God Shed His Grace On Thee

If you'll open your Bibles to
the book of Ephesians, chapter 2, I'll read my text again. Ephesians 2, verse 8. 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. Now,
there's no work. which our Lord hath done, in
which all of his divine attributes are manifested quite like in
the work of redemption and salvation. His wisdom hath made the plan
of redemption. Paul said in Colossians 1.24,
Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. In 1 Corinthians
1.30, he is made unto us wisdom. We see in redemption the wisdom
of God. And then we see in redemption
the justice of God. God's justice was satisfied in
Christ. He gave his son to be an atonement,
a sacrifice, a mercy seat, that he might be just and justify
the ungodly. Isaiah wrote in chapter 53, verse
10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He who was numbered with
the transgressors, he who bared the sin of many, was bruised
by the Father. It pleased God to bruise him.
He spared not his son, so his justice is satisfied in redemption. And then the attribute of righteousness. By one man's disobedience we
were made sinners, by Christ's obedience we were made righteous. And he who knew no sin was made
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So in redemption we see the holiness,
the righteousness of God. And then his power is manifested
in redemption. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. It is the power of God under salvation, this power
in the new birth, as power in the revelation of our sins, as
power in the revelation of Christ, as power in passing from death
unto life. We are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. And then his sovereignty is seen
in redemption. God said, I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven, in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. And then his immutability, that
is, his unchangeable character, is seen in salvation. The gifts
and calling of God are without change, and he is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. So we see the attributes of God
in salvation. There's no work that God has
done that quite reveals all of his attributes like Redemption. His wisdom, his power, his grace,
his love, his sovereignty, his immutability, all of these things
are seen in Redemption. But the chief attribute, the
chief attribute of salvation is found here in our text, Ephesians
2.8, for by grace. By grace are you saved. Grace
is the fountainhead of salvation. By grace are you saved. And the
real student of redemption, and you don't have to be a theologian
to be a student of redemption, the real student of redemption
sees the grace of God running the whole of our history from
eternity to eternity, from our election in eternity passed to
our revelation in glory, the student of redemption sees it's
all of grace. There is not one point or one
place from our election to our revelation on which you can put
your finger and say, this is earned, this is merited, this
is of worth. from eternity past to eternity
future, from our election in eons past to our revelation in
future glory, it is all of grace. And Paul, the apostle who wrote
the book of Ephesians, is the apostle of grace. Grace is the
theme of his song. Grace is the theme of his message. Grace is the theme of his ministry. You know why? For three reasons. Number one, because salvation
is by grace alone. Paul said if it's of grace, it's
not of works. If it's of works, it's not of
grace. He said we're freely justified
by God's grace. He says the wages of sin is death,
but the gift, the gift of God is eternal life. I'll tell you
another reason why Paul is the apostle of grace, not only because
salvation is by grace, that's the way God saves men, for by
grace are you saved. But secondly, he's the apostle
of grace because every man by nature fights grace. Every man by nature, though we
have nothing good in us, we like to think that we have. Though
we have broken God's law, And though we have no claim at all
to any divine mercy or any divine favor, we fancy, all of us do,
we're not quite as bad as the next fellow. Guilty is the hardest
word in the human language to speak. Guilty. But the scripture
says that all are guilty. The law of God has as condemned
as guilty every son of Adam. Then the third reason why Paul
is the apostle of grace is this. Grace is the only hope and the
only comfort for any honest sinner. Realizing God's holiness, realizing
his own sinfulness, realizing his own state and condition,
realizing his inability, Seeing that his righteousness is nothing
but filthy rags, he must insist on grace and mercy. There's no
other way. As Paul said, "...other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ Jesus the Lord."
And then what greater blessing could possibly rest upon a son
of Adam than for him to find grace in the eyes of the Lord?
Turn to Genesis 3. I think this is one of the most
beautiful verses of Scripture in the Bible. Genesis 6 it is.
Genesis chapter 6 verse 8. I think this is one of the most
beautiful verses in all the Bible. It's my prayer for myself. It's
my prayer for you. That you might find grace in
the eyes of the Lord. Listen to this. In Genesis 6
verse 8. Now Almighty God, the wrath of
God rested upon this world. But Genesis 6 verse 8 says, But
Noah. Now God had already said that
He looked down upon men and He saw that every imagination of
their heart was evil continually. Verse 8 says, But Noah. Almighty
God had already decided to destroy the world. He said, My wrath
has come up. I will not spare man. I will
destroy the world. There shall not be one living
thing left. Verse 8 says, But Noah, God's
wrath is upon the world. Every imagination of man's heart
is evil. God will destroy the world. But
Noah, he doesn't say, but Noah was better than his fellow man. He doesn't say Noah was more
devoted than his fellow man. He doesn't say, but Noah knew
God better than his fellow man. It says, but Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. The wrath of God upon the world,
but Noah found grace. God saw the imagination of every
heart, evil continued, but Noah found grace. God says, I'm going
to send my wrath upon this world in a flood of judgment, but Noah
found grace. And in that grace, God revealed
his purpose to Noah. God revealed his way of deliverance
to Noah. God provided and kept Noah, and
God set him safe on the other side. But it was the grace of
God that made the difference. It was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious, precious did that
grace appear the hour I first believed, through many dangers,
Toils and snares I have already come, t'was grace that brought
me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. Four things in
the message tonight. First of all, it was covenant
grace that chose us. Turn with me to 2 Timothy 1 verse
9. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. It was covenant
grace that chose us. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter
1 verse 9, who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, just like Noah, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And we don't
lack grace. God's attributes are nowhere
revealed in their perfection and power and beauty like in
salvation. And in salvation we see the grace
of God from eternity past to eternity future. We find grace
in the eyes of the Lord. And Noah, when he was delivered,
and he's a type of every believer, Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Now, when did this grace start?
We found grace in the eyes of the Lord. I believe that. Every
believer here tonight has found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Now, when did it start? According to His grace, which
was given us, set upon us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Now, what is there about elective
grace that makes men so angry. What is there about covenant
grace? Now I'm talking, this is what
I'm talking about. And this is what this verse says.
That God has saved us, not according to our works. And our works here
could be our baptism, our church membership, our decision, whatever,
just name it, whatever. Our works, our faith, Our giving,
preaching, praying, witnessing, Bible study, not according to
our work, but according to His grace. And His purpose, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Why do
men object to that? It's in the Word of God. John
15, 16, our Lord said, you didn't choose me, I chose you. That's
the Word of God. Ephesians 1.4, he said, according
as he had chosen us in Christ before the world began. That's
what the Bible said. 2 Thessalonians 2.13, we're bound
to give thanks for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Romans 9.11,
the children being not yet born, speaking of Jacob and Esau, neither
having done any good or evil, That the purpose of God according
to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.
It was said to her, to the mother, the elder shall serve the younger.
That's my purpose, God said. Men object to it, they fight
over it, they gnash their teeth, they will not have it, they despise
it. Why? It's in the word of God. And
then secondly, I don't know why men fight it and why they object
to it, because there's no other way that the human race could
have survived the fall without covenant grace. Now, you think
a minute. If it hadn't been for election
in Christ, if it hadn't been for God making a covenant with
his Son before the fall, Adam and Eve and this human race would
have never survived that fall. Satan didn't survive his. Satan
is reserved to judgment. The angels that fell, they didn't
survive because there's no Savior. There was no surety. There was
no covenant. And when Satan fell, God's unparalleled
wrath fell on him. When the angels fell, God Almighty's
unmixed Pure wrath fell on them, and they were reserved to judgment.
He took not on himself the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham.
So I'm saying when Adam stood in that garden and took that
forbidden fruit, the only thing that prevented the human race
from perishing on the spot is the fact that God Almighty already
had in Christ a covenant. that already we had a surety
standing for us. We already had the blood of the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world on the mercy seat
in the eyes of God, in the heart of God, in the promise of God
right then. So I don't know why a man, why
any thoughtful, and I don't believe a thoughtful man would, would
object to elective grace had it not been for that covenant. There wouldn't be any human race.
And then thirdly, in our natural depravity, we never would have
chosen Christ. We never would have come to him.
Do you think you would have? I've been impressed by this television series on roots. I
think it's one of the greatest things ever been shown on television.
I wish it had been shown years ago. And the other night we were
watching and Paul asked me, he said, the thing that troubles
me is if we had lived in that day as white people, would we
have done the same thing? Good question, isn't it? Do you think that you would have
chosen Christ, left alone, huh? You would have come to him? Scripture
said you wouldn't. Christ said in John 5, 40, you
will not come to me that you might have left. Scripture says
in John 6, verse 44, no man can come to me except my Father draw
him. Our Lord said, let another come
in his own name and him you will receive. I come in my Father's
name and you will. You know what makes the difference
in you believing the gospel, trusting Christ? You know what
makes the difference? The grace of God. The fact that
God chose you, and that God wouldn't let you go, and that God set
you apart and God anointed you with his saving grace. "'Tis
not that I did choose thee, Lord, that could not be. If thou hast
not chosen me, I would have never chosen thee.'" Do you know that?
Whether you know it or not, it's so. And then why do men object
to this doctrine that's in the Word of God? It held back the
wrath and judgment of God. It turned the throne of God's
justice into a throne of grace. And if he had not chosen Sodom,
none would be saved. Paul said, except the Lord of
the Sabbath had left us a seed, we'd be like Sodom and Gomorrah. The angel of the Lord told Abraham,
said, we're going to destroy, God's going to destroy Sodom. Abraham said, well, Lord, If
you find 50 righteous men there, will you spare it? I certainly
will. Well, Lord, don't be angry, but
if you find 40, will you spare it? I certainly will. Well, Lord,
if you find 30? 20? Lord, let me ask one more
question. If you find 10 righteous men
there, will you spare it? I'll spare it for 10. Well, there
wasn't 10. And that's what Paul is saying,
if God hadn't left us a seed, if God hadn't put his seed within
us, if God hadn't by his grace set us apart, who made you to
differ, the scripture said? The grace of God. And if he had
not arrested you and stopped you and sustained you, well,
you'd be like Sodom and Gomorrah. That's what the scripture is
saying. Thank God for his grace. Thank God for His covenant mercies. Thank God for the love that would
not let us go. Ashamed of it? My soul, I thank
God for it. Hesitant about talking about
covenant grace and elective mercies? I know for a rule I love it. I thank God for it. His grace
started back yonder, he said, in Christ before the world began,
which was given us before the world began. Secondly, it was
his preventive grace that pursued us through our days of rebellion. Turn to John 6, verse 37. John 6, verse 37. And while you're
turning, think about this. David was God's anointed king. You know it and I know it. because
God sent Samuel down there to anoint him. David was God's king,
wasn't he? And David may be hounded, David
may be hunted, David may be despised, David may be rejected, David
may be the object of Saul's wrath, David may have close calls with
death, close brushes with tragedy, but David's going to one day
sit on that throne because he's God's elect. That's right. Saul of Tarsus is God's anointed
preacher. He's God's chosen vessel. God
said so. He's a chosen vessel unto me.
He said of Saul just the same thing he said of Jeremiah. Jeremiah,
before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Before you came
out of your mother's womb, I set you apart and sanctified you,
and you were mine. Saul of Tarsus for 40 years may
curse and swear and hate Christ and resist Him and despise Him.
He may persecute the church. He may secure papers to cast
people into prison, jail believers, but he's going to one day be
broken at the feet of Christ. He's going to one day preach
that gospel he despised. Why? He's God's elect. And God's
grace that was given him before the world began is God's preventive
grace that will secure him and keep him and sustain him till
God brings him where he wants him to be. And the same thing's
true of every one of you whom God has saved. You can go to
the ends of the world, but you'll wind up in his arms. You can
buck him, you can resist him, you can curse him, you can despise
him, you can do what you please, but someday you'll willingly
come to Christ. That gospel will reach out there
and break your heart, and break down every alibi and excuse and
wall of resistance. Onesimus, he's God's bond slave,
and he may serve in Philemon's garden, he may plot and plan
and run away, he may flee to Rome, but he'll just run into
the arms of Christ, because he's God's elect. That's what our
Lord said in John 6, verse 37, "...all that my Father giveth
me shall come to me." They may not come until they're 50 years
old, but they'll come. They may not come until they're
45, but they'll come. They may not come until they're
60, but I'll guarantee you they're going to come. Because our Lord
said, All that my Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from
heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent
me, and watch it, this is my Father's will, which hath sent
me, that of all which he hath given me I'll lose nothing."
Not a one. Not a one. Whom he predestinated,
he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. Old Paul was preaching down in
a town and he was having a time. They were cursing him, and criticizing
him, and stoning him, and trying to run him out of town, and he
was having a riot, and he's getting ready to pack up and leave. But
before he packed up and left, he had prayer. And the Lord said
to him, Saul, Paul, you stay right where you are. You stay
right where you are. Don't you leave. You stay right
where you are. They're not going to hurt you.
I'm not going to let them hurt you. You stay right where you are
and preach because, why? You know why? I have much people
in this city. That's why. I've got some people
here. And they're going to hear you,
Paul, because my sheep hear my voice. They're going to hear
you. My father gave them me. My father
which is greater than I gave them me. And no man's going to
pluck them out of my hand, out of my father's hand. You stay
right where you are and preach. And they'll be coming. I don't know who you are, God's
elect. I don't know where you are, God's
elect. But I know this, if you were given to Christ before the
world began, He's going to have you, and He's going to have you
not by the hair of the head, but He's going to have you willingly
and lovingly. He's going to have you broken
in heart with a contrite step. He's going to have you at His
feet one of these days. He may have to kill you to get
you there, but he'll get you there. Thirdly, it was saving
grace that redeemed us. Look at Romans 3. Romans 3, verse
23. In Romans 3, verse 23, it says
this, "...all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
All of these elect, those who were given grace before the world
began, those whom God has sustained and kept One of God's sheep is
immortal until he's brought home. He's immortal. All the demons
of hell can't touch him until he's brought home. That's right.
And we've all sinned. We've sinned in Adam, we've sinned
in heart, we've sinned in mind, we've sinned in deed, we've come
short of the glory of God. What is God's glory? His holiness. His mercy. His love. His goodness. His grace. And you and I weighed in those
balances and we come up awful short. Short of the glory of
God. But look at the next verse. But
being freely, freely. Brethren, we never were on probation.
No sir. In Adam, condemnation came upon
all men. Men have never been on probation. They're not on probation now.
The law condemns them. And believers are not on probation.
Somebody says, pray that I hold out. If that's your theology,
you'll never make it. Because God's people are not
on probation. What does it say here? They are
justified freely! There's no bargain there. There's
no terms laid down there, if you do this, if you do that,
if you don't, if you do, if you don't. It says freely! They're
justified freely by what? By His grace. through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord, justified freely by his grace. Fourthly, turn to Philippians
1, grace. Philippians 1 verse 6, we are
not only recipients of that grace from eternity, we are not only
preserved by that grace and Sustained by that grace and redeemed by
that grace, but we're kept by that grace Philippians chapter
1 now watch this carefully and listen to it Philippians 1 verse
6 Paul says I'm confident of this very thing That's pretty
positive in here is the apostle of God. Here's that chosen vessel. Here's that man who wrote 13
books of the New Testament and Here's that man who preached
more gallantly and suffered more honorably than any. Here's that
man who was taken to the third heaven and saw things that wasn't
lawful. Here you're saying, I'm confident of this. Watch it. What are you confident of, Paul?
That he which hath begun a good work, and it doesn't say for
you, though that's true, but in you. This work of redemption
is a work in you. It's a work for you on Calvary,
and for you at the right hand of God, and for you before the
judgment of God, but in you by the Holy Spirit. And he that
hath begun this good work in you, whose work is it? It's his
work. And he started it, who's going to finish it? He's going
to finish it. He's going to perform it. And
that word perform, if you've got a Bible with a margin reference,
is f-i-n-i-s-h, finish. Whose work is it? God's work.
Who began it? God did. Who carries it on? God
is. Who's going to finish it? God's
going to finish it. Because everything God starts, He finishes. Now
what does the Word of God teach about the security of the redeemed? What does the Word of God teach
about the security of the saved, of the elect? It teaches two
things. And you'll turn to Jeremiah 32, they're both in that one
verse. Jeremiah 32. It teaches two things. People
who run around arguing what's saved, always saved, need to
have not just their theology examined, but their heads examined,
really. That's right. I don't mean to be cruel and
curt and uncharitable, but I'm simply saying it's a foolish
discussion. If God saves a man, God saves him, and God keeps
him, and God will finish him. If he's a religionist and he's
made a moral reformation or a religious reformation or some kind of dedication,
it's his business and he'd wind it up and finish it and lose
it and everything else. But God does it. And that's where
you decide who does the work. In Jeremiah 32 verse 40, now
watch this, here it is right here, the two things that Scripture
teaches about the security of the redeemed. And I will make
an everlasting covenant with them, and that I will not turn
away from them to do them good. I'll put my fear in their hearts,
and they won't depart from me." There you have it. The Bible
teaches two things about the security of the redeemed. They
will persevere, and God will preserve them. They will continue
in faith. They will continue in Christ.
I'm not saying they won't stumble and fumble and sway and fail
and all these things. They're human beings with human
natures and human hearts and human needs and human frailties
and human infirmities. But brother, they're like that
old Mississippi River. It's flowing south. It may flow
west and east and even north in some places, but the general
direction is south. And the people of God, their
general direction, the bent of their will, the tenor of their
life, the direction of their life is unto the Lord. And they'll
continue. Now here's another verse that
teaches the same thing. 1 Peter 1.5. Turn over here.
1 Peter 1.5. It says this in 1 Peter 1.5. It says, That's talking about those people
who have been redeemed, begotten to a living hope, to an inheritance,
incorruptible, undefiled, that faith is not a way, reserved
in heaven. Verse 5, who are kept, how? By the power of God. Now what's this next verse, next
line? Through faith, not apart from faith. And the silly person
that sits around and argues, well, if God elects you, you're
going to be saved, whether you hear the gospel, whether you
have faith. Now he's a fool. And the man over here says you
can have faith and lose it, he is too. But the man here that
knows that we're kept by the power of God, not apart from
faith, but through faith. Not because of faith, but by
His power. But through faith. They will
not leave me, Christ said, and I will not leave them. They shall
continue, and he that hath begun that good work will perform it
in the day of revelation, in the day of his coming. There's
going to be no vacancies in heaven, but there's going to be plenty
of room. Now, the last point, and I close, Psalm 84, verse
11. This grace that began, that was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, that sustained
us, that called us, that redeemed us, that keeps us, one day will
glorify us. Psalms 84 verse 11, look at it. This is what it says. For the
Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory, and glory. God gives grace to those who
feel their need. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.
God gives grace to those who believe in Christ, all things
possible to him that believeth. God gives grace where he's already
given grace. He says you grow in grace. God
gives grace when grace is needed. Paul, my grace is sufficient
for thee. And God will give grace till
it melts into glory. That grace will continue and
that grace will grow. Glory is nothing more, someone
said, than grace fully developed. Glory is nothing more than grace
fully developed. And when we stand before his
throne and someone says, who are these and whence came they?
The answer will be, these are they that have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That will be our
song, Saved by Grace. And then I shall see him face
to face and tell the story, Saved by Grace. By grace are you saved
through faith and that not of yourself. It's the gift of God,
not of work. lest any man should boast. Our
Father, may it please thee to honor thy word. Give us not only
boldness before the throne in our Lord Jesus Christ through
his blood, but our God, give us boldness before men. Give
us boldness to declare thy word as it is to men as they are.
Let us never be ashamed before any person of thy redeeming grace. of thy eternal love. Tis not
I that did choose thee, Lord, that could never be. Had not
thou chosen me, I would have never chosen thee. And so to
be backward and timid about confessing thy eternal love, Lord grant
that it shall not be. That we shall always with meekness
and sincerity and humility and yet with courage declare unto
all men that we were saved by grace, by the grace of God that
shall never fail. Through Christ our Lord we pray.
Amen.

God Shed His Grace On Thee

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God Shed His Grace On Thee

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