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Well, it's good to be back here.
I just wish it was on better circumstances, but it is a joy
to be back once again with you once again. If you have your
Bibles with you, why don't you turn with me to Ephesians chapter
two, Ephesians chapter two. And our sermon text this morning
is going to be verses 11 through 19, verses 11 through 19 of Ephesians
chapter two. And as I read this text, please
be reminded that this is God's holy, inspired, and inerrant
word. Please give your attention to the reading of it, Ephesians
2, verses 11 through 19. Therefore remember that at one
time, you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by
that which is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by
hands. Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ,
alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. But now in Christ Jesus, you
were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and
has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that
he might create in himself one new man. in place of the two,
so making peace. And might reconcile us both to
God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
And he came and preached peace to you who are far off and peace
to those who are near. For through him, we both have
access in one spirit to the Father. So that you are no longer strangers
and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and
members of the household of God. May God bless the reading of
his word. Let us pray together once more. Father, we thank you for your
word. We thank you that it lights our feet, it guides our path.
We thank you that it tells us of the work of your son, that
it strengthens us in faith, that it is powerful and never returns
to you void. Father, we ask now that you would
send the Holy Spirit to be among us, to open our hearts, to receive
what you have for us in your word today. Be with the preaching
of your word and may your word accomplish all that you purpose
it to do. And we ask this all in Jesus'
name, amen. So one look at our society today,
and I think we might all be able to agree on one thing. Our society
is divided, isn't it? Does anybody still have the courage
to go on Facebook anymore? Much in our society perceives
that they are alienated from one another, don't they? Many,
from the many, they feel alienated, or from the powerful, they feel
alienated, or from the common people, they feel alienated,
or from any kind of thing. Alienation seems to be what they
are screaming about. We are alone. We have no connection
here. We're cut off. But what is alienation? It's a disaffection. with what
is. It's a sense of feeling forgotten,
marginalized, left out, undervalued, or other like feelings, right?
And with this particular election cycle, we see this on both sides,
don't we? Some in our society feel that
one side is oppressive and marginalizes the other to say that they're
all racist and sexist and other horrible things and move away
from fellowship with them, don't they? Or on the other side, they
respond, well, that side is lazy and crazy. People who just need
to grow up and they just, and then they move away from fellowship
with them. And this has even affected the church. The week
after the election, I remember hearing on a podcast, a gentleman
from a reformed denomination, after the election say that he
was afraid to worship with white people. That is how bad things have got
out there today. Young people are leaving the
church because they feel that much of what Christianity espouses
is nothing more than talking points of a particular political
party. And Christ is the equivalent to a certain party platform or
government stance. Well, do we as a church have
anything to say to those who are disaffected, to those who
feel alienated in our society? Do the scriptures give us a remedy
for this division? Well, in our passage today, we
hear about the alienation many in the early church felt, and
we hear about a conflict within the church between two groups,
Jews and Gentiles. and how it is the gospel that
truly unites all people as one in Christ. And this passage does
this first by telling us of the separation that was in place.
And then we'll see the division destroyed and finally of the
access granted. So let's look at verses 11 through
12 and see the separation in place. Now, the early church
was often divided into two factions, as I said before, and then they
had slang terms for each other. They had the uncircumcision and
the circumcision. In other words, Gentiles and
Jews. Now, who were these divisions?
The Gentiles would be anyone who was not born a Jew. And the
Jews overall wanted nothing to do with Gentiles. So to address
this, Paul asked the Gentiles to remember what they were before
they came to Christ. And he points out five things
in which he wants them to remember. You remember, he points out first
that they were without Christ. They were without a savior. They
had no sin bearer. They had no forgiveness. They
had no fellowship with Christ. They were lost and under the
condemnation of their sin, the just condemnation of their sin,
And second, they were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel.
This is the kind of language we don't use much today, but
in other words, is they had no share in God's people. They had
no right to be called God's people. And third, we see that they were
strangers from the covenants of promise. You see, the Gentiles,
before they believed, they had no promise of salvation. It was
to the Jews, God's chosen people, that the covenants of promise
were made. And since they were outside of the commonwealth of
Israel, they had no share in these covenants and the promises
of salvation made to God's people. And so forth, they were also,
with no promise of salvation, they were without hope. Now this
does not mean they had no hope at all. The Roman empire had
much to hope about. They believed that they were
the light of progress coming into the world. You ever seen
the movie Gladiator? Do you remember when Marcus Aurelius
is talking to Maximus and he says, remind me again, why are
we here? And he said, the glory of the empire. He goes, oh yes,
I remember now. But why are we here? And what was Maximus' response?
I've seen much of the world. It is dark. Rome is the light.
They truly believe that. They truly believe that. They
believed that they were light of progress coming into the dark
world. They brought technological innovations,
public and civic order, sanitation, health, and so many other things
of modern progress. But all they had was an earthly
hope. That's it. In Greek religion,
the life after death was devoid of any hope. It was the land
of the dead, where the wicked and the good alike went. I mean,
some might make it to a better place than others, but they had
no hope. The afterlife was dark, it was
bleak. They had no hope, no true hope
of eternal life. That was it. But beloved, in Christ, we have
a living hope, don't we? through the resurrection of Christ
to an inheritance according to Peter, which is incorruptible,
undefiled, and does not fade away, and is kept in heaven for
you. Gentiles outside of faith in
Christ had no true and lasting hope. They only had an earthly
hope that would fade and would perish. And finally, to sum up
the condition of the Gentiles, we hear they were without God
in the world. And now the word here, and this is interesting,
the word here is athios. What does that sound like to
you? Atheist. That's what the word means. It's
where we get our word. Paul is saying that these people
were atheists. Now it strikes our ear a bit
odd, doesn't it? Greek religion was not known for being devoid
of gods, was it? They had a God for everything.
And if they didn't have one, they can just borrow one from
another society, throw it on in there and everything was just
fine. Recall Paul in Athens, when he
was provoked by all the idols of the city, he even saw an altar
to the unknown God. He said, I see that you Athens
are so religious, so religious in fact, you made an altar over
here just to make sure you didn't forget one. But what Paul is saying is that
they were without the true God, because you remember what he
said, that one you worship without knowing, let me tell you about
him. Let me tell you about the God
you don't know. They had no living relationship
with the living God of the universe. You see, the biblical definition
of atheism isn't that a person doesn't know a God. The biblical definition of atheism
is that the living God does not know them. That is what it is
to be without God. They were without Christ, so
strangers to God's promises. And since they had no saving
relationship with Christ, they could only expect to hear, on
the last day when Christ comes in his glory, depart from me.
I never knew you. Perhaps the most dreadful words
to read in scripture, isn't it? This plight was serious. How
could this be overcome? Beloved, it's good news that
the gospel of Jesus Christ overcomes this. And so we see the division
destroyed in verses 13 through 16. In Ephesians 2, 4, we heard
a conjunction, which are the most precious words in the Bible,
but God. But now in Christ Jesus, the
Gentiles who are far off from the promises of salvation have
been brought near by the blood of Christ because we have in
this like precious conjunction, don't we? But now, but now those
who are far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Now notice that this verse has
two aspects of our salvation. The first is that our salvation
is in Christ. Now this speaks of our living
and vital union with Christ, where the benefits of Christ
are applied to our hearts. We are no longer without God,
but we have been indwelt by the God-man, Christ himself, by his
spirit. And second, we see that it's
by the blood of Christ. where our sins are washed away,
where we may all stand clean and forgiven and accepted before
the Father by the work of Christ on our behalf. And this is the
gospel of Jesus, is it not? All praise for such a salvation
that we who are far off have been brought near by the blood
of Christ. But beloved, this gospel does
not just reconcile us to God, but it reconciles us all together
as one people. That's what we're gonna see here.
Jesus himself, it is emphatic here. Jesus is our peace. Did you hear that? Peace does not come from social
manipulation, from better education, from sensitivity training, from
economic redistribution or economic whatever. Peace comes in a person. It comes in Christ himself and
his work for us. And what his work did on the
cross, is create a new humanity. The work of Christ has taken
the two, the Jew and the Gentile, and made them one, united under
one new humanity, under one new head, Christ Jesus. You see, beloved, all men, Jews
and Gentiles, were under the covenantal headship of Adam.
We all were under the covenantal headship of Adam. All men stood
guilty under Adam's condemnation. We all stood guilty under Adam's
condemnation. And we were all subject to his
penalty, which is death. But Christ, has by his work paid
our debt of sin and united us in him as our new covenant head. So now we all may stand as one
people in Christ, no longer in Adam. But more than that, Christ
has broken down the dividing wall of separation that stood
between Jew and Gentile. Now, what is this wall that he's
talking about? Well, first of all, it was an
actual physical wall. In the temple in Jerusalem, there
was a four and a half foot wall that separated the court of the
Gentiles from other parts of the temple. And on it was a sign
written in Greek and Latin. And what it said was this, no
one from another nation to enter within the fence and enclosure
around the temple. And whoever is caught will have
himself to blame for his death. Often when I'm out running in
Chino Valley, I don't know what it is about Arizona. People move
to Arizona to like buy land, put up fences and put signs that
say, don't trespass, you'll be shot and all this kind of stuff. Here in the temple, it read,
trespassers will be executed. Now, would the Ephesians have
known about this wall? It's a fair question to ask,
right? Turkey's a long way from Israel. Well, we know they would
have. Recall in Acts 21, when Paul
was arrested in the temple, what was he accused of? He was accused
of bringing Trophimus, the Ephesian, past that wall. But that wall stood also as a
symbol of a spiritual reality that divided Jew and Gentile. That reality was the ceremonial
law. You see, the law was never designed
to exclude other nations from God, but it was to show them
the greatness of God, His goodness, His justice, and bring nations
to Him, not repel the nations from Him. Recall Deuteronomy
4, 6 through 8, where God declares that when the nations see the
law, they should say, surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people. For what great nation is there
that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God is near to
us whenever we call upon Him? And what great nation is there
that has these statutes and rules so righteous as all this law
that I set before you today? They were supposed to see the
law of God, not as a barrier, but as glory, and come to the
Lord seeking His glory. but the Pharisees even erected
another wall. And this wall wasn't even in
scripture, but they erected what they called a fence around the
law, or as it's called in the scriptures, the traditions of
the elders. Now, what is this? This fence allowed Jews almost no contact
with Gentiles. What they did, here's the logic.
When they went into exile, they got it pretty clear it's because
they broke the law. Okay. If that's the case, we're
gonna make sure we never break it again. And so what we're gonna
do is, okay, if the law says I can only walk five steps, we're
gonna make the law say I can only walk three steps. That way
we're protected. You understand the logic? If
it says I must wash to do this, well, we'll wash to do all these
other things too. And we'll make that the law.
That way you never actually break what God actually commanded,
but we protect it. Sound like solid logic? This fence allowed, like I said,
the Jews almost no contact. They had, for instance, these
elaborate washing rituals. For instance, it tells us in
Mark 7, 4, that when they went into a market, they might have
encountered a Gentile. And so they had to wash their
hands. They had to wash their pots. They had to wash their
dining couches, just in case Gentile dirt got on them or got
on their possessions. Imagine what it communicated
to a Gentile, knowing that Jews had to wash their couch just
in case some of your Gentile dirt got on it. Did we say this
division is pretty serious? When Jesus said in Luke 4 that
he is fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah, he defended
his words by giving two examples, didn't he? the healing of Naaman,
and the widow of Zarephath, both Gentiles. Jesus' point was that the gospel
was to go to the world, not just the possession of one people
group. And what was the Jews' response upon hearing this? Were
they going, yes and amen, Jesus, let's go do that? No, they sought
to throw him off a cliff. That's how much hatred there
was between Jew and Gentile. Instead of using the beauty of
the law to bring the nations to God, they used it to exclude
and push the Gentiles away. But beloved, Christ is the fulfillment
of everything that the ceremonial law pointed to. It was He who
was the perfect sacrifice that the temple was built to picture. The cleanliness codes pointed
to Christ who was the spotless and perfect undefiled Lamb of
God. And the pictures of holiness
that we have in Christ, we see in the law fulfilled by Christ. And when Christ beloved was placed
upon that cross and his flesh was ripped away, so too that
dividing wall of which the holiness code pictured was dismantled
brick by brick. But the ceremonial law should
have showed that even the Jews needed to be reconciled to God,
just like the Gentiles. It was not their ceremonial observance
of the law that saved the Jew. It was faith in Christ that saved
the Jew. Just like us Gentiles. All humanity, Jew and Gentile,
was lost in sin. Both needed to be reconciled
to God. And the gospel of Christ is the
way that made this impossible task accomplished. The two, the
Jew and the Gentile have been made one people. And this beloved
has massive implications for us in the life of the church. It really does. God has reconciled
the fiercest of enemies. God-hating man, lost and dead
in their sins, have now been reconciled and have true peace
with a holy and perfect God through Christ. How then, beloved, can we not
strive to remove the social barriers that we sometimes put up in the
church? Some of these barriers prevent
us from truly experiencing the joy of being one people. For instance, if someone comes
into our fellowship who's of a different political conviction,
would we marginalize them in our minds? Or maybe even out
loud to them? Do we seek to understand how
they see the world, even if we don't agree? Or do in our minds,
do we have a sense of superiority, political superiority that I
just know they're right and they don't get it. And so we see them
as, if you will, the enemy. Does the gospel we preach and
the Christianity we teach sound like political talking points?
Or does it sound like the gospel that transcends all nation states,
all cultural biases, all economic placements? The gospel preached
in the scriptures reached all the way to the lowliest of Greek
slaves, to the wealthiest of Jewish high priests. That is
the gospel presented in scripture. The gospel of Christ unites all
people groups into one. And beloved, it is the model
to the world how true peace is accomplished. True peace comes
not by our societal or cultural achievements, but it comes in
the proclamation of the gospel of Christ, who is our peace. So let's look at verses 17 through
19, the access granted. See beloved, this peace is not
simply a ceasefire in man's war against God. True peace does
not come when the bullets stop flying. North Korea and South
Korea have stopped shooting bullets. Is there peace there? No. True peace happens when people
are reconciled to one another, doesn't it? And beloved, this is the kind
of peace, the true peace that Christ has preached. When this
gospel was received and believed, a radical change took place for
us. We are granted access to the
Father. This word access is used in the
text of the day to describe one who had access or audience with
a king. That is how this word was used.
It was used as someone who was able to gain royal access. And
beloved, it is Christ, our mediator, who by his work presents us to
the Father. And as he presents us to the
Father, we are given two titles that grant us such a right through
Christ. The first, is that we are citizens
with the saints of the kingdom of heaven. Those are amazing
words. We were strangers and aliens.
We had no share in God's people and no share in his promise.
But by faith in Christ, through Christ and his work, we are granted
citizenship into his heavenly kingdom. And that means, beloved,
We have the rights of citizenship to the kingdom of heaven. We
are under protection of the king. We share in his rule. We share
in the benefits that come from his rule. That means no matter
where we are, we can call on him, our king, with the rights
of a citizen. Now this concept of citizenship
would have blown the minds of Paul's readers. In Paul's day,
Ephesus had a population of somewhere between 200 and 250,000 people.
And just over 1,000 of them were actually citizens. Citizenship in the Greek world
was a rare thing, and it had amazing rights. You remember
when Paul was arrested, getting ready to whip him? And he said,
is this how you treat a Roman citizen? That guard, who probably
isn't scared of much, dropped that whip faster than he can
think, and his boss come over, did I hear you right? Did you
say you were a Roman citizen? Because they knew they were in
big trouble if they punished this man without a trial. Because
he had rights, didn't he? Because Paul was a Roman citizen,
he could petition Caesar himself. And he did so, didn't he? He
said, I will take this to Caesar. We'll see what he has to say
about this. This is the power of citizenship
in the Roman world. It was the ability to be heard
by the king himself. But we are more than simply a
citizen. We are also members of the household of God. We can approach our king, not
as a distant ruler, but as a loving father. Beloved, don't let this become
cliche. We are family. We're able to cry out to him
by the Spirit, Abba, Father, to him, the ruler and creator
of all. But notice, we remain fellow
citizens with the saints. All of us, no matter our station
in life, no matter our pedigree, no matter any other such thing,
has the same rights and access into the kingdom of heaven by
faith. But more than that, we are all
equal members of the household of God. This means that in the
truest sense, by faith and all who professed faith in Christ,
are your brothers and your sisters. It is your family that stands
beside you in a perfect world, don't they? It is this love that we show
to all in faith, whatever a person's race, culture, background, social
standing, or any other difference from us. By their profession
of Christ, they are your brother and your sister in Christ. Let
that concept not become cliche to us, but let it be an ordering
principle in our life. In the church, We are family. Let us love one another like
family. So in conclusion, the church
is more than just a group of people who gather on Sunday with
a shared interest. Beloved, the church is a powerful
witness to the world of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One commentator
said it like this, and I'm just gonna quote him because I couldn't
say it better than this. The church is the arena where
the results of Christ, where results of Christ's peacemaking
are to be seen, the one new person and the one new body. The peace
gained at the cost of Christ's death and realized in the church
is to be preserved and demonstrated and to be proclaimed by the church
to the world. What has been achieved in the
church and the overcoming of the major division within humanity
in the first century is an anticipation of God's purpose of the still
divided cosmos. That major division is the prototype
of all divisions. If the church in Ephesians 2
stands for the overcoming of that fundamental division of
humanity into either Jew or Gentile, it stands for the overcoming
of all divisions caused by tradition, class, color, nation, or groups
of nations. Anything less would be a denial
of the nature of the church. Recall Ephesians 1 10. that God
is reconciling all things in heaven and on earth through the
work of Christ. As the church is united in faith
and loves one another with the reconciling love that Christ
demonstrated on the cross, where he reconciled such hostile enemies,
man and God together, creating one new humanity and one new
family. Beloved, it is an example to
the world how true peace can be obtained. It is obtained in
a humanity of all tribes, tongues and nations united in their worship
of Christ and with the love of Christ that he has showed them,
pouring that love out on others. So let us share with the world
the love that Christ has shown us. and let us demonstrate to
the world what that love looks like in our midst, that they
might see the beauty of the gospel of Christ, that they see your
good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. And then may
they, by the word preached in this place, by our witness to
them, May the Spirit move in their life and may they seek
that reconciliation that only Christ can provide. Beloved,
the church is a preview of that great day that we read about
in Revelation 5, where all tribes, all nations are gathered around
the throne of God and singing his praises for eternity. Beloved,
there is no division there. Let us love and serve one another
as Christ has loved and served us. And let us long for that
day when the suffering of this world will finally be put to
rest. While we were in this place, let it be to us an embassy of
heaven, a respite from all the dangerous world about. And let
us relish in our kingdom, our king, his rule and his reign. and long to see others come under
his rule. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we love you. And Father, we love you because
as your word says, you loved us first. Father, we were not
looking for you. You came for us. You rescued
us. from death and destruction, you
rescued us from what was rightfully due to us. You're just condemnation
and you're just wrath for our sins. And father, he did more than
just wipe it away and give a square one and have to do it all over
again. No, no, no. You fulfilled your laws, holy
demands by your son, living them perfectly and dying the death
we deserved. we rejoice in such love. And
to make it even more amazing, it's not something we have to
earn. It's not how high we can jump through a hoop. Lord, you
give us that righteousness by your free grace through faith
alone. And Father, we ask that you would fill our hearts fresh
with love for you, with love for the gospel, that we would
be overcome by the greatness of this gospel, that we can't
help but share it with our friends, our family, our neighbors. And
Father, may these truths impress upon us the fact that we have
been united as one people in Christ. And may we not put any
barriers that would be a stumbling for anybody. If they stumble,
Lord, may it be over your gospel, over your word, but not from
our sin and our lack of love. strengthen us in your love, strengthen
us in your word, strengthen us by your spirit, that we may do
all things to your glory. And we ask this all in the name
of your dear son.
Ephesians 2:11-19
Series Special Topics
| Sermon ID | 218171851300 |
| Duration | 37:39 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | Ephesians 2:11-19 |
| Language | English |
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