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e e e questions e e e e e e e e e e e uh Pastor Ed R mine is with us he is from Provo Utah as I told everybody yesterday that attended the Spurgeon lecture if you think that Utah Utah Hans I don't know how they say it don't sound like that he's originally from Texas so the twang is Texas uh his present Ministry is at a Baptist Church in Provo Utah so we're delighted to have Ed with us he will be preaching morning and evening from the book of Ephesians chapter 2 this morning and then chapter 1 this evening well just a few announcements before we begin properly uh we do have a luncheon after the morning service all are encouraged and invited to stay for that even if you didn't bring food usually people that bring food bring enough food so that everybody can have some and then in a moment I'm going to call Grant and Abby and Arjun and Rachel forward to be welcomed into the membership of our church Bob Ray also was supposed to be with us this morning but he has been ill and he has some family obligations so God willing we will receive Bob into the membership next Sunday morning and then just a reminder in terms of the uh conference that is in April 25th and 26th if you have not registered please do so and whim is probably thinking you haven't either gy so it's a good reminder for me as well to make sure that we get in the system and that our our team can track you I'm kidding they're not going to track you so I I wanted to read uh after having called Grant and Abby and and and Argent and Rachel if you could come up please I want to read an appropriate section from our confession of Faith the second London Confession of 1677 and published in 16 1989 so just two paragraphs specifically with reference to membership in the local church and then I will pray and receive them into the membership with what we call the right hand of Fellowship there's no biblical precedent for that but along the way we we recognize that when members or people that are potential members get baptized it's a pretty obvious symbol that they have then joined the the church properly so now we have them come up extend the right hand of Fellowship to them to hopefully impress Upon Our Minds that they have now joined with us formally so paragraphs 5 and six in the second London Confession it's the chapter is of the church paragraph 5 says in the execution of this power wherewith he is so entrusted the Lord Jesus calleth out of the world unto himself through the ministry of his word by his Spirit those that are given unto him by his father that they may walk before him in all the ways of obedience which he prescribe to them in his word those thus called he commandeth to walk together in particular Societies or churches for their Mutual edification and the due performance of that public worship which he requireth of them in the world the members of these churches are Saints by calling visibly manifesting and evidencing in and by their profession and walking their obedience unto that call of Christ and do willingly consent to walk together according to the appointment of Christ giving up themselves to the Lord and one to another by the will of God in professed subjection to the ordinances of the Gospel so I'll actually extend the right hand of Fellowship to them and then pray and thank the Lord for their inclusion and actually extend the right hand to you as well yeah welcome all right well let's pray and thank God for their inclusion amongst us our father in heaven we thank you for the sure promise of Jesus to build his church we thank you for your great salvation that you have given to these brethren we know that it is not their works it is not their decisions it's not their wisdom or free will but you chose us in him before the foundation of the world and in him we have Redemption through his blood the Forgiveness of sins according to the riches of your grace we praise you for the sealing of the Holy Spirit we praise you for these Brethren and their confession of saving faith faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and for their desire to formally associate themselves in terms of church membership with this local body may you be glorified in this glad hour may you strengthen all of us in our church and may we persevere by your grace and For Your Glory and we ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen all right thank you guys just set that here for now well as we begin our worship properly we'll read from Psalm 130 as our call to worship Psalm 130 a song of asense out of the depths I have cried To You O Lord Lord hear my voice let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications if you Lord should Mark iniquities oh Lord who could stand but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared I wait for the Lord my soul Waits and in his word I do hope my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning yes more than those who watch for the morning oh Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is Mercy and with him is abundant Redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities amen we'll turn to number 99b hymn number 99b will stand as we sing together the Lord's praises [Music] the [Music] Lord mest and all our Nations he dwells the sh let Earth found Shion is the Lord exalted gloriously All Nations praise is with all the Holy One is the mighty [Music] king he rules his people rightous and faithfulness magy the Lord our God [Music] exed be in worship and his good the Holy One is Prest and Prophets all on God Ser is [Music] and they oy his word judment for their be paron graciously exal the Lord and worship him the holy [Music] this will be the next one well let us pray our gracious God and Holy Father we thank you for the Lord's day we thank you that you are the most high that you are from Everlasting to Everlasting to Our Father Son and Holy Spirit a God who is God for us and we see this most vividly displayed in the gospel of our Salvation the Incarnation of our of our savior his life his death his resurrection on behalf of Sinners All Those whom the father had given him and we rejoice in your loving kindness and in your mercy as Paul says he was delivered up because of our offenses and raised for our justification and so we have every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ and we rejoice in that so as we gather together may you fit our hearts are right may you flood us with that reverence and that awe and that fear and that esteem that such a holy and glorious God deserves and may it be mingled with that joy and gratitude and Thanksgiving that those who by grace who have tasted and seen that you are good should evidence and Express in the public worship of God we ask that you would be glorified and honored and praised As we sing as we pray as we turn our attention to Holy Scripture as our brother preaches we pray that you would fill him with your holy spirit that the word would come as the bomb of Gilead to your people that it would be a help to us in this lower world that it would be a boon to us to persevere in our in our faith and as well may it be used of the spirit to bring Sinners out of darkness and Marvelous Light May they hear the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Lord that free and Sovereign Grace extended by such a good God we ask that you would forgive us now for all of our sins and unrighteousness as We Gather before a holy and a righteous God we are mindful of how far short we have fallen for those of us in Christ through remaining corruption we thank you that the psalmist is able to write that if you Lord should Mark iniquities oh Lord who could who could stand there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared and we rejoice in that not so that we can continue in sin but when we do sin we are mindful that we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous and again for any and all who have come here that are dead in their trespasses and sins we pray that you would awaken them that today would be the day of salvation that you would reach down in your Sovereign Grace and pull them out of that myy pit and give them that righteousness of Jesus Christ and that that forgiveness of sins that comes through his blood we ask God that you would look with favor upon this congregation we thank you for these additions to membership as well father we thank you for your blessing upon us of of late in terms of peace and unity we pray that all of us would Endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace that we would indeed value uh your your glory and the treatment of one another in this local body we pray for those who are unable to be with us because of the physical trials and challenges that they face we pray that you would look with favor upon them today you would encourage them and strengthen them and if they are able to tune in may they be built up in that Most Holy Faith through the proclamation of your truth and God for all of us we come with spiritual trials and challenges we live in a world where there is much Temptation and much sin we need to remember the the the savior's words in terms of prayer lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from the evil one God we pray that so that we may not dishonor you in our confession of faith in this in this world but help us to live Faithfully Before You by the spirit and according to that word of Truth it is the the means by which you sanctify your people we thank you for other churches in our community we pray for your blessing upon them that your gospel would be proclaimed that Sinners would be saved that those churches would be built up and strengthened be with the Saints and Elder Kenya be with the Saints and kumu be with the persecuted church as we prayed in the last hour and God bless the churches in our association we pray for Pastor Mike and sui and Pastor Ryan and Armstrong bless our brother Jeff and medicon hat and and Paul and Herman and and and and Emil in in pinoca and be with Rod and Floyd in in Regina thank you for these brothers may they know the help of the Lord God today as they preach as they shepherd as they Minister the word of God and may you be glorified in this this part of the world and we ask as well that you'd be merciful in terms of the civil government we know that Paul tells us to pray for kings and all who are in Authority that we may lead Peaceable and quiet quiet lives and that truly is Our intention we want to be left alone by the civil government to worship Our God according to scripture according to conscience and we pray to that end as well we pray that they would legislate in such a way as not to endorse godlessness and lawlessness and wickedness and Abomination in this land and we cry out against abortion and euthanasia and the sexual perversion that we see and pray God that in your wrath you would remember mercy and save Sinners to the uttermost through the preaching of the gospel and we ask in Jesus holy name amen we can turn with me again in your hym books to number 51c 51c is in Charlie we'll just sing the first five stanzas and we'll stand as we sing together 51 C stanzas 1 to5 [Music] mer on my gra I rest [Music] inion out my trans now he may be with [Music] my my transg I [Music] confess my soul of [Music] I gra and to [Music] I Mery [Music] TR I am th Des Tru [Music] with Al [Music] wi to my [Music] heart th [Music] [Music] gra to the by my [Music] my heart andad [Music] God my heart renew make my spirit and true and be away from the let my spirit DW in me Sal Joy [Music] my well for our scripture reading you can turn to the gospel of Mark Mark chapter 14 Mark chapter 14 we're in verses 51- 72 Mark 14 verse 51 is where we'll begin beginning in verse 51 now a certain young man followed him having a linen cloth thrown around his body uh his naked body and the young men laid hold of him and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked and they LED Jesus away to the high priest and with him were assembled all the chief priests the elders and the scribes but Peter followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest and he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death but found none for many bore false witness against him but their testimonies did not agree then some rose up and bore false witness against him saying we heard him say I will destroy this Temple made with hands and within three days I will build another made without hands but not even then did their testimony agree and the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus saying do you answer nothing what is it these men testify against you but he kept silent and answered nothing again the high priest asked him saying to him are you the Christ the son of the Blessed Jesus said I am and you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven then the high priest tore his clothes and said what further need need do we have of witnesses you have heard the blasphemy what do you think and they all condemned him to be deserving of death then some began to spit on him and to blindfold him and to beat him and to say to him prophesy and the officers struck him with the palms of their hands now as Peter was below in the courtyard one of the servant girls of the high priest came and when she saw Peter warming himself she looked at him and said you also were with Jesus of Naz azareth but he denied it saying I neither know nor understand what you are saying and he went out on the porch and a rooster crowed and the servant girl saw him and began to say to those who stood by this is one of them but he denied it again and a little later those who stood by said to Peter again surely you are one of them for you are a Galilean and your speech shows it then he began to curse and swear I do not know this man of whom you speak a second time the rooster crowed then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him before the rooster crows twice you will deny me three times and when he thought about it he wept amen well just two quick observations in this particular section specifically in verse 53 it says and they LED Jesus away to the high priest and with him were assembled all the chief priests the elders and the scribes you remember that not only does the Old Testament prophecy I such maltreatment of Israel's Messiah but Jesus himself on several occasions told the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem he must be tried at the hands of these Godless men he must be delivered up and crucified and that he'd be raised again Jesus wasn't some sort of a a figure that had illusions of grandeur delusions of grandeur he spoke specifically according to the to the scripture and according to the plan and purpose that he compacted with his father and so we see the fruition or fulfillment of that he spoke of it and it comes to pass he will be gathered before these men and then secondly we see this gathering before these men and the great mistreatment that he received at the hands of these men this was the highest religious and political Court in old or in in Israel at that time and they mock him and they spit on him and they they slap him and they do all these things against him in violation of due process violation of Old Testament law certainly Moses wouldn't be down with just randomly smacking somebody who hadn't been cross-examined or whom the evidence didn't point to was actually guilty so it really was a kangaroo court that we see assembled in terms of the Sanhedrin and again the willingness and the resolve and the mission of the Savior to go through all of that so that he could save us from our sin I guess I said two there's three observations the last one is on Simon Peter I I chose to read Psalm 130 at the outset of worship because I knew the subject matter of our brother's preaching this morning uh the grace of God salvation by grace through faith in Ephesians 2 I certainly don't want to take away his Thunder but it made me think of that great Psalm you know if thou Lord should Mark iniquity as oh Lord who could stand but there is forgiveness with thee and if you've ever thought what kind of forgiveness or for what kind of sins well let me just testify to you for great sins for really bad sins for really big sins and I think Simon Peter furnishes a wonderful example of that wonderful I don't know if that's the right choice of words there but Simon Peter was a disciple of Jesus and denied Jesus this is a very sobering account I think it does us well to take heed lest we fall into such a circumstance but we know there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared the Lord Jesus restores Simon Peter Simon Peter is the one among the TW that stands up on that day of Pentecost to preach a real Savior for real Sinners so as our brother preaches this morning concerning the grace of God and faith is the instrument by which we receive it let me testify in light of Simon Peter in light of David in the old Covenant he committed murder he committed adultery nevertheless there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you that you are a God that has Riches of Grace and we have seen that in our own lives and our own experience we've seen the power of the Holy Spirit work miraculously and and marvelously in the salvation of sinners in this place and we have every bit of confidence that you are able to continue to do this we pray that you would do it in our midst we pray that you would do it throughout this country and to the uttermost parts of the Earth from every trib tongue people and Nation call Sinners effectually unto the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his Most Blessed name amen will you can turn with me for our final hymn before for the preaching 275 275 we'll stand as we sing [Music] together my soul AR sh of your guil [Music] in my my the my my is on his hand [Music] is for me to [Music] inter [Music] for for every Grace as sprinkles down the thr of GRA I rece on C PR for for all for for for for [Music] let is hising voice I he I can no longer be with with and father [Music] if you have your Bibles we will be in Ephesians chapter 2 this morning Ephesians chapter 2 and we'll be looking at Ephesians chapter 2 2 veres 1-1 Ephesians 2 veres 1-10 and while you're turning there I want to again give you greetings from the First Baptist Church of Provo Utah where I'm blessed to be a member and one of the pastors of the church and God is moving in Provo Utah his historic triun gospel is going forth there through God's churches and it's such a joy to be with free Grace Baptist Church and it is my first time in Canada and I've gotten know Pastor Cam and Pastor Jim and what a joy they are and I look forward to getting to know more of you throughout today but I want to honor your time most H by getting into the word together so if you're not there yet we'll be in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 10 and if you like sermon titles and you're a notetaker you can title this sermon the joy of the Gospel the joy of the Gospel I'm going to read the text Ephesians 2 1-10 we'll bow for prayer once more and then we'll get right into it God's word says to us and for us through the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2 1-10 and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of Disobedience among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the Flesh and of the might and were by Nature children of Wrath just as the others verse four but God who is rich in Mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ by Grace you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding Riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus for by Grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of Works lest anyone should boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them this is the word of the Lord let us pray together father as we think about the joy of your gospel this morning help us to come away from this place away from this Gathering more conformed to the image of your son help us oh God to love you more to love one another more as you know this dear church family has gotten to celebrate getting new members in I pray that those new members that have covenanted with this church Church would grow to love your gospel even more through being a part of this church family together and I pray that this sermon would help this church family to do that and would you bless the church that calls themselves free Grace Baptist church this morning through the preaching of your word help me to preach well help the con congregation to listen well all to the praise of your glorious Grace we offer this time up to you as we continue our worship to you and we pray all these things in the name of your son Jesus amen so if you're a notetaker my outline for the joy of the Gospel is quite simple in verses 1- 4 I want you to see the bad news or verses 1 through three I want you to see the bad news in verses 1 through3 and then in Verses 4 through1 I want you to see the good news so verses 1 through three I want you to see the bad news and Verses 4 through1 I want you to see the good news how many of you have read Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol do you remember how it starts out starts out by talking about old Jacob Marley doesn't it and what does it say about this Jacob Marley the very first thing we find out in the book whoever Jacob Marley was he was dead but he wasn't just dead he was as Dickens would have us know dead as a doornail it's become kind of an Infamous phrase to say that somebody when they die maybe they were a bad person you might say of that person who was very very Wicked that they're dead as a door now and there's often times where rejoicing over those people that are so wicked that we would say something like that about well I would submit to you that biblically and spiritually we are all dead as doornails we're like Jacob Marley except on the inside look at what the text says in Ephesians two and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins and although in these first three verses I told you I want you to see the bad news there's glimpses of good news even in these first three verses in verse one we have the little phrase that God has made us alive we'll get more to that later on in the text right now I want us to focus on that we were dead in trespasses and sins that past tense were is also a glimpse of good news because that tells us that we used to be like that but we're not like that anymore but in order to really appreciate the gravity of the word in verse one we need to consider for a moment what does it mean to be dead in trespasses and sins well in order to do that I want us to go over to the Book of Romans The Book of Romans and I want to read from chapter five this is another letter from my dear brother the Apostle Paul as you well know chapter 5 starting in verse 6 down to 11 for when we were still without Strength In Due Time Christ died for the ungodly for scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet Perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die but God demonstrates his own love toward us and that that while we were still sinners Christ died for us much more than having now been justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life and not only that but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation so there's lots of good news there not unlike Ephesians chapter 2 what we read to start out with but I want to bring to your attention these words Paul says that we're without strength we are we are helpless Paul says that we in and of ourselves we are ungodly Paul says in and of ourselves we are sinners now what does it mean dear friends to be without strength it means to be absolutely helpless absolutely unable to do anything for yourself spiritually speaking it's as though and I'm borrowing this illustration from another preacher you had a paraplegic and you were to drop him into a forest and you gave him no map no compass and told him he's got to make his way out of the forest but he's got a time limit to do it cuz in just two hours of big massive bulldozer is going to clear the whole Forest he's helpless isn't he how much more are we helpless before a holy God in our sinfulness Paul says we are without strength there's nothing you can do in and of yourself to muster the spiritual strength to stand before a holy God and survive we are helpless before him we have nothing to offer him the Bible says in the book of Isaiah our best of works are like filthy rags before this holy God in my context in Utah the LDS are very polite politer than I am sometimes although that bar is not that high I want you get to know me and they seem so sweet so precious uh they're willing to help you if you need it a lot of them would give you the shirt off their back if you so needed in and I often times explain to people this what that means that our best works are like filthy rags is that the LDS person can do the exact same thing and they can basically even do it better than the Christian so if they did the exact same thing and did it even better than the Christian their works even though well performed mean nothing to change their spiritually dead State they are dead in their trespasses and sins to be ungodly means to be opposed to God and His Covenant and his law you see what Adam and Eve did in the garden that was by definition ungodly because Adam and Eve broke Covenant with God if you want to know what sin is it's lawlessness it's Covenant breaking it is Disobedience to the law of God so to be ungodly is to be a covenant breaker and a law breaker and to basically be in your inner core opposed to everything that God stands for and you may say well I feel like a pretty good person not according to the scriptures friend the scriptures say that you and I in and of ourselves are ungodly and if that's not enough dear friends the scripture tells us that we are sinners to be a sinner means to miss the mark it means to be absolutely Lawless in your being it means to go after everything God has ever said not to do job says that we drink iniquity like water do you think of yourself as a sinner dear friend because in and of yourself that's all any of us are or Sinners that's our main problem that we have sinned against the sinless one we have sinned against the one who is perfect and righteous and good and just and holy and I could sit here and name all of his Perfections and attributes and you in and of yourself are morally opposed to all those things you and I we are not good you and I we are not just you and I we are not holy you and I we are everything that God is not because of our father Adam he sinned in the garden Romans 5 this very chapter teaches that in Adam we all die that dear friends is what it means to be dead in trespasses and Sins Not only that but to be dead and trespasses and sins verse two says that in and of ourselves we walked in them and for those of you here today that are not yet trusting in Christ trusting in this joyous good news you could change the tense of that and it'd still be true in which you are walking according to the course of this world if you've ever seen a zombie movie maybe you've seen the the show Walking Dead that's been going on forever and ever and ever in a very real sense spiritually speaking we without the joy Gospel made a reality unto us we We Are The Walking Dead and if that's not enough there's an occultic element to it as well there's a satanic element to it if if it's not enough that we ourselves are sinners but there's also the satanic element that the scriptures talk about here he says we want walked according to the course of this world we followed after worldly desires passions but it gets even worse than that he says according to the power the the prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of Disobedience there's a really a satanic element to the darkening of the human heart as well 2 Corinthians chapter 4 tells us that the God of this world hardens hearts and the God of this world prows around like a roaring L seeking whom he may devire there really is a satanic element to those who feast in sinfulness that they're not just doing it alone but they're doing it and giving joy to devils and being a part of satanic kingdoms dear friends this is what the unbeliever finds himself in they're very much in League with Satan you know you know often times when we think of Satan and his demons we may conjure up images of our mind of everybody in who woods and blood leing and things of that nature and although that does happen uh there there's devil worshippers out there uh often times the devil's chiefest acts come in those who wear suits and ties that look real prim and proper and they're just nice we we've got one quote unquote so-called preach uh down in the USA they will just smile at you from the television and tell you that you're so kind you're so special you're so nice and God just loves you just the way you are and he'll smile at you the whole time I I want to tell you that that's the work of the devil that is satanic what do people need to hear they need to hear that before God they're helpless they need to hear that before God in and of themselves they and we once were Sinners but God as we will see has changed our status we're now Saints before him look look at what the text says in verse three among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the Flesh and of the mind and were by Nature children of Wrath just as the others there is a tendency amongst the more calvinistic and reformed to sometimes think I'm one of the elect I'm special to turn the nose up to the cner especially around here I'm told but Paul would have us not have that mindset because every time he uses the word once in these first three verses he's reminding the Saints at Ephesus this was you this was you you once walked according to the course of this world you once walked according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of Disobedience I think I can say this with Integrity in the text he could have said of which you once were one and then he goes on to say that we once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh we were slaves to fleshly desires we we were slaves to our own sensual Cravings but now Paul says we're not anymore now I don't want to be naive and assume in the congregation of this size that everybody here is converted especially among the young people because I used to be a young person too once and depending upon your age you might still consider me a young person and for that I thank you it's all relative but with that said teenagers do you desire the lust of the flesh do you follow after your own passions have you found the way to get outside of Mom and Dad's View and do what you want to do to be just sexually deviant I was riding this morning with the VIS the church and I I saw some sign or something or another that just showed the sexual Devany of Canada and let me just say as a citizen of the USA it's not any better where we're at as a whole our world craves selfishness and sexual sin Paul says if you're a Christian that doesn't characterize your life anymore Paul Paul says that that wants ought to be true of you and even dear ones if you do fighting do you hate your sin do you are you disgusted by your sin well I want us to go into the good news starting in verse four we ought to pay attention to the grammar of our Bibles verse four there's a conjunction there but but God who is rich in Mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses made alive together with Christ by Grace you have been saved I want to stop right there he goes on forever with the sentence it it's as though Paul was breaking out in Choice sty because remember Church Paul called himself the chiefest of Sinners so you can imagine that this doxology this transition where he says but God who is rich in Mercy you can imagine this Paul is writing this he's thinking about his own Damascus Road experience where God in his Rich mercy and lavish Grace saved Paul's murderous soul and you can see here dear friends just the just the worship that exudes from Paul because he can't stop this sentence and he he begins the good news not by talking about our salvation but by gloring how good God is that our God is a merciful god look at the text but God who is rich in Mercy I think we can say as well his love towards us notice that the text says he is great love it's not just some nebulous form of love floating out in The Ether but it's his love remember what John tells us God is love and it's that sacrificial love John 316 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that all the believing ones may not perish and have everlasting life that's that love of which Paul speaks here is the sacrificial death of his son you've got to understand just how bad you are and I've got to understand just how bad I am there are so many people all around the world in whatever Nation you go to that's going to try to tell you you're so good you're so precious you deserve to be loved that's not true you and I dear friends don't deserve love in and of ourselves you and I are not precious in and of ourselves you and I are dead in our trespasses and sins we're enemies of God we are [Music] sinners we deserve God's holy wrath that's why the text says that we're children wrath we're born into it we are by Nature the text says children of Wrath that means sin sin is what we do it's who we are and then when you think about that reality that there's nothing good in us there's nothing special in us yet God demonstrates his Mercy towards us God demonstrates his his love towards us he says because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses even when think about that God loved you when you were divinely unlovable God loved you when you did didn't deserve it God loved you dear one when you were a sinner when you were his enemy that just simply means you're at war with God and more horrifying than that God is at war with you and his wrath is pointed at you God loved you that doesn't bring an amen if that doesn't bring a Hallelujah to your soul I don't know what will he goes on to say that God made us alive together with Christ by Grace you have been saved I want to focus in on the with Christ here because we see in chapter 2 verse one he starts out and you the you their's PL he says and you all he made Made Alive well down in verse five he brings up that idea God has made us alive together with Christ you know what he's talking about there is he's talking about the doctrine theologians like to call [Music] regeneration that's this Supernatural event where God converts a sinner and he takes out that old heart stone that drank water like iniquity he takes out that old heart that's an enmity with him he takes out that old heart that's sinful to the core and he replaces it with a heart that longs for him now I'm not talking sinless Perfection the influences of the world are still going to be upon you you're still going to fight and you're going to St strle and you're and you're going to sin and when you sin you're going to get up again and you're going to keep following after the Lord Jesus Christ and until that day of glorification that day when we won't sin anymore that day when we will get brand new bodies and may I just say this as a side note a lot of people look at me and and they'll often times say to me and they mean this well you know saying can't you just uh get excited about your new glorified body you won't be in a wheelchair anymore I'll say yeah I'm looking forward to that that'll be nice Pastor Cam and I can do jumping jacks together he won't have a broken foot anymore and he won't ever break it again trying to dance but dear friend that's not my most glorious promise in the gospel you know what my most glorious promise in the gospel is do you know what your most glorious promise in the gospel is communion with sinless communion with the Triune god of the universe that's what it means to be with Christ that's what it means to have the promise of regeneration that you were accepted in him that you were once an enmity with him but now dear friends we Are Made Alive and we've got that glorious promise waiting for us and every time you gather together in church you get no a little bit of slice of that promise you're getting to taste that promise in a sinful ungodly Wicked World and that world is dead in their trespasses and sins but yet you're here anticipating the great day and our great hope have you thought of church like that have you thought about every time the scriptures talk about Our Hope number one it's always in the plural when he writes his letters it's to the whole church so it's all of our promises for those who are in Christ now look at what the text says next he has a parenthetical here in verse five by Grace you have been saved uh we'll get to that more in a moment now this with Christ causes us to be raised up together and he says it's made us sit together in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus one day that's going to be a reality when we all gather together around the throne room of glory and we see God in all of his goodness and in all of his mercy and we're not incinerated because of our sin and thrown into hell for all of eternity we get to stand before him and we get to worship and praise and glorify him Paul is speaking of that in the present because I believe that when we come together like this we join the infinite chor of the redeemed in glory and singing praises to our Triune God that's why he can speak of it as if it's a reality right now because in a real sense when we gather together that is the case we are joining in something far more eternal the pastor and theologian in Washington DC says something that we all ought to hear the USA it's not Eternal it's going to crumble Canada is not Eternal it's going to crumble God's kingdom is forever and when we come together as his local churches and we praise and glorify his name we are living out these verses we're living out the joy of the god gospel so one of my applications if I can give it early and it always feels weird to give an application like this because you are here so I'll put it this way keep coming to church do you realize how much you encourage one another when when every one of you is here do you realize how much you encourage your pastors and deacons when when they see you here here singing your lungs out to the glory of God and sitting under the preaching of the word we are preparing for the great day of which Paul speaks look look at what he says next in verse seven that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding Riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus and as I've been thinking about this text when we get to heaven and we've been there for a million years we're still going to be there because of the work of Jesus Christ we're still going to be there because even in heaven we we'll be trusting in the Lord Jesus Jesus Christ and we'll be thanking him and and worship towards him for what he's done and so even a million years from now it's not as though in a million and one years from now we're going to think okay now I'm the reason why I'm here no in all of eternity we will only and ever say we are with our God by grace through faith in Christ Jesus so he he talks about the riches of his grace one for us in the Cross of Christ and the kindness of Christ and dying for our sins and then he talks about in verse eight this idea that every good Evangelical Baptist seems to know for by Grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of Works lest anyone should boast so we have here this same reminder we saw in verse five Paul says twice in this passage by Grace you have been saved we will always sing of the grace of our God we will always magnify in the grace of him it is not of our own Works nobody in heaven will be able to say I got here cuz I'm special nobody in heaven will be able to say I got here by Jesus but I'm staying here by my own Merit no it is totally and purely by grace and that Grace for us is seen in the Life Death burial resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ all of which was done as was said earlier by Pastor Butler on our behalf 2 Corinthians 5 21 for he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that in him that is Christ Jesus we might become the righteousness of God one great Theologian John Calvin put it this way it is a great exchange because when when a sinner believes and trusts In Christ Alone not only is their heart regenerated but they're given as a free gift one for them by the death and burial and resurrection of Christ the very righteousness of the god man Jesus Christ and in that righteousness dear Saints we Glory because it's an alien righteousness it's not our own remember I told you that we that we're without strength we're helpless we're Sinners we've got no righteousness to offer God but in the grace of Jesus we have all the righteousness where we will ever need and that righteousness that Grace is given to us through faith and that Faith even is not of ourselves that faith is the gift of God God grants that we have faith God grants that we believe so it's not this idea of pull yourself up by your bootstrap God is the one who sovereignly bestows faith God is the one who sovereignly bestows belief upon his people at the same time we though can call men and women boys and girls to place their hope alone their faith alone their trust alone in Christ alone if you were here yesterday you heard my Spurgeon lecture and you heard Spurgeon say such things as try my Jesus try my Jesus he was not fual he was not shy about calling men and women and boys and girls to repent of their sin and believe alone in Christ alone and that is the the glory of salvation by grace through faith and Christ alone then we see in the next verse that that this is not of works lest anyone should boast again we're not saved by our own doing the faith it's a gift Grace it's a gift we are saved and born again we are regenerated we are converted because God in his goodness and mercy through the preaching of the Gospel has saved our souls and when you think preaching there you can think a wide range of things some people get saved simply by the preaching of the Bible itself through the word of God directly others get saved through the preaching of the word by a pastor or preacher perhaps an evangelist others get saved through the reading of a gospel track that has biblical truth on it but however it may happen whether it's through the personal witness of somebody a preacher or what have you nobody can say they saved themselves nobody can say de on that they were the initiators of their own faith in Christ now why is all this the case well we get that in verse 10 for he we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them turn if you will with me to Galatians Galatians chapter 5 this will be the last little letter we look at from Paul that's not Romans and I want you to see starting in verse 19 the contrast between the works of the immoral and the fruit of the spirit verse 19 now the works of the flesh are evident which are adultery fornication uncleanliness ladness idolatry sorcery hatred contentions jealousies outbursts of Wrath selfish Ambitions dissensions heresies Envy murders drunkenness Ries and the like of which I tell you beforehand just as I also told you in times past that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God now look at verse 22 but the fruit that's singular by the way but the fruit one fruit of the spirit is love joy peace longsuffering kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such things there is no law so all that to say God saved us by his grace in a way that we cannot boast at all in order that we would exude not the works of the flesh which by the way are what it means to be dead in trespasses and sins I mainly spoke of it in before through Romans 5 in your position towards God and him towards you but you want to talk about the position towards a fellow man that's the way it works itself out in the works of the flesh but God saved you from all that you once walked in those things and now you're saved to the Glorious sweet fruit of God's spirit so let me ask you is your life characterized not perfect but are you known as some that is loving joyful kind patient so on and so forth I I've found it interesting I remember I was talking to Dr Jim renahan once and he brought up how interesting it is that self-control self-control is an aspect of the spirit's fruit are you known as somebody with self-control are you you Reckless the text says in Ephesians that we're his workmanship he is the crafter we're the pot he's going to make something beautiful out of every Christian no exceptions you may not have the world's best faith humanly speaking you may fight you may struggle with say if that you come back tonight I want to give you Assurance of Salvation I I want you to be able to say I know that I know that I know that I'm a Christian but here we see that those who are truly Christians their life is going to be characterized by the biblical fruit so I ask you is that you God prepared beforehand that we should walk in that fruit look again at verse two when you were dead and trespasses and sins you once walked according to all those things but for the Christian our life is completely different you're here this morning morning and you know you've never truly trusted Christ you know that your life is lived like like a devil and not like a saint you can come to Christ today and live you can come to Christ and no longer be a walking dead person you can be made alive as the text says twice you can have the joy of the Gospel ring in your heart that's what every God-fearing church member in this building wants for you don't let anything or anybody keep you from knowing the joy of having your sins forgiven all you got to do is trust all you got to do is believe upon Him believe upon the one who died for guilty Sinners and Rose again and ascended on their behalf because my gospel also says that he's coming back again one day to make all things new are you ready I want you to be ready and so does every God-fearing Christian in here walk circumspectly in the spirit by God's grace for his glory let us pray together father we thank you so much for your gospel we thank you that in a way we'll never understand completely that your son your Eternal son assumed human flesh and having two Natures according to his human nature he experienced everything that we do in a sinful world and yet was sinless we thank you that this sinless one died the death that we deserve and we ask and pray that for those who have not trusted this one who died and rose again for Sinners that sinners in this room would not go out of this place without trusting in Him uh we thank you for the gospel and joy that you've given each one of us help us to live life in step with the spirit as I've said and we pray all these things in the name of your son amen you thank you [Music] and to the son and to the holy as it was in the beginning is now and never shall be [Music] Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen we go ahead and pray and thank God for the food and after a brief time of meditation everybody can go upstairs and enjoy some food and fellowship let us pray father we acknowledge your goodness through the gospel of our Salvation truly it is joyous and we thank you for this wonderful reminder thank you for the Sovereign Grace that you've shown us bringing us out of that that state of deadness and sin to life eternal in Christ Jesus we thank you as well for good food and for fellowship and pray for your blessing upon us in this afternoon and we ask this now through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen e e e e for