I do. In Christ the great mystery of God is revealed; In Christ we are called to be blameless and free. This is the nature that is given to the believer now. And he said, "I looked at all of the wealth and I said, 'How dies the rich man like the fool, this is emptiness.' It will not be the experience of walking with the saints. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. You that now commune with God at the mercy-seat, you that are now his favoured children, and have received power to become the sons of God, you were once heirs of wrath: "By nature the children of wrath, even as others." And you -- God is referring to the non-Jews reading the letter. Does it not seem a strange thing, that you, who have walked to this place this morning, shall be carried to your graves; that the eyes with which you now behold me shall soon be glazed in everlasting darkness; that the tongues, which just now moved in song, shall soon be silent lumps of clay; and that your strong and stalwart frame, now standing to this place, will be unable to move a muscle, and become a loathsome thing, the brother of the worm and the sister of corruption? Impossible that the Head should not be there as well as the body; and the apostle speaks as to Christ yet more than as to the assembly. When we started being sweet and kind, and you know, generous and good, and when we started just living such a perfect life, God said, "My, isn't that lovely? Ay, but those salt tears are tears of barrenness. He remembers his covenant forever, There is a change somewhere;" and that change is from death to life, from darkness into God's marvellous light. Young people, search after an instructive minister; seek after instructive books; search the Scriptures, and seek to be instructed: that is your principal business. Such is the truth, if indeed we have learnt the Christ as God teaches Him. Enter boldly into the sweetness of His grace and fulness of His glory. Here are some indexes that might be helpful. We have seen that the basic meaning of hagios ( G40) is different. The wrestling is not with flesh and blood, "but against principalities, against powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places." The word walked here in Greek is a word that should be translated meandered. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. So many of you have begun to form habits that are evil; you know that already the screw of the devil is tightening on your finger. I may have some here. Is it so, beloved? Intended for Reading on Lord's-day, July 31st, 1892, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, OUR TRANSLATORS, as you observe, have put in the words "hath he quickened", because Paul had thrown the sense a little farther on, and it was possible for the reader not to catch it. They are "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.". What is the value of any other unity? Is there not good reason for saying that the church is but a consequence? As a Christian you're going to have to learn to go against the current. And ah! That is what the Church should be like. No matter whether Jews or Gentiles, principalities or powers, every family is derived from this universal source of existence "One God and Father of all, who is above all [there we find His supremacy], and through all [there we find His permeance, if one may so say, as the support, of the whole universe], and in you all" [His intimacy with the saints]. Now you have become also sympathetic with similar life in others. There is some perplexity in the language; but, if we attend carefully to what the apostle says about those two parts, the meaning is clear. To live according to the dictates of the flesh is simply to live in such a way, that our lower nature, the worse part of us, dominates our lives. Life is usually capable of pleasure, but the new life is capable of the highest conceivable pleasure. It is the mystery of Christ emphatically; and the part about Christ is the higher of the two. God's choice of Israel was not favouritism, for it was choice not for special honour but for special responsibility. The Church will realize her unity only when she realizes that she does not exist to propagate the point of view of any body of men, but to provide a home where the Spirit of Christ can dwell and where all men who love Christ can meet in that Spirit. And there is no escape; that is the world's message to the world.Paul said, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" Bible Gateway Plus makes it simple. "Because I live, ye shall live also." "Well, I would like to know that for sure. Praise the Lord! To be an Israelite was to be a member of the society of God; it was to have a citizenship which was divine. 22. Not yet had the loving finger closed the eyelid; there seemed to be a light still lingering in her eye; like a lily just nipped off; she was as fair as life itself. (v) The Gentiles were without hope and without God. 69. But pleasantly shocked, that I would want to make that one of the greatest days of his life. Not only were they called in time as we have been, but they were chosen in time, which we were not. God himself has had dealings with us. There is kainos ( G2537) which means new in point of quality. "My soul followeth hard after thee; thy right hand upholdeth me.". Which is the worst state of all, far worse than being without circumcision. (AX) 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple(AY) in the Lord. The psychologists tell us that we never forget anything. ), Someone can be physically alive and yet spiritually dead at the same time. That in fact is always what love does. He hath "quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together." There is nobody here who would like to go and live in a grave. But no matter how hard we may try to hit the mark, none of us have really hit the mark that God has required for man. They said that the Gentiles were created by God to be fuel for the fires of Hell; that God loved only Israel of all the nations that he had made; that the best of the serpents crushed, the best of the Gentiles killed. What a deal of dead worship there is! All lost sinners are dead, and the only difference between one sinner and another is the state of decay." Could the apostle say that to you, and to me? It was as though a tarnishing breath had swept over the reminiscent mirror of his mind and left a little film behind it, so that no past thing he wished to see therein was reflected with quite the same pristine clearness. At the same time there is no exclusion of Gentile believers, but the reverse. And he would have to treat the rest of the fellows to the drinks. This also answers to the grand doctrine of this epistle. I cannot describe to you the lusts and vices of a fullgrown sinner. The same power is needed in the conversion of a sinner which is needed in raising the dead; and one and the other alike demonstrate the omnipotence of him who can do it. "And when, after some forty-eight hours or so, he had quite slept off the fumes of that memorable Christmas debauch, he found that a sad thing had happened to him, and a strange! They said that they did not know. That is what God says about us, you may come closer than others, but we have all come short of the glory of God. Visit that site for many other excellent lectionary-based worship resources. Self would have hindered; had there been a particle, it would have ruined both His person and His work; but this is not the truth as it is in Jesus. Very naturally. Scripturally-based resources for worship planners and leaders. "Like trying to get an octopus into a paper bag." WebPaul writes to the Ephesians that "in the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedienc One of my son's housemates -- Ephesians 2:1-10 -- Fourth Sunday in Lent - B -- 2003 One of my son's housemates at college is an artist. As they were about to leave in bewilderment the priest came up. Well, first, we have become now sentient towards God. "You" refers to Gentiles (2:11). We could almost have died with delight at times when we have realized the glorious things that God has prepared for them that love him. The Spirit is at work, renewing the creation. Take a passage in 2 Corinthians (2 Corinthians 8:5), which has been before us only a short time ago: "And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God." The evil spirit has been driven out, and he no more works in us. If youre my age or older you may remember Homer and Jethro. The worm had not yet begun to gnaw her cheek, the flush had not yet faded from her face; she seemed well-night alive. Praise to the Father of Lord Jesus Christ! When Paul speaks of you, he is speaking of the Gentiles; when he speaks of us he is speaking of the Jews, his fellow countrymen. It does not mean that they had no animal life, or that they did not breathe, and walk, and act. Thats what friendship is all about. Not only was His resurrection this manifestation, but also whatever God put forth toward us was in virtue of that display of His energy was, so to speak, morally included in that power which raised up Christ from the dead. But up to this the saints are contemplated as such. Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. It is the gift of God and our part is simply to accept it. This does not yet appear; for there is nothing to indicate to mankind what He purposes to do. As Origen had it: "The scars remain." The third, and most memorable case, was that of Lazarus , who was not on his bed, nor on his bier, but in his tomb, ay, and corrupt too; but notwithstanding that, the Lord Jesus Christ, by the voice of his omnipotence, crying, "Lazarus, come forth," brought him out of the tomb. No doubt it is a giving up of self, and therefore the fruit of divine grace. This is the point. Shall I tell it here? We must not overlook the fact that those who neglect (Hebrews 2:3) or choose not to receive forgiveness for their sins before their physical death (2 Corinthians 5:10) will experience a "second death" at the judgment (Revelation 21:8). He may be a converted person; and God may be truly dealing with him in the way of gracious action. The first was the young maiden, the daughter of Jairus , who, when she lay on her bed dead, rose up to life at the single utterance of Christ, " Talitha cumi !" Talking about that forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Oh, the many dead prayers that are heard at the bedside; so many good words rushed through at a canter! Impossible that the creature could be or do so; and therefore the creature is never said to be love. Hence "one baptism" follows, which the context shows to be the plain initiatory rite of Christian profession, and nothing else. A break-down sermon, that breaks the preacher down, might break the people down, too. 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