Ephesians 2:1. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
What a great change, then, has taken place in the people of God! It is described as being similar to the resurrection of the dead. And do you suppose that this took place without a man's knowing it? Do you think that we are wrong in stating a wide difference between the quickened ones and the dead? I trow not. In fact, those addresses made to congregations in which there is no distinction made between the living and the dead in Zion, are deceptive. And prayers that are meant to suit congregations of mingled character, where some are dead in sin, and others alive unto God, are, on the very face of them, an attempt at an impossibility. As great as is the distinction between the dead in their graves and living men that walk the streets, so great is the difference between the regenerate and unregenerate. Do you think that in reading this verse, dear friends you could apply it to yourself, «and you, and you, and you, hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin»?
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:
Those who are not saved have a life of evil. They are dead towards, God, but they are alive towards Satan. An unregenerate man's heart is Satan's workshop, in which he forges divers devices of evil the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience.
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.
No difference by nature between the brightest saint in the church of God and the blackest sinner of the camp of Satan all fallen, all desperately depraved as our very original. What wonders of grace are those who are saved! Let them take care that they never fail in praising that grace.
Ephesians 2:4-7. 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, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
God's great object is to display his grace to let all the universe know what a gracious God he is, therefore, did he pitch upon us who were dead in sin, even as others; therefore, does he quicken us; and therefore, having quickened us, does he go on to raise us up from one point to another until he makes us sit with Christ upon his throne. Oh! beloved, if all the ages are to learn the grace of God from his dealings towards us, let us learn it, and let us talk much of it, and exult much in it. Who is a gracious God like unto our God?
Ephesians 2:8. For by grace are ye saved
Not by your own merits, not by priestcraft, not by your own free will. «By grace are ye saved.» This is the great summary of the gospel. Let this doctrine be preached, and we shall soon see the errors of Rome fly before it. «By grace are ye saved.»
Ephesians 2:8. Through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Neither the faith nor the salvation are of ourselves. They are both the gifts of divine love, both wrought in us by the divine spirit. It is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:9-10. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship,
No good man can boast of his works, because those works are the work of God. Without him we could not perform good works, so that even when we possess them, we are his workmanship. Shall the vessel on the wheel exalt itself as if it made itself? No, the potter must have the credit of all the skill of the making of the vessel, and if, therefore, there shall be in our character marks and lines of grace and truth, unto God be the glory of them, for we are his workmanship.
Ephesians 2:10-12. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 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 the 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:
This is where our fathers were. This is where we are by nature. We have not got even as far as the Jew, who had a covenant, according to the flesh to plead and had received the sign of it while yet a child; but we we were altogether foreigners and aliens from the Most High.
Ephesians 2:13. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Oh! rejoice in this. Ye far-off ones made nigh, lift up your hearts now in thankfulness for what the Lord Jesus has done for you by his blood made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:14. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Christ is peace between Jew and Gentile peace between both of them and their God. I have heard of a poor bricklayer, who, when at work on a scaffold, fell from a great height and was taken up and was dying. They sent for a minister of the gospel, who began addressing him in such terms as this, «My dear man, you are evidently near to die, and therefore, I exhort you to make your peace with God.» He knew but very little of it, compared with what the poor bricklayer knew, for, opening his eyes, he said, «Make my peace with God, sir? That I could not do, but, I thank God, it was made for me in the everlasting covenant of grace in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ eighteen hundred years ago, and I have no peace to make.» It is peace already made, and we have but to accept it, for he is our peace who hath made both one and broken down the middle wall of partition between us.
Ephesians 2:15-16. 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:
No enmity now should exist between Jew and Gentile. None does exist between the believer and his God. The enmity is dead for ever, for Christ hath died.
Ephesians 2:17-18. 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.
In this verse you have the whole Trinity, and all the Trinity in unity are necessary for prayer. «Through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.»
Ephesians 2:19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
How blessedly grace annihilates all national distinction. Cowper spoke of nations which, like kindred drops, would have melted into one if they had not been divided by a range of mountains or intersected by a narrower faith. But in the gospel of grace we do melt into one. Who loves the Lord is a co-patriot with all who love him. Distinctions of nationality sweetly sink when we come to know the Saviour. We are fellowcitizens with the saints and of the household of God.
This exposition consisted of readings from Ephesians 2:1; Matthew 11:1-6.