We'll turn back with me now to
Ephesians chapter 2. I want to say before I forget
that the church in Nixon, Missouri sends their greetings to you.
We had a great meeting up there on Wednesday night. And as I read through Ephesians
chapter 2, I kind of dwelt on that verse down
there, verse 14. He is our peace. And so I titled my message this
morning, Blessed Peace. Now let me begin with you this
morning as Paul did here in his letter. reminding us of who we
are. We're Gentiles. When you read
through the scriptures, you'll find all these nations out there. There were Assyrians and Babylonians
and Greeks and all kinds of nations out there, but they were all
identified as Gentiles. Gentiles. The church at Ephesus
was a Gentile church. And he begins by reminding them
of these things. Now you won't find a statement
in scripture of the doctrines of grace any clearer than what
you find in Ephesians chapter one. I've had preachers who experienced
a church split simply by reading Ephesians chapter one. He didn't
say anything, he just read it. Just read it. We're Gentiles. He tells these
Ephesian saints to remember. Remember what? Well, first of
all, who they were. They were Gentiles. They didn't
know anything about God. They'd heard about God. They'd
heard about the Jews, heard about their God. And generally, when
a Gentile talked about Israel, they talked about Israel and
their God. They didn't acknowledge him to
be their God. But the Gentiles told them that
that was the Jewish God. Now a Gentile, he says, they're
Gentiles in the flesh. A Gentile is someone who is not
considered a Jew. He is a pagan. He's a heathen. He's an idol
worshiper. He knows nothing of God. Sometimes,
altogether referred to, all the Gentile nations as the world. The world. And that's why you
find Armenian religion likes to go big on that word world. The world to the Jew was all
Gentiles. It was all cursed. It was all
paganism, idolatry. The world. And often in the New Testament,
now that God has revealed the mystery of the Gentiles, that
his will included the Gentiles, because of the Jewish prejudice,
toward the rest of the world, they used that word world over
and over and over and over. God so loved the world. There's
nothing that would infuriate a Jew worse than that. He wasn't
talking about loving every individual in it, he's simply saying that
my people are gonna be chosen out of every kindred, nation,
tribe, and tongue under heaven. Not just the Middle East. not just the Jew. In verse 12
of our text, he says that at that time, you were without Christ. That is, you had no promise of
this coming Redeemer. Not in your idolatry, you didn't.
You had no promise of this coming Redeemer. No promise from God. You were aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. Strangers from the covenants
of promise. God made a covenant with Noah. He made a covenant with Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob. They were strangers to those.
They knew nothing about those covenants. And He said you had
no hope. No hope before God. No hope based
on the Word of God. No hope based on the character
of God. You had no hope. And you were
without God in the world. And this is exactly the condition
of every son of Adam. Yeah, but you say, some of them
are religious. So were they. So were they. Man, they had a... They had an
idol statue just every so often. That statue of Diana and all
these various gods. They had statues and monuments
all over the place. Paul said when he toured Athens,
they were everywhere. Fact is, he said, as I passed
by and read all these things, he said, I perceive that you're
altogether too superstitious, if you look that word up now,
And check it out. Here's what it means. Religious. You're too religious. You're
too religious. So you might be religious, but
so were they. You might go to church. So did
they. You may be an office holder in some denomination. So were
some of them. Until such time as God sees fit
to intervene, In a person's life, he is all of what Paul says here
in verse 12. Without God in the world. Strangers
from covenant. I went to church my whole life,
never heard one time anybody ever mention a covenant. Didn't
know what a covenant was. And even earlier in this chapter,
he tells us that our walk was according to the course of this
world. You think this world is migrating
towards a higher standard of character? You think this world is evolving
toward a higher standard of morality and godliness? Man's not moving
toward God, he's going downhill from the time he's born. Evil
men and seducers are waxing worse and worse. They're not getting
better and better. The course of this world is headed
to hell. That's the direction it's going. And they're moving fast. It's a broad road, the scripture
said, a well-traveled road. And it seems to men to be the
right thing. And then he adds in Ephesians
2, 2, not only did we walk before conversion, we walked according
to the course of this world, but we walked according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. Well, what's that mean? What
does that mean, walking according? Now it didn't say walking after,
it said walking according to the prince of the power of the
air. We know who he's talking about here, he's talking about
Satan. Well Satan's work, and you check
me out on this, you can just look up the word Satan, look
up the word the devil, whatever, you'll see, Satan's work is primarily
in religion. I'd heard all my life that the
drunks and women of ill repute and all that, that was all of
Satan, that was Satan working. Don't let the devil into your
life, you know, they tell us all this stuff. Used to be a comedian on it,
say all the time, the devil made me do it. Satan's work is primarily in
false religion. His influence is not needed in
the area of man's depraved nature. Men and women naturally lust
after whatever their depraved nature is. Hunger for riches,
fame, authority, sex, drugs, alcohol, or just simple pleasures. Satan don't have to get involved
in that. You're born with that nature. 2 Corinthians 11 speaks of Satan's
work. Says he's transforming his ministers
into ministers of righteousness. Transforming himself into an
angel of light. Paul said, I fear, lest by any
means, as the serpent, Satan, beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity, the singleness
of Christ. He comes preaching another Jesus,
Paul said, and another gospel. Even him, he said, who's coming
is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish. How in the world does a man get
the idea that he's righteous? Huh? How in the world does a
man get the idea if I keep the law, I'm righteous before God? Because some peewee, ignorant
preacher told him that, that's why. God didn't tell him that. Some
preacher did. And boy, his flesh just eat it
up. You mean, if I tithe, I have
a righteousness toward God? If I attend church, I have a
righteousness toward God? If I do this and if I don't do
this, you mean I have a righteous, man, your flesh eats that up.
You just swell up. Had a fella, he was up in his,
I think he was in his 80s, and it was hot. It was over 100 degrees.
I was down in Ball, Louisiana, pastoring that little church,
and hot summertime. And I saw that man out there,
and he mowed that yard with a push mower, walked behind the push
mower. He mowed that about three acres there. And I thought, well,
I'm going to take him out to drink a water, you know, because
I didn't see that he had anything. And so I did, and we stopped
and talked a little bit. And after a few minutes, he... I asked him if he had any word
that he went to church, and he said, no. He said, I used to,
but I don't go anymore. And he said, I guess I ought
to. You know how people talk. And then pretty soon he said,
but one thing I can say, alcohol's never touched these lips. You
see what I'm saying? Boys just put them fingers in
them suspenders. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. That's what God said. This is
Satan's work, see? This is Satan's work. You have
a free will? Did God say that you couldn't
have that fruit? Here's why he said that. He knew
that you'd be just like him if you ate the fruit. Huh? That's
Satan's work. Oh, my soul, God found us deceived,
walking after the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also
we all had our former walk in times past in the lust of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and of the mind. And we're by
nature the children of wrath, even as others. That's our nature. And I don't care if your parents
are believers or unbelievers. This is your condition until
God gives you faith. This is your condition, exactly
what Paul described here. And it's a plague without a cure. It's a pit without a ladder.
It's a wall with no rope. You can't get out. You can't
climb out. You can't dig your way out. You're
not going to evolve out. You have to be lifted out. And I know most people think
God owes them something. And sometimes children think
I did for years because my dad would say that gives me a leg
up on it, see? Because he's all, that's why
people worship Mary. They think Mary, well, Mary's
his mother. She's close, you know? And he
seemed to favor women somewhat in this world. Maybe if I just,
maybe if I can pray to Mary, maybe I can get a leg up on this
thing, you know? And that, children do that with
their parents. They know you're respected in
the church. That don't mean nothing about you. Mm-mm. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. You don't believe me, you look
at Jacob and Esau. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. But oh, thank God. He has determined
to save some of this awful race for the glory of His name. And we ought to rejoice in that
instead of fighting for individual rights. We ought to glory in
God by all rights, just knowing what I know about God. If he
hadn't purposed to save somebody, this world would have been annihilated
in the garden as soon as sin was conjured up in Adam's head.
That's the end of it. He'd have burnt this place to
cinders. God can't tolerate sin. God won't tolerate sin. Paul said in Ephesians 2.12 that
at that time you were without Christ. You had no hope. You
didn't know Christ. You weren't clinging to Christ.
You weren't resting in Christ. And there stands but one thing
between God and men, between God and utter annihilation, and
that's Christ. That's it. There's nothing else. And to be without Christ is to
stand before the living God with no barrier, no advocate, no intercessor,
no substitute, no redeemer. To be without Christ is to stand
alone before God with no provision, nothing, empty handed, standing
before God. It's to stand before God with
no righteousness and no atonement, no sanctification, no goodwill. But oh, my soul, God does have
a people, a people whom he chose and made provision for before
the world began, a people he calls his elect. Don't be ashamed
of that name. You get around these guys that
don't believe in election, don't butter it up. You let them be
ashamed of what they think. He has a people. He calls them
his elect. Elect and precious. Calls them
his bride, his beloved, his sheep, his people. And for these and
no other, God has made full provision in his son. Full provision. Think on that. His elect is pictured in natural
Israel. They're pictured. Here's this
people. They were nobody. Just Abraham. That's all it was. Abraham was on his knees seeking.
No, he wasn't. He was in his daddy's idol shop
making idols. You know, you go down Walmart
looking at jewelry case and half of what you see in there is idolatry.
Crosses and Saints and who knows what? God came and said, Abraham, come
out of there. And he did. Where was he going? He didn't know. God didn't tell
him. He just said, come out. He came
out. He said, I didn't choose you
because you was the most among men. He said, I chose you because
you was the least. You're just one man. Just one
man. And God gave him his covenant. Made his covenant with Abraham.
God gave to them the promise of the Messiah and gave it to
nobody else. Given the promise of blessing,
surely blessing, because he could swear by no greater, God swore
by himself and told Abraham, surely blessing, I'll bless you. Given the instruction of worship,
nobody else on earth knew how to worship but Israel. You think on that. They did everything
known to man, Brian. You've read books on these things. They just, they bring in their
babies and had a brass statue and they fire that thing up.
It was like a huge stove and they get that thing glowing red
and had its hands out and they bring the tiny babies up and
lay them in them red hands. That's how they thought they
were worshiping God. Down in Yucatan, I went out and
they worshiped Kukulkan, the feathered serpent, the Mayans
did. And they'd sacrifice virgins
and slit their throat and throw them in that pool of water. Go on and on and on with how
people worship God, the heathen, the Gentile. God taught Israel
how to worship him. Gave them the pattern for the
tabernacle, said, you build this and we're going to have a priesthood
and we're going to have sacrifices and we're going to have this.
That's how you're going to worship me. Laid the pattern down in
picture so even a child could understand what was going on. He taught them how to worship.
He gave them the presence of God. They looked at that tabernacle
and God filled that tabernacle with his Shekinah glory. His
presence was there. Moses came out and his face was
shining. Men preach a peace with God,
but they cry, peace, peace, where there is no peace. Men try to
worship God, the God that they don't know, And so they ignorantly
worship Him. That's what Paul said on Mars
Hill. He said, I saw all your monuments, and he said, I saw
one that fit. It said to the unknown God. This
one fit. Him ye do ignorantly worship. Isn't that what he said? God finds the chosen sinner.
He comes to him via his servants. Ephesians 2, 17, and preaches
peace to them which were afar off. Oh, my soul. I can't even imagine how much
further a man could get than I was. He came and preached peace to
you that are afar off. That's me. That's me. He preached peace to me. I ain't got over it yet. I'm not
likely to get over it. He came to me. I'm nothing, I'm
nobody. Had nothing to recommend me to
God. But He came to me in grace and
mercy and love and preached to me. He didn't just send a bunch
of words, He sent His Spirit and He pressed those words right
into my heart. He just wrung my heart out. Now I'll tell you, when God does
that, you quit playing games. You quit playing games. Oh my soul, the whole of this
book just lights up. It just lights up. And now you
can see. Now I can hear. They came to
that old blind man. Christ had given him his sight.
And they started saying, oh, he's a phony, you know. He's
an imposter. He's this and he's that. I don't
know what he is. Here's what I know. I was blind.
Now I see. And he said, if I have a problem,
here it is. I know who he is, and you don't. Then I don't, I haven't been
to seminary. Your job is to watch for him
who's coming, and he's coming, you don't know it. He said, that's
amazing. Huh? Oh. He preaches peace to them
that are far off, both Jews and Gentiles. And he causes them
to see, verse 14, that he is our peace who hath made both
one. Both Jew and Gentile, they're
just one. And he broke down that middle
wall of partition between us. We that had no hope all of a
sudden have hope. Verse 16, and that he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity,
thereby we're redeemed the same way. Oh, listen, see the sinner. wallowing
in the hog pen, rooting for the husk, trying to fend for himself, trying
to make provision for himself. Root hog or die. That's what
we used to call it when I started in the construction business.
Root hog or die. You had to have it. There's that
hog, and he's rooting in the hog pen. He's rooting for the
husk, trying to fend for himself. And one day, God said, that's
enough. And he sends to him a servant to tell him the truth. And then
he calls upon the Holy Ghost to apply that truth, as only
the Holy Ghost can. And suddenly that old hog becomes
a lamb. And he loses his taste for the
husks. He loses his nature for the mud. All he wants is green pasture. He wants that field and that
shepherd to calm him and protect him. He wants to put himself
under this shepherd's care and he knows he's going to lead him
out into those green pastures and he's going to feed to the
foal. That old filthy swine suddenly
wearing a fleece of pure white wool. Don't look nothing like
he used to. Don't sound like he used to.
Don't act like he used to. That old hog has no more nature
for the mud and the husk of this world. He now cares for the green
pastures and his appetite changes. And he craves but one voice.
My sheep hear my voice. And another, he said, they won't
listen to him. They won't hear him. But to hear
his. Preacher, you're talking to riddles.
I just don't know what you're saying. No, sir, that ain't the
problem. You believe not because you're
not my sheep. That's what the Lord said. That's
why it's a riddle. That's why it's a mystery. They said, if thou be the Christ,
tell us plainly. We've been schooled. We're the
Sanhedrin. We're looking for the Messiah.
We know what the scripture said. If you're the Christ, tell us
plainly, he said, I told you. Plainly. And you believe not,
because you're not my sheep. One comes preaching Christ, his
glorious person, his eternal appointments, his efficacious
work of grace. He comes preaching Christ who
is our peace, Christ who is the head of the church, Christ who
is our federal head, Christ who is our representative, and we're
all one in Him, all of us. If any man be in Christ, the
scripture said, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. What are these old things? Well,
the old covenant of works. I'm not under that. I'm under
the covenant of grace. If I'm in Christ, I have his
righteousness and not mine. I have his headship and not Adam's. I have his acceptance and not
mine. I have his love. and not one
based on my standing because of something in me. I'm no longer tempted or linked or limited by the deceit
of this old nature. I'm no longer under the deceit
of satanic religion. I am one who is the truth. In Christ, I have a perfect and
eternal justification. Who should lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Boy, I can bring plenty of charges
against me, but if I'm in Christ, I can't think of one to bring
against him, can you? In Christ, I'm sanctified, the
scripture said, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. And by that same offering perfected
forever. My history has become his story. That's how it is. His story. I knew you before you was born.
Wrote your name in my book. God the Father wrote that name
on my breast, over my heart, and on my shoulders to bear you
up before God. I'm your priest. My history is his story. And
old things are passed away. With the mind of Christ, I can
serve the law of God. That's something nobody in this
world can do. But with the mind of Christ,
I can serve the law of God. With the mind of Christ, I can
walk by faith with God. I can walk with God. With the
mind of Christ, I can preach Him to the heathen. With the
mind of Christ, I can pass through the fiery trials of faith and
withstand the persecution of this world. He's our peace who
hath made both one. And I am as true a Jew as Abraham,
Isaac, or Jacob. In him also, Paul writes to the
Colossians, ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands and putting off the body of the sin to the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ. He wrote, In the book of Romans,
he's not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh. He's a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart and the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not
of men, but of God. How does one find his peace?
How does he find his peace? In all honesty, I was visiting
with my nephew. He was running a big project
for the Department of the Interior, and he was down in Biloxi, Mississippi.
And I went down to visit with him. And we sat and we talked
for a little while. He just couldn't believe I was
a preacher. Couldn't get over it. I mean,
we knew each other since we were little kids. And he said what? I've never went to church. He
said, I'm not proud of that. But he said, I've never went
to church. I know nothing at all except just what people have
told me about the word of God. He said, how is somebody like
me supposed to know when they hear this gospel, when they hear
what you're preaching, that what you're saying is so and what
these other people are saying is not so? How does one know
that? And here's what I told him, you
never will, but by the grace of God. Now that's just so, isn't
it? Listen to what John said in 1
John. This is 1 John chapter four.
He said, little children, ye are of God. Therefore you hear us. That's
why you hear us, you're of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. It begins with the hearing of
the gospel. It's made effectual by the Spirit of God. It's evidenced
by much assurance. Assurance in Christ. Not confidence in yourself, not
will I I'm doing pretty good, Preacher, I'm doing pretty good.
I've got some confidence. Well, next week you ain't doing
so good and now you don't have any confidence. This assurance
don't go up and down. This assurance stays just like
this all the time. And the reason is because it's
confidence in Christ. It's evidenced by much assurance. That's a godly persuasion that
he's able to save to the uttermost. those who come unto him by Christ. What is it that tortures your
soul? What is it that keeps you awake? What is it that just tortures
your soul? What is it that strips you of
your peace? What is it that just won't go away. It just aggravates
and produces fear and doubt. What is it that tortures your
soul? Well, whatever it is, you will find peace from it in Christ. Whatever it is. Don't matter
what it is. You go hunt and hunt and hunt
and hunt for peace. Peace is in Him. Peace is in Him. I was down at
Stoniker's restaurant years ago. I just loved to go over there.
They went to our church, but I liked the restaurant. I loved
the food. The food was just outstanding.
They had a seafood buffet, all you could eat for so much. We'd
go over there on the weekend, and we was over there one Saturday
night, and it was wintertime, and people brought in this little
boy, and when you go down that line, These big old trays about
that long, about that wide, so deep. And they were filled with
little half ears of corn with stick in them. And I don't know what she did
to that butter. I don't know what kind of seasoning
she put in it, but I'm telling you that corn, I can smell it
right now. It was so good. You just never
forget. You know how it is, you find
something really good, Man, I just go back, I never got, oh, I just
go back and back and back. But this little boy, he had that
ear of corn and he was gnawing on, he had it all over him, you
know, and we were just sitting there at the table watching him.
And it come time to go home and they were trying to get his coat
and go put his coat on. And he was holding on that corn.
And they said, well, just sit it down, we'll give it back to
you. Man, he's holding that corn. And so they threatened him. Now
you're going to get a whooping and you don't give me that corn.
He's just standing there shaking, holding that corn. And they tried
to talk nice to him again. He wasn't going to turn loose
that corn, not for anybody. And the restaurant owner was
over there and he saw him and pretty soon Gerald come over
and he said, folks, he said, I don't mean to butt into your
business, but he said, it looks like you're having a problem.
He said, would you mind if I'd try? And I said, go ahead. He said, we've tried everything.
He pulled out a Hershey bar. Man, he threw that corn down
and he reached for that Hershey bar. When's a man going to change? What's going to make a difference
in him? When he sees something better,
you'll turn it loose. You'll turn it loose. Not until. And Christ is better than the
angels, it says in Hebrews. He's better than man. He's the best priest. He's better. That's the theme of Hebrews.
You go through there, he's better than the types. Better than the
sacrifices. When you see something better,
when you see him, turn it loose. And you keep right on turning
it loose. Every time you hear it, just keep turning it loose.
All right. Thank you.