You and I ought to live continually
with tender care for one another, each caring as much for the other's
welfare and well-being as we care for our own bodies, watching
out for one another, protecting one another, providing one another. protecting one another's name
and reputation, encouraging and strengthening one another. Good. Many of you have been sick recently.
Some others are still sick. And when you're really sick,
really sick, not much matters except getting better, getting
to feel better. Want to get up and just feel
like getting up and taking a shower. and you take care of your body.
We might not other time, but when we're sick, we take care
of our bodies. That's how we ought to care for
one another in every detail of life all the time, because we
are one body in Christ. One body in Christ, that's my
subject, all of God's elect one with Christ really and truly
one with Christ as fully and completely one with Christ our
Savior as Christ is one with the Father I realize that that's
utterly beyond our comprehension but it is the plainly stated
revelation of God in Holy Scripture one with him as he is one with
the Father, eternally one with Christ, mystically, spiritually
one with Christ, vitally one with Christ, since God's given
us life and faith in him, so that we are joined to him like
the branches to the vine. And as the branch draws life
and nourishment from the vine, Every believer draws life and
nourishment continually from Jesus Christ the Lord. We are
one with him. Believers are all one in Christ. All God's elect. One body in
Christ Jesus the Lord. And being one body, we are one
as the people of God. One people. One body, one church. Let's read together Ephesians
chapter 2 verses 11 through 22. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 11
through 22. In chapter 1, the Apostle Paul
has told us what God did for us in eternity, what he did for
us in redemption, what he does for us in providence, what is
done for us by the saving operations of his grace. And he continued
that same subject right through chapter 2 until we get here to
verse 11. And now he speaks of us in this
present life of grace in Christ Jesus the Lord. Ephesians 2 verse
11. Wherefore remember, wherefore
remember, it's always good to remember, Remember that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh who were called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision. Now read that just as contemptuously
as you can. Just as contemptuously as you
can. You were called the uncircumcision. the filthy, the ungodly, the
base, the vile, the corrupt, by that which is called the circumcision,
the holy, the sanctified, the good, and the noble. Verse 12,
that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. But now, Now things
are different. Now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is
our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for to
make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to
you, which were afar off, and to them that were nigh, for through
him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. Now,
therefore, You are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building, fitly
framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through
the spirit. Our Lord Jesus delights for his
people to walk together as one spiritual body. One reason for
his death at Calvary was that he might reconcile all his elect
to one another in one body. He came to this earth as the
good shepherd that he might gather all his sheep scattered among
all the nations of the earth. Scattered in all the four corners
of the earth that he might gather all his sheep together in one
spiritual fold his desire for his church Was very plainly expressed
in his high priestly prayer for us just before his death here
what it says Neither pray I for these alone But for them also
which shall believe on me through their word that they may be one
that they all may be one. I in them and thou in me that
they may be made perfect in one. In the light of those facts that
Christ came here to redeem us unto himself as one body, that
he came here to gather his elect in one blessed fold as his sheep. that his delight and desire,
his prayer to God is that we might be one, one in him. Oh, how it must grieve our Lord,
how it must grieve God the Holy Ghost to behold the church splits,
the denominational divisions, the carnal strife and schisms
that are prevalent in his church and apparently prevalent in his
church in every age. I wish we could learn, I mean
truly in a practical way, learn by the grace of God that all
true believers are one body in Christ. We are all members of
one church universal. I do not mean by that to indicate
that all churches come together to make up one church. That's
just nonsense. I do mean by that that all God's
elect in every age, in every part of the world, in every portion
of the universe, those on earth and those already in heaven,
and those who are yet to be born into this world, God's elect
are one body and one church. We are all members of the same
royal family. We have one elder brother, the
Lord Jesus Christ. We have one heavenly father.
We are all redeemed by one sacrifice, the precious blood of Christ.
We all wear one family garment, the perfect righteousness of
our Lord Jesus. We have one head. We live by
one spirit and in one spirit. We're all members of one spiritual
body. all with one hope, all bearing
one name, and all anticipating with confidence one blessed inheritance. It's my soul's desire to promote
the spiritual unity of God's church and kingdom in this world.
Anyone who knows me knows that I have no intention of denying
my baptism or my Baptist heritage. And certainly I'm determined
to continue to uphold the great doctrines of the gospel commonly
known as Calvinism. I don't much like the term, but
that's how folks commonly refer to it. I'm not about to bend
in any way. I must and do and will continue
to denounce his heresy. Every form of freewill works
religion, every form of will worship, call it by whatever
name you will. And yet I am bound under God. Bound by the love of Christ to
regard and treat as my brothers and sisters all Who confess Jesus
Christ alone as their Savior? all who bow to Christ as their
Lord all who trust Christ as their only hope of salvation
and eternal life I Must let nothing divide me from any of my brethren
I suggest that you write that down, mull it over and ask God
to seal it to your heart. What I just said concerning me
is true of you. I must let nothing. I must let nothing divide me
from any brother or sister in Christ. This must be our attitude
universally. But it must especially be our
attitude in the local assembly. Indeed, if it is not our attitude
in this place, in this local church, it is not our attitude
with regard to the church universal. If it is not our attitude with
one another here, it is not our attitude no matter what we pretend
with regard to God's church universal. In this assembly, we are members
of one another. We all profess the same faith.
We've been baptized with the same baptism. Let all who long
to walk in obedience to Christ, all who long to honor him and
serve him, walk in love, caring for one another. So long as anyone
professes faith in Christ, he is to be embraced by me as my
brother. Treated by me as my brother and
shown the same love from me as I show to Jesus Christ, my Redeemer. Brother Don, that's tall orders.
That's not so tall. He's just my brother. That's
not so difficult. She's just my sister. Brothers
and sisters protect one another. Brothers and sisters care for
one another. We can do nothing about the attitude or conduct
of others. our brethren or those who are
not our brethren. And we're not responsible for
another person's actions or attitude, but we are responsible for our
own. The commandment of Christ is
that we love our enemies, that we do good to those who abuse
us. Pray for those who despitefully
use you. When you do, you will find yourself and you will promote peace among
others, leading them in the way of peace. I recall many, many
years ago, Brother Moose Park's dad was my pastor down in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina. He and one of the men in church,
just a small group of people, one of the men got really bent
out of shape. He was a dear friend. I cherish
him to this day. He taught me much. And they worked
together at the post office. One worked on this end of the
table, one on that end of the table. And this fellow got so mad at his
pastor that he would ask the fellow standing between them,
ask Ernest to send me that. Ask Ernest to do that. Wouldn't
even speak to him. You can imagine how folks talked. And after I
became pastor at Lookout West Virginia, shortly after that,
this man and his wife, dear friends, came to spend the weekend with
us. And we had supper and we sat down and he started to talk
a little bit about Ernest. And I said to him, I said, you
got to do something about this. He's about what? Your attitude
toward Brother Parks. You can't worship God and harbor
malice to that man. I don't care what he's done.
You can't do it. And about five minutes, he and
his wife were back in the car and gone, and I've not seen them
since. I'm sorry for that. But the fact is, if we are to
pray for those who despitefully use us, if we are to love our
enemies, how much more ought we to do so for God's people,
for those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ? Our text
here in Ephesians chapter 2 teaches us that all of God's people,
whether Jew or Gentile, male or female, black or white, rich
or poor, learned or unlearned, are one body in Christ, elect
from every nation, yet one or all the earth, one through the
blood of his cross. And it's our duty and our privilege
to live and serve our Savior as one. And let me show you three
things in this text I pray that God, the Holy Spirit, will speak
by me powerfully, and I'll be as brief as possible. Number
one, look at verses 11, 12, and 13. Since all divisions in Christ's
kingdom are caused by pride. All of them. All of them. All divisions in Christ's kingdom
are caused by pride. Since they're all caused by pride,
Paul begins once again by stripping us of all grounds for human pride. He would have us to remember
what we were in times past. I don't suppose anything more
helps us to overcome pride or more inspires sympathy with others
in our same condition than the remembrance of our past. What
a sad, sorrowful past it was, we are here called to remember.
In verse 11, the apostle tells us that we were members of a
divided race. Wherefore, remember that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision,
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made with hands.
He's talking about Gentiles and Jews. He's not saying the Jews
were truly the circumcision. We are the circumcision who worship
God in spirit and in truth and rejoicing Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. But multitudes are called God's
people. Multitudes are called righteous
and holy and good and upright and bragged on and brag on themselves. And those people tend to look
down their noses at everybody else. Mark Henson, that's reprehensible
for you and for me. We do it all the time. We do
it all the time. It's reprehensible. Matters not
who they are, those uncircumcised. Those vile, those filthy, those
Gentiles, those base, immoral, corrupt people. You were called
corrupt by those who are called righteous. Since the Tower of
Babel, the whole human race has been divided and at war. Imagine that. I'm soon to be
66 years old. I keep saying 67, but just 66. I'll soon be 66 years old. In my life, David, there's never
been a time when there wasn't war going on somewhere in this
world. Imagine that. The whole human race is constantly
at war. Division is the curse of the
earth. Unity is the mark of grace. Division is the curse of the
earth. Unity is the result of God's
grace in the new creation. Our divisions are manifest in
many ways. But as I said earlier, the root
and the essence of them all is pride. Oh, what proud, proud,
proud, proud worms we are. Just worms, but oh, how proud. The Jew despises the Gentile.
The Gentile despises the Jew. All my life, growing up, I'd hear folks say, he's a Jew.
He's a Jew. I have a dear friend, Jerry Salzberg,
down in Orlando. And I used to use the term a
lot. I referred to a Jew bargain.
And Jerry corrected me. Why is that? It's just an expression
of pride. Jew despises the Gentile. Gentiles
despise the Jew. Rich despise the poor, and the
poor despise the rich. White folks despise black folks,
and black folks despise white folks. I recall my first visit
to Kingston, Jamaica, Brother Aaron Dumas, who is a black man. Some of you have met him. He's
been here a few times. Picked me up in Montego Bay,
and we drove 90 miles back to Kingston and got in his house
After getting in his house, I met his family and he, I don't know
what caused it, but for some reason Aaron said to me, he said,
uh, brother Don in this house, we don't see color. I said, brother
Aaron, that's not so. That's just not. So you're a
black man. I'm a white man and we're both
racist. We're believers and we deal with the evil of it. We
deal with the evil of it honestly. Black folks despise white folks.
That's the nature of things. White folks despise black folks.
That's the nature of things. Learned people despise the unlearned. And the unlearned despise the
learned. Not only is the human race divided,
I mean divided, Always divided that we do lots of things socially
and politically and with that Education all that to try to
cover it up and pretend it doesn't exist, but the division is still
there It's just as it's just as real as if there'd been no
attempt to cover it the only place where division doesn't
matter where divisions of nature are Meaningless is in the Church
of God in Christ We who are gods are one Look at verse 12. Not
only did we live in a desperately divided, sad, sad world, we were
desperately and hopelessly ruined. That at that time, at that time,
before God saved you, you were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope and without God, in the world. Oh, how poor, how ruined we were. Oh, how poor, how ruined you
are who without Christ. Without Christ, you're aliens
from God's Israel. Strangers from God's covenant
and promises. Without hope, without God in
this world. We were without Christ. That
doesn't mean that before God saved us, he had never been gracious
to us. Oh, no. Chapter one puts that
to rest. God's grace for us is everlasting,
eternally mutable grace. Yet, though loved of God and
redeemed by the blood of Christ, though blessed of God with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ and accepted
in the beloved from everlasting before God saved us, We were
without Christ. He's talking about our experience
of things, our knowledge of things. We had no righteousness, no forgiveness,
no peace, no sense of divine favor, no strength. We were dead
in trespasses and in sins. And then he said we were aliens
from the Commonwealth of Israel. Now that certainly doesn't mean
that we had no part in the Jewish race. After we're converted,
we don't suddenly become Jews in a physical sense. Paul means
that we had no part with God's people, no part with the Israel
of God. We were opposed to them, made
fun of them, laughed at them. If we didn't do so outwardly,
we did inwardly. We had no inheritance with God's
people. They had none of the privileges
of God's people. We were strangers to the covenants
of promise. Paul uses the word covenant here
in plural as he refers to the covenant of grace because the
covenant was repeated and given over and over again to patriarch
after patriarch, generation after generation. It's given to David,
given to Noah, given to Abraham. It was given to Adam in the garden.
We were strangers to the blessings and promises of God's covenant
described in Ephesians chapter one and without hope. without the hope of life. Hopeless. I can't think of a
sadder word. Hopeless. Hopeless. Hopeless. We lived all the days
of our life in dread. In dread of death. In dread of
meeting God in judgment. In dread of eternity. without
God in the world. God never cast off his elect. But Paul's meaning is that we
were among the mass of fallen, sin laden, lost, doomed mankind. And being of that race, we were
godless. Godless. Ungodly. Godless, many women. We had no
knowledge of God. No desire for God, only enmity
against God. Everything in our being was opposed
to him. But now, in Christ, we're divinely
reconciled. Look at verse 13. But now in
Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. Now we're in Christ. by the blessed
living experience of faith. Now we who are far off from God
and all the blessings of God are brought near to God and all
his blessings. Now we are drawn nigh and reconciled
to God by the blood of his darling son. Next, I want to show you
how this was done, how we were made nigh by the blood of Christ.
So let's look at verses 14 through 18. And remembering your past,
remember also, my brother, remember, my sister, what Christ has done
for you. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us. Having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace that
he might reconcile both under God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby and came and preached peace to
you, which were far off and to them, which were nigh for through
him, we both have access by one spirit under the father. Christ is our peace. He made
peace for us. And he gives us peace, reconciling
us to God, causing us to be in unity and in union with God so
that we live before God with peace. Therefore, being justified. What did you just read? We have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God
so that we recognize that God is not angry with us, and God
has taken away our anger against him. He's given us now a new
heart and a new nature, not of enmity against God, but of love
for God. He gives us peaceful confidence
in his goodness, peace in the rest of his promises, and gives
us peace to rest in his providence. Not only that, but he gives us
peace with one another. He is our peace. Christ is our peace. My dear
friend, Brother Darryl McClung, who visited with us here many,
many times, used to say jokingly, the reason Don and Shelby get
along so good is because they both love the same person, him.
And there's more truth to that than I would like for everybody
to know. But I'll tell you a greater secret. We get along real well. because we both love the same
person, him. And you and I, who are gods,
are one and live together in peace because we both, we all
love him. He's our peace. He's our peace. And when you start thinking about
doing injury to your brother, remember you're doing injury
to Christ. When you start to speak ill of your brother, remember
you're speaking ill of Christ. When you start to expose your
brother for something, remember you're starting to expose Christ
for something. That ought to cause you to bite
your tongue. That ought to cause you to bridle your thoughts.
Our Lord Jesus has broken down the wall that separated us. The
wall that separates men from one another. He's specifically
talking about Jew and Gentile, of course. the law that divides
men. But in the new creation, the
grace of God has destroyed all walls of separation, the walls
of religious prejudice, the walls of racial prejudice, the walls
of social prejudice, the walls of political prejudice. Christ
has broken down the wall that separated us from God by his
death at Calvary, having abolished in his flesh the enmity Even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances. Now, I hope to
come back to that when I have some more light on it, deal with
it more fully. But understand this, our Lord Jesus has broken
down the wall of divine justice that separated us from God and
broken down the wall of our own sins that separated us from God.
And all who are redeemed by the blood of Christ are one in him. He's made us one body through
the gospel. He came and preached peace, verse
17, to you, which were far off. The same one who came and preached
peace to those who were nigh in their outward religious ceremonies. He's came and preached peace
to us when our Lord Jesus died at Calvary. He accomplished our
peace with God. We were fully justified and perfectly
reconciled to God. And now by the preaching of the
gospel, he causes sinners who live with a fist in God's face
to lay them down, causes sinners to lay down their arms against
God and are reconciled to him. And he has made us one body by
the mighty operations of his grace. For through him, we both
have access by one spirit unto the father. In due time, he sends
the spirit of adoption into our hearts, causing all who are his
to lift their hearts to heaven and call God their father. Now,
thirdly, behold the great soul satisfying privileges of grace
that are ours in Christ. We are his new creation, his
church, his kingdom, his Israel, his heavenly Jerusalem. That
means that all grace is ours by the cross. Here, Paul shows
us the blessed results of us being one body in Christ. It tells us first in verse 19
that we have a blessed, satisfying relationship and fellowship,
one with another. You're no more strangers and
foreigners. We're no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God. It has been my privilege
for the past 46 years to travel in various places in the world,
all across this country. And everywhere I go, everywhere
I go, at some point I meet someone for the first time who knows
God. And immediately our hearts are
united, immediately united in blessed fellowship. And we correspond
and we write to one another. Some I haven't seen, but just
once. I only know by correspondence, but we're no more strangers,
no more foreigners, not. Well, I don't know how close
I ought to get to him. I don't know how how to treat
her. No, no. We're fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God, one with all God's people. Christ is ours. We're made partakers
of the divine covenant. We are all the promises of God
in Christ are yay and amen to us. And we all have this blessed
and sure hope. All that God has is ours in him. All that God is, is ours in Christ
Jesus. And we're all built on this one
foundation. built upon the foundation, verse
20, of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. The foundation on which we're
built is the foundation, the doctrine of the apostles and
prophets, what's revealed in this book. Christ himself is
the chief cornerstone. That is to say, he is the foundation
stone which determines the size and shape of the building and
we're built upon him. The foundation of the prophets
is Christ alone. The foundation of the apostles
is Christ alone. The foundation of God's church
upon which we're built and upon which we build is Christ alone.
He's the foundation. He shapes the building. He's
the chief preeminent cornerstone. This foundation is tried and
a sure proven foundation. Now look at verse 21. This. Church, this kingdom, this temple.
Is a spiritual formation. Being fitted together. Fitly
framed together by God, the Holy Ghost, he graciously forms and
fits every member of Christ Church in his proper place in whom all
the building fitly framed together. groweth unto an holy temple in
the Lord. We are God's temple. God's temple. When we come together in the
house of God, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God comes with
us in the house of God. And we meet together in the name
of our Redeemer, trusting his blood and his righteousness.
And he promises where two or three are gathered together in
my name. There am I in the midst of them. Oh, this temple is not yet complete,
but John gave us a picture of the church, the temple of God,
when it will be finished. It will be a city four square. Fully inhabited. We read in Revelation
four that there are 24 seats around the throne. And are not
a vacant seat there. 24 elders in the seats. There
are 144,000 in the New Jerusalem. That is all the host of God's
elect, all God's chosen, all God's Israel are there. In the
midst of the throne is the glory of God and of the Lamb. Now look at the future held before
us in verse 22. In whom ye also are builded together
for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. What can be more
blessed than to dwell in God's house with God's people and habitation
of God through the Spirit? That's what this local church
is. That makes it special. The most
blessed place in Ball County, Kentucky. This is the habitation
of God. through the spirit. God meets
with us here. God reveals himself by his word,
by his grace, by his spirit in this place. God shows us his
son here. The Lord Jesus, our beloved shows
himself through the lattices, through the ordinances of the
gospel and makes himself known here. He reproves our sin here. He encourages our faith here. He restores the fallen. That's
not just true of the local church. That's true of the church universal.
I try to keep this in mind purposefully all the time. When we come together
here on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Tuesday night, we come
together with God's people wherever they're found in heaven or on
earth at the throne of God. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 22
through 24, ye are come unto Mount Zion, the city of the living
God. to the General Assembly of the
Church of the Firstborn and to angels and the spirits of just
men made perfect and to Jesus Christ and to the blood of Christ
that speaks better things than that of Abel. We come together
at God's throne when we come to pray with all God's people. Imagine that. Imagine that. I
don't know what Don't over Lexington. I don't want folks to do it down
in Australia. Yeah, I do the Worshipping God seeking his mercy
seeking his glory God's Church in this world God's Church universally
is the habitation of God through the spirit and ought to be treated
by us as such soon We shall be made perfect in one All division will be ended All strife will be over and Christ
will be all. Really will be all. Jew and Gentile,
male and female, learned and unlearned, barbarian, Scythian,
bond of free, that doesn't matter. Christ is all and in all. Some of you are yet ruined and
without Christ, without hope. without God in the world. Oh, may God give you life and
faith in his son and the blessed peace that that brings. Children
of God, we are one body in Christ. Let us then labor, and it takes
labor, to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. If you take a bunch of small
branches, you take them and try to lean on one, it'll break underneath
you. You try to do something with
it, build something with it, it'll break to pieces. But if you take
all of those weak, insignificant branches and bind them together
and make a strong pole, then you can set something on it.
Then you can do something with it. And this is our strength,
the blessed bond of peace in Christ Jesus the Lord. So put
off the old man, put on the new, and grieve not the spirit. Let
no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Don't be malicious
and angry and vile in your behavior toward one another, but rather
be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you and Walk together and serve God together
as one body in Christ Let nothing divide you let nothing divide
you a man and his wife lived together for 25 30 40 50 years
How on earth? How on this earth? That's his
clause and rule. How on earth have y'all gotten
along all these years? How on this earth? Well, you
just don't know them. They're perfect. I kind of doubt
it. I kind of doubt it. I'll tell
you what to do. They have difficulties and figure
out a way to get over it. Have problems and figure out
a way to get over it. Well, I'll just leave. That's
kind of selfish, isn't it? That doesn't accomplish anything. Well, but you don't know what
Bill Rodler said about me. What difference does that make?
What justification is that? What do you do? You labor together
in love as one body in Christ. A long, long time ago, back in
the 1700s, 1792, I believe it was, John Gill died. He was pastor the well-known
church in Horsleydale in England, just outside of London. And Gill
was well-known. He was a man well-known for his
writings, his commentaries, his body divinity, and so on. And
after Gill died, the church extended a call to a man by the name of
John Fawcett. John Fawcett pastored a little
old country church. Nobody knew him. Hardly even
knew the town where he lived. I don't even remember the town
where he lived. And Fawcett was excited. He called me to follow
the great Dr. Gill. And he accepted the pastoring. And he and his wife packed everything
in the house up and were about to move. And they went back to
get the last box of whatever it was to put on the wagon. And
he sat down with his wife and said, I can't do this. I can't leave these people. just
because of a greater opportunity for me. And they sat down and
wrote a hymn that day. Blessed be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love. Lindsay, let's sing that. Number
187, I think it is. Blessed be the tie.