Alive in Christ

I’m excited to be with you in God’s Word tonight and we are going to be out of the Psalms and we will be looking at Ephesians 2. Last night we were looking at what it means to have God as our protector, as our rescuer, and as our friend. We saw all of this in Psalm 91. Something that we mentioned last night is that not everyone can claim for themselves the benefit that comes from a Psalm 91 life. Not everyone can say that they dwell in the shelter of the Most High or that they have the Lord as their refuge and fortress. This is why we need the Gospel. This is why we need Christ as our Mediator and Savior. It has been said that there are only 2 types of people in this world: There are the found and the lost, the believer and the unbeliever, Christian and the non-Christian, the Saints and the aints and every single soul on the face of the earth from the day of Adam to the day that Christ returns must figure out which group that they belong to. The most important piece of information that you can know in the entire realm of creation is whether or not you belong to Jesus Christ. Outside of Christ there is nothing else to gain and nothing else to get. To put it bluntly, he that has Christ has everything and he that lacks Christ has nothing of value. What I want to do tonight is ask you three questions: Who are you before Christ? Who are you with Christ? What are you saved for? We find out the answer to all three of these questions in Ephesians 2:1-10 so let us open up in prayer and then we will read what the Apostle Paul has written for us:

Ephesians 2:1–10 NASB95

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging 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, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Who Are You Before Christ?

These verses very well may be some of the most important verses in the entire Bible and that is because they very accurately describe the entire human race. There are those that are dead in sin and there are those that are made alive in Christ. You are either one or you are the other. I know that there are already Christians in this room but I also know that in a room of this size, the likelihood of every single person being a Christian is relatively small. Even if you are already a Christian, you should never tire of hearing the Gospel. As a husband, I never get tired of hearing my wife say that she loves me, as a father, I never get tired of hearing it from my kids, and as a Christian, I should certainly not get tired of hearing about what Christ has done for me. All that is to say that if you are a Christian, don’t check out over these next few minutes. I want you to focus on what the Apostle Paul says in these first 3 verses of Ephesians 2. Listen to how he describes the state of the unsaved man and woman. In verse 1 he says, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” Now stop right there and take a moment to think about how the sinner is described. We have the tendency to think that when it comes to our sin, that we are dying to sin. We have the tendency to think that we are mostly good but sin may have left a small stain on our soul but that is not the way that Paul describes us. No, you are not dying to sin, you are completely and totally dead in your sins. You are not treading water in the ocean of sin and salvation is not Jesus tossing you a life line to grab hold of. No you are dead at the bottom of the ocean. With no way to bring yourself up. Just as Lazarus was totally unable to bring himself back to life in John 11, so you are totally unable to bring life to your dead soul. If we were to go to a cemetery and dig up one of the coffins and bring the body of the deceased out, there we would see a perfect representation of your soul. What can a dead man do? Absolutely nothing. The only thing he can do is rot and stink and that is the state of your soul apart from Christ. John Stott describes those that are dead in their trespasses and sins as those who, “Are blind to the glory of Jesus Christ and deaf to the voice of the Holy Spirit. They have no love for God, no sensitive awareness of His personal reality, no leaping of their spirit toward him in the cry, ‘Abba, Father’; no longing for fellowship with His people. They are as unresponsive to Him as a corpse.” But Paul does not stop there, Scripture does not stop there. In verses 2-3 Paul says that we all lived according to the lusts of our flesh, that we all walked according to the course of this world, following after Satan, and we were all by nature children of wrath. Not everyone made in the image of God is a child of God. If you are not a Christian, your father is the devil. One of the greatest disappointments that I have with the 21st century church is that we no longer preach about sin and the wrath of God. We do not talk about the blackness of our soul, we do not talk about the length that has separated us from God and we do not talk about the reality of hell. In Genesis 6:5 we read this: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The heart of man is set to sin and nothing within their own will would ever move it. Our love of sin and self is so strong that the only thing that can change it is the irresistible grace of God Himself. Paul says that we are children of wrath and what this means is that God’s perfect and righteous wrath is set on you. The question then is what does God do with these rebels? What does a perfectly just and righteous God do with those that have crucified His Son? What does a perfectly just and righteous God do with those that have blasphemed His name? That have spat in His face? That have rejected His authority? What does God do with them? It should not be lost on us that Jesus speaks more on the reality of Hell than about Heaven. What is the state of the soul in Hell? Some people say that when the Bible speaks of hell, that it is only speaking figuratively. That it is only a metaphor or an image but they have never considered the fact that every time the Bible describes anything, it never captures the fullness of what is really there. I can describe my wife to you but my description will not fully convey just how beautiful she is. The Bible can describe God but there are not enough words to describe Him and all His glory. A picture of a sunset fails to capture the full beauty of the setting sun. A description of Heaven can only touch the fringe of the beauty of what we will see. Do you think then that hell would be the exception to this? In Mark 9:43, Jesus describes hell as a place of unquenchable fire and a few verses later where the worm does not die. In Matthew 8:12 it is described as a place of outer darkness where there is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is a place of rage and hatred. It is the place where God’s wrath is ever present and unleashed in full. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we see that hell is a place of conscious torment. Nothing can be ignored and the soul is totally aware of the pains, the thirst, the unending reality that it is in hell forever. Revelation 14:11 describes hell as the place where the smoke of the sinner’s torment goes up forever and ever with no rest day or night. Thomas Watson said, “Thus it is in hell that they would die but they cannot. They shall be ever dying but never dead. The smoke of the furnace ascends forever and ever. Oh, who can endure thus to be ever upon the rack? The word “ever” breaks the heart.” George Whitefield, the great Evangelist of the Great Awakening said, “Consider the torment of burning like a livid coal, not for an instant or for a day, but for millions and millions of ages, at the end of which souls will realize that they are no closer to the end than when they first begun, and they will never, ever be delivered from that place.” Whitefield would weep as he preached about the torments of hell and the state of the lost soul. People would ridicule him for weeping and he said, “You blame me for weeping, but how can I help it when you will not weep for yourselves, though your immortal souls are on the verge of destruction.” The way that we so casually talk about hell shows that we have no clue what we are talking about and you lost man, lost woman, hang over this eternal abyss by a sheer thread. Jonathan Edwards in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God said, “The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and ‘tis nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God’s mere will, that holds it back. The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire ... you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent is in ours.” Understand that God is angry with you. He has righteous and perfect anger towards you and He will be either glorified in your salvation or He will be glorified in your damnation. Paul Washer said that we are so sinful and evil that if we could but hear Heaven when we took our first step into hell that we would hear all of Heaven and creation praising God that He has rid the earth of you. That’s how bad you are. So, what can be done? If we are dead in our trespasses and sins, children of the devil, children of wrath, what can be done? Praise God that Paul does not stop at verse 3!

Who Are You With Christ?

In verse 4 we see 2 of the most important words in history. “But God.” We can do nothing, we contribute nothing, we are dead, “BUT GOD!” Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say, “Thank God for the buts of the Bible.” Paul says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the Heavenly places.” Rich in mercy, He sends His Son to die in the place of sinners. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God did not leave us without a redeemer. Christ’s love is so great for you that he willingly gave His life, willingly left Heaven so that He would save you. John Flavel, an English Puritan spoke about a hypothetical conversation that happened between God the Father and God the Son, “Here you may suppose the Father to say when driving His bargain with Christ for you. The Father speaks. "My Son, here is a company of poor, miserable souls that have utterly undone themselves and now lay open to my justice. Justice demands satisfaction for them, or will satisfy itself in the eternal ruin of them." The Son responds. "Oh my Father. Such is my love to and pity for them, that rather than they shall perish eternally I will be responsible for them as their guarantee. Bring in all their bills, that I may see what they owe you. Bring them all in, that there be no after-reckonings with them. At my hands shall you require it. I would rather choose to suffer the wrath that is theirs then they should suffer it. Upon me, my Father, upon me be all their debt." The Father responds. "But my Son, if you undertake for them you must reckon to pay the last cent. Expect no abatement. Son, if I spare them... I will not spare you." The Son responds. "Content Father. Let it be so. Charge it all upon me. I am able to discharge it. And though it prove a kind of undoing to me, though it impoverish all my riches, empty all my treasures... I am content to take it." For the joy that was set before Him, Christ endured the cross, He endured the full weight of God’s wrath towards your sin and my sin so that we would never have to. How do we secure this then? Notice that Paul does not say that you are saved by your works. You are not saved by the good things that you have done. Even your best works apart from Christ are nothing more than dirty rags in the eyes of God. No, you are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Your salvation is a gift from God. Your salvation is entirely of Christ. Notice that Paul does not say in verse 4, “But I pulled myself up out of the grave and saw the glory of God. But I worked really hard on myself and did good things.” No, what does Paul say? “But God.” Salvation never starts with you, it always starts in Him. Your salvation is God, beginning, middle, and end. Have you been made alive in and through Christ Jesus? Because there is no other way. Jesus says in John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” He is not a way, a truth, a life. No He is THE way, THE truth, THE life. If you want Heaven, you get it from no other person and no other place. But a desire for Heaven is not enough to get you there. You could ask practically anyone in the world if they want to go to Heaven and they will more than likely say yes. It’s when you ask them if they want to get their Jesus’ way that they have an issue. Why? Because Jesus’ way changes you from the inside out. When you come to Christ, everything changes. That which you once lived for you don’t live for anymore. That which you once longed for you don’t long for anymore. Why? Because your eyes have seen the king. So you are dead in your trespasses and sins before Christ, you are made alive in Christ, now what is it that you do for Christ? Salvation we know is not by our works it is by faith but our faith is not a dead faith. It is living, it is breathing, it is represented in all that we do.

What Are You Saved For?

What are we saved for? Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” You are saved from God, by God, for God. We may be saved by faith alone but the faith that saves is never alone. You are not saved to sit on the couch. You are not saved to look the same as you did before you came to faith in Christ. People should be able to look at your life and say, “There is something that only God could do.” Peter is writing to Christians and says in 1 Peter 2:12 “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” What he is saying here is that our lives as Christians should be such a great testimony to the goodness and grace of God that even those that hate us should be able to see the things that we are doing and recognize that it is God working through us. Jesus says practically the same thing in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” All that we do should be Heaven-focused. Can you look at your thoughts, your words, your actions and be able to say of them, “This is something that would please Christ”? How then should we live? I think that Paul gives us the answer in Ephesians 4:1–3 “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Now this is a great answer as to how we live now that we have come to Christ but obviously this is easier said than done. We cannot limit our Christian life to the living out of 3 verses. It was A.W. Tozer that said that it takes a whole Bible to make a whole Christian. If you are saved, you have been saved to glorify God and to live a life worthy of that calling. If you are not a Christian, what’s stopping you? You’ve heard of hell, you’ve heard of the debt that you owe, you have heard all that you need in order to be saved, so I ask, what’s it going to take? What further word do you need? What greater evidence could God possibly give to you? No, now is the time. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:2 “ Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation.” You are not guaranteed tomorrow. You are not guaranteed the next minute. Now is the time. Don’t wait another moment because their may not be another moment. Don’t wait for another sermon because this may be the last sermon that you will ever hear. I would beg you into Heaven if I could! I would beg you into realizing that which separates you from God forever! Turn now to Christ and for the first time, live! Charles Spurgeon said this: “Now is the day of salvation: You need it now. God is angry with you now. You are condemned already. It is not the torment of hell you have to dread only, but if you have your senses, you wouldst tremble at your present state. Now without God, now without hope, now an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, now dead in trespasses and sins, now in danger of the wrath to come, you need a Saviour this morning, young man. Young woman, I do not charge you to store up medicine against the maladies of twenty years from now, it is the sickness of to-day of which I would fain have you cured this very morning. It is not to look after a danger which shall press upon you when you grow old that I exhort you, but now you are on the brink of the precipice. Now therefore you need to be saved. The moment a sinner trusts in Christ, he is saved, and if you trust him now, it is the day of salvation to you.” Now you may be here thinking, “I want to do that but I don’t want to do it now.” Do you think that you will be more prepared tomorrow? Do you think that allowing more sin into your life will encourage you to take one step closer to God? You might say, “I don’t feel convicted!” You will be no more convicted of your sins than right now! You might think, “Let me go to my home church and get saved there!” Why hold on to what is not guaranteed? Is Christ more of a Savior there than here? No, now is the time and now is the place because only this second is promised. If you want God to be your hideaway, your refuge, your fortress, He cannot be if you don’t go bearing Christ as your Savior. He will not let you in otherwise. Now is the time, now is the place. So, I do call on you tonight to place your faith in Christ. I call on you to repent of the sin that you have held so closely and ask that Christ would make you white as snow. As we respond in worship, if you feel the Holy Spirit convicting you of your life, convicting you of your separation from Christ, I call on you now to do something about it. You do not need to pray a sinner’s prayer to get into Heaven. You simply respond to the grace that has been shown to you by coming to Christ in faith. Won’t you do that now and if that is you, please tell us before you leave here tonight. Let’s pray and then we will respond.