There isn't any way to correctly begin the second chapter unless we have a knowledge of the first chapter. Remember, this is a letter. This was originally a letter written by the Apostle Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to this local assembly in Ephesus. So it's written to the saints of God that are in Ephesus. But when the Epaphras or whoever it was that read the letter to them, when he began to read, he didn't start, and you hath he quickened. He wouldn't start a letter with and. You wouldn't either, would you, if you were writing a letter. So we don't want to just begin right here and jump into the second chapter without having a little bit of a foundation upon what he had to say in the first chapter, and then we'll see why he put the word and in. In the first chapter, Paul writes, by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, of the wonderful things that the Lord has appointed for his people. In chapter one, he tells us basically that salvation is all of God. And so he is to be glorified. And it all began back in eternity past, when there was no such thing as time. No one existed but God. God and the Trinity of His persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And eternally, God entered into a covenant. It was a covenant made only with himself. And in this covenant, the Lord ordained to save a people that he would create. He purposed the heaven, the earth, and all things are in the heavens and the earth. And he purposed that the earth would be populated. He purposed everybody who would be born, the day would be born and the day would die. And out of this massive billions of people that God would create and put upon this globe, He would save a multitude which no man could number. He would save these people from sin because they would fall into sin through the disobedience of Adam. Adam was the federal head of the whole human race. When he obeyed God, we obeyed God. When he stood righteous in that creature righteousness that God gave him, we all stood in our creature righteousness. But Adam disobeyed, as you well know. And when he disobeyed God, when he did that which God forbade him to do, God said, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, don't eat of it, for in the day you eat thereof, you'll surely die. God didn't say if you eat, he said in the day you eat. Nothing takes God by surprise. God is not making any new responses to men. In fact, he doesn't respond to men. Everything that happens in what we call time, God ordained from old eternity. And here's this massive population who would inhabit the earth over a fixed number of years that God only knows. God chose a people unto salvation. He did not look down through the halls of time and then choose those who would choose Him. That would render His choice needless. But for the glory of His grace, God chose a people in Christ Jesus unto salvation. Salvation is not by works. We read that in chapter 2 and verse 8. Salvation is not of man's will, because we read in Romans chapter 9, it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth or puts forth the effort, but of God that showeth the mercy. Salvation's from beginning to end, and all in between is all of God, and God gets all the glory. We don't get any, and the saints of God like it that way. We don't deserve any credit. We don't deserve any accolades. All the honor and glory goes to God. And so Paul begins, he begins right in chapter one by talking about people chosen in Christ before the world began. And then he talks about, after he mentions the purpose of God, which is always accomplished, he then mentions the purchase of our Lord Jesus Christ. In him we have redemption. That is, through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. And I'm gonna deal with this just a little bit more tonight, but wherever you have redemption, and remember, redemption is God word. Christ did something for God. His justice demanded sin be punished. Christ took our sins upon Himself. And therefore, he had to answer for all of the sins that were heaped upon him. That's why he had to die, to put away the sins of his people. The law of God said sin must be punished by death. And so the Lord Jesus, he came, made flesh, dwelt among us, And he died. He felt the wrath of God in his soul. His soul suffered. Martin Luther said, the soul of Christ's sufferings were his soul's sufferings. He suffered within, paying the debt that we owe to God. And wherever you have redemption, you have to have forgiveness of sins. Know that. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't a shot in the dark and maybe, maybe it will accomplish something or maybe it won't. The death of our Lord Jesus, His sufferings upon the cruel cross of Calvary, those sufferings and His consequential death was not so that maybe somebody would receive him and then the effects of all that he did would be effectual to the putting away of their sins. That is a wrong view of redemption. When our Lord Jesus Christ died, He actually accomplished redemption. He satisfied the law. He satisfied the justice of God. And all for whom He died, their sins had been dealt with already by the substitute. And Paul deals with this now in the first chapter. And then after dealing with the work of the Father in election, in God's purpose of grace, and dealing with the Son, speaking of the Son of God in His substitutionary sacrifice, which resulted in the forgiveness of sins, he then mentions the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God who takes the things of our Lord Jesus, He opens our ears, not these physical ears, though we do hear the gospel with our physical ears, but He opens spiritual ears. He gives us spiritual ears to hear of salvation altogether of grace and altogether by the substitutionary sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. And the Holy Spirit seals the truth to our heart. And the word sealed means preserved. He preserves us. We're preserved in Christ Jesus. We're kept. Some of you ladies, no doubt, or perhaps you've already canned green beans and tomatoes. I don't know. I'll wait and see how many jars wind up on our doorstep. But, excuse me, just no extra charge for that, okay? But, you know, when you can your beans or your tomatoes or whatever it is, You wait for them, and I don't know all the procedures. Some of you ladies could, hey, I admit, I just eat them. I've never canned them. But I do know that you wait for that seal, that popping at the top of the jar. Ah, preserved. In fact, someone from West Virginia gave us some cans of green beans just three, four weeks ago. And they were canned last year. Beautiful. I look forward to eating them. They were sealed, preserved. That's what the Holy Spirit does. He seals us in Christ. He said, do you believe sinners saved by grace can lose their salvation? Not if they're sealed by God. Not if he seals the jar, so to speak. If he seals us under the day of redemption, we're safe. And so having set forth these things, now the apostle in the second chapter, he deals more fully with this grace of God that not only purposed our salvation and purchased us for salvation and preserves us under the end, He now sets forth more fully that which happens within us, and that's to the praise of the glory of God as well. And so therefore, he begins the second chapter of the word, and. That makes sense now, doesn't it? And. He's tying it all together. He's tying it together. And he's gonna speak of that which we experience within. Divine election unto salvation, that took place before the world began. That was outside of us. And the redemption of Christ, the price that he paid upon the cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago, that happened outside of us, right? Of course it did. But something's got to happen in here. And the election of God and the redemption of Christ guaranteed that something would happen within us. And so it begins, and you, writing to the Ephesians now, who were Gentiles, hey, they worshiped trees and rocks and animals and they had a bunch of idols in Ephesus. But God, through the preaching of the Apostle Paul, and you can read as he kind of summarized his message to the Ephesians in Acts chapter 20. It begins with saying, and you hath he quickened. What does it mean to be quickened? You know, the other day I got a splinter up under my fingernail. It's amazing how bad that hurts, isn't it? Just get a little splinter up there. And we say, oh, man, that splinter got into the quick. Well, that doesn't mean fast, although it did get there pretty fast. But when we say it got into the quick, we mean it got into that which is alive, where we've got feeling. I told Nancy the other day, I said, yeah, I need to trim my fingernails. I can't feel that, except when I slip and get into the quick. And then I feel, then it hurts. Because it gets into that part of the flesh that is living. Understand this, spiritually speaking, we have no quick. The soul is dead in trespasses and in sins. And we died in Adam. You see, somebody might ask this question. Well, it says, in you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. How did we die? That's a good question. How did we die? Well, we died in Adam's disobedience. So Romans 5, 12 says, wherefore by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. That's why we're all gonna die physically unless the Lord comes back pretty soon. But the first result of Adam's disobedience was the death of the soul. That is, we lost the life of God. We're spiritually lifeless. Now when we talk about physical death, and that's a tender issue when we talk about that, the person who is deceased has no ability to do anything physically. Now let's just transfer that over to the spiritual realm. Being dead in trespasses and sins, is there anything that we can do to please God? And the answer is no. Can we do a spiritual act? Are we capable of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? And the answer is no. I remember when I was in seminary, And somebody, the professor was talking about this passage of scripture. He says, but we still have the ability to make spiritual choices. And one of the brethren in the class raised his hand and said, I thought we were spiritually dead. If we are really spiritually dead, we can do nothing toward our salvation. That's the shape we're in, and this is what Paul works on, especially in the first three verses. He leaves us without excuse. He leaves us with no hope. If salvation, your salvation, is up to you, you have no hope. I'm telling you, you have no hope. Because there are no degrees of death. There are no degrees of death, not physically, not spiritually. One guy in that particular class, he said, well, I know we're dead, but I don't think we're that dead. That's kind of a stupid statement. We're dead. That's why it says, and you hath he quickened. Who did that? Did you give yourself life? Did you give yourself life when you were conceived in your mother's womb? That was the thinking of Nicodemus. Christ said, you must be born again, but he didn't tell him how to be born again. He just said, you must be born again. And Nicodemus, in his ignorance, said, well, shall we enter our mother's womb again, be born? Lord said, you don't understand these things. We're made alive through the preaching of the gospel as applied by the spirit of truth to our innermost being. Look back at chapter one. Look at verse 13, chapter one, verse 13. In whom in Christ ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth. Well, let me ask you a question. Can you believe on Christ before you hear the word of truth? No. You've got to hear the word of truth, which is the gospel of your salvation. Years ago, there were some silly religious sayings that we're still overloaded with. And one of them was, I'd rather see a sermon than hear a sermon every day, or any day. You ever heard that? I'd rather see a sermon than hear a sermon. That's another stupid state saying. It says here, in whom you trust it, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your son. We must hear. Faith cometh by what? Huh? Hearing. And hearing by the word of truth, the word of God. We hear. As brother Bunyan said, the gospel has to go in the ear gate And then it makes its way to the heart gate. And the spirit of truth opens the heart to receive the gospel. It isn't seeing, it isn't seeing somebody, somebody whose life perhaps is lived in honor to the Lord, but whosever life it is, still life of sin. Because we're still in the body, we're still sinners. I want to live in such a manner as to be honoring to the Lord, and I know all of you do as well. But watching me, watching me is not going to result in you believing on Christ or being saved. You have to hear from him who speaks from heaven as he spoke to Lazarus, and Lazarus heard a message. And it wasn't a very long one. Lazarus, come forth. And then he who was bound came forth. The Lord has to speak to us individually, and this is what Paul says. He says in the first three verses, you are like everybody else. You're like everybody else, dead in trespass and sin. But God did something for you. I've said this a hundred times, probably a thousand times, I'm not asking you to do something for God. How can you improve on who God is? How can you add to his glory? You can't. The heavens declare his glory. You may seal your lips and not praise the Lord. The stars are singing his glory. President Kennedy, he's the one that said, ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. Well, when it comes to the things of God, ask not what you can do for God, because the answer is zero. Ask what God can and must do for you. Raise you from the dead. Huh? Raise you from the dead. That's why it says in verse four, but God, after talking about how bad off we are, Notice the last three words of verse three. I was reading this chapter again this morning. You ever read, you ever listen to Alexander Scorby? He reads the word of God beautifully. And I like, in fact this morning, I got in my shower, got all cleaned up, went to my officer at the house, brought Brother Scorby up, and I don't know, he's probably not a believer, but he did a good job reading the word of God. And I read as he read. And he got down to verse four, but God. Not but you, not but I decided. Paul didn't say this was your miserable condition, but y'all decided You made up your minds to go a different direction. You exercise your free will. No, you don't have a free will. The scripture says here that you're in bondage to the prince of the power of the air. Your will's not free. Only one who's got a free will to do as he pleases is God. I see Baptist churches with the name Free Will Baptist Church. You're not a Baptist. You're an insult to our Baptist forefathers, which most Baptist churches are anyhow. It's the will of God. Remember in John 1, but as many as received him, to them gave he the power and the authority to become the sons of God, which were born, now we're talking about the new birth, that quickening now, which were born not of blood, You don't inherit it from your forefathers. Nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man. Well, how are we born again? Of God, that's what he says, but of God. This is what we pray. This is what I pray for you, for all of you and those of you who are watching by way of the internet. This is what I pray for all of us. Lord, do something for us. We can't do anything for you. Job kind of got, got real big. of himself, thinking, I don't deserve all of this. And the Lord says, Job, where were you when I spoke all of this into existence? You see the snow, see the winds, hear the thunder, see the lightning. Where were you when I put all this into motion? And where were you when God chose you unto salvation? In yourself, you didn't even exist, but you existed in Christ. That's why in verse four, Paul says, but God, not but you, but I, but God, who's rich in mercy. We're the poverty stricken ones. God's rich in mercy. And the Lord said, when Moses said, Lord, show me thy glory, GOD SAID I'LL CAUSE MY GOODNESS TO PASS BEFORE YOU, AND I'LL BE GRACIOUS, I'LL BE MERCIFUL TO WHOM I WILL BE MERCIFUL. AND ANY HONEST PERSON READING THAT WOULD COME TO THIS CONCLUSION, THEN GOD DOESN'T HAVE TO BE MERCIFUL TO ME. GOD SAYS I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO WHOM I WILL BE MERCIFUL. IF I HAD ANY MONEY I make it a practice not to bring any money in church, except checks. But if I had a silver dollar, let's just say I did. I got a silver dollar. I only got one, though. I'm going to give it to somebody. I got one at home, $1,800 and some. It's pretty valuable. I got it locked up in a safe. Don't worry. Thieves can't break in and steal. But if they did, that's all right. But if I decided to give it to you as my silver dollar, I can do with it what I want to. And somebody over here at Cliff might say, well, that's not fair. You're giving it to Bill. How come you didn't give it to me? Well, it's mine. I give it to whoever I want to give it to. That's the way it is with salvation. That's the way it is with God's mercy. He gives it to whoever he wants to. No conditions. It's called unconditional election. And then he makes us willing to receive this salvation. God is rich in mercy. He says in verse 5, even when we were dead in sins, He quickened us together with Christ. Know this, when our Lord Jesus Christ died, He did not die by Himself in this sense. All of the people He represented died in Him. See, it's just like when Adam died there in Genesis 3. We wasn't there. Nobody was there, just him and his wife. But when he died, something happened to everybody who was ever going to live as a result of a union of man and woman. We all died. And not only did we all die, except for a couple of fellows, physically. But we all died spiritually. And God quickened us. He quickens us individually in regeneration. But when our Lord Jesus died, we died in him. When he was buried, we were buried in him. When he was raised, we were raised in him. We were raised in Christ. And we're made to sit together with him right there. Where is Christ? He's at the right hand of the majesty on high. That's where we are in the mind and purpose of God. He raised us up. In verse eight, it says, we're saved by grace. By grace, through faith. And guess what? Faith's not of yourself. You don't have faith like a pilot light in your innermost being, and then you just turn the thermostat up when you want to. We went on vacation to Michigan, and the room that we stayed in, or the condominium, or whatever you want to call it, where we stayed, it had pilot light on the fireplace, because it gets cold up there. It gets cold pretty quick, too. I looked in there and said, well, I see that pilot light on. All you have to do is turn the thermostat up. Big flame of fire. You don't have a spiritual faith pilot light within you, and then all you got to do is just turn it up anytime you want to. There is no faith in you. There's no grace in you. You're dead. That's why the word dead is such a word with finality there. It thoroughly addresses our condition, but God gives us faith. If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that is not of yourself. I don't care what you say. You can say I decided, I made a decision, And I tell you what, when you're talking about salvation, it better not start with I. Are you going to heaven when you die? Yeah, because I, oh, stop. I just say, but God who is rich in mercy. Christ died for my sins. He buried him in the depths of the deepest sea. And so Paul goes through like this, and then he begins to address the Gentile believers. And he says, you know, in your unregenerated state, before you were quickened, you were lost, you were helpless, you were hopeless, without God, without hope. Don't tell me what you can do for God. That's why I preach about what God has to do for sinners. And thank God he does do for sinners. He does what we can't possibly do. And so this is what he addresses in the remainder of the chapter because really in chapter two he addresses two big issues, one being regeneration, that's the new birth, that's the quickening. And then the second one is reconciliation, how the Lord brings us to himself and how he brings Jews and Gentiles together. Jews and Gentiles coming together? Come on now. To the Jews, the Gentiles were dogs. How are they gonna be brought together? In Christ, they're brought into one true spiritual church. And Christ is the foundation of all of us. That is, of all of God's people. So in chapter one, he talks about what God did, mainly he talks about what God did back before the world began and what God did at Calvary. Calvary wasn't a shot in the dark. Well, maybe somebody will accept Jesus, maybe they won't. You think the eternal purpose of God, that which glorifies God the most, you think that hangs upon your decision? You ain't that big. You ain't that important. This whole salvation business was solely in the hands of the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. And the Spirit of God made us alive. We're just like everybody else. Going her own way, doing her own thing. But God, but God, who is rich in mercy. And by the sacrifice of Christ, we were saved. And by the work of the Holy Spirit, the atoning, successful work of our Lord Jesus Christ, is made known to us, made real to us. And he gifts us with faith to believe the Son of God, so that you can't take credit for anything spiritual. And I'll add this, if you try, he'll put you in hell for that. He said in Isaiah, I am the Lord. That is my name, that's not your name. He said, that's my name. He says, my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to a graven image. He's not gonna give you any praise. He's not gonna give you any glory. If he's pleased to, he'll give you his salvation. No strings attached. He doesn't say, well, make promises. Make promises to me and vow to do better and maybe I'll hear you. No. God doesn't make deals with us. He says, let the potsherds of the earth deal with the potsherds of the earth. But don't you come to me with that kind of attitude like you're my equal, like my purpose depends upon you. You're just a little wiggling maggot. God does His will everywhere at all times. And He saves sinners, and He gets the glory. All right. Turn to 263, and I'll ask Joe to come up. We'll sing the first and the fourth section.