Ephesians chapter 2 beginning
at verse 4 says this, But God, who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, has quickened us together with Christ, by grace you are
saved, and has raised us up together and made us sit together in 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 through Jesus Christ. The title of this message is,
But God. If the Bible were a book like
any other and we had to come up with the title, But God, would
make a good one. The Bible is a long history of
the sin of man followed by acts of God's mercy. Adam sinned,
but God announced a savior. The whole world corrupted its
way in violence and came under judgment, but God provided an
heir. Abram was an idol worshiper,
an heir of the Chaldeans, but God called him out. Jacob was
a scoundrel, but God loved him and gave him a new name, Israel.
The children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, but God delivered
them. Later, they became idolatrous
and were sent into captivity. But God brought them home. Israel
became a dry ground of political servitude and phony self-righteous
religion. But God sent his son into that
world for the salvation of his elect. Peter denied the Lord
three times. but God in Christ restored him. Paul was a blasphemer and a troublemaker
for the Church of God, but God saved him with a sovereign salvation
and made him the most influential gospel preacher of that time. If we wanted to give a short
summary of the gospel, but God would suffice, wouldn't it? If
I were to give a short summary of our doctrine here at Grace
Community Church, I could do no better than to say, but God. I've been preaching the gospel
for 35 years or more, and it would not be a stretch to say
that my message for that entire time has been, but God. This is the keynote of the gospel,
and so much so that the testimony of every person truly born of
God can be summarized as, I was a hell-deserving sinner without
hope and without God in the world, but God saved me. Contrast this with the religious
testimony of so many. I was a great sinner, but I repented
and straightened my life out. Or, I sinned greatly, but I asked
Jesus into my heart. Or, I was an alcoholic, but I
gave my life to Christ, and with his help I no longer drink. Or,
I lived my life for myself, but became convicted of my selfishness
and got baptized. We can say with almost 100% accuracy
that any testimony that turns on the words, but I, is not a
testimony of the gospel of grace. Grace is always, but God. But I is the introduction to
a non-gospel of works. But God signals us that grace
is approaching. Now, the word but always signals
a change in the expected direction of our narrative. We don't say
anything like, well, we played lousy, but we lost. Rather, we
would say something like, we played lousy, but we won anyway.
In other words, the outcome was different from what would be
expected by the buildup to the outcome. So, what is the direction
of the narrative that was changed by the words, but God? Well,
it starts in verse 1 where Paul describes us as dead in trespasses
and sins. It does not matter who your parents
are. According to the Bible, the only
ancestor that counts is Adam. And through him, we died. By his one act of sin, sin entered
the whole world and death came by that sin. He further goes
on to say that we lived in sin. No matter how we lived, we were
living in sin. Most people think that living
in sin must involve the practice of some serious vice. They think
things like, well, we all sin. But not all of us are living
in sin. I don't live in sin. But, you
know, any life outside of Christ is a life of sin. It's living
in sin. Paul further goes on to say that
we lived like the world. What does it mean to live like
the world? Once again, it means any kind of lifestyle that does
not involve faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not matter
whether we are irreligious or religious. In fact, outside of
Christ, the atheist and the most outwardly orthodox Christian
are the same. They are both living like the
world, for they are the world. One does not have to curse, drink,
covet, worship idols, view pornography, or have an abortion to be living
like the world. There are many who are protesting
abortion who are still dead in trespasses and sins and living
like the world, even as they protest. There are many faithful
church members of good churches who are yet living according
to the world. For despite their going to church
and their faithfulness to attend the church services, they don't
believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. A person could
even be a radio preacher, like me. and still be living according
to the world. For you see, any life that is
not a life of believing Christ is a life according to the world. Then Paul went on to say that
we follow Satan. Here he's called the ruler of
the kingdom of the air. Now everybody gets scared when
they hear that Satanists are in the area. Folks, outside of
Christ, we are all Satanists. We may not say we worship him.
We might not call ourselves Satanists. But that does not change the
fact that until we get to an experience of but God, we are
all following Satan. To whom did our Lord say, you
are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
you will do? He was a murderer from the beginning, an abode
not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks
a lie, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father
of it. And because I tell you the truth,
you do not believe me." It was the Pharisee, those covenant
children, who were meticulous in their observance of the law.
It was he who he said were of the devil. We were following
that same spirit that even now continues to work in the children
of disobedience. We were all like that. Verse
3 says that. All of us had a life like that. Some seem to believe that those
raised in a Christian home and attending a Christian church
do not live sinful, worldly, satanic lives. But Paul says
that we all live that way. No matter how we lived, we were
living in the lusts of our flesh, following its desires and thoughts.
One of the remarkable things about Paul's message was that
he, who was a devout Jew, a zealous Pharisee, who could testify that
concerning the righteousness of the law he was blameless,
he yet called himself the chief of sinners. He understood something
about sin. that it's not just a list of
bad things that we do. It is the character of everything
we do apart from Christ. We had the same nature as the
children of wrath. Oh, how proud we can be of our
supposed superior character. We think that because we have
a spiritual heritage in our ancestry and church that somehow we come
into the world a step above common pagans. But Paul says that we
are all born with the same nature as those who will perish eternally
in hell. That is, there is no inherent
difference between those who God chose for salvation and those
He passed by. No wonder any word of eternal
hope must begin with the words, but God. Have you ever been such
a sinner? Have you ever seen yourself as
one who lives in sin, lives like the world, follows the devil,
and is as evil as any of the children of wrath? If you've
never seen yourself as that, the words, but God, may not have
much meaning to you. It may seem quite natural to
you that God would favor you, so you see no surprise in it.
If you are not surprised by grace, you do not know what grace is.
If your heart does not sing with John Newton, amazing grace, how
sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, then you do not yet
know anything of the grace of God. You know, I've noticed in
the last 20 or 30 years, people have been changing the word of
John Newton's famous hymn. They sing, Amazing Grace, how
sweet the sound that saved a soul like mine. Why do they sing it
that way? Because they are too proud to
confess that they are wretches. They cannot admit to being vile
and wicked. In so doing, they nullify the
first words of that hymn, Amazing Grace. Grace will appear amazing
to us only in the measure that we see ourselves as deserving
of eternal wrath, dead in sin, living in sin, living like worldlings. following Satan, of the same
nature as those in hell. What hope is there for such people? But God. With those words comes
a breath of fresh air into our dungeon where we wait to die.
But God. It's the only hope. Who else
could save such sinners as Paul has described us? Who else has
the power to overcome such obstacles? Certainly not the God of modern
Christianity who is described as having done all he can and
now it's up to you. All you have to do is let him
save you. Any God who requires your permission
to save you does not have the authority to damn you. Who else
would save such sinners? The prophet said, who is a pardoning
God like thee? He was amazed at the pardoning,
gracious character of God. But God is the only hope, but
he's also a good hope. We need not despair that there
is only one hope. One remedy that actually works
is all the remedy we need. After the words, but God, we
find a list of the works of God that actually answer all the
problems given in the first three verses. People are, by nature,
children of wrath. We deserve to be damned. What
better answer can there be to that problem than that someone
else was damned in my place? While these verses do not specifically
mention the death of the Lord Jesus, they do assume it. It speaks of us being raised
in Him. Now, if he was raised, it must
be that he first died. He did not die of natural causes,
so to speak, but he did die as a sin offering, a substitute
who was sacrificed in the place of the ones who did the sinning.
The sins of all God's wandering sheep were laid on Christ, and
he became responsible for them. and he died under God's wrath.
He was damned by God for our sins. Even though he was of a
pure nature, he was treated like the children of wrath so that
we who are by nature children of wrath can be treated as children
of blessing. People are dead in sin. What
better hope than to be raised with Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
died under the penalty of the sins he bore. But that's not
the end of the story. Three days later God raised him
from the dead. Why? As a testimony that His
sacrifice had been accepted, and that the sins He bore were
gone forever. Christ offered Himself to God,
says the book of Hebrews. The resurrection is proof that
God accepted His offering. And if God accepts an offering
for sin, then every sin covered by that offering is gone. It
is said that in the New Covenant, God does not remember our sins
and iniquities. Why is that? Because in the New
Covenant, our sins and iniquities do not exist. Jeremiah says it
this way, that a search will be made for the sins and iniquities
of God's people, but they shall not be found. Why will they not
be found? Because in the New Covenant,
they do not exist. The sacrifice of Christ has put
them away. People are headed for hell. Eternal
judgment at the hands of God. What better hope can there be
than that they should be seated in the heavenly places in Christ? Notice that Paul puts all these
things in the past tense. We already died with Christ.
We already are raised with Christ. We are already seated with Him
if we are in Christ. These things are already accomplished
in the context of the new covenant of the grace of God. But God,
He has done things that only He can do. He gives life to the
dead and calls things that are not as though they were. To the
dead in sin, the living in sin, the captives of Satan, and the
children of wrath, there are no sweeter words than, but God. Have you ever experienced the
sweetness and the amazingness of those words? but God. May God reveal their meaning
to you.