He Is Our Peace

Father, thank you for the day. God, we give you praise because you're worthy of all of our praise, Lord God. Lord, we ask that you bless this time. Help us to set everything else aside that's going on in life and just to simply focus on you and glorify you and spend some time in your word, Lord God. We love you. We praise you and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.

You guys can go and have a seat if you like and we'll continue on.

Yes, Lord, there will come a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that you, Jesus, are Lord. Amen.

This morning, Father God, God, you are worthy of all of our praise. God, you are King of kings and Lord of lords. And God, we just give you praise this morning. Amen.

Father God, you must love us, Lord, that you would give your only son, Lord, God, to pay the price that we rightfully deserve on a cross. What kind of love that must be that we can't even really truly begin to comprehend it, Lord God. God, we thank you. We praise you, God. Lord, we thank you for your son, Jesus. Thank you for what he's done for us. Thank you for the new life that we have in him, Lord.

We thank you, Lord.

Lord, this morning, God, let's pray that as Pastor Ryan comes, Lord, let's pray that your Holy Spirit would overflow in him and through him. God, prepare our hearts to receive him, Lord God. Help us to set everything else aside, God. Give us ears to hear and hearts to receive what you would speak to us this morning, God. Father, we love you. We praise you and we thank you.

In Jesus' name, all God's people said, amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning. If you could begin the process of locating your seat. Good morning, buddy.

We'll get ready to go over some announcements and then get started.

We do not have, obviously, as you know, we don't have any bulletins today. They were working on some stuff here at the building that caused there to be no power for most of the day yesterday. So I said, you know what? Don't worry about it. We can survive. We can survive a Sunday without a bulletin. So a handful of things to take note of. If you typically attend women's study on Monday nights,

it is canceled for this week. Also, the new Ephesians study, ladies, is going to be picking up on Thursday. So make sure that you pick up on that study out in the hallway. A couple of other things. There is the Bible conference is this week up in Johnson County, Calvary Chapel, Johnson County. So take note of that. If you have a chance to drive up, it would be a great, a great time

and a really profitable thing for you to be a part of. Baptism is coming up August the 13th. Again, we've got a pretty good lineup of people that are getting baptized. So I'm getting pretty excited about that. And then also this Wednesday, we will be beginning a new series for the next three weeks called How to Study Your Bible. So a little bit more in-depth way

to get into the word of God on your own. So take note of that. And then as you have noticed, we did not decide just to redecorate the church only for one specific purpose. And that was for Vacation Bible School. I got to tell you, a lot of people went into making VBS really, really great this year. So we left all the decor up so that you could see kind of what went on.

And actually we had to take some of it down. All of these chairs were out of here and there were dog houses in here that the kids got to be in. So it was great, but we had an amazing time at VBS. And so we've got a lot of people here. We've got just a short little clip of our slideshow. So you can feel like you were a part of it too.

So I know one night we had about 97 kids and the next night was 101 kids. So a bunch of kids all packed into this place. So it was a great time. And at least seven kids that we know for sure spoke with one of our counselors that we had and received the Lord. So just a great time, a really profitable time together. So thank you for those that helped. And for those who supported through prayer,

we really appreciate it. So, okay, for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 30. Psalm 30, looking at the new American standard. So we all sound the same. And then if you brought something different, you can go back to that. If you need a copy of the new American standard, should be one in the row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 30,

if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's word,

I will read the odd verses. If you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses, Psalm 30, a song, a song at the day. Dedication of the house, a Psalm of David. I will extol you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up and have not let my enemies rejoice over me. O Lord, my God, I cried to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol.

You have kept me alive that I would not go down to the pit. Sing praises to the Lord, you his godly ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning. Now as for me, I said in my prosperity, I will never be moved. O Lord, by your favor,

you have made my mountain to stand strong. You hid your face, I was dismayed. To you, O Lord, I called, and to the Lord I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood if I go down to the pit? What profit is there in my blood? What profit is there in my blood? the dust praise you? Will it declare your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me. O Lord, be my helper. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have

loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. That my soul may sing praise to you and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever. And Father, we do give thanks to you for the wonderful work of salvation that you have wrought in the lives of your believers. And so, Father, as we take time to look at that a little bit more closely this morning in Ephesians, I ask that your Holy Spirit would do its work, Lord, that

you would fall on this place. Father, that you would give us as your people, Lord, ears to hear what your Spirit wants to minister. And Father, that you would bless me as your servant with that gift of teaching to bring forth your word. We just thank you and praise you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2. Ephesians,

chapter 2. We've been looking at the work of the Lord in our lives, our riches in Christ, what he's done for us. And as we continue in chapter 2 this morning, it's no different. As a matter of fact, the title of this morning's message is, He is our peace. Now, I always like to share this when I do any kind of a funeral service, because you're sort of summing up someone's life. And I always like to include the fact that life is ultimately

made up of relationships, right? Really, if you sum up your entire life, life is all about the relationships that we have with people. And so those relationships fit into two different categories. The relationship that we have with God, and the relationship that we have with each other. Well, the relationship that we have with God is made right by the work of Jesus Christ. That's what we looked at in the first half of chapter 2, that it was

by grace that we've been saved through faith, and that not of our own will. And so, we're ourselves, but a gift of God, not by works, lest we should boast about it, right? So that is our relationship with God. But the gospel does not end just by healing our relationship with our creator. It extends to healing our relationship with our fellow man. And that's

what the second half of chapter 2 has to deal with. It has to deal with God bringing peace, ultimately, even in the relationships that we have with each other, whether on a national scale, like we'll look at this morning, or on a personal level, which is oftentimes what our lives. And so, as we look at chapter 2, verses 11 through 22, there will be three things that Paul's going to do for us in dealing with this aspect of peace. Number one, he's going to tell us who you were. Number two, he's going to tell us what Christ has done.

And then number three, he's going to tell us who you are based on that. So, we pick up in verse 11 with the first thing, and that's who you were. It says this,

who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands. Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Now, he's going to tell us who we were, but who we were has to do with our ethnic background. He's going to tell us who we were, but who we were has to do with our ethnic background.

There was no greater division between people in the first century than between the Gentiles and the Jews. That division was both racial and religious, and it went really deep. And so, what Paul is going to tell us is about what that division looked like before Christ and how Christ healed that division. So, the first thing he says is, therefore, remember that you formerly the Gentiles, so we know he's talking to us in the flesh, who are called the Gentiles.

Now, the first point that he makes is that there was animosity and pride that divided Jews and Gentiles. Now, when you see that word in verse 11 that says uncircumcision, you may take note of the fact that it's in parentheses, or not parentheses, it's with quotations around it. There's a reason for that, and that's because that was not just an identification of who someone was physically, that was actually a racial slur that was used by the Jews at that point in time to put down the Gentiles. Let me give you an example of scripture of how it was used. Do you remember when Goliath came against the

armies of Israel, and David said, who's going to do this? He says, who is this, do you remember what he called him? Uncircumcised Philistine, to talk to the armies of Israel like that. You see, it was a term that was used by the Jews to say, you are less than me, because you are different than me. Therefore, it was a racial slur. Slur used by the Jewish people towards the Gentiles. But then there's a second word that's

used. He says, you were known as the uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands. What they referred to themselves as was a term of pride. We are the circumcision. We are the ones who have been given the laws of God. We're not like you unclean Gentiles, we're so much better. And so what we see in those two terms that Paul uses as he points out, first of all, the animosity that the Jews had towards the Gentiles, because they had nothing good to say about them, but the pride that the Jews had in their own religion, because they felt like it made them better than everybody else.

Isn't that kind of interesting? I think that we could say that just about all of the divisions that we face in culture today have those two key elements, animosity and pride. You see, we may not be divided any longer on the level of Jew and Gentile. Instead, what are some of the areas that we are divided on? Some of the areas that we are divided on have to do with our race. They have to do with

our religion. They have to do with our politics, and they have to do with our economy. In other words, how much money do you have? Those are the levels that we are divided on. But you know what's always the same? Whatever thing you're divided over, two things are always present. You have animosity towards those, that are different than you, and you have pride in yourself because you think you're better.

No, I don't, Ryan. Yes, you do. We all do it. It's the problem we face as human beings. You show me an area of division in the world, and I will show you animosity and pride that takes place. And so what is the cure for that? Well, we'll get to that in just a minute. But you see, this division that took place between Jew and Gentile was not just the animosity on the

part of the Jews and pride on the part of the Jews. There was also the fact that the Gentiles really were separated religiously. And in verse 12, he's going to give us five areas of separation. Notice what he says in verse 12. Remember that you were at that time, number one, separate from Christ. You were without Christ. Now, what does that mean? Well, we have to

understand that Christ is not just Jesus's last name, right? Most of us grew up thinking that Jesus was the last name of Christ. We grew up thinking that Jesus was the last name of Christ. That Christ was Jesus's last name. He is Jesus, surname Christ. No, Christ is not his last name. Christ was his mission. Jesus was his name. Messiah was his mission. The word Christ can

also be translated Messiah. Therefore, we as Gentiles were without a Messiah. We were without a promised savior, one who would ultimately save us from our sins. In other words, we had no hope, which we'll get to in just a moment. We were without Christ. Number two, we were excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. Excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. What does that mean? It means that we are nationless and stateless. Ryan, what are you

talking about? I want you to go all the way back in your mind to the book of Genesis when God called Abraham. Do you remember when God called Abraham, he promised him something. He promised to make of him a great what? Do you remember? A great nation. Therefore, everybody that flowed from Abraham, Abraham was a part of the nation that had been called out by God. But you see, you and I were

Gentiles. We didn't have a nation. We were separate from the commonwealth of Israel. And that brings us to number three. We were strangers to the covenants of promise. You see, through Abraham, all kinds of promises had been made. What were those promises? The promises where God said, I will always be your God. You will always be my people. I will give you an inheritance in the land. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the

sky. All of those promises were made to the Jewish people, not to us. We were strangers from the promises. Therefore, we were, number four, without hope. We were without hope. Hope's one of those catchwords today, isn't it? We just need a little bit of hope in our world, right? Well, apart from Christ, there is no hope. Not only for me as a sinner, but for me as a Gentile, there's no hope. And then number five,

you were without God. Now, if you remember correctly, we've gone over it lots of times. I hope you can remember. I know that not everybody memorizes every single one of my sermons, even though you should. No, I'm just kidding. I know you don't memorize them, but why were you created? You were created to know God, right? That's why you were created. But if you don't have

a message, you don't have a message. You don't have a message. You don't have a message. You don't have a message. If you don't have the Messiah, and if you don't have the promises, and if you don't have hope, who do you not know? God. Therefore, you are living a purposeless life. Let me sum it up for you in these three statements. You are without Christ, you are without God, and you are without hope.

And that's the sad state of every Gentile living. And it caused us to not only be divided from the Jews, but to be divided from the Gentiles. And that's the sad state of every Gentile living. God. That's who you were. But this is what Christ did. Pick up in verse 13. It says, But now, in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of

Christ. For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law, which is the law, of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in himself he might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace. It might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to those who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him, we both have our access in one

spirit to the Father. It's like the greatest political commercial ever, isn't it? This is who you were. You were set apart. You were separate from Christ. You were without God. You were without hope. And you kicked dogs. But now, right? Like, that's kind of what it is, right? That's who we were. But now, because of Jesus, this is who we are. Six things I want you to pay attention to.

Number one, he brought us near. This is what Christ has done for us. Number one, he brought us near. Notice what it says. But now, that creates a transition in thought. That's who you were. You may have taken note in verses 11 and 12. All of the verbs are in the past tense, meaning that that's formerly who you were, but now creates the present tense. This is who you are now because of what Christ has done for us.

But now, in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near. And I tried to look up the phrase brought near. To see if there was some sweet understanding of that. You know what the phrase brought near means? To bring someone close, right? Like, okay, I could have figured that one out on my own. But honestly, that's what it means. If you were really far away, and now you've been brought near,

that's the most miraculous thing that God can do for us, right? Well, what brought us near? You have been brought near by the blood of Christ. See, all of our efforts would have never brought us near. All of our efforts would have never brought us near. All of our efforts would have never brought us near. All of our efforts would have never drawn us near. The only thing that can bring us near is the blood

of Jesus Christ. Have you noticed that now we understand that the blood of Jesus Christ that saves the Jew is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves the Gentile. The blood of Jesus Christ that draws near the religious person is the blood of Jesus Christ that draws near the pagan person. The blood of Jesus Christ that saves the white guy is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves the black guy. The blood of Jesus Christ that saves the Asian guy is the blood of Jesus Christ that

saves the Hispanic guy. The blood of Jesus Christ that saves the straight sinner is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves the white guy. The blood of Jesus Christ that saves the black guy is the blood of Christ the Savior is the gay sinner. It's the same blood of Jesus Christ. Because the one thing that brought us near has nothing to do with your identity before Christ.

It has everything to do with the blood of Christ. And through that, we who formerly were far off, and brothers and sisters, whether you're a Gentile or a Jew, all of us can remember the fact that before you came to know Jesus Christ, the best way you can describe yourself is pretty far off, has brought us near. You have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. Number two, he is our peace.

He is our peace, says in verse 14, for he himself is our peace who made both groups into one and broke down the dividing wall. The word peace means to join together. So the phrase to make peace means to join together. To join together that which has been separated. We did this amazing demonstration up here for VBS. And at this point in time, I need three of all.

I'm just kidding. So we did this amazing demonstration. And the crepe paper is still there. So don't test me here. But we strung it all the way across. We said, okay, I need a six-year-old to stand right here. I don't know if she was six or not. She was a little kid. She stood right here because Jesus loves us when we're little kids, right? And this crepe paper represents our peace.

Our lives, right? And so the next one is a teenager because Jesus loves us when we're a teenager. And the next one is an adult because Jesus loves us when we're an adult. And this crepe paper continues. And I said, but somewhere in our lives, there's a tear that takes place. That tear is called. And he picked up the other end of the crepe paper. And he stood in the gap.

Why? Because he. Why? Because he. That which had been separated. Because of sin. So what does it mean that he has made peace? That he is our peace? Well, it takes on two different forms. Number one, he is our peace because he's made peace between us and God. That is the first thing. If you are not right there, you can never have peace with anybody else. As a matter of fact, I would tell you that the reason you don't have peace with someone in your life right now is because you won't first make peace with God.

You won't first confess your own sin to the Lord. Because until that takes place, there will be peace. Because that's the first part of the. That's the first part of the relationship. He makes peace between us and God. But then do you know what he does? He makes peace between us and others. How does he do that? Well, he heals my heart. Which gives me the ability to go and speak that same peace into the life of somebody else.

You see, once I understand that the blood of Jesus Christ has forgiven me of all of my sins, I can no longer hold your sins over your head. Because if he's forgiven me, then it is now my job, my calling, my obedience. My calling. My obedience. To forgive you. I can no longer hold those things against you. And so he is our peace. That brings the two together and makes them one.

It's the very thing that was promised that he was going to do. I want you to go with me. Crack open the Minor Prophets, okay? Go to the book of Micah. Uncrunch those pages. If you hit, go to your left. If you hit Isaiah, you've gone too far. If you hit Genesis, you've really gone too far. Go to Micah, chapter 5. And I want us to look at verses 2 through 5. Micah, chapter 5, verses 2 through 5.

This is what it says. Keep turning if you're on your way. Don't worry. But as for you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah. From you will go forth for me. One will go forth for me to be the ruler in Israel. His going forth is from long ago, from the days of eternity. Now, we know because we've all heard the Christmas story that that's Jesus, right?

We can identify that because that's where Jesus was born. That's the prophecy that says he would be born in Bethlehem. But let's go on and see what else it has to say about Jesus. Therefore, he will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has born a child. Then the remainder of his brethren will return to the sons of Israel. And he will arise and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord and the majesty of the name of the Lord is God.

And they will remain. Because at that time he will be great to the ends of the earth. And this is where I want you to pay attention. This one will be our peace. Now, I want you to take note of something. In my Bible, that's how it reads. Perhaps in your translation it reads a little bit different. But if the word our is in your Bible, you'll notice that it's in italics.

And it's in italics because that means it was added for a greater understanding for the reader. It was not in the original language. So, let's read it the way it would have been in the original language. This one will be peace. That's because the very heart of Jesus is peace. He makes peace with God. And through him we have peace with each other. What did Christ do for us?

He is our peace. Back to Ephesians. Number three. He broke down the dividing wall. He broke down the dividing wall. In verse 14 there it says, For he himself is our peace who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. Now, I want to tell you two things about this. Number one, I want to tell you what he specifically is talking about.

Number two, I want to tell you symbolically what he is talking about. Specifically what he is talking about is an actual dividing wall. Now, if you remember in our introduction to Ephesus, or to the book of Ephesians, we learned that Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote the book to the believers in Ephesus. When he wrote the book of Ephesians. The reason why he was in prison in Rome is because he was falsely accused of taking a Gentile past a dividing barrier wall.

The temple was set up in such a way that there was first of all the court of the Gentiles. Anybody could go in the court of the Gentiles. It was an open air format. Anybody could be there. But then there was a wall with a door. On the outside of the door was a door. On the outside of the door was a sign that says any Gentile that goes past this wall is subject to the penalty of death.

Next came the court of the women. Only Jewish men and women could be in there. And then there was another wall that you had to go past that was called the court of the men. And only the Jewish men could be in there. Paul was accused of taking a Gentile past the dividing barrier wall between the court of the Gentiles and the court of the women. This adds a little bit of flair and understanding to when he says that Christ has broken down the barrier wall that is dividing.

You see, in the Gentile mind and in the Jewish mind, Gentiles could not come near to God. Why? Because they were far off. They were strangers from the commonwealth. They were strangers from the promises. They were without Christ. They were without hope. And they were without God. And they could never come near. But in Christ, the barrier wall is broken down.

And so as Paul says, And so as Paul's writing this, thinking about his own situation, he's like, Christ broke down the dividing wall just like I was accused of taking a Gentile past. You know why? Because it doesn't exist anymore. Because now in Christ Jesus, we can be as near as we want to be because of the blood of Jesus. That's why we're told in the book of Hebrews that we now have boldness to go into the most holy place through the blood of Jesus.

Here's my question for you. What dividing wall do you have up in your heart? You know what our dividing walls, you know what our barrier walls are usually based upon? They're usually based upon our identity. I would venture to say that a good number of people sitting in this church right now, perhaps watching me online right now in middle America, conservative middle America, identify yourselves three ways.

You're an American. You're a conservative. And you're a Christian. The unfortunate thing is it goes in that order. Your identity. Your identity is that you're an American. Your identity is that you're a conservative. And then, last if not least, your identity is a Christian. I want to tell you something. As long as you hold those barrier walls up, you will always have hatred towards other people.

You will always have hatred towards people that are different than you, that look different than you, that think different than you. You'll always have those dividing walls up. So listen, before you call Donald Trump and send him after me, I want you to understand something. I think you should be the best citizen of the United States that you can possibly be as part of being a good Christian.

Just like I think whoever's living in Germany right now should be the best citizen of Germany that they can possibly be. And the person that's living in China right now should be the best citizen of China that they can possibly be. Because as believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to pray for and support our governing leaders, no matter what the country is. I think we should try to vote in leaders that are godly and make good decisions.

And I think that you should be conservative in your thinking, as long as it lines up with what Scripture has to say. But when it comes right down to it, you are a citizen of the kingdom of God first. And if you, in your mind, are not a citizen of the kingdom of God first, and all of those other things second, then you probably have a dividing wall up. Just like the Jewish people did.

That's why when Peter went and preached to the Gentiles for the first time, he got called on the carpet and said, He got called on the carpet when he got back to Jerusalem. They're like, what are you doing? Why are you preaching to the Gentiles? He said, because God told me. He said, don't call unclean that which I've cleansed. And I'm here to tell you, don't call unclean what God has cleansed.

He breaks down the dividing wall. Number four, he has abolished the enmity. He has abolished the enmity. Notice what it says. By abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances. He has abolished the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances. Now let's define some terms here, okay? Number one, I want us to understand what the word enmity means.

I don't use that every day of my life. Matter of fact, I don't use that any day of my life unless I'm teaching the Bible. But the word enmity literally means hatred. I want to define a second word for you. The word abolish means to render inoperative. To render inoperative. So let's read this real quick. By rendering inoperative in his flesh the hatred, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances.

In other words, he rendered the law inoperative, which was creating hatred between Jews and Gentiles. How was it creating hatred? Well, because the Jews couldn't keep it. And the Gentiles didn't have it. So what did God do with the law? He rendered it inoperative. Did he render it inoperative by just throwing it out and saying, Hey, let's not worry about that law anymore.

Let's not worry about that righteous standard anymore. I listened to a podcast the other day. And they said, I can't get past the book of Leviticus. These were Bible teachers. I can't get past the book of Leviticus. Who on earth can read that thing? Look, brothers and sisters, if you can't read the book of Leviticus, you do not understand the righteousness of God.

Because that's what the law is. It is the standard of righteousness for God. And so when God rendered it inoperative, he didn't do it just by throwing it out the door. How did he do it? He did it by fulfilling it. What did Jesus say? He said, I promise you that not one T will be left uncrossed. Not one I will be left undaunted as far as the law is concerned.

I will fulfill it all. How did he render it inoperative? Through the blood of Jesus Christ. Of Jesus Christ. Because we no longer have a legal relationship with God. We have a grace relationship with God. So the Jew that couldn't keep the law can be made right with God. And the Gentile who didn't have the law can be made right with God. And that brings this.

Wait, hold on. I got to make sure I didn't miss a point here. I'm really good at doing this. No, made it to that one. So that number five, he could make one new man. He could make one new man. Middle of verse 15. So that in himself, he might make the two into one new man. Thus establishing peace. And might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross.

By it having put to death the enmity. And he came and preached to you who were far away. And came and preached peace to you who were far away. And peace to those who were near. For through him. This is my last point. But anyway. For through him, we both have our access and one spirit to the father. He made one new man. Number one, he established peace. He established peace.

That's how he did it. That's how he makes us one. Because he establishes the peace. Why? Because he reconciled us both through the cross. And this is something that we have to understand. Everybody is reconciled through the cross. In other words, everybody comes to Jesus the same way. Everybody is in the same standing with Jesus. How did he do it? Because he put to death the enmity.

We are made one because of the cross of Jesus Christ. What does this mean? It means we have to lay down our identities. We have to lay down those things that we hold on to. And realize that we are now one in Christ. We are one brand new man. There is not a Gentile Christian. And a Jewish Christian. Listen, there is not a black Christian. And a white Christian.

There is not an Asian Christian. And a Hispanic Christian. There is not a Kansas Christian. And a Texas Christian. Well, there kind of are. Anyway, there is no difference. Right? Because we are all one brand new man. And he did it because he said everybody has the same sin problem. And everybody is going to have the same sin solution. And it's in Christ. Through the blood of Christ.

He says that he might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross. Having put to death the enmity. And he preached peace. Peace to those who are far off. That's us. Peace to those who are near. That's the Jews. He preached peace to all of us. Because we all needed the same gospel. Because we all have the same sin. Brothers and sisters, there are two types of people in the world.

Those who are in Christ. And those who are not in Christ. Those who are in Christ need built up in the faith. Those who are not in Christ need brought to the faith. And we have to stop looking at each other any differently. You have to stop being mad when the world sins. Because that's what the world does. We have to stop being mad when the world acts like the world.

And we have to start bringing them to Jesus. Because in Christ he has made one God. One new man. And then I want you to notice number six. It says, verse 18. For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. Access to the Father in one spirit. Now, this is an interesting verse. For a couple of reasons. It's an interesting verse, first of all, because it shows us who we are in Christ.

As far as having access to the Father through the spirit. It shows us how that works. Notice what it says. For through him, that's Jesus Christ, we have our access. The Greek word is entre. I think it's how you pronounce it. N-T-R-E-E. I think there's a tilting in there somewhere. That's the word. But the idea is this. Access to one who you would not normally have access to because of the grace of another.

Let me put it to you this way. Right? If I showed up to, okay, one of my favorite baseball players of all time is a guy named Ryan Sandberg. Right? If I showed up to Ryan Sandberg's house, I'd get escorted out. Right? You know why? Because I don't know him. He doesn't know me. I know a lot about him. I know a lot of his stats. And I know a lot of things about who he is, the player that he was, all those kinds of things.

I always loved that his name was almost like mine. And he played second base, which is what I wanted to play when I was a kid. But if I showed up to Ryan Sandberg's house, he'd call the police on me. Right? But if I had a friend that knew him, and I said, man, I'd really love to meet him, and he said, no problem. I'll introduce you. I'll give you access. Come on.

Come with me. I'll be your friend. Right? I'll take you to his house. And he won't kick you out this time like he did the first 17 times because you have me with you. That's the access that we have. And we have access. Notice what it says. Through him. That's Jesus. In one spirit to the Father. Because you and I can't actually go directly into the presence of God right now unless it's the fact that the Holy Spirit is with us because he is our access to the Father.

We have that access. But I want to point something out to you. It is only through him. Who's the him that's being spoken of there? It's none other than Jesus Christ himself. Again, same podcast that I listened to not long ago that didn't like the people of the Bible. It didn't like the people of Leviticus. Shockingly, they were wrong in a lot of their theology.

And they tried to say, well, you know, we really need to be expanding our tent. We need to be broadening our borders. Because after all, that's what Jesus told the disciples that they needed to do. They needed to broaden their borders. They needed to expand their tent. That's what they did when they let the Gentiles in. And really that was just the first step of what should be continuing steps that we take to let other people in.

We should be less concerned about what they believe or how they act. And more concerned about who we invite to our table. Well, listen, I want you to know something. Jesus is very concerned about what you believe. Because if you do not come through Jesus Christ, he will call the police. Right? Because he is your access. The fact of the matter is, until I come to Jesus and tell him I am a sinner and I need a savior, I have no access to the Father.

Jew or Gentile alike. Religious or non-religious alike. Pagan, heathen, most religious person in the world. Everybody has to have the same access and that's through Jesus Christ. And we have to understand that, yes, we can widen our tent as long as they come through Jesus Christ. As long as they come through the right door. Again, that's what this whole section is about.

I don't care what your background is. I don't care what your color is. Listen, I have grown up around some people that now that I've seen them come to know Jesus, it's the most amazing thing in the world. And they have the craziest backgrounds. They have the craziest testimonies. I will never forget working grounds keeping with a guy who was the roughest human being I've ever been around in my life.

And as I'm working grounds keeping with him at the Bible college, he's just a big, burly dude. Right? Tatted up all over the place. Pierced all over the place. And not like the sweet tats like they have today. But like tats. Right? Like biker gang tats. And so we're working with him. And he's telling us his story. He's telling us about everything that happened before.

And he goes, I'll never forget the harvest crusade that I went to where I got saved. That dude just, he goes, I'm sorry. These are happy tears. I'm crying right now. I'm like, dude, the Incredible Hulk is not supposed to cry. Like what is going on here? Why? Because no matter who he was before, he gained his access through Christ. I don't care what your background is.

But I do care that you come the only way that's prescribed by God. And that's through Christ. As a matter of fact, go with me one more time. One more place in the scripture. You got this. I believe in you. Go over to your right. First Timothy, chapter 2, verse 5. First Timothy, chapter 2, verse 5. I want you to notice what it says. First Timothy, chapter 2, verse 5 says this.

For there is one God. And there is one mediator also between God and men. The man, Jesus Christ. Why is that important? It not only tells us that there is only one way to God, but it reminds us that no matter what anybody else says to you, there's still only one way to God. And that's through Jesus Christ. It's not by coming to see the pastor. It's not by going through a priest.

It's not by confessing your sins to a priest. It's not by doing any of those things. It is only through Jesus Christ and him alone. He is our only access to the Father. But once we have that access to the Father, we have, listen, full access to God. We're told in the book of Hebrews that we can enter boldly because of the blood of Jesus. Go back to Ephesians.

So, now that we've seen who you were, now that we've seen what Christ did, number three, he tells us who you are. Notice what it says in verse 19. It says, So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household. Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone, excuse me, I added the word chief.

I should just say being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built. You also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. So, who you are now, again, is threefold. Number one, you are now fellow citizens. You are now fellow citizens. I want you to take note of this.

You are not strangers and aliens. It didn't say you weren't strange. It said you weren't strangers or aliens. You are no longer living on a green card in heaven. You're not on a work visa as far as heaven is concerned. You are now a citizen of the kingdom of God with full rights and privileges. Not only are you a citizen in the kingdom of God, but I want you to notice what it says.

You are not strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with who? The saints. That means that you, brothers and sisters, as believers in Jesus Christ, if you're here, you're a believer in Jesus Christ this morning, no matter what your background is, no matter what your ethnicity is, your nationality, none of those things, you, if your faith is in Jesus Christ and you have come through him, are fellow citizens with, you name the most, important saints you can imagine. The two people that I always look at in Scripture that I really like a lot are, number one is David.

I always like King David because he's sort of a man's man and yet emotional at the same time. I appreciate that. But the other one that I really look at is Timothy because I always feel like I relate quite a bit to Timothy. But no matter who they are, they're no better than you because you are a fellow citizen with them. It's you, Peter, James, and John, right?

All of you are fellow citizens, of the kingdom of heaven. Who is the modern day person that you can think of? I think of a guy like Billy Graham or Chuck Smith or Greg Laurie. They're not better because there's no hierarchy in the kingdom of heaven. No one's better because of their color or because of what they've done. Nobody's worse because of their color

or because of what they've done. We're all fellow citizens. And I think that means a couple of things for us as believers in Jesus Christ. Number one, you cannot look down on anyone. You cannot look down on anyone. Because they are no worse than you as far as God is concerned. There is no less saints in the kingdom of heaven. And brothers and sisters, I think far too often in the church,

we have our own hierarchy. We have our own people that we think are a little bit better and a little bit worse. And sometimes we look down on other people. And we look down on fellow citizens. And you know what Jesus says? Don't do it. Because they're a fellow citizen with you. You cannot look down on them. But do you know what else it means? It means you should not look down on yourself.

I hear so many people say, oh, they're probably so much better Christians than I am. Look, there's no such thing as being a good Christian. Okay, we need to understand that. You're either a Christian or you're not one. There's not some level of like, well, I'm a really good Christian, I'm a really bad Christian. No, you can just be a Christian. You can just be a believer in Jesus Christ.

Some people are walking in obedience, and that's really good, but it doesn't make them a better Christian. I've heard people say, well, you're probably just a lot more spiritual than I am. I'm just a believer in Jesus Christ. I hear people say, well, I can't pray as well as they can. Can you not talk? I can talk, right? It'd be like saying, my girls aren't good at talking to me.

Listen, if there's one thing my girls are good at, it's talking to me, right? Especially when it comes to asking me for things. Matter of fact, my girls are good at talking to anybody, right? But it'd be like saying, well, your kids aren't very good at talking to you. No, I'm a fellow citizen. It doesn't matter if I use eloquent words or not. All I've got to come to God and say,

and then this one time, and then there was, and then God's like, I totally get it, right? Because we're fellow citizens. Stop looking down on yourself. Stop thinking everybody's better than you. Stop thinking you're better than everybody. And understand that we're all in this thing together. All on the same playing field. All at the bottom of the same cross.

All at the foot of the same cross. Amen? Number one, you are fellow citizens. Number two, you have been built on a firm foundation. Notice what he says. Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. Let's take those three things. Number one, you've been built on the foundation of the apostles.

Who are the apostles? Well, the apostles he's speaking of here are the twelve minus Judas, so that makes eleven, add Paul. Because I believe Paul was that twelfth apostle and I believe that church history speaks of that as well. Those are the twelve apostles. And those are the ones who were given to set the doctrine for the church. But once the doctrine for the church was set

by the twelve, it was a sealed canon. That's why Peter says, no scripture is a private interpretation. In other words, you can't make it say what you want it to say. Nor are there people who today can go and start setting the doctrine for the church. Once it had been set by the apostles, compared with the book of Acts, speaking of Jesus, agreeing with the Old Testament,

it was set. There is no succession of people that can now set the doctrine for the church. It's what's in scripture. And it's got to line up with all of it. But the second word that's used is the prophets. Who are the prophets that he's speaking of? Well, I believe the prophets that he's speaking of are the Old Testament prophets. Which, by the way, include Moses.

It goes all the way back to the beginning. Therefore, all of the Old Testament. All of the Old Testament is given to us by the prophets. The New Testament is given to us by the apostles. And what do they both speak of? Jesus Christ. The cornerstone. See, the cornerstone is what would hold the entire building together. It was the piece that fit everything together.

And therefore, as fellow citizens, you have been built on a firm foundation. And the firm foundation that you're built on is the word of God. The apostles and the prophets. Number three. You are now a dwelling place of God. You're now a dwelling place of God. Notice what it says. Built on the firm foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus being the cornerstone. Verse 21.

In whom, meaning Christ Jesus, the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. The whole building, that's us, not only are we fellow citizens, we're a building that's been built on a firm foundation, but we are growing together into a dwelling place for the Lord. How does that happen? Well, you see, when we come together, each of us has the Holy Spirit living inside of us. And as we have the Holy

Spirit living inside of us, we become the dwelling place as the church for the Spirit of God. Therefore, God dwells among us as we all get together with the Holy Spirit inside of us. That's why when believers in Jesus Christ get together, there's just something amazing about it. Amen? That's why we had to make sure that church happened again. That's why if they ever say, oh, there's this disease again

and I think everybody should shut their churches down, I'm going to be like, no. Because we have to all get together. Because we are the dwelling place of God and so when we gather, the Holy Spirit's here. That's why when you leave church, you're like, why was that so good? Why did I enjoy that so much? Well, because the Holy Spirit was here amongst us. And you're the

dwelling place of God. And the great thing is, as the dwelling place of God, it takes a lot of different people to put it together. It takes a lot of different materials to put it together. And all of those materials come from all kind of different backgrounds. All kind of different places. And no matter how different we look, no matter how different we think, we all come together

in the headship of Jesus Christ. And as we come together in the headship of Jesus Christ, we're an amazing building that is the dwelling place of God. Just a quick illustration of this, I think that Vacation Bible School, honestly, is one of the greatest pictures of the body of Christ coming together and being unified, finding their oneness, being that dwelling place of God, because all this last week, a whole bunch of people have gotten together, right? It's been people that are really good at decorating and people like me.

It's been people that are good at vacuuming, that's me, and throwing boxes away. It was people that were really good at talking to little kids and teaching little kids. It was people who had the energy to sit on each other's shoulders in 100 degree weather and blast kids with water guns. It was everybody coming together. We all came from different backgrounds. We all came

from different ideas. We all looked just a little bit different, and we all had different gifts, but we all came together as one. And you know what happened when we all came together as one? The Holy Spirit moved. You know how I know the Holy Spirit moved? Because seven little kids gave their hearts to Jesus. It's what you know, because black, white, Asian,

Hispanic, old, young, male, female, Kansan or Texan, right? We all come together and we're one. One body, one new man, one dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Why? Because he is our peace. He's broken down all the middle walls of separation. Amen? Let's all stand. And if you would, please bow with me. Father, I thank you for who you are. Lord, that you are our peace.

Lord, I thank you for the work that you do. The work that you have done and are continuing to do, not only in our lives individually, but our lives collectively. Father, I need to not only be at peace with you, I was way far away from where I needed to be. And today is the day that, man, Jesus has been drawing me near. I don't know what that looks like, I don't know how that sounds, but

I just know that I feel like I'm being pulled in closer. Today is their day of salvation. So Lord, I want to pray that they would not fight that, Lord, but that as we talked about last week, you do the work, they would just surrender. And Lord, I want to lift up the spirit of those here this morning that have some dividing walls, some barrier walls. Lord, for some of them, it's their walls

of identification. They can't let somebody that looks different in, because after all, that's not how they grew up. Lord, they can't forgive, because no one can forgive what's been done to them. And Lord, that dividing wall of unforgiveness needs to be torn down. And Lord, that dividing wall of bitterness needs to be torn down. And so Lord, those that have those walls up, I'll let your Holy

Spirit do the rest of the work there. Would you tear them down this morning and bring them that peace that they need. That peace that they need with other people. Lord, just do that work, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

Lord God, we lift your praise to you this morning, God. You are the Lord of all. You are the King of kings. And the Lord worthy of all of our praise, Lord. God, may our lives be built upon you and nothing less. For those here today that don't know you, I pray that today is the day of salvation. I pray that today is the day that they will come to know you. To begin their new life

with you. And to build their new life on you, Lord God. Father, we love you and we praise you. And we pray that as we leave here today that your Holy Spirit go with us and continue to minister to us, Lord God. We love you and we praise you and we thank you. And all God's people said, Amen. Hey, real quick, we are going to be tearing down a bunch of this stuff afterwards

for about the next 45 or so minutes. So if anybody would want to stick around after you do some visiting, we would welcome any help we can get. So thanks, have a great week.