Well, may it please God to help
us this evening as we continue our meditation in this second
chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. And this evening
we'll read verses 10, 11, 12, and 13. And we'll just read them. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Wherefore remember, that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are 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. So as we come to these verses
it's clear that the Apostle Paul leaves no stone unturned with
clearly showing to the Ephesians and of course to the whole Church
of God what their true situation was. And so he says, for we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, What a
wonderful thing to know that, that we are His workmanship. That means that God has worked
in our hearts that great work of the new birth, that great
work of salvation. It isn't anything that we've
done, but it is of His great favor. And it's a lovely thought
to think, for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. We are created naturally. We are created spiritually. And so may we have the evidence
as we do naturally of our life. There's no doubt about it. We're
all here today physically with a natural life. But the great
blessing is to know also that we possess this blessed workmanship
from God that produces that new life, that new spirit within
us, so that we do have the evidence that we are born again by his
spirit. And if that is so, then as the
apostle says, it is unto good works which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. That means if we are born again,
We do possess that new nature. We should be concerned to do
those things which are right, those things which are God-honouring,
those things which are pleasing to Him, those things which show
that we are saved by grace. And so, what a blessing it is
that we are saved unto good works. We are, as I often say, the prophet
Isaiah says, ye are my witnesses. in this dark world. And it is
an exceeding dark world. It gets darker every day. And
it's a mercy if we have eyes to understand it and to behold
it and to realize that God has placed us on the world at this
time. Indeed, as we read in Esther,
for such a time as this. And we should therefore be concerned
that there are those good works that we're able to do through
his grace and his favor toward us, and that we should therefore
walk in them. We shouldn't be stationary. There
should be that humble walking before our God and doing his
will for the honor and glory of that great God. And then the
apostle tells us, reminds us, wherefore remember, that ye,
being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. And of course, when the apostle
is referring really to the Gentiles, he's referring to those who were
unbelievers. And how true it is that all of
us in time past were unbelievers. What a blessing for us today
if we know that now, by his grace, we are a believer and that we
are no longer somebody who does not understand the great truths
of God, but that we should remember that there was a time past when
there was no spiritual life, And perhaps we didn't desire
any spiritual life. We were dead in trespasses and
in sins. But bless God today, if you and
I can search out and remember that there has been a wonderful
and glorious change in our lives. Remember, we were, as the Gentiles
were, in time past. And all God's people will have
a time past. But all God's people will have
had, like the Apostle Paul, and as he writes the Ephesians, a
change. So they are able to concur with
the statements he makes. Wherefore remember, that ye being
in time past, Gentiles in the flesh, as we were by nature,
in our flesh, who are called uncircumcision, which of course,
all the Gentiles were, they were not circumcised, by that which
is called the circumcision in the flesh, made by hands. It was an outward sign of the
obedience to the commands of Almighty God. And so he comes
on and says, at that time, Ye were without Christ. We were separated. He goes on
to tell us we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world. Well, many people today, sadly,
the vast majority of mankind's today, are indeed without Christ
and they are aliens, they're strangers from the covenants
of promise and they have no hope and for the most part they have
no realisation that there is a hope and they have no hope
Well, this evening, it would be a mercy if we have a good
hope. A good hope that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that it is well with our souls. So that we don't reckon or don't
realise that we are still without hope, but that we have the evidence
that we possess the grace of God in our heart, so that this
word written here, that at that time you were without Christ,
was true, but now we can bless God it's not true. Being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, outside of the church of God,
and no true spiritual communion There may have been a natural
mixing, but there was no spiritual mixing. And therefore, we were
strangers from the covenants of promise. We didn't understand
the glory of the gospel. We didn't appreciate the wonderful
promises which it contained. We were outside of this blessed
covenant. but then to realise, by the grace
of God, we are now inside, and we are indeed wonderfully blessed,
without hope, and we are now not without God in the world,
but we are privileged to be found walking with God. Very humbling,
don't deserve it, never did, never will. but we see the glory
of the grace of God. And then the apostle therefore
says, but now, but now. You see, there's been a time
past in our lives, but now. And oh, bless God tonight, if
in our lives there is a but now, and it's qualified and spelled
out very clearly, but now in Christ Jesus. You who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. That's the
only way that you and I shall be made nigh, brought to Christ,
made near. It's only through His shed blood. Without shedding of blood, there's
no remission and there's no forgiveness. And so tonight, can we be so
thankful if we are able to evidence and find out in our own hearts
there is this great truth. But now, in Christ Jesus, not
outside, united to Christ, once in Him, in Him forever. But now, in Christ Jesus, united
to the Lord Jesus Christ, joined together with Him, we who were
far off, far away, no desire after the Saviour. But bless
God then that we come back to this truth. We are now His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus. And this comes about where midnight
through his blood, by the blood of Christ, his sin atoning death
and that blood which he shed on the cross at Calvary to set
forth his death and what a death it was and what a gift we received
of eternal life through his death. So tonight, as we think on these
verses, it shows how we were without hope and now, by God's
grace, may we find we do have hope. And that is a good hope. And that's not a hope that will
fade away. That's not a hope that will perish.
It's a good hope in the grace of God that is indeed well with
our souls. Well, may God bless his word.
For Christ's sake, amen.