You Were Dead . . . But God!, Part 3

Today from Chuck Swindoll listen to this definition of race God unmerited favor unconditionally demonstrated. We deserve punishment in grace, he gave us forgiveness.

We deserve the consequences in grace, he gave us kindness. We deserve wrath and grace.

He gave us relief.

We deserved the misery of hell gave us mercy and hope. We deserve shame and guilt. He gave us grace and two little words in the book of change mankind forever. They bridge the gap between life and death, freedom and bondage hell today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll teaches from Ephesians chapter 2 section of Paul's letter that addresses the counteracting power of God's grace paraphrasing here Paul said we were dead in our sin, but God, being rich in mercy, seated us with Christ in the heavenly places.

If you missed any portion of Monday's program will begin with helpful review title. Today's message you were dead. But God God's perspective in your lost condition, you were dead in trespasses and in which those trespasses and sins. Three things were true, you were enslaved to the ways of the world. That's verse two you were obedient to satanic and demonic influences.

That's verse two you were driven by basic desires and uncontrolled indulgences.

That's verse three.

That's what it was like to be dead. You were enslaved to the ways of the world see how it reads in those trespasses and sins without Christ.

You formerly walked according to which establishes the standard of your life according to the course of this cosmos this world system. According to the prince of the power of the air, if you think the first part of verse two is discouraging. Look at this would prince sounds like somebody like to follow but look at how we described he's the prince of the power of the air.

He's the prince of the authority of the lower heavens, the lower air. The dark, sinister world dominated by Satan and his demonic host. Yes, we believe in a literal Satan and literal demon know we cannot see them. Yes, we since their influence so that nothing is too outrageous. No lie is to brash to come out of the closet and announce this treatment manipulating minds and controlling wills so that primarily the evil influences saying truth is alive, lies our truth.

You know what men and women.

When you see truth is we are beginning to see it in this letter your discernment grows. You see right through it and verse three. Among them, the sons of disobedience. We to all love it that Paul doesn't remove himself from those who were once dead. We formerly lived in the epi-through media of our desires word means just generally feelings, emotions, desires, some good some bad, some wicked, some impressive but we were driven by our emotions. If we felt like it would did it but it's wrong.

It's wrong unless you're a zombie, a living dead person who lives in the desires of the flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of my we were condemned children of wrath driven because it feels so good.

The dead live on thinking it will get them past the jaws of physical death and their awful reality hits, but God is great to words or what we are flat out. We can't breathe on a breath of spiritual air.

We can't grasp a line of spiritual direction and he the subject of verse four. He rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead live. If you haven't done it yet, take your panel your pencil circle the word God draw an arrow down to verse five, made us alive connect that to raised us up and then connected to seated us and you got it. But God seeing us in our deadness, made us alive, raised us up seated us in the heavenly's and in each case observed.

The companion is with Christ. With him, with him.

He made us alive with Christ, he raised us up with Christ. He seated us as Christ has been seated. And there you find the core of positional truth for the believer, which is one of the misnomer's of Christian truth today. Tragically, most have never ever been instructed in their position in Christ. No wonder we live as though were still zombies dominated by the evil one. Listening to the desires of the flesh, and following the cravings of our mind. No no no thousand times no. But God set us free.

Charles Wesley, one of his lingering 8000 hymns. He left in the legacy of his life included in the fourth stanza of one of the great hymns he breaks the power of canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free his blood to make the foulest clean is blood available from the be for you and you and you did, but made alive. Why, why would God ever do that well.

The liberals will tell you because he saw a spark. Dead people don't spark well we were climbing time. Well we were sinking they don't see.

Well, they were struggling, they don't struggle but we were looking for answers in all the wrong places because everything about us was on attracted and unattractive to God, why you looking for yourself. Verse four because he's rich in mercy, God's ministry to the miserable is his mercy. He's rich in mercy. That's why look at the next because because of his great love his love for me, not my love for him. That was in love with which he loved us to me loved if I can explain if I could explain it to be God I told you when we started the letter. There are parts of this letter, I can explain one of them was how anyone could love a zombie. How anyone could love anyone of us in our lost condition, having left the kind of litter on the landscape and we left in our faithlessness and godlessness and corruption and profanity in all the things you could name. He loved us so well we were halfway we met halfway you miss verse five.

Even when we were dead. The Bible is full of surprises as needed. In this one of those great surprises. This room has a surprising that there's a basketball that got stuck up here on the rafter by somebody II don't know who did that but he could get a scholarship to any school he would like to attend for but not basketball up there with his bare hands. That's full of surprise in this room, God's got a big surprise in that is a all preacher you put that I did not. That was up there.

I didn't put this in here either. If I had had us get a little credit for drawing.

I'm only human. But even when we were dead in our transgressions, he made us alive together, but were not true, why did he do it because of his grace because of his grace, and verse seven mentions his kindness look at this one. The surpassing riches of his grace in kindness, don't you love it. The stuff we don't have but we couldn't help ourselves when we have the ability to change when we wouldn't of saw him no matter what. When we had nothing to offer.

Listen to this definition of grace God's unmerited favor unconditionally demonstrated to the undeserving on on on that's our part God's unmerited favor unconditionally demonstrated to the on his or we deserve punishment in grace, he gave us forgiveness.

We deserve the consequences in grace, he gave us kindness. We deserve wrath and grace. He gave us relief. We deserved the misery of hell.

He gave us mercy and hope. We deserve shame and guilt.

He gave us grace and delivery, not because we deserved it understand, but because he and his sovereign will based on the decision in the Godhead. He reached his hands into the ranks of humanity and called your name and said your mind could you are my knee so I couldn't resist all really, you think God is resistible when he calls your name. You come you come you know what level with you. There was a time years ago in my early years of ministry when I really felt responsible for people's responses. I simply will tell you I was difficult to live with but for other reasons. Aside from that, but that reason and in in addition to the other reasons and I remember think I got up I got ago I got a beat the bushes. I got a B after I got I got a make this have I got a get some I got them convinced him, I gotta show him I got make life miserable for him. That's not my job. I got a telling the truth and you know what, in my mind I step back now and say to God, if I may use these words. He's all yours sometime even think sick. I probably shouldn't think of it like that but I this is confession time and III think that I sometimes think this person I could never convince don't don't think somebody's is totally unconvincing. Will it note thoughts never met his match. Your friend that's running while right now you just keep telling them the truth, you keep 11 you just you just talk to God about no I can say that greatest verses on the gospel in my opinion not John first on five 1112 or John 316. I think there Ephesians 28 and nine the foundation of it all is grace.

You will be around my ministry.

Not very long before you hear this favorite doctrine continued to be declared grace, grace, grace, it relieves us of our shame. It takes away our guilt.

It it it removes us from the need to work really hard to gain God's favor is his grace by grace based on grace because of great you. There's your name you're in the family you have been saved through faith there. We are okay, I'll grant you that it's it's through faith. And I I hear about the gifts see how he calls it. It is the gift of God see the end of verse eight by grace you have been saved it is the gift of God so salvation is a gift. It's not of ourselves. It's a gift.

And so God holds out the gift of eternal life the gift of forgiven, since the gift of a secure heaven the gift of a whole new transformed way of thinking what a marvelous gift.

Salvation, a position that is that is in the heavenly's so that you can live above the Dragon demonic forces in the in the pleadings of your inner desires. You can live beyond through the power of Christ, having been raised with, and so we come in grace to him.

We have been saved through faith, I rely on that, I accept that when you walked in this room you set down in that chair you hadn't tried it before. Probably should have. But you didn't try it before you go to a ballgame.

You fold down the chair and you plop yourself you rely on the chair to hold you up. You get in your car you sit down you expected to hold you up and get your home and you take off and you rely on that you believe in you. Trust I trust that what he says is true. I trust that the gift will be exactly as he promises and I trust him to keep his word about now.

My past, I present in my future right through eternity and I trust it's by grace through faith apart from works is not because my mother was sincere in love God and my dad was going to be a preacher is not because my grandmother prayed for me. It's not because I worked real hard cleaned up my actor. I pay my bills are up. Stop yelling at my wife and kicking the dog is not because I'm giving a lot of money to the church. I could go on and on and on to ridiculous extremes and people do. It's not of works, rule did and being dead. All I can do is accept it is my forever and there's nothing to be compared to it in life. Grace and the result you say what about what happens will good works follow. See where his we become his workmanship. There's that word poor aim.

We become his poetry in motion we look at this next time were created in Christ Jesus for good works.

He begins his work.

He raises from the dead, and he starts his work and he creates within us the desire to create those works and to do those works and perform them for his glory. And he's pleased because were the result of his handiwork. We are his workmanship from them on what a great thought. What a whole new dimension of thinking about God's people were were were were on the easel were being painted were being sculpted I want to give you a warning and I want to give you reminder and recruit. Here's a warning. Listen closely. Don't be fooled into thinking that those who are dead are fulfilled. Don't be fooled into thinking that those without Christ really fulfilled. They really want you to believe that it's a ploy they don't even know it.

But it's an act of deception lost 1897 EA Robinson wrote a piece called Richard Cory that I came across again in my study.

It illustrates this whenever Richard Cory went downtown. We people on the pavement looked at him. He was a gentleman from soul to crown clean favored and Imperial. He slim and he was always quietly arrayed and he was always human. When he talked, but still he fluttered pulses when he said good morning and he glittered when he walked in he was rich yes richer than the king and admirably schooled in every grace and find we thought that he was everything to make us wish that we were in this place so long. We worked and waited for the light and went without the meet and curse the bread and Richard Cory one calm summer night home and put a bullet through his head. Don't be fooled more people than you'd ever believe her half an inch from suicide can handle it when they get that deathknell from the physician that says you know it's some terminal's almost beyond the ability to on how anybody makes it to death without Christ. I just don't know.

But did men talk themselves into it enough to get very creative and be fooled. Here's a reminder at the core of everlasting relief is an understanding and embracing of grace, you become a student of grace.

Okay at the core of everlasting relief is in understanding and embracing grace amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. John Newton I once was lost but now found was blind but now I see was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed through many dangers, toils and snares.

I've already come. Does grace have brought me safe thus far.

Grace will lead me home wants to cover his just a moment. The message may be unpopular and unwanted. But it is essential when you listen so patiently. Now it's in God's hands. I trust his spirit to move in our midst and to touch one heart after another here and beyond this place where these words ultimately will go pray right now for that person you know you know best, who is still lost, called a name to the Lord and ask him to work on that heart so that he might believe she might believe trust him that he will do just that. If you're one of them. Today's the day perfect day to move from death to life, from the Valley to the mountain peak.

My prayer is that he will find you in your deadness alert you to the truth of your existence.

Strip away all the façade of deception and self-deception and bring you to faith our God and our father together. We thank you for deliverance from the Valley of death and forgiving us and we say this and hold humility and gratitude of view of life from the heavenly's thank you today for the way your word has silenced the humanism of our times, and brought us face-to-face with the truth of eternity.

Give us the courage to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth give us the discernment to know how and when to do that so that it will be the most effective boldness to swim upstream in a world that's lost its way. Swimming downstream with the current of our culture and grace grace to wait as you work grace to love through your eyes, grace to forgive those who in their deadness are offensive times even violent. It will work Lord in our midst. To begin with my own heart. All our hearts who are learning to love you believe this is mercy and grace and think live, created in Christ. Though we were dead in our trespasses and sins. God made us alive together through Christ.

That's very good news from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. You're listening to Insight for living featuring the Bible teaching of pastor and author Chuck Swindoll. He titled our study in Ephesians becoming a people of grace.

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Visit us online@insightworld.org. I'm pleased to remind you the check is written a helpful commentary on Paul's letter affect this particular volume contains his insight on Galatians as well. Unlike many commentaries that are somewhat technical and academic chunks book includes additional features that make this resource very practical and even fun to read is called Swindoll's living inside commentary on Galatians and Ephesians. You can purchase a hardbound copy at Insight for living's website by going to Insight.org/store or by calling us if you're listening in the United States dial 1-800-772-8888 2020 will go down in history as one of the most contentious years on record with political parties taking sides and with contentious debate on how to conquer the insidious coronavirus against this backdrop, we are grateful for monthly companions and all who support Insight for living with one-time contributions.

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I'm Dave's tomorrow Chuck Swindoll present a message called God's artwork on display right here on Insight for living. The preceding message you were dead. But God was copyrighted in 2000 2001 and 2009 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2009 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. all rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited