Title: Christ Breaks Down Every Ethnic Barrier
Meta: Jesus smashed down the separations between the Jews and Gentiles. He did this that "He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace." (Eph 2:15) We are now members of the same family and "members of the household of God." (Eph 2:19)  This same thing that unites the Jew and Gentile is what unites believers, no matter their skin color. Those old designations don't matter any more when you are one in Christ.
Tags: race,racism,ethic,black,white

1
00:00:00,786 --> 00:00:03,145
Ephesians 2

2
00:00:03,145 --> 00:00:05,634
If you'd like to turn in your Bibles,

3
00:00:05,634 --> 00:00:21,770
I would like to read chapter 2:11-17 perhaps. (P)

4
00:00:21,770 --> 00:00:24,738
"Therefore remember, that at one time

5
00:00:24,738 --> 00:00:26,969
you Gentiles in the flesh,

6
00:00:26,969 --> 00:00:30,523
called the uncircumcision

7
00:00:30,523 --> 00:00:32,222
by what is called the circumcision

8
00:00:32,222 --> 00:00:38,976
which is made in the flesh by hands."

9
00:00:38,976 --> 00:00:41,730
Two thousand years ago, Jew and Gentile -

10
00:00:41,730 --> 00:00:43,436
perhaps if you lived in Israel,

11
00:00:43,436 --> 00:00:46,710
perhaps if you lived close to a Jewish community,

12
00:00:46,710 --> 00:00:50,245
maybe Brooklyn or somewhere,

13
00:00:50,245 --> 00:00:53,049
we might have a better feel for this.

14
00:00:53,049 --> 00:00:54,489
There's lots of division.

15
00:00:54,489 --> 00:00:56,826
There's lots of disunity in our world today.(P)

16
00:00:56,826 --> 00:00:58,886
We, right here in San Antonio, Texas

17
00:00:58,886 --> 00:01:03,399
do not feel this like Paul would have felt it

18
00:01:03,399 --> 00:01:05,876
in that day seeing what he saw.(P)

19
00:01:05,876 --> 00:01:07,511
Now, you have to think about this.

20
00:01:07,511 --> 00:01:10,581
In the days that Paul walked this earth,

21
00:01:10,581 --> 00:01:14,059
he could look into a church like this:

22
00:01:14,059 --> 00:01:20,523
Antioch, Ephesus, Thessalonica, Corinth...

23
00:01:20,523 --> 00:01:22,754
and he saw Jews and Gentiles.

24
00:01:22,754 --> 00:01:24,703
To him that was radical.

25
00:01:24,703 --> 00:01:26,656
Here in San Antonio, we might look out

26
00:01:26,656 --> 00:01:29,244
and we see people of different skin color.

27
00:01:29,244 --> 00:01:31,851
People of different ethnicity.

28
00:01:31,851 --> 00:01:38,768
People of different social strata.

29
00:01:38,768 --> 00:01:44,485
Remember, he's talking specifically to the Gentile here.

30
00:01:44,485 --> 00:01:47,056
We're Gentiles.(P)

31
00:01:47,056 --> 00:01:49,406
"Remember that you were at that time..."

32
00:01:49,406 --> 00:01:54,435
What time? Former time.

33
00:01:54,435 --> 00:01:56,063
Before we were saved.

34
00:01:56,063 --> 00:01:57,644
We were "separated from Christ,

35
00:01:57,644 --> 00:02:02,223
alienated from the commonwealth of Israel."

36
00:02:02,223 --> 00:02:05,361
We basically were not citizens of Israel.

37
00:02:05,361 --> 00:02:09,027
Thus, we were strangers to the covenants of promise,

38
00:02:09,027 --> 00:02:14,505
because the covenants of promise were made to Israel.

39
00:02:14,505 --> 00:02:19,450
"Having no hope and without God in the world."

40
00:02:19,450 --> 00:02:20,676
That's where we were:

41
00:02:20,676 --> 00:02:22,700
in the world.

42
00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:25,105
But now, in Christ Jesus...

43
00:02:25,105 --> 00:02:27,433
Now. Saved.

44
00:02:27,433 --> 00:02:29,993
And in Christ.

45
00:02:29,993 --> 00:02:31,954
"...you who were once far off

46
00:02:31,954 --> 00:02:34,329
have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

47
00:02:34,329 --> 00:02:38,359
And we've got that far weeks back.

48
00:02:38,359 --> 00:02:40,721
Here's where we pick up new material.(P)

49
00:02:40,721 --> 00:02:43,284
What I want to deal with today is vs. 14-15.

50
00:02:43,284 --> 00:02:46,805
"For He Himself is our peace

51
00:02:46,805 --> 00:02:49,562
who has made us both one

52
00:02:49,562 --> 00:02:51,722
and has broken down in His flesh

53
00:02:51,722 --> 00:02:53,763
the dividing wall of hostility

54
00:02:53,763 --> 00:02:56,778
by abolishing the law of commandments

55
00:02:56,778 --> 00:02:59,050
expressed in ordinances

56
00:02:59,050 --> 00:03:01,100
that He might create in Himself

57
00:03:01,100 --> 00:03:03,211
one new man in place of the two,

58
00:03:03,211 --> 00:03:06,660
so making peace."(P)

59
00:03:06,660 --> 00:03:08,069
Lord willing, next week:

60
00:03:08,069 --> 00:03:12,021
"And might reconcile us both to God,

61
00:03:12,021 --> 00:03:14,073
in one body through the cross,

62
00:03:14,073 --> 00:03:17,037
thereby killing the hostility.

63
00:03:17,037 --> 00:03:18,468
And He came and preached peace

64
00:03:18,468 --> 00:03:20,459
to you who were far off,

65
00:03:20,459 --> 00:03:26,155
and peace to those who were near.

66
00:03:26,155 --> 00:03:28,773
For through Him we both have access in one Spirit

67
00:03:28,773 --> 00:03:30,018
to the Father."(P)

68
00:03:30,018 --> 00:03:33,387
So then, you (Gentiles), "you're no longer

69
00:03:33,387 --> 00:03:35,446
strangers and aliens,

70
00:03:35,446 --> 00:03:38,697
but you're fellow citizens with the saints.

71
00:03:38,697 --> 00:03:40,506
Members of the household of God,

72
00:03:40,506 --> 00:03:42,867
built on the foundation of apostles and prophets,

73
00:03:42,867 --> 00:03:45,300
Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,

74
00:03:45,300 --> 00:03:47,635
in whom the whole structure being joined together

75
00:03:47,635 --> 00:03:49,565
grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

76
00:03:49,565 --> 00:03:52,853
In Him, you all (Gentiles) are being knitted

77
00:03:52,853 --> 00:03:55,929
right into the fabric of this dwelling place..."

78
00:03:55,929 --> 00:04:02,572
this temple of God by the Spirit.(P)

79
00:04:02,572 --> 00:04:08,223
So, we read this.

80
00:04:08,223 --> 00:04:11,374
But the question I would ask you this morning is this:

81
00:04:11,374 --> 00:04:15,367
How's your life?

82
00:04:15,367 --> 00:04:17,770
It seems like we're changing gears a little bit.

83
00:04:17,770 --> 00:04:24,521
But, is everything good in your life?

84
00:04:24,521 --> 00:04:25,556
Not too long ago,

85
00:04:25,556 --> 00:04:28,027
I was taking a truck ride somewhere

86
00:04:28,027 --> 00:04:30,336
with a brother who - he didn't use these exact words,

87
00:04:30,336 --> 00:04:32,398
but he was struggling with the fact

88
00:04:32,398 --> 00:04:34,931
of thinking that his life stunk.

89
00:04:34,931 --> 00:04:36,140
Sometimes we get there:

90
00:04:36,140 --> 00:04:38,093
"My life stinks."

91
00:04:38,093 --> 00:04:39,855
Is your life going just exactly

92
00:04:39,855 --> 00:04:41,416
how you want it to go right now?

93
00:04:41,416 --> 00:04:44,018
Anybody have any problems?

94
00:04:44,018 --> 00:04:47,732
Can anyone say life is perfect?

95
00:04:47,732 --> 00:04:54,134
Or you might say my life is perfect mess.

96
00:04:54,134 --> 00:04:55,739
Where am I going with all this?

97
00:04:55,739 --> 00:04:57,019
I'm going here with it.

98
00:04:57,019 --> 00:04:58,794
We have lives.

99
00:04:58,794 --> 00:05:00,644
We're living our lives.

100
00:05:00,644 --> 00:05:06,309
There's a reality that we live in.

101
00:05:06,309 --> 00:05:08,606
Typically our lives are not perfect.

102
00:05:08,606 --> 00:05:11,598
Typically, there is something...

103
00:05:11,598 --> 00:05:14,376
do you have all the finances you need?

104
00:05:14,376 --> 00:05:15,681
All the money you need?

105
00:05:15,681 --> 00:05:17,159
Is your marriage perfect?

106
00:05:17,159 --> 00:05:19,616
Are your children well-behaved?

107
00:05:19,616 --> 00:05:22,675
They don't cry out in the middle of the service?

108
00:05:22,675 --> 00:05:25,562
You see how long it is before somebody runs their child out.

109
00:05:25,562 --> 00:05:27,725
Everything perfect?

110
00:05:27,725 --> 00:05:30,482
Is your car working just right?

111
00:05:30,482 --> 00:05:35,126
I was coming to church and somebody had two flat tires.

112
00:05:35,126 --> 00:05:37,485
I said, "is everything OK?"

113
00:05:37,485 --> 00:05:40,819
It was pretty shady - I don't know what they were doing.

114
00:05:40,819 --> 00:05:42,356
But they had flat tires.

115
00:05:42,356 --> 00:05:50,203
Even the spare was already on there and it was flat.

116
00:05:50,203 --> 00:05:51,870
Sometimes our life is like that:

117
00:05:51,870 --> 00:05:53,770
two flat tires.

118
00:05:53,770 --> 00:05:56,469
And so what do we do to fix it?(P)

119
00:05:56,469 --> 00:06:01,838
Brethren, do you realize that this great apostle

120
00:06:01,838 --> 00:06:03,897
is writing to Ephesian Christians.

121
00:06:03,897 --> 00:06:05,840
Do you ever think about who they are?

122
00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:07,492
Sometimes when people are far away

123
00:06:07,492 --> 00:06:17,531
and in another time, we tend to...

124
00:06:17,531 --> 00:06:22,160
dramatize and spectacularize,

125
00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:27,710
and we tend to think of people -

126
00:06:27,710 --> 00:06:29,691
even Paul himself -

127
00:06:29,691 --> 00:06:31,538
we tend to think of people in a way

128
00:06:31,538 --> 00:06:33,449
that isn't really true.

129
00:06:33,449 --> 00:06:35,615
Do you realize that the people at Ephesus -

130
00:06:35,615 --> 00:06:37,080
do you realize who they were?

131
00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,082
They were men and women and children.

132
00:06:39,082 --> 00:06:40,675
And they ate and drank.

133
00:06:40,675 --> 00:06:45,863
And they were trying to make the ends meet financially.

134
00:06:45,863 --> 00:06:48,460
They were trying to figure out how to keep food on the table.

135
00:06:48,460 --> 00:06:50,803
They were trying to figure out how to keep their bills paid.

136
00:06:50,803 --> 00:06:53,291
They were trying to figure out how to maintain

137
00:06:53,291 --> 00:06:56,039
their marriages.

138
00:06:56,039 --> 00:06:57,404
Some of them were single.

139
00:06:57,404 --> 00:06:59,549
Some of them were single and wanted to be married.

140
00:06:59,549 --> 00:07:00,681
Some of them were married

141
00:07:00,681 --> 00:07:02,282
and probably maybe didn't want to be married.

142
00:07:02,282 --> 00:07:04,719
Some of them were married and having difficult times in marriage.

143
00:07:04,719 --> 00:07:06,037
Some of them had children.

144
00:07:06,037 --> 00:07:08,157
They were seeking to raise those children.(P)

145
00:07:08,157 --> 00:07:11,430
Brethren, there's another place in Ecclesiastes...

146
00:07:11,430 --> 00:07:13,269
"there's nothing new under the sun."

147
00:07:13,269 --> 00:07:14,780
These people were just like us.

148
00:07:14,780 --> 00:07:17,024
They were trying to make the meetings on time.

149
00:07:17,024 --> 00:07:20,014
And brother so-and-so was always late.

150
00:07:20,014 --> 00:07:21,804
It was the same, brethren.

151
00:07:21,804 --> 00:07:24,820
It was the same then.

152
00:07:24,820 --> 00:07:27,165
And what happens?

153
00:07:27,165 --> 00:07:29,440
What does the Apostle Paul think

154
00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,197
that people like that need to hear?

155
00:07:31,197 --> 00:07:32,596
In fact, even more than that,

156
00:07:32,596 --> 00:07:34,124
what does the Holy Spirit think

157
00:07:34,124 --> 00:07:37,016
that people like that needed to hear?(P)

158
00:07:37,016 --> 00:07:41,165
Well, you know, if you glance back up to 1:19...

159
00:07:41,165 --> 00:07:48,079
These verses 18-19,

160
00:07:48,079 --> 00:07:53,167
it really comes back to what Paul is praying.

161
00:07:53,167 --> 00:07:55,502
You remember, he's not ceasing to give thanks,

162
00:07:55,502 --> 00:07:57,316
remembering you in my prayers.

163
00:07:57,316 --> 00:07:58,789
What was he asking for?

164
00:07:58,789 --> 00:08:03,131
He wanted God to give them eyeballs spiritually.

165
00:08:03,131 --> 00:08:07,569
He wanted them to be granted this spirit of wisdom

166
00:08:07,569 --> 00:08:10,291
and a revelation of the knowledge of God

167
00:08:10,291 --> 00:08:12,624
and have the eyes of their hearts,

168
00:08:12,624 --> 00:08:14,861
their understanding enlightened,

169
00:08:14,861 --> 00:08:16,855
so that they might recognize some things.

170
00:08:16,855 --> 00:08:19,413
And the third thing here that he hits on

171
00:08:19,413 --> 00:08:20,293
is this:

172
00:08:20,293 --> 00:08:23,220
The immeasurable greatness of the power of God.

173
00:08:23,220 --> 00:08:25,263
And we've been looking at this, brethren.

174
00:08:25,263 --> 00:08:28,734
There's two demonstrations of this.(P)

175
00:08:28,734 --> 00:08:33,031
The first one is found in chapter 2:1-10.

176
00:08:33,031 --> 00:08:34,042
What was it?

177
00:08:34,042 --> 00:08:36,032
We're dead.

178
00:08:36,032 --> 00:08:38,436
We're dead in our trespasses and sins.

179
00:08:38,436 --> 00:08:42,194
And nothing can raise us from that death

180
00:08:42,194 --> 00:08:45,077
except the exceeding greatness of God's power.

181
00:08:45,077 --> 00:08:47,226
That's it.

182
00:08:47,226 --> 00:08:49,804
It's regeneration, folks.

183
00:08:49,804 --> 00:08:50,684
But you know what?

184
00:08:50,684 --> 00:08:53,134
There's another demonstration of the power of God.

185
00:08:53,134 --> 00:08:55,839
And that's what we pick up with in verse 11.(P)

186
00:08:55,839 --> 00:08:57,847
The second problem that the power of God

187
00:08:57,847 --> 00:09:02,697
is confronted with - and it's somewhat of a legal problem.

188
00:09:02,697 --> 00:09:04,148
Where do I get that from?

189
00:09:04,148 --> 00:09:08,007
Well, I get that from chapter 2:15

190
00:09:08,007 --> 00:09:09,896
where we're going to be at today.

191
00:09:09,896 --> 00:09:12,197
"By abolishing the law of commandments

192
00:09:12,197 --> 00:09:14,131
expressed in ordinances."

193
00:09:14,131 --> 00:09:17,084
When you start talking law, commandments, ordinances,

194
00:09:17,084 --> 00:09:22,721
you've got something legal going on.

195
00:09:22,721 --> 00:09:24,306
What is it?

196
00:09:24,306 --> 00:09:27,969
It's the Gentile far-off-ness.

197
00:09:27,969 --> 00:09:30,461
It's a radical division:

198
00:09:30,461 --> 00:09:34,289
the separation between Jew and Gentile.

199
00:09:34,289 --> 00:09:38,896
And remember the situation with the Gentile.

200
00:09:38,896 --> 00:09:41,169
Look at verse 12.

201
00:09:41,169 --> 00:09:43,521
Separated from Christ.

202
00:09:43,521 --> 00:09:46,542
Alienated. Separated.

203
00:09:46,542 --> 00:09:47,989
There's a division here.(P)

204
00:09:47,989 --> 00:09:49,817
Now even though it's not specifically

205
00:09:49,817 --> 00:09:54,304
talking about our division from the Jew,

206
00:09:54,304 --> 00:09:56,019
he gets to that.

207
00:09:56,019 --> 00:09:59,871
Alienated from the commonwealth of Israel.

208
00:09:59,871 --> 00:10:03,715
And strangers to the covenants of promise.(P)

209
00:10:03,715 --> 00:10:06,285
Now, it's interesting, because he's kind of dealing

210
00:10:06,285 --> 00:10:08,193
sometimes with the true Jew

211
00:10:08,193 --> 00:10:11,416
and sometimes with the physical Jew

212
00:10:11,416 --> 00:10:12,697
as he goes through here.

213
00:10:12,697 --> 00:10:14,766
You'll see that a little bit more clearly

214
00:10:14,766 --> 00:10:18,130
when you see what the remedy for all this is.

215
00:10:18,130 --> 00:10:19,562
But there's this separation.

216
00:10:19,562 --> 00:10:21,379
There's this divide.

217
00:10:21,379 --> 00:10:22,469
We have no hope.

218
00:10:22,469 --> 00:10:24,031
We're without God in the world.

219
00:10:24,031 --> 00:10:27,011
God's power answers this as well.

220
00:10:27,011 --> 00:10:29,203
How? God's power came down like a hammer

221
00:10:29,203 --> 00:10:30,727
upon the head of Christ.

222
00:10:30,727 --> 00:10:32,774
And there was wrath, and there was blood,

223
00:10:32,774 --> 00:10:34,017
and there was punishment,

224
00:10:34,017 --> 00:10:35,214
and there was death.

225
00:10:35,214 --> 00:10:36,746
And you see it in verse 13.

226
00:10:36,746 --> 00:10:39,156
"In Christ Jesus, you who were once far off

227
00:10:39,156 --> 00:10:40,672
have been brought near..."

228
00:10:40,672 --> 00:10:41,912
How? What did it take?

229
00:10:41,912 --> 00:10:43,894
It took blood.

230
00:10:43,894 --> 00:10:44,947
It took death.

231
00:10:44,947 --> 00:10:46,032
It took punishment.

232
00:10:46,032 --> 00:10:47,507
It took God's wrath.

233
00:10:47,507 --> 00:10:49,654
He brought the hammer down.

234
00:10:49,654 --> 00:10:52,826
Stricken, smitten, afflicted of God.

235
00:10:52,826 --> 00:10:55,307
This is an unleashing of the power of God too.

236
00:10:55,307 --> 00:11:00,700
And it answers to this second problem.

237
00:11:00,700 --> 00:11:06,387
Now, brethren, two things you don't want to do with this.

238
00:11:06,387 --> 00:11:10,160
We don't want to separate this from reality.

239
00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:11,237
Someone will say,

240
00:11:11,237 --> 00:11:13,377
"Oh, would you just get real?

241
00:11:13,377 --> 00:11:15,276
What is all this?

242
00:11:15,276 --> 00:11:20,238
Commandments, ordinances, brought near...

243
00:11:20,238 --> 00:11:21,720
what is this?

244
00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:23,410
Making peace.

245
00:11:23,410 --> 00:11:24,626
Jew and Gentile.

246
00:11:24,626 --> 00:11:25,521
Get real!

247
00:11:25,521 --> 00:11:26,657
We live here.

248
00:11:26,657 --> 00:11:28,613
What does this have to do with us?"

249
00:11:28,613 --> 00:11:31,179
That's one thing you can't do with this.

250
00:11:31,179 --> 00:11:32,245
Or someone else says,

251
00:11:32,245 --> 00:11:35,567
"Look, I need preaching that's more practical than this.

252
00:11:35,567 --> 00:11:38,849
This isn't practical.

253
00:11:38,849 --> 00:11:41,323
Give me a list of five 'how-to's,'

254
00:11:41,323 --> 00:11:44,002
that's what I want."

255
00:11:44,002 --> 00:11:48,592
Brethren, from the way Paul writes right here,

256
00:11:48,592 --> 00:11:51,784
I can tell you what he would say.

257
00:11:51,784 --> 00:11:56,320
You can tell from chapter 1:17-19,

258
00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,372
what he would say is this,

259
00:11:58,372 --> 00:12:00,575
he would say that a very good way of testing

260
00:12:00,575 --> 00:12:04,670
whether the Spirit of God is at work in your life;

261
00:12:04,670 --> 00:12:11,402
a very good way to test whether God is actually

262
00:12:11,402 --> 00:12:14,849
is giving you His Spirit of wisdom

263
00:12:14,849 --> 00:12:17,086
and of revelation in the knowledge of Him,

264
00:12:17,086 --> 00:12:19,161
having the eyes of your heart enlightened,

265
00:12:19,161 --> 00:12:20,273
is to ask this:

266
00:12:20,273 --> 00:12:22,009
Are your hearts being enlightened?

267
00:12:22,009 --> 00:12:23,499
Do you actually have the Spirit

268
00:12:23,499 --> 00:12:25,773
to where your eyes are being enlightened

269
00:12:25,773 --> 00:12:29,953
to be able to recognize the hope of your calling?

270
00:12:29,953 --> 00:12:31,687
And to be able to recognize

271
00:12:31,687 --> 00:12:33,587
the riches of His inheritance?

272
00:12:33,587 --> 00:12:36,175
And being able to recognize in all of this

273
00:12:36,175 --> 00:12:38,906
the power of God and how it benefits you?

274
00:12:38,906 --> 00:12:41,661
Brethren, and how do you recognize when that's happening?

275
00:12:41,661 --> 00:12:43,442
It's because you actually are following

276
00:12:43,442 --> 00:12:45,197
what the Apostle Paul is saying here.

277
00:12:45,197 --> 00:12:47,572
And the Spirit of God is opening your eyes to it.

278
00:12:47,572 --> 00:12:49,550
And you find it thrilling!

279
00:12:49,550 --> 00:12:50,852
You find it joyful.

280
00:12:50,852 --> 00:12:54,007
You find it something that you actually feast on.

281
00:12:54,007 --> 00:12:55,646
You find it bread for your souls.

282
00:12:55,646 --> 00:12:57,808
Brethren, let me tell you this,

283
00:12:57,808 --> 00:13:00,294
nothing could be more practical than this.

284
00:13:00,294 --> 00:13:03,131
When you actually find the Spirit of God

285
00:13:03,131 --> 00:13:05,474
communicates the realities of these truths

286
00:13:05,474 --> 00:13:07,559
to you and you are given

287
00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:11,549
the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation.

288
00:13:11,549 --> 00:13:14,149
Things are being revealed to you.

289
00:13:14,149 --> 00:13:15,394
And it's glorious!

290
00:13:15,394 --> 00:13:16,605
And it fills you with joy

291
00:13:16,605 --> 00:13:17,875
and it thrills your soul,

292
00:13:17,875 --> 00:13:19,767
because the joy of the Lord is your strength.

293
00:13:19,767 --> 00:13:21,683
And brethren, when you go out into this world

294
00:13:21,683 --> 00:13:24,015
full of joy because of the things that God has done

295
00:13:24,015 --> 00:13:26,471
for you through the death of His Son

296
00:13:26,471 --> 00:13:28,228
and through these Gospel realities,

297
00:13:28,228 --> 00:13:29,650
and you're gripped by these,

298
00:13:29,650 --> 00:13:30,950
and you're filled with joy,

299
00:13:30,950 --> 00:13:32,518
and that joy is your strength -

300
00:13:32,518 --> 00:13:35,181
brethren, what could be more practical than that?

301
00:13:35,181 --> 00:13:36,700
See, it applies to everything.

302
00:13:36,700 --> 00:13:38,776
You don't need the list of five 'how-to's'

303
00:13:38,776 --> 00:13:41,297
because when you're gripped by these realities,

304
00:13:41,297 --> 00:13:43,504
brethren, it is life changing.

305
00:13:43,504 --> 00:13:45,349
What could be more relevant than that?

306
00:13:45,349 --> 00:13:47,651
And if you want to speak about relevance,

307
00:13:47,651 --> 00:13:49,921
all you have to do is look at the text.

308
00:13:49,921 --> 00:13:51,666
Look where we're going to be today.

309
00:13:51,666 --> 00:13:53,813
Verses 14-15.

310
00:13:53,813 --> 00:13:58,138
We'll grab some words out that are extremely relevant.

311
00:13:58,138 --> 00:14:01,760
"He Himself is our peace."

312
00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:03,965
Just think about that word "peace."

313
00:14:03,965 --> 00:14:06,628
That's really what I want to deal with primarily today.

314
00:14:06,628 --> 00:14:09,391
Christ is our peace.

315
00:14:09,391 --> 00:14:13,810
"Who has made us both one.

316
00:14:13,810 --> 00:14:15,743
And has broken down in His flesh

317
00:14:15,743 --> 00:14:18,878
the dividing wall of hostility,

318
00:14:18,878 --> 00:14:20,928
by abolishing the law of commandments

319
00:14:20,928 --> 00:14:23,539
expressed in ordinances,

320
00:14:23,539 --> 00:14:26,084
that He might create in Himself

321
00:14:26,084 --> 00:14:29,845
one new man in place of the two..."

322
00:14:29,845 --> 00:14:32,052
And here's the word again:

323
00:14:32,052 --> 00:14:37,125
"...so making peace."

324
00:14:37,125 --> 00:14:39,004
Now what's interesting is in v. 13,

325
00:14:39,004 --> 00:14:40,497
what he says is,

326
00:14:40,497 --> 00:14:42,662
we were far off;

327
00:14:42,662 --> 00:14:46,894
we've been brought near by the blood of Christ.

328
00:14:46,894 --> 00:14:48,954
But he doesn't stop there.

329
00:14:48,954 --> 00:14:53,776
He wants to take us further in.

330
00:14:53,776 --> 00:14:55,353
He wants to delve deeper here.

331
00:14:55,353 --> 00:14:56,913
Deeper still.

332
00:14:56,913 --> 00:14:59,135
He wants to touch on this peace.

333
00:14:59,135 --> 00:15:01,421
Not just that blood was shed,

334
00:15:01,421 --> 00:15:04,774
but he wants to talk about peace.

335
00:15:04,774 --> 00:15:06,651
And you see, it's precisely here

336
00:15:06,651 --> 00:15:10,392
that there is such relevance.

337
00:15:10,392 --> 00:15:13,733
Maybe the word "peace" makes you want to yawn this morning.

338
00:15:13,733 --> 00:15:15,128
I don't know.

339
00:15:15,128 --> 00:15:17,477
But look around.

340
00:15:17,477 --> 00:15:19,575
Yes, you can look even in the church,

341
00:15:19,575 --> 00:15:22,836
but look out further than that.

342
00:15:22,836 --> 00:15:26,551
Look at the world around us.

343
00:15:26,551 --> 00:15:29,621
The whole world.

344
00:15:29,621 --> 00:15:34,976
Brethren, when you think about the world out there,

345
00:15:34,976 --> 00:15:36,866
when you look at the news,

346
00:15:36,866 --> 00:15:39,066
when you watch the headlines,

347
00:15:39,066 --> 00:15:42,636
this world is in strife.

348
00:15:42,636 --> 00:15:44,957
It's everywhere.

349
00:15:44,957 --> 00:15:47,731
People are fighting everywhere.

350
00:15:47,731 --> 00:15:53,016
People harm each other all the time.

351
00:15:53,016 --> 00:15:55,446
All around us.

352
00:15:55,446 --> 00:15:57,256
And you see it in these verses.

353
00:15:57,256 --> 00:16:00,821
Look at verse 14, 15, and 16.

354
00:16:00,821 --> 00:16:05,343
All of your Bibles contain the word

355
00:16:05,343 --> 00:16:09,597
"enmity" or "hostility"

356
00:16:09,597 --> 00:16:11,370
in those three verses.

357
00:16:11,370 --> 00:16:12,463
And you know what?

358
00:16:12,463 --> 00:16:16,656
Your Bible contains one of those two words twice.

359
00:16:16,656 --> 00:16:19,080
Enmity or hostility.

360
00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,555
Let your eyes just look through there.

361
00:16:21,555 --> 00:16:22,702
Those three verses.

362
00:16:22,702 --> 00:16:25,029
14, 15, 16: look for those two words.

363
00:16:25,029 --> 00:16:27,185
Enmity or hostility.

364
00:16:27,185 --> 00:16:28,542
All your Bibles have them

365
00:16:28,542 --> 00:16:31,078
and it's there twice.

366
00:16:31,078 --> 00:16:33,122
And you know what's interesting?

367
00:16:33,122 --> 00:16:39,348
The first hostility is man's hostility against man.

368
00:16:39,348 --> 00:16:42,626
And the second hostility

369
00:16:42,626 --> 00:16:46,428
is the fact that we need to be reconciled to God,

370
00:16:46,428 --> 00:16:48,359
thereby killing the hostility.

371
00:16:48,359 --> 00:16:51,099
There is enmity - man against man,

372
00:16:51,099 --> 00:16:53,601
and there's enmity - man against God,

373
00:16:53,601 --> 00:16:54,969
and God against man.(P)

374
00:16:54,969 --> 00:16:57,877
Brethren, we're going to deal with man and man today

375
00:16:57,877 --> 00:17:00,334
because we're dealing with verses 14 and 15.

376
00:17:00,334 --> 00:17:03,344
That's dealing with man.

377
00:17:03,344 --> 00:17:08,113
God will move us in His Word

378
00:17:08,113 --> 00:17:13,627
to being reconciled to Him next.

379
00:17:13,627 --> 00:17:16,297
And we'll deal with that next -

380
00:17:16,297 --> 00:17:19,461
next week, Lord willing.

381
00:17:19,461 --> 00:17:23,394
But brethren, think with me.

382
00:17:23,394 --> 00:17:26,289
Man.

383
00:17:26,289 --> 00:17:27,998
Just look around us.

384
00:17:27,998 --> 00:17:31,734
On Thursday, I just simply thought,

385
00:17:31,734 --> 00:17:34,127
OK, let's just get a snapshot.

386
00:17:34,127 --> 00:17:36,552
I went to the Drudge Report.

387
00:17:36,552 --> 00:17:41,550
And I just went up and down the lines.

388
00:17:41,550 --> 00:17:44,740
"The Dems Fighting Trump"

389
00:17:44,740 --> 00:17:46,446
What's new?

390
00:17:46,446 --> 00:17:48,306
They hate him.

391
00:17:48,306 --> 00:17:50,727
In the political arena in this country,

392
00:17:50,727 --> 00:17:52,242
there is hatred.

393
00:17:52,242 --> 00:17:54,864
There is division.

394
00:17:54,864 --> 00:17:58,582
"White Supremacists are Holding Rallies"

395
00:17:58,582 --> 00:18:03,531
Have you seen that kind of stuff today?

396
00:18:03,531 --> 00:18:06,739
I showed my wife a picture

397
00:18:06,739 --> 00:18:09,778
of people flying through the air,

398
00:18:09,778 --> 00:18:13,320
because at one of these rallies,

399
00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,905
the anti-supremacists came to protest,

400
00:18:16,905 --> 00:18:21,340
and then somebody mowed them all down with cars.

401
00:18:21,340 --> 00:18:23,453
Anybody see that picture?

402
00:18:23,453 --> 00:18:26,038
People flying through the air.

403
00:18:26,038 --> 00:18:27,917
That wasn't an accident.

404
00:18:27,917 --> 00:18:28,864
That's the hatred.

405
00:18:28,864 --> 00:18:32,169
That's the enmity.(P)

406
00:18:32,169 --> 00:18:35,705
How about this?

407
00:18:35,705 --> 00:18:38,137
Now I don't know who polled this.

408
00:18:38,137 --> 00:18:41,119
Nobody called me about this.

409
00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:42,740
The Drudge Report says,

410
00:18:42,740 --> 00:18:45,813
A third of the people in our country

411
00:18:45,813 --> 00:18:51,899
would cheat on their partners with a robot.

412
00:18:51,899 --> 00:18:54,669
Brethren, that's what we've come to.

413
00:18:54,669 --> 00:18:58,823
And yet, really, there's nothing new under the sun.

414
00:18:58,823 --> 00:19:02,394
"Clashes in Rome as Police Evict Refugees"

415
00:19:02,394 --> 00:19:06,749
"Tesla is pushing to create a self-driving car,

416
00:19:06,749 --> 00:19:11,817
and it sparks dissent among its engineers."

417
00:19:11,817 --> 00:19:14,055
This is just a snapshot of Drudge Report.

418
00:19:14,055 --> 00:19:15,692
One day this last week.

419
00:19:15,692 --> 00:19:20,121
"President Calls Journalists 'Sick People'"

420
00:19:20,121 --> 00:19:23,267
"Russian nuclear bombers are flying

421
00:19:23,267 --> 00:19:27,517
close to South Korea and Japan."

422
00:19:27,517 --> 00:19:30,293
Of course, that has to do with North Korea,

423
00:19:30,293 --> 00:19:33,132
who seems to have everybody.

424
00:19:33,132 --> 00:19:35,608
They're threatening us.

425
00:19:35,608 --> 00:19:39,012
They showed a picture behind Kim Jong Un

426
00:19:39,012 --> 00:19:41,498
that showed Austin being blown up.

427
00:19:41,498 --> 00:19:46,172
Anybody see that picture?

428
00:19:46,172 --> 00:19:52,015
"Suspect Shot by Cops in Hostage Situation in Charleston"

429
00:19:52,015 --> 00:19:57,107
"Dating Apps are Cracking Down on Hate"

430
00:19:57,107 --> 00:19:58,534
You know what people do?

431
00:19:58,534 --> 00:20:00,232
They sign up for these dating apps

432
00:20:00,232 --> 00:20:03,065
and they put in there what they hate.

433
00:20:03,065 --> 00:20:07,110
And so people are getting together on that basis.

434
00:20:07,110 --> 00:20:09,228
It's happening so much that

435
00:20:09,228 --> 00:20:13,734
they're having to crack down on it.

436
00:20:13,734 --> 00:20:17,430
"Americans Injured in Cuba by Covert Sonic Device"

437
00:20:17,430 --> 00:20:20,781
There's 16 Americans in Cuba.

438
00:20:20,781 --> 00:20:22,465
I don't know what they're doing,

439
00:20:22,465 --> 00:20:24,051
and the Cubans are hitting them

440
00:20:24,051 --> 00:20:28,666
with this sonic device that's destroying their ears.

441
00:20:28,666 --> 00:20:31,294
You ready to go to Cuba, brother?

442
00:20:31,294 --> 00:20:32,630
They might get us.

443
00:20:32,630 --> 00:20:36,228
See, there's this hatred.

444
00:20:36,228 --> 00:20:38,770
What is this?

445
00:20:38,770 --> 00:20:41,673
Brethren, the answer is simple.

446
00:20:41,673 --> 00:20:44,404
It's sin.(P)

447
00:20:44,404 --> 00:20:46,940
Brethren, do you know what Scripture says?

448
00:20:46,940 --> 00:20:48,635
Romans 3:17

449
00:20:48,635 --> 00:20:52,263
One of the classic descriptions of man.

450
00:20:52,263 --> 00:20:59,583
It says, "the way of peace they have not known."

451
00:20:59,583 --> 00:21:03,644
Brethren, there are several places in our Bibles

452
00:21:03,644 --> 00:21:09,829
where you have these extensive descriptions of man.

453
00:21:09,829 --> 00:21:11,858
Let's look at three of them.

454
00:21:11,858 --> 00:21:13,379
Turn in your Bibles to these.

455
00:21:13,379 --> 00:21:14,506
I want you to see them.

456
00:21:14,506 --> 00:21:16,113
I know you've read these before.

457
00:21:16,113 --> 00:21:18,378
The first one I want you to look at -

458
00:21:18,378 --> 00:21:20,536
we'll take these in order -

459
00:21:20,536 --> 00:21:25,438
Romans 1:29-31

460
00:21:25,438 --> 00:21:30,595
Description of man.

461
00:21:30,595 --> 00:21:32,812
And listen, we can be in denial and say,

462
00:21:32,812 --> 00:21:34,677
oh, this isn't me.

463
00:21:34,677 --> 00:21:36,308
This was never me.

464
00:21:36,308 --> 00:21:38,438
But you see, all that is is being ignorant.

465
00:21:38,438 --> 00:21:40,270
And all that is is being deceived.

466
00:21:40,270 --> 00:21:43,864
And all that is is denying the reality.

467
00:21:43,864 --> 00:21:45,717
Because all these news headlines,

468
00:21:45,717 --> 00:21:46,890
they're the big picture.

469
00:21:46,890 --> 00:21:48,852
They're the things that are in the news.

470
00:21:48,852 --> 00:21:50,574
They're the things that are famous.

471
00:21:50,574 --> 00:21:52,604
They're the things that are getting the notoriety

472
00:21:52,604 --> 00:21:54,080
and the attention, but the reality is

473
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,003
that the things that are behind these,

474
00:21:56,003 --> 00:21:58,299
are going on inside the hearts

475
00:21:58,299 --> 00:22:00,091
of every single man, woman, and child

476
00:22:00,091 --> 00:22:01,390
on the face of this earth.

477
00:22:01,390 --> 00:22:03,390
And if there's any exception, brethren,

478
00:22:03,390 --> 00:22:05,830
there's only one people that have any exception,

479
00:22:05,830 --> 00:22:08,888
and it's those who Christ is their peace.

480
00:22:08,888 --> 00:22:10,813
That's it.

481
00:22:10,813 --> 00:22:12,859
And even among us,

482
00:22:12,859 --> 00:22:18,246
Paul and Barnabas can't get along at one point.(P)

483
00:22:18,246 --> 00:22:20,152
But brethren, look at these verses.

484
00:22:20,152 --> 00:22:22,513
Romans 1:29

485
00:22:22,513 --> 00:22:26,783
"They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness."

486
00:22:26,783 --> 00:22:29,432
OK, well, that doesn't so much look like hostility

487
00:22:29,432 --> 00:22:30,849
towards one another.

488
00:22:30,849 --> 00:22:33,042
And what I want you to ask yourself is this,

489
00:22:33,042 --> 00:22:35,108
how many of these verses have to do

490
00:22:35,108 --> 00:22:37,985
with hostility against one another

491
00:22:37,985 --> 00:22:39,661
and hostility against God.

492
00:22:39,661 --> 00:22:41,935
Because that's really what we're dealing with

493
00:22:41,935 --> 00:22:43,551
there in Ephesians 2.

494
00:22:43,551 --> 00:22:46,226
Look with me.

495
00:22:46,226 --> 00:22:47,936
"All manner of unrighteousness:

496
00:22:47,936 --> 00:22:50,775
evil, covetousness..."

497
00:22:50,775 --> 00:22:52,603
Now here we go:

498
00:22:52,603 --> 00:22:54,714
"...malice."

499
00:22:54,714 --> 00:22:56,606
Do you know what malice is?

500
00:22:56,606 --> 00:22:58,487
It's just meanness. It's ill will.

501
00:22:58,487 --> 00:23:01,394
It's a desire to injure others.

502
00:23:01,394 --> 00:23:03,100
Malice.

503
00:23:03,100 --> 00:23:09,401
They're full of "envy..."

504
00:23:09,401 --> 00:23:10,999
Wanting what other people have

505
00:23:10,999 --> 00:23:13,123
and more than that, not wanting other people

506
00:23:13,123 --> 00:23:14,387
to have what they have,

507
00:23:14,387 --> 00:23:15,951
and you wanting what they have,

508
00:23:15,951 --> 00:23:18,167
and murder - want to end their life,

509
00:23:18,167 --> 00:23:19,827
we want to just eliminate them.

510
00:23:19,827 --> 00:23:26,058
Strife: it's an idea that we're fighting all the time.

511
00:23:26,058 --> 00:23:30,297
We're just a quarrelsome people.

512
00:23:30,297 --> 00:23:33,094
A quarrelsome race.

513
00:23:33,094 --> 00:23:34,509
Wars and rumors of wars.

514
00:23:34,509 --> 00:23:35,266
Always.

515
00:23:35,266 --> 00:23:37,653
Brethren, the thing that describes history.

516
00:23:37,653 --> 00:23:40,807
Go to any kind of history class

517
00:23:40,807 --> 00:23:42,644
at any level

518
00:23:42,644 --> 00:23:45,004
and what marks history?

519
00:23:45,004 --> 00:23:47,890
It's all the wars!

520
00:23:47,890 --> 00:23:51,088
Deceit: We lie to each other.

521
00:23:51,088 --> 00:23:53,866
Maliciousness. Very much like the word malice.

522
00:23:53,866 --> 00:23:57,996
Comes from the same root word as well.

523
00:23:57,996 --> 00:24:00,897
They're gossips. Slanderers.

524
00:24:00,897 --> 00:24:03,801
We speak evil of one another.

525
00:24:03,801 --> 00:24:04,534
Here it is.

526
00:24:04,534 --> 00:24:07,132
Haters of God.

527
00:24:07,132 --> 00:24:09,047
Insolent. Haughty.

528
00:24:09,047 --> 00:24:12,052
Haughty. We're just lifted up on ourselves.

529
00:24:12,052 --> 00:24:15,166
We're boastful.

530
00:24:15,166 --> 00:24:17,874
Inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

531
00:24:17,874 --> 00:24:21,685
foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

532
00:24:21,685 --> 00:24:23,906
Ruthless.

533
00:24:23,906 --> 00:24:25,440
We don't care about people.

534
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,205
We don't care about others.

535
00:24:28,205 --> 00:24:29,838
OK, let's go further.

536
00:24:29,838 --> 00:24:34,274
2 Timothy 3:2-4

537
00:24:34,274 --> 00:24:43,071
We get another one of these descriptions.

538
00:24:43,071 --> 00:24:45,969
Brethren, this is reality.

539
00:24:45,969 --> 00:24:47,370
This is reality.

540
00:24:47,370 --> 00:24:48,946
You want to talk about reality?

541
00:24:48,946 --> 00:24:50,402
"Oh come on, give me reality!

542
00:24:50,402 --> 00:24:51,829
Give me something practical!"

543
00:24:51,829 --> 00:24:53,987
We walk around in this world,

544
00:24:53,987 --> 00:24:56,408
and even many in the church,

545
00:24:56,408 --> 00:24:58,667
and unsanctified people in the church...

546
00:24:58,667 --> 00:25:00,744
see, this is the reality in which we live.

547
00:25:00,744 --> 00:25:03,807
Maybe it's so much like a fish that lives in the ocean

548
00:25:03,807 --> 00:25:06,125
we don't even realize we're wet.

549
00:25:06,125 --> 00:25:11,001
Wet with this kind of hostility and enmity.

550
00:25:11,001 --> 00:25:13,104
It's just like the air we breathe.(P)

551
00:25:13,104 --> 00:25:16,339
Look at this.

552
00:25:16,339 --> 00:25:19,469
"People will be lovers of self."

553
00:25:19,469 --> 00:25:20,981
Do you know what that means?

554
00:25:20,981 --> 00:25:22,527
When you love yourself?

555
00:25:22,527 --> 00:25:25,224
Brethren, this is the heart of the problem.

556
00:25:25,224 --> 00:25:26,852
Pride.

557
00:25:26,852 --> 00:25:28,251
We loves ourselves.

558
00:25:28,251 --> 00:25:29,736
Self-consumed.

559
00:25:29,736 --> 00:25:34,982
Everything centers around us.

560
00:25:34,982 --> 00:25:36,793
Lovers of money.

561
00:25:36,793 --> 00:25:37,995
Proud. Here it is again.

562
00:25:37,995 --> 00:25:39,243
Proud.

563
00:25:39,243 --> 00:25:42,078
Arrogant.

564
00:25:42,078 --> 00:25:43,705
Abusive.

565
00:25:43,705 --> 00:25:45,655
We abuse one another.

566
00:25:45,655 --> 00:25:49,594
We use one another the way we would never use ourselves.

567
00:25:49,594 --> 00:25:50,756
Disobedient to parents,

568
00:25:50,756 --> 00:25:51,942
ungrateful.

569
00:25:51,942 --> 00:25:53,094
Unholy.

570
00:25:53,094 --> 00:25:54,943
Here it is: Heartless.

571
00:25:54,943 --> 00:25:56,224
We get that word again.

572
00:25:56,224 --> 00:25:57,361
It was over in Romans.

573
00:25:57,361 --> 00:25:58,449
Heartless.

574
00:25:58,449 --> 00:26:00,628
We don't have a heart.

575
00:26:00,628 --> 00:26:03,931
Unappeasable.

576
00:26:03,931 --> 00:26:05,666
That means somebody angers us

577
00:26:05,666 --> 00:26:10,158
and nothing will satisfy us except vengeance.

578
00:26:10,158 --> 00:26:13,043
We just can't be appeased.

579
00:26:13,043 --> 00:26:15,280
Slanderous, without self-control,

580
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:19,024
brutal.

581
00:26:19,024 --> 00:26:20,102
Not loving good.

582
00:26:20,102 --> 00:26:21,420
Treacherous.

583
00:26:21,420 --> 00:26:22,141
Reckless.

584
00:26:22,141 --> 00:26:24,801
Swollen with conceit.

585
00:26:24,801 --> 00:26:26,053
And here it is again:

586
00:26:26,053 --> 00:26:27,556
Before it was haters of God,

587
00:26:27,556 --> 00:26:29,169
now it's lovers of pleasure

588
00:26:29,169 --> 00:26:31,720
rather than lovers of God.

589
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,139
And just turn over one book.

590
00:26:33,139 --> 00:26:36,769
Titus 3:3

591
00:26:36,769 --> 00:26:40,781
You get one more of these lists.

592
00:26:40,781 --> 00:26:44,506
And this one ends on just the perfect note.

593
00:26:44,506 --> 00:26:49,676
As far as our enmity, one against another.

594
00:26:49,676 --> 00:26:52,097
Titus 3:3

595
00:26:52,097 --> 00:26:57,123
"Passing our days in malice."

596
00:26:57,123 --> 00:26:59,578
That word again.

597
00:26:59,578 --> 00:27:02,371
"...and envy; hated by others

598
00:27:02,371 --> 00:27:07,292
and hating one another."

599
00:27:07,292 --> 00:27:09,420
Sin is the cause.

600
00:27:09,420 --> 00:27:11,238
It puts man at enmity against God,

601
00:27:11,238 --> 00:27:12,875
enmity against his fellow man...

602
00:27:12,875 --> 00:27:14,149
you hear it there:

603
00:27:14,149 --> 00:27:16,509
Arrogance.

604
00:27:16,509 --> 00:27:18,791
Pride.

605
00:27:18,791 --> 00:27:22,294
Self-love.

606
00:27:22,294 --> 00:27:25,709
Brethren, this is the great problem.

607
00:27:25,709 --> 00:27:28,164
Sin can always be boiled down

608
00:27:28,164 --> 00:27:29,912
to these very things

609
00:27:29,912 --> 00:27:33,410
and you can trace it all the way back to the Garden.

610
00:27:33,410 --> 00:27:35,534
See, that was the appeal of the devil

611
00:27:35,534 --> 00:27:40,119
to that first woman and that first man.

612
00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:42,611
"Yea, has God said?

613
00:27:42,611 --> 00:27:46,064
You see, the real issue here is

614
00:27:46,064 --> 00:27:48,377
God knows that if you ate of that fruit,

615
00:27:48,377 --> 00:27:55,064
you'd become like God.

616
00:27:55,064 --> 00:27:59,927
What are you waiting for?

617
00:27:59,927 --> 00:28:00,916
Who is God?

618
00:28:00,916 --> 00:28:02,686
He's keeping something from you.

619
00:28:02,686 --> 00:28:05,847
You need to exalt yourself.

620
00:28:05,847 --> 00:28:07,469
Eat that fruit.

621
00:28:07,469 --> 00:28:10,402
You'll be like God.

622
00:28:10,402 --> 00:28:13,623
God knows... He's just holding back on you.

623
00:28:13,623 --> 00:28:15,451
God is holding back.

624
00:28:15,451 --> 00:28:17,747
Don't you realize that if you eat that fruit

625
00:28:17,747 --> 00:28:18,735
you'll be like God?

626
00:28:18,735 --> 00:28:19,932
That's what you deserve!

627
00:28:19,932 --> 00:28:21,687
Stand up for your rights.

628
00:28:21,687 --> 00:28:22,729
Do it!

629
00:28:22,729 --> 00:28:24,968
Do it! It doesn't matter what God said!

630
00:28:24,968 --> 00:28:26,595
Do what's going to make you happy!

631
00:28:26,595 --> 00:28:28,282
Do what's going to make you God!

632
00:28:28,282 --> 00:28:30,156
Do what's going to make you important!

633
00:28:30,156 --> 00:28:32,853
Do it for you!

634
00:28:32,853 --> 00:28:35,972
You! You are going to become like God

635
00:28:35,972 --> 00:28:37,178
knowing good from evil.

636
00:28:37,178 --> 00:28:39,506
You are!

637
00:28:39,506 --> 00:28:42,665
Do it for you!

638
00:28:42,665 --> 00:28:45,048
Come on, man!"

639
00:28:45,048 --> 00:28:47,046
And man did it.

640
00:28:47,046 --> 00:28:48,608
And this is all our pride.

641
00:28:48,608 --> 00:28:50,375
And you see, this is the problem,

642
00:28:50,375 --> 00:28:56,109
we, by nature, we all want to be God.

643
00:28:56,109 --> 00:28:57,849
Just like they wanted to be God.

644
00:28:57,849 --> 00:28:59,184
They wanted to be like God.

645
00:28:59,184 --> 00:29:01,630
So we all want to be gods.

646
00:29:01,630 --> 00:29:04,694
And each one is asserting ourselves

647
00:29:04,694 --> 00:29:07,548
and each one of us wants to be at the center.

648
00:29:07,548 --> 00:29:09,364
When these little children cry,

649
00:29:09,364 --> 00:29:10,811
that's what that's all about.

650
00:29:10,811 --> 00:29:12,832
Especially, the more you hear that anger,

651
00:29:12,832 --> 00:29:13,999
that self-will in that.

652
00:29:13,999 --> 00:29:15,644
That's, "I'm not getting my way!"

653
00:29:15,644 --> 00:29:17,661
"My parents are wanting me to sit still??"

654
00:29:17,661 --> 00:29:19,606
"Who are they that that should happen?"

655
00:29:19,606 --> 00:29:22,683
"I think that I'd be happier if I could be doing something else.

656
00:29:22,683 --> 00:29:24,368
If I could be doing anything...

657
00:29:24,368 --> 00:29:25,408
I want to be playing.

658
00:29:25,408 --> 00:29:26,797
I don't want to be sitting in this chair!"

659
00:29:26,797 --> 00:29:27,980
That's where Adam was.

660
00:29:27,980 --> 00:29:30,424
I don't want to be in this Garden

661
00:29:30,424 --> 00:29:32,040
with all this fruit that I can eat

662
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:33,597
when there's this one over here

663
00:29:33,597 --> 00:29:34,845
that I can't eat!

664
00:29:34,845 --> 00:29:36,251
Who's God to tell me that?

665
00:29:36,251 --> 00:29:37,650
Yeah, the devil's right.

666
00:29:37,650 --> 00:29:39,543
I'm going to go over here and eat this.

667
00:29:39,543 --> 00:29:40,501
And I want my way!

668
00:29:40,501 --> 00:29:42,299
And man's been like that ever since.

669
00:29:42,299 --> 00:29:43,388
I want my way.

670
00:29:43,388 --> 00:29:45,104
And you know what the problem is?

671
00:29:45,104 --> 00:29:46,603
You take a bunch of these...

672
00:29:46,603 --> 00:29:48,990
You know, you've got the sun,

673
00:29:48,990 --> 00:29:51,830
and everything else rotates around it.

674
00:29:51,830 --> 00:29:53,578
And when you try to throw two suns

675
00:29:53,578 --> 00:29:55,356
into the same solar system

676
00:29:55,356 --> 00:29:56,643
and watch the chaos.

677
00:29:56,643 --> 00:29:58,692
You know, the planets all spinning around.

678
00:29:58,692 --> 00:29:59,408
That's us.

679
00:29:59,408 --> 00:30:01,584
We all want to be the sun. We want to be at the center.

680
00:30:01,584 --> 00:30:03,409
Everything needs to spin around us.

681
00:30:03,409 --> 00:30:05,449
Everything's great...

682
00:30:05,449 --> 00:30:07,445
as long as everything spins around me

683
00:30:07,445 --> 00:30:08,836
and everything caters to me,

684
00:30:08,836 --> 00:30:10,383
and everything answers to me,

685
00:30:10,383 --> 00:30:12,318
and everything is about my self-worth

686
00:30:12,318 --> 00:30:13,661
and my self-importance.

687
00:30:13,661 --> 00:30:15,363
And you know, don't fool yourself.

688
00:30:15,363 --> 00:30:16,339
I know in this world,

689
00:30:16,339 --> 00:30:17,553
we look at some people and we say,

690
00:30:17,553 --> 00:30:18,425
Oh, he's proud...

691
00:30:18,425 --> 00:30:19,616
you know, you see the athlete,

692
00:30:19,616 --> 00:30:21,979
and he does something outrageously proud,

693
00:30:21,979 --> 00:30:23,524
and you say, that guy's proud.

694
00:30:23,524 --> 00:30:25,892
Or you see a child - "give me that toy!"

695
00:30:25,892 --> 00:30:27,733
And you say, oh, that's selfish.

696
00:30:27,733 --> 00:30:28,838
Don't fool yourselves.

697
00:30:28,838 --> 00:30:31,487
This world is not full of really giving people

698
00:30:31,487 --> 00:30:33,330
and then a few selfish people.

699
00:30:33,330 --> 00:30:36,805
Or a few proud people like those athletes,

700
00:30:36,805 --> 00:30:39,261
but most of the people are relatively humble.

701
00:30:39,261 --> 00:30:42,516
Don't fool yourself.

702
00:30:42,516 --> 00:30:46,750
We are full of a world where we are

703
00:30:46,750 --> 00:30:48,773
self-important in our own mind.

704
00:30:48,773 --> 00:30:49,869
And I'll tell you this,

705
00:30:49,869 --> 00:30:52,398
you just let somebody cross over into my lane

706
00:30:52,398 --> 00:30:56,350
and come too close and there's road rage.(P)

707
00:30:56,350 --> 00:30:57,842
Brethren, this is it.

708
00:30:57,842 --> 00:30:59,089
Man puts him at the center

709
00:30:59,089 --> 00:31:01,321
and everything else must revolve around him.

710
00:31:01,321 --> 00:31:03,363
He's haughty, boastful, proud, arrogant.

711
00:31:03,363 --> 00:31:06,701
Man is a lover of himself.

712
00:31:06,701 --> 00:31:08,983
And you take all these little gods

713
00:31:08,983 --> 00:31:10,480
and you get a tank over here

714
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:12,186
and you drop them all in there together,

715
00:31:12,186 --> 00:31:15,127
just like throwing two suns into a solar system together,

716
00:31:15,127 --> 00:31:16,398
and you know what happens?

717
00:31:16,398 --> 00:31:18,012
Everything's out of whack.

718
00:31:18,012 --> 00:31:19,759
Everything's at enmity.

719
00:31:19,759 --> 00:31:21,213
Everything's at hostility.

720
00:31:21,213 --> 00:31:22,802
Everything is clashing.

721
00:31:22,802 --> 00:31:25,789
Things are smashing into each other.

722
00:31:25,789 --> 00:31:29,099
That's exactly our problem.

723
00:31:29,099 --> 00:31:29,976
And you know what?

724
00:31:29,976 --> 00:31:32,086
We've all got this.

725
00:31:32,086 --> 00:31:33,976
A bunch of little gods going around

726
00:31:33,976 --> 00:31:35,772
and we're all fighting each other.

727
00:31:35,772 --> 00:31:38,022
But then, you've got the true God.

728
00:31:38,022 --> 00:31:39,247
And the King of Kings.

729
00:31:39,247 --> 00:31:40,785
And He's above all this.

730
00:31:40,785 --> 00:31:42,539
And you see, we all hate Him.

731
00:31:42,539 --> 00:31:44,194
But just because we all hate Him,

732
00:31:44,194 --> 00:31:46,445
doesn't mean that we're like Pilate and Herod

733
00:31:46,445 --> 00:31:49,664
where we're friends in all of this.

734
00:31:49,664 --> 00:31:52,249
Pilate and Herod might have been friends

735
00:31:52,249 --> 00:31:53,394
for a little while,

736
00:31:53,394 --> 00:31:54,684
but before that, they were at enmity

737
00:31:54,684 --> 00:31:56,234
and probably after that, they went back

738
00:31:56,234 --> 00:31:57,230
to being at enmity.

739
00:31:57,230 --> 00:31:57,969
Why?

740
00:31:57,969 --> 00:31:59,469
Because that's the way people are.

741
00:31:59,469 --> 00:32:01,392
And even if they've got friendship for a little while,

742
00:32:01,392 --> 00:32:03,433
it doesn't mean that none of this is true.(P)

743
00:32:03,433 --> 00:32:05,794
Brethren, the truth is,

744
00:32:05,794 --> 00:32:07,938
that in the lost state,

745
00:32:07,938 --> 00:32:12,296
men are friends with some people,

746
00:32:12,296 --> 00:32:16,789
but only as long as that friendship

747
00:32:16,789 --> 00:32:19,184
builds on their own self-worth,

748
00:32:19,184 --> 00:32:20,692
their own self-esteem,

749
00:32:20,692 --> 00:32:22,263
makes them feel good.

750
00:32:22,263 --> 00:32:24,450
Why do you think the divorce rate's so high?

751
00:32:24,450 --> 00:32:26,635
People get married all the time.

752
00:32:26,635 --> 00:32:28,001
Why?

753
00:32:28,001 --> 00:32:29,415
Because they're attracted.

754
00:32:29,415 --> 00:32:31,530
They want something.

755
00:32:31,530 --> 00:32:34,128
The guy wants the sexual intimacy.

756
00:32:34,128 --> 00:32:36,243
He wants that woman.

757
00:32:36,243 --> 00:32:38,302
He's got a desire.

758
00:32:38,302 --> 00:32:40,404
The woman wants to be taken care of.

759
00:32:40,404 --> 00:32:42,117
She wants the intimacy.

760
00:32:42,117 --> 00:32:44,588
But then they come together and what happens?

761
00:32:44,588 --> 00:32:46,887
As soon as they're not happy with each other,

762
00:32:46,887 --> 00:32:47,979
they go their own way.

763
00:32:47,979 --> 00:32:49,211
That's how the world is.

764
00:32:49,211 --> 00:32:50,700
And some of them stay together.

765
00:32:50,700 --> 00:32:51,515
Why?

766
00:32:51,515 --> 00:32:52,778
For the children's sake.

767
00:32:52,778 --> 00:32:54,192
Some of them stay together.

768
00:32:54,192 --> 00:32:55,616
Why?

769
00:32:55,616 --> 00:32:57,387
Because they're in perfect harmony?

770
00:32:57,387 --> 00:32:58,892
No, that's never the reason.

771
00:32:58,892 --> 00:33:02,020
Unless Christ is our peace.(P)

772
00:33:02,020 --> 00:33:07,067
Brethren, this is the world around us.

773
00:33:07,067 --> 00:33:08,810
This is that child crying out.

774
00:33:08,810 --> 00:33:09,590
Why?

775
00:33:09,590 --> 00:33:12,711
Why do they cry out?

776
00:33:12,711 --> 00:33:14,066
Because: Me.

777
00:33:14,066 --> 00:33:15,142
I want something.

778
00:33:15,142 --> 00:33:16,244
Even in the beginning, when you say,

779
00:33:16,244 --> 00:33:17,704
well, if they're hungry, they need to do that.

780
00:33:17,704 --> 00:33:18,896
That's how they communicate.

781
00:33:18,896 --> 00:33:20,136
I'm not going to say that that's necessarily,

782
00:33:20,136 --> 00:33:22,234
totally bad, but again,

783
00:33:22,234 --> 00:33:25,388
they're not concerned about feeding you.

784
00:33:25,388 --> 00:33:27,172
They're concerned that they get fed.

785
00:33:27,172 --> 00:33:28,716
Because that's how we start out

786
00:33:28,716 --> 00:33:30,618
and that's how we go through life.

787
00:33:30,618 --> 00:33:31,743
And you know what?

788
00:33:31,743 --> 00:33:34,546
As long as you are patting my back,

789
00:33:34,546 --> 00:33:36,413
it's good.

790
00:33:36,413 --> 00:33:37,993
But when that stops happening,

791
00:33:37,993 --> 00:33:39,715
all you have to do,

792
00:33:39,715 --> 00:33:41,272
is have a parent die

793
00:33:41,272 --> 00:33:45,636
and watch siblings argue over an inheritance.

794
00:33:45,636 --> 00:33:51,150
Brethren, husbands, wives, parents, children,

795
00:33:51,150 --> 00:33:54,306
best of friends - those relationships

796
00:33:54,306 --> 00:33:58,246
are dashed on the rocks all the time

797
00:33:58,246 --> 00:33:59,900
in our world.

798
00:33:59,900 --> 00:34:02,024
All the time.

799
00:34:02,024 --> 00:34:04,920
And the only relationships that are maintained at all

800
00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:07,253
as long as we keep patting each other's back

801
00:34:07,253 --> 00:34:09,086
so it feels good to both of us.

802
00:34:09,086 --> 00:34:12,280
Or we just stay out of each other's way altogether.

803
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:14,191
We don't tend to get upset with people

804
00:34:14,191 --> 00:34:15,376
that we don't know

805
00:34:15,376 --> 00:34:18,083
and are far away and we've never met.

806
00:34:18,083 --> 00:34:20,310
Unless, of course, they're of another religion

807
00:34:20,310 --> 00:34:21,803
or another race or something

808
00:34:21,803 --> 00:34:23,558
where we can just categorize them

809
00:34:23,558 --> 00:34:27,384
altogether into a group that I hate.(P)

810
00:34:27,384 --> 00:34:28,908
Brethren, that's us.

811
00:34:28,908 --> 00:34:31,919
You have the battle of the gods.

812
00:34:31,919 --> 00:34:36,522
Our lost state - it's wreckage.

813
00:34:36,522 --> 00:34:42,583
So, to come into the possession

814
00:34:42,583 --> 00:34:46,660
of Christ Himself as my peace.

815
00:34:46,660 --> 00:34:48,469
What could be more relevant?

816
00:34:48,469 --> 00:34:50,497
And you have to remember this, brethren.

817
00:34:50,497 --> 00:34:53,564
We are not dealing today with our peace with God.

818
00:34:53,564 --> 00:34:56,642
We're dealing with our peace with one another.

819
00:34:56,642 --> 00:34:57,814
Notice it.

820
00:34:57,814 --> 00:34:59,698
Ephesians 2:14

821
00:34:59,698 --> 00:35:05,810
"For He Himself is our peace."

822
00:35:05,810 --> 00:35:09,916
He's the Prince of Peace.

823
00:35:09,916 --> 00:35:13,674
But this verse is specifically dealing

824
00:35:13,674 --> 00:35:16,100
with our peace with one another.

825
00:35:16,100 --> 00:35:18,254
We're going to look at our peace with God

826
00:35:18,254 --> 00:35:19,672
next week in verse 16,

827
00:35:19,672 --> 00:35:23,510
but today, it's peace between men.

828
00:35:23,510 --> 00:35:27,657
You will notice the word "both" in v.14.

829
00:35:27,657 --> 00:35:31,705
"For He Himself is our peace,

830
00:35:31,705 --> 00:35:34,773
Who has made us both one."

831
00:35:34,773 --> 00:35:36,344
I just wonder,

832
00:35:36,344 --> 00:35:39,557
we often think about being reconciled to God.

833
00:35:39,557 --> 00:35:40,834
We often think about that.

834
00:35:40,834 --> 00:35:43,363
We often think about peace.

835
00:35:43,363 --> 00:35:45,117
We heard about it in the first hour

836
00:35:45,117 --> 00:35:50,960
from Romans 5:1.

837
00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:52,393
We're justified,

838
00:35:52,393 --> 00:35:56,423
and therefore there is this peace.(P)

839
00:35:56,423 --> 00:36:00,498
But brethren, this verse specifically deals

840
00:36:00,498 --> 00:36:03,124
with peace among men.

841
00:36:03,124 --> 00:36:05,714
It's very interesting that Paul deals with that first.

842
00:36:05,714 --> 00:36:07,659
You might think, wait, the relationship with God

843
00:36:07,659 --> 00:36:08,893
is more important.

844
00:36:08,893 --> 00:36:12,667
Shouldn't God come first?

845
00:36:12,667 --> 00:36:20,127
Paul thought best to go to man first.

846
00:36:20,127 --> 00:36:22,529
You can imagine Paul.

847
00:36:22,529 --> 00:36:27,555
Looking at all those churches.

848
00:36:27,555 --> 00:36:30,573
How is this possible?

849
00:36:30,573 --> 00:36:36,673
That these people, who for 1,500 years,

850
00:36:36,673 --> 00:36:40,264
since the Law was given,

851
00:36:40,264 --> 00:36:42,770
maybe longer.

852
00:36:42,770 --> 00:36:45,122
These people have hated each other.

853
00:36:45,122 --> 00:36:46,941
If ever there was enmity -

854
00:36:46,941 --> 00:36:49,036
Jew against Gentile, Gentile against Jew.

855
00:36:49,036 --> 00:36:50,094
We may not feel it,

856
00:36:50,094 --> 00:36:52,420
but there's a reality there.

857
00:36:52,420 --> 00:36:55,293
How can these people be worshiping together

858
00:36:55,293 --> 00:36:56,671
in the same church?

859
00:36:56,671 --> 00:37:03,453
How can these people be where they are?

860
00:37:03,453 --> 00:37:11,621
Notice the term in v. 14-15: "both"

861
00:37:11,621 --> 00:37:14,412
Who has made us both.

862
00:37:14,412 --> 00:37:17,426
See, Christ is our peace.

863
00:37:17,426 --> 00:37:19,188
And he immediately goes here:

864
00:37:19,188 --> 00:37:24,665
"Who has made us both one,

865
00:37:24,665 --> 00:37:26,433
and has broken down in His flesh

866
00:37:26,433 --> 00:37:28,219
the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing

867
00:37:28,219 --> 00:37:30,063
the law and commandments expressed in ordinances

868
00:37:30,063 --> 00:37:32,032
that He might create in Himself,"

869
00:37:32,032 --> 00:37:33,061
notice this,

870
00:37:33,061 --> 00:37:38,794
"one new man in place of the two."

871
00:37:38,794 --> 00:37:40,091
Notice both those words:

872
00:37:40,091 --> 00:37:42,908
Both and two.

873
00:37:42,908 --> 00:37:45,521
Both.

874
00:37:45,521 --> 00:37:47,937
And two.

875
00:37:47,937 --> 00:37:53,249
See, that's the divide between man.

876
00:37:53,249 --> 00:37:56,476
And so making peace.

877
00:37:56,476 --> 00:38:01,026
Maybe your Bible says "twain" in v. 15.

878
00:38:01,026 --> 00:38:07,953
We are both and we are two.(P)

879
00:38:07,953 --> 00:38:09,092
Who are they?

880
00:38:09,092 --> 00:38:10,889
Well, we've been talking about them.

881
00:38:10,889 --> 00:38:12,735
But notice from the text who they are.

882
00:38:12,735 --> 00:38:14,852
You get it back up in v. 11.

883
00:38:14,852 --> 00:38:19,233
The uncircumcised and the circumcised.

884
00:38:19,233 --> 00:38:20,184
That's who they are.

885
00:38:20,184 --> 00:38:22,891
They are the Jew and the Gentile.

886
00:38:22,891 --> 00:38:23,990
Notice something else.

887
00:38:23,990 --> 00:38:26,899
There at the end of v. 15 it says,

888
00:38:26,899 --> 00:38:31,251
"Christ makes peace."

889
00:38:31,251 --> 00:38:33,060
Do you see that?

890
00:38:33,060 --> 00:38:34,842
"Christ makes peace."

891
00:38:34,842 --> 00:38:37,073
Or, if you've got the New American Standard,

892
00:38:37,073 --> 00:38:40,109
it says "establishing peace."

893
00:38:40,109 --> 00:38:43,341
But at the beginning of v. 14,

894
00:38:43,341 --> 00:38:50,698
Paul says Christ is our peace.

895
00:38:50,698 --> 00:38:53,056
Now, brethren, that is not two different ways

896
00:38:53,056 --> 00:38:55,522
of saying the same thing.(P)

897
00:38:55,522 --> 00:38:58,801
Now, I know they're related.

898
00:38:58,801 --> 00:39:03,493
Look, you've got a situation in a school.

899
00:39:03,493 --> 00:39:05,694
Jonathan was just telling me

900
00:39:05,694 --> 00:39:07,204
how he's working with students

901
00:39:07,204 --> 00:39:08,689
in all these different grades:

902
00:39:08,689 --> 00:39:11,370
pre-K through 5th.

903
00:39:11,370 --> 00:39:13,753
Let's say Jonathan, in his school

904
00:39:13,753 --> 00:39:16,323
has two fifth graders

905
00:39:16,323 --> 00:39:17,752
who are fighting.

906
00:39:17,752 --> 00:39:19,811
There's hostility.

907
00:39:19,811 --> 00:39:24,920
If Jonathan goes and seeks

908
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,936
to bring these two guys together,

909
00:39:27,936 --> 00:39:31,613
and is a peacemaker,

910
00:39:31,613 --> 00:39:36,823
it would be really weird for one of the students to say,

911
00:39:36,823 --> 00:39:41,260
"Jonathan Payne is my peace."

912
00:39:41,260 --> 00:39:51,101
No. Mr. Payne helped us to be at peace.

913
00:39:51,101 --> 00:39:52,446
He was a peacemaker.

914
00:39:52,446 --> 00:39:54,699
He made peace between us.

915
00:39:54,699 --> 00:39:59,844
But to say, Mr. Payne is my peace.

916
00:39:59,844 --> 00:40:02,557
That's different.

917
00:40:02,557 --> 00:40:04,455
You see what this is saying?

918
00:40:04,455 --> 00:40:08,459
Jesus doesn't just come to make this thing happen.(P)

919
00:40:08,459 --> 00:40:09,971
Now, He does that.

920
00:40:09,971 --> 00:40:12,030
Because it says that at the end of v. 15.

921
00:40:12,030 --> 00:40:13,042
He makes peace.

922
00:40:13,042 --> 00:40:14,046
Definitely.

923
00:40:14,046 --> 00:40:17,835
But to say that He Himself is our peace

924
00:40:17,835 --> 00:40:23,652
means I have to have Him to be at peace.

925
00:40:23,652 --> 00:40:25,445
Not just what He did.

926
00:40:25,445 --> 00:40:27,244
I have to have Him.

927
00:40:27,244 --> 00:40:28,791
He is the price of my peace.

928
00:40:28,791 --> 00:40:30,382
I have to be in Him.(P)

929
00:40:30,382 --> 00:40:32,815
Oh, how often Paul says that through this letter.

930
00:40:32,815 --> 00:40:35,584
In Christ, in Christ, in Himself...

931
00:40:35,584 --> 00:40:37,583
He has brought together the two,

932
00:40:37,583 --> 00:40:38,681
in Him.

933
00:40:38,681 --> 00:40:40,896
We've got to have Him. We've got to be in Him.

934
00:40:40,896 --> 00:40:43,700
We've got to abide in Him. We've got to be one with Him.

935
00:40:43,700 --> 00:40:46,084
We've got to be connected to Him.

936
00:40:46,084 --> 00:40:47,422
That's the reality.

937
00:40:47,422 --> 00:40:49,972
So how has Christ made peace.

938
00:40:49,972 --> 00:40:52,016
That's what the apostle's interested in.

939
00:40:52,016 --> 00:40:54,209
He looks at all these churches.

940
00:40:54,209 --> 00:40:55,773
In the Roman letter,

941
00:40:55,773 --> 00:40:59,675
you see specifically how Jew and Gentile

942
00:40:59,675 --> 00:41:01,677
are dealt with back and forth.

943
00:41:01,677 --> 00:41:03,629
Chapter 2: You then who are Gentiles...

944
00:41:03,629 --> 00:41:05,886
You go over to chapter 11.

945
00:41:05,886 --> 00:41:06,880
It's very clear.

946
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:08,380
Paul's talking to the Gentiles

947
00:41:08,380 --> 00:41:10,172
and telling them not to be haughty

948
00:41:10,172 --> 00:41:12,521
or to be arrogant or lifted up,

949
00:41:12,521 --> 00:41:15,631
because they've been grafted in.

950
00:41:15,631 --> 00:41:17,093
But you've got both of these.

951
00:41:17,093 --> 00:41:19,503
Paul looks at these churches.

952
00:41:19,503 --> 00:41:21,950
It's amazing to him.

953
00:41:21,950 --> 00:41:24,516
Jews and Gentiles at peace.

954
00:41:24,516 --> 00:41:26,162
They're worshiping the same God;

955
00:41:26,162 --> 00:41:27,430
trusting the same Savior;

956
00:41:27,430 --> 00:41:29,341
depending on the same atonement.

957
00:41:29,341 --> 00:41:31,459
They're singing the same songs.

958
00:41:31,459 --> 00:41:33,206
Christ whose glory fills the skies.

959
00:41:33,206 --> 00:41:34,593
They're all there together.

960
00:41:34,593 --> 00:41:36,327
Even when the piano's not working.

961
00:41:36,327 --> 00:41:37,835
And they're off tune...

962
00:41:37,835 --> 00:41:39,836
they're doing it together!

963
00:41:39,836 --> 00:41:42,677
Brethren, this is a miracle.

964
00:41:42,677 --> 00:41:45,414
And I know this full well.

965
00:41:45,414 --> 00:41:47,396
There are lots of people in this room

966
00:41:47,396 --> 00:41:49,650
who would not have any sort of relationship

967
00:41:49,650 --> 00:41:52,272
whatsoever if we weren't converted.

968
00:41:52,272 --> 00:41:55,139
We come from such different places of life.

969
00:41:55,139 --> 00:41:58,486
Some of us similar.

970
00:41:58,486 --> 00:42:00,860
But a lot of us not so much.

971
00:42:00,860 --> 00:42:03,114
The truth is, if we were not all united

972
00:42:03,114 --> 00:42:04,294
in the things of Christ,

973
00:42:04,294 --> 00:42:05,723
we would not be here any more

974
00:42:05,723 --> 00:42:07,585
than they would have 2,000 years ago

975
00:42:07,585 --> 00:42:09,153
in that church at Rome.

976
00:42:09,153 --> 00:42:11,278
And Paul looked at that and he recognized,

977
00:42:11,278 --> 00:42:13,916
that is a downright miracle.

978
00:42:13,916 --> 00:42:15,975
You've got these people - Jew and Gentile -

979
00:42:15,975 --> 00:42:17,573
they're hugging each other!

980
00:42:17,573 --> 00:42:21,984
They're giving each other these kisses

981
00:42:21,984 --> 00:42:24,573
of love and affection.

982
00:42:24,573 --> 00:42:26,211
We give each other hugs.

983
00:42:26,211 --> 00:42:28,842
They're trusting the same Savior;

984
00:42:28,842 --> 00:42:30,244
hoping in the same heaven.

985
00:42:30,244 --> 00:42:31,859
Fellow citizens.

986
00:42:31,859 --> 00:42:33,774
Belong to the same redeemed family.

987
00:42:33,774 --> 00:42:35,214
Peace and reconciliation,

988
00:42:35,214 --> 00:42:36,809
not only between us and God,

989
00:42:36,809 --> 00:42:38,683
but with each other.

990
00:42:38,683 --> 00:42:41,536
So what is it that brought the Jew and the Gentile together

991
00:42:41,536 --> 00:42:42,855
in the Christian church?

992
00:42:42,855 --> 00:42:44,703
The answer is right here.

993
00:42:44,703 --> 00:42:46,891
The Lord Jesus Christ has broken down

994
00:42:46,891 --> 00:42:50,253
in His flesh the dividing wall of separation,

995
00:42:50,253 --> 00:42:52,848
or the dividing wall of hostility.

996
00:42:52,848 --> 00:42:55,106
So look at it there.

997
00:42:55,106 --> 00:42:57,666
"He Himself is our peace who has made us both one

998
00:42:57,666 --> 00:43:00,362
and has broken down in His flesh

999
00:43:00,362 --> 00:43:04,425
the dividing wall of hostility."

1000
00:43:04,425 --> 00:43:05,455
What's Paul doing?

1001
00:43:05,455 --> 00:43:07,885
He's using a figure that was true of the temple.

1002
00:43:07,885 --> 00:43:10,148
In the temple, there were lots of divisions.

1003
00:43:10,148 --> 00:43:11,630
There were lots of dividing lines.

1004
00:43:11,630 --> 00:43:14,050
Lots of different courts.

1005
00:43:14,050 --> 00:43:18,021
You can see that they had courts for different things.

1006
00:43:18,021 --> 00:43:19,569
We talked about this before.

1007
00:43:19,569 --> 00:43:22,355
But any kind of divisions that were made -

1008
00:43:22,355 --> 00:43:23,279
abolished.

1009
00:43:23,279 --> 00:43:24,563
They've been knocked down.

1010
00:43:24,563 --> 00:43:26,258
They've been decimated.

1011
00:43:26,258 --> 00:43:29,876
He has torn these things down.

1012
00:43:29,876 --> 00:43:31,716
The temple was full of barriers.

1013
00:43:31,716 --> 00:43:33,395
It was full of separations.

1014
00:43:33,395 --> 00:43:36,284
There was a veil - you know that.

1015
00:43:36,284 --> 00:43:39,462
There was this inner court.

1016
00:43:39,462 --> 00:43:42,324
There were outer courts at different levels

1017
00:43:42,324 --> 00:43:45,225
working all the way out to the court of the Gentiles.

1018
00:43:45,225 --> 00:43:47,324
The Jew went beyond that.

1019
00:43:47,324 --> 00:43:49,717
There were divisions. There were dividing lines.

1020
00:43:49,717 --> 00:43:51,925
Women could go so far - Jewish women.

1021
00:43:51,925 --> 00:43:53,929
The Jewish men could go further.

1022
00:43:53,929 --> 00:43:55,538
The priests could go further.

1023
00:43:55,538 --> 00:43:59,144
There were all these separations.

1024
00:43:59,144 --> 00:44:01,353
But brethren, the Lord smashes that.

1025
00:44:01,353 --> 00:44:02,420
How does He do it?

1026
00:44:02,420 --> 00:44:03,827
You know what it says here?

1027
00:44:03,827 --> 00:44:05,790
By abolishing the law of commandments

1028
00:44:05,790 --> 00:44:07,849
contained in ordinances.

1029
00:44:07,849 --> 00:44:11,408
What's that?

1030
00:44:11,408 --> 00:44:14,356
What are the commandments contained in ordinances?

1031
00:44:14,356 --> 00:44:16,704
Brethren, what we have to recognize is this.

1032
00:44:16,704 --> 00:44:19,830
The peace that is specifically being spoken about

1033
00:44:19,830 --> 00:44:26,231
in these two verses is man to man.

1034
00:44:26,231 --> 00:44:28,702
Yes, there are places where the legalities

1035
00:44:28,702 --> 00:44:30,624
of the Mosaic law

1036
00:44:30,624 --> 00:44:35,004
and the sacrifices and priesthood...

1037
00:44:35,004 --> 00:44:38,101
but what is it -

1038
00:44:38,101 --> 00:44:42,075
what is it?

1039
00:44:42,075 --> 00:44:45,391
Here's something to think about.

1040
00:44:45,391 --> 00:44:49,784
There were laws that divided between

1041
00:44:49,784 --> 00:44:53,868
the Jew and the foreigner.

1042
00:44:53,868 --> 00:44:56,663
Have you ever come across those laws?

1043
00:44:56,663 --> 00:44:58,632
Even in the New Testament.

1044
00:44:58,632 --> 00:45:02,170
Open your Bibles to Acts 10.

1045
00:45:02,170 --> 00:45:06,879
This is one of the mile markers.

1046
00:45:06,879 --> 00:45:15,952
This is a point in history

1047
00:45:15,952 --> 00:45:18,348
that is well worth observing.

1048
00:45:18,348 --> 00:45:22,423
Because the Gospel is being introduced

1049
00:45:22,423 --> 00:45:27,735
to the Gentiles here in Acts.

1050
00:45:27,735 --> 00:45:32,362
Namely, the house of Cornelius.

1051
00:45:32,362 --> 00:45:35,566
And at this time in the life of the church,

1052
00:45:35,566 --> 00:45:38,971
this is before Paul predominantly

1053
00:45:38,971 --> 00:45:40,539
came on the scene.

1054
00:45:40,539 --> 00:45:42,278
He's been converted by this point,

1055
00:45:42,278 --> 00:45:45,478
but he has no prominent place.

1056
00:45:45,478 --> 00:45:47,922
Peter is the prominent apostle.

1057
00:45:47,922 --> 00:45:50,416
And he, as a spokesman,

1058
00:45:50,416 --> 00:45:53,041
he has this vision - you remember -

1059
00:45:53,041 --> 00:45:55,617
before he goes, and God is teaching him,

1060
00:45:55,617 --> 00:45:57,327
and things are happening.

1061
00:45:57,327 --> 00:46:00,878
But I want you to notice what Peter says

1062
00:46:00,878 --> 00:46:02,490
to the household of Cornelius

1063
00:46:02,490 --> 00:46:03,953
when he comes there.

1064
00:46:03,953 --> 00:46:07,975
Acts 10:28

1065
00:46:07,975 --> 00:46:09,854
"And he said to them,

1066
00:46:09,854 --> 00:46:12,241
You yourselves know how...'

1067
00:46:12,241 --> 00:46:15,100
Notice this: unlawful.

1068
00:46:15,100 --> 00:46:16,856
Here we've got laws, commandments

1069
00:46:16,856 --> 00:46:19,277
in ordinances. There are laws.

1070
00:46:19,277 --> 00:46:21,551
Peter says there are laws,

1071
00:46:21,551 --> 00:46:26,858
that do what?

1072
00:46:26,858 --> 00:46:31,888
"it's unlawful for a Jew to associate with

1073
00:46:31,888 --> 00:46:38,262
or to visit anyone of another nation."

1074
00:46:38,262 --> 00:46:41,112
Now, you could let your mind go through Scripture.

1075
00:46:41,112 --> 00:46:43,150
I could take you to a place where it says

1076
00:46:43,150 --> 00:46:44,548
concerning the Passover,

1077
00:46:44,548 --> 00:46:48,460
no foreigners to eat of it.

1078
00:46:48,460 --> 00:46:50,234
I could take you to another place.

1079
00:46:50,234 --> 00:46:51,641
Moabites and Ammonites -

1080
00:46:51,641 --> 00:46:53,698
they're out altogether,

1081
00:46:53,698 --> 00:46:56,430
to the 10th generation forever.

1082
00:46:56,430 --> 00:46:58,175
These divisions.

1083
00:46:58,175 --> 00:47:01,721
God, there in Amos, looks at Israel

1084
00:47:01,721 --> 00:47:04,245
and says, "You only I've loved."

1085
00:47:04,245 --> 00:47:07,848
Where are the nations?

1086
00:47:07,848 --> 00:47:10,734
You remember when they thought Paul

1087
00:47:10,734 --> 00:47:13,052
brought an Ephesian into the temple?

1088
00:47:13,052 --> 00:47:18,134
This undoubtedly was an Ephesian believer.

1089
00:47:18,134 --> 00:47:21,625
That's what led to all of his imprisonment

1090
00:47:21,625 --> 00:47:24,764
there in the later chapters of the book of Acts.

1091
00:47:24,764 --> 00:47:27,167
Brethren, we remember this,

1092
00:47:27,167 --> 00:47:31,465
even at the well there in Samaria,

1093
00:47:31,465 --> 00:47:35,842
the woman said to our Lord Himself,

1094
00:47:35,842 --> 00:47:39,196
"Why are you even talking to me?

1095
00:47:39,196 --> 00:47:42,741
Jews have no dealings with Samaritans."

1096
00:47:42,741 --> 00:47:44,287
Or even our Lord Jesus Himself

1097
00:47:44,287 --> 00:47:48,747
when He dealt with the Syro-Phoenician woman.

1098
00:47:48,747 --> 00:47:51,912
It's not appropriate for Me to give you

1099
00:47:51,912 --> 00:47:55,330
the bread that belongs to the children.

1100
00:47:55,330 --> 00:47:59,043
I'm not supposed to throw it to the dogs.

1101
00:47:59,043 --> 00:48:04,951
I've come for the house of Israel.

1102
00:48:04,951 --> 00:48:08,105
Jesus smashes those things down.

1103
00:48:08,105 --> 00:48:09,593
There were separations.

1104
00:48:09,593 --> 00:48:12,427
There were those things that divided.

1105
00:48:12,427 --> 00:48:14,251
"Thus says the Lord God,

1106
00:48:14,251 --> 00:48:18,165
no foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh,

1107
00:48:18,165 --> 00:48:19,920
of all the foreigners who are among

1108
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:25,349
the people of Israel shall enter My sanctuary."

1109
00:48:25,349 --> 00:48:27,582
And how were all these laws eradicated?

1110
00:48:27,582 --> 00:48:29,541
These laws that separated.

1111
00:48:29,541 --> 00:48:31,166
You know what it says there?

1112
00:48:31,166 --> 00:48:33,005
"In His flesh..."

1113
00:48:33,005 --> 00:48:35,347
Do you remember what it says in Hebrews

1114
00:48:35,347 --> 00:48:38,261
about His flesh - this new and living way

1115
00:48:38,261 --> 00:48:40,342
that opened for us through the curtain -

1116
00:48:40,342 --> 00:48:42,669
that is through His flesh?(P)

1117
00:48:42,669 --> 00:48:44,878
Brethren, here's what happens.

1118
00:48:44,878 --> 00:48:46,643
When you tear the curtain down,

1119
00:48:46,643 --> 00:48:48,769
and no matter how far out people are,

1120
00:48:48,769 --> 00:48:50,127
even though they're divided.

1121
00:48:50,127 --> 00:48:52,233
The Jews closer, the Gentiles further away.

1122
00:48:52,233 --> 00:48:54,423
And they're divided into two groups.

1123
00:48:54,423 --> 00:48:56,242
When you rip that thing open

1124
00:48:56,242 --> 00:48:58,737
and everybody's free to have access,

1125
00:48:58,737 --> 00:49:01,197
that's how you just demolish the whole thing.

1126
00:49:01,197 --> 00:49:02,962
You're all free to go all the way in.

1127
00:49:02,962 --> 00:49:05,134
All the way in to the Shekinah.

1128
00:49:05,134 --> 00:49:07,474
Nothing holds you back anymore.

1129
00:49:07,474 --> 00:49:09,784
In His flesh.

1130
00:49:09,784 --> 00:49:12,830
This is a legal aspect.

1131
00:49:12,830 --> 00:49:13,782
But you know what?

1132
00:49:13,782 --> 00:49:16,541
There's also a creative aspect here.

1133
00:49:16,541 --> 00:49:17,795
And you see that.

1134
00:49:17,795 --> 00:49:19,377
Look there in 14 and 15.

1135
00:49:19,377 --> 00:49:23,064
"He Himself is our peace

1136
00:49:23,064 --> 00:49:32,364
Who has made us both one."

1137
00:49:32,364 --> 00:49:35,072
He made - or the even stronger word

1138
00:49:35,072 --> 00:49:38,432
is in 15:

1139
00:49:38,432 --> 00:49:42,509
and this is right, that He might create.

1140
00:49:42,509 --> 00:49:45,218
This word is that.

1141
00:49:45,218 --> 00:49:46,722
It's a creation.

1142
00:49:46,722 --> 00:49:50,293
He creates in Himself one new man

1143
00:49:50,293 --> 00:49:52,569
in place of the two.

1144
00:49:52,569 --> 00:49:54,936
Now listen, there's all sorts of questions today

1145
00:49:54,936 --> 00:49:56,915
about Jew and Gentile.

1146
00:49:56,915 --> 00:50:00,748
You get the eschatological perspectives

1147
00:50:00,748 --> 00:50:02,770
from the premillennial people

1148
00:50:02,770 --> 00:50:05,485
and the dispensational camp out there,

1149
00:50:05,485 --> 00:50:08,370
and everybody wants to separate.

1150
00:50:08,370 --> 00:50:11,003
Brethren, it's a denial of these verses.

1151
00:50:11,003 --> 00:50:13,271
There's no separation.

1152
00:50:13,271 --> 00:50:19,993
There's no two separate plans for Israel and for the church.

1153
00:50:19,993 --> 00:50:23,998
There is one new man in place of the two.

1154
00:50:23,998 --> 00:50:30,447
He created one new man.

1155
00:50:30,447 --> 00:50:32,879
Then we get another camp:

1156
00:50:32,879 --> 00:50:35,005
replacement theology.

1157
00:50:35,005 --> 00:50:38,581
Does the church replace Israel?

1158
00:50:38,581 --> 00:50:41,397
You want to be careful here.

1159
00:50:41,397 --> 00:50:49,101
Look, the church replaces both the Jew and the Gentile.

1160
00:50:49,101 --> 00:50:50,521
It's one new man.

1161
00:50:50,521 --> 00:50:51,823
One new man.

1162
00:50:51,823 --> 00:50:53,449
It's not like one of the two

1163
00:50:53,449 --> 00:50:58,309
was the real man.

1164
00:50:58,309 --> 00:51:01,762
And the other was added to him.

1165
00:51:01,762 --> 00:51:05,964
It's one new man in place of the two.

1166
00:51:05,964 --> 00:51:09,705
But you also want to be careful

1167
00:51:09,705 --> 00:51:16,393
because the new man is the true Jew.

1168
00:51:16,393 --> 00:51:19,952
It's the true Israel.

1169
00:51:19,952 --> 00:51:21,828
You say, where do you get that?

1170
00:51:21,828 --> 00:51:23,862
Well, you see,

1171
00:51:23,862 --> 00:51:33,108
when you look there at v. 12,

1172
00:51:33,108 --> 00:51:37,873
what and where was the Gentile?

1173
00:51:37,873 --> 00:51:39,956
Alienated from the commonwealth of Israel.

1174
00:51:39,956 --> 00:51:42,844
Where are we now?

1175
00:51:42,844 --> 00:51:44,661
Come down to v. 19.

1176
00:51:44,661 --> 00:51:47,713
You're no longer strangers and aliens.

1177
00:51:47,713 --> 00:51:49,701
Fellow citizens - with who?

1178
00:51:49,701 --> 00:51:51,083
With the saints.

1179
00:51:51,083 --> 00:51:52,841
And members of the household of God.

1180
00:51:52,841 --> 00:51:54,645
But what saints does he have in mind?

1181
00:51:54,645 --> 00:51:56,658
Remember he's writing 2,000 years ago.

1182
00:51:56,658 --> 00:52:01,456
Pretty much all the Gentiles - they're still alive.

1183
00:52:01,456 --> 00:52:02,999
The saints.

1184
00:52:02,999 --> 00:52:05,259
He's talking about Abraham.

1185
00:52:05,259 --> 00:52:07,438
He's talking about Isaac.

1186
00:52:07,438 --> 00:52:09,860
You see, this was what Jesus said, was it not?

1187
00:52:09,860 --> 00:52:11,723
He said to the Jews that the Kingdom

1188
00:52:11,723 --> 00:52:13,399
is going to be taken away from you.

1189
00:52:13,399 --> 00:52:15,049
But it's not going to be taken away

1190
00:52:15,049 --> 00:52:16,980
from Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.

1191
00:52:16,980 --> 00:52:18,075
Not them.

1192
00:52:18,075 --> 00:52:19,680
But the people from the East and the West,

1193
00:52:19,680 --> 00:52:21,508
they're going to come and they're going to sit down.

1194
00:52:21,508 --> 00:52:24,960
The offspring - the true offspring of Abraham.

1195
00:52:24,960 --> 00:52:27,793
The one new man is the true offspring.(P)

1196
00:52:27,793 --> 00:52:29,768
And you remember Galatians 3?

1197
00:52:29,768 --> 00:52:31,863
Who is the offspring?

1198
00:52:31,863 --> 00:52:34,107
It's Christ - the true Jew.

1199
00:52:34,107 --> 00:52:35,431
And what happens is,

1200
00:52:35,431 --> 00:52:37,131
we are made one in Him.

1201
00:52:37,131 --> 00:52:38,366
One in the true Jew.

1202
00:52:38,366 --> 00:52:39,984
One in the true Israel.

1203
00:52:39,984 --> 00:52:44,392
It's interesting, you read through the prophecy of Isaiah.

1204
00:52:44,392 --> 00:52:46,589
Sometimes it's difficult to know whether

1205
00:52:46,589 --> 00:52:50,905
the servant is Israel or whether it's Christ.

1206
00:52:50,905 --> 00:52:53,967
I think the reason that sometimes it seems ambiguous

1207
00:52:53,967 --> 00:52:55,274
and kind of comes together

1208
00:52:55,274 --> 00:52:58,260
is because Christ is the true servant,

1209
00:52:58,260 --> 00:53:00,195
and He is the true Israel.

1210
00:53:00,195 --> 00:53:03,665
And we are one as we are united together in Him.

1211
00:53:03,665 --> 00:53:07,950
You see what it says there in v. 19?

1212
00:53:07,950 --> 00:53:10,779
We are fellow citizens.

1213
00:53:10,779 --> 00:53:13,480
We used to be alienated from the commonwealth of Israel,

1214
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:16,804
now we are fellow citizens with the saints.

1215
00:53:16,804 --> 00:53:19,591
Not with all Jews physically,

1216
00:53:19,591 --> 00:53:21,543
but with the saints.

1217
00:53:21,543 --> 00:53:23,626
With the Jew who is a true Jew.

1218
00:53:23,626 --> 00:53:27,636
With the Jew who was like David,

1219
00:53:27,636 --> 00:53:29,331
like Hezekiah,

1220
00:53:29,331 --> 00:53:30,998
like Josiah.

1221
00:53:30,998 --> 00:53:32,506
We are brought together.

1222
00:53:32,506 --> 00:53:33,430
We are united.

1223
00:53:33,430 --> 00:53:36,759
Christ is uniting those in heaven

1224
00:53:36,759 --> 00:53:38,137
and those on earth.

1225
00:53:38,137 --> 00:53:40,023
You go back to chapter 1:10.

1226
00:53:40,023 --> 00:53:42,194
And He's uniting all these things together.

1227
00:53:42,194 --> 00:53:42,968
Where?

1228
00:53:42,968 --> 00:53:44,088
In one new man.

1229
00:53:44,088 --> 00:53:45,251
In Him.

1230
00:53:45,251 --> 00:53:46,826
In Himself.

1231
00:53:46,826 --> 00:53:48,229
In Christ.

1232
00:53:48,229 --> 00:53:50,456
That is where the new man is.

1233
00:53:50,456 --> 00:53:53,167
We need to be plain on this.

1234
00:53:53,167 --> 00:53:54,766
He creates.

1235
00:53:54,766 --> 00:53:57,300
He creates in Himself one new man

1236
00:53:57,300 --> 00:53:58,878
in place of the two.

1237
00:53:58,878 --> 00:54:00,203
Created in Himself.

1238
00:54:00,203 --> 00:54:01,744
Brethren, do you recognize that

1239
00:54:01,744 --> 00:54:03,474
when we are born again,

1240
00:54:03,474 --> 00:54:05,602
when you are regenerated,

1241
00:54:05,602 --> 00:54:08,782
you are regenerated into a new humanity.

1242
00:54:08,782 --> 00:54:09,895
We used to be in Adam.

1243
00:54:09,895 --> 00:54:11,337
Now we're in Christ.

1244
00:54:11,337 --> 00:54:13,253
It's altogether new.

1245
00:54:13,253 --> 00:54:14,764
And we are united.

1246
00:54:14,764 --> 00:54:19,278
Oh brethren...

1247
00:54:19,278 --> 00:54:22,402
how does this make for peace?

1248
00:54:22,402 --> 00:54:23,986
I think it should be obvious.

1249
00:54:23,986 --> 00:54:26,854
The implications of how peace is arrived at through this

1250
00:54:26,854 --> 00:54:30,567
ought to just jump off the page at us.

1251
00:54:30,567 --> 00:54:32,343
We're now all the same family.

1252
00:54:32,343 --> 00:54:33,124
Go back to v. 19.

1253
00:54:33,124 --> 00:54:34,749
"No longer strangers and aliens.

1254
00:54:34,749 --> 00:54:37,363
You're fellow citizens with the saints,

1255
00:54:37,363 --> 00:54:40,228
and you are all together.

1256
00:54:40,228 --> 00:54:43,322
We're members of the household of God."

1257
00:54:43,322 --> 00:54:45,054
That's what's being said here.

1258
00:54:45,054 --> 00:54:47,573
Or you go to v. 21-22.

1259
00:54:47,573 --> 00:54:51,626
We're all growing into this holy temple.

1260
00:54:51,626 --> 00:54:55,053
The whole structure - it's being joined together.

1261
00:54:55,053 --> 00:54:58,286
And he says specifically to you Gentile Christians

1262
00:54:58,286 --> 00:55:01,358
in v. 22, "In Him, you also..."

1263
00:55:01,358 --> 00:55:02,485
You likewise...

1264
00:55:02,485 --> 00:55:06,234
the temple - you are the dwelling place of God.

1265
00:55:06,234 --> 00:55:09,617
What Christ has done is He's created a humanity

1266
00:55:09,617 --> 00:55:12,713
in which God will dwell.

1267
00:55:12,713 --> 00:55:15,162
And the whole thing is being united together

1268
00:55:15,162 --> 00:55:17,071
and strung together, knit together,

1269
00:55:17,071 --> 00:55:18,393
brought together.

1270
00:55:18,393 --> 00:55:20,659
All in Him.

1271
00:55:20,659 --> 00:55:22,205
So that what happens?

1272
00:55:22,205 --> 00:55:24,495
You get those texts like we're so familiar with

1273
00:55:24,505 --> 00:55:26,251
like from Galatians and Colossians,

1274
00:55:26,251 --> 00:55:28,304
that specifically say that

1275
00:55:28,304 --> 00:55:32,061
there is not Greek or Jew.

1276
00:55:32,061 --> 00:55:34,335
You see, those old delineations,

1277
00:55:34,335 --> 00:55:38,582
those old designations are gone.

1278
00:55:38,582 --> 00:55:40,733
But brethren, the same thing that unites

1279
00:55:40,733 --> 00:55:42,641
the Jew and the Gentile

1280
00:55:42,641 --> 00:55:46,247
is applicable to the Hispanic, and the white

1281
00:55:46,247 --> 00:55:48,930
and the black, and the yellow, and the red,

1282
00:55:48,930 --> 00:55:50,868
and the rich, and the poor,

1283
00:55:50,868 --> 00:55:52,648
and those born on the North side,

1284
00:55:52,648 --> 00:55:54,620
and the South side, and the East side,

1285
00:55:54,620 --> 00:55:56,756
and the West side.

1286
00:55:56,756 --> 00:56:00,552
Brethren, when Paul deals with this

1287
00:56:00,552 --> 00:56:02,403
to the Galatians and the Colossians,

1288
00:56:02,403 --> 00:56:04,773
he doesn't stop at Jew and Gentile.

1289
00:56:04,773 --> 00:56:07,473
In his day, that was the massive issue.

1290
00:56:07,473 --> 00:56:10,361
But he goes on...

1291
00:56:10,361 --> 00:56:14,609
Oh, should the women of Islam know this!

1292
00:56:14,609 --> 00:56:17,551
There's no male or female.

1293
00:56:17,551 --> 00:56:19,662
We're all one in Christ.

1294
00:56:19,662 --> 00:56:22,319
The woman who's converted in Christ

1295
00:56:22,319 --> 00:56:24,000
is not inferior to the man.

1296
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:29,351
Weaker vessel, but fellow heir.

1297
00:56:29,351 --> 00:56:31,566
All these are broke down.

1298
00:56:31,566 --> 00:56:34,643
Brethren, what this says to us nothing

1299
00:56:34,643 --> 00:56:38,842
about my former life defines me.

1300
00:56:38,842 --> 00:56:40,107
Remember what he said?

1301
00:56:40,107 --> 00:56:42,737
Circumcision is nothing,

1302
00:56:42,737 --> 00:56:45,155
and uncircumcision is nothing,

1303
00:56:45,155 --> 00:56:47,494
but what?

1304
00:56:47,494 --> 00:56:49,289
A new creation.

1305
00:56:49,289 --> 00:56:51,898
One new creation.

1306
00:56:51,898 --> 00:56:53,945
Those old designations -

1307
00:56:53,945 --> 00:56:57,935
they don't matter anymore.

1308
00:56:57,935 --> 00:57:00,699
What you have to see is

1309
00:57:00,699 --> 00:57:02,659
nothing you did in the past,

1310
00:57:02,659 --> 00:57:04,921
whether you were circumcised or uncircumcised.

1311
00:57:04,921 --> 00:57:06,667
All the other designations,

1312
00:57:06,667 --> 00:57:10,613
they simply don't matter anymore.

1313
00:57:10,613 --> 00:57:12,118
They're all gone.

1314
00:57:12,118 --> 00:57:13,754
The sins I once committed,

1315
00:57:13,754 --> 00:57:15,336
they've been dealt with.

1316
00:57:15,336 --> 00:57:17,380
They're all under the blood.

1317
00:57:17,380 --> 00:57:19,684
They no longer define me.

1318
00:57:19,684 --> 00:57:22,488
They matter as little as circumcision and uncircumcision.

1319
00:57:22,488 --> 00:57:24,591
The color of your skin matters as little as

1320
00:57:24,591 --> 00:57:26,635
uncircumcision or circumcision.

1321
00:57:26,635 --> 00:57:28,305
The amount of money that you have,

1322
00:57:28,305 --> 00:57:29,938
the degrees that you've gotten,

1323
00:57:29,938 --> 00:57:31,309
they matter as little.

1324
00:57:31,309 --> 00:57:33,633
Brethren, there is no Greek, Jew,

1325
00:57:33,633 --> 00:57:36,270
circumcised, uncircumcised, Barbarian, Scythian,

1326
00:57:36,270 --> 00:57:39,626
slave, free, in Christ all is in all.

1327
00:57:39,626 --> 00:57:42,446
Or there in Galatians, there is neither Jew nor Greek,

1328
00:57:42,446 --> 00:57:44,011
there's neither slave nor free,

1329
00:57:44,011 --> 00:57:45,549
there's neither male nor female,

1330
00:57:45,549 --> 00:57:47,176
you are all one in Christ Jesus.

1331
00:57:47,176 --> 00:57:49,913
And if you're Christ's, then you're Abraham's offspring,

1332
00:57:49,913 --> 00:57:52,409
heirs according to promise.

1333
00:57:52,409 --> 00:57:54,640
We no longer assess one another

1334
00:57:54,640 --> 00:57:56,628
on our former morality,

1335
00:57:56,628 --> 00:57:59,113
or our former religion.

1336
00:57:59,113 --> 00:58:00,432
You know how it is.

1337
00:58:00,432 --> 00:58:01,190
Somebody says,

1338
00:58:01,190 --> 00:58:06,367
you know she used to run around with the guys.

1339
00:58:06,367 --> 00:58:10,646
He used to be a homosexual.

1340
00:58:10,646 --> 00:58:13,877
He used to be in a gang.

1341
00:58:13,877 --> 00:58:15,944
Look at all those tattoos.

1342
00:58:15,944 --> 00:58:18,090
She used to be a stripper.

1343
00:58:18,090 --> 00:58:19,105
I'll tell you what,

1344
00:58:19,105 --> 00:58:20,253
if you talk like that,

1345
00:58:20,253 --> 00:58:21,491
you know who you're like?

1346
00:58:21,491 --> 00:58:24,446
You're like the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal.

1347
00:58:24,446 --> 00:58:26,153
Because that's exactly what he did.

1348
00:58:26,153 --> 00:58:28,500
He squandered all the wealth.

1349
00:58:28,500 --> 00:58:32,747
He ran around with the prostitutes.

1350
00:58:32,747 --> 00:58:36,862
You see how this makes peace.

1351
00:58:36,862 --> 00:58:39,228
Why?

1352
00:58:39,228 --> 00:58:42,596
Because no matter how much money you make,

1353
00:58:42,596 --> 00:58:46,392
no matter what class or caste or background,

1354
00:58:46,392 --> 00:58:48,441
how much wealth, how much notoriety,

1355
00:58:48,441 --> 00:58:52,741
how much fame, what family you came from -

1356
00:58:52,741 --> 00:58:54,950
those things are all minuscule

1357
00:58:54,950 --> 00:58:56,687
and they just dissolve away,

1358
00:58:56,687 --> 00:58:58,343
when you and I look at each other

1359
00:58:58,343 --> 00:59:00,686
and we recognize,

1360
00:59:00,686 --> 00:59:07,165
all our sins - they're all forgiven.

1361
00:59:07,165 --> 00:59:09,396
I'm free.

1362
00:59:09,396 --> 00:59:12,109
There's an eternal weight of glory before me.

1363
00:59:12,109 --> 00:59:13,258
My past doesn't matter.

1364
00:59:13,258 --> 00:59:15,204
All my sins: not in part, but the whole,

1365
00:59:15,204 --> 00:59:17,110
they've been nailed to the cross, and so have yours,

1366
00:59:17,110 --> 00:59:18,246
and we can look at each other,

1367
00:59:18,246 --> 00:59:19,304
and we can literally...(P)

1368
00:59:19,304 --> 00:59:20,330
Do you remember what He said

1369
00:59:20,330 --> 00:59:22,550
to those apostles that one time?

1370
00:59:22,550 --> 00:59:24,843
He says you can leap for joy!

1371
00:59:24,843 --> 00:59:26,046
That's what happens!

1372
00:59:26,046 --> 00:59:27,273
We're in Christ!

1373
00:59:27,273 --> 00:59:31,360
We have been saved out of all the ranks of humanity.

1374
00:59:31,360 --> 00:59:32,886
We have been plucked out.

1375
00:59:32,886 --> 00:59:34,640
I was just telling somebody recently,

1376
00:59:34,640 --> 00:59:35,949
Elliot was in my house telling me

1377
00:59:35,949 --> 00:59:37,471
about how he got saved.

1378
00:59:37,471 --> 00:59:39,667
And I was telling him, out of all my family,

1379
00:59:39,667 --> 00:59:41,631
and out of all my friends,

1380
00:59:41,631 --> 00:59:42,816
as much as I know,

1381
00:59:42,816 --> 00:59:44,228
with the exception of my dad,

1382
00:59:44,228 --> 00:59:46,731
I'm hoping my dad was converted there at the end,

1383
00:59:46,731 --> 00:59:48,313
but God plucked me out

1384
00:59:48,313 --> 00:59:50,237
and has plucked no others out.

1385
00:59:50,237 --> 00:59:52,511
And see, we're the redeemed ones.

1386
00:59:52,511 --> 00:59:54,022
We've been plucked out.

1387
00:59:54,022 --> 00:59:55,492
Now nothing divides.

1388
00:59:55,492 --> 00:59:57,336
We don't want to be like the Corinthians

1389
00:59:57,336 --> 00:59:58,679
where we're going to sue one another.

1390
00:59:58,679 --> 01:00:00,388
Why? Because we want our rights!

1391
01:00:00,388 --> 01:00:01,904
I can surrender those rights.

1392
01:00:01,904 --> 01:00:03,605
Why? I've been bought with a price.

1393
01:00:03,605 --> 01:00:05,361
I'm not my own.

1394
01:00:05,361 --> 01:00:06,930
He's put a love -

1395
01:00:06,930 --> 01:00:09,711
do you know how constraining the love of Christ is?

1396
01:00:09,711 --> 01:00:11,475
When your heart overflows?

1397
01:00:11,475 --> 01:00:12,994
And you look at somebody else,

1398
01:00:12,994 --> 01:00:14,973
and think He died for them too?

1399
01:00:14,973 --> 01:00:17,665
My love for Him and He died for you too!

1400
01:00:17,665 --> 01:00:19,940
It doesn't matter - you look past the color.

1401
01:00:19,940 --> 01:00:24,038
It's like, brother!

1402
01:00:24,038 --> 01:00:25,852
Brethren, this idea that we have

1403
01:00:25,852 --> 01:00:27,572
black churches and white churches.

1404
01:00:27,572 --> 01:00:29,291
Or somebody visited us this one time from Houston.

1405
01:00:29,291 --> 01:00:30,691
They said we go to the Hindu church.

1406
01:00:30,691 --> 01:00:31,950
Or you go over to Romania,

1407
01:00:31,950 --> 01:00:34,629
and it's like you've got the Romanian churches

1408
01:00:34,629 --> 01:00:36,706
and you've got the Gypsy churches.

1409
01:00:36,706 --> 01:00:38,232
What's that?

1410
01:00:38,232 --> 01:00:39,536
What is that?

1411
01:00:39,536 --> 01:00:41,518
That's a denial of this.

1412
01:00:41,518 --> 01:00:43,206
That's absolutely a denial.

1413
01:00:43,206 --> 01:00:44,678
When you look at each other

1414
01:00:44,678 --> 01:00:45,627
and it's like,

1415
01:00:45,627 --> 01:00:47,474
you know, we were sitting at a table

1416
01:00:47,474 --> 01:00:49,447
down in Laredo on Friday

1417
01:00:49,447 --> 01:00:51,121
at Michael's birthday.

1418
01:00:51,121 --> 01:00:53,687
And some two guys were sitting across from me,

1419
01:00:53,687 --> 01:00:55,338
and one has a degree in engineering,

1420
01:00:55,338 --> 01:00:56,667
I have a degree in engineering.

1421
01:00:56,667 --> 01:00:58,415
There's kind of a common thing there.

1422
01:00:58,415 --> 01:01:00,226
I'm looking at the other guy over here.

1423
01:01:00,226 --> 01:01:02,642
He's just recently been converted.

1424
01:01:02,642 --> 01:01:04,671
And I was looking at him

1425
01:01:04,671 --> 01:01:05,706
and I was thinking,

1426
01:01:05,706 --> 01:01:07,356
he can't sit there and he can't boast

1427
01:01:07,356 --> 01:01:09,030
of these degrees and stuff,

1428
01:01:09,030 --> 01:01:10,984
but he's got a smile on his face

1429
01:01:10,984 --> 01:01:16,994
and he feels like God converted him about three weeks ago.

1430
01:01:16,994 --> 01:01:20,635
That's the connection.

1431
01:01:20,635 --> 01:01:23,077
Anytime, like the Corinthians,

1432
01:01:23,077 --> 01:01:24,845
we start talking about suing each other

1433
01:01:24,845 --> 01:01:27,083
or lining up behind certain preachers,

1434
01:01:27,083 --> 01:01:30,796
or the rich don't wait for the poor,

1435
01:01:30,796 --> 01:01:33,513
or you start boasting in your spiritual gifts -

1436
01:01:33,513 --> 01:01:34,911
you see what you start doing?

1437
01:01:34,911 --> 01:01:36,790
You start putting men in categories,

1438
01:01:36,790 --> 01:01:39,555
and you start attacking that one man.

1439
01:01:39,555 --> 01:01:41,032
That one man.

1440
01:01:41,032 --> 01:01:43,238
He united all - one man.

1441
01:01:43,238 --> 01:01:47,293
Our identity is now in Christ.

1442
01:01:47,293 --> 01:01:49,847
You sit on an airplane, and you're a doctor,

1443
01:01:49,847 --> 01:01:51,488
and you sit next to two people

1444
01:01:51,488 --> 01:01:53,796
and one guy's a doctor and one guy digs ditches over there,

1445
01:01:53,796 --> 01:01:59,232
but you're a Christian and that guy over there's a Christian...

1446
01:01:59,232 --> 01:02:04,136
We have the same Savior.

1447
01:02:04,136 --> 01:02:07,807
That alone silences man's contentions

1448
01:02:07,807 --> 01:02:09,629
and his hostility with each other.

1449
01:02:09,629 --> 01:02:12,334
You bring men to the same cross.

1450
01:02:12,334 --> 01:02:13,789
You give them the same hope.

1451
01:02:13,789 --> 01:02:15,648
You promise them the same heaven.

1452
01:02:15,648 --> 01:02:17,273
They're worshiping God together.

1453
01:02:17,273 --> 01:02:20,393
The love of Christ is massively powerful.

1454
01:02:20,393 --> 01:02:21,434
It is all consuming.(P)

1455
01:02:21,434 --> 01:02:22,624
So much so that what?

1456
01:02:22,624 --> 01:02:24,364
A man will go and sell all that he has,

1457
01:02:24,364 --> 01:02:26,935
including his titles, his degrees, his background,

1458
01:02:26,935 --> 01:02:28,060
his wealth, why?

1459
01:02:28,060 --> 01:02:29,507
Because he's got Christ.

1460
01:02:29,507 --> 01:02:30,822
And he looks over and sees another man

1461
01:02:30,822 --> 01:02:32,130
with a smile on his face.

1462
01:02:32,130 --> 01:02:33,394
They've got Christ too!

1463
01:02:33,394 --> 01:02:36,707
We're going to live forever together in glory.

1464
01:02:36,707 --> 01:02:38,398
An eternal weight of glory.

1465
01:02:38,398 --> 01:02:39,962
All of our sins are forgiven.

1466
01:02:39,962 --> 01:02:41,726
We could dance and we could jump

1467
01:02:41,726 --> 01:02:42,830
and we could shout...

1468
01:02:42,830 --> 01:02:44,303
this guy that's lost that sits next to me,

1469
01:02:44,303 --> 01:02:45,427
has the same degree as me,

1470
01:02:45,427 --> 01:02:46,523
he doesn't know.

1471
01:02:46,523 --> 01:02:47,887
He's on the outside.

1472
01:02:47,887 --> 01:02:50,903
He is the true outsider now.

1473
01:02:50,903 --> 01:02:54,969
This is the thing that kills hostility.

1474
01:02:54,969 --> 01:02:57,057
When you're given such gifts like this,

1475
01:02:57,057 --> 01:02:58,541
when you're given such wealth,

1476
01:02:58,541 --> 01:02:59,989
when the heart is transformed,

1477
01:02:59,989 --> 01:03:01,798
when there's love for Christ

1478
01:03:01,798 --> 01:03:02,883
that's been put there,

1479
01:03:02,883 --> 01:03:04,304
when our sins are forgiven...

1480
01:03:04,304 --> 01:03:05,383
What is that?

1481
01:03:05,383 --> 01:03:07,216
That is so self killing.

1482
01:03:07,216 --> 01:03:09,386
To recognize I am on my way to heaven

1483
01:03:09,386 --> 01:03:11,049
and it's not because of anything that I've done

1484
01:03:11,049 --> 01:03:12,510
and it's not because I've been moral

1485
01:03:12,510 --> 01:03:14,525
and it's not because I've been like the elder brother

1486
01:03:14,525 --> 01:03:16,142
in the parable of the prodigal.

1487
01:03:16,142 --> 01:03:18,605
I am like that tax collector

1488
01:03:18,605 --> 01:03:20,343
and all I can do is plead for mercy.

1489
01:03:20,343 --> 01:03:21,645
And my brother over here -

1490
01:03:21,645 --> 01:03:22,786
he did the same thing.

1491
01:03:22,786 --> 01:03:24,439
We just pleaded for mercy.

1492
01:03:24,439 --> 01:03:26,192
And it doesn't matter the color of my skin.

1493
01:03:26,192 --> 01:03:27,778
It doesn't matter how much money's in my pocket

1494
01:03:27,778 --> 01:03:28,946
or in my bank account.

1495
01:03:28,946 --> 01:03:31,678
We are going to glory together!

1496
01:03:31,678 --> 01:03:33,586
Christ died for us together!

1497
01:03:33,586 --> 01:03:36,517
And not many - no, there's few there be that find it.

1498
01:03:36,517 --> 01:03:38,327
We're some of the elect.

1499
01:03:38,327 --> 01:03:41,894
We're the fellow elect.(P)

1500
01:03:41,894 --> 01:03:45,143
Brethren, that just kills hostility.

1501
01:03:45,143 --> 01:03:47,979
It kills it.

1502
01:03:47,979 --> 01:03:50,225
Today, the great massive divide,

1503
01:03:50,225 --> 01:03:55,004
you probably think of a Muslim or an Arab and a Jew.

1504
01:03:55,004 --> 01:03:58,050
Whatever the big dividing things are

1505
01:03:58,050 --> 01:04:00,562
here in our culture right here in San Antonio.

1506
01:04:00,562 --> 01:04:02,571
It's just all of it.

1507
01:04:02,571 --> 01:04:06,104
Jesus Christ is our peace.

1508
01:04:06,104 --> 01:04:08,204
And there is no other.

1509
01:04:08,204 --> 01:04:09,963
There is not a second way.

1510
01:04:09,963 --> 01:04:14,869
He alone melts the hearts of men together,

1511
01:04:14,869 --> 01:04:17,130
in making them one new man,

1512
01:04:17,130 --> 01:04:21,986
putting them in the same nation,

1513
01:04:21,986 --> 01:04:23,953
fellow citizenship,

1514
01:04:23,953 --> 01:04:26,139
putting them in the same family,

1515
01:04:26,139 --> 01:04:28,509
putting them in the same structure,

1516
01:04:28,509 --> 01:04:35,589
the very dwelling place of God.

1517
01:04:35,589 --> 01:04:38,146
The work of the atonement, brethren,

1518
01:04:38,146 --> 01:04:42,689
is not only meant to produce peace

1519
01:04:42,689 --> 01:04:44,697
between us and God,

1520
01:04:44,697 --> 01:04:48,224
it is meant to produce peace

1521
01:04:48,224 --> 01:04:51,410
among all of God's people.

1522
01:04:51,410 --> 01:04:54,103
And to break every barrier down.

1523
01:04:54,103 --> 01:04:55,707
There's no longer Jew.

1524
01:04:55,707 --> 01:04:57,137
There's no longer Greek.

1525
01:04:57,137 --> 01:04:58,581
There's no longer circumcised.

1526
01:04:58,581 --> 01:05:00,871
There's no longer uncircumcised.

1527
01:05:00,871 --> 01:05:02,206
There's no longer slave.

1528
01:05:02,206 --> 01:05:03,413
There's no longer free.

1529
01:05:03,413 --> 01:05:04,545
There's no longer male.

1530
01:05:04,545 --> 01:05:05,927
There's no longer female.

1531
01:05:05,927 --> 01:05:07,717
There's one new man.

1532
01:05:07,717 --> 01:05:12,859
He created one new man in Himself.

1533
01:05:12,859 --> 01:05:14,379
You've got to have Him.

1534
01:05:14,379 --> 01:05:16,303
If you don't have Him, there's no peace.

1535
01:05:16,303 --> 01:05:18,630
There's no peace for the wicked, saith the Lord.

1536
01:05:18,630 --> 01:05:19,800
There is no peace.

1537
01:05:19,800 --> 01:05:21,171
You will never have peace.

1538
01:05:21,171 --> 01:05:24,267
Any peace you have is artificial at best.

1539
01:05:24,267 --> 01:05:25,702
Only artificial.

1540
01:05:25,702 --> 01:05:27,606
You'll never truly have it.

1541
01:05:27,606 --> 01:05:29,538
Until you're recreated.

1542
01:05:29,538 --> 01:05:32,092
You see, the whole thing here is,

1543
01:05:32,092 --> 01:05:36,465
we're not just recreated on an individual basis.

1544
01:05:36,465 --> 01:05:38,608
We're recreated as a people.

1545
01:05:38,608 --> 01:05:41,963
He's uniting together those in heaven and those on earth.

1546
01:05:41,963 --> 01:05:44,496
Uniting two people into one.

1547
01:05:44,496 --> 01:05:47,441
He's constructing a temple.

1548
01:05:47,441 --> 01:05:49,581
And He's uniting all the people.

1549
01:05:49,581 --> 01:05:51,759
They're being joined together.

1550
01:05:51,759 --> 01:05:55,365
We're being fit as components,

1551
01:05:55,365 --> 01:05:59,459
as parts, as stones in this structure.

1552
01:05:59,459 --> 01:06:00,642
One at a time.

1553
01:06:00,642 --> 01:06:03,215
The whole thing is one great big massive

1554
01:06:03,215 --> 01:06:05,897
renewed structure.

1555
01:06:05,897 --> 01:06:07,578
The temple of God.

1556
01:06:07,578 --> 01:06:10,415
The dwelling place of God.

1557
01:06:10,415 --> 01:06:15,131
Christ Himself is our peace.

1558
01:06:15,131 --> 01:06:18,481
Amen.(P)

1559
01:06:18,481 --> 01:06:21,539
Father, we ask

1560
01:06:21,539 --> 01:06:23,870
that this very creative power

1561
01:06:23,870 --> 01:06:26,992
of our Lord Jesus Christ

1562
01:06:26,992 --> 01:06:29,217
would be demonstrated in uniting,

1563
01:06:29,217 --> 01:06:30,648
as we've prayed oftentimes,

1564
01:06:30,648 --> 01:06:32,072
but we pray it again, Lord,

1565
01:06:32,072 --> 01:06:34,716
unite the people of God.

1566
01:06:34,716 --> 01:06:36,772
Unite us, Lord.

1567
01:06:36,772 --> 01:06:38,980
No matter what part of the city we come from.

1568
01:06:38,980 --> 01:06:41,324
No matter what kind of family we come from.

1569
01:06:41,324 --> 01:06:43,907
No matter what kind of sins we come from in our past.

1570
01:06:43,907 --> 01:06:45,921
No matter what we might have been called

1571
01:06:45,921 --> 01:06:47,463
in our former days.

1572
01:06:47,463 --> 01:06:49,695
No matter what might have been true of us then.

1573
01:06:49,695 --> 01:06:51,680
No matter what our religion might have been then.

1574
01:06:51,680 --> 01:06:53,476
No matter what our morality might have been.

1575
01:06:53,476 --> 01:06:55,198
Lord, no matter what,

1576
01:06:55,198 --> 01:06:58,107
we pray that these people,

1577
01:06:58,107 --> 01:06:59,950
the elect of God,

1578
01:06:59,950 --> 01:07:03,017
of all classes, of all strata, of all economic,

1579
01:07:03,017 --> 01:07:05,011
social position...

1580
01:07:05,011 --> 01:07:08,316
Lord, bring us together as one.

1581
01:07:08,316 --> 01:07:10,203
Destroy the enmity.

1582
01:07:10,203 --> 01:07:15,805
Christ, we are told in His flesh,

1583
01:07:15,805 --> 01:07:18,380
destroys the hostility.

1584
01:07:18,380 --> 01:07:21,649
Breaks down the dividing wall of hostility.

1585
01:07:21,649 --> 01:07:23,622
We pray that that reality would be

1586
01:07:23,622 --> 01:07:25,216
ever so marked and clear.

1587
01:07:25,216 --> 01:07:29,103
May the love of this one new man,

1588
01:07:29,103 --> 01:07:31,395
this united humanity,

1589
01:07:31,395 --> 01:07:33,214
this new humanity,

1590
01:07:33,214 --> 01:07:36,975
in Christ - no longer in Adam,

1591
01:07:36,975 --> 01:07:43,150
Lord, may the love of Christ constrain us

1592
01:07:43,150 --> 01:07:44,880
to unity,

1593
01:07:44,880 --> 01:07:46,558
and to a love for one another.

1594
01:07:46,558 --> 01:07:49,380
We pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

1595
01:07:49,380 --> 01:07:50,133
Amen.