Would please turn to 2nd Corinthians
chapter 5 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 I'm
gonna read the last four verses 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 I want
to begin in verse 18 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. 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 hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. I'm going to stop right there.
And I'm going to say this before I get started. God's truth is not to be disputed. It's not to be argued with. It's
not to be questioned. God's truth is to be believed
and to be trusted. Amen. God has done many, many wonderful
works, which man will not believe, even when you tell them. What did he tell one of his prophets?
He said, I've not sent you to a country of hard speech. If
I'd sent you there, they'd have heard you and they'd have believed
you, but I sent you to your own people and they won't have what
I say. That's the way man naturally
is. Man will not believe God, but
God's people will believe God. Now this is a hard thing to lay
a hold of sometimes because we believe. If you believe, you
kind of find it hard for somebody else not to believe. But once
God rubs your nose in it a few times, you kind of get the idea. But still, we are, Walter and I here, under
shepherds and we're looking for sheep because we have words for
the sheep. We have a tendency to think anyone
can believe and we do speak as best as we can clearly, logically,
strictly from the word of God and as simply as we can. We speak as if everyone can understand,
but God has taught us that everyone can't. And here's another thing I found
out over the years. Even when the words are understood,
that doesn't make a sheep. because those who aren't his
sheep reject his words, especially when they come to understand
what you're actually saying. Undershepherds don't make sheep.
We are to feed and to care for them with his word, using the
words in his book, and that's what I want to endeavor to do
today, is to present this scripture as clearly and concisely as I
can. because this teaches how the
sheep are reconciled. And that's, the title of this
is Be Reconciled to God. I almost entitled it, And All Things
Are of God, because I like that. That's the first thing I said
here, I read here. And all things are of God. What
can you say about a statement like that? And all things are
of God. Well, the only thing you can
say, you better say, is yes. Amen. And amen. That's it. All things are of
God. Pertaining to what? Pertaining
to all things, in this case. Directly pertaining to salvation.
Directly pertaining to here, redemption and reconciliation. All things are of God. That's
where I start with this. All things are of God. What is
the next thing Paul writes? Who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ. All things are of God. God hath
reconciled us. To himself. To himself. Just be clear say state it straight
out the work of reconciliation is the work of God You don't see any part of man
in this till we get down to the end of verse 20 This is the work of God Again
the scriptures are very clear How much does man have to do
with this part with any of this? with reconciliation, the answer
is zero. Man has nothing to do with it.
And all things are of God. God hath reconciled us to himself,
to himself. The scripture's clear. Paul also
wrote in Ephesians 2 and verse 16, that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. The context there is directly
to the Jews and the Gentiles. Both are reconciled. He's made of the twain one new
flesh. He has reconciled both. Because
here's the point. You'll see it in here in this
scripture all throughout it, and in every other scripture
I'll read about the reconciliation. There's only one reconciliation. There's only one. And it happened
2,000 years ago. It happened in the past. God is not reconciling us to
himself. He has reconciled us to himself. I do want to turn to this one,
though, if you would. Colossians chapter one and verse 20. Just
over a few pages. Colossians one and verse 20. Well, verse 19. I gotta read this.
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. Talking about Christ, the Son.
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, now hath he reconciled. How, in the body of his flesh,
through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unapprovable
in his sight, if ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
and what, be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which
ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which
is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. Having made peace it says how
by the blood of his cross By his death and The shedding
of his blood you the people who Paul was writing to here in Colossians
believers you you Believers are reconciled to God Now, believers are reconciled.
Now, by his death and his blood, we've been reconciled to God.
So the reconciliation took the death and the blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ. It took that for God to be satisfied. Romans five and verse 10 put
it this way. For if 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. Now, going
back to that, just for a few minutes, to Colossians 1. Our
only the friends reconciled. Our only believers reconciled. It's not what Paul said. He says,
you were, you were aliens and enemies in your mind. You know, I fit right there at
one time and you fit right there at one time. The reconciliation
was made with the death and the blood of our Lord and savior,
Jesus Christ. The reconciliation is not made
from our acceptance of it. I know that's taught worldwide,
definitely television wide. but it's not so. What does that mean? Well, to
state it plainly, we were not reconciled to God by faith. We were not reconciled to God
by believing. Now this letter is written to
believers. And the one second Corinthians
is written to believers. Why is that? Because only believers
are going to believe it. That's just the way, and it is
true of every believer. But it's not only true of believers,
it's true of the elect. Other sheep I have. Other sheep I must bring. Why? Because he reconciled. Your position, personally, didn't
have anything to do with a reconciliation, except for the fact that before
the foundation of the world, you were chosen in Christ. That's what the reconciliation
has to do. The reconciliation has to do with the death and
the blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Father's
acceptance of his sacrifice. Because he says it plainly. All things are of God who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. And it's not by Jesus
Christ and you. It's by Jesus Christ. Period,
exactly. We might have been aliens and
enemies in our mind. Now, see this is the point. is
our mind, we were aliens and enemies. In God's mind, we're
in Christ. In God's mind, we were chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. That reconciliation
happened 2,000 years ago, and in God's mind, he's reconciled. Not by you, not by me, but by
Jesus Christ. by his work, by his shed blood,
by his salvation, which he purchased with his own blood. All reconciliation is by Jesus
Christ. The work of the son in substitution,
in walk, in love and in satisfaction, was to the father. I came to
do the will of my father. That's what he said. That's what
he did. And he made peace. That's what Paul wrote. He made
peace with God. Jesus Christ came and did the
will of the Father. What'd he say? He said, I and
my Father are one. Wait a minute, I just heard Henry
Mahan preach this this morning. What'd he say about us? He said, I and my people are
one, like I and my Father are one. What's that mean? That's a union. That's a union. we have been reconciled to God
by Jesus Christ. That's what it means. That's
what it means. God is no longer angry with us. The Son, Jesus Christ, has reconciled
us to God. The scripture is clear, the Holy
One of Israel is the Redeemer. and he died, and he was buried,
and he rose again, and he ascended to the Father. And that's a sign
of his acceptance before God of his sacrifice, his substitution,
his life, all of it. And his people are in him. They were chosen in him before
the foundation of the world, and he's brought us in now, and
he's bringing in many sons to glory. He came, he lived, he
gave himself a ransom for many. He died the death of the cross,
he ascended, he made the offering to the Father, and he was accepted. He reconciled us to God while
we were aliens and enemies. God, that's a good message. That's
a blessing. He's reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. He's reconciled
us to himself. I just can't get over the glory
of that, the wonder of it. You know, it says God's angry
with the wicked every day. Every day. He's not angry with
you. Any day. I'll do it. Walter said, let
me preach it. God's not angry with you any
day. Christ has reconciled us to God. God's not angry with his people.
God sees his people in his son. Now if you're not in his son,
God's angry with the wicked every day. And he has given us the ministry
of reconciliation. He's reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation.
We are given his gospel, his good news, this reconciliation
to proclaim, to proclaim. We are to minister to his sheep. There's a song. A lot of people
saying it and then their pastors get up
and preach against it. The title of it is this, and
I believe the title of it wholeheartedly. The title of it is Jesus Paid
It All. But then they'll get up and they say he did all he
could do and now it's up to you. No, no, you're either reconciled
or you're not. That's what this book says. Because
that reconciliation took place, I guess, 2,000 years ago, give
or take a few. So either Jesus paid it all,
or he didn't. And there's never any hint in
this scripture or any scripture that Jesus did not pay all of
the debt I owe. He did not come and pay a partial
ransom for many. He paid the ransom. He didn't
come and make a partial substitution for many. I've been in Baptist
churches where the preacher told me, he says, oh, well, you know,
God, you know, Jesus paid for every sin except for the sin
of unbelief, and now you gotta believe. I can't do that either. But then they'll get up at the
same Baptist church and say, you're saved by grace through
faith and that and out of yourselves. You understand? They'll say one
thing, then they'll argue against it. They'll say Jesus paid it
all, then they'll say he didn't. I want to sing the same thing
I want to believe. I want to sing the same thing
I preach. He has made the reconciliation. It's done. And that's the message
we have, is that Jesus did pay it all. And if you hear me saying
anything different, you call me on it, because I made a mistake. Because I certainly at this time
don't believe that. I believe he paid all of the
ransom for the many. Our message is that Jesus Christ
has reconciled his people to God. And I said it a few weeks
ago, when Paul writes things in the past tense, he means them
in the past tense. It has happened. That great transaction is done. Then he further explains, to
wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Now, how many times does he have
to say it? I don't know, but I like it when he does say it.
Not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation. Now, there are some people who
make a great deal out of this, reconciling the world unto himself. God was reconciling the world
unto himself. Yes, he was. Yes, he did. Now, is this the
whole world? Don't shake your head too soon.
I'll tell you yes. It is the whole world. Now, is
this everyone that's ever been in this world, never gonna be
in this world? No, that's two different things. You understand? I mean, I'm going to explain
it, honestly, you know. I wrote it down because I don't
want to screw this up, nothing personal. God in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself is the whole world with which God is concerned
with. You understand what I'm saying?
It is the whole world. This whole world, this whole
universe is going to be cleansed. It's cursed right now. It's all
going to be, it's all his. But this does not mean everyone
in the world. And he makes that perfectly clear
just a little bit later. But here, I do want to bring
this up because this is something that kind of helped me, you know,
get ahold of this where he reconciling the world unto himself. You know
what Christ said? to those people that, he said
we're gonna come to him in the last day and say, Lord, we've
done many wonderful works in your name. We've preached in
your name. We've done miracles in your name.
You know what Christ said to him? Depart from me, ye that
work iniquity. And these words, I never knew
you. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself, and that's everything and everyone that
God knew. Because if God doesn't know you
now, he's never knew you before. If God doesn't know you in the
future, he never knew you in the past. And that's just as
clear as I can be about it. Because he says, Jesus Christ
came to save his people from their sins. They were reconciled to God. And guess what? He tells us what
that means. And this is where it leaves out
some people, I'm afraid it does. Not imputing their trespasses
unto them. Now if that's everyone in the
world, hey, God is just. And if you ain't got no trespasses,
God's not gonna condemn you. There's no condemnation. But
he says some people are condemned. The reconciliation is for the
people of God. That's just what it means. And
how are they reconciled to God? He's not impugning. I just said,
God's not angry with you. He's not imputing your trespasses
unto you. He's not imputing my trespasses
unto me. He doesn't say I don't have any.
He doesn't say you don't have any. He says he's not imputing
them unto you because he laid them, he's gonna say that, on
his son. He was a ransom for many. Like it or not, God is just and
the justifier of them which believe in Jesus. God does not see any trespasses
that his son has purged. That's a cause for rejoicing. And that's not everyone, I'm
sorry. That's his people. That's those that were chosen
in the sun from before the foundation of the world because God has
always known his people. Even when we were aliens and
enemies in our mind, he knew us. And he has committed to us
the word of reconciliation. What is that word? Jesus Christ,
Jesus Christ. To declare, I say at this time,
his righteousness. This is Romans three and verse
26. That he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. We've been given both the ministry
of reconciliation and the word of reconciliation. And you can't
have one without the other. There's no ministry of reconciliation
without the word of reconciliation. And there's no word of reconciliation
without the ministry of reconciliation, because you're going to share
it. It doesn't mean everybody's a preacher, but it does mean
everyone knows who they have believed. And it's persuaded
that he is able to keep that which you've committed unto him.
And it does mean that we will tell people about it. And it
does mean some people won't like that very much. But some people
do. Some people do. We try to gather
with the ones who do. We've been given both. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you
in Christ said, here it is, be ye reconciled to God. We're the
ambassadors for Christ. We are from Christ and being
from God and Christ, we are for Christ. We have been given him and his
message. We have been given his message and his ministry. The ministry that the reconciliation
is done. And the word is that he personally
has done all. We pray you in Christ's stead.
We proclaim as ambassadors. We persuade men and we minister
to brothers and sisters in Christ. Be reconciled to God. Now I'll
be honest with you. In times past, I have had some
confusion about this statement. I ain't saying I got everything
about it right now. but I have a better grasp on
it now. Because it bothered me. Because, you know, Mason, I believe,
we believe through, by grace, through faith, and that, none
of yourselves. I got nothing to do with this. I got nothing
to do with the salvation. I got nothing to do with the reconciliation.
But then it tells me to do something. So I always get nervous when
the scripture says, be ye reconciled to God. At least that's the way
I thought it said. Because that's the way I'd always
heard it preached a lot of places. This is his message, though.
This is our message. Be ye reconciled to God. I said
it before, I'll say it again. God has been reconciled by his
son. His son's death, his son's blood,
and God is satisfied because God has seen sin punished and
paid for. The Son has justified many, for
He has bore their iniquities. God is just. Sin has been punished,
and the Son has reconciled us to God when we were enemies. So here's the thing. Believe
Him. Believe this. Believe this reconciliation. that the son has gotten. Believe
God. Be satisfied in his work. Be satisfied in Jesus Christ. Kiss the son lest he be angry.
Submit to him. Bow to him. That's our ministry and that's
our word. Jesus has paid it all. Bow to him. about him Now I do
have a couple of negative statements about this be reconciled to God
because these are the ones that kind of you know I've heard Because
right here. I want to be very clear Paul
is not telling us to reconcile ourselves Okay, I know what men
teach But the Bible doesn't teach that I know men say You believe
God, he'll give you grace. That's not what the scripture
says. It's by grace through faith and that not of yourselves. And
where his workmanship created in Christ Jesus, it says he's
made us new creatures. You understand? Paul's not telling
us to reconcile himself. Here's the other way of putting
it. Paul is not telling us to get reconciled. Paul is telling
us we are reconciled. Be ye reconciled to God. It's not, you look at the, I
looked at the verb in the Greek if you want to, okay? All these
reconciliations where it says God was in Christ reconciling
us to himself. God was reconciling the world
unto himself. All those are in the active because
God is the subject and God did it. where you get to be reconciled
with God, to God, guess what? That's passive. That's passive. He's not saying get reconciled,
he said be reconciled. It's a subtle point, I know,
but it makes so much more sense to me. Trust God. Trust Christ. He's reconciled us to his Father. I wrote this down because I heard
a preacher say it and it stuck with me and it might have been
Walter. Stop fighting against God. Be reconciled to God. Rest. Rest in his work. Rest in him. Rest in what he
has done. Rest in what he has told us he
has done. Because here it says it, for
he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. That, for
the express purpose, not the only purpose, but for the express
purpose here, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. Sin is paid for. Sin is paid
for. And you didn't pay for it, you
didn't pay for it, I didn't pay for it, he paid for it. And it's
paid. And it's paid in full. And it's
a total and complete redemption. He paid the full ransom for us. We're now his property. We're
his property to start with. But we are now, look, I made
you and I bought you. That story Earl used to tell.
He made us and he bought us. And it was bought with a price,
yes. but bought nonetheless, and he bought us in full, in
toto, in completion, and we are in him. Be you reconciled to
that. Be you reconciled to his work,
his righteousness. He said it in Exodus, it is the
Lord's Passover. Believe it. It's the Lord's salvation. Believe it. It's the Lord's reconciliation. Believe it. Believe him. Salvation is of the Lord. Be ye reconciled to God. Again, Paul's not telling us
to get reconciled. He's not telling us to reconcile
ourselves. Saying you have been reconciled
to God through Christ Do you believe Christ believe his word? Do you know Christ know his word? Because here's the hint it was
actually in the first part of verse 18 that first little word
there it says and all things are of God and That's tying together,
well, just for my purposes here, verse 17. Therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, and
behold, what? All things are become new. And. And. You understand, this is gonna
tie directly together being a new creature, and guess what? And
all things are of God. If you're a new creature, it's
because all things are of God. Be reconciled to Him. Be reconciled. Give up. Just stop fighting against God.
I like that because we have a tendency in our walk and in our way, not
His way, our way, To be overly concerned, I think sometimes
with some stuff. It's right to be concerned about
your sin, but you need to just sometimes, when you're thinking
about God, and you're thinking about Christ, you need to lay
your sins down. He's paid for it. You understand? And do this too. When you're
thinking about God, and you're thinking about Christ, and you're
thinking about his salvation, lay your righteousnesses down
too. Lay it all down. You got no sins, you got no righteousness.
You got him. And in him you have it all. He's
took away your sins and he's given you the righteousness you
need. Be reconciled to God. Be that way. Don't get that way. Don't try and make that way.
Be that way. Because God is satisfied with
the work of his son. Be satisfied with the work of
His Son. Bow to Him, submit to Him, believe
Him, trust Him, love Him, rejoice in Him, glory in Him and praise
Him. Be satisfied with Him and be
satisfied in Him and be reconciled to God. Our Heavenly Father,
we're thankful for this. the reconciliation, the redemption,
the salvation. All of it comes from you. All
of it. And all things from God. Thank you, Lord. Be with Walter
as he comes to speak. Be with us as we need to hear
your word. In Christ's name we pray.