When you are satiated to-day, you sit down and weep about to-morrow, what you shall have to eat. Ed. When the life begins to come to him, he feels as he never felt before; sin that was pleasant becomes a horror to him. We are by nature drudges to the flesh, and to our corrupt affections, Ephesians 2:3; Ephesians 2:3. Hence the condition in which we were found here below came into view; and, as we have seen, it was total ruin, whether Jew or Gentile be looked at. This illustration of spiritual fellowship lost does not end sadly. They are dead because of sinful acts that they themselves have committed (cf. (J) 6And God raised us up with Christ(K) and seated us with him(L) in the heavenly realms(M) in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,(N) expressed in his kindness(O) to us in Christ Jesus. Would God send out and bring in the Gentiles to fill their place? But this young maiden is still caressed; so it is with many of you; you are loved even by the living in Sion; God's own people love you; the minister has often prayed for you; you are admitted into the assemblies of the saints, you sit with them as God's people, you hear as they hear, and you sing as they sing. In Romans the sinner is regarded as alive in sins; and death, the death of Christ, is the means of deliverance. It is simply an inevitable law of love. In the verse before the apostle had spoken of the "one Spirit," and hence it would be superfluous to introduce the statement of His baptism here, even if the adjuncts did not exclude the idea. That awareness of God, that communion with God, or that fellowship and oneness that God intended that man should have with God. The whole work is thus presented in its completeness from first to last; nevertheless, it is only "through faith" as yet. I do not think that a living man can always pray by clockwork, at such a time and such a time. Then we have the children, who are called to obey their parents in the Lord. The practical outcome of all this, that some of you do not know anything at all about it. Impossible that the Head should not be there as well as the body; and the apostle speaks as to Christ yet more than as to the assembly. That not of yourself, the faith didn't come from you. Death may be universal over a certain number of bodies, and yet those bodies may look very different. We were full of vigour towards everything which was contrary to the law or the holiness of God, we walked according the course of this world; but as for anything spiritual, we were not only somewhat incapable, and somewhat weakened; but we were actually and absolutely dead. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. And I really appreciate all that you have given to me, Dad, and all that you have done for me. What reason have sinners then to be looking out for that grace that will make them, of children of wrath, children of God and heirs of glory! Paul will speak of nothing good except that which comes "through Christ Jesus." His grace has predestinated us to the very highest relation that of sons unto Himself by Jesus Christ "according to the good pleasure of his will." ib;. It is a very blessed experience to be able to walk on earth, and look up to heaven; but it is a higher experience to live in heaven, and look down on the earth; and this is what the believer may do. Throughout all eternity, God's grace and love and mercy being revealed. From the beginning, through all the crises of our times, until his kingdom fully comes, God keeps covenant forever. I didn't think anybody would miss the one. ! Paul knew that he needed to repeat himself, or people would forget what he taught. young man, I weep, I weep over thee; thou art not yet so far gone, that they have rolled the stone against thee; thou art not yet become obnoxious; thou art not yet the staggering drunkard, nor yet the blasphemous infidel; thou hast much that is ill about thee, but thou hast not gone all the lengths yet. In Christ the great mystery of God is revealed; In Christ we are called to be blameless and free. My life was ruled and dominated by the lust of my flesh and by the lust of my mind. As we look at the course of this world, as we look at the way things are going, as we look at the latest rock stars, the latest idols, they have become quite obvious of the bondage and the chains, and of the cruelty, and of the evil by which they are inspired.In Copenhagen we saw these posters all over town. Than these nothing less becomes those so blessed. People often speak of the Greeks as being the sunniest people in history; but there was such a thing as the Greek melancholy. "Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" 463, 476, 461. In point of fact, He looks for the expression and exercise of it, be assured, from all of us, though no doubt according to our measure. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once(AC) were far away have been brought near(AD) by the blood of Christ. If you do not, let the fact impress you. Jesus wants to do good things through us! In France some soldiers with their sergeant brought the body of a dead comrade to a French cemetery to have him buried. This also answers to the grand doctrine of this epistle. Whither shall we flee to avoid the noxious odour of that reeking corpse? By Gods grace, Christ not only died to bear the penalty of human sin, but he rose to glorious life in the heavenly world so that repentant sinners can have a glorious new life in him (4-7).This salvation is entirely Gods work. We are his workmanship say some of the translations of Ephesians 2:10. It is not carnal blessing such as was in measure given under the law to Israel, and will be under the new covenant by and by; it is spiritual blessing. There was the sovereign love of God in Christ forgiving us; there was love of complacency, inasmuch as we were to love according to that love with which we were loved, as shown us in the matchless love of Christ. When I say Christ is our peace. Even the behavior of a -- Ephesians 2:1-10 -- Fourth Sunday in Lent - B -- 2003 Loose him, and let him go ." It is affirmed here of those to whom Paul wrote at Ephesus, that before they were converted, they were dead in sins. There is not anywhere a more explicit proof of depravity than this, and no stronger language can be used. Nothing short of this suffices. Angels are not adequate judges of what pertains to us; they may be witnesses, but not judges. We never can go astray, if we follow the path of the Lord Jesus. It is in a common love of him that people come to love each other. If there be a divine life to which you are a stranger, how long will you be a stranger to it? have been brought near by the death of Jesus on the cross. Man by his very nature cannot bring perfection to God; and so, if ever man is to win his way to God, it must always be God who gives and man who takes. If it be illustrated in Christ, if it be bound up with Him, fear not to trust simply and to believe implicitly. Your self-made man usually worships his creator very earnestly; and your self-saved man glorifies him that saved him. the One who would calm our fears with peace and hope. Nor dare I tell the character of some men present here. ", Cicero could write much later: "As the Greeks say, all men are divided into two classes--Greeks and barbarians." Merciful God, we celebrate the way that you chose to bring unity and peace to peoplethrough the gift of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. X, p. 638. 12. WebCalling Adapted from 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 God says, If my people, Who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, And seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land. Each sin makes the next sin easier. The sword must be the real intrinsic power of the word wielded in the Spirit, which does not spare anything. We commonly have a wrong idea of sin. Not so. Oh, hideous spectacle! (AX) 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple(AY) in the Lord. forgiven and free, through what Christ has done for us. You did he make alive Beare pointed out that the various pronouns "you" (Ephesians 2:1,2), "we all" (Ephesians 2:3), and "us we" (Ephesians 2:4), "refer to the distinction between Jews and Gentiles only to nullify it. They tell me that "creeds are dead." It needs a Milton to conceive of the walk of God; but he that hath the divine life walks with God; and sometimes he seems to step from Alp to Alp, from sea and ocean, accomplishing what, unaided, he would never even attempt. None of us can make it on our own. III. Before he gets up in the morning, he begins to feel sometimes lively and sometimes ill; he does not understand himself. Boy, I had the worst time with him trying to get him to hoe weeds in the backyard." The world is going down the tube. The three main verbs are "made alive" (Ephesians 2:5), "raised up" (Ephesians 2:6), and "seated" (Ephesians 2:6). Paul cannot do without Christ, you see. Now we must turn to the diversities. New to this blog? It is God in His proper nature, and in His relationship to Jesus. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. In all these he feels no more concern, and sees no more beauty, than a dead man does in the world around him. Young people want instruction; they want building up in the faith; they generally lack knowledge; they have not the deep experience of the older man; they do not know so much about sin, nor even so much about salvation as the older man that has been a guilty sinner; they need to be fed. 20, Ephesians, p. 61. 5. WebEvil Eyes Exaltation Exhaustion F Faith Faithfulness Family Father Fear Fear of the Lord Food Foreigner Forgiveness Freedom The Future G Gates Generations Gentleness Gifts Hence he says, "that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ," referring to himself and any other saints who had been chosen from the people of the Jews. The character is spiritual, the seat heavenly; and as the whole is given by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, so it is secured in Christ. You were not the chosen Israelites, you have not the covenant mark in your flesh. In this first part, Paul writes about humanitys reconciliation with God. God has many ways of revealing his will to men. God grant you to know the joy of that condition! The paroikos ( G3941) was one step further on. It was done in the very street of the city. God commended His love towards us even that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly. I cannot help stopping a minute to know whether it is so with you, my dear hearers, and praying that what I might have to say may act as a kind of sieve, separating between the really living and those who only think that they are alive, so that, if you have not been quickened, if you are only "a child of nature, finely dressed," but not spiritually alive, you may be made aware of it. When you are through with that, wash out the garbage cans." The Call to Worship: As followers of Jesus Christ, living in this world - which some seek to control, but which others view with despair - we declare with joy and trust: Our world belongs to God! hath he quickened, is not in the original text, but is supplied from Ephesians 2:5, where it will be met with and explained: here those who are quickened with Christ, and by the power and grace of God, are described in their natural and unregenerate estate. Besides, it is not merely that the body will immediately respond to the call of the Lord Jesus, but even now the very same power Acts wrought toward us in making us Christians which "wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Paul uses the word xenos ( G3581) for foreigner. Jesus Christ must quicken the one as well as the other, and bring them all to know and love his name. The earth is their sphere; it is there that Israel looks to be blessed, and the Gentiles somewhat farther off, but all in the ordered blessing of the Most High God. When we were still dead in our trespasses and sins God loved us.God has loved you from eternity, there has never been a time when God didn't love you. Of course, this does not mean that they were in all respects dead. In the Greek text Ephesians 2:1-7 are one sentence. The priest told them gently that he was bound to ask if their comrade had been a baptized adherent of the Roman Catholic Church. 2:1-3 When you were dead in your sins and trespasses, those sins and trespasses in which you once walked, living life in the way this present age lives it, living life as the ruler of the power of the air dictates it, that spirit who now operates in the children of disobedience--and once all we too lived the same kind of life as these children of disobedience do, a life in which we were at the mercy of the desires of our lower nature, a life in which we followed the wishes of our lower nature and of our own designs, a life in which, as far as human nature goes, we deserved nothing but the wrath of God, as the others do. They have run the full ten yards, it is still empty. This pericope is a condensation of Pauls exposition of redemption in Romans. ], "Having described our spiritual possessions in Christ, Paul turns to a complementary truth: our spiritual position in Christ. 10. But I now relate back to Jesus Christ, my Father after the Spirit. That is not the result of some great effort on my part. But in the epistle to the Ephesians we have none of these dealings with the first man, but that which forms and nourishes the new creation. It has its heavenly association as the one body of Christ; it has its earthly place and responsibility as the "habitation of God through the Spirit." 4, 5. That is the result of life. Our standing is quite another matter, which itself could not avail here. The object of the apostle is to show the great power which God had evinced toward the people Ephesians 1:19; and to show that this was put forth in connection with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and his exaltation to the right hand of God in heaven; see the notes at Romans 6:4-11; compare Colossians 2:12-13; Colossians 3:1. . But it is very different in relation to the mother whose child he killed. "And when, after some forty-eight hours or so, he had quite slept off the fumes of that memorable Christmas debauch, he found that a sad thing had happened to him, and a strange! Please note: If you use material from this blog, please be careful to credit the original author and source. "But now". The Holy Ghost gives us the certainty and joyful assurance of our place as saints; the Holy Ghost at the same time gives us the foretaste of the bright inheritance of God that lies beyond. WebSelect from the options below to find worship ideas that fit what you're looking for. Someone may even make it almost to the pier, a hundred feet off of the pier and gulp, gulp, gulp, you know.Now, you have all come short, no one made it. But as long even as he is merely in conflict with his own nature, he can hardly be said to be on Christian ground at all. The essence of the worldly man is, as someone has said, that "he knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." That is what Christ does for us. It is not that our good works put God in our debt; rather that God's love lays on us the obligation to try throughout all life to be worthy of it. I wish you would. It is the same life in the new-born believer as in yonder bright spirits that stand before the throne of God. The Jews had rejected their own Messiah. It is the word used of bringing a sacrifice to God; it is the word used of bringing men into the presence of God that they may be consecrated to his service; it is the word used for introducing a speaker or an ambassador into a national assembly; and above all it is the word used for introducing a person into the presence of a king. 2:13-18 But as things now are, because of what Christ Jesus has done, you who were once far off have been brought near, at the price of the blood of Christ. As to the first, he says that they were dead; and states, at the same time, the cause of the death trespasses and sins. I say "requisite," simply in view of Christ's love towards the church. in Num. He is one who does not subject himself to any authority and, therefore, practices "lawlessness." What has God done? There are plenty who err in that second direction nowadays. I ceased to be lord over myself. Bible Gateway Plus makes it simple. Here again we are at something which was very real in the days of Paul but which is not so real to us. Any task that you may have around here, I just would like to spend a day with you, Dad, doing whatever you'd like for me to do." God was talking about spiritual death. And as to his wife, he instantly understands, though he had been in a deep sleep while she was being formed. for I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips" ( Isaiah 6:5). P: Lord, open our hearts and let us share your Good News. So many times we think that God started loving us when we started being loving. Caused spiritual death. You are caressed by us, received by the living in Sion into their company and acquaintance, approved of and accepted; alas! That is what the Church should be like. There we have tongues, miracles, etc. So he came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and peace to them who were near, because, through him, we both have the right of entry into the presence of the Father, for we come in the one Spirit. Such is the measure, if measure it can be called, of the grace wherein we stand. I live in him. Call to Worship from Ephesians 2: We are saved by Gods grace. They had seen creation, and sung at the sight. Oh, you did stutter and stammer over it! Ephesians 2:5- :. Ephesians 2 NIV - Made Alive in Christ - As for you, you - Bible Gateway Made Alive in Christ - As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit 2. l Caphtor, fol. The conflict is against Satan and his hosts. conceived before the foundation of the universe. Well, first, we have become now sentient towards God. Need I say that this is altogether above human comprehension? God never does; it is the tragedy of the Church that it is so often more exclusive than God. There is nothing mysterious about this. Let the stealer steal no more." (ISAIAH 1:18, ALT.) Does he inflict his moods on his family? It may not be in our conscious memory, but everything we ever did or saw or heard is buried in our subconscious memories. Christianity demands forgiveness, but the ancient writers said it was a sign of weakness to have the power to avenge oneself for injury and not to do so. All the chances are that the breach will remain unhealed, for peace is seldom made on the basis of a legal document. Paul goes on to say that we are recreated by God for good works. (Note also Romans 5:12; Romans 5:21; James 1:15; James 5:20; Romans 7:5; Romans 7:10; Romans 7:13; Romans 7:24; John 5:24.). All were dead alike. For "if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." Hence the apostle Paul, in what is by no means the simplest utterance he has given, writes in few words. The young man, as soon as Christ spoke to him, "sat up and began to speak;" but Lazarus, in his grave-clothes, lying in the niche of the tomb, could do no more than just shuffle himself out from the hole that was cut in the wall, and then stand leaning against it. (i) Paul insists that it is by grace that we are saved. Ah! The Spirit is at work, renewing the creation. Find Related Songs (Not this year) Second Sunday after Christmas Day: Then come the slaves similarly. You who have been quickened will understand what I say. So many of you have begun to form habits that are evil; you know that already the screw of the devil is tightening on your finger. Thanks Be to God For This Change - v.8-10, 2:110 Pauls prayer (Eph 1:1523) refers to Gentiles (non-Jews) becoming part of Gods family. The central idea of sin is failure, failure to hit the target, failure to hold to the road, failure to make life what it was capable of becoming; and that definition includes every one of us. That is very wonderful. that you should yet be without life! The new-born child of God is just like the new-born child of man in some things; and after a time that child begins to walk. And all of those that get down and put their face in the water, send them home. Some people never grow beyond that stage. In this passage the son admits to his father that he has "sinned" and is "no longer worthy to be called your son." Why, sometimes we can pray, and prevail, and come off conquerors; and at another time, we can only bow at the throne, and groan out, "Lord, help me; I cannot pray; the springs seem to be all sealed." The lark sings for the joy of singing. This does not yet appear; for there is nothing to indicate to mankind what He purposes to do. It is not so in the word of God. They had a distinguished place before the Son became man. I have some in my congregation that I look upon with fear. We have others who are drunken, profane, unchaste; they are dead, not more dead than the others; but their death has left its terrible traces more plainly visible. In what sense were the people of Israel different from other peoples? But the morning when it was reversed, then he came to the realization that it was God.And he blew the trumpet in Israel and gathered together 32,000 men to face the 135,000 Midianites. "Because I live, ye shall live also." P: Gods light has come to us! Looking for something? This discussion has two parts: vv. We little think of the experiments that children have to go through before they arrive even at the use of their eyes. This is the nature that is given to the believer now. One of the tokens that life is coming back to him is, that he wakes up out of a pleasant sleep, and feels pain. God therefore has not been pleased in the heights of divine truth to repeat words in the same way as His grace leads Him to do when He is helping the babes. When the moon has become black as sackcloth of hair, the life that is within us shall be as bright as when God first gave it to us. Perhaps you can scarcely, in the moment I can afford you, appropriate the idea to yourselves. Altogether differently here "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" has blessed us where Christ is on high. By fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, men contract that filthiness of flesh and spirit from which the apostle exhorts Christians to cleanse themselves, 2 Corinthians 7:1. We are very changeable; but when God is with us, when the days are spiritually bright and long, and we have come into the midsummer of our heavenly bliss, we would not change places with the angels, knowing that by-and-by we shall be nearer to the throne than they are; and, while they are God's honoured servants, yet they are not beloved sons as we are. Does it not seem a strange thing, that you, who have walked to this place this morning, shall be carried to your graves; that the eyes with which you now behold me shall soon be glazed in everlasting darkness; that the tongues, which just now moved in song, shall soon be silent lumps of clay; and that your strong and stalwart frame, now standing to this place, will be unable to move a muscle, and become a loathsome thing, the brother of the worm and the sister of corruption? Life will not be bound like that, I love to have an appointed season for prayer, and woe unto the man who does not have his time for prayer! Do a certain thing. (118) Il expose et esclarcit ce quil avoit dit ci-dessus. He explains and illustrates what he had formerly said.. There is kainos ( G2537) which means new in point of quality. Paul had begun by saying that, as we are, we are dead in sins and trespasses; now he says that God in his love and mercy has made us alive in Jesus Christ. Here are some indexes that might be helpful: INDEXES: For a complete list of all the indexes on this blog, click here. He says that the middle wall of the barrier between has been torn down. VII, p. 23. There was a time, more than four hundred years before this, when Greece was threatened with invasion by the Persians. If you have been quickened by the Spirit of God, your prayers are living prayers. "Give her meat." Life is usually capable of pleasure, but the new life is capable of the highest conceivable pleasure. Thus the great basis of all our walk is, that the old man has been judged in Jesus, and the new man we have already put on; but, moreover, the Holy Ghost is given, and we are sealed by Him. But this was not enough. The church is but a consequence; and we bless God for this, and bless Him also that we know the church is but the complement of Christ. 11. 1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 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: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
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