Ephesians 2. This Bible study and the morning
message go hand in hand. I don't know that I've ever had
two messages that are not a part 1 and a part 2. These are not
a part 1 and a part 2. You don't need one for the other.
But I don't know that I've ever had two messages go more perfectly
together than this Bible study and the message will in a moment.
What we're gonna look at right here in Ephesians 2 is going
to set up the message. It's gonna perfectly set up the
message. The title of this Bible study
is Without Christ. That's the title. Without Christ. Look with me if you would at
verse 11. Ephesians 2 verse 11 says, 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, you were without Christ. Without Christ. Now, there are many people in
this world who wonder, what's the point to all this? When I was writing this, I was
thinking about people I have met along the way, who I care
about dearly. I care about very dearly, and
they have no heart to worship God in any way, shape, or form. No heart for these things. And
they know what's happened to me. They know the way my life
has gone. They know what I used to do for a living, and they
know what I do now. And I know they wonder, what's
the point in all this? What is the point in all this?
what this world calls naturally knows we know that we're not
in religion but just the world sees this to be religion church
worship what's the point in all this i'm going to get right to the
point this is the point all right we are all naturally by nature means in the flesh
as we are living day to day without Christ. We're all without Christ
just in the way we live life. We are without Christ. That is the first notification
of truth that comes to a sinner. The word says You are without
Christ, and that's my prayer, is that that word will hit many
people. The people that I have known
throughout the years, that I care deeply for, Lord, please hit
them with that word right there. You are without Christ. You're without Christ. That's
just a shocking notification. You are without Christ. Naturally,
in the flesh, as we are, nobody believes they are without Christ. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody believes that. They believe
He's there on standby if anybody needs Him. That's what the whole
world believes. Well, everybody has Christ. Christ is for the world. I heard
a thing on Billy Graham, you know, they're honoring Billy
Graham and they're giving quotes by him on the radio and that's
one of the statements he made. Christ is for the world. Everybody
has Christ. Nobody's without Christ. What
are you talking about without Christ? That's like saying without
air. Nobody believes they are without
Christ. Nobody believes they're without
Christ. Nobody. But Paul said in verse
11, I want you to remember that you were Gentiles, heathens,
strangers, not God's people. That's what he said. I want you
to really get a hold of. You were not God's people. Turn
with me over to Hosea chapter one. 1126 in the Old Testament, that's
the page number if your Bible is like mine. Hosea chapter 1. This is the story of Hosea and
Gomer. What a wonderful story. But it says in verse 8, Hosea
1 verse 8, Now when she had weaned Loruhamma, she conceived and
bare a son, then said, God, call his name Lo-am-i, for you are
not my people, and I will not be your God. Honestly, could
you imagine Him saying that to you? Nobody can. Nobody can. Nobody. Not one person on this
earth believes he or she is not God's people. Nobody. In spite of the fact that God
said or that God accepted Abel and rejected Cain. He saved Noah and seven other
souls and destroyed the rest of the world. Millions of people,
maybe billions of people. He loved Jacob and hated Esau. He delivered Israel and slew
Egypt. Isaiah 1 9 says, except the Lord
of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we would all been
destroyed just like Sodom and Gomorrah. In Matthew 7, the Lord
said, many are going to say to me, Lord, Lord, we're ready to
come in, ready to come in. And I'm going to say to them,
depart from me. I never knew you. all through the Gospels,
he kept saying, I have sheep and goats. To the sheep, I'm gonna say,
come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. And to the goats,
I'm gonna say, depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. He said that's the reality of
what's going to happen. That's the reality of what is going
to happen. Let me show you something in
Matthew 24. Matthew 24 verse 35. It says, heaven and earth shall
pass away, but my words shall not pass away. The heavens that
they're sending all these new spaceships up into, that's going
to melt with a fervent heat. It's going to pass away. This
earth is going to pass away, but not one word is going to
fail. Not one word is going to pass
away. I heard yesterday of someone who died very young. And it just, it makes what I
do real to me. It just makes it urgent to me.
What the Lord has called me to do, I think about the fact that,
yeah, I say it all the time, you know, we're going to meet
God. People are going into eternity. It just, ugh. It makes me want to just run
through the streets, hollering the bridges out. We're going
to meet God. We're going to meet God. And
he said, all of this is going to pass away. It's all going
to pass away. Verse 36, but of that day and
hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my
father only. But as the days of Noah were,
so shall also the coming of the son of man be. For as in the
days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered
into the ark." Just like it is today. It was just a big party.
Everybody's just having a good time. Just eating and drinking
and marrying and giving in marriage. And who cares? Let's live life.
And verse 39, they knew not until the flood came and took them
all away. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall
two be in the field. One shall be taken and the other one's going to
be left to bear the judgment and the destruction. Two women
shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken, and the
other one's going to be left. Watch therefore, for you know
not what hour your Lord doth come. I can totally see how someone
would say if they hear this, You know, you're just trying
to scare us. Sounds to me like you're just wanting to scare
us into this thing. That's not the case. I want to warn us. I want to warn us. We don't have
any visitors in this room right now. That's okay. I want to warn
us. I want to warn myself. This is
the reality of what's going to happen. This is what's going
to happen. We cannot imagine how many people in this world
are without Christ. Cannot imagine. All of those
people need to realize, they need to understand. Every person
who is without Christ needs to understand. Paul said, wherefore
remember, this is what it means to be without Christ. Now go with me back to Ephesians
2, verse 11. 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. What does it mean to be without
Christ? It means we're illegals. It means we cannot legally be
counted as citizens of the commonwealth of His kingdom. Everybody wants
to leave this place and go to His kingdom. Everybody wants
to live forever in the kingdom. Without Christ, we are illegals. We're aliens and we cannot legally
be counted citizens of the commonwealth of His kingdom. Cannot be. have
to be deported, cast out. All right, what does it mean
to be without Christ? He goes on to say here in verse
12, strangers from the covenants of promise. This book is filled
with the covenants of promise and it's filled with the promise
of a covenant. And want to say it as clearly as
I can it this is my book my motivation for preaching it really does
break my heart that people hear these promises well now you know
the Bible says all right they see some of these promises and
they assume that they apply to them they want them and they
just assume that the promises and this great covenant of forgiveness
from sin. They assume that it applies to
them, even though they are without Christ. This is the reality of the situation.
Without Christ, we are strangers from the covenants of promise. strangers. They don't apply to
us. The only way the promises can apply to us is if we're in
Christ, with Christ. That's the only way. The only
way that we can be a partaker of the covenant is in Christ. That covenant of forgiveness. I will forgive you. I will pardon
your iniquity. The only way we can be a partaker
of that covenant is if we are in Christ. With Christ, we have
to have Christ. What is it to be without Christ?
Verse 12 goes on to say, having no hope. To be without Christ
is to have no hope. It does not matter how good we
are. It does not matter. We could be the finest men and
women on this earth. But if we are without Christ,
we are without hope. It is as simple as that. What
is it to be without Christ? Verse 12 says it's to be without
God. That's what it is, without God.
Christ is God. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. He said, I and my Father are
one. If you've seen me, you have seen the Father. Men and women
everywhere, try to bypass Him and get to God. That's what's
happening. That's why everyone is working
so hard to get to heaven, trying to earn their way to heaven.
That's what they're doing. Whether they realize it or not, this
is the announcement to those who do not realize what's going
on. Trying to earn our own way is
trying to bypass Christ to get to God. Christ cannot
be bypassed. The sinner cannot bypass Christ
to get to God because Christ is God. God himself manifest
in the flesh. In 1 Corinthians 1.30 it tells
us that to be without Christ is to be without wisdom. All
wisdom. It's to be without righteousness. It's to be without sanctification.
It's to be without redemption. Ephesians 1 tells us it's to
be without all spiritual blessings. It's to be without adoption.
It's to be without acceptance. It's to be without forgiveness.
It's to be without everything. Everything. Chapter 2 verse 13
says, but now in Christ Jesus, That changes everything. Verse 13 says, but now in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, you who were heathens,
not God's people, illegals, strangers, completely without hope, far
away from God, Verse 13 says, but now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Brought near. Brought in to the
covenants of promise. No longer illegal, no longer
heathen, no longer strangers. Citizens. Citizens with hope,
a citizen with God. Listen to the concordance definition
of made nigh. This is what it translates. Assembled. Brought. Kept. This one's my favorite. Married. Verse 13 says, but now in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are married by the blood
of Christ. It means ordained to be a partaker. Hold your place, we're going
to flip right back and go with me to Romans 9. Romans 9, a moment ago, We read
what the Lord said in Hosea chapter 1, alright? The Lord went on
to say some other things there, and the Apostle Paul quotes them
here in Romans 9. Verse 25, As he saith also in OC, or Hosea,
I will call them my people, which were not my people, and her beloved,
I will call her beloved which was not beloved, and it shall
come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them,
you are not my people, there shall they be called the children
of the living God." Where shall they be called that? Where is
he talking about? In Christ. Right there, in Christ. Go back to Ephesians 2 verse
14 says, For He is our peace. Without Christ, no peace. But in Christ, with Christ, He
is our peace who hath made both Him and the sinner one and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us having abolished
in his flesh the enmity without Christ all we are is enmity against
God an enemy of God in Christ he's 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 and 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 afar off and to them that were nigh." It's the
same message. It's the same message to those
who have been sitting at his feet for 50 years or the one
who's never heard his voice. It's the same message. He preached
peace to them that were far off and them that were nigh, for
through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. Verse 19 says, 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 in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom you
also are builded together for a habitation of God through the
Spirit." Now everything that we said at the beginning of this
is the reality to come. That still holds true. Everything
we started out saying on that day that he returns, it is the
reality. Some are going to leave this
world with Christ. Some are going to leave this
world without Christ. Make sure you have Christ. Make sure you have Christ. You know that scripture that
says, make your calling and election sure. Make sure you have Christ. Don't cling to any other hope
than being with Christ. No other hope. Let's throw away
all of our good works for righteousness. Now let's not throw away all
of our good works. But let's throw away all of our
good works for righteousness. trying to make ourselves pleasing
to God and earn what being with Christ has already earned for
us. Let's throw all that away. Let's not come before God any
other way than with Christ, in Christ. Now, how can I know if
I have Christ? How can I know really if I'm
with Christ? That's the subject of the message. That's what we're about to look
at in the message, all right? I'll give you a teaser. Turn
with me to 1 Thessalonians 1. 1 Thessalonians 1. Verse 4 says, Knowing, brethren
beloved, your election of God. Knowing your election. Knowing your election. That'd
be a wonderful thing to know right now, wouldn't it? That'd
be a wonderful thing to know. May the Lord reveal that to us
here in a minute.