Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. I was going over my notes yesterday
morning on Proverbs and when I started reading over the notes And the first line in my notes
I had written, a believer is one saved. And when I read that word, my heart
went to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8. The scripture says, 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. Now, the passage that I'd like
to deal with, I'd like to just look at verses 1 to 9, just not
long on each one, but just to touch. The scripture declares
in verse 1 of Ephesians 2, and you. Now who was he talking to? Well,
Ephesians 1.1 tells us who the apostle was talking to. Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints
which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, the
saints, the sanctified ones is the interpretation of that word.
What does that mean? Those set apart for God. and made holy. Now in verse 4 of Ephesians chapter
1, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. That word holy is the same word
saints in verse 1. Same one. So Paul is saying in
Ephesians 2, 1, and you, those that have been set apart,
sanctified, set apart, holy in Christ Jesus. The Lord Himself
who has set us apart for His glory and His grace and in the
exhibition of His mercy and you have He quickened You hath He
made alive. We're made alive by Him who is
life. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. Life given to all that He's ever
purposed to give life. Well, what was our state before?
You hath He quickened. Well, it says who were dead in
trespasses in sin. dead spiritually, being born
in Adam, who when Adam died, we all died in him, and being
dead, transgressing, sinning, you who were dead in those transgressions
and sins, in your deviations, your falling short, Always missing
the mark. Dead in our understanding, dead
in our will, dead in our affection toward the Lord, dead in our
ability to do anything for ourselves. Dead, that's what we're, we're
dead. If men only understood what dead
means. How can one be dead and then
have a free will before he's converted. You can't. You can't do that. You're dead. You're dead. You at the Quicken,
who were dead in trespass and sin, wherein in time past you
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. You know, we were walking And
what is walked in the course of this world? What does that
mean? Unbelief. Unbelief. Somebody said, well,
that's just walking the course of this world. That's just people
doing bad things, robbing places. I'm talking about bad people,
murderers, doing all kinds of evil stuff. The course of this
world is unbelief. Unbelief. in unbelief, that road that leads
to destruction. And it was according to the course
of this world, to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. It's
a course, it's a walk that magnifies man is what it does. This is
the course of this world. It magnifies man And it wants
to make God to be a beggar. That's what the course of this
world wants to do. Whenever you hear somebody say,
God wants to, that is, you will never find God wanting to do
anything that He can't do. He's not limited. What is it? He rules. That's what Nebuchadnezzar said
after the Lord took his mind away from him for seven years,
put him out there in the field and made him eat grass. God gave
him his mind back. You know what Nebuchadnezzar
said? He ruleth in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And nobody, nobody stays his hand. Where's your
God, David? God's in the heavens. He's done
whatever he wants to do. But we were dead, we walked according
to the course of this world, the prince of the power of the
air, that now worketh in the children of disobedience. And verse 3 says, among whom
also we all had our conversation in time past in the lust of the
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. We all walk, all of us. You mean
the believers too? Well, if believers are, as I've
said before, concerning all things, you know, Romans 8.28, if believers
fall under the category of we all had our conversation, then
yeah, this is the way we all were. We all walked in the lust
of our flesh. What does that mean? In the corruption
of our flesh. fulfilling or doing the desires,
the will of the flesh and of the mind. And why did we do those
things? Because we wanted to. Don't you
do what you want to? That's what I do. I do what I
want to do. You know? Thanks be unto God. He keeps me from doing some of
the things I want to do. That's by the grace of God, but
talking about things that are honorable and respectable and
things, I do what I want to do. But this is what we, you know,
and we were having our conversation, our walk in time past in the
lust of our flesh and fulfilling the desires of the wills of the
flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature, by fallen nature,
by that dead, spiritually dead nature, we were A nature, the
children of wrath, even as others. I've said before, and remember,
please remember this, God's people have never been under the wrath
of God. God, the scripture says, Jeremiah
31.3, I have loved you with an everlasting love. If God's people
were ever under the wrath of God, they're still under the
wrath of God because God doesn't change. He does not change in
attitude, His mind, His word, nothing about God changes. So
it wasn't that He was looking at God's people in wrath, then
He didn't look at them in wrath. That's change. So you know that's
not what it means. Well, what does it mean? It means
that we were, as unbelievers, We were walking according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air. We were living in a state of hatefulness, resentment toward
God and toward his people. Hating the gospel. Now I don't
know about you. Let me just speak for myself.
I can tell you as sure as I'm standing here. The first time
I ever heard anybody ever say anything about the gospel of
God's grace. I'd been in church a long time. A long time. My mama brought
me to church. I went to church because my mama
was making me go to church. I was there. And I'll never forget
the first time I ever heard anybody ever say anything about God's
sovereignty, about God's election, about predestination, about God's
right and will to do as He will with whom He will. First time
I ever heard that. This was the first thing I thought,
David, where did you get that? I ain't never heard that before.
What do you mean you got that in the Bible? I've read my Bible
all my life. I never heard that. Well, I can
understand it. Until the Lord reveals it to
you, you don't hear it. But when I heard him say it,
I thought, you're the most misguided, misinformed. You're nuts. You are nuts. Paul, much learning
has made you mad. That's what Festus told him.
That's not right. That is not right. It's not fair.
It's not fair. How can God have the right to
do whatever he will? How can God show mercy to one
and pass by another? How can God do that? That's not
fair. This ain't gotta be fair until
I realize fair would be in Adam all die. And I've sinned against
God. You want fairness? In Adam all die, that's fair.
And I'm a rebel against God. What do I deserve? I deserve
damnation. That's what I deserve. But for
God to show mercy, and it wasn't until the Lord gave me a new
heart that I said, you know what? This is right. It's right because
God says it. But before, we all had in times
past, We were all fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind and were by nature haters of God. We were the children
of wrath against Him. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. It disagrees with what God has
to say. Oh, but God. Those two words right there just... If the Lord had not shown mercy
to this sinner right here, and brought me down from my high
horse, you don't understand. I mean, listen, I was teaching
Sunday school. You know? Man, I was doing some preaching.
You don't understand. I was somebody. Thinking I was
somebody. You know, a fool, a foolish one. But God, but God, who is rich
in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us. He was
rich in mercy, copiously abounding, immeasurably abounding. Oh, and here's where every sinner
must be brought to behold the mercy of God, by faith. We believe that God did something
for us that we could not do for ourselves. How many times do
I remember saying, you know, we throw out the lifeline. I
can just see it, you know, like a little preserver. Throw out
the lifeline. There's someone out there flouncing
around, you know. Throw it out there so he can
grab it, so he can pull it in. Salvation. No. There's a corpse
out there, floating. He's dead, remember? Well, if
he could grab ahold of the life preserver, then he deserved some
credit. At least he grabbed it, Mitch. You know, those others
out there, they didn't. But he grabbed it. Well, he's
got something to glory in. But God, who is rich in mercy,
rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith
He loved us. That great love that's eternal. That great love because God is
great. Great love because it doesn't
change, it doesn't vary, it doesn't deviate. And it arises totally
out of Almighty God who is good and can't be measured. You can't
measure God. My love can vary, it can change,
it can die. You know, I've long since told
somebody, you can kill love, you know, not the love of God,
but just after a while you just have no affection, no feeling,
but not His. According to His great love,
we were quickened. His great love. Listen to this
scripture. John 3.16, For God so loved the world. Now the distorted
view of that is that God loves everybody. And that is not what
it means. It means God loves Jew and Gentile,
all kinds in the world. Jew and Gentile. And the reason
I know that it means that, it's got some distinguishingness to
it, distinguishingness to that word, world, is when the Lord
said in John 17, John, you know the scripture, I'll read it anyway.
John 17 verse 9, the Lord's praying, He says, well, the Lord said
in verse 6, I've manifested thy name. He's praying unto the Father.
I've manifested thy name unto the men, John 17, 6, which thou
gavest me out of the world. Okay, so I know that the Lord's
saying I manifested the names to those that you elected. unto
the men you gave me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou
gavest them me. They've kept thy word. Now they
have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
For I have given unto them, those that you gave me out of the world,
the words that thou gavest me. And they've received them and
have known surely that I came out from thee. And they have
believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them. I pray not
for the world. But for them which thou hast
given me, for they are thine." My question would be this, if
God so loved everybody without distinction in the world, He
loves everybody, that's what they say. Then why would the
Lord not even pray for them? Why would the Lord fail to pray
for them if He loves everybody? So you know, you've got to understand
what He's saying. God so loved Jew and Gentile,
every nation, kindred, tribe and tongue. for His great love,
wherewith He loved us. Love that was not based on our
love for Him. Because if it would have been
based on our love for Him, we didn't have any love for Him
until He gave us a new heart, a new spirit, taught us. The Spirit revealed Himself. He loved us, verse 5, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
ye are saved. By grace are you saved. He loved us even in rebellion,
even when we were dead, and possessed nothing but a wrathful attitude
toward him. He loved his people in Christ.
Chose Him in Him, loved Him in Him, and in time, quickened Him. Gave Him a love for Him. Gave
Him faith. Gave Him life. Made us spiritually
alive. Giving us the very life of Christ. That's the only kind of life
there is. I am the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life.
I dealt with this a few weeks ago. Even human life. Bugs, bugs. Crawling around,
you say they're alive. That life is Christ's. That's
Christ's life. Because He's the only one that
has life. I am the way, the truth, the life. Now there's a distinguishing
life of grace, mercy. But I'm telling you, everybody
walking around here, living, alive, human beings, That life
is from life Himself. By Him, all things consist. He
holds together everything. Without Him, there's nothing. There is no life. He is the life. When the Spirit of God was pleased
to quicken us, that's when we realize for the first time we're
alive in Him. Saved by Him, taught by Him,
regenerated by Him, quickening grace. Verse 6 says, And He hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ. Did you just notice the tense
of those words? Paul didn't say, and He will
raise us up together and will make us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ. Now this is one of those verses
of scripture just like we looked at in Proverbs just a few minutes
ago, verse 27. Seeking to know or to explain
or understand more than is revealed. I can understand He's raised
us up together. I know there's a sense in which
being raised together in newness of life in regenerating grace.
I can perceive something of that. But the part that I can't grasp,
believe it but I can't grasp it, is that when He was raised
from the dead, we were raised in Him, with Him. So listen,
this is present tense. And hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. When He died, we died. When He
was buried, we were buried. When He was resurrected, we were
resurrected, raised together with Him, in Him, seated with
Him right now in the majesty on high. Now according to the
Scriptures, one day we'll see Him as He is, we'll know Him,
be like Him, we'll understand. But right now, we walk by Faith. We walk by faith and not sight. And why did He do this? Verse
7, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. The riches of His grace. That
sets forth the value of it. The value of it. Here's the sad
thing. I don't even know how valuable
it is. I want to know. I would desire to know. I think
about it. I say the riches of His grace
like I understand it and I don't. I'm just so thankful that I'm
here. I'm so thankful I want to be here. I'm so thankful that
I want to be with God's people where He has brought two or three
together in His name and He's in the midst of it. I'm so thankful
for that. Somebody said, well, explain the riches of His grace.
OK. I don't know. Brother Henry says
concerning the riches of His grace and the abundance of it,
this is a quote from Brother Henry. Not just in this lifetime,
but throughout eternity, we shall be displayed as the trophies
of God's wonderful grace. He said, all the elect, angels,
elect men will forever praise the Lord for His mercy and His
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. I talked to some of the men just
during halftime and we were talking about this is real. This is real. We see through a glass darkly
right now. We see veiled right now. And
we think this life is real. This life is the shadow of death. We're walking through the valley
of the shadow of death. That David said, I'll fear no
evil because you're with me. But one of these days, everything's
gonna be real. And we'll see it, and we'll understand
it. All of the things that the Lord
has been pleased to do, If He's pleased to reveal all these things,
we'll then know Him. If He doesn't, we won't. But
to be in His presence, I would desire to understand even something
of that. Think on that respectfully. But
here's what the Spirit of God moved the Apostle Paul to say,
that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding richness
of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ, 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. For by grace, that which proceeds
totally from God with no work on man's part. I looked that
up, that's just a quote of the definition, grace. One of the
definitions. The free favor of God. By the grace of God, God elected
a people. By the grace of God, Christ redeemed
them. And by the grace of God, the
Spirit of God irresistibly called them out of darkness, gave them
a heart, and they believed. They were made willing in the
day of God's power. For by grace are you saved through
faith. What does that mean? That means
this is the only way that we perceive what the Lord has been
pleased to do, and grasp hold of the truth of His mercy and
grace toward us through faith, through faith. Faith? Somebody said, what is faith?
Well, I know it's the gift of God. I know that. It is that blessed gift. It's a gift of God by which we
perceive what God has said is so. Outside of that I've told
you everything I know about faith. I can tell you the evidence of
it. It believes God. I can't explain what it is any
more than I can explain life. Tell me what life is. It's life. But we're saved by
grace through faith. Faith that was not of ourselves.
It's given unto you to believe. It's not a work. It's the gift
of God, not of works. Faith is not the product of man. I've heard people say everybody's
got a little good in them and they just need to exercise their
faith. Well, there's two lies there. There's none good and all men
have not faith. Faith is a gift of God. We're
not born with faith. God gives it to us. But when
God gives us faith, I tell you what you do, you do believe.
You rest in that. God gives it to His people when
it pleases Him. Because of it, we come. We come to cry in our heart,
not in order to be saved, but because the Lord has saved us.
That's the reason we come. I told you last time, I've used
this before, a baby, when it cries, does it cry in order to
become alive? Or does it cry because it's alive?
Well, you say, well, it cries because it's alive. That's right.
A man or woman comes to Christ, do they come to Christ in order
to become alive? Or do they come because the Lord's
made them alive? A big difference, big difference.
I pray the Lord bless this to our hearts, for Christ's sake.
it.