All right, now if you'll take
your Bibles and turn to the book of Ephesians, I want to recap
just a little bit on chapter 1 before we get into these verses
over here. I know that sounds like an impossibility,
but I'm going to do my best to get through all of the first
10 verses of Ephesians chapter 2. Now last week we talked about
the exceeding greatness of his power to us that believe. And he likens faith to life from
the dead. Life from the dead. How alien
that seems to me compared to what's being taught in our day
in the average church. What's being taught in the average
church in our day is that faith is no more than a decision and
accepting of a few facts. And Paul here talks about it
being a divine revelation and praying that God would open their
hearts and minds to see this and to see what God's portion
is in this thing. How God's glorified in this thing. What was God's incentive to do
these things? to see his portion in these things,
to see what his inheritance is in these things, and then for
us to know the exceeding greatness of his power. To us that believe
according to the working of his mighty power which he brought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Now that's quite
a thing compared to what's being taught in our day, isn't it?
He says this thing of faith is not accepting a few simple facts,
but this thing of faith is being raised from the dead and given
life. And he likens this power in Ephesians
1 verse 20 to that which he brought in Christ when he raised him
from the dead and set him at his own right hand. Christ died
for our sins. I want you to follow some reasoning
here with me this morning. Christ died for our sins, Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 15, according to the Scriptures. And he was
buried and risen again the third day according to the Scriptures.
That is, he lay in the tomb, his life being taken from him
as a result of sin. He laid there dead. Because he
bore our sins in his own body on the tree. God killed him. He took his life from him. And
he laid in that tomb dead under the condemnation of God. He lay there. You see what he's
telling us? He's lacking this thing of faith
to his raising of his son from the dead. The same power. Here's
his son. He's lying dead and lifeless
in the tomb. dead because of our sins. And
having fully satisfied the justice of God as our substitute, God
raised him from the dead. He raised him because he justified
us. He raised him because he satisfied
the justice that killed him. He raised him because he satisfied
and accomplished righteousness. He honored the law. He honored
God. And he raised Him up, being satisfied
as our substitute, and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly
places. Listen to this, Ephesians 1,
verse 21. far above all principality and
power and might and dominion and every name that's named not
only in this world but also in that which is to come. And it
put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over
all things to the church. Having established righteousness
by his full compliance to the law, Even the death of the cross,
he in righteousness defeated all who were opposed against
the kingdom of God. He defeated them in humble submission. He didn't come down here swinging.
He didn't come down here gathering together big groups to go out
and campaign and influence and try to change politics and reform
men. That's not how he did it. He
came down here in humble submission. And by his obedience to God,
defeated all enemies, all enemies, all principalities. Come down
here on their ground, in their house, and defeated them as a
man. Let me see if I can show you
that. Peter and John went up to the
temple to worship. And there was a man there who
was lame, from his mother's womb. And Peter seeing him and this
man begging for alms, Peter stretched forth his hand and he said, silver
and gold have I none. But such as I have, give I unto
thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, rise up and walk. And immediately strength was
given into his limbs and he stood up and he began to leap and run
into the temple. And everybody knew who he was.
This was an undeniable miracle. And so all these enemies of God
gather around and they take him in before the priest and Peter
says in Acts 3.13, he said, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac
and Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son Jesus,
whom you delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate,
when Pilate was determined to let him go. But you denied the
Holy One and the just and desired a murderer to be granted unto
you, and you killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised
from the dead, whereof we're all witnesses. And his name,
through faith in his name, have made this man whole. Made him
whole. Now stay with me. Chapter 4 of
Acts. They tell the unbelieving Jews
that Jesus of Nazareth, Peter looked them right in the eye
and he said, this Jesus of Nazareth is the stone that you wise master
builders rejected and threw Him aside. Had no interest in Him. Saw no glory in Him. All you
seen in him was a defeated reformer. All you seen in him was a pretense. He said, you killed the just
one, the Prince of Light. And you wise master builders
took that stone and threw it aside. And God picked it up and
made it head of the corner. He made it head of the corner. Listen to this, verse 12. Neither
is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name
given among men whereby we must be saved." In that humble submission,
God manifested His name. He manifested the glory of His
holiness, of His righteousness, of His mercy, of His grace, of
His sovereignty, all things. He manifested His glory in that
man on this earth. humble submission to God. He didn't raise his hand against
the soul. By his life, death, and resurrection,
he's defeated all who oppose themselves to the kingdom of
God and is the crown king of all men and head of all things
to the church. And these Jews, being in a straight,
because they couldn't deny this notable miracle that he had performed,
that Peter had performed, right in their midst. So therefore,
they couldn't dispute what they were saying about the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because the people saw the miracle,
and they knew what that miracle was about. It affirmed them to
be men of God, and so the Jews couldn't deny, not only couldn't
deny the miracle, but they couldn't deny what they were preaching.
because God alone could have done the miracle. And then finally,
they just let them go. They found nothing, Acts 4.21,
how they might punish them for all men glorified God for that
which was done. Now what had taken place here
was the result of the power of the resurrected Christ. And then
when they got back to the brethren, they said, Now we know what Psalm
2 is all about. Now we know. God hath set his
king in his holy hill of Zion, and all that oppose him got a
laugh at them. He'll have them in derision.
They'll stand there and they'll do all these things. Verse 26,
saying, Why doth the heathen rage, and the people imagine
a vain thing? The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against His Christ. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate
and the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done." They rejoiced in that because they saw that power
manifested. right before their eyes with
those Jews. Those Jews wanted to kill them just like they wanted
to kill Christ, and couldn't lay a hand on them, because the
victorious Christ wouldn't let them. He wouldn't let them. Peter saw the power given and
established in the earth, in heaven by God's Son, which the
Father Himself has set in this holy hill of Zion, set in the
church. And this is just a little example
of that power. And he said, this is the same
power that raised you from the dead and gave you faith. Same
power. This mighty power. There's a
man in glory who, as our representative, is set at the right hand of God. And by virtue of his accomplishments,
God himself has put everything, he said, under his feet. Everything under his feet. all
obstacles, all circumstance, all enemies, all principalities,
all the kings, all earthly authority, all providence, everything under
His feet. Paul is telling this Ephesian
church that as heirs of God, he wants them to see their inheritance. That is, to enter into it as
sons of God. to see God's portion in us and
how He's glorified in our salvation. And to know the exceeding greatness
of His power to us who believe according to the working of His
mighty power which He brought in Christ. To be resurrected
from condemnation and death to faith and life and to glory. To glory requires all that Christ
has accomplished. That's what He's telling us.
There's nothing in you to raise you from the dead. It's all in
Him. All in Him. Man is in a state of sin and
bondage, evil influence. He's under the righteous condemnation
of God. He's treated as a sinner because
he's a sinner. He's treated as a convict because
he's a convict. He's a lawbreaker. He's treated
as an enemy of God because he is an enemy of God. A carnal
mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
It's enmity against God. And the only way out of this
mess is for God to be reconciled and lift the curse. You're not
coming out of this curse unless God lifts you. God's going to
be reconciled or you're going to stay in your sins. That's
what He's telling us here. You can't dig your way out. You
can't climb your way out. You can't believe your way out.
You can't do anything unless God lifts the curse. And the
lifting of this curse is manifested in the raising of Christ from
the dead. He did what we cannot do. He
was made a curse for us. He came down under that law where
we were at, under that condemnation where we were at, and satisfied
God and produced what God demanded, and God raised Him from the dead. This is exactly what Paul is
about to tell us here in Ephesians 2. Listen to this, Ephesians
2. And you hath He quickened who
were dead. You see that? He quickened Christ
from the dead, raised Him up, set Him at His own right hand,
far above all principalities and powers, far above all those
evil influences, far above all those obstacles, far above all
those things. There He is. He's sitting at
the right hand of God, victorious. And you, He says, And you hath
He quickened the same way." The same way who were dead in trespasses
and sins. Now this word quickened does
not appear in the original. If you look there, you'll see
it in italics. See how it's written there? It's
not in the original. That word quickened does not
appear in the original until verse 5. But it's added here
to help us understand what's going on. Quicken means made
alive. Now remember what we've already
learned in Chapter 1. When we come into Chapter 2,
we don't want to dismiss Chapter 1. That's why I keep going back
and recapping over these things. That by divine election, he chose
us and predestinated us to the adoption of children by an eternal
union with his son. He did this. before the foundation
of the world. He did this in the beginning.
He took us, chose us in Christ, predestinated us in Christ. The Lord prepared everything,
all these terms and requirements of the covenant. The covenant
is ordered in all things, David said, and sure. Why is it sure? Because God appointed a surety
over it. He quickened us together with
Christ. He made us one with Christ in
the beginning. So everything that's happening
to Christ is happening to us. You follow what I'm saying? You
hath He quickened who were dead. Dead. Oh, from all eternity,
all God's elect are considered as one with Him, blessed in Him,
accepted in Him, Adopted in Him. Redeemed in Him. Justified in
Him. And seeing Him in whom God has
trusted all things, we ourselves also trust Him after we hear
the Gospel of our salvation. We were born under the curse
of Adam being dead in trespasses and sins. Now hear the truth. Hear the truth of this from the
Holy Ghost Himself. Ephesians 2. 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
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. But God, see that? But God, who is rich in mercy,
and 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." Born
in a spiritual death, and born into captivity and bondage, and
born under the curse of God, Center not only by birth, but
by choice and practice and by nature. Sealed by the grace of
God in an eternal union with Christ, given to him as our great
covenant surety. Given to us, given to us as our
substitute and representative. Not left to the fallen virtues
of the first Adam, but appointed a federal head. and representative
before Adam ever fell. And by virtue of that eternal
union in Christ and what was given to Him to do for us, we
were and are considered in Him alone and not in ourselves. Now the reality of it is we walk
under a curse, but we're chosen of God. And that curse is not
unto death. That curse is going to be broken.
And that curse was broken when He come down and accomplished
our salvation. The only thing we can do in this
spiritual death is walk according to the course of this world and
do the bidding of the Prince of the Power of the Air. That's
all man can do. Until God does something for
you, that's all you can do. That's all you can do. As the God of this world, He
deceives men so fully that in killing the Prince of Life, they
thought they were doing God a favor. That's how deceptive Satan is.
Go out here and kill the Lord Jesus Christ, the only hope there
is. Go out here and kill Him, and
at the same time, be convinced that you're doing God a favor.
That's Satan. That's how he works. But quickened
together with Christ, we were born into this world. in Him,
tempted in all things, like He was tempted in all things, like
as we are. This is our representative. He
obeyed the law perfectly and then died under the just demands
of a holy God. And having satisfied God and
conquered all these enemies, He raised us up. Ephesians 2,
6. See it there? Has raised us up together. and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. That, see that word, T-H-A-T? That means in order 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 you saved through
faith. That is, by the grace of God
in our eternal election and quickening together with Christ, the grace
of His accomplishments as a man upon this earth, and by virtue
of the power of His resurrection and that name that God has given
to Him, and the grace of our being raised up with Him. By
grace, that kind of grace, that grace He's just described, By
grace are you saved through faith. That is, by divine revelation
of grace, understanding what He did, understanding the necessity
of it, understanding the sufficiency of it, understanding the virtues
of it. We embrace Him by faith, seeing
ourselves in Him, accepted in Him, blessed in Him, and raised
up in Him. That's what this divine revelation
is all about. And he said, and that's not of
yourselves. You didn't figure it out. You didn't come up with
it. How'd you come to this understanding? I was up there in the middle
of that big city, and I was sitting there watching that congregation
as I preached to them, and thinking about that, and that big church
that we were in. That thing probably held two
or three hundred people. I mean, it was huge. And sitting here thinking about
this thing, here's a handful, here's 50 sitting here in this
church. Fifty. How come you don't know this
and everybody else don't? How come you're the only one
to figure it out? It wasn't owing to you. What have you gotten
that you haven't received? You see what he's saying here? It's not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God free and undeserved, given in spite of what we deserve. Somebody said this years ago,
grace is getting what you do not deserve, mercy is not getting
what you do deserve. That's the difference. Not of
works, he said, lest any man should boast. And what Paul's
doing here is showing to us the riches of God's grace in the
effectual calling of his saints out of sin. These are the accomplishments
of the reign in Christ. We have hope because Christ didn't
lay in the grave and corrupt. But God raised him from the dead
and set him victorious at his own right hand. And now these
things are sure. These things are sure. The Holy
Spirit poured out upon the church. He goes out in power with the
gospel. He converts lost sinners, chosen
sinners to Christ. And they're all going to be converted,
every last one of them. God not willing for the first
one to perish, but is long-suffering. Not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come unto repentance, and every last one
of them are going to come. The riches of His grace and their
effects shall call Him. And if it be of grace, then it
can be no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. Let me read you something over
here in 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. A new creature. What he is or was in Adam does
not apply to him anymore. Has no application to him anymore.
He's not considered in Him. He's not judged in Him. He's
not condemned in Him. He's not left to Himself. He's
not left under the curse. Old things have passed away.
His sins are gone. His condemnation is gone. His
punishment is gone. And behold, all things are become
new. I have a righteous standing before
God. A righteous standing before God. I made this claim to them up
there that I made to you here a few weeks ago. I said, I claim
to be a son of God. I wrote that down and trembled
when I wrote it down. Don't you ever, you want to find
out what you believe, write it down. Write it down on a piece
of paper. I claim to be a son of God. I tremble when I think about
it. and what that implies and what that means. A son of God. But if I'm in Christ, that's
what I am. Not by virtue of anything that
I did or ever will do, but by virtue of what He did and who
He is and where He is. A son of God. Old things, all
these old Ideas. Well, I tell you, preacher, I
just ought to look at how I think and how. You're looking in the
wrong spot. Don't look at yourself. Look
at Him. That's where the life is. That's where our hope is,
is in Christ. We spend too much time looking
in here. We need to look to Him. There's no joy in here. All there
is in here is disappointment. Why do I think like that? Why
do I act like that? Why do I walk like that? Well,
I already told you why. You're walking according to the
prince of the power of the air. But old things are passed away.
Those things are gone. We don't look that way anymore.
We look to Christ. And in Christ, all things have
become new. I have a new standing before
God. I have a righteous standing.
I have a righteous acceptance. sons instead of enemies, heirs
instead of criminals, life instead of death, light instead of darkness. And all things, that is all things
which brings this to pass, are of God who hath reconciled us
to Himself by Jesus Christ and given to us the ministry of the
same. To wit, verse 19, that God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. That is, sinners
all over the world is what this is talking about. Unto Himself,
not imputing their trespasses. They didn't charge those trespasses
to them. They charged them to Christ. That's what the ministry is all
about. God quickened us by an eternal union according to the
good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His
grace. made us accepted in the blood
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins. And in His own time, He called us out of deceit and darkness
and rebellion to see what He's made us to be in His Son and
to know something of what it means to be a son of God. That's
what this book of Ephesians, that's what Paul prays. Ephesians 2.10, for we are His
workmanship. Huh? We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in. What on earth does that mean?
That means believers walk in the light of accomplished redemption.
That's what that means. Their good works is the good
work of faith that looks to Christ and sees that perfect obedience. and rejoices before God in his
righteousness. You can't walk with God and look
at your own works. You can't do it. I challenge
you. You try to do it. You can't do
it. Because you can't find any sufficiency in your works. You
can't find any acceptance in your work. The only thing you
can find any hope in is in his works. And that's what he's talking
about. We're His workmanship. He talked about this thing of
faith. We're His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. And believers walk in the light
of accomplished redemption, and their good works are the good
works of their representative. They've got no righteousness
but His. They have no acceptance but His. They have no hope but
by virtue of His person and work. His workmanship. And I challenge you, you try.
You try to walk with God. You try to have fellowship with
God apart from faith. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Impossible. Not hard. Impossible. Enoch was quick. God just translated
him. He was here one minute. Next
minute, he vanished. He was gone. But he left this
testimony behind that he pleased God. But Paul said, without faith,
it's impossible to please God. So what was Enoch's testimony?
He pleased God by faith. He walked with God by faith. That's how he did it. And that's
the only way you can do it. Walk with him. May God give us
an understanding of that.