Well, this is a time of year
when most everyone celebrates the birth of the Lord Jesus,
yet it's very apparent that few really know Him. Everyone loves
the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in the manger. Everyone loves the story of the
virgin birth. The shepherds abiding in the
fields keeping watch over their flocks by night. Everybody loves
the story of the Star of Bethlehem shining bright, which led the
three wise men to find Mary and Joseph and the baby in Bethlehem. And everyone loves the idea of
peace on earth and goodwill toward all men. But sadly, there are
few who really know and understand why Jesus Christ, who was born
of a virgin, came into the world. Sad but true. They know His name
to be Jesus, but they don't know Him as the Christ. They call
His name Jesus, but they do not know that He came to save His
people from their sin. They know Him as the Son of God,
but they don't know that He's God the Son who came into the
world to save sinners. Not many folks are celebrating
that. And why would they? One that
does not believe themselves to be a sinner finds no cause of
celebrating the forgiveness of sin. But I tell you who does. Those to whom God has revealed
their sin. Those who see their need of a
savior. They're celebrating, and not
just this time of year, but every day of their life. Many love
having Jesus as an infant in a manger, but they don't love
him as the infinite one who created heaven and earth and everything
made that was made. That baby lying in that manger
is none other than God Almighty. Why has he humbled himself to
come to earth, subject himself to being a child under the authority
of his parents? Why has He come into the world?
Few know why. The scripture says, when the
fullness of time was come, most likely not December the 25th
in the year zero, but God sent forth His Son made of a woman,
made under the law. Why did God do that? Well, Paul
tells us to redeem them, to purchase them that were under the law,
that they might receive the adoption of sons and daughters. That's
why He came. Well, why do men and women need
to be redeemed? Why are men and women under the
law? Do you know the answer to those
questions? The answer is because of sin. We fell under sin's curse. Well, what is this curse? The
wages of sin is death. The soul that sins shall die. And those who do not believe
that they're spiritually dead have no real need or interest
in spiritual life. Do you? Do you see that you're
a sinner? Do you see that by nature you're
spiritually dead? Not many people do. If you do,
then it's been revealed to you by God Himself. And you have
to be made alive before you can ever see that you're dead. And
that's what the Apostle Paul deals with in the second chapter
of the book of Ephesians. If you would take your Bible
and turn there with me, Ephesians chapter two. Here in the second
chapter of Ephesians, Paul compares what men and women are by nature
with what they become by God's grace in Christ. Again, I ask
you, are you interested? Ephesians chapter two, look at
verse one. And you," and Paul's here speaking
to believers, those who are trusting in Christ, those who believe
in the Lord Jesus. He said, and you, hath he quickened. Now that word means made alive.
And you hath he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sin. So the first thing that we see
is that every man and woman by nature, because of sin, is dead
in their trespasses and sin. dead and trespasses in sin. Paul
wrote in Romans chapter 5 verse 12, wherefore as by one man,
that man being Adam, sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men, death passed upon all women for that all have sinned. Sin
is the cause of this spiritual death. as our representative,
Adam sinned, Adam disobeyed God. God told Adam, he said, but of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not
eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt
surely die. Well, Adam lived naturally and
physically for 930 years, but he died spiritually immediately,
the very second that he disobeyed God in the garden. What does
that have to do with you and me, you might ask? Well, the
scripture's clear. For as in Adam all die, for by
one man's disobedience, that being Adam's, we were made sinners. So by the obedience of one, and
that being Jesus Christ, shall many be made righteous. And that is why Christ came into
the world. He came to save sinners from
their sin. God made His children alive. He quickened them. He gave them life. And you have
He, God, quickened. Who did God make alive? Those
who were spiritually dead. When we were dead in sin, according
to verse two here, it says that we walk in time past according
to the course. Now that word course there means
pursuit. We walk in times past according
to the pursuit of this world. We walked according to the designs
of men. We walked according to Satan,
the prince of this world. We walked according to man's
customs. We walked according to man's
way of life. According to man's immoral, manners
in conformity to man's disgraceful desires, according to the way
of disobedient children," Paul says here. Verse three, among
whom also we all had our conversation. All of us did. We all had our
conversation in times past 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. It's true of every one
of us. Our course, our pursuit of life
was what our flesh lusted for. That being the appetites, the
corrupt desires, the sensual delights within the children
of disobedience. We sin because we willed to sin. We sin because we wanted to sin. We sin because sin is what we
are. We walked in darkness because
we love darkness. And this is the condemnation
that light has come into the world. And men love darkness
rather than light. Well, now preacher, I don't love
darkness. By nature you do. Yes, you do.
Love darkness rather than light. We were children of wrath by
nature, even as others. From our conception until our
conversion, we were children that deserve the wrath of God.
But when Paul shows us something here of what we are by God's
grace, and I love these first two words in verse four, every
child of God does. But God, God intervened. God did a divine intervention.
He who is rich in mercy intervened in mercy. That's a beautiful,
beautiful thing. He intervened in mercy, why?
For his great love wherewith he loved us. Now this is not
talking about the world. I'm sorry, I know that offends
some people. Jesus Christ did not die for
the whole world. God does not love everybody in
the world. He loves those who love his son. Not talking about the world.
God loved these people, verse five, even, that's a big even
too, even when they were dead in sins, He didn't love them
because they loved Him. I know that's a popular subject
today. Well, I gave my heart to Jesus.
I love Jesus and now he loves me. No, we love him because he
first loved us. He loved them in spite of them
not loving him. He loved them when they were
dead and couldn't love him. He loved them when they had no
ability to love. John said, we love him because,
here's why, because he first loved us. He didn't save us because
we chose him. People say, I gave Jesus my heart.
No, sir, you didn't. Our Lord said, you've not chosen
me, but I've chosen you. And that's the only reason that
any man or woman comes to Christ is because God, before the foundation
of the world, chose them unto salvation. It's not of him that
willeth, it's not of him that runneth, but of God that shall
with mercy. Speaking of two twin boys that
were born, the scripture says before they were born, before
they had done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand, according to God's choosing. God loves
us even when we were dead, even when we were living according
to the desires of our filthy flesh and carnal mind. And we
by nature hated God without a cause, but God made us alive and God
gave us life. Listen, we didn't pick ourselves
up by the bootstraps. That's not how salvation works.
We don't pick ourselves up by the bootstraps. Verse six says,
He, God, raised us up together. It's God that raised us up. It's
God that picked us up. He reached down His hand for
us in the miry clay of sin and despair, and He lifted us up. He made us sit together in heavenly
places. You see that? Isn't that what
your Bible says? He made you. He made us sit together
in heavenly places in heaven. Christ Jesus only in Him. Why? Verse 7, that in the ages
to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us again through Christ Jesus. Now where there is no
grace, there's no kindness, there's no love, There's no mercy, there's
no life. Apart from Jesus Christ, there
is none of nothing, if I may say it that way. How then are
sinners saved? Only one way according to verse
eight. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that's not of yourselves,
it's a gift of God. How are sinners saved? By grace
through faith. It's not of yourself, it's the
gift of God. That gift is life in Jesus Christ. Salvation's of the Lord. Verse
nine, it's not of works. It's not something that we can
boast about. You and I can't take any glory or credit for
the gift of salvation that God gave us. Why? Because He gave
it to us. You and I can't take any credit
for. Verse 10, for we are His workmanship. Who's God's? We're
created in Christ Jesus under good work. Not because of good
works. God had before ordained, foreordained,
predestinated. A lot of people don't like that
word. I love that word. God predestinated, God determined
beforehand. God has predetermined. What has He predetermined? What
has He predestinated? That we should walk in these
good works. And again, salvation is of the
Lord. It's not of you, it's not of
me. It's not something that we've done. It's not by work of righteousness
that we've done, no. We received this grace in Jesus
Christ. He made us to sit and rest in
Christ. He made us alive in Christ. His kindness for us is through
Christ. That's what God made us. And
it's not what we've always been. Verse 11, wherefore remember,
Remember what you were. You were Gentiles in the flesh.
You were called uncircumcision in a derogatory way by the Jew. We were Gentile dogs. You remember
that lady, a mother that came to the Lord Jesus, her daughter
was in bad shape. She said, Lord, have mercy on
my daughter. And he said, it's not right for
me to give the children's bread to dogs. And she didn't get upset. She didn't get puffed up. She
didn't say, well, I'm not a dog. No, she didn't, did she? She
said, yeah, Lord, a dog's what I am. But even the dogs get the
crumbs that fall from the master's table. I'm here to tell you this
more, and I'm thankful to be a dog because even dogs get the
crumbs from the master's table. And the crumbs of Christ will
fill your heart and your soul with gladness and joy. Gentile
dogs. We were not the covenant people
of Israel. We were not of the house of Abraham,
not the people of promise, not the people whom the promises
and the prophecies and the sacrifices were given. Now watch this closely.
This is my subject, being without Christ. Now I want to tell you
just as sincerely as I can, I don't want to be without Christ. I
don't want you to be without Christ. Verse 12, that at that
time, before you believed, before you trusted, you were without
Christ. Now, there are a lot of folks
that claim to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and many of them claim
to love Christ, but they're without Christ. They've missed Christ. What is it to be without Christ?
You know, it'd be horrible to be without help and without friends
and without family. It would be horrible to be without
freedom. As many of you know, I have a
son right now that's incarcerated in prison, has been for three
years. You know what he talks about?
Every time I talk to him, once a week, he talks about freedom.
He talks about being free. It'd be horrible to be without
freedom. It'd be horrible to be without food and clothing
and shelter. There are a lot of folks in our
area that are right now, but there is nothing so horrible
as to be without Christ. First, to be without Christ is
to be without God. That's what it says, without
God in this world. This week I saw a bumper sticker
that I haven't seen for a while, and it simply said, smile, God
loves you. Now listen, if you're without
Christ, God doesn't love you. What kind of heresy are you preaching?
I'm preaching the Bible. It's what the Bible says. If
you're without the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, you are
without Christ and God doesn't love you. In Romans chapter eight,
Paul talks about all the things that cannot separate his people
from God's love. Tribulation can't separate you,
no type of affliction can. Distress can't, whether it's
body or mind. Persecution can't, whether it's
mental or physical. Famine can't, the one of life's
necessities will not separate us. Peril, danger, nor the sword
can separate us from the love of God. He didn't stop there,
Adel. He goes on to say, death cannot
separate us. Angels cannot separate us. No
principality or power can separate you from the love of God. Nothing
present, nothing to come can, no matter how high, how deep,
how wide, no creature, no one can separate you from the love
of God. But you need to understand this.
The love of God is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. If you don't
have the Lord Jesus Christ, then you don't have the love of God.
Jude said, keep yourselves in the love of God. How can you
and I do that? Jude tells us how. He said, looking
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. That's
the only way. We gotta look to Him. When the
Lord sent those serpents in the wilderness to bite the children
of Israel, many, many folks died that day. Poison of those serpents
permeated the body and pretty soon the person died. And God
said, make a serpent of brass and put it high up on a pole.
And all that look to that serpent shall live. That's Christ. That's what that's talking about.
Jesus Christ is that serpent high and lifted up. He was made
in the likeness of sin, yet without sin. And all that look to Him
shall live. Look to Him. Life's in a look
to the Savior. If you're not looking there,
then you'll never ever find it. Any sinner that's without Christ
is without any spiritual blessings. If only Christ can give life,
he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. Friends, these aren't my words.
This is what God says in this book. People need to dust their
Bible off and start reading it. Any sinner that's without Christ
is without any spiritual blessing. If you're without Christ, you're
an alien. Do you see that in verse 12?
You are an alien from the kingdom of God. Now that word alien means
estranged. You're estranged from God and
His kingdom. You're alienated. That's what
an alien is. That's where the word comes from.
An alien is alienated. He's alienated from God and His
kingdom. You've got to be reconciled to
God. Only one way to do that. There's
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. You've
got to have Him. You're a stranger from the covenants,
contracts of promise. None of the promises of God are
for you. They're only for the one who
has Jesus Christ. I had a man who was a self-proclaimed
atheist one time tell me that he didn't believe in God. But
he went on to say that even if he's wrong, he said, but if I'm
wrong, by way of creation, God is my father. I beg your pardon. To the religious Pharisee, Christ
said, you're of your father, the devil. I heard Brother Mahan
say one time, God created snakes, but he's not the father of them.
God created baboons, but He's not the father of baboons. Now,
He may be the father of men and women who act like baboons, and
He may be the father of those who often carry on like a snake. And God created all men, yes,
but He's not the father of all men. God is the father of the
Lord Jesus Christ and all that are in Him. Now, I'm not telling
you anything that this book doesn't teach. If you're without Christ,
you're without God. That's what Paul says here. Jesus
Christ is God. He's the brightness of God's
glory. He's the express image of His person. Philip said, Lord,
show us the Father. That'll satisfy us. That'll suffice
us. The Lord said, Philip, Philip,
have I been with you so long a time and you don't know me?
How can you ask such a question? How could you make such a request?
Show us the Father, that'll suffice. That'll be enough. He said, if
you've seen me, you've seen the father. I and my father are one. Friends, Jesus Christ is God. He's not that baby still lying
in a manger. He's the one and only potentate,
the sovereign ruler of all things. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will. Our God is in the heavens. He's
done whatever he's pleased. Whatever the Lord pleased that
did he. In heaven and earth and in the
seas and deep places and even in hell. No man knoweth the Father
except the Son, and to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." Our
Lord said, he that hates me hates my Father. We live in a day where
everyone says they love God. Why everyone and Jesus has a
good thing going. If we don't have Christ, if we're
without Christ, we're without hope, we're without God in this
world. And that's my second point. I'm
telling you, folks need to attend and sit where the gospel is preached
in spirit and truth, because the truth of the matter is, folks
don't know what they worship. That's what he told that lady
at the well. She said, well, y'all worship in Jerusalem and
we worship in the mountain. He said, you know not what you
worship. You don't know what you worship. There are a lot
of folks that don't know what they worship. They're worshiping
this and they're worshiping that, but they're not worshiping God
in spirit and in truth. Secondly, if you're without Christ,
I've already said it, you're without hope. A sinner apart
from Christ, verse 12 said, is one having no hope. How much? No hope. Not just a
little bit, none. No hope. What is the hope of
a believer? Christ in you, the hope of glory. In Christ, we have the forgiveness
of sins. Out of Christ, only the wrath
of God abides upon us. Without the shedding of Christ's
blood, there is no remission. That word means payment, restitution. There is no forgiveness of sin.
The child of God is accepted wherein the beloved. Who's that? That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is God's beloved. God said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. And that's why God said this,
hear ye him. Better hear him. You're gonna
have to, to be saved. And I'm concerned that few in
our day are listening. They're not listening and they're
not hearing. And I blame preachers for the most part. I blame religion. They're not telling men and women
the truth about what this book says. Attending church has become
nothing but a social gathering. Worship has been traded for entertainment. Preaching what Christ has done
for sinners has taken back seat to what sinners are doing for
God. What matters is, is what God has done for you. The question
people ask today is, well, what does your church offer for our
kids? They're not asking the important
question, like what does your church preach to the saving of
the soul? To be without Christ, to be without
God, to be without Christ is to be without hope in this life
We have hope in Christ, nowhere else. And seeing that we have
such hope, we use great plainness of speech. 2 Corinthians 3, 12. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given
us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace. And
that grace is in Christ, in Christ alone. Paul told the young preacher
Timothy, he said, the Lord Jesus is our hope. There is no other
hope. Paul told Titus, he said, looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity. That's why that baby's in the
manger. He came to give himself for us. He came to keep the law. He came to fulfill the law. He
came to satisfy the justice of God. You and I can't do it. It's
gotta be perfect to be accepted. When, Lou, have you ever done
anything perfect? Never. Neither have I. Neither
have any of us. We can't do what God requires. God requires perfection. Christ
did for us that which we couldn't do for ourselves. Look at verse
14 here in Ephesians 2. For He is our peace, who hath
made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us. Between who? Between us and God. We've been alienated. We're aliens.
We're strangers according to the covenant of promise. Third
thing, to be without Christ is to be without peace. I want peace, don't you? For
He, Christ, is our peace. It's the peace of God that passes
all understanding. It's the peace of God that will
keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. That's
the only way. There's no peace to be found
anywhere else but in Christ. You know, as long as there is
guilt of sin, there can never be any peace. Christ put away
the believer's sin. And when he put away our sin,
he put away our guilt. And when He put away our guilt,
He became our peace. And we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus. To be without Christ is to be
without God, is to be without hope, and it's to be without
peace. If you're here this morning without Christ, and you say,
well, I have some peace. It's a false peace. It won't
last. It won't last. And then fourthly,
to have Christ, to have God, is to have hope. And it's to
have peace. He's broken down that wall of
partition between us and a thrice holy God. Verse 15, having abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances for to make in himself of twain one new man,
so making peace. Isn't that good news? That's
what the gospel is. The gospel is good news for sinners. It's good news for sinners. It's
a simple message with plainness of speech. That's what a preacher
is. He's a good news reporter. He,
Jesus Christ, has abolished in his flesh, in his dying, the
just for the unjust, the law of commandments, and the handwriting
of ordinances that were against us, making himself one with us,
so making peace between us and God. You see, when God now looks
at you, Sharon Cothran, He sees His Son. He made you one with
Him. By your union with the Lord Jesus
Christ, God is well pleased with you, the same as He is with His
Son. So I've got to ask you that question, that most urgent question. What think you of Christ? In
closing, I want you to turn with me to Romans chapter 10, if you
would, please. Just back a few pages from Ephesians
2. Look at Romans chapter 10, verse
13. And while you're turning, let
me say that I fear that there'd be some of you here this morning
that are yet without Christ. There are some here who have
never heard the gospel. You may have heard it with your
physical ears, but you haven't heard it with your heart. If
you had truly heard it, if you had truly seen your sin and your
condition, you would have called out for the help that only Christ
can give, but you haven't called out. Now in verse 13 here of
Romans chapter 10, it says this, for whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Tom, it doesn't say might
be saved. It doesn't say could be saved.
It says, shall be saved. Those who call upon the name
of the Lord out of need, out of desperation for payment of
sin, they shall be saved. That's such good news. They shall
be saved. How then, he goes on to say,
how then shall they call on Him, being Christ, in whom they've
not believed? How shall they believe in Him
of whom they've not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? You see that? That's why I blame it on preachers. Some say, well, I attend church
and I listen to a preacher, yet you're without Christ. How can
that be? There are many churches and there
are many preachers. But look at verse 15. How can a preacher
preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach. Preach what? The gospel of peace. The gospel of Jesus Christ, who
is our peace, the gospel where God himself became a man, fulfilled
God's law, crossed every T, dotted every I of God's law, did for
them what they couldn't do for themselves. He came in the world
to save sinners, but those who are well, righteous in their
own sight, have no need of the physician. But if you're sick,
you do. Are you sick? Do you see that
you're sick? Do you see that you have great need? Then why
haven't you obeyed the gospel? It's because you hadn't heard,
and it's because you hadn't believed. Verse 16, but they have not all
obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah said, Lord, who hath
believed our report? Do you believe the gospel report?
Do you believe what I've been telling you this morning? That's
what preachers are, as I said. They're good news reporters.
We got a lot of preachers today preaching another gospel, another
Jesus, another salvation, because they've not been sent by God. Verse 18, but I say, have they
not heard? Have you heard? If you haven't,
may God this moment give you hearing ears and seeing eyes
and hearts to believe. Because if he doesn't, you'll
never see it, you'll never hear it, and you'll never believe
it. Verse 20, but Isaiah is very bold and said, I was found of
them that sought me not. Thank God. Thank God. He said, I was made manifest
unto them that asked not after me. Oh, thank the Lord. That's
me, bro. That's me. "'But to Israel,'
he saith, "'to his people,' he says, "'all day long I have stretched
forth my hands "'into a disobedient and gainsame people.'" May God
enable you to see. May Christ be revealed to you
and in you. May God give you sight to see
your need of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you desire to see Him,
you will. How do I know if I'm one of God's
elect? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Trust Christ. God has never turned down a soul
that has sought Him. Never. And not only that, He
tells us here that He's found of those that sought Him not.
I wasn't seeking Him. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. So did David Edmondson. I didn't
find him, he found me. He stretched forth His hands
all day long unto a disobedient people. That's me. That's me.
You don't have to be without Christ. Come unto Him, all you
that labor and are heavy laden with sin, and He will give you
rest. He'll give you Christ, who is
rest. Cease from your works and rest
in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've got to have
Him. It's a must. You must be born
again. May God make it so, for Christ's
sake.