seeking once again the Lord's
gracious help to grant me the words to speak to you again.
I'd like you to turn in the chapter that we read together, Ephesians
chapter 2 and the text you'll find in verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Those of you who have been here
over the last three services as we have met together will
have noticed that we have been speaking about blood. The first week ago today we spoke
of Solomon as he dedicated the temple to the Lord and those
amount of animals that were slain there on that day and the the
way in which he dug out a pit in the centre of the court to
hold all the sacrifices that he was offering. And we noticed
there that not one of those sacrifices was able to do away with sin. but they merely pointed to the
greater sacrifice which was the Lord Jesus Christ who was going
to come as the perfect Lamb of God to take away the sin of the
world. And then we looked at that the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, shall cleanse us from
all of our sin and that his perfect life, his perfect obedience to
the law of God made him the perfect sacrifice having fulfilled the
law in every line and every dot and as he laid down his life
upon the cross at Calvary that sin was imputed to him and he
was punished for the sins of his people and he gave up and
the ghost he died upon the cross but rose again the third day
triumphant over death and over having won a great victory over
sin. And then we saw in the book of
Exodus that the children of Israel were taken captive into Egypt. And as they multiplied and grew,
then God raised up Moses to be their deliverer. and the 10 plagues
that took place, and the last plague which was the death of
the firstborn. And the only place of safety
within the whole of the land of Egypt was to be found sheltering
underneath the blood. And the scripture tells us, and
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And so it was
that judgment had fallen already, death had already come to the
lamb and that was symbolized or shown by placing the blood
upon the doorposts and how they had to obey. It was laid down
to Moses by God. Moses told the people, this is
what you want to do. This is what is going to happen.
And the only way of safety is for you to take a lamb, perfect,
of the first year, to slaughter it and to put its blood over
the doorpost and then to enter into the house and to wait. And we noticed at midnight the
destroyer passed over. And as he looked down, as he
viewed the blood, then he passed over that home. And those within
that house were safe. And as he came to a house of
no blood, then judgment fell upon that house. And we noticed
then that that would be like that great day of judgment. that
the last day when the Lord Jesus Christ will come again and there
will be that judgment taking place and the only place of safety
will be blood. Sheltering under the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ, having that blood applied or his perfect
obedience applied to our lives. It is only then that judgment
will be enabled to pass over because Judgment would have already
fallen upon the Lord Jesus Christ and his people will go free. God's law will be satisfied because
death has been administered and judgment has fallen upon the
Lord Jesus and so as he died for his people So the blood is
applied and credited to their account. They are justified in
the sight of a holy God. There is no more sin to be found
upon their slate. And they have the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ imputed to them. And when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. And so we come then to another
text. about the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ and as we think about the whole Word of God it goes
from the beginning pointing to the Lord Jesus, that
perfect sacrifice. And once he has come in the Gospels
and we read about his perfect obedience, his sinless life,
his dying upon the cross, his rising again and ascending up
into heaven, there is the centre stage everything pointing to Christ
and in the New Testament is everything is pointing back to that perfect
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and so it's ever to be at the
forefront of the believers' minds the death and the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus. That is why we have baptism which
symbolises, as we read in the scripture, death. The Christ's
death laying into the grave and rising again triumphant over
the grave. And the believer following Christ,
dying to the old self and rising again in newness of life. then
we have the Lord's Supper. This is due in remembrance of
me, always bringing our minds, our focus to the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so the scripture from Genesis
to Revelation is Christ and Christ crucified and Christ triumphant,
risen, ascended up into glory. But the apostle writes some very
challenging truths about the condition of people prior to
their salvation or the condition of those who are outside of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't beat around the bush
as it were with woke language or with unoffensive language
which is so rife in our modern society it goes straight to the
point. He says this is what you are,
this is what you were and this is what you have become in Christ
Jesus. He says but now in Christ Jesus,
ye who sometimes were afar off. So he puts the word but and so
before that he's been explaining this is what your condition was
or this is what your condition is outside of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We know by our nature as we have
looked at time and time again we are sinful. But that is just
an umbrella word which covers a multitude of things. Sin has had a great effect upon
our relationship with God. In fact it has rendered us having
no relationship whatsoever with God outside of Christ. The scripture
tells us as we've read together, he says, and you has he quickened
who are dead in trespasses and sins. That is what you were outside
of Christ. You are dead. Dead in trespasses
and sins. We know someone who trespasses
they are stepping on land that is not theirs. It can also be
said that they have side slipped into rebellion against God. They've stepped over the line. God has placed a line and says
this is what I expect. And we say, no, I'm going to
do what I want to do. And we step over the line in
rebellion against God. And that brings about hostility,
friction, a rejection. Even you children or even we
will remember when we were children, if we disobeyed our parents,
it would bring hostility. would bring about some distance
until there was reconciliation. And so sin, bad behaviour and
such like brings a parting of ways. And that it is how we are
by our birth as we are born into this world. We are dead, as we
said on Sunday, three times dead. spiritually we will be physically
and then eternally dead and we were dead in trespasses and sins
so we know that all sin is against God it is an offence to him. He has set the law as the lawmaker
and yet we step over that boundary and we slide in rebellion against
him. We say we will not have this
God to reign over us. We will do what we want to do. And so the apostle puts it straight.
He goes straight to the point. Children of the darkness. Verse 2, where in times past
you walked according to the course of this world. According to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. In the darkness, the kingdom
of darkness, Satan the prince of the ruler of this world. walking in disobedience, not
in disobedience to Satan, but in disobedience to God. Know
that Satan's delight is to draw as many people as possible away
from the truth. He is the father of lies and
those who follow him are walking in lies and walking in disobedience
to God. Verse 12. that at that time he were without
Christ. That is the condition of the
unbeliever. They're without Christ. They
are separated from him. They are without any of his benefits. The benefits that he brings,
fellowship and communion with the Father, they are without
Christ and they are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. They're
outside of Israel, outside of the church, strangers to the
covenants of promise and having no hope and without God in the
world. No hope. no hope in and for eternity. Although their lives may look
smooth, although their lives they may have everything that
they desire, yet at the end when their breath ceases, when their
heart stops beating, when their body is laid in the grave there
is no hope for them. Why? because they are outside
of Christ. They are still dead in their
sins. They're still walking in disobedience
to God. They are still without Christ. They are a stranger to God and
they have no hope and they are without God in the world. We
say He's cutting it straight. He's saying exactly how it is. He's not beating around the bush.
He's saying this is how you are by your nature. This is how you
are outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have no hope whatsoever. When you die, you'll be lost
for all eternity. But then he says, but now in Christ Jesus. Ye who sometimes were afar off
are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Think of the condition, those
who have been converted, think of your mindset, your condition
before you were saved. and you can say amen to everything
that the Apostle has said and you can say it's totally true,
I was like that. But God did something, God showed
me grace. Although his law said death,
although his law said you deserve hell, although his law said condemn,
condemn, condemn, yet he looked with grace and mercy upon me. And so we have like the law,
Then we have the wonderful gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
Christ we are able to be made near to God. Look back at Solomon. Think of all that had to take
place for that reconciliation to take place. Look at that distance that they
always felt. There was always a bloodshed
between us and God. Always, God is holy and we are
sinful and there's no way in which we can get from here to
him without going through the slaughtering and the high priest
and such like. And so there is that sin has
separated us from God. But through Christ there is a
bringing near, a reconciliation as sin is removed and dealt with
at the cross. So there is that bringing nigh,
bringing near in Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
from verse 20 to 22. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since
by man came death, the Adam, as our head, our representative. As he sinned the whole human
race, all of his children fell with him and death reigned from
Adam. Since by man death came, by man
came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive that is all
of those who are in Christ and so as Christ is born into this
world he's carrying as it were a people he is living for a people
And he's living a life that they could not live. They were rebellious,
in the darkness, unable to please God, lawbreakers, yet Christ
carried them through in complete obedience to the law. And he dies for them. He pays
the punishment for their sin. He pays their debt which they
owed to God, which is death. the eternal wrath of God. He pays that upon the cross,
that they are in him while it is being taken place. He's doing
it for them. And as he cries, it is finished.
All of that anger of God was poured out and completed upon
his son. That transaction that was taken
place, that took place. He's laid in the grave and he
rises again in newness of life as the first fruit to give them
hope that this is what is going to take place. But as we said
the other day that these things had to literally take place because
the sin that we owe is literal sin that we have sinned against
God. The debt we owe to God is a literal debt And it must literally
be paid. I said, didn't I, about the monopoly
money. You can't go and pay your fines with monopoly money. It
must be the real stuff. And so God will not be satisfied
with anything other than perfect obedience to his law and a perfect
sacrifice in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else
falls completely short. is insufficient. Our real sin
needs a real payment and even Christ pays it or you pay it. Christ pays it on the cross or
you pay it for all eternity. In Christ Jesus, his people were
in him as the wrath of God is laid upon him. But now in Christ Jesus, his
people are found in him. They are part of him. He is the
head. They are the body. He is the foundation. They are
the stones laid upon that foundation. Mark 15 is when Jesus cries out upon the cross. Mark
15 verses 34. And it was the ninth hour when
Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli Lama Thabacthani,
which is being interpreted, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? And so as we see here, but now
in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ Christ who was who was always near and always
with the Father yet upon the cross The father withdraws his
presence and causes his son to cry out, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? And so is that as Christ or God
withdraws himself from the son, he does so to draw his people
nearer to the father. For it's the blood of Christ
that brings about reconciliation yet through the sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus the Father and Son are as it were distanced
as God looks upon his Son as the perfect sacrifice for sinners. Something that will never ever
happen to a believer. is that they will be separated
from Christ. Yet Christ was separated from
the Father, forsaken of the Father for them. The believer will never
ever be forsaken of God because Christ was forsaken of God for
them. He brought them near. because he was forsaken. In 2nd Corinthians it tells us
in chapter 5 from verse 18. And all things are
of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Christ Jesus and
has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. All things
are of God who hath reconciled us to himself. How did he do
it? By Christ Jesus. You who were
sometimes afar off are made nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Reconciliation is bringing together to it that God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their
trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the
word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for
Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's
stead be reconciled to God. he hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him.' And so there we see at the cross reconciliation,
God in Christ reconciling sinners to himself not imputing their
sin to them. but in giving it to his Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin. And there as God looks down upon
the Son and as we look towards the Lord Jesus Christ, that great
transaction takes place. Faith lays hold of the perfect
sacrifice of God and our sin is wiped away. because of the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, that life,
perfect life shed upon the cross at Calvary. This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased, he says. And so we are then given
that ministry. the ministry of the gospel that
may be preached and proclaimed, that people may hear and also,
by the Spirit's working, be reconciled to God. He has given us that
ministry of reconciliation. I beseech you, he says. I beg
you, in Christ's stead, you be reconciled to God. He's not speaking
to believers there. because believers are already
reconciled to God and they don't have to be re-reconciled to God.
He is speaking to those who are still in their sin and separated
from God and he's saying, I beg you, listen to what I am saying. Turn from your sin and look to
the Lord Jesus Christ. I beg you in Christ's name, he
says, be reconciled to God. Because at this moment in time,
at this moment in time you are afar off, you are in the darkness,
you are dead in your sin but now in Christ Jesus ye who were
sometimes afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ not by
works of righteousness which we have done but by the perfect
obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ We are made near, we are able
to come near to God. And surely that brings then great
benefits. You see if you've walked in service
to Satan, as a slave to Satan for so many years, walking in
the darkness, and then you come to a knowledge of the truth,
your eyes are opened, your ears are unstopped, you're now in
the narrow way that leads to life, are now near God. You were once far away from God,
now you are near God and so that brings great benefits to the
believer, eternal benefits. The unbeliever is without hope
but the believer has hope. They have a hope in Christ that
one day they will be with him forever. eternal life that lived
in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ and they are eternal promises
and it brings about an eternal reconciliation with God. Once
that transaction has taken place faith lays hold of the promises
of God and Christ's perfect obedience and his blood we could say is
credited to your account. That reconciliation is an eternal
reconciliation. God will never ever leave his
people. Once he is your father, you will
never ever again become an orphan. Once Christ is your brother,
you will never ever become outside of that family relationship. by his perfect obedience we are
made nigh. Verse four it says but God who
is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even
when we were dead in sins he has quickened us together with
Christ by grace are you saved even when you were dead in your
sin made alive. We're physically alive, we're
spiritually dead but Christ gives us spiritual life to enable us
to believe and trust in him with eternal life. So we are quickened
as Lazarus was called out of the grave, Lazarus come forth
to so Christ calls out his people come forth you who are dead come
forth and it is quickening making alive walking together with Christ. Verse 14 he says for he is our
peace 14 to 15 speaks of the Jew and the
Gentile being brought together. There's a peace between them. There's a oneness that the Jew
and the Gentile look to the Lord Jesus Christ. The middle wall
that was there in the old covenant is broken down and they are both
enabled to believe and trust in the Lord Jesus. that he has
made both one man, that is Jew and Gentile, brought together
focusing upon the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no middle wall
of petition anymore. In verse 16 it says that he might
reconcile both, that is Jew and Gentile, unto God in one body
by the cross having slain the enmity thereby. Reconciliation. Separation because of sin. Sin
is removed and paid for in Christ Jesus. Therefore there is that
reconciliation between sinner and creator through Christ Jesus. One unto God. By the cross having
slain the enmity thereby the hatred the hostility that was
there because of sin. as it's dealt with in Christ,
as sin is removed, there's peace that comes. Where there was once
hostility and hatred and a rejection and separation, and there is
a peace. Those who have known conviction
of sin and walked maybe some for years under conviction of
sin, and there's no peace, just turmoil. But then the time comes when
the scripture is applied, and the promise received, and faith
lays hold, and a peace floods in. Loved with an everlasting
love, you are my child. Peace comes, peace in the midst
of turmoil, Verse 20 says we are built upon
the foundation of the apostle and prophet Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone. We know that Jesus tells the
parable of the wise man that built his house upon the rock
and so as he reconciles sinners unto himself There is a grounding,
a security that is found on the rock which is himself, the foundation,
his teachings and he himself being the cornerstone holding
them together. And so for the child of God there
is a security, a steadfastness, something of a rock in which
they can lay hold of. Look at the world that we live
in. They've removed the scripture. They have no basis for anything
that they believe now. They just do what everybody else
does. Everyone does what is right in
their own eyes. There's no grounding. There's
no rock. There's no foundation of truth. But the believer has a foundation
of truth in Christ Jesus, in his holy word. And so there is
that peace, there is that steadfastness, there's that security, but also
access to God. You see, outside of Christ, there's
no access to God. Jesus says, no man comes to the
Father, but they go through me. He is the only way to God. And
the only way that a sinful person can come to the Father is through
Christ having their sin removed. Only then can they access a holy,
holy, holy God. Through Him we have access by
one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, unto the Father. There's no other
way to come to God except to go through the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe you pray. Maybe you don't know whether
you're saved or not. Why do you pray? Who do you pray
to? If you believe that God can answer
your prayers, why pray? Why would he listen to you? You're
a sinner. You don't deserve him to answer
you. He is holy. Why are you asking him about
day-to-day things? Why are you asking him for his
help, for his guidance? Why don't you ask him about your
sin? You see, if you've have a concern
to know and to do the will of God, yet you don't know the Lord
Jesus Christ has your Saviour, then it's all back to front.
You've got to know Him who is life eternal first, Christ, before
you can have access to God the Father. And if you come to God,
if you come to Christ, then surely you believe in Him. Why do you
pray if you don't believe? The scripture says, he who comes
to God must believe that he is. And so as you come to pray, you
believe. You believe that God can hear.
You believe he can answer. But he can only do so through
the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are seen in the Lord Jesus
Christ, it is only then that God will ever, only ever do anything
for anybody and that would be through the Lord Jesus. Otherwise your sin is a barrier. You're in the darkness, you're
separated. That must be removed and that can only be removed
in Christ Jesus to give you free access to God the Father through
the great high priest of the Lord Jesus Christ. He brings
us into the household of God. You who are once strangers and
foreigners but now fellow citizens with the saints and of the household
of God. What Christ has done as he saves
his lost sheep he brings them into the sheepfold, as he saves
the lost children he brings them into the family, he adopts them
into his family and they are no longer strangers and foreigners
They're no longer people who belong to the kingdom of darkness
but they are now fellow citizens with Christ and God in the kingdom
of light and part of his family. He doesn't
just bring you into the kingdom, he brings you into the family
of God which is the church of God. all believers in all places,
all those in Christ. They are his body. They are his
brethren. They are fellow citizens. They
are heirs of the kingdom of God. They are part of the spiritual
building that is being built up. But now in Christ Jesus ye who
were sometimes far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ for
he is our peace who has made both one and has broken down
the middle wall of partition between us. So it's only Christ
Christ is the centre of the whole Scriptures. Christ is the centre
of the Gospel. The Scripture says if Christ
be lifted up he will draw all men to himself as ambassadors
of Christ. As Paul says, we beseech you
in Christ's stead be reconciled to God. And that reconciliation
can only come about through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
upon the cross as he laid down his life as a ransom, as a payment
for sinners. As that sin is dealt with upon
the cross, the wrath of God, the eternal wrath of God poured
out upon his son in those three hours. dealt with, finished,
it is finished and he gives up the ghost. He is the Lamb of
God that takes away the sin of the world and may each of us
here this night have an interest in that blood, not just be content
to be in the darkness, be content to be on the sideline, be content
to know little things about the Lord Jesus Christ but to know
him, a personal relationship with
him. Have his blood credited to your
account that your sins, which are so many, may be remembered
no more and cast behind his back and brought in instead of being
an enemy of God. to be brought in to have fellowship
and reconciliation with God and to be founded upon the truths
of the Holy Word, grounded in Christ Jesus, grounded in the
Word, fixed upon the rock, which is forever sure, which will carry
us through to even eternity. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
were sometimes afar off are made nigh, not by works, by going
to chapel but by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. May the Lord help us as we sing
for our closing hymn, hymn number 176 from Hymns of Worship. Abide
with me, fast falls the even tide. The darkness deepens, Lord
with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts
flee, help of the helpless, O abide with me. Hymn number 176 from
Hymns of Worship to the tune 758. ? Alight with me ? ? Fast for singing
and time ? ? As God with me abides ? ? When
all the helpless fail and comforts flee ? ? Help of the helpless,
O abide with me ? As joys grow dim, its glories
pass away. Change and decay in all around
I see. O Thou who changest not, abide
with thy presence every passing hour. What but thy grace can foil the
tempter's plan? ? My guidance they can be ? ? Through
cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me ? ? I fear no foe, with Thee at my
side ? Where is destiny? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, hither, abidingly. I shall live all my closing hours. ? Where the blue man points me
to the sky ? ? And morning breaks endlessly, jealously ? ? In life,
in death alone, abide with me ? Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
for that work of reconciliation that Thou didst do through Thy
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee that we have access
unto Thee, our Creator, our Father that is in heaven, and we pray,
Lord, that Thou work in our lives, that we may be enabled to lay
hold of Thy Son, the Lord Jesus, and that the promises of Thy
Word may be ours, that our sins which are so many may be remembered
no more. We pray Lord that thy word may
be applied to our lives and that we may act in faith and obedience
to the commands of thy holy word and do be with us now we pray
as we part from each other do watch over us on the roads and
do return us here on thy day in peace and in safety bless
our brothers David as he ministers do watch over him lord we pray
and do help each and every one. Now may the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, do rest and abide with
us each now and for evermore. Amen.