Alive In Christ!

A fearful expectation. I look forward to ministering the Word of God. It's fearful because of my weaknesses and frailties. But I expect God's Word to do its work. Let's pray together. As we contemplate your salvation, Father, and more specifically, your Son, who paid the price for us at Calvary, who is resurrected and sits at your right hand, Father, help us understand the Scriptures today. help us to learn from this yoke of Christ for the church's behalf that we would stand bold and powerful knowing that You are all sufficient in all You do.

Father, we just thank You so much in Christ Jesus' name. Amen. I'd have you turn to Ephesians 2. I had been in Ephesians 1 for a couple other messages, which after Tim's preaching, I feel pretty feeble. But we come to Ephesians 2. And I'll read through 1-10.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked. following the course of this world, following the prince of power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedient, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. And we're by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love, which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Paul sets up in this letter, as he's pronounced the glory of Christ and glory of the Father in the first part in chapter 1, in the Spirit's working, and in this letter he's preparing the church for better service better unity better love for one another that is bound in christ and he brings us to a place in chapter two and makes us why is he reminding us of this we're no longer there it's it's like to remind us that this is where you came from.

This is who you were. And this is why. This is why you serve him with all vigilance. This is why you should adore him and seek his face each and every day. He brings out a place of total depravity. That we were unable in our sins.

We were unable. We were ones who are destined for destruction. Sin is missing the mark. The view of God in our life was nothing. Again, we may have had thoughts of God. I take myself back in my own thinking.

I sat in the pews across the street and was told about Christ, but yet I was dead in my transgressions I didn't want to hear it I was separated from my God I had made the choice and we talk about human responsibility but where is God in all this God sent his son before the creation of the world It was set out. It was a plan that he shows his sovereignty of his will. As we learn in chapter 1, this redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will.

When was the time He called us? Have you ever thought that in your life? When did I hear His voice? And this is what the Spirit's work is. First revealing our sin and then showing us the glory of Jesus Christ. So Paul wants you to contemplate this.

He wants you to see the supremacy and the power that's in his son. You were dead. You were unable. There was nothing in you. Were you depraved? Were you as bad as you could be?

No, you weren't. If you kept that route, yes. You know, we can read Romans 1 and we see God letting them over to their sinfulness. and then it talks about homosexuality and all those gruesome sins. But we were on that path. We were on the same path. When we look down at a sinner and don't understand what Christ has done for us, then we're losing it.

We've got to always remember that, and that's what Paul wants to remind the church here. It was nothing in you. You once walked that way. following that course of this world, the world with all its enticements, and the prince of the power of the air who was set under Christ. Christ has supremacy. His role is now held, not as bad as it could be, because of the redemption time.

This is a time of redemption. People of God, this is a glorious time to rest in these truths that would drive us to better service better love of God but more importantly better love for our neighbor Looking out for those and understanding that we had nothing to give our Lord But by His free grace and gift, He chose to do this. There's no free will in our lives.

We chose sin because of the original sin in Adam. We enjoyed our sinfulness. Or we might live morally. Some of you might be outside Christ and you say, Man, I can live good enough. Not to a holy God. A holy God must have sin dealt with.

He's not the creator of sin. Man, that is man's doing. we see the spirit of disobedience working in a world of discord, pain, destruction. We need to understand that we carry, we carry in us the power of the gospel. The power of the gospel that can cure all the ails of the environment and discord and hatred. We carry that power. No political party.

No, you name it. We carry that power because of what He's done for us. We once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. but God verse 4 is to get our attention but God being rich in mercy because of his great love which he loved us he loved us not for anything else but to bring his glory through his son to manifest what had started in all beginning of creation before the fall let us create man in my image our image Plural, showing the Godhead.

To restore that, He restores us to a place where our thinking is clear, though still marred. It's still marred with sin, isn't it? I haven't studied... I don't think the free will is fully... It will never be a perfect free will, as Adam had before the fall. that it's still marred. Our thinking gets cluttered.

That's the way he's going to address in the latter part of this book. He wants us to put in perspective who we are in Christ. Who are we? But God being rich in mercy, because of his great love, which he loved us, even when we are dead in our trespasses, Even when a trespass is a moving away from the right path. Even though we might have heard the gospel, we needed to be born again to understand the scriptures.

Do you remember the first time you saw the scriptures with the Holy Spirit's help? Did it not come alive? If some of you are here, it's just not making sense to you. just plead before a living God and look to Jesus Christ. Lord, give me the Spirit and let me be like Nicodemus who questioned and asked. And the Lord so graciously said, you must be born again.

You must be born again of the Spirit to understand the revelation of Christ. But God, rich in His mercy, Just let that go through you. God being rich in mercy. Do we understand what that's... We've seen it here when we were yet dead in our trespasses. He sent forth His Son.

His Son went willingly. His Spirit would come later to do His work. And by grace, the favor of God we live in. does not music minister to your hearts that secret place of God alone Oh, that we would desire that place with God. We are in a blessed place, but yet we have some time to go. We have some travel, do we not? And that's what Paul is setting him up here.

To understand who you are. Who is your God? To meditate on that. To worship in your life. To know that everything now, because of this new covenant, is worship. from washing dishes to scraping hog floors or anything, pounding nails, to sitting on the line in the shop. Everything now is to be worshipful before Him because of Christ.

And He's raised us. Here's this. He's raised us up with Him. And seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So then in the coming ages he might show his immeasurable riches of his grace. In kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

It awaits us. And if we're rooted and grounded in Christ we should anticipate it. We should think about it. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And that's a call to the new earth. The new earth where everything will be restored.

It's a meditation. He's calling us to pray that daily. To forgive as He's forgiven you. Because sin in the human heart is destructive. I like what William Barclay said. He says sin is like a spiritual suicide.

It's a spiritual suicide. you want to kill yourself? Have at your sin Turn away from the living God in Christ Jesus He raised us up with Him I don feel like I seated at the right hand No, He's getting to think about these things, meditate on them. In the coming ages, that He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing. It is a gift from God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Paul's addressing an issue that the Holy Spirit has put on his heart that is important for man to hear. Man thinks too much of himself. He thinks he can save himself.

That's why you see so many religions. They don't want to look at the person of Jesus Christ. They don't want to submit to him because pride is a barrier. They don't understand their sin. We've all been there. How could I have been so blind to not see this message that is so simple?

Have you ever contemplated that? How could I have missed it? How could I have missed that? And by God's common grace, see, he shows himself even to the sinner as one who is loving. because the sinner who is apart from Christ still can enjoy having families, enjoying the friendship and love in a family, but has no thought of God. We as the people of God, this I believe is a summation what he, like what Paul Tripp says here, you can be courageous in admitting your sin precisely because God is richly abundant in his mercy he comes to you in mercy not because you are good but because you are a sinner and he knows that because of this condition you are unable to help yourself since sin means that you are a bigger danger to you than anything else in your life.

And since it is impossible for you to run from you, there is only one hope for you. It is that someone with power and wisdom and mercy will invade your life, forgive your sins, and progressively deliver you from the hold that sin had on you. The mercy comes to you in the person of Jesus Christ. And His mercy is always fresh, uniquely fashioned for the sin struggles of this new day. as we contemplate this table we contemplate this glorious salvation what he's delivered us from and what we can look forward to we were unable we were lost in our sin I will let me address you who sit in our midst and who we care for and who we want you to know the glory of Jesus Christ.

I want you to know that God is completely sovereign. The man is responsible. It's a mystery. It's a mystery, but you need to understand that even the believer, we are accountable. I'm accountable for what I teach you if I can teach you. I'm accountable what I hear, how I respond.

But for the unbeliever, I want you to understand that the simple message of the gospel is come to me, all who's heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Come to me and learn from me. don't bring anything else but your plea to knowing who he is I went off you know as you try to what am I going to talk about well Tim off with this comfort for the contrite, that's what it's titled in Isaiah 55.

And this is what you who are outside, we are lowly at times as believers, but we're secured in Christ. To the unbeliever, I want you to hear this, I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite for i will not contend forever nor will i always be angry for the spirit would grow faint before you in the breath of life that i made do you hear that It's a breath of life I made. And for the believer to look upon your unbelieving friend and understand that without the Spirit of God, they don't understand.

But they're hurting. Well, they may be comfortable in their sin. But there's a time and a season. But as a believer, we need to understand this is the promise of the gospel. This is what we carry. We are ambassadors to this good news of the gospel.

How are we carrying that? And we can go on and on about... And you're mature in the point that you know these things. You know you need to put off and put on. You need to be faithful in the simple things that the church, more importantly Christ, gives us. You need to serve in the body to grow and mature We understand this promise we carry It's not with our eloquent speech that we're going to drive somebody to the cross.

It's a simpleness. How are you doing? It's a genuine sincereness. That's what Paul said in Romans. Let your love be genuine. Let your love be genuine.

I think I bring this up all the time in Sunday school and when I preach. It's just so significant. I know when I'm not genuine in love toward my unbelieving neighbor. I know it. I know I have this agenda in my life that I have to fight off. And we all fight it. my personal gains are it's a fight i want the kingdom of christ we all desire that and we're all in it together that's that's the importance of of seeing the truth of god and and staying faithful to that and and by personal devotion contemplating these things Paul wanted to address.

In Romans, we're crucified. The old self is crucified. It's put to death. What is this that Christ promises us? I have overcome the world. Take heart.

Let's just expound that a little. I have overcome your weaknesses. I have overcome your frailties because of your sinful nature. by the Spirit of God I'm going to give you I'm going to give you everything in life and godliness and my son so take heart don be overcome by the world take heart encourage one another if you've been encouraged by the word of God by something that you've read personally or somebody's taught you in Sunday school encourage them you know what, God's working in me I'm not talking about me I'm just talking about yeah he is always working me I'm a work I'm a wreck let me be transparent with you it's a battle but it's worth fighting because he seated us in the heavenly place he seated us there no merit nothing no money oh yeah well that would be good wouldn't it early church that was going off the path.

Praise God for Martin Luther. Nothing. Simple message. Are you hurting? I can help. Not me.

The Word of God. You know what? He's given us everything. This reminder of the table. he emptied himself he emptied himself of everything for our behalf you know how we treasure things and we invest in things God invested everything for us Everything For our behalf So let draw near to God again as we give in our benevolent fund and give at the table. And let us receive.

Let us be mindful of one who sacrificed everything for our behalf. Let's pray. Father, we're humbled because your word and your spirit that dwells speaks so powerfully to our fragile heart. It speaks in ways, Father, that only you who know us. I pray for the unbeliever in our midst. The ones that have been with us. many days oh father show them the glory of Jesus Christ show them the power of the death and resurrection of your son and the power of your spirit that can comfort comfort in ways that only you can do help us be steadfast in our love towards our neighbor for our families, unbelieving co-workers, for Your glory.

Father, we know that this grace is given because You're doing a work in us that is so unexpressible that it humbles us. It humbles us to a place where we need to be humbled. We thank you so much in Christ's name.