And the second Corinthians chapter
five. Second Corinthians five, let's
read verses. Seventeen through twenty. Second
Corinthians five. Let's read verses seventeen through
twenty. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us, or the apostles, or ministers of the gospel, 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. 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." As with most vital truth contained
in God's Word, the doctrine of reconciliation
is rarely mentioned from our pulpits today. I don't remember
ever hearing it mentioned for that matter. I thought about
that earlier. If I'd ever heard a modern-day
preacher mention the word reconciliation, I can't recall. It's so rare
if it hasn't been. If a word or a doctrine is mentioned
one time in the scriptures, it bears taking heed to, doesn't
it? One time. We should become acquainted
with it. and seek to understand it one
time. If a word is mentioned one time,
we ought to become acquainted with it and seek to understand
it. And even though a doctrine may
be difficult, we should diligently endeavor to study it. There's
not one idle word. There's not one needless doctrine
in God's Word. It all has eternal consequences,
and we need to become acquainted with it. Right? One word. Words like this, doctrines such
as these, imputation. How many times has that spoken
out? Reprobation. We're going to get to that one
of these days. Justification. Sanctification. Propitiation. Difficult words, maybe, but contained
in God's Word, and we need to become acquainted with them.
And here, the word reconciliation is found. Reconciled. Reconciliation. Do you know that
it is spoken of twenty-three times in the Scripture? If the word is one time in the
Scripture, well, what about twenty-three? Do you know what it means? Do
you know what reconciliation is? Have you been reconciled? Have you been reconciled to God? All right, turn over to Genesis
chapter six. This is the first time that the
word is used in the Bible. You need to use that law of first
mention. When you hear a word or a doctrine,
you need to go back to when God first instated it. and find out,
or institute it and find out its original meaning. And that will give you basically
what it means throughout the scriptures. The word reconcile in the Hebrew,
I'm not trying to impress you, I'm just giving you a little
lesson here, OK? I looked it up. It's a good thing. Martin used to say, you really
only need two books, the Bible and a concordance, the Bible
and a dictionary, Bible dictionary. And I highly recommend you get
Strong's Concordance. And if you have problems with
a word, look it up and see what it means. It'll tell you the
scriptures will explain itself. The Holy Spirit will explain
scriptures to you. The word reconcile in the Hebrew
comes from the word kophar. That's the Hebrew word, kophar.
And here it is first mentioned in the Scripture. The first time
God Almighty uses it is in Hebrews chapter 6, verse 14, when God
said to Noah, Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Rooms shalt thou
make in the ark, and shalt pitch it. within and without with pitch. Did you see it? You say, no,
I didn't see the word reconcile. It's pitch. It's the exact same
word, the word pitch or covering. You know what it was when he
pitched the ark? He covered it with that tar. Now look over at Leviticus. You
will see the actual word used over here, Leviticus chapter
8, but it's the exact same word as that word pitch or covering. Leviticus chapter 8, Leviticus 8, verse 15, same word
for the word pitch. And we'll see that a little later
on, how the Christ's blood is, as it were, a pitch under our
souls, covering. We are in the ark of Christ,
and his blood is that covering, covering our nakedness. His righteousness
is that covering. Leviticus 8, verse 15, here is
the word here. And he slew it, Aaron slew the
offering, the bullock, and Moses took the blood and put it upon
the horns of the altar, round about with his finger, and purified
the altar and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar and
sanctified it to make reconciliation upon it. Now turn to Romans chapter
5. In the Old Testament, like we
just read, Sacrificial blood, the blood
of lambs, the blood of bullets and goats, was used for what
is called the atonement of the covering. That's what the word
atonement means, covering. And it was poured either on the
altar before there was an actual tabernacle, or it was poured
on the altar outside the tabernacle, and also is poured on the mercy
seat inside the tabernacle. You know what the mercy seat
was inside the Holy of Holies. Do you remember what was in the
mercy seat? Can somebody tell me what was
in the mercy seat? One thing I'm looking for, the law. Moses
put a exact duplicate, the second law that God wrote with his finger,
put that inside that box, that ark, and put over top of it a
lid that's called a mercy seat. And every time the high priest
went in, to that holy of holies, he took the blood of a lamb or
a bullock or a goat and poured it all over that mercy seat,
that lid, and it sealed it. As it were, it was sealing or
covering the law which we had broken, blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against the people, the law which we
had broken, poured out on the mercy seat, and the broken law
was covered by the blood. Look at Romans 5, verse 10. Now, when we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life, and not only
so, we also joy or rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have now received the atonement. It's the only
time the word atonement is used in the New Testament. It means
reconciliation, covering. By the blood of Christ, Christ's
blood, his precious blood, covers our sins, our black hearts. broken law from the holy eye
of God. The all-seeing, holy eye of God
cannot see our sins because they are under the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He atoned, he covered, he pitched,
he propitiated, he reconciled us, covered us by his blood. And Colossians 3 says this, Our
life is hid with Christ in God. Our life is hid. But, now back
to the text, and we'll stay here a moment. Back to the text. The blood of Jesus Christ does
more than just cover our sins. The blood of Jesus Christ does
much more than just cover our sins from the all-seeing eye
of God. Really, that's an impossibility.
God sees through, God sees all, knows all, it's an impossibility.
That's a figure, that's a type, that's a picture. 2 Corinthians
5, the word reconcile in the New Testament means much more
than atonement and the oath or pitch. The word reconcile comes
from a Greek word which is, and once again I'm trying to impress
you here, I'm trying to teach you a little something here.
It's a different word. The Greek word is katalaso, which
means to change, to make a change, actually make a change, to restore. And unlike the blood of bulls
and goats, and the Apostle Paul spent a great deal of time throughout
the book of Hebrews to show us how that the blood of bulls and
goats, it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sin. But the blood of Jesus Christ
does. The blood of Jesus Christ has
power in it. I'm not going to stand here and
argue about whether or not it's the actual, physical blood of
Christ. I'm just going to take what the Word of God says. The
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. The blood of Jesus Christ that
was shed and applied to the souls of all of God's elect actually
changes people. It actually changes people. It actually washes them from
their sins. It actually puts away their sins
to where they have no more sin. Not just cover it, but puts them
away. And this is what it said in verse
17. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things
are passed away. The old record, the handwriting
of ordinances, the broken law, passed away. All things become
brand new. How? How? by the blood of Christ. He makes us holy, unblameable,
unreprovable, acceptable, lovable, a sweet-smelling savor to God,
a son. God Almighty considers us to
be just like Jesus Christ, and that's what he said there in
verse 17. We are a new creature. Now verse 18, and he says, And
all these things, this new creature this recreation, this glorious
work, all things are of God. All things are of God. This work,
this new creation, like the first creation, is of God. It's totally of God. This would
be a good—you want a motto? A motto for the believer other
than Jonah 2.9? This is another one. Jonah 2.9
says salvation is of the Lord. Well, 2 Corinthians 5.18 says
all things are of God. There's another motto of the
believer. All things are of God. And we just read it in Colossians
1, didn't we? Of Him, by Him, for Him, all things. All things,
this work, like the first creation, is of God. God purposed it, God
purchased it, the Son purchased it, and God the Holy Spirit applies
it. God thought it, God bought it,
God brought it, for ease of remembrance. Salvation is God Almighty's work
from conception And when it was conceived in his own mind, to
the completion of it, from conception to completion. And he goes on
to say, all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself. God hath reconciled or changed
us to or for himself. That brings it to light, God
hath changed us. God has changed us for himself
by Jesus Christ. Now what does this mean? God
changed us for himself. Are you with me? Stay with me
now. I guess I'm going to have to do like I instruct our ladies
to do with our young people. In order to keep people's attention,
you can't keep throwing truth and doctrine out at them. You've
got to illustrate it. You've got to illustrate it.
We just can't retain it. Our minds are not able to dwell
on things very long. Look over Genesis chapter 27.
Here is a glorious picture or a type in the Old Testament I've preached from this before,
and I'm going to do it again for the sake of illustration,
for the sake of illustrating this thing of reconciling us
to God by Jesus Christ. You see, God Almighty is holy.
God Almighty is righteous. God Almighty is just. The Scripture
says he's holy and he loves holy things. He loves holy things. If the scripture says the righteous
Lord loveth righteousness, it's impossible for him to love anything
but righteousness. It's not within his nature. He is a just God. Scripture says
he will by no means clear the guilty. He can't do it and be
God. Right? We're going to have to be changed
in order for God to have anything to do with us. In order for God
to justify us, in order for God to sanctify us, in order for
God to have us in his presence, in order for God to even think
on us, he's going to have to change us. He's going to have
to transform us. And we have to be made holy.
We have to be made like God. We have to be made righteous.
Now, here's a beautiful picture in Genesis 27 of what I'm trying
to to expound upon tonight. Here's a picture, there are three
principal characters, four really, but three for the sake of this
illustration, in this story. And there's a man named, a young
man named Isaac, or an old man named Isaac. Isaac is the father
in this story. And then there's a young son,
or the eldest son, named Esau. He's the eldest son. And then
Isaac's wife is named Rebecca. All right? Most of you know this
story. In case you don't, I'm going
to treat you like you don't. Esau is the oldest brother in
this family. He has a younger brother named
Jacob. But the elder always received the blessing in the family. The
eldest son always had the rights to the blessing by the father.
The oldest boy always had the rights to the chief blessing. He was the heir to the father's
rule and reign. All that the Father had went
to the oldest son when the Father died. Jesus Christ is called
our elder brother. He is the only begotten Son of
God. He alone is worthy of all blessings. He is the heir of God Almighty
of all things. Here in this story, Rebecca,
who represents the Holy Spirit, Isaac's wife instructs Jacob,
the youngest son, how to get the blessing. Rebecca instructs
the youngest son, who has no right to the blessing. He has
no right to it. The oldest boy does. Jacob doesn't
have any right to it. He's the youngest boy. He's not
in the picture anywhere. He's not in the blessing. Esau
is supposed to get the blessing. All right? instructs young Jacob
how to get the blessing. You want a blessing from the
Father? You want to be an heir of the Father? This is what you
have to do. You're going to have to be like
Esau. The Father is going to have to reckon you as being just
like Esau. Just like Esau. And you and I,
in order to obtain the blessing from God Almighty, we're going
to have to be reckoned to be just like Christ. And the Holy
Spirit instructs us how to obtain the blessing. We're going to
have to be like Christ. to get a blessing. All right? Let's
read it. Let's just read the story here, Genesis 27, verse
6. And Rebekah spoke unto Jacob
her son, saying, Behold, I heard your father speak unto Esau thy
brother, saying, and I could dwell a long time on this story.
That's a picture of the Holy Spirit telling us about the eternal
covenant between the Father and the Son before the world began,
right? But I won't dwell too long in here. But here is what
Rebekah instructed Jacob concerning. I heard thy father speak unto
Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savory
meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my
death. Now therefore, Rebekah says to
Jacob, the young boy, My son, obey my voice. According to that
which I command thee, we have to be obedient to the faith as
instructed by the Holy Spirit. Now therefore, my son, obey my
voice." Verse 9, "...go now to the flock, and fetch me from
fence two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savoury
meat for thy father, such as he loveth." You see, the father
has got to have a meat offering. "...and thou shalt bring it to
thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before
his dad." And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother
is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. And that would be like us
saying, answering, But Lord, God is not going to consider
me like Christ. He is a holy man, and I am a sinner. Read
on. Verse 12, My father for adventure
will feel me. God sees all and knows all. He
sees right through me. And God Almighty, I'll be to
him as a deceiver if I try to pass myself off as Esau. I can't do that. I shall bring
a curse upon me and not a blessing. Verse 13, And his mother said
unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son. Just obey my voice and
go fetch me these kids. And he went. He did what was
told, what he was told, and fetched and brought them to his mother.
And his mother made savory meat such as his father loves. This
is a picture of the application of the blood, the sacrifice,
the offering of the body, the blood of Christ to the souls
of men. The Holy Spirit makes it applicable,
doesn't he? We don't. Our faith doesn't appropriate
it to us. The Holy Spirit does. It's a
supernatural thing. Us just believing can't accomplish
this supernatural work. Read on. Savory meat such as the Father
loved. That reminds me of Romans 8,
doesn't it? It says the Holy Spirit must make intercession
for us with groanings which we cannot utter. Acceptable to God,
to God the Father. Look at this, verse 15. And Rebecca
took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau. The Holy Spirit takes
the life of Christ, the righteousness of Christ which he lived, which
he worked the work of his hands, his feet, his life that he lived,
and applied it to the young son. The Holy Spirit applies it to
us, and it says there, "...put them upon Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the
kids of the goats upon his hands, upon the smooth of his neck."
Everything about Jacob had to be like Esau. Right? In order for the Father to accept
him. And everything about us has to
be like Christ. Has to be washed in the blood,
has to be accepted in the beloved. Our work, everything. All right,
verse 17. And she gave the savory meat
and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.
And we, we take, we offer up unto God the blood of Christ
by faith. This is all faith does is say,
Lord, accept the blood of Christ on my behalf. Now, he's already
offered that up, and the Father's already accepted it. But every
time we come into his presence in prayer, this is what we're
doing. We're pleading the blood before the Lord. It's in our
hands. You understand what I'm saying,
don't you? Typically. Verse 18. And so here comes Jacob
to his father. He came into his father and said,
My father? And Isaac said, Here am I right
now. Oh, boy. Christ said there's
going to be some people rushing to his presence some day and
said, Oh, we've done this. Here I am. Who are you? Well, don't you know? I'm the
well-known this person or that person. Depart from me. I don't know you. There's only
one name I'm listening for. Who are you, my son? And here's
what Jacob said unto his father. Verse 19. Jacob said, You say,
he's a deceiver, he's a supplanter. He better not say anything else.
This is the one time, this is the one time that he was saying
the right thing. He'd been a liar all his life,
he'd been a cheat, he'd been a deceiver all his life, but
he better be pleading Esau's case. And us, we're liars, we're
cheats, we come forth from the womb speaking lies. in all our
lives, but when it comes to standing before the Father, we'd better
plead Christ. Who are you? And look at what
he says here, "'I have done according as thou bidest me,' I have done
it all, according to your holy law, God. I have fulfilled your
law perfectly.'" What? In Christ? In Christ, I'm in
Christ, you see. I'm in Christ. Arise, I pray
thee, sit and eat of my venison." Let's commune together. Didn't
Paul say we can come boldly to the throne of God? Ah boy, that thy soul may bless
me. And Isaac said unto his son,
How did you find this so quickly, my son? And he said, The Lord
God brought it to me. Where did you find this so quickly? The Lord brought it to me. There's
a message in it. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Well,
come near. Come on, come close. And you
know, we can come right up into the very presence of God Almighty
close. just as close as Christ is, seated
in the heavenlies with Christ, come right up to him. And Isaac
said to Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee. And
he touched him. Now, I've got to see now whether
or not you're really Christ or not, or Esau or not. And Jacob
went near. Now, he was fearful, wasn't he?
I'm sure he was fearful, just like we're fearful to come into
the holy presence of God. Paul said, We may come boldly,
with confidence, Our brother read it earlier, with confidence
we have access, with confidence and boldness. What? A holy God,
well, he'll see right through me. No, he can't. No, he won't. You're wearing something. You're
wearing something. And Jacob went near to his father,
and his father felt him. And his father said, The voice
is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, he
discovered him not, because his hands were hairy. Our works are
holy. Not our works, Christ's. Us being
in Christ, represented by Christ. As his brothers, Esau's hands.
What Christ did, he imputed to my account. So he blessed him.
Verse 24, and he said, Art thou not really? Who are you? Are you my son Esau? Let me hear
it again. Hmm? Who are you? I'm Esau. I'm Christ. I'm Christ. Christ,
Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ. And he said, Well, bring
it near to me. Bring it near, and I'm going
to eat my son's venison, that my soul may bless him. And he
brought it near to him, and he did eat, and he bought him wine.
Well, that's significant, isn't it? He had a body and some wine
there. And he drank, and his father
Isaac said, Come nearer, my son, and kiss me. Get a little closer. Kiss me, my son. And he came
nearer. Now, this is close scrutiny,
isn't it? Don't you think another man could pull this off on you? The scripture says we can come
into God's presence like this. Jacob did this. After his father,
who gave birth to Esau, he was pulled off. Jacob was, as it were, changed
in the very image of Esau. Even Isaac couldn't discern it. He came up to him and kissed
him. He felt him. He smelled him. And God better not smell one
sin on you. That's the reason the blood of
Christ has to not just cover, but wash him away, totally cleanse
us from all sin. And he smelled the smell of his
raiment and blessed it. And he tasted that meat and he
felt him and he kissed him and said, Oh, that's my boy. That's
my son Esau, whom I love. Oh, bless you, my boy. And we can come into the presence
of God just like that. How? Huh? The Scripture said in Psalm 19,
we altogether become stinking, filthy, dead in trespassing.
Our righteousness, filthy rag, stinking. It's another word,
same word. Filthy, stinking. We look bad, we feel bad, we
smell bad, we talk bad, everything about us is bad. God has to reconcile
us. He has to change us to himself,
for himself. He has to create us in the very
image of Jesus Christ for himself. Come on up here, son. What? Yeah,
come on. Kiss me. Right there. Go on. Yeah. Lay a kiss on God's
cheek. I tell you, this world and all
its flippant, careless, fleshly familiarity, they think they
can do it, but they'll come up with the kiss of Judah, won't
they? God tells us, come on now, boldly, confidently, come on,
how? In the blood, in Christ, in Christ, we're a new creature. If any man be in Christ, the
smell's gone. The feel, the look, you're dead. And the life you now live, you
live. by the faith of, or in, represented
by, the Son of God, whom God is well pleased with. to appease or make friendly. I couldn't find that anywhere.
It does. I'll show you that in a little
bit. But the chief meaning of this word is to change. And that's what he just said
in verse 17. What? Change. God has reconciled us
to himself or for himself by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is
the one that did it all. and hath given to us, the apostles
and ministers of the gospel, this ministry, this preaching
of reconciliation, this preaching of Christ." In short, preaching
of Christ, his person, his work, his acceptable sacrifice, his
smell. Everything about him is our acceptance
before our holy God. Look at verse 19. To wit that
God was in Christ. God was in Christ. All Jehovah's
Witnesses read 2 Corinthians 5.19 to wit that God was in Christ. God was in Christ. Christ is
God, reconciling the world to himself, changing. That is not
all men without exception, but not just the Jews, Jews and Gentiles. of every tribe, kindred, nation
under heaven, has reconciled in the world, changing a world
of people unto himself, making human beings meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in life, to be able to behold
his glory. It says here, "...not imputing
our trespasses unto us, God will not find one thing against our
charge. Who is he that condemneth? It
is God that justifies." And he hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation." See that? So this we say, verse 20. This is what we say. Now then,
we are ambassadors or representatives for Christ, messengers for the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the reconciler. We can't reconcile
anybody. We can't sprinkle holy water.
or absolve anybody from their sins or do anything. We're just
messenger boys, Paul said. He's the reconciler. We've just
got the message coming to men and saying, hey, he must reconcile
you. He must change you. And now then,
we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you
by us. As though God were speaking to
you personally through me. That's what Paul meant back there
in verse 11, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord and the
serious responsibility of this office. I'm not just making this
up. This is what Paul is writing
to us in it, as though God didn't beseech you by us. It makes this office pretty serious,
doesn't it? We pray you, we beseech you, We warn you, we tell you personally,
now be ye reconciled to God. Be ye reconciled to God. Not asking you, he doesn't ask
us to accept him, does he? He's not asking us to accept
God, to make a decision, to turn over a new leaf or anything.
He's saying believe, acknowledge, trust, look to, believe on, depend
upon Christ the reconciler. have a change of mind in that
respect. Be ye reconciled, be ye changed
in your way of thinking. Repent in that respect. Settle this thing in your own
heart. Work out, that's what Paul meant by when he said, work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Become fully persuaded,
as the article in this morning's bulletin says, of whom you have
believed. Not what, but whom. Who is your
hope of salvation? become fully persuaded in your
own mind and heart whether or not you trust and believe Christ
or not. Do you? Do you or do you not? Do you
feel your need of Christ or do you not? Have you come to him? Have you
come to Christ? Have you cast your soul upon
him? Well, I'm telling you right now, do it now. That's what Paul
said, as though God did beseech you by us, do it now. Be reconciled
to God. Don't put it off. This thing
is too serious, the consequences are too great. In closing, I
want you to turn over to where we read Colossians 1. Let me
just say something from Colossians 1 in closing. It's a few more
minutes. Look at this. Colossians 1, where
we read the beginning of verse 19. This thing of reconciliation,
it's all of God. All things are of God. But you
know it pleased the Father to put this work in the hands of
his Son." That's what verse 19 said. It pleased the Father that
in Christ should all fulness dwell. All fulness dwell. It says there that in Christ
all the fulness dwells. In other words, he is the representative
of his people, Christ is the substitute they He is the mediator,
he is the surety of the covenant, he is the intercessor, he is
the peace offering, he is the blood offering, he is the advocate,
he is all of these things, all fullness. Everything you need
to stand before God is in Christ, all fullness. It pleased the
Father that in him our whole case should be committed. We're in good hands, in good
hands. The Father hath put us all things
in Christ's hand." Go down there, you be the fullness, you be the
mediator of the covenant, the surety, the intercessor, the
advocate, the substitute, the righteous, the peace offering,
you be it all. You do it all. All that's necessary for them.
In him all fullness dwells. Verse 20, and so he did. He did
it all that was necessary for us. It says he made peace. having
made peace through the blood of his cross." He made peace,
or that is, appeasing the justice, the wrath of God Almighty against
our sins. He appeased the wrath or fulfilled
or took upon himself the wrath, the justice of God Almighty against
our sins and made peace. made peace by the blood of his
cross, by him, by Christ, to reconcile all things unto himself,
to change all things unto God. By him, I say, whether they be
things in earth, or whether they be saints in earth, or saints
in heaven, or angels, whatever it may be, all things have to
be made holy, have to be sprinkled by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Verse 21, You, and here's the sense in
which this thing of our being enemies and so forth is. God
making us friendly toward him. Verse 21, you, who? You, yeah, you. You with the
glasses and the maroon shirt. You with the tan shirt and a
checkbook in your pocket. You, yeah, you. And you, and
you. that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now, but God, yet
now, hath he reconciled." Alienated and enemies, yet now hath he
reconciled. He's changed you from a rebel,
from a God-hating rebel, into a submissive, fearful, obedient
child, like breaking a wild ass's coat. Yeah, that's what he has
to do to us, doesn't he? He has to break us like a wild
ass's coat. At one time we hated authority,
dominion, rule over us of any sort. We hated the thought of
an absolute God. But God, but Christ, changed
all that in us and reconciled us to himself, made a change
like breaking a wild ass's coat in the body of his flesh. He
has reconciled or changed us through his death, through our
death in him, to present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in his sight." Verse 23 is just a statement of fact, saying,
if you continue. In other words, this applies
to Jeanette Barry if, in the end, we find she is still a believer.
He's not saying, he's not leaving it up to you, Jeanette. He's
not saying if you'll keep on, keep on, or if you'll be faithful.
He's just saying a fact there, isn't he? This is, he has reconciled
you if you continue in the faith and be not moved away. Grounded
and settled, be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.
Same thing applies to you, Vicki Patton, Christie Madeline. Just
stating a fact there. Not leaving it in your hands
at all. He's just stating a fact, if you continue in the faith.
So you see, God Almighty has to make a change in us. God Almighty,
this thing of reconciliation, is not God being made friendly
toward us. No. It says he reconciled us
to himself, doesn't it? It doesn't say he reconciled
himself to us. Right? God doesn't change. He's
immutable, right? God doesn't change concerning
us. He said, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. This
reminds me of an illustration. A young boy wrote me a letter about two months ago, I guess,
a month or so ago. I think he's about thirteen years
old. Now, listen to this question. I've never had anybody ask me
this question before. Boy, and it's a good question,
a good question. And I thought, I wish more adults
would ask that. And this young boy wrote me and said, I was
listening to a tape and he said, I'm somewhat confused. And he
said, he asked me, he said, was the wrath of God Almighty upon
his elect before he called them by the gospel? He said, was the wrath of God,
a thirteen-year-old boy, mind you, was the wrath of God Almighty
upon his elect, his people, before they were called, before they
repented, before they were called by the gospel, before they believed
Christ? Was the wrath of God upon them?
What would you say to that? Huh? Was it? I just quoted Jeremiah 31. I
just gave you the clue. Huh? He says, I have loved thee with
an everlasting love. He couldn't change. The wrath
of God never abode upon his children, never, never. The scripture says
in Romans 5, God commended with love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God loved us before the
world began, before we ever heard the gospel, before we believed,
before we repented. God loved his people. He doesn't
change toward us. The reason we don't go to everybody
without exception in that way, and this is what I told you,
young boy, the reason we tell everybody that the wrath of God
abides upon them, upon young God, is because we don't know
who are his elect. So we have to tell them And the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and we have to tell
everybody that by nature the wrath of God abides upon you.
God is angry with the wicked. God hates all workers of iniquity.
And that creates in them a godly fear, a fear of a holy God. And they repent. And then they
find out, hey, he never was angry with me. He always did love me.
So the wrath of God is not God reconciling himself, making himself
friendly, it's toward us. That's what that eternal covenant
is all about. That's what the eternal love of God, for his
everlasting love of God, is all about. But he has to change us,
doesn't he? We were enemies. We were wild
asses, Colt. orphans, and just in rebellion. Children
of wrath, even as others. Disobedience. Children of wrath. Enmity. Enemies against God in
our minds. God has to change us. God doesn't
change toward us. He changes us toward him. He
makes us holy and unblamed. He kills us. kills us, creates
a new creature, and changes us toward God, our mind toward God,
our heart, our affection, our walk, our life, everything about
us toward God. That's reconciliation. It's as
clear as I can make it. God was in Christ, reconciling
a world of people unto himself, and he has committed unto us
this ministry of reconciliation. So we beseech you, we are as
ambassadors of Christ, we beseech you be reconciled.