call to worship: ephesians 2

They might otherwise think themselves more or less superior. They had to learn what they had never known. Oh! The very truth which, learnt and enjoyed in the Holy Ghost, conduces to all lowliness and meekness, as it calls for mutual forbearance in love, flesh would abuse to all pride and vain-gloriousness, to high-minded contempt of others, and bitter self-confidence. We confess our trying to you, and ask for your power to be at work within us. This is as it should be. No, no. Heres a prayer of confession based on Ephesians 2:11-22. Where God now seats me together in Christ in these heavenly places, or in the heavenlies. Certainly not in the first man Adam. To illustrate, one may shoot an arrow and fail to hit the mark, or shoot an arrow and have it fall beside the mark. There are merchants whose names stand high and fair. There are vast plans and projects, and the world is intensely active. But there is yet more. Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you! Israel had always had the radiant hope in God which burned clearly and inextinguishably even in her darkest and most terrible days; but in his heart the Gentile knew only despair, before Christ came to give him hope. (iv) The Gentiles were strangers from the covenants on which the promises were based. Ah! That is the result of life. There are three directions in which the effect of sin is deadly. Web4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you It will not be the experience of walking with the saints. ye are dead! In this epistle we have the unfolding of the grace of God in all its fulness, not merely the application of His righteousness to man's need on His part, but God from out of Himself, and for Himself, as the adequate motive and object before Him, even His own glory. Notice what OUR PRESENT POSITION IS, if God has quickened us. Of all the creatures that live and breathe, man is the only one on earth that became a living soul by the breath of the Lord God, who, as it is written, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. This; not only that we hear of the one body, and that saints compose this body, but that a new man is seen. It is God in His proper nature, and in His relationship to Jesus. Finally, "receive the helmet of salvation, [there the head is lifted up, not in presumption, but with none the less joy and courage,] and the sword of the Spirit," which is expressly said to be the word of God. God himself has had dealings with us. Before he gets up in the morning, he begins to feel sometimes lively and sometimes ill; he does not understand himself. Naturally this prayer grows out of the two great truths he had been urging. "What set you cleaning and polishing these old engines of yours?" 110 and 2:1122. 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. This also answers to the grand doctrine of this epistle. The only thing which can restore his relationship to her is an act of free forgiveness on her part. Psalm 65: Hes got the whole world in his hands! In this order He gave them the body to be edified, and ministry carried on, but always the individual first. Life is usually capable of pleasure, but the new life is capable of the highest conceivable pleasure. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. A break-down sermon, that breaks the preacher down, might break the people down, too. This new walk and life that I have in the Spirit, this resurrected life of Jesus Christ. 12. Hence the apostle Paul, in what is by no means the simplest utterance he has given, writes in few words. says one, "I have lived fifty years, and I have never felt anything of God." That accounts for everything: "together with Christ." The special point before the apostle's mind is that this was the choice of God before the world, in which we are brought to know the infinite blessing. Let the stealer steal no more." Tell a fish in the sea there is no water. 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. It may be perverted to this or anything else; but so far is our corporate place from being put in the foreground that we do not hear one word about the assembly as such till the close of the first chapter. 3 say to god, how awesome are your deeds! It cannot be otherwise. Paul closes this passage with a great exposition of that paradox which always lies at the heart of his view of the gospel. fol. He has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, "that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." They had a distinguished place before the Son became man. Paul seems to allow no middle ground, a person is either dead or alive. When the preacher said that Paul was not a Christian when he wrote those words, though I was only seven days old in divine things, I knew better than that, so I never went there any more. There is nothing mysterious about this. The building up of the body is the fruit of God's blessing the individual saints. It is simply an inevitable law of love. These verses continue the theme of redemption (Ephesians 1:7). Was there only this? N461919. When we get "together with Christ", then are we made alive, then are we saved. The relationship with God would cease the moment that man disobeyed the commandment of God, the moment man transgressed. And the Lord said, "Gideon." "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." suspicious of anyone who didnt look like us. We have all sinned; we have all missed the mark. There are no outsiders There are all kinds of architecture; but the building is a unity because through it all it has been used for the worship of God and for meeting with Jesus Christ. in our homes and schools, in our church and in our world. And God throughout eternity is going to be revealing the exceeding greatness of His mercy and of His kindness, these things that He has given and provided and done for you through Jesus Christ. See how Paul keeps harping on that one string. Even though trained by godly parents, though well instructed in the gospel scheme, though saturated with the piety that surrounded us, we were dead, as dead as the harlot of the street, as dead as the thief in the jail. or our anger gets the better of us and we lash out. Before Christ the barriers were up; after Christ the barriers were down. The mark that God has established for you is perfection. Imagine in Solomon's day when silver was as common as rocks. You may search it through and through to find a single flattering word to unregenerate man; but you will search in vain. It is not for God's ambassador to wash his mouth beforehand; let him boldly reprove, as men do boldly sin. "This is a great mystery," he adds at the close; "but I speak as to Christ and as to the church.". Looking for something? As being the image and glory of God on earth, he is the one that gives names to his companion, or to the subject creation. 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." It was not even lawful to render help to a Gentile woman in childbirth, for that would be to bring another Gentile into the world. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ "hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Here the prayer is not, as in the first chapter, that they might know the power that had wrought toward them; it is now that their hearts might be in the secret of His grace according to the power that works in them. He says that the middle wall of the barrier between has been torn down. Other nations might be governed by democracy or aristocracy; Israel was a theocracy. They were chosen in time. We would probably rather resent being called hell-deserving sinners. When you see a person meandering you get the impression he is not really going anywhere and he doesn't have any purpose. Having no hope, and without God in the world: It is an awful description, but a truthful description, of what we were. The enmity, even the law of commandments containeth in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he. People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. He is far less concerned with your tunefulness than your integrity. God therefore has not been pleased in the heights of divine truth to repeat words in the same way as His grace leads Him to do when He is helping the babes. In the Scriptural view, sin equals death; and there is no light or casual view of either in the Bible. If worldlings could only know the bliss of living near to God, and of basking in the light of his countenance, they would throw their wealth into the sea, and ten thousand times as much, if they might but get a glimpse of this joy that can never be bought, but which God gives to all who trust his dear Son. They were a comedy team who specialized in country music parodies and The Jews who believe are taken out of their former place, as much as the Gentiles, who had no place. You have got a wrong and blasphemous concept of God. And if I would deliver the Midianites into the hands of the 32,000, they would go around glorying in themselves. But, as Paul said elsewhere, "Christ is the end of the law" ( Romans 10:4). If He is showing needy souls how they may be forgiven of God, He displays it in a thousand forms; if the need of righteousness, He repeats it over and over again. There is a certain spiritual competence supposed, a due preparation not only of heart, but also of knowledge; or, as the apostle said, "we speak wisdom among them that are perfect," Here no lengthy exposition would be wanted about it, because they were not so infantine as to suppose that the truth of God depends on the number of times that a thing is asserted. We choose to live in love as beloved children. 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. Say that you had been dead fifty years; that is nearer to the mark. Oh, be aware of his devices; seek to "keep the heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." This was peculiarly needed. Where these are made and kept right, we can then safely follow what God will show us in due time, but not otherwise. (iii) Through Jesus both Jew and Gentile have the right of access to God. The fallen nature of man, which is dominated by his flesh, and thus is ruled by his fleshly desires. I would not think of closing my eyes in sleep unless I had some sense of his love shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost. (T) 10For we are Gods handiwork,(U) created(V) in Christ Jesus to do good works,(W) which God prepared in advance for us to do. What a mystic union there is between the believer and his Lord! But now they had consummated their rebellion by refusing the Christ of God. gain access to 50+ premium resources to enhance your study of Scripture. Then follows a prayer of the apostle the first of those he pours out for the Ephesian saints. (ii) That is to say that works have nothing to do with earning salvation. 10. If the latter enquired how God had interfered most conspicuously for them, no doubt they were reminded of the power that brought them out of the land of Egypt. He does not need resuscitation; he needs resurrection. The Family And The Dwelling-place Of God ( Ephesians 2:19-22). He told them that his heart had been troubled because of his refusal to allow their dead comrade to be buried in the churchyard; so, early in the morning, he had risen from his bed and with his own hands had moved the fence to include the body of the soldier who had died for France. 5-7. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect" ( Matthew 5:48 ). At first a man engages in some forbidden pleasure because he wants to do so; in the end he engages in it because he cannot help doing so. Bible Gateway Plus makes it simple. Those who were once "dead in sins" are now alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-10); and those who were once "aliens and strangers separated from God" are now members of God's family (Ephesians 2:11-22). He Himself is the measure of the walk of the new man, and the manifestation of it is Christ Himself. And so accordingly all that is acceptable takes this shape. What is the other?" Here are some indexes that might be helpful: INDEXES: For a complete list of all the indexes on this blog, click here. [Note: Simpson, p. This literally means a slip or a fall. ~ survey response When the father sees the son, he can see the haughty spirit has been replaced by humility (Luke 15:20; Matthew 6:8). If a Jew married a Gentile, the funeral of that Jew was carried out. For the mass subsequently brought in were Gentiles, and the gospel of salvation they forthwith received, without going through the intermediate steps that the others knew. He knows about himself better than you do. But the divine nature is given to us in its qualities of holiness and love. So we have many who are lovely, amiable, morally admirable, like him whom the Saviour looked upon and loved; yet they are dead for all that. we know too well) saving faith necessarily, but the faith of Christendom; and accordingly "one baptism" is its mark, because thus they are put on or take the ground of professing the one Lord and one faith. Our state and course are such as deserve wrath, and would end in eternal wrath, if divine grace did not interpose. Our world belongs to him! Ye are not yet united to him by a living faith. Through Jesus there is a place for all men in the family of God. Or secret places of the heart's own love. The Jews were so, as well as the Gentiles; and one man is as much so as another by nature, not only by custom and imitation, but from the time when we began to exist, and by reason of our natural inclinations and appetites. One wrote home: "It is better for you to be in your own homes, whatever they may be like, than to be in a strange land." 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