you Hello, everyone, and welcome to Living Hope Presbyterian Church. We're very honored to have Mr. Joshua Morrison preach with us today and have his family here again. So you all know them, and I'm sure that you've met them, and there's some information in the bulletin about that. But we just wanted to welcome you here. Some things to take note of are the Ladies Bible Study that is still going on in our house in Storbers Drive. And that's the address is in the bulletin. And also Operation Christmas Child. Now Frank Murphy, our elder, has had that up and it's almost over. There's still time. And this is a worldwide ministry of meeting the needs of some young people to give them a Christmas time and also to get the gospel into the hands of these young kids. So please work with Frank on that. We have a display in the back. And if you would, please. pray for Gabriel Espindola. And you remember Gabriel? He was a firecracker that was here. He came here and he's back in Brazil working with the Presbyterian Church there and attending seminary. So if you would keep him in your prayers. At this time, let's all stand. We have the call to worship. If you will please rise. The call to worship is taken from Psalm 95. And it is verses 1-3. Hear God's call to us. O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. You open your... If you'll go to the bulletin, it's going to be T75. O Father, You are Sovereign. O Father, you are sovereign in all the worlds you make. Your mighty word was spoken, and life and life obey. ♪ Your wisdom ends the seasons ♪ ♪ And bounds the ocean shore ♪ ♪ Set stars within their courses ♪ ♪ And stills the temples roar ♪ ♪ O Father, you are sovereign ♪ ♪ In all affairs of man ♪ No power of death or darkness, lift toward your perfect plan. All chance and change transcending, supreme in time and space. You hold your trusting children secure in your embrace. ♪ Transmuting earthly sorrows to gold and silver ♪ ♪ As none but conqueror could ♪ Your love pursues its purpose ♪ Our soul's eternal good ♪ O Father, you are sovereign ♪ We see you dimly now ♪ But soon be full for triumph ♪ As every knee shall bow With this glad hope before us, our faith springs up anew. Our sovereign Lord and Savior, we trust and worship you. The next hymn we'll be singing is The Power of the Cross, and it's on the next page in your bulletin. ♪ O to see the dawn of the darkest day ♪ Christ on the road to Calvary ♪ Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten then ♪ Kneeled to a cross of wood ♪ This the power of the cross Christ became sin for us, took the blame. ♪ For the wrath, please stand forgiven at the cross ♪ ♪ Oh, to see the pain written on your face ♪ ♪ Bearing the awesome weight of sin ♪ ♪ Every bitter thought, every evil deed ♪ ♪ Crowning your bloodstained brow ♪ ♪ Missed the power of the cross ♪ ♪ Christ became sin for us ♪ ♪ Took the blame for the rapist and forgiven us ♪ Now the daylight flees, now the ground beneath wakes as its maker bows his head, curtain torn in two. ♪ Let our race to life finish the victory cry ♪ This the power of the cross ♪ Christ became sin for us and took the blame ♪ Please stand forgiven at the cross ♪ ♪ Go to see my name written in the wounds ♪ ♪ For through your suffering I am free ♪ ♪ Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live ♪ ♪ Won through your selfless love ♪ This the power of the cross. Son of God, slain for us. What a cost. What a cost. We stand forgiven at the cross. We're now going to receive his tithes and offerings. you Good morning. Please bow with me in prayer for the offering that we just received. Father, thank you for the opportunity to come together as your children to give back a portion to you of what's already yours. Lord, we pray for each gift and each giver. We pray that we would use these offerings wisely for your glory and for your kingdom. In Jesus' name, amen. Our morning prayer, excuse me, our morning scripture reading is from Ephesians chapter two. Please turn there with me. Ephesians chapter two, verses one through 10. Ephesians two, one through 10. This is God's word. And you were dead in your trespasses and sin in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world. According to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love which with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved, and raise us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we could walk in them. So ends the reading. Please bow with me in prayer, and we will be saying the Lord's Prayer at the end. Please join in that. Let's pray. Holy and sovereign God, creator and sustainer of our very lives, Thank you for all the blessings you've given us. Thank you for blessing us so abundantly. Father, help us to know your amazing love demonstrated to us through the sacrifice of your only son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and minister to us by the indwelling of Holy Spirit. Thank you for your grace, your mercy, and your forgiveness, Lord. Help us to seek you and glorify you in our worship this morning. Thank you for allowing us to gather together as your children to worship you. Give us a heart for worship, oh God. Help us to worship in spirit with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our mind. And help us to worship in truth with the knowledge that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can come to the Father except through him. Lord, we confess that we are sinners, and we sin against you daily in thought, word, and deed. Forgive us for everything we've done, said, or thought that was not pleasing to you. We pray for repentant hearts, and we ask for your forgiveness. We pray you would strip us of our pride, our guilt, our anxiety, and our fear. Lord, draw us closer to you. Lord, we pray for patience and humility and understanding, and help us to trust that your sovereign plan for us is better than anything that we could create on our own. Thank you, oh God, for our church family, for each of our families. We pray for your continued blessing on our church and our families, our communities, and our nation, Lord. We pray for our brothers and sisters who are unable to be here this morning, who are suffering, who are ill, are in pain. We pray for our brothers and sisters who are persecuted because of their faith. We pray for healing. We pray for your grace and your protection on them. And we pray that you would strengthen each person and grant them peace, Lord, a peace beyond our understanding. We pray now for Joshua as he brings a message this morning. We pray that the Holy Spirit would apply your word in our hearts and on our hearts, and that your word would be the discerning influence in our lives. We are so thankful that you are a loving and faithful father, and that your sovereign will is accomplished in all things. Now, Living Hope family, let us pray in the manner which Jesus taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. If you will rise, we're going to sing, Not What My Hands Have Done. Not what my hands have done, can't save this guilty soul. ♪ Not what my toiling flesh has borne ♪ Can make my spirit whole ♪ Not what I feel or do ♪ Can give me peace with God ♪ And ease the weight of sin ♪ My blood alone, O love of God ♪ Can give me peace within ♪ My love to me, O God ♪ Not mine, O Lord, to Thee ♪ Then rest and set my spirit free ♪ ♪ Thy grace, O Lord, O God ♪ ♪ To me can pardons be ♪ ♪ My power alone, O Son of God ♪ ♪ Can this sore bondage break ♪ ♪ No other works they bind ♪ ♪ No other blood will do ♪ No strength save that which is divine ♪ Can bear me safely through ♪ I bless the Christ, the God ♪ I rest on love divine ♪ And with unfaltering lip and heart ♪ I call this Savior mine ♪ His cross dispels each doubt ♪ I bury in this tomb ♪ Each thought of unbelief and fear ♪ Each lingering trait of mine ♪ I trust his truth and right ♪ ♪ He calls me as I call him mine ♪ ♪ My joy, my life ♪ ♪ Is he the same as me? ♪ ♪ I'm freely parted here and now ♪ That's pretty awesome from Bonner. I love because he loved me. I live because he lives. That's in our text for today. You can have a seat. Hello again. Thank you for the opportunity to bring God's word. You guys, I am excited to be able to do this, especially since it's this past week, we've had Reformation Day. And so I thought it would be a good time for us to look at the gospel in its entirety. So that's why I selected our text for today. If you guys would bow your heads as I lead us in prayer. Heavenly Father, we pray that you'd be with us now as we dive into your word, that you would open the minds and the hearts of the people here to receive your truth and to praise you for it, and to be able to live as beacons of light in a dark world because of your truth and your gospel. We pray that anywhere where I should fail in understanding, may err. We pray that you would block the ears of the congregation here. It wouldn't harm your church and it would be forgotten. But otherwise, bless the words that I say, Lord. Have everything that I say do an act upon here. May it glorify you and reflect accurately your word and build up your church. We pray this in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen. So being that it's Reformation Sunday, kind of, I think, I don't remember how that quite works, the Sunday before, the Sunday after, doesn't matter, I'm here, so we'll talk about it today. But way back when, the start of the Reformation, or near the start, in the early 1500s, the prime mover that God used was in Wittenberg. And this guy, a monk, who we are all familiar with, who's Martin Luther, he sat at his desk studying and reading, trying to understand things. He was a monk who feared God more than death. He feared God more than he loved Him. Luther fasted until he shook. He prayed until his voice failed. He confessed until priests were not only exhausted but exasperated with him. Some rumors are that they would complain he doesn't even confess anything interesting. He did not need encouragement. Luther knew what he needed. He needed a new life. He was asked one time, according to Sproul, I haven't been able to verify this, so if this is a mistake, you can blame R.C. Sproul. But he was one time asked, well, you know, all you need to do is love God. And Luther goes, knowing his own sin, love God? I hate him. He's righteous, I'm not. He made me. He knew his condition. He knew his condition very well. He needed a new life. And in the scripture, he saw it. He saw this new life. Not in our present text, but our present text summarizes what he saw. God doesn't meet sinners halfway or mend Adam's wounds. He raises sinners from the dead. That's what he saw. The Reformation did not begin with a monk finding strength or doing anything. But it began with the Holy God finding a dead sinner and making him live. And that's the essence of the Gospel in Ephesians 2. And this is the main point that I want you to take away from our text here today. It is this. If you don't remember anything, remember this. This is the main point, and I'll say it twice. The God who finds us dead in sin quickens us by his mercy, raises us with Christ, redeems us to glorify him, and reforms us to walk in good works. That order is important. I'll say it again. The God who finds us dead in sin quickens us by His mercy, raises us with Christ, redeems us to glorify Him, and reforms us to walk in good works. This passage that we're gonna look at has four main steps. Ruined by sin is verse one through three. Ruined by sin. The next is rescued by mercy. It'll be four through six. Rescued by mercy. Seven through nine is gonna be redeemed for his glory. Redeemed for his glory. And the very last verse, verse 10, is reformed for obedience. I'm gonna hint, reformed for obedience. Pay attention to the order of those things. This is not a ladder of human effort that I'm presenting you with. No, it's the strong arm of an almighty God reaching into the grave of sinners' lives who aren't really living and giving them true life. The scriptures begin not with man reaching up In fact, the first sinners hide from God in the garden, and it's God who comes and calls them. But man being dead, guilt and hopeless, God seeks them, and they have hope because of his sovereign mercy. Now, if you will open your Bibles to Ephesians 2 and keep it open, and follow along while I go through this, we will come to a better understanding of the gospel and God's word. So hear the living word of God in verses one through three. Just a second. Ruined in sin. And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world. According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, And we're by nature children of wrath just as others. This begins with a past tense. And so it's here that Paul begins by talking to us about our former estate. And you he made alive. That kind of implies something. That implies that he's revived us. and we were dead, not sick, not sick, not merely imperfect. We were spiritually dead and our body is dying. Why we die? We didn't have sin, we wouldn't die. Sometimes I'll talk with family and friends and I'll talk about how death is unnatural. I lost my mom in August. That wasn't a natural act. We were not made to die. Death is an unnatural imposition because of our condition. And that's what our catechism says. In Shorter Catechism, question 19. What is the misery of that estate where into man fell? It is in the garden because of Adam. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God. They have no fellowship with him. And are under his wrath and curse. It was severe displeasure. And are so made liable to all the miseries of this life, from the stubbing of the toe, tripping, to the fall, you trip and fall, you get a cold, to death, death in old age, death as children, all of that, misery of this life, death itself, and the pains of hell forever. So because of our sin, we will be judged, This death that the divines talk about and that Paul is talking about here expresses itself in conduct, in which you once walked according to the course of this world. That's conduct. So it's how you live your life. This death expresses itself in our allegiance. Not only does it do the conduct, but our allegiance. We walked according to the course of this world, and we walked according to the prince of the power of the air. We followed his pattern and his example. And who is this prince of the power of the air? But the devil. And we are by nature children of wrath. We have judgment coming. But he's only telling us about our former instance, our former self. Because in the beginning, he says, you were made alive. And then at the end, he says, just as others are. So there are people who are still dead in their sins. And so what does this mean? But slavery to the world, the flesh, the devil, as John puts it. So Paul is talking about the world and its course. Talking about vain customs, fashions, philosophies, the death course of a fallen society. The devil, he was a liar from the beginning, and yet he commands many rebels in this world still. The flesh, corrupt desires from within. Lust, pride, self-will. Enemies live within the gates. We still have some of these elements in us. And then the nature of the children of wrath. This is not merely a choice that Paul is talking about. We were, no past tense here again, by nature, children of wrath. So we were born in the guilt of Adam. Our wills and our actions are bent toward evil, and we are under divine displeasure. This wrath, eternal hell, and all the suffering that we experience, this isn't harshness. We deserve it. We deserve it because of our lack of holiness, our lack of righteousness, our disobedience to His revealed will. It's holy justice. Lots of people today cry for justice. Christians need justice, social justice. Do you know what you're asking? God gave us justice in the garden. He kicked us out. We now die, both spiritually and physically. When we die, we will enter His eternal displeasure. Do you know what you are asking for? God does not coddle rebels. He condemns them unless grace intervenes. So what are some of the doctrines that we can take from this first section that we should take to mind and think about as we live our lives. Well, the first is this, total depravity. Paul here is giving us a very clear picture of man's condition. Man's condition generally. He's talking about us in the past, but also others who are right now living. And so he's talking about the corruption of every faculty through and through. It is like a drop of arsenic in a cup of water. The water looks clear, looks good, may even be tasty if you're really thirsty, but what's it gonna do? It's gonna kill you, because it's poison. Poison has worked its way through every aspect of it. So it's not that men are as vile as they can be, not if man is vile as they can be, but This sin has infused every part of man's being, his will, his mind, and affections. So we don't need to be improved. Very hard to take arsenic out of water once you put it in. We need to be resurrected. We need a spiritual resurrection. The second aspect of doctrine that we should take away from here is that human nature is not morally neutral. We can see that in total depravity. There's nothing neutral about us. We're either righteous or we're no longer righteous. It's an either-or. Matthew Henry says this about our text. All men being naturally the children of disobedience are also by nature children of wrath. God is angry with the wicked every day. Our state and course are such as deserve wrath and would end in eternal wrath if divine grace did not interpose. By interpose, he means artificially come in to change us. It's not something that's natural. So children are not a blank slate, even today. They are born fallen. We're reminded of this through miscarriages. Infants who die in infancy die because they are sinners. This is a hard fact for a lot of evangelical Christians. They don't like to talk about that. But death, the wages of sin is death. And so we're reminded of it. Children are not blank slates. They are born fallen. Sentimentality denies this doctrine. Sentimentality denies this doctrine. If you want a sentimental religion, there are plenty of them out there, but biblical Christianity is not one that sits there and fans the flames of your pride or your good feelings. In yourself. In yourself. There are sentimental things about Christianity, but it is not something that denies what God has said. Scripture affirms total depravity in our sinfulness. So we should take that as gospel. It is part of the gospel. Sin is treason. And it's under the tyranny of Satan that we do it. Men imagine themselves as being free often. We're free men here in America. In England, I have many friends who are in the UK, and the UK is becoming a dumpster fire of tyranny. Some 15,000 people get arrested now every year for offending Facebook posts. Insanity. But one of the things they joke about is, hey, it's a free country, right? And then they laugh, because they know it's not true. But no, men are not free. Scripture calls them servants of Satan, and Satan is a tyrant. Worldly liberty apart from Christ is nothing but gilded chains. It may be a golden chain. It may look pretty. It may have flowers on it to smell nice, to look attractive, but it's still a chain around the neck of everyone that enslaves them. So what does this mean, though? Well, from an action standpoint, from what do we need to do with this doctrine and this teaching from Paul, it means a couple of things. And the first of which is that we need to view ourselves and others accurately and honestly. One of the reasons why pride is so bad is because pride does not reflect accurately either yourself, your work, or whatever the object of your pride happens to be. Pride in a sinful sense. This is not, I'm not speaking of like your joy and ecstasy of seeing your son succeed. Like you have pride in your son. That's not what I'm, pride is an overabundance. It's a not looking at things right. holding things too highly than they are. Luther trembled at his condition. When he read scripture and then he looked at his life, he trembled. So must we. If men are dead, creatures must not whisper lullabies. They must not be ear ticklers. Some older translations talk in other parts of Scripture, tickling of the ear. They must not be encouraging people in their sin because we are sinners. We are bound for hell. The preachers must preach accurately the gospel, which means talking about sin. Parents shouldn't presume regeneration in their children. Their children are sinners. I reflect on my conduct as a kid. Wow, I was pretty wicked as a kid sometimes. Each pastor, parent, and wherever we happen to be, our duty should be as shepherds and as people who are Christians to shepherd people towards Christ. And that means that we need to view other people honestly. They are sinners, just like we are. So do you view yourselves and others honestly? Do you treat sin in your own heart and in your home as Scripture describes it, as deadly, as deceitful, as worthy of judgment, or do you excuse or soften it? Is it something that you wink at? Humility before grace is another thing that we need to take away from this, from an action statement, we need to be humble. Not just look at others and ourselves, right? But we need to remember that we used to be a corpse. And a corpse doesn't boast about his strength. Salvation is not a partnership. It's God who raises and we respond. When you consider your salvation, do you speak more of God's power or your response? I made a decision for Jesus. Lots of people do, and lots of people ignorantly say that. But after you read scripture and after you mature, you should realize that it wasn't your decision, it was God's power that saved you. You live like one rescued from death, or one merely who has improved himself. These are questions that you should ask yourself. How do I live in light of my total depravity? Paul doesn't leave us there. He begins our section that we're talking about right now with, you were. And then he ends it with, you were, you're not now. And he's going into the next section of Ephesians 4 through 6, we're rescued by mercy. And now comes the great thing here, buts are always very good in Scripture. At least I can't think of an instance where a but isn't good off the top of my head. There might be. But God, this is in Ephesians 2, 4 through 6, but God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love, which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So these two great words in Scripture, Paul says, which give us hope, but God, but God. Man brings death because of Adam, but God here brings mercy. And it's because of God that salvation, it's an interruption in our lives. It's not the natural course for a sinner. The natural course for a sinner is wickedness, death, and judgment. God interposes Himself in our lives. And it's founded upon His rich mercy and His great love. His mercy answers our misery. It's God who brings this mercy. And it's love who answers our unworthiness. He loved us before we loved him. Adam and Eve heard God in the garden and fled, but it was God who called out to them. God does not react to merit. Sinners cannot do anything which pleases God. Even now, redeemed sinners, our actions are all sinful because we don't love God perfectly. And Jesus tells us, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. So even the good works that we do are tainted by sin. They have to be perfected by the Spirit and by Christ as our high priest to make them appealing to our Father, Heavenly Father. It is God who originates grace, And he does these things. Speaking of the sinfulness of our works, one of the analogies that I use to help hit the point home, we are like children making macaroni art for God. That's what all of our works are. Macaroni art, a parent will love because they love their kid. Macaroni art is not something that you would find in the Louvre, but you would find it on the museum of your fridge. Okay, so God is perfecting these childish sinful works that we do, and now he loves them. But even those in and of themselves are sinful, because they're not done from perfection, like our Heavenly Father is perfect. He loved us even when we were dead. There was no preparation in bringing us to life. It wasn't like he put paddles on us to shock us. And he put those paddles on, and then we had to cooperate with it. Everything here is oriented from the position of God doing everything. And that's what union with Christ is. He has united us with Christ and he gives us life. Whenever Lazarus was called out of the empty tomb, he could only respond after Jesus had made him alive. Jesus said, Lazarus, come out. And he responded. It was something he just naturally did because he was naturally now alive. It's a good thing he said Lazarus. He had said, come out, all the bodies in the tomb may have come out, trying to be obedient. But we're raised with Christ from the dead to life. And not only that, our circumstance is even better because he saved us in grace, and now he's raised us to the heavenly places to sit next to Jesus. So now we share in his resurrection. will receive crowns in heaven. Heaven is not merely our future, but now we're sitting next to him as citizens, as princes. And Christ is our authority. This is very exciting stuff. I kind of want to yell amen. Yeah, like little disorder for worship, Presbyterians can get away with some of this stuff sometimes, maybe. Amen! But the doctrine here taken for this is just equally as good. Just from the explanation of the scripture, we can see several things. Salvation is holy from a sovereign God. Using sovereign grace. A corpse does nothing. And if your eternal salvation is dependent on your action, That's terrifying. That's something that a lot of people in the evangelical world hold to, making a decision. But we're fickle people. Sometimes I want mushrooms and pepperoni on my pizza, and sometimes I want Hawaiian. If I can make a decision, I can equally unmake a decision. But God says that He's done this. We are eternally His. Jesus says no one can snatch out of my Father's hand. those whom he has plucked out of the fire. So if it depends on us, we don't have any assurance. And so Paul is reminding us in this text that we have assurance. This relies wholly on God and his prerogative. Faith flows from union and regeneration. Regeneration is a fancy term meaning to make alive, to regenerate, to reform. So grace produces faith. We believe we love because he first loved us. So by grace, you were saved. God's love is particular and effectual. He loved us. He loved us and did something for us. His love accomplishes salvation. It doesn't merely offer it. So Paul is reminding us in our text that he's talking about particular people. He goes after people, just like he went after Jonah. He chased Jonah all over the place, into the middle of the Mediterranean. He would not let him go. So too is the love of God for those who are his. Union with Christ is union with Christ is the heart of salvation. What Christ experienced in history, we receive by our spiritual union with him. We're connected to him intimately. This is why we do communion. We eat his blood, or we drink his blood, and we eat his body. Part of that is to symbolize a spiritual reality that takes place there, that should encourage us that we are one with him. Marriage unions kind of foreshadow that as well. Husband and wife being one, that's the kind of union we're talking about. And this should encourage us to action. But what action? We need to remember who raised us. We all have days whenever we think about our sin. And in humility, we should sometimes examine ourselves. That's a good thing. Occasionally examine yourself. Not all the time. Lots of people will talk about how you need to every week look at yourself. That's not necessarily true. You should be looking to Christ. We need to remember who raised us. It was God who raised us. And there's nothing, if we truly believe, there's nothing that we can do to separate ourselves from that. We also need to remember that there's nothing that we can do to make ourselves united to Christ, to have faith. So we should not have pride like the Pharisees. The Pharisees thought, but we're the sons of Abraham. We are doing all these things. What do you do? They were taking pride not in the God who saved them. They were taking pride in themselves. So do you recall daily what it is that God did for you? The God who raised you from the dead? Or do you drift into pride of self-dependence, spiritual forgetfulness? We need to live as one seated with Christ. This is not a limp religion. This is not a weak faith that we have. Christ is the King of kings, and we need to walk as sons of the King, not as beggars. The other thing we need to remember is that we need to give mercy. As we have received mercy, a forgiven man does not carry around with him gallows, quick to set up. When others sin or others wrong you, do you respond as one who has been shown divine mercy? Or as one who has forgotten divine grace? These are things to ponder. Paul continues from where we were, sinful, to how God took us out of that sinfulness And now Paul is going to talk to us in two places about why he did it. What's the purpose behind the action? And the first purpose is the most important. And that's in Ephesians 2, 7-9. Redeemed for his glory. Redeemed for his glory. So that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any should boast. So Paul is explaining to us that salvation's purpose is God's glory. A glory which is to be displayed forever. Eternity is going to be a theater of grace. But showing the exceeding riches of His kindness towards us, you are saved to display His mercy, His glory, His attributes of love, compassion, and kindness, not your merit. That was a big thing in Luther's day and it's even a big thing today. You talk to an average Roman Catholic and he'll talk to you about cooperating with grace. And so I get this infusion of grace and then I've got to do these things to maintain it. In essence, they're saying Christ's death is not sufficient. and that it needs more works. If there was such thing as a treasury of merit, Christ's death on the cross would fill it up and it would be overflowing for all eternity for the church. Even the faith is not something that's meritorious. Faith is an instrument, it is not a cause. So Paul tells us this, for by grace you've been saved through faith. Through faith. Faith is the empty hand, not the purchase price. This isn't of yourself. Faith is the gift of God. God makes you willing to be able to receive God's gift. Grace gives and man receives in faith. It is a saving grace. The confession says. And why is it important then? Well, because we need to remember this because we don't get to boast. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any should boast. So boasting is excluded for us in and of ourselves. We can boast in what the Lord has done. We can proclaim it from the rooftops. That's a good and proper thing. But pride in ourselves is a bar to the gates of heaven. We enter kneeling because we need to recognize our sinfulness. It's not about climbing over the fence. So redemption's end, from a doctrinal point, is the praise of God's grace. Man's real joy, and it is real, is God's glory. God's glory is supreme. Proverbs 16.4 says this, the Lord has made all things for himself. And elsewhere it's to glorify himself. So that should be our joy. Grace is sovereign, free, and effectual, and contributes nothing but the sin that made salvation necessary. To quote Edwards, Salvation, or the sinner who claims he generated his own faith, I believe, simply invents a work by another name. We need to remember that faith is a gift, not a human initiative. Faith itself is not the purchase price, but the vessel which God fills. Salvation by works is man sitting on God's throne. best works are sinful at best." So boasting in salvation, believing, is robbing God. The one who claims part credit steals glory from the Almighty. And this should lead to several things for us in action. To do, we need to walk humbly. Grace leaves no room for vanity. A redeemed man will kneel, he doesn't strut. He used to have chickens. Our roosters would strut something fierce, and they would do these dances with their wings, making themselves look all mighty and huge. And then a rainstorm would come, and we would see all that plumage stuck to the side, and you'd see how skinny they really are. They didn't really look that impressive. That's kind of like us. We may strut. We don't really have anything to strut about. Grace should lead to gratitude, not self-congratulation. Humility is the uniform of the justified. We also need to reject every form of work religion and don't manipulate sinners with it. Sacraments, decisions, even feelings do not save. I saw a Paul Washer video where he was talking about how he had talked to this pastor's daughter, and she was talking about how she was doubting assurance, and well, he basically convinced her that, well, you need to feel saved. So after like three weeks of her praying for feelings, he came back to Washer and said, I'm finally saved. What's she putting her hope and trust in? The feelings of assurance, those are fickle. What happens when she sins? When she sins, she won't have that feeling of elation. So does that mean she's not saved? No, she should be looking to Christ, not herself, not her feelings. Feelings do not save, Christ does. So when we preach and when we live, whenever we interact with others who aren't believers, You need to talk to them about that. It's not about us. You may see us sin. You may see us fail. That's because we're sinners. It's God who grants life. Confidence rests not on man's will, but on God's power. So is your hope resting fully on Christ? Or do you still lean on religious experience, emotion, the performance of duties? You rest in Christ, brothers and sisters. The last point for why God saves us is for holy obedience. The first is for His glory, previously talked about. The second is for reformed for holy obedience. And Ephesians 2 says this in verse 10, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. This is something that God forges in us. This is not a self-made thing. We are his workmanship. Believers are forged in the crucible of God's design. Believers aren't found. God is the craftsman and we are the steel that he shapes. And as a craftsman, he makes us a new creation. And because we're a new creation, we have a new walk. We don't walk according to the counts of the world or the course of the world. As he previously discussed, we walk in a new manner. Regeneration is creation, not repair. True grace promotes true holiness. Covenant sons bear covenant likeness. And I asked you to pay attention to the order of Paul. It's very important for us to understand that this order, good works are a fruit. That's why. Good works are a fruit. Paul has taken us from where we started, which was being depraved sinners, and he has walked us through how he has saved us and then he's told us how he saved us, why he saved us, first reason. Now he's into the second reason, what we're to do in the world. We were created for good works. Works prove, in some sense, grace. But works don't procure it. Not do anything. Remember, all of our works, even the good works, even whenever we obey the commandments in the best way we can, that is sin. We sin. Because we don't do it from perfection. Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. I'm not saying don't obey the commands. Don't get me wrong. That's not what I'm saying. We should strive to obey God's law. But our striving is still from the point of view of sinners. Redeemed sinners, but sinners nonetheless. So they don't procure anything for us. A barren life is not a weak Christian, it's a dead man. We need to pursue obedience. We need to pursue good works. We were ordained for obedience, before the foundation of the world, whenever God put in place his plan to save mankind, before he'd made Eden, before he'd made the world. He had made works that he wanted us to do as saved people, as his people. And so God appoints both salvation and a path of duty. Christ raises soldiers not drifters. The doctrines to take from this portion of Scripture that we should take is sanctification is a sovereign act, just like justification. The God who raises also reforms. A grace that saves without sanctifying is a fictional grace. Some sanctification needs to be in your life. Nobody is perfect. A slow sanctification working towards conforming yourself to the image of Christ needs to be there. Also, good works are necessary. It's fruit. A good tree produces good fruit. If you believe in Christ, you've been turned from a dead wicked tree, and you have been turned into a good tree. And a good tree produces good fruit, even if it happens to be one pear. That still shows that you're a fruit tree. And the one who eats that pear will know that you are producing good fruit. So, necessary to salvation's presence? No. It's not necessary for salvation. It is necessary to demonstrate salvation. And it is not for salvation's purchase. Rome confuses the cause and the effect. Many evangelicals today also do the same. The gospel refuses such mixture. And this was the confusion in Luther's day. But Paul here very clearly is ending this section with what we're to do works-wise. All the previous stuff beforehand is all about what God is doing in sinners' lives. That should give us hope. So what do we do? What do we do from this? Well, verse 10 is telling us that we need to walk where providence has placed us. Are you married? Do you need to be Working in your marriage, being holy and righteous and do the things that God commands us to do. Do you have children? You need to be raising those children in a manner God asks you to, or commands you to in his word. Are you children? You need to be obeying your parents like your heavenly father tells you to. At work, you need to be doing your work diligently, in worship and in the church. You need to be worshiping with diligence, paying attention, participating. These are your appointed battlefields. These are your appointed vocations. These are not fantasies, but duties. A man is measured where he stands. That's where you need to do your duty. We also need to reject idle religion, or my faith is personal, doesn't affect things out here. We need to labor in holiness. Grace produces disciplined men and women, not soft spectators. Laziness is sin. Christ deserves and commands obedient sons, not spiritual idlers. So, brothers and sisters, we began in that cold Wittenberg Tower where Luther shook under the holy presence of God. He didn't need inspiration. He needed resurrection, as we said. And the scripture showed him this. God does not meet sinners halfway. He raises the dead. Remember, the Reformation did not begin with a monk climbing, but with God stooping to a corpse. This salvation was what the reformers recovered. This gospel is what they taught. and brought out from the scriptures. And they have the five solas that we're all familiar with. This is the great banner of the Reformation. Salvation is sola gratia, by grace alone. Sola fide, through faith alone. Sola Christus, in Christ alone. And sola deo gloria, for the glory of God alone. That's kind of interesting. That seems like it comes right from our text, doesn't it? That's Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2, where God finds us as dead sinners. He quickens us by mercy, raises us sinners with Christ, saves sinners to display his grace, and reforms us to walk in good works. Remember the four truths standing before us in the text. You are ruined by sin. You need to be rescued by mercy. You need to be redeemed for His glory. And you need to be reformed for obedience. No ladder, no self-help, that won't do. Only the strong arm of the Almighty pulling men from graves. So I ask you, Are you improved or are you raised? If God has made you alive, then live like resurrected men and women. Kill sin, rule your house well, walk in obedience. You remain dead, you're not a believer. Your hope, Christ, does not cheer the strong. He resurrects the helpless. Come to Him and live. You'll bow your heads with me. Heavenly Father, we praise you for being a loving God, who not only condescended to give us your word, but condescended us to seek a people from this sinful rabble on this tiny blue dot. Take a people who aren't your people and to make them your people. We stand in awe before you at your love and grace, and we praise you for it. And we pray that we're able to take these truths that we've learned here. We're able to be beacons of light in a dark world. And we pray all this in the name of your Son, Jesus, our God and King. Amen. You will please rise. We'll be singing, And Can It Be. that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood. Thine be for me He who caused His pain, for me He who Him to death pursued. Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die? be, that thou by God shouldst die for me. mortal dies, who can explore his strange design? In vain the firstborn seraph tries to sound the depths of love. Divine. Tis mercy all, let earth adore. Let angel minds inquire no more. Amazing grace, me he left his father So free, so infinite, his grace. Humbled himself, so great his love. ♪ And bled for all his chosen race ♪ ♪ Tis mercy all immense and free ♪ ♪ For all my God did fathom doubt me ♪ ♪ Amazing love Then will my God just die for me. ♪ Long my imprisoned spirit lay ♪ As bound in sin and nature's night ♪ Thine I diffused a quickening ray ♪ I woke the dying ♪ Pungent flame with light ♪ ♪ My chains fell off, my heart was free ♪ ♪ I rose, went forth, and followed Thee ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ No condemnation now I dread ♪ Alive in Him, my living hand, and clothed in righteousness divine. Bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own. Amazing grace! Hear the benediction taken from Ephesians 3, 20-21. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and forever. Amen.