Beloved, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." Even after all our efforts we still so often feel that we have not done enough. Thus, having Him who is the centre of all glory dwelling in our affections by faith, we enter into, and become established in, the grace which is the secret of it all. (There is no need to credit the re:Worship blog itself.). Trespass, is taking the wrong road when we could take the right one; it is missing the truth that we should have known. When the elder called at this old woman's cellar with the cards, he found that she had gone. Whatever was the current fad, here I am, flowing with it, you know. He gave Himself for us. That is what the Church should be like. for who should be more above the feelings of jealousy than those who delight in that which shows the greatness, and the glory, and the perfect goodness of God in His greatest work? But now there is love of relationship as well; and here too Christ appears, who is the pattern and perfection of grace in every respect. 2 sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious. After his triumphs, the people came to Gideon and offered him the throne of Israel. But Paul is not talking about the life to come; he is talking about this present life. The son, who "was dead" to his father, repents and confesses his sin. He will make sinful people holy, and disobedient people obedient to the faith. In the Greek text Ephesians 2:1-7 are one sentence. Have we reached the goal of efficiency and skill that our gifts might have enabled us to reach? When Isaiah received his vision of God, his first reaction was to say: "Woe is me! Do we ever even try to say thank you for what has been done for us? Contextually, the writer is stating that the Gentiles were spiritually dead to God because of their own "trespasses and sins.". Now we are Christians; and this decides the character of the duties we have to pay, or of the good works which He has before prepared that we should walk in them; for "we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" for this very purpose. For if God, He is as such not less truly God than the Father; for there can be no difference as to Godhead. There is the whole Trinity in that one verse, Christ, the Spirit, the Father. Glorious God, we come in worship this morning well aware of falling short of our glory. (E) 3All of us also lived among them at one time,(F) gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a](G) and following its desires and thoughts. ], "The unbeliever is not sick; he is dead! Reader 1 But now in Christ you who once were far away. Sir Philip Gibbs in The Cross of Peace wrote: "The problem of fences has grown to be one of the most acute that the world must face. That is exactly the right that Jesus gives us in regard to God. They are clearly identified in each blog post. Maybe it is because we like to do things theway that weve alwaysdone them that creates barriers and excludes strangers, preventing them from ever having the opportunity to experience the reconciling power of Jesus in their lives. But the Gentiles had no such hope. young man, I weep, I weep over thee; thou art not yet so far gone, that they have rolled the stone against thee; thou art not yet become obnoxious; thou art not yet the staggering drunkard, nor yet the blasphemous infidel; thou hast much that is ill about thee, but thou hast not gone all the lengths yet. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! 22. As the good Spirit works that which is good in obedient souls, so this evil spirit works that which is evil in wicked men; and he now works, not only heretofore, but even since the world has been blessed with the light of the glorious gospel. What I want to hint at is this: when a man is far gone into sin, Christ does this for him he breaks off his evil habits. So Paul says to the Gentiles: "You are no longer among God's people on sufferance. In Christ we are made new through his blood; In Christ we are forgiven, signed with the Spirit. And God, having these counsels before Him from everlasting, deigns to have a people, not only capable of enjoying Him as having the very same nature as His own, without which they could not enjoy glory; but, besides, if He has us in His presence, He would have us in the highest relationship into which grace could bring us. Contents. Are we as good parents as we might be? For it is he who is our peace; it is he who made both Jew and Gentile into one, and who broke down the middle wall of the barrier between, and destroyed the enmity by coming in the flesh, and wiped out the law of commandments with all its decrees. And she used to say, "Son, it doesn't make any difference if everybody is doing it or not. WebEphesians Chapter 2 Verse 10 Prayer for Ephesians 2:10 For we are His creation-created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. Submit Prayer Request Title Your Prayer Write Your Prayer Name Category Verification Code Praying through Ephesians 2:10 If you have been quickened by the Spirit of God, your prayers are living prayers. I trust you will understand what I wish to convey that the death is the same in all cases; but the manifestations of it is different; and that the life must come from God, and from God alone. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, God loved us even when we were dead in sins. "In whom ye, also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." What the paradox was to me in the sphere of thought, perversity became to me in the sphere of passion. 76. but are fellow citizens with the saints in the household of God.. Let every one praise the Lord! But Jesus calls all sorts of people together. It is not the impartation of Godhead: none can be so foolish as to think of such a thing. I didn't think anybody would miss the one. Take a passage in 2 Corinthians (2 Corinthians 8:5), which has been before us only a short time ago: "And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God." Look back to what you used to be, to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged: "You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.". We have had the gospel thus in all the epistles that have gone before. God is King! This repenting child then confesses his sin to his father and finds that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9 NASB). * CALL TO WORSHIP From Ephesians 2 Leader: We were once dead through our trespasses and sins when we followed the course of this world. I cannot tell that I have many; but still I have some. He began this section of the epistle by explaining the purpose of our calling (i.e., the glory of God, Ephesians 1:3-14). But what are difficulties to the Spirit of God? That is, whatever way the wind is flowing, that is the way you turn, that is the way you go. That is the first part of our position, that we have come to live a separate life now, and have quitted the path we trod before. Scripturally-based resources for worship planners and leaders. But, as Paul said elsewhere, "Christ is the end of the law" ( Romans 10:4). There are plenty who err in that second direction nowadays. It was "but now" a little while ago; now he has another "now." He has forgiven you in Christ; and you are called to do the same. The law or "mark" in this context is the righteous will of God. To be an Israelite was to be a member of the society of God; it was to have a citizenship which was divine. Evidently also, it is no essential matter for present practice of faithfulness, whether few or many see and feel it: this is a question for God's will, who will act for His own glory, whether by many or by few. Divorce, Ephesians 5:21-33, Malachi 2:16, Marriage, Matthew 19:3-10, Romans 1:18-33 Benedictions Books Calls to Worship Christmas Church Fathers Communitas News Devotional Friday is for He will make it good. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. But this young woman's death is in her chamber. Visit that site for many other excellent lectionary-based worship resources. Introducing this great practical truth, he reminds them of what they had been, but also tells them what they are now. I speak to you who are quickened by grace. There was a moral necessity for a nature suitable to God, if we were to be in His presence at all; but there was none for this special relationship. The defensive comes before the offensive; and all should follow dependence on the Lord. If, sometimes, through the infirmity of the flesh, you fall into that state of slumber, you loathe yourselves for it, but you rouse yourself up, and say, "I must worship my God; I must sing, I must praise God. But dead we were, most certainly. Faith dies and unfaith blossoms as a flower; Nor ever wilt thou find upon the open streets of men. Jesus has something to do about each of them. There is not even the gloss of life left. To succumb to that is inevitably to come to disaster. make us bold as we claim your victory in the world. You are full members of the family of God." The heart itself then, is broken, and bleeds at ten thousand wounds. There is bondage. for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." '', "whoever is without wisdom, lo, he is , "as a dead man";''. Death is a separation, physical death is a separation of the spirit from the body, and spiritual death is the separation of the spirit from God. Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you! He commands his companions, who by bad example are bearing him on his bier to his grave, to stop, and then there is a partial reformation for awhile, and after that there comes the strong out-spoken voice "Young man, I say unto thee, arise!" 2. Judging what I am, I confess that all my blessing is in the Saviour, who did not merely come to bless me as a living man in the world, but died and is risen again; and 1, confessing Him who is thus dead and risen, have part in His death. We had neither the eye that could see, nor the ear that could hear, nor the power that could feel. Thus we have a new nature which hates sin, and the Holy Ghost which gives power for that which is good. He would have something more. When the moon has become black as sackcloth of hair, the life that is within us shall be as bright as when God first gave it to us. At the same time there is no exclusion of Gentile believers, but the reverse. WebReflection/Call to worship - based on Ephesians 2:11-22 118 views Aug 1, 2021 A short reflection with pictures and music that can be used personally or in a shared act of His boat was old and he did not worry over much about it; the engines were begrimed and ill-cared for. You who have been quickened will understand what I say. Here is the Pauline paradox. It is used for a man losing the way and straying from the right road; it is used for a man failing to grasp and slipping away from the truth. Perhaps he believes that there is, because he was brought up to believe it; but he is not cognizant of God; God has not entered into him; he has not come into contact with God. The three main verbs are "made alive" (Ephesians 2:5), "raised up" (Ephesians 2:6), and "seated" (Ephesians 2:6). All have sinned, or missed the mark, and come short of the glory of God. "There is none righteous, no not one." Nevertheless, whether it was creation, whether man or favoured Israel, there was so much the more painful a declension that portended the judgment of God upon them. They might otherwise think themselves more or less superior. And they began to be merry (Luke 15:21-24 NASB). 10. Now do you agree with that or not? The air is represented as the seat of his kingdom: and it was the opinion of both Jews and heathens that the air is full of spirits, and that there they exercise and exert themselves. 13). There was Jesus lying in the grave; and from that grave God raised Him, and set Him on the highest pinnacle of heaven's glory not only of that which then was, but that ever shall be. To the Gentile history was a progress to nowhere; to the Jew history was a march to God. I would want to make it a great day.Now, do you think that our Father is any different? . They are not a part of the original text. "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. The priest said that he was very sorry but in that case he could not permit burial in his churchyard. Note how he links us with Christ Jesus. The church is but a consequence; and we bless God for this, and bless Him also that we know the church is but the complement of Christ. Oh! And so "and you who were dead" really as the result of your transgressions and sins.The Greek word for sin, hamartia, is a word that means "to miss." And so I gave myself to understanding and to wisdom, I said, 'The answer must lie in knowing,' and so I applied myself to wisdom until I was the smartest man in the world. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.(AZ). When did God start loving you? It sees not, and hears not, and feels not. Its construction was very elegant; upon it stood pillars at equal distances from one another, declaring the law of purity, some in Greek and some in Roman letters that no foreigner should go within the sanctuary" (The Wars of the Jews, 5, 5, 2). In Jesus name we pray. 5. They do not know that things are at a distance; they have to learn that fact by looking many times. That is not the result of some great effort on my part. This could not be true of us. It does not mean that they had no animal life, or that they did not breathe, and walk, and act. If you have been quickened, even though your life be feeble, you may cry to the living God with the "Abba, Father," which never comes from any lip but that which has been touched and quickened by the Holy Spirit. Not with equal footsteps, but with tottering gait, we follow in that selfsame path that God has marked out for himself. He's just sort of wandering, meandering. "Deep in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, Feelings lie buried that grace can restore.". Reader 2 I cant remember a time when I felt alien here. The devil seems to have some power (by God's permission) in the lower region of the air; there he is at hand to tempt men, and to do as much mischief to the world as he can: but it is the comfort and joy of God's people that he who is head over all things to the church has conquered the devil and has him in his chain. What is the effect of this life upon us? Remake us, Lord, again into your image, for we choose to imitate you. "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." It sees no beauty in the landscape; hears not the voice of a friend; looks not upon the glorious sun and stars; and is unaffected by the running stream and the rolling ocean. "Sow an act and reap a habit; sow a habit and reap a character; sow a character and reap a destiny.". And as the result, the soul that sins shall surely die. Thus there were dark shadows, and lowering clouds. Our world belongs to him! And as for Lazarus, he is shut up with a stone. Than these nothing less becomes those so blessed. the Christian's dynamic is the desire to serve. There we have tongues, miracles, etc. This is where we should be, where we may be if we are quickened by the divine life. Grace, empowered by hope and love, shows how God is active in the lives of the faithful. NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Reader 1 There is a response in this reading. The design of the apostle in this and some following verses, is to show the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and to set forth the sad estate and condition of man by nature, and to magnify the riches of the grace of God, and represent the exceeding greatness of his power in conversion: the phrase. He came to take away the sense of estrangement and of guilt, by telling us that God wants us just as we are. At its heart is a desire to rediscover and refresh the best of past Wesleyan hymns and write new congregational worship that is a call to justice, compassion, mercy, I believe it to be true; and believing it to be true, I feel its living force upon my nature every day. (ii) We saw that sin killed the ideals by which men live. What is that? Such is the character of our blessing, and such its seat. Their lust is one which can only be perpetrated at midnight; a deed which can only be done when shrouded by the astonished curtains of darkness. Such an one is the harlot, from whom one's head is turned in the very street. And God throughout eternity is going to be revealing the exceeding greatness of His mercy and of His kindness, these things that He has given and provided and done for you through Jesus Christ. The father in this parable represents God and shows our Fathers continuing love for his children who have forsaken the right way. In Romans the sinner is regarded as alive in sins; and death, the death of Christ, is the means of deliverance. It is a very blessed experience to be able to walk on earth, and look up to heaven; but it is a higher experience to live in heaven, and look down on the earth; and this is what the believer may do. I know the people, I even like most of them! Oh! Here are some indexes that might be helpful. II. We all benefit from your creativity and generosity. The foreigner was always regarded with suspicion and dislike. The Lord might be where there are only two gathered together unto His name. As being the image and glory of God on earth, he is the one that gives names to his companion, or to the subject creation. Whereas we were once dead to God (Ephesians 2:1-3), we are now alive in God (Ephesians 2:4-10). And desire is not simply a fleshly thing; it is the craving for any forbidden thing. The very power that brought you out of the world and of your sins is the power that raised up Christ from the dead, set Him in the heavenly places, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of that glorious Head to whom it is united. Web(EPHESIANS 2:1718, ALT.) The breast-plate means the practical righteousness of the saint himself. If there be a spiritual death, and you are dead, be startled; for within a little while God will say, "Bury my dead out of my sight." Just look into this revelation of His love. He had looked at sin before, but had never seen it to be sin. we would understand the One who calls us to faith. The children of disobedience are such as choose to disobey God, and to serve the devil; in these he works very powerfully and effectually. As the light that shone then was brighter, than the sun at noonday, so in the vision the truth about to be learnt was entirely outside and superior to the present or the past. The third case goes further still in the manifestation of death; for it is the case of which Martha, using strong words, said, "Lord, by this time he stinketh; for he hath been dead four days." BEST VALUE in digital Bible study. Holy Scripture is not complimentary to unrenewed human nature. He has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, "that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Let us use a human analogy. Any dead fish can float down the stream, it takes a live fish to swim against the current." No one is precisely the same after he has sinned. (Ephesians 3:1-21) The closing theme shows us where and with whom are our true conflicts as Christians. (i) He made both Jew and Gentile into one new man. Naturally this prayer grows out of the two great truths he had been urging. We were full of vigour towards everything which was contrary to the law or the holiness of God, we walked according the course of this world; but as for anything spiritual, we were not only somewhat incapable, and somewhat weakened; but we were actually and absolutely dead. Forgive us when we create barriers rather than tear them down. Psalm 65: Hes got the whole world in his hands! I would say, "Why, Mom? All those who are in their sins, are dead in sins; yea, in trespasses and sins, which may signify all sorts of sins, habitual and actual, sins of heart and of life. (i) Paul says of Jesus, "He is our peace." It was entirely unconnected with the world. "Among whom we all had our manner of living, or our lifestyles in times past." The love of God is the most amazing, the most powerful, the most abundant, the most intimate, the most lovely thing. That is not worship which consists in doing as Hodge did, when he said, "I like Sunday, for then I can go to church, and put my legs up, and think of nothing at all." It is the same life in the new-born believer as in yonder bright spirits that stand before the throne of God. Hence it is that righteousness disappears in this epistle. Besides, there is love, the activity, as well as, the moral qualities, of His being. And some of you older men, perhaps, have never preached yet; but you might if you tried; I wish you would. Of course. 41. Web4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you Oh! "Oh!" But I dare say I have some characters that are illustrations of that case too. There we were, tripping right along with the crowd, as they were trying to satisfy the lust of their flesh, and the lust of their mind. But we are not at liberty to set aside the declarations of our Lord and of the Apostle Paul, that, while we remain in Adam, we are entirely devoid of life; and that regeneration is a new life of the soul, by which it rises from the dead. God therefore has not been pleased in the heights of divine truth to repeat words in the same way as His grace leads Him to do when He is helping the babes. He to whom I look up, by and in whom alone I can know God and the Father, is God Himself Let the notion of time come into the conception given of Godhead and of the persons Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and all would be falsehood and confusion. When a man tells you that his creed is a dead thing, do not deny it for a minute; there is no doubt of the fact. The miserable condition of the Ephesians by nature is here in part described. It is truly an astonishing statement. God has "abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us [what is the special proof of it] the mystery of his will." If you're interested in reading the results, visit here: https://pandemicworshipsurvey.blogspot.com/. And ah! I have heard that they have never had a headache in the last hundred years, and no rheumatic pains, nor have they been troubled with the gout, The reason is that they are cut in marble, and they are dead; but a living man feels the fog and the winds; he knows whether it is an east wind or a west wind that is blowing. "Oh!" There was in fact at the Persian royal court an official called the prosagogeus whose function was to introduce people who desired an audience with the king. Then suppose someone came with the news that the door was still open and a welcome was waiting at home. What has God done? A break-down sermon, that breaks the preacher down, might break the people down, too. The believer may take possession of what his Representative is holding on his behalf. You that now commune with God at the mercy-seat, you that are now his favoured children, and have received power to become the sons of God, you were once heirs of wrath: "By nature the children of wrath, even as others." Not yet had the loving finger closed the eyelid; there seemed to be a light still lingering in her eye; like a lily just nipped off; she was as fair as life itself. All the building that is going on is being fitted together in him, and it will go on growing until it becomes a holy temple in the Lord, a temple into which you too are built as part, that you may become the dwelling place of God, through the work of the Spirit. It is an absolutely new thing; and this new purpose is "according to the good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him; in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory," etc. Heres a call to worship based on Ephesians 2: 11-22. But, as things now are. Life will not be bound like that, I love to have an appointed season for prayer, and woe unto the man who does not have his time for prayer! One might be altogether a stranger to him that adopts. HOMER: Jethro, if you had two big luxurious houses like those ones in the Beverly Hills and I was livin yonder under the bridge without no home, would you give me one of your big luxurious houses? We have seen that the basic meaning of hagios ( G40) is different. It was not the result of works, for it was God's design that no one should be able to boast. The song of the nightingale is not to be analysed by the laws of musical composition. Have we reached the goal of service to others that we might have reached? His life will be ever afterwards a loosing and letting go; for he will need it till he cometh up to be with God for ever and ever. Our state and course are such as deserve wrath, and would end in eternal wrath, if divine grace did not interpose. Paul well knew that barrier, for his arrest at Jerusalem, which led to his final imprisonment and death, was due to the fact that he had been wrongly accused of bringing Trophimus, an Ephesian Gentile, into the Temple beyond the barrier ( Acts 21:28-29).
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