As is our custom at the evening hour, we use the Heidelberg Catechism to guide us through the study of God's word and God's providence. We come to day 25, which you'll find reproduced in your bulletin. And I'd like us to pay particular attention to the question and answer given at number 65. Since then, we are made partakers of Christ and all his benefits by faith only. from where does this faith proceed? From the Holy Spirit who works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel and confirms it by the use of the sacraments. I would like us to take as our text this evening words that we have already read from Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 2, and in particular the words of verse 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God. For by grace you have been saved through faith. Paul is giving an emphatic warning against pride, and that is absolutely necessary for us in order to understand the nature of God's grace in the gospel. The context of these words is in the speaking about our eternal hope. In the coming ages, in eternity. So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. It is inevitable that those who have little understanding and less sympathy for the gospel message, that they will present and distort the truths which we hold so dear. Their view of God himself is a parody and indeed it is often blasphemous in the very way in which they present the sovereign God of all the universe. And the gifts which he bestows upon his people are made light of or so debased as to be unrecognizable in the coming ages, not a boring or banal future. It is not that we will be standing around in shapeless white robes, sitting on clouds, strumming harps. Nowhere in Scripture will you find such a depiction of heaven. God is not surrounding himself with mindless sycophants, brain-dead drudges, devoid of any personality. Now what we are told here in Scripture, and that we would enlarge our minds so far as we are able to stretch them in our understanding, that eternity itself will not be sufficient time for God to show us his kindness. I know not how else we might interpret these words, so that in the coming ages, throughout eternity, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness. We have only but begun to understand the goodness and the kindness of God. That we who were once rebels and aliens, we who were painted in the darkest hues as Paul begins to describe the wickedness of a man's heart in his death and in his God-hating condition. are now quickened and made alive. Why? Because of the greatness of His love with which He has loved us. And if we are to understand anything at all from this Scripture regarding the future and what God has in store for us, it is this, that just as God's love and His grace and His mercy and His kindness are as infinite as His being, that endless ages will not be sufficient for Him to show us all that He has prepared for us in glory. Do you see how it is such a travesty and such a distortion of what the Bible teaches us about the nature of eternity? If you think that you're going to be standing around for eternity, somehow floating on a cloud, wearing that formless white robe and strumming a harp. No, that is not the nature of eternity. God is going to be continually revealing His goodness and His kindness throughout all eternity. And just as we can never exhaust the love and the goodness and the kindness of God, so eternity itself will not be sufficient time for God to declare to us His goodness, His grace, and His kindness. There is, therefore, a purpose to eternity. And God is telling us that the reason that He has saved us, redeemed a people for Himself. And by the grace of God, tonight we say, we are that people. I belong to God. when he's talking about what he's going to do in eternity, he's telling me what he's going to do for me. There's a purpose for eternity, and that purpose begins in the here and in the now. His purpose for eternity is what guides his purpose now. For Boys and girls, when you see that word, you have to ask yourself, what part of speech is being used here? It's the introduction of a purpose clause. For, for this reason, this is how it works out. For by grace you have been saved through faith. A significant unfolding of God's eternal plan. How do we enter into this future blessed state, the eternity of which Paul is speaking, which is not long enough for God to show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness, If we had but a glimpse of that glory, the merest understanding according to our finite minds and according to our capacities, even this night we would say, Lord, how might I enter into such a future state of bliss? The immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness. So Paul is opening that out for us by grace. Paul takes, and my apologies for introducing you to parts of speech, but it's important that we grasp the structure of the Word of God so that we see the full weight of what it is saying, for by grace. Paul takes a subordinate clause, by grace, and emphasizes it by giving it prominence and putting it at the beginning of the sentence. The main clause that is set before us is, you have been saved. And it would make just as much sense if the word order were changed. You have been saved by grace. But Paul changes the word order because he wants the emphasis to fall upon those words, by grace. This is God's grace to you. for by grace you have been saved." Do you see how Paul, in introducing this, banishes from our thinking any idea of our own abilities to achieve our own salvation? Paul is saying here, by grace, grasp this great and wonderful truth. It is God's goodness and His kindness. And if we have this anticipation of eternity, in which is not long enough to declare the riches, the immeasurable riches of the grace of God in kindness, if eternity is not sufficient, then when does that begin? And Paul is saying, it begins here, and it begins now. For by grace you have been saved. Now, man's desire is to take at least some of the credit. People at work, perhaps in your place of work, Want to take credit for an idea that belongs to you, and you always feel a little bit irked when you say, well, that was me, I thought about that. But no, it's too late, and your employer, your boss, has given the credit to someone else. We always want to take credit for the things that go well. Something goes well, and we're happy to be thought the source of that. But here is the great contrast when we're looking at the means of salvation, the difference between justification by works and justification by faith. in justification by works, which is the theology of the vast number of the people of this world. Stop anyone in the street, and if he's not actually a warm-hearted believer, he will tell you, I am convinced, every time, He'll tell you what? If he believes in heaven at all, he anticipates that he'll get there by reason of his good works. I've been a good person. I am a good person. And I am sure that come the great day of judgment, that God will recognize how good a job I have done. Oh, I'm not perfect, I know. But when my life is weighed in the balance, all my good deeds will stack up against those few small bad things that maybe I have done. This is what I do. And God rewards me with eternal life. And that's the way in which the world thinks about it. God rewards me with heaven. And in thinking of the world, that seems fair to the world. They think altogether too much of themselves, and altogether too little of God. They think altogether too much of themselves, both qualitatively and quantitatively. and altogether too little of God, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Well, let me, boys and girls, explain to you how do we think much of ourselves qualitatively and quantitatively and too little of God in the same way. Well, how does the world think about itself? They want to exaggerate the quality of what they have done. Their good works, so far as they are concerned, are worthy of the approval of many. And not only do they think they've done many fine works, they think they've done an innumerable number of fine works. But when it comes to how they understand God, they think altogether too little of God. They don't perceive him as being a holy and a righteous God, of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. In their imagination, they boast of themselves and they think little of God. So in their eyes, justification by works actually begins to make some sense. Their good works surely are known by all men and they anticipate that in eternity God will be thankful for them. Of course, if we're looking at it biblically, we see that the false theology of the people of this world doesn't begin to understand what it is to be saved. or why we should even need to have a savior. Why, if God is not so holy and not so righteous that he will turn a blind eye to my little sins, and I have such a wonderful estimation of my own good deeds, then the gap between me and God is not so very great. But if we have a biblical understanding of the nature of God himself and our own position before him, then we will have an altogether different opinion. We'll see that God truly is unspeakably pure and righteous, that he's a holy God, and that we are sinners. And for us to think that we can gain acceptance with God by our good deeds is utter foolishness. It's a bit like the man who says, I plan to land upon the sun. And when asked, how is he going to land upon the sun, seeing that it is so hot? He says, I have a plan. I'll go at night. When it comes to the righteousness of God, how does any man come to the idea that I could be right before God, a holy God and a righteous God, who will by no means pardon the guilty? But man's resourcefulness seemingly knows no end in taking credit for himself. And he would make faith into a work. No, I understand and I appreciate that it is not by my good deeds that I will ever be able to enter into heaven. I need faith. Scripture is clear about that. Faith comes from hearing. When you hear the Word of God, then I exercise faith. But so often what these people will do, and you hear it now in the Word of Faith movement, false gospel, God dishonouring, I have faith and it's my faith that God then rewards. No, no, no, no. I'm not going to take these good deeds. I can't earn my salvation by my good deeds. But here is my faith. And it's my faith that I now present to God and that God will then reward with eternal life. It's something else that I give in exchange. It's not my good deeds. It's my faith. would speak against that. It's not your own doing, says Paul. Could Paul be any clearer How many have been told by these charlatan so-called faith healers that the reason why they have not been healed is because of their lack of faith? What an easy out. It's your problem. You would have been healed but you lack the faith. Never say, I'm just such a charlatan that there is no possibility of you being healed. I'm just out for your money. Give me some more. Perhaps you'll be healed next time we have a service. It spawns a false boldness. I heard someone long ago now declaring about this, that, and the next thing. I have faith for it. name it, claim it, and it's mine. But what is it that Paul is saying? And this is not your own doing. It's the gift of God. It's the gift of God. Do you think Paul's trying to tell you something in all these things that he's saying? The source of saving faith is to be found in God himself. He is the one who gives it. God has changed my thinking. I've begun to see myself from God's perspective. And when I see myself from God's perspective, I diminish in my own eyes. I've seen my righteousness for what it really is. He's opened my eyes to have a clear understanding, not only of who I am, but who he is. And as a sinner, I call out, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I see and understand that God is holy and righteous. But Paul is pointing us not only to the impossibility of our saving ourselves but pointing us throughout to the grace and the kindness of God. He's showing us not only our wickedness, he's showing us God's kindness and his graciousness. The self-righteous man, the unbeliever, never talks of the grace of God. Why not? In his world, God has no reason to be gracious. After all, if you think that you are earning your place in heaven, where does grace fit into the equation? I've earned my place in heaven. Now what Paul is telling us repeatedly in every clause, not just in every verse, not just in every line, but in every clause, for by grace you have been saved, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, He opens our eyes to see our sin and loathsomeness. You were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh. carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. Oh yes, we want to draw a big black line that separates us from the Babylonians, wicked people, evil people, cruel people. God is reassuring us. They may be more flagrant in their breaking of the commandments. They may be notably wicked in the eyes of the world, but really there's no great difference at all. We are just as much under the condemnation for our sins as the Babylonians of whom we were speaking this morning in the book of Habakkuk. But let me tell you of the God who reveals himself in scripture. He not only opens our eyes to show us our own loathsomeness and his righteousness and holiness, he also unstops your ear so that you might hear him call to you, come unto me. Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come to me, for all who come to me I will in no wise cast out. Do you see what Paul is doing as he explains and expounds the gospel message? He shows us the wickedness of men's hearts. He shows us our wickedness. He shows us that we are sinners who deserve nothing from him but his condemnation. But he says here, It is not only your wickedness that I want you to see, and it's not even just the righteousness and the holiness of God that you must understand, but I want you to understand the immeasurable grace of God revealed in kindness. For even as you are brought to the point of saying, I cannot possibly under any circumstances earn my salvation, what am I to do? Hear now the words that come to you from Scripture, the revelation of the grace of God that says, come to me. It's not by our works that we will be saved, but by trusting in Christ. He would have us know the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness but would not have us wait until eternity to begin to understand that. He would have us know that now. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of Christ. Well, our time is all but past. There are another two points, but here let me read them to you and see if you can, in your own mind, work out what Paul is saying. As we have examined chapter 2, verse 8 of Ephesians, for by grace you have been saved. This is not your own doing, it is the gift of God. The next two points, see if you can see what it is that Paul is pointing us to, not as a result of works. What do you think Paul is saying there? You haven't earned it, it's by grace. And the final point would be this, so that no one may boast. Do you suppose Paul is saying to us there, you have nothing to boast of, nothing that you have done, nothing that you will yet do, no promise of a life now fully dedicated to the cause of Christ. That does not earn your salvation. You have it already, for by grace you have been saved. And so, this night, as we reflect upon the wisdom of our forefathers in the faith that is set before us, the Heidelberg Catechism, and have us understand the very nature of how is it that we come by faith. Since then, we are made partakers of Christ and all his benefits by faith only. From where does this faith proceed? from the Holy Spirit who works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel and confirms it by the use of the sacraments. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of Christ, not of works lest any man should boast. if we must boast, let us boast in Christ who has taken this wretched rebel and by grace has granted faith to believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice in the gift of Christ born into this world in the purposes of God that we might understand and begin, even in this world, to grasp the immeasurable riches of his grace in Let's pray together. Our gracious God and our heavenly Father, we do thank thee for this thy word which thou hast set before us. We thank thee that though we were once so far removed from thee, following the prince of this world, dead in our trespasses and sins, until thy grace upon around us, translating us from the world of darkness into the light and peace of thy presence. For thou who art rich in mercy, out of the great love with which thou hast loved us, quickened us, made us alive in Christ, For by grace we have been saved, and that not of ourselves. It is the gift of God, lest any man should boast. Write these truths upon the fleshy tables of our hearts. For this we would ask in Jesus' name, for his sake. Amen.