Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen. There we go. There's a certain way you got to go out, and it's on the stairs, eh? Well, praise the Lord. It's good to see everyone this morning. It's so good to gather together. I look forward to a time so that we can come together, we can worship, we can praise the great name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we can look at His Word. We realize that this is none other than God's Word, you know, which is an amazing thing, isn't it, that God would communicate to us in such a specific way? And we're in this chapter, many times called the Council, again, of Jerusalem. We realize there's a schism. that is happening in the church, and it's threatening to split the church in two, a Gentile church and a Jewish church, very early on. And it's basically, again, about not only the nature of salvation, but the nature of the law. What part does that law play in our salvation? Because we realize the law is important. You know, the law has been given to us by God, hasn't it? You know, and the law is a reflection of our great God that happens to be again above. And if you look at the Ten Commandments, we realize beyond a shadow of a doubt that's God's moral will for us, isn't it? that we would have no other gods again before us, that we would honor the God with our lips, that we would obey the parents, that we would not cheat, not lie, not fornicate, not do any of those things. We realize that is God's will that happens to be in each one of our lives. But there is a problem with the law. The law could describe God's holiness, it could describe God's will for each one of our lives, but it couldn't give us the strength to truly live out that law. We were impotent before that great law. And that's the need, again, of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law for us. So that's one question that they're really grappling with. The other question that they're really grappling with is, do Gentile believers, those who have trusted Jesus Christ, as personal savior, do they have to become Jews? Do they have to become Jewish apostolates to the Jewish again faith? And so we see that Peter, first of all, stands up. There's much debate that goes on. There's much haggling goes on. And then towards the end of the debate, Peter stands up. And he reiterates how through, and they all knew this, how through divine revelation God came to him and sent him to Cornelius' house. You know, Cornelius and all his family are gathered together and his friends, and these are all Gentiles. And how again he preached forth the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they received Christ. and evidence that God was in their lives, that they were full-fledged believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, with equal standing in the Church of Christ, is God gave them, again, supernatural gifts, didn't he? Supernatural manifestations of the Spirit of God, almost like a mini-Pentecost, again, happened there in Cornelius' house. And they all agreed that this was the work of God, that God had granted repentance to these believers that happened to be right there. So Peter says, if that's true, Why are you trying to put this yoke of the burden of the law around their necks, which we or our fathers could never keep? Right? Impossibility. Why would you ever do this? And then he gives a short synopsis again of what the gospel is in verse number 11. He says, but we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. Just as they will. And just as they will, it's the same way that they came. through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is the same way that we come, you know, to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter who we are. It doesn't matter our backgrounds. It doesn't matter our lineage. It doesn't matter again what sin we come again forth. When we have faith in Jesus, and Him alone. We have that equal standing, we have that equal position before the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone. And then the very next verse, and I love the way that the very next verse again starts off, because it starts off this way. And all the assembly fell silent. Because this really is in contrast with the great debate that's going on in verse number seven. It says, and after there had been much Debate. In other words, they were debating, debating, debating. Peter stands up, gives his statement again about what God has done, what they know again already what God has done, that salvation is by grace, that you couldn't keep the law. After that, that argument is so convincing. It's just like a mic drop in modern day terms. You know what a mic drop is? The mic drop basically is you give an argument, you show again the truth again of it, and you drop the mic, and you dare anybody to pick it up. In all assembly, again, fall silent. There's all this debate, there's all this again going back and forth. But when he says these words, it is so convincing and so biblical that salvation is through Christ and Christ alone. The debate's over. They can pack up, they can go home. But guess what? There's other speakers that speak. But when they speak, it's not to argue against what Peter says, it's to validate what he's already said. And two of them, again, it happened to be Barnabas and Paul. And you read that in verse number 12. It says, And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. And I love that. Isn't it true? Because we all realize this. When we realize that we've been wrong about something, you know, terribly wrong in our lives, and we realize the truth, we want to hear more about that truth. Isn't it true when we came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? When we came to Christ and we saw the light of who great sinners we were and how gracious this great God is, we want to learn more about it. We want to learn more about what we were wrong and how Christ was right. So you can imagine this whole assembly. All of a sudden, their mouths are open. All of a sudden, they see the truth of what God has done. They want to hear more about it. So they reiterate again this mission that had gone on in Paul and Barnabas' life as they went through the area again of Galatia. They would have heard about Bar Jesus, his false prophet, and how God again had blinded him. You know, they would have heard again, beyond a shadow of a doubt, all these miracles, all of these signs, all of these wonders that were done in Iconium. They would have learned about this man who happened to be in Lystra, and all of a sudden he's given legs to walk. You know, he was lame again from birth. And the whole idea of reiterating these truths is this truth. that God is at work among the Gentiles. It's a terrific message. It really is. And when he says at work through us, it's not us that's doing it. It is this God who is doing it. It is this God calling this people to himself. And then there is a fourth speaker that we're going to look at this morning. And the fourth speaker, again, happens to be James. And James is the half-brother, again, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, a younger brother. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, but he's a younger brother, but half-brother. And as you look at James, James is an elder in the church at this time. He's a leader. He's probably the chairman, again, that's presiding over this whole council that have, again, come together. And so he's going to bring it to a conclusion. He's going to bring conclusion marks and what should be done in light, again, of everything that is said. And what he's going to do is reinforce the message that Peter's already preached. you know, salvation by being by grace and grace alone acceptable again to all. And this is absolutely, I think this is so applicable again on so many levels. And it's so applicable again on so many levels because we have a hard time, just like those Jewish brethren, just like those Pharisaical believers that happen to be right there, we have a hard time with acceptance. You know, there's people that do things that happen to begin in our lives, and we have a hard time with that, don't we? You know, and you realize that back then. There are what we would call monumental, what we would call century-long hatreds towards one another. The Jews hated the Gentiles. They looked at themselves smugly as a chosen people of God, and they would look down again on these Gentiles as no better than beasts of burdens on the field. There's no way, again, that these people could ever be called to ever be God's people. And the Gentiles were the same way. They looked again with absolute hatred on those who happened to be again Jews. You know, these are spiritual elitists. They're separatists. They're people, again, who do not see their own sin that happened to begin in their eyes. And there was this long-standing hatred that happened to be right here. And that's what's amazing about the gospel that we sang about this morning. The gospel is a message. Think about it. It's a message of reconciliation where God reconciles former enemies to himself. And it's God's doing, isn't it? You know, and God not only reconciles former enemies to himself, but he does something again absolutely amazing in our lives, and that is he reconciles former enemies to former enemies. I mean, it's an absolute amazing thing. And one of the shames that happened to begin in a modern day church is a lot of times we can live with such animosity towards other believers and not really see that it happens to be a contradictory of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, and as you look at your life, as I look at my life, we always have to ask the question, where am I not living out the truths of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Where am I not living out, again, the truths, again, of what Christ has done in my life? You know, people in the church, for one reason or another, again, keep their distance from other people. And we who have been given such grace, are we not to give grace to those who happen to be again around us, for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ? And let me ask you, are there some relationships that happen to be in your life That happened to be a contradiction of the terms of the gospel, right? We are what? Forgiven Christians. So it should be an absolute, there's no such thing as an unforgiving, unforgiven Christian. We're all forgiven. And therefore it should be a contradiction in terms to be an unforgiving Christian. You know, we should be forgiven Christians. And I wonder who we're struggling with, who we're struggling to love, who we're struggling to get along with, who we've hardened our hearts. And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt there are some relationships this side of heaven that will never be made right. But I think a lot of times we make excuses that it's all them. And we don't see the hatred. We don't see the animosity. We don't see the lack of gospel living in our lives. And I really want to challenge us with that this morning from this text. You know, because what these, again, Pharisaical believers that happen to be, again, in Jerusalem are being challenged with is none other than the Gospel of Reconciliation, what God has done in Jesus Christ. And I want to see, first of all, is that we do need to see what God has done. I mean, look at what it says in verses 13 and 14. It says, After they finished speaking, James replied, Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people of his own name. And I love the way James begins this. You know, James is one of those characters that I really think has a pastoral heart. You know, he's so gentle in his admonitions. He's so gentle in what he says. And he starts off this way. He says, brothers, listen to me. Don't you love that? Because what does he call, again, these believers who are differing? He calls them, again, what? Because so often somebody differs here, somebody differs there. We look at them as enemies. But he calls them brothers. And he says, listen to me. And the idea, again, of listen to me is I've got something important to say. I've got something biblical. I have something necessary that I'm going to begin. in each one of your lives. And what he speaks is so biblical, so Christ-centered, so honoring to God. And he really reiterates what God has already accomplished. And it's so easy, isn't it? Especially, again, when people are in this category of enemies that happen to be there, because they've really hurt us in one way or another. You know, we live in this fallen world where things happen, right? Where people say things, people do things, and it really hurts. And I think a lot of times we replay them and replay them and replay them and replay them in our minds, don't we? You know, various different scenarios. And what we do is we actually cultivate a greater hatred, a greater animosity, a greater anger towards them. I'm often asked as a pastor because people come to you, they're having relationship problems, they have relationship problems there, they can't get along with those who happen to be getting over here, and they'll tell me again what somebody has done wrong to them. Then they'll ask this question because they're not just gossiping, they want to help. They'll ask me this question, how do I get over it? How do I get over the hurt? How do I get over the anger? How do I get over what they have done to me? And it's real. The pain is real. And the question is, how do you get over it? And the answer is, again, twofold, and it all has to deal with what's going on up here. And one is, again, I think we have a failure to forget God's work in our own lives. Isn't it true? He not only brought us the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our brother Richard reiterated that a number of times. God has brought out former enemies to himself. But think how patient God is with us. Think about, again, in your own life. You do not have everything together. You know, we still say things, we still do things, and yet we have this patient love of this great God that never gives up on his children. You know, all of us are still a work in progress, aren't we? And so often we forget who we are. We are sinners, right? We're sanctified sinners being transformed in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. But none of us, again, are perfectly transformed in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. We still have sin. That happened to be right there. And we have to remember who we are. But secondly, we have to remember, again, who others are. Especially, again, when we're talking about those who happen to be believers, those who happen to be in a household of faith. They are in this process of being sanctified in the Lord Jesus Christ. But here's the thing that we have to think about. So often, we're thinking about what they've done wrong. So often, we're thinking about the hurt. So often, we're thinking about these words. And a lot of times, we have to think, if they are truly God's children, then they are being transformed in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can look at other people, and they get along with them. They're being blessed by others. How are they being blessed by others? How is God working in their heart and in their lives? And what it does, when we start thinking, right, right, right, right, we say, no, no, no, I'm not going to think here, I'm not going to think here, I'm going to think about who I am, who they are in the Lord Jesus Christ. It begins to cause us to think, again, more redemptively, more gospel-centered. more along the lines of a reconciliation lifestyle. It begins to change what is happening in our hearts. And that's what we have to do, right? How do I get over it? How do I get over it? And what we do is we change the channel. We remember God. We remember, again, what he has done in our lives. So think about that, you know, with James' words and what he is going on. And in light, again, that these fair sacral believers really want to reject certain people who have come to us, even in order to Christ. He says this, Simeon, has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people of his own name. And like I say, I love, again, James, don't you? I mean, he's so pastoral, isn't he? Because who's Simeon? Who's Simeon? Somebody tell me. Peter, okay, okay, one, ding, ding, ding. It's Peter, isn't it? But he calls him Simeon. And the question is, again, why does he call him Simeon? And the reason why is because that's his Hebrew name. And he has a sensitivity towards those pharisaical believers in the midst, again, of this struggle. And he brings him back and he reiterates again, once again, what God has done, what God has said, what God has accomplished through Peter. And he reiterates three things. And one is that through Peter, God had visited, visited the Gentiles. And that's so important. Because when we look at that word visited, it speaks again of some communion, right? It speaks again of some warmth. It speaks again of some association, doesn't it? When we go visit someone, the way we use that is we're not going to confront someone, we're not going to get in an argument, but we realize we visit again people who are close to us. And God had chosen him. And think about this, because this is absolutely amazing. Because this is what you have to realize in the ancient world. There is no way a Gentile would ever go, or there's no way a Jew would ever go visit a Gentile and come to his home and eat with him and fellowship with him. And that's exactly what Peter did. But the one who was visiting him was not chiefly Peter. It was God. And that's what he's reminding them of. And the first thing, again, he tells them that it's God's visiting with them. The second thing that he points out is the reason, the whole goal of this visit was to take from them, listen to what he says, a people. And that's a glorious truth, isn't it? Because, again, when you look at that word people, again, it has so much what we call theological significance. Take from them this wide sphere, again, of Gentiles, what? A people. And it's a language, again, of what? Of election. It's the language, again, of the Old Testament that God chose a people. And who were the people? They were Israel, right? Not because they were great, not because they were more noble, not because, again, they were more mightier than everyone that happened to be getting around them. God chose them because he chose to love them. Purposes are found again in him. Well, it's the same term that's being used, that God is choosing these Gentiles, these individuals. He's calling out a people for his own glory, for his own reasons. They have equal standing in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see this in Ephesians chapter 3, verse number 6, this is this mystery. is that Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. You know, and do you see all the things that happen to begin right there? First of all, again, they're fellow heirs. Second, they're members of what? The same body. And then he says this, partakers of the same promise. The same promise that are given to the Jewish believers as far as faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are given to these Gentile believers. They have equal standing in God's sight. I mean, it's a great truth, isn't it? And then he says, right after that, he says, to take from them a people, and then he says this. for his name. Now think about it. What does for his name mean? And it just means this. It stands again, a name stands for the totality of the person. So when Peter says the whole goal, again, of God choosing these people, the whole goal, again, of them coming to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that he might be magnified. He might be glorified. His character might be known as righteous, as glorious, as just, as gracious, as merciful, as, again, gracious. that his character might be known. And we could go over the revelation, we could look at all those texts, how he calls again a people, you know, from every tribe, from every kindred, from every people group that happened to begin on planet Earth. But have you ever thought and have you ever been amazed how God chooses people from so many different sinful backgrounds? I mean, we all have a different sinful story, don't we? But it's the same God, it's the same blood, it's the same Savior that saved us. That sin might be different, that separates us from this great God, but it's the same Savior who saves us. In fact, again, listen to what he says over in 1 Corinthians 6, beginning at verse number 9. He says, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And then he says this, and such were some of you. But what happened? What happened? This is what happened. But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified. And how were we washed? How were we sanctified? How were we justified? Here it is. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God comes. We see the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. And we realize again that he really has done it all. And I stand complete in It's an incredible thing, isn't it? And do you ever stand back? Are you ever amazed? I mean, I am sometimes. I wish I was more. Do you ever stand amazed that you come into a service to praise the Lord? Are you ever amazed that there's a love for this great Christ, a belief in Him? Do you find that again absolutely amazing? Do you find it amazing as you look around, there's always people in the congregation singing, glorifying, praising Him that has shown up at 9.30 in the morning on a Sunday morning to praise Him? Are you ever amazed at that? Because here's the thing, if we are amazed at God's work in our lives and in the lives of others, why would we ever stand in the way of what God is doing? Why would we ever stand, again, against people? And this is how God is ultimately going to be glorified. And I'm not trying to say that people haven't heard us in our life. There's many people who have heard us in those life, but I don't know if this is revelatory to you or not. You have heard other people. And do we realize that? Do we realize that beyond a shadow of a doubt? And I think a lot of times, and I'm going to speak to parents, because I think, again, parents many times don't see this. You know, we come out in public, and we sing about reconciliation. We sing about what God has done. We sing about the wonderful forgiveness that's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. We sing about changed lives. We interact with one another with smiles that happen to begin on our face. And then we get home, and then we complain bitterly about other people in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And our children are sitting there, and they're seeing a disconnect. Because you confess this great God, this great reconciliation, but this is the way you live! This is the way you function. This is the way that you talk. I wonder a lot of times if our children see that disconnect. How different our lives would be, how different our families would be if we truly live the gospel of reconciliation. If we truly were amazed at what God is doing in each one of our hearts, but really looked at others and really were amazed at what God is doing in their hearts. Here's the thing about the Gospel of Reconciliation. The Gospel of the Reconciliation will really change your life. But when a church is living in light of the Gospel of Reconciliation, it will change the church. And you know where it starts? It starts right here, changing the channel. really thinking biblically, really thinking redemptively, really thinking about the gospel, again, of reconciliation. So that's the first thing that we see. We've got to look. We've got to see the work that God, again, is being done. But the second thing, again, I want us to see that happens beginning in this text is I want to see God's reconciliation in the Word of God. It's certainly, again, taught in the Word of God. And we can see this in verse 15 and following. It says, and with these words of the prophet, agree, just as is written, after this I will return. I will rebuild the temple of David that has fallen. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord. And all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord who makes these things known from of old." Incredible, again, passage of scripture, because it reaches again from the eternal past into the eternal future. And I don't know about you, but isn't it amazing to think that I was thought of in the mind of a God before there was nothing? Isn't it amazing to think that God not only thought of you, you little old puny you, He not only thought of you, but had a specific plan that happened to begin in your life. And part of that plan is that you would actually be here this morning. You know, think of all the, I don't know, hundreds of thousands of people that happen to begin in Windsor. And God chose you to be, again, in this certain congregation, to be listening to this certain message. You know, it's just absolutely amazing. God has planned all of our trials, all of our difficulties, all of our struggles, all of the blessings that happen to begin in our life. Everything that amounts to your life is there by divine appointment. And I think there's times in our life where we can hear a passage of scripture that speaks, again, of God's sovereign love and God's sovereignty, again, over our lives and over our trials and over our troubles. And we're brought to a sense, again, of awe. We're brought to a sense of wonder. We're brought to a sense where we just glorify this great God that happens to be above. Isn't it true? We have times like that. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, here's a question I have to ask you. Do you see that also in other people's lives? Do you recognize beyond the shadow of a doubt, even in this category of what we would call enemies, that God is active in their life? God has planned these things to happen again in their life. Because I think, again, when it came to these pharisaical believers, they could see easily, as far as their own lives, that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. They could see that this great God had a plan again for them. You know, from eternity past that extends into eternity in the future. The problem had to be with these others that happen to begin over here. How did they view these others as far as God's plan, as far as God's sovereignty, as far as God's love? That's what the struggle is. I think that's a struggle even in our own lives. Like I said, I think the greatest struggle that we have is not physical. I think the greatest struggles that we have is not economical. I think the greatest struggles that we have in our life so often, are relational. And even in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can wish certain people, we're not in church, we're not in our lives. And you know what that goes against? That goes against God's sovereign love. If I believe that God, again, has all the events of me planned, again, according to His sovereignty for my good and for His glory, that's the same, again, with every single believer in the household of faith. It's true of every believer. And God even has this category of enemies in my life and me and their life for His glory. And I wonder how many times we really chafe at this whole idea, again, of the sovereignty of God, especially when it comes to other people. Because James grounds his conclusion right here. He grounds his conclusion in what we know that God has done in the past, what God has done through Simeon, but what God has already spoken, what he will do in the future. And he takes, again, this quote, and it's a quote from Amos 9, verses 11 to 12. And let me just say this. James didn't have a scroll in front of him. He's not reading from a Bible. He's not, again, unrolling it here, trying to find these verses. And so this is a loose translation. You know, it's not word for word, but it's basically given the sense, again, of what's there. And verse 16, again, of our text says, after this I will return. I will rebuild the temple. I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it. And it speaks again of a restoration of Israel, many times called the messianic kingdom or the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he will come back, when he will set up his kingdom here on earth. And when he says again in this, I will rebuild the tent of David, he's talking about, again, David, that one is going to come, here it is, through the line of David that is going to be that messianic king, that long awaited king that will come. And when he also says in that verse, when he says, I will rebuild this ruins, it could mean one of two things. It could be talking about the restoration of Jerusalem along with the temple, the rebuilding of all that. But it also can be talking about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Because we'll remember in the Gospel of John, Jesus actually used this kind of language about himself. You know, when the Pharisees said, give us a sign, give us a sign, give us a sign. And he said, no, he wouldn't give them a sign. But he said this afterwards, Jesus answered, destroy this temple and guess what I'm going to do? And in three days, I will raise it up again. But what this whole passage is dealing with, and I want us to realize this, is the reestablishment of this coming kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's the question. What does the reestablishment of this coming glorious kingdom of Christ have anything to do with whether the Gentiles are in or whether the Gentiles are out? And here's the answer. It has everything to do with them. And this is why, because of the next point, or the next verse, because he says that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and listen to what he says, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from old. So God's will that is made known in the Old Testament, think about it, God's will that is made known in the Old Testament is that he would call a Gentile people for his own. Right? And it's absolutely incredible because it doesn't say that these Gentiles are going to become Jewish proselytes, does it? And the whole goal, again, is this is what God's going to do. This is what God's going to do here in the future. So I want you to follow the argument. The argument, again, that James has is back here, we know through divine revelation that's given to Peter beyond a shadow of a doubt. It came with signs. It came with wonders. that these individuals at Cornelius' house came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ without being circumcised, without keeping again these holy days and these holy fasts and everything else. And right here we realize again in the eternal future that God again will call a people, call again the Gentiles for his own glory. And what's the whole point of looking here and looking here? And the whole point of looking here and looking here is that we might look here. And listen to what the late John MacArthur again says again about this quote that James has. He says, James' whole point is that the prophet said Gentiles will be in the kingdom without becoming Jewish proselytes. Therefore, there is no need for them to become proselytes in the present age. His speech is a fitting conclusion to the speeches in defense of salvation by grace. Peter began by stressing that Gentiles in the past were saved by grace alone. James concluded by showing that that will also be the case in the future. Therefore, here's the conclusion, Gentile salvation in the present must also be by grace alone. What an amazing thing, isn't it? And so my time, again, is really gone, but I want to just give a few things that we can take away from the text. And one is, again, we can realize beyond a shadow of a doubt that we should be the most joyous and the most celebratory people in the whole world. Isn't it true? I think, again, a lot of times we sing there, and because the song happens to be, again, familiar, we just pair it, again, to words, and we don't really recognize the truths that we're singing about it. Have you ever done it? I've done that. I'm almost like an autopilot. I'm thinking about something else and thinking about what I have to do here, thinking about what I have to do there, and my mind's on autopilot. And I'm singing about this amazing grace that found a sinner like me. You know, have you ever done that? We should be the most joyous, the most celebratory people, again, and celebratory meeting in all the planet Earth. We really should be. And why? Because Jesus really has done it all. Folks, there's nothing else that needs to be done. He's completed it. We are secure forevermore in the beloved. And that is such great news because I think all of our compasses, when you look at the compass of our hearts, it's not towards grace, but it's towards works. Isn't it true? We want to come back. We want to find a distinction. We want to find a reason why Jesus chose us and saved us. And we get on that treadmill again of performance. And it's always about what I'm doing. And it's never enough. And we keep running. And we keep running. And we keep running. And it's absolutely exhausting. But I'm here this morning to say this. Jesus really has done it all. Jesus again has taken that cup from the father and drank it right down to its dregs. There's nothing that needs to be done. And there's such an irony in this. Because the more that you believe, the more that you see the significance of what Jesus Christ has done. This is the irony. The more holy our lives become, the more we start living out this gospel of a reconciliation. The more that we start loving the law, right? We're not doing the law to prove ourselves to God, but we're loving the law and doing the law. Why? Because we love this Christ. And it is, again, a reflection of who he happens to be. And the more that we see that he's truly done it all, the more, again, our lives become a living celebration, a living sacrifice to this great God that happens to be above. How much are you celebrating that Christ has really done it all this morning? It can be seen in your life. It can be seen in your relationships. It can be seen, again, that you live out this gospel of wonderful reconciliation. by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. It's a great message, isn't it? And not only that, again, we not only should be the most celebratory, the most rejoicing, the most joyous people that happen to begin on planet Earth, but we should be, again, if we're truly gospel-centered again in all of this, is we should be the most welcoming, the most vibrant community on planet Earth. Now, I don't have to say this to all of you, but I'm going to say it anyways, because many of you know this. We live in a terribly broken world that's always trying to find reasons to put divisions in people's lives. Whether it happens to be race, whether it happens to be culture, whether it happens to be age, whether it happens to be economics, whether it happens to be politics. We're trying to find, again, some reason to put people in a different category than what we are in. And you see that throughout our society that happen to begin right here. And even as we pointed out, when you get to the book of Revelation, guess who's gathered before the throne? Every race, every tribe, every kindred, every people group that happen to begin on planet Earth. And why? Because salvation is not, again, according to any of those distinctions. So sinful and artificial distinctions that happen to begin in the life. But the reason why we're accepted is because of the work, because of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But not only that. I think a lot of times we make distinctions because of people's sinful past, the things that they struggled with, the things that they'd done that happened to begin in their life. Here's a wonderful message again of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross really did pay for it all. Isn't that amazing? So I might look down at somebody because they've committed adultery. I might look down at somebody because they've had a homosexual past or even struggled with same-sex attraction. I might look down at somebody because all of a sudden, again, they've had an abortion that happened to begin in their life. You know, there's various different things, but here is the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want you to hear it again so clearly. Jesus paid it all. Right? All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. White as snow. I mean, it's incredible. So as we come in to church, as we fellowship with one another, we come from different places, we come from different cultures, we come from different races, we come from different economics, we come from different sinful pasts, but here's the amazing thing. We are all one in Jesus Christ because of what he has done. And the most welcoming place to heaven and beginning on planet Earth. is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. At least it should be, right? Remember 1 Corinthians 6? Such were some of you. But what happened? You were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in what? In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not my works, not your works, not my background, not your background. in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and isn't it amazing? I find it absolutely stunning when you look at the gospel, when you look again at the message of reconciliation, that at the heart of that message is that we have peace with God. Isn't it amazing? Does it thrill your soul? Because it's not the peace where we talk about many times. You know, we look at two nations warring against one another. We see they're trying to haggle out a peace. And what it is is just somehow to have a cessation of hostilities where they're not firing at one another. But God's peace is different because God comes near. Isn't it amazing? And he's the initiator in all that. So think about it. He is the one who saved us. He is the one who sent Jesus Christ. He is the one, again, who lived that perfect life, who died on the cross, again, drinking the wrath of God that I forever might live for him. He is the one who came, and I was so dead in sin, took that gospel, made it living in my life that I might be reconciled to him. and the initiator in that reconciliation is God. So I want you to think about it. If God is an initiator of my reconciliation, he wants me to live a redemptive reconciliation lifestyle, what does it look like in your life? What does it look like in this category again of enemies? This is what it looks like. If God is the initiator, then he expects me to be the initiator. In those relationships, that are not all that they're meant to be. And it's not this, folks. Well, I'll be reconciled if they change this. I'll be reconciled if they do this. I'll be reconciled if they jump through hoops. Let me ask you, how many hoops does God call us to jump through in order to be reconciled to him? And the answer is Jesus jumped through all of them. Didn't he? Every single one of them. And God calls us to be the most encouraging, the most joyful, the most accepting people on all planet Earth because He has accepted us. And can you think of it? I mean, sometimes, again, my mind just goes wild. Again, I try to picture it. And it still escapes me. I try to picture the glory, again, of it being before the throne. You know, and here's myriads and myriads, again, of the saints that are all gathered together from all races, from all tribes, from all tongues, and they're gathered here and whole churches there. people from various different backgrounds, people from various different sins that they've been sinned out, various different offenses that they've done in their life. And it's all been covered under the blood. And here's all of these enemies, these enemies of God that are reconciled to God and now reconciled to one another. And can you imagine the glory that is brought to our great God at this point? Because we realize this is His work. When we realize this is his work, this is what we realize, that the church is to be a picture of that scene in heaven and how we come together. Look at my God, look at what he's done. We'll be a picture of the wonderful gospel of reconciliation. If you will let that message change your heart, it will change the church to be what it ought to be. Let's bow our hearts in a moment of prayer. Father, what an amazing passage. What an amazing challenge that James has for us here. Because Lord, we can look at the pharisaical believers and we can think foolishly that we're not like them. And yet, Lord, we have those tendencies to many times look down on others. Lord, maybe because of the artificial distinctions that we have, Lord, in our own society, maybe because of sinful past, maybe even because of things that they've said, things that have been done in our own lives. But Lord, the more that we look at Christ, the more that we recognize what he has done in our lives. Lord, we're struck. We're dumbfounded. Lord, the more that we look and even see his work in the lives of others, all we can do is praise the name of Jesus. Lord, I ask that you would help our congregation. Lord, to be a redemptive people, to live according to that gospel of reconciliation. God, that your glory would be known and the praise that's due your name would come your way. Help us. We are needy people. We thank you in Christ's name. Amen. Now there's a message that'll turn the world upside down.