There's a lot of people I want
to give hugs to, but I didn't take the passage route here this
morning. Lucy was in the backseat and she told me, I think we're
supposed to go right here. And I said, I don't know that
way. So we're going to go the long way, which I know. So I
look forward to saying hi to a few guys, a few of you all
here in a bit. If you would open your Bibles
to Ephesians chapter two this morning, Ephesians chapter two. We'll go ahead and read this
chapter. I want to spend my time in this class here looking at
this entire chapter in a quick view and three things that it
tells us. But let's read Ephesians two
first. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace
ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Wherefore, remember that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ, for he is our peace, who hath made both one
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us,
having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace And that he might reconcile both
unto God and one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby. And came and preached peace to
you, which were far off and to them that were nigh. For through
him, we both have access by one spirit unto the father. Now,
therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and the household of God and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord and whom we
also are built together for an habitation of God through the
spirit. Now, this entire chapter, I want
to focus on how it tells us first who we are and then it tells
us who God is. And then it says what he does
for his people. Now, the first question we need
to answer in this chapter is who is the you that the chapter
is written to? It starts and says and you. We
need to know who he's talking to. So if we look in the first
verse, if we look in chapter one, it says. To the saints. To the saints, these
words are written for the saints in the church of Ephesus. But
they're meant for all saints, whether they be the saints in
Ashland, whether they be the saints in Lexington or wherever
the saints are, this is written to them. Now, what is a saint? A saint is a person who has been
separated by the grace of God the Father in eternal election. A saint is a person whose sins
were atoned for by the blood and sacrifice of Christ. A saint
is one who is internally sanctified by the spirit of God. So now
we know who Paul's writing to. He's writing to the saints at
Ephesus, men and women who believe the gospel. Let's read the first
three verses of chapter two again. And you hath be quickened. who
were dead in trespasses and sins. Remember, this is describing
who we are. Wherein in time past you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath even as
others. We were dead in trespasses and
sins. We were dead in Adam, whom we
send in. We were dead in a law sense.
We're dead in a moral sense. But the word dead here doesn't
mean physical death, it means spiritual death. What does it mean to be spiritually
dead? Spiritual death lies in separation from God, for Christ
is the author and finisher of eternal life. Without Christ,
we are spiritually dead. And then verse two tells us that
we walked according to the course of this world. Let me tell you
that many times I got in trouble as a youngster simply by doing
what everyone else was doing. I would rationalize my actions
by saying, well, everybody's doing it. Or I thought to myself,
you know, if we get caught, I can just be part of the group and
they can't punish all of us. Or I would simply tell my mom,
well, John was doing it. You know, why can't I get away
with it? And even worse, sometimes when
we'd get caught and I would be the only one who got punished. But the excuse or logic never
works here. Because I still was wrong, no
matter what excuse I had. It does not matter if we get
caught or how we get caught. The only thing that matters is
that in the end we sinned. Do you remember in Genesis when
Adam ate the fruit of that tree that he was told not to eat?
The serpent told Eve it was OK. And then she gave it to Adam
and he ate it and he blamed her. Something really important to
know about your sin and to know about my sin is this. My sin
is my fault. Your sin is your fault. There's no excuse for sin, period. As long as we're in this flesh,
we are going to sin and in this world, the prince of the power
of the air speaking here or Satan, has a great power to blind men's
mind. But I love when I hear my pastor
say that Satan is God's devil on God's chain. And he can do
nothing without God's permission. Now, with that said. I would
advise you in the same way I'm advising myself. Don't spend
any of your time looking in the shadows for fear of what you
might find. Look instead to the light, for
looking to Christ will always benefit you. Now, in verse three,
it says how we lived and walked in the lusts of our flesh, trying
to fulfill the desires of the flesh and mind. Now, not only
is our flesh corrupt, but our affections, our understandings
and our wills are all corrupt as well. We walked in this darkness
because we love darkness. We loved it. And you know why
all these things are true, all these things in the first three
verses are true. It's because we're children of wrath by nature.
That's who we are. We come by it honestly. Turn
with me to John 3. I've got a really little girl
upstairs in the nursery and it's a little bit of a challenge when
I say things like this that we're just sinful by nature because
she doesn't do much that makes me think that. Now she cries
and I get upset and frustrated. But I'm thankful that I do know
that we're sinners by nature. It's
not something that either we've done now or that we will do. And the reason that's important
is to know that there is nothing in the future we can do to reverse
this or to change this. Now, look in John 3, verse 19
and 20. And this is the condemnation
that light is coming to the world and men loved darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that
doeth evil, hateth the light. Neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved." With all these things I've said
about us in the first three verses, you know what we deserve? We deserve the full wrath of
God. Let me say that again, a sinner
deserves the full wrath of God. I'm going to say nothing else
about that, but let's look back in our text and look at verse
four. Remember, we deserve the full
wrath of God, verse four, but God. These two words are the only
reason that in verse one, when it says who were dead in trespasses
and sins. In verse two, it says in time
past, you walked according to the course of the world. Verse
three says we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of
our flesh and were by nature the children of wrath. But God
is the only thing that saves us from the wrath of God. Now,
you might say that's about the most obvious thing I've ever
heard in my life. But God is the only thing that
stops us from the wrath of God. Now, I agree with you that that's
a pretty obvious statement. I don't want you to do this,
but if you went and listened to a lot of messages that were
being preached this morning here, Lexington, anywhere, you see
how many people leave their hope and their salvation up to simply
but God. Everybody has something they
want to add. Everybody has some part to play
or they want to take credit that their decision was theirs. It's
just too hard for some people to give all the credit to the
Lord. I promise you when the time comes,
when Judgment Day comes, you won't want anything other than
but God. Now, following that, let's look
at verse four through seven as it tells us what God has done.
But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us
together with Christ. By grace, you are saved and have
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come, he
might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. When understanding mercy and
grace and salvation, the first thing to learn is that the only
contribution we make to these things is that we supply the
need. That's the first thing to learn,
because we focus so much on ourselves. And the only way we'll look elsewhere
is when we realize and we're given the knowledge that we're
ignorant and we have a need. The Lord shows his people their
sin before he shows them how they're forgiven. And what a
great thing it is to find out, to truly understand that you're
a sinner, that you have a need. Now, throughout these verses,
look at all the things he does for his children. He loved us,
have quickened us together with Christ, raised us up, made us
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, shows the exceeding
riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. All these things are done for
us, for the saints. But God, who is rich in mercy,
the way I understood mercy as a child is not getting what you
deserve. Now, I didn't ever think that
I was wrong as a child, and so I never really thought I needed
mercy. I'm thankful I know better than that now. Mercy is essential
to God, for he is rich in mercy, but a few things about mercy. First, mercy must have an object.
Mercy must be bestowed upon someone, and you also can't show mercy
on an innocent person. If I were to go to one of you
and say, Sean, I forgive you for stealing my wallet. Well,
that absolutely means nothing to him and he doesn't need it
because he didn't steal my wallet. Only a guilty person can be the
recipient of mercy. Now, you can ask, but the answer
of mercy is not within you. You cannot have mercy upon yourself.
Christ died for sinners, those who were guilty, those who had
death coming, those who had no way out. Now, if you want to
say, I don't think I did all that stuff in verses one through
three, I think you might be describing someone a little worse than me.
If you want to say, I'm not that guilty, then his mercy wasn't
for you. And so then it says, for his
great love, wherewith he loved us. How great must the love of
God be that he loves me? How great is that? How great
must his love be? As the hymn writer wrote, I stand
amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene. and wonder how
he could love me, a sinner condemned unclean. God is an infinite,
unchangeable and sovereign being and his love is just like him.
The objects of his affection, his children, they are loved.
They have always been loved and they will always be loved. We
get assurance of this in the next verse when it says, even
when we were dead in sins, he loved us even when we were dead
in sins. That's true love. And a couple
of things to take from that comment, first and most importantly. If he didn't love us, we would
still be dead in our sins. And secondly, he loved us before. Before we heard the gospel, before
we loved him, before we were born, before time began, before
we could have done anything to merit his love. And because he
loved us, he quickened us together with Christ. Look over in Romans
six here. Romans chapter six. Look at verse four and five. Therefore, we are buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. When our Lord lived on this earth,
We lived in him. When he died, we died in him,
and when Christ arose and ascended, we arose and are now seated with
him in the heavenlies. In this sense, we are quickened
with Christ. Now, go back to our text. And
this is confirmed in verses six and seven. and hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Verse
seven tells us that the riches of his grace are displayed in
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. And the word riches here
makes us think of money. That's what we always think of
when we see that word. Know that the riches that they're talking
about here and riches in general, we could say this about the word
riches or money. It's not in money and it's not in goods.
Riches are in the Lord Jesus Christ. He provided his son as
a savior for his people and spared not his life for us and his children
will forever praise him for his mercy and kindness toward us
in Christ Jesus. So in the first three verses,
we see who we were, and then we saw who changed that. Now
look at verse eight to see how we are saved. For by grace are
ye saved through faith. Spiritual salvation secured in
the covenant of grace. Obtained for us by Christ, applied
unto us by the Spirit. The language used by Paul here
shows a certainty. For by grace are ye saved. There's no doubt in that statement.
It is a done deal. And I would love to say with
certainty that I'll make it home this afternoon. And I don't want
to think about that, about not making it, but I cannot say with
certainty that I'm going to make it home today. Because I don't
know for one, and I also have no control over it. It's not
in my hands. The only things that we are certain
about in this world are things that have already happened. That's
why with 100 percent certainty, Paul says, by grace are ye saved. There's no doubt because it's
already finished. It's certain because we were
chosen before the foundation of the world. And you can also
be certain the only way that you can be saved is by the grace
of God. The free favor of God. Look over to First Corinthians
with me. First Corinthians 1. Look in verse 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who is God, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. Election, redemption,
calling, repentance, faith, sanctification and eternal glory, all are ours. They are the saints by the free
grace of God. For by grace are you saved and
then those next two words through faith. For by grace are you saved
through faith. This through faith is not a cause
or a condition of salvation, and it's not an addition to it.
But faith is the way or instrument by which we receive and enjoy
salvation. And what an encouragement faith
is. And this faith is not a product of our free will, of our power,
our ability, but faith is a product of the free grace of God, a gift
from him. And I admit that my faith wavers. And at times when I get absorbed
with the things of this world and begin to look within myself,
I sometimes feel hopeless or helpless. I thank God that he gives his
children faith and he gives us hope in our times of need. Now, I don't want trials and
tribulations. I don't want anything bad to
happen to me. And I don't want anything bad to happen to you.
But. If a trial or tribulation is
what I need. To renew my faith. By the grace
of God, may we endure those trials and tribulations. And then in verse eight, and
that not of yourselves. No part of this verse is of yourselves,
you can't take credit for it, not the grace, not the faith,
and not the salvation. We never desired for these things.
We never deserve them. And our performance sure doesn't
merit them. All of this, again, is the gift of God. Now, verse nine, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Works have clearly been denied
any place. in justification and salvation. The best works done by men are
not done of themselves, but they're done of the grace of God. The
simplest way to describe our works is to say this. Our works
are either for us or they're put in us. We can't take credit
for anything good we've ever done, because if we did it, it
was for ourselves anyway. As we read in first Corinthians,
he that glorious, let him glory in the Lord. Do everything you
can to keep from finding any favor in yourself. In verse 10,
for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Which God has before ordained. That we should walk in them.
The elect have a new nature created in Christ. We have new principles
of grace created in him. That's where the good works come
from. God has appointed good works to be done by the saints. A child of God has it written
on their heart not just to do good works, but to walk in them.
Their conversation and their course of life should be one
continued series of good works. But always remember that the
good works don't come from a person trying hard. A person trying to be saved,
a work to obtain salvation, listen to this, a work to obtain salvation
is something I'm doing for myself to benefit me. Good works are
the product of someone who has been saved by the grace of God.
The only result of a good work is the glory of our God. Now look at verse 11 and 12,
and this describes us in the flesh. This describes us in this
in our sin. Wherefore, remember that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh who were called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision is the flesh made by hands that
at that time ye were without Christ. You were being aliens
from the Commonwealth of Israel. You were strangers from the covenants
of promise. We had no hope and we were without
God in the world. We should be humbled by this
view of our former state and our condition, being in unbelief,
blind, ignorant, not knowing God. We were always chosen in
Him, preserved and redeemed by Him before, but we didn't know
Him. We didn't have faith in him and
we didn't love him. Our communion with him and our subjection to
him and his gospel were distant from us. This all shows that
we had nothing to do with our salvation. We were always saved,
but we didn't know it. If you don't know something,
how can you take any credit for it? Now, that describing us in the
flesh. The next two verses describe
us in Christ. Verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus,
you who sometimes were far off are made now by the blood of
Christ, for he is our peace who has made both one and has broken
down the middle wall of partition between us. We have all the things in Christ
that we didn't have before. And all the things we had before
are useless now that we're in Christ. Look at Hebrews 10 with
me. Hebrews chapter 10. In verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way, which he has consecrated for us through the
veil that is to say his flesh and having a high priest over
the house of God. Let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscious and our bodies washed with pure water. We are
sons of God having boldness, having boldness to enter into
the holiest by the blood of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
author of peace with God and in his flesh abolished all differences
between Jew and Gentile. Romans 1 16 says, For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and
the salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and
to the Greek, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live
by faith. He is the tabernacle. He is where
God meets men and men meet God. He is the one great high priest
who intercedes on behalf of all. He is the Passover, the Lamb
of God, the atonement to be reconciled. You must be found in him. One more thing in our verse 18
of our text here. For through him, we both have
access by one spirit unto the Father. The both here is Jew
and Gentile, which everyone fits into that. They both have access
to the Father through Christ and nothing stands in the way
of a believing sinner approaching God. Nothing stands in the way if
he comes to Christ alone. Because of our high priest, we
can come boldly into the throne of grace and our boldness comes
from being in him. Our boldness doesn't come from
our fortitude or our faith or anything. Our boldness comes
from we're in him. The first three verses told us who we were,
the last four verses tells us who we are now in him. Christ
is the foundation on which the church is built. And in him,
we will abide there forever. It is growing as he calls out
his elect. It is the habitation of God through
the spirit. And this chapter tells us about
the saints, these simple things. We were dead in our trespasses
and sins, but God quickened us together with Christ. It's by
grace that we're saved, not in the flesh, but in Christ. And we are now in Christ, sons
of God. Hope that's a blessing.