Ephesians chapter 2. We'll just
read verse 19 here. Now therefore, ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints. fellow citizens with the saints. Every redeemed, born-again believer,
every born-again, blood-bought believer, together with every
other saint, is a fellow citizen of heavenly Jerusalem. were fellow citizens of the same
city. And that city is heavenly Jerusalem. Now the Ephesian believers, they
were once dead. They were dead in sins. And at
that time, they were strangers and foreigners to God. They were
without Christ. They were aliens from God's elect
in Israel. They were strangers to the gospel
of Christ. They had no hope of any salvation
from God and they were without God in the world. Now, brethren,
that was the case with us. That was the case with every
one of us because we were born in Adam. And that's the case
of every sinner in this world who has not been regenerated
by the Holy Spirit and given faith in Christ. That's true
of some here that have not been called by God and believe on
Christ. But now, here, these Ephesian
believers, that was not the case with them any longer. And brethren,
that's not the case with us any longer. Verse 13 says, Now in
Christ Jesus you who were sometimes far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ. It means that Christ Jesus reconciled
all God's elect to God by His blood. Whenever Christ came and
He went to the cross and He was made sin for His people, Christ
made God's elect one with God. And He made us one with our brethren. by fulfilling the law. Adam broke
the law and he made us to be divided from God and from our
brethren. The last Adam, Christ came and
he fulfilled the law and he reconciled all his people to God and he
reconciled all of God's elect to each other. in that one body
on the cross, what He did. But in order for us to know this
good news and rejoice in this good news, Christ had to come
and preach this gospel to us through one of His preachers.
And so, that's what He did. He did that to these Ephesian
believers through Paul. He sent Paul to them. Christ
preached peace to us. He came and preached that He
is our peace. That's what he did. That's my
message to you. That's what I'm preaching to
you now. That's what I preach to you all the time. Christ is
our peace. He's our peace with God. He's
our peace with one another. And Christ came in person and
he preached this peace to those in Israel, in Jerusalem. And
then when he went to the cross and after he arose from the dead
and ascended, he turned his hand a second time and he began preaching
this first in Jerusalem to his elect in the Jews that were near
in Jerusalem in political Israel. He first started there and then
He sent Paul to the Gentiles and he started preaching there.
And he provoked many in Israel to jealousy and called many at
that time because they saw. Peter said, I went down to a
man's house that was a Gentile and preached the gospel and God
poured out the Holy Spirit on them. And they said, then God
has granted repentance to the Gentiles too. And they were called
out. And so, as that gospel was preached,
As it was preached, this is what happens. Christ prayed the Father,
the Father sent forth the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit regenerated
each and every one of us who believed. And Christ granted
us repentance. He changed our mind. That's what
He did. He taught us we were sinners.
and convinced us of it. We didn't think it before. He
changed our mind. That's what repentance is. And
he taught us that our works were vain. There was no way we were
coming to God by anything we'd ever done or would ever do. And
He taught us that God is holy and He won't receive us by anything
we've done. And He taught us Christ is the
only way to God. He convinced us of that. He changed
our minds from thinking opposite to all those things and made
us believe that was so. And He granted us faith and we
believed on Christ. And so, with that being the case,
now, by this work of the triune God, every believer has access
to God our Father. Look at verse 18. For through
Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now,
therefore, because this has been done, you are no more strangers
and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints. Through God's
grace, every blood-bought, born-again child of God, along with every
other believer, is a saint and is a fellow citizen of heavenly
Jerusalem. Now here's the first thing we
understand from this. The first thing we get from this
is this. Spiritually, every saint of God is no longer in bondage
to earthly Jerusalem. Now, why do I say it like that?
What do I mean by that? I showed you that allegory that
Paul gave over there in Galatians 4, and when he gave that allegory,
he said, Hagar and Ishmael are a picture of somebody that's
born of the flesh, and they're trying to come to God by their
works, and they think God's going to receive them by their works,
and they're in bondage. And when he finished saying that,
he said, Jerusalem, which now is, is in bondage with her children. Jerusalem below, Jerusalem in
the earth, Jerusalem over there in Israel, he said right now
is in bondage with all her children. Here's what he's saying to us.
Jerusalem below in earthly Mount Zion in political Israel stands
for every unregenerate will worker who rejects the truth that Christ
is the end of the law and that he is the righteousness of everyone
that believes. Every person who insists that
they are justified and made righteous or that they're sanctified by
their obedience, by their will, under the law, that person is
doing what those vain priests were doing in Jerusalem that's
spoken of over in Hebrews 10 and 11. He said every priest
is standing daily right now. And they're offering oftentimes
the very same sacrifices, all those old sacrifices, they're
still offering them, which can never take away sin. Even after
Christ had come, after Christ had come and preached the gospel
to them, they still were doing that. We were once in that bondage. We were in that very bondage.
We were citizens of Jerusalem below. That's what we were. But
now, Now, because of this grace, because of what God's done with
men, try to bring us back under the rule of the law. Now, this
is what the believer says. We say this with Paul. God forbid
that I should glory. And that's what men are doing
when they're trying to bring you back under the law. God forbid
that I should glory. Save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world. And he said, for in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision. It doesn't
matter if you're circumcised or uncircumcised, if you were
raised under the law or you never had the law of God. If you were
a Jew in Israel or you were a Gentile that never was in Israel and
never was under the law. It doesn't matter if you were
raised in church or raised outside of church. None of that matters.
Here's what matters. Being made a new creature. Christ
having purged you by His blood and you being made a new creature
in Christ by the new birth, by regeneration. That's what matters.
That person has been brought to cast all their care on Christ
and rest in Christ and they're holy and righteous in Christ
Jesus. That's all that matters. And Paul said now, you want to
talk about a rule to walk by, he said as many as walk by that
rule. By that rule. Peace be on them
and mercy and upon the Israel of God. That's the true Israel
of God who walks by that rule. Alright, now that's the first
thing we see. We're no longer in bondage in Jerusalem. Now
here's the second thing. All God's saints are citizens
of heavenly Jerusalem. After Paul said that about Jerusalem
below, he said, but Jerusalem which is above is the mother
of us all. Jerusalem which is above. That's
what our text tells us. Our text says, you're no more
strangers and foreigners, you're fellow citizens with the saints. Now turn to Philippians chapter
3. Philippians chapter 3. Just a few pages to your right
there, Willie boy. Philippians chapter 3. Now this is very important. Now
listen to me before I get here to Philippians 3 while you're
turning there. We saw this on Sunday. And this is what we need
to give. We're going to try to develop
this for you and we'll get this point. In that earthly temple,
in that earthly tabernacle, in that holy of holies, above that
mercy seat, above that ark, God's presence was really there. He
was really there. The Shekinah glory. That's why
whenever David would be away from Jerusalem, isolated, exiled
from Jerusalem, he longed to get back to that place because
God's presence was there. And therefore, earthly Jerusalem
and earthly Mount Zion and earthly Israel was a special city, a
special place, a special nation under the old covenant of works.
It was because God's presence was there. But when Christ came,
all of that pictured something better, better, better, better.
That's what Hebrew, the whole book of Hebrews tells us. All
of that pictured something extremely better. A better priest, a better
lamb, a better temple, a better holy place, better, better, better,
better covenant, everything better. That's what it pictured. And
Christ came and when he fulfilled the law on the cross and he said
it's finished, that villain, that temple ran into and when
it opened up, guess what? There was no ark in there. God's
presence had not been in that temple since Solomon's first
temple was destroyed. When they built the second one,
he never was in that temple. And he said in Haggai, he said,
my glory won't be in this temple until Christ comes and steps
foot in it. Because he's the one that pictured it. And God,
John came preaching and he said, God has laid the axe to the root
of political Israel. He's chopping it down now. And
Jerusalem was destroyed by God using Rome. That city was wiped
off the map and that temple was literally destroyed. Christ stood
there and looked at that place and he said, your house is left
unto you desolate. Christ had come. Now listen to
this, this is very important. I want you to get this. When
Christ came the first time, they were all looking for an earthly
kingdom, an earthly tabernacle. They thought Israel was important
because they were Israel. Jerusalem was important because
it was their city. All of these earthly things they
looked at and thought, we're somebody because we got all this.
And they missed the fact that Christ was the picture of all
of it. And he came and told them that. He came and preached that
he's the end of the law and the prophets. I came to fulfill all
this, he said. And yet men were looking for
an earthly kingdom. And even after Christ was crucified
and raised from the dead, he turned his hand again and started
preaching it. And they still went on, after
seeing that veil rent in two, they still went on worshiping
in that temple. were with no glory of God there,
no presence of God there, even in any of it, and they did it
until God himself sent Roman there and wiped the whole city
off the map. They rebuilt it. God said they
would. And Isaiah, he said, they're
going to rebuild it, I'm going to throw it down again. But now
listen, brethren, here's what I want you to understand. That's
going to happen again. But this time it's going to happen
with the whole world. And men are going to be looking for the
same thing. Men are hearing the gospel now. And men are still
looking for an earthly temple, an earthly kingdom. Men are still
trying to raise that law back up and put believers under the
law. They're still trying to make
a distinction between Jew and Gentile and say there's something
important about Israel, there's something important about Jerusalem
and all that. And it's over! That's over! The real thing has
come. Now, brethren, now Christ our
Ark, our mercy seat, has redeemed us and He's entered into the
true holies of holies, into God's presence, and He's there with
His own blood making intercession for His saints continually. That's
where He is. So the Jerusalem of which every
saint is a citizen, we're fellow citizens with the saints, and
the city that we're fellow citizens in is heavenly Jerusalem. Paul said, Jerusalem which is
above is free, which is the mother of us all. So, what do we do
now as believers? Since we have this spiritual
understanding that God has taught us, what do we do? We do not
look back to the old. We don't look back to Jerusalem. We don't look back to Israel.
We do not look back to the law. We do not in any way try to build
up those walls again. Instead, we look forward to the
new. Look here now. Philippians 3.13
Paul had talked about how he was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was
a Pharisee of Pharisee. He was of the tribe of Benjamin.
And he said, in all of that, now listen to what he said, all
of that, I count it dung, he said. And here's what he said,
verse 13. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind. Forgetting those things which
are behind. and reaching forth, forward, unto those things which
are before, I press toward the mark for the prize, this is what
he's pressing toward, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. That day when God calls me home
to my heavenly Jerusalem. That's what I'm pressing toward.
Why? Look at verse 20. for our conversation. The word conversation means citizenship. Our citizenship is in heaven. From whence also we look for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. He's
done that in our spirit. He's going to do it in our body.
Make it glorious according to the working whereby he's able
even to subdue all things to himself. Now look at Revelation
21. Revelation 21. Go to the very back, Willie boy,
and then go to chapter 21. Alright, John was shown our holy
city. Now watch this. You're going
to like this. He was shown our holy city, and this is how we
learn about what heavenly Jerusalem really is. Verse 10. He says, He carried me away in
the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great
city. This city is great. The holy
Jerusalem. This city is holy. Descending
out of heaven from God. That's where this city is going
to come from. Out of heaven from God. Now that's what the city
is. Alright, now listen. The glory
of our city is the glory of God. Look at verse 11. Having the
glory of God and her light was like unto a stone most precious,
even like a jasper stone clear as crystal, like a diamond. Like
a diamond. You see, Everything about this
city has been made by the glory of God. It's been made the glory
of God. So everything about this city
is God's glory. Okay? That's the light of it.
It's like a precious stone, this city is. Okay? Now look here.
Then he goes on. I'm not going to read all this.
We're going to look at this another time in depth. But he's describing
the walls and the foundation and he's talking about all these
different kinds of precious stones. that's in this foundation and
in these walls. And then he says this in verse
22, And I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb are the temple of it. You see, we worship in spirit.
Our God is the spirit. And so He's the temple and Christ
the Lamb is the temple of that place. Now listen to this. In
Ephesians 2, like I said, we're going to look at this again next
time in more depth. But in Ephesians 2, in the next
verses after our text, it says that we saints are living stones. We've been built up the house.
We're the house. We're the city. And so, and it
says that the apostles and prophets are the foundation. And it says
that Christ is the chief cornerstone. He's the chief foundation. And
he says that we're a holy temple in the Lord. He says here the
Lord's the temple. And then he says we're the temple
of the Lord. And he says we're a habitation
of God through the Spirit. And so what I'm trying to tell
you is the city that we're talking about, all the precious stones
that are described here, is Christ and his people. who have been
made precious and glorious by being made the glory of God because
we've seen Him as He is and we'll be made like Him. And so, this
temple is Christ in His people and His people in Him and this
city is made up of His people. When He describes the walls and
the foundations and all, He's just describing us something
so we can get a picture in our minds of what it is, but it's
his people. It's his people. And then, this
is the next thing we see. Therefore, the only ones that's
going to enter this city are those that God elected unto salvation. He wrote their names in the Lamb's
Book of Life. And everybody that he wrote their names in the Lamb's
Book of Life, Christ came and redeemed them, and washed them,
and made them these precious stones by his blood. And the
Spirit of God regenerates every one of them and creates them
anew in righteousness and true holiness so they can enter into
this city. And he's going to change our
vile bodies so it'll be glorious like his so we can enter in this
city. And here's why he does that. Look at verse 27. There
shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth. Neither whatsoever worketh abomination,
or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book
of life. Alright, turn to 2 Peter chapter
3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Now, this present heaven and
earth, this universe and this earth right now and all unregenerate
men and women whether they're in religion or not and all the
works that they've done in just building temporal things as well
as in their religious works all the heavens and earth all unregenerate
men all their works everything about heaven and earth and everything
in it is under the curse of Adam. It came under the curse. God
told Adam, Cursed is the ground for your sake. Romans 8 says,
The whole creation groaneth because of Adam's sin. Everything is
under the curse. And so, everything around us,
all unregenerate men, all their works, heaven and earth, everything,
it will be burned up. in the day of judgment when Christ
returns. But that new heaven and that
new earth, that heavenly Jerusalem that's going to come down from
God out of heaven, it's comprised of every saint that Christ has
made by His blood and by the Holy Spirit so that they're perfectly
as righteous as God is righteous. And so therefore, they're going
to all be perfectly righteous, and everything that is comprised
and makes up that city will be righteous, and it's all going
to remain, eternally remain. People say, I believe in a literal
interpretation of the Scriptures. Well, I do too. But the fact
is, what I'm telling you here is the literal. This is the real
thing. But looking at that Jerusalem
over there, and that Israel over there, that's not the reality.
That's not the literal. No, this is the literal. This
is the literal. This is the real thing. Look
here now, 2 Peter 3.10. The day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat. The earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up, seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved. Dissolved. What manner of persons
ought you to be in all holy conversation in godliness? Looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens,
being on fire, shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Do you see that? This new heaven
and new earth wherein dwells righteousness is going to all
be the work of Christ Jesus our mediator. So, it's going to remain. Alright, now go to Hebrews 12.
Hebrews 12. And we're members right now,
brethren, of this heavenly city. You've been made righteous in
Christ. We're members of this city now,
right now. Now look at this, Hebrews 12,
18. For you're not come unto the mount that might be touched.
Now here he's talking about Mount Sinai and he describes Mount
Sinai, but listen to me. Our heavenly city, Hebrews 12. Our city, our heavenly city,
our heavenly mountain, it cannot be touched with man's hands.
It's not an earthly kingdom. Now look at verse 22. But you
come unto Mount Zion. unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem." You see, all that earthly Mount Zion,
that earthly Jerusalem, it was a picture of the heavenly Jerusalem,
the heavenly Mount Zion. And you've come to an innumerable
company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven. Everybody in this church is a
firstborn child. Everybody, every saint of God
is a firstborn child. In Christ, the firstborn. And
our names are written in heaven. In heaven. And we've come to
God the judge of all. And to the spirits of just men
made perfect. That's men that are already there.
Saints of the past that are already there. That's where we've come
to. This is the city. We're fellow citizens with them
in this city. And we've come to Jesus, the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaks better things than that of Abel. That means his
blood speaks better things than any blood shed from Abel all
the way through the old covenant. That only pictured him. Now here's
what he says. Now listen to this. Verse 25.
See that you refuse not him that speaketh. How do I refuse him
that speaks? How did they refuse him when
he spoke, when he walked this earth? He said, don't think that
because you're Abraham's children that you're the elect children
of God. And they said, well we're sons of Abraham. We've never
been in bondage to any man. They refused him. Don't ever
think, don't ever think that you're saved because of who your
mother and father are, or you're in this church or that church,
or because you're in this nation or that nation, or any other
earthy thing. How else did they refuse him?
He told them. He said, all the law and all
the prophets spoke of me. They all were pointing to me.
They were all, everything that was written. He said, he told
them, I'm the high priest. And they said, we don't want
you as our high priest. We want an earthy high priest.
They rejected him. Men today are refusing Him because
they're looking to preachers, they're looking to priests, they're
looking to earthy people, and the earthy priests and preachers
want to be priests. They want you to come to them
instead of going to God. They start you out telling you,
come down the aisle and come down here to where I am. Don't
come to where I am, go to where He is. How else did they refuse
him? He said, this house is going
to be left desolate. He said, I would have gathered
you as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you would
not, he said. And this house is going to be
left desolate. You see all these buildings and all this stuff,
there won't be one stone left here. And they said, we wish
we could get him nailed to that cross so we can get him down
and not break the Sabbath and go back to doing our phony religion.
I'm telling you something, this world and everything in it, just
like He destroyed that little place over there in the Middle
East, He's going to destroy this whole world that way when He
comes back. Nothing in this earth will avail
us of anything. See that you refuse not Him that
speaketh. Now look at this, verse 25. For
if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on the earth.
Did they escape? No. He destroyed that city. He did just what He said. They
did not escape Him. What He told them on earth, He
brought to pass on earth. Much more shall not we escape
if we turn away from Him that's now speaking from heaven. You
see, he's speaking from heaven now, whose voice then shook the
earth. That's all he did then. He shook
the earth. When he sent the Roman there
and destroyed them, all he did was shake the earth. He says,
but now he's promising yet once more, I shake not the earth only,
but also heaven. And this word, yet once more,
it signifies the removing of those things that are shaken
as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be
shaken may remain. In other words, I just showed
you in 2 Peter 3, everything that is under the curse, everything,
all unregenerate men, all their works, all their mighty deeds
in religion, all that, when they say, didn't we do many wonderful
works? All that is going to be shaken. It's going to be cast
out. But what can't be shaken is what
Christ has established, the firm foundation that can't be moved. And he says here, Wherefore,
verse 28, We, receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us
have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. You see, brethren, our citizenship
is in heaven. It's in heaven. Every saint made
righteous by Christ's blood, created in righteousness and
true holiness by the Holy Spirit in regeneration, makes up this
city. We are the city. If you take
everybody out of a city, you don't have a city anymore. The
people make up the city, even in earth. Well, his people, his
saints, make up this heavenly city. And since we're the work
of Christ's hands, heavenly Jerusalem shall be all righteous and shall
remain forever. Now this is the kingdom we have
received. We're not waiting to receive
it. We've received it. We're reigning with Christ right
now as kings and priests on this earth. Right now. We are. And
it's only going to get better. Having this good news, brethren,
that we are now fellow citizens with the saints of heavenly Jerusalem,
and knowing that all this world and all vain works are going
to be burned up, how should we live in this present evil world?
I'm going to take this from Philippians 4, if you want to look there.
I'm not going to read the scriptures, but you'll get where I'm getting
this. But first of all, here's what
we do. First thing, this is from verse 1. Philippians 4.1. Stand
fast in the Lord. Stand fast in the Lord. That's
how we should live in this world. Stand fast in the Lord. What
does that mean? We are to live like Abraham lived. He's our first father. And Scripture
says, By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a
strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a
city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Stand fast in the Lord means sojourn through this world as
foreigners and strangers in this world. It means we're to dwell
in tabernacles. That means hold on very loosely
to everything in this world. We're to dwell with those who
are heirs with us of the same promise. Dwell with those who
are fellow citizens who are saints of the Lord, fellow citizens
of Jerusalem, and were to do so looking for our heavenly city,
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Now,
to do that means we're going to have to be separate from this
world rather than being conformed to it. Hebrews 13 says, Jesus
also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered
without the gate. You're going to be rejected by
religious men. We're going to be rejected by
religious men. A long time ago, I bit my tongue. I almost said
something, but a man was telling me about his testimony and how
he was saved. And I almost said, there's way
too much I in that testimony. You're not going to stay here.
And I'll tell you something, Christ, when he came and declared
the gospel, religious men took him and nailed him to a tree.
Religious men did. and he suffered, but he did that
to sanctify you and I who've been called and made perfect
by his blood. Now, he tells us, let us go forth
therefore unto him without the count bearing his reproach, bearing
the same reproach he bore. For here we have no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. We ought not ever give ourselves
to serve the world. It's the difference between working
in the world and giving yourself to serve the world. Nor to be
flattered by its honors or bribed by its favors. Instead, be willing
to be sneered at and held in reproach for believing Christ.
Every time somebody separates themselves and begins to point
the finger at me and you and everybody else, you know what
I hear? I hear the hiss of Satan. That's all I hear. I hear the
reproach that Christ bore. And you know what I do? I esteem
that reproach to be greater riches than anything this Egypt could
ever give me. That means God has called you,
God has saved you, and God's keeping you. And so we should
do that like Moses. Suffer the affliction of God
with his people, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater
riches and treasures in Egypt. So first off, stand fast in the
Lord. Secondly, he says here in verses 2 and 3, be of the
same mind in the Lord. Be of the same mind in the Lord.
We're true yoke fellows. True yoke fellows. True yoke
fellows, you know, if you got two ox that are in a yoke, They're
yoked oxen and we're yoked fellows. Christ our Master has put us
together to pull together in this work that He's given us
to do. That's what He's done. He's our Master. We're citizens
of the same heavenly Jerusalem under the government of the same
Prince. Christ our Prince of Peace. We're members one of another
whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. So, let's
labor together of one mind in the gospel of Christ. We were
lost, we were dead in sins. And Christ came and he preached
peace to each one of us through his preacher. Now if a man wasn't
saved that way, a man won't stay under the sound of the gospel.
I've never seen one yet do it. I have not. He did that and He saved us by
His grace. Now to do that, Christ assembled
a body of believers through the preaching of the gospel and He
gave them a faithful preacher and He gave them one mind to
support that work, to send that gospel far and wide so me and
you heard the gospel and He saved us. You know what He's done now?
He's assembled us and He's put us together and He's given us
the blessings of His grace and all abundance that we need and
the promise that He'll provide everything for us so that we
can go forth in this work and do the same thing for His select
sheep that are yet lost. So, let each of us be of one
mind to make this work of spreading the gospel of Christ to be our
preeminent business, our preeminent... Paul called it a vocation. Our
preeminent vocation in this world is the spreading of this gospel.
Are you ready to be of one mind? I'm of one mind. My mind's made
up. That's my business. How about
you? That's what he said. Be of one mind. There were some
ladies bickering there in the Philippines. He said, put that
mess away and be of one mind. Be yoke fellows in this thing. And here's the third thing. Rejoice
in the Lord always. He says there in verse 4, Rejoice
in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. Be glad
in the Lord in every way all the time. Be filled with joy
in Him because of Him and for Him. Live your life rejoicing
in the Lord always. Believers have the... We ought to be the happiest folks
on earth. We ought to be. I mean now, I'm not talking about
this fake veneer stuff. I'm talking about we may be broke
down in our bodies and we may have pains and all that stuff,
but I'm talking about in our hearts, we ought to be the happiest
folks in the world. In our flesh dwells nothing good.
But brethren, having been called of our Lord and being created
anew in that new man and made one with Christ, in Christ Jesus,
you're as righteous as God is. You're as holy as God is. You're
as accepted of God as Christ himself seated at his right hand
right now. Never to be separated from him
whatsoever. Grace chose us, grace redeemed
us, grace regenerated us, grace called us, and grace is going
to keep us, and grace is going to bring us home. I don't care
what we're suffering in this world, that's cause for us to
rejoice in the Lord always. Always. Alright, here's the fourth
thing. Verse 5, he says, let your moderation
be known unto all men. Now, the only place in the word,
in the Bible, that moderation is used is right here. And now
listen to this. You probably don't know this. It does not have to do with temperance
in food and drink. Not at all. The word moderation
doesn't mean that at all. The word moderation means be
mild and gentle and patient and kind and tender-hearted and non-judgmental. It's about our attitude and our
conduct as opposed to being harsh and demanding and judgmental.
That's what it means. We're to be so toward all people
in the church and in the world. Brethren, we don't ever know
the full story. We don't ever know the full story.
But, he says here, he said in Hebrews 12, we've come to the
judge of all. And he knows the full story.
And he tells us here that the Lord is at hand. So we can trust,
we can be patient and kind and tender hearted, forgiving one
another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Because
Christ our master is able to make him stand. Whoever it is. Alright, so then here's the fifth
thing. So we stand fast in the Lord. We're to be of the same
mind in the Lord. We rejoice in the Lord always.
We let your moderation be known to all men. Be this way to all
men. And then fifthly, be careful
for nothing. Be careful for nothing. Don't
be overly anxious and worrisome over things in this life. In
a few weeks, Lord willing, I'm going to go down to Mexico. Now,
I'm a citizen of this country. But while I'm in Mexico, I'm
going to be an alien in that country. But while I'm in that
country, I'll have to obey the laws of Mexico. I have to. Well, likewise, though we're
aliens in this world, though we're citizens of heavenly Jerusalem,
we still have to obey the laws of this country. We still have
to. So do so in quietness. Not protesting
our rulers and getting anxious over how they're governing things.
When I go down there to Mexico, I'm going to see a lot of injustice
that is the product of much corruption. But I'm not going to make a sign
and get out in the street and start protesting. You know why?
That ain't my country. Guess what? I'm not going to
do it in this world either. I'm not going to do it in this
country. because I'm a citizen of heavenly Jerusalem. I'm a
stranger here. I'm an alien here. I'm a foreigner
here. But here's what we can be sure
of. God says, let every soul be subject to the higher powers
for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained
of God. And so, whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. Resist what God says.
If I resist the President of the United States, I'm resisting
God. God put him there. He put him
there. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
So, we don't have to be overly anxious about the politics of
this world. I mean, if you study it and set
your mind on it, it can get you upset. It can get you anxious.
But know who's ruling the whole shebang. It's him. And then we're
going to suffer in this world too. We're going to suffer in
it. Just like everybody else. If you went overseas and was
living in a country overseas, you would be an alien in that
country. You'd be a citizen of this country. But even though
you're a citizen of this country and an alien in that country,
if their economy fluctuates, you're going to be affected in
that country just like everybody else in that country. Well, that's
the same with us here. When God scatters abroad, believers
increase just like everybody else does. When God withholds
His hands, we decrease just like everybody else does. So, we're
going to suffer. He said you're going to have
tribulation in this world just like everybody else has. Our
flesh is going to trouble us just like everybody else has.
But this is what He said to us that He hasn't said to the world.
Be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. And the way we overcome
the world is faith in Him. Our citizenship's not in this
world. It's with Him. And He's ruling everything. So
when times get tight, don't get careful and anxious and worried
over things because that'll lead to us not letting our moderation
be known. Then we'll be doing like the
man in the parable. We've been forgiven 10,000 talents
and we'll go out and put our hands around the neck of somebody
else and make him pay us 100 talents. But instead, he says,
from your hearts forgive everyone his brother their trespasses.
The Lord gives us a good word of instruction. Listen to this.
I came across this. This is good right here. I never
saw this before. In Jeremiah 29, 7. You can look
at it or I just read it to you. When God took Israel and led
them captive in Babylon, He said this, listen to this. Seek the
peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away
captive. That's what he told his people.
You seek the peace of Babylon. Why? Pray unto the Lord for it. Why? For in the peace thereof
shall you have peace. You see that? He's told them,
pray for the peace of Babylon, because in the peace of Babylon,
you're going to have peace too. So if it be possible, as much
as life in you, live peaceably with all men. To do good and
to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well
pleased. Christ said, Love ye your enemies,
and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward
shall be great, and you shall be the children of the highest. For he is kind unto the unthankful
and to the evil." And he says there in Philippians 4, he says,
And do so remembering the Lord's at hand. And he says, Therefore,
in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known unto all your brethren. No, he says, let your requests
be made known unto God. I'm so tired of hearing this
world, this world set on telling everybody what they want them
to pray for and then everybody going, oh, I'm sending up prayer.
How many times have you told somebody, I'll pray for you and
never prayed for them? Huh? It's become a thing you
just say to somebody. If you had access to the President
of the United States and you could go into his office and
make your petition to him and you knew he was going to grant
you your petition, would you go from city to city all along
the way and make your request known to a bunch of Tom, Dick,
and Harrys along the way? You'd go straight to Him, wouldn't
you? Well, that's what He says here. We got access to Him. He
says, make your request known unto Him. Go to Him. And the
peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. He don't say He's going
to keep you wealthy and healthy and get everything you want.
He says He's going to keep your hearts and your minds through
Christ Jesus. And here's the last thing. He
tells us, occupy your minds with things that are true, honest,
just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. It
would be hard to find that in the earth, isn't it? You know
where we're going to have to look. He's saying, set your affection
on things above where Christ sits at God's right hand. Give
your mind to Christ, give your mind to the study of Him, to
the eternal blessings we have in Him, and be assured that the
God of peace shall be with you. And be assured that my God shall
supply all your need according to His riches and glory by Christ
Jesus. You see, we're not citizens of
this world. were citizens of heaven, of heavenly Jerusalem.
And so, when I'm in Mexico, I'm going to enjoy my time there.
I'm going to enjoy it. I'm going to visit with my brethren
while I'm in a strange country. And we're going to talk about
Christ. And we're going to have a good time around the gospel. But when Friday comes, I'm going
to be wanting to get back to my own country. I'm going to
be wanting to go home. Well, While we're sojourning
in this strange country, we're going to gather together with
the saints, and we're going to talk about Christ, and we're
going to have a good time around the gospel of Christ. But we're
going to keep our eye on that heavenly city, that our country,
knowing that's our home, that's where we're headed. And it won't
be very long. I'm going to get down there,
and just that fast, that week's going to be up, and it's going
to be time to go to my country. Well, just that quick this week's
going to be up and we're going to be going to our country. That
fast. So God give us grace to live
in this world right now like we're strangers and aliens to
it and like we're fellow citizens with the saints of heavenly Jerusalem. Amen.