letter to the church at Ephesus. Our text this morning will come
from verses 8 and 9. And this is a continuation of
last Sunday morning's message and the Wednesday night message
and now the Ephesians 2 message from verses 8 and 9. For by grace are you saved through
faith And that, that faith, not of yourselves, it is the gift
of God. Why is it the gift of God? Not
of works, lest any man will brag about ourselves or die trying.
And especially this is true when most religion in our day is nothing
more than a parade of the flesh. It not only does not honor God,
it blasphemes God. So let's give our attention now
to the reading of the second chapter of Ephesians. If I can,
I'll restrict my stopping and talking. To whom is Paul writing this
letter? It is a letter that constitutes
the church of our Lord Jesus Christ in Ephesus. These people
are Gentiles and not Jews. And you has he quickened, you
has God made alive, not physically now, spiritually, who were dead
in trespasses and sins. God has never saved a single
sinner who was not dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein, in times past,
Let's just put ourselves in here. We walked according to the course
of this world. And that's not good. According
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
works in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation. probably meaning here manner
of life rather than words, though words are certainly included
in this word. Our manner of life in times past,
in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath even as
others, but God. Now you hear people say that
God won't do anything for you until you like opening your heart's
door. This says that the God of the Bible is the God who butts
in uninvited and unasked and unwanted in every case in the
salvation of sinners, not a single solitary exception. But God who
is rich in mercy, For His great love wherewith He loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, God loved us. If He loves you, He's
always loved you. There ain't never been a time,
before time even, in eternity. Even when we were dead in sins,
this God who is rich in mercy has quickened us to gather with
Christ by grace and has raised us up together, that is, and
made us sit together with Christ in heavenly places. Why has God
made salvation to rest on these fundamental things? Here it is.
Ages to come when this world is no more and we enter into
that vast eternity In the ages to come, God might show the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. God has purposed salvation to
be based on these fundamental things so that He can display
it before an entire world. Now verse 8. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift. Therefore, our
title this morning is, Not Faith, But Christ Who Saved. And I can
take you some places in your own Bible and show you where
it says that faith saves. But that is because it is written
in such a way to give Pharisees and hard-headed and hard-hearted
lost people who think they know God by something they've done
or deserve from God, this book will give you all the rope you
need to hang yourself. And it's filled with such traps.
When our Lord said to that poor woman that had been dragged before
him as he taught in the temple complex in Jerusalem, and those
Pharisees caught this woman in the act of adultery and dragged
her into the presence of Christ. Didn't bother to bring the man,
mind you, but they brought her. And our Lord said to this woman
left after the event had transpired. Nobody had accused her. He said,
woman, your faith has saved you. Where'd she get faith? It's the
gift. And no genuine faith puts honors
on itself. the honor belongs to our Lord
Jesus. Were it not for Him, that woman
would have been stoned to death. But He said to that group of
men who thirsted for her blood, let the man who is without sin
cast the first stone. And remember, He knows every
heart and every one of those men that drag that woman into
His presence. He could read their mind and
their thoughts, their motives. So our Savior, our God, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, verse 7, that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. Wherefore, remember that you
being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ being aliens from the
commonwealth of spiritual Israel and strangers from the covenants
of promise having no hope and without God in the world. But,
there's that word again, but now in Christ Jesus, You who
sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ.
For He is our peace, who has broken down the middle wall of
partition between us, speaking of Jews and Gentiles, having
abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make of Himself to make himself
of two, one new man, so making peace. And that he might reconcile
both unto God. Now watch this, in one body. There's not a body for this nation
and this tongue and so forth. Christ has but one body. That he might reconcile both
unto God in one body. by the cross, having slain the
enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you, which
were afar off, and to them that were near. For through him we
both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore
you are no more strangers and pilgrims, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God. And are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief cornerstone. And the foundation as well for
that matter. And are built upon the foundation,
I just read that verse, verse 21, in whom all the buildings
fitly, fitly joined together grows unto a holy temple in the
Lord, in whom you also are built together for the inhabitation
of God." Verses 8 and 9. A great deal of confusion exists
in our day as it has in many others, I suppose, I think. Concerning faith, most people
believe that that they come up with the faith and that they
believe because they have faith. But this statement that is at
the end of verse 8 concerning faith, it is the gift of God. Faith is not our righteousness. Faith is not our sacrifice for
sin. Only Christ is. Faith is not
our hope. So when you see the word faith,
you automatically think of Christ. Most of the preaching of our
generation has left this book behind, has long ago left the
God of the Bible and the Jesus they preach. He no more resembles
the one they preach on the Bible. The Christ of the Bible is God. Faith is not our Savior. Christ is our Savior. Now let's
look at a few things in regard to these two verses. Here's my
outline. What is saving faith? Secondly,
why did God choose faith to be the channel through which salvation
flows to us? How is saving faith obtained? Can you cultivate it? The grace of God is the fountainhead. Salvation by grace is said to
be through faith. But remember, faith is not our
Savior. Christ is the only Savior. Alright, let's work on the first
question. What is Now, I cannot, I wished I could, no I don't
even wish I could, I cannot preach, I'm no preacher anyhow, but I
need you to turn in your Bibles and I'll try my best just to
make it about three times, okay? I don't think that'll hurt you.
The first place we need to go talking about this matter of
what is saving faith is that classic definition that Paul
gives in 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy. And I want you to put something
there to mark that spot because I may want to bring you back
to that statement before we're finished. Here's a Bible description
of the faith that saves, which is another way of saying the
Christ that saves. Faith is nothing apart from Christ. Christ is its life. Faith would
wither and die were it not for the Lord Jesus Christ keeping
us, sustaining us. All right, you find 2 Timothy
1, it's in verse 12, this famous statement by the Apostle Paul.
It's made up of three things, this saving faith that Paul describes
in this statement. Let me read the verse to you.
For the witch cause I also suffer these things, starting with the
word nevertheless. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed. That's the first thing. Secondly,
and I am persuaded that Christ is able to keep, to keep, that's
the second thing, Christ is able. Thirdly, to keep that which I've
committed unto Him against that age. So there is then, thirdly,
a commitment. Now that's about as simple as
I can find any place. Let's work on those three statements
now. So I'm going to put my marker here. I want you to turn first
to Romans chapter 10. I know most all of you know where
this is, but if you don't, after Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
we have the book of Acts and then the book of Romans. Chapter
10. Romans chapter 10. And it would not do for me to
start trying to bring you up to speed on Romans chapter 10,
so we're just going to dive in at this spot. You won't give
me that much time if I do. Alright, let's start at verse
13. What is saving faith? And the first answer is what?
Knowing. Alright, here it is. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, preacher, you ain't said
nothing about calling. Yes, but look what Paul does
with it. You remember that if we do anything that's good, God
does it in us. There ain't nowhere on this whole
globe called the earth that one single good deed can be done
this day. whatever comes from us, God must
first, in grace and mercy, give it to us. So the first thing
we need, according to Paul, is knowledge, knowledge of Christ. Verse 13, Romans, for whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We've covered these before, but
we've got to find out what faith is. And here it is. Four things,
all of which begin with the word how, H-O-W. Number one, beginning
word in verse 14, how then shall they call on Him in whom they
have not believed? Calling on Christ for mercy. follows, it's in reverse order
here, follows believing. Here's the best way to remember
it. You cannot trust a Christ we do not know. Now you might trust your banker,
you might even trust your neighbor, but there's some people you just
flat can't trust. And when it comes to our soul
and our salvation, we can't afford to be wrong. Let somebody steal
your money, but don't let them steal your soul. We must know
who Christ is, or we won't call. Here's the second how, still
in verse 14. And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? We must then hear. There are two ways in which the
Bible says we are to come to the knowledge of Christ. And
knowledge is where we are at the moment. These two ways are
simply hearing and seeing. But it's obvious that it's not
physical hearing nor physical seeing. Because there was a bunch
of people that followed Christ around Palestine when he walked
this earth. and during his public life in
ministry for some three and a half years. And all it did was make
their condemnation all the greater. They did not know him and did
not want to know him. And that's every man's condition
by nature. And only God in the work of the
new birth in the soul of the sinner can bring any change.
How shall they call on him in whom they've not believed and
how shall they believe in him? of whom they've not heard? One
more. Well, two more, really. The next
one is this, and how shall they hear without a preacher? Now,
if that was the key to the whole thing, we just all ought to just
go on and get online and go somewhere and get you a Ph.D. in theology,
you know, like there's a man walking this earth that knows
so much about God that he's a doctor of theology. That is a joke. How shall they hear? Why do they
have to hear a preacher? Because God says in 1 Corinthians
that by the foolishness of preaching, he's purposed to save them. But
let me tell you one thing. You've got to have something
besides a preacher. God has to accompany that preaching
and take that word himself that is preached and give it life.
to our souls, or we can hear preachers a dozen a day for the
rest of our days and leave this world lost, lost, lost. How shall they hear without a
preacher? And in verse 15 is the fourth
how, the very first statement, and how shall they preach except
they be sent? That is, except God go with them
and bless that preaching to the Saving faith comes how? By knowledge. Knowing God through the gospel
of Christ by the grace of God. Now, I want to prove this to
you right quick. Yeah, I'm going to have just three times. I think
I can do that. All right. John chapter 5. want to give you a scripture
to back up what I just said in regard to hearing. And in John
chapter 5, beginning at about verse 18 and following through
verse 29, I think, the Lord Jesus gives a number of different ways
and things in which God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit are one. Can God raise the dead? Christ
raised the dead. All right, but I'm here right
now just to establish that we must live the soul. John chapter
5, verse 24. Now hang on to John 5 because
I'm going to come back in chapter 6, just for one second. Verse
24, John chapter 5. John's the only gospel that has
double verily's. Mr. Hawker says they have the
force of saying amen, amen. I'm kind of partial to that,
but you can call it verily if you want to. Amen, amen, I say
unto you. He that hears my word and believes
on him, on God that sent me, these are the words of Christ,
has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation. He
can't ever have anything less than everlasting life. And I'm
telling you, if you ever have everlasting life, you can't lose
it or else it won't everlasting. You can have temporary life,
but God doesn't do business in temporary things. God must do
things that are like himself. And God is eternal. And life
in Christ is forever. It just has to be that way. And
if you've got a problem with that, you've got a big problem.
Shall not come into condemnation. But what if I do this or that
and the other, go rob banks and start shooting and killing people?
That doesn't change anything. Hopefully God in His mercy will
prevent us from doing such things, but it ain't because we ain't
still capable. Shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death. Now physically we're going to
pass from life to death, but spiritually We pass from death
to life. Remember the first two or three
verses of Ephesians 2, dead in trespasses and in sins and so
forth. All right, we come now to seeing.
So just one page, I don't know what it is in your Bible, but
one page in my Bible to John chapter 6. Let's take one verse
out of chapter 6. This time the subject is what?
Seeing, right? We said it was both hearing and
seeing. John 5.24 took care of the hearing. Now let's see if John 6.40 can
take care of the seeing. What do we have to see? What
is this sight? John 6.40, and this is the will
of Him that sent me. This is the Christ is saying,
this is God's will who sent me into this world in the divine
incarnation. That everyone which sees the
Son and believes on Him may have
everlasting life. Now, you know, just plain downright
honesty compels us to distinction between just seeing Christ physically
and seeing Him with the eyes of the soul. There's no value
in that first one. We can read this Bible through
however many times we want to tell people we have read it.
Most people that say that, I don't even believe it to start with.
But being familiar with the Bible, being religious, being members
of churches and doing this, that and the other in the name of
God has nothing to do with the salvation of our souls. Plenty
of people engage in that stuff and they expect to be rewarded
when they get to heaven. But believers have no such false
expectation. They say when we get there to
see Christ face to face, this is the will of Him that sent
me. that everyone which sees the Son and believes on Him may
have everlasting life, I will raise him up." Now Christ is
going to raise somebody up at the last day. And if He raises
one of His children, He's going to raise them all. One member
of His spiritual body, the church, He's got to raise the whole church.
Therefore, seeing Christ has to do with this matter of knowledge.
Here's why. We are to see Him in His eternal
glory as God. He left heaven to come to this
earth and become a man, yet the God-man. But He had an eternal
glory in His Godhead in eternity. Secondly, we are to see Christ
in what are called His incarnate glories. Incarnate, that is the
glory of Christ in His human body on this earth. And plenty
of examples are all over the New Testament and the Old too
for that matter where people actually saw Christ and they
saw who He was by divine revelation. The gospel is a revelation. That's
why men despise it. That's why we hate it. I'm smart
enough, thank you preacher, I can figure it out myself. Yes, you
can figure out how to go to hell, but I'll guarantee you won't
make it to heaven. The gospel is a revelation of God in Jesus
Christ. Not only his eternal and incarnate
glory, but his resurrection glories and his coming glory when he
comes back to this earth. All right, so the first thing
is knowledge. You still got 2 Timothy chapter 1, right? Let's find
the second thing. If I turn to the right marker,
I might find it. Here we are. 2 Timothy 1, verse
12. For the which cause I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed. Number one, I know. I know. Now that's the That's
the meat of the word knowledge, K-N-O-W, and then L-E-D-G-E maybe
it is, whichever it is, I can't remember right at the moment.
I'd have to think about that a while. Second word in this
2 Timothy 1.12, where I am persuaded that Christ is able, He is able,
to keep that which I've committed unto him. They're both together
for these last two, but they actually need to be separate.
The second part of saving faith is not only knowledge, but it
is confidence in Christ. You wouldn't go to just anybody
and say, I've got $5,000 I want to invest, and just hand it over
to them, would you? I mean, if what you hear on the
news is so, it looks like we must, but I would think we would
give it some thought. And that's just earthly life
and pleasures and whatever we have to buy with that money.
But this is eternal matters. Paul said that Christ is able
to do all he promised, able to keep, he's able. This book says
He's able to save to the uttermost, He's able to keep us from falling,
and He's able to raise our vile bodies. The third thing is commitment. That's the last section, the
very last part of verse 12 in 2 Timothy chapter. Able to keep,
here it is, that which I have committed unto Him against that
day. All right. The second question
about faith. Why is faith the channel of salvation? Well, if we take it in terms
of Ephesians, it is not of works. Why? Lest any man should boast. God has purposed to save Christ's
bride and church people. and to do so in such a way that
we have no room to boast in ourselves, none whatsoever. The honor and
the glory are to Him, our blessed Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus.
And the reason for this is because it gives God all the glory. Secondly, it opens the door of
mercy to all comers. freely acknowledging that there
ain't no comers unless God brings us by His grace. And then thirdly,
it brings us into union with Christ, our Mediator. We're one with Him. Church is said to be His body. All right, that brings me to
the last question. Number three, the third question,
how is saving faith, what bank has it? Where are you going to
find it? What verse in the Bible do I
need to memorize in order to get it? You can't get it like
that. The first one is in our text,
verse 8 of Ephesians 2. And when God gives a gift, He
doesn't take it back if you His gifts are of such nature that
it causes us to use the gift. It'd be foolish for God to send
His Son to die for people that is not going to receive Him.
So He simply takes care of the whole thing from one end to the
other. And we're blessed because it's so. Saving faith, the second way
in which saving faith is said to be is simply by being born
again. The new birth precedes our calling
upon God for mercy in Christ. I know you know this verse. I've
read it I don't know how many times, but I have to do it one
more. 1 John 5 tells us, ah, Lord have mercy. My brain just got out of whack. Here it is. Whosoever believes
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. That's the only way to
account for a person believing. It is the result of being born
again by the Holy That ain't hard. That's just plain so. There was a fellow in the Gospels
who came to our Lord for His child. And our Lord said on His
way to the man's house, He said, only believe. Remember what the
fellow said? I believe, but help thou mine
Faith doesn't cure all of our problems. Why? Because we're
supposed to have problems. That throws us back on Christ.
You win the lottery, you're just going to shoot yourself. I mean,
we say that if we won it, boy, we'd be the most generous people
this world has ever seen. Just looking at what you can
see, it don't work that way. The hymn writer put it this way.
Let not conscience make nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth
is to feel our need of him. But now listen, you can't even
do that. I can't even do that. The original
hymn goes like this after that word. Let not conscience make
you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream. This He gives you. This God gives you. This He gives
you. This He gives you. Tis the Spirit's
rising beam. It's the first indication that
a work of grace has took place in the heart, namely to be born
again. Therefore, that is how saving
faith is obtained. Now, if you take your course
book, the inside,