I invite you this morning to
turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 1 and 2 are
no doubt two of the clearest declarations of the way of salvation
found anywhere in the scriptures. In these two chapters Paul the
Apostle takes salvation from God's eternal predestination. and follows it down through time
to the believer's calling and regeneration, and takes it even
unto his glorification, and tells us that we're laid among those
living stones which make up his temple, his holy temple in the
Lord. And any man, any woman, anybody
who has an interest in the salvation of their soul, can find in these
chapters a very present help in time of need. You'll find
every answer if God will give you the right question. You'll
find every answer in these two chapters. I want to talk to you for just
a minute before I get into this. I was raised in false religion. I didn't know it was false. Like
Paul, I was brought up in that religion. That was the religion
of our family. But I found out later it was
false religion. Now, we had generations in our
families that belonged to this church and who recommended this
church and who, as far as I know, are still going to this church.
But we were told in this religion Growing up as a child, we've
got some young men and we've got some children here this morning,
and we were told when I grew up in that church that children
were innocent until such a time that God made them accountable.
They called it the age of accountability, whatever that is. Not that lying and stealing and
cheating was not wrong. We were told that those things
were wrong, and not that we weren't going to be punished. We were
going to be punished. But that God didn't keep score,
so to speak, with his children. God looked at them. He looked
at what they did, but he wasn't keeping score, because after
all, they were just children. And we were told that. We were
also told that salvation was for those who deserved it. It was for those who, God helps
those who help themselves, that's what we were told. That we must do something. Something was expected of us,
we must do something, we must say something, we must give something
or feel something that would cause the living God to show
us his favor. He was ready and willing. But
he wouldn't show it unless you gave him a reason. We were told that the death of
Christ was a universal sacrifice, that he died for all men, regardless
of who you are or what you are or where you are. When Christ
died, he died His sacrifice was a universal sacrifice, that the
blood of Christ was shed for sin in a general way, making
the way of salvation possible for all men. And that salvation
was ours for the taking. We were also told that God loves
everybody. I told them in the Sunday school
class this morning about that little sticker. I don't see so
many of them anymore. Maybe somebody figured out how
ridiculous it is, but had that little smiley face on there,
says, smile, God loves you. You try to picture that on the
ark. Try to picture those people standing
there in that deluge and that water rushing down and it coming
up from the ground and up from the great springs and the earth
and the oceans turning loose their boundaries and the sky
falling and lightning and thunder and darkness and they're looking
at that ark and here's a little smiley face. Smile, God loves
you. You couldn't on your best day
even imagine such a thing, could you? Or Sodom and Gomorrah as
the fire is falling from heaven and burning that place into cinders. And there in that ruby see a
little smiley face. Smile, God loves you. We were told that God loves everybody. No matter who he is or what he's
done or what he's doing, God loves him. And fifthly, we were
told that everybody had a free will. We had a free will, and
thus, he was the sole maker of his own destiny. He had a free
will. His future was in his hands,
and God had done all he could do, and now it's all up to him. And then sixthly, we were told
that by keeping the Ten Commandments, an absolute impossibility. We
were told that keeping the Ten Commandments plus certain other
duties such as church attendance and tithing and the ordinances
that we could produce a righteousness that made us acceptable before
God. That God would smile on us when
he saw our good deeds. Now what I've just told you about
how I was raised in religion is a recipe for disaster. And
it's being taught. It's the old doctrine of Antichrist
and the basis of nearly every established and recognized religion
in this world today. They may vary a little bit on
what I've said, but point by point, that's exactly what's
being taught their children. It's the old doctrine of free
will works religion that led Cain to be banished from God's
people and forced to live out in the land of Nod, which brought
about the destruction of the world with a flood and Israel
being blinded to the gospel of God's sovereign grace. And while
it's perfectly logical to the natural man, it's contrary in
the whole to the way and the word of God. Everything I just
told you totally contrary to the way that a man saved and
totally contrary to the character of our God. There's four things
established in the first 10 verses of Ephesians chapter two. And
that's gonna serve as my outline this morning. The first thing
is this. Man is dead in trespasses and
sins. You hath he quickened, now we're
talking about the conversion of his people here. We're talking
about that effectual calling of God, calling them out of darkness
into his marvelous light. Translating them from the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. You hath he
quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. He's not drowning in a troubled
sea, that's how the preachers used to make it known. Man's
out here and the ship's gone down and here he is and he's,
you know, you see in them cartoons, a guy go under and then one finger
come up and he go back down in two fingers and then when the
third time he went down, that was it. Man's not on a troubled
sea drowning. He's not desperately grabbing
for the life preserver, he's not crying out for help with
his dying breath, he's dead. Now a dead man don't have a free
will. I don't know how else I can say
that. A man born in sin with a nature of sin, and we'll get
into that in a minute, cannot have a free will. It's not free,
it's biased to sin. It's biased to darkness. Our
Lord said, here's the condemnation. Light came into the world and
men love darkness rather than light. This man standing before
them, the Lord Jesus Christ, did nothing wrong. Everything
he did was right. Everything he did was holy and
loving and kind. And they hated him. And the scripture
said they hated him without a cause. Why? Because they loved darkness
rather than light. This is the condemnation. This
is the judgment. This is the problem. This is
sin in natural man. And you can describe him in a
thousand ways. He's described over and over
and over in the script. He's described as a leper. A
living death. He's alive, but he's dying from
the inside out. Isn't that what our Lord said
was the problem with us? Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, adulteries, murders, fornications. All these things
come forth from the heart. Man's dead in trespasses and
sin. He's not dead physically, though
his physical death is imminent, but he's dead spiritually. Well,
what does that mean? They're all living their lives,
bearing children, working in the shops and in the factories,
raising their children, going to school, attending their various
places of worship. What does it mean that before
our quickening we were dead in trespasses and sins? What's he
talking about? Well, verses two and three make
it as clear as any place in the scriptures. Wherein, talking
about this death, wherein in time past ye 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 walk our conversation
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. That's what it means to be dead.
To be dead in trespasses and sins is to live and act and think
like everybody else. That's what it means to be dead. I'm no different than them. I
know. That's what it is to be dead.
No difference between you and them. Christ said of the believer,
who maketh thee to differ? He's different. He's not like
everybody else. He's totally different. But to
be dead in trespasses and sins is to be just like everybody
else. It's to walk the course of this
world. It's to act like they act, think like they think, and
do what they do. You know, John, in his first
epistle, first general epistle of John, he goes through and
tells us some things about the believer who knows God. Now listen
to what he says. He said, God is light, and in
Him is no darkness at all. He's all light. If we say that
we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and
do not the truth. You can't know Him who is all
light and walk in darkness. Can't do it. He said you're a
liar. And then again in 1 John 2 verse 3, He said, Hereby we
do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He that
saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar."
Truth's not it. God's not some weak entity who's
powerless to affect men's lives. If you meet God, if you know
God through the Holy Spirit of God, you're going to bow to Him,
you're going to submit to Him, and He's going to rule over you.
And you're going to be glad that He does. You're going to be glad that
he does. And when he tells you to do something,
you're going to do it. You're going to do it. God's sovereign. He's all-powerful. He's all-wise. He's all-mighty.
He's omnipotent. And he does all that he pleases. And men who know this bow before
him, and they respect his commandments. And then in 1 John 2, verse 15,
he says, love not the world, neither the things that are in
the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him. What's that mean? 1 John 2, 16, for all that's
in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life, it's not of the Father, it's of the world.
That's what it means. And to walk the course of this
world is to walk, act, talk, and follow in the ways of common
men. Find me a religion that's common,
that's universal, that's well accepted universally, I'll find,
I'll show you a religion that's antichrist. They walk the course of this
world. To be dead in trespasses and sin is to walk, now listen
to this, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Now
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience
is not necessarily in reference to an indwelling invisible creature. I don't believe that's what he's
talking about here. But he's talking about his deceitful
teaching lies and ungodly influence. That's what he's talking about.
Satan is not omnipresent like God. Omnipresent means God's
present everywhere. He was present everywhere. Our
Lord Jesus Christ walked as a man on this earth, yet he was in
the bosom of the Father at the same time. He's omnipresent.
He's everywhere at once. You can't find a spot in eternity
where God's not. And David said, if I take the
wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the
sea, he said, there you are. I didn't run away from God. I didn't get away from God's
omnipresent. Satan is not omnipresent. You follow what I'm saying? He
could not dwell in every man's heart all at the same time. He's
not omnipresent. But what he's talking about here
is the influence of Satan And Satan rules, how does he influence
the world? False religion. Scripture calls
them his ministers. They preach another gospel by
another spirit. The word spirit here is used
exactly the same way as it is in 1 Corinthians 2 talking about
the knowledge and influence of the spirit of God and the things
of the spirit which natural men will not receive. Satan's power
is great in our day because of spiritual wickedness in high
places. And false religion and its influence
on the world results in people walking according to the prince
of the power of the air, doing his bidding. Isn't that exactly
what our Lord told those scribes and Pharisees? You are of your
father, the devil, and the work of your father you'll do. It leaves this present unregenerate
world walking in the lust of their flesh, fulfilling the desires
of their flesh and of their minds, being by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. If a man wasn't fallen in his
nature, he wouldn't be deceived, would he? But he is fallen in
his nature, and therefore Satan takes him captive, the scripture
said, at his will. Now a man who's born in sin and
twisted in deceit and lies, and by nature the child of wrath,
cannot have a free will. If you ever learn what your will
is, you won't want anything to do with it. You'll skedaddle
to the will of God. You'll get as far away from your
will as you can get. You know what believers pray?
Not my will, thy will be done. Isn't that what we pray? Sure
it is. To let this be established, man
is dead in trespasses and sins before his conversion and his
nature, by nature, he's a child of wrath, even as others. All right, secondly, Ephesians
2 verse 4. God's merciful. God's merciful. Oh, my soul. If ever there was a place to
put a butt and make it shine, this is it. But God, who is rich
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when
we were dead in trespasses and sins, hath quickened us to gather
with Christ. Now listen, by grace ye are saved. When were you saved? When God
chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world. When
was you saved? When God drew up an everlasting
covenant and by covenant union put you in His Son and appointed
His Son as surety of that covenant. You're saved. David's dying breath,
this man after God's own heart, the sweet psalmist of Israel,
in his dying breath had these words to say. He said, although
it be not so with my house, yet hath He made with me an everlasting
covenant. Ordered in all things insure,
and this is all my hope and all my salvation In this cup God
saved us in his eternal covenant of grace, but that's not the
end of it That's not the end of it when he quickened us together
with Christ He put us in Christ and when Christ came and lived
on this earth. We lived in him and Here he is
walking and talking, obeying that law from the time he was
a baby to the time he died. Never transgressing that law,
perfectly obeying that law in every jot and tittle. He obeyed that law with a perfect
motive. He loved the Lord his God with
all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. I do always my Father's
will. But I was in Him. I was in Him,
obeying that law. I was in Him by covenant union,
loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. You
see how you saved? You saved in Christ. We're saved
in Him. I'll tell you something, the
sinner has but one hope, and that is in the mercy of God.
Somebody said, grace is God giving to us what we do not deserve,
and mercy is God not giving to us what we do deserve. That's
mercy. And Paul says here, he said,
God's rich in mercy. He's rich in mercy. Mercy is
a kindness shown by God to undeserving sinners. Hell-deserving sin. It's not something God owes to
anybody and it's certainly not a reward given because He earned
it or deserved it. Mercy is something God manifests
because He will. You can't find another reason
in the scripture why God would be merciful to you or merciful
to me except He said, I will. That leper knew that. That leper
was forbidden from even coming into the presence of God, and
he fought his way through that throne, and I can just see people
jumping back away from him because that leprosy was extremely contagious. And here he comes with his pus-covered
rag, and he's waving his arms, and he comes up before the Lord,
and he just throws himself in the mud right in front of him,
and he said, Lord, if you will, Can you hear what he's cried?
Can you cry that in your heart? Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. You know what the Lord says?
I will. I will. Why? Because he's rich in mercy. And
because he will. That's it, now I'm telling you.
He delights to show mercy, but it's sovereign mercy, and He's
merciful as He sees fit. His mercy is not universal, it's
particular. And our text tells us His mercy
is tied to His love. And His love is particular. Jacob
have I loved, Esau have I hated. All those represented in Jacob,
He loves. All those represented in Esau,
He hates. Salvation is according to the
mercy of God. He told those self-righteous
Pharisees and scribes, he said, now you go learn what this means.
I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. I have mercy. Because I didn't
come to call the righteous, I come to save sinners. And call them
to repentance. Alright, thirdly. Salvation is
by representation and not personal merit Ephesians chapter two verse
five he said even when we were dead in sin 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 There's only one way that one present here today
that it could be said of you to have been raised from the
dead and having ascended into glory and took your seat with
the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's by representation. You can't
make anything else out of that verse. If there's no other verse
in the Bible, this verse here makes it clear as a bell. By
representation, when he died, I died. When God justified him
with his resurrection, he justified me. When God put him on those
clouds with those angels and he ascended into glory, I ascended
with him. And when he sat down, I sat down
together with him at the Father's right hand. That's representation. God chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world and put us in Him by this eternal
covenant union and made us one with Him and He won with us.
And by way of this union, everything that we are and did could justly
be charged to Him. Now He did no sin. You understand
this. He did no sin. But God justly
condemned Him. How can that be? Because I was
in him, being justly condemned, being one with him. And so the psalmist cries, he
said, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. God won't charge iniquity to
him. Did he do iniquities from the
time he was born? God wouldn't charge it to him. Didn't he deserve it? He deserved
it. Didn't he earn the wages of sin?
He earned them every day of his life. Why wouldn't God charge
them to him? Because he charged them to his
son. You see what I'm saying? By way of this eternal union,
being made one with Christ, God justly condemned his son for
my crimes. And God justly made me righteous
by his obedience. And both, both because of that
union. Representation. He's not saved
by personal merit. Yet when you enter into glory,
God will look at you and He'll say, well done, thy good and
faithful servant. You can't look yourself in the
mirror and say that, can you? On your best day, you couldn't
look in the mirror and say, well done. You can't even imagine. But in Christ, we're good and
faithful servants. Really. good and faithful servants
in Him. We've got no hope outside Christ,
but in Him we've got a good hope through grace. Salvation is by
representation. All that Christ did, He did to
accomplish the redemption of His people. Paul wrote to the
Colossians and he said in Colossians 3.3, For ye are dead, You're dead. My Lord has had your own funeral.
You're dead. And your life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. His righteousness is ours and
it's perfect. His justification is ours and
it's already done. His acceptance is ours and we're
accepted in the beloved. And Paul in Romans 8 verse 30
goes so far as to say that in Him we're glorified. We're already glorified in Him. And the only way this can be
done is by representation. And then fourthly, salvation
is by grace through faith by grace through faith Ephesians
2 verse 7 upon the basis of our being fully accepted in Christ
he tells us that in the ages to come now here we are we're
in him by covenant union Christ comes and we're in him and he
lives and dies he's raised from the dead he's ascended into glory
he's seated at the right hand of God and there we are with
him And he said he did all this that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that, he going to let you
in on it. Huh? Isn't that what faith is? God letting you in on something
he did thousands of years ago. Something He did and purposed
in eternity, He's gonna let you in on it. And boy, when He does,
when He does, what comfort you're gonna find, what peace you're
gonna find. That old preacher, that old long-winded
preacher, I hate to go down and listen to that man. You wait
till the Lord opens your heart and mind. You'll go home, you'll
say, oh, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace. Bring glad tidings, a good thing.
God let you in on it. He let you see what nobody's
ever seen. Not the princes of this world.
If they'd seen it, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of Glory.
I hath not seen or ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of mankind the things that God hath prepared for them that
love Him. But He reveals them unto us by His Spirit. That's
what He's talking about. These ages to come, He's going
to let you in on it, He's going to show this to you. How's He
going to do it? Through the preaching of the
gospel, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and through
an inward work of the Spirit through regeneration, He's going
to let you in on it. He's going to make you to become
sons of God. To them gave He power to become
the sons of God who were born Not of the flesh, not of the
will of man, but of God, born of God. It's all of grace, all of grace. Not of works, he said, lest any
man should boast. Give a man one thing to do, and
if he does it, he'll brag on it for all eternity. If you don't
believe me, go down here to the nearest church that has a testimonial
night and sit in there and listen. An old fellow, I took him a drink
of water. It was 100 degrees and this old man was out there
mowing grass. I was in my study and saw him.
I took him out a glass of water. We started talking, and he said,
well, I said, what's your hope? And he said, well, he said, I
hadn't always done the right thing, but he said, I'll tell
you one thing, alcohol never touched his lips. Give him one thing. He'd brag
on it for eternity. If God would allow him, he'd
be up in heaven telling the angels, alcohol never touched his lips.
That's why I'm here. I said, how about women? You
ever lust after a woman? He just hung his head. He didn't
have anything else to say. We're sinners, saved by grace. Saved by grace. How come you
didn't hear the gospel? A thousand people around you
in your own home wouldn't hear it. How come you didn't hear
it? How come me didn't hear it? I
was raised in religion. I played a guitar and sang and
went church to church. I was religious as you could
get. What brought a halt to my future?
What stopped me from doing what I was doing? What made me quit
walking the course of this world and quit walking according to
the spirit, that spirit of disobedience, that spirit of Satan, the prince
of the power of the earth? What made me stop? What brought
this to a halt? The grace of God. He said, that's far enough. Now I'm gonna tell you something,
and he did. And then he gave me ears to hear it. By grace, through faith. And that faith, now listen to
me, not of yourself, you can't conjure it up. I tried, you can't
do it. You can't do it. It's the gift
of God. And when he gives it to you,
what's he tell you in that next verse? Huh? For ye are his workmanship. How'd
you get to be a believer? You're his workmanship. How'd you get to be a new creation?
Created in Christ Jesus. Huh? Unto good works. What good works? Faith. Repentance,
love, submission. I don't need to go on, you know
exactly what he's talking about. Created unto good works in Christ
Jesus, given this faith, given this repentance, which God hath
before ordained that you should walk in them, and you will. You
will when he speaks. If it's just me speaking, ain't
nothing gonna happen. Nothing's gonna happen. You'll
go home scratching your head and you'll say, boy, that was
interesting. And you'll go on to the next thing. But you want
when he speaks. All when he speaks.