Once again to Ephesians chapter two, please. Ephesians chapter two. Come down to verse eight. For by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Paul tells us in Romans chapter five and verse twenty, the latter part of that verse, where sin abounded, God's grace did much more abound. In second Corinthians Chapter eight and verse nine, Paul said, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that ye, through his poverty, might be rich. Thank God for his grace. Man is born a sinner. Man is by nature a sinner. Man is by choice a sinner. Man apart from Christ is separated from God in spiritual death and by distance. Now, the Word of God clearly reveals man's lost condition, man's helpless and hopeless condition. And Christianity is the only religion that tells us this. Other religions, though they freely admit that man in some way is wrong, give him some hope in himself. Other religions would tell man to pray more, try harder, to fast, to give, to go on a pilgrimage, to strive and labor, and then salvation is within his reach. The Apostle Paul, particularly in the book of Romans, takes the sword of the Word of God and he severs the communication line of such thought. Man's condition is hopeless. Man is helpless. Man's case is desperate. We do need help. In Mark's Gospel Chapter Ten, we read of the rich young ruler who came to the Lord Jesus. Many things said about him, many commendable things. He was a rich young ruler, a moral man, a religious man. Jesus looking on him loved him. But that man went away unsaved. After he had gone, the disciples asked in astonishment, Who then can be saved? And the Lord did not mince matters, did he? He said, With man it is impossible. But thank God the Lord Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to be saved, and it's all because of God's grace. Paul tells us in Romans that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no not one. The Bible tells us that the work of righteousness is peace. You can search this out in a number of scriptures. Isaiah chapter thirty-two. We read of a coming day when a king is going to reign in righteousness. And we read in verse seventeen I believe it is of that same chapter, and the work of righteousness shall be peace. And in Romans chapter three, Paul said in verse ten, There's none righteous know not one. And in verse seventeen, the way of peace have they not known? There is none that understandeth, Paul says. Sin has darkened the mind and blinded the eyes of people. Satan is going about blinding the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. There is none that seeketh after God. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. There is none that doeth good, Paul said. No, not one. The Lord Jesus Christ, that a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. And we remind people, as we needed to be reminded before we trusted Christ, that we do what we do because we are what we are. An apple tree doesn't become an apple tree when it gives apples. It gives apples because it is an apple tree. And we are what we are, or we do what we do because we are what we are. Man's case is desperate. And there is no exception. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is no excuse. Paul tells us in Romans chapter one and verse twenty. So that they are without excuse. And there is no escape apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. But thank God for his grace. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. That is salvation is the gift of God. It comes to us as a gift because God is the God of all grace. Thank God for His grace. Well, how do you spell grace? Well, in thinking of grace as an acrostic, the word has been spelled several different ways, God's riches at Christ's expense. But in meditating upon this word and giving it some consideration over a period of time, We're going to spell it a little differently this morning. Grace. God in His mercy holds back what we deserve. He's rich in mercy, as we've read in Ephesians chapter two, verse four. But He's rich in grace. We see in chapter one, verse seven, the riches of His grace in verse Seven of chapter two, the exceeding riches of His grace. God is rich in mercy. He holds back what we deserve, but He's rich in grace. He extends to us what we do not deserve. God so loved you and me that He gave His only begotten Son. How do you spell grace? Giving is the principle of grace. Say it with me. is the principle of grace. One more time and you'll have it. Giving is the principle of grace. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not or this not of yourselves? It is the gift of God. Giving is the principle of grace. I remember some years ago reading Bill McDonald's book on the grace of God in which he used this illustration. He said, suppose you had a six-year-old son who was the joy and delight of your life. Suppose, too, that this son was cruelly murdered. What attitude would you take toward the guilty killer? If you used every means in your own power to kill him for his crime, that would be vengeance. If you were content to sit back and watch the civil authorities convict the man and execute him, That would be justice. And I am one who believes in capital punishment. I don't hesitate to say that. Now, if I were asked to pull the switch, I might be slow about that. I believe in capital punishment. The Lord Jesus said, Whoever henders a little one from coming to me, it were better that a millstone hanged about his neck, and he would be cast into the depths of the sea. That's pretty serious, isn't it? But if you were to be content, To let the authorities convict the man, hopefully they would, and execute him, that would be justice. But if you should pardon the murderer, invite him to live in your home, and then adopt him as your son, how would you decide that? Brother McDonald points out that would be grace. But he said, maybe you're saying that the illustration is artificial. It is removed from reality. So let us take another illustration. Suppose you had sinned against God. Suppose, too, that by the law of God you're sentenced to hell because of that sin. If God allowed the sentence to be carried out, you could not complain because you would be receiving exactly what you deserve according to God's divine law. But what would you think if God sent His only Son to die as a substitute for you, paying the penalty that you deserve? And what would you think if God offered you everlasting life? by making that personal identification with his son. And what would you think if the Lord offered to make you his very own son, to take you into his home in heaven, to live with him eternally? How would you describe that? There's only one word that could describe it. Grace. And in this instance, it's not a matter of a favor that a friend stows upon a friend, but in the use of this word in connection with God's actions toward us, it takes a tremendous leap forward because we're thinking of what God does for us, not his friends, but his enemies. But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God so loved you and me that he gave his only begotten Son. That's the grace of God. And giving is the principle of grace. We come to the hour. And I think redemption is the purpose of grace. Say it with me. Redemption is the purpose of grace. One more time. Redemption is the purpose of grace. Let me hear you say the first one. Oh, yes, you have it. You're doing well. We were singing My Redeemer, My Redeemer. Redemption is the purpose of grace. Galatians four, four, and five. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Why would God give His only begotten Son? Why would God allow His Son to go to the tree, to that awful cross, and be spiked to that Roman gibbative shame? Why would God in eternity pass, and I should say, why would the Holy Trinity plan that this be done, that the Lord Jesus Christ would be the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, we read in one verse, and from the foundation of the world, we read in another? Why would God give His Son in order that the likes of you and me might be saved? God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God desires that all men be saved. And the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, and there he died. He paid an infinite price in dealing with the sin question. When the Lord Jesus Christ was nailed to that cross, sin was condemned in flesh. We were reminded, as Brother Ken brought us the message the other night, that the circumcision that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ is not a cutting away of part of the flesh, which is some right or ritual, but the recognition that all flesh has been dealt with and put away in God's sight because sin was condemned in flesh when the Lord Jesus Christ died for us. And Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. Being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. And the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished eternal redemption for us. Is that Hebrews nine-twelve? I think in there somewhere. He has accomplished or obtained eternal redemption for us. We think of the Jewish law and we realize for one to redeem, he must meet three basic qualifications. He must be a near-kinsman. He became one of us, we read in Hebrews two fourteen. He became one of us. He must have sufficiency. In order to redeem, he must be able to pay the price. And in this case, an infinite price has to be paid. Not one of us could pay it. Only the infinite one. And the Lord Jesus Christ meets that qualification as well. And thirdly, he must be willing. He said, No man take it my life from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again. And the Lord Jesus Christ went to that cross to pay a price that we might be redeemed in the slave market of sin, not only so, but to be taken out of the slave market of sin to become his own treasure with the assurance that we'll never go back in the slave market of sin again. It's wonderful to be redeemed, isn't it? My Redeemer. My Redeemer. Redemption is the purpose of grace. Access is the privilege of grace. Say it with me. Access is the privilege of grace. One more time. Access is the privilege of grace. What is the first one? Giving is the principle of grace. Number two? Dimension is the purpose of grace. And thirdly, access is the privilege of grace. You're doing very well. Now it's registering in the computer. Paul said in Romans chapter five, verses one and two, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace. with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Access into the very presence of God. That veil of the tabernacle and later the temple in the Old Testament days said to the people, stay away. You cannot approach the presence of God. Only the priests were allowed to go into that first room, the holy place, and only the high priest was allowed to go into that most holy place and that but once a year, and that on the basis of blood. The way was closed into the presence of God because of sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ has opened the way for us. We enter into the presence of God by a new and living way, the writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter ten, by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil. That is to say, his flesh. That's interesting, isn't it? Because that tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ, in taking upon himself human form, The eternal God stepping out of eternity into time, taking upon himself something that he had not been before without ceasing to be what he always was. Having taken upon him human form did so for the purpose of going to the cross, that that body of flesh might be nailed there to that cross, and that God might condemn sin in flesh. And when the Lord Jesus Christ cried, it's finished! The veil was run entwined from top to bottom. And that veil of the tabernacle and temple was a type of the body of Christ. We enter by a new and living way which He has consecrated for us through the veil. That is to say, His flesh. It wasn't His life. It wasn't His virtuous life. that makes it possible for us to enter into the presence of God, but his vicarious death. And access is the privilege of grace. We are accepted in the beloved. I remember some time ago reading Brother Ironside's book, I believe it was on the book of Ephesians, but Brother Ironside told of the time that he was in a small town of Roosevelt, Washington. And he was the guest of some sheep raisers. And one morning in taking a stroll, he saw an old yew go loping across the path. And there was a strange creature following after the yew. Well, it looked to be a lamb, but there was something strange about it. And Brother Ironside was standing there looking at that lamb-like creature. running after the U, and one of the hands there noticed the look on his face as he was standing there watching that lamb, and the hand asking, do you know what you're looking at? Well, he said, it looks like a lamb, but it sure is different from any lamb that I've ever seen. I mean, there were four legs, and yet there were two more legs hanging, just dangling in the back. And so the hand told Brother Ironside that the you to whom this lamb belonged was killed by a rattlesnake. And this lamb was left an orphan lamb. He said it so happened that the lamb belonging to this you that you see going there was also killed. And we're trying to get this you to accept this lamb as her own. and she hasn't done it as yet. He said, now, why this lamb looks so strange to you with those legs dangling in the back is because we took the skin of the dead lamb belonging to that you, and we've tied it around this orphan lamb. So this you is smelling her lamb, and in due time she will accept this lamb and we will be able to take from this lamb the skin of that dead lamb. And Brother Ironside used that as an illustration of the fact that the very righteousness of God is imputed to us. There is none righteous, no, not one. When we go back to Deuteronomy, is it, chapter twenty-five, we read the law that God gave concerning the day-by-day activities of his people, the Jews. And he said, in the matter of judgment, when you come to the gate, when you come before the judges to be judged, he said, the wicked shall be condemned, but the righteous be set free. Now the Bible tells us that there is none righteous, no not one. Is it Acts, Thirteen, thirty-eight? Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which it could not be justified by the law of Moses. Now, wait a minute. These two things do not go together, like oil and water. Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. How can one be justified if one is guilty? The wicked shall be condemned, the righteous shall be justified. How do these two go together? In and through the Lord Jesus Christ we not only have forgiveness of sins, we are justified. which means that our record is completely cleansed in the sight of God. Propitiation is the Godward aspect of the death of Christ. Redemption is the sinward aspect of the death of Christ. Reconciliation is the manward aspect of the death of Christ. And justification is the record aspect of the death of Christ. When we receive Christ, The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son cleanseth us from all sin. So who shall lay any charge to God's elect? It's God who justifies. But wait a minute, only the righteous are justified. The wicked are condemned. We are wicked needing forgiveness. How can we be justified? In and through the Lord Jesus Christ, we not only have forgiveness, because we are guilty. There is no justification apart from righteousness, and so God imputes to us His righteousness. He declares us righteous in Christ, and the work of righteousness shall be peace, and we are at peace with God. That's wonderful, isn't it? And now we have access into the very presence of God. Why? Because we are closed upon with Christ Himself. And we stand before God in Christ. He doesn't see us through Christ. He sees us in Christ. We are accepted in the beloved. Access is the privilege of grace. Character is the product of grace. Say it with me. Character is the product of grace. of grace. One more time, character is the product of grace. What's number one? Giving is the principle of grace. What's number two? What's number three? And what's number four? Character is the product of grace. You're a good class. In Titus chapter two we read, For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Or the grace of God salvation bringing to all men hath appeared. Is that all that the grace of God does bring salvation to mankind? No. Teaching us. that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. When we go to Acts chapter eleven, you need not turn there, but you will find that Barnabas came to Antioch and he saw the grace of God. How do you see the grace of God? The psalmist in Psalm forty said, He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings, and has put a new song in my mouth. And many shall, and many shall what? See it. Now, if we were writing that, we would have written, And he has put a new song in my mouth, Even praise under our God, and many shall hear it. No, the psalmist said, He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise under our God, and many shall see it. How do you see a song? Brother Ken reminded us that that word workmanship in verse ten of Ephesians two is poem or poem. Set the music. How do you see the grace of God? You see the grace of God by God working in us and working through us in a transformed life. Character is the product of grace. God takes ones like you and me and he makes something of us. Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, we are nothing. And it is when we go back and stand in the shadow of Calvary and remember our Lord Jesus Christ, who He is and what He accomplished on our behalf, and what He is accomplishing, and what He is going to accomplish, that we realize that we are accepted in the beloved. And we have been made children of God. How wonderful. Children of God. Character is the product of grace. John wrote, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Behold what manner of love. I believe that wording appears four times in Scripture. Is it Matthew chapter eight, where the disciples were astonished. They were in that boat. The Lord Jesus was there. It seemed that he didn't care if they were going to perish. But the Lord Jesus stood and said to the wind and to the sea, Peace, be still. And they said, What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? And I understand that the wording, what manner of, means not so much of what kind, but of what country. Of what country is such a man that he can speak with such authority. We don't know of anyone in our community who can speak like that. And then the Lord Jesus was in the house of Simon the Pharisee, and he spoke about this woman who was weeping at his feet. And Simon thought within him and said, if this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches him. What manner of woman this is. She's not from our country. She's not from the area of our recognition. We don't recognize her as being one of us. Peter uses the word in Second Peter, chapter three, is it? I'll stand corrected. In view of what's going to happen in judgment to this world and the coming today, what manner of people ought we to be? In holy manner of living. What manner of, of what country? Our citizenship is in heaven. That's wonderful to know, isn't it? We're citizens of heaven. We have an inheritance there, incorruptible, undefiled, that fate is not away. It's reserved for us, and we're kept by the power of God until we get there. But having received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, we're made to realize that we have been placed into the family as sons. We have the adoption of sonship. We're children of God. Character is the product of grace. And eternity with Christ is the prospect of grace. Say it with me. Eternity with Christ is the prospect of grace. What's number one? Giving is the principle of grace. Redemption. Access. Character. Eternity with Christ is the prospect of grace. We have a living hope because we have the living Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us. He died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried. He was raised again the third day for our justification. And we have His sure word of promise that He's coming again to call us to be with Himself. He said that where I am, there ye may be also. Eternity with Christ is the prospect of grace. John Bunyan said, Thou son of the Blessed, what grace was manifested in thy condescension? Grace brought thee down from heaven. Grace stripped thee of thy glory. Grace made thee poor and despised. Grace made thee bear such burdens of sin, such burdens of sorrow, such burdens of God's curse as are unspeakable. O Son of God, grace was in all thy tears. Grace came out of thy side with thy blood. Grace came forth with every word from thy sweet mouth. Grace came out where the whips smote thee, where the thorn pricked thee, and where the nails pierced thee. Here is grace indeed. Grace to make angels wonder. Grace to make sinners rejoice. Grace to astonish devils. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye, through his poverty, might be rich. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Grace is a charming sound, harmonious to the ear. Heaven with the echo shall resound, and all the earth shall hear, save by grace alone. This is all my plea. Jesus died for all mankind, and Jesus died for me.