If any man attributes salvation to the will of man, if even in the least, he knows nothing of grace and has not learned Jesus Christ aright." So said Martin Luther. Understanding the grace of God and understanding what God did in saving us is so mind-boggling when we realize God did all of it. He's the one who even gave us the repentance and faith which are called gifts of God. God grants repentance. God gives faith. And these are not the product of our stony hearts set in rebellion against God, that which we inherited from Adam. We were born in sin. We were born with a desire for anything but the true God. Just as Adam, after he sinned, hid from God rather than run to Him, that is our nature received from Adam in the fall. We're born spiritually dead. If you find yourself alive now, spiritually, desiring the true God, believing the true gospel, God has been amazingly kind to you in opening up your heart and giving you a heart you didn't have before, one that loves, fears, and trusts and delights in Him. Understanding this is key to understanding grace. The Reformers understood this by the Latin slogan, the phrase, sola gratia, understanding not only are we saved not by our works, not by human merit, but the very act of repentance and faith, two sides of the same coin that spends in heaven. two sides of the same coin. That itself is the gift of God. And that's what we read in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works lest anyone should boast." What is the that referring to? Well, it's all in the preceding clause, the grace, the salvation, and the faith. By grace you have been saved through faith and that In Greek, we can really mastermind what is in view regarding what is being spoken of. The that refers to all in the preceding clause. The grace, the salvation, and the faith, all of that is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. You see, if that's not the case, there would be reason to boast. Well, I'm in the kingdom because I did something. I was more spiritually amenable, more humble, more smart, more intelligent. I worked it out. I knew who Jesus was rather than my twin brother. He had the same gospel opportunity. The same grace was given to him as to me, but I was the one who turned everything, and that's why I'm saved. You'd have something to boast about. But understanding that the grace of God alone saves, grace alone removes boasting completely. One man said it this way, divine election not only keeps boasting to a minimum, it removes it completely. There is no reason to boast. There was nothing in me that wanted the God of the Bible. I might have wanted my own God. In fact, that would be my heart condition. The heart is a factory of idols, as John Calvin remarked. So it is. We would have loved every false god, either one made by hands or one made by our own imagination, but we would never be lovers after the true God. So what God does in the heart of his elect people is remove the heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh that wants God, that seeks God. Outside of regeneration, being born again, Romans 3.11 puts it this way, there is none who seeks God. Settle that. Settle that in your mind. No one wants the true God. No one will believe the true gospel outside of regeneration. And here's something we need to grasp. Regeneration precedes faith. That's a watershed. That's a hill to die on, according to the Reformers. That's how we understand the grace of God. The reason we're saved is because God has given us eyes to see, ears to hear. We weren't merely short-sighted, we were blind. We weren't merely having hearing issues. We could not hear. Jesus actually said that to a group of people in front of him. Why do you not hear me? Because you're not my sheep. You check it out. John chapter eight, verse 47. John chapter 10, verse 26. You don't hear because you're not sheep. Why don't you receive my word? Because you're not my sheep. And in contrast, my sheep hear my voice. And I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, not a one. So we're looking at this, and we're seeing what theologians refer to as effectual calling. Have you heard that statement, that term, effectual calling? I have a blog site, it's called Effectual Grace. Or what is that? It sounds like a long word, effectual. Well, we know the opposite, ineffectual. Something that tries to do something but often fails. Perhaps there's a man with a dog at a park and the dog runs off, perhaps sees another dog and he calls out to his dog. But he doesn't get the response he wants, because the dog wants the other dog more than he wants to obey the master. That is what we would call an ineffectual call, an ineffective call. Quite the opposite happens when someone is saved. God calls them with a call that is effectual. It does the job, and it always does the job. Therefore, there are two types of calling. There's the gospel call, which is made by the preacher, or by you and I as we share our faith and we share the Word of God in conversations with people. We call people to faith in Jesus Christ. We call everybody. We are indiscriminate. We tell the gospel tale to all. We are promiscuous, in the right sense of that word, in getting the gospel out to people, to all kinds of people, to everyone we possibly can. But we know ahead of time, only those God effectually calls will be able to understand and appreciate and delight in the message. Who are those people? The sheep. We don't know who the sheep are, and that's why we go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, right? That's our task. But evangelism is really the roundup of the sheep. We don't know who they are. We call, like Jesus did, everyone come. Jesus said, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. And he said that, he shouted it actually, in the same breath as saying, I praise you, Father, you've hidden these things. What things? The things of the kingdom of God. from the wise and reveal them to babes. That, ladies and gentlemen, is divine election. God hides some truth from some people. People often think the reason Jesus told parables was so that people would get it. Well, he told parables so that certain people would get it. And he made it clear it was to hide truth from some. This is a consistent message. Right through our Bibles, God reveals himself as he sees fit. He shows mercy to whom he will, and he does not apologize for that. Here's what we read in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 10. It's on this whole theme of effectual calling. Here it is. In God's appointed and acceptable time, he is pleased to call effectually by his word and spirit those he has predestined to life. He calls them out of their natural state of sin and death to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. He enlightens their minds spiritually and savingly. to understand the things of God. He takes away their heart of stone and gives them a heart of flesh. He renews their wills and by his almighty power turns them to good and effectually draws them to Jesus Christ. Yet he does all this in such a way that they come completely freely since they are made willing by his grace. Next paragraph. This effectual call flows from God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in those called. Neither does the call arise from any power or action on their part. They are totally passive in it. They are dead in sins and trespasses until they are made alive and renewed by the Holy Spirit. By this, they are enabled to answer this call and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it. This response is enabled by a power that is no less than that which raised Christ from the dead. We're talking miracle. We're talking great, mighty miracle. This is a more powerful miracle than if someone is able to walk who couldn't walk before. This is the raising of the dead. This is just as dramatic as the raising of Lazarus from the dead. And you remember, he was passive in it all. He did not do anything but stink. That's the testimony of his sister, if you remember. By this time, he stinketh. King James puts it. That's all he did. He was dead. Jesus didn't interview him beforehand to get his cooperation. Say, look, would you sign these forms? I'm thinking of raising you from the dead, but of course I can't do that without your cooperation. I wouldn't violate your will in any way. Of course, you know, that's ridiculous. No. Lazarus was dead, and Jesus stood at the tomb, said, roll the stone away, and said, Lazarus, come forth. One commentator has said, if he didn't name Lazarus, everybody in the graves would have come forth. I agree. And one day, everybody in the graves will come forth. and be raised either to judgment or to eternal life. That's the power of God. But don't miss the power of resurrection, because that's what's happened in your life if you're a Christian. Why would we talk about this? So that we grasp the grace of God. and can sing, as the hymn writer put it, amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. T'was grace that taught my heart to fear. The original hymn writer understood this. Many have sung the song, the hymn, since. haven't grasped the grace that is conveyed in those words. Twas grace that taught my heart to fear. Why do you fear God? Why do you trust in him? Grace, not you, grace, the grace of God. We've seen in John chapter one in our Sunday sermons, verses 10, 11, and 12, John 1, verse 10, he, talking of Christ, was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people, that's the Jewish people, did not receive him. There were some that did, of course, but not the majority. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born. not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." So someone who receives Christ, believes in his name, they are given the right to become children of God, and their spiritual birth, being born, the ultimate deciding factor was not their ancestry, not of blood, Not their energy or work or exertion in any way, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man. No, that's not it. You're not in the kingdom because of your will. That was not the ultimate deciding factor in any of this. But you were born of God. Born of God. And those who are born of God put their faith in Christ and receive him. When the gospel is heard by the physical ear, that's one type of calling. But there's a second call, an inward call, whereby the Holy Spirit calls someone effectually and draws them to Jesus Christ. And they come willingly. And they come every time they receive that call, every one of them. The Trinity is in operation. The Father elected a people, the Son died and redeemed them at the cross, and then the Holy Spirit applies that same redemption to the same people. So that Jesus could say in John 6, verse 37, all, not 80% on a good day, 20% on a bad day, Now, all that the Father gives me will come to me. All that the Father gives me will come to me. It's the giving of the Father to the Son that results in the people coming to the Son, not the other way around. It's not people coming to the Son and then the Father backs up and says, okay, I see these people come, therefore, I'm going to set this up so that they, the most remarkable, spiritually elite people, or the most spiritually sensitive or humble people, I'm going to elect them. because I know in time they'll come. No, no, no, no. We won't come. In fact, in John 6, I quoted verse 37, verse 44, Jesus in the same passage said these words, no one can come to me. That's a universal negative. No one can. Speaking of ability, not permission. No one may. No, no one can. No one is able. to come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I'll raise him up on the last day." Whenever you quote verse 44, quote all of it, because most would agree that we need to be drawn. But this is such a powerful drawing. This is a powerful calling, because the result is every one of those who are drawn are raised up at the last day. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and, he hasn't finished speaking, I will raise him up on the last day. The one drawn is drawn with an effectual call so that they're going to heaven. Why? Because they will come, they will repent, they will believe, and they will be kept by the power of God, raised up at the last day, speaking of eternal life. Being raised up at the last day is Jesus' way of speaking of having eternal life. So all that the Father gives me will come to me, and no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I'll raise him up on the last day. It's powerful. Yes, it is. It is incredibly powerful to realize grace alone saves. Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit's ministry in terms of an analogy of wind. Wind has a mind of its own. We can't control it. It can't be stopped. It can't be contained. We simply have to make sure we survive when the wind comes. If you live in Florida or some parts of the earth where it is a known hurricane zone, you can put a sign up and say, please, no wind today, but that thing is going to come at the appointed time and your sign won't last too long. The wind blows where it wishes, and often it brings colossal, terrifying effects. When the wind of the Holy Spirit comes, He brings the most amazing effects. He changes hearts of rebellion into hearts of submission, willing, delighting submission. That's the power of God. I want to ask you, to what do you glory in when it comes to your salvation? I suggest strongly that you become a biblical Christian and delight in the grace of God. God forbid we should delight in anything in and of ourselves, but in the grace of God. And that's why you and I, if we're Christians, are trophies of grace. Maybe there's been a dramatic conversion in terms of what people can observe. The Apostle Paul wasn't always the Apostle Paul. He was Rabbi Saul who was persecuting Christians till the wind of the Holy Spirit came. It looked dramatic because it was dramatic. He was knocked off his high horse and was blinded, and on that road to Damascus was a converted man by the power of God. It looked very dramatic from the outside. But Christian, God has been equally as dramatic in your life if you are, in fact, a genuine Christian. Every Christian is a miracle. So the Holy Spirit's work, as we've seen from Old Testament scriptures, is to sweep away all our idols so that we see Christ as we're given sight to see him. And the Holy Spirit always achieves his intended aim in raising God's elect people up from spiritual death. Under the sound of gospel words, the Holy Spirit superintends those words in what we call the effectual call. The outward call is the call to the ear. Sinner, come to Christ. Come to Jesus Christ. We plead with you. Come. Come to the Son. Run to Him. That's what we say. And in the life of God's elect people, the Holy Spirit makes men, women, boys, and girls willing to come. It's an independent work. It's a sovereign work. It's not born out of human will, human influence. And that's why we as preachers can preach the Word knowing God will do whatever He wants with the Word. And that's how we understand phrases like this. His word never returns to him void, but accomplishes all he has purpose to do. Do you remember that scripture? You can only believe that if you understand what I'm talking about, effectual call. And with some, people hear the gospel call and a hardened, They're more hardened after that call than they were before. And with some, who God's elect people, at the right time, God changes the heart, does divine surgery, takes out a heart of stone, puts in a heart of flesh that beats to know Christ. Now, it doesn't happen every time the gospel call goes out, even to what are elect people. How do I know that? There are some people who heard the gospel 37 times before they responded on the 38th time. Think about that. The Lord is the Lord of history, and he's Lord over when he overcomes our resistance. And from his perspective, the gospel call went out 37 times, but God had an appointment on the 38th time when he says, you're coming home today, son. You're coming to me today. I'm gonna overcome your resistance. Well, can't we resist his will? Yes, we will. We will resist his will until God says to his elect people, today's the day, you're coming home. And He gives us a heart to know Him. He puts His laws in our hearts and our minds. He puts His law in our minds. He writes those laws on our hearts. That's the new covenant blessing. Hebrews chapter 8. Turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 20. Actually, let's go to Exodus 19. Exodus 19. Let's talk about this people, God's people. You remember the angel came to Joseph and said, you ought to give him, Mary is with child, you ought to give him the name Jesus that he will save his people from their sins. That's Matthew 1.21. Not try to, but save. Not try to save. Nor does God make people saveable if they'll just switch the switch, or flick the switch, or press the switch, or push the right button, and they'll activate what God does. Hmm. No. God is the ultimate source of our faith, which is why we're told Jesus is the author and the perfecter of faith, Hebrews chapter 12. If you've got a book, you've got an author. If you've got faith, you've got an author for that faith, and it wasn't you. Exodus chapter 19, look at, Verse 1, On the third new moon, after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. the Lord, Yahweh, called to him out of the mountains, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel, You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you, b-o-r-e, I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. In other words, here I own everything, all the peoples, they're all mine, but you do what I tell you and I'll make you my treasured possession among all peoples, you Israel, you Jacob, you'll be my treasured possession. Continuing on, verse six, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. Now, this is not new to us. We recognize Israel are the chosen people, for sure. But notice the if-then structure. If you do this, then you'll be this to me. If you'll indeed obey my voice, keep my commandments, you shall be my treasured possession. The understood testimony of this verse is if, then this. If, then you'll be this to me. You'll be my treasured possession among all peoples. You'll be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. A kingdom of priests. Let's think through that. Did Israel ever become a nation? A kingdom of priests? No. This was never fulfilled in the old covenant. Israel had certain people who were priests. But it wasn't ever true to say there were a nation of priests. But that was the promise, wasn't it? Israel predominantly were an unregenerate, stiff-necked people. Ah, let's go to the New Testament. 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. Now Peter was the apostle to the Gentiles. Without going into too much of the background, I believe that the audience he was writing to were predominantly Gentiles, God's elect, scattered abroad. We know that from the first verse of the first epistle, 1 Peter 1, verse 1, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who are elect. exiles or the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood." All right. What's Peter going to say? What's he going to write? 1 Peter 2, look with me in verse 4. Well, I so love this book of 1 Peter. I want to start at verse 1. So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. That's a mouthful right there, isn't it? Like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation. I've heard it taught incorrectly that if you're an infant, then you need spiritual milk and you should long for it. Well, that's a true statement, but that's not what's in view here. No, like newborn infants, you adults and everybody else, old people, young people, all of people are reading this, be like newborn infants and long for pure spiritual milk. In other words, if you've been around infants who want milk, it doesn't matter if it's 2.30 in the morning, they're gonna let people know they want milk and they want it now. Have that kind of desire for the word of God. so that you can grow up into salvation. That's what's being talked about in these words. If indeed you've tasted that the Lord is good. Oh, I just did a teaching on the Lord being good. He is good. I've tasted, I've seen. I would have been in despair, the psalmist said, unless I believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Verse four, as you come to him, a living stone rejected by man, but in the sight of God, precious, chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture, called in the Old Testament, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. This is the flip side of predestination, what we call reprobation. They disobey the word, and that was their destiny. And God did not give them eyes to see, ears to hear. And they disobeyed, because that's what's in the heart of man. God doesn't shrink from declaring divine election and divine reprobation. They stumble because they disobey the Word. They're totally responsible, and yet they were destined for that. That's your Bible. That's my Bible. We can dance around, do gymnastics, and go away, have a coffee, and try and forget it. But when we come back to verse 8, you know what? It's going to still say what verse 8 says. That's what I had to realize when I was wrestling with these concepts. This is the God of the Bible. And once you see it, you see it everywhere. You read Genesis now, understanding this truth, and you think, wow, this is everywhere. He chose Abraham. He didn't choose Hammurabi who lived down the street. And he said to Abraham, we'll make of you a nation. And wow, yeah, absolutely. This is a God who plays for keeps and gets his will done. All right, we haven't come to the part I wanted to get to, which is verse nine. So reprobation and view in verse eight, verse nine, but you, Who's the you? Well, the elect. 1 Peter 1 verse 1, he's telling the elect, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. Hmm, I don't see the word kings there, do you? I don't see the word kingdom. Wasn't the promise in Exodus 19 that you'll be a kingdom of priests? Ah, don't worry about it. It's all contained in the word royal. Royalty, kingly priesthood. You, the elect, are a chosen race, a royal, kingly priesthood, a holy nation. A nation? Yes. But are they Italian? Are they Chinese? They're God's holy nation, the people of God. But when I see a nation, I look on a map. Yeah, no, no, no. You don't see this nation on a map. They are scattered abroad in every area of the earth out of all tongues and tribes and people groups. Oh, that's the holy nation. Yeah, we call it the invisible church, as distinct from the visible church. You know, the visible church is the church we see, the people that show up to church. But not all who are in the visible church are in the invisible church. We use the phrase invisible because it's invisible to us, not to God. God knows those who are his. And the Holy Nation does exist. But they're not all just wearing red and green shirts so we can recognize them, nor do they have a red and green flag. No. What they have is inside them, not outside them. It's not clothing they wear. It's God's law written on the mind and put in the heart. chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. Yeah. What's he doing? He's saying the people of God, the elect, That is the fulfillment of the promise given in Exodus chapter 19, where God said, I will make of you a kingdom of priests. Never happened to natural Israel, has happened for the people of God, his elect. Why? What's the purpose? That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you. Oh, there's that word, that's right. Called you with an effectual call out of darkness into his marvelous light. The word elect, chosen, if you check out the etymology, if you check out the word in the original, there's a word in Greek, eklego, and it means to call out. And that is who the church is. The church is the ekklesia, the called out ones, called with an effectual call, whereby God has everyone in the world in view and calls out his people. It's as if you can imagine the eight billion people on the planet, and God says, you, you, you, and you over there, you over there, out, I say, out, come out, out, I say, out of darkness into light. Out, out, out. Millions upon millions. called out of darkness into the marvelous light. Jennifer, out. George, out. Mildred, out. John, out. Jemima, out. Then some names we can hardly pronounce, Chinese names. Lingpeng Xia, out. Millions, millions, millions, millions called out of darkness, now comprising the elect people of God, and they are now proclaiming the excellences of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. That's who we are, and we fulfilled What was the plan of God all along? A nation, a kingdom nation of priests. Who are we? Did we have anything in and of ourselves? No, read the next verse. Verse 10, once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Why are we the people of God? Grace. Why are we the people of God? Mercy. Mercy, not our law keeping. You read Exodus 37, in the valley of the dry bones, God does it all. He does it all. Who are the bones? That's God's elect people. And he calls us out of darkness into light, out of death into life, so that all the glory for our salvation goes to God. Do you get it? Do you understand this grace? Your conversion was just as supernatural and miraculous as Saul into Paul. If you understand the nature of man and his unregenerate state, you'll realize I attribute, we attribute, you should attribute your salvation all to grace. Now we read familiar verses and they make a whole lot of sense. Ephesians chapter 2, the word dead is used. And if you check the word out in the original language, it actually means dead. Yep, necros. We have the word necromancy, which is contact with the dead, something forbidden in our Bibles. Don't do it. But do you hear the word necros in that? Necros, it simply means dead, dead like a corpse. And Paul, we've seen Peter's words in 1 Peter, now Paul's word in Ephesians, he's already declared in chapter 1 verse 4, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, he predestined us for adoption to himself, and so it goes on. These are biblical themes. He doesn't just sneak this in at the end of his epistles, you know, P.S. God elected you. I'm out of here. Bye. It's controversial. Bye. No, right from the get-go, he says, just like 1 Peter, elect, chosen. You know why? Because God wants you and I to know this. He's not talking about election all over the place. because he wants to be controversial. He wants his people to know the depths of the grace of God. And so, Ephesians chapter two, Paul writing to the church at Ephesus said, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins. You were necros. You were dead like a stinking corpse. You're dead, yet you're walking around. Well, how do we understand that? Well, they were dead spiritually. Not physically. They were up walking around. They were doing stuff. They were doing things. They had things to do. But the things they did were things that dead people do. People that are dead spiritually. So they were dead and they were walking around. Where'd you get that? Well, keep reading. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Ah, they're the dead walking. The walking dead. There it is. following the course of this world. I would suggest to you it's a wide course. Everybody's walking on that course. If there's a marathon race, there's a course. And if there's a way to hell, there's a course. And everybody's on it until God intervenes. Let's keep reading. You, Christians, were dead in the 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, A double L. Paul includes himself in this. He was very religious, very. He was a zealot, but he includes himself. in following this course and in being dead spiritually. 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, what? Children of God? No. Children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Again, there's no superiority here. There was nothing in us. that was commendable to God, God did not say, oh, look at that, oh, how can I resist that? I must elect them because they have that. No. We were dead spiritually. Do you know evangelism would be tantamount to offering solar panels to corpses in graves without the Holy Spirit, without the Holy Spirit and the effectual call. No one would be signing on the dotted line saying, yeah, I want that. We go into all the world, we preach the gospel to all creation, and we recognize everybody's dead here. There's gonna be no one that responds except the called and God through the gospel call will give the internal call to those he has elected. And they're coming alive. And we can be the means by which God uses us in the process of simply declaring his word. We declare His Word and the Holy Spirit superintendent, so that Peter could write later, you were born again of incorruptible seed by the Word of God. And this was the Word that was preached to you. So, pretty bad, pretty bleak. Well, no, that's not saying it. This is not the idea of someone who's in the water, who's drowning, who's going down for the third time and has got her fingers just above the water and you are able then to throw this life raft the ring over to them, and they can, they just have to grab hold of it, and if they grab hold of it, they can survive this and come to the shore and be saved. That's not the picture. It's not the picture of someone in the hospital on their deathbed, just about to breathe their last, and you've got this pill that can heal them. What's the pill? The gas pill. Excuse me. and you put it in their mouth, but all they have to do is swallow it and they'll be saved. These are pictures people use. You just have to swallow it. You just have to grab hold of the life raft. If you understand biblically the real situation, man is not drowning and going down for the third time. He's dead and at the bottom of the lake. And the Holy Spirit dives in, he doesn't have a body, he's spirit, but he dives, this is the analogy, dives in and goes right to the bottom of the lake, finds us in our deadness and breathes the breath of life into us and takes us up out of the water. That's what God does. in giving us the effect you'll call, causing us to be born again, regenerated. All right, dead in trespass and sins, yet walking around, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air. Well, I don't know if I even believed in the devil. Doesn't matter, you were following him. I wasn't into any of that. I was into Buddhism. Doesn't matter, you were following him. It's a wide course. And the only thing out of bounds is, in this course, submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the God-Man, the true God, the Trinity, the true Jesus Christ. One person with two natures, the true gospel, that's what's out of bounds. Everywhere else, hey, you're on course, the course of this world. Following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air and the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. And we live there in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and we're by nature children of wrath, just like the rest of mankind. And God had every right to leave us in that lost, rebellious condition. You know this? No angel has ever been redeemed. No angel ever will be redeemed. Those that rebelled are in their rebellion even now, and there is no plan to save any angel. God did not become an angel to save angels, but the Son of God became the Son of Man that the sons of men might become the sons of God. All hail King Jesus. So that's our condition, pretty bleak. Is that where Ephesians 2 ends? No, thank the Lord. Dead, walking around, children of wrath like everyone else. Amen. Aren't you glad that's not where we end? Where Paul ended? No. What's the next two words? Tell you what, the next two words are not. It does not say, but man, but man. with a little island of righteousness still uncorrupted from the fall, heard the gospel call, realized his lost and dead condition, and reached up to God and said, save me. You know, that's not what your Bible says. It reads this. But God, that's right, that's right. Dead in sins, but God. Walking around following the devil on a wide course, yes. But God, but God. God is the one who's active here. Man's works are not in view. Why? Because we're saved by grace alone. But God being rich in mercy, filthy rich, in mercy, mercy, because of the great, the mega love with which he loved us. Who's the us? It's the chosen people of God. Even when we were dead. When did this happen? He's already spelled it out in verse 1. He says it again, verse 5. Even when we were dead, not while we were slightly alive with a little bit of breath still in us. No, even when we were dead in our trespasses, at that moment, made us alive. Who did? God. Was it a cooperative venture? No, this was all God. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. He did it all. It seems superfluous for him to then write these words, but he felt the need to do it. By grace, you have been saved. Well, like, duh, absolutely. He's making it so clear. By grace, you have been saved. He's gonna say and write those same exact words in verse eight. For by grace you have been saved. Get it. By grace you have been saved. By grace you have been saved. What are you trying to say? By grace you have been saved. By grace you have been saved. And raised us up with him. and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Wow. This is not the story of man climbing the mountain and finding God at the top eventually. This is about God on the mountain, coming down the mountain, going to the lowest depths of the valley, into the lake, finding us at the bottom of the lake, dead in trespasses and sins, and breathing life into us, taking us back up to the land and then up to the top of the mountain to sit with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus forever and ever and ever and ever. Verse seven said that in the coming ages, He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Oh, the lavishing of grace. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this, what's the this? The grace, the salvation, and the faith. This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Well, what's the place of works? Well, Martin Luther started with him, I'm gonna end with him. He said this, God doesn't need your good works, your neighbor does. Amen. There's things for us to do, but only after we're saved by grace. Works are never the basis of our salvation, not a result of works so that no one may boast. for we are his workmanship. Well, we are now absolutely created in Christ Jesus for good works. We're not saved by good works, we're saved for good works. Your and my neighbor needs our good works. Good works are things that we do, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Yep, God wants to reach The last and our neighbors, and he's got works for us to do, but the works we do are never the basis of our salvation, nor is our activity, nor is our ancestry, nor is our exertion, nor is our will. But if we're born of God, it's because God did something, and he did it all. Regeneration is the result of a sovereign work of God. So when God comes inside, it changes our hearts. It's a monogistic work. It's all done by one power working. Mono means one. The opposite is synergistic. Syn means with. Erg is a unit of work. It's not synergistic. Synergistic, that is the cooperation of two or more parties. rebirth, being born again, it's God's activity from start to finish. It's not a cooperative enterprise, two or more performing the task. It's a single party, God. May the Holy Spirit blow like wind into every heart that does not know him. For when he does, they will come and they'll come and he'll receive. And when he receives, he keeps and will raise them up to eternal life. All glory to God. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the unveiling of your word. We delight in this to be the people of God, the people of new covenant. Lead us on in the truth of your amazing grace. May we boast in it and only it, the God of grace. May we boast of him and only him, the God of grace. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.