Ephesians 2:1-7

[Shield]

Shield> Thanks for coming everyone:)
Shield> Lets pray
Shield> Father God again we come before you
Shield> may our hearts be sensitive
Shield> and may we be attentive
Shield> to what you are saying through your Word, the Bible
Shield> may we make careful application to our lives
Shield> so that we may grow more Christlike in our character
Shield> and so that you may receive all the glory and honor due your holy name
Shield> we love you Lord God
Shield> it is with humble and sweet adoration we submit ourselves to you
Shield> in the name of your Son Jesus amen
Shield> Tonight we resume our examination of the letter to the Ephesians.
Shield> Previously we explored the first chapter of this letter; tonight we will embark on an examination of chapter two.
Shield> You might recall that we discovered that the phrase "in Christ" is central to the text. We shall see that this remains true throughout the letter.
Shield> Ephesians 2:1 You were dead through the trespasses and sins
Shield> I should like to give some insight regarding this portion of the text before i unmoderate
Shield> the verb "were" represents ongoing action in past time
Shield> Paul is speaking to Christian people
Shield> and reminding them...they "were" dead
Shield> by means of their trespasses and sins
Shield> the sense of the text is this
Shield> they were once in a condition of ongoing death by virtue of their posture of sin
Shield> in fact that posture was instrumental in keeping them in a condition of death
Shield> Ephesians 2:2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.
Shield> they were dead through sins in which they once lived
Shield> lets consider one phrase in particular
Shield> "following the course of this world"
Shield> what do you suppose that may mean?
Hattie> By following the people who were Not saved?
Shield> thats certainly part of it sis
Shield> I agree
Hattie> or by doing what they did before they were saved?
Shield> before they were saved
J4Him> caving in to the desires and wants of the world
Shield> yet also following others who were not yet saved
Shield> amen J4Him
Shield> consider this....
Shield> the term course of this world means....
Shield> manner of life of the world
Shield> conduct
Shield> it speaks of allegiance
Shield> and it speaks of conduct
Shield> the phrase that follows clarifies this
Shield> following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.
Hattie> satan
Shield> there is an emphasis of aligning oneself with evil
Shield> yes Hattie
Shield> satan was disobedient to God
Hattie> yes
Shield> and it cost him everything
Hattie> yes
Shield> now he is attempting to wage war on the souls of humans
Shield> by tempting them to be disobedient
Shield> the fact is....
Shield> we do much to help this process through our own intrinsic tendency to be disobedient
Shield> we are by nature disobedient
Corky> humanity has been disobedient since Adam sinned....
Shield> Ephesians 2:3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.
Shield> amen Corky
Shield> and because of that our nature was tainted
Shield> that image of God in us was in some measure marred by the sin of Adam
Shield> Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us
Shield> this is the good news friends:)
Shield> we have had the bad news
Hattie> Amen
Shield> and it is bad
Shield> in fact i think we may sometimes take it too lightly...at least..i know i may at times
Shield> But God
Shield> who is rich in mercy
Shield> out of the great love with which he loved us
Shield> Ephesians 2:5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-- by grace you have been saved--
Hattie> Amen
Shield> noow this is the critical verse that ties this section together
Shield> remember our treatment of the word "were"?
Shield> we "were" dead in our sins....
Shield> ongoing action in past time
Shield> even while that was ongoing in our lives....
Shield> God, in his sovereignty, made us alive
Shield> in Christ
Shield> by his grace
Shield> salvation is not by works
Shield> it is by Gods grace
Hattie> because He loves us so much
Shield> amen
Shield> Ephesians 2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Shield> Ephesians 2:7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Shield> think of it folks
Shield> God sovereignly dealt with the issue of sin
Corky> the word that really blows my mind is to be "seated" as if I deserved to sit with Him
Shield> here is the catch
Hattie> God loves us so much more than we can even imagine
Shield> amen Corky!
Hattie> Amen, Corky
Shield> let me ask you all something
Shield> Corky made reference to the seating arrangement
Shield> how many of you...if you had free tickets to go see your favorite musician or sports team in the front row...would either refuse it...or if you already accepted it...would not tell someone else that they too could accept it?
Shield> its a hypothetical query
Hattie> I would tell everyone
Shield> the point is this
Shield> exactly
Shield> but
Shield> the reality is...
Shield> many either refuse the free gift of salvation..and that is their choice...
Shield> or more often....
Shield> they don't even know about it
Shield> coz I havent done my job in telling them about this really really cool seating arrangement in heaven
Shield> Ephesians 2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Shield> Ephesians 2:7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Shield> lets pray
Shield> Our Father we come to you tonight
Shield> again thanking you for your Word
Shield> Lord God may I be a witness for you
Shield> may we all make application tonite
Shield> of this passage of Scripture
Shield> and may we feel the challenge to be bold in our witness if we are already believers in you
Shield> or if we have not yet confessed you as Lord...
Shield> may we carefully consider the merits of doing so now
Shield> in Jesus name amen
Hattie> Amen
Corky says Amen too.....
Shield> God Bless you all and thanks for coming