Without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world Eph. 2:12

Transcription

1 Without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world Eph. 2:12 Once again, it is a strange subject for Bishop J.C. Ryle to address as he turns our minds towards the subject of Holiness! He has done this so often before though, hasn t he? In order for us to understand in some measure the holiness of God and the standard God requires of His people J.C. Ryle points us to the Scriptures to show us how unworthy we are and yet what God can make us to be. The two very important words that our thoughts will hinge upon this morning are these: Without Christ. We see people out on the streets, without a home. We see them on our televisions, without food. Even in the 21 st century there are people, without money. But worse than anything else to be without is Christ, and yet many, many people never take Him into their consideration. What does the Bible actually mean when it describes someone as being without Christ? As I often read the sermons of great preachers, - men whom God has used mightily down through the centuries, - it always encourages me how simple they keep their message. So again we are going to keep it simple this morning, - just three simple points that are here, with concluding comments. You will be able to see these three points for yourself; firstly, CHRISTLESS without Christ What does it mean to be Christless? When Peter was in the garden sitting around the fire of the enemies of the Lord Jesus he was warming himself and listening to their conversation. They would have been talking about this Man that Caiaphas the high priest was interrogating. As the flames flickered and as Peter sat among them we find a man who was Christless. Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended, was what he had said; but where was he now? He was without Christ.

2 D.G. 2 What he had said with his lips didn t match the state of his heart. His hands may have been warming at the fire but his heart was deathly cold. That s what it means to be without Christ. Many churchgoers believe that to be without Christ means you never come to a church, - that s not what being without Christ means. Peter was without Christ because Peter had not yet bowed the knee in humble submission to the Lordship of Christ. Jesus, I know better than You, - that was the sum total of much of Peter s ministry for the Lord Jesus. And the reason why Peter went so quickly back to his fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee in Jn. 21 was simply because Peter had more of Christ in his mind than he had in his heart. Think about it! Do you agree with that? I believe that the true conversion hadn t taken place in Peter s heart, not just yet, otherwise he would have gone forward rather than gone backwards. That is one way of being Christless, here is another way. A holy man, - as far as the law was concerned, - was walking along the road one day. He was well educated, he had an important status with Judaism, he was looked up to by many, and he was involved in seeking out those who belonged to Christ. It didn t matter who they were, - man or woman, young or old, adult or child, - but if he could find evidence that they were Christians he would take them, imprison them, and ultimately some would be put to death for their allegiance to Christ. Here is a man that was Christless. He wasn t like Peter, - he could see nothing good about Jesus. This was a man who totally rejected anything connected with the Jesus of Galilee. This man was Paul, and like Peter Paul had a natural disposition in opposition to anything to do with the Lord Jesus Christ. When Paul wrote to the Ephesians, ye were without Christ, he was speaking from personal experience.

3 D.G. 3 He knew what it was like to be without Christ. Christian, you too know what it was like to be without Christ, because you know what you were saved out of. Some of you dredged along the bottom and the stench of your sin was as repugnant as the sewer. For many of you that wasn t the case, - you were brought up well, you didn t sink into anything particularly sinful but yet you knew inside that you were missing/lacking something, you were without Christ. You see, that is the way every man, woman and child is born, - without Christ, Christless, and Paul goes on to elaborate, and he says, not only Christless, but HOPELESS without hope What does it mean to be hopeless? It means simply, to have no hope. But what is the context here? It means that outside of Christ there is no hope with regards to the promises of God. Every one of us here must have something to hope in, - no matter how insignificant or trivial it might seem to others, - every one of us is hoping in something. There was another young man came to Jesus on another occasion. He would have been well-dressed and articulate, - he came from a good background. There was every likelihood he had a good education and a good bank balance, and he had a depth of sincerity that brought him out to look for Jesus. He found Jesus, and he went up to Him, - this rich young man approached the Man from Galilee, the son of a carpenter, - and he asked Jesus the most important question, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? Jesus spoke with this man who had such a bright future in front of him, and Jesus required of this man one very simple yet very definite demand, come and follow me. But the young man wasn t prepared to do that, - it would have meant leaving all his lifestyle that he loved behind. And the Bible tells us that young man turned his back on Jesus and walked away.

4 D.G. 4 Jesus demands were too heavy for him to bear, and despite all the earthly riches, wealth and prospects that man went away Christless and hopeless. You see, Christless and hopeless go together, because if you don t have Christ you don t have hope, that s what the Bible says, without Christ, having no hope, And that s the way these believers in Ephesus had been. But Paul extends the picture just a little piece more, Christless, hopeless, GODLESS without God What does it mean to be Godless? Jesus spoke about a godless society, about one that was taken up with eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, as in the days of Noah. On the Mount of Olives He looked over the city of Jerusalem, and those people to whom He came, and He cried out, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! To be Godless means simply to be without God. Jerusalem had its prophets, it place of worship (the temple), its Bible, its priests and its ceremonies but through it all they were Christless, and because they were without Christ they were without hope, and because they were without Christ and without hope they were without God. That was the predicament they were in, but they never noticed! A godless community yet rejecting the truth of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. We live in the same godlessness today, Scotland has its prophets and apostate preachers of a gospel that is no Gospel at all, It has its places of worship, but like on the Mars Hill in Athens, those places of worship are worshipping an unknown god, The Bibles they are using, they have no trust in, - they don t believe what God s Word has to say,

5 D.G. 5 Those who have the responsibility of making known the Word of God are not subject to it themselves, And ceremonies of all types rob God of the truth of Saving and Redeeming Grace. Daniel asked the question, 12.8 O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? 9 And [God] said, Go thy way, Daniel: 10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. In a similar vein John heard the angel in Heaven declare, He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: Christlessness, hopelessness, and Godlessness is a disease from which there is no earthly cure, and that is the predicament of all who are outside of Christ. CONCLUSION. Three simple, straightforward points that Paul emphasises in his epistle to the Ephesians, But do you notice, what do you find at the end of v.12? It s not a full stop! It s not the end of what Paul wanted to say! Look! There s more to come! Here is the Gospel! v. 13 But [ and it s important to leave that but in] now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. What a fantastic verse! Here is what turns the previous verse all around, - it s the blood the Lord Jesus Christ shed on the cross of Calvary. The previous verse was talking about those without Christ and without hope and without God, and here is the Saviour Who bridged the gulf by the shedding of His own precious blood. Jesus Christ died in order to bring His people back to God. Jesus Christ is the only hope of salvation from sin and the only antidote to Christlessness, hopelessness and godlessness. If you want to know God personally this is where you begin, - at the cross.

6 D.G. 6 You recognise your state before God and come and trust Him to change your life. Don t be like the young man who walked away from Him. And Christian, believer, look at Peter and see how he took for granted his walk with Christ, - don t fall foul of that condition. If you know and love the Lord Jesus as your Saviour He has got to have all of you, not just the part you are willing to give Him every now and again. And that is the difference J.C. Ryle and others would seek to extract here. To pursue after holiness it is a prerequisite that you who were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. We must keep coming back to this point that you and I as believers owe everything to that first meeting we had with Christ. For from that meeting Paul based so much on these great Bible truths, We are v.20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. There in the midst of the Church, - God s redeemed people, - you ve got Christ, and your hope is in Him alone, and you have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within, This is the standard that God requires for His people, His people that were formerly without Christ, without hope, and without God.