Paul here is speaking to the Ephesian church about the great and glorious
salvation of God in Christ. And he's not taking in consideration
or his subject is not confined to the people of God that were
chosen. Or this aspect, his thought as
he sets forth his purpose in writing to them in this second
chapter, part of the second chapter here, is not concerning their being chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world, as he mentions here in the first
chapter, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, having predestinated us under the adoption of children. by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good, and so forth. It speaks here as a Gentile. A Gentile considers these Ephesians
as Gentiles. First verse, he says, And you
hath be quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sins. Of
course, we know a little bit about that, that we're all guilty
of breaking God's law, the result
of our sin. in Adam were dead in trespasses
and in sins. In times past, prior to our salvation,
prior to the time we came and was brought unto the knowledge
of the truth, we 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, among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past, all of us, Jew and
Gentile alike, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, dead to God, having quickened us together with Christ
and by grace are you saved, raised us up together and made
us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained,
or prepared, that we should walk in them. Wherefore remember that
ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh. Now, this is what I had reference to when
I said he had in mind here the Gentiles. This was a Gentile
church made up mostly of Gentiles, not Jews, and he's not considering
here as he speaks that we were chosen in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we're sanctified and holy
in the Lord Jesus. And we've always been that way,
always been even prior, that is, in the will and the purpose
of God. In the will and purpose of God, all those that are saved
by the grace of God here in time, in God's will and purpose, God's
will and purpose, We all have been sanctified and justified
and all that in God's will and purpose, but we know that we're
not saved or sanctified and justified until here in time we're regenerated. Being in times past, Gentiles
in the flesh who are called uncircumcision, we're called the uncircumcised
by the Jews who are the circumcised. by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands." Now, that at this time, that at that time, and if we would be allowed to
trifle with those three words and read those three words, at this time. The word is, that at that time. But if we would trifle with it
and say, at this time, ye are without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel. and strangers from the covenant
of promise, having no hope and without God in this world. So if I were to read, at this
time ye are without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, having
no hope and without God in this world. What an awful state we
would be in if such would be the case. If I read it at this
time, ye are without Christ. But it does not say that. It
says, At that time ye were without Christ. And I said if I read
it, At this time ye are without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in this world, then I conclude
that we would be in an awful state before God if this was
our case. if this was our case this morning. Another place in the Scriptures
there I read to you from the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, was it? Or 10? Where was it? I just read that a little bit
ago. Chapter 6, where he says, Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves
with mankind, thieves, covetousness, drunkards, revilers, extortioners,
shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. And if I read it like this, At
this time ye are without Christ, strangers to the commonwealth
of Israel. Without Christ having no hope,
without God in this world. I said, We'd be in a sad predicament
if this would be our case, if we were without Christ. And I read there where it said,
And such were some of you. There was a time, a period, when
we were without Christ, and we were without hope, and we were
without God in this world. Now, that is a hard situation
for a man to be without God, without Christ, and without hope
in this world. Such were some of you. Now, the apostle, as I understand
it here, addresses this church at Ephesus as being a Gentile
church, not having even the common mercies that Israel had or possessed
in a religious sense. For in the Bible, in the book
of Genesis and the book of Exodus, the Israelites were a chosen
people, a chosen nation, a nation that had mercies that other nations
didn't have. They didn't have the common mercies
of God like Israel had. God was a God to Israel. in a special and particular manner
and way as the God of nations. He said in one place in regard
to Israel as a nation, he says, Thee only have I known of all
the families of the earth. I have singled you out of all the
families of all the other nations that inhabit the earth. I've
singled you out and favored you over and above them and said
because of that I will punish thee for all thine iniquities."
Now, there is some people in this world, I hope none of them
are here, but they are not few and far between. many that come
from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Some people lay it down
as a rule that God has a special and peculiar and particular people
whom he loves above all the rest. And they believe that they have
no fear of sinning. in light of the fact that God
hath, in his will and purpose before the world ever was, chosen
them unto himself, and they are a favored people. So they lay
it down as a rule that they have no cause whatsoever to fear sinning
against God. Their God, they say, loved them
from all eternity. Therefore, they have no cause
to fear, because sin can do them no harm whatsoever. But the truth
of the matter is, God's people that he hath chosen unto himself,
above all other people, are visited most for their sins than anybody
else. And I said that God hath chosen
Israel, and He said, Of all the families, all the nations that inhabit
this earth, I favor thee above them. Will I punish you for your iniquities? And so it is with God's favored
people in His will, His mind, and His purpose, those that we
call His sheep, those that understand who they are and who He is and
what He's done for them in Christ. They are not these that say,
I have no cause to fear, I will do what I want to, what I like
to do in the matter of misbehavior and bad behavior and whatever
type of ingratitude that a man might show against God in his
life. So God has a people above all
the peoples in this world. His people are called saints,
they're called sheep, they go by various names, but God visits
them and punishes them for their iniquity. In other words, if
we be without chastisement, the Bible says, whereof all are partakers,
then are ye bastards and not sons. God loves his people so
well and too well to let them live a life and practice of sin. He will not permit that. He loves you and I too much,
too well, to let us do what some say or charge us with doing. He will not do that, especially after he has made
manifest unto us by the preaching of the gospel that we are his
people. So if you see a professor, a religious person,
who can boast of his high attainments as a so-called Christian. And
he says, I know my election, and I know that the Lord has
called me by the grace of God, therefore I fear no sin. Sin cannot do me any harm. I am not concerned about such
little matters as sin. Well, if you ever run across
anyone that thinks like that and puts his thoughts into action,
I would myself now sooner believe the devil to be a child of God
than such a man as that. who hath been quickened from
his dead state of being in trespasses and in sins, has a tender conscience. His conscience is tender and
he has a tender regard for the honor and the glory of God Almighty
to say, well, since God has saved me and called me by his grace,
I have no fear of sin.'" You can see that sometimes that is said about those that
believe in the grace of God. You and I certainly believe in
the grace of God. We are saved by grace. Grace
is the favor of God, free favor of God. God is sovereign grace. God chose unto himself before
time ever was a number out of the human race that would be
here in time. He chose a certain number. He called them his sheep. set
them apart, sanctified them in time He called them, and give
them the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. And their conscience
is so tender, and their love for Him because of what He's
done for them, found them in this wayward state and dead state,
and give them life. Their love is too great for them
to deliberately with their eyes wide open, fly into the face
of His love and say, well, I'll do what I want to. If I want
to commit this sin or commit that sin, I'd do it without fear
of God. A man that has that understanding
of the salvation of God, he certainly is a bastard and he's not a son.
He's illegitimate. He's saying he's something that
he isn't. He is not, because the children
of God don't act that way. God will not leave them to act
that way. He loves them too much to leave
them to do that. He chastises them and stays with them until he
brings them out of it. It is so whether we believe it
or not. I think most of you believe that.
I just don't know of anyone here this morning that I could think
of or point to that has that attitude that I am saved by the
grace of God and God has called me by His grace and given me
eternal life and I shall never perish. I'll do what I want to,
when I want to do it, and how I want to do it without regard
to him. I just know that there's no one
here that believes that. It's never been taught here,
and as far as I'm concerned, it never will be taught here.
We are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, and we
love him. And as I said before, we have
a tender conscience and our conscience is too tender to go against his
mercy and his great love wherewith he loved us, knowing who we are. Well, I said if you see a professor
who boasts of his high attainments that he can say, I know my election
and I know I'm called by grace, Therefore, I'll do what I want
to." Why, you disregard him and just say that he's a bastard. He's a bastard. Well, nothing
wounds or grieves the mind and the conscience of the child of
God more than sin that he commits. We all commit
sin. I know that our Lord Jesus Christ
made an end of sin when he came into this world and lived and
died in our place and in our room and in our stead. He made
an end of sin, made an end of sin. But he didn't make an end
of sins. We still sin. He made an end
of this principle of sin that's within us. That is, it won't
dominate us, it won't rule us. He made an end of it as legally
and judicially before God he made an end of it. But we still
sin because we have this sin that's still in us. We sin. But
when we sin, we do not love to sin and relish sinning. He said if we sin, if we sin,
which we all do, and so we all must confess unto God that we
have sinned. Lord, I have sinned. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful to forgive us of our sin, faithful and just
to forgive us of our sin. Well, you and I who are sinners
saved by the grace of God, we are not going to practice sin. We're just not going to do it.
It's contrary to this holy nature that God has given us. We're
not going to practice it. Well, get back here to this text
now. At that time we were without
Christ. Then at that time ye were without
Christ. Now, when was that time that
we were without Christ. That was in our unregenerate
state, we was without Christ. If we was without Christ, we
was without God, and if we was without God, we was without hope
in this world. So there was a time, and he's
not talking about it here, that at that time we were without
Christ in our unregenerate state, Such were some of you. You were
like this and you were like that. You was an alien from the commonwealth
of Israel, strangers from the covenant of promise. You had
no hope and you was without God in this world, unregenerate state. I wonder though, there's several
here this morning. Now, can this be said? about
you at this time that you are without Christ. Most that's gathered here can
say there was a time I was without Christ, but now I'm not without
Christ. Are there some here that I have
described your case? You are right now without Christ. You are unregenerate. You have
no hope, no God in this world. Can it be that you're without
Christ? Well, I recollect readily and easily,
without too much forethought or afterthought, that there was
a time when I was without Christ. as I think about that and go
back and remember a little bit about it, which all of us who
were without Christ at that time, as far as our public appearance
to others, may not be the same, but it does not change the fact
that we were without Christ. Now, there was a time when I
was without Christ, And it wasn't that I lived and loved and practiced
adultery, or I lived and practiced profanity, or I lived and practiced
drunkenness, or I lived and practiced all kinds of bad language. We
don't all appear the same way to the public at the time we
were without Christ. But when God spoke to my conscience
and brought me to know myself, to really know myself, although
outwardly I was not a practicer of adultery and drunkenness and
this and that. I had prior to him bringing me
into a knowledge of myself, I had some free will pride in my I felt I had some reason to boast
about certain matters. So it wasn't public drunkenness
or anything. Some display their depravity
in that manner. Some display it in another way. What I'm saying here is that
the time when I was without Christ, I was not irreligious to a measure
anyhow, but I was irreligious. But when God made me to see who
I was, to really see how black my heart was, that I had sinned
against a holy God and sinned against Him deliberately, sinned
against His love and mercy and His kindness and His generosity
when He made me to know who I was and how far off I was from God,
when God wounded my conscience and pricked my conscience and
made me to know myself. Did He ever make you to know
yourself, know really who you are? without hope and without God
in this world, unregenerate. Well, if I were to write down all the
things that I've done and all the things that I've fought and
all the things that I wanted to do and didn't do, be abomination. It would be abomination to you
and abomination to me and especially abomination unto God. Well, it
seemed like before God brought me to know myself that I was
my greatest sin. No little sins. All sin is is
great before God, obnoxious. God hates sin in whatever form
and fashion it takes. But it seems to me like that
at that particular time when I was without Christ and prior
to God bringing me to know myself that my heart was wrapped up
in this world and the world was wrapped up in my heart. I had
no consensus as to who God was or who I was, no understanding. I was like the Pharisee in a
sense, too. I was a Pharisee. I could say
in my heart truthfully, I am not like other men. But I was
like other men, worse than other men. But in my own mind and in
my own heart, I had a certain religious pride. That Pharisee
who said, I pay my tithes of mint and cumin, and I pray so
many times every day, and I fast and all that, and look down upon
that poor heathen publican over there that had nothing. whatsoever to offer God except
his confession that he was a sinner. Well, all of us to some measure
is like that. All of us, prior to bringing
into a knowledge of who we are, felt like we had a few things
that God would recognize. that God would look favorably
upon. I thought that, but I don't think
that now. But there was a time I did think
that, but I don't think that now. But that time when I was
like that, I was without Christ. I was without Him. My hope wasn't
in Him. My hope was in myself, what I'd
done or what I would do and what I wanted to do. Not in all in
Christ. Jesus, my Lord. Well, I thought I had a few things,
but I come shortly to realize I didn't have nothing. I didn't
have destitute. I was as destitute of the Lord
Jesus Christ as the man that's in the remotest corner
of hell's fire. That's how destitute I was of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I was without Christ in this
world. I'm trying to tell you here this
morning that that's an awful state and condition to be in,
is to be without Christ in this world, to be without hope, to
be without God. I say that I once was that way. I was that way. But God brought
home to my heart and mind and soul and intelligence the truth
of myself. And when that took place, things
changed. God tells us, listen to me now,
God tells us that his people are accepted in Christ. If we are without Christ, then
we have nothing that God will accept. We are only accepted in Christ. If we do not have Christ, then
we do not have anything that God will accept. Without Christ,
you don't have anything that God will accept. The best deed
you've ever done, the kindest thought that you've ever had,
the purest motive to do something that you've ever had, God will
not accept you on that basis. We are accepted in Christ. And if we are without Christ,
then we have nothing that God will accept because his people
are accepted in Christ. He has said no man can come unto
the Father but by Christ. So if we are without Christ,
we have no ground whatsoever to stand upon whereby we can
approach God. None of us. He said, I am the
way, I am the truth, I am the life, and if He is the way, there
is no other way. And if He is the life, everything
else is death. Without Christ, that's what I'm
talking about. If you haven't got Christ, you
haven't got nothing. Not a single solitary thread
to stand upon or to hold on to. If God in Christ is the truth,
then everything else is a lie. I'm the way. If He's the way,
there's no other way. I'm the truth, everything else
is a lie. You can't have any connection with
God apart from Christ. So if we're out of Christ, we're out of the way, ignorant
of the truth, and he says, dead in trespasses and in sin. Is
that your case? Without Christ? If you are, whatever
else you possess will not bring you to God if you are without
Christ. You might have a good reputation,
you might have good character and good conduct, you might have
good family raising, You might have been taught the Ten Commandments
and went to all the Bible schools that you could avail yourself
to, but if you haven't got Christ, there is nothing that you possess
that will stand you in good stead with God. Whatever else you possess,
it won't bring you to God, if there be any poor. hopeless, helpless, rooted up,
broken hearted man or woman or child here this morning who feels
like he is ruined from the top of his head to the bottom of
his feet. He is filthy and he is guilty
and he is ready to cry out, I am vile, I am too bad, God will
not receive such a vile sinner as I am. Well, let me tell you
here this morning, a sinner never was received since the world
began but on the ground of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are
without Christ, you are without hope and you are without God. And if you're without Christ,
you're without holiness. And except a man have holiness,
he cannot be a Christian. He cannot be saved without holiness. Without holiness, no man shall
see the Lord. But the people of God are sanctified,
sanctified by God himself. For God says, He has made unto
us sanctification. That's holiness. The child of
God has a holiness that Satan cannot mar and which will stand
the test of time in the world to come. If you're without Christ,
you haven't got anything. So he says, At that time ye were
without Christ. That's the way we were. didn't
have any hope without God in this world. But in the next verse,
he says, But now, but now, something has taken place. God has made
us to know who we are. In the process of the salvation
of God through regeneration, our conscience has been wounded
and pricked and stabbed and we are made to know how sinful we
are. And when we are made to know
that, our nothingness, then God sheds abroad the love he has
for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are able to say that God
loved me How do I know God loves me? Well, He sent the Lord Jesus
Christ to save me. That's how I know He loves me. Oh, my soul. If we have Christ,
what do we have? We have His blood to cleanse
us from all guilt and defilement. If we have Christ, we have Him
for our forgiveness. and our part. If we have Christ,
we have his righteousness to justify us before the throne
of God. If we have Christ, we have fullness,
we have strength. He enables us to walk over these
pitfalls and walk around them and not fall into them. We have
His fullness, we have His promises, we have His wisdom to teach us
and guide us and have His power to keep us from falling. If you're
without Christ, you have none of these. If you're without Christ,
you're on your own. And you're like the blind leading
the blind, wind up in the ditch. And He says, at that time you
were without Christ. Those of us that have been quickened
and regenerated and become acquainted with God in Christ, we're not
out of Christ now, we're in Christ, we have Him. And that gives us
hope because we have Him. All the promises of God are in
the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, For He's our peace,
in that 14th verse. The 13th says, Now in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, Way, way off, far off,
too far to get back. But you are made nigh now by
the blood of Christ who is our peace. He is not talking about
world peace there. He is not talking about today
Jesus Christ being the peace giver and all that. He is not
talking about world peace. He is talking about the peace
of our hearts and the peace of our conscience who hath made
both one and half broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinance, for to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace, so that he might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain
the enmity thereby. and came and preached peace to
you which were far off, and to them that were not. For through
him we have both access by one Spirit unto the Father. So now
we are not strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone. in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye also are built together for a habitation of God through
the Spirit." That's being in Christ. Without Christ you can
do nothing. You was without Christ at one
time, but now you're in Christ. In Christ you have all things.
See what I'm saying? In Christ. In Christ. He only. That's what the psalmist said.
It said, He only. Not He plus me, but He only is
my rock and my high tower and my hiding place. He only, the
Lord Jesus. Oh, I hope you see what I'm talking
about. If you don't have Christ, you're
without the promise. You're without hope and without
God. Oh, what a condition. without God, without hope. What
are you going to do when you come down to the last mile away?
You ain't got no hope. You ain't got Christ. You can
only be accepted by God in Christ. All of our futile efforts to
gain favor with God will go for naught. All our so-called works
will go for naught. Our baptism will be no good if
we're not in Christ. No work will be recognized by
God unless we're in Christ. It's in Christ, in Christ. We
were out of Christ, but He's brought us now into a saving
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We know ourselves, and
we know what He did for us. And His love is so strong that
we dare not have the attitude that He chose me in the beginning,
before the world was, before I had any works, He chose me,
set me apart, He sanctified me. I have no fear now of sin. I
have no cause whatsoever to be afraid of it. I'll dabble in
it all I want to. Oh, no. We're not like that. We're not like that. He loves
us too much to leave us to even think a thing like that. In Christ,
accepted in Him. Accepted in Him. No other ground.
The way, the truth, and the life. Accepted in Christ. Not in Christ
or out of Christ. Out of Christ is too bad, too
late. God help us to consider these
two expressions, now in Christ, now in Christ, and that time
you were without Christ. Thank God that we are in Christ
this morning, in Him. He alone is our hope. We build
on nothing but Him. We come to Him in His name. Snuggle up to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let's stand and be this.