came from and who made the difference. By his own testimony to remember
God's mercies to him through life, he built on the back of his estate
a little humble home, very much like the one in which he was
raised, complete with furniture of the
past, woven rugs out of rags and circles like the ladies used
to make, and a wood stove, wood floors, and very often he'd
leave the big house and he'd go down to the little framed
cottage and sit in his mother's rocker, which he still owned,
and rock. and meditate on the mercies of
God to him. He told someone who asked him
about this peculiar habit, he said, I know who I am. I know
what I was. I know where God brought me from.
I know who made the difference. And I know what and where I could
be now. except for his grace. And I pray
the Lord will always help me to remember who made me different. And all
that I have, I receive. And that I may never boast or
brag and bring any credit to myself. It's all by his grace. And that's what this second chapter
of Ephesians is all about. It's about what we were. It's about what we are now, by
his grace. And it exalts and magnifies him
who made the difference. In verse 11, Paul says, Wherefore
remember that you being in time past Gentiles in the who are
called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands." Here in these early verses, Paul
tells us six things about ourselves, what we were. He said, Remember
that in times past you were Gentiles. Not only is he said in verse
2, dead in trespasses and sin, but we were Gentiles. Gentile
dogs. That's right. It was our Lord
himself who said that. When the Canaanite woman came
to him, the Gentile woman, asked him to have mercy upon her, and
he didn't answer her at all, just turned away. But she wouldn't
leave. She cried after him, and his
disciples said, send her away, she cries after us. And our Lord
turned to her and he said, It's not me to give the children's
bread to dogs. Gentile dogs. That's what she
was. That's what we were. But she
gave a beautiful reply, didn't she? She said, I'm your dog.
I'm your dog. And masters feed their dogs.
So if you'll just brush a few crumbs off the table for me,
I'll be thankful. Our Lord praised her faith. But that's
what we were, the Gentile dogs, dogs. And then the second thing
he says about us is this. Remember you were called uncircumcision
by way of reproach, uncircumcised dog, by way of ridicule. We were not of the household
of Abraham. When God gave to Abraham the
token of the covenant, the token of the covenant, which was circumcision,
we were included. We were with the Philistines
and the Amorites and the Hittites and all the otherites. We were
not of Judah. We were not of the household
of God. And then thirdly, he said, at
that time, verse 12, you were without Christ. This is what
we were. You were without Christ, the
Messiah was promised to Israel. Our Lord said to those Pharisees,
what think ye of the Christ? Whose son is he? Whose house
and lineage is he? What nation is he? They said,
son of David, household of David. Well, we weren't in that household. We weren't in that line. And
we have no Messiah, that's right. No Messiah promised to the Gentile
dogs. Moses said the Lord will raise
up that prophet from the midst of you, not out yonder. Dogs, uncircumcised, without
a Savior, that's right. And then he says fourthly, You
are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. What does that mean?
We had no tabernacle. When Israel was encamped down
here in their encampment, and all the twelve tribes around
in their particular places, in the center of the camp was a
tabernacle and a courtyard. And God's presence dwelt there.
God dwelt with Israel, not with these pagans. Gentiles, uncircumcised
dogs, our forefathers. The pillar of fire was over the
tabernacle in Israel. The cloud of God's presence was
over the tabernacle in Israel. We had no tabernacle. We had
no priesthood. We had no mercy seat. We had
no atonement. We had no way to God. Aliens, strangers. from the commonwealth
of Israel, and no promise of being any better. And then it
says here that if you are a Gentile dog, uncircumcised, without Christ,
an alien from the state of Israel, no tabernacle, no priest, no
mercy seat, no atonement, then you are what? You have no hope. You have no hope. No hope of
salvation, no hope of glory, no hope of heaven, no hope of
redemption. No hope. And the next thing he
says about us is this. We were without God. Without
God. It was said back then, he who
dwells outside of Israel is one who has no God. without God in this world, no
knowledge of God. Romans chapter 1 is all about
our ancestors, who knew not God, who knew not God. God turned
them over to their reprobate ways. We had no prescribed worship
of God. We had no way to come to God. Oh, verse 13, listen, but now,
right now, but now. Behold what manner of love God
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when he shall
appear we shall be like him, because now we are sons of God."
Right now. And now here's the key. Here's
the key. Let everybody listen carefully.
But now in Christ Jesus, but now in Christ Jesus, in Christ
Look over here at chapter 1 of Ephesians, and count the number
of times he talks about us being in Christ Jesus. Christ in us
and us in Christ. Paul said this, it pleased God
to reveal his Son in me, not to me, in me. Christ in you, the hope of glory,
and you in Christ. Christ in you and you in Christ,
one. Now watch this, verse 3. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings, lacking nothing, lacking none,
in the heavenlies, where? In Christ. According as he hath
chosen us, where? In him. Christ be my first elect,
God said, and then chose us in our head. God calls Him my elect. We're chosen in Him. In Him, before the foundation
of the world. That we should be holy and without
blame, before Him, before God, in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children, family, God's family, God's household,
our, by Jesus Christ. in Jesus Christ, through Jesus
Christ. To himself according to the good
pleasure of his will, not I will, his will, not of the will of
the flesh, but of the will of God. Listen, to the praise of
the glory of his grace wherein he made us accepted. Where? In
Christ. Verse 7. In Christ we have redemption. through his blood the forgiveness
of sin according to the riches of his grace." Well, you heard
what we were. But now, now are we the sons
of God. Now, how? In Christ Jesus. Now watch this. You Gentile uncircumcised
dogs without hope, without help, without God, who sometimes were
far off. How far off? How far off were
we from God? As far as death is from life, that's
a long way. As far as Satan is from God. As far as darkness is from light. As far as hell is from heaven. As far as the East is from the
West, as far as lies is from the truth, we were far from God. Hopeless, Barnard said, without
help, without hope, without God, without Christ, at our wit's
end. We're far off. Now, what's this?
But now, in Christ, you're made nigh by the blood of Christ. How nigh? How near? That's how far off we were, now
how near are we? Now watch it. Old Augustus' top
lady wrote this. A debtor to grace alone, of covenant
mercies I sing, nor fear with his righteousness on my person
and praises to bring. The terror of law and of God
with me had nothing to do. My Savior's obedience and blood
hides all my transgressions from view. Things future, nor things
that are now, nor things below and above, cannot make him his
purpose foregone, nor separate me from his love. Near, so near to God, Nearer
I cannot be in the person of his beloved Son, I'm just as
near as he is." That's how it is. Think about that. I don't have any place to go
and sit in the rocker and think about that now. You who are far off from
God. are brought right into the very
presence of God and seated with Christ in his right hand. By
Christ we have access into his presence, into his grace. Through Christ, the scripture
says, come boldly before the throne of God. Boldly, with liberty,
confidence, come boldly right into the Shekinah glory, the
presence of God, the throne of grace, and find grace to help
and mercy in time of need. Boldness to enter into the holiest
of the blood of Jesus. Nothing, listen, nothing good
or nothing bad that I do gives me access to the Father, and
nothing good or bad that I do, will deny me the presence of
the Father, it's Christ. It's Christ. 5, this in 14, 5, this is the
reason. But now, in Christ Jesus, you
who will follow are made nigh unto the blood of Christ, for
he is our peace. People say the Lord made peace.
Yes, he did. But he is our peace. He himself
is our peace. That's what we need to get a
hold of. Peace is not just a condition, it's a person. Christ is our
peace. The Lord will make a way somehow.
I used to hear that song when I grew up. He'll make a way somehow. He is the way himself. He gives us life. He is our life. He is our life. When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, we'll appear. Where He is? Where the head is, the body is
not too far behind. It's what? He is our life. He's going to reward us. He is
our reward. That's what God said to Abraham,
I am your exceeding great reward. I'm your reward, there's nothing
better. There's nothing in heaven better
than him. He's my reward. He's my life.
He's my rest. He's my sanctification. He's my righteousness. He's my
truth. Does he preach the truth? Or
does he preach Christ? People used to ask, does he preach
the truth and what they meant by that? Does he preach post-communion
or does he preach, you know, some other doctrine? The truth
is Christ. Christ. It's not a peculiarity
that makes us different from other religions. It's a person. I am the truth. I am the truth. He is our peace. How did he become our peace?
We'll turn to Philippians. Just a moment. Colossians. I'm
sorry. Colossians 1. Just a moment. Oh my, listen to verse 19, Colossians
1.19, it pleased the Father. It pleased the Father. That's
reason enough, isn't it? Why do you people believe so
strongly in Christ? It pleased the Father that in
him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself. By him, I say, whether they be
things on earth or things in heaven. And you, uncircumcised
Gentile dog, you that were one time alienated, enemies in your
minds by wicked works, you have he now reconciled in the body
of his flesh through death to present you, listen, unblameable,
unapprovable in God's sight. In the very sight of God, he's
able to present you holy, unblameable, unapprovable in God's sight.
He's our peace. Verse 14 says, He's our peace
who hath made both one. Both who? Jew and Gentile. Those
folks that had the tabernacle and those folks who didn't. Those
folks who had a high priest and those folks who didn't. Those
folks who had their ancestors back yonder and us folks who
had our ancestors back somewhere else. He had broken down that
middle wall of partition between us, the ceremonial law. I have
now a tabernacle. Not that old one. God's taken
that away. Not that tabernacle, not that
priesthood, not those animal sacrifices, not those special
holy days, not that ceremony of love. Taken that away. Broken down that middle wall
of petition to celebrate separating the Jew and the Gentile. I have
a tabernacle, it's Christ who's tabernacle among us. God has
set him forth to be a mercy seat. We have a mercy seat. We have
a high priest, it's Jesus Christ the righteous. We have a sacrifice,
and it's a better sacrifice than that of Aaron and the priest. We have a circumcision. God's
operated on these hearts. Cut away that old flesh, given
us a new heart. Oh, my. Now, how do you do this? Turn to Hebrews 10. Hebrews chapter
10. He hath broken down that middle
wall of petition. It says here, he hath abolished,
verse 15 back here in our text, he hath abolished in his flesh
the inventory, even the law of commandments, containing them,
the ordinances and the elements, to make in himself of the two,
Jew and Gentile, one new man. Hebrews 10, verse 1, the law
having a shadow of good things to come. Not the very image of
those saints can never, with those sacrifices, tabernacle,
priesthood, sacrifices, which are offered year by year continually
to make the comers there unto perfect. For then would they
not have ceased to be offered? Because if the worshippers, if
they were purged by those sacrifices and forgiven by that blood, would
have no more conscience of sin, they wouldn't offer any more
sacrifices. But every year in those sacrifices there's a remembrance
again made of sin. Every year. Because it's not
possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin.
Those were types and pictures. Wherefore when he cometh unto
the world, when he cometh unto the world, he said sacrifice
and offering thou wouldest not. God never had any pleasure any
satisfaction. The law was never satisfied.
God's justice was never satisfied. God never had any pleasure in
the sacrifices of animals. Sacrifice and offering, thou
wouldest not, but a body made of a woman, made under the law.
Our federal head, our representative, our second Adam, the Lord from
heaven, a body. He prepared me. In burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. But then
said I, Lo, I come, in the bargain of the book it is written of
me, I come to do thy will perfectly, completely, fulfill thy will,
thy purpose. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not neither have pleasure therein which thou offered, but alone.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God, watch it now.
He taketh away the first, the first tabernacle, the first priesthood,
the first mercy seat, the first offering. He told all
these things, take them away. and establishes a second Christ. That's true in everything. The
first Adam gone, the second Adam, the Lord from heaven. The first
covenant with Adam broken, the second covenant, the second revealed,
but the first in time, the covenant with Christ, the covenant of
grace. The first tabernacle God, the first priesthood, the first
mercy seed, our first nature, that which is born of the flesh
is flesh. We're now born from above. The first heaven, the
first earth, he said behold I make all things new, everything. Nothing saved, nothing preserved,
nothing of all of those pictures and types and shadows and examples,
gone! Gone. And don't ever let anybody
bring you back under that bondage. It's gone. That's why he hath,
verse 15, Ephesians 2, abolished. Abolished in his grace, in his
sacrifice. In his offering, in his coming,
in his flesh, the law of commandments contained in the ordinances,
the tithes and shadows, touch not, taste not, handle not, eat
not, do not, so forth and so on. Keep holy days, Sabbath days,
tithing, priesthood, places, examples, put it all away. What purpose? To make in himself
of both Jew and Gentile, male and female, old and young, black
and white, rich and poor, to make of both one new man. So make him peace, that he might
reconcile both. Jew and Gentile, unto God, in
his body, in one body, by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby. Slain the power of Satan, the
power of sin, presence of sin, dominion of sin. Oh, thank God. That's the gospel. That's the
good news. That's the good news. He made
one. Look over here at Ephesians 4 a minute. Ephesians 4, verse
1, I therefore, the present of the Lord, beseech you, you walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness
and meekness and longsuffering, forbearing one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of
peace, this one body, this one spirit, even as you are called
in One hope, Christ our hope. Christ in you the hope of glory.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who
is above all, through all, and in you all. Unto every one of
us is given grace, grace, free grace, sufficient grace. His grace according to the measure
of the gift of Christ. in Christ. Well, how did we find out about
this? Well, verse 17. He came and preached peace to
you who were so far off, and to those Jews who had the promises,
the types and the shadows, and the examples and the prophets.
and the promises and the word. He came and preached. Did he
preach to us? He preached to the Jews. He preached
to the Jews himself. He was in the world and the world
knew him not. He came to his own and his own received him
not. Some of the Pharisees said, well, will he turn to the Gentiles?
No, he preached to the Jews. Well, how did he preach to us?
He preached to us through his apostles and through his That's
how he preached to us. Second Thessalonians, Paul describes
it here. God spake to us through his son. But his son said, as my father
sent me, send I you, and he that heareth you, heareth me. Paul,
he was a servant to the Gentiles. He was God's chosen vessel to
bear the good news to the Gentiles. He spoke for Christ. He was an
ambassador. Listen, he said, I am an ambassador
of Christ as though Christ did himself beseech you through me. That's what Paul said, through
me. Now listen to 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. Paul said to that church, We
are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and the belief
of the truth. Whereunto he called you, he spoke to you, he preached
to you, and called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That 2 Thessalonians 2.13, turn
to 1 Thessalonians 2.13. Listen to this. Paul said, thanking
God again for them, he said in 1 Thessalonians 2.13, For this
cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when you receive
the word of God which you heard of us, You received it not as
the word of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which
effectually works in you." So that's what it's talking about
here when he said, Christ came and preached peace to you that
were far off. He came through his messengers,
through his serpents, through his apostles, and they hear How can they call
on him whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? But how shall they preach except through this man?
All right, let's bring it to a close. Verse 18, For through
him, through him, our Lord Jesus Christ, everything God has for
me is in Christ, the cause of Christ. John Praful gave this
outline. Everything that a holy God has
for sinners is in Christ Jesus, owned in Christ. All of those
mercies and blessings in Christ are ours by a union with Christ. He's the heir, we're joint heirs.
We're married to him and what's his is ours. We're by his name,
his inheritance, joint heirs with Christ. by union. That union
with Christ is accomplished by faith. He that believeth on the
Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
hath not life. That's by faith. By grace do
you say through faith. And that faith is born of hearing
the word. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
for the word of God. So through him, verse 18, Christ,
we both, you and Gentile, male and female, whatever the differences,
we have access by one Spirit, the Spirit of God, unto the Father. Now therefore, oh I love this
scripture here, this verse. Now therefore, you are no more
strangers, I am no more a dog, I'm a son. I'm no more uncircumcised. I'm circumcised in heart and
spirit. I'm no more a stranger, an alien,
a foreigner. I'm in the family. You're in
the family of God. Sons. Sons of God. Full citizens with the saints.
Household of faith. You want me to tell you about
my family now? Turn to Hebrews 11. Here's some
of my family, Hebrews 11. I'm no more a stranger. I'm a
citizen of the kingdom. I'm a full citizen with the saints. Verse 4, by faith Abel, that's
one of my family. Verse 5, by faith Enoch, who
walked with God. Verse 7, by faith Noah, that's
my family. Just keep on going down through
that chapter of God's children. That's us. Each one of you who
believe, your name's right there. Family of God. I'm no more, no
more stranger, no more foreigner. I'm a federal citizen. We're
the saints. Household of God. What's this
now? upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets. One with the apostles and prophets,
one with the Old Testament and New Testament saints, one with
the saints above and the saints below, this is the church, this
is the temple of God. This is the household of faith.
This is the kingdom of Christ. And Jesus Christ himself is the
chief cornerstone. He is the beauty and the strength
and the glory of the building, and he keeps it together in him. And verse 21 says, In whom? Jesus Christ himself, the chief
cornerstone. In whom? All the buildings. All the building fitly framed,
joined together in him, grows. It grows as God adds to it. It grows under a holy temple
in the Lord. And when the last stone's put
in, he'll be back. He'll be back. He said, I go
to prepare a place for you, and you for the place. And I'll come
again and receive you, in whom also, in whom ye also, you also,
are built together for habitation of God." Where does God dwell? In all these different buildings
and synagogues and cathedrals and temples. No, God dwells in
this temple here, this family, in his people. Church is not
a building. The church is his body. All right,
let's sing number 187. Years and years ago, about 1800,
there was a pastor named James Fossum, F-A-W-C-E-T, about 1800. He was pastor of a little church,
pastor of a little church over in England, been pastor there
a long time. an excellent preacher, hymn writer,
gifted man, had a wife and some children, and lived pretty poorly
because he had a very small congregation. And he got a call to a big church
in London. They sent a pulpit committee
down, heard him preach, and they said, we want you to be our pastor.
Moved to London. Got a place for you to live,
good congregation for you to preach to. And he resigned from
the little church. This is a true story. He resigned
from the little church. Came time to preach his last
sermon. He preached it. Then they brought
the wagon to load what furniture they had on the wagon. He and
his wife and children were going to London to pastor the church.
All the little congregation was gathered around the wagon and
they had their handkerchiefs out crying, blowing their noses. Their posture of years and years
was leaving them. All the children were up on the
wagon, you know, and the dog and the household furniture.
His wife was sitting up there and he was shaking hands and
hugging the people for the last time. And he looked up at his wife
and he said, come down off that wagon. We're not going. I'll never be able to find such
love and fellowship in London like I have here. We'll just
stay here. May all rejoice." And he went
in the house and sat down and wrote this hymn. Bless be the
tide that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship
like to that above. I sing it. I think it fits in
right here with this message, the household of faith, the family
of God, our family tree.