Review of Ephesians Chapter 2

Introduction and Purpose of the Review

0:03 When I directed your attention to verse 22 of Ephesians 2 last Lord's Day, you remember that I said in all probability it would be the final exposition of the chapter, and it was the final, detailed, careful, concentrated exposition of the chapter. But as I sought to know the mind of God for the word of the Lord to us this morning, I was constrained, I trust, by the Spirit and sound judgment to indicate the wisdom of saying probability, because I do wish this morning, as has already been intimated, to look at this chapter for one last time in the way of formal exposition.

0:54 And my purpose is basically threefold.

0:59 I'm desirous that the essential content of the chapter should be the same as the content of the chapter, and that the content of the chapter should be the same as the content of the chapter. It shall be riveted to your minds so that in the future you'll be able to use it as the basis of meditation and reflection for your own spiritual growth. I'm also concerned that you be encouraged by today's broad overview to see the profit that can come from doing this with chapters that have been expounded in detail, so that when you go back over them in a broad overview, many truths that are lying dormant, are quickened to fresh light by the Holy Spirit. And then my third reason, and I am not at all embarrassed to state it, is that this chapter might become a powerful call under the blessing of the Spirit of God to faith and repentance on the part of those who are strangers to the grace of God. And so my purpose is threefold, to rivet its truth to your remembrance, to encourage future meditation, and then, to form the basis of a call to repentance and faith. Well, how in the world can we attempt to do in one exposition what it has taken 44 expositions to do, averaging somewhere around 45 to 50 minutes apiece? Well, I'll suggest how I'm going to attempt to do it.

The Basic Structure of Ephesians Chapter 2

2:23 First of all, we're going to consider very briefly the basic structure of the chapter. Secondly, the basic contents of the chapter. And then thirdly, the basic, message of the chapter. Notice I did not say a detailed structure of the chapter, a detailed analysis of the contents, nor a detailed assessment of its message, but the basic, the fundamental, the broad outlines of structure, content, and message.

2:53 First of all, then, the basic structure of the chapter. Why should we be concerned with the structure of any portion of the Word of God? Well, for the simple reason that when the Holy Spirit moved the various writers of Holy Scripture to write, He moved them to think in certain categories and relationships of thought. You see, we hold not only to the truth which Scripture forces upon us of what is called a plenary, full, verbal, that is, to the words themselves, inspiration of Scripture.

3:33 We hold that the Holy Spirit, in the language of the Apostle Paul, moved the writers to speak in words which He Himself directed. But we hold that the Holy Spirit governed the flow of those words as they gather momentum into specific directives and units of thought that we call paragraphs. And so, if we have some understanding of the nature of inspiration, namely, that the Holy Spirit guided not only the selection of words to express the thoughts of God, but the very arrangement of those words and thoughts into specific relationships, we cannot be indifferent to the structure of any given passage of the Word of God. We insult the author, the Holy Ghost, if we are indifferent to the structure. And so, with that little polemic for assessing the structure, let me direct your attention to the basic structure of this chapter. Many of you ought to be able to give it to me.

4:41 And if it were not that everything that goes over this pulpit is taped and the circumstances do not lend themselves to that kind of an intimate teaching situation, I just might ask some of you to give to the others the basic structure of the chapter. First of all, you will know that there are two major sections. If you have a paragraphed version, the first section, the first section begins with verse 1 and ends with verse 10. The second section begins with verse 11 and ends with verse 22.

5:12 Verses 1 to 10, you have the before and after of the individual status of the believer. You have the picture of what he once was and what he now is as an individual before God. In the second major section, you have the before and after of what we might call, the corporate status of the people of God. The relationship of Jew and Gentile as corporate bodies of people.

5:43 And so the two major sections are bounded by 1 to 10, 11 to 22. Now there are two major divisions within each of those individual sections. The major division of the first section is at verse 4. Verses 1 to 3, that's the before picture, what they were.

6:03 The transition comes with verse 4, but God. And from there on to verse 10, you have the after picture of the individual status of every believer. Similarly, in the second major division, the break comes at verse 13. Verses 11 and 12 are a description particularly of what the Gentiles were as a corporate entity before the grace of God.

6:31 And then the pivotal word, in verse 13, but now ye are. Ye were, but now ye are. And so two major divisions, 1 to 10, 11 to 22, within each of those divisions, one major division, the before, verses 1 to 3, the after, 4 to 10, the before, 11 and 12, the after, 13 through 22. Now since the saving and sanctification ministry of the word begins when the word impinges upon our intellects, when it comes to our understanding, we must never regard such exercises as these as being unspiritual. If you are too spiritual to analyze the structure of any portion of the word of God, you're a sitting duck for heresy. You're a sitting duck for manipulative, treatment of the word of God. Peter speaks of those who twist the scriptures to their own destruction.

7:41 And sad to say, such twisters usually end up doing the twist for many others. And they twist the scriptures to the destruction of others. And most of the twisting goes on because people are irresponsibly indifferent to the structure and flow of thought within any given portion of the word of God. And so I am not at all involved or embarrassed to inject into a worship service in which we trust God himself is central before our eyes something so apparently academic as the basic structure of this chapter.

8:17 Do you have it now? Is it riveted to your noggin? I trust it is. Two divisions?

The Basic Contents: Man's Ruin and Man's Rescue

8:23 A simple division within each division. Now we hurry on to the basic teaching or contents of the chapter. In these two groups, great contrasts, the two major divisions, the two before and afters, there are two great themes. You can take all the material of this chapter and essentially boil it down to two fundamental ingredients.

8:52 We might call them the ingredient of man's ruin by sin and man's rescue by Jesus Christ. A bit more lengthy description and a little more definitive would be, the basic contents of this chapter can be reduced under two headings. On the one hand, there is given to us a comprehensive statement of man's native spiritual condition and secondly, a comprehensive statement of God's gracious salvation of ruined sinners. But the simpler titles, and I want all you kids to get this and I hope your moms and dads ask you when you get home, what is the basic content of Ephesians 2? Man's ruin, man's rescue. Now there's not a one of you here if you're awake and older than 18 months that can't get hold of that. Man's ruin, man's rescue.

9:50 And that's what chapter 2 in Ephesians is all about. And I know of no portion in all the Holy Scripture where in so short a compass of revelation there is so much said about those two great things. Man's ruin, man's rescue. And you see, those two themes are the nerve centers of God's revelation, the Holy Scriptures.

10:15 Granted, the Scriptures assume the doctrine of God's pre-existence, the doctrine of creation, yes, but the great central themes of this book,

10:28 man's ruin and man's rescue. So in a sense, the whole Bible is distilled in Ephesians chapter 2. What we get in one chapter here is spread out over about eight or nine chapters in the book of Romans. We find pieces of it in many other segments of the epistles and of the gospels and of the Old Testament, but here in Ephesians 2 is this broad, sweeping, comprehensive statement that brings together all the major lines of biblical truth concerning man's ruin and man's rescue.

Man's Native Spiritual Condition (Ruin)

11:03 Well, let's look then very quickly now without any detail, exposition. That's what we did in the previous 44 messages. Now we're just going through to catch the overall impression. What does this chapter say to us concerning man's native spiritual condition?

11:21 Well, we'll find it in the before sections of both major divisions. The before, verses 1 to 3. The before, verses 11 and 12. Look at those passages in your Bible.

11:33 And you did he make alive a life, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins. What is the first stroke of the apostle's brush upon the canvas when he would paint the picture of man's ruin? He goes right to the heart of his ruin. He does not say he's been perverted.

11:57 He's been twisted. He's been marred. He's lost. He's confused.

12:02 He says, you hath he made alive or dead? Man, man's ruin is nothing less than a ruin in which he's found devoid of life. Dead on account of trespasses and sins. Utterly devoid of any spiritual life.

12:25 Spiritual life, of course, is defined in the Bible as the knowledge of God. Delight in God. Communion with God. And so when the apostle says man's ruin is to be understood as a ruin in which he's devoid of life, in which he's devoid of life.

12:40 He's not talking about physical life or psychic life, mental life, emotional, aesthetic life. We have all of that. But he says devoid of spiritual life. No true knowledge of God.

12:52 No fellowship with God. No desire for God. Dead. Then he goes on to say he's not only devoid of life, he's devoid of liberty.

13:00 Look. Verse 2. Wherein ye once walked according to the course, that is the tracks that are laid. By what?

13:08 The course of this world according to the prince of the powers of the air of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience among whom we all also once lived in the lust of our flesh doing the desires, that is, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind. What is man's ruin? It is not only characterized by being devoid of life but devoid of liberty. He says you all walked according to what?

13:40 According to the world, to the devil and to lust. And you walked in such a way that you were in absolute bondage to the spirit of the world, to the prince of the powers of the air and to your own lusts operating through your own depraved appetites and your own darkened minds.

14:02 What a statement of man's ruin. Devoid of life, devoid of liberty. Thirdly, he says he is devoid of divine favor. The last part of verse 3.

14:14 And we were by nature children of wrath even as the rest. It's bad enough that man is devoid of life, devoid of liberty, but when he looks upward what does he find? Not the smile of a pitying God but the frown of an angry God. He is by nature a child of wrath.

14:36 Well now we drop down to verses 11 and 12. What do these verses tell? What do these verses tell us about man's native spiritual condition, man's ruin? Well these verses tell us verse 12 that he is separate from Christ.

14:50 Though there are things in the exposition as we did show you in the detailed opening up that have a historical element because God is no longer dealing with the Jew in terms of the Jew being the peculiar recipient of his covenant relationships. The kingdom of God has been taken from them and given to others in the language of Christ. These things now apply generally to all men separate from Christ. Furthermore, the apostle says they are cut off from the people of God.

15:23 Strangers from the covenants of the promise. Alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. Devoid of true hope without hope and devoid of God. Look at the additional strokes that are added to the picture.

15:37 Verses 1 to 3 devoid of life, dead. Devoid of liberty, bound. Devoid of divine favor, under wrath. And now we are told that we are separate from Christ the only means of rescue.

15:52 Cut off from the people of God the place where God dwells and ministers to his people. Cut off from the promises which give hope. Devoid of true hope because there is no legitimate claim to the promises. And perhaps the worst thing of all, without God in the world.

16:13 Exposed to a fallen world and all of its painful influences with no vital union with the knowledge of the living God. My friends, this is an untouched photo of what you and I are. You and I are by nature.

16:33 It's an untouched photo of what we are.

16:37 It's an untouched description of our ruin, by the fall. Now do you see why people would rather take any other option than full-blown biblical Christianity? Because there's nothing that so humbles human pride as full-blown biblical Christianity. It refuses to ignore or to gloss over man's native condition.

17:03 It refuses to flatter him. And the scripture says in John 3.19 that this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. Neither will they come to the light lest their deeds should be reproved.

17:19 This is why the Christian faith in most places makes little headway. It's not because it is so full of contradictions that intelligent people cannot embrace it without sacrificing rationality. It's not that it's full of all kinds of unreasonable demands that ruin marriages and wreck homes and twist society. History demonstrates that wherever the Christian faith has come man has been elevated.

17:47 It has been in his own best interest to be a Christian. Why then do people reject the Christian message many times without even giving it a fair shake? I'll tell you why. Because it comes saying this is how bad you are.

18:04 You don't have a spiritual arm out of joint. You're dead.

18:10 It's not just that you're flirting with the world and the devil and lust. You're inbushed to the world to the devil and to lust.

18:19 It's not just that God once in a while frowns. You're under divine wrath. It's not just that you aren't as close to Christ as you ought to be. You're separate from Christ.

18:29 It's not just that you're not as involved with his people as you ought to be. You're cut off from his people. It's not just that you aren't as deeply enmeshed in the promises as you ought to be. You have no claim to the promises.

18:41 You're devoid of hope and you're without God.

18:47 What's the message of Ephesians 2? It's the message of man's ruin. A comprehensive statement of man's native spiritual condition. But there is a second major division of its teaching and it is this.

God's Gracious Work of Salvation (Rescue)

19:00 A comprehensive statement of God's gracious work of salvation and for us kids the shorter title man's rescue. Not only man's ruin but man's rescue by God. And for the longer subheading I use the words God's gracious work of salvation because the apostle puts all the focus there in verse 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace have ye been saved and those are the two key words grace and saved. In other words he's going to give us a comprehensive statement of God's gracious work of salvation a work of rescue on the heaven's level. On behalf of needy sinners and throughout this whole second body of revealed truth in this chapter the emphasis falls again and again upon the activity of God. There is one after another of passive verbs ye are or have been saved. It doesn't say you saved yourself.

20:16 You have been saved. You have been quickened. You have been raised. You have been built upon.

20:23 You have been constituted. The emphasis falls almost with tedium upon the activity of God. It falls again and again upon the graciousness of that activity. By grace have you been saved.

20:39 Grace and kindness are the motives of God.

20:44 Now what are the specifics then of this gracious work of salvation? Well we go back to the two after passages verses 4 to 10 and verses 13 to 22. When we want the comprehensive statement of man's ruin we take verses 1 to 3 from the first contrast. Verses 11 and 12 of the second.

21:03 When we want the transformation God's rescue of the sinner we go to the after contrast of the first section and the second. And what do we find? Verse 4 But God being rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us. There's the first contrast.

21:20 Chapter 2 verse 3 ended with the frown of God upon sinners. Children of wrath. Now the frown is all changed for his great love wherewith he loved us. From wrath to love.

21:39 And remember you're not under the canopy of love while you're still in the condition of verses 1 to 3. This idea that God has a general indiscriminate love that is in no way different in terms of its objects will not stand the test. Most of the scriptures.

22:00 There's some men sitting here this morning upon whom God frowns with a righteous and a holy frown. There are others upon whom he smiles with a gracious and redemptive smile. And so the first characteristic of this gracious work of salvation is that it flows out of distinguishing love. And what does it do?

22:22 Verse 5 Even when we were dead made us alive. Our great need was we were dead. Answering to that is the work of quickening. He made us alive together with Christ.

22:35 Raised us up and seated us with Christ. Wonderful descriptions of the fact that we are no longer devoid of the knowledge of God. No longer devoid of communion with God. No longer devoid of liberty.

22:49 We've been raised up out of the realm of our bondage. And we reign with Jesus Christ in life. And we shall reign with him forever. And then he goes on to say in verse 7 we're the objects of his kindness that in the ages to come he might show the kindness the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

23:12 Verse 10 We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. In place of wrath there is love. In place of death there is life. In place of bondage there is the liberty of resurrection and heavenly session with Christ.

23:29 In place of disfavor there is kindness. In place of the distorted marred image of God we are recreated in Christ. Now down to verse 13 we were separate from Christ we were apart from him but now what is our status? But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ.

23:55 We are made nigh where once there was alienation with God and with his people verse 14 says Christ has become our peace peace with himself and God in peace with his people where once we had no access verse 18 says for through him we both have our access in one spirit unto the Father where once we had no place at the family table no place in the city no place in the temple of God verses 19 to 22 tell us we are now household members fellow citizens and living stones in the temple of the living God. Oh dear people if you want a fascinating basis of meditation look at what we are in our ruin in all of its details and see how that which God has constituted us in his work of rescuing answers at each point to the details of our ruin. For our death we are quickened for his wrath there is love and kindness for our bondage there is liberty for our alienation there is nearness and in every area where sin has done its dreadful work of ruin God in grace and power has done his almighty work of rescuing. Now each of these facts of God's rescue has a common denominator

Common Denominators of God's Rescue: Trinitarian Grace

25:22 and I deliberately read through quickly and did not emphasize certain words. But I want you to notice the three common denominators now of every facet of the work of rescuing from being made an object of his love right to verse 22 being a habitation of God in the spirit notice the common denominators number one God is the author of this work of transformation in the very first contrast beginning with verse 4 in the first unit of thought having described our death in a dreadful state Paul introduces it with the words but God as if to say whatever follows trace it back to the activity of God himself and to God alone. God is the author of the work of transformation and as I've already intimated this is why you have all the passive verbs verse 5 when we were dead made us alive God is the agent in that verb make alive verse 6 and raised us up God is the agent in that passive verb to raise up God made us to sit he is the agent in the passive verb verse 8 by grace

26:50 ye have been saved God is the agent in the passive verb verse 10 we are his workmanship created God is the agent in the work of creation and all the way down through the second contrast he is our peace we who are far off are made nigh we have been reconciled we have been built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets we have been builded together do you see do you catch something of the tremendous weight of this or am I talking to myself this morning do you feel something of the sheer monergism that is God acts alone in salvation and what is explicitly and pervasively and overwhelmingly set forth in this chapter is set forth from Genesis to Revelation from the time man sinned and ran from God if any sinner is ever brought back into the bliss of communion with God it's because God now has been comes to the sinner and seeks him in grace and in mercy first common denominator God is the author of this work of transformation in all of its dimensions and reaches secondly Christ is the central figure

28:18 in every aspect of the transformation go back over the language look at it verse 4 but God being rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loves us even in the midst of sin even in the midst of sin even in the midst of sin even when we were dead through our trespasses made us alive together with Christ verse 6 raised us up with him further on sit with him verse 7 the last words in Christ Jesus verse 10 created in Christ Jesus verse 13 in Christ Jesus verse 14 he is the Lord he is the Lord he is the Lord he is the Lord he is the Lord he is the Lord he is our peace further on in verse 15 create in himself verse 17 he came and preached peace verse 18 through him we have our access verse 20 the foundation stone the cornerstone Christ Jesus himself verse 21 in whom verse 21 at the end in the Lord verse 22 in whom you say alright pastor I'm getting the message oh my God my friend have you got the message have you got the message where does Jesus Christ fit in to this whole panorama of saving transformation is he off at the periphery is he sort of

29:48 half way between the boundary and the center does he stand at the center while someone else occupies the fringes no no my friends if we can like in Ephesians 2 in its second great bulk of content God's rescue a comprehensive statement of God's gracious salvation if we can liken all of that content to a large square Jesus Christ is not off here or half way between there and the center or at the center fills the square in its entirety but look at any facet of the work of transformation without Christ being there explicitly and pervasively that's why again and again when he describes the transformation Christ is there in our death God has come and he's quickened us but how quickened us with Christ remember I tried to explain those fancy compound words Paul just piled prepositions with verbs together to get a word that would somehow make clear to us that God never quickened a sinner upon us apart from constituting with that sinner an intimate union with his own beloved son he never creates a man with new life apart from

31:17 union with Christ he never brings the sinner near apart from Christ he never incorporates him into his people apart from Christ what's the great common denominator of this second block of teaching first common denominator is God is the author of the work second Christ is the central figure in every aspect of the transformation and that's why men hate the gospel they not only hate it because God tells them the truth about how bad they are they hate it because God says if you're ever rescued I will do all the rescuing and I'll do it in my son and that's what Paul said the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness why along comes Mr. Greek who prides himself in his big head smart Mr. Greek man and he comes along and says you've got the answer to the world's problems Paul says I sure do well give me your philosophy start slowly now I'm not a fast racer no no no it'll be very easy you ask me any of the questions that have baffled the minds of the world's thinkers what is man what's his problem how can his problems be resolved how can he know God and Paul says I'll give you my answer in Christ Jesus are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge it is Christ crucified who is the key to unlock all of the mysteries and the Greek looks at him and says you insult my intelligence I've got a big head that can take lots of information

32:46 lots of philosophy lots of theories and you tell me that all that is of worth is summed up in Christ foolishness that's a little paraphrase of 1st Corinthians 1 we preach crucified unto the Greeks foolishness and the Jew comes along stroking his beard and he says now you tell me what's the meaning to that he says oh Mr. Jew man you know that there must be sacrifice if you'd approach the God of Israel you know that Mr. Jew man strokes his beard and says yes I do and he refers back to all that he knows as an orthodox Jew of the holiness of God and the strictness of the law of God and then he tells him every time a lamb bleat as a knife was driven into its breast every time the high priest went into the presence of God with his sacrifice all of that was pointing to Jesus of Nazareth who is the Messiah who is the anointed one and he preaches Christ crucified to this dear Jewish friend and he stumbles over that and says look Paul Paul Paul I cannot buy it I cannot buy it Messiah must not die against his enemies Jesus of Nazareth died under Pontius Pilate

34:14 our Messiah must crush Rome not be crushed by him so he turned away in disgust but then Paul says but to those who are saved Christ the wisdom of God Christ the power of God Christ is central to the whole work of transformation and that's why men hate the gospel if they are going to give any place to Christ it must not be Christ crucified it must not be Christ as the sum total of wisdom man must have his part this chapter slays every last vestige of any notion that that's the salvation of the Bible but there's a third common denominator and it is this the Holy Spirit is the applier of this great transforming power it's interesting that with these this I was going to say gluts first this serpent of references to Christ and this surfeit of implied references to the Father the agent in all of those passive verbs there are only two references to the Holy Spirit but they're most significant look at them verse 18 through him that is Christ we have our access in one spirit unto the Father and verse 22 we are built together

35:43 for a habitation of God in the Spirit now follow closely there are those in our day who say the reason the church is so impoverished is she's ignoring the Holy Ghost now granted there may be many segments of the church who are ignoring the Holy Ghost and they ought to be chided for it but these people say it would just begin to talk about the Holy Ghost and pray to the Holy Ghost and preach up the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost will be honored and come down and everything will break loose my friend that's not the emphasis of the Bible the Holy Spirit is the agent of redemption who works with a hidden face if I may say it reverently he is not going around with a flashlight aimed at himself saying look at me look what I'm doing he's all the time shining the light on Jesus and when the light shone on Jesus he's always pointing to the Father he said you want to come to the Father no man can come but by me if you've seen me you've seen the Father I go to my Father I'm going to bring you someday I will come to you I and my Father will come the Apostle reflects that biblical perspective so beautifully here all the attention is upon the mighty activity of the Father through the Son but lest we think that the saving work of the Father through the Son comes by means

37:12 of just the external word or just getting close to the people of God he's careful to emphasize at the end lest you miss the point he says all of these blessings come only as your access to the Father through the Son is secured by the mighty work of God the Holy Ghost and if you're brought into this living temple it's because the Holy Ghost has worked upon you directly supernaturally and efficaciously that's the common denominator he does not work by means of blood ties you've got the right genes or the sacraments or even the preached word as though there is some magical power no no we have our access to God in the Spirit we're builded into a temple of God in the Spirit now you see here again this is why men hate the Gospel they hate the Gospel because it says it is not enough to give lip service to the fact that God must save and that God must save by Christ and Christ alone but the salvation of God through Christ is only ours when the Holy Spirit has worked directly supernaturally and efficaciously upon our souls except a man be born

38:39 of the Spirit he cannot see he cannot enter the kingdom of God we don't like that religions don't like that you see they want to have the saving power where they can manipulate it see if the saving power is in the baptismal font or in the baptismal tank then I can manipulate it I can get you into the water or get the water on the water on you then you see I've manipulated salvation what did Jesus say in John 3.8 the ways of the Spirit are like the wind the wind blows where it wills you don't manipulate the wind the wind will manipulate you if it whips up enough and may I say without being irreverent that's what's happened if you're a Christian the wind has manipulated you you've been born of the Spirit given a new mind given a new heart given a new set of goals and ambitions and perspective oh dear child of God how can you read this chapter without getting up and dancing a jig even if you've got a bad back yes that's the transformation what a comprehensive statement of Trinitarian grace and I don't know what else to call it but that Trinitarian grace the whole Godhead committed to save a poor wretch like me well so much for the basic structure of the passage the basic contents of the passage now finally and in closing what's the basic message of this chapter

The Basic Message: Adoration, Devotion, Self-Examination

40:09 to us what's this say to us sitting here today well let me suggest very quickly three things its message is first of all a clarion call to adoration bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all his benefits how can we stand before a chapter like this without prostrating ourselves if not physically certainly inwardly and try out not unto us not unto us oh God but unto thy name give glory this is a clarion call to adoration secondly it is a persuasive call to devotion who would not serve so great a God is this when he's been made the object of his saving love here's the best commentary on the meaning of Romans 12 one I believe I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice what are those mercies here they are distilled for us in the fragrance of Ephesians chapter 2 and this passage then is not only a clarion call to adoration it is a persuasive call to devotion and then finally it is an inescapable call to self-examination

41:38 self-examination how? well in this way have I ever seen myself to be what God says every sinner is by nature have you ever stood before verses 1 to 3 of the first division and verses 11 and 12 of the second division have you ever stood before all of that and said Lord that's a perfect portrait of this sinner have you?

42:10 let me get more specific have you ever stood before the living God in his word and said oh God I am indeed by nature utterly dead I had no life that moved towards you I had no communion with you have you stood before God and said oh Lord I was utterly devoid of life utterly devoid of liberty oh Lord I was a slave of the world of the devil and of my own lust albeit very refined in my slavery oh no I was not a slave to the bottle that made me grovel in the gutter like half an animal oh no but a slave to fashion a slave to the polite sins of middle class society have you taken your place as a slave have you said oh God I know that you were angry with me and oh God it would be right for you to heat hell seven times hotter than it ever had been to deal with the likes of me my friend this chapter forms an inescapable call to self-examination have you seen yourself in the way God says every sinner is to be found verses 1 to 3

43:38 what about verses 11 and 12 separate from Christ cut off from his people without hope without God no rights to the promises I'm asking you friends I'm not just occupying time this morning I'm asking you when you stand before that picture have you ever said Lord that's me and I don't mean say it glibly oh yeah that's me but said it with a broken heart because the scripture says the Lord saveth such as be of a broken spirit the first characteristic of the sons and daughters of the kingdom according to Matthew 5 is what blessed are the poor in spirit what's it mean to be poor in spirit my friend it means that you've come up to the mirror thinking you were well clothed in all your features in all your features were symmetrical and beautiful and suddenly what you see is what's here and it breaks have you been broken you know anything of true mourning of what you really are now you can throw that off and say when in the world is he going to get to the next point I find this uncomfortable my friend listen to me God will either show you what you are now

45:05 or he'll do it in the day of judgment because before any sinner sinks into hell God will get the conscience of the sinner on his own side God will get the conscience that's part of the reason why there's going to be a public judgment God is going to secure the approbation that is the approval of the entire moral universe for the sentence that he utters to every last sinner now you think about that for a minute my friend you won't sink down into hell mumbling out the side of your mouth I didn't get a fair shake there'll be no little caucus of malcontent somewhere in the moral universe sneaking off in a corner and whispering and saying heck I didn't get a fair shake listen to me my friend if you sink into hell men and angels and devils will say he deserves it and your own conscience will be on God's side now you face it my friend you either take seriously what God says you are now while something can be done or God will force you in the day of judgment to face what you are forms an inescapable call to self-examination not only in terms of self-examination but also in terms of its picture of man's ruin but in terms of its picture of man's rescue have you been rescued

Call to Self-Examination and Prayer

46:33 in terms of the language of Ephesians 2 have you been rescued with the salvation that you say without any tongue in cheek innuendo it's all of God it is all through Christ it is all by the Spirit that's the only kind of salvation God will ever exercise to sinners and if you have God's salvation you will be saved then you are glad to confess I'm saved by God through Christ through the Spirit now can you say that do you gladly take every last jewel in the crown and lay it at the feet of Jesus you say I'm not sure alright let's go back to this morning how did you approach God this morning when you prayed I didn't pray what about yesterday morning well I didn't pray then either I didn't my friend through him we have access if you're a Christian you pray now you're not as faithful in your prayers as you ought to be none of us is your prayers are not as fervent nor frequent as they ought to be nor could be but if you've been quick into life do you pray do you pray

47:59 do you come to God through Christ in the quickening influence of the Spirit what about worship did you truly worship God in this place this morning did your heart run out to Him through Christ independence upon the Spirit you see this is a very powerful call to self-examination and I want to close on that note dear people because as we leave Ephesians 2 we don't leave its truth and it'll meet us again someday as I look back upon the many weeks of exposition the many hundreds of hours of meditation and study and preparation for these messages I feel like I'm leaving God I'm leaving a long proven trusted friend I confess to you I have emotional trauma when I have to leave a chapter that I've lived with for so long my conscience smites me that I've not pleaded as fervently as I ought the cause of my Savior my conscience would smite me that I've not entered in more to the spirit of the wonder and the glory of these truths but my friends there's an area where my conscience gives me rest and it's that I've not not allowed you to think

49:26 that the truths of this chapter are matters of indifference life and death are before you may God help you to choose life and if God has by His grace brought you to life dear child of God sneak away for at least a few minutes today and read through Ephesians 2 and heed its call to adoration bow to its persuasive call to renewed devotion to Christ and from that possible call go out in your sphere of love and wonder go out and in your sphere of responsibility intrigue men to be reconciled to God let us pray our Father we confess that our poor mortal frames our little minds our shriveled spirits find it so difficult to contain such matter as that upon which we've gazed this morning how we bless you for that great salvation that has come from you through Christ

50:54 and by the Holy Spirit we pray for those who sit among us still in a state of death oh God may they this day choose life oh God may they lay hold of your beloved Son may they seek you earnestly through Christ oh God give them life and we pray for us your people you would so move upon our minds and hearts that this chapter that has brought such enrichment to many of us may continue to be a means of grace in our lives even until we meet our Savior face to face hear our prayer may the benediction and blessing of your presence rest upon us and abide with us through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen