mercy – Emmanuel Pentecostal Church Gateshead Resources

MONDAY 18^th – Ephesians 2:11-22

We continue from yesterday and will go to the second ‘but’ in this chapter, in verse 13 ‘But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ A similar portion of Scripture is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, ‘For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him’

In Ephesians 2 Paul makes a statement about the Gentile, that is the non–Jewish people, that they (which also includes us) were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth (or family) of Israel, not included in the covenants of God and we were without hope and without God in the world. It is a sweeping statement that sums up that until that time, everything that God seemed to do and be doing was for and involving Israel. They were his special people, they had been given the law, they had been given the covenants or promises. It was an ‘us and ‘you’ kind of programme of events, but thank God again for the ‘but’ found here in verse 13, it all changed at Calvary, for Paul says ‘BUT NOW in Christ you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ The cross now meant that God was working not just with the Jew in mind, but also for the Gentile. When Christ died on the cross he was dying for the whosoever, when he became a substitute, dying as the Passover Lamb, he was atoning for the sins of the world and as a result we all, that is Jew and Gentile as we come to believe have access in one Spirit to the Father.

The but in verse 13 leads to a complete change in the situation. There is reconciliation in two ways, first between the Jew and Gentile, the division between both is taken away, so there is no longer an ‘us’ and ‘them’ but through the cross we enjoy the same benefits, the same means of salvation, the same results of salvation and the same blessings that spring from salvation. Instead of the Jew and the Gentile, the cross led to the creation of one new man, that is one new united group or body which is the Church. The second reconciliation is found in verse 16, ‘reconciled us both (Jew and Gentile) to God’. This is good news for in contrast to verses 11-12, verse 19 says that we (the Gentiles) are no longer strangers and aliens but are fellow citizens with or as the saints and members of the household of God.

Yesterday we looked at Gods abundant mercy, great love, and amazing grace. The whole of Ephesians chapter 2 also reminds us of Gods incredible plan. Yes, as Paul puts it in the chapter, it seemed as if everything God was doing up until that point was all toward and for Israel the Jew, but in reality, he had a plan that was purposed even before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:9 says ‘making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ’ This purpose he put into effect immediately after the fall when he pronounced to the serpent, ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.’ (Genesis 3:15) And time rolled on, various events and characters in the Old Testament pointed toward a coming Saviour, who finally arrived at the God appointed moment (Galatians 4:4 ) and that which had been foreordained happened as he, the one born to be the Saviour, surrendered his life as a substitute at Calvary so that we who were dead in our trespasses and sins might be made alive. Ephesians 1:4 says ‘even as he (God) chose us in him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world,’ our inclusion into the family of God, our becoming members of the family of God, our being fellow citizens in the household of God, our being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit wasn’t an after-thought God had thousands of years after he had been dealing with the Jew, it was decided, purposed and planned even before the foundation of the world.

We will let the apostle Peter have the final word today: 1 Peter 2:9-10 ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.’

Wonderful grace

That gives what I don’t deserve

Pays me what Christ has earned

And lets me go free

Wonderful grace

That gives me the time to change

Washes away the stain

That once covered me

And all that I have

I lay at the feet

Of the Wonderful Saviour who loves me

Wonderful love

That held in the face of death

Breathed, in it’s final breath

Forgiveness for me

Wonderful love

Who’s power can break every chain

Giving us life again

Setting us free

^{John Pantry}^©^{Harper Collins CCLI788682}

SUNDAY 17^th – Ephesians 2:1-10

‘No ifs, no buts’

I wonder how many of us know of this little phrase, ‘no ifs, no buts’ and if so, in what context? For me it takes me back to growing up on the farm and either my mum or dad would give an instruction, usually in regard to a job that needed doing or maybe homework that need completing and one of us would start with our objections as to why we thought we couldn’t do what was being asked and out it would come, ‘no ifs, no buts’ just get on with it.

I was out walking and contemplating the devotions for this week and this phrase dropped into my mind, and the thought I had was this, thank God that there are some ifs and buts in Scripture. For example, in 2 Chronicles 7:13 the Lord says ‘When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land or send my pestilence among my people . . .’ This isn’t good news, that God would do these things, but it is followed by an ‘if’ in verse 14, ‘IF my people who are called by name . . . I will hear . . . I will forgive . . . I will heal their land.’

In the New Testament we have as an example, Ephesians 2:12 ‘remember that you were at that time separated from Christ . . .’ then verse 13 continues, ‘BUT now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’

To start this week we will look at two of the ‘buts’ If you have already read the verses for our reading and maybe continued in the chapter, you may have noticed it contains two ‘buts’, the first is in verse 4, ‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us’ the second is in verse 13 as quoted above.

In this chapter the ‘but’ defines a change, a change in what we were to what we have become, a change in our situation and in our position and the changes have come about because of Gods abundant mercy, his great love, and his amazing grace.

A brief summary of the first few verses in this chapter tells us that we were spiritually dead because of our trespasses and sins, we walked as the unbelieving world walked, we lived selfish and sinful lives and we were under the wrath of God. In other words we were depraved sinners and deserving eternal punishment yet because of the ‘but’ in verse 4, we have instead come to know Gods mercy, love and grace and we have been made spiritually alive, the wrath of God has been turned away from us, we are in Christ, and we are already knowing and will continue to know his unmeasurable riches of grace in our lives, and we have become his workmanship. (Philippians 2:13 ‘for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure’) We no longer live according to the flesh but we are living out good works which he prepared for us to do. What a transformation, what a change, an incredible change in our character, in our position and in our lifestyle.

Thank God that we have come to know this wonderful change in our lives, and it is because of a ‘but’, because of Gods abundant mercy, great love, and amazing grace.

Let us ponder on these three things today.

Abundant mercy – Our text says that God is rich in mercy, this means that despite the depth of our sin or the depravity of our human nature, God’s mercy is far greater. One hymn writer puts it this way, ‘Come, ye sinners, lost and hopeless, Jesus’ blood can make you free; For He saved the worst among you, When He saved a wretch like me. And I know, yes, I know, Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner clean, And I know, yes, I know Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner clean.’

In Psalm 51:1 the Psalmist cries out ‘Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.’ Imagine where we would be if God were not a God of mercy! We may not think that we should be called the vilest sinner, but the truth of the matter is that whatever our sin we were all lost, hopeless, deserving of hell, but because of his mercy, he came to seek and to save the lost. He found you and he found me. Titus puts it this way, Titus 3:5 ‘he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.’

Gods mercy is linked with his love, Psalm 103, verse 11 is translated in the KJV as ‘For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.’ The modern versions translate ‘great is his mercy’ as ‘great is his love’ (ESV, NIV) Our text v4 says that God is rich in mercy because of his great love. They are both (mercy and love) eternally entwined in the character and nature of God and in his dealings toward mankind. Sadly, many still choose to reject both his love and his mercy. Our testimony is this, ‘Mercy there was great, and grace was free’

Great love – We have already seen how the mercy of God is extended towards mankind because of his great love. I almost should not need to expound on the greatness of his love, for we who believe have all come to be recipients of it because of Calvary. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved, (that is he was bursting with so much love for) the world (lost and sinful humanity) that he gave his one and only Son (to be a sacrifice for the sinner at Calvary) so that if we believe on him we will not perish (go to Hell) but will have eternal life. (italics mine) The immensity of the love of God should never cease to amaze us and should always win a positive response from us. ‘Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. The song writer expresses it this way, ‘The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell.’

1 John 4:10 ‘In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’

Romans 5:8 ‘but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’

Amazing grace – It was John Newton who penned the words of the famous song ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound’ he was a man who knew what he deserved as a wretched sinner and yet had become a recipient of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And such were we, wretched, lost, and helpless until Gods amazing grace got hold of us and saved us.

Someone has said that GRACE can be described acronymically as ‘Great Riches At Christs Expense’. In other words, we get what we do not deserve because somebody else, in our case, Christ, does whatever is necessary for us to be able to receive it, (salvation) he died in our place as our substitute. We get what we could not earn, (redemption) we get what we could not achieve, (righteousness) we get status which we could never ever attain to, (seated with Christ in heavenly places) and all because of his grace which is given to us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s letter to the Church at Rome is a great book of grace, the word grace appears around thirty times, I will end this devotion with some verses from that letter. Notice it is a ‘but’, Romans 3:21-25 ‘But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.’

Years I spent in vanity and pride,

Caring not my Lord was crucified,

Knowing not it was for me He died

On Calvary.

Mercy there was great, and grace was free;

Pardon there was multiplied to me;

There my burdened soul found liberty,

At Calvary.

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;

Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,

Till my guilty soul imploring turned

To Calvary.

Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything,

Now I gladly own Him as my King,

Now my raptured soul can only sing

Of Calvary.

Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!

Oh, the grace that brought it down to man,

Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span

At Calvary!

^{William Reed Newell CCLI 788682}