Tonight, I invite you to turn with me to that very familiar and often used portion of Scripture, Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2, as we read together the first 10 verses, and our focus tonight being verse 8. Verse 8, along with Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 25. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 10, as we read those together. Once you have found that, then please turn to the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 32. Page 32, where we find Lord's Day 25, questions and answers 65 through 68. First of all, we give confession to what we believe concerning these particular questions. Question 65 asks us, You confess that by faith alone you share in Christ and all His blessings. Where does that faith come from? The Holy Spirit produces it in our hearts by the preaching of the Holy Gospel and confirms it through our use of the holy sacraments. What are sacraments? Sacraments are holy signs and seals for us to see. They were instituted by God so that by our use of them, He might make us understand more clearly the promise of the gospel and might put His seal on that promise. And this is God's gospel promise to forgive us sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of Christ's one sacrifice finished on the cross. Are both the Word and the sacraments then intended to focus our faith on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Right. In the Gospel, the Holy Spirit teaches us, and through the holy sacraments He assures us that our entire salvation rests on Christ's one sacrifice for us on the cross. And how many sacraments did Christ institute in the New Testament? Two, baptism and the Lord's Supper. We now give our attention to the reading of God's most holy word, Ephesians 2, beginning at verse 1. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Beloved in Christ the Lord, some of the most disappointing words that young children, boys and girls can ever hear or read are batteries not included. Boys and girls, when I was a child, it was often our practice to open our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve after the stores had already been closed until after Christmas Day. And I might receive some, what I thought is an awesome gift, a car or a game, but it needed to be empowered by batteries. Yet there were those words on the side of the package, batteries not included. And of course, unless my mom and dad saw that ahead of time and thought to buy batteries, that toy was useless until after Christmas when the stores opened again and we could go buy some batteries. Beloved, God gives His people a most awesome gift. The gift of salvation, to be sure. But along with that, a precious gift. And nothing needed for that gift is missing. It is complete. There are no batteries that are needed because it is empowered from above. God gives the gift of faith. God gives the gift of faith. That's what Paul is teaching us here. Now, with regard to this text and its teaching, we must quickly add that there is no unanimous agreement about what Paul says here is the gift when he says, and this is not of works, this is a gift of God. There's no unanimous agreement about what Paul says is that gift. In the Greek construction, the word this seems to belong. it fits with the word saved. In other words, this salvation is the gift of God, which of course is true, we know. Some make the case for the word grace, that this is referring to God's grace. This gift is grace. And of course, that's true too. That's a little bit redundant, because grace by its very nature is a gift. Some also then try to make the case for the word faith, that this is referring to faith, that that faith is a gift. And others still try to make the case for the whole phrase. For you have been saved by grace through faith. And this, meaning everything that comes before, is a gift. You see, beloved, we have no problem here. Unless we fail to consider Scripture interprets Scripture. It is indeed all of grace, which is unmerited, which is undeserved. We are spiritually dead. It is nothing of us. It is all of God, including faith. Scripture makes it clear that faith is given to us. In Acts 18, verse 27, Luke, speaking of Apollos, says, Who on arriving, and he arrived in Achaia, was a great help to those who by grace had believed. They believed by grace. And Paul says in Philippians 1, verse 29, For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him. It has been granted to you. It has been given to you to believe. Now, in the previous two Lord's Days, before Lord's Day 25, we considered somewhat the place of faith. In Lord's Day 23, we considered how are we right with God. Speaking of justification. We're justified by grace. God calls us righteous for the sake of Christ's work alone. His merits alone we are forgiven and considered righteous. And that becomes ours by faith. Faith receives all of Christ's benefits. It is the hand and the mouth of the soul. It is an instrument through which the Holy Spirit pours and by which we receive all of His saving work. And then in Lord's Day 24, we considered faith a little bit further and saw that faith, this faith that is a gift, transforms, it reshapes our whole life so that our life is a life of thankfulness and service to God as we produce the fruits of gratitude, the fruits of faith. Faith is indeed powerful. Yet we must also confess, beloved, that when it comes to the truth of things, we doubt. At times we doubt even our faith. that gift. Because of sin, we are still tempted to ask at times, is my faith weak? Is my faith real? Do I really have faith? Am I really born again? You see, Satan still attacks us and he causes us to doubt. But when we truly understand faith and the nature of faith, we have no need to worry and to doubt because although the believer is called upon to exercise faith, we exercise faith, that faith itself is the work of God the Holy Spirit. It is His gift. And with Him, nothing is incomplete. He forms faith. He nourishes faith. He directs faith. Our confidence when it comes to faith is that it is not a work of us, but it is a work of God in us. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. Even that gift of faith by which we believe is the work of God in us. And therefore, as Jesus says, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move this mountain. Faith is powerful because of the Holy Spirit. And therefore, we need to consider, first of all, how He forms faith. Well, He forms faith in the heart. In the soil of the heart. But that heart soil needs to be cultivated. You see, that hard soil is a rocky soil, kind of like the hills around Escondido. It's rocky and that must be cultivated. It must be turned over. It must be worked. It's a miracle, you see, that anyone believes at all. Because it is against our nature to believe in God. Our nature is sinful. We are dead to sin. Paul makes it crystal clear in the first three verses of Ephesians 2. he talks about the way we used to live. And he says that we were disobedient and that it was our desire to gratify the cravings of the sinful nature to follow its desires and thoughts. By nature, we were objects of wrath. By nature, we can't believe. By nature, we don't want to. By nature, we stand condemned before God. According to our human nature, beloved, there's no difference between us and the rest of mankind. We have a natural deadness. But it's also a spiritual deadness. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14, the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, for they are spiritually discerned. By nature, we have a wrong spirit, a spirit that does not appreciate or does not want God's gifts, those incomparable riches of His grace that Paul speaks of. That heart soil is rocky and it needs to be prepared. And the Holy Spirit prepares that soil by making it alive. By removing the heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh, Paul says, beginning in verse 4, but because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. The Holy Spirit gives us new life. He regenerates us. He takes one who is dead and helpless and makes them alive. That's included in God's grace. It's completely unmerited. Completely undeserved. In other words, the Holy Spirit of God gives me new life so that I can believe. And then He works faith in that new life, in that new heart, so that I will believe. so that I will understand these incomparable riches of God's grace and understand that it's for me too. He gives what is needed to join us to Jesus Christ. Well, how does He do that? Well, once that soil is prepared, that soil is planted, the heart soil is planted. In 1 Peter 1, verse 23, Peter says, For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and enduring Word of God. The imperishable seed of faith is implanted through the gift of preaching. And as the Word of God is preached, the Holy Spirit takes that Word of God, He makes it living, He makes it enduring, and He plants the seed of faith through preaching. The gift of preaching is included in God's gift of grace. The Scripture says in Romans 1, verse 16, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. And Paul says in Romans 10, verse 13, consequently faith comes by hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. And then we know 1 Corinthians 1, verse 21, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. The gift of preaching the Holy Gospel. And of course, we know that that preaching then includes both the law and the Gospel because without the law, the Gospel makes no sense. The law of God teaches us of our sin. It teaches us that we are dead. It teaches us that we are enemies of God. The law is, and that's the bad news, but the gospel is the good news. And that good news, as the second half of answer 66 says, and this is God's gospel promise to forgive our sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of Christ's one sacrifice finished on the cross. Beloved, true preaching empowered by the Holy Spirit. All by itself, it's just a bunch of words. But true preaching empowered by the Holy Spirit is the ministry of God's grace. And through that preaching, the Holy Spirit brings that word to the ears, to your ears and my ears, and then applies that word to the heart. As answer 65 says, the Holy Spirit produces faith. He begins faith. Faith is not something that we conjure up in our hearts and in our minds all by ourselves. The Holy Spirit produces faith in our hearts by the preaching of the Holy Gospel. That Gospel alone, which is God's remedy for our sin and our sinful condition, through the preaching of the Holy Gospel, the Holy Spirit makes known to us the gifts of God in Christ and causes us to share in them by faith. To share in those inexpressible riches of God's grace by faith. Faith which knows what God says. Faith which agrees with the Word of God and believes that it's true. But faith also which trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ that all of His work is true for me too. The Holy Spirit produces. He works. He brings about faith in the transformed, born-again new heart. He gives the eye of faith so that we see the truth and we believe it. But He also protects that heart soil. And here's where we need to talk about the church's responsibility. We're talking about the preaching of the Word of God. That which the Holy Spirit uses to produce that faith by which we are saved. And the church's responsibility is to continue to preach the Word of God. The church's responsibility is to continue to encourage and train men to preach the Holy Gospel. the church is the desire to be a tool of the Holy Spirit in this great task of Him giving the gift of faith and bringing the hearts of the elect to faith and of building the church of Jesus Christ however the Holy Spirit does not simply produce that faith in your heart and my heart and then leave it alone and leave us alone we are comforted as we also consider how He nourishes faith you see we have a need for nourishment we have a need to be nourished because of our condition on this side of glory we are still imperfect we we still doubt our faith is often weak as paul says we see through a glass dimly we don't see things clearly he says we have this gospel treasure in jars of clay at times we are infants and we are as he says we're not supposed to be in chapter four we are tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and the craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. We still doubt we are not perfect on this side of glory. And we're not alone in this. The Bible gives us many examples. Those whom we call giants of the faith. Abraham and Moses and Gideon and David and Peter. To mention a few giants of the faith that we are told in Scripture we are given episodes where they slipped in their faith. they fell short of the glory of God. You say, Beloved, we know that we believe. We have the assurance that we believe. But God must help us in our unbelief. We have a need to be nourished because of our condition. And that condition, you see, results in hunger. Hunger for nourishment. Just as our bodies need continual or constant or regular nourishment, in the same way, we need to be constantly reminded of what we believe. and why we believe it. As Paul says, we have been saved. That's a fact. And that becomes ours through faith. And God preserves us in that salvation also through that faith. Satan no longer is able to have his way with us, although he tries. But God's grace of salvation includes along with that gift of faith, a desire to exercise it. A desire to feed it. A desire that that faith grow and that all this take place according to the way of nourishment which He has given to us according to His own Word. Again, we call Him the means of grace. First of all, the preaching of the Holy Gospel. That very same Word that the Holy Spirit uses to produce faith. He uses to strengthen our faith. He uses to cause that faith to grow. Beloved, through the faithful preaching of the Word of God, we learn more of God's Word and way. More than what we began with. Through the preaching of the Word of God, we gain a deeper understanding of our sins, which humbles us more and more every day. And we also gain a deeper understanding of Christ's work of salvation as we are lifted higher and higher every day as well in the joy of that salvation. A deeper understanding of what a great salvation is ours. yet knowing our weakness and knowing our wandering eyes God added the sacraments the sacraments as the catechism teaches us confirm what we hear in the preaching of the gospel so that in the sacraments we see what is ours in salvation now Abraham we know was given the sacrament of circumcision in his own flesh and it was a constant reminder to him of God's covenant promises made to him It was a constant assurance to him that there was no doubt that the Lord was indeed his God. Our Lord Jesus Christ has given the New Testament church two sacraments, the Lord's Supper and Holy Baptism. And these sacraments we know are signs, holy signs and seals. Boys and girls, a sign we know points to something. It makes something clear. Think of a road sign that might just have a sharp arrow on it, and it means sharp curve ahead sign. Well, it makes something clear. It points out something to us that there is a sharp curve up ahead. We can't see it yet, but that sign points to it. And a seal, kind of a stamp sometimes on official letters, is a promise. It confirms the truth of the sign. With regard to the sharp curve ahead sign, which points to that curve that's coming, that sign is also a seal, a promise that indeed that curve is coming. Or think about a check. If your mom or dad writes a check to pay a bill, they write out who that check is payable to, they write out the amount on it, and that check then is a sign that there is money to take care of that check, to cover that check. But it's not good yet until it has a seal. And the seal is your mom or dad's signature that is a promise that there is money in the bank to take care of this check. When it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the sacraments are signs and seals. As it says in the catechism, they more fully declare and seal into us the promises of the gospel. In other words, those simple signs of the bread and the wine and the water are to remove any shred of doubt we might have. God gives this to our eyes to help us understand what we hear with our ears. But in the sacraments, there's nothing new. There's nothing new. The Word of God is enough. It says it all. It's all we need. It alone is essential for producing faith, for the Holy Spirit to use to produce faith in the heart and life of an elect child of God. It is essential. The sacraments aren't essential, but they're beneficial as the Holy Spirit uses them to nourish that faith. The Word does not depend on the sacraments, but the sacraments depend on the Word. The bread and the wine and the water are meaningless without the message of the Gospel. But along with the true preaching of the Word of God, they are a sign and seal of the Word. They always depend on the Word. And that's why the sacraments are only for worship services. only to be used in connection when the Word of God is proclaimed. And these sacraments we know are holy signs and seals. That means that they're set apart for a special function, for a special purpose through them. The Holy Spirit directs our faith to see what we're supposed to see. The saving grace of God in Christ Jesus. And beloved, those who have been given new life, those who have been given the gift of faith, are also given a responsibility. Just as the church must preach the Gospel, when we as believers come to understand the Spirit-filled power and purpose of the preached Word, then we must desire it. We must seek it. We must expose ourselves and our children to it. We must consciously concentrate on it. And also when we come to understand the Spirit-filled power and purpose of the sacraments, we are to desire to participate in them and partake of them in true faith and not treat them as optional, as no big deal. When we understand how the Holy Spirit uses the preaching of the Word of God and the sacraments, it is to be our desire to be strengthened in the knowledge and faith of Jesus Christ and to grow in the assurance of our salvation. But when we find a problem with our faith, When we find that maybe we're not growing in our faith or we're not being nourished in our faith or when our faith is weak, that's not the fault of the Holy Spirit. The fault lies with us. Are you faithfully, diligently, and prayerfully using the means that God has given to us? Well, finally, then we need to consider how the Holy Spirit directs that faith. You see, beloved, we have a need for direction because we easily look to the left or to the right. Paul is clear about that in all of his epistles. He seems to continue to tell believers, do not continue in that former way of life. Do not go back to the way you once lived. Instead, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. We easily look to the left or to the right. We don't exercise that gift of faith as we ought to because we are weak. We are still sinful. We become complacent with our faith. We take it for granted. We have a need to be directed, our faith to be directed because the Holy Spirit makes so many things look attractive and He tempts our faith. And our faith needs to be directed towards something sure and certain. It must zero in on something exclusively and directly. Think of a telescope or a microscope or even a powerful camera lens that zooms in and focuses directly and exclusively on a particular object. Our faith needs to be focused, directed, so that any questions about our righteousness before God are eliminated. And again, it is the Holy Spirit who directs our faith and gives it the proper focus. Question 67 asks, Are both the Word and the sacraments then intended to focus our faith on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Right! In the Gospel, the Holy Spirit teaches us, and through the holy sacraments, He assures us that our entire salvation rests on Christ's one sacrifice for us on the cross. The proper focus of our faith, as Paul says, is that we have been saved. That's where our faith is to be focused. But how? We've been saved by grace, again through faith. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel which includes the crucifixion and the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ through which alone we have new life. And beloved, through faith directed by the Holy Spirit, we understand God's grace. And we understand our salvation because of it. He directs our faith through those means. The preaching of the Holy Gospel and the sacraments which both focus on the same thing. They have one heart. And that's Christ's own sacrifice for us on the cross upon which our entire salvation rests. That's the heart of preaching. It's supposed to be the heart of preaching. As Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians, he says we preach Christ crucified. And the crucifixion that we are to preach includes those riches, those inexpressible riches of our sins being atoned for. That the punishment against our sins has been given by God and received by Jesus Christ, that the debt has been paid for our sins, that freedom and forgiveness from our sins has been secured for you and me. That's the heart of preaching. But it's also the heart of the sacraments, of baptism. In Romans 6, verse 23, Paul says that we have been buried with Christ by baptism. Baptism directs us to the cross of Jesus. And the same is true with the Lord's Supper. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says that as we participate, as we partake of the Lord's Supper, we proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. It also directs us to the cross of Jesus. Both of these means of grace, the preaching of the Word and the sacraments, direct us to the same basis and ground of our salvation, namely the sacrifice of Christ. Beloved, any other focus is wrong. Any other focus is nothing but deceptive. God gives us the gift of faith. But we confess that there are times that we doubt. We confess that there are times that our faith is weak. We confess that there are times that we don't use it as we ought to use it. We take the eye of faith off of Jesus Christ and we focus on ourselves. And when that happens, we can only doubt. So then how can we be sure that our faith is the real thing? Because true faith is not in what I have done, in what I can do, in what I should do. But true faith focuses on the perfect work of Jesus Christ. It's about what He has done. It's not based on my merits, but on Christ's merits. And the Word of God and the sacraments tell us to look away from ourselves to Christ Jesus. Because it's only then that the joy of the Lord will be my strength. Beloved, true faith is a precious gift of God. The Holy Spirit, without it, one cannot and will not be saved. Through faith, the Holy Spirit takes the true work of Jesus Christ and He makes it true. He makes it real for me too. That's what Paul is saying in verse 8. For it is by grace you've been saved through faith by which alone you can say, it's for me too. The Holy Spirit produces faith. He nourishes it. He directs it using the means that He has given, the means that He alone makes effective. Is it a mystery? Absolutely. But it's true. And therefore, as those in whom He has produced faith, beloved, we are called to exercise that faith. We are called to demonstrate that faith. And also we are called to take advantage of His means of producing and nourishing our faith through constant and regular worship. And beloved, may our worship never stray from the focus of Jesus Christ and His saving work. And when we truly understand the power and the effectiveness that the Holy Spirit gives to the true preaching of the Word and the sacraments, when we truly understand that and when we truly understand how He uses them, then how can we not love worship? It's for our good. It's for our faith. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, as we bow before You in this evening hour, at the close of this time together, we do indeed thank You for that precious gift of faith that You have given to us, by which we receive the precious gift of salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ. And Father, we confess, O Lord, that even though there are times when we like to think that we do it on our own or that we participate of ourselves a little bit, yet, Father, You give to us the truth and comfort us with the truth that it is all of Your work. We thank You for that precious gift, that gift which the Holy Spirit cares for perfectly and completely. We pray, Father, that You would help us to exercise that gift of faith. Every breath of life that You give to us. And that You would not cease to nourish and direct that precious gift until the day that You come to take us to be with You forever and ever. Father, we thank You and praise You for Your gift of salvation to us. May we live in the joy of that salvation day by day. May that joy be reflected on our faces, in our words, and in our lives. And may You, O Lord, be praised. In Jesus' name we pray all these things. Amen.