Series: Ephesians
Title: Two Different Courses
Text: Ephesians 2: 2
Date: August 18, 2013
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Ephesians 2: 1: And you hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2: Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3: 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 the
children of wrath, even as others. 4: But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, 5: Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Let
focus our attention on these words in verse 2, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this
world…”
The
apostle Paul is writing to believers who were not now, what they were “in times
past.” Verse 2 begins with this word,
“Wherein.’ It refers back to verse 1: they were “dead in trespasses and in
sins” so when they were dead they walked in death, in trespasses and in sins—“wherein,
in time past ye walked.” And they did so, verse 2: “according to the course of this
world.” The reason the Ephesian brethren
were no longer walking in death, in trespasses and in sins, according to the
course of this world, is because God the Father chose them by his grace, God
the Son redeemed them by his grace, and God the Holy Spirit quickened them by
his grace.
Ephesians 2: 4: But God, who is rich in
mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5: Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Application:
Brethren, each believer here walked “in times past”—in death, in sins, and in
trespasses. But if you and I are truly
born again of the Spirit of God then we are not now, what we were in times past.
And the only reason we are not what we were is because God in grace quickened
us.
Every
person walks a course. A person is either “walking according to the course of
this world” or we are walking the course of the believer.
Title: Two Different Courses
Proposition:
The course of natural man is the course of this world but the course of the
believer is the course that is of God and his grace toward us.
I. THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD—V2:…in time past
ye walked according to the course of this world,…
God in
scripture calls the course of this world natural man’s own course. Even with
God’s word, God said this…
Jeremiah 8:6: I hearkened and heard, but they spake not
aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every
one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
God says the course of this world is evil.
Jeremiah 23:10: For the land is full of adulterers; for
because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness
are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
What
many fail to understand is that while dead in sins, even when we tried to keep
the law, all our best deeds was nothing but trespassing and breaking the law of
God.
Romans 7:5: For when we were in the flesh, the motions of
sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto
death.
Jeremiah 17: 1: The sin of Judah is written with a pen of
iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their
heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
God
says the sin of Judah was cut into their nature as writings engraved in
stone—the same was true of you who now believe; our hearts were as hard as rock.
Our sin was inscribed upon our hearts as rocks written upon with the point of a
diamond. And sin was upon “the horns of your altars.” “Altars” is plural. Our sin was upon the many ways of our vain
religion, upon all our works, by which we tried to make ourselves presentable
to God.
Application: Believers have but one altar—Christ—“we have an altar
whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.” (Heb 13: 10) While in our death, we served our fleshly
tabernacle and we had many altars while vainly religious. In that state we had
no right to eat of the heavenly blessings of Christ our Altar. The course of
the vain preacher and the vain religionists is described this way.
2 Peter 2:10: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh
in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled,
they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
Dignities: means God, his Christ, Christ’s
preachers, Christ’s people, as well as those God has put in roles of authority
in government and in the household.
Since we were not governed by Christ our
Head, the course of this world was the walk of natural, carnal men.
1 Corinthians 3:3: For ye are yet carnal: for whereas
there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and
walk as men?
Our
text, further describes the “course of this world” in verse 2. The course of this world is to walk “according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience.” Verse 3 shows us the course of this world is to walk
“in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind.” Our God was our flesh, our belly,
and our polluted mind. To walk according
to the course of this world is to live in wrath against God, verse 3, “and were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” There is only one reason we became uncomfortable
and agitated when confronted with things that made us think of God—it is
because we were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. Our nature was “enmity against God.”
Application: Brethren, whenever your child shows nothing in them that
would indicate there is any hope for them, try to remember, it was the same
with you and with me. “But God, who is
rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead
in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Eph
2: 4-5)
II. THE COURSE OF THE BELIEVER
By
God’s grace, by the mercy of God, by the effectual, invincible quickening power
of God, he took us out of our former course and put us in Christ the Way. Child of God note these words in verse 2, “Wherein
IN TIME PAST ye walked.” Again, verse 3,
“Among whom also we all had our conversation IN TIMES PAST.”
Ephesians: 4:22: That ye put off concerning the former
conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
The Course of the Believer is to be Constrained
By the Love of Christ
Believer, do not ever misunderstand any gospel preacher when we say that the
believer is no longer under the law but under grace. We are NOT saying that believers now have
liberty to walk in sin and the lusts of the flesh.
God’s
preachers declare that Christ has so honored and fulfilled his own law, in
precept and penalty, that the believer is no longer under law in any way.
Romans 6:14: For sin shall not have dominion over you:
for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Galatians 5:18: But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are
not under the law.
Romans 8:15: For ye have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father.
Believers,
truly converted, are turned out of the course of this world wherein we walked
in time past and are now turned into Christ the Way whom we follow being led of
the Spirit. And the grace of God
effectually instructs us in the new heart to “deny all ungodliness and worldly
lust, that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present
world” (Titus 2:12). But if the world rules our hearts we worship God in vain.
The believers heart has been set on Christ whom we desire to honor and glorify
in every aspect of our lives.
Illustration: If my children know how much I love them and they love
me then the chief motive in everything they do will be to honor their father.
They understand it is my name they dishonor if they get into trouble. Likewise,
the child of God has the strongest possible motivation for not walking as we
did in times past—
2 Corinthians 5: 14: For the love of Christ constraineth
us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15:
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth
live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
To be
under law is to be constrained because you seek to merit salvation or seek
rewards by your works. To be under grace is to be motivated to walk honorably
because of what Christ has done for you.
So the believer has a course to walk—“John
fulfilled his course,” (Acts 13: 25) The Spirit of God says throughout this
letter to the Ephesians.
·
Eph 4:1: I
therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called,…17: This I say therefore, and testify in the
Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of
their mind,…
·
Eph 5: 2: And walk
in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an
offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour….8: For ye were
sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:…15:
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. 16: Redeeming
the time, because the days are evil. 17: Wherefore be ye not unwise, but
understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18: And be not drunk with wine,
wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19: Speaking to yourselves in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart
to the Lord; 20: Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21: Submitting yourselves one to another in
the fear of God.
Application: Brethren, since God has made me your pastor, more and
more he has given me a love for you. So
like I want for my own children, I want to teach you to avoid mistakes I have
made in my own life. Together let’s hear what God says about the course of the
believer and let’s seek his grace to walk in a way honoring to him. Scriptures
say that if we profess that we abide in Christ then we ought to walk as Christ
walked.
1 John 2:6: He that saith he abideth in him ought himself
also so to walk, even as he walked.
Study Christ. He is the believer’s only
Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption. And he is the best example we have of what it
is to walk pleasing to God. Are you
constrained by the love of Christ only? Then listen to this:
2 John 1: 5: And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though
I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that
we love one another. 6: And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This
is THE COMMANDMENT, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk
in it.
The Course of the Believer is to Walk by Faith in Love
What is it the believer hears in the
beginning, when God first regenerated you and taught you the gospel?—We heard, “This
is the work of God that you believe on him whom he has sent.” (Jn 6: 29) And
Christ said as John says here, “That we love one another.” Therefore, as we have heard from the
beginning that we should believe on him, and love our brethren, so then, we
should walk by faith in Christ and do all from the constraint of love alone.
Colossians 2: 6: As ye have therefore received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7: Rooted and built up in him, and
stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with
thanksgiving. 8: Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain
deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not
after Christ. 9: For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10:
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
2 Corinthians 5:7: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Walking after the commandments Christ gave
unto us has to do with walking in newness of spirit, in faith and love, rather
than the oldness of the letter.
Galatians 5: 6: For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
The believer’s
course involves fighting the fight of faith. Paul said,
2 Timothy 4:7: I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Romans 4:12:…walk in the steps of that faith of our
father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
Faith
is a fight; a warfare within and without. Therefore, walking by faith means we
trust Christ that as he has said so he shall do for us. Christ said this.
John 8:12:…I am the light of the world: he that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
We
shall have the Light of Life because Christ is our Light and our Life and it is
Christ walking in you, guiding you, and directing you and hedging you about.
2 Corinthians 6:16…for ye are the temple of the living
God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people
So to walk this course, the believer must
depend upon Christ’s strength. It is by his power and grace alone that we will
walk pleasing unto Christ in every good work.
Colossians 1:: 9: For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not
cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge
of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10: That ye might walk
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and
increasing in the knowledge of God; 11: Strengthened with all might, according
to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
The Believer is Strengthened to Walk This Course by the
Gospel
We are made obedient by Christ our Head, by
his effectual grace, as the gospel is preached to us in spirit and in truth.
2 Corinthians 10:3: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the
flesh: 4: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5: Casting down imaginations, and
every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Application: Brethren, 1) we ought always to pray for one another as
Paul did that Christ would strengthen our brethren. And 2) we ought always,
constantly attend the preaching of the gospel. This is how Christ shall bring
every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. From “the Head, from
which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit
together, increaseth with the increase of God.” (Col 2: 19)
The Believer’s Course is in Newness of Spirit, Not in the
Oldness of the Letter
Our course, as believers, is to serve God and
one another in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the letter. What is newness of spirit? It is to walk
after the Spirit, rather than after our fleshly desires. (Turn to Gal 5)
Galatians 5:16: This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and
ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17: For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to
the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18: But if ye be led
of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19: Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20: Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies, 21: Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such
like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past,
that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Here is what it is to serve in newness of
spirit, to walk after the Spirit, rather than the oldness of the letter.
Galatians 5: 22: But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23: Meekness,
temperance: against such there is no law. 24: And they that are Christ’s have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25: If we live in the
Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26: Let us not be desirous of vain
glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
“Vain glory” is what all men desire who
constrain others to do—that is law. Read
it in Galatians 6: 12.
Galatians 6: 12: As many as desire to make a fair shew in
the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer
persecution for the cross of Christ. 13: For neither they themselves who are circumcised
keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your
flesh.
This is what Paul was speaking of before when
he said, “Let us not be desirous of vain glory.” But listen to verse 14:
Galatians 6: 14: But God forbid that I should glory, save
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me,
and I unto the world. 15: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any
thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.16: And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
The Believer’s Course is to Lay Down our Life for Christ
and His Gospel
The believer’s course is not to make our life
our God, not to serve our belly, but to lay down our life for the cause of
Christ, to promote his gospel of grace, even as Christ laid down his life and
redeemed us from the curse of the law.
Philippians 3: 16: Nevertheless, whereto we have already
attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. 17:
Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have
us for an ensample. 18: (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now
tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19:
Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their
shame, who mind earthly things.) 20: For our conversation is in heaven; from
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21: Who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,
according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself. 4: 1: Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and
crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
Paul was faced with threats and jailed and
beaten for preaching the gospel. But on his way to Jerusalem, he told the
Ephesian brethren,
Acts 20:24 But
none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that
I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of
the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Application: Above all else, we are called to be witnesses of Christ
Jesus in this earth. The chief way we do that is as a body of believers
publishing the gospel in every way we can: in this place, online, missionaries,
CD’s, and written materials and personally. To do so means we must walk in
truth, not in trespasses and in sins.
Romans 13:13: Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in
rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and
envying.
Colossians 4:5: Walk in wisdom toward them that are
without, redeeming the time. 6: Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned
with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
1 Peter 3: 13: And who is he that will harm you, if ye be
followers of that which is good? 14: But and if ye suffer for righteousness’
sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15:
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness
and fear: 16: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you,
as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation
in Christ. 17: For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for
well doing, than for evil doing. 18: For Christ also hath once suffered for
sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
So there is a difference between our old
course of life and the course we are now in.
1 John 1:6: If we say that we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7: But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Remember these things as our chief motive: 1)
the love of Christ, 2) the good of your fellow brethren, 3) the seeking out of
those lost sheep yet to be called.
Amen!