I remember those who requested
prayer. Seek the Lord's help for them. There's nothing new
to add to the prayer list. We forgot Sharon's birthday last
week, so we're putting a bulletin this week. Sharon, this is for
next year, June 30th. It was a pre-happy birthday a
year ahead of time. Let's get a hymn. We'll turn
to hymn number 287, Like a River Glorious. 287. Like a river glorious is God's
perfect peace, over all victorious in its bright increase. Perfect yet it floweth, fuller
every day. Perfect yet it groweth, deeper
all the way. State upon Jehovah, hearts are
fully blessed. as he promised perfect peace
and rest. Hidden in the hollow of his blessed
hand, never foe can follow, never traitor stand. Not a surge of
worry, not a shade of care, not a blast of hurry, touch the spirit
State upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed. Finding as He promised, perfect
peace and rest. Every joy or triumph, falleth
from above. Raised upon our dial by the son
of love. We may trust him wholly, all
for us to do. They who trust him wholly. ? State upon Jehovah ? Hearts are
fully blessed ? Finding as he promised ? Perfect peace and
rest After scripture reading and prayer, we'll sing hymn number
326, More About Jesus. If you have your Bibles, please
turn with me the epistle to the Ephesian church Ephesians chapter
2 read verses 11-14 wherefore remember that ye being
in times past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Jesus
Christ, ye who are sometimes were afar 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 the partition between us having abolished in his flesh
the enmity even the law of commandments contained in the ordinances,
for to make in himself of twain one new man. So making peace, let us pray. Our Father, we bless you and thank you in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we can read of such a wondrous
transaction that brought all whom you chose into fellowship with one another
through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are thankful,
Father, that every child of God, no matter who they are, where
they're from, are one in Jesus Christ. One family, one Father,
one spirit, one Lord over all, one faith, one baptism. Father, we pray for those of
our company and our friends who are sick, going through trials,
those who recently had strokes, like Mother Marvin Stoddicker,
we pray for him and he can continue to recover. We're thankful for
the good report from Larry Brown that he's doing better now. We
ask, Lord, your continued blessings upon them. Those who have been
diagnosed with cancer, Lord, we ask your help for them. Those
who are troubled in mind and heart, who struggle in this world,
overcome by trials and tribulation, we ask, Lord, your comfort for
them. We know that if they are your children, they belong to
you. If you have bought them with
the price of the blood of Jesus Christ, that the trials and tribulations
that come their way do indeed fall from heaven as gifts. For every good and perfect gift
comes from the Father of Lights, comes down from heaven from the
Father of Lights in whom there is no variable, there's no shadow
of turning. We pray you would allow us the privilege this day
and even cause us to worship you. You are worthy. We are not. may our lord increase
and we will decrease may we see the beauty and glory of his person
and the greatness success and accomplishment of his work help
us now we pray in christ's name amen hymn number three twenty
six more about jesus More about Jesus would I know. More of His grace to others show. More of His saving fullness see. More of His love who died for
me. More, more about Jesus. More, more about Jesus, more
of His saving fullness seen, more of His love who died for
me. More about Jesus let me learn,
more of his holy will discern. Spirit of God, my teacher be,
showing the things of Christ. More, more about Jesus, More,
more about Jesus, More of His saving coolness see, ? Or of
His love who died for me ? ? More about Jesus in His Word ? ? Holy
communion with the Lord ? ? Hearing His voice in every line ? ? Making
each faithful saint mine ? ? More, more about Jesus ? ? More, more
about Jesus ? ? More of His saving fullness see ? ? More of His
love who died for me ? ? More about Jesus on His cross ? Riches and glory all his own. More of his kingdom sure increase. More of his coming Prince of
Peace. More, more about Jesus. More, more about Jesus. more of His saving fullness see,
more of His love who died for me. Let us pray. Father, again we come
in the name of Jesus Christ, that perfect, blessed name, the
only name, the only name under heaven, given among men, whereby
we must be saved. We thank you for the unspeakable
gift. We know that what we have at this site of perdition is
all by mercy and grace. As we return unto thee these
gifts, let us do them with joy. We pray in Christ's name, amen. You. You. verse 13 Ephesians chapter 2 there are
two words that speak of our condition as
we are as we are born into this world these two words are seen
in the second line it says but now in Jesus Christ
you who were sometimes far off far all I remember a statement
made by Scott rich many years ago he said how far did we fall
when we fail and Adam fell so far from God cannot get back
cannot get back this passage verse 11 through 15 1415 a call to remembrance of just
how far we were from God when He brought us to Himself. When
God calls His people to remember their vile past, their lost condition,
their utter depravity, it is not to shame them, but to have
them be thankful for all that He has done for them. One person
said that our thanksgiving to God is directly proportional
to our understanding of how much we have been forgiven and how
much God has done for us in spite of what we are by nature. When
that harlot fell at Jesus' feet in the house of the Pharisee
and washed his feet with her tears and dried his feet with
the hair of her head, and continually kissed his feet in the presence
of all these religious folks who were astonished at what she
did. He said she loves much because she's been forgiven much. That's
why she loves much. Where you find the grace of God
referred to in the Word of God, you also find it in almost always
in contrast to our sins. Grace does not embrace our sin,
as some would say, give us license to sin. But the diamond of grace
is always displayed against the black backdrop of our sinfulness. Chapter 2 of Ephesians is primarily
about how God, by grace, through the substitutionary work of the
Lord Jesus Christ, revealed true Israel, which is the Church of
the Living God. Paul calls in Galatians Chapter
6 the Israel of God. Verses 19-22 it says, Now therefore
ye 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 the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly joined
together groweth into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye
also are builded together for an habitation of God by the Spirit."
Now, since true Israel is made of both redeemed Jews and Gentiles, there must have been something
done to get rid of the natural enmity that existed in humanity
between these two. Now both the Jew and the Gentile
are naturally and born into this world utterly depraved. Both
are far from God spiritually and such division of religion
or race or creed does not exist where the grace of God is found.
In Christ, racism, nationalism, culturism, ethnicity does not
exist in the Church of the Living God. This is not a pipe dream
of some utopian society. Where these things creep into
our bosom, they creep up because of unbelief, not because of grace. The enmity that naturally separated
the Jew and the Gentile was a thing born of fleshly understanding
of the law. The Jews had the law. They were
the circumcision. They had the law. they had the
oracles, they had the word of God, they had the prophets, they
had all these things, but it didn't draw them nigh unto God.
They were still considered exactly the same as the Jew or the Gentile. In Romans chapter 3, Paul said,
whether Jew or Gentile, God concluded them all unto sin, all unto sin. God, by the merits of His Son,
and only by the merits of His Son, by the accomplishment of
His blood and righteousness, set aside that which separates
the Jew and the Gentile, and He has broken down the wall,
it says, the middle wall of partition between, in verse 14. And He
did so by abolishing the enmity, and what was the enmity? The
commandments which were in the law. Now, how was the law a problem
between the Jew and the Gentiles? How was it a problem? The Gentiles
had no law. They weren't of the Jewish nation,
which God gave the law. The Gentiles had no knowledge
of the law. In fact, they only ran into problems
with the law when they ran into Jewish legalists. You remember
when Paul came back to Jerusalem with Titus, an uncircumcised
Gentile. The Jews said, yeah, we believe
he's saved by grace, but you need to have him circumcised
because he needs to be a law keeper, too. There's the division.
There's the problem. It's the problem of religion
today with the legalists and those who are free in Jesus Christ. The legalist says, yeah, we believe
you believe right and all that, but you've got to keep the law.
No, you don't. We're dead to the law. The law is dead to us
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are by the law dead
to the law. the law is the one that sets
us free. The law condemned us, but Christ
satisfied the law, and now the law, as a searchlight of God's
holiness, scans from the head of the believer to the feet of
the believer and can find no fault. What does the law say?
There's no fault here. It must be set free. It must
be set free. By abolishing that enmity, which
was the law and the commandments, our Lord set believers free,
both Jew and Gentile. By doing so, He made a new race,
a new kindred out of every kindred, nation, tongue, and people, and
tribe upon the face of the earth. He made one kind of person, one
new man, it's called in this passage of Scripture, wherein
God has set up His abode. It says that they formed it to
a holy temple, which is the habitation of God the Spirit. Such a thing
is impossible in nature. Laws may be made. Rules may be
established. Rights may be legislated. Shame
and guilt may be brought to bear. But as long as a man is in nature,
he will be a racist. He will be. As long as he's in
nature, he'll be a racist. He'll be a bigot and an ethnic
separatist because you can't legislate thought and you can't
legislate love and you can't legislate charity. You can't
do it. It's an impossibility. Did you know the Greek word for
Gentile is ethnos? We get our word ethnic from it.
Divisions across racial, religious, and ethnic lines are as natural
to man as his breathing is. What is absolutely necessary
for that to fall by the wayside is the absolute sovereign grace
of God. Nothing else will change it.
Grace abolishes the vision always and everywhere, and its sweet
and sovereign influence is found. This is not a worldview. This is not about the world.
It's about the Church of the Living God. This is how it is
in the true Church, the elect of God, the sheep of God. This
is what Christ has done for His people. The distinction between
the Jew, nigh by natural election, and receiving the law and the
commandments, and the Gentile, who had no place in national
election, to whom no law was given, are things that are in
the past when grace abounds, they go away. This difference,
this difference. The lost Gentile was called the
uncircumcision. lost Jews called the circumcision. But they were both lost. Most
lost. That circumcision was not true
or spiritual circumcision. We know that. It says that in
verse 11 that circumcision was made with hands. Now when our
Lord says that, something made with hands, that means it's the
work of man and not the work of God. You remember how our
Lord entered into the most holy place not made with hands. when
he offered his blood on the altar, the heavenly altar. The distinction
between Jew and Gentile is erased. Romans 2 verse 28 and 29 says,
He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, the circumcision is
of the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, the circumcision
is the heart. whose praise is of God and not
of men. Paul said to the Philippian church,
the Philippian church, a whole bunch of Gentiles, the first
European church, well, we got the gospel here in this nation.
Started on the riverside by a little lady named Lydia. God opened her heart and she
opened her house to the apostle. Philippian jailer later became
a member of that church as the first church in Europe. Philippi. A bunch of Gentiles. What did Paul say to the Philippian
church? We are the circumcision who worship
God in the spirit glory in Jesus Christ and have
no confidence in the flesh. We are the true Jews, he said. The true Jews are the household
of faith. The fact is that in Christ's circumcision or uncircumcision
availeth nothing. The believer is said to be a
new creature or a new creation. The fact is that both Jew and
Gentiles in the flesh are far from God in the one thing necessary,
and that's spiritual life. Read Romans chapter 3 verses
9 through 19, you'll find there's nothing good whatsoever said
about man whatsoever. There's none righteous, no not
one. There's none that seeketh after God. There's not a good
man on earth that doeth good and sinneth not. The poison of
the ass is upon their lips. They're liars. They hate God. There's no God. God's not in
all our thoughts. and whosoever is under the law, is condemned
by the law, is guilty before God. So no flesh is righteous
before God by the works of the law. None. This is our condition before
God naturally. What do we need? We need to be
different. We need to be something else.
Because what we are is just far from God. That's what we are. The believer is called to remember
what, or better, where they were when God saved them. The language
is important, and what is not said is as important as what
is said. Our text says that we were far off from God. It does
not say God was far off from us. This addresses our nature, our
affection, our inclinations, our affinities, our depravity. The text does not say that God
was reconciled to us, but that we were reconciled to God. In
fact, you will not find in the New Testament that God is reconciled
to His elect anywhere. You will not find that language.
But you will find that they were, by the blood of Jesus Christ,
reconciled to Him. reconciled to God by the blood
of the cross. You see, the fault's not with
God. The fault's with us. Our text is not about remembering
where God was, but where you were, and where were you, and
where was I. We were far off, far off from
God. It is clear from the context
of Chapter 1 and 2 that God was not far from us at all. If you
read Chapter 1, you know He was all over the situation. In fact,
He had already, before the world began, blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in Christ according as He has chosen in Him before
the foundation of the world. that we should be holy without
blame before him, in love, having predestinated us to the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ unto himself, to the praise of the
glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved.
That was all done before the world was. God was all over this
thing concerning us, but we were far from him, far in our minds. Before the world began, he chose
us in Jesus Christ, predestinated us. In the blood of Christ, he
forgave our sin. forgave our sins, gave us an
inheritance, and whoever gave us that inheritance is one who
does all things by the power of his sovereign will, unstoppable
and unfrustratable. He caused us to exist in this
world, strange thing, this, born in sin, conceived in iniquity,
drinking iniquity like water, halt, lame, damned, doomed, dead,
and dying. That was all of us. that was us and he says he made
us by his grace to be for his glory to exist for his
glory and he's talking about the glory of his grace there
the glory of his grace what a thing He quickened us. In chapter 2, He quickened us
who were dead in trespasses and sin. And He did so because He
loved us with a rich, rich love and richly merciful to us when
we were dead. He quickened us together with
Jesus Christ, saved us by His grace, not our works, and even
ordained our life to good works, which He not only predestinated
us to walk in, but equipped us to do it. God's in the business of His
people and His glory. God was not far from us. We just
didn't know it. In fact, we didn't even know
we were saved until we heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. We
didn't find out we could be something. We found out that we were something.
We found out that we were God's children. We found out that we
were saved by His grace. That's what the gospel teaches
us. It's not teaching you to do something. The teaching of what's been done.
The gospel is a report of a thing that has happened. A thing that
has taken place. He wasn't far from us. Scripture
says in Him we live and move and have our being. But we were far from Him. What
does that mean? It means that we were separated
from God by our sins and our minds and our flesh and our wills. This description is given of
our state and the language of separations. Paul, writing of
the Jews to the Ephesian Gentiles, uses the word ethnos. we were not with god or for god
we were with and for ourselves we wanted nothing to do with
god because he was not one of us our mind was all wrong all wrong chapter four verse seventeen
through nineteen it says this This I say therefore and testify
in the Lord that ye henceforth not walk as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who
being past feelings, have given themselves over to lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness with greediness. That's an apt description
of humanity by nature. That's what we were by nature.
Romans 8, 7 and 8 says the carnal mind, the natural mind, the mind
we're born with, the carnal mind is enmity against God, is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, is not subject
to the word of God, neither can be. enmity what does that mean? that don't mean we're just we
have a problem with God it means we want to kill God and we want
to put him out of business and put ourself on the throne that's
what that means that's what enmity is if you've ever stood a post
shoulder an M16 and watched for the enemy to come. You didn't
say to the enemy, won't you please accept me? Won't you let me into
your heart? No, you didn't say that at all.
You said, drop down or I'll kill you because we're at enmity. That's our mind by nature against
God. We're at enmity with God, not
subject to his word. We were in the flesh in the flesh. That's not talking about your
physical being. It's talking about your spiritual
condition. You see, man is spiritual. The
spirit is either the spirit of darkness or the spirit of light.
By God's grace, he's the spirit of light, but man is spiritual.
When people talk about the spirit of man, we understand that. He's a spiritual creature, but
his spirit He's ruled by the one, the prince in power, the
heir in darkness that rules the world. We were called lost by lost religion,
the lost Jews called the Gentiles lost. We were without Christ. We were nothing and we had nothing,
nothing to offer to God. nothing in my hand I bring the
old song says simply to the cross I cling this means we were separate
from him we were we've already seen that he was for us from
all eternity speaking of the elect we were against him while
we were yet enemies Romans chapter 5 he died for us God commended His love for us,
and wow, we were yet enemies. We, with all that was in us,
kept our distance from God. Not from religion necessarily,
because all men are religious by nature to some degree. They've
got a religion, they've got a belief system. They got their truths,
they call it. I saw this thing on TV the other
day, this person was talking about, we have our truths, and
our truths are evolving, and truth, no, is only the truth,
and you either bow to it, or you'll perish under its power. We were aliens. We were shut
ourselves from all intimacy and fellowship with Christ, We were
as foreign. He was a foreign tongue to us.
We couldn't understand what he was saying. Oh, we could read
the Bible. I've had people tell me they've
read the Bible a lot of times, and they don't have an idea what
it means or what's in it, and you can't know except God make
you alive in Christ. For the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit. They're foolishness to him, neither
can he know them nor discern them, because they're spiritually
discerned. It's that simple. This book is for those whom God
has made alive to understand. This is a foreign language to
us. Remember back in Psalm chapter 2 when it said the kings of the
earth gathered together against Christ, against the Lord's anointed. It said we're going to cast His
bans from us. We're not going to have this
man rule over us. We're going to put him out of business. It
says he who sits in heaven shall laugh. he shall mock them and
have them in derision." And that word derision means speak to
them in a language they cannot understand. I've preached the gospel in many
places. I've told a lot of people about Jesus Christ in conversation. And I've seen in the eyes that people don't understand.
Look at me with a blank stare like, what the world are you
talking about? I'm not talking about hard things to understand.
You're a sinner. I'm a sinner. And our only hope
is Jesus Christ the Lord. If he died in our room instead
and paid our sin debt, that's our only hope. Is that hard to
understand? Is that hard to get? We're aliens. Shut ourselves
up from all intimacy. We, according to our mind and
will, are strangers from the covenants of promise because
they were yea and amen in Jesus Christ. We had no hope beyond
our sorry existence in this world. That's all the hope we got is
what we have. We're without God. Without God. We're far from God. So far. We actually say it according
to Psalm 10, no God for me. No God for me. Without God, life
is simply about ourselves. That's all it can be. Ethnocentric. Ethnocentric, what does that
mean? The world is about me. My feelings, my aspirations,
what I want. And when it goes awry, I get
so upset because it's not conforming to what I want it to be. That's
what we are by nature. We are so far from God, so separated
from Him in our minds, so far in our thoughts that we could
never return and would never return. Remember, remember, remember
again where you were when he opened your eyes to see him.
Oh, from that darkness to light when you who dwelt in darkness
have seen a great light. Thanks be unto God that though
we were as far off as we were, we were not so far off that he
could not find us. We were lost sheep. had gone
astray, seeking everyone his own way. Unbeknownst to us, the
Lord had laid on Jesus Christ the iniquity of us all. And so
when the good shepherd came, he left the ninety and nine who
needed no repentance and looked and looked and looked until he
found his lost sheep. And he put them up on his shoulders
and carried him home. made nigh, it says here, made
nigh by the blood of Christ. One poet said, nearer to God,
nearer I cannot be, for in His Son I am as near as He. Why are you saved? God saved you. He made you. created you a new creature. Why
do you believe? God made you believe. Why are
you close to God? God made you close to Him. Why
do you come to Christ? God made you come to Christ.
All this is the language of Scripture. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. i came down from heaven to do his will and this is my
father's will which is sent me of all he's given me i should
lose nothing but raise it up again in the last day therefore
all that are taught and learned of the father come to christ
no man can come except the father which has sent me draw him and
i will raise him up again in the last day this is the work
of god are you a child of god are you near Well, if you're
near now, once upon a time you was far off. Far off from God. How far? So far you couldn't
get back. God had to come find you. Seek
you out. Open your eyes and your mind.
Will He do it for you? I don't know. He has mercy on whom He will
have mercy. gracious unto whom ye will be gracious." And I can tell you this, the
Bible is written in a way so people who are interested
in what's going on in the Word of God are those who've been
awakened to be so. So I've often said this, like
in Isaiah 55 when it says, everyone that thirsteth." That
little word, ho, means you're at the point, and basically what
it's saying is, I've told you who God is sovereign in Isaiah
52, I've told you that Christ died in the womb instead of sinners,
and actually saved them in chapter 53, and in chapter 54, I've told
you flat out that no weapon formed against God's children will ever
prosper, that He'd do all these things for His children. Does
that interest you? You're interested at all. Oh! Oh! Everyone that thirsteth, come
and drink. Come and dine on a feast of fat
things and wine on the leaves well refined. We were far off. We were made nigh by the blood
of Jesus Christ. Father, bless us to understand
and bring Christ's name. Amen.