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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2, I'll begin reading 
in verse 1. 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 our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and 
of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the 
others. But God, who is rich in mercy 
because of his great love with 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 the heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might 
show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward 
us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved 
through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of 
God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His 
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God 
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in Heaven, we come before You now and we pray for Your Spirit 
to be at work in our minds and in our hearts. God, we confess 
our sin and we pray for fresh forgiveness through the blood 
of our Redeemer, Jesus. We pray, Father, that you would 
give us the mind of Christ and help us to take every thought 
captive to the obedience of Christ. We just commit ourselves to you 
now and we pray that you would guide us and instruct us and 
encourage us and build us up in our most holy faith. Cause 
us to leave from this place more in love with the Redeemer who 
gave himself on our behalf and more desirous to serve you in 
this world. We pray, Father, for any and 
all who do not know you, that you would open their hearts, 
that you would bring them forth in the exercise of your sovereign 
will, that you would cause men and women and boys and girls 
today to know something of their own sinfulness and to see the 
glory of Jesus Christ as that one alone who can save his people 
from their sins. And we ask in Jesus' most blessed 
name, amen. Well, today is a day of remembrance 
and that for two reasons. First, it is the Lord's Day. 
We remember in a special way the fact that Christ rose from 
the dead on that first day of the week. He left the grave. He left the tomb. The angels 
rejoiced. He is risen. But as well, secondly, 
this date is significant in history. It is not a date where we remember 
ghouls and goblins and ghosts. But rather, we remember the launch 
of what has been called the Reformation. The launch officially started 
on this date 493 years ago in 1517. Now, there were precursors 
to the Reformation. There were forerunners, to be 
sure. But historically speaking, this 
date in history marks the official beginning of the Protestant Reformation. A biographer by the name of Roland 
Bainton, in his famous work on Martin Luther, called Here I 
Stand, begins his work this way. He says, on a sultry day in July 
of the year 1505, a lonely traveler was trudging over a parched road 
on the outskirts of the Saxon village of Stoddernheim. He was 
a young man, short but sturdy, and wore the dress of a university 
student. As he approached the village, 
the sky became overcast. Suddenly, there was a shower, 
then a crashing storm. A bolt of lightning writhed the 
gloom and knocked the man to the ground. Struggling to rise, 
he cried in terror, Saint Anne, help me. I will become a monk. The man who thus called upon 
a saint was later to repudiate the cult of the saint. He who 
vowed to become a monk was later to renounce monasticism. A loyal son of the Catholic Church, 
he was later to shatter the structure of medieval Catholicism. A devoted 
servant of the pope, he was later to identify the popes with Antichrist. For this young man was Martin 
Luther. Now, lest we fall prey to worshiping 
or bowing before Martin Luther, I don't bring this up to do that. In fact, Luther would have nothing 
of such a thing. When he got wind that certain 
Christians were calling themselves Lutherans, here's what he had 
to say. The first thing I ask is that 
people should not make use of my name and should not call themselves 
Lutherans, but Christians. What is Luther? The teaching 
is not mine, nor was I crucified for anyone. How did I, poor stinking 
bag of maggots that I am, come to the point where people call 
the children of Christ by my evil name? He was never one to 
mince words, as we see in that quotation. Luther accorded all 
glory, all honor to God Most High. Luther saw the Reformation 
in terms of the Word, the power of the preached Word. He said 
this elsewhere, I simply taught, preached, wrote God's Word. Otherwise, 
I did nothing. And then while I slept or drank 
Wittenberg beer with my Philip and my Amsdorf, the Word so greatly 
weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor did such 
damage to it. I did nothing, the Word did it 
all. That's what we're here to celebrate. 
The Word of God's free grace. The Word of God's glorious gospel. It is no accident that 1570 came 
on the heels of Luther's exposition of Romans and the first set of 
lectures that he did on the epistle of Paul to the Galatians. It 
was the Word that brought freedom to his soul. It was the Word 
that brought freedom to the souls of the people to whom he preached. 
And it is that Word that we praise God for on this October 31st 
in 2010. The Word of the everlasting Gospel 
where God in Christ has shown Himself faithful to save miserable 
sinners. Stinking bags of maggots that 
we are. Well, as we consider the word 
of God's grace, I can think of no other place to do such a thing 
than in Ephesians chapter two, specifically verses eight to 
ten. And this morning we're going 
to consider this section under two main considerations. The 
first is the plan of salvation. And then secondly, if we have 
time, the place of good works. So the plan of salvation and 
then secondly, the place of good works. And as we consider this 
plan of salvation, there's four things in particular that we 
need to look at. The first is the origin of salvation. He says, for by grace you have 
been saved. That's the origin of our salvation. He is developing what he's already 
mentioned in verse five. Notice in verse five, even when 
we were dead in trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. 
He is amplifying what he has said in verse seven. that in 
the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace 
in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. So verse 8 naturally 
follows as an amplification or an explanation of these two verses. Notice that God has exceeding 
riches of grace. He doesn't meagerly apportion 
it. He isn't a miser with reference to its distribution. God has 
exceeding riches of grace for his people. And we need to understand 
our salvation does not come first and foremost because of us. It 
is by grace we are saved. It is by grace alone, as the 
Protestant reformers maintain, that they insisted on. And notice 
what he says, for by grace you have been saved. Not that you 
are being saved or will hopefully one day be saved, but by that 
grace, when you believe the gospel, you have been saved. You have 
no condemnation. You have peace of conscience. 
You have the ability to worship God through Christ. You have 
the Holy Spirit as that gift, as that guarantor, as that seal 
of your final inheritance. As John Eady so rightly points 
out, when a man is pulled out of the water and placed into 
the lifeboat, he has been delivered. He has been saved. It's not a 
matter of if he continues. It is a matter that God, in fact, 
has saved us by his grace and for his glory, for by grace you 
have been saved. Never forget that. If anything, 
that ought to promote humility among the people of God. Very 
early on in the history of the church, men acknowledge grace, 
but they also acknowledge works. They acknowledge the merit of 
their performance. And so grace began to take a 
backseat with reference to the plan of salvation. Unfortunately, 
it didn't die out in the early centuries. It continues with 
us today. One of the biggest sins in your 
heart and mind is self-righteousness. We want to be the captain of 
our own destiny. We want to be the one who gets 
the glory for the good things that we do. But this grace humbles 
us. This grace lays us low. This grace shows us our absolute 
dependence upon God Most High. And as well, this grace highlights 
the fact that God saved us out of His mere good pleasure. He wasn't beholden to any of 
us. He didn't owe any of us. If we got what God owed us, each 
and every one of us would be in the lake of fire right now. Be very careful about asking 
God to give you what you deserve. Every sin deserves God's wrath 
and curse, both in this life and that which is to come. Be 
very careful to ask God to give you what you deserve. The wages 
of sin is death. That ought not to surprise us 
in a universe governed by a God who is holy, holy, holy. The free gift of God is eternal 
life through our Lord Jesus Christ ought to make us stand in wonder 
and awe and amazement at the wondrous love that our God has 
for such wretches like us. By grace, you have been saved. Let that affect you when you 
live in this world, when you shine as a light in a crooked 
and perverse generation. You're not a Christian because 
you perform better. You're not a Christian because 
you do good works. You're not a Christian because 
you're smarter than your neighbor. You're not a Christian because 
you got lucky. You're a Christian by grace alone 
to the sovereign hand of God alone. Let that humble you and 
let that make your invitation to others that much broader and 
bolder and wider. God is gracious. God does save 
sinners. God is not miserly. He has exceeding 
riches of grace to all who come to him through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. So the origin of this plan of 
salvation is God's grace. Secondly, notice the objects 
with reference to the plan of salvation, for by grace you have 
been saved. So I think Luther got it a little 
wrong here. We're worse than a stinking bag 
of maggots. This is where I come to offend 
you. What did you hear at church today? I heard I was worse than 
a stinking bag of maggots. Wow, where's that church? I don't 
want to go there. That doesn't sound like it'll build me up. 
Stinking bags of maggots do what stinking bags of maggots are 
intended to do. Human beings have gone astray. Human beings raise their fist 
at God. Human beings take the Decalogue 
and trash it under their feet. God says, have no other before 
me. So what do we do? We seek out every other thing 
we can to worship it and serve it. God says, don't make idols. You say, well, I don't make poles 
or rocks or anything like that. You idolize yourself, generally 
speaking. God says, don't misuse my name. Render it in a holy way. It's 
a filler today. It's a curse word today. God 
says, remember my Sabbath day to keep it holy. Oh, no, not 
us. We got to have just, you know, 
one hour. We'll give you God. We'll apportion 
that up. And then the rest is for me in my house. God says, 
honor your parents. I think extends to lawful authority 
everywhere. We've got a problem with authority. 
We have a real ax to grind with anybody who would ever get in 
our face and tell us something we don't want to hear. God says, 
do not commit adultery. Do not commit murder. Yeah, we 
may not have physically went out and put a knife in somebody, 
but we have hatred in our hearts and we've not dealt with it. 
God says, do not commit adultery. Or perhaps maybe you have restrained 
yourself externally. Jesus said, if you look upon 
a woman to lust, you have broken the law. God says, don't steal. God says, don't lie. God says, 
don't covet. Who of us could stand here today 
and claim perfection before the bar of God? You see, the stinking 
bag of maggots didn't do that. Doesn't defy God. They grow to 
be flies and then they go out and spread more larvae and then 
more maggots come about and the cycle continues on. They're doing 
what God intended. We're worse than that. Look at 
how Paul describes us in chapter two, verses one to three. and 
you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. You see 
why it had to be grace? You see why it cannot be works? 
You see why it cannot be moral reform? We are dead men and women. We are dead in our trespasses 
and sins. This puts the nail to the coffin 
of any synergistic approach to acceptance with God. That means 
me and God for my salvation. No, it is God alone or we are 
dead in our trespasses and sins. You're dead. If you are here 
this morning and you don't know Jesus Christ, you are dead in 
your trespasses and sins. I cannot wake you. I pray to 
the Holy Spirit of God to come and powerfully arouse you from 
your death. That same power that Jesus issued 
forth when He told Lazarus to come forth from the grave. Dead 
in our trespasses and sins. Do you see that? This is the 
condition of all mankind everywhere. Your next door neighbor doesn't 
just have a little worse life than you. He's dead in his trespasses 
and sins. Look at what he goes on to say. 
In which you once walked. You once walked in your trespasses 
and sins. Everything about you was oriented 
toward your trespasses and sins. This is why the psalmist can 
say the wicked man devises evil in his bed. You look at that 
and you think, man, the guy's waking up in the morning and 
instead of hitting the snooze button or instead of praying 
to God that I'll have the spirit as I go to worship, he's devising 
evil in his head. Why is that? Because he walks 
in trespasses and sins. That is his orientation. Notice 
verse two, 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. Later in 
this epistle, Paul will say, we do not wrestle against flesh 
and blood, but against principalities and powers. We have unseen forces. We have invisible forces calling 
the shots. We have a real devil. Of whom 
Jesus said to certain men in his time, the religious leaders, 
you are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father 
you want to do. You know, oftentimes I hear, 
oh, I'm demon possessed. Or you hear about demon possession. 
A person outside of Christ is under the sway of the devil. 
That's the biblical answer. Do I have a spirit of anger? 
Do I have a spirit of this? If you're not in Christ, you're 
under the sway of the devil. Believe on the gospel and he 
will break that power. He will free you. Notice what 
he goes on to say, the prince of the power of the air, the 
spirit and now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also 
we all once conducted ourselves. Paul is not saying this is only 
a Jewish problem. This is only a Gentile problem. 
This isn't only a problem for the Ephesians, but Paul wants 
himself in here. He says this is a universal issue, 
as he does in Romans chapter one, chapters one through three. He summarizes his whole argument 
there by saying that all the world has become guilty before 
God. There is none righteous. No, 
not one. Paul needed a savior. Paul needed 
blood atonement. Paul needed the gospel. Paul 
was a wretch. who stood in need of grace, and 
he throws himself in this before picture, and he says, among whom 
also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling 
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature 
children of wrath, just as the others. So in summary, Paul says 
you were lifeless, you were helpless, and you were hopeless. That's 
the objects in this plan of salvation. Remember what Jesus said, I did 
not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The 
gospel is not for the polished, it's not for the beautiful, it's 
not for the upright because there is none. It is for sinners that 
Jesus came to save. Lifeless ones, helpless ones, 
hopeless ones. That's the recipients of God's 
grace. You see, it is not by works. 
It is not by performance. It is not by merit. It is not 
by a combination of those things, plus faith in Christ. It is grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, or else there's 
no salvation. So Paul, having described our 
state, goes on in verse four to say, but God. Go somewhere 
online and find Martin Lloyd Jones's sermon on but God, you'll 
be happy you did. And just listen to a whole sermon 
on two words, but God. I'm not going to duplicate that 
here. But look at what he says, here's what you were, but God, 
isn't what the gospel is all about, but God. Isn't that the 
thrust of Ezekiel chapter 16, when God is rehearsing Israel's 
history? He says, when I came to you, 
you were in your blood. I said, live, live. I decked 
you with ornaments. I put earrings in you. I put 
nose rings on you. I made you beautiful. I made 
you my own. And then what did you do? You 
went a whoring from me. You went and engaged in all manner 
of sin. Those translations do not translate Ezekiel 16, 25 
literally, because it's so offensive. The New American Standard captures 
the literal nature of it. God says to Israel, you spread 
your legs to every passerby to multiply your harlotry. That 
was their conduct. And then He goes on to say, you're 
not like other harlots. Most harlots receive payment 
for services rendered. You know what Israel does? Israel 
pays the boyfriend to violate her. You know what God does? Nevertheless, nevertheless, I'm 
going to show mercy. That's the God of grace. That's 
the exceeding riches of grace. That is the beauty and the glory 
of the Gospel. Not that men have somehow desired 
to accept Jesus, but that God, through Christ, is reconciling 
the world to Himself. Not that somebody in this state 
made up their mind for Jesus, but that God has accepted us 
freely in the Beloved. That's the objects of this plan 
of salvation. Worse than a stinking bag of 
maggots. Sinners. who violated God's law 
every step of the way, under his wrath, under his curse, and 
justly so. When God came to us, it should 
have been, depart from me, you curse it, into everlasting fire, 
prepared for the devil and his angels. God says, come to me, 
come through Christ, believe on the Lord Jesus with the faith 
that I give you and the repentance that I give you. And I will confer 
on you a kingdom. I will give you my spirit. I 
will give you entitlement to everlasting life. I will give 
you the very peace of Canaan itself. That's our God. That's our God. Notice, thirdly, 
the instrument used with reference to this plan of salvation. For 
by grace you've been saved through faith. Through faith alone, as 
the context makes very clear. Notice it's not because of faith. It is not, I believe, therefore 
God save me. No, God gives me the gift of 
faith. If it is not clear here, it is 
clear in Philippians 1 and verse 29, where Paul says it has been 
graciously given to us, not only to believe in His name, that's 
an incidental statement, but also to suffer for His name. It's through faith. It's not 
through works. It's not through merit. If you 
are here this morning, the answer of God to your desperate condition 
is to believe the gospel. Not go out and do better. Well, 
I better stop this. I better stop this. I better 
go here. I better go there. I better commit to church attendance. 
I better read my Bible. I better pray. I'm not saying 
those are bad things. But in terms of acceptance with 
God, it is through Christ alone. He is the ground. He is the basis. His living, His dying, His rising. All those ingredients necessary 
for the salvation of His people. You see, we needed a righteousness 
which would avail with God. Jesus satisfies that. We need 
a sacrifice to take away our sin. Jesus avails with God. We need Him raised up because 
of our justification. Paul says in Romans 4.25, Jesus 
avails with God. It is through faith. I love what 
John Murray says. He says, faith is self-renouncing. You should never congratulate 
yourself because you have faith. Saving faith is a gift of God. If your parents give you a gift, 
you don't congratulate yourself because you have the gift, you 
can be happy, you ought to celebrate, you ought to be joyful, but you 
shouldn't pat yourself on the back and say, wow, am I not a 
great guy or girl because I got this gift because of something 
I did. He says faith is self-renouncing. Works are self-congratulatory. Faith looks to what God does. Works have respect to what we 
are. It's been very interesting. On Wednesday night in our Bible 
study, we're in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11. We just 
got to that section where it's post-Moses. We're seeing the 
judges of Israel. Any of you who have read the 
book of Judges at times have probably raised an eyebrow or 
two and said, how did this fellow make it in Hebrews 11? Because 
God looked at their faith, not at their works. They were vitally 
connected to God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord. That's why Samson will be at 
the marriage supper of the Lamb. That's why Jephthah will be at 
the marriage supper of the Lamb. That's why Gideon will be at 
the marriage supper of the Lamb. That's why we'll be at the marriage 
supper of the Lamb. Not by works, not by our merits, 
not by our law keeping, not by our performance, but by God's 
grace alone. to faith. Faith is the instrument 
by which we are joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. The text is 
specific. It is definite. It does not say, 
on account of faith. It's not as if we muster up faith 
and then God rewards us. The faith here is not faithfulness 
or obedience or loyalty, but it is a belief in the truth of 
God's Gospel of the saving work of Jesus Christ our Lord. That's 
the faith in view here. And then fourthly, terms of the 
plan of salvation. Notice the character of it. So 
that Paul can summarize and exclude once again the place of works 
in our acceptance with God. Notice in verse 8, for by grace 
you've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of 
works, lest anyone should boast. It's almost as if he's anticipating 
the Pelagian controversy and the Arminian controversy. It's 
almost as if he's anticipating the things that would happen 
in the church. Oh, yes, we believe it's by grace, Paul, but we also 
want to attach our works and our merits and our performance 
and our subscription to a sacramental system. No. How many more times 
can he say it to make it crystal clear? It does not depend on 
what you do. Do any of you for a moment think 
that there's something you contribute to your acceptance with God? 
If you do, please listen, because you haven't been for a long time. It is not what you do. Augustus Toplady. We sang 440. 
What a beautiful hymn concerning justification by faith alone. 
Toplady nailed it in certain of his hymns. What a theologian. Who wrote the hymns back then? 
Theologians and pastors so they could educate the people in singing 
sound doctrine and fulfilling Ephesians and Colossians. What 
we're really supposed to do when we sing. It's not so I can be 
so caught up only in myself, but I can worship my God and 
edify my brethren by singing truth. What else did Top Lady 
write? Nothing in my hand I bring, simply 
to thy cross I cling. Shall I to the fountain fly? 
Wash me, Savior, or I die. I hope that was Top Lady, I'm 
not going to look it up. It's either Watts Top Lady or 
one of those dear brothers that were all pastor theologians that 
wrote good hymns. You hear that? Nothing in my hand I bring. In 
our acceptance with God, we don't bring anything. We have nothing. Remember again that scene in 
Zechariah three, where Joshua, the high priest, is not only 
standing before God, but before or representing all of Israel. And he's filthy, he's vile, he's 
dirty. The text used in the word used 
describing what Joshua is wearing, it's the same word translated 
in other parts of the Old Testament for feces, for vomit, What we 
have there is not a picture of a guy who's a little soiled, 
who's a little bit off on that particular day. We're not talking 
about a man who walked to church and he happened to have a bit 
of cream cheese on his tie. We're talking about a man who 
went through the sewage pit, who stinks and who is foul. The 
Lord God Most High is there. Satan is there, ready to accuse 
Joshua. He can't even open his mouth 
and the Lord God says, the Lord rebuked you, Satan. I don't need 
your testimony. I don't need you to accuse him. I see what a filthy pile of mess 
he is. God saw Joshua in all of his 
stench and filth and grossness. There was nothing he had to present 
before God. Joshua didn't say we've been 
faithful for this amount of time. We've obeyed in this amount of 
ways. We have these few works that we can present unto you. 
God says the Lord rebuke you, Satan. He issues another command. Take those filthy garments off 
of him and clothe him with new garments. That's justification. God pardons all our sins and 
accepts us as righteous in His sight only for the righteousness 
of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. You see, up to 
this point, Paul has not spoken one whit about good works. The flow of the passage is clear. Good works follow our salvation. Good works are not the reason 
for our salvation. Good works are a fruit of our 
salvation. Good works evidence that we have 
believed the gospel. But up until this point, notice, 
he says, for by grace you've been saved through faith that 
not of yourselves. There's a question here. Does 
that mean the faith or does it mean the grace? good man who 
differ on both sides, I'm going to take the approach that says 
it means the whole thing. The whole kit and caboodle. The 
grace through faith salvation. That is not of yourself. The 
grace, the faith, the salvation is not of you. It didn't originate 
with you. Perhaps at a time you didn't 
even want it. God has made you willing in the 
day of His power. Praise His name. that for by 
grace through faith salvation. It's not of you. It's the gift 
of God. Isn't that beautiful? The gift of God. Take this gift. You receive the gift. Don't boast 
because you received the gift. Don't boast because you merited 
the gift. It is a gift. It is grace. It 
is unmerited. God should send you to hell, 
but He has given you the salvation. for by grace, through faith. Faith is a gift. Acts 13, 48. 
Acts 15, 9. I already alluded to Philippians 
1, 29. Repentance is a gift. Acts 5, 31. Acts 11, 18. 2 Timothy 
2, 25-26. The point of the passage, my 
dear brothers and sisters, is to show what we were and what 
God has done in Jesus Christ. He has poured out on us the exceeding 
riches of His grace. It is displayed, exemplified, 
published, and portrayed in this gracious, through faith, salvation 
that we possess in Jesus our Lord. Praise God, not for Martin 
Luther, the man, but for the doctrine that he preached. Praise 
God for John Calvin and the doctrine that he preached. Praise God 
that men took theology seriously in those days and would willingly 
die, would willingly suffer, would willingly part with everything 
for this truth that we sit as benefactors out of today. Shame 
on us that we hold it with such a limp wrist. Shame on us that 
we are not earnest contenders for the faith. Shame on us that 
we don't take Jude 3 seriously and contend for that faith which 
was once for all delivered to the saints. It wasn't just Luther 
battling Rome at the time. It wasn't just Paul battling 
Galatians at the time, or heretics plaguing Galatia at the time. 
There are heretics today. There are people denying the 
grace of God today. There are people in so-called 
evangelical churches preaching a synergistic acceptance with 
God, meaning that man and God participates in his salvation. No, God alone saves us. God alone gives gifts. God alone 
translates us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom 
of the son of his love. It is by grace alone, through 
faith alone. Salvation does not originate 
from man. It is neither our works, our 
merit, our faith that sets forth the cause of salvation. Salvation 
is of the Lord. Paul is simply repeating what 
the Bible emphasizes over and over again. Way back in the prophet 
Isaiah, Isaiah 45 and verse 22. Look to me and be saved. All you ends of the earth, for 
I am God and there is no other. You know anything about that 
verse in the history of the church? That was the verse God used to 
save Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Spurgeon, it was a snowy day, 
couldn't get to the church that he normally attended. So he went 
into this village church. And he said the main pastor preacher 
wasn't even there. He said a stupid preacher was 
in the pulpit. I'm sorry if the language offends you. This is 
in his biography. It was a stupid preacher. All 
he could do was repeat that text. Look to me and be saved. All 
the ends of the earth. He alighted on Spurgeon. He looked 
him in the eyes. Young man, are you saved? Look 
to me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God 
and there is no other." God used that stupid preacher to call 
a man out of darkness into marvelous light who would be the means 
of bringing great blessing upon countless multitudes. I want 
to meet that stupid preacher when I get to heaven. I want to meet him and praise 
God for him. You see, it's God who saves. 
It's God who initiates, it's God who seeks, it's God who finds. 
Is that the whole point of the Zacchaeus narrative? The Son 
of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. He's 
not frustrated in that task. He's not upset in that task. 
He is successful. He is victorious. We sing amazing 
grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. We don't 
sing, it's pretty OK, because it helped me to be all I can 
be. The church is sounding like a military. It was the Army's 
slogan, be all you can be. Isn't that what Joel Osteen says? Be all you can be. Aim high, 
United States Air Force. What are you hearing churches 
say? Moralism. Aim high. Do a bit better. You 
know what, brethren? You try and aim high, but you 
must always look to the cross. It's all about Jesus. Having 
read a bit about Luther this past week, one of his early influence 
was Stoppets, probably butchering the name in German. But he was 
a monk that actually seemed to have the seed of God in his heart. 
And Luther said something, too, about confessing his sins. You've 
heard the story. Martin Luther used to be in the 
confessional for several hours at a time. As R.C. Sproul says, 
one wonders what he had to confess. You know, I coveted Brother Philip's 
role at dinner. I mean, what kind of trouble 
do you get into in a monastery? Well, we all know. It's right 
here. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately 
wicked. But he comes to Stoppard and he mentions this. And Stoppard 
says, you know what I've learned? I've learned all of my confessions, 
all of my pouring out, all of my sins doesn't help me deal 
with sin at all. Look to the wounds of Jesus. 
Praise God. Look to the wounds of Jesus. 
That's what it's about. That's what differentiates the 
Christian from the non-Christian. It's Jesus. It's not what my 
hands can do to save my guilty soul. It's what God in Christ 
has done at the cross. It's what God in Christ has done 
in all of His redemptive work. In the sending of His Son. In 
the fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son. Born of a 
woman. Born under the law. To do what? 
To redeem those under the law. Not to be our example. Not to 
be our pal. Not to be our buddy. But to be 
our bleeding, substituted Calvary. To be the wrath bearing, curse 
bearing propitiation for our sins. Remember that scene that 
we've looked at? I know we've looked at it recently 
on a Wednesday night. I think we looked at it last 
year in our pulpit ministry. Genesis 15. When God makes that 
covenant with Abraham. He tells Abraham to cut the pieces 
of the animals and put them in two. Got half an animal here, 
half an animal here, all the way kind of down. Abraham goes 
into a deep sleep. He awaits and he sees the smoking 
furnace, this lighted torch passing between these animal carcasses. That's the Romans 8.32 of Old 
Covenant Bible. God was showing in that display 
that he is the covenant head. He is the covenant keeper. It 
is unilateral. It wasn't God and Moses walking 
between those pieces. It was God alone. What was the 
symbolism? As the parties to the covenant 
passed through these animals, what they were saying by this 
display was that if I break covenant, may what happened to these animals 
happen to me. God is taking on Himself a malevolent 
curse. See, God is faithful to his covenant. He walks through those pieces. 
He does not have to be destroyed because he broke covenant. But 
you know what's beautiful? God himself walked through those 
pieces and took our obligations, too. Such that as he walks through 
those pieces, because we broke the covenant, because we violated 
God, because we raised our fists against him. Christ has redeemed 
us from the curse of the law. Christ took the obligations that 
we had, and because we broke them, he suffered for them. So that ceremony was fleshed 
out at Calvary. God indeed took upon him, in 
the person of Jesus Christ, the curse of the covenant. He exhausted 
the damnation of God on our behalf. Dr. Davis was speaking about 
Rabbi Duncan. Rabbi Duncan was a preacher, 
a Presbyterian, and a teacher of theology. One day he's talking 
about the atonement. He's talking about the atonement 
to his class of students, and he's talking about the fact that 
it was damnation lovingly spent. Damnation, lovingly engaged in. You see, Jesus did this for the 
joy that was set before Him. When Rabbi Duncan falls on his 
seat, he said it was damnation, lovingly entered into. Brethren, 
that's what Calvary is all about. By grace, you've been saved. 
Not your works. Not your merit. Not because you, 
a bag of maggots, have attempted to do good, religious, holy, 
pious things. Let's give the glory to God, 
to whom it belongs. This passage in Paul in Ephesians 
chapter 2 verses 8 and 9 echoes the prophet Jonah. Didn't Jonah 
say salvation is of the Lord? Isn't this a foretaste in Ephesians 
2 of what the saints in heaven do according to Revelation 5 
and 7? What do they confess when they're 
before the throne of God and the Lamb? They say salvation 
belongs to our God and to the Lamb who sits upon the throne. It's by grace alone, through 
faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Well, we won't get to the place 
of good works. Maybe we'll look at that tonight. But just suffice 
it to say, look at verse 10. For we are His workmanship created 
in Christ Jesus for good works. We're saved for them. We're not 
saved because of them. We're saved in order to do them. 
Not saved because we have performed them. He goes on to say, which 
God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So good 
works are a necessary fruit. They follow a legitimate profession 
of faith. We believe the truth of the gospel. 
We come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And we are 
God's workmanship, carrying out those good works that He has 
purposed that we should walk in. Gordon Clark captures the 
sentiment very well when he says, what passes so apparently as 
good works are not good unless they are preceded by justification. There's a lot of people doing 
a lot of good things out there, but they're not biblical good 
works. Not saying everybody should go out and kill each other and, 
you know, do all sorts of manner of evil, but a biblically defined 
good work has as its first reference the glory of God and then the 
good of others. Very often when we do good works 
that are not such as the Bible defines, it's all for us. It's 
all for us. So Clark says what passes so 
apparently as good works are not good unless preceded by justification. And if a claimed justification 
does not inevitably produce good works, it simply was not justification. You see, you can't divorce verses 
9 and 10. You're saved. It is a gift of 
God. It is this way so that you won't boast. It's not by works, 
but you are saved so that you can go do good works. Love God, 
love men, serve men, care for people, be compassionate, be 
kind. Paul emphasizes this throughout. 
Some people have said that James and Paul are at odds. No, they 
teach the exact same thing. James teaches sovereign grace 
of his own will. He brought us forth by the word 
of truth that we should become the first fruits. It's after 
establishing that that he then starts hammering a congregation 
because they're not loving their brethren. They're not engaged 
in good works as a result of having been saved by grace. Paul 
emphasizes good works just as much throughout the corpus. He 
wants you to believe the gospel. And when you believe, you will 
love, you will care, you will be kind, you will be compassionate. You will put others first. You 
won't continue to live for yourself. You'll see God as most important. 
You'll see others as most important. You'll take Paul's words seriously 
in Philippians 2. Let each esteem others as better 
than himself. You're not the end. You're not 
the universe. You're not the center of the universe. You're 
not the focus of history. Jesus is. And others before you. So, good works follow in our 
salvation. By way of conclusion, brethren, 
we need to remember to be grateful to God. Grateful. We need to be thankful. A popular author in our day has 
sort of minimized this in the place of the Christian life. 
I'm not saying this is the only thing, but it certainly ought 
not to be minimized. For you see, Ephesians 1 begins 
with this emphasis. Ephesians 1, Paul says, blessed 
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed 
us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Ephesians 1, 3. That's his topic 
or opening sentence. He says, blessed be God. He says, 
praise be to God. He says, worship and gratitude 
be given unto God. Thankfulness be poured out to 
God. Speak well of God. Sing praises 
to God when you gather on the Lord's Day, visit him with with 
with worship and adoration for who he is and what he's done. 
And then he details the persons of the Godhead and their various 
functions within redemption. The Father chose us, predestinated 
us unto adoption as sons. It is Jesus in whom we have redemption 
through the shedding of his blood. It is the Spirit who seals us 
and is the guarantee for our final inheritance. All of this 
causes Paul to say, blessed be God, praise be to God, thanks 
be to God, worship That is an appropriate response when we 
consider Ephesians 2. And I don't think it's ungodly 
or unholy or illegitimate to thank God that in the history 
of His church, He has raised up men to fight against the establishment 
for the truth. For the good Word of God Most 
High. Praise God that He used those 
men. As messed up as they may have 
been in many ways. Just listening recently, John 
Calvin was about to die. He calls for the elders of his 
church. He has them come in. He confesses sin to them. Recent 
biography by Robert Godfrey talks about Calvin had a bit of a hot 
temper. There's a bit of encouragement 
there for some of us to be Calvin struggled to not that we should 
hide behind that. So God Calvin struggled so I 
can be, you know, a jerk for Jesus. No. But he called those 
elders and he confessed that sin to them. And he says, but 
as far as I have been able, I have preached faithfully and accurately 
the Word of the living God. That's all we want. That's all 
you should ever want. Yeah, men that live faithfully 
and righteously and adorn the doctrine of God Most High, to 
be sure. But men who preach faithfully. It is the Word of God upon which 
our souls hang. It is the word of God which informs 
us concerning the mind of God, the way of salvation, acceptance 
with God. We don't want men who handle 
inaccurately the word of truth. I love that statement. There 
was a time when Calvin was preaching expositionally through, I think 
it was Deuteronomy. And he had to leave. I get my things mixed 
up. He was either in Strasbourg and 
had to leave to Geneva or vice versa. But he was gone for a 
period of a couple of years. And when he came back, he picked 
up the exposition at the exact place that he left off. That's 
awesome to me. He didn't have a topical series 
on what it was like to suffer for the cause of Christ. What's 
going on with Eilat and the children? No, he picked up right where 
he left off because he knew and understood that the Word of God 
is what the people of God most desperately need. We ought to 
be grateful. And then finally, This is a real 
finally, not a preacher's finally. The blessed hope in the Gospel 
of Jesus Christ. If you are not in Christ today, 
if you are not a Christian today, if you have not believed, don't 
get upset and say, wow, they worship Luther there. Wow, they've 
got an axe to grind against Rome there. Listen to the text. God is gracious. God is merciful. God is kind. God loves sinners. God says when you believe the 
Gospel, the good news concerning His Son, you will be saved. There's great hope. Great encouragement. Great cause for joy. Dancing. Holy jigs in the presence of 
our triune God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You are lifeless, helpless, hopeless 
sinners. who can find life, who can find 
salvation, who can find more hope than you know what to do 
with by coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not tarry. Do not wait. Do not play games. Realize, now is the acceptable 
time. Today is the day of salvation. Believe on Jesus and you will 
be saved. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank 
You for the Word of God, and we thank You for the clarity 
of the plan of salvation here in Ephesians 2, 8-10. I just 
pray that we would appreciate afresh, God, what You have done 
for us in our Lord Jesus Christ. That we would appreciate afresh 
the electing, predestinating grace of God, the blood atonement 
of Jesus Christ, the powerful work and ministry of the Holy 
Spirit, that we would cry with the prophet and with the angels 
and the saints in heaven that salvation is of the Lord from 
first to last, and that, God, we would be able to rest in this 
truth and find that comfort that Paul sets forth to us in so many 
places in the Bible. God, I pray that we would just 
go now, that our hearts would be refreshed, that we would be 
encouraged by the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And for those who 
do not know you, we appeal to sovereign grace and sovereign 
power to work in hearts today. Here, Father, and in other churches 
here in Chilliwack, we pray wherever this gospel is preached, that 
your word would not return unto you void, but it would accomplish 
the purpose for which you sent it. And we ask through Christ 
the Lord. Amen.