May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
second epistle of the Corinthians and chapter 5, and we read verses
18 and 19. The epistle of Paul to the Corinthians,
the second epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 5, and
reading verses 18 and 19. and all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit 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. We really have to go back to
the Garden of Eden and find in the Garden of Eden the wonderful
period, I don't know how long it was, when Adam and Eve walked
there God came down and walked with them in the cool of the
day and conversed with them and there was perfect harmony and
there was nothing to spoil that harmony and the reason for that
was there was no sin it was a perfect situation But so sadly, of course,
that did not last for very long. And we think of the line of the
hymns which said, O thou hideous monster sin, what a curse hast
thou brought in. All creation groans through thee,
pregnant cause of misery. On that tragic day, in the history
of the world, Satan, in the guise of a serpent, came and tempted
Eve and cast doubt in her mind and she succumbed to it and therefore
partook of the forbidden fruit and therefore committed what
we term that original sin. the first sin in the history
of the world. And because of that, sin passed
upon all the human race. Everyone born into this world
is born in sin and shapen in iniquity. And we form part of
the sinful race. And therefore, that which occurred
all those years ago has had a disastrous effect upon the whole human race
and has had a disastrous effect upon each one of us. So we need,
as the Apostle Paul said, a soul under sin. Tragic condition we
are in by nature. But we must come and say this
evening, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. And of course His gift was the
wonderful gift of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came
into this world to suffer and to bleed and to die and to endure
the curse for the Church of God and to be crucified upon that
cross at Calvary so many years ago. Now that tragic sin in the
Garden of Eden meant that man was estranged from God. Yes, he was separated really
from God. God still remained in that perfect
sinless condition. But man was a sinner. and man
sinned and man continued to sin and God is a holy and righteous
God and our Father in Heaven cannot look upon sin because
of its unholiness because He is a holy God so to think tragically
there is that estrangement, that separation between us and our
God And how is that going to be corrected? How is that going
to be once again brought back to union and perfection? Well, it only can be by what
we've read together in these two verses to be reconciled again
to God. we in our sinful condition cannot
be reconciled and therefore we need to have our sins taken away. We need to have our sin removed
so that we are reconciled to God. And these two verses that
we read tells us who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,
and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, 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. We have really, don't we, In
these words, the wonderful gospel, the wonderful truth of the Word
of God and this word of reconciliation really means to be restored. If we are reconciled to God by
his grace, we are restored to that condition which Adam and
Eve were in before they sinned. It is a pure and perfect condition
and of course we will never enjoy that position naturally while
we live on this earth but by the grace of God we can come
into the blessing of it in our spiritual life as the Holy Spirit
directs us and shows to us that our sins which were Our due,
as the Apostle says in this word, and has imputed our trespasses
unto them, and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Our sins, every one, imputed
to Christ. And if our sins are imputed to
Christ, It means therefore that we are reconciled in our spiritual
life, our new nature, that we are washed and cleansed. What a blessing that is. And
then we can look forward to that day when, by the grace of God,
we shall be united to the Saviour in glory. And when that day of
the resurrection comes, our resurrected body, will be united with our
soul and we shall be found in glory in that perfect state and
we shall then be eternally reconciled with our God. It really is a
wonderful and blessed consideration and it's a great favour when
God in his sovereign will and purpose grants a gracious application
of these glorious truths to our soul so that we do indeed have
the evidence that we are washed and we are cleansed we read together
that first chapter in the Colossians which speaks very beautifully
in the 14th verse we're told in whom we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." We often talk, don't
we, about sin. We often talk about the forgiveness
of sin. But my friends, it's a wonderful
blessing when the Holy Spirit confirms this great truth to
our soul, that you and I have the wonderful evidence that we
are redeemed through his blood. It's the only way of redemption,
it's the only way of reconciliation, to be redeemed through his blood. But we must never underestimate
the great cost of this forgiveness, underestimate the great cost
of this reconciliation and therefore We come further down in this
chapter to the Colossians and we are told, For it pleased the
Father that in him should all fullness dwell. A fullness resides
in Jesus our Head, that ever resides to answer our need. What a mercy when the Lord comes
and shows to us something of the fullness there is in the
Saviour, in Him there is all that you and I need, nothing
lacking, everything in Him. And so the Apostle goes on and
tells us in the 20th verse of this first chapter, And having
made peace through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile
all things unto Himself, by him, I say, whether they be things
in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. These are great truths, aren't
they? These are most blessed truths, and it's an amazing favour
that Almighty God should gloriously deign to grant a wonderful application
of them into our very hearts so that we can rejoice in it
and bless God if we can rejoice in the experience of it because
these things are to be known they are to be experienced and
as the Apostle says and having made peace through the blood
of his cross, that means peace between our souls and our God. Peace. There's no peace outside
of this wonderful blessing. What a mercy, if we know a little
of it, this peace of God, which passes all understanding, because
it's not of the flesh, it's of the Spirit, It's the work of
God. It's the blessed work of God.
It's the sovereign grace of God. And to have it apply to our heart
therefore in this way and to understand something of this
peace by his cross. I wonder whether we've stood
and pondered and looked to the Saviour suffering on Calvary's
cross and through the suffering Saviour has brought us to God,
brought us into that union and that communion. Neither way,
because as we have here, we're alienated. Otherwise, from the
things of God, we are alienated. That's a very solemn position,
but we're told in you that we're sometimes alienated. We remain alienated. until we are reconciled. And so we can think tonight that
very solemnly you and I are either still alienated, that means separated
from our God, or we are reconciled back to God, we are restored
back to God, to walk with Him and to enjoy that communion. That's really, isn't it, surely
why the Apostle Paul so rejoiced in that union and communion with
the Lord Jesus Christ. And you recognise what was involved
in it when he comes and tells us, But what things were gained
to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Everything else was of
no value by comparison. And he says, yea, doubtless,
There is no doubt about it. Doubtless. And I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, be made conformable unto his
death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. the Apostle realised the value
of these things, the importance of them, and the blessing of
them, because he was seeking here for eternal blessings, eternal
realities. And they weren't things that
were going to fade away, because as the Apostle was blessed with
this wonderful testimony and experience, he was able to rejoice
in them and to know that he was not relying therefore on his
own righteousness, but he was relying upon Christ's righteousness
and upon what Christ had indeed done for him. And so he knew
that he who had been sometimes alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works. Well, God knows our minds, doesn't
he? Left to ourselves our minds are
sinful and evil and far off from God. What a mercy when God is
gracious to show us something of the sinfulness which exists
within. How easily our minds can wander
into sinful paths, evil paths, paths that do not profit, paths
that do not bring us near to the Saviour, but paths that take
us away from the Saviour. And so the Apostle tells us then,
enemies in your mind, by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled. It is a very humbling consideration. It is a very humbling experience. If God has graciously given us
that good hope to believe that through the glorious grace of
the Saviour, through His sin atoning death, we are reconciled
to our God. So that we can then come and
we can praise God. Praise God from the bottom of
our hearts. It's not then a theory. Many things are a theory. But
when the Holy Spirit applies the Word, it is then, you see,
that we understand the mystery of godliness. It's then that
the Lord leads us into all truth as it is in Christ. And in the second chapter to
the Hebrews, and perhaps from verse 14, For as much then as
the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy
him and the power of death, that is, the devil. The Lord had to
die. He had to give his life as that
sin-atoning sacrifice, nothing less than that. would be sufficient
to reconcile us to God. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham,
wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered,
being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. The Lord's able to bring us nigh. He's able to bring us to his
bleeding side. He's able to give us faith to
believe in the glorious and finished work of himself and that finished
work which brings the glory of reconciliation. And so tonight
I will indeed be really thankful that we have this wonderful favour
and this wonderful gift of reconciliation. You see, he says, And all things
are of God. God has all things in his control. All things are of God. All things
in our natural life, all things in our spiritual life. And that's
a wonderful mercy and a wonderful blessing to realize we have such
a God that all things that occur in this world are of God. And
all the spiritual blessings that he brings about are of God. They are not things that you
and I deserve. They're not things that you and
I merit. They're not things that you and
I can think we're worthy of. But they're things which God
sovereignly, graciously, gloriously brings to his church. And surely
there's reason, much reason to praise and to thank God for these
things. Who hath This is something which
is past. The Lord Jesus did die upon the
cross at Calvary. He did pay the price to reconcile
us. Let us never despise that great
and blessed work. Let us never despise the wonderful
plan of God in that wonderful plan of salvation for sinful
men. You know, here we are tonight,
privileged to read the Word of God, privileged to think upon
these great and glorious truths, privileged to rejoice in them
and know that we may do so and that we may not be found in a
situation where it doesn't mean anything to us. It doesn't mean
anything to us until the Holy Spirit comes and touches our
heart and then things become a reality things then become
real and things then become precious what a mercy if that is so and
if that has been so because this is this reconciliation which
all of us need who has reconciled us to himself reconciled us as
alienated sinners to God. How? By Jesus Christ. Now then, if you think of that,
does that not mean that Christ is very valuable? Does it not mean that Christ
is very precious? Because without him there is
no reconciliation. Without his sinatonic death there
is no blessing, there is no favour, there's no unity, we're still
separated from God. But may we be thankful tonight
indeed for this ministry and hath given to us, hath given
to us, and again it's a mercy if you and I can examine ourselves.
Let us not forget to examine ourselves the temptation is to
not examine ourselves but you know we don't want to come to
the day of our deaths or put another way to come to the gate
of heaven and lack this certificate of reconciliation to find that
we are not reconciled to find that we are lacking this great
and glorious gift we want to know it we want to have experienced
it. Because it is that which brings
union between us and our God. That union which is really not
able to come to pass, except it comes in this glorious way
through the finished work of the Saviour, given to us the
ministry of reconciliation. And then he comes and he And
he says, to wit, that means in that manner, in this manner,
that God has ordained, in his sovereign will and purpose, God
has ordained that this is the way that sinners should be reconciled
to God. Let us not belittle it. Let us
not think it's not of very much importance. Let us recognize
that it is of the most vital importance and bless God if we
know a little of the blessedness of this reconciliation. And therefore to wit that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. It doesn't
mean the whole world of mankind, it means all those for whom Christ
died. all those for whom Christ reconciled
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. What if
the Lord has convinced us of our sin? Perhaps he's shown us
our sin. And we may perhaps have been
tempted to think, well, I'm not a very bad sinner. I'm not as
bad as so-and-so. And I haven't done many wrong
things in my life. When the Holy Spirit convinces
of sin, then what we might term the smallest sin condemns us
to that alienation from God and that eternally. So that's something
to ponder, isn't it? All sin has to be forgiven. We need a complete reconciliation. We need the wonderful evidence
that the Lord Jesus Christ has died to take away all our sins. When the Apostle wrote to the
Ephesians, which I'm sure we are at least a little familiar
with because we almost gone through it in our Friday evening prayer
meetings but the Apostle tells us in the second chapter which
of course is a very beautiful chapter which starts off and
you have to be quick and that means made alive who were dead
in trespasses and in sins and that's where we were perhaps
that's where we are we remain there until we are reconciled
and you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
wherein time passed. What a good thing it is if you
and I have a time past in our experience, a time past when
we walked according to the course of this world, perhaps unenjoying
it, perhaps didn't want to leave it, perhaps wanted to involve
ourselves in it, and yet praise God if there's been a change,
wherein time passed. Ye 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 whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. We
all stand on common ground. until the Lord comes and makes
that difference, until the Lord comes and calls us by His grace,
until the Lord comes and reconciles us to Himself through the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the blessing is this, and
it's as true today as when the Apostle wrote it, but God We
spoke this morning about a little but. Here's another but. But
God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love of which he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace ye are saved, and has
made us, and has raised us up together, and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that, in the ages to come,
He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. The only way, through Christ
Jesus. We must ask the question really,
what is Christ to us tonight? What is Jesus Christ? to us tonight. Is he a stranger to us? Is he
someone we don't know? Or is he someone, by the grace
of God, we do know and are able to say, at least in measure,
he is altogether lovely. Because to my soul he is the
cheapest among ten thousand. The Apostle goes on in his second
chapter to the Ephesians and he comes down to this condition
and situation. He says in verse 15, Having abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments, contained
in ordinances, for to make in himself a twain one new man,
so making peace. That means that you and I are
made a new creature. When we possess the new birth,
we become a new creature, a new man. And with that new man, between
that new nature and God, there is peace. And that he might reconcile,
both under God, in one body, by the cross, having slain the
enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you, which
were afar off, and to them that were nigh." Well, have we been
far off? Far off from God, perhaps? Enjoying the things of time?
enjoying the things of the world far off from God. But God, who
is rich in mercy, because of his love toward us, looked upon
us. You know, as we read in Leviticus,
he spoke those gracious and glorious words, live. Oh, that's what
you and I must have, life. spiritual life, life from the
dead, which God in God alone gives. If He gives that life,
He causes us to live, then you see we are reconciled to our
God. What a wonderful blessing it
is to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them. We've sinned, we've
trespassed. Those trespasses, if they're
not imputed to us, where are they? They have to be paid for. They can't be just brushed aside.
So what happened? The Lord Jesus Christ took them,
your sins and my sins, to himself. He had them imputed to Him so
that, instead of us bearing the punishment, He bore the punishment
instead. The Lord of life and glory. He
bore the punishment due to you and me. He bore the punishment
instead. What a wonderful blessing that
is. Not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation, restored to that perfect condition
with no sin. Yes, we are washed in the blood
of the Lamb. It's a glorious truth, it's a
wonderful truth, it's really beyond our natural ability to
assimilate that a poor unworthy sinner shall be saved from their
sin, and saved by the sin-atoning sacrifice of the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing my friends and
what a mercy and what a flavour. Now shortly it comes down to
that graceful and wonderful text in the Gospel of John, familiar
I hope to us all, John 3.16. For God so loved the world that he sent
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life. Do we have a hope in that great
and glorious gospel? Do we have a hope that the Father
sent his Son on our behalf. Because real religion is personal.
It's personal. We all need to have that wonderful
personal revelation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save me. Oh, to save me from the condemnation
of the law of God which says, the soul that sinneth it shall
die. dead in trespasses and sins. Eternal hell is our portion,
but for the love and grace and mercy of God. So tonight, can
we praise God for what He has done? Do we love to meditate
upon the blessings that Christ brings through His death? To praise Him what he's done
for unworthy sinners, the desire to honour and glorify his great
and holy name. You see, God gives the blessing
of faith to believe. But you know, James tells us,
faith without works is dead. So if there's no evidence of
the working out of it, in our lives, then do we have to conclude
it wasn't true, it wasn't real. But you know if God has blessed
us, God has touched our hearts, if God has revealed to us that
he's redeemed us from all our sins, that he's paid the price,
that our sins are imputed to him, do we not come to that position
The hymn writer said, in Hymn 766, On such love my soul still
ponder, Love so great, so rich, so free, So I was lost in holy
wonder, Why, O God, such love to me? Hallelujah! Praise shall reign eternally. Be touched by the truth of God. Be touched to realise the love
of God to unworthy sinners, the love of God to unworthy me, was
such that He graciously and gloriously reconciled my soul into that
condition of peace and to look forward to that time of glory
where we shall be with the Saviour and able then to praise Him with
an unsinning heart, but with a mercy while we are still on
the earth, our great desire is to praise and honour this great
and glorious Saviour You and I have a great debt to pay, don't
we? And we can't pay it. But what we can do is to truly
desire to thank Him and to honour Him and to follow Him in His
gracious words to us, to take up our cross. Whatever that means,
it will be at the worst a life affliction. And so may God be
with us and give us grace and bless us in need and lead us
into that wonderful favour of fellowship with his suffering.
So we may rejoice and praise and glorify our God and be so
thankful for the wonderful favour of this reconciliation. And realise, as Paul says, I
have got all things in our natural life all things in our spiritual life,
to Him belongs all the honour and all the glory, who hath reconciled
us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation, to wit, 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. Amen.