OPEN YOUR BIBLES TO NUMBERS 4:4-6 & Ephesians 2.1ff
1. There is DEFINITELY a lot of interest in the occult today…
· Movies are made, books are bought, experts are sought after.
· Many are shelling out millions of dollars to have their fortunes told, to gain insight on the future, to know the afterlife.
· Just a few weeks ago I came across a booth at the Park Meadows Mall advertising a man who will consult angels for you and tell you about your PAST… PRESENT… & FUTURE.
· There’s a big problem with that… he’s consulting demons.
2. Christians… we don’t need/want to consult the occultic realm.
· The occultic realm is OFF LIMITS to the Christian.
Deut. 18.10-14 "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 "or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 "For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. 13 "You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 "For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.
3. We have the truth… the Bible which tells us all we need to know about our PAST… our PRESENT… and our FUTURE.
4. This morning we get a look at our past in v1-3 and then our present in v4-6, and then a peek at the future in v7.
· This section is capped off with a wonderful picture of God’s Amazing Grace working in and through our lives.
5. But before we get to His Great Grace, Paul paints a very dark and sinister picture of our past life.
· Your life, my life was dark and dreary without Jesus Christ.
· Often we’ll look back and say, “Oh, my life wasn’t that bad.”
· “As a matter of fact, it was pretty fun & exciting.”
I‘m reminded of the Children of Israel. After they were delivered from bondage and slavery in Egypt, they began murmuring and complaining. NUMBERS 11.4-6
They forgot the work, the pounding of straw into bricks, the beatings, the rapes, the murders among their people…
· Lest we forget the horrors of life without Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes us on a journey of God’s viewpoint of our past…
BY THE WAY: It’s always good to take a spiritual inventory now and then looking back at what you came out of.
· Seeing how you’ve grown in the Lord.
· Enjoying how you overcame that sin and that that situation.
· Basking in the faithfulness of God!
· Let’s jump into God’s picture of our past…
I. (1:1-3) Our PAST
1. (1) Dead in trespasses and sins.
a. You and I were spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins.
b. Sin killed us, separated us, destroyed us.
c. We had no spiritual life in us at all!
APP: Of course that is the price to pay for sin. It offers and even gives pleasure for a season but the price to pay is separation.
Hebrews 11.24-25 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
· Sin brings Loneliness, pain, isolation, agony, suffering…
NOW death in the Bible is defined as separation in 3 ways…
Physical - the separation of the spirit from the body
Spiritual – we can be alive physically but spiritually lifeless
Eternal – there comes a point in time when a person will be eternally separated from God if they refuse to accept Jesus.
NOTE: I believe with all my heart that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
· But the flip side to that is that Satan HATES YOU and has a HORRIBLE plan for your life.
· He wants you stale and ineffective in the spiritual realm.
· He doesn’t want you on fire for the things of God…
· So he’ll tempt and taunt you with sin trying to get you to fall.
NOTICE… we were dead in two things: Trespasses and sins.
NOW: Trespasses refers to a willingness to break the rules.
· IT reflects a willful act, a defiance, a rebellion.
· You see a sign that says, NO TRESPASSING and you go anyway.
SIN was an archery term describing the arrow that missed the bull’s eye. It means to ‘miss the mark’.
· You can try and try but still miss… it’s a condition of fallen humanity.
· Sin is something that you can knowingly or unknowingly commit.
Romans 3.23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Either way… we were lifeless spiritually!
2. (2) Walking according to the course of this world
a. The picture gets a little blacker as we move forward.
b. The world was our home… we enjoyed the world and all it had to offer.
THE ORIGINAL word for walking literally means ‘meandering’.
· We were wandering around this world with no purpose or goal.
· Roaming here and there according to the winds of this world…
· Before Jesus, we had no purpose in life, nowhere to go, no hope.
c. The course of this world controlled us.
d. Now ‘course’ refers to a weather vane. Whichever way the world pointed us, that’s the way we went…
e. The world has a course and plan set forth by the devil!
f. Hey a new hairdo? Sure. New clothes style? Sure?
g. Sex before marriage? Absolutely. Drugs, alcohol? YES!
h. With this in mind you can see what Jesus saw…
Matthew 9.35-38 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
NOTE: The course of this world is designed to make you apathetic toward God and to accept the status quo…
· From birth, the course of this world was forced upon us.
· Through the media, the government, the education system, the economy, the laws of the land…
NOW… Biblically, who is in control of this world? Yes… Satan.
· He’s the prince of the power of the air…
· Before Jesus we were following after the devil.
· Yes… that’s a dark picture… but there’s more!
3. (3) Controlled by the lusts of our flesh.
a. In all this, our human appetites drove us and kept us in sin.
b. We lived as animals do, following after our fallen instincts.
NOW God did give us certain body drives that are very natural and needful… like hunger, thirst, air, sex drive, etc.
· But, if these are not tempered by God’s design, man will go to great lengths in harming himself and others…
· Before Jesus… there were no restraints…
Genesis 6.5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Finally, notice, we were doomed because of our sin…
· Paul says we were children of wrath. Why wrath?
· Because the Bible says the wrath of God is laid upon those who have not received Jesus Christ. He who has the son has life!
NOTE: So there’s our life before Jesus: Things were not good for us.
· Born into sin, enjoying it, controlled by it… doomed in it.
· Those were dark, dismal days… with no hope. Then comes v4.
II. (1:4-7) Our PRESENT – God’s Work For Us.
1. (4) BUT GOD!
a. These are powerful words… reflecting a powerful God.
b. After we see what sin does, God breaks in to help!
c. This is the Good News.
d. Someone once said this is the gospel message in 2 words!
Q: I believe many need to hear these words this morning, to be reminded of God… who is rich in mercy!
· It’s hard finding a job, making ends meet… BUT GOD.
· I’m struggling in my marriage… BUT GOD.
· My kids aren’t walking with the Lord… BUT GOD.
· I can’t overcome this, or that… BUT GOD.
Isa. 55.6-9 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. 8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
SO… in bringing us life, God intervenes and what did he do?
FIRST… He loved us… even when we were rebellious sinners.
· This is wonderful news… God loves you. God loves me!
· And… if HE loved you and me while we were against Him, while we were rebellious, while we were indifferent and hard…
· HOW MUCH MORE DOES HE LOVE US NOW!?
APP: That’s what the world needs to hear. They are loved.
Romans 2.4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
· That’s what the world needs to see.
John 13.35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
· That’s what the world needs to experience. Here in Eph. 2.5
2. (5-6) God made us alive!
a. Not only were we loved BUT we were elevated by the Lord.
b. He raised us up to sit together with Him in heavenly places.
c. The Love of God lead to action… to help… to heights!
ILLUSTRATION: A man was walking along a path and fell into some quicksand. As he sunk to his inevitable death moment by moment he was visited by a few men.
Confucious: It is evident that men should stay out of places such as this. BIG HELP.
Buddha: Let that man’s plight be a lesson to the rest of the world. BIGGER HELP.
Mohammad: Alas, it is the will of God. You deserved to be in the quicksand!
Jesus came by and said, “Take my hand brother, and I will save you!”
Psalm 40.2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.
APP: Oh friends… Jesus loves you supremely. His hand is outstretched, His heart is extended…
Rev. 3.20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Matt. 11.28-30 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Q: Can you say you’re in Jesus this morning?
· Not just in terms of salvation… but also in the things of life?
· Are you resting in your faithful Savior? Are you trusting Him?
3. (7) A glimpse into the future…
a. Why did God break in? To show off His grace!!
b. That you and I would be trophies and crowns of His grace.
c. So that people would look at His Church and marvel!
d. So that people would look at His Church and hunger!!
e. Let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 1:26ff
NOTE: God has indeed placed salvation far outside of our abilities.
· We can’t earn it, can’t work for it, can’t deserve it…
· But we can RECEIVE it through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
· So our PAST was dark, our PRESENT is delightful…
From our Past… to the Present… to the Future…
III. (1:8-10) His Grace – God’s Work IN Us.
1. (8) Not of yourselves.
a. Salvation is a gift of God. It’s not your work.
Titus 3.5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
b. We’re saved by grace through faith.
c. Now… it’s not even your faith. Dead men don’t have faith.
d. So where did it come from? It was a gift given to you!
Romans 12.3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
2. (9) So we won’t boast.
a. Because salvation is of faith, that excludes our works.
b. No more toiling. No more sweating. Just resting in Jesus.
Salvation by Grace through faith is the one characteristic that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions of the world. Many years ago the Grand Rapids Press covered this story… "Conversation to Hindu Faith Is Tortuous." The article stated, "A West German businessman has completed his conversion to the Hindu faith by piercing himself through the cheeks with a 1/4-inch thick, 4- foot-long steel rod, and pulling a chariot for 2 miles by ropes attached to his back and chest by steel hooks. Others walk through 20- foot-long pits of fire, don shoes with soles made of nails, or hang in the air spread-eagle from hooks embedded in their backs."
He didn’t have to do that. Jesus already went through the pain and agony… Aren’t you glad that conversion to belief in Jesus Christ is not accomplished by this kind of self-inflicted torture?
NOTE: God knows our tendency toward taking the credit for things that didn’t exactly belong to us.
“I read about a basketball player named Stacey King. On March 28, 1990, Michael Jordan scored a career high 69 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers. During the post-game interviews, rookie Stacey King got a chance to comment on the historic occasion. King scored 2 points that night so he told the reporters, “I will always remember this game as the night Michael Jordan and I combined for 71 points.”
We scored 0 points and God has done it! But combined with God we receive all that belongs to Him!
NOTE: If it were of works then we could boast!
· Hey… I’m here because I gave, or because I read, or because of my great prayer life, or… you can fill in the blanks…
· But… it’s not our works… it’s HIS WORK.
Psalm 34.2 My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Galatians 6.14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
3. (10) We are His workmanship!
a. Original word is ‘poiema’ from which we get our word poem.
b. Every believer is a work in progress.
c. A sweet poem of God’s grace worked out in our lives!
d. You are His poetry… absolutely a thing of beauty.
NOTE: Someone once read this & thought about being God’s poetry.
· They felt more like a comic strip than a poem… Isn’t that true?!
· Life can be one comic episode after another…
· But God still loves us… stills stands by us… still sustains us!
APP: Oh, how we need to remind people who say that Christians aren’t all that great, aren’t perfect, aren’t much different…
· They see all sorts of inconsistencies and hypocrisies.
· Truth is though, they wouldn’t believe how bad we used to be!
· Where we might be if the Lord Jesus didn’t break in our lives.
The story is told of a church organist that was practicing along with the choir on a very difficult piece for the upcoming church service on Sunday morning. They were all working real hard and overcoming many mistakes when suddenly a storm broke out over their little church. She stopped playing the organ for a moment and turned to the director and said, “That sounds like HAIL.” And the director turned to her and said… “NO, NO, they aren’t that bad!”
NOTE: Sometimes I think we watch each other and look at each other say “Oh that’s not good”, how can you and why are you…
· And the Lord, our Director whispers, “Oh no they aren’t that bad considering where they could be, or would be, if My work wasn’t being done in his life…”
· How wonderful is the work of God in our lives…
· His great grace working through even our dumbest mistakes…
· To make us a trophy and crown of His Grace…
