Please do have a seat. It's great to be here this morning. I hope you've had a great weekend.
But let's just, before we turn to God's Word, let's just have a moment of silence.
Let's just still our hearts and let's pray together.
Gracious God and loving Heavenly Father, we praise you this morning, Lord, like we've sung.
You're an awesome God.
That your mercies are new to us each and every morning.
And that your grace is truly sufficient for us.
Lord, we come to your Word this morning desperate to hear from you.
So, Father, we ask that you would send your Spirit, that he would lead us into all truth.
He would be our teacher. He would be our guide.
And, Father, as we look at this wonderful picture of grace, that it wouldn't just be a word that we sing.
But, Father, it would be a reality and a truth that we experience.
So, Father, I pray that we would leave here this morning with a bigger picture of who you are.
And this is our prayer in Jesus' name. Amen.
One of the television programs that Alex and I have got into recently is The Voice.
I don't know if anyone else watches The Voice.
Have we got any other voice freaks here?
It's basically a music talent show on the BBC.
Now, I don't normally go for stuff like that.
It's not really my thing.
But, see, when you're up with a child at five in the morning changing nappies,
honestly, anything on the iPlayer will do.
So, loving watching The Voice at the minute.
And the way it works, for those of you who don't know, it's a singing competition.
Contestant comes on the stage and really belts it out for two minutes, any song that they want to sing.
And there's four judges.
And as you've seen the picture there, they've got the backs to the contestant.
And the whole aim of the game is for the contestant to convince the judges that they're good enough,
that their voice is worth it.
And then they hit the buzzer if they're good enough.
And they turn around, they face the contestant, and they point at them, and they say,
I want you in my team.
It's a great show.
It's a great idea.
I was watching this the other morning,
and it struck me.
You know, I wonder for how many of us,
actually that is what we think it is to be a Christian.
You know, maybe that you're here this morning,
you wouldn't describe yourself as a Christian,
and you feel like you're performing for God.
You're trying to live a good life, a moral life,
but deep down you know,
you think,
you're never going to be good enough for it.
Or perhaps that the problem isn't with you,
actually the problem is with the judge,
it's with God.
To you, he seems like he's got his back to you.
You think he doesn't care,
you think he doesn't know you.
And he comes across as harsh
and faceless.
Or maybe you're here and,
actually you would describe yourself as a Christian,
but if somebody asked you to articulate
how you became a Christian,
it would be along the lines of,
actually I was good enough for God.
And maybe you wouldn't articulate it like that,
you know that you're saved by grace,
but actually you're living your Christian life
as if that's true.
And you need to keep performing
to earn God's favor.
Now I think every single one of us in this room
is in one of those four categories.
And this is why it's so exciting
to preach this this morning,
because this passage speaks massively
into each of them.
So this is the great chapter in the Bible
about Christian salvation.
Effectively, it's going to tell us three things.
Firstly, it's going to give us a reality check
on where mankind stands before God
in his own right.
It's going to tell us what God has done about it.
And in light of that,
it's going to tell us how we should respond.
So turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2.
We're in at the first 10 verses this morning.
It's imperative that we have God's word open to us there.
If you've got a Bible in front of you,
can I encourage you to open it?
Just, if anything else, you can check this.
It's not something I'm making up.
This is actually what it says.
And as you're turning there,
let me give you a quick 101
on what we've seen in Ephesians so far.
Remember, this isn't a theology pamphlet.
This is a real letter,
written by a real person,
written to real Christians,
who've got real struggles.
And Paul's rocked up in Ephesus,
and he's declared,
in this city where the goddess Artemis is worshipped,
that a God that you can make with your own hands
is no God at all.
Now this is effectively like someone
turning up to Paris,
walking right underneath the Eiffel Tower
and declaring that the Eiffel Tower is a fraud.
It's not going to go well for that guy.
But this is what Paul's done,
and he's been aggressively forced out of this city.
But here's the thing.
These Christians remain.
These Christians remain living in this hostile,
pluralistic, dangerous,
spiritualistic, occultic, paganistic world.
A world that's not too dissimilar from ours.
And he's writing to give them confidence
in the incomparable power of God.
And that's what we saw last week.
Paul's been saying this,
that there is no greater power
than God against all the odds,
raising Jesus from the dead
and seating him above all powers
and rulers and authorities.
And this is what he's going to say this week.
That same power,
the resurrection power that God worked in Jesus,
if you're a Christian,
you've experienced it in your own life as well.
Big idea this morning,
to be a Christian is to be a living miracle.
And grace,
as we've been singing,
as we've been looking at so far,
grace is the banner that flies right across this section.
Now, I love a sporting cliche.
If you were watching rugby yesterday,
incredible by the way,
watching rugby yesterday,
full of sporting cliches.
My favourite,
game of two halves.
This section,
is a game of two lives.
And he's going to contrast the walk of death,
and he's going to contrast the walk of life.
So let's read about this,
the walk of death.
This is verses 1 to 3,
Ephesians chapter 2.
Paul writes this,
As for you,
you were dead
in your transgressions and sins,
in which you used to live
when you followed the ways of this world,
and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,
the spirit who is now at work
in those who are disobedient.
All of us
also lived among them at one time,
gratifying
the cravings of our flesh,
and following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest,
we were by nature
deserving
of wrath.
Now, Paul uses that word once,
two times in these verses.
So this is what he's saying
to these Ephesian Christians.
This is what your life was like
before God got involved.
You were dead.
That's really strong language.
Certainly comes across at that to us,
doesn't it?
Especially,
since these guys are physically
alive and kicking.
So what's Paul on about?
Well, he's saying that
out with Jesus Christ,
you're separated from God,
you're spiritually dead.
This is how the Bible says it is.
If you want a life of fulfillment,
of purpose,
of meaning,
and of lasting joy,
then you're only really going to get that
in a relationship
with the God who created you.
And to be outside
of that relationship,
to be separated from him,
is to be spiritually dead.
That's the diagnosis here
from Dr. Paul.
And he's going to write,
this death shows itself
in two ways.
Firstly,
you were enslaved.
Verse 2.
I was driving our car
on the M8
a few weeks ago
going to Glasgow.
And I noticed
that our car
massively started
veering to the left.
So much so
that I had to oversteer
to the right
just to make it go
in a straight line.
So I got back to Edinburgh,
phoned up the garage,
said I've got a problem
with the car.
They took a look at it.
They phoned me
the next afternoon
and they said,
Sir,
your wheel alignment
massively out.
Now we live in that area
of the city
where there's lots
of cobbled streets
and the cobbled streets
had knocked
the car's alignment
completely out.
So instead of going
in a straight line
like it was designed to,
actually this thing
was veering all over the place.
And unless we did
something about it,
if we left it
to its own devices,
it's going to veer.
And it's going to crash.
And that's what Paul
is saying is true
of these Christians
outside of Christ.
He uses a shipping metaphor.
Remember,
he's writing to Ephesus.
It's a port city.
They understand
what it means
to have a course.
That's what he's saying
as a result
of sin messing up
the alignment
in your hearts.
You're just following
the default nature
of your sick,
human heart
and you're just following
the course of the world.
He uses that word
following three times
in this section,
doesn't he?
You're following three things.
He says you're following
the flesh,
you're following the world,
you're following the devil.
You're just behaving
like everyone else.
That's how he used to behave.
You lived with the same
priorities,
you lived with the same
dreams and hopes
and ambitions.
That's how he used to live.
You know,
John Stott
says it so beautifully.
He says that it's only
dead fish that
go over the stream.
That's what you once were,
says Paul.
You were
enslaved.
And secondly,
as well as being enslaved,
you were condemned.
Look at what he says
in verse three.
You stood guilty
before a
holy God.
So this is because
of their willful
disobedience against him.
They stood at odds
with God.
And they are in the
firing line for his
holy anger,
his wrath.
That implies,
doesn't it,
that there is,
regardless of what
our world tells us,
there is an absolute
standard of truth
by which we will
all be judged.
And it's God's
standard,
his perfect standard,
which we have fallen
well short of.
Our world would tell us
that we're inherently good.
Paul would say,
you're being far
too optimistic.
You were enslaved
and you were condemned.
Outside of Christ,
you were dead.
And another program
that I watched
on the iPlayer,
it's getting a lot
of air time
at the minute,
J.K. Rowling's
The Casual Vacancy.
I don't know
if anyone watched it.
The only reason
I watched it
is because I read
something that told me
it was a bit
controversial.
And the reason
it was controversial
is because the BBC
make of the book,
the BBC changed
the ending.
I don't know
if anyone noticed
that,
if anyone actually
stomached it to the end,
I made it to halfway
through episode one.
But the BBC changed
the ending from the book.
So in the book,
it ends on a really
desperate note.
Whereas the BBC drama
ended on a really
positive note.
In the book,
the villain
at the end
is exposed.
In the BBC drama,
actually the villain
ends up being
the good guy.
Now why did they
change it?
That's the question.
Well the reason
they changed it
was because of
when it was being
shown.
On a Sunday
evening.
Now I well remember
that feeling on the
Sunday evening
before working
the Monday.
And that's why
they changed it.
Nobody wants to
see tragic TV.
People want to
see feel good TV.
People want to
feel great as they
go to bed on a
Sunday night.
And that's why
they changed it.
And I think the
temptation for all
of us as we read
these first three
verses here is to
give it a rewrite.
Is it not?
Surely we weren't
that bad.
Surely we,
that is just
Paul's opinion.
That's not really
what's happening.
But actually it's
true.
And what Paul
outlines here is
the staggering
reality of what a
life lived outside
of Jesus Christ
looks like.
Now if that's you
this morning then
can I just point
out to you where
your life is
heading?
What's going on?
You know Sinclair
Ferguson would
write that the
gospel sobers us
before it satisfies
us.
I have a good
friend of mine who
I met up with this
week.
He's a pastor down
in Leith.
And he was telling
me, and the church
plant there has been
going for two,
three years, and he
was telling me that
there's a woman who's
been going for that
whole time.
Not interested in
any of this God
stuff.
And actually she
was converted a few
weeks ago through
these verses.
That actually it
made sense to her
because she couldn't
figure out why she
kept going back to
church week on week.
She couldn't fathom
why she suddenly took
a notion to read
the Bible.
She couldn't
understand why she
liked hanging out
with Christian people
because this detested
her.
And then it
clicked.
She realized that
God was pursuing
her by his
spirit.
That God is into
making dead people
alive.
If you don't believe
that, come back a few
weeks time for Easter.
We go big on it.
It's kind of what it's
all about.
And she realized that
God was pursuing her.
And she gave her life
to Jesus.
I wonder if that's
something that's true
for some people in
here this morning.
Actually, you don't
really know why you
come to church.
You don't really know
why you like singing
these songs.
You don't really know
why you kind of read
the Bible.
Well, guys, can I say,
could it be that God
is pursuing you by
his spirit?
Could this stuff be
beginning to make
sense because God is
at work in your life
transforming you?
Have a think about
that.
But you were dead,
writes Paul.
Here is mankind shown
to be totally inadequate
to save themselves
apart from God's
intervening grace.
Dead.
You know the thing
about dead people?
They can't make
themselves alive.
This isn't like
Sherlock where he
puts the squash ball
under his arm,
he stops the pulse,
he's declared dead,
but he's not actually
dead.
Okay, this isn't like
your first aid certificate.
I don't care what
qualification you have,
you cannot revive
a dead person.
Okay, no kind of
Heinleck maneuver
in one, two, three
is going to resuscitate
a dead person.
A dead person's
only hope,
resurrection.
Only hope.
Now that is pretty
bleak reading as we
move on to our
next section.
The walk of darkness.
And it leads us to
ask the question,
is that it?
What's going to
happen next?
Well, this is where
I want you to think
of the first school
disco that you
ever went to.
Okay, do you
remember that?
Boys, you maybe
put on a bit of
your dad's Paco
Rabanne,
a bit of
bro cream in the
hair.
Girls, you maybe
borrowed your
sister's lipstick
for the evening,
and you went to
the village hall,
and you went into
the village hall,
only to be greeted
with the great
divide.
Yeah?
Boys on this
side of the hall,
playing keepy-ups
with balloons,
if you were me,
and girls on this
side of the hall.
And there was a
massive separation.
And the tension,
you could feel it,
it was palpable
in the room.
The tension was,
the question was,
who's going to
make the first move?
Who is going to
make the first move?
And as we leave
verse 3,
that is the
question that's
there.
Who is going to
make the first move?
Our sin has
separated us from
God.
There's a massive
chasm there.
So who's going to
make the first move
towards reconciliation?
Well, we've just
seen, haven't we,
quite categorically,
it wasn't us.
It couldn't have
been us.
We were dead.
It's not like we
were crying out in
God's direction for
forgiveness.
We weren't trying to
make ourselves look
pretty before God.
In fact, the
opposite is true.
that we were
shoving God's
kindness back in
his face.
We wanted nothing
to do with him.
We preferred the
darkness.
So who's going to
make this first move
towards reconciliation?
Who's going to
make the first move
to bring people
back to God?
Well, this is where
Paul pens two of
the most beautiful
words that you'll
find anywhere in
Scripture.
If you've got an
ESV, it just
reads, but God.
But God.
The two words on
which the whole
future of the
human race rests.
And it hits you,
doesn't it, given
everything that's
gone on before?
We were dead in
our transgressions
and sins, but
God.
We were enslaved,
but God.
We were condemned,
but God.
Do you see how
that works?
That God is the
one who makes the
first move towards
reconciliation.
Praise God that
it's him who
steps forward in
grace and it's
him that comes
down to us.
You know, when we
weren't looking for
him, he came
looking for us.
This is what it's
telling us.
That God is the
loving pursuer.
That God is the
gracious initiator.
And God is the
one who changes
absolutely everything
but God.
You know, let's
read verses 4 to
10 and we'll see
how this works.
Paul writes this,
God.
But because of his
great love for us,
God, who is rich in
mercy, made us alive
with Christ even
when we were dead
in transgressions.
It is by grace you
have been saved.
And God raised us up
with Christ and seated
us with him in the
heavenly realms in
Christ Jesus in order
that in the coming
ages he might show
the incomparable
riches of his
grace expressed in
his kindness to us
in Christ Jesus.
For it is by grace
you have been saved
through faith and
this is not from
yourselves, it is the
gift of God.
Not by works so that
no one can boast.
For we are God's
handiwork created in
Christ Jesus to do
good works which God
prepared in advance for
us to do.
So what has God done?
See verse 6.
God has done in our
lives exactly what he
did to Jesus back in
chapter 1 and verse
18.
Have a little look at
it there.
God made Jesus alive,
he makes us alive.
He seated Jesus in
the heavenly realms and
he seats us with Jesus
in the heavenly realms.
God's power raises
Jesus from the grave and
the same power raises
us from the spiritual
grave.
We were dead, God has
made us alive.
We were condemned, now
God has saved us.
We were enslaved to the
flesh, now God has
freed us from its grip
and he's seated us, us
with Christ above every
rule and authority and
power.
What's the point,
caller?
We share in Christ's
victory.
If we are in Christ, we
share in his victory.
And this is something I
noticed this week.
Notice that it's in the
plural all the way there.
It's us.
So Paul's including
himself in this.
It's us.
And I think something that
hit me this week, this
has implications for the
way that we deal with
one another.
You know, I caught
myself this week, every
time that I was tempted
to gossip about
something, every time I
was tempted to speak
badly of someone, every
time I was tempted to
belittle someone.
And guys, listen, I still
struggle with that.
Don't think that just
because I'm standing up
here makes me immune from
those struggles.
But I'd reminded myself
that that person that I
was thinking about,
actually somebody that
God's raised from the
world.
God has put his spirit in
that person.
So who on earth am I to
belittle them?
To gossip about them.
To try and put them
down.
Do you see how that has
implications for us in
this room?
Have a think about that.
The next time you're
tempted to do something
about that, actually
that's the reality of
what you're doing.
He has seated us with
Christ.
You know, there's that
famous quote from C.S.
Lewis.
An inquirer came up to
him and he asked him to
summarize the difference
between Christianity and
every other religion in
the world.
Maybe it's a question
that you've got this
morning.
And Lewis said it's
simple really.
It's the difference
between do and done.
All the other religions
in the world, it's about
making your way up to
God by your good works.
But somehow we can make
our way up the ladder
to God.
I hope, if anything,
you've seen the futility
of that in these verses
this morning.
But Christianity is not
about us going up the
ladder to God.
Actually, it's about God
coming down the ladder
to us.
Our salvation is based
on what Jesus has done
for us.
His atoning work on the
cross is he takes our
filth, the death that we
deserve to die, and he
gives us his righteousness.
It is not in what we can
do for ourselves.
What has God done?
He's saved us by his
grace.
Friends, this should
humble us.
Do you see how we can
take absolutely no credit
for our salvation?
That we absolutely have no
boast about the fact that
we're Christians.
It wasn't like we performed
well enough for God to be
impressed by us, and he
chose us.
Do you see how God gets
all the credit here?
It should humble us, and
it should also cause to
dwell up within us a deep,
deep gratitude, a heart of
thankfulness.
It's a wow factor that
Paul's going for here, that
God saved us, us.
Wow.
And do you see as well how
this massively takes the
pressure off?
We're free to take off our
masks and stop pretending
that we're perfect people.
Two reasons for that.
First of all, because we're
not.
And second of all, if you
think about it, doesn't it
rob Jesus of his glory?
You know, actually, if we've
added something to our
salvation, if we added 5% and
God was 95%, then actually we
can take some credit for the
fact that we're Christians.
But if we take off the mask
and we say, actually, amazing
grace saved the rich like me.
Do you see how God gets all the
glory of that?
That Jesus has glorified, not
me.
There's something practical I've
tried to do this week every
time I've come to pray, is I've
just simply gone, but God.
But God.
You can do it, but God.
I don't know how you pray, but
you can do that.
Just reminding ourselves of what
God has accomplished for us, all
by grace.
Why has God done this?
Because he's a loving, heavenly
father.
Do you see how that works?
Verse 4, the adjectives that
Paul uses.
What's driving this whole
salvation venture is the great
love that God has for us.
You know, I used to think of God
a bit like the, I'm quite into
football, you may have guessed
that.
I used to think of God like the
football referee.
Actually, he's there just to spoil
my fun and he's just there to
keep the score.
He is somebody to be
begrudgingly obeyed, certainly
not enjoyed.
Maybe that's your opinion of
God this morning.
Well, can I ask you, is this the
God that you see Paul describing
here?
God's rich in mercy.
God's rich in grace.
Why does he love us?
He loves us because he loves us
because he loves us.
Actually, do you see how he's not
the referee?
He's the one who steps in off the
sidelines and gets involved in my
mess, gets his hands dirty to save
me.
You know, Rico Tice in the
Christianity Explored course, he
puts it like this.
You are more sinful than you ever
realized, but you are more loved
than you ever dreamed.
But you see, there's another reason
that God saves us.
And I wonder if you remember doing
show and tell at school.
I certainly do.
Maybe you brought in your pet
budgie.
Maybe it was your ninja turtle
figurine.
Show and tell at school.
Something that you were proud of
that you wanted to show the rest of
the class and tell them the story
behind it.
Well, these verses tell us that God's
doing a show and tell with his
church of the world.
Every single person that God has
saved is a trophy of his amazing
grace.
I don't know if you've ever thought
about that, that God's intention for
Brunsfield Evangelical Church is that
he can showcase his incredible grace
to the world.
As he does a resurrection job on dead
people.
As he forgives and transforms outrageous
sinners like us.
As people see that, his grace shines
forth.
Maybe you're here this morning and like
Paul alluded to earlier.
We didn't even talk about this
beforehand so it must be something in it.
If you have a hard time believing
that God loves you.
If you have a hard time believing that
grace really is sufficient for you.
Well, can I ask you from this passage
to look around.
You can do it.
Move your neck.
Look around.
This is a community of grace.
None of us
have earned
our right in God's kingdom.
This is all grace.
And this is a place where it's okay
not to be okay.
Grace.
If you don't believe me, listen to Mumford
and Sons.
They put it like this.
It seems that all my bridges have been
burnt.
But you say
that's exactly how this grace thing works.
It's not the long walk home
that will change this heart.
But the welcome I receive
with the restart.
Amazing grace.
What should be our response?
We'll see that God saves
every Christian
in order that they might do good works.
Saves them so that they can do good works.
So important we get that order right.
I hope you've enjoyed the Exodus series
that we've been going through
the last few mornings.
Taking a little break from it for a while.
We'll go back to it in a few weeks.
And we'll see them
being given the law
by God.
So this is what
is happening here.
God saved them
and he's saying
because you're my holy people
this is how I want you to live.
And notice that it's not
the other way around.
It's not that
you
obeyed me.
You lived up to my standards.
Therefore
I think you're worthy enough
to be saved.
No, no, no.
It's grace.
And it's the same for us.
God saved us
and he says
live for me.
This is how I want you to live.
And do you see how it's a
worshipful response?
We are
God's workmanship
at verse 10
created in Jesus
for good works.
Good works that you'll notice
that God has prepared
beforehand for us to do.
So these works that we're doing
we can't even take the credit
for them
because it's God
that's prepared them
for us to do.
You know,
I know a lot of you here
are in that transition
stage of life.
You know,
maybe you're a graduate.
Maybe you're leaving uni
this summer.
You're going somewhere else.
Maybe your job's finishing up
and you're about to move on
from this city.
Well,
can I
encourage you to see
the wonderful promise
here at verse 10?
That whatever you go on
to do
you can walk sure
knowing that God
has gone before you
and that
no matter what you
encounter there
he has got good works
for you to do
in that new situation.
He knows what you're
going to face.
He's prepared works
for you to do
and you can trust him.
So sovereign and gracious
is God's
that he's
prepared good works
for us to do.
I find that incredible
and I find that
amazingly humbling.
So do you see
the contrast in walk
as we bring this thing
to a close?
Verse 2
we're walking in darkness
without a hope.
Verse 9 and 10
we're walking in grace.
We're walking in
good works.
What an amazing God
we serve.
What an amazing God
that we know.
Now let's finish
by going back
to the voice.
Is the voice
theologically sound?
That's our question.
Well what picture
is Paul painted
in Ephesians here?
Can we do anything
to earn our way
onto God's team?
Is God the harsh judge
who's got his back
to us?
Did we earn our way
onto his team
by performing
well enough?
And are we
outwith God's
love
and grace?
No, no,
no, no.
Do you see
this picture
in Ephesians 2?
Do you see
how we're the contestant
that's dead on the floor?
Do you see
how God is the one
who turns towards us
in grace?
Do you see
how God is the one
who breathes
new life into us?
And do you see
how God is the one
who tells us
for the rest of our days
to sing a song
of worship to him
telling the world
how incredible
his grace is?
This is our great God.
You know,
one of the songs
I've been listening to
in preparation for this,
I don't know if that's
too small to read.
If it's not,
I'm going to read it out.
It's called
Grace Unmeasured.
It's a sovereign grace song
that we used to sing,
Alex and I,
at our church
back in Bristol.
And I've been listening
to it this week
and I just think
it's so poignant.
Let me read it to you
as we close.
Grace Unmeasured,
vast and free,
that knew me
from eternity,
that called me out
before my birth
to bring you glory
on this earth.
Grace amazing,
pure and deep,
that saw me
in my misery,
that took my curse
and owned my blame
so I could bear
your righteous name.
Grace abounding,
strong and true,
that makes me long
to be like you,
that turns me
from my selfish pride
to love the cross
on which you died.
Grace unending
all my days,
you'll give me strength
to run this race.
And when my years
on earth are through,
the praise will all
belong to you.
Let's pray together
as we close.
Amen.
Father God,
we worship you,
Lord,
for your outrageous grace.
Thank you that you are
the God of all grace.
You have shown us favor,
Father,
sinful and disobedient
people like us.
Lord,
I pray for us this week
that you would help us
grasp grace more.
I pray that you would
help us love grace more.
And I pray that you would
transform our lives
by grace
more and more
into the image
of your Son,
Jesus Christ,
in whose name we pray.
Amen.