All right. Turn with me, if you
would, back to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two. Last Sunday
night, we looked at the whole chapter of Ephesians chapter
one, and I personally enjoyed the entirety of what our Lord
had to say to us there so much. I enjoyed looking at the whole
chapter so much. I thought maybe we could look
at chapter two tonight. The book of Ephesians to me,
it feels like one glorious announcement after the next. It truly does. Ephesians is just good news on
top of good news. It just tells good news. And
then right after that, it tells good news and then good news.
All of chapter one was good news. And chapter two is no different. It continues with the same thing
as we say, second verse, same as the first. Well, chapter two,
verse one says, and you have, he quickened who were dead in
trespasses and sins. That's good news. Isn't it? That
is good news. This is what he said. You were
dead. but He made you alive. You hath He quickened. You couldn't do it yourself because
you were dead, but He did it for you. He did it to you. He did it in you. Verse one says,
you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. That's what the sin that is in
us has caused us to be. Dead. Dead. As we said this morning, trespass
is what we do. Sin is what we are. It's how we come into this world. It's the condition we come in
in. Ruined within ruined without
sinful in being sinful indeed. And the wages of sin is death,
spiritual death, which eventually leads to physical death. That's why we physically die.
It's because we are spiritually dead. But verse one says, you
have, he quickened. who were dead in trespasses and
sins. Now, who is he talking about?
When he says you, who does he mean? Well, in chapter one, verse three,
he said, it's all those who have received spiritual blessings
from the father in Christ. Blessed be the God and father
of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Verse four says it's
every soul the father chose in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Verse five says it's every soul
who was predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ. Verse six says it's every soul
that was made acceptable in Christ. Verse seven says it's every soul
who has received redemption through the blood of Christ and forgiveness
according to the riches of his grace. That's who he did it for.
It was all in his hands to do, and he did it for whoever he
purposed in his heart, according to his own will to do it for.
All right. Well, how can I know if he did
it for me? How can I know if he did it for
me? Really? How can you know if he did it
for you? How can I know if I'm a you,
that he says right here, and you hath he quickened? How can
you know if you're a you? How can you know? Chapter two,
verse one says, he will tell you that you're a sinner. That's how you can know. He will
convince you that you are a sinner. Christ did this for sinners. He did this for sinners. Sinners
who, when he tells them, in your flesh, you are dead in trespasses
and sins, they say, amen. That's right, that's exactly
what I am. How can you know if you're a
you right here? Well, are you a sinner? Are you a sinner against God?
Are you a sinner in your flesh before God? When it says in verse 2, 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, among whom also
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. When you hear that, do you say
amen? Amen, that's right, that's me.
In my flesh, I am captive to sin. In my flesh, I'm captive
to the adversary. I'm captive to this world. I'm
so bound to this world. All my hope is in His hands,
all my hope. I can't do anything for myself,
not in my flesh, I'm dead. That's me, I'm dead. All of it
is in his hands. If that's you, if you can say
that, if you do say that, if that's you, you're a you. If that's you, he's talking to
you. He really is. And this is what he has to say
to you. Verse one, you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses
and sins. And here's how he did it. You
were captive, you were disobedient, you were sinful, no different
from any other sinner on this earth. Verse four says, but God. Do you ever get tired of those
two words? How many times have you heard those two words now?
Over and over, I don't ever get tired of those two words. But
God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ by grace, you are saved. This is that grace
that he was talking about in chapter one, verse two, when
he said, grace be to you. That grace is Christ himself,
Christ be to you. The Lord Jesus Christ himself,
he is the gift from God that brought mercy to his people.
God the Father joined his people together with Christ. He joined Christ to their death
and he joined Christ to their sin and he joined them to Christ's
life. And Christ's righteousness, that
means his goodness, his perfection, his holiness, his purity. And God dealt with his sinful
people in Christ. And God dealt with Christ in
his blood washed people. Everything God should have given
Christ He gave it to him in the blood washed people. There was a trading of places
before God. And because of that, Christ died
and his people lived. Mercy came to the people of God. when He gave them the grace,
the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse four says, but God who
is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.
By grace you are saved. and hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. He hasn't
just spared us from death. Thank God he spared us from death,
but he hasn't only spared us from death. He has enriched us
with life. very much enriched us. He hasn't
just been gracious to us. He has been exceedingly rich
in His graciousness toward us, His kindness toward us. Through
our Lord Jesus Christ is imaginable, unimaginable. It is unimaginable. This says that He has seated
us together in Him. You just think about that. I
was thinking about the fact that when our moment comes, do you
know how thankful and glad and how rejoicing we will be in our
hearts that we're allowed to walk through the gates of glory,
that he would just let us in, that we could just be a partaker
of his kingdom? But he hasn't just allowed us
to enter in through the gates. This says he has seated us with
him where he sits. Where does he sit? On the throne. He has seated us together with
Him, verse six says, and hath raised us up together and made
us 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
you saved. By grace, by His gift. Not by our doing, but by his
doing. Verse eight says, for by grace,
are you saved through faith? Looking to Christ. We're saved eternally by looking
to Christ. We're saved every day. As we
endure all these things of the world, we're saved every time
we look to Christ, we're saved again, pulled from the mire again,
looking to Christ, believing on Christ, trusting Christ, casting
your all on the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse eight says, for by grace
are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God. Looking to Christ is not something
that a spiritually dead sinner can do on his own. We say, look
to Christ. Believe on Christ, trust Christ. That's not something that a dead
center can do on his own. Believing on Christ, truly trusting
Christ and casting our all on Christ. That is not an action
that we naturally have the ability to initiate. That's something
that he has to do for us. Even our faith in Him and our
faith on Him is of Him. Even that is of Him. He even gets the credit for us
believing on Him. He gets the credit for us trusting
Him. He had to author that faith and
He had to finish that faith. He had to start the work of faith
and perform the work of faith. Verse eight 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 for
we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. He ordained us unto a perfection
that we could never attain on our own, not of our own works. Christ wrought the works for
us. He came and he wrought all of
the works for us and he gave all of the works to us. And He
ordained, He prepared the way. He has led us in the way to walk
in them. He's led us in the paths of His
own righteousness. Verse 11 says, wherefore remember, wherefore remember that you 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 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." He said, remember
that you have no claim on anything. He said, remember, you're not
just a spiritual outcast. You're a physical outcast in
the flesh, even in the flesh. We're considered to be heathens
by those who were born into the physical nation of Israel. We
naturally can't claim any pride of race, any pride of place. We have nothing in the flesh. We have nothing. nothing to commend
us to God. Verse 11 says, wherefore remember
that you 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 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.
He said, remember, don't ever forget. Don't ever forget that
that's how you are in the flesh. Don't ever forget that. That's
how you are in the flesh. Verse 13, he said, but now in
Christ Jesus, he said, make sure you remember
this too. Remember that? Don't ever forget that. Don't
ever forget the pit from which you were digged. But he said,
remember this too. Verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus,
you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. For he is our peace who hath
made both One. You and Him. Us and Him. He has made us to be
one with Him. One. Verse 13 says, but now in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ, for he is our peace, who hath made both one
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. Over in Isaiah 59 verse two,
it says, but your iniquities have separated between you and
your God. Your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from
you that He will not hear. Our own sins built that wall
of partition, that wall of partition between
us and our God, but Christ came And he broke down that wall of
sin that separated us when he gave himself and gave his life
and shed his blood to reunite us back to him. He drew us near.
He broke that wall down. He drew us near and he made peace
for us. Verse 15 says, having abolished
in his flesh, the enmity. Even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances were to make in himself of twain one
new man. So making peace, he abolished,
he put away by putting it away in his own flesh. He put away
the hatred of the law, God's good and perfect law. He put
away the hatred and the rebellion to the commandments. that all
of God's people had the commandments that were given to them. And
in his own flesh, he established a love and an obedience in that
one man that he's made us to be with him. David said, I love
your law and we do in Christ. In him, he totally put away everything
that was contrary to God. He broke it all down. He put
it all away. He drew all parties together. He goes on to say, so making
peace. So making peace for us, absolute
peace with God through his obedience, not ours. but he is through all
the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 16 says, and that
he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity. Thereby, when he died on the
cross, he killed all sin and all hatred and all rebellion
between God and his people. Verse 17 says, and he came and
preached peace to you, which were far off and to them that
were now. For through him, we both have
access by one spirit unto the father. I absolutely love that
verse of scripture. I love that verse of scripture
through him. We both have access by one spirit
unto the father in him. We now both have access by the
Spirit to the Father. What that means is in Him, we
have the same access to the Father that He has. The very same access
that He has. I have an illustration for you.
It's been a long time since I've told this story. This is a true
story. Back in the days of the Civil
War, There was a union soldier who got word that his mother
was dying and he desperately wanted to go see her before she
died. And he knew that his only hope
of being able to go was if he was granted permission to leave
from president Abraham Lincoln. So he went to the White House
and he walked up to the gates or the door or whatever the first
post was that he came to and there were guards there. And
they asked him what his intentions were and what his business was.
And he said, I'm here to see president Lincoln. And they said,
you can't see president Lincoln. And he said, I have to see president
Lincoln. It's imperative that I see president Lincoln. And
they said, well, you're not going to. We're not letting you in. We're letting no one in. And
he said to them, you don't understand though. He said, this is life
and death. He explained his situation to them and explained that he'd
gotten word about his mother and he was trying to get to see
his mother. And, and, uh, they said, no, you don't understand.
They said, we're under commandment that no one comes into this house. And they said, you're unauthorized
and we're not letting you in. We cannot let you in. It's not
happening. So finally, after the man was
convinced that he was not going in, he walked down the steps
of the White House and he just sat down and put his head in
his hands and he just started crying. He just sat there crying
and a little boy was walking by and looked at him and saw
that man crying and sitting there where he was. And he sat down
next to him and he said, what's wrong, sir? And the man looked at him and
said, he said, you wouldn't understand. And he said, well, why don't
you tell me? And so the man did, he explained that he'd gotten
word his mother was sick and he was hoping so badly to go
see her before she died. And he said, my only hope of
being able to go is if president Abraham Lincoln would give me
leave to go. And he said, I can't get in. And the little boy said, well,
I'll take you in. And the man looked at him and
the boy said, come on, stand up, let's go. So they got up
and they walked back up the steps and they walked right between
those two guards, right through the front door. And they walked
down the hall past another set of guards and came to a door
and opened it and walked straight into the oval office. And there
sat president Abraham Lincoln. And president Lincoln looked
at that little boy and he said, What can I do for you, son? And
the little boy said, Dad, this man needs to see you. That little boy was Tad Lincoln,
Abraham Lincoln's son. The very same access that the
son of God has to the father, we have in him. As His access
is, our access is. As He is free to enter in, we
are free to enter in with Him. There's a poem that says, by
nature and by practice, far. How very far from God. yet now by grace brought near
to him through faith in Jesus' blood. And now near, so very
near to God I cannot nearer be, for in the person of his Son
I am as near as he. And dear, so very dear to God,
more dear I cannot be, For the love wherewith he loves the Son,
such is his love to me. Verse 18 says, For through him
we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now, therefore
you are no more 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 prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone. What he's saying is we have a
rock. We have a rock. All the family
of God is built firmly on the foundation of the rock. Christ
our Lord. Verse 20 says, and are built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord in whom you
also are builded together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit." A habitation of God, a dwelling place of God. He said, God has built up a habitation,
you in Him and Him in you. True union, true union with and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's good news, isn't it? That
really is good news. Union with Him, access with Him,
the family of God, the habitation of God. That's what the whole
book of Ephesians is about. Union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
It truly is the hope of earth and joy of heaven. Union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. That is our good news on top
of good news. He is, Christ is. And I've said
this so many times, I've closed so many messages with this, but
it's so true. Thank God for Christ. Thank God
for Christ. I believe that'll be the cry
for all eternity. Every saint of God, thank God
for Christ. Thank God for union with Christ.
All right, I'll dismiss us in prayer.