment that you
cannot endure. I preach a repentance that you
cannot produce. And I preach a faith that must
be given of God. And then number 10, he said,
and I preach a Christ who did for me everything that I couldn't
do. Everything that I couldn't do.
Grace is for sinners. It's for people who can't. People who can't. And then secondly,
I want you to consider the scope of this grace. Here's the objects,
needy sinners, fallen, depraved sinners, sinners under the judgment
of God. Now listen to the scope of this
grace. All spiritual blessing. All my soul. All spiritual blessing. He's got an elect people. Every
tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue under heaven. And there's that
man way over there, wherever it is. Australia, New Guinea,
wherever it is. Over there in New Guinea, there's
a good example. God calls a man. I don't know
why anybody would want to go to New Guinea who wasn't a scientist
or something. I just can't imagine. You talk
about depraved. So often they just take a fit
and grab a machete and go over there and just start whacking
people's heads off. God sent a man over there to preach the gospel in New Guinea. And he called his people out.
In God's providence, you think about that now, God chose a people
in New Guinea, saved a man over here. I don't know where he's
from here in the state, California, I think, but sent him all the
way over there to New Guinea. And he began to preach over there.
And there's, if I'm not mistaken, there's hundreds of believers
who've been called out under his ministry. You think down
here in Mexico, down there at those mines, you're talking about
We were traveling out to a little Pueblo. I went down there to
preach to them one time. We were driving out to a Pueblo
and we were just out there on a worn piece of white slab of
marble out there. We were just driving along, limestone
or whatever it was. It was white. It was just notebook
paper. We were driving on it and all
of a sudden I seen this little woman. She was about that tall
and had about that much firewood on top of her head come walking
out of the jungle. out in the middle of nowhere. And a couple
little old kids with her. And got this firewood all stacked
up around her head and here she goes. She carrying it off to
the Pueblo up there so they can have a little fire to cook. God
sent a minister down there. And there's 40 some churches
down there now in Yucatan Peninsula. clear out in the middle of nowhere,
still living in the thatch cut, still sleeping in old hand-woven
hammocks. And he's still down there. He
probably died down there. I'm talking about grace. Grace
that encompasses all of God's providence, all of eternity. Encompasses all the appointments
of His Son, all the accomplishments of His Son. Takes everything
into consideration. orders his providence, orders
diseases, orders everything that's in this universe, all to the
calling out of his elect. And he controls every minute
particle of it in his hands. All power, Christ said, is given
unto me. Now you go preach. You go preach. What's out of his power? Anything? No. No. Oh, my soul. All spiritual... I can't take it in. I can't take
in the scope of His grace. Paul said in Philippians 4, verse
19, he said, My God shall supply all your need. Huh? All your need. Even those needs
that you're ignorant of. according to His riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. James said this, he said, every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down
from the Father of lights. Every gift. The scope of His grace reaches
from the highest seat in heaven to the chief of sinners. Paul said, howbeit for this cause
I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth
all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting. The scope of God's grace is so
wide that he said, whosoever will, let him come. Let him come. Somebody said, well, you preach
the grace of God. That limits. That limits. I don't
limit God. You couldn't get the door any
more open than free grace of God if you wanted to. You want to limit God's grace,
put it on man's will. Now you've limited it. But it's not limited with the
free grace of God. Whosoever will. Calvinists hate to say that,
don't they? When I consider the multitude
of examples He's preserved for us in the Scriptures, murderers,
adulterers, prostitutes, thieves, and worse. All have sinned, Paul said, and
come short of the glory of God. You know what the next verse
says? Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus. Oh, but preacher, you don't know
me. No sir, and I don't have to. Don't have to. I know Him. I know Him. And I tell you, I
know more about you knowing Him than I would if I didn't know
Him and knew all about you. That make sense? And I tell you this, you know
what the scripture said? He is able to save to the uttermost. One old writer said, to the guttermost,
those who come unto God by Him. He is able. And then thirdly,
I want you to consider the means. The Scripture says grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ. John said, the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father." Listen, full
of grace and full of truth. Now, I'm going to tell you something.
God is not gracious outside of Christ. I hear men talk about
it all the time. I beg your pardon. He's not gracious
outside of Christ. There's not even a hint of grace
outside of Christ. There is nothing outside of Christ
but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. Grace is known by its gifts,
and sinners were chosen in Him, predestinated unto the adoption
of children by Him. Accepted in the Beloved. Redeemed
by His blood. Made righteous by His obedience.
Justified by His resurrection. Brought to hear by His rule over
providence. Sent a preacher. Born again by
Spirit. Preserved by Jesus Christ is
what the Scripture said. You preserved. Kathy puts up
green beans and tomatoes and things out of the garden. I'm
making you hungry now, ain't I? And she puts them jars over
on the countertop, and then you just sit around a little while,
you hear a ping, ping. That lid goes down. When it goes down, it's sealed.
You don't have to worry about it. Don't have to put it in the
refrigerator, just put it over on the shelf. When you get ready,
you just look at that lid. Is it still down? Still down.
Still good. You open that thing, it's just
like you canned it yesterday. The scripture said we preserve.
in Jesus Christ. You think about that. Preserved. Sealed. Sealed. Jesus Christ was appointed as
God's mediator and the whole shooting match was put in His
hands. Everything put into His hands. Listen to what Paul says here
in Ephesians 1.11. 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,
that we should be to the praise of his glory," talking about
God's glory, who first trusted in Christ. God trusted in him, put all things
into his hands, and trusted in him. God the Father trusted in
Christ because this is the only way He could be gracious to sinners. All His eternal appointments
were given to Him so that grace and truth could come to chosen
sinners. Listen to Paul. Paul said, God
has saved us. Has in times past. Has saved
us. And then called us. That's what
we're talking about right now in the present. He had called
us with a 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. Christ is the means of grace,
and all the blessings and benefits come from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. And then fourthly, The fourth
thing I want you to think about is the certainty of grace. God's
grace, now hear me, cannot fail. Can't. It cannot fail. Grace that fails
is not grace. It can't fail. Paul's argument in Galatians
chapter 2 verse 21 against work salvation is that it would frustrate
the grace of God. In other words, that grace wouldn't
be effectual. It would frustrate the grace
of God. Galatians 2 verse 21, I do not
frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead and vain. That ain't going to happen.
That ain't going to happen. Grace cannot fail. If salvation
comes in any other fashion than the way set before us by the
free grace of God, then the whole work of Him by whom grace came
is frustrated and made vain. If man is not chosen by the grace
of God, God's grace is frustrated. If he can hear some other way
than the means which God has chosen, then grace is frustrated. If man can regenerate himself,
the spirit of grace is frustrated. If faith is not the gift of God,
God's grace, by grace are you saved through faith and that
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, then God's grace
is frustrated. You can take this rule times
everything that it takes to save chosen sinners from their sins.
It's true in every sin. Grace is certain because it springs
forth from God. He's the fountain. That's why
it can't fail. It comes from God. It doesn't
come from you. It doesn't emanate from you.
It comes from Him. It's not based on what you do.
It's not based on how you act. It's not based on your mind or
anything. It's based on where it comes
from. It comes from God. And it must
be effectual because it comes from Him. He's the fountain of
all grace. There's not even a hint that
the grace of God should not reach every object it was purposed
and sent to. And I tell you this, everything
God's purpose to do, He's going to do. He's going to do. What
separates our God from all the imaginary gods of this world
is that He declares the end from the beginning. And from ancient
times, the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel
will stand, and I'll do all my pleasure. This world prays to and worships
a God that cannot save. He's frustrated at best. He wants
to save but can't. He wants men to live, but they
won't accept Him. He wants men to repent, but they
won't let Him have His way. I'm going to tell you something.
The God of glory has His way. And when He does, you'll repent.
When He does, you'll believe. When He does, you'll love Him.
You'll call on His name. And He'll save your wretched
soul. He has His way. He always has His way. He has
His way in the whirlwind. Boy, we like to watch that TV
when it's on, don't we? The first thing we do is go in
there and click that thing on. What's going on out there? Where's
that thing going? You reckon it's coming to my
house? God has His way in the whirlwind. It'll go where He
purposes it to go. We first moved down here, see,
tornadoes up there ain't what they are down here. We get a
tornado, just a little thing comes on the TV, says warning,
tornado possible, whatever, that's all you get. Down here they got
graphics and they got this thing turned upside down and inside
out. You're looking at this thing,
it's giving you block by block where it's going and all this
stuff. And we're sitting there and they said, well, the tornado's
headed right for Taylor. Take shelter now. We were standing
in front of the TV. And my wife said, you reckon
we ought to go take shelter? I said, we ain't got any shelter.
We ain't got nowhere to go. I ain't going to crawl in that
plastic bathtub. Where we going to go? God has
his way in the whirlwind. You know what that thing did?
It was headed straight for Taylor, made a right-hand turn. Went
straight over there toward Sheila's house. Got over there within
about four miles of it. Turned right again. Went right
on. God has His way even in the whirlwind. And He's got His way in providence
and in everything that happens, He has His way. The God of all grace always has
His way. And He has His way in the whirlwind.
And He does what pleases Him in earth, the seas, and all deep
places. Paul, looking at our redemption
from conception to its final completion, he said, if God be
for us, who can be against us? Who can be against us? Do you
question God's providence? Do you question His gifts? Do
you question His word? Don't you think about this. We're
in God willing more abundantly to show under the airs of promise
the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it with an oath, that
by two unchangeable things, God's promise and God's oath, in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong refuge
who A strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold
upon the hope set before us. Now get this picture. Here's
God who cannot lie. God who is pure and holy and
righteous. And He stands before a multitude
of liars. He stands before a multitude
of unfaithful sinners. They're unfaithful. I just gave you that example.
After his resurrection, he had to go out there. They done quit
the ministry and went fishing. He come out there to those who
had deserted him and fixed them fish on the fire. He stands before
this multitude of liars and unfaithful men and dishonest men And he
said, because I can swear by no greater, I swear by myself. You think about that. God took
an oath before a bunch of liars. And he said, so you'll know.
So you'll know. And not never have a doubt. He
said, because I'm going to swear on my own name. That's consolation there. That's
consolation. And then, fifthly and quickly,
the fountain of all grace is the Father of all that is gracious
to. If God's grace has come to you,
given you faith in Christ, God is your Father. How many times
do we use that word and never think about it? God is our Father. Because we are sons, Paul said,
God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. I'll never forget Brother Mahan
preaching that message on the prodigal son. And talking about
the Father coming out and smothering that boy with kisses. That's me. Huh? That's you. And you're just so perplexed. Why would He love me? Why is
He kissing me? I've squandered everything He's
ever given me. I've spent all my inheritance. I've brought shame upon His name. Why would He come and smother
me with kisses? Because He loved you. Because
He loved you. And by the grace of God, He made
you to know it. Huh? The fountain of all grace. Have you drank from that fountain?
All my soul. Chosen sinners, all alike, come
to that fountain and drink, and drink, and drink. And I'll tell
you, you can't sell them homeworks anymore. All you do is make them
sick. My mom used to serve up liver,
and I didn't like it. And she'd tell me everything
I was doing, get me that liver. I don't like it. Well, honey,
there's kids starving over in China. Send it to them. I don't
like liver. I don't want it. I don't. Oh,
my soul. But I tell you, I didn't want
that grace until I tasted it. And that's all I want now. Oh,
give me liver now. I want it. I want it. I don't
want nothing now.