Good morning. If you have your
Bibles this morning, please turn to the book of 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We're going to be looking at
At the title of the Bible that I've got, it's got Reconciliation
to God through Jesus Christ. The title of today's message
is Reconciliated by God in Christ. Some may ask, well, what is reconciliation? And it is the establishment of
harmony and peace between enemies. The enemies are said to be consiled
when hostility ceases. And most of mankind don't realize
it, but we're at war with God. Everyone that is not in Christ
Jesus is at war with Him. And the reason for it is they
don't believe the record that God has given us of His Son.
John 3.36 says, He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And this is a word of God. It's
absolute truth. Man didn't write it, man penned
it, but God wrote it. But he said, he that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Someone may say, well, I'm not
that bad of a guy. We may not be that bad of a guy
in front of man, but again, whenever you look to a holy God, the Bible
says in 3.26, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. If you will, let's read verses
beginning in verse 14, down verse 21, in chapter 5, of 2 Corinthians. Beginning in verse 14, God's
Word says, For the love of Christ constrains us, because we thus
judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. Verse 15,
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth
live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose
again. Wherefore, henceforth, know we
no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after
the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Verse 17. Therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. All old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. And all things, listen to this,
all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus
Christ, and hath given unto us the ministry of reconciliation. to wit that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses,
he's talking about the elect, unto themselves, and have 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 you reconciled to God, Look at verse 31, for
he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of ourselves. No, the righteousness
of God in him. In verse 14 here, it says, for
the love of God constrained us. 1 John 4, 19 says we loved Him
because He first loved us. Who is us? If you would, hold
your place here and turn over a few pages to Ephesians 1. Just a few pages to Ephesians
1. He says that He loved us. Look at verse three, down through
verse six, and this is going to tell us who us is. He says,
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. Now listen to this, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
What does he mean when he says that? He's talking about those
whom the Father had placed in him before the foundation of
the world. We are to confess Christ, and
we are to deny self. But anyway, a preacher told me
one time, turning back to our text, he told me one time, he
said, whenever you're reading some scripture, always remember
who's doing the talking, what he's talking about, and what
the subject is. And if you will, turn to the
first chapter of this book. When He says us and when He talks
about the whole world and different things, the first chapter here
tells us who He's talking about. Look at the first verse. He's
not talking to the whole world here. Who's He talking to? And
who's doing the talking? It says in the 2nd epistle of
Paul the Apostle, Paul's doing the talking. Who is He talking
to? It says in the first verse, Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy,
her brother, listen to this, under the church of God, which
is at Corinth, with all the saints, which is in Achaia. And then,
like I said, at the top of the page, let's go back to our text
in chapter 5, he said here at the top of our text, reconciliation
to God through Jesus Christ. So he's talking about reconciliation
here. And the reason I say that, it
says here that in verse 15, it says that he died for all. Okay,
he ain't talking about all the seed of Adam, but he's talking
about those whom the Father placed in Christ before the world begun. And then he goes on to say in
verse 15, that they which live should not live henceforth unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. In verse 15 here, as I said,
He's talking about those that died in Christ. Let's look at
Psalm 100, just for a second. You know, we are in Christ, we
are His disciples, and we belong to Him. We don't belong to the world. And I like chapter 100, because
what it says here, and he's talking to his leg. Every day of our
lives, we are to remember that Jesus Christ is our Lord, He's
our King, and He's our Master. He says, make a joyful noise
unto the Lord, all ye lands. He says, serve the Lord with
gladness. Come before His presence with
singing. Know ye that he is the God, it is he that hath made
us and not we ourselves. We are his people and we are
the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving. Everything that we have in this
life, it comes from him. It belongs to him and it will
go back to him. Enter into his courts with praise.
Be faithful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good,
His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endureth unto all generations. If you go back to your text now,
we'll look at verse 16. It says, Wherefore henceforth
know we no man after the flesh. Yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. In verse 16, Christ has taken
away all distinctions of the flesh and brought us into a spiritual
kingdom. Galatians 3, 10, 11 says that,
and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian Selim, born or free, but Christ
is all, and he is in all. And Philippians 3.3 says, for
we worship God in the spirit, and we rejoice in Jesus Christ,
and we have no confidence in the flesh. You know, when our
Lord comes to this earth the first time, he comes as a servant.
When he comes again, he's going to come as our redeemer. He's going to come as the Lord
of Lords and the King of Kings. And we need to realize that.
We worship God in the Spirit and we rejoice in Christ Jesus
and we have no confidence at all in the flesh. If you will, you know, I've heard
people say, well, you know, I'll get saved when I want to. I ain't
sold my old ship. I'll do this, I'll do that. Well,
I got saved. Look at Titus 3, chapter 3. It
ain't got nothing to do with us. All of this has to do with
his son, Jesus Christ. All of it. It says in Titus 3,
that's right after the book of Timothy, Titus 3, Beginning in verse 4, it says,
But after that the kindness and the love of our Savior, of God
our Savior, toward men appeared, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy
He saved us by the worship of regeneration, renewing of the
Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly. How did He do
that? Through Jesus Christ, our Savior. I know David said in 5110, Oh
God, create in me a clean heart. Oh God, and renew a right spirit
within me. You know, we have a new nature.
We have a new man. We have a new creation. And you know that new man cannot
sin. And it was bought by the Spirit of God, which is in all
of His people that are in Christ Jesus, our Lord. You know, a
lot of people in religion, some people, most people anyway, they
think that when a man is born again that he's saved, that old
habits, evil thoughts, lustful thoughts, and all that sin that
we have in this body of this flesh, this old nature that is
completely gone away with. But we know that's not true.
We still had the old nature, but we also had the new nature.
I dated a girl one time, and she told me plainly, she said,
I am never tempted. Nothing in this world ever tempts
me. I couldn't wait to get her home, because I knew that she
wasn't for me. But if you have your Bibles,
if you have your Bibles turned to Galatians, if you have your
Bibles turned to Galatians, and this is what I'm talking about,
Galatians 5. Galatians 5 verse 17. Galatians
5 verse 17. It says here in verse 17, "...for
the flesh lusteth against the Spirit..." If you notice, that
Spirit is in capital letters. The Bible says that all of us
have the Holy Spirit living within us. "...for we lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." And these things
are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things
that ye would do. We go back to our text in Galatians
2 chapter 5. Verse 17, you know, this verse
does not describe a believer's practice, and we know that, but
it describes his position. And then it says in verse 17
at the bottom, it says, all things are become new. In Revelations
2, 7, and in Revelations 21, 5, he says, and he's talking
about Christ Jesus, our Lord here. He says, and he that sat
upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he
said unto me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And then in verse 18, let's read
it. And it says that all things are
of God. That doesn't limit anything.
All things that are visible, all things that are visible,
whether it be spiritual or physical, all things are of God. But he's
mostly talking about here the new regenerated man. Salvation
is of the Lord and we have not one thing to do with it. But he says, all things are of
God who have reconciled us to himself. And how has he done
that? By Jesus Christ, who have given us the ministry of reconciliation. God has reconciled us to himself. How? By the blood of Jesus Christ. It is God that has reconciliated
us. It is Christ by whom we are reconciliated. His blood is the price of our
reconciliation. He had no sin and we had no righteousness. The only thing that we've got
to offer God is our sin and that's it. And I thank God that we have
a high priest that knows us better than we know ourselves. He has
experienced everything that we have experienced. Hebrews 4.15
states, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched
with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are, but listen to this, yet without sin. Praise the Lord. Back in verse 18, he says, all
things are of God. All things, all things. Look at 1 Samuel 2, if you would,
and hold your place here. 1 Samuel 2, chapter 2. 1 Samuel 2, chapter 2, verse 6. It says, The Lord killeth, and
the Lord maketh alive. He bringeth to the grave, and
he bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and he
maketh rich. He bringeth low, and he lifteth
up. He raises up the poor out of the dust, and He lifts up
the bagger, that's who we are, out of the dunhill, to set them
among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and He hath set
the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his
saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by
strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the end
of the earth, and he shall have strength unto his king, and exalt
the horn of his anointing. God is absolute sovereign, as
we know, in providence, salvation, and creation. Verse 18, who says
that He hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ. You
know, today's world religion presents a God who is all love
and no graft. And if that's the case, why did
our Lord Jesus Christ have to die for His people? Because He
loves everyone. If you have your Bibles, turn
to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. I've been listening to this preacher
for about a year on tapes. I didn't even know Kingsport
Sovereign Grace was here. And the last time I was in an
Armenian church, the first thing that the pastor said when he
got up was, God loves. Hell is full of people that God
loves. And after listening to Henry
and God opening up my eyes, I realized what a ridiculous statement that
was. What kind of weak God that they
served. But in Ephesians chapter 2, beginning
in verse 14, it says, for He is our peace, speaking of Christ
Jesus our Lord, who hath made both one. and hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances. For to make in himself of twain
one new man, so make him peace, and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity between
us. A state of empty, it means a
state of hostility. The Bible says, you know, the
Lord said, God loves everybody, the whole seed of Adam. But Psalm
4, 5 says, the foolish shall not stand in his sight. He says,
thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Psalms 8, 11 says, God judges
the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. And then in Romans chapter 5,
verse 8, speaking to his leg, but God commanded his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And then in Romans 5, 6, it says,
for when we were yet without strength, In due time, Christ
died for the ungodly. And we have to ask ourselves,
are we sinners? Are we ungodly? All we have to do is look in
the mirror, look inside of us. Christ coming in this world to
save sinners, and I thank God for that. The only other way
that God can love and be reconciled to a sinner is for that sinner
to have a perfect righteousness. And no man can provide that within
himself. The Bible says that our righteousness
are as filthy rags. But Christ's perfect obedience
is our righteousness. Seeking Christ is the only chance
that we have. And it is our good hope that
we may win Christ and be found in Him. Philippians 2, 7 and
8. It says, speaking of Christ, making but made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of men, and been found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient, even the death
of the cross. Christ come to this earth, born
of a woman, made under the law, He obeyed it perfectly, not only
in deed but thought, and He imputed into His people His perfect righteousness. And the Lord Jesus Christ not
only is our righteousness, He is our sin offering, and His
sacrifice for sin is our atonement. If you would, for a minute, hold
your place. Go back to Colossians 2. 2nd Colossians 5, verse 18. But anyway, it says, "...all things are of
God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and
hath given us the ministry of reconciliation." If you have
your Bibles, look at Galatians 4, if you would please. Verses 4 and 5. God's Word says, But when the
fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a
woman, made under the law. Why did He come? To redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. He finished the work of redemption
all by Himself, and He saved His people from their sins. Go
back to your text. By his suffering and death, the
law was honored, justice was satisfied, and peace was made
between his people and God himself. Be elect. The work of redemption
of his people had been done. It was finished. It says in 2
Corinthians 5.18 again, And all things are of God, who hath reconciled
us by himself, by Jesus Christ, and hath given unto us the ministry
of reconciliation. If you will for a minute, look
at 2 Corinthians 3, chapter 3-6. It's just a couple pages back.
2 Corinthians 3, verses 3-6. It says, For as ye are manifestly declared
by the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink,
but with the spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone,
but in fleshly tables of the heart. And such trust have we
through Christ to Godward. Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but all of our
sufficiency is of God. who also have made us able ministers
of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit.
For the letter killeth, and the Spirit giveth life. In Corinthians 1.18, he's not
only talking about ministers and teachers here, but he's talking
about preachers right here in 1 Corinthians 1.18. It says,
for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.
What are they preaching? Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
To the world, it's foolishness. But to the sheep, it feeds them.
They feast off of His food. And it says, but unto us which
are saved is the power of God. And we see it. God has opened
our hearts up to it. And in verse 2, it says in that
same chapter, And verse 21, it says, for after that, and the
wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to say them that believe. And
as I said before, to the foolishness, to the preaching is foolishness
to the people that does not know Christ Jesus our Lord. But all
of God's people are to proclaim the gospel when the need arises,
you know. We live in a world that is full
of sinners. We have families that we talk to. And the Bible
says in 1 Peter 3.15, but sanctify the Lord God in your heart and
always be ready to give an answer to any man that asks you of the
reason of the hope that is in you. With meekness, that means
with great compassion, love, and fear, that means with great
reverence toward our God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. I had a pastor tell me one time
that I never do approach someone to ask them about their religion
or tell them about what I believe. He said, I never do that. But
he said, if a man comes up to me and asks me what I believe
out there in the world, if I've got the Bible, he said, I'll
show them and then I'll tell them. Or I'll tell them and then
I'll show them. And then I'll invite them to
church. And he said, if I'm out there and they ask me and I don't
have my Bible, I say, won't you go to church and get under the
Word of God preached, and you'll see what we believe, you know.
And we are to do that. We are to witness and to try
to get our families, try to get our families to get under the
preaching Word of God, because that's how our sovereign God
has chosen to elect his people, to bring his sheep in, is to
get under the Word of God being preached. Look at Isaiah for a minute,
if you will, and hold your place here at 2nd Creek, and look at
Isaiah 43, 10 through 11. He says, you are my witnesses.
He says, you are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant,
whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and
understand that I am he. Believe me, there was no God
formed. Before me, there was no God formed,
neither shall they be after me. I, even I am the Lord, and beside
me, there is, there is no Savior. A lot of people believe there's
many ways to God, but they are not. If you will, go back to
our text, and we're going to read verse 17 through 21, and
I'll be finished. It says in verse 17 in our text, it says, Wherefore, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are becoming new. and God, and all things are of
God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. and have given to us the ministry
of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself, this is so precious, not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and have 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 ye reconciled to God,
for he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, Christ
Jesus our Lord, that we might be made the righteousness of
ourselves. No, that we might be made ourselves
the righteousness of God in him. And I thank God for that. I'm
paying.