I want to use this first verse as my subject
this morning. This first verse of Ephesians
2. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. Quickened from death, ye were
dead in trespasses and sins. And it says here you were quickened.
The word quickened means life. Life from the dead. Life from
the dead. And there's no intermediate state
between the living and the dead. No intermediate state. A man's
alive or he's dead. There's no middle ground. There's
no middle ground. A man is either quickened by
God and given life from the dead, or else he's still dead in his
trespasses and sins. No middle ground. No middle state. And you know, they're talking
about awakened sinners, that God needs to go and awaken a
sinner. Sinners can't be awakened. They've got to be given life.
You wake somebody that's asleep. But when somebody's dead, you
can't wake them up. When somebody's dead, you don't
go and shake them and say, get up, get up, get up. Don't work
that way. And I want to say just a few
things about this being dead. When you say you that were quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins. This is the past condition
of those that God has quickened. You were dead. Only those who
are alive from the dead realize that they were dead. We didn't
know. There was a time we didn't know
we were dead in trespasses and sins. We didn't know it. Dead
man is not conscious of that. He's not conscious of it. And
it says in trespasses and sins. Now all the trespasses that we
make against God. You know everybody knows what
a trespass is. A lot of folks got no trespassing
signs on their property. They have no trespassing signs.
And if you go ahead and go past that no trespassing signs, well
then you've broken the law. You have broken what they set
up to be as the bounds of their own property. Well God set up
boundaries for men. He set up boundaries for men.
And he set up these boundaries as, you know, don't lie, don't
steal, don't covet, don't make no graven images. And the boundary
is that you love God and love your neighbor as yourself. And
don't bear false witness, He set up these boundaries. And
every time you went past those boundaries, there was a trespass.
Now how many trespasses do you reckon a man has made in his
lifetime? How many that God set these boundaries,
and how many boundaries, how many times have we trespassed,
went past those boundaries that God set up for us? And then sins. Sins. Joe McSherry said the other
day, we was riding around doing some things and he says, I'm
a sinner from the sole of my foot to the top of my head. Thank
God for the grace of God. And the only person who knows
that is people who were dead and they've become alive. Dead
men are not conscious of what goes on in their lives. And I
tell you what, in here you know, in any state, not only is it
a, you were dead, and those who are alive now only realize that
when they become alive, they realize they were dead. We've passed from death unto
life. It's what John said, we've passed from death unto life.
Why do we know that? Because we love the brethren.
There was not a time we didn't love nobody but ourselves. And
not only that, but it's a state of separation. Every dead man
has been cut off, cut off from the cause of life and the power
of life. Now, he's not morally dead. Man's
not morally dead. He's not morally dead. He can
have morals, and that's what most people's problem is, is
they're too moral. They're too good. They're too
good of a man or a woman. And so they don't understand
the state of the separation. They're not mentally dead. They
can think. They can reason. They have the
powers and ability to reason things out. But he's dead in
trespasses and sins, and that separation, every dead one's
been cut off from the cause of life and the power of life. You
know when the man's dead and we're talking spiritually dead,
you can compare it to a person who is physically dead. Death
separates a man from bread. Death separates a man from air. All the things that are necessary
for living. Spiritual death, what it means,
it means severed from the sustaining presence of God. That's what
happened in the Garden of Eden. When Adam sinned against God,
he immediately was cut off from the cause of life and the power
of life. And everything that was necessary
for him to live after that was gone. As far as his relationship
with God was concerned. And I tell you this, I know that
God is the only one who can give life. And when Adam sinned, he
was cut off from the one who gives life. God said, I told you when you
eat that, that in dying, you would die. You would die and
from then on, every man born into this world is born spiritually
dead. Spiritually dead. And when a
man's dead, he has no fitness. He cannot enjoy heavenly things. He cannot enjoy the Bible. He
cannot enjoy the Scriptures. He cannot enjoy heavenly things. He can't do it. He can't do it.
Now I'll tell you another thing about him. This is our past condition. You were dead. You were dead.
In a state of insensibility. I mean, you know a man don't
have no... Do you know the dead? I thought of this this morning.
All of us have been places where people that we loved very much
has passed from this life into death. And we've got on their bodies
and wept on their bodies. We've kissed them. Our tears
has fell on their bodies as we stood over them. But they had
absolutely no effect on him. No effect on him. That's the
way a man is when he's spiritually dead. That's the condition we
were in. They're not charmed by the gospel. They're not charmed by Christ.
They're not charmed by the grace of God. They're not charmed by
faith. They're not charmed in their
need of Christ. They're not alarmed by anything.
Nothing alarms them. You can say or do anything in
their presence and it doesn't affect them. It doesn't affect
them. I mean, you know, I've spent
years and years and years preaching the gospel. And there's people that I've
preached to for all these years, they're neither moved, they're
not alarmed, they're not scared, they're not stirred up. They're
not afraid of God. They're not afraid of going into
eternity. They're not afraid of their sins. They're not afraid
of nothing. You know why they're not afraid
of nothing? Because they're dead in their sins. And you know the only person,
that's why we keep telling you, the only person that can give
you life is Christ. It's God. You hath He quickened.
God has to do the quickening. God has to give the life. I don't
want people to stay in that condition. They don't have tears when you
preach to them. They don't have fears when you
preach to them. They don't have any fears about
their sins. They don't have any fears about
their future state. You can preach the gospel over
and over and over and over and over and don't move them. You
can preach the terrors of the law. God's law to them. And cursing is everyone that
continues not in all things in the book of the law to do them.
You can preach that. Curse, curse, curse, curse, curse. And he that believeth not on
the Son of God, he says the wrath, the wrath of God abides on him. Nothing moves him. Nothing moves them. They're insensible
to these things. Oh, it's a sad state. It's a
sad state to be in. And you were dead. You were dead. The state is separated. Separated
from God. Separated from life. Separated
from righteousness. It's sensible. You're not charmed. You're not alarmed. You don't...
Tears don't... You know, how many tears have
we shed over people that we love? How many tears? Especially, especially
when they're silent. Especially when you understand
the condition that they're in. Does tears change their life? Does talking to them change their
life and the situation they're in? No. But who can do it? You. He has to do it. He has to do it. And not only
is this the past, but it's the state of helplessness. The state
of helplessness. You know, you don't expect the
dead person to do anything. You don't expect anything at
all from them. You don't expect them to speak.
You don't expect them to hear you. You don't expect them to
feel you. You don't expect them to be moved
by what you say or do. And it tells us down here in
verse 11 and 12. Look what it says down here in
verse 11 and 12. Wherefore remember Remember and I tell you what
you can't remember something that you never had happened to
you And that's why Paul says wherefore you remember He's talking
to people like us Gentiles that you being in time past Gentiles
in the flesh without God, without Christ, who are called the uncircumcision. You're filthy in the flesh. That's
what that means. But that which is called the
circumcision, the Jews, sign of the covenant in the flesh
made by hands. Now listen to it. Remember this,
that that's what you were. And remember this, that at that
time you were without Christ. Without Christ. being aliens. Everybody knows
what an alien is. We hear everyday on the news,
illegal aliens, aliens, aliens, people here that's not here right.
An alien is someone who comes into a country that's not his
own country. God has a country. God has a
people. And I tell you what, everybody
that's outside the kingdom of God, everybody that don't have
the life of Christ in them, it says they're aliens. Aliens from
who? from the commonwealth of Israel.
And strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope all
night. No hope. And this is the kicker
right here. And without God in the world. Anybody want to stay like that?
That's why Paul says, remember that's what you were. You were
dead. Remember. Remember. And I tell you what, you never
expect anything from the dead. And those who are in their sins
and those who are without Christ, they can't do nothing. We talk
about man's inability. I know this, I know this, that
no man can give himself life. We couldn't give ourselves life
when we first come into this world. We had nothing to do with
the natural life that you and I got. Nothing to do with it. Our mothers and fathers They
got together and they had a child. I didn't choose to be born. I
didn't choose my parents. I didn't choose anything about
the way that I am right now. Did not make any choice about
that. And that's the way it is in the
spiritual life. Just as you have no ability to
give yourself life in your mother's womb, you have no ability to
give yourself life in the spiritual things of God. You have no ability
to do that. Our Lord Jesus told Nicodemus,
this is what people don't understand. Nicodemus was a master of Israel. A master of Israel. He was a
teacher. He called him a master. It's like these masters of divinity
and all those doctors of divinity. They're all supposed to know
so much. Well, this is what this man, he was called a master of
Israel. And our Lord says this, he said, you must, Nicodemus
said to him, we know that thou art a man sent from God because
you can't do these miracles except God be with him. And our Lord
just never said a word about, oh, he's flattering him so much.
And he said, you must be born again. You must be born again. You must be born by water and
the Spirit, the Word of God and the Spirit of God. And you know
what the first thing Nicodemus said? Now here's the master of
Israel. You know the first thing he said? How can a man be born again? Has he got to
get in his mother's womb and come out the second time? That's
the first thing he thought of. He had no ability to understand
anything that Christ said. And he was a master of Israel.
He knew the Old Testament front and back. And he says, how can a man be
born when he's old? How can a man be born when he's old? entered his mother's womb and
our Lord says all this and that's all that's all can come from
your mother's womb is flesh and our Lord says you must be
born again and you know how he says your man's born again by
the water and the Spirit and he said as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness this is the gospel right here John
3 16 is not the gospel It's the results of the gospel. As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him should
have everlasting life. When that serpent was lifted
up, people were cursed. They were dying. They had no
ability to give themselves life and save themselves from the
bite of the serpent. The only way they can be saved
is look to that serpent. And the only way in the world
a man can be saved is looking to Christ. Get life from the
dead, look into Christ. And it says, you know the scripture
says, while we were yet without strength. It didn't say when we had little
strength. Or we thought we had little strength.
When we were yet without strength. Christ died. For who? The ungodly. And here's another thing about
you were dead. Incapacitated. The dead have nothing in common
with the living. They have nothing in common with
the living. Men and women that's dead in
their trespasses and sins, they have nothing in common with those
who are living in Christ. They don't. They don't. They're unfit for fellowship
with the Lord's people. And when we were in our sins, we were out of communion with
God, we were out of communion with the Lord's people, We had no fellowship. What fellowship
hath light with darkness? What communion hath Christ with
the Belial? And I'll tell you something,
sin always, always has a killing effect. The only places where
you find wages paid in the Scriptures, there's only one place where
they paid wages. And you know what they were?
Man wants to be paid for what he's done. You know, he thinks
God owes him something for what he's done, what he's accomplished,
how good he is in his merit, this, that, and the other. The
wages of sin, that's the only place God pays a man. The wages
of sin is death. Death. Death. But now wait a
minute, I'm not going to leave you like that. Look what it says. You hath he
quickened. You were dead. Bless his holy
name. He didn't leave us like that.
You hath he quickened. You know the only remedy for
death? His life. A man may come with all of his
forms. May come with his robes. May
come with his rituals. May come with his garnishings.
He may come with his crosses on his lapel. And he's clergy
on his bumper sticker. And he may come with fish on
this and fish on that. And he may come all garnished
up with the Bible and all garnished up, you know, with his profession
and all garnished up, you know, with his time on an altar and
his time of being saved by somebody. Somebody talked him into something.
May come with all of them. But they're worse than useless. God's method of saving sinners
is giving them life. Giving them life. I'm going to
say something about that. A man can't believe until he's
given life. A man can't repent until he's
given life. He cannot act in any way toward
God until God quickly gives him life. And let me ask you this. If God has given you life, you
know right now You know right now that it's God that gave you
that life. If you believe right now, it's
because God gave you life. If you look into Christ right
now, it's because God gave you life. If your heart ever moves
toward God, ever moves towards Christ, it's God that causes
that. It's God that causes that. And
I tell you what, it's like a gift. And the gift of God is eternal
life. He says, look there in verse 8 and 9. For by grace are you saved. You're saved through faith. Salvation
is not of yourself. Grace is not of yourself. Faith
is not of yourselves. It says it's the gift of God.
It's not of worse. Because if it was, a man would
brag and boast about it. It's like that infant cast out
in the field in Ezekiel 16. The Lord passed by and there's
that infant out there laying, a baby. Just a baby, a little
infant. It was cast out from his mother's
womb. His navel was still connected
and it was covered up in blood and all the things that an infant
is when it comes from the mother's womb. He was cast out. Don't
want this baby. And our Lord said he passed by
and beheld it polluted in his blood. And he said, I say unto thee,
I said, I say unto thee, live. Oh, live. Son of man, can these
dead bones live? Oh Lord, thou knowest. Thou knowest. Thou knowest. Oh my, so I tell
you what this is. You know, you have the quickness
imparting a new life. A new life that never existed
before. And it's imparted by the Spirit
of God. He says, you, you, you. He quickened. He did this. Born from above. That's what
He's talking about. Being born by a supernatural
act of God. You know, A lot of folks are
really interested in miracles and healings and those kind of
things. But I tell you the greatest miracle
that ever happens to a human being on this earth is God to
give him life from the dead. God gave him life from the dead,
whether he's 10 years old, 20 years old, 30 years old, 40 years
old, 50, 60, 70, 80. It makes no difference. They
all got to have the same thing from God. And he said, it's a
new life. It's a life. If any man be in
Christ, he's a new creature. And that means that God puts
in you, in a man, when He gives him, quickens him from the dead,
He puts a life in a man, a spiritual person in a man that never existed
before. And whoever gives you that life,
gives you the bread and everything necessary to sustain that life.
Now in this natural life, look at all the things that it takes
to sustain us in this natural life. We eat bread. We drink water. We drink milk. We eat food. We have sunshine. We have rain. We wash this body. We do all kinds of things to
live. We have homes to live in. We have sight to see. We have
ears to hear. We have feet to move, hands to
do things with. We have all this thing in the
natural life. Well, God gives us all this new
life and He gives us everything that's necessary for this new
life. That life that never existed
in you before. He's the bread. He's the water. He's the life. He's the sun. He's the shelter in time of a
storm. He's the comforter. He's the
life giver. In fact, the scripture says when
Christ who is our life, It's Christ in you that's the
hope of glory. It's not church membership, it's
not being faithful to come into service, it's Christ in you,
God giving you a life. And I know there are several
men, I know several men I can tell you right now who do not
believe that a believer has two natures. Don't have two natures. Now I'll
tell you what, if you only have one nature, what kind of nature
is it according to the scriptures? It's a sinful nature. It can't
have no other nature than that. So when God quickens you and
gives you life from the dead, and gives you life from the dead,
what kind of life is it that's given to you? You know when you
were dead, you wasn't seeking God. When you were dead, you
wasn't shedding your tears over your sin. When you were dead,
you weren't conscious of God, Christ, repentance, faith, or
nothing. So when God gives you life, that
means from then on you start calling on God, you start looking
to Christ, and Christ becomes everything to you. And all the
life that Christ gives you, it's a life Eyes of faith, ears, spiritual
ears to hear. And like I told Ruby the other
day, I said, Ruby, she's laying there, she can't get up. And
I said, Ruby, I said, a man can go to Christ wherever he's at. He can see Christ if he's blind. He can hear Christ if he's deaf. He can come to Christ if he ain't
got no legs. It says coming to Christ is a
spiritual thing. And you can't come to Christ
until Christ gives you life. And He puts a new man in you,
a new soul in you, a new person in you. And that new person in
you, that spiritual person in you, that spiritual life has
to have Christ. Cannot do without Him. Is that not right? And I tell you, it talks about
creation. It talks about creation. You
who were dead and trespasses and sins. Look over here. Look
over here in Ephesians 5.24 with me for just a minute. It's a
creation. It's a creation. And that's what
he says there in verse 10, created in Christ Jesus. Created. It's
a creation. And who's the only person who
can create life? Look what he says. And that you
put on the new man which after God is created. That new man is created. It's not the old man reformed. It's not the old man dressed
up. It's not the old man with putting on new clothes. No. That
you put on the new man which after God is created. If God
was, He created us in, in righteousness. And true holiness, not something
we're going to have, it's something He created in us right now. Right
now. So it's a new life given to you.
And I'll tell you something else about when this life is given
to us. It's a separation too. When our Lord walked up to that
tomb of Lazarus, everybody knows the story. Mary and Martha said
to the Lord Jesus Christ, they said, He whom thou lovest, God loves His people. He said,
He's sick. And our Lord stayed there for
four more days. He said, We're fixing to go up
to Bethany. Why are you going up there for? He said, Them Jews
want to hurt you up there. He says, Lazarus sleepeth. He
said, No, Thomas said, If he's sleeping, that's wonderful. Why
do you want to go up there and wake him up? He said, He's dead. He said, why did this happen?
But for the glory of God. Christ walked up to that tomb and said, Lazarus, come forth. And the minute Christ said that,
he was separated from death that quick. And he that was dead, came forth. And that's what we're talking
about. The minute Christ gives you life, God quickens you and
gives you life, immediately you're separated from the dead. And
you're made new. Is that not right? Oh, it's like
that Gallerian maniac. Nobody can do nothing with him.
He lived over in the graveyard. That's where dead folks are.
They're in the grave. They're in the graveyard. They're
in dead. And that Gallerian maniac, they'd
try to chain him and everything. He's wild. People couldn't go
out to visit their family's grave, or their husband's grave, or
their wife's grave, or their son's grave, because of that
maniac out there. Well, our Lord went through that
graveyard one day, and He put His hand on that Gadarene maniac,
and the next thing says this, that he was sitting at the feet
of Christ, clothed in His right mind. oh my when Christ touches a man
he's coming out of the tombs with the light of life dawns
on the dead they come out from among them death separates from
God life separates from the things of death Christ separates us
from the things of death oh bless his name Closed in his right
mind. We're closed in the righteousness
of Christ. Barnard used to say, a man who
don't know Christ is out of his mind. He's out of his mind. And
God's got to put him in his right mind. God put him in his right
mind. Alright, let me tell you this. He's not only restored a person
who is quickened by God, He's not only have life given to Him,
but when that life gives to Him, He enters into the joys and the
blessings and the presence and the enjoyment of Christ, His
Word, His Gospel. We weren't in fellowship with
Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Christ. But now we're in Christ
Jesus. We were far off. Now we're made
nigh by the blood of Christ. We've been restored to fellowship
with God. Restored to the fellowship of
Christ. Restored to the communion of
the Holy Spirit of God. God quickens us and He gives
us life. Now we have fellowship with God.
We have fellowship with Christ. We understand His Word. What
mind is it that understands the Word of God? The natural man
receiveth not the thanks of the Spirit of God. And here's something
else and then I'll be done. You know when a man gives, Christ
has given him life. This new life. finds all it needs
and all it wants in the Lord Jesus Christ. Finds everything
they want and need in Him. And you know, look what it says
back up here. You know, it says there in verse
2, We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others walked
in the lust of our flesh. Back here in Ephesians 2. But
look what it says in verse 4 and 5. But God But God, that's the way we were,
children of wrath, desire and fulfilling desires of flesh and
the mind. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love were with, He loved us. Even when we were
dead in sins, God, who is rich in His mercy, this love were
with, He loved us. This is why He did it. Hath quickened
us together with Christ. Saved you by His grace. You know, your old life was dead,
alienated from the life of God. Now, Christ in you is the hope
of God. Christ is our life. When Christ
gives life, it will be obvious to you May
not be obvious to everybody else for a while, but it will be obvious
to you. Where he gives life, it's obvious. Lazarus was raised
from the dead, come out of the tomb. The widow's son was in
his casket. Got up out of the casket. Jeraz's
daughter was laying dead. Christ read it to God and said,
Get up. Get up. 12, probably 20, 21, 22, 23, and
then an old man. They all had one thing in common. Christ gave them life. Our Father, in the blessed name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for allowing us to
meet here today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your
gospel. Thank you for the truth. Lord, thank you. So bless your
name that you quickened us, gave us life. I knew what it was to
be dead. I knew what it was to be religious.
I knew what it was to give. I knew what it was to pray. I
knew what it was to try to be holy in this flesh. But Lord,
one day, you quickened me. And all of that became as dung,
became as nothing, just nothing but loss for me. But Lord, when
you quickened us, when you quickened us, we gained everything. We gained life. given life, the
life of God in us, the life of Christ in us. God bless the word. Lord, give life quicken, save. You do the work and you bring
glory to yourself in doing it. So you get all the glory. To
God be the glory, great things he hath done. Thank you Lord
for this gospel. Thank you for the truth as it
is in Christ. Bless your holy name. Amen. Let's
sing that chorus. Oh how merciful. Oh how merciful.