Ephesians 2:1. And you hath he quickened,
You, who were by nature dead are now made alive unto God by the holy Spirit. If you had nothing else to think of, all day long, but just these five words, they might suffice to lift you up to the very heights of grateful adoration of your quickening Lord: «And you hath he quickened,»-
Ephesians 2:1. Who were dead in trespasses and sins;
These were your grave clothes, or the charnel-house in which you would have continued to lie if the quickening power of God the Holy Spirit had not brought you out into newness of life.
Ephesians 2:2. Wherein in time past ye walked 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:
This is what happened to us all in our unregenerate state, we were carried along by the world, loving what it loved, judging from its views, and acting according to its maxims. Nay, worse than that, the devil himself had dominion over us, as he had over the rest of the world; «the prince of the power of the air» was the spirit that worked in us as well as in the rest of «the children of disobedience.» What a glorious deliverance it was to be saved from the power of death, and the dominion of Satan, and to be made partakers of everlasting life!
Ephesians 2:3. 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.
That is the highest point to which human nature can attain; left to itself, it makes us «children of wrath.» Even those who are now most assuredly the children of God were once the children of wrath; there was no difference, in that respect, between them and the rest of mankind. It is only the marvelous mercy and grace of God which have made us to differ from our fellow-creatures who are still «dead in trespasses and sins.»
Ephesians 2:4-5. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,--
Again let us praise the Lord with all our hearts for what he has done for us. It is truly wonderful that he should have loved us when we were «dead in trespasses and sins,»-with no feeling, no holy desire, no repentance; while indifference, heartlessness, powerlessness, covered everything. We were dead in sin, yet he loved us, and therefore it was that he «quickened us together with Christ,»-
Ephesians 2:5. (By grace ye are saved.)
Not by human merit, not by the energy of our own will; but, «by grace ye are saved.»
Ephesians 2:6. And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus
We are not only alive, you see, but we are elevated into the highest position of the new life,-made to live with Christ, and in Christ,-made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:7-8. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Both the salvation and the faith that makes it ours are the gift of God.
Twice over, the apostle tells us that we are saved by grace, yet men will not believe it. They will, somehow or other, get away from this humbling but true and precious doctrine. They will contrive, by some method or other, to squeeze in their own works, and their own will, and so rob Christ, if not of his crown, yet of some of its brightest jewels.
Ephesians 2:9-10. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship,--
If we have good works, as I trust we have, yet even they are the production of God's grace; praise and glory for them belong to him, and not to us: «For we are his workmanship,»-
Ephesians 2:10. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
This is the great object of our election; we are elected that we may be holy, and ordained that we may walk in good works;-who can rightly quarrel with such a divine purpose as this?
Ephesians 2:11-12. Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
That is the condition of every unbeliever at this time: «having no hope, and without God in the world.» Mr. Hume once made the remark that he knew many Christians who were afraid to die, but he was not. The Christian man, to whom he said this, pointed to an ox grazing in the meadow, and said, «You have reached about as high as that bullock has, for he also is not afraid to die; but pray, Mr. Hume,» enquired the good man, «have you any hope after death?» At that question, the philosopher shook his head, for he knew nothing of such a hope as that; the utmost point he could reach was, by indifference, to raise himself above fear. «Having no hope,» is a true description of every man who has no faith in our crucified and risen Saviour.
Ephesians 2:13. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
That is the great attracting power, which draws us from our natural distance, and brings us into nearness to God. How we ought to prize that precious blood which does so much for us! It cleanses us from sin; it pleads for us before the throne; and here, you see, having made a way of access for us, it also conducts us along that way, and brings us nigh to God.
Ephesians 2:14. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
There are no privileges now for the Jew from which the Christian is shut out, for Christ «hath made both one.» There is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision now, for all believers are one in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:15-22. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
May we realize that the Holy Spirit is inhabiting his own Church at this moment; and, especially, may all of us, who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, realize Our own position in that spiritual temple which is the «habitation of God through the Spirit,» for Christ's sake! Amen.