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[0:00] As the Lord shall be pleased to help me, I shall seek to continue with the morning subject, the epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 2, and the 19th verse.

[0:19] Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God.

[0:38] Chapter 2, verse 19, the epistle to the Ephesians. The apostle Paul, delighted in the grace of God, and ever sought every opportunity to proclaim it.

[1:09] And he never set any limit to it. But when he was brought in touch with varied people amongst whom he journeyed, he set before them the gospel of the grace of God.

[1:31] And every man whom God ordains to preach should seek to follow in his footsteps. Never, never must there be a limit set to the grace of God.

[1:48] The word of God tells us that it is sovereign grace. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.

[2:03] I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. One underlying reason why the apostle Paul so emphasized the grace of God and what it could do was that he ever remembered how it was communicated to him on the Damascus road to his great amazement and what God had made him as the outcome of possessing it, an ambassador for Jesus Christ.

[2:43] And he had only one confession of faith to proclaim. By the grace of God, I am what I am.

[2:56] And there is one viewpoint of this line of thought, which it is well to ponder. The apostle Paul said in his epistle to Timothy, I thank Jesus Christ our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

[3:34] And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

[3:57] And now he makes this great statement, How be it for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him, to life everlasting.

[4:18] As though the apostle Paul would say, whenever he preached the gospel, and he told out how he was called by grace. See what the grace of God did for me.

[4:31] What the grace of God did for me, who can tell but what the grace of God would do the same for you. And now that is the right approach to preaching the gospel.

[4:48] Hark how the gospel trumpet sounds, Christ and free grace therein abounds. Free grace to such as sinners be.

[4:59] And if free grace, why not for thee? And now I want as the Lord to help me to go on with the subject, not going over the same line of things again that I followed in the morning sermon, but I do want to keep you well aware of the grace of God and that it is still obtainable.

[5:28] And the apostle Paul felt his heart so warm with good wishes and desires for the godly Ephesians as he penned this epistle to them.

[5:45] And I have felt sure in my own mind that as it were he paused when he wrote down this opening word and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.

[6:04] And he went back in his mind to the picture of his labors in the gospel of Ephesus and called to mind some of the most unlikely characters who had been born again and made subjects of the grace of God and were now in this wonderful church state so that he addresses them, the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.

[6:40] Dear friends, let your consciences tell you what is the grace of God to you? Is it a subject you like to meditate on?

[6:54] Is it a matter that often drives you before the God of all grace if so be you might have more grace? Does it sometimes concern you, yea, distress you when you feel like the hymn writer Marks of grace I cannot show All polluted is my breast Yet I weary am I know And the weary long for rest And do you understand Barnabas who when he came to Antioch and saw the grace of God he was glad When he saw the grace of God And now the grace of God is a principle of power It is lodged in a sinner's breast But when it is lodged there You can see it

[7:55] By the fruits it produces Wherefore by their fruits Ye shall know them And sometimes you can look on And begin to feel There are those Amongst whom you live and move By their Change of mind That they exhibit And their attitude To the things of God And their behaviour You can Begin to take courage That the grace of God Is living and moving In their breast So that the eyes of the blind Are opened The ears of the deaf Are unstopped The heart is opened The attitude Toward Jesus Christ Is changed Altogether No longer to live As they were born

[8:56] We will not have this man To reign over us But now there is a concern To win Christ And be found in him And that in their lives The government Of their lives Should be upon His shoulder Some of us in this assembly Can thank God And take courage That many Many times We have had the Privilege To be made glad To see The grace Of God In its blessed Fruits And effects In those amongst whom We live And move And Going up and down Among the churches It is It is Very Cheering To observe Signs following The preaching Of the gospel And now I would take up

[9:57] Somewhat of the line Of thought I was following When I came to the Amen of the morning Sermon Now Therefore Ye are no more Strangers And foreigners And I might Just Pause And ask A question And remember I've thought A great deal In my long Ministry About the Challenging Nature Of the truth And I just Ask you Where I go On Where are you In regard To this Subject Can it be Said of you You are no more Strangers And foreigners Are you in the Attitude of worship And glad to be Where you are And feeling At home And on the Listen If so be God would say Something To you

[10:58] To do your Soul good Can you Appeal to God Where you Are In the Attitude Of worship We love The place O God Wherein Thine Honour Dwells The joy Of thine Abode All earthly Joy Excels Or is it The truth With any Of you Alas That the Amen That concludes The service Will be the Most welcome Word Because as Yet You are In this Category Having Having no Hope And without God In the World And you Are not Concerned to Possess Any hope Though tomorrow You might Step out of Time Into eternity And you Could do It To die Having no Hope And without God And content To live Without God Oh very Very solemn To be

[11:58] To be in Such a Case Only This frail And fleeting Breath Preserves Me From the Jaws Of death Soon As it Fails At once I'm Gone And plunged Into A world Unknown And in That world Unknown If you Should be Plunged Into It Having No Hope And without God You will Know All that Is in The word Of God Is a Very Solemn A very Terrible Reality Oh that You might Be constrained To ponder In your Heart The grace Of God And be Brought To Ask The question Say my Soul Why Not For Thee Who Can Tell But what God Will be Gracious To you But if You never Approach Him As the God Of All Grace Regarding The Matter If you

[13:00] Should Live And die Having No Hope And without God In the World The Onus Of It Will Be On Your Head Remember That Now The Apostle Paul Emphasizes It To These Godly Ephesians Now Therefore You Are No More Strangers And Foreigners As Though Paul Said I Remember When I Came To You What Kind Of People Many Of You Were All You Were Idolaters And And Your Religion Was Based Upon Greatest Diana Of The Ephesians And Now Wonderful To Think Of And You Some Of The Most Unlikely Apparently I Say Apparently And You Hath

[14:01] He Quickened Who Were Dead In Trespasses And Sins Do Remember What I Told You And Remember Too In Your Attitude To The World At Large What Your Behaviour Must Be You Can Condemn The Sin It Is Not For You To Condemn The Sinner Do Think That Over And You Must Not Limit The Grace Of God You Get Instances Of It In The Word Of God Remember Manasseh And What a Right Down Scampy Was For Many A Year On The Throne And The Word Of God Tells Us As Only The Word Of God Could Do That He Made Jerusalem Streets Run With Rivers Of Blood I Said A Write Down Scamp The Epitome Of

[15:01] Wickedness And If You Had Been In Jerusalem At That Time And Seen What Manasseh Had Done You Would Have Thought He Was Just Fit Fuel For Hellfire And It Looked Like It As Far As You And I Look At These Things But In His Affliction He Called Upon The Lord His God And He Was A Forgiven Sinner And The Grace Of God Reached That Right Down Scamp That He Was And Snatched Him From The Very Brink Of Hell Itself What What Do You Sing Oh I Must Still Tell You Do Think Over Prayerfully What You Do Sing The Vilest Sinner Out Of Hell Who Lives To Feel His Need He's Welcome To The Throne Of Grace The Saviour's Blood To Plead Yes Now Therefore

[16:02] You Are No More Strangers And Foreigners It Is A Wonderful Mercy To Be No More A Stranger To The Things Of God As To Their Reality And To Be No More A Stranger To God That He Is Not One Whom You Might Ponder In Your Heart And Think How Can I Have Anything To Do Whatever With Such A God Who Is So Holy But God Has Opened The Throne Of Grace Devised Means Whereby His Holy Majesty Is Approachable And If You As A Poor Sinner With A Felt Consciousness Of What A Poor Sinner You Really Are Desires To Draw Near To God The Word Of God Encourages

[17:02] You To Do It You Have A Warrant To Do It You Can As It Were Remind The Lord Of What He Has Declared Art Come Come Of Gr silhouette shuttered Manh hebt revenues of Burned Jesus Oh How Good It Is How The Grace Of God Cre Ils But oh that you might find it in your heart I'll to the gracious king approach Whose scepter pardon gives Perhaps he will command my touch And then the suppliant lives Now therefore you're no more strangers and foreigners I said To eternal realities What they are

[18:04] And that you were born for eternity An eternal destiny awaits you On the other side of the grave Either heaven or hell And that will cause you a great deal of concern If you have the grace of God Living and moving within And where shall I spend eternity Oh you will want to get something from God Such as he alone can communicate To your troubled breast That you might be helped to feel Living and dying It shall be well Can you remember when the things of God Came upon you like that As to their reality When you awoke to the fact That you were a sinner With a never dying soul When you felt You wanted

[19:04] God Like the prodigal And he began to be in Want Yes Much might be said Along that line of thought You will be no more A stranger And foreigner To the nature of the world In which you live and move The great majority Making up the mighty mass of mankind Are just living in the world and of it All their concerns Are to do with time No thought comes into their mind About eternity And entering therein But these people No more strangers and foreigners They Are living their lives With eternity Uppermost As grace is given And while they are journeying

[20:08] Through a time state They desire to have grace To live a right But their great concern Is not only to live right But to die right Have grace to live But above all To find grace When they come down to die Now Therefore You are no more Strangers And foreigners You will be no more A stranger To what you really are By nature It may be Some of you Being under the gospel From baby days on You have heard Hundreds of sermons You have heard Those who preach Describing a sinner But you Listen to it And sometimes You might have Resented the picture And felt Of a truth It did not refer to you Has there dawned A day in your life

[21:08] When the preacher Was telling forth Which shall know Every man The plague of his own heart And describing it When may be The words of Isaiah Were used as the picture From the sole of the foot Even to the head There is no soundness in it But wounds and bruises And putrefying sores And something said inside you Thou art the man Thou art the man And you thought That the preacher Was describing You And now It is a great mercy To be no more A stranger To what you are By nature As I have quoted Which shall know Every man The plague Of his own heart Once that knowledge Is communicated Once you begin To realise The malady

[22:08] The leprosy Lies deep within You will be on the stretch To have some application Of the remedy Revealed in the gospel Of the grace of God You will want To know What the saviour Said When He sent a message To John the baptist In prison And in doing that He was proclaiming His own gospel The lepers Are cleansed Yes Now therefore Hear no more Strangers And Foreigners You will be no more A stranger To the throne Of grace I would like To Put this question To you And ask you To weigh it up Before God Can you remember When you first of all Went up to the throne Of grace With a concern To get in touch With him who Reigned thereon

[23:09] As the sinner's friend And you know I have emphasised That in my ministry And you should Be able To search into Your heart And find something Regarding it If you are No more A stranger And foreigner Surely Surely You can look back And remember When you first Knocked at mercy's door When you first Stood alongside The public And God Be merciful To me A sinner When it was The truth About you Behold He pray it Which is a Wonderful mercy To be no more A stranger A foreigner To the throne Of grace Sometimes it might be In your Youthful life When you listen To the public Prayer It was as though

[24:09] You were a foreigner In listening to it You could not Enter into it But nowadays You can find An amen In your heart To many A petition Sent up Before the throne Of grace Because You're no more Strangers And foreigners To being taught To pray And when out Of the abundance Of the heart The mouth Is speaking What a fellowship There is Amongst all those Who are no more Strangers And foreigners As they are gathered Before the throne Of grace Oh there is Much value In the prayer Meeting And in the Public prayer Because Only a few Can participate Therein In praying In public But all those Who are gathered Together Desiring to Worship God Can enter

[25:09] Into it And say In their Heart And amen To the Petitions That go Up I sometimes Think That the Value Of the Prayer Meeting Has not Been realized From that Viewpoint And you Know Some of You Who sit In silence When you Get home Or before You do You find In your Hearts A well Enough You might Have dropped A tear Or two During the Public prayer Because Your heart Was wrought Upon And he Who was Addressing The majesty Of heaven Was describing You Your case Was being Detailed Although He was Telling out His own But there Was the Fellowship In it It is that Spot Where spirits Blend Yes And now It is a Great Mercy

[26:10] To find You Have got An interest In the Prayers Of the Godly And in Your heart An amen To their Petitions Now Therefore We are No more Strangers And foreigners Then There are Special Troubles That people Thought of God Are the Subject Of All arising From Soul Trouble The man In the Street Who is A world Land If he Tells You what His troubles Are They will All be To do With time And time Things He will Not make Any mention Of soul Trouble And if You should Mention Anything About it To him He will Be a Stranger A foreigner And not Understand the Language that You speak But you Being no

[27:12] More a Stranger And foreigner You will Understand some Of the Troubles That the Godly are The subjects Of Man is Born to Trouble As the Sparks Fly Upward But those Troubles That he is Born to Are common Troubles And now When a Sinner is Born again He is Born to Uncommon Troubles He now Realizes What a Trouble it Is to Be what He is By nature And he Can indeed Echo the Apostle Paul's Words So wretched Man that I am Who should Deliver Me From the Body Of this Death He is Amazed When he Looks within That he Should see What he Really is Before God As much As it Is given To a Sinner Born again To see It And he Will have A feeling Like this If I Myself Can hardly Bear What in Myself I see How Violent

[28:12] Full of Sin I Must Appear Most Holy God To Thee He Will Be no More A stranger To what That Trouble Is No More A Foreigner He Will Know This Trouble Also I Would But Cannot Pray And He Will Know This Trouble That He Can See Along Life's Way It Has Been Strown With Mercies More Than Tongue Can Tell The Psalmist Says Blessed Be God Who Daily Lordeth Us With Benefits And You Will See How God Has Lorded You And Then You Will Have The Trouble Oh For A Glance Of Heavenly Day To Take This Stubborn Stone Away Because You Want To Give On To God A

[29:12] Thanksgiving You Want To Offer On To God Thanksgiving And Yet You Have To Lament I Would Do Good But Evil Is Present With Me You Are No More A Stranger To What That Line Of Things Is And That Experience And Now You Will Be No More A Stranger Regarding The Worship Of God As To The Nature Of It You Will Be Taught Deep Down God Is A Spirit And They That Worship Him Must Worship Him In Spirit And In Truth And Whereas Before You Were Born Again You Went Up To The House Of Prayer And Every Service Was Just The Same All You Looked For Was The Amen That Ended It And Now You Go Up If So Be You Can Get In Touch With God If

[30:14] You Can Feel A Sweet Sense Of Separation From The World If You Can Feel In Your Worship It Is Good For Me To Draw Near To God Sometimes You Will Feel Like That And Say Lord It Is Good For Us To Be Here But There Will Be Many Times When You Will Feel Otherwise You Will Come And You Will Go And Your Conscience Would Tell You You Have Got Very Little If Anything At All To Show Before God That You Have Gained By Trading In Heaven's Market Place In The Worship Of God And That Will Be A Trouble To You But Before You Were Born Again You Were Altogether A Stranger To It A Foreigner You Never Entered Into It All You Wanted Was The Service To Be Ended And You Go On Your Way As Usual Now

[31:18] Therefore Hear No More Strangers And Foreigners It Is A Wonderful Mercy To Be No More A Stranger To These Peculiar Troubles Of The People Of God But There Is Another Viewpoint Of This You Will Be No More A Stranger To The Joys Of What It Is To Worship God Aright Oh There Are Peculiar Pleasures As It Were For The Peculiar People And On A Very Different Basis To What You Used To Think Pleasure Was Based Upon Until A Sinner Is Born Again He Has Only Got One Creed To Live In Accordance With Let Us Eat Drink And Be Merry In Other Words It Is To Be After The Flesh The Things Of The

[32:18] Flesh And He Is Well Content To Live Such A Life Oh But When A Sinner Is Born Again When He Is Made To Differ From The World At Large When He Is Made No More A Stranger And Foreigner But One With The People Of God He Has Got In His Heart His Conscience A Standard Of What Happiness Is Worth A Nine And It Does Not Flow From Any Earthly Source Whatever He Is Aware It Is That Which A Man Cannot Receive Except It Be Given Him From Heaven All The Happiness There Is When You Can Be Found Under The Gospel And You Can Say As You Listen To The Proclamation The But,ouv frown,

[33:20] And I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. And what happiness there is, what joy, when you are favoured to draw near to God and get answers to prayer.

[33:39] When you can say ultimately, like godly Hannah, for this child I prayed, and his name is Samuel, asked of God. The joy to echo the psalmist's words, blessed be God, for he hath heard my prayer, and hath turned away his mercy from me.

[34:01] Yes, and what joy there is, what happiness, when you see the hand of God upon you for good. When trouble comes into your life, or into the lives of those round about you, near and dear to you.

[34:17] And when that word is fulfilled, call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

[34:28] Oh, to see deliverances, to see the hand of God upon us for good along life's way. As the light shines upon the way God has led you along, it gives you unspeakable happiness to be found in that way, and to be confirmed, and he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

[34:57] There is also another happiness. Now therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but this subject goes on, but fellow citizens with the signs.

[35:12] You might not like the sound of the word saints, but it is in the word of God, it is inspired. God spake all these words, and while you might not admit that you are a saint, and yet when all is said and done, a saint is a sanctified sinner, and that is just what you want to be, as grace is given.

[35:38] A sinner set apart for God. And it says, fellow citizens with the signs. And now, when it says, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the signs, it means you are no longer like one in the home who is just a guest.

[36:09] Not a relation, but a guest. Does not have the privileges granted to all in your family circle, but when you are made no more a stranger and foreigner, but a fellow citizen, it means you have been made one of the members of the family.

[36:33] And that is how it works out in the things of God. There is a family on earth whose father fills the throne. And to belong to that family is a mercy beyond words to describe.

[36:48] You were singing about that in the opening hymn. When thou, my righteous judge, shalt come to take thy ransomed people home, shall I among them stand?

[37:00] Let us go back and weigh that thought up. How did you sing that? What I mean is this. Did your heart go with the words, and not just singing it for the sake of the tune, the good old-fashioned one?

[37:15] Was it out of the abundance of the heart the mouth was speaking? Shall I among them stand? And now, before you were born again, you sang that hymn, but you never sung it like that.

[37:32] No. You just sung it, went through it, as the words of the hymn are set for, but there was no concern whatever, to have some evidence from God that you belong to him and his people.

[37:51] But now, you are no more a stranger. Can I bear the piercing thought, what if my name should be left out, when thou for them shalt call?

[38:03] It is a great question. God only can help you, regarding the answer, shall I among them stand?

[38:15] Where do you stand among them nowadays, as you live and move, where they are? Are you no more a stranger to what they tell out, of the dealings of God, with their souls?

[38:30] Or, are you still, one having no hope, and without God in the world, and if you see people whom you know, are taught of God, you pass by on the other side of the street, not to have anything, whatever to do with them.

[38:51] Or, is this the truth? I would rather be a doorkeeper, in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

[39:04] Oh, it is a great mercy, if you find in your heart, something that is attractive, in the people of God. And that which is attractive, is what they are by the grace of God.

[39:16] Not what they are by nature. Oh, that might sometimes repel you. I'm not fitting any caps on. What they are by the grace of God, is attractive to you.

[39:28] And when they tell out, the dealings of God with their souls, it sometimes touches a chord, in your own soul's feelings. And you get this, pleasure, and a great pleasure it is, to be the subject of it.

[39:47] We know that we have passed, from death unto life, because we love the brethren. Love is the golden chain, that binds the favoured souls above, and he is the heir of heaven, who finds his bosom glow, with love.

[40:03] Now, therefore, you are no more strangers, and foreigners. But fellow citizens, with the saints, I've no time to work this out, for I must soon come for the amen.

[40:16] But, think how far-reaching this is. It does not mean, just as you gather together, week in, week out, under Union Chapel roof, where there are just a few saints, and you feel one with them, one with each other, one with God.

[40:34] But it means this, all you read about, in the word of God. Fellow citizens, with the saints. It means, that in reading the word of God, as the light shines on the sacred page, you have fellowship, with Job, or Jacob, or Jeremiah, or, with godly David, in his sweet Psalms, and, all who, have the, life they lived, recorded in some detail, in the sacred pages, as you read about it, you find your heart, flows out, to them, and you feel the unity, of the spirit.

[41:16] And that, is to be no more a stranger, and foreigner, but a fellow citizen, with, the saints. And you get this confirmation. You are followers of them, who through faith, and patience, inherit, the promises.

[41:35] And sometimes, you get a sweet assurance, about it. And you can declare, we are traveling home, to God, in the way, our fathers trod.

[41:45] They are happy now, and we hope, their happiness, to see. Yes. Just another thought. Now therefore, ye are no more strangers, and foreigners, but fellow citizens, with the saints.

[42:00] And now, let this be the crucial test, as to where you are, in the things of God. Unto you therefore, which believe, he is precious. And now what think ye of Christ?

[42:14] You know what you did think about him, and what your attitude was. Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thee, or thy ways.

[42:26] But now, you were found, knocking at mercy's door, Lord Jesus, make thyself, to me, a living, bright reality.

[42:37] And you can look round the world, in which you live and move, and you can make a confession of faith. To me, Christ is more precious, far, than life, and all its comforts are.

[42:49] And now, something has been done for you, that you could not do for yourself. You had no thought about it being done, nor did you wish it to be done, until it was done, and it was done, by the God of all grace.

[43:04] And it brings you, on the right side, of this line of demarcation, now, therefore, you are no more strangers, and foreigners, but fellow citizens, with the saints, and of the household of God.

[43:21] What a sweet, familiar picture, that is. The household of God. And Jesus Christ, is the head of it. Yes.

[43:34] And in that household of God, there are babes, young men, and fathers. People of all ages. People of every kindred, tribe, and tongue, who dwell on his name, with sweetest song.

[43:50] And it only remains to say, and do you say amen to it, if you can. With them numbered, I would be now, and in eternity.

[44:05]  Amen. Amen. Amen.