Introduction to Union with Christ

Introduction and Text Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10

0:03 We turn again this morning to Ephesians, chapter 2, the Apostle's letter to the Ephesian church, and chapter 2.

0:16 There are two divisions of thought in this second chapter as the Apostle seeks to make the believers more aware of the magnitude of God's grace to them, and we are presently studying the first of those two paragraphs, verses 1 to 10, and I shall read those verses in your hearing.

0:35 And you did he make alive when you were dead through your trespasses and sins, wherein ye once walked according to 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 also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even. as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace

1:19 had he been saved, and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace have he been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, that no man should glory. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God aforeprepared that we should walk in them. What does it mean to be a Christian? Well,

The Question 'What Is a Christian?' and the Structure of Ephesians 2

2:03 no question. A question is more important, more weighty in its field of concern, and yet perhaps few questions would produce such a divergence of response than the question, what is a Christian? This is why a passage such as Ephesians 2, 1 through 10, is peculiarly helpful to us because it answers with such profound clarity and lucid brevity that great question, what is a Christian? The paragraph divides itself very naturally into two fields of concern.

2:43 The first three verses are what we are calling the before picture, and verses 4 through 10 the after picture. As the apostle would bring the Ephesians to a greater appreciation of God's work of grace in them, he starts with showing them in some detail what they were before the grace of God. What is a Christian? What is a Christian? What is a Christian? What is a Christian?

3:05 What is a Christian? What is a Christian? What is a Christian? What is a Christian?

3:05 of God came to them. Unless we have some intelligent apprehension of what we were before God laid hold of us, we shall never appreciate what we now are since He has laid hold of us. And so the first three verses are a very graphic description of the condition of the Ephesians and all human beings prior to the coming of the grace of God. He describes them in their true condition as spiritually dead. And only the analogy of death will depict the frightening

3:42 nature of the state of men by nature. They are dead. There is no spark of divine life within them. Then he describes the condition of such dead sinners in verses 2 through to the end of, near the end of verse 3. They are bound by the devil and by lust and sin

4:04 and by sin. They are bound by the devil and by lust and sin. They are bound by the devil They are bound by the devil and by lust and sin. They are bound by the devil and by lust and sin.

4:04 And then thirdly he describes their true position before God. They are under the wrath of God. They are by nature children of wrath. Then he moves in verse 4 to this great transition which has produced the transformation from a state of death, bondage and guilt into the glorious liberty of the grace of God which is then described. Thus far we have seen that

Review: God as Author, Motive, and Method of Transformation

4:31 the apostle points to the author of the transformation. But God, whatever has made the difference, we must see that it is to be understood in terms of the activity of God. But God, being rich in mercy, etc. The author of the change is God himself. It is God alone. Then we saw the motive which lay behind that change. Why

4:58 did God thus make a change? Well, verse 4 tells us. Because of his rich mercy and because of his great love. Or more accurately, his great love which cut a channel for his rich mercy. Then the apostle begins to describe the method he employed

5:18 in making this change. It is God who brings about the transformation. He is the author. It is love and mercy which move him to effect the change. But what method does he employ

5:33 in the making of the transformation? And we saw in our study last week, in a broad overview of the rest of the passage, that the method of God is one in which we find a. The centrality of Jesus Christ. He is mentioned no fewer than four times in the transformation. Secondly, we saw the dominance of the biblical notion of grace. Three times

5:59 the word grace is used. And then thirdly, we saw the dominance of the biblical notion of grace. We saw that the method of God in the transformation is one that brings about a real and a pervasive transformation. From death to life. From bondage to liberty. From

6:15 wrath to acceptance. From walking in trespasses and sins to walking in good works which God has before ordained. So then, no understanding of the transformation is adequate. God's method in transformation, unless it brings into sharp focus the person and work of Jesus Christ, the predominance of grace, and the reality and pervasiveness of the change thus wrought.

6:47 And so in five to six minutes, we've brought together the lines of truth that it's taken us some six or seven hours to cover in the week by week exposition. Now then, we're going to go back to verses five and following. To see in detail something more about the divine method. Last week, we had the broad overview. God produces the change by Christ in grace and with mighty power. But now precisely

Analogy: From Overview to Details of God's Method

7:17 how does he do it? It's as though you visited a place where the last time you went, there was nothing but filth and squalor and run-down buildings. And now when you visit it, you see that there is a relative degree of materialism. There is a relative degree of material prosperity. You see nice homes. You see clean yards. You

7:36 see citizens that take pride in their community. And you ask someone, how did this change come about? And they say, well, there was a wealthy philanthropist who put up the money. And there was a construction crew that came in and did thus and thus. And there were two city administrators

7:51 who took the concern to heart. And he gives you an answer that inside of forty-five seconds tells you that significant in the change was the giving of the philanthropist, and the physical work of the builder, and the social work of two people on the city council. Well, you're satisfied. These are the key elements in the change. But then you have opportunity

8:13 to spend more time with the individual. And you say, all right, now tell me something more. Precisely how did the philanthropist make the money available? Precisely how did the builder go about his work? Precisely how did these members of the city council accomplish

8:27 their goals? And then he would open up some of the details which amplified the general answer that he gave. Now that's what we're doing this morning. When you look at verses one to three, there's nothing but the mess that sin produces. There

8:42 is death, there is bondage, there is guilt. When you ask the question, what is the method by which the change comes to pass? Who makes this change? The answer is God does it. God

8:54 does it in love and mercy. God does it by His Son. God does it in grace. And God does it in power.

9:01 That's the gist of the whole passage. But God gives us more than the general answer. And so we're going back now to look at the details of God's answer to the question, how is the change brought about? And this brings us this morning then to verses five and six.

The Three Compound Verbs Introduced: Quickened, Raised, Seated

9:20 We indicated that the phrase, even when we were dead through our trespasses, should be rendered as connected with His love. He loved us when we were dead. Now we come to this phrase, made us alive together with Christ, by grace ye have been saved, raised us up with Him, and made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places. In this section of the epistle, in this section of the paragraph, the apostle tells us that God's method in transforming sinners by Jesus Christ is to be understood in terms of these

10:02 three unique verbs. He quickened us, or made us alive together with Christ, raised us up together with Christ, the authorized translation here is better than the ASV, and made us to sit together in Christ Jesus. Precisely how does the saving virtue of Christ become the possession of dead, bound, guilty sinners? How does that happen?

10:33 In the first passage, it says, He quickened us or made us alive together with Christ. sinners that all of God's blessings to sinners are in Christ Paul has clearly established in chapter 1 in verse 3 he has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus he is the depository he is the reservoir of all blessing that God will ever convey upon needy sinners but what is God's method in getting the virtue out of Christ to us or getting us into living contact with the saving virtue of the son of God well the answer of the

11:10 apostle is bound up in these three unique verbs quickened us together raised us together and seated us together therefore you and I cannot understand the divine method in transforming us from verses one to three into the glories of what follows unless we understand what those three verbs mean. As Albert Barnes has reminded us, the task of a preacher is not to explain the Scripture under the influence of a vivid imagination, but under the discipline of a careful regard to biblical words that gives their meaning and can support the assertions made. So gird up the loins of your mind. It's hot.

11:55 It's stuffy. It's humid. Some of you stayed up too late last night. Shame on you.

11:59 Some of you slept too late this morning and you were grumpy and grouchy because you ran around trying to get ready and too short a time and you had sharp words with brother, sister, husband, wife, and your mind is still running in a hundred directions. Well, let's gird up all the loins of the mind and seek to lay hold of what the Holy Ghost meant when He said, we were quickened, we were raised, we were seated together with Christ. For that is the answer to the question, what is the divine method in saving sinners by Jesus Christ? All right, let's look then at the three words.

Exegesis: The Root Meanings of Quicken, Raise, and Seat

12:35 And they are compound words. In other words, Paul takes a specific word and then he adds a preposition at the front of each of them to give us a compound word. Well, let's look at each of the words in their simple meaning, in their root meaning, without the compound attached. What does this word quicken mean?

12:55 Forgetting for a moment that we were quickened together, what does it mean to be quickened? Well, the word basically means to make alive, to give life to someone or something that had no life. You will find a standard usage of the word in passages such as John chapter 5 and verse 21. For as the Father raiseth the dead and giveth them life, there's the word, the Father quickens the dead.

13:28 He gives life unto the dead. John says, in verse 6 and verse 63, we have a similar usage. It is the Spirit that giveth life. The flesh profiteth nothing.

13:39 The words that I've spoken unto you are Spirit and they are life. The Spirit imparts life. There is life-giving power in the ministry of the Spirit. Similar usages are found in Romans 4, 17, 1 Corinthians 15, 36, 1 Peter 3, 18.

13:58 So then, when we look at the word quickening, we should immediately, immediately think of the impartation of life where there was no life. Quickening is not the strengthening of life existent but waning. Quickening is not the nurturing of life present but life that is dim, flickering. Quickening is the impartation of life where there was death.

14:26 It's bringing life into death from an outside source. And we must understand the word in its pervasive usage in that manner. Now, what about the word raised up? Well, the word means to stand up from a sitting position or to become erect from a prone position.

14:48 Matthew 2, 13, the command given to Joseph, rise up and go into Egypt. Matthew 9 and verse 6, I'm sorry, Mark 9, where, no, Matthew 9 and verse 6, where it speaks of a raising, in terms of physical posture. And we find it again used many times with reference to raising dead people. They are in the position of death, the posture of death, life is imparted and then that life is manifested.

15:20 Matthew 10 and verse 8, the commission of our Lord to His own apostles to raise the dead. That's the same root word. It's used of our Lord in Matthew 17, 23, that He shall be raised from the dead. And this is the word that occurs about 20 times in the resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15.

15:41 So again, we see that the pervasive usage in the New Testament speaks not only of the impartation of life, but the manifestation of that life. When a man is raised from the dead, it becomes manifested that he's a resurrected man. So there is progression of thought in the apostles' usage. Sometimes when the word raised up is used, it includes the quickening which leads to the manifestation.

16:09 But in this context, it is obvious there is development of thought. We have been quickened, impartation of life. We have been raised, the manifestation of life. Now what about this third word, sit together?

16:23 Well, the word in its root sense is only used, as used many times, I'm sorry, this particular sense of sitting together used only one other time, but in its root sense, it simply means to be put into a sitting position. Mark 9.35, an incident in the Gospels, Mark 9 and verse 35,

16:46 and I shall read it, Mark 9.35, and he sat down. Same word. Again, you have it in Mark chapter 12 and verse 41.

16:59 And it's the word that was carried over into the epistles, and once or twice in the book of Acts to describe what happened to our Lord when the heavens parted, He was taken up from them, went out of their sight. The scripture says He sat down on the right hand of God. And so it is used to speak of what theologically is called the session of Christ. Ephesians 1.20,

17:23 Hebrews 1.3, 10.12, 12.2, Revelation 3.21.

17:29 These are passages which speak of Jesus Christ Jesus Christ, being seated at the right hand of the Father. So, you have here the exaltation of life. Quickening, life is imparted. Raising up, life is manifested.

17:46 Seating, the life is exalted. And so the three words are a description of an activity of God in which dead sinners have life imparted to them. The sinners thus quickened, manifested, that life, and that life is then exalted. It is seated together with Christ.

The Preposition 'Together': Horizontal or Vertical Union?

18:10 Now, let's add to the three words the little preposition that Paul puts at the front of each of them. It's a compound word. He doesn't say that we've simply been quickened, but he says we've been together quickened. We've been together with quickened.

18:25 We've been in connection with quickened. And so you have the translation of the authorized version which is very accurate, rendering the fact that all three verbs have that preposition in front. We have been quickened together with Christ. We've been raised up together and seated together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.

18:49 Now then, what does that mean when he says we have been quickened together? We've been raised up together. We've been seated together in some way connected with Christ. Well, linguistically it could mean this.

19:02 That by virtue of Christ's saving power everyone who is transformed by the grace of God without national distinction Jew or Gentile is together with his fellow believers quickened in union with Christ raised in union with Christ seated in union with Christ thus anticipating the teaching of the latter part of this chapter. From verse 12 onward Paul is showing how that in Christ all national distinctions are broken down. The middle wall of partition is forever swept away. So, some say we are to understand the passage in this way.

19:42 We were all dead. We shared a common position of spiritual death. We were all in bondage to the devil and to our lust. We were all under the wrath of God and wonder of wonders without any national distinction.

19:56 God has graciously to every believer quickened us all together. In the same orbit of spiritual influence breaking down the barrier of Jew and Greek bond and free male and female and by virtue of union with Christ together we've been quickened raised and seated. Well, that's a possible understanding of the passage. It would do no violence to the language and in that sense we could say that may be what the apostle is saying.

20:25 However, when there's a question as to the precise meaning we try to find parallel passages. We look at the text. We look at the context carefully to see if another meaning is possible and I believe there is and I share that conviction with many competent commentators. There are only two passages where these words are used in the New Testament in their compound sense with reference to what's happened with believers and it's the parallel passage in Colossians chapter 2.

20:56 I should say two verses. And in Colossians chapter 2 the emphasis is upon our being complete in Christ and we read in verses 12 and 13 having been buried with him in baptism speaking of our individual life union with Christ wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead and you being dead through your trespasses see how close it is to the Ephesian passage and the uncircumcision of your flesh you I say and here's the same word did he make alive together with him now in the context you see the apostle has been emphasizing

21:41 the individual experience of the believer we have been buried with him in baptism he doesn't say together we've been buried each one individually we've been raised each one individually and therefore the emphasis in the parallel passage is not upon our essential union in Christ Jew and Greek but upon that union with Christ in the case of every individual whose quickening is somehow wrought in conjunction with and in relationship to Christ himself so the togetherness finds its focus not horizontally but vertically and then in chapter 3 and verse 1 if then ye were raised

22:24 verse 1 of chapter 3 if then ye were raised together with Christ seek the things that are above the emphasis obviously falling again upon our togetherness not with each other but with Jesus the Christ himself now then what do we conclude well you say what I conclude is that I'm hopelessly confused and mentally worn out well beloved may I say honestly you don't know the agonies and I mean literal groanings as I've experienced in hours over my study this week crying to God Lord how can I reduce this profound biblical concept to its irreducible minimum how can I make it as simple as possible without destroying it

The Divine Method Stated: Saved In Christ, Not Only By Christ

23:08 and I have to say with a sense of frustration I cannot make it any simpler any plainer than that it's a truth that God must open to us because in conclusion of our study of the three words we can assert the following God's method of bringing us into the orbit of the saving virtue of Christ is nothing more or less than that of bringing us into God's vital life union with Christ himself so that the virtue of his saving acts of death resurrection and ascension become the very power which releases us from the thralldom of sin and death so that an intelligent

23:53 Christian will not only say I have been saved by Christ which is true he will be able to say I have been saved in Christ which is even more blessedly true not only saved by him which you see speaks of the objective work of Christ but it can too objectify it as though this is something done externally to me the blessed truth of this passage is that every man who has been saved by Christ has been saved in Christ because God has united him to his own beloved son and I am simply

24:38 stating what is elsewhere taught with repeated emphasis in the New Testament Romans chapter 6 verses 4 and following what's the teaching know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death that like his Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so should we walk in newness of life for if we have been planted together with him in the likeness of his death we shall be with him also in the likeness of his resurrection it's the truth of Galatians 2 I have been crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ

25:23 liveth in me in the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me it's 2 Corinthians chapter 5 the love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge if one died for all therefore all died and that he died for all that they who live should no longer henceforth live unto themselves but unto him who died and for their sakes rose again it's the truth of Colossians 2 buried with him by baptism into death Colossians 3 raised together with him oh dear people this is a strand a major strand of New Testament revelation that the divine method of saving guilty bound dead sinners is not only

26:07 in by Christ but in but it is the divine method of saving them in Christ you say but I don't understand what it means well I hope you will more as we move on but I hope you've established that that is the divine method as Paul describes the transformation three verbs parallel in form quicken together with him don't think of your quickening apart from togetherness with the Son of God raised up with him seated with him that's the divine method now then you ask a question and rightly so when were the Ephesians and when was I raised quickened raised and seated with Christ

When Did This Happen? The Perfect Tense and Personal Conversion

26:51 well the answer to that question is found in Paul's blessed little parenthesis thank God for some of the parenthesis of Holy Scripture for the Apostle said look carefully at verse 5 he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses made us alive together with Christ parenthesis for by grace have ye been saved in other words the Apostle is thinking of a quickening with Christ of being raised with Christ a being seated with Christ that is identified with their actually having been saved

27:35 and he uses a form of the verb which means something happened at a point in time and the effect of it is continuing now and will continue to be manifested unto the ages of the ages for some of you fellows just knocking away at the early stages of your Greek course he uses a perfect tense and I'm sure Mr. Wade will show you a dot with an arrow going off into infinity to give the sense of the perfect tense that's what he says here by grace ye have been saved grace came and arrested you you were dead you were bound you were condemned but grace came you were constituted the saved with a salvation that continues to be effective

28:20 in your life and will unto the ages of the ages so then this quickening with Christ this being raised with Christ this being seated with Christ is to find its time location within the orbit of their own personal experience and how did that happen how did they get quickened with Christ in their own life history how did they get raised with Christ in their own life history how did they get seated with Christ in their own life history well the answer of the word of God to the word of God to that again is simple and clear from the divine perspective they were thus quickened and raised

How Did It Happen? Effectual Calling and the Seal of Faith

29:04 and seated with Christ when God put forth that mysterious powerful operation of his spirit and he was through the word imparting life to dead sinners God is faithful by whom ye were called into the koinonia the fellowship the participation of Jesus Christ when does a man a dead sinner begin to participate with Christ in the virtue of his own life resurrection power and the glory and exaltation of that life when God who is faithful powerfully and powerfully and effectually calls him by his grace for no man can come to me Jesus said except the Father which has sent me draw him

29:48 1 Corinthians 1.30 but of him that is by his activity are ye in union with Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption so then in time they were united to Christ how when God put forth the arm of his strength through the preaching of the gospel Ephesians 1.13 and 14 they heard the word of the truth and believed from the human standpoint they were joined to Christ when they put forth the embrace of faith and there is no vital life union with Christ without the divine operation and the human response and faith is from the human side the seal

30:33 of that bond it's when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that the bond is cemented that's why the apostle says in verse 8 for by grace ye have been saved the same phrase as we have in verse 5 through faith now he brings in the human dimension there was the response of their faith to the message of the gospel and when God in the mighty mysterious operations of his grace and power through the word is drawing the sinner to the savior imparting life in the hidden springs of his of his of his personality and the there is always then the conscious response of the sinner who embraces the savior offered

Why This Method? Eternal Covenant Union as the Foundation

31:17 and then there is that life union with Jesus Christ he is quickened together in union with Christ there's the impartation of life there is then the manifestation of that life he is raised with Christ and then there is the exaltation of that life he was seated with Christ now someone asked the question why should God save us by such a method I mean he is writing a letter Paul is to peasants to masters to servants to slaves to some people with good IQ some people rather limited these are profound concepts these stretch the mind why does he have

32:02 to tell them that their salvation has come by means of a union established with Christ why can't it come by any other method the answer of the word of God to that again is equally clear for you can't you see we can never think of our life experimental vital union with Christ in time detached from that eternal covenantal union with Christ established in the Father's own purpose Paul does not speak of being quickened together with Christ raised together with Christ and seated with Christ until he has first of all laid out the glorious truth of chapter 1 in verse 4

32:46 we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world in verse 6 that we were redeemed by Christ and so our vital experimental life union with Christ is but the manifestation of our eternal covenant union with Christ when in the mysterious actings of the counsels of God himself a people was given to the Son and the Son committed himself for the salvation of that people and then in time he came forth for their redemption Romans 5 as by the one man sin entered the human race so by the one man Christ Jesus a new race of humanity

33:31 will be redeemed and all hinges upon what he accomplished in time when he went into the garden and bent beneath the load of sin it wasn't sin in general it was the sins of his people he had pledged to give to the Father's honor and to his law all that was demanded and when he went into the garden the Father held as it were the cup before him and said my Son if you are to be faithful to your own covenant commitments this is the cup you must drink in my Son you must drink every last drop of it and as the Son gazed upon that cup he saw nothing but abandonment nothing but the accursedness of the cross

34:14 nothing but the agony of the pain of separation from his Father he saw mirrored in that cup all of the inflexible purity of the Father's holy law the law that said this do and thou shalt live this fails to do and thou shalt die and he saw that the only way his people whom he came to save could be delivered was not by taking the cup and hiding it in the bushes of Gethsemane hoping that some shadow of divine love and benevolence will just obliterate the cup no no the Father said the cup must be drunk and the Son staggered beneath the implications of what that would mean until he sweat as it were great drops of blood and cried out

34:59 in agony of soul if it be possible let this cup pass nevertheless not my will but thine be done death and the curse were in our cup oh Christ was full for thee but thou hast drained the last dark drop tis empty now for me that bitter cup love drank it up now blessings draft for me how is it that we are quickened with Christ in time raised with Christ in time seated with Christ in time it's because we were given to Christ in eternity we were redeemed by Christ when he went into the jaws of death when he came out of the tomb

35:44 and brought with him in his bosom the whole new humanity and there's a sense in which the conversion of every soul every single individual Christian is just another opening up of the bundle of new humanity that the son of God brought with him when he came out that first Easter morning think of what this meant to these Ephesians twenty-five years had passed between their conversion and the resurrection of Christ and yet Paul says you were raised with him twenty-five years between their conversion and his ascension and yet he says you have been raised up and seated with him is he talking nonsense no dear beloved people this is the heart of the message

36:28 of the gospel that we are saved not only by Christ but in Christ and all that he did he did not only for me but as me he went into death as me instead he came out of death not only for me but as me and he went back to the right hand of the father not only for me but as me but until I'm brought into the vital life union where am I in my own reckoning and understanding and in relationship to the law of God I'm right where verse three of chapter one leaves me chapter two I'm under wrath I'm under the curse I'm condemned but then when I'm

37:11 quickened in vital life union with Christ the gospel comes and God in the mysterious workings of his own sovereign mercy draws me to himself and there's the conscious response of repentance and faith and I discover why I am no longer dead to God fellowship with God is a blessed reality the law of God is a wonderful standard to which I submit with joy I no longer walk according to the course of this world that dictates of my own passions and lust and the devil why I'm a new man whence this life why where once I was a serf and a slave I'm now a king and I reign in life with Christ I say well it's because I'm joined to Christ yes but Lord why should I thus

37:56 be joined to him in my own present experience and God says because it was my purpose to give you to my son in eternity and when he died you were in him in my own reckoning and purpose and plan you see it is the covenant union of Christ with his people that is the foundation and womb out of which comes the experimental union of his people with him you got it oh my people if you get hold of that it's what Spurgeon called the marrow of divinity the the doctrine of the covenant blessed be God for a savior who saves in terms of covenant commitments in terms of his pledge to redeem a people well I have sought

Application: Are You Vitally United to the Son of God?

38:41 to lay out the meaning of the passage the divine method in transforming sinners and it is the method of bringing them into union with Christ what does all of this say to us as I seek to bring the exposition to a practical conclusion to a practical what does all this say to us well it says many things and I can only trace out a couple of lines of thought this morning and the first is this if the divine method in imparting the saving blessings of grace to dead sinners is that of union with Jesus Christ then no issue is of greater concern to us this morning should be of greater concern than the issue couched in this question

39:24 am I vitally savingly united to the son of God that's the question of greatest concern as I sit here this morning conscious that I'm me an integrated whole person body mind soul and all my constituent elements that which constitutes me me am I conscious wonder of wonders in a way that I cannot put in a test tube in a way that I cannot even articulate to the satisfaction of my own mind but in a way that is transformed me I'm united to the son of God as real as he is at the right hand

40:09 of the father somewhere in the universe of God he sits in the glory I'm joined to him I reign in life with him where once I was dead I now live where once I was in bondage I am now free oh dear child of God do you have that consciousness this morning now you see why Paul says in the first chapter Lord open their eyes to understand in the third chapter Lord give them of your spirit to be strong to understand the nature of their spiritual privileges you say pastor if you'd only ask me do I believe Jesus is the son of God I could answer your question sure I do granted if you'd only ask me do I believe he died on the cross for sinners I could

40:54 yes but that's not my question my question is are you joined to Jesus Christ my friend listen God's method in getting dead sinners out of the grave of death of getting them into life and reigning in life is to unite them to his son are you joined to him if so the scripture says if any man be in Christ he is a new creation I didn't ask you have you understood till this morning what we've expounded I'm just saying are you living in the enjoyment of it thank God a Christian's experience goes far beyond his understanding he's catching up all the time that's why Paul wrote this epistle every one of you of those saved Ephesians

41:37 experience union with Christ Paul is now expounding it and then they could say well that explains why we live the way we do why we live the way we do we have been quickened together with Christ the very virtue of his own life has become ours we've been raised with him seated with him is that what's happened to you this morning can you say there's no explanation for my lifestyle but that the power and virtue of the saving acts of Jesus Christ have been imparted to me by the Holy Spirit and the second implication I would draw out of this text is this dear child of God if you've been quickened with Christ if you've been raised

Application: Cherish Communion with Christ; Evangelistic Closing Appeal

42:22 with Christ and seated with Christ oh how we as Christians ought to cherish and value our experimental awareness of communion with Christ what a tragedy that the one whose power and virtue has come so near to us in this saving union should be so little regarded by us that we allow our affections to him for him to wane we allow those means of grace which keep our awareness of his grace to us sensitive and living we allow them to be neglected and passed by or engaged in with sloth and with dullness there is nothing so calculated to inflame

43:07 the heart of a believer with diligent desire to seek the face of his savior than to stand back amazed at the grace of his savior to him and I say to you who sit here this morning absolutely lost by the whole thing you say what in the world was the preacher talking about this morning obviously something's got him excited unless he's play acting something's got him excited for the life of me I can't figure what it's all about oh dear friend listen to me I'll tell you what it's all about almighty God who could send you to heaven to heaven to hell this morning and doing such perfect justice that not an angel would twitch an eye at his action

43:51 and raise an eyebrow at his activity pure justice could damn you this morning and bring all heaven to worship God for the purity of his just act in your damnation my friend you're in the before picture verses one to three you're dead you're bound you're condemned and my message to you this morning is behold the lamb of God Jesus Christ is set before you in the gospel as the only one by whom your deliverance can be wrought and God says take my son seriously believe on him cast yourself upon his mercy

44:36 and in thus believing you will find life in the son of God if God ever saves you my dear unsaved friend it will not be by you working yourself up into some kind of a religious fever and furor until you get a tingle down your spine and you say I've got it nor will he save you by the clever manipulations of professional religionists who pump three verses in one ear and try to pull out the work of God at the other he'll save you when you get into a living vital relationship with his son Jesus Christ and you better not rest until you know you're in that relationship to him

45:20 may God stir you up to seek his face until you know that you too have been quickened together with Christ raised together with Christ seated together with Christ God willing next week we'll attempt to expound the glory of that praise seated together in the heavenlies with Christ may the Lord prepare our hearts to enter into the richness of his own word let us pray