[0:00] May we turn to read God's word and we turn to Paul's letter to the Ephesians chapter 2.
[0:18] Paul's letter to the Ephesians chapter 2 and we read from the beginning. We'll look at chapter 2 for our morning and evening services.
[0:35] We'll read down to verse Mark 10 from the beginning. Let us hear God's word. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, where in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation, in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as others.
[1:18] But God, who is rich in mercy, for whose great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.
[1:33] By grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.
[1:55] For by grace ye are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.
[2:20] Amen. May the reading of God's word be blessed to each and every one of us. May we continue in our praise by singing in Psalm 119. We'll sing from the beginning of that psalm.
[2:35] You'll find it on page 247 of the Black Psalm book. Amen. We'll sing these verses to God's praise.
[3:28] Blessed are they that undefiled and straight are in the way. Stand to sing. Blessed are they that undefiled and straight are in the way.
[3:51] who in the Lord's most holy law, who walk and do not stay.
[4:05] blessed are they who man who Эду tard, for this man to feel, this man to feel like a rising man, and to seek the living God, with death, whole heart, and might.
[4:37] Such in His wings to walk and make to know iniquity.
[4:53] Thou hast commanded us to keep Thy peace and care for me.
[5:10] O that my statue of terror, Thou wouldst my wish I lay, Then shall I not be shamed When I thy peace and all reset.
[5:44] May we turn back to the passage that we read together in the book of Ephesians chapter 2 and we'll take our texts from the beginning of chapter 2.
[6:00] You'll find it there. And then if you look at verse 10.
[6:14] For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.
[6:31] Thankfully I do not have any experience of war. But I believe that at times of war every step is important.
[6:42] And every step would count. Some steps would be made on impulse and succeed, while others on the same impulse could easily have failed.
[6:56] But most steps at war are made with a thought and are made with a plan. But even then, men will fall.
[7:08] And there seems no logical reason why some fall and others remain. And the men themselves who fought can give no reason either.
[7:22] The men who paid the ultimate price for their country. Every step of theirs counted. And their steps are certainly ones that are worth remembering as we do today.
[7:38] And it says in the Gospel of John that greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. These men have laid down their lives for us.
[7:51] And every step of theirs counted with a great worth. But what of ourselves when we think of our steps? And we might count our steps.
[8:03] We might use clever devices to count our steps. We might use clever watches or clever phones. And they tell us how many steps we've walked in a day. And we might have something like 10,000 at the end of the day.
[8:18] But what's 10,000 steps if none of them had any worth? Are our steps of worth? Is there any worth in our steps?
[8:30] So today if we are able, and if we were able, we all walked to get here at some point or another. And you're seated here.
[8:41] You started from somewhere with a mind to reach this place, in our case to come to church. Whatever your reasoning for coming. You came with a purpose in mind.
[8:54] And you see when we walk, we walk with a direction, we walk with a purpose. Whether it's to fulfill a task, to meet someone, to get someone, to go somewhere.
[9:06] And even sometimes it is just to go for a walk. To enjoy a walk. And that is the purpose. But even then you start somewhere. You have a direction in mind.
[9:17] Even if it is subconsciously. To reach somewhere or return back to where you have begun. And so our physical walking has a start point.
[9:30] Regardless of where we start. Ideally, it will have a direction in mind. And hopefully it will have a purpose. Whether we realize it or not.
[9:42] And Paul says before the church in Ephesus in this letter. A walk. A walk of faith that runs through the book.
[9:53] And these words were to encourage the believers. To help them in their faith. To remind them of their works. The works of Christ in them.
[10:04] In themselves. To give them a direction. And that they would find a purpose. And at the beginning of the letter here.
[10:16] Of the passage we read. He sets before them two walks. We read the first one in chapter 2. At the very beginning there. Within and past time you walked according to the course of the world.
[10:30] And then in verse 10 of what we read as well. At the very, very end of verse 10. That's a walk which God had foreordained that we walk in then.
[10:42] And there is an old walk. And there is a new walk. So that's what I want to do. With that thought in mind. Look at the old walk. And the new walk. So what is the old walk?
[10:53] What does it mean to walk this old walk? Where does this walk take you? What is its direction? What is its purpose? Where does it start? Well we can see firstly.
[11:05] What does Paul say? And you hath he quickened. Who were dead in trespasses and sins?
[11:16] Who were what? Dead. It's a dead walk. He says it so bluntly to them. Dead in trespasses and sins.
[11:28] But that's where we start. Whether we like it or not. That's where we start. We cannot start anywhere else. We are born in sin.
[11:40] We are sinful by our very nature. This is where every Christian has had to start. We start in sin. But we have to see our sin.
[11:53] We have to recognize the sin in us. And to put it bluntly and honestly before you today. That the sin that is in us is our death.
[12:07] And you must ask yourself as you sit here today. Do I see the sin within me? Do I understand what the sin in my life means for me?
[12:19] The Bible says the wages of sin is death. Romans 6. That death is your just punishment from God for any sin.
[12:31] That is an eternity in hell. And the question is are you going to walk yourself there? Step by step.
[12:42] What worth would be any of your steps if that is the case? I have a small book and I generally just jot down things that I read that are good.
[12:55] And one of the things that I have in it is sin is our first handle to Christ. I don't know who wrote it. I didn't write that down. But sin is our first handle to Christ.
[13:07] You know because if we don't see the sin in our lives. We will never come to Christ. We will never have that handle that will take us to Christ.
[13:18] That we can lay hold of and bring us to Christ. Because when we see our sin. Then we see our need. And if you are not grasping your need of Christ.
[13:29] You are definitely not understanding your sin. It is either that or you are just blanking out. The whole reality of God. His judgement upon you.
[13:42] We must all start in sin. But the question is will we continue in sin? So what direction does the old walk lead us?
[13:55] Well it says in verse 2 according to two things. According to the Kosher of this world. And according to the prince of the power of the air.
[14:06] According ourselves to is just like to follow. And you can imagine something of an instruction booklet. A booklet that is titled the Kosher of the world.
[14:18] And it is written by the prince of the power of the air. A book that we must follow through with. A book that tells us how to do things. The Kosher of the world.
[14:29] What is the Kosher of the world? What is the world set out for men and women to follow? Taken back to its roots.
[14:40] You can think yourself. Well people chase after wealth. And you go well. But people are also happy and content without great wealth. And you can think well maybe it is power or authority or respect amongst men.
[14:55] And then you can think to yourself. Well no there is plenty of people that don't want any power. Any authority. And they don't care what other men think of themselves. But that is just it.
[15:06] Where they are happy. What makes them content? That is the course of the world. To find a self satisfaction and contentment.
[15:18] To become and justify ourselves as being happy and content by who we are. Who we have made ourselves to be. What we have gained.
[15:29] Or even just what I have. We satisfy ourselves by what we think our lives should be. To satisfy myself by the world's standards.
[15:43] And to satisfy my existence by what the world thinks. But no God. No Bible. Because when we take these things into consideration.
[15:54] That self satisfaction is completely lost. And you know what the prince of the power of the air will give you. Is just something to follow.
[16:07] The spirit. The devil. He will give you something to follow. And he doesn't care what it is. As long as you are moving away from Christ. Well as long as you are not getting any closer.
[16:19] As long as you are not understanding who the true God is. The truth. The truth. That is this walk's direction. Away from truth. And you can imagine something like the map of London.
[16:33] Or a map of a great city. And if you were to zoom right out of it. You would see this network of roads just exploding from it. And now if Christ were at its centre.
[16:45] The devil will give you something to follow away from him. He doesn't care if you are going further out from the centre.
[16:56] Or going round and round. Or going back and forth. As long as you are following something. And you are not getting any closer to the truth. But even then if we do see an element of the truth.
[17:09] And we do think well maybe I should come closer to Christ. The devil won't be far away either. And he will come along and he will say. Follow me. I will take you to Christ.
[17:22] You can see the network of roads. If you come closer there are so many ways in which he can take us away from reaching the centre point. He can turn us away so easily.
[17:36] That's why we need to know the truth. The devil will say to us. You know you just need to do this. And I will get you to heaven. Or do something else.
[17:47] And this will take you to heaven. Just follow my voice. But you know what? His voice sounds so good to us. His voice is far more appealing to us. It sounds great.
[17:59] But it is a voice that will take us straight past Christ. We will miss him entirely if we listen to that. A voice that deceives.
[18:10] The following is only as good as the man that you follow. And if you think you are happy with your life without Christ. Ask yourself who is leading who.
[18:25] Because true direction is important in our lives. Because it tells us where we are going to end up. True direction is important in our lives because it tells us where we are going to end up.
[18:37] And the direction is for a purpose. And in a sense the purpose of the whole walk is not yours. It is the prince of the power of the Irish purpose.
[18:48] His purpose is to make you continue in your walk. Continue in this walk of death. To maintain no change. You see it is far easier to maintain something in the long run.
[19:03] You just keep topping it up. That is what he does. It is far easier to follow us as he gives us these desires that he places before us.
[19:16] New things to follow. Things that satisfy us. Things that top us up in our walk of death. And it is good for us to follow these things. It is easy for us to follow these things.
[19:28] New passions, new direction. And he continues us in that walk of death. Chasing after pure satisfactions. But it is a work that he needs to keep working at.
[19:41] And his satisfactions are so pure. That we need more. And we need more. And we keep chasing after these things. And following after these things. But he makes you think that you have a purpose in all these.
[19:56] Purposes that, if we take it back, often stem from I. Purposes in sin. Purposes that are chasing the wind.
[20:09] There is nothing to them really. And the aim is that you forget God and remember yourself. It comes back to yourself. Your lusts.
[20:20] Your desires. Your body. Your mind. Just like the rest of mankind. Do what you want to do. This is what the world says. Do what your body tells you to do.
[20:31] Do what you think is right. You can do what you want. You can be who you want to be. Love who you want to love. The core of the world is saying.
[20:44] Be yourself. Love yourself. Your identity is your decision. And however which way they want to polish it up. And make it sound attractive to us.
[20:56] Or loving and inclusive of people. It comes back to me. And myself. Sin is a little word. With only three letters.
[21:07] But the biggest is I. It's another quote that I came across. Sin is a little word. With only three letters. But the biggest is I.
[21:20] So what about when we come to the end of this walk? What about when we come to the end of this life? What will you be left to say?
[21:31] What will you be left to say? All these things I chased. You know they're exactly as the Bible said of them. They're like the wind.
[21:43] And you'll have to admit. I was chasing the wind. I took the easy road. I took the easy road. That the devil led me down. I followed my patterns.
[21:55] I followed my lusts. I thought these ways. Give me a purpose in my life. And a reason. But now. In the sight of death.
[22:07] I see that they have none at all. And now. Nor will I have. And we admit that we will have been fooled.
[22:19] By the deceiver. I followed the kush of this world. And it is only. Death. And maybe think to themselves.
[22:31] Why did I not follow Christ? Maybe people said it to me. Maybe people say it to you. We say it to you today. That you must be born again.
[22:46] You see the old walk. It paints a good picture for us. Doesn't it? The way we like to live our lives. And we just love to keep adding to that picture.
[23:00] That we are painting. The things that we love. The things that we desire. But you know. When it comes to the completion of that painting. And the end of that walk.
[23:12] What is left. It is ugly. The painting is ugly. And it is a painting which cannot ever be restored. Death is ugly.
[23:24] Without Christ Jesus. And the painting. Well. It will be thrown away. What worth. Is that?
[23:36] Imagine if God were to throw you away. Does that not fill you with fear? See what he sets before us here. Is essentially a dead man that walks.
[23:47] And what uses a dead man. Even if he were to walk. What uses a dead man to God. Man.
[24:02] But this. Was intentionally written by Paul. For men and women. To recall. What they once were. Not what they are. Of a way in which they once walked.
[24:15] And not how they walk. Though the wages of sin are death. The gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. There's another walk.
[24:27] There's another way. So let us look at the new walk. The new walk. The new walk. Where does this walk start? What does Paul say? Let us come back. To verse 4.
[24:39] At the very beginning. What does Paul say? But. God. And that is always a vital change that must happen. Between each walk.
[24:51] But. God. That is the place where this walk must start. Though the devil maintained you. In a sense. God must first. Rip you apart.
[25:03] And rebuild you. Start from scratch. And when he does that. Rebuilding in us. We cannot but say. But God. It's nothing of myself.
[25:15] It is all of God. And it must always be of God. And we have that right at the very beginning. As foundational. We are not blinded by anything that we do.
[25:28] Or anything I can do. Or I have done. The focus has shifted. Completely from me. To God. He has given me.
[25:39] A new life. I have been born. Again. And Paul carries on from verse 4. But God. He speaks of this God who is rich in mercy for his great love.
[25:53] Wherewith he loved us. Even when we were dead in sins. Even when we were dead in sins. Have quickened us together with Christ. By grace you are saved.
[26:05] Yes I was dead. But when I saw the cause of my death. My sin. I reached out for Christ. For that handle. And I lay hold of him.
[26:16] And of all my strength. I found out that I couldn't hold on to him. And when I had let go.
[26:27] Of my own strength. I found then. That it was him. That had been holding me the whole time. He was the one that was holding me.
[26:38] And you ask yourself. Why would he hold me? Why would he hold me? I should be like death to him. But in a sense I was.
[26:51] And in a sense he has died. That death already for me. So that we may have life. He died it instead of me. We lay hold of him.
[27:05] Because we had nothing to give. We had nowhere to go. And I see that this holding of him unto me. Is nothing but his love.
[27:18] He will never let me go. It is his loving grace that will sustain me. It is his grace that will save me. The new walk starts.
[27:29] When we realize that everything of the old walk. Has lost its worth. When he rebuilds us. And then he will maintain us.
[27:41] For the new walk. And he is the one to then direct us. So let us look at the direction. Of the new walk. What direction does he lead us? Well it is totally new.
[27:54] Away from death. Towards life. In Christ Jesus. And the root of this direction. Is found in the grace of God. Through Jesus Christ. Whereas the old walk.
[28:08] Said that we followed with. We accorded to. We longed after. We chased the wind. And we never caught anything. This new walk.
[28:20] Reads off in verse 10. At the very end. That we walk. In them. In them. Christ works. In us. Primarily. And in fact.
[28:33] It says that it is not of works. That any man should boast there. God works first. And. That work is. In us. The believer. The believer.
[28:44] Is not. External. To his work. In a sense. As something. That we must follow. After. But he. Works. In us.
[28:55] And we walk. In. That work. That he has done. In us. He who has done. A good work. In you. And Jesus himself. Prayed. That.
[29:06] His people. May be one. As thy father. Art in me. And I am in thee. That they. Also. May be one. In us. May we be in.
[29:18] That fellowship. Of the father. And the son. And see. It's a walk. But it's a walk. In faith. Many times.
[29:29] The direction. Of the old life. Would have seemed. Easier. To us. And clearer. To us. To walk. The old walk. But this new walk. It's based on faith.
[29:40] In Christ Jesus. That we will trust. In him. When it is not easy. When things ahead. Are not clear. For us. When we don't have the strength.
[29:51] To hold on. To him. But trust. That he will hold on. To us. Paul. In the chapters. Of this book. As he goes through. Ephesians.
[30:02] Goes into more detail. About this walk. He sets out. A guide. For the people. That read. A help. For the reader. In showing him. The way. To walk.
[30:13] This new walk. Chapter 4. Verse 1. He says. I beseech you. To walk. Worthy. Of the vocation. Wherewith you are called. With all lowliness. Meekness.
[30:24] With long suffering. Forbearing. One another. In love. Endeavouring. To keep. The unity. Of the spirit. In the bond. Of peace. That's the new walk.
[30:35] He goes on. And he says. Walk in love. As Christ. Has also. Loved us. And has. Given himself. For us. He goes on.
[30:47] To say. Walk as children. Of light. And he goes on. To say. Walk circumspectively. Not as fools. But as wise. As wise. The direction.
[30:58] Changes. Like the map. The image. Of the map. We had. You know. We're heading. Right. For the center. We're heading. For Christ.
[31:09] But we're still. Within the world. We still. Have the same. Prince. Of the power. Of the air. The flesh. The passions. The body desires. But.
[31:20] Our eyes are beyond. These things now. In this new walk. These things don't matter. Our eyes are beyond it. To the point. To the Christ.
[31:31] And our eyes keep. Looking ahead. That's what Paul is saying to him. Look ahead now. See the glories that await you. In Christ Jesus. Direct your eyes.
[31:43] To the one who died for you. And the one. That you are raised up with. Find direction. In reading his word. And in every path.
[31:55] There will be a purpose. So what the purpose. Of the new walk. In concluding. Like the old. The purpose. Was traced back. To the devil.
[32:06] And his empty promises. So the new walk. The Christians walk. The purpose is found in God. And whose purposes. And whose purposes. And whose promises.
[32:18] But they are full. And overflowing. And true. It says in verse 10. That we are his workmanship. You can imagine.
[32:29] The workmanship of God. How do we explain that? And you can imagine. A craftsman. Who would make wonderful things. And the skill that he has.
[32:41] To make these things. Things. He knows. He has the skill. And the creation. That he would make. Would always be associated. With him.
[32:52] So and so. Made that. That's so and so's work. You can see it. In the work. That he has created. That piece of work. Will always be his. It is his work.
[33:03] And while the works of man. Can be admirable. How much more. Will the workmanship. Of God be. His work. Will be regarded.
[33:14] As the greatest beauty. We will ever see. As the craftsman. Would have his own. Way of doing it. He has the knack. Of doing it. He has his own method. To outwork.
[33:26] What he needs to do. So does God. And his method. And his way. Is through Christ Jesus. This the Christian. Must remember.
[33:37] That people. Should see. The workmanship. Of God. In us. The beauty. In us. Of God's. Workmanship. But they also.
[33:50] Need to see that. In themselves. As well. As God. Works. In his way. And by his method. Through Christ Jesus. All credit. Is.
[34:01] Is. His. It is. His work. And he. Crafts you for what. It says there.
[34:12] In verse. 10. Created. In Christ Jesus. Unto good works. His purpose. Outworks. Itself. Through us. That we produce.
[34:23] Good works. And good fruit. There's nothing. Dead here. Dead here. Good works. For his glory. But what's this.
[34:34] New walks. Purpose. We know it. And we have been taught it. From our youth. To glorify God. And enjoy him. Forever.
[34:45] We bring glory to God. And his workmanship. Through us. And enjoy him forever. Where we see that. In verse six. Christ.
[34:56] Raised us up together. And made us sit. In the heavenly places. With Christ. In Christ Jesus. So lovingly. Accepting. He is of the believer. That you are privileged. To sit.
[35:07] Even with his son. And then he continues. Verse seven. That in the ages to come. He might show you. The exceeding riches. Of his grace.
[35:18] And his kindness. Towards us. Through Christ. Jesus. There is blessing. Upon blessing. You are saved. By his grace.
[35:29] We are seated. With his son. And in the coming. To the ages. To follow. The coming ages. That will follow. We will realize. Just how. Immeasurable.
[35:40] Are the riches. Of his grace. And what seems. So immeasurable. Here in this world. When we see. God. Working. And we can't.
[35:51] Explain it. And we stand. In awe of it. I don't think. That will be anything. Compared to the unhindered. And almost.
[36:02] Eager. To give. Loving. Kindness. Of God. To his people. For all eternity. Completely.
[36:13] Immisurable. Unfathomable. His grace. And glory. Will astound us. And astonish us. And it does.
[36:24] In this life. When we look. When the Christian. Looks at himself. I was dead. But he has made me alive. His workmanship. Amazes us.
[36:35] That he has done. That work in us. And maybe one of the greatest. Thing about this walk. Is that there is always. A purpose. A purpose. Even when we don't know.
[36:46] What the purpose is. When my experience. Seems to me. To leave me. Asking why. And what is the purpose. Of this. That I am experiencing. Even today. And we ask God.
[36:58] Why am I experiencing this. And it may never be known. In this life. But we trust. In his workmanship. We trust in his purpose. Because it's all.
[37:09] Prepared beforehand. It says. That we should walk. Walk. In them. It's all planned. The army commander. Has a plan. He has a plan.
[37:21] And he has a victory. So. You know. We can. But trust him. So what's your walk today. Is the old walk.
[37:33] Or the new walk. Remember. Remember. When you count your steps. Ask yourself. Whether you walked. For God. Whether you walked. For Christ. Or did I walk them.
[37:44] For myself. And that surely. If we do this daily. We come. And see that. Well. Either my steps. Don't have a worth.
[37:55] And I need to make them worthwhile. That we come to Christ. And that. When we come to the end of the walk. That there will be worth. In them.
[38:06] In Christ Jesus. So count. The worth. Of our steps. Because. We are not the only one counting them.
[38:18] God is accounting. Every step. Every step that we make. He counts. But he also. Accounts. For everyone. That we take too.
[38:29] May these thoughts. Be blessed to us. Our heavenly father. We pray that we be careful. Of how we walk. As Christians. That we consider.
[38:41] Your son. The Lord Jesus Christ. As an example for us. Lord. We pray. To encourage and guide those. Who walk the new walk. And Lord.
[38:52] Convict and convert. Those who are in the old walk. Help them to come. And see their need. And seek after the Savior. And glory. And immeasurable riches. That await.
[39:03] Those who trust in Christ Jesus. Amen.