";s:4:"text";s:27763:"Just as the Canaanites tried to keep the Israelites out of the land which God assured Moses the tribes were to have for their possession, so Satan's great effort is to hinder the saints of God from realizing their blessedness in heavenly places. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil. In Christ we belong in the family, adopted. I have some in my congregation that I look upon with fear. Suppose there was a son who did some shameful thing and then ran away, because he was sure that there was no use in going home, because the door was bound to be shut. When he was suffering for his fall, he wrote his book De Profundis and in it he said: "The gods had given me almost everything. Thus we have had, first of all, the great spiritual reality which is always true of Christians, and of none else. What has all the confusion of men to do with the glorious reality that God has established His unity, of which we all form part by the power of His Spirit? What kind of a life were we living? Such an one is the openly profligate, to whom we give wide quarters, lest we touch him. I know the people, I even like most of them! And all of those that get down and put their face in the water, send them home. To those who have not, I daresay it will seem as an idle tale. When I lived in the country, I came up to look at the notabilities in St. Paul's Cathedral. But I dare say I have some characters that are illustrations of that case too. Shall I tell it here? The statement of the father reflects the spiritual impasse of the father/son relationship while the son is in sin. In the prophets this too remains always the standard, until God exert His power in another way, when He shall be no longer spoken of as Jehovah that brought them out of the land of Egypt, but out of the north country into their land, where He shall settle them for ever. That is what Christ does. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, but he never forgot the unique place of the Jews in the design and the revelation of God. the One who would calm our fears with peace and hope. The word Paul uses for access is prosagoge ( G4318) and it is a word of many pictures. He is pouring out his heart, and the claims of grammar have to give way to the wonder of grace. The mark that God has established for you is perfection. Trespass, is taking the wrong road when we could take the right one; it is missing the truth that we should have known. "You" refers to Gentiles (2:11). for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." Certainly not in the first man Adam. Of course. And desire is not simply a fleshly thing; it is the craving for any forbidden thing. There we were, tripping right along with the crowd, as they were trying to satisfy the lust of their flesh, and the lust of their mind. II. The Jews who believe are taken out of their former place, as much as the Gentiles, who had no place. He uses therefore the highest terms in order to express it. Thus Epictetus says, , . Satan's purpose for you is your destruction, and so as he is guiding the course of the world, it is a destruction derby. You, and you, and you, are citizens in this Kingdom. Jesus is never called a child in the sense in which I am now speaking He has His own relationship to the Father eternally. No, not even so, and for this reason God has relationships, and these relationships are shown in Jesus just as much as His nature is. Hear then, the good news that in Jesus Christ we are forgiven. So the flow of the world, you just flowed with it. 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: He makes them to be his forge. Hence it is said, "One Lord," which is precisely that which is owned in the common creed of Christendom. Your self-made man usually worships his creator very earnestly; and your self-saved man glorifies him that saved him. The subject of this sentence is God (Ephesians 2:4). Through faith they can only turn to God in their helplessness, and humbly accept the salvation that God offers. We have already seen how the Jew hated and despised the Gentile. For it is by grace appropriated by faith that you have been saved. It is well to mark the difference. They are clearly identified in each blog post. Those who walk in trespasses and sins, and according to the course of this world, walk according to the prince of the power of the air. So Paul goes on to say that in Christ these barriers are down. Realize that; believe in it; rejoice in it; triumph in it. When I tried to hide my guilt I was miserable. We did not know what it was when it came; we had never felt like that before; we could not think that we really had passed from death to life; and yet, in looking back, we are persuaded that the throes within, the anguish of heart, the longing, and the pleading, and the wrestling, and the crying, would never have been in a dead heart, but were the sure marks that God had quickened us, and we had passed into newness of life. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------. This was always their comfort in the midst of disasters and troubles. The unconverted man lives in God's world, sees God's works, hears God's Word, goes up to God's house on God's day, and yet he does not know that there is any God. 14. Who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; There is no longer the division between Jews and Gentiles. Not even Jesus can give a man back his lost innocence, for not even Jesus can put back the clock; but what he can do is take away the sense of guilt which the lost innocence necessarily brings with it. Many a man's life is embittered because he feels that he has never had what his talents and his work deserve; but in the sight of God no man deserves anything but condemnation. 2:11-12 So then remember, that once, as far as human descent goes, you were Gentiles; you were called the uncircumcision by those who laid claim to that circumcision which is a physical thing, and a thing produced by men's hands. Impossible that the creature could be or do so; and therefore the creature is never said to be love. He wished to sing of Cadmus; but his harp resounded love alone; and so the harp of Paul resounds with Christ alone, Christ alone. The ancient world had its barriers. that you should yet be without grace in your heart! HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" 463, 476, 461. These words do not attribute to God all wisdom and prudence, which certainly would be nothing new; but they intimate that He has now conferred on His saints all wisdom and prudence. He remembers his covenant forever, ", 20, 21 Upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom, You see, it is always that, in him, in Christ: "in whom". Angels are not adequate judges of what pertains to us; they may be witnesses, but not judges. There is not even the gloss of life left. Not so the young man; he is put on the bier; no man will touch him any more, or else he will be utterly defiled. (i) Sin kills innocence. As the hymn has it: The Work And The Works Of Grace ( Ephesians 2:4-10 Continued). It is the rockiest city in the world. 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. We would readily agree that the robber, murderer, the razor-slasher, the drunkard, the gangster are sinners, but, since most of us are respectable citizens, in our heart of hearts we think that sin has not very much to do with us. L: We gather to share our witness to Gods And so, looking from the outside in, they can't understand, but once we are on the inside walking in fellowship with God, experiencing His presence and His joy, we understand what it is all about. I cannot tell that I have many; but still I have some. ~ survey response Thus we have at last the church developed in its two main characters. Call to Worship #2 L: Welcome to worship this morning. So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners resident in a land that is not their own, but you are fellow citizens with God's consecrated people and members of the family of God. Click for: HYMN No. I hold nothing as truth that I can put away on a shelf, and leave there. Sin is the death of the soul. Once is enough for the intelligent. On the other hand, we find that the predestination is "according to the good pleasure of his will," because no necessity operates in this. There are vast plans and projects, and the world is intensely active. Submissions: I am so grateful to those of you who send me your own material to post! "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. The sight of that Cross awakens in the hearts of men of all nations love for Christ, and only when they all love Christ will they love each other. make us bold as we claim your victory in the world. No parent, however prayerful, no teacher, however tearful, can make a child live unto God. ver 3, 11-13; Ro 11:30; 1Co 6:11; 5:8; Col 3:7; Tit 3:3; 1Pe 4:3, NIV, The Story, Hardcover, Comfort Print: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, NIV, The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, NIV, Verse Mapping Bible, Comfort Print: Find Connections in Scripture Using a Unique 5-Step Process, NIV, Story of Jesus: Experience the Life of Jesus as One Seamless Story, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Revelation, Paperback, Comfort Print, NIV, The Woman's Study Bible, Full-Color, Red Letter: Receiving God's Truth for Balance, Hope, and Transformation. Can I belong just for who I am? We may put this very simply; it is through Jesus that we are at home with God. In communion with the objects of it, we go out into the resulting scenes of glory on every side; knowing Christ's love though unknowable, and filled into God's fulness though infinite. Jesus removed the fences between man and man because he abolished all religion founded on rules and regulations and brought to men a religion whose foundation is love. In Christ we are blessed, in Christ we are chosen. ", This problem of the barriers is by no means confined to the ancient world. Chrysostom, famous preacher of the early Church, says that it is as if one should melt down a statue of silver and a statue of lead, and the two should come out gold. And so he began to amass to himself wealth until he was the richest man in the world, and silver was as common as rocks in Israel. So should our walk be. Nothing short of this suffices. That is a perfectly possible translation; but the word Christos ( G5547) is not primarily a proper name although it has become one. 2:11-22 So then remember, that once, as far as human descent goes, you were Gentiles; you were called the uncircumcision by those who laid claim to that circumcision which is a physical thing, and a thing produced by men's hands. True, he starts with adultery and fornication, but he goes on to idolatry, hatred, wrath, strife, envyings, seditions, heresies. Of course that was all rubbish; it cannot be done to order. But what are difficulties to the Spirit of God? The rotten Lazarus may come out of his tomb, as well as the slumbering maiden from her bed. Copyright 2019 by Zondervan. Oh! This is and must be the medium, as far as the saints are concerned, grace being the spring on God's part: "and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. There is no place good enough for Christ the Son but heaven. Previous year: 2021-2022 | Next year: 2023-2024. Life is usually capable of pleasure, but the new life is capable of the highest conceivable pleasure. in the lust of our flesh, as we were fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; as we were by nature the children of wrath, even as the others ( Ephesians 2:3 ). Knowledge of standing and a, state answering to Christ's love, are the basis of a walk worthy of our calling. Love it is which, as it were, puts all in movement that belongs to God. Israel's was at best a mere creature relationship, though, no doubt, having a special place in creation. A corpse is insensible. We cannot wear what we used to wear. He makes no end of blunders; he makes many miscalculations because everything is new to him. We were once strangers to each other and strangers to God. [1] John William Russell, Compact Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1964), p. 476. This style of speech is left to those who scout divine inspiration. It will be as much as he can do to pull off his grave-clothes, to get rid of his old habits; perhaps to his death he will have to be rending off bit after bit of the cerements in which he has been wrapped. Upon his repentance and confession, his father forgives him; therefore, he spiritually "came to life again." The carnal mind makes a man a perfect slave to his vicious appetite.--The fulfilling of the wills of the flesh, so the words may be rendered, denoting the efficacy of these lusts, and what power they have over those who yield themselves up unto them. The father in this parable represents God and shows our Fathers continuing love for his children who have forsaken the right way. Here with those who are our sisters and brothers. Just look into this revelation of His love. But the divine nature is given to us in its qualities of holiness and love. In the next verse the apostle opens out that which is move particularly connected with "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ." He abolished rules that restricted life and replaced them with the new commandment to love as he did. And we at one time were following that course, dead in our trespasses and sins, living an aimless life without purpose as we follow the trends that were being set by Satan. An outstanding illustration of spiritual death is found in the parable of the prodigal son: And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son." For by grace are ye saved through faith; We have this expression, "by grace are ye saved," twice over in this chapter. But for this the most careful provision is laid on us. Such is, in fact, the condition of a sinful world. Throughout all eternity, God's grace and love and mercy being revealed. Is there not good reason for saying that the church is but a consequence? Sometimes he feels merry, and can sing hymns; at another time, he can do nothing else but sigh and cry, though he scarcely knows wherefore. It isn't just our talking, it is our whole manner of life. The essence of the worldly man is, as someone has said, that "he knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." Now, as life comes thus with strange surprises, and mingled with pain, so, dear friends, it comes often with many questions. Do a certain thing. Paul speaks about people being dead in sins. He prays accordingly that they might enter into both, realizing the holy peaceful atmosphere of the one, and the glorious expectations that were bound up with the other; for clearly the future is before his mind. I believe that God liked it better than many of the collections. though we never earned it and dont deserve it. This page includes a range of prayers, calls to worship, confessions and other material, including for including children, based on the 5 weeks of Ephesians readings. No man ever made himself to live. As our children grow older, do we come nearer to them, or do they drift away until conversation is often difficult and we and they are practically strangers? God then brings out His own secret, after having kept it hidden from all past ages and generations, though, of course, it has been before Him from the beginning. Such contact with a Gentile was the equivalent of death; even to go into a Gentile house rendered a Jew unclean. Stand, oh stand away from him. Now, the other people looking at us can't understand that, because they don't know what is going on inside. fol. Utter strangers to the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (i) He made both Jew and Gentile into one new man. Amen. But, as things now are. P: We come to celebrate Gods abiding love! Then we have in the centre of this chapter no longer the unity or the gifts differing, but the moral walk of the saints. It is the mystery of Christ emphatically; and the part about Christ is the higher of the two. I have been born again by the Spirit of God through Jesus Christ. For it is by grace appropriated by faith that you have been saved. Connected with nature, He has sealed us, as it is said here and elsewhere; and connected with relationship, He is the earnest. "The air is the house of the disembodied spirits." But the man who lives the Christless life takes his own way of things, even when he knows what God's way is. (iii) In the end sin kills the will. And God is going to lay some heavy, heavy trip on us just because we submitted ourselves to His will. Keep your mind always employed, and so you will escape him. It is not something extraneous that acts on God as a motive, but His own love flowing out from Himself according to His holy nature, and in perfect consistency with His character and ways. Delivered on Sabbath Morning, April 12, 1857, by the REV. To the Gentile life was not worth living; to the Jew it was the way to greater life. He tracked her down. We must carefully remember that the mystery does not mean the church merely. They were dead in relation to that to which they afterward became alive - i. e., to holiness. They have tried everything. God was talking about spiritual death. People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. In France some soldiers with their sergeant brought the body of a dead comrade to a French cemetery to have him buried. We speak of Enoch walking with God, and we look at the holiness of his life; but did anybody ever think of the majesty of his life? If there be a spiritual death, and you are dead, be startled; for within a little while God will say, "Bury my dead out of my sight." In body and mind they are under the control of Satan, and consequently are rebellious against God (2:1-3). We desire to see his kingdom come as he does, and we pray for his will to be done on earth, even as it is in heaven. You can't be meaning me." Ye were formerly lost; but now God, by his grace, has rescued you from destruction. And here we must observe, that, in laboring to give an impressive view of both of these parts, the apostle makes a break in the style by () a transposition. His life will be ever afterwards a loosing and letting go; for he will need it till he cometh up to be with God for ever and ever. Come, let me just press this matter home. They are clearly identified in each blog post. Let no man think that, because he has escaped the grosser sins of the body, he has avoided the sins of the flesh. 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