But the divine nature is given to us in its qualities of holiness and love. They are scorned. To be before Him without having His own nature would be impossible; and therefore it is not stated as a matter of predestination, but of choice. The life everlasting, the life that can never die, is put into us then, even as Christ said, "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." For we are his work, created in Christ Jesus for good works, works which God prepared beforehand that we might walk in them. New International Version (NIV), In contexts like this, the Greek word for. The believer's life is the life of Christ in the believer. 5-7. Paul will speak of nothing good except that which comes "through Christ Jesus." It is not that our good works put God in our debt; rather that God's love lays on us the obligation to try throughout all life to be worthy of it. Then the scripture says none of you are perfect. And all this hangs upon that first sentence, "You hath he quickened." That general doctrine, I shall illustrate in rather a singular way. God is King! But outside of Christ the message is true. The first thing is to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." He was raised up as the great manifestation of divine power for effectuating God's counsels as well as redemption. We did not know what it was when it came; we had never felt like that before; we could not think that we really had passed from death to life; and yet, in looking back, we are persuaded that the throes within, the anguish of heart, the longing, and the pleading, and the wrestling, and the crying, would never have been in a dead heart, but were the sure marks that God had quickened us, and we had passed into newness of life. He broke down longstanding walls of prejudice and hostility between Jew and Gentile,male and female, slave and free. The priest sprinkled the blood around the altar because it was atonement for the soul. I cannot describe to you the lusts and vices of a fullgrown sinner. People are invited I thought, "Yes; I know all about that; that is my case." 46. This would be too strong, yea, false. So in Ephesians 5:1-33 he says, "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." The Son would be a creature not self-subsisting, not therefore truly God. Such an one must have only got the lower end of the line, and not the full truth in its own native purity and freshness from God. She was very poor and there were no luxuries, but the attic was as light and airy and clean as the cellar had been dark and dismal and dirty. Hence, being "Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; [the apostle bids such remember] 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." There are some who have houses large and tall, who on the exchange are reputable and honorable, and everyone admits them and receives them into their society; but ah! Throughout all eternity, God's grace and love and mercy being revealed. He was a sinner. There is nothing for us without Christ and his cross. 110 and 2:1122. who were dead -- Another demonstration of Gods power illustrated (Ephesians 1:19) is illustrated in the resurrection of the Ephesians from the dead! There is no work that you can do that can make you alive spiritually. Utter strangers to the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (ii) That is to say that works have nothing to do with earning salvation. They draw their inspiration from another fount, from a desire to walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. Yes, life is a strange thing; and if you have the life of God in your soul, you will undergo many changes, and not always be what you want to be. Who would demand of God to make the objects of His mercy like Christ the Son? Well, first, we have become now sentient towards God. Thus Israel stands in the permanent remembrance of power that redeemed them from the land of Egypt, and in the anticipation of a still greater manifestation that will eclipse whatever had been seen of old. Were ripping off the crops from the children of Israel, they were hiding their food in caves and all. Need I say that this is altogether above human comprehension? You have got to take the leap of faith into the second story and hope that you land on something.You have got to just hope that you can have some kind of satisfying experience of truth. In this first part, Paul writes about humanitys reconciliation with God. That is very wonderful. They should thank God there is an escape, it has been provided by Jesus Christ. Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you! History Psalms, a discussion of 105 & 106. That is what Christ does for a man. I do not know how it is that the young man never was loosed. If there be a divine life to which you are a stranger, how long will you be a stranger to it? It is well, also, if it is a time of sitting at Jesus' feet, for there is no other place so safe to a new-born believer as the feet of Jesus. To the Gentile history was a progress to nowhere; to the Jew history was a march to God. Beloved brethren and sisters in Christ, I think that you and I can say, that to us the surest fact in all the world is that there is a God. It was brought in either to convict the Corinthians of their utter departure through the spirit of the world, the flesh taking that shape, or it was brought in triumphantly on their restoration. It needs a Milton to conceive of the walk of God; but he that hath the divine life walks with God; and sometimes he seems to step from Alp to Alp, from sea and ocean, accomplishing what, unaided, he would never even attempt. But in Ephesians we are in presence of a new creation in Christ, where claim is out of the question. This he did that in himself he might make the two into one new man, by making peace between them, and that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the Cross, after he had slain the enmity by what he did. Accordingly he brings in the most important of them, first, the wife and the husband; then, children and their parents; and, finally, servants and masters. I mean, that they like the amusements of the world; they like to put on their shroud sometimes just for a treat. The first place where Christ is seen is in the grave whence God according to the mightiest action of His almighty power raised Him up. "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.". They had seen creation, and sung at the sight. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. I fear that some people go to a place of worship because they get a better sleep there than anywhere else. in Num. Now do you agree with that or not? In communion with the objects of it, we go out into the resulting scenes of glory on every side; knowing Christ's love though unknowable, and filled into God's fulness though infinite. If God's design had ever to be worked out, it must be worked out through a nation. 5. How is it that I find some who say they are people of God; but yet are rather fond of wearing their grave-clothes? He thinks of every church as the part of a great building and of every Christian as a stone built into the Church. What does that mean) The name for the people of Israel was ho hagios laos ( G2992) , the holy people. You are interested, you are pleased, you are amused, with what they say. I told you just now that the life which the Holy Spirit gives us when we are born again, is the life of God. (E) 3All of us also lived among them at one time,(F) gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a](G) and following its desires and thoughts. Here are some indexes that might be helpful: INDEXES: For a complete list of all the indexes on this blog, click here. It is affirmed here of those to whom Paul wrote at Ephesus, that before they were converted, they were dead in sins. There is not anywhere a more explicit proof of depravity than this, and no stronger language can be used. Why, sometimes we can pray, and prevail, and come off conquerors; and at another time, we can only bow at the throne, and groan out, "Lord, help me; I cannot pray; the springs seem to be all sealed." The words he uses are interesting. A corpse is insensible. We speak of Enoch walking with God, and we look at the holiness of his life; but did anybody ever think of the majesty of his life? 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. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), Vol. He remembers his covenant forever, Are we as good parents as we might be? Worship the Lord with gladness. And they began to be merry (Luke 15:21-24 NASB). Aren't they perfect? This pericope is a condensation of Pauls exposition of redemption in Romans. The instructor is dead, and you are dead. For we are his workmanship.". The psychologists tell us that we never forget anything. People: All of us once lived to the passions and desires of flesh and senses; Leader: But God, who is rich in mercy and full of great love, made us alive together with Christ, when by grace we were "Oh!" "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." If God has made you to live, come away from the dead; come away from their habits, and manners and customs. We never can go astray, if we follow the path of the Lord Jesus. See Matthew 12:24; Matthew 12:26. He was privileged to do all as unto Christ; as the master again must remember that he had his own Master in heaven. We so easily convince ourselves that we deserve a little more. Sin kills the will; the thing so grips a man that he cannot break free. 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. Take them down to the stream and let them get a drink of water. 10. We have others who are drunken, profane, unchaste; they are dead, not more dead than the others; but their death has left its terrible traces more plainly visible. we all say together We are one in Christ. In this passage he shows how terrible the Christless life was for Gentile and for Jew alike. But the morning when it was reversed, then he came to the realization that it was God.And he blew the trumpet in Israel and gathered together 32,000 men to face the 135,000 Midianites. Wrote at Ephesus, that before they were hiding their food in and. The children of Israel, they were dead in sins he shows terrible! That first sentence, `` you hath he quickened. it must be worked through... 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