Father in Heaven, we are so thankful for all that you have
given us this day. Holy Spirit, we're so thankful
for the work that you have done and will do.
Even now, as we open Your word, we pray, Holy Spirit, that you
would transform us, that You would press the truth of this
Holy Word so deep into us, teaching us, rebuking us,
correcting us, and training us in righteousness, that even as
we who are in Christ exit this sanctuary today, a watching
world would know that there's something different.
It would be your fruits in and through us in a world that's
dark, Your people radiant because of Christ.
We pray this in your holy name, Jesus, Amen.
You would remain standing for the reading of God's Word.
The passage I'm reading from today is the same text we were
in last week. So if you were not here, I spent
the majority of time focusing on the first few verses of our
passage. And today we're going to pick up
where I left off last week, looking at what it means to be
seated with Christ in the heavenlies.
I'm going to begin in chapter 2, verse four, and read through
verse 10. But God, being rich in mercy,
because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we
were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ. By grace you have been saved and
raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He
might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and this is not your own doing.
It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one
may boast. For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Please be seated for a moment. I want you to reflect upon the
very best seat that you have ever set in a concert, a
sporting event, a banquet. The very best seat that you have
ever set in. Where was it?
When was it? Who were you with?
I've had the privilege of sitting in some amazing places,
start finish line of the Indy 505 or 6 years in a row when I
lived in Saint Louis. I have been in remarkable places
at concerts and sporting events, usually because of someone I
knew. Maybe the best seat my wife and
I've ever been given was for a concert that I did not want to
go to. This concert here in Dallas, one
show scheduled ended up needing 3, each one selling out very
quickly. And we were there in the
corporate sponsors box, not in a normal seat in the stadium, but
in a La Z Boy leather recliner. It was wonderful.
About two hours into the three hours show, I suddenly felt the
tap in the back of my head and it is my wife who is so
embarrassed that I had somehow fallen asleep in the midst of
this concert. She then looked at me and said
you don't deserve this seat and she was right.
And I knew immediately that will preach.
We are not living, most of us as Christians in the reality of
what Paul is saying here. Part of it's because when we
begin our discipleship in a way that is not really biblical, not
saturated in Scripture, it's hard to unwind what begins to
happen to us. Being in the Bible Belt, what
the culture says a Christian is, what a disciple of Christ is,
often looks different than what the Word of God itself says.
It's not so far different, but it's different enough.
In fact, I would say one of Satan's favorite words is the
Word almost. It's almost true.
It's almost right. There's things people who
proclaim Christ, say that they think are biblical, that are not
even in the Bible. Most of us, when we come to
saving faith, we're told all about grace, all about the free
gift of God's forgiveness, then coming to save the sinner's
prayer, receiving Christ. We're then told a whole list of
things that we've got to start doing.
Yes, if we're truly in Christ, our life does change.
We are no longer dead, but made alive.
As I preached last week, remember, we weren't spiritually
sick. We weren't a little bit immoral.
We were spiritually dead. There was no way we could have a
thought or affection or a pure desire for Christ apart from him
resurrecting us. And He did.
He made us alive in Christ. Justification is a legal term
that speaks of an act where we because of what Christ has done
to us and His righteousness imputed to us, we are seen as
forgiven and free in Christ. It's a remarkable gift to know
that this is God's free grace. He pardons our sin, accepts us
as righteousness in His sight, based not on our self but on
Jesus Christ. But for many of us, our
discipleship didn't look like the way Paul was discipling the
people of Ephesus. He is going to get to the
specific ways God's people should live in the world.
He's going to speak about relationships like marriage,
parenting. He is going to talk about what
it means to walk in the life that we now have in Christ in
very specific ways. But before he gets to the
behavior, he is telling this young church that he planted
that what you must understand is what's changed about your
identity, about who you are. And he says three things.
He speaks of us. I've already mentioned being
made alive in Christ. That has to do with
resurrection. Lazarus come out.
Just like Lazarus who is dead physically, we are dead
spiritually. And by his grace, the Lord says
rise, come out. And if that's you, you are one
with Christ. He then speaks in verse 6 about
how we're raised up with him there.
He's referencing the ascension. And then he says, and this is
where we're going to start today and seated us with him in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now this is really important.
Each of those actions is in the heiress.
That means it's past tense. What Paul is saying to the
Saints and Ephesus and the word St. doesn't mean a super highly
committed Christian. All Christians are Saints.
That's what God's Word teaches us.
And So what he's saying about these Saints is that you have
already been made alive, resurrected, you have already
ascended. You are already right now
sitting with Jesus in the heavenly places in Christ, the
best seat forever, forever. But it doesn't start when we
die. It starts when we have been
given new life in Christ. If you're in Jesus, you are
right now sitting with him in the heavenlies.
Now this word heavenly is translated into the ESV.
Heavenly places is unique to Paul and unique to this letter.
Paul uses it at the beginning of the letter in chapter 1, verse
three. He says blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
He's going to use that same phrase again in verse 20 of
chapter 1 when he speaks of the immeasurable greatness of
Christ's power toward us who believe according to the working
of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised
him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the
heavenly places. He uses it as we've just read in
chapter 2, verse 6, and then near the end of his letter is
Paul is teaching about spiritual warfare.
He speaks of how we are in a battle, and the verse that he
uses in chapter 6, verse 12 says this.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against those cosmic powers,
over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of
evil in the heavenly places. So This is why it matters what
Paul is teaching the people of Ephesus, those who are in
Christ, the Saints, is that because of who they are in
Christ, their union, because they are seated with Jeezy
Jesus, they have all the authority because of who we are
in Christ. This is really important.
Most of us are not living in the reality of this truth in our
daily walk. Let me ask you a question.
Does this reality you being seated in the heavenly places
with Christ, does it inform the way you think about every day,
every meeting of every day? Does your small group Bible
study spend a lot of time talking about what it means to
be seated with Christ now, not just one day after we die?
So much of our discipleship is not focused on that.
Instead, it's focused on our behaviors.
Did you look at this? Did you not look at this?
How are you thinking about the ways in which you give?
All these things matter, but it must come out of the identity of
who we are. So what does this mean to be
seated with Christ? Well, first let's talk about
what it was for Christ in the book of Hebrews, chapter 1.
The author of that book, really the preacher of that sermon,
Speaking of Jesus, says this. He is the radiance of the glory
of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he that's Jesus
upholds the universe by the word of his power after making
purification for our sins. That means his life, his death,
his resurrection, his reign after making purification for
our sins. He that's Jesus, sat down at the
right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much
superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more
excellent than theirs. And then later in the chapter
verse 13, the author, the preacher says, and to which of
the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand until I make
your enemies a footstool for your feet.
OK, This is the 6th Sunday of Easter.
On Easter Sunday I preached the last words that are recorded by
Matthew and the Gospel according to Matthew.
And that is when Jesus says to them, All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and the Son, teaching them to obey
all. I've come into you.
Then what does he say? The last words of Matthew's
Gospel. And surely I will be with you
always to the end of the age. How can that be?
How can it be? They watch as Acts records it.
Jesus move into the sky as he has sinned.
How can he ascend to this throne to sit at the right hand of the
Father and yet still be present with us?
It has to do with the reality of the Holy Spirit.
But what does it mean that he's seated there?
First, He's in a realm of glory, the greatest realm of glory.
He is returned to that place. Second, the fact that he is
seated signifies victory. It symbolizes what he said on
the cross. It is finished.
I have conquered our great enemy, sin, Satan, and death.
Sitting symbolizes that great victory, that there in this
realm of glory, he sits. He rests, but he's not finished
with his reigning there on that throne.
As he rest, he also reigns. He reigns because everything in
heaven and on earth is under him.
And he waits until the Father says return.
And when he returns, he's not coming as an infant in a cradle.
He's coming as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
And when he comes, every knee will bow and tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. Now here's what's utterly
astonishing. If you are in Jesus Christ, you
are seated with Him right now. You are resting in Him in the
realm of glory. You, because He is in you and
you are in him, are reigning with Him, who is the one who has
authority over all. This is why Paul emphasizes and
laborers this new identity. You and I have an earthly zip
code. You have an earthly address.
But for those who are in Christ, this is not our home.
Our home is already in the heavenly places, and we already
are sitting with Jesus in Jesus. What might that do to our small
groups? What might they do to our daily
devotions if we remember where we are and who we are in?
This is mysterious. And because it's mysterious,
it's our temptation to ignore it.
And when we ignore it, we do so to our peril.
Because this is true of who we are.
Tim Jeffers. This week a friend elder in our
church came across as old Scottish Presbyterian from the
19th century named Robert Smith Candlisch.
He wrote and preached on this particular phrase.
Sitting with Jesus seated in the heavenlies.
Listen to what he says. Sitting with Christ at the right
hand of the majesty on high, that's the Father.
Sitting with Christ at the right hand of the majesty on high.
You, that's whoever's in Christ. You sit very near the Father.
Not one day you will sit near the Father.
Right now, brother, sister in Christ, you're sitting in Christ
near the Father, close beside him, as it were, under the very
I with which he regards Christ, with the very embrace in which
he clasped his Son to his bosom. And you sit above all else but
God. All outward things you may
command to be your servants in the Lord.
I don't think much of our discipleship centers on this
reality. We run to the back half of the
letter of Ephesians, missing the reality of what he's saying at
the front and what's at the front and what's at the back.
Both matter, but getting them in the right order is most
important. If you're in Jesus, this is now
and forever the best seat. If you're in Christ Jesus, this
is now and forever the best seat.
The best seats require planning. Best seats require payment.
Best seats require person. Every time I receive great
seats, there was some plan towards those.
Or every time I've provided great seats, like later today,
it's because planning took place, a reservation was made.
Confidence that the reservation will be kept as part of the
plan, payment is made. Somebody purchased those tickets
for me. It's somebody of influence,
somebody of power that got me into that suite that enabled me
to sleep like a baby for a little while.
But here's what we don't think about enough.
The plan for you, sister, brother in Christ.
The plan for me, your brother in Christ.
The plan for the Saints at Ephesus for every Christian of
all time. That plan was written before all
creation. Your name was in the reservation
book. If you're in Christ, that is how
far back your testimony goes. Meditate on that.
Since the love, even in the mystery, the plan was made.
That plan included payment, and the payment of that seat was the
very blood, the very life of the man that we're seated with in
that seat. Do you see how Paul phrased it,
verse 6, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in
the heavenly places in Christ Jesus?
He was the payment. He was the person, a person so
meek and humble, yet no one more powerful.
All authority in heaven on earth has been given to me.
But here's the question, why was this such a burden to Paul?
Why did he start here and stay here for some time?
And what does it mean for my life today?
Let me quote Candlush again, answering the question.
Where are the heavenlies? Is that just some place far
away, that periodically I will take things to the Lord and
receive from Him? No.
Wherever a believer is, there are the heavenlies in his
closet, his family, his shop, his office, for in the mall he
has in his inmost soul what is the essence of the heavenlies.
It's your union with Jesus. And So what that means
practically, and I can't get more practical to this, is that
when you are seated in the conference room or in the
classroom or in the corner, when you are on a job interview or a
second date, when you are in carpool or in the waiting room
or even at the DMV, When you are on the bench in the Pew or on
the hot seat, Christian St. you are seated in the heavenlies.
And if we believe that's true, it changes everything about the
way we see our day, the appointments we have, the
errands we run, the dreams we pursue.
If you're not in Christ, then you're not in that seat.
You're still on your own throne, seeking to rule your own world.
And all that I'm preaching this morning, all that's been
promised to you is not yet yours.
And if you never turn to Christ, if you never rest and receive
Him alone for salvation, you will remain on your throne for
all eternity, separated from Him.
Listen carefully, how do we receive this seat?
How do we receive this salvation?
Paul's very clear to labor throughout all of his letters
about the grace of God. In verse 7, he seems to
interrupt his thoughts, even speaking about the grace of God,
moving into verses 8 and 9 saying for by grace you have
been saved through faith, and this not of your own doing.
It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no man
may boast, no one may boast. Now this is important.
You know this doctrine because we preach it all the time.
But like me, we are constantly tempted to smuggle something of
our own flesh into that reality. I'm not as bad as them.
I'm doing pretty good. I know more dead authors than
they do. I am more zealous than them.
Friends, you and I have the same thing in common.
There's nothing we bring. Not one work, not one thought,
not one discipline, not one idea.
We're in a moment. We're going to sing naked.
Come to thee for dress nothing in my hand.
I bring you sing that, I sing that.
And yet I'm so tempted still to be smuggling something of
myself, and there's nothing, no works.
Now this is important. At this point many people begin
to confuse the gospel. Some of them say I've come to
face and because works don't matter, I can live any way I
want. If that's how you are living, I
want you to hear this clearly. You should have very little
confidence that you're in the seat.
You should have very little confidence that you're saved
because when someone is saved, they went from being dead to now
suddenly being resurrected to life.
And it doesn't just happen that forgiveness is all it's about.
The new life. And the person begins to take
deep roots. The desire for Christ begins to
grow. And suddenly your love for the
Word of God, your love for the things of God, your desire to
worship God begins to swell in your heart and mind.
None of it by you, none of it by your works.
You can't boast. All because of His love and
mercy and even the gift of faith that He gets us.
We are saved by grace, by faith alone, but never by a faith that
is alone. And that's why verse 10 must be
coupled with eight and nine. It says this.
For we are His workmanship, created in Jesus for good works
which God prepared before him that we should walk in them.
Look at that verse again. This is to those Saints, those
who are in Christ. It's to Christians, for we are
his workmanship. The word for workmanship in the
Greek is poema. It means poem.
It is a general term for a work of art.
Here's what that means. Richard Phillips says God's
highest masterpiece is his spiritual transformation of the
man or woman long dead in sin. That's all of us who God raised
from spiritual death and now is saved to do good works in his
name. The good works that we do in His
name are not what save us. They do not earn our salvation
because salvation is by grace through faith alone.
We who have been resurrected, we who have been ascended, we who
are right now sitting with Jesus next to God the Father on high
in Christ, we want to live for him.
We want no part of our life to not look like He desires for it
to look. We're changed and we're being
changed. That's sanctification.
Sanctification is not an act like justification A1 time
reality. It is a work of God's free grace
whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God
and are enabled more and more to die into sin and live under
righteousness. So friend, let me ask you a few
questions. Are you in that seat?
Do you know what it means to trust in Christ alone for
salvation? Do you desire to be holy because
of who Christ is? Do you desire to live according
to His Word? If the answer is yes, that
transformational work is at play, praise God.
Some of you today might be here and you're being honest about a
particular struggle. You might even say I struggle to
desire God. Well, let me ask you to take it
a level lower as you hear what I'm preaching, as you hear what
Paul wrote, is anything stirring in you?
Is there a part of you that's saying I desire to desire those
things and take them to the Lord and ask him for the grace to
meet that prayer? And I trust that he will.
Poema poem, a general term for a work of art.
Sinclair Ferguson says this and as I say this, I want you to
think about the people who are in Christ all around you.
Listen to what he says. The Church Triumphant is an art
gallery where God displays reflections of his glory.
It is a Portrait Gallery in which the family likeness is
seen in countless different individuals who together display
His infinite glory. But here's the key.
If you're in Christ, you are being molded by Him like clay in
the hands of the Potter to do good works that will bring him
glory. You who are in Christ, seated
with Him in the heavenlies, are left here now like me on earth,
to live for His glory, displaying His glorious work
through us. These works that He's called
you, these works that He's called me to do, these works
were written by Him also before all creation.
That's mind blowing. But I want you to hear one final
thing. While we are the Master's
masterpiece, His work in and through us, we are not to be
seated on a shelf. We are not to be hung on a wall.
We are to live in the reality of that identity everywhere we go.
And the righteousness of Christ, the radiance of Christ shines
from us all by his grace, all for his glory.
Last thing, sometimes you might feel like God is distant.
These two pictures are being seated right now with Christ in
the heavenlies and the picture of us being clay in the hands of
the masterful artworker. We couldn't be closer.
He has you for all who are in Christ.
This is who you are today if you're here, but you don't know
him. Oh, I pray that you recognize
that maybe why you're here was so that you could hear this
truth and surrender your life to Christ today.
Father, thank you so much for your word.
In just a few verses, Paul unveils a reality that is so
hard for us to believe and understand.
But through the working of your spirits, you give us those eyes.
You give us those ears and most significantly, you give us a
heart that now beats for you. I pray that you would bless us
even as we sing with voice full the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
Please stand.