Made nigh by the blood of Christ

seeking for the help of the Lord. I direct your prayerful attention to Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 2, and reading from our text, verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 13, made nigh by the blood of Christ. Paul here especially is dealing with the Jews and Gentiles and bringing of the Gentiles into the fold.

Our Lord in John 10 He said, other sheep I have which are not of this fold, then also I must bring. There shall be one fold and one shepherd. And the Apostle is speaking here of the Jews, of the situation in the Old Testament where we had one unique nation, a peculiar people, a people that had been brought out of another nation, had been brought into the wilderness in a remarkable way, and brought to go to the promised land. The Lord gave them laws like He didn't give to any other nation, and He went before them with the cloudy pillar by day, and fire by night, like He did not do with any other nation. and they were a special people unto himself. Israel itself is a typical people and it's good for us to get a picture of God's one church, his true people in every nation, kindred and tongue by having a view of national Israel in the time of their wilderness journey, the Old Testament time, where we see them so unique, so separate from the world, so drawn out, so blessed by the Lord himself, and to think, although Lord's people are scattered through all the nations of the earth, yet there is still one people, there is still a special people, a people that are blessed in a way that none other are blessed and led in a way that none other are blessed. And to go from the type to the Adi-type and to see the true Church of God gathered from all nations. Then we have another type, as it were, with the bring together here of the Gentiles with the Jews.

It must have been something that the Jews, the Lord's people, really struggled with. If seven to 10 years after Pentecost, we have the apostles challenging Peter that he went in to the Gentiles, to those uncircumcised. If Peter needed those visions of the sheep net down from heaven, to break down his opposition to go to the Gentiles, the Jews, they could not see what we see now in the prophecies, especially of Isaiah, clearly setting forth the Lord's will that the Gentiles should be brought in. But it must have been very, very hard to see. We read that it hath not entered into the heart of man, what the Lord hath prepared for them that love him. And that's set forth in Isaiah's prophecy.

Paul refers to it, and of course that does apply to the church now looking for what we shall be in heaven. Paul says, we know not what we shall be, but we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. But I often think of the contrast, how could the Jews going through the wilderness, having all of the ordinances, all of the sacrifices, everything that they had, comprehend the idea of a worldwide church. How can they look forward to see us this afternoon, and to see how the church is right through the world, and that the central one that is set forth is Jesus Christ of Nazareth who was typifying all of their types in all of the shadows that they wouldn't have been able to. And we can't enter either into what the Lord has prepared beyond the grave.

But it gives us some contrast. If we see that great contrast, what a great contrast it will be. for us to behold the Lord and to be in a body that's not a body of death. But the Lord has brought this about, and we can see in the scriptures, a bring together. And it is brought together through one person, divine person, God, man, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now the text begins in that way, but now in Christ Jesus. a contrast with a difference. One man, one promised seed of Abraham, one of the seed of David, one who is truly God and truly man. And it is through him that there is a bringing night.

And you can see in the literal sense a reconciliation a bring together to that were hostile or not compatible, we might think. And we get a little picture of this as well with the whole plan of salvation, which is to bring together those that are alienated. The whole work of our Lord is to be God and sinners reconciled, to bring together those that were alienated and to bring them as friends together. And you can see that between Jew and Gentile brought together. We see that between God and man brought together, sinners being brought to have all of their objections, their hostility, their hatred to God, all this matter is taken away and so that they are brought as one with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And then we see other pictures as well with the state that we are in by nature and what we are in when we are called by grace. And so we want to go from looking at the way the reconciliation, bringing together in Christ is set forth through the scriptures, but what is especially upon my spirit this afternoon is this being made nigh by the blood of Christ. So I want to Look at four points and then the last one, fifth point in a way of application. Firstly, in Christ Jesus, a quickened soul.

In the very start of this chapter, you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. And so I want you to look at this first phrase of our text, but now in Christ Jesus. And then secondly, where all are by nature, in those words, were far off. In the middle of our text, these three words were far off. And then thirdly, they bless soul. A blessed soul is made nigh. May we remember that. A soul that is blessed is made nigh unto God.

And then fourthly, how God brings nigh, and it is by the blood of Christ. But firstly, in Christ Jesus, a quickened soul. We're not left in doubt when we have in scripture these descriptive words of God's people, like in Christ Jesus, or the Church, or the Bride of Christ, what that actually means in practice, how do we know that we are in Christ Jesus? We are told in the first chapter of this epistle that we were chosen in Him, verse 4, 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. And that position of in Christ Jesus, it begins before the world was, before we were. And the Apostle is very clear that that is the case. Chosen in Him. Then we have in verse 5 of chapter 2, Even when we were dead in sins, have quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved.

And so that is not pointing to the new birth, is not pointing to be made alive at the time recalled by Christ, it's pointing back to Christ when Christ was raised from the dead. We think of the ordinance of baptism, buried with her by baptism into death and risen again in newness of life.

Our Lord is the firstfruits, giving assurance that there will be a harvest following, there will be others raised from the dead as He was raised from the dead. And why are others raised from the dead? Because Christ was raised, He died for us and rose again, and has been identified with His rising. bearing the sins of every one of His dear people. He endured the wrath of God for every one of His people and He rose again for their justification. And it is the identity not only with Christ in what He bore in our sins, but in that He rose from the dead as well. Because I live, ye shall live also. And Paul is here saying that there is an identifying with when Christ Christ rose, every one of those who were given to him also rose from the dead.

Their sins then were blotted out if you like, they were atoned for, the penalty was paid, it was done. But as yet they don't know that. As yet they haven't partaken personally of the benefits of them. But when they are, then they can look back and are to look back at the position where they are in, that they are in Christ Jesus. A really solid position for the people of God.

How does he use another illustration? Our Lord has said that at the end of the world, it shall be as in the days of Noah. Men shall be buying and selling, living in marriage, like Noah was until the flood came and took them all away. But Noah and his family, they were saved.

They were saved by water, they were saved in the arms They were saved by faith. And they were found in the ark. To be outside of the ark would have been death. The ark itself bore the breaking up of the deep, it bore the floods from above, and all of those inside were protected by it. They were protected by the ark. They couldn't even see. They couldn't even look out and see the destruction. of those outside. Now it was all born by the Ark. But you see the security of the Ark for Noah and his house. And the Ark is a beautiful time of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

It brought Noah from the old world to the new world. Christ brings his people from the old world to the new world, from death to life. from this life of that which is to come, and it is being found in heaven, not having our own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is of the faith of Jesus Christ. It comes from Jesus Christ, as we have in verse eight, it is the gift of God. But may we think of this beautiful position that God's people are in, And in this chapter, if you ask, well, how do we know whether we are in Christ Jesus? The answer is, you hath he quickened. You hath he made alive. Our Lord only makes alive those that are in him. And where he gives life, that life comes from himself.

And really in verse one as well, there says, real contrast, a quickening, and those that were dead in trespasses and sins. So those that know now in a personal way, by personal experience, that they are in Christ, they can look back to Calvary, they can look before the world, they can see their names in the Lamb's Book of Life, they can see chosen in Him, foreknowledge, predestinated, called, justified, glorified, they can see them part in that golden churn, and to see where they stand in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to then think secondly, that where we all are by nature, which our text says, we're far off. but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Going back to the beginning of the chapter, another description of being far off, dead in trespasses and sins, another description how we were walking, verse two. He walked according to the cause of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we had our conversation, our citizenship, in times past in the lust of our flesh. fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, whereby nature, the children of wrath, even as others."

The Word of God is very clear that God's chosen, elect, foreknown people, when they come into this world, are no different than any other. They're just as lost, just as dead, just as natural, just as carnal, just as held captive by sin as any other, there's no difference. And we are to remember that, we are to know that. The scriptures, from beginning to end, deal with contrast to make known truth.

You think of the two worshippers, Cain and Abel, not just one worshipper, two. One that is bringing of the fruit to the ground, one that is bringing a blood sacrifice. And God says, the blood sacrifice, that pleases me, not the fruit to the ground. And you have it again and again. Nearly every parable our Lord told There will be two, two going up to pray, the Pharisee, the Publican.

When you get a story, an account of Ruth, you don't get one from Moab, you get Ruth and Orpah. One wants to go with Naomi, one is chosen, one is drawn, the other is not. Jacob, Esau, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. all the time, right through, you notice through the scriptures.

And it's a contrast, as if the Lord was saying, you cannot see your character in this way, can you see them in that? If you struggle working out whether you've been quickened or made alive, well, are you dead? And do you know nothing at all and hear nothing of the things of God? Or put another way, in this situation, has there been a change? Is there a difference made? Those who have never been quickened, those who have never been called, they have not had a change.

But those here, as a reminder of what we were, dead in trespasses and sins. Some are very marked. I know with some of us we might have been brought up under the sound of the truth all of our days. But even that doesn't change the distinction. Because I remember my rebelliousness in teens, my hatred of the things of God. I saw it in my own son. Saw it from the pulpit how he worshipped, how he acted. Not the same now, he's called an elder, a minister too.

And the Lord makes a difference, even if we're brought up under the sound of the truth. But if you get someone like John Newton, who's a slave trader and a hater of the things of God, or Saul of Tarsus, who is persecuting the people of God and hates the name of Jesus, then the Lord makes a change. There is a big change. and everyone notices that change. Not every change will be as noticeable, but there will be a change.

And especially where we've attended the means of grace, we will know it, and others close to us will know it too. Remember reading, you might have read to you sometimes here, the sermons of John Raven, past the small fields and red hill, and he said that he never knew a time that he didn't love the things of God and like going to the house of God. But he knew there was something lacking, and his pastor, Mr. Gray Hazel Reek, he realised as well. He said they both knew when the Lord called him by grace and when there was a heart change. Outward things cannot make up for a heart change, a real change in the heart.

But it can be that there is a natural and outward love and compliance of never kicking over traces, always doing that which is right. But if that's you, and bless God that you haven't been left to go away into rebel against the things of God, but don't rest in that for salvation. Ask for that real change that God alone can make. And that's honourable, that's good in the sight of the Lord, where from the Word of God you say, Lord, I haven't got this mark, difference, this change. I want to know it clearly and to lay it before the Lord. By nature our hearts, however much it might be smoothed over, covered over and outside kept clean, they're all the same.

They're fallen, they're far off from God, they're at enmity with God. They're far off from the Lord. We can be involved in many religious things, just like the Apostle Paul was, a Pharisee of the Pharisees. and yet be far off from the Lord. It can be like Martha, and she was one of the lords and loved by the lord. But so busy, so carried with things, she was far off from sitting at the feet of the lord and hearing his word.

This is a description that the reality man is alienated by wicked works, is separated because of sin, is cast out of the Garden of Eden, he cannot have fellowship, he cannot have union, it must be made up, it must be honourably made up, the price paid, the life given, and a brink night.

It must be so, we think of again the parable of the prodigal son. You have two. You have one that always did what was right, always was in his father's house, never wasted his father's money. And the other one, he goes away, he rebels, he kicks, he wastes his father's money.

But then he comes to being want. He realizes he's far off. and he's drawn, not again, but you know, he doesn't have to go all the way. As soon as he turns, as soon as he's repentant, as soon as he's resolving, I'm no more worthy to be called thy son, the father runs, embraces him, brings him in. The joy, the gladness of the change, except the one that had never gone away, and he's not happy at all.

That's often replicated, even in our churches it is. Even in our families of those in our churches, where there'll be those that have never gone away from the house of God, and those that have, have gone to great lengths of sin, and then the Lord's worked in their hearts, brought them back, brought them into church membership, changed them, new creatures in Christ, And the rest of the family rebels and finds it a stumbling block, can't receive it. They say, how's this? I've done what's right all the time. It is, it's replicated in our day. But if we're one of those that are brought back, we will know what we were. We will know what we did and what we were in our heart and how far off from the Lord we were.

He might have outwardly read the Word but never entered into it, never had communion, never had fellowship, never wanted to know the Lord. He was a distant, out of court worshipper, never brought into the holiest of all. The picture in the Word of God of those outside of Christ and by nature, like this chapter, It is a black picture, a picture of sin, alienation, and separate from God. Well, thirdly, aren't you consider a blessed soul? What is a blessed soul? There might be some of you here, and your prayer is, Lord, bless my soul. But what have you got in mind? What do you think the Lord will do to bless your soul?

Believe there's some of us here, we've known the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich, addeth no sorrow with it. And I believe in our text here, it really sums up just about every blessing I've had. And that is to be brought nigh. to be brought, to have fellowship, love, union with the Lord. Often it is in prayer, often in silent, in secret, before the Lord. And the heart is filled with the things of God, the Word of God wells richly. It's like those two on the way to a maze, their heart burned within them as the Lord taught with them.

Instead of being put at a distance, they're brought nigh. We see his smile, we're able to discern his smile. You know, if someone is turned away from us, we don't know whether they're smiling, whether they're angry, we can't discern. But if we're brought nigh and they turn, they face us, we see them, then we know how they are towards us.

A blessing is when we're brought nigh and we can actually see how the Lord is toward us. The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, he addeth no sorrow with it. It's been brought to delight again in the things of God, to enjoy what we did not enjoy, to feed upon what we did not feed upon before.

Our Lord in John 6, he insisted, except you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. But all those that were of natural mind, those that weren't called or given a new nature, they were stumbled, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? They couldn't think of it in a spiritual way. Nicodemus couldn't think of a birth except in a natural way. That's the natural mind. But a spiritual mind, then it does enter into it, does know that secret, does feed upon the things of God.

The Word is its meat and its drink. They are satisfied with the blessing of the Lord. They are favoured with the manna from heaven, with the handfuls of purpose. They are favoured to glean amongst the sheaves. They are favoured to have boas, take knowledge of them, their heavenly boas. Ruth, she marvelled, why takest thou knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? That's how she felt. But Boaz had brought her nigh, brought her to the table and showed favour to her.

A blessed soul is one that is brought nigh, brought near to the Lord in fellowship, communion, friendship and with the love of God in the soul. How would our blessings weigh in that scale? How can we be blessed if we feelingly are far off from God? If He and ourselves are strangers, The Lord's aim at last is, Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.

No man can come unto me except the Father which sent me draw him, and I raise him up at the last day. And you see he's speaking about coming unto me. being brought nigh, being brought near. The whole work of grace and the work of God is to have at last the people of God near to Him, partner with Him in His throne. And that will be mirrored here below.

A blessed soul is one that is made nigh, brought near to the Lord, brought to have close dealings with Him, spend time with Him in prayer, in reading, in affection, in love, delighting in the Lord." Well how is it in the fourth place that this can be said? How does God bring a soul nigh? Our text says, but now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Okay, and we're going back to Calvary. We are identifying with what is happening in a poor sinner's life with what the Lord did. on the cross, the shedding of blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission. And it is the blood that the Church of God is to always remember. That's why we have the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. That's why we are to remember and to show forth His death till He comes. lest we forget, this is the way that sinners who are dead in trespasses and sins are made nigh, and this is how those who have gone far off because their back's slidden, this is how they are brought nigh as well.

It is through the blood of Christ. This applied to joining Gentiles and the Jews. One blood. They look forward through the types of shadows. We look back to Christ and His sufferings. There's only one way of salvation. There's only one redemption. There's only one Redeemer.

And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is how the Lord brings nigh. And we have to have this really fixed in our hearts. How is it God brings nigh? Satisfaction must be made for sin. The debt must be paid. The soul must be redeemed. God's price, God's terms must be satisfied. and then the soul can be bought nigh. These are the things that are set forth in our text here. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. I want to speak then to some words of application for all this.

The first is to those that are still in a state, the same state that you were born in. In a way I like to put it that way because it indicates there's been no change. If we were to put it that those that are still dead in trespasses and sins, then we might ask, well, am I that person? But if we put it that's how we were born, that there has been no change, we have gone on without any difference being wrought.

We don't know what it is to be made alive. We don't know what it is to value the blood of Christ or to realize how it is used in conversion to saving a sinner. So to those of you that might be like that, You know, in some cases, there'll be those that do have a wish, a desire, that they might be saved. Others have no realization at all of their state and the danger that they're in. There may be that level of intellectual assent to their own state and condition But it leaves you unmoved, not alarmed, not feeling a danger. Very often in that case as well, there's a tendency to blame the Lord and say, well, salvation is of the Lord, therefore there's nothing I can do, so I just keep going back and forth to the house of God and I hope the Lord one day will save me. But if he doesn't, well that's his fault.

And there's no concern. There's no resting prayer. There's no cry like the hymn writer, what if my poor soul be left out when thou for them shalt call? There's no urgency. There's really just a is given ascent to things as if they were just natural things in life instead of what concern your eternal destiny where you shall spend eternity and to be under the wrath of God. At a distance from the Lord and not really concerned at all about being born again.

Our text speaks of the only way of being brought nigh. May this give a real edge to prayer. One of the hymns it speaks of, I think it's in the last line of each verse, and plead the blood that takes the sin atoned. And there's a looking to that one remnant that one thing that will make the difference. It is true, we cannot bring ourselves nigh. The gospel is not a self-held gospel. It's not one that, well, you do this and this and this and then you'll be saved.

For the gospel does point out where salvation ends. think of thee, publican, God be merciful to me a sinner. And we're sinners appointed to Christ, to His blood, to that way of being born of. If you realise you are far off, if you feel you are far off, may this be your plea, and to bring you nigh and to plead that precious blood that was shed at Calvary. If you make that testimony that from the Word of God you believe and understand the only way that my poor soul can be saved is through Christ Jesus and His precious blood. Dear Blessed Faith, every Lord uses His Word to bring a real urgency, a real change in your prayers, in your seeking, and a real hope that however far off you feel in the Gospel, there is a way of being brought nigh completely outside of yourselves, not your works, not your doings, but what Christ has done. This is the beauty, the blessed message of the Gospel, that what the law cannot do, that God can do. And it is a privilege for everyone that preaches the Gospel to lift that up.

This is the Lord's a finished work, a work that through the ministry He sets before sinners and sinners are drawn to that work and drawn to His blood and fleed that blood. That is how you and I will begin and continue on in our pilgrimage, being drawn to Christ and His precious sin atoning blood.

What a message then to those still in the state of nature. But what if we are backslidden? Leave all of God's children to have times in their lives when they realise they have got far off from the Lord. They are not what they once were. We think back to when we were first called.

Now we could spend such a long time reading the Word of God, delighting in the Word of God, such a time in prayer and really communion, and we loved it. We heard from the Lord and He heard from us. But those times go. We read in Revelation, the chance that was left by first love, not spending time with the Lord anymore. not delighting in His Word, not relishing His Word or the company of the people of God or the preaching as we once did. And we realize and inwardly our conscience and the Spirit bears witness.

You're far off, you're not near anymore. You've departed from the Lord. Children of Israel in a literal way again and again went away from the Lord to idolatry, to all sorts of different things, and we're just the same. And in a spiritual way, what message is there here?

For us, we may be in that condition. Again, the way back, how we are brought nigh by the blood of Christ, really puts emphasis in our prayers brings us back a bit on the same ground, as it were, as those who have not yet bought to know the Lord and to know His fellowship and communion, that we retrace the steps and we desire those same first blessings and those same ways that the Lord was made precious to us. It is a blessed thing to be fortnight again. Fortnight again.

No more stranger or a guest but like a child at home. You might have it naturally in families where there's some strain or alienation. The child doesn't see the parent. or between friends, and then there's a making up, and there's a re-enclose again, and being brought nigh again. And what a relief, and what a blessing that that is, when you have that.

Sometimes, not only the people of God, but even those in the natural sense, have this ache, this sorrow that they want this breach and this trouble made up. But we can have that in a spiritual way between us and the Lord. Part of it is a recognizing that we are not dying. We've been trying to mask and cover up our real soul, state and condition with a lot of outward in the things of God, but in the end it leaves an aching void that even those things cannot fill. And there's that longing and desire that we might be brought nigh and near to the Lord again, see His smile and know His blessing, and have that sweet assurance and comfort of being in Christ Jesus.

But what about those that are blessed with communion and fellowship with the Lord, that are nigh, are favoured, sometimes with the best intentions, you know, when there are those that are brought to baptism and they've got their first love and that love of the Lord, I've heard it many times, the old Christian might say to them, it won't last long, you know, Why not let them enjoy that blessing? Don't take it away from them. They'll soon find out it may not last long. But, enjoy that.

And realize where it comes from. Where the blessing comes from. It's really a double blessing when we realize where it comes from. You might be given a natural present. You might get something come in the mail. And it's just what you wanted. You love it. You really enjoy it, but you don't know where it comes from.

There's a double blessing if that came from someone that was special to you, or someone that you thought was alienated from you and hadn't got any good thoughts towards you, and yet they've sent you this present. When you realize who it's come from, in a way the present goes into insignificance, and the great blessing is that person is friendly to me again.

And they've said this. And so to realize those blessings that we have, what they mean, what they are tokens of, evidences of. You know, as Sir Soret said in the scriptures you read in John 6, to those that partook of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, their hearts were hardened. They followed the Lord over a sea. You say, wasn't that a good thing? But the Lord is earned. Why? They said it was because they ate the loaves and were filled.

They were just wanting food for their bodies and this was the person who could miraculously do it without them having to pay for it. They failed to see this was a miracle. This was the Son of God that had brought that, the hand that had given it. They didn't see. And therefore they lost the blessing, they had the food, but they didn't have the real blessing.

So our Lord says, labor not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth to eternal life. Does the blessed thing to realize whence that blessing has come? Like with the lepers, ten lepers, nine had the, or all ten had the cleansing, but only one realized the blessing. who had done it, who had wrought it, and he turned back, he went to the Lord. And so if we are blessed and if we are favoured, maybe really realise the blessing, realise the wonder of it, how favoured we are, how blessed we are, and that it come at the purchase price of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It was through His shed blood that we were brought nigh. again. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of

Made nigh by the blood of Christ

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Made nigh by the blood of Christ

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About Rowland Wheatley

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