If you have your Bibles, look at the book of Ephesians chapter 1. Chapter 1 of the book of Ephesians, and we had started in this just a week ago, and we looked at verse 1 and what we saw in verse 1. We saw the introduction to this letter, the epistle by the apostle Paul, and we also saw the introduction of this writer who is Paul. It says, Paul an apostle. of Jesus Christ and he is an apostle by Jesus Christ by the will of God. In other words, we saw where he did not choose to be apostle, it's God chose him. It was by God's will and God struck him on that road to Damascus and smote him down and boy was he a changed man after that. The Word of God says it's to the saints, so we see the recipients there, and it's to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Now some translations will not have to the... those that are at Ephesus, but I do believe this was a letter written to the Ephesians, and it was probably a circular letter that actually circulated around to other churches, and therefore he says, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. So as we look at this one verse, I want you to notice verse 2. We're not going to get past verse 2, so we're going to take it slow and easy. I have preached through Ephesians before, probably more than once, but this time I want to go slower because I believe every word in the Word of God is inspired. and I believe God's got it there for a purpose. So I want you to notice here we have the greeting of the letter. First we had that introduction in verse 1 with the writer and to who he's writing to. Now what we've got in verse 2 is actually the greeting. Some would call it a formal greeting, but I believe it's just a greeting. Notice what the Word of God says. It says, Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. There is much to say about this one verse, or I wouldn't have made one sermon out of one verse, but I want you to notice here that in this verse the word grace is mentioned. Grace is used 91 times by the Apostle Paul throughout his letters that he wrote. In this one epistle, this one letter that he's written to the Ephesians, it is mentioned on 12 different occasions, in just six chapters. So what we see in Paul's ministry, he is constantly highlighting grace, grace, grace. In verse 2, what we see, in the verse I just read, you can find the identical words to verse 2 found in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 3. Don't turn there because you can find it in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 2. Don't turn there. And you can find it in Galatians 1.3, you can find it in Philippians 1.2, you can find it in Colossians 1.2, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 1, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 2, and Philemon verse 3. Nine epistles and they're all recording the exact same verse as far as in this greeting. Now when God says something once, y'all listen. If he says it twice, he's putting some emphasis on it. Now if he says it nine times, you know what most of us do? If we're reading through a Bible, if we got a set amount of scriptures we read through for like a morning devotion and we read and have a word of prayer, you know, usually what you do when you come to this, you read right over that and don't even think about what you read. Because we've read it, and we've read it, but God's got a purpose for it in it being here on nine different occasions. Listen to what the Word of God says in 2 Timothy chapter 3, down in verse 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. That long phrase I just said, in the Greek, is only three words. Pasa, all, or every. Grafe, that's the writings or the scriptures. And then it says Theonoustos, one long Greek word. Theonoustos very simply means God breathed. It's God's breath. God has breathed these words. He has inspired the Apostle Paul to record these words. And the Word of God tells us that all this, including verse 2, every single word is given by inspiration of God. And it is profitable for doctrine or teaching, for reproof and for correction, and for instruction in righteousness that we might be truly furnished. I want us to pause and ponder this God-inspired verse just in verse 2. There are nine epistles with the same wording. That's quite miraculous, you think about it over and over again, yet Paul, as he is writing His inspired desire is expressed right here, and it's for those who receive this letter and who hear this letter read. I believe that continues down even to today, that it is God's desire that we have grace and that we have peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Very interesting words here, when you think about it, and I'll kind of look around at these words. Grace and peace are the dominant words as far as what is the blessing that the Apostle Paul desires his hearers to be blessed with. But if you were living back in the day and time of the Apostle Paul, here was the common greeting amongst Jews, even in the Old Testament, it was Shalom. Shalom means peace. They would often go, Shalom. In the Greek, it's a Rene. That's the Greek word for it. But the Jewish speaking people would still often say, as a kind of a formal greeting, Shalom. Now, usually we just don't think over that. We just read it. But here's a purpose. Peace and grace, or grace and peace, they go together. And I want us to reflect upon the depth and the riches of grace and peace. Because what we find here, with that common greeting, let me kind of put it in modern-day English. Jews, in just a casual way of greeting people, they would say Shalom. In our day and time, somebody would walk up to you and say, how you doing? If a lot of times people aren't really serious, how you doing? They don't really want to hear how you're really doing. Because some people go on and on and on about how they're doing. But some people are genuine and they want to know how you're doing. In other words, it's not just a formal greeting, but it's a sincere question. How are you doing? Here in this passage of scripture, there is a purpose and it is inspired. It is repeated. Therefore, God wants us to let it sink in. And not just become something that's rote, or something that's just kind of like oftentimes in churches, a lot of people would just sing hymns because they memorize hymns, and they'll just sing and they will not even think of the words. That's the same way with reading the Word of God at times when it's such a familiar passage of Scripture. But I want us to notice here grace and peace go together. Grace is the beginning of our faith. And the result of that faith is peace, which is the end of our faith. Grace is the beginning and peace is the ultimate end or result of our faith. Grace is the source of all that is in a child of God's life. Think about that. It is grace, the grace of God, that is the source of everything that happens in my life and in your life if you're a child of God. We attribute it to the grace of God. If God has blessed us, we attribute it to His grace. If we're going through difficult times, we believe God's grace is sufficient for that. This is how a child of God naturally sees things as he's going through life. Listen to what the Word of God says as John the Apostle was writing over in John chapter 1 and down in verse 16. In John chapter 1 and down in verse 16, The Word of God says, and of His fullness. Of the fullness of our Lord Jesus Christ have we all received, and grace for grace. In other words, we've received the fullness of Christ and what He gives us is grace and grace and more grace and more grace. It's an inexhaustible supply of the grace of God that He continually pours out upon us. You think about the grace of God. It's by the grace of God I was born in the United States of America. It's by the grace of God that God put me under the sound of the gospel. That's grace. It's by the grace of God that we experience things in life. We believe in what is called prevenient grace. Now that's a theological term. What is prevenient grace? Prevenient grace is grace that goes before we're saved. It actually prepares us for salvation. I do believe, I know for a fact, there are times in my life when I very easily could have died before I came to a saving knowledge of Christ. But I do believe God's grace was at work in my life even at that point when I was a lost person. And I believe that was God preparing me for where He's brought me to. See, there is prevenient grace, grace that goes before. There is also saving grace when you come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. When you hear the gospel, the good news that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, that He died upon a cross for my sins in place of me, that is saving grace. There is keeping grace. You know what? God will keep us until the end. His grace is sufficient and He keeps us by His power. There is grace in trials. When you go through difficult times in life, God's grace is always sufficient. There is grace when it comes to teaching us through those trials. There is grace that provides for our needs. there is dying grace, which you have not experienced yet, but if you're a child of God, you will experience that dying grace someday, and you will have peace, a peace that passes understanding. And it's only by the grace of God that we have peace with God, all because of God's grace. So Paul says, grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. What is grace? I think you probably have heard this definition time and again. It's unmerited favor. It is kind of like love stooping down. It would be like it's a king coming to one who is the poorest of the poor. and who is undeserving, and this king comes to this undeserving person, and what he does, he enriches him. Now why would a king do that? Just out of grace. There's nothing within the pauper, the poor person, the poorest of the poor, who has not done anything for the king, But that simply He just displays His kindness unto him. And that's what God has done for us. He's displayed His grace toward us and showed the gospel to us. And you know what? Our hearts have been changed and we love Him for that. That's why we can sing Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. It was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. You think about the grace of God, you know it covers every aspect of the child of God's life. Amazing grace. It is the King of glory, who left heaven, and He came down to us. He took upon Himself the form of a servant. He left the splendor, the riches of heaven to come and dwell amongst sinners. I don't doubt that our Lord was frustrated to a degree from a humanist perspective. O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? There was times, you know, when he saw just the weakness constantly over and over again, and the sinfulness of man, and the sinfulness of man, but yet that's why he came. He came because we could not save ourselves. And he became like unto us, in the likeness of sinful flesh. He lived that perfect life that you and I could not live. And He died for us. He was buried for us. He rose again for us. And when you think about what He's done for us, He's risen again to proclaim us justified in His sight. That's grace. In other words, you didn't earn it, you don't merit it. There's no way some person can gain it on something he can do. It's what's been done for us by the King of Glory. Because he did that, The Word of God in Ephesians just throws one blessing upon another blessing upon another blessing in how He has worked in our lives. The Word of God tells us in Ephesians, all in chapter 1, that He has chosen us, that He has predestinated us, that He has adopted us, that He has sealed us with His Spirit until the day of redemption. that He's made known unto us the mystery of His will. And it's all to the praise of the glory of His grace. You know what? If you can't praise God for His grace, you probably don't know God. Because He is full of grace. It is by the grace of God that I am what I am is what the Apostle Paul said. It's by the grace of God I am what I am is what Steve Wainwright just said. And you know what, you can say that too. It's by the grace of God you are what you are. And it's that grace that's still working in our lives to mold us and fashion us into the image of His dear Son. It's God who is at work and therefore it's to the praise of the glory of His grace. It's not because of my decision. It's not because I changed some things in my life. It's not because I stopped doing certain things and started doing certain things. It's all to the praise of the glory of His grace. Therefore, let us praise Him for His grace. That grace is sufficient for whatever need you have. Now let's move to that next word. He says, Grace be to you and peace. Now what is peace? Some people think peace is just not having war. Some people think it's just quiet. But what does this word peace mean? If you were to go to the root meaning of the Greek word, what you would find, the root meaning of the root of that word, arēne, it very simply means union. Now that might sound odd. Union. It's like a union after a separation. You've been separated. You have been united. It is like a reconciliation. After a contest or a quarrel, there are two men fighting, and they're fighting, and maybe they have weapons, and they're fighting with weapons. All of a sudden, both of them put him down, and they shake hands. That's peace. That's a union. Here's what the Word of God is talking about. Look over in chapter 2 in verse 14. The Word of God says, in Ephesians 2.14, For he, that is Christ, he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of the commandments contained in ordinances, for to make unto himself of two one new man, so making peace. and that he might reconcile both unto God, in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby." Enmity means the hatred. In other words, before we came to a saving knowledge of Christ, we were in enmity with God. And it's Christ who became our peace. He is our peace, is what the Word of God tells us. We're in union with Christ and with God the Father because of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now there is a need for grace and peace for everybody in this world. And the reason that is, is because of sin and the depravity of man. We can see sin and depravity all around us. When you think about it, As you ponder that thought, we're at enmity with God. Why are we at enmity with God? Because of our sins. Because of our self. Because of our self-centeredness and our selfishness. Because of our selfish desires. We're at enmity with God. And you know what? Ultimately, when you're at enmity with God, you're at enmity with others too. Let me give you an example. God has appointed the governments that be. God has appointed the laws that are in place. And why does God do that? Think with me, it keeps our sin in check. It puts boundaries to what we can and cannot do. I was reading, I was looking up, I was trying to think of the worst person that probably that's in the world today. Who would you think the worst person in the world today is? The first person I thought of was El Chapo. You've probably heard of El Chapo, the big drug dealer, world renowned. He is in one of the tightest, or the tightest, security prison that there is. They spend 23 hours in solitary confinement. Can you imagine? That's enough to drive someone insane. Why is he in prison? Because he crossed the line. He broke the law on many occasions. That is ultimately the rebellion of man. We rebel when God says, don't go no further. It is like sin, the definition of sin is missing the mark. It's like a bullseye up there, and you miss the mark. That's sin. Then there is iniquity. You've crossed the line. And therefore, because we are all sinners, we are all rebels against God, before we came to a saving knowledge of Christ. You can see the sin pervading throughout our society. Look at our government. Our government's got laws and the government doesn't even enforce the laws. We've got a border wide open, but there's a law against people coming in, just walking into the country. You've got laws Think about, can a non-citizen vote in another country? If I wanted to go over to Saudi Arabia, and vote if they had elections. I don't even know if they have elections. Could I go over there and do that? Can you imagine me going over there? Can you imagine me going down to South America, going to Brazil and they have their elections and I vote? Well, I'm not a citizen of that country and yet that's what some in our government are trying to push. You know what? It's the government fighting against the government or the government fighting against the rules that they've made. That's bizarre. But that's sin, that's rebellion, that's the natural state of man. I saw where in Minneapolis, I don't know if you saw the news story, but there is a non-citizen, I'll just call them a non-citizen, they're not a citizen of the United States, was sworn in as a police officer in Minneapolis. Well that's kind of weird, how can a non-citizen arrest a citizen? I can't explain that, but what you see is just ultimately rebellion against the standards which we've got. The same principle is applied to homosexuality and transgenderism. You know what? They're going against that which is God's Word. It's the government rebelling against its own standards that they've set up. In our society, there is a strong push for abortion now. Why? You know what? Before, when was it, 1973, it was totally illegal. All of a sudden, it's legal. Now it's passed down to every state, where the states make the law. You know what? Abortion is flat-out murder. People will say, and they make the argument, what about a woman's rights? Well, let me ask you, what about the child's rights? The child within the womb of a mother generally has two arms, two legs, two feet, two hands, one head. The mother the rights of a woman. You've never seen a woman with two heads and two arms and two hands and two feet and two legs, at least I don't think you have, because that's an individual within her womb. It's a life that has been given by God. Only God can give light. You might say, well, what about incest? What about rape? You can throw all the hypothetical situations at us, Let me tell you, life only comes from God. And somebody needs to stand up for those who can't speak for themselves. We see a lot as far as people defying God and rejecting God and rejecting the laws of God, which is ultimately rejecting God Himself. But here's where the Gospel comes in. Here's where the grace of God comes in. When you understand your sinfulness, when you understand that you're a sinner, then only can you understand the grace of God. As you realize that you're separated from God and there's nothing that you can do to make a union with God and come to God, there's nothing in and of yourself you can do. That's where you cry out for mercy. And you need the grace of God to be at work in your heart and your life. Listen to what it says over in Romans chapter 5. In Romans chapter 5 and verse 8, the Word of God says, But God commendeth, or God showed His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Here's the Gospel. Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath." Whose wrath? God's wrath through him. We're saved from God's wrath by Christ. For if when we were enemies, notice there the language, we were enemies with God, We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. You see it is Christ who has become our peace. He has reconciled us to God. That's the gospel. We are in union now with God. There is therefore now No condemnation. The Word of God says in verse 1 in chapter 5 of Romans, Therefore, because of this being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That peace comes through Christ. There is no other way to have peace with God. Once you have peace with God, then you can have peace with others. And you can also have peace within. That's the only way a person is going to have peace. People are looking for peace all over the world. And they can't find peace, because they're not at peace with God. Notice this comes from God the Father, in verse 2, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father. Who is God the Father? Have you ever pondered that thought? This is not talking about the universal fatherhood of God. God is the creator of us all, and we're only here because of Him. But God is not the universal Father. Because Jesus said to the Pharisees, you are of your father the devil. What this is talking about is the relationship we have through Jesus Christ with God the Father. Notice this peace and grace come to us through God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They are co-equal. It is through our Lord. He is God. It is through Jesus. He is man. It is through Christ, He is the Anointed One. He was the Anointed One, He was the Lamb of God, sent and slain for our sins. All the blessings that a child of God has comes through Jesus Christ. Every blessing we have is because of what Christ has done for us. There's the old saying. I don't know if you've heard it before. The Son of God became the Son of Man. That the sons of men might become the sons of God. It is God, the Son, who became sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. You see, this looks like bad news, because all are rebelling against God. But there is where the good news comes in. Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. Of which the Apostle Paul said, I'm chief, and if you're honest with yourself, we could agree with the Apostle Paul, we're chief. We're chief of sinners. God knows your every thought. Every word you say before you even say it coming out of your tongue, He knows the depths of your heart and your thinking. And yet He loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die in our place. Do you know Him as Lord and Savior? Have you bowed before Him? If so, grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace which brings peace. Grace from which all things come results in peace within our lives. Do you know Him as Lord? We're going to give a hymn of invitation. If there's anyone here tonight, never publicly profess Christ as Lord. That's what this invitation is for. We're going to stand and go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you for your loving kindness, for your love that you sent your only begotten Son into this world, that we might have life through Him, simply by faith in His finished work upon the cross. Lord, we ask that you would help us to trust you. Help us to ever be singing the praises of your grace, from which all good things come. We'll be careful to give you the praise, the honor, and glory for Christ's sake. Amen. And let us sing, "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus."