Followed By Mercy

The Gift of Grace: Understanding Ephesians 2

• W. Austin Gardner • Season 3 • Episode 21

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In this conversation, Austin Gardner explores the themes of spiritual state, God's role in our lives, the nature of sin, and the transformative power of God's mercy and grace. He emphasizes that salvation is a gift from God, not something we can achieve on our own, and highlights the importance of trusting in God's plan for our lives.


  • God never asked you to fix you.
  • We were dead in our sins, cut off from God.
  • You didn't fix things with God; He did it all.
  • God's mercy is rich and abundant.
  • He became one of us to save us.
  • Salvation is by grace, not by works.
  • We are raised up together in Christ.
  • God wants to showcase His grace and kindness.
  • Our assurance of salvation is in Christ alone.
  • Trust in God's plan for your life.

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Austin Gardner:

Ephesians chapter 2. Did you know that God never asked you to fix you? God never asked you to fix you. God never asked you to make yourself holy. God never asked you to get forgiveness of sins. God didn't ask you to turn over a new leaf. God did it all. And in Ephesians chapter 1, we've gone through it. And you know, have you ever noticed what all he did? In Ephesians chapter 1, he went through and he said, Hey, y'all are now saints and faithful. And then he said, You know what? I bless you with all spiritual blessings. And then he, and then he said, You know what? I have I have predestined you to be adopted. And he said, I've chosen you to be holy and without blame. And I have redeemed you and I have forgiven you, and I've got you an inheritance. And he got all that planned and all that done for us. And he wanted you and I to understand where we were without him. So in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, if you'll read with me, it says, And you at the quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sin, have you were dead, he said. And what that means is cut off. How many of you have ever had uh electricity go dead in your house? Hold your hand up. That's all that's a blast, isn't it? It wasn't long just a few weeks ago, a couple weeks ago. Our daughter and her family live in the basement, and we live on the second on the first floor, and she called, she uh she came up to see her mother, she said, What's he doing to the internet? There's no cable TV, there's no internet, it's dead. That means it's cut off. It's separated from us. We're not getting the signal, we're not understanding, we're not seeing it. The most I've ever felt like that was when I had COVID. I was in the hospital for 30 days and I was 21 days on a ventilator. And when I finally came to and I knew who I was, my wife wasn't there. And I did not appreciate that. I didn't know she was cut off and separated and not allowed to come in the hospital. I fact is, I just be honest with you, I called her on the phone and I said, You need to get out of here. And she said, I can't. And the day they finally let me go, I said, come get me. And she said, I can't. In fact, is I shouldn't tell you this, but I said, come get me before they told me I can go home. And she said, uh, I can't come down there. And I said, Well, if you don't want me, we could just get a divorce. I'll just live out in the barn and you can live in the house. And she said, honey, it's not about that. I was dead. I was cut off. I was separated, and that's where we were. And if you really want to get the picture of understanding what that means, go back to Adam and Eve. You remember Adam and Eve? They were living in light and communication and connection with God Almighty. And then they decided to do things their way, and they were cut off. All of a sudden, they are hiding in shame and covering themselves up with fig leaves and trying to try to hide their guilt and put on a mask and everything, and they are cut off from God. They're cut off from God. Now remember the story. Here's what verse one says. And you have he quickened, because that's what happened when Adam and Eve sinned. They didn't get right, they didn't quit sinning, they didn't turn over a new leaf. In fact, if they did turn over a new leaf, but it just wouldn't cover anything. Can I get an amen there? And they couldn't hide anything there. And and he came and he rescued them and he brought them back. And that's what he's done for us. And you, as he quickened, who were, you know, we were. How many of you remember being separated from God? Now, God didn't go anywhere, but you did. How many of you remember that? How many of you remember what it's like when you didn't know the Lord Jesus, when you weren't in communication with him, when he wasn't important to you? But you need to understand, listen, what he wants you to get is you didn't fix things with God.

Speaker:

I need you to hear that. You didn't fix things.

Austin Gardner:

You didn't like to say, well, I quit drinking and I quit uh I quit drugs and I quit pornography and I started treating my wife right and I got my life right. No, you had to quicken. He made love. He gave you new life, he reconnected the lines. So funny when my daughter says, What's going on with the internet? I'm like, I can't do anything about it. It's beyond my control. I contacted them and they said, we know there's an outage. Basically, they tell you this: we're trying to help you. We like you. Don't bother us. That's kind of like their attitude. And so I just want you to know God is the one who came to you, and God is the one who paid our sin debt, and God is the one that restored the connection. Now look at verse 2, if you would. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2. The Bible says in two, and in time past, you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, and in the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. I need you to understand, he says, Y'all remember where you were? Y'all remember where you were? Do you remember being in the hospital? Do you remember, do you remember when COVID wouldn't let you talk to your loved one? Do you remember what you were begging your wife for communication? Do you remember where you were? So in your Bible, you should underline end times past, because there was a time when all of us did our own thing. We did our own thing. We didn't really care what God thought. Let's be honest. Like, hey, you got your opinion, I got my opinion. And see what it says is you walked in the time past. You used to do this. And so you, that's not who we are now. Now we want to serve God. Amen. We want to make much of him. We want him to be who he is. But there was a time. Now watch what it says here. It says, according to the course of this world, all that means is this you just did what everybody else did. You did what everybody else did. If you look around the world you live in right now, you know what everybody's doing? Their own thing. Everybody's doing their own thing. There's some really nice people out there. Really, really nice. And they're not even saved, but they're good. They're real good. Because Satan doesn't care whether you're good or bad. Sometimes people like us, we like to think, well, they're wicked sinners. No, really, really, really, really, really good people are sinners too. Because what they're doing is they're they're trying to establish their own righteousness. They're trying to say, look at me, I'm Mr. Goody Two Shoes. I'm a good neighbor. I ought to get the Nobel Peace Prize. I'm a good person. I'm doing good stuff. But you're still doing it like the rest of the people on this planet. You know how most people are, most people are this morning. Most people didn't go to church. Most people didn't even think about going to church. They just got up and said, hey, it's Sunday, let's relax. I get a day off. They don't care. They don't think about it. Because God's far from them. They don't, it's not that God moved, but he's not in their mind. And so that in the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, that's Satan. Now listen to me. Satan, the slanderer, the separator, the divider, the liar, wants us all to think God doesn't care about us. And so he goes around telling that you don't need God. You don't need God. You can be good on your own. You don't need God. You don't need to worry about what God thinks. Just do what you think. It's up to you. It's your life. Live your life. You just live your life. That's all you got to worry about. Live your life. That's what the Prince of the Power of the Air says. And then you see, that's, and you know who listens? The children of disobedience. You know who the children of disobedience are. They're the people that decided I don't really want to obey God. I don't really want to obey God. Now hang on, but listen, they're not necessarily that bad. I need you to understand that. They're feeding the hungry. They're looking for cures of cancer. They're good people, but they're like, I don't need God. Now you get this other group of people out there saying, I don't need God. I'm going to go do everything I want to do. But they're separated from God and they're cut off from God. And basically what God's trying to get across in Ephesians chapter 2 is I want you to know where you were when I stepped in. I did all the stuff I talked about in Ephesians 1, but you need to know you didn't do any of it. Because in the time past, you didn't care. You weren't looking for God. You can say you were, but you weren't looking for God. You weren't looking for God. Now go with me if you would to verse 3. Look what he says. And among whom also we had our conversation. We used to live like them with them. We did the same things they did. We went to their parties, we did good works with them. We rode motorcycles with our friends. We went bicycle riding with our friends. We just did what everybody else was doing. But here's what he says. You know what you were doing? You were doing what you wanted to do. Look at the verse. He said, in time past, in the lust of our flesh, in the desires of our flesh. Oh, you know, you know what it is. It's like, well, I want to have sex. I do. That's what I want. And I don't know why. I don't know why he thinks I should get married. I don't really, I don't give a rip what he thinks. I'm just gonna do it. Well, he says, uh, you know, people say I shouldn't use drugs. It could hurt me, but I don't care. That's what I want. I'm just gonna do what I want. And that that's how people live their lives without without God, separated, cut off, away from God, dead. It's like I don't really care what he says. Somebody goes over here and steals somebody else's stuff. They beat somebody else up, steal their bicycle, steal their house, steal their car. They whatever. Why? Because they do what they want to do. That's what he said. He said, and the lust of the flesh, and the desires of the flesh, and the mind. And so they were like children of wrath. I want you to get with me to say you kind of get this children of wrath thing, but we're getting to the real meat of the message. But we're looking at the past right now. We're looking at what we were. Children of wrath, it's just children inside. They're mad, you know? They're mad. They're mad at God. I don't need you. You don't need these guns. Don't stick your nose in my. If you were a good God, you wouldn't be doing this. If you really loved us, people wouldn't get cancer. If you were a good God, there wouldn't be sin. If you were a good God, there wouldn't be hunger.

Speaker:

If you were a good, you're not a good God. Right or not? Come on, say amen or tell me I'm wrong. They're angry, man.

Austin Gardner:

Children are rather mad. They're angry. A lot of people are like that. A lot of people are like that. But hang on before I get to the next two words. Life-changing. Two words. But hang on before we get that. Here's what he's saying. And you were like that too, Austin.

Speaker:

Because in time past you walked like that. Now, I I'll be honest with you.

Austin Gardner:

I've only had sex with one woman. And so I could go, well, I wasn't like that. Well, just because I don't know, I just didn't do that. But that's really not making me any better, anybody. Fact is, I always went to church, even when I wasn't saved. What you gonna do when your mama and daddy are deacons in the little church? Deacons and she was present of WMU, if y'all remember what that was. Well, mama. And uh I was a good kid.

Speaker:

But you see, still I was doing my own thing. I was doing my own thing. And see, that's what being cut off means.

Austin Gardner:

Because honestly, it's something it's like you're not saying, God, I need you, God, I want you, God, I can't get to you. When I had COVID and I was in the hospital, I wanted out, and I want it back on my wife. I want it back on my children. My kids wouldn't come see me. Nobody would talk to me. I was like in a Chinese torture prison. And nobody cared. And I was reaching out, but we weren't reaching for God. We were honest and more like this. Don't stick your nose in my business, and I won't stick mine in your business. I will live like I won't live. You live like you won't live. I don't care. I don't mind. Do what you won't do. Just don't bother me. And look what it says, if you would, in verse four. But God. Y'all should underline that in your Bibles. But God. But God. God looked at and said, You didn't want me. You weren't looking for me. You weren't trying to fix your life. You didn't care about me. You were messing up. You were hurting. Hurting. You're outside the Garden of Eden and you're naked and you're embarrassed and you're ashamed and you're trying to cover up. You were in sin. And the guy that said he loved you, the guy who said, if you'll just have sex with me, I'll always love you. He hates you now, and you're hurting and you're alone and life stays. Come on, tell the truth. And so God says, I knew he was hurting, but God. And so God stepped in and did all the stuff we're reading about in Ephesians 1 and Ephesians 2. Now, when I say but God, we need to read that, see what but God, look at this. Look at it. God who is rich in mercy. God who's rich in mercy. Now, the slanderer, the liar, the deceiver, the separator told you God was mad, didn't he? He told you God was angry with you. He told you, he's watching you. He's coming to get you. He's gonna fix you. He's gonna change this. That's come on, tell the truth, that's what you think. And so we we we read Ephesians 2, 1 through 3. And man, we're we're we're we're pretty bad people.

Speaker:

That's who we were. All of us is walking around doing our own thing. Doing our own thing. Doing what our bodies wanted, what our minds wanted.

Austin Gardner:

Making our own decisions. We didn't need God. We were doing exactly what the devil wanted us to do, which is ignore God. Ignore God. Just before I go ahead and explain a little bit more of this. I've been married 52 years. And can I tell you what the like the biggest punishment in the world for Benny Ireland? I know y'all never do, but sometimes Benny and I have little spats and little fusses. And buddy, when she won't talk to me, when she's upset with me, that's a horrible feeling. Sometimes the husband runs around like a little floppy dog behind her and going, Would you talk to me? Would you talk to me? Like a little chihuahua. Say amen. And you realize that when we wouldn't talk to God, he didn't get angry. He got full of mercy. God looks at you and says, I know you don't like me, but you're hurting. I know you don't like me, but you've left light and you're in darkness. I know you don't like me, but you left life and you're in death. I know you don't like me, but sin's beating the slap out of you. And I love you. I don't care how you treat me, I am rich in mercy. Now read real what it says here. He's rich in mercy for his great love. For his great love. For his great love. Really, that's a I know you don't see it, but that's a Christmas verse. Because you know what his great love made him do, don't you? He could have easily said, I'm just gonna wipe them all out and start over. Maybe I'll make another batch of cookies. Say amen. He looked down and said, That bunch of cookies is burned and sour and sausty. Get rid of them starting over. I know what he did. He could have looked out and said, They don't like me, they don't want me, they don't look for me, they do what they want to do, they totally ignore me. So I'm getting rid of them.

Speaker:

So he said, I'm becoming one of them. You gotta catch that. He said, I'm gonna be one of them. So he stepped out of heaven and he stepped down to earth. Was born to a woman just like we were. He laid on his mother's chest just like we did.

Austin Gardner:

And he saw when his parents were hungry, and he saw when people cursed him down at the shop, and he and he noticed what it's like to hit his hand or hit his finger with a with a camera when he's doing carpenter work. And he became one of us. And for 30 years he lived so much like us that no one had any idea he wasn't one of us. In fact, is do y'all remember when he's 30 years old and he starts his ministry? Do you remember what the people said? They said, Who is this guy? Ain't that Mary's boy? Isn't Joseph his dad the carpenter? Don't we know his brothers and sisters? Well, who's he think he is? Because he loved us so much with that great love that he became one of us. So he could die like us, for us, without sin. And he could take all of our sin on him. He could take all of our rebellion on him, and he could take all of that on him because he loved us. I did you know how much he loves you. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Do you know how much he loves you? For God so loved the world that that's like the equal sign. God loves the world so much that he gives a son. I've only been a dad for a little over 50 years. And I cannot tell you being a dad was the second greatest thing that ever happened to me. Well, I believe in salvation out of that. But marrying my wife was the greatest, the greatest day of my life. And then having this big old pastor of yours as a little baby, that was a blessing from God. If I had to choose between him and you, I'm sorry. I'll come to your funeral.

Speaker:

I'll give you a liter of blood. I will, I will, I will. But I ain't nobody dy uh nobody in my family dying for you.

Austin Gardner:

Come on, you don't look at me sideways. Because the rest of you, like I ain't even trying to show up at your funeral. Come on, say, man. For God so loved you. So God so loved Austin. God so loved Shetty Grove that he died, that he took on human flesh and he died. That's the great love wherewith he loved us. Can I get an amen? Now, when I deserve to be kicked, and when I deserve to be hated, and when I deserve not to be loved, he loved me anyway. Read verse five with me. Read verse five. Even when we were dead in sins, hath he quickened us together with Christ. By grace are you saved? I just want you to read this. Now look at look look look look up here. Look up here. You gotta get this. He didn't say, even when we were still trying to get things right. I know what you're doing. You turned church into you doing good. You turned church into religion. But that's not when he saved you. Read the merse. See, what he said is when we were dead, and you know what he did? When you were laying on the COVID table and you had a tube down your throat and you couldn't breathe on your own and you couldn't live on your own, you would die if they unplugged you. That's when he came. Wait a minute. He didn't come when you got baptized. He didn't come, hang on, he didn't come when you started going to church, faithful like. He didn't come when you started treating your neighbors right. He didn't come when you did good stuff. That's not when he he when did he save us? And when we were dead, separated, cut off, away from God, not interested in God. I know a man whose daughter ran away from home. And there was absolutely no communication for two weeks. Dead. Lines of communication were broken. And the daughter never thought about coming home. But the dad took two airlines trips, flew, found the daughter, and brought her home. Not when she wanted it, not when she was looking for it, but when she couldn't do anything. And when you couldn't do anything, that's when Jesus came for you. Salvation is by grace. See, He has quickened us. That means He made us alive. The cutoff was fixed, and we're back at it. The lights are turned back on. And why did He do it? For by grace are you saved. By the loving kindness, by the mercy of God, are you saved? Don't ever turn it into, well, I got baptized. Don't ever turn it into I joined the church. Don't ever turn it into I started giving, I started tithing, I started being a part of the. Don't ever turn it into that because I need you to go back to but God. This is who you were, and it was horrible, but God. You you messed up and you were willful and egotistical and prideful. And you I do things my way. I ain't like anybody else. I do what I want to do. All the rest of y'all do what you want to buy. And God ain't gonna tell me what to do. As I ain't mad at him, I just don't need him. He don't even mess with me. I ain't messing with him. Why is he messing with me? And when you thought like that, he came, but God, he came. Now look at verse 6 and see what he did when he came. Look at verse 6. It hath raised us up together and made us sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He raised us up together. Now, that is a reference, an indirect reference to what happened when Jesus died. He was dead. And they buried him. And they wrapped him in the grave clothes. And they put the perfume on the dead body, like they put on a dead body in those days. And they rolled a stone in front and they waited for him to rot.

Speaker:

Like everybody died. When you die, you you rot. But God raised him from the dead. You know what God did?

Austin Gardner:

In the same way that he brought Jesus back to life, he brought you to life. He brought me to life. God has raised us up. God has raised us up together. And he didn't just raise us up. He didn't just raise us up. He didn't come down and say, Look, you guys have really messed up. I mean, I'm just telling you the whole world stakes because of you. I'm going to help y'all get back on the right track. Stay on the track and do the right thing. That's not what he did. He got through. He got through saving us. He said, Come on, I'm taking you with me. We're going to go to heaven with my father. You're going to go up there just like I do. We're going to sit down with the Father. And he just picked us up and he carried us and he brought us up to heaven. And he said, That's your seat, Tommy. Awesome, you sit right there. That's Jesus right there. Y'all are sitting in heaven. Wait a minute. What did I do to get there? Nothing. I received the gift. I was given the gift. I was given the gift that God gives. He raised us up and made us sit together in heavenly places, but you need to understand how. In Christ Jesus. He did that in Christ Jesus. Now listen, in Bible terms, when you're not saved, you're in Adam.

Speaker:

Adam's the guy that says, I'll do it my way.

Austin Gardner:

If me and Eve want to eat the fruit, we're eating the fruit. And if me and Eve want to cover ourselves with leaves, we're going to cover ourselves of leaves. Because Adam brought sin, and sin brought death. And that's what was going on on the earth. But God sent a new Adam, a new man, a new person who would come to earth and would obey God in everything. Not you, but Jesus. And he said Jesus to be God on earth, God in human flesh. 100% human, 100% God. And he came to live and he said, if you'll just get in me, if you'll just trust me, if you just join my family, if you just join me, you can go to heaven and have all these saints. Everything we have is Jesus. Now there's only two daddies on the planet, in case y'all didn't know. There's Adam. And there's Jesus. We are so big on all the races. But when you bring it down to it, in Adam, we're just all brothers and sisters, whether y'all like it or not. We're just stuck with each other. Because we're humans. But see, we're divine bees in Christ. And you and me, we move out of just being Adam. We move into Jesus. And in Christ Jesus, we are seated in the heavenlies. Go with me, if you would, to verse 7. Now, you gotta understand this. I've gone way too long, I'm sure, but watch this. Do you know why he did it? Because he wants to brand. Read this. I have a granddaughter who likes to draw.

Speaker:

She's an artist.

Austin Gardner:

And she will finish that. Whenever she gets it done, she likes to come in and say, She don't even come in. She knits stuff too. She'll come in and she'll go, What do you think? What do you think? How you like it? I made this. She's like that. Name's Chloe. She's really like that. And she's big on that. Do you know what God's doing? Verse 7. That in the ages to come, in the future, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. God wants to go to heaven. Someday out in the future, and he's going to look and say, You know that Austin Gardner? He a one messed up dude. He should have gone to hell. But he, wow, I'm just telling you, willful, selfish, prideful, wicked child. But I saved him. And I changed him. And I got him out of death. And I made a mistake. And I made him faithful. And I and I forgave him and I reconciled him. And I did all that. Am I a good God or not? That's what God's going to say. When you and I get to heaven, we're not going to walk around heaven going, woo, I made it with what I did. We're going to walk around heaven going, whoo, he's a good God. Say, man. He saved me out of all the. You remember who I was in time past? I did what I wanted to do. He saved me anyway. You remember how prideful I was? You remember how I did what my body wanted to do? He saved me anyway. Wow, God, you're good. And we're going to all brag about, man, I can't believe it. He had no limit to his riches. He didn't just save a handful of people. He was full of grace and kindness. And it was all through Jesus. Now, if you're saved this morning, I've told your story. How many of you know you're going to go to heaven when you die? Say amen. Praise the Lord. You're in Christ. And it's not about you. And it's not about Shady Grove. It's about Jesus. It's about the God of heaven. God give an amen there. But if you're not saved this morning, I need you to understand He is not asking you to fix you. You ain't never done nothing without messing up pretty good. I mean, let's just be honest. We've all standing control of the glory of God. But he'll mess up. And he loves you right where you are. And it don't matter what you've done, because here are my two favorite words of the whole message today. But God. But God. Not but Austin. Not but the church changed Austin. Not but he had good parents. Not but it's but God. God did it all. If you hadn't trust him, trust him today.

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Austin Gardner

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