The great preacher and hymn writer,
one of my favorite writers, John Newton, once said, John Newton,
who was the slave traitor whom the Lord saved, John Newton,
the man with the blasphemous mouth, evil, wicked life and
heart, whom God saved, Said one time, when I stand in
glory in the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ, three things
will utterly astound me. I'm going to see people there
I didn't expect to see. I'm going to miss some folks
I surely thought, because of their religion, Religious profession
would be there. But the most amazing, astounding
thing will be to find John Newton. Meet in the presence of the Lord,
redeemed forever. How can it be that he would save
a soul like you? No, like me. Gotta come to that
place. Never be found till you're lost.
plumb loss and realize that salvation is by grace. That's our subject,
verse 8. By grace are you saved. What
is grace? I open to the scripture of Ephesians
2 because I'm going to stay right here for a little while. What
is grace? What we readily answer, which
is good. Grace is undeserved favor. That
it is. Grace is unearned. It certainly
is, but it's not grace. It's really unexpected. It's
God giving us what we don't deserve. Now that's all true. But let
me tell you something. Grace is more than that. Grace
is divine influence upon the heart. Divine influence on the
heart. It's an active work of God in
us. It's not just something God prepared
for us, and purpose for us, is something he applied to us. I'll
give you an example. The first time the word grace
appears in the Bible, it says Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord, a favor undeserved, unearned, unexpected. But then later on the verse says,
and Noah being warned of God, for things not changed, prepared
an art to the saving of the child. God did a work in the heart of
that man and in the mind of that man actively that caused him
to do what he did. So grace is not just providing
favor unearned and undeserved. It's applying it. Who maketh thee to differ? What
dost thou have, thou didn't see? So it's grace coming, grace intervening,
and grace divinely influencing my heart. By grace are you saved
through faith. What is faith? What is faith? Well, turn with me to the book
of 2 Timothy. I believe Paul in 2 Timothy 1,
verse defines faith as well as it can be defined. In 2 Timothy
1.12, what is faith? By grace are you saved through
faith. Here in 2 Timothy 1.12, Paul
says this, for the witch cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless,
I'm not ashamed. Now here's my confession. I'm
not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed." Faith is made
up of many things, but first, knowledge. You can't call upon
Him whom you don't believe, and you can't believe in Him of whom
you haven't heard. So Paul says, I know who my Lord
is. I know who my Savior is. I know
who He is. I know what He did. I know why
He did it. I know where He is now. I know
Him. So that's the first part of faith, is to know Him. Eternal
life is to know the living God in Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
The Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may
know Him as His Christ. And listen, Paul goes on. I know
whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that He's able. I'm
confident. That's that word persuaded. I'm
confident. That Jesus Christ is the only Savior. He's the
effectual Savior. He's the sufficient Savior. He's
all I need. Jesus Christ is made to me all
I need. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption. It's all I need. The fullness of God dwelleth
in Him. I'm complete in Him. Now something
that's complete doesn't need anything added. So Paul said,
I know him, know who he is, and I'm confident beyond a shadow
of a doubt, persuaded like Abraham of old, that he'll keep. Here's the third thing. That
which I've committed to him. I've surrendered. I've received
Christ. I've laid it all upon him. My
hope is built on nothing left. in Jesus' blood and His righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. I wholly, wholly, completely lean on Jesus' name. I claim
no other hope. Christ loved me and died for
me. That's it. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
And that's it. That's faith. I know Him. I'm
confident that He's able. to keep that which I've commissioned. My salvation is not in this church.
My salvation is not even in this book. It's not in a profession
that I made years ago in Christ. I committed it to Him. All right,
listen, let's go back to my text. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. Now listen to me a moment. What
not of ourselves? What's not of ourselves? For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself.
All three are not of yourself. Grace is not of yourself, it's
the grace of God. Salvation is not of you. The
Bible says this, Jonah 2.9, salvation of the Lord. In Psalm 3.8, salvation
belongeth unto the Lord. Psalm 37 and 39, the salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord, of Him only. Grace is not of yourself. Salvation
is not of yourself. You didn't produce faith either.
That's the gift of God. That's right. It's given to you
to believe. Our Lord said to the disciples
one day, whom do men say that I am? What are they saying out
there? The disciples said, well, some
of them say you're John the Baptist back from the dead. Some of them
say you're Jeremiah, so what are the prophets? Well, whom
do you say that I am? Peter stepped forward and he
said, Lord, thou art the Christ. Thou art the Son of the living
God. He said, Simon, son of Barjona, son of Jonah, Flesh and blood
didn't reveal that to you, but my Father. And it's given to
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, to them it's
not given. Faith's the gift of God. It's
the gift of God. Philippians, turn over to Philippians
a moment. Philippians chapter 1. Philippians
chapter 1, listen to this, verse 29. Philippians chapter 1, I'm saying
that faith's the gift of God. It's given to you to believe.
Philippians 1, 29, For unto you it is given in the behalf of
Christ, not only to believe on him, but to suffer for him. God gives us faith, and God sends
the trials that try our faith. It's given to you not only to
believe on him, but to suffer. for his name, given to you, faced
the gift of God. All right, look at verse 9 of
our text, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 9. And it's not of works,
for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast. Let me give you about four reasons
why salvation and faith and eternal life and eternal glory is not
of works. He says it's not of yourselves
and it's not of works. And I'll give you four reasons.
Number one, the reason salvation is not of works is because that's
impossible with men. One day the disciples asked the
Lord, they said, who can be saved? He said with men, it's impossible.
It's impossible. Salvation is impossible. So that's
the reason it's not of worth, it's impossible. With God all
things are possible, but not possible with me. The second
reason why it's not of worth is that it might be sure. You know what I'd like to have
is a sure hope? A sure hope. A good hope. A sure hope and a good hope.
Well how can I have a good hope and a sure hope if it depends
on me? What if, like Peter, I get scared and deny the Lord? See what I'm saying? What if,
like Lot, I wander down in the cities of the plains? Wonder if, like Demas, I think
he came back later. Or like John Mark, who left Paul,
but he came back later. But if it depended on me, I can't
have a sure hope. Let me show you a verse of Scripture
in Romans chapter 4. Any salvation that depends in
any way upon anything that you and I do can't be sure. Look at Romans 4, verse 16. Now
listen, watch this carefully now, Romans 4, 16. Therefore it is of faith, salvation
is of faith, life is of faith, that it might be by grace. to
the end, the great result, that the promise might be sure to
all to see, not only to the Jew of the law, but to that which
is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. The
only way that salvation, eternal life, can be sure is if it doesn't
depend on anything you do, or produce, or I do. It depends
on what Christ did, who he is. by grace. Sure, that's a sure
hope. That's a good hope. Here's the
third reason why it's not of works and not of ourselves. That God might get all the glory. God can't get all the glory if
it depends on me. If God's done all he can do,
now it's up to me. We share equally in the glory. If I took the first step, and
God met me, then we share the glory. If Jesus died on the cross
and paid every sin, but his blood is not effectual, till I give
my approval and acceptance, then I share equally with the glory.
But that's not what the Word says. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1.
1 Corinthians chapter 1. God gets all the glory. While
you're finding 1 Corinthians 1, let me quote a scripture.
The Lord God is a jealous God. He'll not share his glory with
anyone. Now look at 1 Corinthians 1,
verse 30. But of God are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written.
He that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. So it's got to be by grace without
works, because it'd be impossible with man, and because he can't
be sure, if it depends on anything I do, and because God doesn't
get all the glory unless God does all the works. And the fourth
thing is this. that we should not boast. That's
what it says here in verse 9, not of works lest any man should
boast. And I'll tell you this, a salvation
that depends in any way upon what we do, or a reward in heaven,
that is issued to us depending on our merit or our Our faithfulness
is going to produce most of it. There's no way around it. That's
human nature. People are proud. People are proud. That's the
greatest sin in the sight of God. He said six things God hates. Yet seven are abomination to
God. What's the first thing? A proud look. Pride. Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before the Father. humble yourselves under the mighty
hand of God, he'll exalt you in due time. Pride. Here or hereafter? So much pride in religion. Someone
says there's four types of pride that's an abomination. Pride
of race, the pride of place, the pride of faith, and that
awful pride of grace. Do you know the word rewards?
Plural is not in the Bible anywhere in reference to God's people.
And I know preachers put a lot of emphasis on this. You're sending
up treasures to build your mansion. And when you're going to get
up there, when you get up there, you're going to have a crown with many
stars. And you're going to have all these rewards that God's
going to give you for things you did here on earth. That's
not true. Christ is our reward. That's
what he said to Abraham when this whole thing started. He
said, Abraham, way back on in the first chapters of Genesis,
Abraham, I've called you out, and I'm your shield, and I'm
your reward, and that's all I need. What could be better than Christ?
What could be better than to be made in the likeness and image
of the Son of God? What on earth, jangling, tinkling,
whatever reward they may hand out, better than standing in
the image of the Son of God. It's just, it's not of work,
because I know we boast. It has to be not of work, lest
any man should boast. He will, if he gets any credit. We're all so proud. You know,
if you take a group picture, Everybody looks at the group
picture. You look for one face first. And it's a good picture
depending on how you look. Exactly right. Nothing we'd rather
see than our name in the paper. Because it means we got something somebody else
had. My God, listen to this. Listen
to this song. Listen to this song. No more,
my God. I boast no more of any works
that I've done. I deny all hope that I held before,
and I trust wholly in the merits of your son. Because of your
grace, I know his name. What was my gain, I count my
loss. My former pride, I call my shame. And I nail all my glory to the
cross. That's a good place for it, isn't
it? Pretense, profession, ambition, nail it to the cross. The very
best deeds of my hands dare not appear before God's throne. I'm
talking about this sermon I'm trying to preach. It's the truth,
isn't it? But I wouldn't dare present this
before God as any credit. Pick the best thing you've ever
done in your life. And he says, the very best deeds of my hands
dare not appear before thy throne. Faith answers every demand by
pleading what my Lord has done. Oh, that's different. Not what
I have done, but he's done. By grace are you saved. Through
faith. That's not of yourself. It's
a gift of God. Not of work. That's what any
man should boast. Here or hereafter. For, look
at verse 10, for, listen. With his workmanship, salvation
is a work. It's a work. But it's a work
God does for you and in you. It's a work. We're His workmanship. What does the Amplified Bible
say? We're God's handiwork. We're God's jewels. We're God's
trophies. We're God's vessels of mercy.
We're God's bride. recreated in Christ Jesus, born
again, born anew, a new creation. Salvation is God's work. You're
His workmanship. He's done a mighty wonderful
thing for us. God did a wonderful thing for me and you when in
Christ He set us free. It's God's work. The author is
God. The author of salvation is God.
His workmanship. Listen to this. Hebrews 5, 9
says, And being made perfect, Christ became the author of eternal
salvation. He's the author. And being made
perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation to all them
that believe on Him. Look to Jesus. He's the author
and finisher of our faith. And secondly, you know who the
subjects are? Who is the subject of this salvation? Well, if you
will, look back at verse 2 of the same chapter of Ephesians. Here we are. In times past we
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, among whom also we all had our
conversation, our behavior in times past in the lust of the
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh. We were by mind.
and children of wrath by nature, even as others, but God, but
God, not but we changed our minds, but we had a change of heart,
but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us even when we were dead, dead in sin, he quickened
us, he's the author, it's his workmanship. And the subject
of these us, children of wrath, even as others. That's right. And it's an inward work. The
scripture says, for it's God that worketh in you, both to
will and to do his pleasure. Paul said, God separated me from
my mother's womb and revealed his son in me. This saving work
is not an outward work, it's an inward work. The King's daughter
is glorious within. That's what Psalm says, Psalm
45. You read that the other night.
The King's daughter is beautiful within. All believers aren't so pretty
outwardly, but they're pretty on the inside. That's right. They're not all
beautiful. on the outside, but I'm telling you this, that inward
man's renewed every day. That old man, that old nature,
that old flesh is withered and wrinkled. Look at these hands.
I looked at my hands the other day and I said, that's my daddy's
hands. That's not my hands. Sure, yeah,
that's my daddy's hands, wrinkled and old and spotted. But I don't
look that way inside. God's the author, and the subjects
are a bunch of scallywags. and the work's done within."
That's right, it's inside. The king's daughter's beautiful
on the inside, and Peter said, our adorning, you ladies listen
to this now, it ain't near as important how much makeup you
wear and how many rings and gaudy things. Here's where the work
is. Whose adorning is not outward. It's not outward, it's of the
heart. It's a meek and gentle spirit.
which in the sight of God Almighty is of great pride. That's where
it is. Not so much how you look as how
you act. That's right. And this work's a continual work
with his workmanship, his workmanship. We are. Boy, we don't deserve
it, but we are, and it's inside. And fourth, it's a continual
work. It's not perfected at once. You
know that. It's not all at once. This grace,
this growth in grace, this new man is continued in a growth
until the finishing stroke is applied. An artist can paint
a picture. He knows in his mind what it's
going to look like. He'd be foolish not to. to be
able to have. He knows when he gets through
what it's going to look like. But it's not finished. The last brush
sweeps across the place. He stands back and says it's
finished. He that hath begun a good work in you shall perfect
it in the day of Christ Jesus. I'm not what I used to be. I'm
not what I ought to be. I'm not what I want to be. But
I ain't what I used because he did a work. He's not for a year.
He's not for a year. It's a continual work. He'll finish it in the day of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And what's this? It's a new work. Salvation is not reformation.
Salvation is not a repair job done on the old nature. Salvation
is not a remodeling. It's not remodeling. I think,
Ed, you told me your first contracting job was remodeling a house down
on Winchester Avenue years ago. You quit remodeling and went
to building new ones, didn't you? That makes a lot of difference.
God doesn't remodel us. He doesn't use anything we have
by nature. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. Behold, I'll make all things
new. That old nature never changes. I think it gets worse. But that
new man grows. That's right. I love the story
that Spurgeon told. He said this fella, he walked
in the world, he lived in the world, he partook of the world,
he was just a very sinful, outwardly, like folks are some in some places,
just wicked. And God saved him. Old John,
God saved old John. Cleaned him up inside. Made him
a new Christian. Gave him a new hope. Gave him
a joy in the Lord, peace. He walked down the street one
day and a couple of his old cronies across the street saw him. They
hadn't seen him in months. One of them said, hey, there's
John. Hey, John, wait a minute. John said, it ain't me. You got the wrong number. I'm
a new man. That's what I'm talking about.
With his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, not a repair
job, a reform job, a remodel job, it's a new creature. Starting
on the inside. And he says here, remember, with
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works. Unto good works. I'm slowing
down here, but I want to give you this. Listen carefully. Unto
good works. Good works are called works of
faith. Good works are called labor of
love. You see, the good works are not
the root, they're the fruit. The good works are not the cause
of salvation, they're the results of salvation. You go by and see
a great grape vineyard. Boy, those beautiful purple grapes
are hanging everywhere. But let me tell you something.
That vine is not living because it's bearing fruit. It's bearing
fruit because it's living. That fruit got nothing to do
with the life of that vine. It may not bear much fruit. It
may just bear one little grape. But if it's living, it'll bear
one little grape, or two, or ten, or twenty. The vine is not living because
of the fruit, the fruit is there because of the life of the vine.
And that's me and that's you. With his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus, on two good works, which God ordained, appointed,
decreed, before he ever saved us, that we should what? Walk
in this. The good works of a believer
is not a one-time shot. Good works are not a single act.
Good works are not something done once a year or twice a year. It's a walk. It's a tenor of life. It's a
bend of the wheel. I see these folks every once
in a while who make a special offering to the orphan's home
or somewhere and they'll told a big check up, and the president,
and vice president, and the secretary all stand there. Here's a big
check. The club's given one shot deal. But the believer is not
that way. He doesn't boast of his deeds.
He doesn't take credit for his deeds. He doesn't advertise his
deeds. He just walks in it. That's right. It's a walk. He leadeth me and has a walk. It's something he thinks about,
something he delights in, it's something he wants to do, it's
something for the glory of God he wants to do, he wants to help
others and relieve the pain and suffering and want and need and
just keeps on doing it. God ordained him to walk in those
things. And remember, I'm going to give
you this in closing, remember where you came from, don't ever
forget this. He said here to the to Israel,
over here in, turn to Isaiah 51, let me show you this over
here, Isaiah 51. This is so interesting. Isaiah
51, this is so interesting. He wants us to remember where
we came from, we were Gentiles, pagans, when God called us. But over here in Isaiah 51, he's
speaking to the Israelites, speaking to the Jews, He says, Isaiah 51-1, hearken
to me, you that follow after righteousness, Jacob, Joseph,
Isaiah, all these fellows, you that seek the Lord. Look to the
rock whence you're hewn. Who is that? Abraham. Look to
Abraham, the rock. Look to the hole of the pit whence
you're digged. Who's that? That's Sabaoth. Go
look at the next verse. Look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sabaoth who bears you. I called him alone. I blessed
him and increased him. You look where I found you, God
said. You look to the pit. You look
to the rock from which you're healed. Now he says this, Abraham
was a Chaldean, a pagan Chaldean, an idolatry. Abraham was my age. Down in early
Chaldea, he was worshipping idols, and God called him. That's our
daddy. That's our father. The father
of the faithful. Look what he was. He's the rock
that God hewed out. We came from him. He said, look
to the pit. What's that? That's the womb
of Saba. Saba's womb, long time barren, shut up. Impossible to
have a child. Impossible. Nearly 100 years
old. Dried up, dead, closed up. That's
the pit. That's the hope from which Isaac
came, a miracle of grace, all of God. And Abraham's own one,
his family, I called, he said. I called him alone. He's the
only one in all the cavities I called. I called him. I get the glory. Now then, back
to my text, Ephesians 2, verse 11. Now you remember what you
were. You Gentiles, you Ephesians. See? Gentiles in the flesh. Gentiles in the flesh. Uncircumcision. They called you Gentile dogs,
the Jews did. Uncircumcision by that which
is called a circumcision in the flesh made by hands. And at that
time, now watch this. You were Gentiles. You were not
of the house of Abraham or the lineage. You were not of the
covenant people. You were not of Israel. To whom
God gave the prophets, the priests, the tabernacle, the promises,
the ark, the mercies. You were not a Jew, you were
a Gentile. All of us were. And therefore you were without
Christ. What does that mean? You were without the promise
of the Messiah. The Messiah was not promised
to the Chaldeans, it was promised to Israel. One promised to the
Philistines, it was promised to Israel. One promised to the
Babylonians, it was promised to Israel. You were without the
promise of the Messiah. Read on. You were aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel. You were not citizens. You couldn't
dwell in the land of Israel. You couldn't walk in the temple,
being a Gentile. You couldn't take the Passover.
You couldn't converse with a Jew, and you couldn't marry one. You
were an alien. That's right. Read on. You were
strangers from the covenant of promise. The Gentiles, having
not the law, didn't have a promise. They didn't have a temple. They
didn't have a mercy seat, didn't have a priest, didn't have a
sacrifice, didn't have any blood, didn't have any law, and therefore
having no hope. One must hear to have hope. You
must hear to have knowledge. If he doesn't hear, he has no
possibility of a hope, and you are without God. The Gentiles
had no prophets, no scriptures, no prescribed worship, no sacrifices,
no means by which they could approach God. It was said in
that day, he who dwells outside the land of Israel is like one
who has no God. That's what he's saying, I think. Verse 13, but God, but
now. I tell you, what Paul is impressing
us with is remember, remember, like he said to those Jews in
Isaiah, remember the rock from which you were human. Remember
the pit, the hole from which you came. I chose him. I called him. I gave him life. And you remember this, one time
your ancestors were without Christ, without a covenant, without a
priest, without a hope, and without God in this world. In Christ Jesus, by the grace
of God, you who were so far off are made now by the blood of
Christ. Is that not the gospel? He's
our peace. He hath made both Jew and Gentile
one, broken down the middle wall of partition between us. He's
abolished in his flesh the enmity, the law of commandments. He's
made us one in Christ. That's it. That's the truth. That's the gospel. And you go and read the rest
of that. That's what I would try to present
to my generation. It hasn't changed. The word hasn't
changed. They talk about contemporary
worship and contemporary music and contemporary this and contemporary
that. It hasn't changed. This is the message Abraham believed,
Moses, Isaiah, Jacob. Isaac, Simeon, the apostles,
Paul, Augustine, all the way down through the years, hadn't
changed. Worship hadn't changed, singing hadn't changed, truth
hadn't changed, gospel hadn't changed. Don't try to change
it. Salvation is by grace, through faith. That knowledge
of yourself is a gift of God, not of words, lest you find a
little boast That's saying there's a fountain filled with blood,
222.