Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2, we're going
through this book verse by verse. I'd like to read verses 11 to
13. Ephesians 2, 11 to 13. The scripture declares, wherefore,
remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who
were called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God
in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye
who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Let's pray together. Our Father, again we thank you
this evening. for this precious time to be
able to assemble ourselves together in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Father, worship in spirit
and in truth. I thank you that you've given
us this opportunity. May the word be blessed to our
understanding, and Lord, I pray, have mercy calling out according
to your will and purpose, your people that you've everlastingly
loved. Comfort us, help us to worship,
forgive us of our sins for Christ's sake. Amen. The Apostle Paul was ever mindful. to set forth, according to the
inspiration of God's Spirit, that salvation is totally by
the grace and the mercy of God. Verse 8 says, for by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God. we ever need to be reminded that
we have absolutely no part, no part, no part in our salvation. We have no part in it. Salvation
is by grace. We have no part, no works. Hold your finger. Turn to Romans
chapter 11 and verse 6. Romans 11 6. Romans 11 chapter 6 says this,
and if by grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace
is no more grace. What the apostle is saying here,
salvation is by the grace of God and it's not by works. If
it has anything to do with your effort or your input, if any
part, you say, well my belief is what saved me. No. Belief is the evidence, it's
the effect of Salvation by the grace of God. God saves His people. He regenerates His people and
gives them faith to believe. Our belief does not save us because
our belief then would be our work. So grace has nothing to
do with works, is what he said. Now he says, if by grace, then
it's no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace, but if
it be of works, then it's no more grace, otherwise work is
no more work. What he's saying is this, if
it's by grace, then you didn't do anything for it. If you did
something, if you did something, I got saved because I walked
down the aisle. That's work. I got saved. That's a term, you know. I got
saved. I got saved because I was baptized. That's works. I got saved because I prayed
through. That's works. I got saved because
I spoke in tongues. That's works. Men interpret grace
as being an offer. that Almighty God graciously
gives. It's an offer. He gives salvation
if you'll take it, but it's by the grace of God. No, that's
not grace. Grace is God Almighty doing something
for you that you, A, could not do for yourself and would not.
I use the example of the Apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus. Saul was
not looking for the Lord. God finds His people, His eternally
loved elect. He finds them when it pleases
Him. He knows where they are. He's
always known them. And He calls them out of darkness,
gives them a new heart, gives them faith to believe, teaches
them through the gospel what He's done for them by grace. So the Apostle Paul always reminds
us, and we need to hear that again, Grace, I mean, a faith
cometh by hearing. I need to hear again, Cheryl,
again and again and again. Why? Because I'm prone to forget. The Apostle Paul said, for me
to say the same things to you is not grievous. I had somebody
say of me that I, you know, I just, I said the same things. He says
the same things over and over and over. May the Lord help me
to never say anything differently. I don't want to say anything
differently. I want to preach Christ. In all these scriptures,
there is one message. There is one message. And I'm
not looking for something new by the grace of God. So Almighty
God, moves upon the Apostle Paul to set forth, by grace are you
saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. I will and
you will too. We will boast. If we think we've
done something, I want some attention. By nature, that's what I want,
I want some attention. I want you to brag on me. I want
you to tell me how good I've been. I want you to tell me what
a good job I've done. So, therefore, we are His workmanship,
verse 10, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Not good works
that we did for salvation, but the effect of. You know, we looked
at that. Which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in. Now, let's look at verses 11
to 13. Wherefore, remember, remember that ye being in time past Gentiles
in the flesh. Now, Paul is speaking to Gentiles. It's the church at Ephesus. They
were Ephesians. They were not Jews. And he tells
them, I want you to remember that ye being in time past, Gentiles
in the flesh. Now they, I mean, they were still
Gentiles after the Lord converted them. They were still Gentiles
as far as being from a country or a nation that was not Israel. They were still Gentiles, but
he's saying that they were Gentiles in a fleshly nature. Gentiles in heart, Gentiles in
mind. Desiring those things of the
flesh. You were Gentiles in the flesh. Walking after the flesh and doing
the works of the flesh. and thinking in a fleshly way. They were Gentiles in the flesh
who were called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands. The apostle was telling the Ephesians,
he said, there was a time when you, not only in nature, were
you fleshly in mind and nature, but you carried in the lack of
the mark of God's people. The Lord had given Abraham the
mark of circumcision and therefore because you were not circumcised
naturally, physically, you were called by those who are called
themselves the circumcision, you were called an unclean thing. That's what you were called.
That's what he's saying. You were called that which is unclean. There was a time when you were
alienated from them. We're going to deal with that
in just a minute. Verse 12, he said, that at that
time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope without God in the world. He said there was a time that
you being separated, separated. The circumcision and the uncircumcision
didn't have anything to do with each other. He said there was
a time that you were without Christ. That is, without a knowledge
of Him. Without an interest in Him. Now I want us to just stop here
for just a few minutes and just consider that which he said,
that ye at that time were without Christ. Without Christ. There's not a
person that doesn't have some type of a knowledge of who the
Lord Jesus Christ is. When an unbeliever hears without
Christ, they naturally are going to go back to either, they're
going to either appeal to some religious exercise that they
did, they gave their heart to the Lord, or they're going to
think within themselves, well that God can't be a tyrant. He's not going to throw everybody
in hell. So I know this. I believe in
Jesus. And as we've looked at so many
times, demons believe in the existence of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when the Apostle Paul is
setting forth that, remember that there was a time that you
were without Christ. That means that you had no personal
saving knowledge of Him. This is life eternal. That they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent. Now for a believer, there is
no greater plague of the mind. There is no greater misery. There's no greater state of being
in that miserable plague than to consider that I would be without
Christ. Now before I was converted, before
you were converted, you that know Him, you didn't care. You had no interest whatsoever. Now you that know Him, think
of the attitude of those that you know that don't know Him.
They don't care. There's no interest in Him. They
are without Christ and without a care for Christ, no love for
Christ. I mean, I can't imagine. I could
be without health. I could be without money. I could
be without a home. I could be without a friend.
I could be without respect. But you that believe to be without
Christ, There is no greater poverty.
To be without Christ is the foundation of all misery. That's the bottom
line. What is all misery built upon? Being without Christ. And man
by nature doesn't know it. When Almighty God in His mercy
and grace and power crossed our paths and took hold of us, by
his mighty blessed spirit. And we heard him through the
preaching of the gospel. Then we knew that before we were
without Christ. To be without Christ. That's
what he said. Now at that time you were without
Christ. To be without Christ is to be
without God. When I say to be found in Him
as opposed to be without Christ. That'll be the extremes right
here. One of them is being found in Him, to know Him. The other
is to be without Him. To be without Christ is to be
without a saving knowledge, number one, of myself. A man that is
found in Christ knows something about himself. You remember the
two that went in the temple to pray? Two men went in the temple
to pray. One was a Pharisee and one was
a publican. And the Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I'm thankful that I'm not as
other men are. I'm not like everybody else.
I'm a good man. I'm a good man. I tithe twice
a week. I'm not like this publican over
here, that lowlife scoundrel that steals and scams off, that
lying, cheating. I'm not like him. I'm a good
man. And the publican would not so
much as even lift up his eyes to heaven, but prayed thus, God be merciful
to me, a sinner. You want to know something about
a man or a woman that knows something of who God is, they know something
about who they are. A man, a woman that is without
Christ, is without God. He's without a saving knowledge
of who God the Father is, the electing God. He's without a
knowledge of the Son, the redeeming, particular redeeming God. Without the Spirit, the effectual,
powerful Spirit of God that calls God's elect. A man that is without
Christ knows nothing of God's covenant. He knows nothing of
God's power because he thinks he's got some. A man that's without
Christ thinks that he's able. 2 Corinthians 5.19, God was in
Christ. the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
reconciling the world, Jew and Gentile. Again, you know, these
scriptures that men will take, they say, well, you said there
it is, reconciling the world. He had to have loved everybody.
You cannot bear that out in scripture. Reconciling the world, Jew and
Gentile, all the world, without exception, Jew and Gentile, not
everyone in particular. unto himself. How? By not imputing their trespasses
unto them. A believer knows that he's a
sinner. Oh, wretched man that I am. I'm the chief of sinners. Christ Jesus came to the world
to save sinners, Paul said. I'm chief. The Lord Jesus Christ,
he said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Therefore, We know
that he must have had a sheep given him. If he laid down his
life for his sheep, he's borne their guilt. Therefore, the sheep
have no guilt to bear. They have guilt. They have guilt. There's not a sheep, there's
not a believer that will not admit, I am a sinner. But he doesn't bear the guilt
of it. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute
sin. Charge him with it. Now that's
a blessing. I know, listen, it is a great
burden to a believer. It's a great burden to a believer
to see the very presence of sin. To see the presence of it. And
I see the presence of it. You do too. You see it in yourself.
You see it in yourself. Every believer. I mean you struggle
every day. Because you see the inability
that you have to not sin. I don't want to. And I do. But thanks be unto
God that He has revealed to me by His Holy Spirit that I don't
bear the guilt of it. Oh, bless God that He has borne
my guilt and put it away. That He doesn't charge me with
it. To be without Christ is to be
without God. To be without Christ is to be
without life. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. And to be without life is to
be dead. That's the only alternative. To be without Christ is to be
without any light. John 8, 12, I am the light of
the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. You know why
men and women do not understand nor love the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace? Because the Lord has not shined
in their heart to give the light of the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If Almighty God gives a man a
new heart, he'll see. He'll see. Once I was lost, now
I'm found. Once I was blind, now I see.
Once I was deaf, now I hear. A believer hears and sees and
loves the gospel of Christ because he's in Him, regenerated. To be without Christ is to be
without salvation. Remember, we studied last week
Simeon in Luke 2. Lord, now let us, thou thy servant,
your bond slave, depart in peace, forgiven. Remember that? According
to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Psalm 98.3. He hath remembered his mercy
and his truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the
earth have seen the salvation of our God. All men, not all
without exception. I just, I had somebody tell me
one time, I was, we were speaking, I wasn't preaching, and I was,
like I just did, I qualified. Anytime I say, you know, all
ends of the world, I'm qualified. He told me, he said, you don't
have to qualify that every time you say it. And I said, well,
I do. Because I don't want anybody
to misunderstand what I'm saying. I want to be absolutely clear
concerning the glorious gospel of God's grace. To be without
Christ is to be without righteousness. The Lord, our righteousness.
Without Him, without His righteousness imputed to me, then I tell you
what I'm clothed with. the filthy rags of self-righteousness. There's only two righteousnesses.
It's either the righteousness of God or the righteousness of
filthy rags. To be without Christ is to be
without a fit and accepted righteousness before God. To be without Christ
is to be without hope. No man, John 14, 6 again, cometh
unto the father, but by me. Not by my will, not by my works,
not by blood. I'm talking about the blood of
man. Men are born not by blood, being without Christ. Now Paul
continues telling them, but remember, I'm sorry, verse 12. But at that
time you were without Christ being aliens. from the Commonwealth
of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having
no hope and without God in the world. Aliens. Outsiders from
the Commonwealth of Israel. Salvation was sent to the Jews
first. You know that. And Gentiles were
alienated. They were kept out. They were
unclean. They couldn't eat with, converse
with, worship with. They couldn't join in the hearing
of the reading of scriptures. They could not worship God in
the God-ordained, prescribed manners. And worship was found
primarily where God Almighty permitted it. I say primarily
because there were instances when the Lord did call out Some
Gentiles, but primarily they were aliens from the Commonwealth
of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope without God in the world. Those covenants of promise that
was given by Almighty God, covenants. Go back and read what God Almighty
said to Abraham, to Israel, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Noah, You think
about this covenant. I was thinking about it just
when I saw Noah's name there. God looked and saw that every
imagination of the thoughts of men's heart was evil continually. Continually. Without Christ, without life,
Without God Almighty giving me a new heart, there's one thing
that I have in my heart. Evil. Continually. Without Him, there's no good
there. That Paul said, I know that in
me, that is, in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. Contrary to popular belief, there
is not a little good in all people. There's not. There's none good. As we considered a moment ago,
we were without hope of any life beyond this life. There was no
hope, no promise of mercy, no compassion, no peace with God.
Can you imagine without Christ? Only a believer knows something
and he grieves over his inability to thank the Lord as he ought. How often do I think of that?
I think of that one scripture that I've told you so many times.
Lord, if you marked iniquity, Lord, if you marked it, if you
charged me with it, who could stand? If almighty God were to
look on me apart from the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, I am without
hope without God in this world. They say it's not that men are
without any knowledge, but they have no saving, personal, regenerating
knowledge of Almighty God. It's not that they're not without
religion, it's not without morality or self-righteous works, they're
without God in this world. They don't know Him in Christ.
They know nothing of the Father's mercy, of the Son's power to
save, Holy Spirit. There's no hunger for true righteousness. There's no desire for the hearing
of the truth of the gospel. Man by nature does not love this
truth, the truth. the glorious truth that gives
all the honor and all the glory and all the praise to the Lord
Jesus Christ, the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Before, verse
12, you were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, no hope
without God in the world, but now. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh, made near by the blood
of Christ. But now. That's what I entitled
this message. But now. What beautiful words. But now. In Christ Jesus. Put there by grace. Put there
by grace. Kept there by grace. Forever in him by grace and power. Sealed by the Spirit of God. Marked by God. When I say a seal,
I've told you that it's like that wax and they take a stamp. And there's the seal. There's
the imprint right there. marked, sealed by the Spirit
of God. And they know, believers know,
at being found in the Lord Jesus Christ, they know something about
God Almighty showing mercy and compassion to whomsoever He will. And they say in their hearts,
Lord, thank you. Thank you for having mercy upon
me. They know something about the
experience of regeneration. They know something, by faith,
of being crucified with Him. about being raised with Him from
the dead and now truly according to the Scriptures. I don't understand
this. I'll tell you so many times I'm
so far over my head right here. I can't even imagine how far
I am. But I know this according to
the Scriptures. Romans 8, 28, 29, 30. Go back
and read this. That right now being found in
Him where He is, His people are. Being found in Him, where He
is, they are. Glorified with Him. But I'm in
this world right now. I know that. But according to
scriptures, when He died, they died. When He was buried, they
were buried. When He rose, they rose. When
He ascended, they ascended. When He was seated, they were
seated. He being glorified, they're glorified in Him. Romans 8.30. I don't understand it all. As I
said this, the glorious mystery of godliness, that God Almighty
would put His people, as Brother Scott always said, where God
put them, that's where He kept them. That's a comfort. Comfort. Ye who were far off, sometimes
far off, made near, made near to God, accepted, how? By the blood of Christ. Acts 2.39, for the promise is
unto you, to your children, and to all that are afar off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call. Only a believer knows that
there was a time when he was far off. A believer knows that
there was a time that he didn't know God. I heard somebody say
that, well, they said, well, I've always been saved. And Brother
Henry said one time, well, that's just a little bit too long. That's
just a little bit too long. They were far off, I think, about
that prodigal. son that the scripture said wasted
all of his wealth, all of his inheritance, wasted it all, riotous
living. Scripture says he came to himself. There's a picture of regeneration. You know, he came to himself.
What did he realize first thing? I'm eating husk. I'm eating swine's
husk. I'm separated my father's house,
their servants that eat better than I do. I know what I'm going
to do. I'm going to go back. I'm going
to tell my daddy exactly what I've done. I've sinned against
you. I've sinned against heaven. I've
done it before you. And he rehearsed that, and the
scripture says, and he started going back. His daddy saw him
a great way off. How far did Almighty God see
us? We were a great way off, but
he ever saw us. I ever knew you, ever loved you,
ever desired you, and purposed not going to let you perish.
Not the ones I've eternally loved, not the ones I've chosen in my
son. All that the Father giveth me,
they're going to come to me. And you've been made nigh. He made you nigh. You didn't
make yourself nigh. You didn't bring yourself back.
It was His blood made nigh by the blood of Christ. His blood
satisfied the law's demand for justice. Now you think about
what you could not do. Could you have ever satisfied
the law's demand How about satisfy the law's demand
for justice? You die without Christ and you'll
never satisfy the law's demand for justice. You will eternally
be separated by His blood by one sacrifice for sin. He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified, set apart. His blood has atoned for our
sins Covered. Covered. His blood, by His blood,
peace with God has been established. Peace with God and peace in my
heart. Peace within my heart by the
blood of Christ. His blood, by which we're justified
before God, pardon is procured and reconciliation is made. How? By the blood of Christ. The blood
that answered. His blood. By which we're said
in Revelation 7, 14 to be washed white. Washed white in His blood. Salvation is by the grace of
God. It's not of works. We would boast. We were aliens. Aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel. We were without Christ, without
hope, without God, without salvation, without light, without peace. But now, but now, by the grace
of God, we've been made nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake.
Amen.