"Go in Peace"
(No. 2770)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MARCH 16, 1902.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
SEPTEMBER 23, 1883.
"And He said to the woman, Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Luke
7:50.
THERE appears to have been four stages in Christ's dealing with this
woman. I know not what had preceded the narrative as we have it
recorded in this Chapter–I need not enter into that question now.
There had, doubtless, been a work of the Spirit of God upon that
woman's heart, turning her from her sin to her Savior, but when she
stood at our Master's feet, raining tears of penitence upon them,
wiping them with the hairs of her head, giving to them kisses of love
and anointing them with the ointment from the alabaster box, there were
four stages in His gracious dealings with her.
The first was when He silently accepted her manifestations of love.
When the copious tears from her eyes fell upon His feet, He did not
withdraw them. When those feet were wiped with the luxuriant tresses of
her hair, still He did not withdraw them. And when she ventured upon a
yet closer familiarity and not only kissed His feet, but did not cease
to kiss them, He still did not withdraw them, but quietly accepted all
that she did. And when the precious ointment was poured in lavish
abundance upon those precious feet of His, He did not upbraid her, He
did not refuse her gifts, but tacitly accepted them, though without a
word of acknowledgment just then. And I think it is a very blessed
thing for any of you to be accepted before God, even though no word has
come from His lips assuring you that it is so. When your tears, cries,
secret love, and earnest seeking–when your confession of sin, your
struggle after faith and the dawning of your faith are just accepted by
the Lord, though as yet He has not said to you, "Your sins are forgiven
you," it is a very blessed stage for you to have reached, for the Lord
does not begin to accept anyone, even by a silence which means consent,
and then draw back!
He accepted this woman's love and gifts, though, for a time, He gave
her no assurance of that acceptance and that fact must have greatly
cheered her. Manoah's wife said to him, "If the Lord were pleased to
kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a meat
offering at our hands." And I feel sure that if the Lord had not meant
to bestow His mercy upon this woman, He would not have submitted to her
washing of His feet with her tears, and wiping them with the hairs of
her head–and the subsequent continual kissing of them and anointing of
them with the precious ointment.
Our Lord's favorable inclination towards this woman was still more
marked in the second stage of His dealings with her, when He began to
defend her against her accuser. When Simon's evil thoughts had
condemned her and also her Lord, Jesus spoke that wonderful parable
which set forth the greatness of this woman's love and justified the
extraordinary way in which she manifested it. Christ did not speak to
her, but He spoke up for her–and such action as that should be quite
sufficient to satisfy the soul of a Believer in Him. So what if my Lord
has not revealed Himself to me? He has revealed Himself to the Father
for me! What if He has not spoken to me? Yet, if He has spoken to God
on my behalf–if He has spoken in the Scriptures in defense of poor
sinners and advocated their cause in the High Court of Heaven, then how
thankful I may be–and how thankful they may be!
In the third stage, our Lord did still more for this woman, for He
spoke to her these gracious words, "Your sins are forgiven." Oh, how
they must have dropped like dew into her poor soul! How she must have
been refreshed by them! She, who was a sinner–a great sinner, a public
sinner–yes, a professional sinner–hears her Savior say to her, "Your
sins are forgiven." The absolution pronounced by the man who calls
himself a priest is utterly worthless! But it would be
worthwhile to give a thousand worlds, if we had them, for absolution
from our Great High Priest! Yes, He who knew all about the woman's sin,
He who had power on earth to forgive sins, had said to her, "Your sins
are forgiven." Was not that enough for her? Would not that short
sentence set all the bells of her heart ringing as long as ever she
lived?
Yes, but there was still more to follow, for the Lord spoke to her a
second time and said, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." So she
was not only delivered from the guilt of sin, but she was also
delivered from the power of sin! Her faith had saved her! She was a
saved woman, so she might go in peace! Now she is enjoying the sunlight
of full assurance, the bright clear noontide of acknowledged
acceptance–"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Some of us have
this great blessing and we rejoice in it, but if others of you have not
come quite so far on the heavenly road, do not begin murmuring or
doubting! Bless the Lord Jesus Christ for any favor that He has shown
to you, a poor unworthy sinner, and if you have even the faintest ray
of the Light of God, pray Him to make your path like that of the just
which "shines more and more unto the perfect day." If you have received
any token for good from your Lord, be thankful for it and expect,
before long to hear in your soul the sweet music of this gracious
word–
"Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
So we have come to our text, in which two things are very clearly
revealed. The first is, an assurance–"Your faith has saved you." And
the second is, a dismission–"Go in peace."
I. First, then, here is AN ASSURANCE: "Your faith has saved you."
That assurance teaches us, first, that salvation is a present
thing–"Your faith has saved you." This is something that is already
accomplished. You are saved–not, you shallbe saved–but you are even
now in possession of the priceless gift of salvation. "Your faith has
saved you." All through the Scriptures and especially in the New
Testament, it is plainly asserted that believers in Christ are already
in possession of salvation. I will not stay to prove that it is so, but
will rather explain it. If anyone says to me, "In what respect are
Believers saved?" I answer that they are saved in the price, in the
promise, in the principles and in the pledge of salvation. The
alliteration will help you to remember these four points.
First, they are saved in the price of salvation. All that was necessary
to save them from the result of sin has been endured by the Lord Jesus
Christ. He has ransomed them by His death upon the Cross. He has stood
in their place and borne their sin in His own body on the tree–and
suffered the full penalty for it. He has finished the transgression,
made an end of sin, made reconciliation for iniquity and brought in for
them everlasting righteousness so that they are saved! The great work
of their salvation was completed by Christ upon the Cross when He laid
down His life for them and now they are, " bought with a price," even
"the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot."
Next, they are saved in the promise of salvation. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, who cannot lie, has declared that "whoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." God's promise is certain
of fulfillment, so that every believer in Jesus may be absolutely sure
of salvation. We often take the check of a man who is known to be in a
good financial position, and we consider his check to be as good as if
it were hard cash. And, in like manner, we accept God's promise of
salvation as being just as sure as the salvation itself. Paul tells us
that God's promise has been confirmed by an oath, "that by two
Immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might
have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon
the hope set before us."
Then, thirdly, we have salvation in the principles of it. That is to
say, all those Graces which constitute the essentials of a perfect
character, are in every true child of God. There is given to us, when
we are regenerated, the very same life which we are to live forever in
Heaven. We have now the root, the bulb, the seed out of which
immortality and perfection will most surely grow–we may not yet be
perfect, but we have that which will come to perfection! We have within
us a new nature which cannot sin because it is born of God and this
will gradually overcome the old nature, as the Israelites drove out the
Canaanites, and we shall be perfect before the Throne of the Most High.
A man may have, in a very small room, a whole field of wheat lying in
embryo in the seed which is to be sown in the springtime, and reaped in
the autumn! And we have, in the gift of God's Grace, all Heaven in
embryo in the seeds of faith and love, and the work of the Holy Spirit
within our souls. Thus, we have salvation in the principles of it.
And, once more, we have salvation in the pledge of it, for, when the
Holy Spirit enters our heart, His coming there is the pledge and the
earnest of Heaven! There is a difference between a pledge and an
earnest and what I really mean is rather an earnest than a pledge. A
pledge is taken back, but an earnest is retained. A man who has his
wage to take at the end of the week, may get some earnest money in the
middle of the week and, if his master is what he should be, that will
be a pledge that he will get the rest. So the Holy Spirit is the Divine
Person who virtually puts Heaven into us and makes us fit to be in the
Heaven, which Christ has gone to prepare for us. What a mercy it is to
have the witness of the Holy Spirit, the Grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God our Heavenly Father–to have aspirations after
holiness which we never had in our unregenerate state! All this is the
pledge of Heaven and in having the pledge, we have practically the
salvation itself. The Holy Spirit would not have come into our hearts
and given us all these blessings if He had not meant to "perfect that
which concerns us," and to save us in the Lord with an everlasting
salvation.
Salvation, then, is a present thing, in price, in promise, in
principles and in pledge. But the important question for each of you to
answer is–Have you obtained that salvation? If you have not, you are
in a truly terrible condition, for you are "condemned already" because
you have "not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
But if you have obtained this salvation, then you are indeed rich to
all eternity! Perhaps you live in one poor room and have to work very
hard for a livelihood, yet you are much richer than those emperors and
kings who have much earthly pomp and state, but who are not the
subjects of God's Grace–for you are saved! The Lord has given you that
salvation which can never be taken away from you. So rejoice in this
salvation and, if you have little else to cover you, let this salvation
be your royal apparel! Let this salvation load your table with heavenly
dainties! Let this salvation smooth your path, however rough it may be,
and cheer your heart, however great your trials may be! So, this
assurance means that salvation is a present thing.
Next, it teaches us that salvation is obtained by faith. "Your faith
has saved you." "But," says someone, "Was it not the Lord Jesus Christ
who saved her?" Yes, certainly it was, but do you see what Christ does?
He is so fond of Faith that He takes the crown from His own head and
puts it on the head of Faith, as He says to the woman, "Your faith has
saved you." Is that a safe thing for Christ to do? Oh, yes! Because
Faith at once removes the crown from her own head and puts it back upon
Christ's, saying, "Not unto me, not unto me, but unto Your name be all
the Glory." Christ loves to crown Faith because Faith loves to crown
Christ! As for boasting–Faith cannot tolerate that for a moment! She
hurls it out of the window and will have nothing further to do with it.
Our Savior speaks thus, "Your faith has saved you," because He knows
that it will be understood that Faith is only the connecting link with
Himself–that He really works the salvation, but that the faith of the
Believer is the means of obtaining it.
There are four things, concerning this faith which I want you to
notice, and I will put them under the same letter that I used before,
so that it may be the easier for you to remember them. First, this
woman's faith was a personalfaith– " Yourfaith has saved you." O dear
Friends, I implore you to give up all idea of being saved by anybody
else's faith! You must believe in Jesus for yourself or you will be
lost forever! What a dreadful lie it is when men stand up as sponsors
for a child and promise and vow various things, none of which are
within their power to perform! As to anything that anybody ever
promised with regard to your soul, what can another person do for you
in such a matter as that? The most earnest faith in your parents can
never bring you to Heaven unless you, also, have faith in Jesus! There
isa great blessing which may come to us through the faith of others, if
they exercise it in prayer on our behalf, but, still, salvationcan
never come to us apart from our own personal faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you"–not Peter's
faith, nor James's faith, nor John's faith, but her own! And you, also,
must have faith for yourself, or you will assuredly be lost! "Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." But if you do not
personally believe on Him, you cannot be saved!
Notice, next, that this woman's faith was a practialfaith. She was
saved by faith, and not by works, but she was not saved by a faith
which did not produce works. Think of her works–she washes the
Master's feet with her tears and wipes them with the hairs of her head.
She kisses them repeatedly and anoints them with her precious ointment.
I may truly say of her, "She has done what she could." All that her
affection prompted, her devotion performed–for she had the faith which
works by love–and if you, dear Friends, have a faith that never works
for Christ, I beg you to get rid of it at once, for it will turn out to
be a bastard faith! The faith that never kisses His feet is a faith
that He will tread under His feet! The faith that never anoints Him is
a faith that will have no fragrance in His esteem and He will not
accept it. We are not saved by works and faith combined, much less by
works alone, but, nevertheless, the faith which saves is not a barren
faith–it producesthe good fruit of love and service for Christ.
So this woman's faith was personal and practical. It was also a
penitent faith. While she stood at Christ's feet, behind Him, her eyes
showered tears upon them as she wept over her sin. I am always doubtful
of the genuineness of a dry-eyed
faith. The longer I live, the more I am afraid of those people who
profess to leap into faith without any repentance! And there seem to be
some, in these days, who do not believe in the old-fashioned sorrow for
sin. I would rather see some men less confidant than they are if they
were more humbled on account of their past transgressions. This woman
manifested a truly penitent faith.
And, once more, it was a pure faith–I use that word, pure, to help
your memory. I mean that her faith was perfectly simple. She wept, but
she did not trust in her weeping. She anointed Christ's feet with the
ointment, but she did not rely upon her self-sacrifice. She kissed His
feet, but she did not depend upon her kisses. Where was her trust all
placed? Why, upon Christ–and upon Him alone! I do not know that she
had ever read the Old Testament. Certainly, she could not have read the
New Testament, for it was not written then! She may not have known much
about the Bible, but she knew Him who is the very sum and substance of
the Bible! I have heard people talk about a Body of Divinity, but there
never was but one in the highest sense of the term, and Jesus Christ is
that Body of Divinity! He is, in the true sense, "the Word of God."
This woman had seen Him, she had learned to know Him–He had forgiven
her sin and she had come into that house full of love to Him, full of
trust in Him and now, from His own lips, she receives this gracious
assurance, "Your faith has saved you." It was faith in Him and in
nothing else! There was not and there could not have been, in her case,
anything to trust to but Christ. She was, in a very emphatic sense, a
sinner. She had not set herself up as being a person of good character.
There were, no doubt, scores of people in the city who could have borne
lamentable evidence of her sinfulness. But she trusted herself
absolutely to Jesus Christ, the sinners' Savior, and she trusted Him
alone–and so her faith was proved to be of that pure kind that saves
all who exercise it. Let yours be like that, dear Friend–personal,
practical, penitential and pure!
Further, upon this first point, note that salvation may be a matter of
assurance. This woman had the assurance from Christ's own lips, "Your
faith has saved you." Those of you who were at the Prayer Meeting here
last Monday night, will remember that one of our Brothers, when he was
giving an address, made you smile when he said, "He that believes on
the Son has everlasting life," and then added, "h-a-s–that spells,
'got it.'" "That is a strange mode of spelling which is not taught at
the Board School, yet it is a heavenly way of spelling and it is
perfectly correct. "H-a-s–that spells, 'got it.'" If you have the
blessing of salvation, there is a possibility of knowing that you have
it. "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life." He has got it!
He has got it now!
"I would believe it," one says, "if Jesus Christ spoke to me and said
so." My dear Friend, He hassaid it in His Word! Is that Word a lie, or
is it true? If it is true, then what more do you need? Christ has
written it in His Word and I like a thing that is written even better
than that which is spoken. You know how a man says, when he wants a
guarantee about a bargain, "Give it to me in writing, for some people
will swear that they never said what we heard them say, so give it to
me in black and white." Well, here it is in black and white–"He that
believes on the Son has everlasting life." And again, "There is
therefore now"–"now," mark you–"no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus." And yet again, "Therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Now, cannot you
also say, "got it"?
"Oh, but!" says someone, "I need evidence that it is so." Very well,
you shall have evidence! You shall have the Witness of the Spirit who
has renewed you. You shall have the witness of your changed life. You
shall have the witness of your new character, but, first of all, is not
Christ's Word sufficient for you? Is not Christ's written Word enough?
Is not this Book, which you believe to have been Inspired by the Holy
Spirit and which reveals the Word of the Lord, enough for you? It is
enough for me! If all the men in the world were to come, one after
another, after I had read something in the Bible–and they were all to
say, in their different languages, "That is a lie," I would not believe
it an atom the less! And suppose they were all to stand up and say, "It
is true"? I would reply, "Of course it is! But I do not need your word
to confirm what Christ has said." I am perfectly satisfied if He has
said it. And there it stands–and all the powers of Hell cannot prevail
to overthrow it! Here is the solid rock for a soul to rest upon! Christ
says, at this moment, to everyone who believes in Him and trusts in His
blood and righteousness, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
II. So we come to the latter part of our text, which is A
DISMISSION–"Go in peace." What did our Lord mean by saying this?
I think He meant, first, "Leave this place of controversy and go in
peace." Did you notice that it was when those who sat at the meal with
Him began to say within themselves, "Who is this that also forgives
sins?" that He said to the wom-
an, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace"? I See the black looks of
those Jews, those Pharisees, round about Simon's table. Why, they are
as sour as vinegar and full of all kinds of skepticism! So the Savior
says to the woman, "Go home, good Soul, away from all of them." So,
dear Friends, whenever you meet with a book that is full of skepticism
and unbe-lief–especially you who have lately found the Savior–you had
better throw it away! "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Unbelief
will be no help to you–your faith has already saved you–what more do
you need? You have the assurance within your own soul that you are
saved–do not go anywhere, or do anything to damage that assurance! I
do not think it is worthwhile to go through a horse pond and get
covered with filth, just for the pleasure of being washed afterwards!
It may be that some strong man, like another Samson, may have to go in
among the Philistines and pull their temple down about their ears, but
poor Hannah could not do that, and those who are like her–the women of
a sorrowful spirit–had better go home and get out of the way of that
set of wranglers! They may even be wrangling professors, squabbling
about this doctrine and that–and perhaps not understanding any of them
properly–so the Savior says to you, "You have the assurance of
salvation; do not let anybody worry you out of that. Go in peace." This
is what the Apostle means when he says, "Him that is weak in the faith
receive you, but not to doubtful disputations."
Then, next, I think our Savior meant His words to the woman, "Your
faith has saved you; go in peace," to be a kind of dismissing of her
case from the Court. Here is Simon, in thought, accusing her and
thinking that she ought not to be permitted to come and touch the
Master's feet. And here is the Lord Jesus Christ not only becoming a
pleader for her, but deciding the case in her favor as He says to her,
"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." This was in effect saying,
"Your case is dismissed; there is nothing against you. The Court clears
you; go home, good Soul." What a mercy it is when the Lord speaks thus
to anyone! "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died,
yes, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also makes intercession for us." Christ has dismissed us from the
Court of Justice, so let us "go in peace."
May not our Lord also have meant something more than we see upon the
surface of these words? May He not have meant, "Go home inpeace to your
daily avocations"? Ah, she had done a deal of mischief in that home of
hers by her sin, for there never was a fallen woman who brought a
blessing to her family while she lived in sin. And now that the Savior
has given to her the assurance of salvation, He says to her, "Go home,
and attend to your ordinary household duties. Go and act as a woman
should. Fulfill your part as a mother, or a daughter, or a servant, or
whatever your calling may be. Go in peace."
Do you not also think that this dismissing word would last her as long
as she lived–and that all her life, she would seem to hear the Savior
saying to her, "Go in peace"? Perhaps she was to go upstairs and lie
there ill–but she was to "go in peace." Possibly she was to come down
and to confront opposition and persecution–if so, she was still to
hear this message, "Go in peace." I think that word would come to her
every morning as soon as she awoke. And when she was about to close her
eyes and go to sleep, she would still hear it. With such a gracious
message as that, she could even go through the Valley of the Shadow of
Death and "fear no evil." It may be that is just what the Lord meant it
for–that when she came to die–and she may have died a martyr's death,
we cannot tell–at any rate, whenever she came to die, this message was
ringing in her ears, "Go in peace."
The practical point that I want to bring home to you Christian people,
to you who are saved, is this. Beloved Friends, as you go to your
families, as you go through life, as you go into eternity, I pray you
to "go in peace." It is Heaven begun below to possess "the peace of
God, which passes all understanding." Peace should be the continual
portion of all Believers. This is what the angels sang when our Lord
Jesus appeared on earth, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth,
peace, goodwill toward men." And as it was at the beginning of our
Savior's life, so it was at the end, for this was our Lord's legacy to
all His disciples, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you."
That which gives one of His titles even to God Himself–for He is
called "the God of Peace"–should be very precious to your soul.
Peace is the fit result of what the Savior has done for you. Has He
forgiven you? Then you have peace. Has He saved you? Oh, then, feel an
inward peace which none can take from you! Did He die for you? Then you
can never die, in the full meaning of the word, so be at rest about
that matter! Has He risen for you? Then, because He lives, you shall
live also! Therefore, let not your heart be troubled, but be at peace.
Will He come again to receive you unto Himself? Oh, then, let your
peace be like a river flowing from the very Throne of God!
This peace within your heart is the blessed fruit of the Spirit of
Peace. Where the Spirit of God is, there must be peace, for He is the
Sacred Dove. The fruit of the Spirit within us should be "quietness and
assurance forever." Do not despise this priceless gift of peace, but,
as saved souls, covet more and more of it. Do you know what I mean by
talking thus to you? Suppose you are thinking to yourself, "Alas, I am
going home to an ungodly husband"? Never mind, dear wife, "go in
peace." "Oh, but, tomorrow I have to go out among ungodly men." Never
mind–"go in peace." Do not go among them disturbed and fluttered, but
sing to yourself softly–
"My heart is resting, O my God!" "Go in peace." Perhaps you are going
to the sickbed of one of your dearest friends. Possibly there is one at
home who is so depressed in spirit as to depress you, too. Never mind!
"Go in peace." It will strengthen you to have your own heart at peace.
I remember once seeing an accident on a hill. I feared that a man had
broken his leg and I know that someone ran to fetch a doctor. And when
he came, to my surprise, he walked coolly up to where the man was. If I
had been sent for, I would have run myself out of breath to get to the
poor man! And when I reached him, I would have been all of a tremble,
and would not have been able to do anything properly. But when the
doctor heard that there was a man with his leg broken, he walked
quietly to the spot and the result was that he was able to do his work
properly. Our Lord Jesus Christ was never in a hurry. It is marvelous
to contemplate the leisure of the greatest Worker who ever lived! He
always moved along with a holy calm and quiet dignity and He,
therefore, did everything well. Do you likewise–"go in peace"–for it
shall be your strength. Sometimes, your strength is to sit still and,
always, the joy of the Lord shall be your strength.
This is the way in which you are to glorify God in your life–by going
in peace. When this woman went back to her home–that same woman who
had been such a poor, trembling, broken, bruised reed, because of her
sin–those who knew her enquired, "What has happened to Mary?"–if that
was her name. I do not know. "What has happened to her? Why, she looks
so placid, so calm, she is not like the same woman that she used to
be." I have no doubt that she was rather quick-tempered, for most very
loving spirits are like that. "But now," say her friends, "she takes
things so differently. She is so still, quiet and restful." Just
so–and then they took knowledge of her, that she had been with Jesus,
and had learned of Him, for that was His style and His manner, also!
Ah, dear Hearts, if Christ has saved you, you have the best reason in
all the world for being the quietest, happiest people who ever lived!
One said, one day, to a person who had spoken of his salvation in tones
of assurance, "You ought to be the happiest man that lives." And he
answered, "So I am." It was well known that he was very poor, that he
did not know where he would get a second coat for his back, but, then,
he thought that he did not need a second coat till he had worn out the
first one! They said that he did not know where he would get his next
breakfast, but he had had his supper, so he was quite content to wait
till God should give him his breakfast. He had such simple faith in God
that though he was so very poor, yet he said he was the happiest man in
all the world!
Go in for that, Beloved, for surely you have a right to it if you are a
believer in Jesus! Your greatest sorrows are over, your heaviest
burdens Christ has carried, the most terrible disaster that could ever
happen to you has been averted by Him, the most fearful calamity that
you once had cause to dread can never come to you! You are an heir of
God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ! You shall have all you really
need in this life and you shall have the Heaven of God in the life to
come! The supreme act of God, by which He eternally blesses, has
already been performed upon you! The Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit have all united to bless you–and the Covenant of Peace is
signed, sealed, ratified and you must and shall conquer at the last!
So, "Let not your heart be troubled; neither let it be afraid," but say
to yourself–
"All that remains for me Is but to love and sing, And wait until the
angels come To bear me to the King."
God bless you, for Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: EPHESIANS2.
Verse 1. And you has He quickened. You, who were dead by nature, are
now made alive unto God by the Holy Spirit. If you had nothing else to
think of, all day long, but just these five words, they might suffice
to lift you up to the very heights of grateful adoration of your
quickening Lord–"And you has He quickened."
1. Who were dead in trespasses and sins. These were your grave clothes,
or the charnel-house in which you would have continued to lie if the
quickening power of God the Holy Spirit had not brought you out into
newness of life!
2. Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now works in the children of disobedience. This is what happened to us
all in our unregenerate state– we were carried along by the world,
loving what it loved, judging from its views and acting according to
its maxims. No, worse than that, the devil himself had dominion over
us, as he had over the rest of the world. "The prince of the power of
the air" was the spirit that worked in us as well as in the rest of
"the children of disobedience." What a glorious deliverance it was to
be saved from the power of death and the dominion of Satan–and to be
made partakers of everlasting life!
3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in timespast 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. That is
the highest point to which human nature can attain–left to itself, it
makes us "children of wrath." Even those who are now most assuredly the
children of God were once the children of wrath! There was no
difference, in that respect, between them and the rest of mankind. It
is only the marvelous mercy and Grace of God which have made us to
differ from our fellow creatures who are still "dead in trespasses and
sins."
4. 5. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He
loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together
with Christ. Again let us praise the Lord with all our hearts for what
He has done for us. It is truly wonderful that He should have loved us
when we were "dead in trespasses and sins"–with no feeling, no holy
desire, no repentance–while indifference, heartlessness, powerlessness
covered everything! We were dead in sin, yet He loved us, and therefore
it was that He "quickened us together with Christ.
5. (By Grace you are saved). Not by human merit, not by the energy of
our own will, but, "by Grace you are saved."
6. And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. We are not only alive, you see, but we are
elevated into the highest position of the new life–made to live with
Christ and in Christ–made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus.
7. 8. That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His Grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by Grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God. Both the salvation and the faith that makes it ours are the
gift of God! Twice over the Apostle tells us that we are saved by
Grace, yet men will not believe it. They will, somehow or other, get
away from this humbling, but true and precious Doctrine. They will
contrive, by some method or other, to squeeze in their own works and
their own will–and so rob Christ, if not of His crown, yet of some of
its brightest jewels.
9, 10. Not of works, lest any man should boast For we are His
workmanship. If we have good works, as I trust we have, yet even they
are the production of God's Grace! Praise and glory for them belong to
Him, and not to us–"For we are His workmanship."
10, Created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before
ordained that we should walk in them. This is the great objective of
our election–we are elected that we may be holy and that we may walk
in ordained good works– who can rightly quarrel with such a Divine
Purpose as this?
11, 12. Therefore remember that you, being in time past, Gentiles in
the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the
Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time you were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without
God in the world. That is the condition of every unbeliever at this
time–"having no hope, and without God in the world." Mr. Hume once
made the remark that he knew many Christians who were afraid to die,
but he was not. The Christian man, to whom he said this, pointed to an
ox grazing in the meadow and said, "You have reached about as high as
that bullock has, for he, also, is not afraid to die. But pray tell,
Mr. Hume," enquired the good man, "have you any hope after death?" At
that question, the philosopher shook his head, for he knew nothing of
such a hope as that! The utmost point he could reach was, by
indifference, to raise himself above fear. "Having no hope," is a true
description of every man who has no faith in our crucified and risen
Savior.
13. But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made
near by the blood of Christ. That is the great attracting power which
draws us from our natural distance and brings us into nearness to God!
How we ought to prize that precious blood which does so much for us! It
cleanses us from sin. It pleads for us before the Throne of God and
here, you see, having made a way of access for us, it also conducts us
along that way and brings us near to God.
14. For He is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the
middle wall of partition between us. There are now no privileges for
the Jew from which the Christian is shut out, for Christ "has made both
one." There is now neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, for all
Believers are one in Christ Jesus.
15-22. Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of
commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of two,
one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God
in one body by the Cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and
preached peace to you who were afar off, and to them that were near.
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. No w
therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the
foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the
chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together grows
unto an holy Temple in the Lord: in whom you also are built together
for an habitation of God through the Spirit. May we realize that the
Holy Spirit is inhabiting His own Church at this moment and,
especially, may all of us who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, realize
our own position in that spiritual Temple which is the "habitation of
God through the Spirit," for Christ's sake! Amen.