Sunday morning, from the book
of Galatians, on the subject Complete in Christ, number one,
sermon number one, Complete in Christ. In him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him.
Sunday night, I brought another message from Colossians, one
Sunday morning, Galatians, tonight from Colossians on the same subject,
complete in him, message number 2. Tonight I want to bring one
more message on this subject from Ephesians, chapter 2, complete
in him. You're very familiar with the
first six verses of Ephesians 2, but I'll read them. And then I want to pick up my
message at verse 7. But let's read the first six
verses. among whom also we all had our
conversation, our conduct, citizenship, and time passed in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature, by birth, by nature, had an evil nature,
children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us, his love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace you are saved. It is
the free grace of God that saves us. It is the free mercy and
grace of God. By grace you are saved, not by
works not by good deeds. And he hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in the heavenlies, in Christ Jesus."
That is where redemption is, salvation, righteousness, acceptance,
glory, in Christ Jesus. Now look at verse 7. Let's begin
here. And I want you to underscore
in these next several verses, certain things that I'll point
out to you, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. That's what I want you to underscore,
through Christ Jesus. In other words, the Father has
prepared great grace and great glory for his people, his chosen
people. And he has appointed ages and
eons, that in the ages to come, ages to come, he has appointed
ages and eons for us to enjoy this grace and glory and his
presence and joy. And he has prepared a new heaven
and a new of perfect holiness in which we shall enjoy this
glory and this peace and this happiness. But all of these mercies
of our covenant God are through Christ Jesus. That's where they
are. He said to his disciples, No
man comes to the fatherhood by me. I am the way, the truth,
and the life. Doesn't matter who it is, can
come to the Father, but by me. And then he said in John 6, no
man can come to me, except my Father draw him. And they shall all be taught
of God. Every man that hath heard of the Father, learned of the
Father, cometh to me. So no coming to the Father, but
through the Son, and no coming to the Son, but by the purpose
and will of the Father. So in the ages to come, he's
going to show his exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. All right, look at the next verse.
You're familiar with these. Well, by grace are you saved
Through faith, when I say by faith, we say through faith,
we say by grace. We say by Christ, by Christ,
by grace, through faith. And that faith is not of us,
it's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, it's not of
works, lest any man should boast. I saw a bulletin board out in
front of a church here in this vicinity. It said something about
when man's faith meets God's grace, then things happen. But it's not my faith, it's his
faith which he's given me. God works the faith in us. It's
God's love that loved us, God's will that chose us, and God's
faith he gave us. And it's not of works, verse
9, lest any man should boast. Now, watch this, verse 10. The believer is a new person. We are his workmanship, we're
created. Something that's already there,
you discover it. You happen upon it. You find
it. You may improve it. But anything
that's created, by God is created out of nothing. He created the
world out of nothing. He just, he spake and the world
existed. The sun, the moon, the stars,
all these things. And we are a new creation in
Christ. The new man is not the old man
patched up. The new man is not the old man
reformed. The new man is not the old man
with religion. The new man is a new creation. We are his workmanship. We are
created. Now, I want to underscore this,
but we are created in Christ Jesus. Created in true holiness
and created in Christ Jesus. That's the foundation of it,
created in him. Created in him And we're going
to be conformed to his likeness, to his image. He's the pattern,
he's the firstborn among many brethren, all like him. And they're created unto good
works. It is the will of God that his
people do good works. Not just a single act now and
then, not just a few occasionally, but he says, We are created in
Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained.
We should walk in them, walk in these works. Our conduct and
conversation should be a continual series of good works and kind
acts and warm thoughts and love. So we are his workmanship. It
is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do his good pleasure. But we are created in Christ
Jesus. We are complete in him. In him. The good works are his works.
The fruit is not the fruit of the branch, it's the fruit of
the vine. Paul said, I labor more abundantly than all of you. Yet not I, but Christ in me. One of the old writers says the
good works are his works, and the power to do them and the
desire to do them is by his grace. So we have nothing of which to
boast. It's his work. We're his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto his works, which he hath before ordained
that we should walk in The branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine. And the fruit is not
ours, it's his fruit produced in us. Paul says, I'm crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, it's Christ that lives in me. And it's the love of Christ
that motivates me. It's the love of Christ that
constrains me. It's the love of Christ that
restrains me. His love is the motivation. All right,
look at verse 11. Now watch this. This is interesting
here. Now, we're called upon to remember
some things. And this Book of Ephesians is
written to Gentile believers. That's what we are, Gentiles,
Gentile believers. We're called upon to remember
what we were before he called us. Wherefore, remember that
you, being in time past Gentiles, we were not only dead in sins,
we were not only walking according to the course of this world,
we were not only under the dominion of Satan and dead in sin, but
we were Gentiles, pagans, breathe on, in the flesh. We were pagans. We were who were called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hand. We
were Gentiles. We were not of the covenant people.
We were not of the house of Abraham. We were not of the lineage of
Isaac and Jacob. We were not of the people to
whom the promises were made. They were made to Abraham and
his seed. We were Gentiles. And verse 12
says, and at that time, underscore this, you were without Christ.
Now, here's the key to these two verses right here. You were aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. You were strangers from the covenant
of promise, having no hope without God in this world? That's some description, isn't
it? That's us. We were not only dead in sin, but we were Gentiles. We were not of Israel, the covenant
people. We were not of the house of Abraham.
We were not of the people to whom the oracles of God were
given. where the promises of God were
made. We were aliens, an alien is a foreigner who could not even associate
with God's people. The Jews were commanded not even
to have fellowship with the Gentiles, not to marry the Gentiles, not
to go into the Gentiles. We were strangers from the covenant
of promise without hope, without a promise of hope. And the key
to all this is, and the reason is, we were without Christ. See
that in verse 12? At that time you were without
Christ. And this is true of any man who's
without Christ. He's without hope, he's without
God, he's without a promise, he's without a covenant, he's
without a mediator, he's separated from God, he has no connection
with God and no access to God. Now let me ask two questions.
Number one, here's the first question. Why did Abraham, Moses, Isaac,
and Jacob, why did they have the covenant? Why did they have
grace? Why did they have the promises?
Why did they have the hope? Why? Because they were Jews?
No sir, because they had Christ. That's why they had a hope, that's
why they had a covenant, that's why they had a promise. Turn over to Galatians 3. Now to Abraham and his seed,
where the promise is made. He said, Not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one to thy seed, which is Christ. The promise
was made through Christ. to Christ and to them through
Christ. Many of the Israelites were Jews
who had the circumcision, who had the outward form, but they
didn't have Christ, and they, too, were without hope and without
God in this world. Here is the second question.
Why were the Gentiles aliens and strangers from the covenant?
having no promise without God and without hope in this world.
Why? You were without Christ. That's the reason. Why do you
now have hope? You have Christ. Why do you now
have the mercies of a covenant God, the sure mercies of David? You're in Christ. So there's
the key Right there, at that time, all of this, you were aliens,
foreigners, strangers, without hope, without God, without a
promise, without a covenant, because you were without Christ.
And the reason Abraham had to share mercies and David had to
share mercies is because they believed Christ. Abraham saw
my day and rejoiced. Moses wrote with me. David said,
Thee, Lord, said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand. And the gospel was preached to
these Jews, but it didn't profit them not being mixed with faith
in Christ and them that heard it. So there we are, verse 11
and 12. Gentiles in the flesh, strangers,
aliens, having no hope, no covenant, no promise without God, because
we didn't know Christ. But now, look, verse 13. in Christ
Jesus, in Christ Jesus now, having been
chosen in Christ Jesus, having been redeemed by the blood of
Christ Jesus. having been called to faith,
given faith and repentance by God in Christ Jesus, and looking
continually to Christ Jesus, we who were far from his land,
far from his law, far from his people, are now made nigh by
the blood of Christ. You see how, like in those two
chapters we had Sunday, that in the ages to come he might
show the riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in
Christ Jesus. How were his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus? How that in our natural state,
Gentiles, we were without hope, without promise, without covenant,
without God, because we were without Christ Jesus. But now
in Christ Jesus, in him, you are complete in him. in him,
you who were far off, how far off? Well, away from God, wherever
that is, far off, far off. You're made nigh, you're made
nigh. And listen to this old hymn writer,
a debtor to mercy alone, of covenant grace I sing, nor fear with his
righteousness on my person and praises to bring. The terrors
of law and of God with me have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience
and blood hides all my sins and transgressions from view. So near to God, nearer I cannot
be, for in the person of his dear son I am as near as now in Christ Jesus. You, who
were so far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ, by the
blood of Christ, nothing but the blood of Christ. John Thornberry
and I were walking down the street in Louisburg, Pennsylvania, shortly
after he moved there in the early 60s, been 35 years ago, I guess. 30 some odd, anyway. And we walked
by the First Baptist Church of Louisburg, Pennsylvania. I believe
it was Louisburg, one of those towns. Louisburg, I'm almost
sure. There was a historical marker out in front of that First
Baptist Church. And on that marker said, Robert
Lowry, pastored here, certain date. And he wrote the hymn, What Can
Wash Away My Sin? Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.
What Can Make Me Whole Again? Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.
And John said to me, in that building right there
where he pastored, he wrote that hymn. They've taken all the songs
out of the songbook having to do with the blood of Jesus. They
don't say them anymore. That's what can happen. But I
tell you, that's how we are made now. Without the shedding of
blood, there is no remission. No remission. What can wash away
my sin? What can make me whole? Only
the blood of Jesus. Verse 14, look at this. Now,
let's read these verses carefully. He is our peace. Underscore that. He is our peace. He, Christ,
is our peace. who hath made both one." Who's
that talking about? Well, that's one with God and
Jew and Gentile one. He hath made both one and hath
broken down the middle wall of petition between Jew and Gentile. There was a wall between the
court of the Gentiles and the court of the Jews in the Old
Temple. But that's not the wall he's
talking about. He's talking about the wall of the circumcision
and the ceremonial laws and the types and the sacrifices and
all those things in which these Jews participated, most of them
trusted. The Gentiles were left out. But
Christ has come and fulfilled all these. peace. He is our sanctification. He is our righteousness. He is
our high priest. He is our tabernacle. He is all
these things, and he has broken down that wall of petition between
Jew and Gentile. He is the tabernacle where God
meets men and men meet God. There is no temple to which we
come and offer sacrifice. There is no mercy seat. Christ
is our mercy seat. There is no priest waiting for
us to come to confess. so that he can take an offering
and go to God. Our Lord, by one offering, has
protected forever them that are sanctified. He is our high priest.
He is our Passover lamb slain. He is the Lamb of God. He is
the Atonement. He is the altar. Circumcision
is of the heart. It is a sign of a work of grace
within. Now, watch this. He is our peace. Underscore that,
"...who hath made both one, one in Christ, Jew and Gentile, broken
down that wall of petition, those ceremonial laws and holy days,
and touch not, taste not, handle not, having abolished," what's
this? "...having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, put away our enemies, even the law of commandments
contained in the ordinances But to make in himself of the two,
Jew and Gentile, one new man, so make in peace. One way to
God, that's Christ. One offering, that's his blood.
Look across the page there at Ephesians 4, verse 4, there's
one body, there's one spirit, Even as you are called in one
hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God
and Father, who is above all and through all and in you all,
Christ hath made us one. But to make, underscore that,
in himself of the two, one new man, he reconciled both Jew and
Gentile in one body, the body of his flesh His mystical body,
the church, one body. And this he did on the cross.
And he slew our mutual enemies. Jews didn't have one enemy, Gentiles
didn't have another. Satan, sin, transgressions, evil,
the law of commandments took them all away. And he's our preacher. Look at verse 17. And he came
and preached. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
Apostle and High Priest of our profession. He is not only our
High Priest, He is our Apostle. God who at sundry times spake
in times past by the prophets hath in these days spoken by
his Son. Moses wrote, God will raise up
the prophet from among you, him you shall hear. A man won't hear
him, he won't hear from God. And he came and preached peace to you that were far off as the
Gentiles and to them who were nigh. But they were nigh, but
they were far off too. They had missed the gospel. But
they claimed to be nigh. They were his national people. Peace. He came and preached peace.
He said, The Spirit of God is upon me, he hath anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor, wherever I find them, Jew or
Gentile, bond or free, male or female. Peace. Now let us go over this, verse
8, for through him, through him, through Christ, we both, Jew and Gentile, have
access by one Spirit to the Father. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Other foundations can no man lay than that which is
laid, Christ Jesus. None of the name unto heaven
given among men. We are complete in him. Through
him, we both, Jew and Gentile, we both have access by one Spirit,
not without the Spirit of God, not without the new birth, not
without the calling. Now without a revelation of who
he is and who we are and how we come through Christ by one
Spirit under the Father. Now therefore, watch this, this
is beautiful. Now therefore he said, now therefore
you are no more strangers, no more strangers to God No more
strangers to the foreigners to the grace of God, to the love
of God, to the name of the Messiah. We're no longer strangers. We're
no more foreigners. We're no part among his people.
But now we're fellow citizens. We're citizens of the kingdom
of God. We're citizens of the household of God. We're sons
of God. We belong to one household. And we're built, who's he talking
about here? He's talking about angels and
men. He's talking about prophets and
apostles. He says that we're built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jew and Gentile,
Old and New Testament saints, saints above, saints below, saints
in the earth, saints of all ages, saints in all places. We're built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, underscore this, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief cornerstone. Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. He's the strength of the building.
He's the beauty and glory of the building. He keeps the building
together. All of these Jews and Gentiles,
angels and men, Men, Jew and Gentile, Old and New Testament
Saints, Saints above, Saints below, Saints in the earth now,
Saints of all ages, all generations, they are the building of God.
Turn to 1 Peter 2 and listen to this. 1 Peter 2. See, the Lord God does not dwell
in temples made with hands, buildings. God dwells in the hearts of his
people. He dwells in the temple of God,
made up of his people. 1 Peter 2, verse 1, Therefore
laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and
envies, and all evil speaking, all mistrust, as newborn babes
desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby.
If so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, gracious
to us. To whom coming the Lord Jesus
Christ, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed
of men, yeah, rejected of men, despised and rejected of men. Man of Saul was acquainted with
grief, but chosen of God and precious He's the living stone. He's the chief cornerstone. And
you also, watch this now, you also as living stones are built
up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. We're priests to
offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Well, that's so clear to me.
I just do not I do not understand, I cannot comprehend how men can
look at this word and study it verse by verse, read the old
fathers, read the apostles and prophets, and not see this. Verse 19 of our text Ephesians
2, you are no more strangers and foreigners, you are fellow
citizens with all the saints. in the household of God, all
believers of all ages, in heaven or earth, and you're built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets. It's Jesus Christ,
the prophets, all the prophets spake of him, gave the glory
to him, the apostles preached Christ. He's the chief cornerstone,
Jesus Christ himself. Now watch these verses as we
close. In whom? In whom all the building, all
the believers, every stone, every living stone, all the believers, doesn't matter who, where, when,
all the believers, every believer. There is no believer outside
of Christ. There is no Christian outside of Christ. There is no
child of God outside of Christ. There is no son of God outside
of Christ. In whom? all the building, every stone
brought in, fitly playing together, joined to Christ, joined to one
another in love, in unity, in spirit, in truth, in doctrine,
in objective, in goal, in all things, fitly, by his skill,
by his grace, by his power, fitly, praying together. You know, there's fellows in this church
at Bill Houses, and they take great, I don't like to use the
word pride, but that's a good pride and a bad pride, but they
take great pride in their workmanship. If it's not done right, they
don't do it. They do it right. You stand back
and look at it, it looks good. Everything fits. Everything is
where it's supposed to be. Every part of the building is
where it ought to be, so it fits, so it functions, so it renders
a service, so you're not ashamed of it. And this building of God,
this temple in which God dwells, of living stones, Christ is the
chief cornerstone that gives it the shape of the building
and the strength of the building and beauty of the building. It's
fitly framed together, fitly framed together, joined
to Christ and to one another, inseparable. You can't take one
stone out, you can't take one stone out. It's all there permanently. What God does, it will be forever,
Solomon said. Now listen, go on. And it groweth,
it's not finished yet. It lives. It's a living temple. It's lively stones. It's a living
temple. Living things grow. This pulpit
doesn't grow because it doesn't have any life. But anything that
has life grows. And this temple's growing. God's
adding the stones according to his will, according to his purpose,
according to his plan. He's adding the stones. It's
growing. in the building are growing in
grace, and growing in the knowledge of Christ, and growing in knowledge
of themselves, and of their function, and of their part, and growing
in joy and happiness, and growing in security, established and
settled, confidence. They're growing in consolation
and comfort. They're growing! And it's a holy temple. It's
a fit and holy temple in the Lord Jesus. in him. It's not something we're putting
together. This is not something that the great Baptist denomination
is doing for God. This is not something that Jews,
Gentiles, Protestants, Catholics, all the rest of them, are making
a contribution. This is his workmanship. He said,
I'll build my church. I'll build my church, and the
gates of hell will not prevail against it. There won't be a
stone knocked or displaced or removed, I'll build my church.
And it's growing. And it's a fit temple, it's a
holy temple in which God will dwell. It's a holy temple in
the Lord. Now, what's this? In whom you
also. Boy, I tell you, that's coming
down to me now. You also are built together. It's God that worketh in you.
Paul said, when he pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb, to reveal his Son in me. In me. In me. In whom you also are being
built and builded together with all these that have gone before
and these that are around you now and these that will come
for habitation of God. a habitation of God. Our Lord said, My Father and
I will come and dwell with you and be in you, a habitation of
God through the Spirit.