And verse two, it talks about
he laid his glory by. We can't understand that because
we can't fully grasp his glory. For him to lay his glory by to
save sinners, it is just the ultimate miracle. Water to wine,
all these other things that he did which were miracles, nothing
compared to laying his glory. Like, I don't know how to explain
the heights of his glory. To lay that by, to save humans
like us. It is truly wonderful and such
a blessing to know that, to be given that, to be shown that. And then it talks at the last
one, it says that the Father's pleasure prospered well in Jesus'
hands. Everything is in Jesus' hands.
Everything prospers well in those hands what a great place for
everything to be in Jesus hands So Ephesians chapter 2 Verse
11 And I'm gonna read through the end of the chapter Ephesians
2 verse 11 Therefore remember that formerly You who are Gentiles
by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves
the circumcision, that done in the body by the hands of men,
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded
from citizenship in Israel, and foreigners to the covenant of
the promise. Without hope, without God in
the world. But now in Christ, You who once
were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace,
who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the
dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law
with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in
himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace. and in this one body to reconcile
both of them to God through the cross by which he put to death
their hostility. He came and preached peace to
you, you who were far away, and peace to those who were near.
For through him we both have access to the Father by one spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow
citizens with God's people and members of God's household. built
on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ
himself as the chief cornerstone. In him, the whole building is
joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being
built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you that
we can call you father. We thank you that you love us
like a father and that you've adopted your people into sonship
in a way that you would even give your own son, your own perfect
son, to bring us into your household. Lord, we understand that enough
here to know it's such a blessing and something we are so grateful
for and thank you for every day. And someday we will truly understand,
truly understand what you've done for us. And Lord, we look forward to
that day. Of course, as humans, we don't look forward to the
end of our lives, but we certainly look forward to the day to see
your full glory, to understand truly what you have done for
us. And we will be consumed by it.
And we will sing your praises forever, because we will want
to. We thank you, Lord, for bringing
us together this morning. We pray that you'll be with us. You'll be in this message. If you are not, then I could
just as well stop right now. So please bless us this morning
with your words and your power and your spirit. That your gospel
be preached and it be a blessing to your people. We pray for all
your churches, all your preachers, and all your people. And we know,
Lord, that all things are done for their good. And we pray that
this morning is included in that. We pray this in Jesus' name,
amen. You can take out your chorus
books once again, and we'll turn then this time to number 16,
He Included Me, and we'll stand as we sing number 16 in the chorus
books. me then. He chose me for his
own and heir a throne. His rich eternal love wrote my
name above. Thank God he included me. Yes, He included me from eternity. No room to boast have I, the
lost and I. But God, in wondrous grace, came
and took my place. Thank God! Christ paid my debt one day,
the only way. He died upon the tree to set
me free. In pure and sovereign grace,
Jesus took my place. Thank God He included me. Yes, He included me from eternity. No room to boast have I. The law said die. But God in wondrous grace came
and took my place. Thank God He included me. In time the Spirit sought, and
grace was wrought. He took the Word of God, the
mighty rod. He broke my stony heart, and
in faith impart. Thank God he included. Yes, He included me from eternity. No room to boast have I, the
lost and died. But God, in wondrous grace, came
and took my place. Thank God He included me. We're gonna be seated and turn
back to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter two, 11 through
the end of the chapter, and we're gonna be staying there all morning. This scripture is not what I
actually planned on preaching on. When I first started studying
this week, I'm still pretty new to this,
compared to a lot of guys, and I've heard them say that, and
now it's happened to me. I had a plan, I ended up here
as I was studying, and I never left again. And God stopped me
here, for sure. I was blessed by this scripture. It was great for me. So I pray
that it would be a blessing to anybody who hears this. I love when hope is taught or
shown or preached to the Gentiles. I love it when mercy is preached
to the foreigners. When a home is prepared for strangers
in the gospel. The dejected are preached acceptance. And this one does such a masterful
job of covering all of that. And that's where we start in
the scripture. Actually, where we start is before you can get
to the mercy and grace, you have to understand why you need it.
And it certainly shows us that as well. You start in chapter
2, verse 11. It says, therefore, remembering
that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called the uncircumcised
by those who call themselves the circumcision, remember that
at that time you were separated from Christ, excluded from citizenship
in Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise,
without hope without God in the world that is some serious serious
stuff I mean it lays out what we are
in a natural way how we are born the sin that we've The sin that
is part of us is literally a part of who we are. We are born with
it from Adam, and we do a great job adding to it continuously.
This is where that puts us naturally. I mean, separated from Christ. Excluded from citizenship in
Israel. Without hope. And without God. It's really easy in this world,
and I am I've got to be at the top of the list of this, that
you get really, really comfortable as you start living day-to-day
in this world. There are days when you can't
get past your sin, but I have just as many days where I don't
think about it at all. Way too many of those. Even as a believer, there are
times when we get so caught up in our day-to-day lives, our
jobs, our families, money, There's all kinds of stuff that demands
our attention every day. Unfortunately, that's where I
spend most of my time. I spend a frighteningly small
amount of time thinking about or contemplating the wonders
of God. His indescribable love, His endless mercy, the wonders
of His grace, I'm more concerned about work today, and what bills
are due, you know, what gymnastics yesterday, for example. And obviously we have to worry
about those things, it's part of our life. But it's incredibly
easy for us to get very, very distracted by this world. The gospel truth is so amazing.
It should consume our thoughts. It should consume our hearts
at all times. That's how amazing it is. The
grace that God shows his people is truly amazing. Enough where
we should only think of that. And someday that will be the
case when we actually get to see God. when we get to see Christ
with sinless eyes, when we no longer have to look through this
veil of sin and this world, when we leave all of this behind and
see Him with perfect sight, see Him no longer through this broken
body and this broken world, when we can actually see Him as He
truly is, all his glory, all his majesty, we will be consumed
and in perpetual awe of his greatness. But for now, we are broken. We don't often get lost in the
wonder and majesty of our Lord. We often get lost in the things
of this world. And part of that is because we
forget who we are naturally. We don't focus on the mercy that
God shows us because we often forget how badly we need it. I know I do. And trust me, when
I say we, I mean I so include myself. We don't focus on how
good God is because we often forget how bad we are. We don't focus on the blood of
Christ because we forget that we have no hope without it. Now,
as believers, we know these things, and we trust them, and we know
they're true. God has given us that faith. God has given us that sight.
But we still get distracted. I mean, obviously we think on
these things, but we are easily distracted from Christ because
we are easily distracted from our need of Him. And that's where Ephesians 12
reminds us. And it's very sobering. It's
a detailed description of the natural state we are in Adam.
Our natural state. Remember that you were separate
from Christ. You were excluded. from citizenship in Israel. Foreigners
to the covenant of the promise without hope and without God.
There are two kinds of people. And that's true. There are two
kinds of people that matter. Those are in Christ, those who
are separated. It's the only two categories
of human that matters. As much as we think we understand
the consequences of these, we don't truly fathom what that
means. Believers have a very good idea, but we don't truly
grasp the depths of what it means to be in and separate from Christ. To be in Christ is the single
greatest thing that can be for us. When all this ends, you will
have every good blessing God affords because of the righteousness
of Christ that was given to you through the shedding of his blood.
There is simply nothing better than being in Christ. And on the flip side of that,
there is nothing worse than being separated from Christ. To be fully seen for who you are by God. To be fully judged according
to who you are and the way you live. to experience, and you will if
this is the case, to experience the brutal judgment of God forever. There is simply nothing worse
than being separated from Christ. In Christ you are a citizen of
Israel, a citizen of God's people, included Just like the song we
just sang, he included me. And notice, he included me. I had nothing to do with it.
He did it all. I am included because of Christ. God's people are included because
of Christ. Only. You are guaranteed to receive
God's promise of a savior in Christ. It has been promised
and that promise has been finished. You belong to him. And all things
are working for your eternal good. That's what it means to
be in Christ. While in Christ you are included,
separated from Christ you are excluded. And it says that exact
word. In the scripture here, still
verse 12, but a sentence in, excluded from citizenship in
Israel. Foreigners to the covenants of
the promise, without hope, without God in the world, you are not
a citizen of God's people. You don't receive the promise,
the covenant of the promise, the promise of a savior. You
are a foreigner to his promise, you have no hope, and you are
without God. And just as much as salvation
for, this is something, just as much as salvation for God's
people has been promised and finished and guaranteed, the damnation of all the others
is just as promised and guaranteed. There are only two categories
that matter. Are you in Christ or are you
separated from Christ? Now, there are so many beauties
in the gospel, but one of them is this, that the fact that this
portion of Scripture that's pretty terrifying was actually written
for those in Christ. Go back to verse 11. Notice there's multiple words
on here that make it so wonderful for us. Therefore, remember that
formerly you who were Gentiles by birth. It is no longer the case. Verse 12 says, remember that
at that time you were separated from Christ. That time is no
longer. It is no longer that time for
God's people. excluded from citizenship, foreigners
to the covenant, without hope, without God, and then how often
there's these words in scriptures that are so powerful. Verse 13
starts with two of them, but now. So we just went through
what it sounds like, what it means, the definition of being
separated from Christ, to be without hope, to be without God,
to be excluded as a citizen, to be a foreigner to the promise.
But now, because of Christ and what He's
done, but now, in Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have
been brought near. You who were once excluded are
now included. You who were once foreigners
to the covenant of the promise, not guaranteed the promise of
a Savior in Christ, are now guaranteed the promise of a Savior in Christ. who you who are with, who are
by our own worth, excluded foreigners without hope and without God
have been brought near by the blood of Christ. And I love the
word brought. It's one that I probably wouldn't
notice 99% of the time, brought. It's not that fancy of a word,
we use it all the time. But what does it mean? to carry
or take something or someone to a place. We've been carried. We've been taken. That item that
is brought had nothing to do with how it got there or where
it ended up. I brought this Bible up here.
This Bible had absolutely nothing to do with getting up here or
where it ended up. And that's exactly how much we
have to do with this. We have been brought near. We were dead in our transgressions
and sins. What can a dead man do? Certainly
can't bring himself anywhere. Our lifeless bodies were brought
near to the only source of life. We didn't deserve it, we didn't
earn it, but God's will demanded it, and so it was, and so it
is. We've been brought to God. We've been placed in Christ. We had nothing to do with how
we got there. We have nothing to do with where
we are now in Christ. If we did, we wouldn't have gone. If it were up to us, we would
have chosen a different destination. We would have taken a different
course. Were it up to us, we would not choose Christ. But it's not. It's not up to
us. It's in the hands of the Father.
It's placed in the hands of Christ. God chose His people. and gave them to his son and
brought them near when they deserved to be excluded. He included. And through the blood of Christ,
it says, brought us near. In love, like a father loves
his children. And the blood, we can't gloss
over that. We say the blood of Christ so
often. We hear it often. The blood is
so important. By the blood of Christ. What
does it mean to be washed in the blood of Christ? It means
that we are identified with His death. The spilling of His blood. In
the Old Testament, sacrifices were meant to atone for sin by
symbolizing the transfer of the sinner's guilt to that sacrificial
animal. signifying that the animal would
actually bear the sin of the sinner offering it, allowing
for forgiveness, specifically through the shedding of blood.
It's very specific about that in Leviticus. It talks about
the blood and the importance of it, even in those Old Testament
sacrifices. All of that, not one sin was
ever paid for by an Old Testament sacrifice. No animal can pay
for the sin of a man. But we know all of that is pointing
to Christ and the power of what His blood would do, would mean
for His people. And the blood is just as necessary. The blood is absolutely necessary.
all points to Christ, there is no literal washing of sins with
blood. To be washed in the blood of
Christ means that you are joined with Christ in his death. Just like the Old Testament sacrifices,
it signifies the transfer of sins to the sacrifice, except
there's no signify, nothing is, it's real. The Old Testament sacrifices
were just a picture. Christ did it. Christ's people's sins were
actually transferred to Him. He paid for them by the spilling
of His blood. To be washed in the blood of
Christ means that our sins were put on Him, and in the shedding
of His blood, they were paid for. They weren't just forgotten. They weren't forgiven for fun. They were paid for by the spilling of the precious
blood of the Son of God. It took nothing less. This is
the sin that we have. It took nothing less than the
blood of Christ to be able to bring us near, to make us includable, It took nothing less than the
blood of Jesus Christ to make us lovable. to give us citizenship among
God's people, all of it, to adopt us to sons and daughters, all
of it, every good blessing, every one of the countless mercies
shown to us, the grace that is given to us brand new every day,
the beauty of what awaits us. It is only because of the spilled
blood of Christ. You go to verse 14. For he himself
is our peace, who has made the two one and
has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. By
setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations,
his purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the
two, thus making peace. His purpose was to create a new
humanity, one that could actually have peace with God. He is our
Prince of Peace. Through his blood, and this is something that, like, people struggle with things while
we're here. But just think, like, through
his blood, any shame you have, any guilt you have, Any fear
you have has already been put away forever. We still feel it, but truly there's
no need to. What Christ has done is more
than enough. There is no need to wallow in
our shame and our guilt and our fear. Christ has put away all
of it. And you go to verse 19. Consequently,
that's a great word. Consequently, the consequence
of what Christ has done, the consequence of Christ and his
blood You are no longer foreigners and strangers. And it doesn't stop there. It
also keeps going. It doesn't say you're not just
no longer a foreigner or stranger. You're now actually a citizen
with God's people and a member of his household. You are no
longer a foreigner. to the covenant of His promise.
I love how they keep saying the covenant of His promise, the
promise of a Savior, the promise of a Messiah, the promise of
Christ. You are no longer excluded from this promise. You are included in the promise
of a Savior. And not only is it a promise,
the work of that Savior's already done. So, I mean, Old Testament people
had to, like, hold on to a promise. We can hold on to Christ. We're included in that promise,
and the promise has already come, and the promise has already done
everything necessary. The promise has been fulfilled
in every way. He said it himself. It is finished. You are saved. not you will be. We aren't waiting
for the promise to be fulfilled. It has been fully fulfilled in
Christ. Everything needed to save one
of God's people has already been perfected, has already been carried
out and completed perfectly in the shedding of Christ's blood
and in his victorious resurrection and victory over death and judgment. All of God's people are saved,
and they're saved right now. We just haven't gone home yet. Some don't even know it yet. Eventually, all will know. All
of God's people will know someday. And then at that point, the entire
world is gonna find out who's king of kings. Who's on the throne? Everything we have, and this
is later here, it says, verse 19 continuing, actually verse
20, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets
with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Everything
we have rests on the shoulders of Christ. He has done all the work and
in return has given us a yoke that is easy. To rest in what he has done.
To rest in what he has earned. To rest knowing there's a place
prepared for us. And not only is there a place,
but that place was prepared by this glorious son of God, Jesus
Christ. He prepared the place. King of
kings, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the lamb of God, the
opener of the seals. He created the place for you. If he prepared the place, we
can rest knowing it will come to pass. to rest in Christ. Again, built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as
the chief cornerstone, in him the whole building is joined
together and rises to become the holy temple in the Lord.
All things are under Christ. Everything. He is above everything. And it is on Him that the Holy
Temple of the Lord is built on. He is above everything and He
is our cornerstone. Our righteousness comes from
Him. Our salvation rests on Him. It's all in His hands. Which means it's locked in. Our salvation depends on Him.
It cannot falter. It cannot fail. It can't even
change. Because our salvation depends
on Him, and He can't falter. He can't fail, and He doesn't
change. So if it depends on Him, if He's
the cornerstone on which all of this is built, we can rest. And yet we doubt all the time,
because we are broken. But when you doubt, when you
fix your eyes upon yourself, get lost in your sin, your despair,
this world, remember, your salvation depends only on Him. Not you. Your faith only depends
on Him. It's a gift from God, not you. When you were brought from afar
and brought near as foreigners and strangers to be near Him
as citizens, sons, and daughters, none of it depended on you. It was all Christ. In your salvation, your citizenship,
your sonship, all that matters, everything that matters 100%
depends on Christ. Where else would you want it? Now we'll still doubt and we'll
still deal with our emotions and we'll still deal with our
day-to-day lives. Man, if we can just remember
to look to Him and remember that all of this is on His shoulders. He's the cornerstone on which
all of it is built. None of it depends on you, good
or bad. You've got nothing to offer,
what can you do? Your salvation, citizenship,
and sonship depends on Christ and his blood. Then we can truly
rest. Our Father in heaven, we come
to you with great thanks today. We thank you for your word. We thank you for these
words that remind us that Christ is simply everything. that our natural place is excluded,
far from you. And it's a distance we can't
even begin to journey or cover. But in Christ's blood, all of
it was erased. And we have been brought near.
and we can safely be in your presence because you look at
us and you see us as perfect, you see us as righteous, you
see us in the righteousness of your perfect son. We thank you, Lord, for that.
Keep it on our minds, keep it on our hearts. We thank you,
Jesus. We love you and we thank you
for loving us. We pray this in your name, amen. We'll take out our chorus books
once again, and we will turn to number eight. So be still
my heart, number eight in the chorus books, and we'll stand
together as we sing. Oh, 18, sorry, not eight. Thank
you, Katie.