Okay, turn if you would to Ephesians
chapter two. Ephesians chapter two. The name
of the message is dead yet alive. Dead yet alive. In this portion of scripture,
the apostle, the first portion of scripture in Ephesians one,
or two verses one to 10, the apostle will magnify the riches
of God's grace. showing towards sinners such
as we by God the Father through Christ Jesus our Lord. And we
also are gonna find out what we were by nature. You know,
we were alive, we were dead, yet alive. We were physically
alive, weren't we, brother? But we were dead spiritually.
And we walked around this world thinking we were something. But we found out we were nothing. We found out we were dead spiritually.
We had no understanding of who God is. And even now, isn't it
true, brother? Even now, the little bit we know,
there's still so much more to learn about God. And there's
some things we'll never find out this side of glory. May never
find out at all. But what he's revealed to us
is found in this word. And the little wee bit that we
learn, we marvel in it. That God would show grace to
sinners. Now remember who God is, too.
He's holy and he's righteous. And remember what we are. We
are ungodly sinners, the scripture says. We're the total opposite
of holiness. My oh my. And the scripture says
the wages of sin is death, right? So we're gonna die. All of us
are gonna physically die. But remember this. Born once,
die twice. Born twice, die once. That meaning
being born by the flesh. and then being born again by
the Holy Spirit of God. And we only die once then. And
our death is a gateway to glory. It's not death to die for the
believer. It's not death to die for the believer. Our loved ones
who've gone before us are more alive now than they ever were
before. Donny Bell, when Ma Bell died,
called me right after she passed and said, well, she's gone to
the land of the living. That's where Jim, Kathy, they're
in the land of the living. They're not dead. They may die
physically, but they're not, they're alive. They're alive. Oh my. It's not death to die. Not for the believer. Now, now
the, Sinner who dies dead and trespasses and sins will die
twice. The second death will come upon
them when they're cast into hell. My. And you know the only reason
why we're not there? Amen. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the
only one who made this different. Not ourselves. Is there anything
in us that would merit that? Nothing. And we're going to see
that. Look at verse 1 here. Look at verse 1 of Ephesians
2. And you. Hath he quickened, so
that means to be regenerated, that means to be born again right
there, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now that's graveyard
dead. Now a person who's died, you can talk to them, but they're
not gonna respond to you. They're not breathing, right?
They're dead. And really, it's just the shell
of our loved one there. The soul is gone. The soul is
gone. So we see here every man and
woman and child born into this world we see is born dead in
sin. Somebody might say, well, why?
Why is that so? Well, because when Adam fell
in the Garden of Eden, when he disobeyed God, we all fell in
him. He's called what's called the
federal head. Christ is the federal head for his people. He's the
second Adam, isn't he? See? So the whole human race
fell into sin when Adam fell. And Christ came to save us from
our sins. The consequences of our sin is
death. The consequence of our sin is
eternal damnation. The consequence of our sin is
the wrath of God falls upon us. But will that ever happen to
the believer, Brother Zane? No. It's all finished. It's all
bought and paid for. I was talking to a fellow today
and he said, well, you know, he says, God remembers everything.
I said, yeah, he does. But there's one thing he don't
remember. He's like, what do you mean? And I said, he doesn't
remember the sins of his people. Does that contradict what the
word says? No, no, because they've been bought and paid for. And it's God himself who declares,
I won't remember your sin anymore. Now, there's a reason why, isn't
there? He's not just going, well, you found favor in my eyes, and
I'm just gonna wink at your sin. No. No, our
sins is bought and paid for, aren't they? By the blood of
the lamb. By the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There was a cost. And we owed a debt we couldn't
pay, didn't we, brother? And he paid, sister, he paid
a debt he didn't owe. It was our debt. That's wonderful, isn't it, sister?
It's wonderful. It's all paid for. It's paid in full. And you
see our state, our natural state, we were dead. Dead spiritually,
physically alive. We were dead spiritually, yet
alive physically. And we were without the spirit,
we were in total depravity. We had no spiritual ability to
do anything good. And the fountain cause of the
spiritual death was Adam's sin. And if the fountain is tainted,
what happens? Everything that flows from that
fountain is tainted, right? You poison water at a well, and
all the water that's going to flow out of that well is going
to be poison, isn't it? Oh my. So the corrupt state of
sin and spiritual deadness is continued through reproduction. We're sinners because our mom
and dads were sinners. They're sinners because their
mom and dads were sinners. And we can go all the way back
in our lineage, all the way back. And they're all sinners. Right
back to Adam. Look at verse two. Where in times,
you walked according to the course of this world. That's what we
walked in. We walked in darkness. According to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience. So sins and evil are the path. The road or direction in which
all unbelievers walk. We were there, we walked in sin.
Didn't have a problem with sin, did we? Now we do. Why do we have a problem with
sin now? Because the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Now we hate sin more in ourselves
than anywhere else. I hear folks say all the time,
I hate all the sin, I hate sin more here than anywhere. I hate
sin out there too, but more right here, right here. I've got enough
right here. My oh my. And how much sin does
it take to damn a soul? Just one. And yet we commit billions
in our lifetime, and they're all washed by the brine. And
God says, I don't remember them anymore, because that blood is
covering all those sins. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the blood of the Lamb, the only sacrifice God will accept. Hallelujah,
what a Savior is Jesus Christ our Lord. And in this darkness that we
walked in, we had two guides. Look at the scripture here. According
to the course and custom of the world, the customs and manners
and way of life of the fallen flesh determined our thoughts,
determined our walk, right? Oh my, determined our conversation. We walked as carnal men, not
knowing anything about spirituality. Yet we thought we did. My, oh my, do you see how dark
the darkness is we were in? We didn't even know our own state
of darkness. This is what God saved us from,
beloved. This is what God saved us. And then the other principle
that we, the other guide we had was according to the prince of
the power of the air. The enemy's real. Satan who's, this is Satan who's
called this, not because of any power that he overwins and storms. People say, oh, look at that,
he's the prince of the power of the air. He's in control of
tornadoes and hurricanes. No, no, he's not. Our God is
sovereign. He's sovereign. He's absolutely
sovereign. He doesn't have power over the
winds and the storms and the weather. But he's called this
because he's got a legion of demons with him. Legions of fallen angels. And he has great power to blind
man's minds. Think of this. You ever stop
and think of this? He's had 6,000 years to study
mankind. He knows everything about us
that makes us trip up and fall, doesn't he? And he just puts
thoughts in our minds. You ever wonder where some of
those thoughts come from your mind? You're going, where did that
come from? You get that too? I get it. Get it while you're
praying, get it while you're reading, get it while you're
just doing nothing. Now some of that's from the flesh
too. But some of it is the enemy. Don't take much to get us going,
does it? Oh no. My. And he has great power to blind
man's minds, fill their hearts with evil, and lead them into
great sin. My oh my. But he can't do anything
unless God allows. Look at verse three. Among whom
also we had our conversations 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. So
the apostle says that our condition and our conduct and our state
that we were all in, whether we were Jew or Gentile, is darkness. This is what we walked in. See,
people don't like these scriptures, but they're truth, aren't they? This shows us the dark side of
mankind, the depravity of mankind. We were carried away with the
lusts of the flesh, which we now battle against. Do you ever
think of that? Now we have a war, don't we, sister? Now we have
a war. I call it the civil war of the believer. The flesh against
the spirit. And it's, I'll tell you what,
it ain't going away till the day we die, then we'll never
ever have that battle again. You imagine that? Glory be to
God. We'll never sin again. We'll
never battle flesh again. My oh my. So the Apostle brings
forth that this state, this conduct, this condition is what Jew and
Gentile both walked in. The course of life was in the
lust of the flesh, the scripture says there. That was the course
of our lives. Whatever the flesh wanted to
do, we did it. I remember that. I look back
now and I can see that. I didn't see it at the time,
but I can see it now. We've all talked, Brother Brian
and Brother Zane, we've talked about how we look back and go,
who was that fellow back then? It's like another person, another
life. Because we're new creatures in
Christ now. Still got this flesh, you look at the outside, still
ain't. But there's a new man in here now, right? There's a
new man, new woman. You're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. Don't desire to live like this
anymore. And we fulfilled the desires of the flesh, desire
here is the will and thoughts of our evil minds. So our will was bent to sin.
Because we had a dead nature, that's why it's called the new
birth and we're given a new nature. The Lord said, you must be born
again. I was listening, I was thinking about this. And I was
listening to a fellow this morning, he said, we're to be like children,
right? I remember, I used to be able to tell my son something
and he just believed it, just like that. And then you know
who it was that introduced him to the lion? I wish I'd never
done that. And I used to call, we're joking,
lion. No, lion's lying, isn't it? Whether you're joking or
not. But I used to be able to tell that little fellow stuff
and he just, he'd believe it because mom and dad said it. We believe it because our father
said it. Right? Isn't that wonderful? And remember
how we were when we were kids and our mom and dad would tell
us stuff, we'd be like, yeah, I mean, when we were little,
little, little. Still had that sin nature in us, though, didn't
we? When mom said, don't grab that cookie, as soon as she turned
away, we won't grab that cookie, won't we? That's just our sin
nature. But we believe what they told
us. Because we didn't think they would lie to us. My, oh, my. Not only is our flesh corrupt,
but also our affections, our understanding, and our wills.
We sin, we sin even, even, well now we fight sin, but when we
were, when we were dead and trespassed sins, we sinned because we willed
the sin. And now our flesh, it still wills
the sin, doesn't it? but the spirit doesn't. Now,
we're still sinners. I laugh at these guys on the internet,
I've been on this reform thing, watch. They talk like they don't
sin hardly at all anymore. You know why a murderer murders?
Not because he's a murderer, because he's a sinner. Do you know why we're, now we
hate sin, but we are, I love this, saved sinners, that's all
we are. We're saved sinners. We don't
love sin anymore. Not at all. And we have some
good works that God's ordained for us to do, right? Which we looked at in our study
in Philippians, which are fruits of righteousness, right? But
that's the Holy Spirit working that in us, working that, teaching
us, teaching us, guiding us, directing us to hate sin. My oh my. But from our conception,
from our birth to the cradle, until the end of days, if we're
not born again, we're children of wrath. And we're children
of wrath by nature when we're born into this world below. My oh my. But look at this. Look
at this. Verses four and five. But God,
who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sin, so he's repeating that twice
now for us, he's telling us twice, the Holy Spirit is bought forth
by the pen of Paul twice, and that's graveyard dead there,
that we are dead in sins. Even when we were dead, now this
is something that was passed, wasn't it? He's speaking in the past tense,
isn't he? Because there's been something done. And it's not
done by us. It's done by God in the Holy
Spirit. There's been an operation of God. Circumcision of the heart,
isn't it, brother? Or this, even when we were dead
and since hath quickened us, that means to be born again. Why do we believe when so many
others around us don't believe? Because we're born again. God's
given us faith to believe. It's not something we mustered
up. We can't do that, can we? God, it's a gift from God. We're
going to see that. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Look at this. Hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved. Now note
what he said right there. So Ephesians 2, 8, 9 isn't the
only place where he says by grace we're saved. He said it up here
in verse 5. But note that word, but God. If there wasn't a but
God in our lives, we wouldn't be saved. What was that, brother? Love that but, yeah. Love the
B-U-T there. Oh my, but God. Now notice who
it is. God. It doesn't say anything
we did. It says but God, who's rich in
mercy. For his great love, he's loved
us from eternity. Wherewith he loved us. and eternal
love, even when we are dead in sins, it quickens us together
with Christ. Mercy is an attribute of God, beloved. It's an attribute
of God. Just as His righteousness is
and His justice, God is plenteous in mercy, and He's proven that
to us, hasn't He? We've tasted that the Lord is
gracious. We've tasted that He's merciful. Through Christ Jesus,
our Lord. He sent Christ to die for our
sins. And Christ willingly came and
saved us from our sins. That's what he did. He didn't
save us, you know, hell, being saved from hell is a product
of what Christ did. The most important thing is we
were saved from our sins. Hell is the result of unpaid
sin. Right? But we've been saved from
that. Not by anything we've done. but
all by the grace and mercy of God. That's plenteous, Sister
D. Plenteous. My, even when we were
dead in sins, He made us alive in union and fellowship with
Christ. When our Lord lived on this earth,
we lived in Him. Do you know that? Just as we were in Adam,
the first Adam, we were in Christ. When he lived on this earth,
we lived in him. When he died, we died with him. When Christ arose and ascended,
we arose. And now scripture says we're
seated with him in the heavenlies. That's incredible. In this sense, we are quickened
with Christ. And also in regeneration, the new birth, we were dead spiritually. And he's made us alive in Christ.
God's made us alive in Christ. The Holy Spirit's made us alive
in Christ, giving us a new heart. Why do we now hunger and thirst
for righteousness? Why do we, which is Christ, why do we, why
do we desire, sister, to serve Christ and to make him known
to the kids too, right? You're teaching the kids to make
him known. Why? Because we're born again. God's
done a work in us. Now we desire, remember I heard
that the other day, we desire to make Christ known. We can't
reveal him, but we can proclaim him, can't we? And God does the revealing, doesn't
he? Missionary friend of mine, Miles McKee, that's what he says,
his desire is to make Christ known. I like that, among the
nations. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. And remember, he's the author
of our life, spiritual life. We were dead, we saw that. We
were physically alive, so alive, we were dead, yet alive. We were
dead spiritually, yet we were alive physically. Now, we're
alive spiritually, and we're alive physically. But in order
to get the glory, we're going to have to die, aren't we? But for the believer, like I
say, it's not death to die. We're going home. We're going into the presence
of the Lord. Look at Ephesians 2 verses 6 and 7. And hath raised
us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ. The key there too is in Christ.
Always look for that when you're reading the scriptures in Christ.
It's such a wonderful statement, those two beautiful words, that
in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. This
is spiritual resurrection from the dead, beloved, from death
and sin, which is separation from God, right? Death and sin
is separation from God. Well, now we have a living union
with God through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Again, not by anything
we've done, but all by what Christ done. He's our representative,
isn't he? He's the second Adam. Oh, my. He's our federal head. He's our great high priest. He's
already gone to heaven, isn't he, Brother Zane? He's already
there. Saints are already worshiping him. And we are loved, totally forgiven,
totally accepted by God and made one in Christ. He's the head
and we're the body. And throughout eternity, we shall
be displayed as trophies of His grace. We don't feel that way,
do we? But that's what we're going to be, trophies of His
grace, beloved. My, can you imagine that? My oh my. And we will praise
the Lord forever and forever. I'll tell you, we're going to
just praise him for his goodness and grace towards us. We're going
to say, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive glory and
honor and praise and blessings. It all goes to him. He's the
only one worthy, isn't he brother? No one else is worthy. Now look
at verses 8 and 9, well-known verses, but he's already told
us in verse 5, the Holy Spirit's already told us we're saved by
grace, but look at this, it's brought out even more now, look
at this. And now, okay, if anyone you know says you have to do
something to be saved, take them right here and read it real slowly
with them now. Because look what it says, for
by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves,
It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Look
at that. Let's read it again. For by grace
are you saved. So what a statement. We are only
saved by grace. The grace of God in Christ. The
mercy of God in Christ shown to sinners. How? Through faith. And that faith has one object,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And that faith has to be given
to us We don't believe and then are born again. We're born again
and then we believe, because we're given faith. And that not
of yourselves, look at that statement. Okay, that not of yourselves
means there's nothing we can do. And just in case we didn't understand
that, he says it's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Do
you know we are redeemed from death and sin? to life and glory. We've been
redeemed from death and sin. Look at the first two words,
death. Death and sin, to life and glory. We're made alive, brother. And
throughout all eternity, we will praise our great God. And you
know, God in Christ finds full satisfaction for the the broken
law of God and the justice of God which must be
honored, he finds full satisfaction in the sacrifice of Christ. So
much so that the God who never forgets says this, your sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. That's God who said that, isn't
it? Isn't that amazing? They won't be counted
against us. Now, they've already been bought
and paid for. As I said, he didn't wink at
them, did he? He didn't say, well, you're a
good person, Zane, you and Wayne, you guys are pretty good guys,
and Brian, and Lyndon D., you're all good folks. He didn't say
that, did he? He said, no, you're a bunch of sinners, and I've
chosen to save you and you and you from eternity. And we are
just in awe, because we know we are not deserving of this
mercy. We know it's all grace, like he says here, don't we?
And we receive and enjoy salvation in Christ now. And the more we
grow in grace, the more we are just overwhelmed with this blessedness
that we have in Christ. Because we're so undeserving
of it. We're so undeserving of it. And we see here, we receive
salvation by faith. And then we give all the glory
to God, right? Salvation's of the Lord, isn't it? Like Jonah
proclaimed. It's not of works, it says right
there. That not of yourselves, it's a gift of God. Who's the
gift of God? Christ. Amen, brother. Not of
works, lest any man should boast. Not works, twice told us there. So what does that mean? That
means it's not of works. That means it's by grace, doesn't
it? Oh, look at verse 10. For we are his workmanship. Look
at that, we're his workmanship. created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. However, lest by commanding God's
grace as the cause, source, and sustaining power in salvation,
and excluding works as making any contribution in our justification,
the apostle gives the impression that works in a holy life are
unnecessary. He adds, we are his workmanship. We are It's Him working in us. It's nothing we're doing. It's
Him working in us. See, religion's got it wrong.
They tell you to do, do, do. It's Him working in us. Now, do we desire now to live
a holy life? Absolutely. Why? Because He's worked within
us. Do you hate your sin? Why? Because He's working in you. Do we hate the evil in the world
and the sin in the world? Yeah, why? Because he's working
in us. But now let's look at all those folks out there and
go, there go I, but for the grace of God. You picked the worst one for
me. There go I, but for the grace
of God. That's true, isn't it? Old John
Bradford, an old preacher. He saw a condemned man going
by him in the streets of London. I've taken this man to hang him."
He said to his friend beside him, he said, "'There goes John
Brown, but for the grace of God.'" True, isn't it? Oh, my. Isn't our God wonderful? Isn't
He amazing? Hmm. We are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works. The Spirit that lives
in us, the Spirit of love, joy, faith, humility, and truth, works
all these in us. If you think you've done a good
work, you didn't. I told you that story about that
young man that one time, and he told me, he said, and I told
him flat out, I said, you didn't get nothing. He said, he said,
man, he says, Wayne, I was going to open the door for an older
lady, and my friend ran up there before me, and he opened the
door, and he got the reward, and I didn't. Zane tells a story about one
of his professors at school. Somebody was witnessing to somebody
and he had to go, didn't he? He wanted to be saved. Yeah, so the professor jumped
in, right? He said, got another crown. Oh my gosh. Who's our
reward? Christ. Is there any greater
reward than Christ? I keep asking my buddies across
the road to believe in all that stuff. Is there any greater reward
than Christ? No. And he told Abraham, I am
your exceeding reward. Our reward is Christ. To be in
his presence forever. He's the gift of God. He's the gift of God. Salvation's
only in him and through him. My, now in those first 10 verses
we've seen that Paul magnifies the riches of God's grace toward
both Jew and Gentile sinners. We were dead, that's where God
found us, we were dead. But God quickened us together
with Christ. And both Jew and Gentile who are born again praise
our great God. Now look at verse 11. Wherefore
remember, now he's writing to Gentiles, okay? The Ephesian
church is a church made up of Gentile believers. There may
be some Jews who've been converted in there, but it's majority of
it is a Gentile church. Look at this. Wherefore remember
that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh. who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. So
we would be considered the uncircumcision to a Jew, because we're Gentiles. And the Ephesians are called
upon now here, and let us do this too, is to consider and
remember where God's grace found us. where God's grace found us, Gentiles,
dead in trespasses and sins. Gentile dogs to God's covenant
people called the circumcision. They considered us Gentile dogs. Not of the covenant people of
Israel, not of the house of Abraham, not of the people to whom the
promises were, the prophecies or the sacrifices. Gentiles were called the uncircumcision
and it was used as a reproach. It was used as a condemnation. That's why Nicodemus was so shocked
when the Lord said unto him that the gospel Right? For God
so loved the world. That's not the whole world in
general, but that's the Gentile elect spread out into the world.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal
life. But before that, he said, even as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness. See, people always use 3.16,
but 3.14 and 15 talk about Moses lifting up the serpent in the
wilderness, which pictures Christ. And all who looked to him lived,
right? Remember they were getting bitten in the wilderness? And they were dying. They were
dropping like flies, weren't they? Moses held up that serpent, which
pictured Christ. And all who looked to him were
healed. They believed. Moses held that
up and said that, and they believed what he said. God told them to
do that. My oh my. Look at what verse 12 brings
forth. We weren't part of the covenant people. Look at this.
That at that time you were without Christ. Now Christ knew us as
his people. We didn't know him. We were without
Christ. Look at this. Being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel. No wonder they called the Gentiles
dogs. and strangers from the covenants and promise having
no hope. That was our state. That's the
state of a lot of people nowadays. No hope. These young people,
Josh is telling me, young people, they're despairing because they
have no hope. They've abandoned God. They want nothing to do
with Him. And they're despairing. Well,
yeah, we know why, right? We didn't have any hope before
the Lord saved us. Now, I hoped to myself that I might have been
a good person. That's a false hope, though.
That's a refuge of lies, right? Better to be in the city of refuge
to be saved, right? That's Christ. He's the city
of refuge. And the Avenger is right on our
heels. That's Satan. But once you're
in that city, you're safe in there. And when the high priest
dies, you're set free. Christ, our high priest, died
for us, didn't he, brother? And we're set free. Isn't that
wonderful? That was the only way you could
get out of that city of refuge, was when the high priest died. Oh my. You could choose to stay
there, but you could choose to go back and no one could do anything
to you. Look at that. You are without
Christ. The Messiah was promised to Israel. The prophecies concerning
the Savior were given to Israel. The types of sacrifices of priesthood
were given to Israel. aliens from the commonwealth
of israel and think of this so great so great was this alienation
this distance between jew and gentile that the gentile could
not even dwell with the jew they called us unclean dogs they
didn't want nothing to do with them that's the separation beloved Couldn't converse with them.
Couldn't marry them. Couldn't even eat the Passover
with them. Couldn't join them in worship. Remember Paul rebuked
Peter? Because Peter did that, didn't
he? He separated himself from them Jews. When the big wigs
came, oh, I don't want them to think bad of me. I'm sitting
with them Gentiles. I better go over here. And Paul rebuked
him, beloved. Paul said, you're wrong. How
are you yoking these believers with the law? When Christ says,
He's saved us out from under the law, the scripture says.
He's the end of the law for righteousness. My oh my. Strangers from the covenant promise.
The covenant was given to Abraham and to the covenant at Sinai
and to the covenant of grace. One commentator said it might
read strangers to the promises of the covenant. Having no hope. No hope of the Messiah. Hoping
in false gods or idols of our minds and imaginations. That's even where God found us,
isn't it? Without God, that means without
any knowledge of Him. We didn't have any knowledge
of Him. And the little bit we know, He's revealed it to us.
But we didn't, we thought we, you know, this is why I was talking
to the guys today, and one of them said something, and I said,
God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and God's ways are not our ways.
They were trying to bring him down, and it's like, he's not
like us. He doesn't think like us. He's
eternal. We're finite. He's infinite. We're flesh and dust. He's the
Ancient of Days. Our ways. Just think of how he sent his
son to die for enemies in their minds. Would we send our kids
to die for enemies? See, God's ways are not our ways,
even though he loved us. He loved us from eternity. But
the cost of our salvation, the cost of our redemption was the
death of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in the
flesh. And it says God himself has purchased the church with
his own blood. My, what a cost. So we had no
real knowledge of who God was. We didn't have any real worship
of God. No. We didn't have a sacrifice, did
we? We were offering up our own works, weren't we? We were just
like Cain, weren't we, brother? You ever think of that when people
say, well, I'm a good person. They're offering up to God their own
works. And God says, they're like filthy rags in my eyes.
I want nothing to do with them. I only accept people in Christ
and Him alone. This is my beloved Son. How do
we know it? This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased.
If you're in Christ, praise the living God that you are. Give
Him all the glory. Look at verse 13. Oh, look at
this. I love this verse. Oh, this verse. But now, right
now, he's writing to them Ephesians, he's telling them, now, right
now, right now, right now. But now, in Christ Jesus, you
who sometimes were far off, right, by being enemies in our minds,
by wicked works, by being dead in trespasses and sins, right,
by not even knowing the one true God, are made nigh by the blood
of Christ. Near so to God, nearer I cannot
be, for in the person of his Son I am as near as he. My chosen in Christ, redeemed
by Christ, called to faith in Christ, regenerated in given
faith to believe on Christ, becoming believers in Christ, we who were
far from his law, far from his land, far from his
people, aliens and strangers, without any knowledge of God,
are made one with God in Christ. He is the head where the body. And the blood of Christ, brother
Zane, the blood of Christ brought us nigh to God, close to God. How close? So close that we can
come to the throne of grace boldly. In prayer, isn't it? That's amazing,
isn't it sister? That's amazing. This is what
our God's done for us. Look at verse 14. For he is our
peace. We don't have any peace without
Christ. Look at this. For he, our peace is a person. Our salvation
is in a person. Our redemption is in a person. We've been saved from our sins
by a person. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, Jew and Gentile. Let's talk about Jew and Gentile
here. And hath broken down the middle wall and partitioned between
us. So Christ, we see, is the author of our peace. And he's
the author of our faith and the finisher of our faith. We only
have peace with God, Paul says in Romans, through the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's it. And we see here he's
the giver of peace too, isn't he? Why do we have peace amidst
all the turmoil of this world? Because of Christ. And it's in
him. He's our peace. He's our peace. And the wall here is in reference
to the wall in the temple which divided the court of Israel from
the court of the Gentiles. It was a wall that divided. Gentiles
could only go so far. That wall's gone. The middle
wall, we can now go in. Not just in, we go to the throne
of grace now. Right there, boldly, brother,
in Christ. My. So Christ in his flesh has
abolished all differences between Jew and Gentile. Look at verse
13. Look at this. having abolished in his flesh,
this is by his death, the enmity, even the law of commandments,
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making what? Peace. See, this peace only comes
through the sacrifice of Christ. It only comes through his death.
There's no other way. That's why Paul said, I'm determined
to preach unto you Christ and him crucified. That's why gospel
preachers, we get up and we just preach Christ. I was listening
to Henry, and he said, somebody said to me the other day, all
you do is preach Christ. Is there anything else? I'm leery of somebody when they
say, well, there's more. There's so much more. This word
is all about Christ. Now, do we learn? Do we learn
instructions in righteousness? Of course we do. But what's the
most important thing about this book? Christ. Can you ever preach
Christ too much? Amen, sister. Never enough. Mm, my. And Christ in his flesh,
think of this, he abolished all the differences between Jew and
Gentile. He's the tabernacle where God meets man. He's the
mediator between God and man. He's the high priest. He's the
sacrifice. He's the altar. Oh my, he's the Passover lamb that gave his life to redeem
our eternal souls. Now that Passover lamb, it had
to be spotless, didn't it? Christ is the sinless, sinless,
sinless, spotless Lamb of God. See, those sheep in the Old Testament,
they just pictured Christ. He is the fulfillment. They were
just shadows and types. He's the fulfillment. My oh my. Remember what I've
said in the Clausen studies, I'll never forget this, reading
this, I thought it was just magnificent how the commentator, I think
it was Henry, that when, say Brian, you're in the front of
the building there and I'm walking up the side, you're going to
see my shadow first. If it's a sunny day and the sun's
on me, you're going to see my shadow first, aren't you? And
then you see the substance. Old Testament, just types and
shadows. New Testament, here's the substance,
the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in the flesh. It's wonderful,
isn't it? It's wonderful. Oh my. And circumcision is the heart,
not the flesh, and results in a broken heart towards sin and
God. And all believers, we see, are
one. In verse 15. We're all one. Look at verse
16. And that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slayed the enmity thereby.
By one body is, he's the head and we're the body, or one body
is meant either the human body of Christ in which he obeyed
the law, suffered for our sins and arose and ascended, or it
may be that he reconciled all believers into one mystical body,
this is what Henry says, the church of which he is the head.
This he did by the cross, having slain the enmity of the law,
both moral and ceremonial. He took it out of the way. The
law has no claim on us anymore. Remember what we studied in Galatians? We've been redeemed out from
under the law by the blood of Christ. Look at verse 17. And came here,
he left heaven. He left heaven. He came here,
didn't he? And came here and preached to you, which were far
off, the Gentiles. And to them that were nigh, He
came by His Spirit. He comes by His Spirit in the
ministry of the apostles. He comes by His Spirit when Christ
is being preached. And Christ is our peace. And
that peace, how did that peace come around? By the blood of
Christ, didn't it? Didn't come by anything we did.
All come by what Christ did, by His blood. In the gospel of peace is preached
to both the Jew and the Gentile, beloved. Look at verse 18. For through him we both have
access, as you're talking about, Brother Zane, we have access
by one spirit unto the Father. Jew and Gentile in the body of
Christ, they both have access. They both have access to God.
No wonder the Gentiles, when it says, in his many years were
ordained to eternal life, believed. But no wonder they were full
of joy. This is for us too. Praise be to God. Praise be to
God. Oh my. So we have Jew and Gentile
have access to the Father through Christ. Neither the law nor justice
stand in the way of a believing sinner approaching God. if he
comes through Christ alone. We don't come in any merit of
our own. We come in to the presence of God only because of Christ
and because of his shed blood redeeming us from all our sins. Then look at verse 19 to 20. Now therefore ye are no more
strangers. Remember we were strangers? No more strangers. and foreigners,
but fellow citizens. We seek a better country, don't
we? Our citizenship is in heaven. Yes, fellow citizens with the
saints and the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles, the prophets. Who was the foundation for the
apostles and the prophets? Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. So we're no longer aliens. I'm a registered alien in the
US, because I'm still a Canadian citizen. But if I ever get my
citizenship, I'll be a citizen then. I understand what he's
bringing forth here. You all are citizens of the US. But here, he's saying for believers,
There's no more strangers. There's no separation between
Jew and Gentile anymore. Believers. We're all citizens
of the city of God. We're all citizens of a heavenly
country. And he is the cornerstone. Christ
is the cornerstone. Christ is the foundation of what
we believe. All our hope, all our salvation,
all our redemption, all our sanctification is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Right? And we are now knit together
in love. Whose love? The love of God,
shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God. Jew and Gentile, Old Testament
and New Testament saints. I saw a post today on the internet
where the Old Testament saints, how were they saved? Well, they're
saved the same way we are, by faith, right? By regeneration
and by faith, right? You must be born again. And and then you have faith,
right? So if you have if you if you can't have faith without
being born again And it says those old testament saints believed
abraham believed god. How did he believe god? He was
an idol worshiper You must be born again any given faith. They had the
same faith we have. They look to Messiah, we look
back to what Christ did, who is the Messiah. They look forward
to the Messiah coming, we look back to the cross. But we're
both looking at the same Messiah, because there's only one. His
name is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only Savior of sinners.
There's no other way to be saved, except through Christ and Him
alone. Look at this in the last two verses. In whom all the building
fitly framed. Now God's building the temple,
isn't he? This building here is the
body of Christ. In whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth into a holy temple in the Lord. That's
the body of Christ. And notice this, in the Lord,
it's in Christ. in whom ye also are builded."
We're stones, brother. Now, we're stones being made
ready right now, aren't we? But we're going to fit right
in when we get to glory. You know, when they were making them
stones, in that narrative about stones being made ready, do you
know they did all the work off-site? We're being chipped and hewn
right here on this earth. And when we get to glory, we'll
fit right in. Isn't that wonderful? Because
it says in that narrative that when they bought the stones,
not a hammer was sound, which means there was no work. The
work was already done. Conform to the image of the sun. That's what we're being conformed
right now, right? And when God's done the work on us, conforming
us, we're going home. only by the grace and mercy of
God. And this is a spiritual building which will abide forever. It's the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, comprised of born-again, blood-washed saints, Old Testament
and New Testament. All the elect of all the ages,
and it grows and is brought together as God calls out his elect. As
he calls out his elect. It's not finished yet, but it
will be. It will be. And it's the habitation
of God through the Spirit. And God dwells in his people,
doesn't he? Amen and amen. Brother Brian, can you close
us in prayer?