Let's see what time I started
there. If I lose track of that, you all are in trouble. And then
I may be in trouble after that. I have a lot to get to today,
but I do want to give you the words of the song that my brother
Joe Belusick sent me this morning. But briefly, real quick, I bring
you greetings from Joe and his wife Debbie, the folks at Chapel,
Sovereign Grace Chapel, and from Paul and Paula, And God willing,
we hope, depending on at least, maybe a few others hope to see
you Saturday, at least be able to make it up here then. This
is a song that Joe sent to me this morning. The song is entitled,
My Times Are In Thy Hand by Horatius Bonner. My times are in thy hand. My God, I wish them there. My
life, my friends, my soul, I leave entirely to your care. My times
are in thy hand, whatever they may be. pleasing or painful,
dark or bright, as thou know best for me. My times are in
thy hand. Why should I doubt or fear? My
father's hand will never cause his child a needless feteer. My times are in thy hand, Jesus
the crucified. Those hands my cruel sins had
pierced are now my guard and guide. My times are in thy hand,
such faith you give to me, that after death at thy right hand
I shall forever be. I like those words. Good words. All right, if you wish to follow
along, turn to Paul's epistle to the church at Ephesus, chapter
four, Ephesians chapter four. chest congestion, so I do, if
I start to get a little tickled, I have to stop for a moment.
Would you please forgive me? I have, like I said, I have much
to go over this morning, so let's just get started. Ephesians chapter
four is kind of a place to start. I want to read the first six
verses. Therefore, I therefore, Paul rather writes, I therefore,
the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith you're called, Notice he didn't say walk worthy
of the Lord, because none of us can attain to that. But we
can walk worthy by his grace, worthy of the vocation wherewith
you're called. With all lowliness and meekness,
with long-suffering forbearing one another, endeavoring to keep
the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body
and one spirit, even as you're called in one hope of your calling.
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who
is above all and through all and in you all. Now turn to John
chapter 14. John chapter 14. We'll just see
something that's a little different here. And I just wanna read one
verse, John chapter 14, verse 27. This is Christ speaking, remember
what Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus. Now this is Christ
speaking before his crucifixion and he said these words, peace
I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not
as the world giveth. Now the world can give peace.
But that's not the kind of peace that Christ gives. Peace I leave
with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth,
give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. One fact is clear from these
two texts. Not all peace is the same. Now,
I had this passage came to my mind two or three weeks ago. And I'm not here to preach on
current events, although I may refer to some current events.
My message is the personal work of the Lord Jesus Christ, no
matter what current events are going on in this world. But it's
clear. Not all peace is the same. Thus,
my text is a starting point, not the full subject of my message.
My subject this morning is peace, peace. Now, turn to Romans 12.
If you're following along, turn to Romans 12. I'll make a statement,
and then we'll read what Paul wrote to us under the inspiration
of the Spirit of God. Romans chapter 12, I'll begin
in verse 17. Let me make this statement first of all. There
is no question, there is no doubt as to this, that God's people
are to seek to live peaceably amongst our fellow men and women.
Verse 17 of Romans 12. Recompense to no man evil for
evil. Provide things honest in the
sight of all men. If it be possible, do you see
that? If it be possible, because I will preface what he's about
to say, it's not always possible. Look what's happened in the Middle
East. Some of those people, you can't reason with them. There
is no reasoning with them. But if it be possible, as much
as life in you, live peaceably with all men, do you see that?
We are not to become or try to be the enemies of anyone, although
some people will often think we are because we tell them the
truth. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give
place unto wrath, for it is written, this is God speaking, now vengeance
is mine. Now look at it, I will repay. I know this world is But God is also a God of vengeance. And he says, I will repay, saith
the Lord. Therefore, if thy enemy hunger,
feed him. If he thirst, give him drink.
For in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be
not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. So again, there
is no question God's people are to seek to live peaceably amongst
our fellow men and women. Now turn to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter 3. I will make this statement
and we'll read the passage. 1 Peter 3. There is no question
that God's people are to be peaceable amongst one another. Okay, simple
enough. There is no question. It's in
God's holy word. God's people are to live and
be peaceable amongst one another. 1 Peter 3 and verse 8. Be all of one mind. Of course,
this is talking to believers. You're not going to have the
same mind as an unbeliever. They don't think like you. They
don't believe like you. Let's talk about believers. Finally,
be all of one mind. having compassion one of another,
love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, not rendering evil
for evil or railing for railing, you see it? But contrary wise,
you see it? But contrary wise, blessing, knowing that ye are
there unto call that ye should inherit a blessing. He that will
love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from
evil, and his lips, if they speak no guile, let him eschew, or
that is, avoid evil and do good. Let him seek peace and ensue
it. You see it? Go after it. Go after
it. So it's clear from the two texts
I've read that not all peace is the same, is it? There's a
peace that we're to strive to have amongst our fellow human
beings, but Paul clearly puts limits there, if it be possible,
as much life within you. But when it comes to God's people,
we're not given any leeway in that. We're to be, as our text,
we're to be even what? We're to be with all loneliness
and meekness, with all suffering, forbearing one another in love.
Why? Because we're hard to put up with. It's just a fact. Some of us may be a little harder
to put up with than others, but we're all hard to put up with
in our own way. And everything to keep the unity
of the Spirit and the bond of peace. So again, there's no question
we as God's people are to seek to live peaceably amongst our
fellow man. And there is no question that God's people are to be peaceable
amongst one another. But let me say this, there's
also some peace that is dangerous. First Thessalonians, turn to
First Thessalonians. There is some peace that is dangerous. Now I know that seems to be a
juxtaposition of thought in philosophy and all of these other things,
that peace is good no matter what. It's just not so. It's just like all love is not
good. If any man loved the world, that's
a love, isn't it? The book says, if any man loves
the world, what does it say? The love of the Father is not
in him. That's what it says. So there's a love that's bad.
There's peace that's bad. 1 Thessalonians 5, both the times
and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write of you.
That's why when I stand behind this podium, I don't get up and
try to talk about the times and the seasons. Paul said he didn't
have no need to write about it. Then why do I ever need to talk
about it? We got a person to talk about you. He is coming,
and he will make sure that everything he's ordained in this book will
come to pass at God's ordained time. But of the times and the
seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you, for
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. I don't care how well we have
our ducks in a row, we're not gonna figure out the times or
the seasons. It's just not gonna happen. I
know people have charts that can give you a timeline, They
have no idea what they are talking about. But, look at it, here
it is. For when they shall say, peace
and safety, do you see that? Peace and safety, then sudden
destruction cometh upon them as prevailed upon a woman with
child, and they shall not escape. What? In the world is Paul talking
about? Well, turn to Jeremiah, Jeremiah
chapter 6. And I kind of feel that, you
know, Paul being a man of scripture was probably referring to Jeremiah,
though he did not directly quote Jeremiah, but Jeremiah chapter
6. Listen to what Jeremiah said in his day. And one reason I
point this out is to let us know this is not some new phenomenon.
This happened way back in Jeremiah's time. It was still happening
in Paul's time. And although I am not a prophet,
I'm just a preacher of the gospel, I'm here to say that it's still
happening in our time. People are crying out, peace
and safety, when there is no true peace and safety. Look at
how Jeremiah put it in his day. Jeremiah 6, for the sake of time,
just a couple verses. Verse 13, for from the least
of them, even unto the greatest of them, everyone is given to
covetousness. Doesn't that sound like a, Testimony
of our day is get, get, mine, mine, mine, have, have, have.
Isn't it? I'm right in the middle of it
too, folks. I'm not rising above that. It's all right down here
in this God-awful old man that I still have. Covetous, covetousness. And from the prophet even unto
the priest, everyone dealeth falsely. They have healed also
the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, do you see it? Slightly, saying, peace, peace,
when there is no peace. I'd have to say a few things
about this. You heard the phrase, and I don't know that it's as
popular now as it used to be, and I don't get this illustration
to be funny, but it was popularized by the movie Forrest Gump. When
Lieutenant Dan was in the middle of that hurricane on that fishing
boat, and he was up on the top of the mast shaking his fist
at God, and screaming at God, and daring God. And after all
was over, Forrest said he made his peace with God. Man cannot make peace with God. To attempt to make peace with
God on your own is to insult the Father because His Son made
peace. It is to insult God in everything
that He is. The popular phrase, make your
peace with God, don't do it. It's like the phrase, I actually
seen one of those on a yard coming up here, prepare to meet thy
God. You know what they're talking
about? Get ready, do what's right, live right. Believe right. That's
what they're talking about. And ain't what the prophet meant.
He meant brace yourself. God's coming. That's what he's
talking about. Prepare to meet thy God. Jesus Christ is our
preparation. We meet God in him, in mercy
and grace, for we will meet God in wrath and vengeance and judgment. It's one or the other. It's one
or the other. So again, I say some peace is
dangerous. Now turn to Colossians chapter one. Let's look at what
Paul wrote. And oh, may it be that the spirit
of God in myself anew and afresh this morning and in you anew
and afresh this morning, or if you're here, it's never happened
to you. I pray God falls upon you in
mercy and grace even this very day. May it be as I read these
words, Colossians chapter one, And I make a few comments from
these words. I pray that God will open our
hearts and minds up to see the truth, the truth about the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians chapter one, we'll
begin in verse 19. For it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness dwell. In other words, someone says,
but why do you make so much of Jesus Christ of Nazareth? Because
it pleased the Father to make so much of him. That's why. I don't, most of you probably
know the, it's the account of Esther, and somebody asked, Mordecai
was put on the king's white horse, and somebody says, why should
Mordecai, that old Jew, ride the king's horse? There is absolutely
no reason whatsoever for Mordecai to ride the king's horse, except
the king said so. Therefore, Mordecai will ride
the horse. But our Lord Jesus Christ deserves this honor. He
earned it. He merited this honor. He is
chief among 10,000. He is the fairest of all. Look at what it says. Verse 19,
for it pleased the Father that in Him should all foolish dwell. And having, what's that word
say? Now don't block out all of what
you've heard from religion out there. God helped me to block
it out this morning and pay attention to the words on the page. Look
at what he says. And you, oh wait a minute, I'm
sorry. Verse 20, and have he made peace? Stated, it's made
peace, do you see that? Made peace, not made it possible,
not made it available, he made peace. And when did he make peace? Through the blood of his cross. Peace is made, my brothers and
sisters. It's done. There is no more making peace
with God. Christ made full, exact payment
of all those necessary before God's holy justice and God's
holy law. He made peace through the blood
of His cross. 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 at earth or things in heaven.
Why would he state something like that? Because there were
some redeemed people who were already in glory when Christ
died. But he still had to die for it. Listen to me. I don't mean this
to be disrespectful or dishonoring to God. Had Christ not died on
that tree, God Almighty would have yanked all those souls out
of glory. and had to cast them into the midst of the blackness
of hell forever. Because Christ had to make peace
through the blood of his cross. But the gospel message is, he
did. I'm saying it's done. The work's
done, folks. Don't lift a finger. Somebody
says, make peace. No, receive him who is the peace. Who made the peace is it. So
hear it again. having made peace through the
blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things with himself.
By him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in
heaven and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, that sums me up well. That sums me up well. The wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled, how? Not when you come forward,
Not when you pray the prayer. Not even when you believe and
repent. How does it say he reconciled? Notice there's not even a period
after that word, you see it? We're still continuing with the
thought. And yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. And you know who
Jesus Christ died for? all who start in the faith and
continue in the faith, if ye continue in the faith. You see,
if you read this, you've got to say, if you're honest with
yourself, you've got to say that the language, even in our English
version here, and I'm reading from the King James Version,
that the English says this, those that Jesus Christ died for, he
reconciled them and they're okay. Isn't that what this says? In spite of what they are by
nature, When God first began to open
my eyes to that, it was so much more peace than what I had in
religion. Jesus did it for everybody. Now
I've got to somehow make it work for me. Isn't that what they
teach? Now, I'm maybe being a little
oversimplified, but ain't that what they teach? He did this
peace thing. He did this reconciling for everybody,
then they have to do something to make it work for them. Is
that not what they preach? That's not what this book teaches.
It's not what this book teaches. Turn to 2 Corinthians, chapter
5. We'll see it. Paul states it.
He's talking about the same subject, 2 Corinthians, chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I'll begin
in verse 18. I said, I don't want to rush
through this. This is so vital that the, and
we'll say it this way, and then I'll have to hinge it up. It's
so vital that we get this right, because it's not just believing
in Jesus. You've got to hear about who
he is and what he's done. Romans 10 makes it clear on that.
You gotta hear who he is and what he really did. And if you
reject who he is and what he really did, I don't care how
much of a Jesus you believe in, if you believe in the wrong Jesus,
you're in trouble. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, let's
begin in verse 18. Read it all later to make sure
I'm not taking this, dragging it out of the context. And all
things are of God. Now look at the language. Oh
God, help us. Look at the language. Let's not just read it and say,
okay, I understand that, and then revert to this brainwashing
that all of religion's done. I still have to, Jason, I still
have to fight with all that rubbish. Just like the children of Israel,
when they came back from Babylon, before they could even build
the walls of the city, they had to clean up what? All the rubbish.
My, my, I've got a lot of rubbish laying around. I'm still cleaning
up on it. Still cleaning up on it. Look at what it says. And
all things are of God, who hath reconciled us. Do you see that?
Do you see the tenths of that? It's done. The great transaction's
done. That's why, although that phrase
is not in the Bible, that's what the writer was talking about.
in all things, or of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the service or the ministry
of reconciliation, to wit," Paul said, in other words, I'm going
to explain this, okay? So all that means, to wit, it's
an old English phrase, let me explain, that God, W-A-S, you
see that? That God was, in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. So since they were reconciled,
look at what it says, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Preacher, it sounds like it's
saying whoever he died for, their sins are not going to be accounted
to them. That's exactly what it says. So if you want to believe
he died for all, you are forced then to say that the book teaches
Christ will save all. But we know it's not what this
book teaches, does it? It said he took not on him the
nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Who
are the seed of Abraham? Believers, Galatians chapter
four. Believers, he said Christ came
to save the world of believers. You know what it says, what is
it? I'm gonna turn to this one, you don't, you can turn to it.
I'm not telling you you can't turn to it. Revelation chapter
five, verse nine, they sang a new song, saying they are worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was
slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation. You see that? That
means God has saved the world. Right? He saved the world. Not everyone in the world, but
he has saved the world. Back to 2 Corinthians 5, to wit,
now that is to explain that God was in Christ, reconciling the
world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and
has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. What are we,
we're not offering it, we're preaching the word of it. Reconciliation's
done. Christ accomplished it, he did
it. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did
beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's name,
be ye reconciled to God. He's talking still to believers.
What's he saying? Lay down our arms against God.
He done laid down his against us. Now we ought to lay down
ours against him. And this is a constant warfare. I tell you this, if you do this
today, and I got no problem being irreconcilable to God, if you
find yourself striving for that today, you're still gonna need
it tomorrow. And you're still gonna need it
the day after that. Because inside of these bodies
is an old corrupt man that is corrupt according to deceitful
lusts. And he will turn his back on
God and turn you away from God, else God Almighty lays hold of
you in sovereign saving grace. I got to be saved as much today
as I needed to be saved almost 50 years ago. God still has to
lay hold of me every day and bring to my heart and mind the
word of reconciliation. Walter, it's done. Quit fighting
against God. Walter, it's done. and just believe
God. Relax. Quit working your soul
and spirit to the bone, trying to somehow appease God. It's done. Reconciliation is
accomplished. Be ye reconciled to God, for
He, that is God the Father, hath made Him, that is God the Son,
to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be. What's
that say? made the righteousness of God
in him, in him. Clearly not all peace is the
same peace, is it? Not all peace is the same peace.
Now here's the fourth thing. You didn't know I'd already went
through three already, did you? There is a peace that transcends all
other forms of peace, and I've just opened the door to it here.
I've already mentioned it, but let's look at this in detail.
Now, I'm not going to read all of this, but there is a piece,
if you want to look at it, it's Isaiah 54. This is an astounding,
just one verse, it's an astounding thing, astounding statement that
Isaiah makes. In Isaiah 54, verse 10, there's
some things about this peace that I've just mentioned. This
Christ came and made peace. He reconciled the world unto
God. I'm saying that this peace is
a God-ordained covenant peace. That means God swore on it. He
swore on it. Now look at it, Isaiah 54 verse
10. For the mountains shall depart,
and the hills shall be removed, but my kindness shall not depart
from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
saith the Lord, that hath mercy on me. It says in the book, God swore
on it. And because he could swear by
no greater, he swore by himself. This piece, God covenanted. He swore on it. And I'll use
a little artistic license here. The Father, the Son, and the
Spirit of God in eternity took hands on the deal. It's a covenant. It's an agreement. Doesn't that kind of give you
a little breathing room? There's another thing about this piece
that transcends all other forms of peace. This piece has the
reigning prince of God as its source, Isaiah chapter 9. Isaiah chapter 9, in verse 6,
for unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The government
shall be upon his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor. the mighty God, the everlasting
Father. Here's the summary of it, the
Prince of Peace. Peace is, there's a lot of ways
to describe peace, but when it comes to a thrice holy God, that
even the angels have to cover their faces when they fly before
him. And you talk about me, a fallen
creature, expecting to find peace before a God like that? This
person here, he's talking about the Prince of Peace. Here's peace.
It's okay. This God will not consume
me. This God in love has received
me unto himself in the person of his son. He's already touched
his son in wrath and judgment. And I'm in Him, and if you're
in Him, He will never, ever, ever touch us. He can't. He's done touched His Son. Reconciliation's
had, peace is made. Here's another thing about this,
Isaiah 26. Isaiah's just an astounding book. Dave, how much stuff I missed,
and I've been trying to read this book for almost 50 years,
you know? Isaiah 26, there's one verse
here. I'll make the statement, then
I'll read the verse. This peace, I'm talking about that, this
peace that transcends all other forms of peace. This peace is
never by our merit. That's why you don't make peace
with God. You receive him who's already
made peace with God. Look at verse 12. Astounding
statement. Lord, and notice that's all in
capital letters. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace
for us. for thou also hast wrought all
our works in us." Did you see that? Who gets the credit for
it? He does. Even when I am reconciled
to God, when I lay down my arms, when I bow before his son and
I receive him and say, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief,
he's the one who gets the credit for that. He gave me that faith
which was to believe. When I shook my hands in his
face, metaphorically, if not literally, I'm not going to go
and tear it down on top of that mast. How many people have done
it down there? So I will not have God reign
over me. Well, he is, whether you like
it or not. And I just pray he bows you to
the feet of his son now, because one day he will bow all men and
women to the feet of his son, one day. So again, this piece
is never about our merit. Here's something else. John chapter
16, turn to John now. I said, I've tried to give you
a couple of illustrations of peace that enables us to breathe.
I said, it's okay, you know? But that's just expressions. The Word of God, if I believe
the Word of God, if God gives me the faith just to believe
the Word of God, I can't help but experience that peace. Now
this is, okay, John chapter 16, or John, where was I? Yes, John
16. Think about this peace, this peace that transcends all other
forms of peace. This peace does not bring a trouble-free
life. Now, what does religion teach?
A lot of it today. If you come to Jesus, boy, all
your troubles will just start to melt away. I'm here to tell
you it ain't so. You will start to find troubles
that you didn't even know exist. And you will begin to see things
about yourself that you begin to abhor, that you never even
recognized before. You didn't even know they existed
in you. That's how blind I was. That's how dead in trespasses
and sins I was. Look at it, John chapter 16,
these are the Lord's words, verse 33. These things have I spoken
unto you, that in me, there's the key, isn't it? Isn't it?
That in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have,
what? Tribulation, that means pressure
to be squeezed on. In the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. So who does it depend on? Him. You see it, right? It depends
on Him. All right, now back to our text,
Ephesians chapter four. I'll give you a brief summary
of Ephesians four. Especially this unity or this
peace. This peace. has oneness as its
guiding factor. That's what we've already read.
I'm not gonna read through verse one through six again. This peace
has oneness as its guiding factor. Our exhortation is not to keep
the peace. That's not what it says, does
it? It says endearing to keep the unity of the spirit in the
bond of peace. If the peace ain't already there,
you're on the outside. You see it? You're on the outside. We're not trying to keep the
peace. He keeps the peace. But we're in a endeavor to keep
the unity of the spirit. And you can take that to be both
capital and small, because the spirit of God, where's he at
in a believer? He's not up here. Where's he
at? He's in here. This is a different attitude. It's an attitude God gives you,
and that attitude's called the new man. And He's created in
righteousness and true holiness after the image of Him that created
Him. Now, I have sometimes a hard time seeing Him. I see the old
man way too much. But if I'm one of God's, He's
given me life by His Spirit and converted me by His gospel, I
got the new man down in here. I got the new man down in here.
Now think about this. Again, our exhortation here is
not to keep the peace, but rather to endeavor, that is to put forth
strong effort, to hold close, to keep the oneness, the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace. Consider, peace is so
because there is one body, so there is no me. Right? One body, therefore there is
no me. Well, I gotta have my way. No,
not if you're in one body. He said, that's why there's peace. It's one body. We're not out
to get one comeuppance on somebody else. If you are, that's your
old man showing his ugly head. He said, at best. At worst, it's
the absence of the new man. I just will not. I'll leave there
and go somewhere else. Bye. Bye. Because we're to endeavor
to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. One body,
no me. One spirit, that's one divine
leader. Who leads your church? Better not be the pastor. It
better be the spirit of God. That's right. Now he is, it's
not, the word's not in the scripture, but I've heard it used, and I
see no reason to fault it. He is at best an under-shepherd,
but remember, Christ is the great shepherd. He's the chief shepherd. Only him. Only him. So remember, one body, know me
only. One spirit, yet one divine leader.
One hope of our calling, that's Christ himself. If you're not
caught up with Jesus Christ, you're not saved. You're still
lost. I don't care how much doctrine
you know, how accurate you are, how moral you are, I don't care. If you're not caught up with
the person of Jesus Christ, you're lost. And I say that not to be
mean. Maybe if there's somebody here like that, you ought to
open your eyes and you can say, wouldn't you rather find it out now than
to find it out at the great white throne? Huh? Folks, I was a young preacher.
I thought I had the bull by the tail on a downhill pull. to preach for a Bible meeting
to get paid for it. And all of a sudden, God brought
me down on many notches. I thought I'd been saved for
years, Jason. I found out I didn't even know
God, and I didn't even know myself. It was a rude awakening, but
I thank God for it. I thank God for it. It didn't
feel good going through it. And you know what? I still go
through it today. After day, after day. You know why we still got the
old man? Because every time he rears his ugly head, it forces
you to run to Christ. Have you done it? It forces you
to run back to Christ. One body, one spirit, one hope
of our God, one Lord. Christ dictates all. You see,
if we really lived with this truth, one, one, one, we would
never have another squabble, but we don't always remember
those things, do we? Well, I jumps in there all the time. Ego comes
in all the time, don't it? And I'm not pointing my fingers
at you, I'm talking about me. One faith, we all believe the
same Christ. That's exactly right. Isaiah
the prophet said, we all, when it comes to the person of the
Messiah, if you're a true believer, you believe just what everybody
else believes about him that's a true believer. They shall see,
here's the word, I, to, Now there's a lot of things we may disagree
on, but we don't disagree on the person of Christ. We don't,
because he is the preeminent one. So again, one body, one
spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, we all confess God's
Christ. That's what baptism is. That
lady will be baptized, I pray you will be confessing Christ
publicly. He's my Lord. I obey Him. I follow
Him. I trust Him. I cast my all upon
Him. One Lord, one faith, one baptism.
And one God, Father of all, who is above all and through all
and in you all. This is one, one, one, one, one. Diversity is out. I started to call this no diversity,
but I thought, now that's kind of jumping ahead of everything.
You see, in the body of Christ, it's not about diversity. Turn
to Paul's epistle to the Galatians. I say, in the body of Christ,
it's not about diversity. Now I've got to find, yes, Galatians
chapter three. You see this, and I'm not saying
all diversity's evil. That's not what I'm saying. Don't
go to say the preacher said all diversity's evil. I'm saying
in the body of Christ, it's not about diversity, it's about oneness. Union, that's what it's about.
Union. When I look at Paul's words,
Galatians chapter four, let me find my spot. It was right here
in front of me a minute ago. Okay, Galatians chapter three,
I'm sorry, not four, Galatians chapter three. Verse 24, we're
gonna get a little bit of the context here, but I'm not gonna
deal with all that. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ. that we may be justified by faith,
but after faith has come, we're no longer under the schoolmaster.
Quite clear. After you believe God, you're
not under the law anymore. It's that simple. Right there in black
and white period, that settles it. and settles it. Look, but
after the faith has come, we're no longer under a schoolmaster.
For you're all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew
nor Greek. You see it? Diversity's out.
You see it? There's neither Jew nor Greek.
There's neither bond nor fruit. There's neither male nor female.
For you're all one in Christ Jesus. You see it? Well, diversity, it's out. It's
out, because it ain't about us. It's about Him. Because we're
the body. You know how good the body is
without the head? It ain't worth squat. And if ye be Christ, then are
ye Abraham seed. That's right, you are a true
Jew. A true Jew in the way that really matters before God. Now,
I feel for everybody over there in the Far East for what all's
going on. It just, I've seen some of those things and my heart
just aches. I think about it in the evenings
when, Dave, I shouldn't be. I should be thinking of more
lovely things, more, and I'm talking about on both sides.
I see suffering of some people, they got no choice in the matter. I had somebody at work, it was
an inmate, and he told me, he said, well, God will take care
of them Jews. And I thought, he's not red, he don't know.
If I only told him what a true Jew was, he'd have no idea what
I was talking about. Who is a Jew? Circumcision. It's not outward. It's inside
of the heart. That's who a true Jew is. They're
not all Israel, which are of Israel. Some of those Jews over
there in that land are reprobate, and some are elect. And in this
town right here, some are reprobate. Some are elect. Isn't it just
a pleasure for once in a while God shows you one of the elect?
He calls them out of darkness. Puts them in the light. When
he puts them in the light, other people in the light will know they're
in the light. They're going to know. There's going to be a unity
there. You see, when God saved me, I
didn't want to be with God's people. After God saved me, I
didn't have a problem with coming to church. It used to be just, oh, I've
got to go this evening. If I don't, I make my daddy look bad, and
my mommy look bad, and everybody else look bad, and the church
look bad, make myself look bad. Now it's a joy to come be with
God's people. It's just a joy. All right, let
me sum this up. This piece was wrought and is
to be preached. Turn to Ephesians 2. We're almost
to the end. Ephesians chapter 2. This peace was wrought by Christ
and is to be preached. Ephesians chapter two, look at
verse 13. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye
who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ,
for he is our peace. Do you see it? For he is our
peace, and hath made both one. That is, the Jews who were elect,
and the Gentiles who were elect. In and of themselves, by nature,
they were adversaries, and we still see that going on today.
As I said, God, Jason, God gave me this message two or three
weeks ago, before all this stuff broke out a week ago. But God will take care of his
people, even if he has to kill them to do it. Even if he has
to kill them to do it. Somebody said, I don't know about
a God like that. Well, I understand that. I really do. At one time
I didn't, but I do now. Where are we at? Ephesians chapter
2. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, made both one. And hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh
the enmity. You see, he did it all. He did
it all. the enmity even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances for to make in himself of the two of
twain one new man, so making peace. Daddy might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, not by something that
happens later. Now they experienced this unity
and peace later by regeneration and conversion, but the work's
done. the work's done, and that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace. Do you see that? Not offered
it, not suggested it, preached it. And you know what? He's still doing that today,
though he's sending his right hand to God the Father. He sends
pieces of clay like, see? And pieces of play like you,
if you go out and speak to others of the personal work of the Lord
Jesus Christ and what He's done for you, we're still preaching
peace. Don't try to get them to make
a decision. You got people you care about, don't try to get
them to make a decision. Pray God they get interested in Jesus
Christ. They'll get somewhere then. They'll
be starting on the journey then, for through Him, For through
him, we both, as Jew and Gentile, have access by one spirit unto
the Father. Now, therefore, ye are no longer
strangers and forerunners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God." I want to stop with that right
there. You see, not all peace is the same. But
the peace of God is the same in all that God's pleased to
bestow it. That's why, you know, it amazes
me. I mean, when I was in religion, we'd go to other places and you'd
find people believing this and believing that, right in the
same assembly, about Jesus Christ. The places I go to now, everybody
believes the same thing about Jesus Christ. Why? One Lord,
one faith, one baptism. Heavenly Father, oh God, help
us. Help us. Help us to endeavor
to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. Help us
to be always receptive in receiving him who wrought peace and is
our peace. May it be all to his name's honor
and glory, in Christ's name, amen.