But God | Ephesians 2:1-7 | March 17 | Derek Neider

Derek Neider [00:00:07] We are in Ephesians chapter two, starting in verse one today, Ephesians chapter two, starting in verse one. And you can you can stand with me today. Get that hand up. I need a Bible. There are, there are. We're going to pray today, obviously, after we read the scripture, we're gonna pray for our study. We're also going to pray that God just pours out his healing hand. There are a lot of people who are struggling with physical sickness. And, when we do the invitation this morning after, we do the invitation, there's going to be a team of people that will be present here to pray for you. If, in fact, you just well, you can come up for prayer for anything, but especially if you need physical healing. We're going to pray for Pastor Jim today. We're we're asking, like we have been for so long that God would bless him with a brand new kidney healing or new kidney. He's been under a lot of stress, so he has stepped away from staff. And I want to encourage you guys to pray for him, pray for his family. We believe that there's going to be a mighty outpouring of God's Holy Spirit on him. And the great gifts and calling that God has given him are going to be used for the glory of God. Amen. All right, so let's read together today. This is a great section of Scripture we're up to up to verse seven. Up to and through verse seven, the Bible says in you were dead, welcome to church, and you were dead, and you were dead in trespasses and sins. And it's good. It doesn't say, and you are dead, right? Some of you might be. We'll get to that in a minute.

Speaker [00:01:47] And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once. Walked following the course of this world. Following the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature check this out, and were by nature children of wrath, of wrath like the rest of mankind. Oh, say, say with me. Come on now. Come on. Say it like you mean it. But God, being rich. Better than first service. They were asleep, man. But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you've been saved. Yeah. Somebody say amen to that. Amen. If you're like, pastor, read it. Close up in prayer and send us on. We're fired up verse six, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Father. Thank you God. These words, they're just they're better than good. God, they're amazing. And they bring life. And and father, we know today that your children, God, your children, need to be infused with your life and strength. For those among us who are struggling physically, God for Pastor Jim and for his family. Father, would you would you pour out that physical healing? You are the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You are the unchanging one and God. We pray that you would demonstrate that in mercy today by lifting up those who are physically struggling and God across the board.

Speaker [00:03:54] This morning, we pray that you would fill us with your power, with your strength, because, God, you can take what seems to be impossible to us and you can turn it into a possibility. In Jesus name, Amen. You can have a seat today. Everybody loves to come back. Everybody loves a good comeback story. Whether that's sports or whatever the case may be, one of my favorite comeback stories is the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Any any Yankee, any Yankees fans here today? I'm just curious. All right. That's the great thing about the body of Christ. Like the Yankees fans and Red Sox fans can actually be in the same place at the same time and love each other. That that, by the way, is a miracle. But, you know, it was being a Red Sox fan living in New England, was a great thing, but also a difficult thing because, you know, what they called the curse of the Bambino had been on the Red Sox for decades. In other words, you know, the Red Sox, who are a really great baseball team, hadn't won a World Series, like I said, for decades, and more than four decades, but for for for decades. And so in the 2004 American League Championship Series, it was like normal for the Red Sox fans. It was the Yankees putting a beat down on us. Three games was so bad. It was so bad. They didn't call us the Red Sox. They called us the Dead Sox. And in the fourth, the fourth game, fourth and final game, it seemed like it was the final game, against our arch rivals, our nemesis, the Yankees. Ninth inning, two outs. It was like over as over could get. And then, you know, they put on their rally cap and the Red Sox turned it around.

Speaker [00:05:43] And they actually not only one game four, they went on to win the next three games. So they took the American League championship. And then they went to the World Series and they won the World Series. I know it's great. You don't have to clap for that. You're like, yeah, I know I'm not clapping for that today. Don't, don't don't do it. Just just don't do it. But I'm just telling you like, there's something there's something within all of us. Like, we love it when the underdog comes through. When the chips are down, when it's like the story is over. Then all of a sudden, it doesn't matter if it's sports or in education or even in politics, you can find yourself in a place where there's this thing within you. Or in movies like we are drawn to movies where the underdog, you know, comes out on top. There's this intrinsic thing within us. I would just say to you guys, I believe we're built for this. I believe that God has built us with this longing to see what is impossible, made possible. We are built to desire to see the setback turn into the comeback. It's inspiring. It's inspiring for us, for us. And the greatest story of a setback becoming a comeback is you being born again by the power of God's Spirit. That's that's the greatest. And that's what Paul is talking about. You know, these are really unvarnished terms at the end that the apostle Paul is using. And, you know, this is kind of the trajectory he's been on under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God, God moving through Paul's life and Paul eulogizing God in a way, he's speaking good things about God because we've been blessed with all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ.

Speaker [00:07:31] And he's going through those things. And then and then he's praying for the church at Ephesus. He's praying that they would have the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of God, and that these things that we thank God for and praise God for, and sing to God for, we would actually understand them, that we would actually understand them, not just the hope of the calling, not just the inheritance that he has in us, but the immeasurable greatness of his power that works towards us. To the extent that we as Christians operate in the power and the authority of the name of Jesus. Like that. That's chapter one. And then he gets to chapter two and he does the most interesting thing. He comes back to ground zero. He comes back to the epicenter of the Christian life. Like if you're really if you're really, solidly, soundly saved verses 1 to 7, I mean, really verses 1 to 10 are your story. They're your story. Like it was bad. It was hopeless. There was nothing that could be done in your own strength. No other human being, no philosophical system, no religious system could help you up and out of the pit that you were in. But God, right. But God like that is. Say to your neighbor to the left, but God. Okay. All right. Look, you did good. You looked across the aisle I appreciate that. That's like commitment right there. Say to your neighbor to the right, but God. Okay. Say to the back of the head that's in front of you right now. But, God, there it is. Like you yelled it. Okay, now, now turn around. Some of you turned around already. I'm not. I'm not there yet. Turn around and say to the person behind you.

Speaker [00:09:19] But God. Hey, hey. Not that. That's our message. Right. That is our message. But God with God. Yeah. With God. You're down and out is your up and in your disappointment is your divine appointment. Your setback is your comeback. What is impossible is made possible by this one single singular phrase. But God and that's that's just good, I hope. I hope you're fired up about that. Paul gives a dose of reality. Like I said, he takes us all the way back to the start. If you're really solidly saved, this is the truth of what God has done in you. Like what Paul does in verses 1 to 3 is he shows us the impossibility, the reality for every single human being. And let me just say this, some of us, some of us want real change in our lives. Some of us want to experience a comeback. Some of us want to walk in the turnaround. But you know, that's not possible. Unless you deal with truth. Your situation will only change if you deal with truth. And the truth is this there's no bigger impossibility to overcome than being spiritually dead, than being lost and ruined. The metaphor that the apostle uses here, while while being spiritually dead is a reality, he is using the metaphor of physical death. And, you know, like if you've been around a body that, is dead, it's powerless, it's inert, it's helpless. It can't revive itself, it can't move. It doesn't have the capacity to to do any action. The brainwaves have stopped. The heart is no longer bleeding. Beating the blood is no longer coursing. That body's become cold. It's cast away from people, and it's built for darkness. Spurgeon called this condition this physical condition of death.

Speaker [00:11:34] The carnival for worms. That's what I thought. And I know, and I'm glad to share that on a Sunday morning before people are going to go to branch out. Well, I am, because like, he got it right. The truth is this that place of desperate need, that place of setback, real severe setback, that place when you're living in, in the absence of God. Not that God's not everywhere, but apart from Christ. God is not within you. I want you to let that settle in your heart for just a moment. The person who's living without Christ is living in a condition where they're not just spiritually dead, but but they're living absent from the presence of God. And that place is a place of pain, is a place of sorrow and anguish. It's a place of hopelessness. And Paul, like I said in unvarnished terms, he gives us the real description of our spiritual state. He says, you were dead. You were once dead in your trespasses and sins. You were powerless. You were helpless. You were incapable. You were hopeless. There was nothing you could do because of the trespasses in your life, the lifestyle that you were living. You were violating the known law of God. That's what a trespass is. A trespass is to have a law, a line drawn, and then to willingly, willfully when there's a sign up that says don't step over the line. You choose to step over the line of some of you might say, well, pastor, I didn't grow up with the Ten Commandments. I didn't I didn't grow up with the knowledge of the commands of God. But you may not have had two tablets written in stone, but you had the conscience. You you had the law of God.

Speaker [00:13:26] Paul says in Romans chapter two, written upon your very heart. And yet and yet in spite of that, even though we all had the light of conscience in our lives, we violated the known law of God, dead in trespasses, dead in sin, dead in the sin nature. This fallen, broken condition that you and I are in by nature constantly falling short of the glory of God, because God is built us for so much more, so by action and by nature. And you know what that's like, you know, as you reflect as a Christian, back to those days. And I think every now and then it is good for you and for me just to pause, to take a moment. We rejoice in everything that we have in Christ, but it is good for us to reflect on on what life used to be like without him, right? I mean, when you and I, I'm grateful that Paul does this. I'm grateful that Paul does this because as we progress sometimes in our relationship with God, we forget how deep the pit was that he pulled us out of. Sometimes we forget how far gone we were. And it's good just to be reminded of those days and and how we felt when we were violating the light of conscience or the the moral law of God that we were aware of when we were lying in there, was that that conviction of sin in our lives. Well, whether we were stealing or mistreating people we knew deep down inside. Now, the truth is this when we choose to live in sin, our conscience becomes hardened against God. And so we lose that tenderness, and we we can begin to operate in ways that are unlawful in God's eyes, without any compunction whatsoever, without any conviction whatsoever.

Speaker [00:15:17] It's a very dangerous place to be, and the only one who's able to break through that deception is the spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. We know what we remember. We remember what that was like. We remember how it felt living in that perpetual state of incompleteness, you know, kind of like you've got this 500 piece puzzle and you're diligently working day after day, week after week. You're completing the puzzle only to get to the very end and to realize that the one final piece that would complete the whole picture has gone missing. And, you know, it's like, you can't you're not good with that. You're not good with that. You can't look at that, that puzzle and say, hey, that's a complete picture. That's a that's a finished project. I feel good about that. No, there's a sense of angst. Right? You are unsettled. And so you're searching diligently. You're you're doing everything that you can to find that last missing piece, because you know, that picture is not complete until you find the missing piece. And that was what your life without Christ was like. No matter how many pieces you seemed to put in place, there was always there was always this thing that was missing. And so there was a perpetual state of. Incompleteness. You know, I don't always quote the Rolling Stones on Sunday morning, but sometimes it's just appropriate, right? I mean, no matter what you did in your life before Christ, there was no getting satisfaction, right? There was just no there was no getting satisfaction. I mean, you could have set up the most amazing string of experiences that you possibly could have. But, you know, even after, getting to the end of that string, getting to the end of the rainbow, you found no pot of gold.

Speaker [00:17:08] You found no satisfaction for your soul. There was no sense of completeness, just that same continued brokenness that you'd been living with all along. All of this goes back to the garden. All of this goes back to the garden where God said to Adam and Eve, hey, listen, you can eat of all of the the fruit of the trees. You can eat of all. I blessed you so much. It's all yours, but it's all yours. But you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because in the day that you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will die. God, in the midst of this blessing, he he said choice before Adam and Eve. And so they had the opportunity to demonstrate their love and fidelity to the father. And yet there was one in the garden. There was a deceiver, there was an influencer, there was one who was saying to Eve, As God surely said, the truth is this you are not in a state of completeness. There's something missing in your life, and the only way you're going to find it is by disobeying the voice of God. Let me tell you something. The devil has a few set of tricks in his bag that he uses over and over and over again on us, and this is one of the tricks that he uses. He uses the deception that somehow we can't be satisfied in God. And so we have to go somewhere else. Well, you know the story, Adam and Eve eight and humanity has been sideways since. And this is precisely what Paul is saying. There's a there's a condition of spiritual deadness in your life because of trespasses and sins that you used to walk in.

Speaker [00:18:54] This was the way that you used to live your life and you were operating. It wasn't just you. You were operating according to. You were following the course of the world. Like, the reality is, this isn't just an individual thing. This is an issue with humanity sometimes, you know, it's not. Sometimes every week, every week. I don't know if. I don't know if it's like this for you guys, but every week I'm like, man. Can the news get any worse? You know, every week it's like there's some new, astounding, disturbing threshold that humanity has crossed. And it's like, I don't know about you guys, but a steady diet of bad news can so often be so unbelievably discouraging. It can create such a burden in our lives. And, you know, you sit and you think, man, first of all, pastor, why is it like this? Why is it like this? And the answer is Genesis chapter two and chapter three. It's the garden. It's the decision that was made. It was original sin that now plays out every single day in our lives. And the second question is, is, man, could it get any worse than this? And. Yeah. Thanks for coming to church today. But, yeah, the answer's yes. Like, the answer's yes. And it's not going to get better until Jesus comes again. All right? It's not going to get better until he comes again. Paul is saying this. Hey, this is not an isolated issue. This is a sickness that all humanity has. And humanity is living in high speed rebellion against God. And this spirit of disobedience, the prince of the power of the air, everyone is under his influence that apart from Christ, that is a reality sometimes. I'm sure when you're ministering to people, when you're seeking to share the gospel with people, you know, you find yourself coming up against this, this obstacle, this difficulty, this unwillingness to be receptive.

Speaker [00:21:05] Well, the reality is, when you and I share the gospel with a loss, just like it was when someone was sharing the gospel with you. With you, there is a spirit of deception that has to be broken through. It's not just a matter of wrestling with flesh and blood. There are real principalities and powers. There is a real spiritual thing at work. There is a deceiver who has blinded the eyes of the lost. Jesus calls him the liar. He says this in John chapter eight, speaking of the devil. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John says in First John chapter five that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And so, you know, today David's giving an exhortation that you and I have an opportunity to come and to serve the many people that will be on our property who have yet to put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ. But listen, we've got to pray together. We've got to pray together because people don't come to faith in Jesus Christ without the work of the Spirit of God tearing the veil of deception that's blinded their eyes, so that the light of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ can shine in their hearts. Paul says this. Second Corinthians, chapter four, second Corinthians, chapter four, verse four. This is a great if you don't know what to pray when you're ministering to people who are lost. This whole section is a great section to pray. Paul's talking about the the reality of every human being that lives apart from Christ. He says, in their case, the God of this world that's the devil, has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Speaker [00:22:56] And so, listen, Paul is establishing how desperate the need is for those who have yet to put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ. He's established that every single human being is spiritually dead because of trespasses and sins. Following the course of the world, living under the influence and deception of the devil. And so remember, with me we are sinners because we sin. We sin because we're sinners. Paul says it like this before Christ. I mean, after you put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ, you're a slave to righteousness. But before that happens, you are a slave to unrighteousness. And that is true for every single person. You know, sometimes it's easy in our last day to compare ourselves with other wicked people who are definitely, more often than not in the comparison, more wicked than we are. Like, I have yet to meet somebody who picks a less wicked person themselves than themselves to make themselves look good. You know what I'm talking about and is normal normally, like the the it's the normal fare of people. Hey, pastor, you know I'm not Hitler. I'm like, yeah, no you aren't. You know that. Thank you for pointing that out. Hey, pastor, you know what I mean? I've not done some good things in my life, but. But I'm not Jeffrey Dahmer. It's like I got that. I mean, can can we. Is that the the only people that you're aware of to make a comparison with? Because it's convenient for us to like, view our, our, our problem, to view how far we are from from God in degrees. Right. Well, you know, I mean, I know I'm not where I need to be, and I certainly am not like living a life fully devoted to God, but, you know, and then it's degrees of badness, and we let ourselves off the hook because we're not as bad as the worst possible example that we could think of.

Speaker [00:24:54] But but remember, with me, death knows no degrees. You're either dead or alive. Dead. You're not like, I know this is the Princess Bride movie. Quote right now, there's no such thing as mostly dead, right. There's no degrees to death. You're either alive to God or you're living in spiritual deadness. And the reality of God's response is so sobering because Paul says, Paul says it like this. We were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. Paul says, in this condition of brokenness, in this condition of living to our trespasses, following the course of the world, under under the deception of the devil, the reality of God's response is this we were all subject to the wrath of God. I don't know if you've seen the movie unstoppable, but it's about a train that is unstoppable. It's lost his brakes, it's headed towards destruction, and there's nothing that can stop it. And that's the condition of humanity. Like what is what is humanity headed towards apart from Jesus Christ? It is headed towards the wrath of God. Some people, you know, say to me in just conversation, not necessarily here at the church, but when I'm out in the world, they're like, oh, you're a pastor. That's awesome. I believe that we're all children of God. And it's like, well, no, we're all God's creation. We are all created by God. We know that that's the case. David talks about that in Psalm 139. The Bible is clear that we're fearfully and wonderfully made, that life begins at conception. We're knit. We're knit by God in the darkness of our mother's womb. God's at work. Life is a gift. And yet the Bible says the only way to become part of the family of God, to be his son or to be his daughter is through trust in faith in the person of Christ.

Speaker [00:26:52] The work that he did on the cross for us and his resurrection from the dead, that that is the reality. And just as sometimes people say, well, it's not fair that God would judge, it's not fair that God would demonstrate wrath against his creation. Well, just as we are bound to sin, God is bound to righteousness. And because God is bound to righteousness, it's impossible for God to do the wrong thing. And sin must be judged. Sin must be judged. There must be punitive met. You guys know how it is when there are unlawful things that happen in society, and people do unlawful things without compunction, they get away with it. It causes a problem for you. Something's not right because even you know and you knew this before you were a follower of Jesus Christ. Even you knew that when the law was violated, justice was deserved. And that is the nature of God. That is the on the incontrovertible nature of God. Justice is the only right response to sin. This was why it was so powerful in the Garden of Gethsemane. When Jesus was praying, he was agonizing in the garden. There was such stress and pressure on him. The Bible says that he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. His capillaries were breaking under the pressure, and in his humanity he said, father, if there's any other way, let this cup, let this cup, let this cup that's filled with your righteous wrath. For every sin that's ever been committed, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will be done, but your will be done. If you haven't come to grips with that reality, you've most likely never been saved. If you've not come to grips with the reality that you were dead in your trespasses and sins, that you were in a hopeless situation, that there are no degrees to spiritual death.

Speaker [00:28:56] You're either dead or alive, that you were a son or a daughter of disobedience, that you were under the prince of the power of the air. If you've not come to that reality, I just would say to you, what did you repent of? If there wasn't that sobering in your mind to compel you to recognize the desperate, hopeless situation that you were in so that you turn to Jesus Christ? And what were you saved from? Paul presents this side the side of setback. Paul presents this side, the side of severe disappointment, and then he goes on to the other side to talk about all that God has done. And he ties it together with that one beautiful, powerful phrase. But God, I think the phrase, are you guys highlighters or Bible? Underline or anybody highlight, underline, make notes in your Bible. Highlight it, circle it, underline it a whole bunch of times because. But God is the biggest, baddest phrase in the Bible is the biggest, baddest phrase in the Bible. It takes your hopelessness and makes you hopeful. It takes your impossibility and turns it into possibility. The Bible is full of but God moments. The Bible is full of moments. I think we're we're going through Daniel right now, the daily devotions that we we post. And I think about that story of Hananiah, Azariah, and Michelle, aka Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the situation that they're in with Nebuchadnezzar. And he's built this massive idol, and he's compelling everybody in the kingdom to bow down at his idol when the band strikes up and plays, you know, little Coldplay music, and then you're supposed to bow down and the boys are brought before the king, and they say, hey, listen, King, the truth is this our God, we're not bowing down.

Speaker [00:30:48] We're not bowing down to your stinking idol. That's my translation of the ancient Aramaic. We're not bowing down to your stinking idol. Our God is able to deliver us. And even if he doesn't, even if he doesn't, we will not do what he is forbidden. And so, you know, you know, Nebuchadnezzar, he's got, like, anger management issues. He's he's guys just like he just flies off the handle. He's all talk. He's upset. These. Who are these little punks? He he's the fire up seven times. I mean, he doesn't do it. He has somebody else do it. And the three boys are bound up and they're tossed in the fire. They're tossed in the fire. And he's. He looks into the fire and he's like, wait a minute, didn't I throw in three? Why are there four? And the fourth has the appearance of the Son of God right. But God but God in the midst of the crucible of affliction, in the midst of the fiery furnace, there was one who was present with the boy, so that when they were brought out, not even the smell of smoke was on their clothes. The ropes that had bound them were burnt away. Maybe today. Maybe today you feel like you're in the fire of affliction. You're in the furnace of. Of adversity. You're in the midst of tribulation and challenge and the fire is hot. I want to remind you today, but God. But God, you gotta factor God into your equation. You got to take your eyes off of the physical circumstances, and you have to remember that in the midst of your adversity, in the midst of the fire and difficulty, there is one who is present with you, who will never leave you nor forsake you. But God.

Speaker [00:32:31] I think about the Israelites. They've been they've just been delivered from Pharaoh and from the bondage of Egypt with a mighty hand and outstretched arm. They're cruisin on their way to the Promised Land. All of us, all of a sudden, bam! They bump up into an obstacle better known as the Red sea, as they're bumped up against the Red sea. Now they turn around and look behind them, and they've got Pharaoh, and his army is pursuing them to destroy them and wipe them out. And you know the children of Israel, they forgot. They forgot to say. But God, right? They forgot to declare. But God, over the moment they looked at their circumstances, they were caught between a rock and a hard place. They thought there was no way out. There was no option. There was nothing that could be done. And they failed to factor in God until Moses lifted his staff. He lifted his staff. God split the Red sea, caused the east wind to blow through that chasm that was made so that the ground was dry, so that the Israelites could cross over, stand on the other side. And not only that, but as Pharaoh's armies tried to cross as well, the waters were covered up, and God vanquished the enemies of Israel. But God. But God, today do you feel like you're between a rock and a hard place today? Do you have an obstacle before you and a lot of calamity and difficulty behind you? I want to remind you today factor God into your equation. He is the same God today, yesterday, and forever. The God who parted the Red sea for the Israelites is a God who can make a way for you today. Yes. I'm not done.

Speaker [00:34:19] I think about I think about I. Hey, listen, this. I'm helping you today. I'm helping you today. I'm giving. I'm giving you some help. You got to be able to do this yourself. Like when you go through hard times. Brothers and sisters, open the book. Open the book and remind yourselves. I think about Sarah and Abraham. They were given a promise by God. You remember that? That through their seed, first of all, they were going to have a seed. They were going to have a baby. And from that baby, all nations would be blessed. And not only that, but God would build for them a nation that would be innumerable, more than the stars in the sky, in the sands, and the grains of sand in the ocean. And five years goes by and ten years goes by, and 15 years goes by, and 20 years go by, 25 years go by, God shows up and he's like, hey, this time next year Sarah is going to be pregnant. She giggles. Right? She giggles and and and God calls her out and she's like. You see? You see my husband. You see that guy? Like. Like your maid. The maid servant would have pleasure in my lord. I mean, come on, you know he's a hundred years old. In other words. In other words, you know the possibility has come to an end. There is no physical way possible for us to have a baby. And then you remember what God says with man it's impossible, with with God. All things. All things are possible. I think about David's insurmountable giant. I think about Daniel in the lion's den. I think about the Israelites when they were in exile, about to experience genocide at the hands of Haman.

Speaker [00:36:12] The biggest. But God in the Bible, though, is when Christ himself was crucified, dead and buried, laid in the tomb. And the stone rolled over the tomb. And the women came to prepare his body on that Sunday morning. And the angel said, you know what the angel said? Angel said, But God, but God has raised him from the dead. That is good news. Paul. Paul says, But God made you alive. He made you alive. Be quick. And you. He awakened you. You've been born again. You've been spiritually resurrected. You were dead. This was your condition apart from Christ. But when you turned to Jesus and you put your trust and faith in him, there was something that happened within your life. You were made spiritually alive. God made you spiritually alive to him in relationship and with the capacity for spiritual communion. Jesus, of course, described this to Nicodemus when you said to Nicodemus, after Nicodemus starts with all of the conventional conventionality of the normal way things would go in conversation, hey, we know that you're of God because no one can do the things that you do unless God is with them, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. You must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. That's all he says. Nicodemus is like, didn't understand it. He's saying with physical eyes. Jesus describes it, the wind blows where it wishes. You don't see where it comes from or where it goes, but you hear its sound. You see the evidence. When someone is truly put their faith in Christ and been spiritually raised from the dead by the Spirit of God, you see the evidence in their life. There is a hunger for the things of God. There is a worship that exudes from their lives.

Speaker [00:38:06] Hey, have you been made alive in Christ? Have you been made alive in Christ? Don't have half hearted worship. Don't worship him half heartedly. Have you been made alive in Christ yet? Serve him with all your heart. Don't serve the world anymore. Serve the Lord. Have you been made alive in Christ? Then submit yourselves to righteousness as is worthy of his gospel. Let me tell you something. The gospel of Jesus Christ is worth so much more than a lukewarm lifestyle. You've been made alive. You've been born again. You belong to God. And not only that, but Paul says he is seated you in the heavenly places in Christ. You've been seated in the place of privilege. You've been seated in a place of identity. You're absolutely new in Christ. You've been seated, as Paul has said, with the opportunity to experience power and authority in this life. That's stage one. Stage one, all of this belongs to you because in Christ you've been seated with him in the heavenly places. You have a place with him. He'll never leave you or forsake you. You have an identity in him. You experience his power and authority and listen when he comes again to establish his earthly kingdom. You will rule and you will reign with him. That's stage two. You can't go any higher than the height to which God has lifted you. You can't. Are you low today? Listen. Are you low today? Are you burdened today? Did you come in with struggles today? Did you come weighed down by the things of the world or maybe even challenges in your own life? I want to remind you today that he is seated you higher than you could ever even imagine, that you have been privileged.

Speaker [00:39:59] You've been privileged by the King to sit with him in heavenly places, and he's made this possible because he loves you, man. That's that's so good. He loves you. He has loved you. That's the way that Paul puts it here. But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he passed and loved us, the love of God manifested once and for all in the sending of the son. Romans chapter five, verse eight. But God. But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. I'm saying to you today that God's love is a preemptive love. Before you ever did an act of righteousness, before you ever demonstrated any love towards him, before you had an eloquent prayer, before you ever attended a church service in a way that was meaningful to him. God, God move first. God move first is preemptive love. God made the first move, not you. Sometimes, you know, we're all we're just crazy people, right? Sometimes people are like, pastor, you have no idea how awesome I am. They don't say it like that. But the way people talk about the things they do for God, sometimes it's like, dang, dude, you know, I mean, come on, man, come on, Pastor, you know, I mean, I've given my life to God and I'm this and I'm not, and I serve and I sacrifice and up, up, up, up, up. And I'm like, you know, you aren't. You are nothing without him. You are nothing without him. Like you maybe have responded to his love in powerful and beautiful ways, but only because he loved you first. It's not your love. It's not your performance. It's not how you turned yourself around.

Speaker [00:41:42] Could you imagine if this section of scripture went something like, yeah, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. You were following the course of the world. You were under deception. But Derek. Right but Derek. Or like, I know it sounds pretty absurd, so I'll put your name in there, bud. Gail. Right. But Gail. But Stephanie. But Maria. But Mike. Right. I mean, think about if it was if it was that I mean, if it was that if it was but and then all dependent upon you, there would be no gospel. There would be no good news. But God, God demonstrates his love for us through the cross and the resurrection of His Son, and through that he manifests his mercy. That's what Paul says here, his the riches, the riches of his mercy. In other words, God is unlimited in his ability not to give us what we deserve. That somebody say Amen to that. Today, God is unlimited in his ability not to give us what we deserve. He has abundant mercy towards you. You know, I was meeting with somebody a couple of weeks ago, and we're talking about this and they're like, yeah, but pastor, but pastor, you don't know what I've done. I've done this. I'm like, dude, you can you can outrun the mercy of God. You cannot. When, when, when the punitive measure was paid for our sin on the cross, it was paid in full. It was paid in full. It was paid so that you could experience the fullness of the riches of the mercies of God, which is, David said, are higher than the heavens above the love of God through the cross and the resurrection manifest his mercy, and they also manifest his grace.

Speaker [00:43:26] And that simply means this. We'll talk more about this next week. God lavishes upon you by his grace everything that he wants you to have. He lavishes upon you by his grace all things that he wants you to have. You are spiritually rich today. I don't care what your what your bank account says. I don't care what kind of car you drive. I don't care what part of town you live in. I don't care what kind of clothes you're wearing today, just as long as you're wearing some clothes today. I don't have to say that in Vegas, right? Because you never know. I'm just saying that it doesn't matter because you are rich in him. You've been adopted into the family of God. You are indwelt by the Spirit of God. There's divine favor on your life. The countenance of the father towards you shines. Man, that is so good. Receive that today you have divine favor. You have the steadfast love of God. In other words, the love of God is pointed in one direction in your life, and that's not going to change. You have access to the father. You have a new identity in the son. You have a destiny that's settled. Peter says, we have an inheritance that's incorruptible, undefiled. Captain having for us of the power of God by faith. You have help in your time of need. The Scripture reminds us that we can go boldly before the throne of grace to ask for help and mercy in our time of need. Brothers and sisters, you've been made for the eternal glory of God. That's what Paul says here. Paul says all this was done so that in the coming ages he might show. He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace.

Speaker [00:45:10] How does he do that? He does that through your life. He he showcases himself through your life. I want to just strongly encourage you today. Start living to that reality. Start living to that reality. The devil's temptations and enticements aren't going to go away. He'll always be tugging on you to get you to look at what you don't have and what you're not, and how God hasn't come through, how challenging circumstances are. And if they could only be like this, it'd be so much better. And you need to silence his voice by turning to God's truth and reminding yourself of all that God has done in and through you, in Christ Jesus. Your life is living proof of how much God loves his people. Let your impossible become possible through the power of Jesus.