1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:01,840 You know I asked him to sing that song. 2 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:04,640 I should have told him when to sing it instead of singing it 3 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:07,800 right before I preach. Makes me cry every time. 4 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:12,280 It's good to see you all. There's more of you than I 5 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:20,160 thought there would be today. Our passage for today is 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:25,480 Ephesians chapter 2 verses one through 7. 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:27,640 Go ahead and sit down. You don't have to stand, 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:39,720 although I have to stand. Kent Hughes in his commentary 9 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,080 on, on Ephesians, refers to these verses and, and likens 10 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:51,120 them to to climbing at the top of Mount McKinley, having 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,440 started at Death Valley just 80 miles away. 12 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,000 And that you on the one hand, you start 280 feet below sea 13 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,960 level and by the time you get to the end, you're approaching 14 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,280 15,000 feet. It's it's a passage that takes 15 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,320 us from the lowest of lows and takes us to the very throne room 16 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:16,080 of heaven. And I'm excited to preach this 17 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,240 morning. Let's go ahead and we'll start 18 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:23,640 by reading our our passage. It begins and it says, and you 19 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:28,920 are dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly 20 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:33,400 walked according to the course of this world, according to the 21 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,800 Prince of the power of the air and of the spirit that is now 22 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:42,440 walking in the sons of disobedience among them. 23 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,680 We too, all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, 24 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,440 indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we're 25 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,320 by nature children of wrath even as the rest. 26 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:02,240 But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with 27 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:07,160 which He has loved us even when we were dead in our 28 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,240 transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. 29 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:17,040 By grace you have been saved. And He raised us up with Him and 30 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:21,400 seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 31 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,560 so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches 32 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:32,800 of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 33 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,640 Backing up just a little bit, if we go to Ephesians chapter 1, 34 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:42,440 verses 18 and 19, Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers and 35 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,800 he prayed that the eyes of their hearts might be enlightened so 36 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:50,520 that they will know what is the hope of his calling and order, 37 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,160 the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints, and 38 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:58,240 what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who 39 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:02,080 believe. As we approach our text today, I 40 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,400 believe we would do well to see it as a as an enlarged 41 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:11,720 commentary on the surpassing greatness of God's power being 42 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:18,000 exercised towards us. In last week's text, Paul 43 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:23,320 highlighted God's power in a resurrecting and exalting Christ 44 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,760 In the coming weeks, we'll see God's power once again emphasize 45 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,600 when he talks about how God used his power, how God exercised his 46 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,920 power to to reunite and reconcile Jews and Gentiles and 47 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:38,480 how that Paul is in possession of his Apostolic ministry as a 48 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:43,720 result of of God's power. But in today's text, Paul is 49 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,640 going to emphasize that every Christian has been the recipient 50 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:52,840 and object of God's life giving power and that God has acted to 51 00:03:52,840 --> 00:04:00,280 bring them from death to life. Regarding the structure of our 52 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,800 passage today in the in the original Greek, for those of you 53 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:08,400 that are Greek scholars, verses one through 7 comprise one 54 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:14,840 sentence in which the subject doesn't even appear until verse 55 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:19,040 4, and the main verbs, of which there are three, don't appear 56 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:26,880 until verses 5 and 6. The main point of these verses 57 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,520 being that that God has made sinners alive, that he has 58 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,360 raised them, that He has seated them with Christ in the 59 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:37,240 heavenlies in order that the greatness of his mercy and 60 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,960 kindness might be displayed in the ages to come. 61 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,200 The apostle doesn't begin our chapter there, though. 62 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:51,800 Chapter 2 begins not with the discussion of grace and how it 63 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,280 has been applied to the lives of believers. 64 00:04:54,280 --> 00:05:00,960 Instead, instead, Paul prefers to to vividly describe what the 65 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,360 lives of the believers looked like before God transformed 66 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,840 them. There was a there was a desire 67 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:11,480 on on Paul's part to to make incredibly clear just how 68 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,320 desperate their situation and and by extension our situation 69 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:21,520 was before Christ. I mean, take for example, and 70 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,840 just contemplate the the phrase you know, and you were dead in 71 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:29,040 your transgressions and sins. I mean, it rolls off the tongue 72 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,480 so easily. You know, I fear sometimes that 73 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,200 we fail to appreciate the, the magnitude of, of, of that 74 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,640 statement. You are dead in your 75 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:44,400 transgressions and sin. Billy Crystal, that esteemed 76 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:49,200 theologian, had this to say as as as a miracle Max about death 77 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:52,080 in the 1987 called classic The Princess Bride. 78 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,640 He said, he said, he said there's a big difference between 79 00:05:55,640 --> 00:06:01,720 mostly dead and all dead. You know, mostly dead is 80 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:08,360 slightly alive, but the man is. When the man is all dead, he 81 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:13,440 muses, you know, there's only one thing left to do, to search 82 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,360 through his pockets for loose change. 83 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,080 And, and, and Paul says this is this is your position. 84 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,240 You are, you are not mostly dead. 85 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,400 You are not a little bit alive. You are you are dead, dead 86 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,960 without hope as a song we sang earlier, he said without hope 87 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:37,200 and without light. So Paul begins our our passage 88 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,720 by reminding the Ephesians that that before God acted on their 89 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,560 behalf that they were dead in their trespasses and sins. 90 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,920 This, this is death that he that he speaks of must surely 91 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,400 describe their, their physical, I'm sorry, not their physical, 92 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,960 but their spiritual state, not their physical condition. 93 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:59,080 Because as we go on and verses and verses 2 and 3, his 94 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,560 characterization of their, of their actions demonstrates that 95 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,880 they were very much alive physically. 96 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,400 This idea of, of, of spiritual life and death is something that 97 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,000 that Jesus spoke of himself. And in John chapter 5, verse 24, 98 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,600 when he says truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my words 99 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:24,560 and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come 100 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:29,720 into judgement, but is passed out of death into life. 101 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:35,760 This the same understanding of, of a spiritual death is it's 102 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,440 something that was was familiar to the to the Jews of that day. 103 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:44,160 I mean, even those within Hellenistic Judaism, Philo 104 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:50,320 writes saying that estrangement from God is to be considered as 105 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:54,200 true death in contrast to physical death. 106 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:59,640 We, along with with Paul, should not hesitate to affirm to to the 107 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,920 world at large that however physically fit or however 108 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:09,200 mentally fit, however alert a person may be apart from God, 109 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:15,400 that person is dead. And those who who live in the 110 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,080 body without a relationship with Christ are dead. 111 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,800 Even while they live, they, they're unable, just as a, just 112 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,360 as a person who is physically dead is unable to communicate 113 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,280 with, with someone else. So those who are spiritually 114 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:33,600 dead or unable to communicate with God are separated from God. 115 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,000 He says that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. 116 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:42,600 I mean trespasses and sins. They're, they're, they're 117 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,160 synonyms, but they do have slight differences. 118 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,640 Decide to have of trespass involves making a wrong step or 119 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:52,880 crossing a known boundary or deviating from a right path. 120 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,000 I don't know where he's sitting, but my son Caleb regularly 121 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:04,120 accuses me of trespassing on the pickleball court when my feet, 122 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:06,960 inadvertently or not, stray into the kitchen. 123 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,480 To sin, on the other hand, carries the connotation of 124 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,280 missing the mark are falling short of a standard and and 125 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:21,560 taking together these these two words, they they cover both our 126 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:25,720 sins of of omission and Commission sins, the things that 127 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:28,360 we have done and things that we have not done. 128 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,120 Paul goes on to say in verse 2 that that trespassing sin were 129 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:36,440 the hallmarks of our lives before Christ. 130 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,080 He says that they walked in trespassing sin. 131 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:44,280 This this idea of of walking speaks to their manner of of 132 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,120 life both in their conduct and their lifestyle. 133 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:58,560 Paul identifies 3 influences as controlling and directing their 134 00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:01,240 prior existence. This is that they had walked 135 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:06,000 according to the course of the world, that they had walked 136 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,480 according to the Prince of the power of the air, and that they 137 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:13,560 had walked according to the lusts of their flesh. 138 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:19,120 What does Paul mean when he says that the Ephesian believers had 139 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,360 in times passed, walked according to the course of this 140 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:24,760 world? And the Greek gets literally 141 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,960 translated according to the age of this world. 142 00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:31,680 You know 2 concepts are at play here. 143 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:35,520 The first is that of time. The evil day in which they lived 144 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:38,560 is contrasted with the age to come. 145 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:46,240 The second is the idea of of the world which fits its values, 146 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:48,520 whatever they may be, whether it's whether it's secular 147 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:54,280 secularism, consumerism, communism, capitalism, edgerism, 148 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,600 any ISM, whatever it is that the world is putting out there, 149 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:06,800 these things fight against God's Kingdom in their past. 150 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,920 Paul says it that these these unbelievers had fallen into 151 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,200 lockstep with the ways of the world. 152 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:15,760 John started in talking about how it is that the world 153 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,280 influences the lives of individuals. 154 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,400 Says this. He says people tend not to have 155 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:24,000 a mind of their own, but to surrender to the oppressive 156 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:25,760 influence of the popular culture. 157 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:30,440 We were all the same until Jesus liberated us. 158 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:35,440 We drifted along in the stream of this world's ideas of living. 159 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,320 The second controlling influence that Paul references is the 160 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:46,640 devil referred to in this text as the Prince of the power of 161 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:50,240 the air. Elsewhere in Scripture, he is 162 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:54,680 described as the ruler of this world in John 1231. 163 00:11:55,040 --> 00:12:00,280 Where is the Prince of demons in Mark 934, or even as the God of 164 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,440 this world in Second Corinthians 4/4? 165 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,640 Paul describes him as presiding over the spiritual forces that 166 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,560 are influencing and shaping the behaviors of those in rebellion 167 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:17,240 against God. So what Paul is saying here is, 168 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:21,400 is not only are the standards of the unregenerate in accordance 169 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:27,720 with the temporal values of the world in which they live, but 170 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,800 they're also under control of the ruler of the realm of the 171 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:35,320 air, or Satan. The spirit is said to be working 172 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,720 among the sons of disobedience, The sons of disobedience. 173 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:40,920 I read that and I said that should be the name of a heavy 174 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:49,000 metal rock band, and it is. I do not recommend their music. 175 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:54,720 This idea of the sons of, of disobedience, it carries A 176 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,400 connotation not necessarily just of disobedience to a command, 177 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:03,080 but also of a of an unbelief, a a heartfelt refusal to place 178 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:08,880 one's confidence in something. So, so when, when, when Paul 179 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,120 talks about the sons of disobedience, in this case, he's 180 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:15,600 talking about those who have not believed the word of truth, the 181 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:17,160 gospel that was that was preached. 182 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:22,720 If we go to 1st Corinthians 113, it says in him you also, after 183 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,040 listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your 184 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:29,080 salvation, having also believed you were sealed in him with the 185 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,120 Holy Spirit of promise, that there are some that on hearing 186 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,000 the gospel, believe the gospel and we're sealed by the Holy 187 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,120 Spirit of promise. These are not the sons of 188 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,400 disobedience. The sons of disobedience are 189 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:45,040 those who, who, having heard that, reject that message, who 190 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:48,520 refuse to place their confidence in the Word of God. 191 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,800 And verse 3 there's a there's a shift. 192 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:03,240 No longer does does Paul speak directly to the Ephesians as 193 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:05,280 though he's speaking to them and not including himself. 194 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,000 Prior to this time, he's he's talked about you and you and 195 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:10,120 you. But by the time we get to verse 196 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,440 three, he says among them to we all formerly, all of a sudden he 197 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:18,280 includes himself in this in this in this message, he links his 198 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,960 experience with with theirs. It's not as though somehow their 199 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,840 experience with as being an under generate people was 200 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,960 different than his. We all share this same 201 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:36,080 experience. All human beings in an 202 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:40,080 unregenerate state are seen in the same state of rebellion 203 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,600 against, against God. There's not, there's not just 204 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:49,080 pockets. Paul states that in addition to 205 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,520 our having walked according to the course of this world, in 206 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:56,120 addition to our being under the influence of of Satan, that we 207 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,760 also formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh. 208 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,680 When Paul speaks about the lusts of the flesh in this context, he 209 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:08,040 is identifying the flesh as that which is opposed to God, that 210 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,160 that inclination toward those thoughts and behaviors that are 211 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:17,400 contrary the character of God. The desires of the flesh are are 212 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,240 parallel to the works of the flesh that are listed in 213 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:24,920 Galatians 519 through 21. Those being immorality, 214 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:31,840 impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, 215 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:37,360 jealousy, outbursts, anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 216 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:42,640 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. 217 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:48,760 You might have noticed as I as I read the text that they're that 218 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:52,400 that that in our list are included desires of both the 219 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:57,360 flesh and the mind. It depicts a person that is 220 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:00,360 given over not only to their base physical desires, but also 221 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,240 to a thought life that runs counter to what God desires. 222 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,200 I'm struck as I as I read this passage to to to see just how 223 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:15,960 pervasive depravity is. When we read this passage, we 224 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,600 don't see that every person is as depraved as they can be, but 225 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:23,960 we certainly would be remiss to think that sin has not marred, 226 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:28,440 at least in some degree, every nook and cranny of our 227 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:34,960 existence. Paul reminds his readers that 228 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:39,880 their former physician wasn't that of a child of wrath, even 229 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:44,880 as the rest this phrase like like the sons of disobedience as 230 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,760 a way of saying that they were, that they were marked by or 231 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:52,280 characterized by or destined to. What Paul is saying here is that 232 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,880 they had been destined to experience the wrath of God had 233 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,280 he not intervened on their behalf. 234 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,200 The wrath of God. It's not something we speak 235 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,359 about a lot. Sinclair Ferguson describes it 236 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,680 as the settled hostility of God's holy will toward 237 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,400 everything that rebels against him. 238 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:21,480 In his letter, Paul speaks of the future day of wrath that we 239 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,520 can be certain of because because it's also seen at this 240 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,920 time in a limited way. And then we go to Romans 18, and 241 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:33,080 it tells us the wrath of God is revealed at this time against 242 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:37,560 all unrighteousness. And while the wrath of God is 243 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:41,400 not always revealed in a spectacular way, it is often 244 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:47,600 seen even in the abandonment of sinners to their own lusts and 245 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:54,640 desires and to the unrestrained consequences of their actions. 246 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:05,040 So it's a dark picture that Paul begins painting here at the 247 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:11,480 beginning of of chapter 2. Death, slavery, and condemnation 248 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,800 are are the three primary designators of of our lost human 249 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:17,880 condition. No mention here is made of human 250 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,200 beings bearing the image of God, albeit imperfectly. 251 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,920 John Stott writes that Paul's diagnosis remains outside of 252 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:34,080 Christ, that we are dead because of transgressions and sins, 253 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,080 enslaved by the world, the flesh and the devil, and condemned 254 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:46,310 under the wrath of God. That said then, it's a 255 00:18:46,310 --> 00:18:52,230 monumental failure to recognize and appreciate the gravity of 256 00:18:52,230 --> 00:18:57,590 the human condition apart from God, and yet we see it every day 257 00:18:57,670 --> 00:19:01,230 that people fail to appreciate it properly. 258 00:19:02,630 --> 00:19:05,510 It explains people's naive faith in superficial remedies. 259 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,720 I have the opportunity every three months to to teach our new 260 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:13,680 members class and we walk our way through the Baptist Faith 261 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:15,680 and Message. And I'm reminded of a portion of 262 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:21,200 Article 15 which reads Means and methods used for the improvement 263 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:26,240 of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can 264 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,280 be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the 265 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:34,960 regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in 266 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,840 Jesus Christ. There's there's an understanding 267 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:42,040 there in in in those words of just how desperate the situation 268 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:47,240 is that faces an unregenerate world that to try to address 269 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:51,520 that by any means other than the gospel is foolishness. 270 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,480 The Bible supplies us well with images to help us understand the 271 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,320 the total inability of our of our dead human nature. 272 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:05,520 I mean, imagine being at Lazarus's tomb. 273 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:09,280 He's dead. He's been there three days. 274 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,680 Jesus comes, and it's not like one of us runs into the tomb and 275 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,240 says, Lazarus, Lazarus need to get up. 276 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:17,920 Jesus is here. Come on now. 277 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:20,800 He's a wonderful savior. All you got to do is reach out 278 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,760 to him. Just take the first step and 279 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:29,600 he'll meet you halfway. And of course, of course we 280 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:31,080 wouldn't say something like that. 281 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:33,560 You know, he's been dead like 3 days. 282 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,240 I mean like dead dead. Like I said, he stinks. 283 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:41,520 And yet when Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave, he 284 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,360 came. You know, Jesus gave mirrors to 285 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:48,600 hear, the strength to move, breath to live, and a will to 286 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,240 obey. Lazarus responded. 287 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:53,880 He came out of that grave. Yes he did. 288 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:59,200 But Jesus was responsible for his new life. 289 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:18,240 Verse 4 marks the turning point in our passage, I think when we 290 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,320 read about the spiritual death, when we read of this enslaved, 291 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:23,640 when we read about the top condemnation that marked the 292 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:27,440 lives of those without Christ were were unprepared for the 293 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:32,880 glorious but God that we find in verse 4. 294 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,000 You know we were objects of wrath, but because of his great 295 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:42,480 love for us, God exercised mercy upon us. 296 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:47,240 We were dead and dead people as we spoke about do not rise, but 297 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,080 God has made us alive with Christ. 298 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,640 We were slaves in a position of dishonor and powerlessness, but 299 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:57,200 God has raised us up with Christ and sent us in a position of 300 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:07,240 honor and power. Pope again's in verse 4 by 301 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,200 announcing that God's response to humanity's seemingly helpless 302 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:14,480 plight was motivated by his overwhelming merciful and loving 303 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,960 character. Paul hears his echoing Old 304 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:21,200 Testament themes that emphasize God's willingness to rescue his 305 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:25,640 people time and time again, even when they deserved wrath. 306 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:29,880 Time after time in the Old Testament, God is described as 307 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:35,200 abounding in steadfast love or abundantly merciful in context 308 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,760 where he might have justifiably poured out His wrath upon his 309 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,920 people. There's perhaps no place better 310 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,440 stated than in than in Romans 58, where we are told, but God 311 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:49,760 demonstrates his own love for us, and that while we were yet 312 00:22:49,760 --> 00:23:05,200 sinners, Christ died for us. In the opening words of verse 5, 313 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,400 Paul restates our former position. 314 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,680 He says even when we were dead in our transgressions. 315 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,560 It serves to further highlight the mercy and the grace of God. 316 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:24,840 I think when we, I think when we go back and we see that there 317 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,400 was a but God, you know, there in verse 4, you know, because 318 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:29,880 because of that, But God, I think that we, I think that we 319 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:34,400 accept something, you know, maybe, maybe it won't be quite 320 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:38,280 as bad. You know, perhaps, perhaps a 321 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:42,880 little bit of mercy will be bestowed upon me, but I don't 322 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:45,760 think anything prepares an individual for for that 323 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,800 overwhelming outpouring of mercy and love that accompanies 324 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,120 salvation. It's like it's like when the 325 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,000 when the prodigal son decides to come back home and he and he 326 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,480 comes home and say, no, I want to tell my dad, no, I'll just, 327 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,040 if you just let me in the house, that'd be good enough. 328 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,080 That's the that's the mercy I anticipate when I read but God, 329 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,040 but that's not the mercy that I receive. 330 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,160 So Paul reminds his readers that though they deserved to 331 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,480 experience the wrath of God out of abundance of mercy and love, 332 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:22,520 he acted on their behalf. Paul uses 3 verbs here to 333 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:24,440 describe what the Father has done for us. 334 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:28,640 And he adds A prefix to each one of them which which denotes that 335 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:32,840 that these verbs are done together with these verbs are, 336 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,880 you know, made alive, so made alive with Christ to be raised 337 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,880 with Christ, to be seated with Christ. 338 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,280 When we, when we look at these terms, we see that they're terms 339 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,760 that were referred to just earlier in the in the previous 340 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,560 chapter when it speaks about God's actions toward his own 341 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:53,120 son, that he raised him, that he ascended, that he sits at the 342 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:54,320 right hand of the Father in heaven. 343 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,880 These these same types of actions that God performed for 344 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,600 his own son, He's now done for us. 345 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,560 Truths like this the church has affirmed for for nearly 1700 346 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:14,600 years. You go all the way back to the 347 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,600 Apostles Creed and it speaks about, about Christ being being 348 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:21,000 raised and, and ascending to heaven and sitting at the right 349 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:26,480 hand of God the Father. What should what should excite 350 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,560 the believer's mind when, when, when Paul uses this language, 351 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,280 though, is that is that he's not just writing about the Father's 352 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:34,680 actions toward Christ, but he's that he's writing about his 353 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,600 actions toward us as a believer. That he has done these very 354 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,600 things for us, that he has raised us, that he has, that he 355 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,920 has made us alive, that he has seated us in the heavenlies. 356 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:51,160 I mean, here's the here's the amazing truth of our spiritual 357 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,160 recreation. You know, just just as as God 358 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:59,800 breathed into lifeless dust to give life to Adam, the Lord 359 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:04,200 gives spiritual life to those of us who are spiritually dead. 360 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:10,520 This alone God can do this is we cannot bring life from death. 361 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,720 A dead person cannot will themselves to breathe. 362 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:21,760 A truly lifeless person will not do what we say, no matter how 363 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:30,160 passionately we exhort them. Yet we we're spiritually dead. 364 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,960 In our transgressions and sins. God made a lie. 365 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:40,560 This verb to make alive is used 11 times in the New Testament 366 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:44,840 and in every instance but one it refers to God having the power 367 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:48,720 to enliven. Whether it be to to bring life 368 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:53,520 forth as in the case of of Isaac being born, whether it be in 369 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,480 reference to the future resurrection of of our physical 370 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:01,680 bodies or or as it seems most likely in this case to the birth 371 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:07,280 of spiritual life in a believer. We see this application in John 372 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:12,160 663 where Jesus tells his disciples that it is the Spirit 373 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,360 who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. 374 00:27:16,360 --> 00:27:21,080 The words that I've spoken to you are spirit and life. 375 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:27,880 I said earlier that we didn't get our three verbs until you 376 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:30,880 got to verses 5:00 and 6:00. And we have the 1st that we've 377 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:39,440 been we've been made alive. And before he goes on to to the 378 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:45,720 second third, he makes a makes a short digression by interjecting 379 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,520 the words you know, by grace you have been saved. 380 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:53,600 This language of, of grace once again emphasizes the the free 381 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:58,360 nature of God's action taken on behalf of unbelievers. 382 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:01,040 It's not it's not an action that's taken out of any 383 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:05,200 obligation whatsoever, but only from generosity. 384 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:11,240 Those dead in their sins and trespasses had no hope of 385 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,440 deliverance from God's wrath outside God's grace. 386 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:19,800 The verb here is used in the perfect tense, expressing a 387 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:24,280 completed action with continuing results in the present time with 388 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:29,360 the IB, with the idea being that God by His grace initially 389 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:33,000 saves, but that by that same grace he keeps believers safe 390 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,680 from God's wrath and the grip of sin from which they have been 391 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:44,360 delivered. The same effusive language 392 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,760 regarding mercy and generosity is one that would have been 393 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,800 familiar to to Paul's readers, especially within an urban area, 394 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,800 because it's because it's language that is used to to 395 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:59,640 describe the the generous benefactions of of Roman 396 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,640 emperors on behalf of their people. 397 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:08,800 Perhaps Paul uses the same language to to describe God's 398 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:12,440 action towards unbelievers. You know, just to illustrate how 399 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:15,240 it is that that God's benefactions far outstrip 400 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:21,160 anything that the Roman Empire had to offer. 401 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,000 Paul goes on to say that not only has God made us alive with 402 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,880 Christ, but that we have been raised with Christ. 403 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,680 This is this is resurrection language in which the believer's 404 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:38,720 spiritual resurrection is seen in conjunction with Christ's 405 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:43,880 physical ascension. Romans 811 tells us the spirit 406 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:46,720 of him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in the lives of 407 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:51,640 believers, and surely our resurrected life demands new 408 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,560 values. You know no more are we to walk 409 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,320 in the ways of the world under under the directions of Satan 410 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:00,560 and enslaved by our fleshly desires. 411 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:07,120 Rather as Colossians 3, one and two sums up the responsibility 412 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,440 of our resurrected believer, saying, If therefore you have 413 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:15,080 been raised with Christ, seek the things above where Christ is 414 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:19,080 seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above 415 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:26,240 and not on things on earth. Paul's words encourage us to 416 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:30,840 live differently. The sins that assaulted us 417 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:37,800 yesterday can be met and overcome by the risen power of 418 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:41,320 God in us. Tomorrow does not have to be 419 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,720 like yesterday for those who are in Christ Jesus. 420 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:50,920 Moving on, we come to the third main verb of this sentence, 421 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,320 describing yet another facet of how it is that God's grace is 422 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,160 worked out in the lives of believers. 423 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:01,160 We're told that He has seated us with Christ in the heavenlies. 424 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:05,160 Just as God raised and seated Christ in the heavenlies 425 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:09,480 physically, so has God raised us and seated us with Christ in the 426 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:13,680 heavenlies. In a spiritual sense, although 427 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,680 our position is in the heavenlies, we remain on earth. 428 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,560 You know, we live a resurrected life, for the resurrected Lord 429 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:26,560 are being made alive in Christ, are being raised and seated with 430 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:30,120 him. It's a present reality, but one 431 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:34,360 that still anticipates a fuller realization in the future. 432 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:38,240 It's similar to what we read about in in Romans 815 where it 433 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:42,320 says, we have received the spirit of adoption in verse 15. 434 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,640 But by the time we get to verse 23, it says, but then I'm sorry, 435 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,800 it says, but then goes on in verse 23 of the same chapter to 436 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:52,600 say that we eagerly await adoption, the redemption of, of 437 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:54,760 our bodies. It's it's a, it's a yet, and 438 00:31:55,440 --> 00:32:03,520 it's a now and yet to come. We're coming out of verse 7. 439 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,000 It's that portion of the text where Paul explains to his 440 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:11,240 readers why it was that God acted so powerfully on their 441 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:14,000 behalf. It's not because of anything 442 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,920 they had done. There's nothing in and of 443 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,840 themselves deserving of His gracious action on their behalf. 444 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,240 We're told instead, that the Father made alive, raised and 445 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:28,040 seated believers with Christ in the heavenlies, in order to 446 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:33,240 demonstrate in the ages to come, the surpassing riches of His 447 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:38,440 grace. The word surpassing here denotes 448 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:41,680 an extraordinary or exceedingly great amount. 449 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,680 You know, it suggests that the that the grace of bounds it 450 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:48,560 knows. I'm sorry, it suggests that His 451 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:57,880 Grace knows no bounds. Paul goes on then to use three 452 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,680 prepositional phrases to describe how this grace is 453 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:10,000 dispensed. It's in kindness toward us in 454 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:16,400 Christ Jesus. I spent a few hours, I spilled a 455 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:21,040 lot of ink trying to deal with those phrases 1 by 1 456 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:24,960 individually. And I, I found myself rather 457 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,280 dissatisfied with the results of my labour. 458 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:33,000 So this morning, as I was, as I was looking over my notes, I 459 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:35,880 was, I was struck by the thought that, you know, perhaps I've 460 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:39,400 overcomplicated things just a little bit. 461 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:46,240 What what what Paul really seems to be getting at here in these 462 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:51,640 words is that is that the surpassing riches of God's grace 463 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,720 are most vividly viewed in the person of Jesus, you know, and 464 00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:59,120 his work on our behalf. You know these are these are the 465 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:01,640 these are the same sentiments that are shared by the apostle 466 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:08,040 John in in first John 49 and 10, which reads by this the love of 467 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:12,280 God was manifested in us that God sent his only begotten Son 468 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:17,159 into the world so that we might live through him in this is 469 00:34:17,159 --> 00:34:21,360 love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his 470 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:23,719 son to be a propitiation for our sin. 471 00:34:29,460 --> 00:34:32,860 Paul tells us in verse 7 that God has acted in towards sinners 472 00:34:32,860 --> 00:34:35,260 that the kindness of God might be revealed. 473 00:34:43,250 --> 00:34:47,850 We've read a lot about the doctrines of grace as we've gone 474 00:34:47,850 --> 00:34:52,050 through Ephesians so far in the 1st, 1st chapter, we've talked 475 00:34:52,050 --> 00:34:56,409 about predestination and choosing. 476 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:00,560 Even in our text today we see the sovereignty of God 477 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:05,280 emphasized and how it is that he's acted on our behalf. 478 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,640 But as but as we're reading verse 7, I want us, I want us to 479 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:14,520 see this, that, that, that he says he does these things, He's 480 00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:23,600 acted in these ways that we might recognize his grace and 481 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:30,160 kindness. Brian Chappell writes this about 482 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,640 verse 7. He says these words obligate us 483 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,040 to make sure that the doctrines of grace do not obscure the core 484 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:42,880 message of the kindness of God. We are not saved by right 485 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:47,600 thinking any more than we are saved by right action. 486 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,080 There is no cause for boasting among those who know that their 487 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:59,440 salvation is a gift from God. Rather, greater humility, love 488 00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:03,760 for God, and love for His people flow from those who recognize 489 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:09,640 that their daily existence and eternal destiny are entirely a 490 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:14,520 gift from God. God loving us entirely out of 491 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,960 His mercy. At this point, I'm sorry. 492 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:22,320 God loving us entirely out of His mercy is the point we miss 493 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:27,360 if we focus on the doctrine of His action rather than on the 494 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:34,720 beauty of his kindness. How wonderful it is, Sinclair 495 00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:38,480 Ferguson writes, that Paul combines together with the 496 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:45,000 lavish love displayed by Christ toward us with the ultimate 497 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:50,520 purpose of God. Our blessing and God's display 498 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:55,240 of his own glory are not antithetical, as though the 499 00:36:55,240 --> 00:36:58,680 glory of God could only be displayed at our expense. 500 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:05,240 No, God's glory is best seen in the undeserved and unexpected 501 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:08,080 character of what has been done for us in Christ. 502 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:14,960 The effect of that in our lives will shine out of God's display 503 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:20,440 cabinet for all eternity. That's great. 504 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,400 Father, we thank you for for your word. 505 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:39,120 Lord, we confess that you are, that you are merciful, that your 506 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:43,520 kindness knows there's no bounds but your own good pleasure. 507 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:51,520 God, we are grateful for the way in which you have, that you've 508 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:56,200 made us a life, or that you've, God, you've raised us upward, 509 00:37:56,200 --> 00:38:00,520 that you've seated us with Christ in in the heavenlies. 510 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:08,160 God, I pray that we would not lose sight of how far you have 511 00:38:08,240 --> 00:38:12,560 brought us. Amen. 512 00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:16,880 Thanks for listening. To learn more about Heritage 513 00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:19,920 Church or if you'd like to respond to this sermon, visit 514 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:24,240 our website at www.heritageshawnee.org.