Title: Man's Fundamental Need Is Peace With God Meta: Are you at peace? You don't want to get to your death bed, and find there is no rest, no peace. Is there rest, is there peace between you and God? Or is your life not at rest? Jesus says, "Come!" and there is no one more qualified to come and preach peace. He's the very one that made peace between God and man. He took all that hostility, He took all the severe punishment for all those sins; so that we would have peace with God. Tags: peace,Ephesians,believer,Tim Conway,Christian 1 00:00:00,735 --> 00:00:07,015 Ephesians 2:17 2 00:00:07,015 --> 00:00:09,464 "And he came and preached peace to you 3 00:00:09,464 --> 00:00:10,630 who were far off 4 00:00:10,630 --> 00:00:13,654 and peace to those who were near." 5 00:00:13,654 --> 00:00:15,323 Now, if you look at v. 18. 6 00:00:15,323 --> 00:00:18,249 "For through Him, we both have access 7 00:00:18,249 --> 00:00:20,095 in one Spirit to the Father." 8 00:00:20,095 --> 00:00:23,021 I have been looking very forward 9 00:00:23,021 --> 00:00:27,128 to getting to verse 18. 10 00:00:27,128 --> 00:00:36,363 And I thought, oh, there's not much in v. 17. 11 00:00:36,363 --> 00:00:40,012 I'm just going to make some brief comments on that 12 00:00:40,012 --> 00:00:42,918 and move directly on to v. 18, 13 00:00:42,918 --> 00:00:45,045 which I've been anticipating. 14 00:00:45,045 --> 00:00:47,291 I mean, how much can we say about this, right? 15 00:00:47,291 --> 00:00:48,906 "He came and preached peace 16 00:00:48,906 --> 00:00:50,441 to you who were far off 17 00:00:50,441 --> 00:00:55,282 and peace to those who were near." 18 00:00:55,282 --> 00:00:58,863 Now, the "far off," they're the Gentiles. 19 00:00:58,863 --> 00:01:00,272 We've been looking at this. 20 00:01:00,272 --> 00:01:02,099 Those who are "near," the Jews. 21 00:01:02,099 --> 00:01:05,486 The "He" - "He came and preached peace..." 22 00:01:05,486 --> 00:01:07,320 We know who that is 23 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:10,363 all the way back from v. 13. 24 00:01:10,363 --> 00:01:12,170 "We've been brought near 25 00:01:12,170 --> 00:01:14,226 by the blood of Christ." 26 00:01:14,226 --> 00:01:19,351 Christ, right there, answers to all these pronouns. 27 00:01:19,351 --> 00:01:21,292 The "He's," the "Him's," 28 00:01:21,292 --> 00:01:23,762 that we keep getting through all of these verses 29 00:01:23,762 --> 00:01:26,580 goes back to that noun right there: 30 00:01:26,580 --> 00:01:28,065 Christ. 31 00:01:28,065 --> 00:01:31,699 He Himself (v. 14) is our peace. 32 00:01:31,699 --> 00:01:34,314 He made us both one. 33 00:01:34,314 --> 00:01:36,424 He has broken down in His flesh 34 00:01:36,424 --> 00:01:37,885 the dividing wall of hostility 35 00:01:37,885 --> 00:01:39,739 by abolishing the law of commandments 36 00:01:39,739 --> 00:01:41,282 expressed in ordinances. 37 00:01:41,282 --> 00:01:43,546 He might create in Himself one new man 38 00:01:43,546 --> 00:01:45,715 in place of the two, so making peace. 39 00:01:45,715 --> 00:01:47,769 He might reconcile us both to God 40 00:01:47,769 --> 00:01:49,247 in one body through the cross 41 00:01:49,247 --> 00:01:50,955 thereby killing the hostility. 42 00:01:50,955 --> 00:01:55,719 And He - Christ - came and preached peace 43 00:01:55,719 --> 00:01:57,075 to you who were far off 44 00:01:57,075 --> 00:01:58,791 and peace to those who were near. 45 00:01:58,791 --> 00:02:00,283 And again in v. 18, 46 00:02:00,283 --> 00:02:03,338 for through Him - Christ - 47 00:02:03,338 --> 00:02:05,614 we both have access in one Spirit 48 00:02:05,614 --> 00:02:06,468 to the Father. 49 00:02:06,468 --> 00:02:07,982 By the way, v. 18, 50 00:02:07,982 --> 00:02:09,905 one of the classic texts 51 00:02:09,905 --> 00:02:17,422 that just resounds with Trinity. 52 00:02:17,422 --> 00:02:20,301 So Christ came. 53 00:02:20,301 --> 00:02:22,445 He preached to the Gentiles 54 00:02:22,445 --> 00:02:23,526 who were far off 55 00:02:23,526 --> 00:02:26,985 and preached peace to the Jews. 56 00:02:26,985 --> 00:02:30,504 So yes, there is it. Great. Ok. 57 00:02:30,504 --> 00:02:33,390 Let's move on. 58 00:02:33,390 --> 00:02:36,607 But you know, 59 00:02:36,607 --> 00:02:41,379 I got looking at that text. 60 00:02:41,379 --> 00:02:45,700 There were three different things 61 00:02:45,700 --> 00:02:50,493 that kind of pulled at me here. 62 00:02:50,493 --> 00:02:51,935 And then I recognized that 63 00:02:51,935 --> 00:02:58,663 I couldn't just run past this. 64 00:02:58,663 --> 00:03:00,513 One of the things was this: 65 00:03:00,513 --> 00:03:03,332 I knew looking forward 66 00:03:03,332 --> 00:03:07,953 that Ephesians 2:17 is actually 67 00:03:07,953 --> 00:03:10,776 not original with Paul. 68 00:03:10,776 --> 00:03:15,069 In fact, right in that area where John was 69 00:03:15,069 --> 00:03:16,506 in the first hour, 70 00:03:16,506 --> 00:03:19,765 this comes from Isaiah 57. 71 00:03:19,765 --> 00:03:22,722 And so, I was just thinking, 72 00:03:22,722 --> 00:03:26,951 does Isaiah have anything to contribute to this, 73 00:03:26,951 --> 00:03:30,188 since that's where that text comes from. 74 00:03:30,188 --> 00:03:32,675 But you know the further I got looking into it, 75 00:03:32,675 --> 00:03:34,566 the more I started asking the question 76 00:03:34,566 --> 00:03:37,605 does Paul have anything to contribute to Isaiah? 77 00:03:37,605 --> 00:03:42,797 Which I think they both contribute to each other. 78 00:03:42,797 --> 00:03:48,210 The second thing that kind of bothered me 79 00:03:48,210 --> 00:03:59,156 is, "He came and preached peace to you." 80 00:03:59,156 --> 00:04:04,627 Well, who is Paul speaking to originally? 81 00:04:04,627 --> 00:04:08,216 The Ephesians. 82 00:04:08,216 --> 00:04:15,459 When did Christ preach to the Ephesians? 83 00:04:15,459 --> 00:04:21,225 But then there's something else in this verse. 84 00:04:21,225 --> 00:04:26,113 It tells us man's fundamental need 85 00:04:26,113 --> 00:04:30,495 is peace with God. 86 00:04:30,495 --> 00:04:34,272 Do we really know that? 87 00:04:34,272 --> 00:04:39,950 So, those three aspects of this verse, 88 00:04:39,950 --> 00:04:46,074 I want us to explore before we move on to v. 18, 89 00:04:46,074 --> 00:04:49,851 Lord willing, whenever I preach next. 90 00:04:49,851 --> 00:04:53,068 Maybe four weeks from today. 91 00:04:53,068 --> 00:04:55,246 So the first thing is 92 00:04:55,246 --> 00:04:59,116 these words come from Isaiah 57. 93 00:04:59,116 --> 00:05:03,647 So, let's go back there. 94 00:05:03,647 --> 00:05:06,710 Let's see what Isaiah has to say. 95 00:05:06,710 --> 00:05:15,322 Isaiah 57 96 00:05:15,322 --> 00:05:21,196 And you'll notice v. 19. 97 00:05:21,196 --> 00:05:23,474 Now, my ESV starts with 98 00:05:23,474 --> 00:05:27,850 "creating the fruit of the lips," 99 00:05:27,850 --> 00:05:33,729 which kind of ties it back with v. 18. 100 00:05:33,729 --> 00:05:38,590 But some translations basically start anew. 101 00:05:38,590 --> 00:05:40,829 They put a semi-colon at the end of this 102 00:05:40,829 --> 00:05:42,318 instead of a period, 103 00:05:42,318 --> 00:05:45,962 and they connect it with v. 19. 104 00:05:45,962 --> 00:05:51,587 God creates the fruit of the lips. 105 00:05:51,587 --> 00:05:54,758 In fact, that's just an odd saying anyway. 106 00:05:54,758 --> 00:05:57,584 Creating the fruit of the lips. 107 00:05:57,584 --> 00:06:00,716 What does that have to do with? 108 00:06:00,716 --> 00:06:02,513 V. 18, "I have seen his ways, 109 00:06:02,513 --> 00:06:03,738 but I will heal him. 110 00:06:03,738 --> 00:06:05,894 I will lead him and restore comfort to him 111 00:06:05,894 --> 00:06:06,747 and his mourners, 112 00:06:06,747 --> 00:06:09,270 creating the fruit of the lips." 113 00:06:09,270 --> 00:06:11,428 Perhaps, it's those mourners there. 114 00:06:11,428 --> 00:06:15,321 It's creating praise. 115 00:06:15,321 --> 00:06:17,167 But you go on from that. 116 00:06:17,167 --> 00:06:20,802 "Peace, peace, to the far and to the near." 117 00:06:20,802 --> 00:06:24,012 Now, I recognize Paul's not exactly quoting this, 118 00:06:24,012 --> 00:06:26,501 but obviously, this is where this comes from. 119 00:06:26,501 --> 00:06:29,526 Peace to the far and to the near. 120 00:06:29,526 --> 00:06:32,386 And Paul gives it to us in that exact order. 121 00:06:32,386 --> 00:06:34,249 The far - those who were far off, 122 00:06:34,249 --> 00:06:35,444 and the near. 123 00:06:35,444 --> 00:06:38,829 Christ came and preached peace. 124 00:06:38,829 --> 00:06:44,736 ..."says the Lord, 'and I will heal him.'" 125 00:06:44,736 --> 00:06:47,928 In fact, let's capture maybe even 126 00:06:47,928 --> 00:06:50,196 some broader context here. 127 00:06:50,196 --> 00:06:52,987 Go back to v. 16. 128 00:06:52,987 --> 00:06:55,411 "'For I will not contend forever, 129 00:06:55,411 --> 00:06:58,239 nor will I always be angry. 130 00:06:58,239 --> 00:07:00,600 For the spirit would grow faint before Me 131 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,618 and the breath of life that I made, 132 00:07:02,618 --> 00:07:05,492 because of the iniquity of his unjust gain 133 00:07:05,492 --> 00:07:06,281 I was angry. 134 00:07:06,281 --> 00:07:07,441 I struck him. 135 00:07:07,441 --> 00:07:09,329 I hid My face and was angry. 136 00:07:09,329 --> 00:07:11,859 But he went on backsliding in the way 137 00:07:11,859 --> 00:07:14,306 of his own heart. 138 00:07:14,306 --> 00:07:17,595 I've seen his ways, 139 00:07:17,595 --> 00:07:20,235 but I will heal him. 140 00:07:20,235 --> 00:07:22,350 I will lead him 141 00:07:22,350 --> 00:07:25,434 and restore comfort to him and his mourners, 142 00:07:25,434 --> 00:07:27,497 creating the fruit of the lips. 143 00:07:27,497 --> 00:07:32,365 Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,' 144 00:07:32,365 --> 00:07:33,498 says the Lord, 145 00:07:33,498 --> 00:07:36,065 'and I will heal him. 146 00:07:36,065 --> 00:07:38,925 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, 147 00:07:38,925 --> 00:07:40,598 for it cannot be quiet, 148 00:07:40,598 --> 00:07:47,046 and its waters toss up mire and dirt. 149 00:07:47,046 --> 00:07:55,197 There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked.'" 150 00:07:55,197 --> 00:07:56,756 As I read this over and over, 151 00:07:56,756 --> 00:07:57,718 you know what? 152 00:07:57,718 --> 00:08:01,676 One thing struck me. 153 00:08:01,676 --> 00:08:07,674 In v. 19, it's that word "him," 154 00:08:07,674 --> 00:08:09,402 at the end. 155 00:08:09,402 --> 00:08:12,492 It's not the pronoun that we expect. 156 00:08:12,492 --> 00:08:13,862 Now, look at it. 157 00:08:13,862 --> 00:08:18,423 "'Peace, peace to the far 158 00:08:18,423 --> 00:08:20,270 and to the near,' says the Lord. 159 00:08:20,270 --> 00:08:25,054 'And I will heal him.'" 160 00:08:25,054 --> 00:08:28,857 Those who are far plus those who are near 161 00:08:28,857 --> 00:08:31,211 is plural. 162 00:08:31,211 --> 00:08:33,989 The far, the near. 163 00:08:33,989 --> 00:08:40,902 And yet, the pronoun is singular. 164 00:08:40,902 --> 00:08:45,069 But you see what happens here. 165 00:08:45,069 --> 00:08:46,325 Here's what happens. 166 00:08:46,325 --> 00:08:49,428 The Lord takes all those who are far, 167 00:08:49,428 --> 00:08:51,211 all those who are near, 168 00:08:51,211 --> 00:08:54,162 and He lumps them together 169 00:08:54,162 --> 00:08:59,551 into one particular person: 170 00:08:59,551 --> 00:09:02,861 This "him." 171 00:09:02,861 --> 00:09:06,094 Who is that? 172 00:09:06,094 --> 00:09:07,464 Now, here's the thing, 173 00:09:07,464 --> 00:09:11,276 if you're an Old Testament Jew, 174 00:09:11,276 --> 00:09:12,823 or even a New Testament Jew, 175 00:09:12,823 --> 00:09:14,007 if you're a Jew, 176 00:09:14,007 --> 00:09:15,761 undoubtedly you read this 177 00:09:15,761 --> 00:09:18,487 and the "him" is Israel. 178 00:09:18,487 --> 00:09:19,776 Undoubtedly. 179 00:09:19,776 --> 00:09:23,395 The far, the near, and we can sum it all up 180 00:09:23,395 --> 00:09:25,172 in this one "him," 181 00:09:25,172 --> 00:09:27,312 this one particular person. 182 00:09:27,312 --> 00:09:29,457 And undoubtedly when Jews read this, 183 00:09:29,457 --> 00:09:31,896 it represents Israel. 184 00:09:31,896 --> 00:09:34,092 The far and the near in their thinking 185 00:09:34,092 --> 00:09:36,217 would have described Jews 186 00:09:36,217 --> 00:09:39,626 and their proximity to the land of Canaan 187 00:09:39,626 --> 00:09:42,065 or to Jerusalem or to the temple. 188 00:09:42,065 --> 00:09:44,825 And this would have seemed 189 00:09:44,825 --> 00:09:46,840 all the more applicable 190 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:48,420 when you think about the Jews. 191 00:09:48,420 --> 00:09:50,556 You remember, those in the Northern kingdom 192 00:09:50,556 --> 00:09:52,675 got hauled away by Assyria. 193 00:09:52,675 --> 00:09:54,932 Later, those in the Southern kingdom 194 00:09:54,932 --> 00:09:56,664 got hauled away by Babylon. 195 00:09:56,664 --> 00:10:00,374 And under Cyrus, and after that, 196 00:10:00,374 --> 00:10:03,353 different waves - you remember Ezra and Nehemiah - 197 00:10:03,353 --> 00:10:06,449 different waves of Jews came back into Canaan, 198 00:10:06,449 --> 00:10:09,236 and yet some stayed in Babylon. 199 00:10:09,236 --> 00:10:12,430 They were scattered among the nations. 200 00:10:12,430 --> 00:10:14,903 And undoubtedly, a Jew looking at this 201 00:10:14,903 --> 00:10:16,860 would have thought, the far, the near, 202 00:10:16,860 --> 00:10:20,543 the "him" is representative of Israel 203 00:10:20,543 --> 00:10:23,948 and the far are Jews that are far away 204 00:10:23,948 --> 00:10:25,925 and the near, well, they're the Jews 205 00:10:25,925 --> 00:10:27,087 that have come back. 206 00:10:27,087 --> 00:10:27,811 They're near. 207 00:10:27,811 --> 00:10:30,815 They're in the land of Canaan. 208 00:10:30,815 --> 00:10:33,957 And the wicked of v. 20 209 00:10:33,957 --> 00:10:36,688 is in the estimation of Jews, 210 00:10:36,688 --> 00:10:40,372 the raging sea and all the vast humanity. 211 00:10:40,372 --> 00:10:41,749 Who would that be? 212 00:10:41,749 --> 00:10:42,989 That would be the nations. 213 00:10:42,989 --> 00:10:44,318 That would be the Gentiles. 214 00:10:44,318 --> 00:10:45,380 They're the wicked. 215 00:10:45,380 --> 00:10:47,034 They're the ones on the outside. 216 00:10:47,034 --> 00:10:48,741 They're the ones who know not God. 217 00:10:48,741 --> 00:10:50,511 And you know what's interesting? 218 00:10:50,511 --> 00:10:52,861 See, it's not so much, I think, 219 00:10:52,861 --> 00:10:56,007 that Isaiah has a lot to contribute to Paul, 220 00:10:56,007 --> 00:10:58,732 as much as Paul has a lot to contribute 221 00:10:58,732 --> 00:11:00,421 back here, right? 222 00:11:00,421 --> 00:11:06,353 Because, we find this singular usage 223 00:11:06,353 --> 00:11:07,988 to describe the people of God 224 00:11:07,988 --> 00:11:09,931 right there in Ephesians 2. 225 00:11:09,931 --> 00:11:10,940 You say what? 226 00:11:10,940 --> 00:11:14,302 One new man in place of the two. 227 00:11:14,302 --> 00:11:19,905 The far, the near, comprise one new man. 228 00:11:19,905 --> 00:11:24,787 It's singular. 229 00:11:24,787 --> 00:11:28,009 Now that's interesting. 230 00:11:28,009 --> 00:11:32,277 Because it kind of moves everything around for us. 231 00:11:32,277 --> 00:11:37,962 What the far off are are the Gentiles. 232 00:11:37,962 --> 00:11:40,489 What the near are are the Jews. 233 00:11:40,489 --> 00:11:42,112 And the wicked? 234 00:11:42,112 --> 00:11:44,641 The wicked are Jews and Gentiles 235 00:11:44,641 --> 00:11:47,620 who reject Jesus Christ. 236 00:11:47,620 --> 00:11:51,116 Christian, what this does 237 00:11:51,116 --> 00:11:56,281 is it allows us to read Isaiah with the right eyes. 238 00:11:56,281 --> 00:11:59,835 You see, this isn't inapplicable to us. 239 00:11:59,835 --> 00:12:02,957 This "him" is us. 240 00:12:02,957 --> 00:12:05,168 And Christian, you can read this 241 00:12:05,168 --> 00:12:07,236 and personalize this. 242 00:12:07,236 --> 00:12:09,547 Look at v. 18-19. 243 00:12:09,547 --> 00:12:10,943 Just read this. 244 00:12:10,943 --> 00:12:13,052 "I have seen his ways." 245 00:12:13,052 --> 00:12:19,144 The "his," the "him," is this one particular person 246 00:12:19,144 --> 00:12:22,148 who makes up the far and the near. 247 00:12:22,148 --> 00:12:23,723 That's the one new man. 248 00:12:23,723 --> 00:12:24,990 That's us. 249 00:12:24,990 --> 00:12:26,055 Think about this. 250 00:12:26,055 --> 00:12:29,347 "I have seen his ways." 251 00:12:29,347 --> 00:12:31,635 He's not talking about good ways. 252 00:12:31,635 --> 00:12:34,080 He's talking about our bad ways. 253 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:35,835 Because you see, it's in contrast. 254 00:12:35,835 --> 00:12:38,659 "But" - that indicates contrast. 255 00:12:38,659 --> 00:12:40,217 "But, I will heal him..." 256 00:12:40,217 --> 00:12:42,899 Even though I have seen the things 257 00:12:42,899 --> 00:12:48,414 that were done by him. 258 00:12:48,414 --> 00:12:49,874 That's us. 259 00:12:49,874 --> 00:12:51,021 The far and the near. 260 00:12:51,021 --> 00:12:56,120 Even though He's seen what we've done, 261 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:57,808 "'I will heal him. 262 00:12:57,808 --> 00:12:59,345 I will lead him. 263 00:12:59,345 --> 00:13:02,276 Restore comfort to him and his mourners. 264 00:13:02,276 --> 00:13:04,202 Creating the fruit of the lips. 265 00:13:04,202 --> 00:13:07,138 Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,' 266 00:13:07,138 --> 00:13:08,585 says the Lord. 267 00:13:08,585 --> 00:13:10,044 'And I will heal him.'" 268 00:13:10,044 --> 00:13:11,138 Now, let's go back to 269 00:13:11,138 --> 00:13:12,900 the creating the fruit of the lips. 270 00:13:12,900 --> 00:13:15,661 Again, you know what, Paul helps us here. 271 00:13:15,661 --> 00:13:17,764 This is the fruit of whose lips? 272 00:13:17,764 --> 00:13:19,311 Now, you may jump in and say, 273 00:13:19,311 --> 00:13:21,283 I think it's the fruit of the lips 274 00:13:21,283 --> 00:13:23,902 of the mourners there 275 00:13:23,902 --> 00:13:26,112 at the end of the previous verse. 276 00:13:26,112 --> 00:13:29,553 But you know, if you listen to Paul, 277 00:13:29,553 --> 00:13:34,403 Paul says Christ came and spoke this. 278 00:13:34,403 --> 00:13:37,229 This is the proclamation of the Savior. 279 00:13:37,229 --> 00:13:38,898 He came and preached peace. 280 00:13:38,898 --> 00:13:41,564 It seems the fruit here is the fruit 281 00:13:41,564 --> 00:13:43,270 of the Savior's lips. 282 00:13:43,270 --> 00:13:46,508 He comes to a soul and says, 283 00:13:46,508 --> 00:13:52,272 "Peace. Be still. Peace." 284 00:13:52,272 --> 00:13:55,529 Are you ever so far? 285 00:13:55,529 --> 00:13:58,285 Have your sins taken you far, far away 286 00:13:58,285 --> 00:14:00,359 out to the uttermost extremities? 287 00:14:00,359 --> 00:14:02,325 What you get is this fruit. 288 00:14:02,325 --> 00:14:03,920 There's fruit for you to eat. 289 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:05,710 Fruit from the Savior's lips. 290 00:14:05,710 --> 00:14:07,329 Peace, peace... 291 00:14:07,329 --> 00:14:08,739 not like that original fruit 292 00:14:08,739 --> 00:14:10,239 that we were forbidden to eat. 293 00:14:10,239 --> 00:14:12,272 This is fruit that you're bidden to eat. 294 00:14:12,272 --> 00:14:13,869 Eat to the full. 295 00:14:13,869 --> 00:14:16,866 Peace. Peace. 296 00:14:16,866 --> 00:14:19,488 And these wicked, look at v. 20-21. 297 00:14:19,488 --> 00:14:22,887 "'But the wicked are like the tossing sea. 298 00:14:22,887 --> 00:14:24,917 For it cannot be quiet 299 00:14:24,917 --> 00:14:28,118 and its waters toss up mire and dirt. 300 00:14:28,118 --> 00:14:30,517 There is no peace,' says my Lord, 301 00:14:30,517 --> 00:14:31,748 'for the wicked.'" 302 00:14:31,748 --> 00:14:33,354 Here's the contrast. 303 00:14:33,354 --> 00:14:38,086 "But, the wicked..." 304 00:14:38,086 --> 00:14:41,646 You can see this hurricane comes 305 00:14:41,646 --> 00:14:44,142 and the waters - what a picture! 306 00:14:44,142 --> 00:14:47,637 It's the waters of the wicked humanity 307 00:14:47,637 --> 00:14:48,492 out there. 308 00:14:48,492 --> 00:14:50,814 Just all foaming and troubled 309 00:14:50,814 --> 00:14:52,896 and the restless sea 310 00:14:52,896 --> 00:14:55,988 whose waters, they cast up mire and dirt. 311 00:14:55,988 --> 00:14:57,362 This is all of humanity. 312 00:14:57,362 --> 00:14:59,238 Just mire and dirt. 313 00:14:59,238 --> 00:15:02,067 All the world John was talking about. 314 00:15:02,067 --> 00:15:07,093 This world, he came at it from a certain angle, 315 00:15:07,093 --> 00:15:08,345 all the suffering, 316 00:15:08,345 --> 00:15:09,445 all the wickedness, 317 00:15:09,445 --> 00:15:11,110 all that's going on, 318 00:15:11,110 --> 00:15:12,597 all the rottenness. 319 00:15:12,597 --> 00:15:16,724 Brethren, this is just a picture of unrest. 320 00:15:16,724 --> 00:15:19,583 It's a picture of dirt and mire coming up. 321 00:15:19,583 --> 00:15:23,569 When they talk about the waters that gush in. 322 00:15:23,569 --> 00:15:25,034 John went to the Philippines, 323 00:15:25,034 --> 00:15:26,499 and the team went over there 324 00:15:26,499 --> 00:15:28,027 after that typhoon hit. 325 00:15:28,027 --> 00:15:29,604 And you know, you listen to them. 326 00:15:29,604 --> 00:15:31,840 Those waters that come in, 327 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,016 it's not clean. 328 00:15:34,016 --> 00:15:38,047 It's all full of blackness and dirt. 329 00:15:38,047 --> 00:15:39,908 You heard about the team over there 330 00:15:39,908 --> 00:15:40,962 in Houston. 331 00:15:40,962 --> 00:15:44,174 And all the waters, they're full of sewage. 332 00:15:44,174 --> 00:15:45,529 This is the picture. 333 00:15:45,529 --> 00:15:48,493 It's all foaming. 334 00:15:48,493 --> 00:15:50,855 This is a picture of man that 335 00:15:50,855 --> 00:15:53,073 is not at peace with God. 336 00:15:53,073 --> 00:15:54,789 Man is restless like the sea. 337 00:15:54,789 --> 00:15:56,951 And brethren, I'm not talking to people 338 00:15:56,951 --> 00:15:58,166 who don't know that. 339 00:15:58,166 --> 00:16:00,106 Because some of you are still restless. 340 00:16:00,106 --> 00:16:02,345 And all of us that are converted in this place, 341 00:16:02,345 --> 00:16:03,844 we've come from that. 342 00:16:03,844 --> 00:16:06,001 We came where that was true. 343 00:16:06,001 --> 00:16:07,148 No peace. 344 00:16:07,148 --> 00:16:08,113 No rest. 345 00:16:08,113 --> 00:16:10,891 We tried to drown it out. 346 00:16:10,891 --> 00:16:12,245 Joshua would tell us 347 00:16:12,245 --> 00:16:13,597 that when he was lost, 348 00:16:13,597 --> 00:16:15,854 he just constantly needed music in his ears. 349 00:16:15,854 --> 00:16:17,397 But that was like so many of us. 350 00:16:17,397 --> 00:16:18,821 We just needed noise. 351 00:16:18,821 --> 00:16:20,228 Always noise. 352 00:16:20,228 --> 00:16:22,539 We needed something to drown it out. 353 00:16:22,539 --> 00:16:23,291 Why? 354 00:16:23,291 --> 00:16:26,262 Because the silence - there's an emptiness. 355 00:16:26,262 --> 00:16:28,108 There's a gnawing sense. 356 00:16:28,108 --> 00:16:29,868 The problem is, brethren, 357 00:16:29,868 --> 00:16:32,456 man has a memory of how he was 358 00:16:32,456 --> 00:16:33,693 originally created, 359 00:16:33,693 --> 00:16:35,208 and you can't get away from it. 360 00:16:35,208 --> 00:16:36,572 Because Scripture tells us 361 00:16:36,572 --> 00:16:38,543 we've got eternity written in our hearts. 362 00:16:38,543 --> 00:16:40,765 And Scripture tells us we've got a conscience. 363 00:16:40,765 --> 00:16:42,707 And Scripture tells us we've got 364 00:16:42,707 --> 00:16:43,952 a memory of God. 365 00:16:43,952 --> 00:16:45,729 Oh, we may seek to suppress it, 366 00:16:45,729 --> 00:16:48,483 but there is this sense of God. 367 00:16:48,483 --> 00:16:50,314 And even the atheist, he knows 368 00:16:50,314 --> 00:16:52,395 in his heart as he tries to suppress it. 369 00:16:52,395 --> 00:16:53,739 And no matter how we try 370 00:16:53,739 --> 00:16:55,131 to suppress everything, 371 00:16:55,131 --> 00:16:57,106 we have to stare straight in the face 372 00:16:57,106 --> 00:16:59,605 of the fact that death is coming. 373 00:16:59,605 --> 00:17:01,780 And there's just unrest inside. 374 00:17:01,780 --> 00:17:03,408 And even though we know it's true. 375 00:17:03,408 --> 00:17:04,618 You can talk to somebody, 376 00:17:04,618 --> 00:17:06,342 and they may weep 377 00:17:06,342 --> 00:17:07,597 and they may recognize 378 00:17:07,597 --> 00:17:09,812 that there's truth in what you're saying, 379 00:17:09,812 --> 00:17:11,553 but they love their sin 380 00:17:11,553 --> 00:17:13,705 and they're just torn in their unrest, 381 00:17:13,705 --> 00:17:15,666 and they're going to go drink of it. 382 00:17:15,666 --> 00:17:17,888 And yet, there they'd partied all night long 383 00:17:17,888 --> 00:17:20,087 and then they have to wake up in the morning 384 00:17:20,087 --> 00:17:23,997 in unrest and hollow and gnawing. 385 00:17:23,997 --> 00:17:25,675 Or even the religious person - 386 00:17:25,675 --> 00:17:27,394 the churches are filled today - 387 00:17:27,394 --> 00:17:28,456 when is it enough? 388 00:17:28,456 --> 00:17:31,107 When is it enough? 389 00:17:31,107 --> 00:17:34,300 We need to do more! We need to do more! 390 00:17:34,300 --> 00:17:36,225 It's like the rich, young ruler. 391 00:17:36,225 --> 00:17:37,870 What good thing must I do? 392 00:17:37,870 --> 00:17:39,415 Even though, in his estimation, 393 00:17:39,415 --> 00:17:40,543 he'd kept all the law. 394 00:17:40,543 --> 00:17:43,398 Something was gnawing in the religionist. 395 00:17:43,398 --> 00:17:44,826 Something is always gnawing. 396 00:17:44,826 --> 00:17:46,989 We've got to go do. We've got to do. 397 00:17:46,989 --> 00:17:49,734 Always panting after some new thing. 398 00:17:49,734 --> 00:17:52,293 Something always - we're reaching. 399 00:17:52,293 --> 00:17:54,382 Brethren, isn't it like that? 400 00:17:54,382 --> 00:17:56,368 Our life was always like that. 401 00:17:56,368 --> 00:17:58,239 Always unsatisfied. 402 00:17:58,239 --> 00:18:00,915 Just casting up dirt and filth 403 00:18:00,915 --> 00:18:02,948 and unsatisfied and empty. 404 00:18:02,948 --> 00:18:05,296 And it's like there's something, 405 00:18:05,296 --> 00:18:07,072 we know, something somewhere 406 00:18:07,072 --> 00:18:11,221 is going to satisfy us. 407 00:18:11,221 --> 00:18:14,690 But we couldn't get it... 408 00:18:14,690 --> 00:18:17,914 Until Christ came 409 00:18:17,914 --> 00:18:26,736 and He spoke "Peace, peace." 410 00:18:26,736 --> 00:18:31,651 Always trying to escape the restlessness. 411 00:18:31,651 --> 00:18:33,863 All of life and all our ways 412 00:18:33,863 --> 00:18:37,721 just cast up dirt. 413 00:18:37,721 --> 00:18:39,712 Dirt. 414 00:18:39,712 --> 00:18:43,350 Always unsettled. 415 00:18:43,350 --> 00:18:45,183 You can see the waves 416 00:18:45,183 --> 00:18:48,362 just in turmoil. 417 00:18:48,362 --> 00:18:52,457 The thing that I ask is, 418 00:18:52,457 --> 00:18:58,498 ok, wait, how were the people in v. 20-21 419 00:18:58,498 --> 00:19:04,240 different than the people in v. 16-18. 420 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:06,479 The "him." 421 00:19:06,479 --> 00:19:08,289 Because God says I will not 422 00:19:08,289 --> 00:19:09,596 always be angry. 423 00:19:09,596 --> 00:19:11,506 In other words, I was angry with them. 424 00:19:11,506 --> 00:19:13,031 Why? For their sin. 425 00:19:13,031 --> 00:19:16,195 For their wickedness. 426 00:19:16,195 --> 00:19:19,232 V. 17 Because of the iniquity, 427 00:19:19,232 --> 00:19:20,544 I was angry. 428 00:19:20,544 --> 00:19:21,536 I struck him. 429 00:19:21,536 --> 00:19:22,698 I hid My face. 430 00:19:22,698 --> 00:19:24,100 You see all the anger? 431 00:19:24,100 --> 00:19:27,659 How's that different? 432 00:19:27,659 --> 00:19:30,109 It's like it describes these people 433 00:19:30,109 --> 00:19:31,929 in these earlier verses, 434 00:19:31,929 --> 00:19:33,704 but when you get to the last two, 435 00:19:33,704 --> 00:19:35,552 it's like it goes to somebody else. 436 00:19:35,552 --> 00:19:41,372 Yeah, but wait, what's the difference here? 437 00:19:41,372 --> 00:19:44,787 I think it probably is that word there 438 00:19:44,787 --> 00:19:49,258 at the end of v. 18. 439 00:19:49,258 --> 00:19:53,556 "I will lead him and restore comfort to him." 440 00:19:53,556 --> 00:19:55,445 But the "him" here is described 441 00:19:55,445 --> 00:19:58,006 as having his mourners. 442 00:19:58,006 --> 00:19:59,204 Didn't Jesus say, 443 00:19:59,204 --> 00:20:02,872 "Blessed are those who mourn"? 444 00:20:02,872 --> 00:20:04,949 I think that's the real issue. 445 00:20:04,949 --> 00:20:07,828 If you're happy in your sin, 446 00:20:07,828 --> 00:20:09,951 you're happy with the dirt, 447 00:20:09,951 --> 00:20:11,495 you're happy with the filth 448 00:20:11,495 --> 00:20:13,504 and the mire always being tossed up 449 00:20:13,504 --> 00:20:14,407 in your life. 450 00:20:14,407 --> 00:20:18,109 If you're happy and content to live without God 451 00:20:18,109 --> 00:20:19,639 and to live without Christ, 452 00:20:19,639 --> 00:20:24,556 then you're in this category. 453 00:20:24,556 --> 00:20:26,066 But you know what? 454 00:20:26,066 --> 00:20:31,132 If the happiness and enjoyment is gone, 455 00:20:31,132 --> 00:20:34,756 guilt, shame, remorse, the dirt, the mire, 456 00:20:34,756 --> 00:20:37,032 they're choking you. 457 00:20:37,032 --> 00:20:40,385 You see yourself as some unclean thing 458 00:20:40,385 --> 00:20:42,787 and you're mourning for healing. 459 00:20:42,787 --> 00:20:44,105 That's what you're wanting. 460 00:20:44,105 --> 00:20:47,580 Then hear the fruit of the Savior's lips. 461 00:20:47,580 --> 00:20:53,784 He speaks, "peace." 462 00:20:53,784 --> 00:20:56,355 Not just peace. 463 00:20:56,355 --> 00:21:00,327 Peace, peace. 464 00:21:00,327 --> 00:21:05,038 It's emphatic. 465 00:21:05,038 --> 00:21:08,890 I will give you rest. 466 00:21:08,890 --> 00:21:18,407 Peace, peace. Rest, rest. 467 00:21:18,407 --> 00:21:23,913 And, the thing is, 468 00:21:23,913 --> 00:21:26,701 Christ says back in Ephesians 2, 469 00:21:26,701 --> 00:21:29,434 He Himself is our peace. 470 00:21:29,434 --> 00:21:33,617 He's made peace by the blood of His cross. 471 00:21:33,617 --> 00:21:36,371 So that's the first thing. 472 00:21:36,371 --> 00:21:38,532 Isaiah 57. 473 00:21:38,532 --> 00:21:48,465 So let's go back to Ephesians 2. 474 00:21:48,465 --> 00:21:50,972 Here's the next thing. 475 00:21:50,972 --> 00:21:52,980 Here's another question. 476 00:21:52,980 --> 00:21:55,316 The first one was how does Isaiah help us. 477 00:21:55,316 --> 00:22:01,480 The second one was this: 478 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,795 When did Christ preach peace 479 00:22:03,795 --> 00:22:08,867 to those far off and to those near? 480 00:22:08,867 --> 00:22:10,126 Look at the text. 481 00:22:10,126 --> 00:22:12,516 "He came and preached peace 482 00:22:12,516 --> 00:22:14,685 to you who were far off 483 00:22:14,685 --> 00:22:17,431 and peace to those who were near." 484 00:22:17,431 --> 00:22:21,627 Now, three things bothered me about this. 485 00:22:21,627 --> 00:22:24,665 One is the apparent sequence. 486 00:22:24,665 --> 00:22:26,301 You say, what do you mean? 487 00:22:26,301 --> 00:22:28,155 I mean basically this, 488 00:22:28,155 --> 00:22:30,795 v. 16 right before it 489 00:22:30,795 --> 00:22:33,797 is Jesus Christ reconciling us 490 00:22:33,797 --> 00:22:36,398 by going to the cross. 491 00:22:36,398 --> 00:22:40,342 And then you get this conjunction: "and... 492 00:22:40,342 --> 00:22:43,275 He came and preached peace 493 00:22:43,275 --> 00:22:46,384 to you who were far off..." 494 00:22:46,384 --> 00:22:49,059 Well, there seems to be an order. 495 00:22:49,059 --> 00:22:50,542 There seems to be a sequence. 496 00:22:50,542 --> 00:22:51,522 Cross first. 497 00:22:51,522 --> 00:22:53,359 Then He came preaching. 498 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:55,024 But, I would just ask this, 499 00:22:55,024 --> 00:22:56,620 did Jesus die on the cross 500 00:22:56,620 --> 00:22:58,516 then rise and go forth preaching 501 00:22:58,516 --> 00:23:03,299 to the Gentiles? 502 00:23:03,299 --> 00:23:05,969 After the cross, Jesus was resurrected 503 00:23:05,969 --> 00:23:06,987 three days later. 504 00:23:06,987 --> 00:23:08,879 After 40 days, He ascended up 505 00:23:08,879 --> 00:23:10,657 to the right hand of His Father. 506 00:23:10,657 --> 00:23:12,239 Someone says, well, this isn't 507 00:23:12,239 --> 00:23:15,391 to be taken chronologically. 508 00:23:15,391 --> 00:23:17,520 This preaching to them obviously 509 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,494 had to do with that segment of His life 510 00:23:21,494 --> 00:23:25,022 where He had His preaching ministry. 511 00:23:25,022 --> 00:23:26,693 Perhaps. 512 00:23:26,693 --> 00:23:31,434 But then there's something else. 513 00:23:31,434 --> 00:23:35,418 Christ specifically, 514 00:23:35,418 --> 00:23:38,151 during His preaching ministry, 515 00:23:38,151 --> 00:23:41,715 He specifically pointed out 516 00:23:41,715 --> 00:23:47,381 that He was not sent to preach 517 00:23:47,381 --> 00:23:49,650 to the Gentiles. 518 00:23:49,650 --> 00:23:52,144 Remember what He said to the Syrophoenician woman 519 00:23:52,144 --> 00:23:54,200 when she was looking for 520 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,673 the crumbs that fell from the table? 521 00:23:56,673 --> 00:23:59,234 He said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep 522 00:23:59,234 --> 00:24:00,692 of the house of Israel." 523 00:24:00,692 --> 00:24:02,275 And in Matthew 10, 524 00:24:02,275 --> 00:24:04,480 when Jesus sent the Twelve out, 525 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,858 He says, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles. 526 00:24:06,858 --> 00:24:08,766 Enter no town of the Samaritans. 527 00:24:08,766 --> 00:24:10,326 But go rather to the lost sheep 528 00:24:10,326 --> 00:24:11,487 of the house of Israel." 529 00:24:11,487 --> 00:24:13,190 You see, the problem is if we say, 530 00:24:13,190 --> 00:24:14,986 it's not to be taken chronologically, 531 00:24:14,986 --> 00:24:17,719 it's during His preaching ministry, 532 00:24:17,719 --> 00:24:21,453 I would say, yeah, but during His preaching ministry 533 00:24:21,453 --> 00:24:23,278 He made it a point to say 534 00:24:23,278 --> 00:24:28,280 I'm not sent to the Gentiles. 535 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:30,128 Somebody says, yeah, but in John 4 536 00:24:30,128 --> 00:24:31,881 didn't He go to the Samaritans? 537 00:24:31,881 --> 00:24:33,672 I mean, even though He said that, 538 00:24:33,672 --> 00:24:35,352 weren't there some exceptions? 539 00:24:35,352 --> 00:24:38,722 Didn't He actually bless the Syrophoenician woman? 540 00:24:38,722 --> 00:24:41,770 Weren't there some exceptions? 541 00:24:41,770 --> 00:24:44,533 Well, perhaps. 542 00:24:44,533 --> 00:24:47,532 But there's one more thing here. 543 00:24:47,532 --> 00:24:49,894 Notice the wording of Ephesians 2:17 544 00:24:49,894 --> 00:24:51,042 very carefully. 545 00:24:51,042 --> 00:24:54,823 "He came and preached peace... 546 00:24:54,823 --> 00:24:58,016 to you." 547 00:24:58,016 --> 00:24:59,631 Paul isn't saying that Jesus came 548 00:24:59,631 --> 00:25:01,222 and preached to the Samaritans. 549 00:25:01,222 --> 00:25:02,884 He specifically says that Jesus 550 00:25:02,884 --> 00:25:06,976 came and preached peace 551 00:25:06,976 --> 00:25:12,646 to you Ephesians who were far off. 552 00:25:12,646 --> 00:25:16,458 And the pronoun is there. 553 00:25:16,458 --> 00:25:17,887 Paul's being very specific. 554 00:25:17,887 --> 00:25:20,494 He came and preached to you, 555 00:25:20,494 --> 00:25:23,102 Ephesians. 556 00:25:23,102 --> 00:25:24,897 Well, I mean, Jesus had never been 557 00:25:24,897 --> 00:25:26,535 to Ephesus. 558 00:25:26,535 --> 00:25:27,840 It certainly cannot be said 559 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,261 that Jesus personally during His earthly ministry 560 00:25:30,261 --> 00:25:31,957 came to Ephesus and preached peace 561 00:25:31,957 --> 00:25:33,744 to these folks. 562 00:25:33,744 --> 00:25:35,800 But here's the thing. 563 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,543 Peace was preached to these people. 564 00:25:39,543 --> 00:25:40,781 We know it was. 565 00:25:40,781 --> 00:25:42,720 Otherwise they wouldn't be Christians. 566 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,318 Paul wouldn't be writing to them 567 00:25:44,318 --> 00:25:47,291 in the fashion he's writing to them. 568 00:25:47,291 --> 00:25:52,179 Here's the thing. 569 00:25:52,179 --> 00:25:55,635 Where do we find the Gospel first going 570 00:25:55,635 --> 00:25:57,018 to Ephesus? 571 00:25:57,018 --> 00:26:05,137 Does anybody know where? 572 00:26:05,137 --> 00:26:07,600 Acts. 573 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:10,125 Maybe actually the first time is Acts 18. 574 00:26:10,125 --> 00:26:12,860 But here's the thing about the book of Acts. 575 00:26:12,860 --> 00:26:15,709 In fact, turn to the book of Acts. 576 00:26:15,709 --> 00:26:19,648 Listen to how this book starts. 577 00:26:19,648 --> 00:26:27,421 Acts 1:1-2 578 00:26:27,421 --> 00:26:34,997 Brethren, I want you to capture this. 579 00:26:34,997 --> 00:26:39,387 See Acts 18, 19 - the Gospel 580 00:26:39,387 --> 00:26:42,483 goes to Ephesus for the first time. 581 00:26:42,483 --> 00:26:44,017 People are converted. 582 00:26:44,017 --> 00:26:47,070 A church is being built up. 583 00:26:47,070 --> 00:26:51,429 But notice the account of Acts 584 00:26:51,429 --> 00:26:53,688 as it starts. 585 00:26:53,688 --> 00:26:56,196 "In the first book, O Theophilus, 586 00:26:56,196 --> 00:26:57,947 I have dealt with..." 587 00:26:57,947 --> 00:26:59,193 Now notice these words. 588 00:26:59,193 --> 00:27:02,804 "...all that Jesus began to do and teach." 589 00:27:02,804 --> 00:27:04,266 Now just let that sink in. 590 00:27:04,266 --> 00:27:07,795 The first book - that's Luke's Gospel. 591 00:27:07,795 --> 00:27:09,902 Luke wrote two books. 592 00:27:09,902 --> 00:27:14,964 He wrote the Gospel of Luke (part 1); 593 00:27:14,964 --> 00:27:21,440 the book of Acts (part 2). 594 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,162 Theophilus - what I wrote in the first volume, 595 00:27:25,162 --> 00:27:27,777 in my first treatise, 596 00:27:27,777 --> 00:27:33,415 that's what Jesus "began to do and teach." 597 00:27:33,415 --> 00:27:35,325 All that Jesus began - 598 00:27:35,325 --> 00:27:36,909 do you know what that means? 599 00:27:36,909 --> 00:27:38,474 He's not finished! 600 00:27:38,474 --> 00:27:40,680 The Lord Jesus is going on with His work. 601 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,521 Listen, Theophilus, I have a whole other volume 602 00:27:43,521 --> 00:27:44,596 to write to you. 603 00:27:44,596 --> 00:27:46,330 I told you in that first treatise 604 00:27:46,330 --> 00:27:49,449 about what Jesus began to do. 605 00:27:49,449 --> 00:27:52,394 You've heard that. You've read that. 606 00:27:52,394 --> 00:27:53,927 But now, I'm going to go on. 607 00:27:53,927 --> 00:27:55,284 Now, I'm going to tell you 608 00:27:55,284 --> 00:27:56,579 that there's more. 609 00:27:56,579 --> 00:27:58,553 I want to tell you what the risen Christ 610 00:27:58,553 --> 00:27:59,927 continues to do. 611 00:27:59,927 --> 00:28:02,026 He's seated at the right hand of God 612 00:28:02,026 --> 00:28:03,876 in eternal glory. 613 00:28:03,876 --> 00:28:07,402 Brethren, hear His words! 614 00:28:07,402 --> 00:28:10,088 Go into all the nations. 615 00:28:10,088 --> 00:28:11,927 Why? On what basis? 616 00:28:11,927 --> 00:28:14,177 He said all authority, all power 617 00:28:14,177 --> 00:28:15,774 has been given unto Me, 618 00:28:15,774 --> 00:28:17,240 committed to Me 619 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:19,486 in Heaven and on earth. 620 00:28:19,486 --> 00:28:21,370 Therefore, go. 621 00:28:21,370 --> 00:28:22,348 Why? 622 00:28:22,348 --> 00:28:23,945 Because I'm going to be with you 623 00:28:23,945 --> 00:28:25,620 until the end of the age. 624 00:28:25,620 --> 00:28:26,757 What does that mean? 625 00:28:26,757 --> 00:28:28,319 It means He's still working. 626 00:28:28,319 --> 00:28:30,000 He's working through His church. 627 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:31,473 He continues to work. 628 00:28:31,473 --> 00:28:33,163 He goes on working. 629 00:28:33,163 --> 00:28:34,714 And on and on working. 630 00:28:34,714 --> 00:28:37,615 Because Christ is not done working. 631 00:28:37,615 --> 00:28:39,672 Therefore, we go. 632 00:28:39,672 --> 00:28:41,100 The whole idea here is 633 00:28:41,100 --> 00:28:42,802 that when we proclaim the Gospel, 634 00:28:42,802 --> 00:28:44,087 He proclaims it. 635 00:28:44,087 --> 00:28:45,472 When we send a missionary, 636 00:28:45,472 --> 00:28:47,258 if you look at Acts 13, 637 00:28:47,258 --> 00:28:49,169 that church at Antioch sent out 638 00:28:49,169 --> 00:28:50,411 Paul and Barnabas. 639 00:28:50,411 --> 00:28:52,791 But it also says the Spirit sent them out. 640 00:28:52,791 --> 00:28:55,483 You see, it's in coordination. 641 00:28:55,483 --> 00:28:57,560 He's working through us. 642 00:28:57,560 --> 00:28:58,823 When a church is planted, 643 00:28:58,823 --> 00:29:00,120 He does the work. 644 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:01,980 Brethren, if a church gets planted, 645 00:29:01,980 --> 00:29:04,057 if people get converted and are added 646 00:29:04,057 --> 00:29:06,367 to a church over in Nepal, 647 00:29:06,367 --> 00:29:07,715 we can look at that and say 648 00:29:07,715 --> 00:29:09,075 the Lord builds the house. 649 00:29:09,075 --> 00:29:11,360 Because we labor in vain if He does not do that. 650 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:12,737 This is Him working. 651 00:29:12,737 --> 00:29:14,988 The book of Acts is Christ working. 652 00:29:14,988 --> 00:29:16,592 It is the risen Christ working. 653 00:29:16,592 --> 00:29:17,731 You remember, 654 00:29:17,731 --> 00:29:19,591 you remember they went to 655 00:29:19,591 --> 00:29:20,569 the Beautiful Gate, 656 00:29:20,569 --> 00:29:22,264 and the man is jumping and leaping, 657 00:29:22,264 --> 00:29:23,723 shouting for joy, 658 00:29:23,723 --> 00:29:24,760 and they said, 659 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:29,712 we didn't do that. 660 00:29:29,712 --> 00:29:31,390 That's the whole idea here. 661 00:29:31,390 --> 00:29:33,472 Did somebody preach to the Ephesians? 662 00:29:33,472 --> 00:29:35,210 You better believe somebody preached 663 00:29:35,210 --> 00:29:38,722 to the Ephesians. 664 00:29:38,722 --> 00:29:41,023 It can be said that Christ preached 665 00:29:41,023 --> 00:29:42,268 to the Ephesians, 666 00:29:42,268 --> 00:29:43,913 because He's the One that matters. 667 00:29:43,913 --> 00:29:44,859 It's His voice. 668 00:29:44,859 --> 00:29:46,526 It's them hearing His voice. 669 00:29:46,526 --> 00:29:47,514 He does the work. 670 00:29:47,514 --> 00:29:49,294 He has the authority to do the work. 671 00:29:49,294 --> 00:29:51,137 Brethren, we need to once and forever 672 00:29:51,137 --> 00:29:52,639 get past this idea that 673 00:29:52,639 --> 00:29:55,715 it's the politicians that run this world. 674 00:29:55,715 --> 00:29:57,914 Don't worry about who the president is! 675 00:29:57,914 --> 00:30:00,172 We know Who sits on the throne, brethren. 676 00:30:00,172 --> 00:30:01,681 And He is working. 677 00:30:01,681 --> 00:30:03,406 And we're watching Him work. 678 00:30:03,406 --> 00:30:06,728 And we, of all churches in this world, 679 00:30:06,728 --> 00:30:10,514 we can say, yes, we have seen His hand; 680 00:30:10,514 --> 00:30:11,983 such things have happened 681 00:30:11,983 --> 00:30:13,412 as we could have never done 682 00:30:13,412 --> 00:30:14,428 in our own strength; 683 00:30:14,428 --> 00:30:16,590 we could have never done with our own wisdom. 684 00:30:16,590 --> 00:30:18,533 We would have never figured out 685 00:30:18,533 --> 00:30:21,512 (incomplete thought) 686 00:30:21,512 --> 00:30:25,025 Brethren, we look at this thing and we say 687 00:30:25,025 --> 00:30:26,574 Praise the Lord! 688 00:30:26,574 --> 00:30:28,421 Praise Him for His excellent glory! 689 00:30:28,421 --> 00:30:30,264 Praise Him that He does work 690 00:30:30,264 --> 00:30:31,318 through His people! 691 00:30:31,318 --> 00:30:32,801 That's the basis upon which 692 00:30:32,801 --> 00:30:34,280 we are to go forward. 693 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:35,025 Why? 694 00:30:35,025 --> 00:30:37,332 Because, Theophilus, He began to work, 695 00:30:37,332 --> 00:30:38,680 but He wasn't done. 696 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:40,809 And He's working through His church now. 697 00:30:40,809 --> 00:30:42,274 And He's given His Spirit. 698 00:30:42,274 --> 00:30:43,867 And there is great power! 699 00:30:43,867 --> 00:30:45,444 And remember the promise: 700 00:30:45,444 --> 00:30:47,127 The works that I do, you will do. 701 00:30:47,127 --> 00:30:49,172 And greater works than these, you will do. 702 00:30:49,172 --> 00:30:49,897 How? 703 00:30:49,897 --> 00:30:50,754 Because of Him! 704 00:30:50,754 --> 00:30:51,931 Not in our own strength. 705 00:30:51,931 --> 00:30:53,003 Not in our own wisdom. 706 00:30:53,003 --> 00:30:54,079 Not in our own might. 707 00:30:54,079 --> 00:30:56,194 Brethren, consider your calling. 708 00:30:56,194 --> 00:30:58,399 He purposely picks a bunch of backwards people 709 00:30:58,399 --> 00:31:00,150 so that He might get all the glory. 710 00:31:00,150 --> 00:31:01,975 He puts all of this in broken vessels. 711 00:31:01,975 --> 00:31:03,863 Just clay pots. Why? 712 00:31:03,863 --> 00:31:05,601 That He may get all the glory. 713 00:31:05,601 --> 00:31:07,559 Paul hits on that in 2 Corinthians. 714 00:31:07,559 --> 00:31:09,503 Does he not? 715 00:31:09,503 --> 00:31:11,780 Oh brethren, Christ has all the authority 716 00:31:11,780 --> 00:31:12,990 in Heaven and on earth. 717 00:31:12,990 --> 00:31:14,470 Not Donald Trump. 718 00:31:14,470 --> 00:31:16,667 Not the leaders of the nations. 719 00:31:16,667 --> 00:31:18,459 Don't worry about that! 720 00:31:18,459 --> 00:31:20,249 His Kingdom is moving forward. 721 00:31:20,249 --> 00:31:22,229 And He is working. 722 00:31:22,229 --> 00:31:23,534 The people that were 723 00:31:23,534 --> 00:31:25,125 in the political positions 724 00:31:25,125 --> 00:31:26,544 back in the early church, 725 00:31:26,544 --> 00:31:27,965 what were they doing? 726 00:31:27,965 --> 00:31:30,585 Pilate, Herod, Caesar. 727 00:31:30,585 --> 00:31:32,366 Just look - it's no different today. 728 00:31:32,366 --> 00:31:35,205 And yet, here this band of people, 729 00:31:35,205 --> 00:31:37,130 120 - a little group of people. 730 00:31:37,130 --> 00:31:38,455 They're going to come down 731 00:31:38,455 --> 00:31:39,766 and they're going to preach 732 00:31:39,766 --> 00:31:41,251 that this dead Jewish carpenter 733 00:31:41,251 --> 00:31:42,537 came to life. 734 00:31:42,537 --> 00:31:44,790 It turned the world upside down. 735 00:31:44,790 --> 00:31:47,003 That's what we read about in Scripture. 736 00:31:47,003 --> 00:31:48,386 He promises to be with us 737 00:31:48,386 --> 00:31:50,225 and help us and work through us. 738 00:31:50,225 --> 00:31:52,862 Brethren, He said, you go wait 739 00:31:52,862 --> 00:31:54,366 in Jerusalem, 740 00:31:54,366 --> 00:31:57,369 and you will receive power from on high. 741 00:31:57,369 --> 00:32:00,102 And the Spirit of God is going to come upon you. 742 00:32:00,102 --> 00:32:03,002 And you're going to be My witnesses. 743 00:32:03,002 --> 00:32:05,083 He empowers the message. 744 00:32:05,083 --> 00:32:06,978 Why do we pray before I come up here 745 00:32:06,978 --> 00:32:07,869 and preach? 746 00:32:07,869 --> 00:32:09,297 I'm asking the Lord for help. 747 00:32:09,297 --> 00:32:10,665 Why? Because it's Him! 748 00:32:10,665 --> 00:32:11,843 It's Him, brethren. 749 00:32:11,843 --> 00:32:14,455 We've been watching people get converted. 750 00:32:14,455 --> 00:32:16,515 It's not because they hear my voice 751 00:32:16,515 --> 00:32:17,728 or any man's voice. 752 00:32:17,728 --> 00:32:20,178 It's because they hear God's voice in that. 753 00:32:20,178 --> 00:32:21,805 That is the reality, brethren. 754 00:32:21,805 --> 00:32:23,230 You remember how it is there 755 00:32:23,230 --> 00:32:24,173 at the end of Mark. 756 00:32:24,173 --> 00:32:25,196 "Then the Lord Jesus, 757 00:32:25,196 --> 00:32:26,624 after He had spoken to them, 758 00:32:26,624 --> 00:32:27,826 was taking up into heaven 759 00:32:27,826 --> 00:32:29,888 and sat down at the right hand of God, 760 00:32:29,888 --> 00:32:33,286 and they went out and preached everywhere 761 00:32:33,286 --> 00:32:37,169 while the Lord worked with them." 762 00:32:37,169 --> 00:32:39,478 That's it. 763 00:32:39,478 --> 00:32:41,200 Or how about this? 764 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:43,510 We're ambassadors for Christ, 765 00:32:43,510 --> 00:32:48,963 God making His appeal through us. 766 00:32:48,963 --> 00:32:50,820 We implore you on behalf of Christ, 767 00:32:50,820 --> 00:32:53,010 be reconciled to God. 768 00:32:53,010 --> 00:32:54,942 See, it's on behalf of Christ. 769 00:32:54,942 --> 00:32:58,598 And God speaks through us. 770 00:32:58,598 --> 00:33:00,032 That's the reality. 771 00:33:00,032 --> 00:33:02,494 Our message is to be regarded 772 00:33:02,494 --> 00:33:04,590 as a message from Christ Himself. 773 00:33:04,590 --> 00:33:06,763 Brethren, do you recognize when you preach 774 00:33:06,763 --> 00:33:07,781 out on these streets, 775 00:33:07,781 --> 00:33:09,793 or you take those tracts over to Houston, 776 00:33:09,793 --> 00:33:11,598 or you're teaching your children - 777 00:33:11,598 --> 00:33:14,780 mothers - when you speak this Gospel 778 00:33:14,780 --> 00:33:16,616 and the truth from these words, 779 00:33:16,616 --> 00:33:18,553 Christ is speaking. 780 00:33:18,553 --> 00:33:19,571 Christ. 781 00:33:19,571 --> 00:33:21,170 It is that authority, brethren. 782 00:33:21,170 --> 00:33:22,760 It is the message of God. 783 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,313 When we speak, it is Christ Who speaks. 784 00:33:25,313 --> 00:33:26,854 What we say to this world 785 00:33:26,854 --> 00:33:29,938 is declared by His name, 786 00:33:29,938 --> 00:33:32,080 by His authority. 787 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:33,179 That's what happens. 788 00:33:33,179 --> 00:33:35,377 The Gospel of peace that we hold forth 789 00:33:35,377 --> 00:33:39,489 is to be received with the respect 790 00:33:39,489 --> 00:33:41,262 that's due from a message that comes 791 00:33:41,262 --> 00:33:42,723 directly from God. 792 00:33:42,723 --> 00:33:44,604 Do you recognize that, brethren? 793 00:33:44,604 --> 00:33:46,173 Do you recognize that? 794 00:33:46,173 --> 00:33:48,854 Do you know that in Scripture, 795 00:33:48,854 --> 00:33:52,014 when Jesus upbraided or denounced 796 00:33:52,014 --> 00:33:55,039 those cities that did not believe in Him 797 00:33:55,039 --> 00:33:57,271 after all the mighty works that He did, 798 00:33:57,271 --> 00:33:58,722 do you know He said to them 799 00:33:58,722 --> 00:34:00,395 it is going to be more tolerable 800 00:34:00,395 --> 00:34:02,205 for Sodom in the day of judgment 801 00:34:02,205 --> 00:34:03,287 than for you. 802 00:34:03,287 --> 00:34:05,845 But do you know when He sent the Twelve out, 803 00:34:05,845 --> 00:34:09,507 He said if the people don't listen to you, 804 00:34:09,507 --> 00:34:11,284 it's going to be more tolerable 805 00:34:11,284 --> 00:34:13,815 in the day of judgment for Sodom 806 00:34:13,815 --> 00:34:15,216 than for them. 807 00:34:15,216 --> 00:34:17,110 Do you recognize what He's saying? 808 00:34:17,110 --> 00:34:19,255 He is saying that the very same message 809 00:34:19,255 --> 00:34:21,727 they went with and people turning it down, 810 00:34:21,727 --> 00:34:23,458 it came with the same authority; 811 00:34:23,458 --> 00:34:24,995 it came with the same power; 812 00:34:24,995 --> 00:34:27,877 it came with the same urgency 813 00:34:27,877 --> 00:34:29,454 to be accepted. 814 00:34:29,454 --> 00:34:30,702 And if it's not, 815 00:34:30,702 --> 00:34:33,094 though it be spoken from the lips of His people, 816 00:34:33,094 --> 00:34:34,518 it is His message. 817 00:34:34,518 --> 00:34:36,047 It comes on His authority. 818 00:34:36,047 --> 00:34:39,725 And we can say it is Him Who is preaching. 819 00:34:39,725 --> 00:34:41,753 It is a message directly from God. 820 00:34:41,753 --> 00:34:44,446 We implore you on behalf of Christ, 821 00:34:44,446 --> 00:34:48,426 be ye reconciled to God. 822 00:34:48,426 --> 00:34:50,788 This fills this message that we speak 823 00:34:50,788 --> 00:34:52,696 with infinite importance. 824 00:34:52,696 --> 00:34:54,932 It makes it a fearful thing to reject it. 825 00:34:54,932 --> 00:34:56,903 And brethren, you know as well as I do 826 00:34:56,903 --> 00:34:57,901 what Scripture says. 827 00:34:57,901 --> 00:35:00,776 If our mouths go silent in proclaiming this message, 828 00:35:00,776 --> 00:35:02,915 we have to ask, 829 00:35:02,915 --> 00:35:04,424 how are they going to believe 830 00:35:04,424 --> 00:35:06,214 in a Christ they have never heard of? 831 00:35:06,214 --> 00:35:08,359 And how are they going to hear, brethren, 832 00:35:08,359 --> 00:35:11,578 unless somebody is going forth - 833 00:35:11,578 --> 00:35:13,635 and don't get hung up on the word "preach." 834 00:35:13,635 --> 00:35:15,464 It doesn't mean somebody standing 835 00:35:15,464 --> 00:35:16,479 in a pulpit. 836 00:35:16,479 --> 00:35:21,129 This is a word that means proclaim. 837 00:35:21,129 --> 00:35:23,289 That's the reality. 838 00:35:23,289 --> 00:35:26,445 So that's the second thing. 839 00:35:26,445 --> 00:35:30,374 The third thing here is this: 840 00:35:30,374 --> 00:35:34,612 Here's what jumps out at me. 841 00:35:34,612 --> 00:35:41,362 If Christ came and preached peace, 842 00:35:41,362 --> 00:35:45,759 that's a fundamental need. 843 00:35:45,759 --> 00:35:48,003 He came and preached peace 844 00:35:48,003 --> 00:35:51,037 to the far off and to the near. 845 00:35:51,037 --> 00:35:53,465 Why? 846 00:35:53,465 --> 00:35:56,800 Because peace is the thing most necessary. 847 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:58,997 It's the need of all men. 848 00:35:58,997 --> 00:36:01,920 Not just of some. 849 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:04,436 You're far off? You're near? 850 00:36:04,436 --> 00:36:06,216 You need peace. 851 00:36:06,216 --> 00:36:08,500 He came. 852 00:36:08,500 --> 00:36:09,773 That's the message. 853 00:36:09,773 --> 00:36:10,718 He came. 854 00:36:10,718 --> 00:36:12,339 Do you know where He came from? 855 00:36:12,339 --> 00:36:14,216 He came from the halls of glory. 856 00:36:14,216 --> 00:36:17,217 He came from dwelling in the presence 857 00:36:17,217 --> 00:36:18,205 of His Father. 858 00:36:18,205 --> 00:36:20,149 He came from Heaven. 859 00:36:20,149 --> 00:36:22,449 He came down. 860 00:36:22,449 --> 00:36:25,882 Scripture says here in Ephesians later on, 861 00:36:25,882 --> 00:36:28,480 He came to the lower parts of the earth. 862 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:29,478 He came. 863 00:36:29,478 --> 00:36:30,600 Why? 864 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:32,657 Do you know what? He did a lot of things, 865 00:36:32,657 --> 00:36:34,663 but He came with a message of peace. 866 00:36:34,663 --> 00:36:37,325 That's why He came. 867 00:36:37,325 --> 00:36:39,501 That's why He's here. 868 00:36:39,501 --> 00:36:41,720 He came from outside this world. 869 00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:42,919 He came with a message 870 00:36:42,919 --> 00:36:44,824 for our dark, depraved world. 871 00:36:44,824 --> 00:36:46,398 Brethren, He knew He was coming 872 00:36:46,398 --> 00:36:48,721 into a place where people do things 873 00:36:48,721 --> 00:36:49,894 and make sex slaves 874 00:36:49,894 --> 00:36:52,142 and do the things that John was talking about. 875 00:36:52,142 --> 00:36:53,426 He came into a world 876 00:36:53,426 --> 00:36:55,277 because He knew it was just like that. 877 00:36:55,277 --> 00:36:57,126 He knew that people killed each other. 878 00:36:57,126 --> 00:36:58,362 He knew there were wars. 879 00:36:58,362 --> 00:37:00,093 He knew there was slaughter. 880 00:37:00,093 --> 00:37:01,694 He knew there was ugliness. 881 00:37:01,694 --> 00:37:03,400 Man and his ugliness. 882 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:08,600 At his ugliest. 883 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:10,682 They spit on Him. 884 00:37:10,682 --> 00:37:14,155 I mean, You sent God. You sent the God-man 885 00:37:14,155 --> 00:37:17,940 with the radiance of the glory of God upon Him, 886 00:37:17,940 --> 00:37:19,482 and men spit on Him 887 00:37:19,482 --> 00:37:21,272 and they plucked His beard out. 888 00:37:21,272 --> 00:37:22,937 And they buffeted Him in the head. 889 00:37:22,937 --> 00:37:24,424 And they despised Him. 890 00:37:24,424 --> 00:37:25,712 And they hated Him. 891 00:37:25,712 --> 00:37:28,232 That's man at his best. 892 00:37:28,232 --> 00:37:30,272 So what will man do to each other? 893 00:37:30,272 --> 00:37:32,482 He says if they'll do this to the master, 894 00:37:32,482 --> 00:37:34,919 what are they going to do to us? 895 00:37:34,919 --> 00:37:37,256 If man will do that to Him, 896 00:37:37,256 --> 00:37:39,122 what will they do to each other? 897 00:37:39,122 --> 00:37:40,944 All we have to do is look around. 898 00:37:40,944 --> 00:37:43,128 They make sex slaves of each other. 899 00:37:43,128 --> 00:37:49,799 They kill. 900 00:37:49,799 --> 00:37:52,697 It's all this wickedness, 901 00:37:52,697 --> 00:37:57,173 just foaming and mire and filth. 902 00:37:57,173 --> 00:38:00,175 All this vast humanity. 903 00:38:00,175 --> 00:38:04,357 All the vast humanity. 904 00:38:04,357 --> 00:38:12,146 I looked at numerous videos. 905 00:38:12,146 --> 00:38:14,211 Especially like in the Virgin Islands 906 00:38:14,211 --> 00:38:15,516 and some of those places 907 00:38:15,516 --> 00:38:18,145 that took direct hits. 908 00:38:18,145 --> 00:38:19,873 You know how often the people 909 00:38:19,873 --> 00:38:22,740 profaned the name of God? 910 00:38:22,740 --> 00:38:27,041 Almost every single time. 911 00:38:27,041 --> 00:38:30,650 And Christ came down into this world. 912 00:38:30,650 --> 00:38:34,402 All this foaming mire and dirt 913 00:38:34,402 --> 00:38:37,327 and wickedness and discontent 914 00:38:37,327 --> 00:38:38,929 and man not satisfied, 915 00:38:38,929 --> 00:38:41,769 and always groping and hating God 916 00:38:41,769 --> 00:38:42,850 and back to God 917 00:38:42,850 --> 00:38:44,307 and running the other way. 918 00:38:44,307 --> 00:38:46,660 And Christ came into the midst of all of it. 919 00:38:46,660 --> 00:38:47,890 Isn't it amazing? 920 00:38:47,890 --> 00:38:49,630 He went to where the waves foamed 921 00:38:49,630 --> 00:38:51,000 and broke the worst - 922 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,030 right out into the midst of sinners 923 00:38:53,030 --> 00:38:56,701 and prostitutes and tax collectors. 924 00:38:56,701 --> 00:39:03,928 Peace. 925 00:39:03,928 --> 00:39:10,323 It's like Paul wants to sum it all up. 926 00:39:10,323 --> 00:39:13,780 Hm... if I'm just going to describe 927 00:39:13,780 --> 00:39:20,296 what Christ came to speak in one word: 928 00:39:20,296 --> 00:39:22,297 Peace. 929 00:39:22,297 --> 00:39:24,315 You say, there's a lot of things: 930 00:39:24,315 --> 00:39:25,857 the cross, 931 00:39:25,857 --> 00:39:27,665 the righteousness of God is revealed 932 00:39:27,665 --> 00:39:28,762 in the Gospel. 933 00:39:28,762 --> 00:39:30,256 Yes, all those things are true. 934 00:39:30,256 --> 00:39:35,594 But you want to sum it up into one word? 935 00:39:35,594 --> 00:39:37,498 There it is. 936 00:39:37,498 --> 00:39:39,417 We provoked Him. 937 00:39:39,417 --> 00:39:40,200 Think: 938 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:42,597 He came! He came! 939 00:39:42,597 --> 00:39:43,512 He knew. 940 00:39:43,512 --> 00:39:48,425 He looked. 941 00:39:48,425 --> 00:39:53,009 His Father says are You willing to go? 942 00:39:53,009 --> 00:39:54,226 I'm willing. 943 00:39:54,226 --> 00:39:56,760 Do You know what it will cost? 944 00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:58,399 I'm willing. 945 00:39:58,399 --> 00:40:01,060 I go. 946 00:40:01,060 --> 00:40:02,737 I'll take the message of peace. 947 00:40:02,737 --> 00:40:04,687 You know You're going to have to earn 948 00:40:04,687 --> 00:40:06,450 that peace for them. 949 00:40:06,450 --> 00:40:08,361 And the suffering is going to be untold. 950 00:40:08,361 --> 00:40:10,118 I'm going to put a cup to Your lips 951 00:40:10,118 --> 00:40:12,683 and You will drink every drop. 952 00:40:12,683 --> 00:40:13,979 I go. 953 00:40:13,979 --> 00:40:16,052 He came. 954 00:40:16,052 --> 00:40:19,695 He came. 955 00:40:19,695 --> 00:40:22,624 The Scripture talks about 956 00:40:22,624 --> 00:40:27,813 the chastisement for our peace. 957 00:40:27,813 --> 00:40:31,183 He took the severe punishment. 958 00:40:31,183 --> 00:40:33,123 Brethren, I know everybody in this room 959 00:40:33,123 --> 00:40:35,402 has an inner sense of God. 960 00:40:35,402 --> 00:40:38,174 We all do. 961 00:40:38,174 --> 00:40:40,597 For some of you, 962 00:40:40,597 --> 00:40:41,645 you don't like that. 963 00:40:41,645 --> 00:40:43,255 You're disturbed by it. 964 00:40:43,255 --> 00:40:49,975 But I ask everyone here, 965 00:40:49,975 --> 00:40:53,291 are you at peace? 966 00:40:53,291 --> 00:40:55,570 Because Jesus says, "Come unto Me, 967 00:40:55,570 --> 00:41:00,313 and I will give you rest." 968 00:41:00,313 --> 00:41:02,147 Be honest. 969 00:41:02,147 --> 00:41:04,704 Don't play here. 970 00:41:04,704 --> 00:41:07,295 You don't want to get to your deathbed 971 00:41:07,295 --> 00:41:09,342 and find there's no rest. 972 00:41:09,342 --> 00:41:13,463 There's no peace. 973 00:41:13,463 --> 00:41:15,137 Is there rest? 974 00:41:15,137 --> 00:41:19,038 Is there peace between you and God? 975 00:41:19,038 --> 00:41:20,340 Or do you feel it? 976 00:41:20,340 --> 00:41:23,912 Your life is not at rest. 977 00:41:23,912 --> 00:41:29,314 The dirt. The filth. The sin. 978 00:41:29,314 --> 00:41:34,839 The lust. The draw. 979 00:41:34,839 --> 00:41:37,828 Just the powerlessness. 980 00:41:37,828 --> 00:41:39,781 And yet, there's this tearing. 981 00:41:39,781 --> 00:41:45,170 I know what they preach here is true. 982 00:41:45,170 --> 00:41:47,933 But I want my sin. 983 00:41:47,933 --> 00:41:49,602 And there's just this unrest 984 00:41:49,602 --> 00:41:50,826 and there's this turmoil. 985 00:41:50,826 --> 00:41:52,453 And the devil will be right there. 986 00:41:52,453 --> 00:41:54,974 You don't have to deal with it today. 987 00:41:54,974 --> 00:41:57,064 Just tomorrow is ok. 988 00:41:57,064 --> 00:41:59,573 Tomorrow. 989 00:41:59,573 --> 00:42:04,485 Put it off... put it off... 990 00:42:04,485 --> 00:42:06,484 The thing is, 991 00:42:06,484 --> 00:42:07,751 people out in this world, 992 00:42:07,751 --> 00:42:09,113 they don't know it. 993 00:42:09,113 --> 00:42:11,447 They don't know this reality. 994 00:42:11,447 --> 00:42:13,142 They don't know about Christ. 995 00:42:13,142 --> 00:42:15,043 The world out there generally thinks, 996 00:42:15,043 --> 00:42:16,879 yes, there's turmoil, 997 00:42:16,879 --> 00:42:18,842 but it's my circumstances. 998 00:42:18,842 --> 00:42:19,941 It's my wife. 999 00:42:19,941 --> 00:42:22,503 I've got to get a different wife. 1000 00:42:22,503 --> 00:42:23,477 It's my boss. 1001 00:42:23,477 --> 00:42:26,491 Why'd I ever take this job? 1002 00:42:26,491 --> 00:42:28,680 Why'd I end up with children like this? 1003 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:33,089 Why'd I have to be born in Key West? 1004 00:42:33,089 --> 00:42:35,146 Now my house is gone. 1005 00:42:35,146 --> 00:42:36,942 It's all my circumstances. 1006 00:42:36,942 --> 00:42:38,610 They've caused me trouble. 1007 00:42:38,610 --> 00:42:40,302 I could be watching football. 1008 00:42:40,302 --> 00:42:42,167 Now I have to flee from my home. 1009 00:42:42,167 --> 00:42:44,631 It's all my circumstances. 1010 00:42:44,631 --> 00:42:47,341 My life stinks! 1011 00:42:47,341 --> 00:42:50,596 Oh, I just need a vacation. 1012 00:42:50,596 --> 00:42:54,045 I need to get away. 1013 00:42:54,045 --> 00:42:57,206 Everybody is convinced... 1014 00:42:57,206 --> 00:43:00,643 I need a little bit more money. 1015 00:43:00,643 --> 00:43:04,595 I need just a little bit better life. 1016 00:43:04,595 --> 00:43:10,259 Something else. 1017 00:43:10,259 --> 00:43:13,145 Brethren, Jesus has come 1018 00:43:13,145 --> 00:43:15,586 and there's no one more qualified 1019 00:43:15,586 --> 00:43:18,342 to come and preach peace. 1020 00:43:18,342 --> 00:43:20,217 He's the very One that made peace 1021 00:43:20,217 --> 00:43:21,920 between God and man, 1022 00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:24,318 and He took all that hostility. 1023 00:43:24,318 --> 00:43:26,296 He took the severe punishment. 1024 00:43:26,296 --> 00:43:27,976 And for all those sins. 1025 00:43:27,976 --> 00:43:29,672 I mean the bad ones. 1026 00:43:29,672 --> 00:43:32,053 The ones you don't want anybody to know. 1027 00:43:32,053 --> 00:43:36,575 The ones you're so ashamed of. 1028 00:43:36,575 --> 00:43:40,678 But the ones that look good too. 1029 00:43:40,678 --> 00:43:43,533 The ones that we can wear on the outside 1030 00:43:43,533 --> 00:43:46,426 and they're very much accepted by the world. 1031 00:43:46,426 --> 00:43:49,618 All our idolatry and all the covetousness. 1032 00:43:49,618 --> 00:43:54,684 All the hypocrisy and the religion. 1033 00:43:54,684 --> 00:43:55,616 All of it. 1034 00:43:55,616 --> 00:44:01,146 He became sin. 1035 00:44:01,146 --> 00:44:04,378 I'd just say this, 1036 00:44:04,378 --> 00:44:08,239 the far off, the near... 1037 00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:12,595 some of you, perhaps, 1038 00:44:12,595 --> 00:44:16,355 you're way out there. 1039 00:44:16,355 --> 00:44:20,330 You're right there at the gaping mouth of hell itself, 1040 00:44:20,330 --> 00:44:24,763 and you're just teetering over the edge. 1041 00:44:24,763 --> 00:44:27,451 You'd be so ashamed if people knew 1042 00:44:27,451 --> 00:44:29,821 what you have done. 1043 00:44:29,821 --> 00:44:32,478 In fact, to describe what you've done 1044 00:44:32,478 --> 00:44:34,976 is more animal than it is human. 1045 00:44:34,976 --> 00:44:40,044 It's more demonic. 1046 00:44:40,044 --> 00:44:41,755 If that's you, 1047 00:44:41,755 --> 00:44:43,650 you have to hear Him: 1048 00:44:43,650 --> 00:44:47,055 "Peace to you who are far off." 1049 00:44:47,055 --> 00:44:48,326 How far? 1050 00:44:48,326 --> 00:44:50,638 Far off. 1051 00:44:50,638 --> 00:44:53,040 You're way out there. 1052 00:44:53,040 --> 00:44:55,991 You say, after the things I've done? 1053 00:44:55,991 --> 00:44:58,278 Yeah, where does that put you? 1054 00:44:58,278 --> 00:44:59,461 A long way away. 1055 00:44:59,461 --> 00:45:04,402 But He preaches to you far off. 1056 00:45:04,402 --> 00:45:09,558 Peace. Be at peace. 1057 00:45:09,558 --> 00:45:11,199 Did you not see Me come? 1058 00:45:11,199 --> 00:45:13,258 I went among the most foul sinners 1059 00:45:13,258 --> 00:45:15,024 when I walked this earth. 1060 00:45:15,024 --> 00:45:17,167 And I declared peace to them. 1061 00:45:17,167 --> 00:45:19,571 And He says the tax collectors 1062 00:45:19,571 --> 00:45:20,783 and the prostitutes, 1063 00:45:20,783 --> 00:45:23,365 they're flowing into the Kingdom. 1064 00:45:23,365 --> 00:45:24,116 Why? 1065 00:45:24,116 --> 00:45:25,615 Because you can be out there 1066 00:45:25,615 --> 00:45:27,996 teetering on the very brink. 1067 00:45:27,996 --> 00:45:29,484 Any of you live lives like that 1068 00:45:29,484 --> 00:45:32,150 where you're just hellbound? 1069 00:45:32,150 --> 00:45:33,690 Hell-bent. 1070 00:45:33,690 --> 00:45:35,737 Teetering over that edge 1071 00:45:35,737 --> 00:45:37,850 and just playing with your soul. 1072 00:45:37,850 --> 00:45:40,825 Riding down the highway 140 miles an hour. 1073 00:45:40,825 --> 00:45:43,116 Or getting drunk... 1074 00:45:43,116 --> 00:45:45,044 and always living on the edge. 1075 00:45:45,044 --> 00:45:48,418 Just daring God to kill you. 1076 00:45:48,418 --> 00:45:50,581 And He calls you back from that edge. 1077 00:45:50,581 --> 00:45:52,964 He says, "Peace." 1078 00:45:52,964 --> 00:45:54,509 But then the near: 1079 00:45:54,509 --> 00:45:56,069 you know we have children here, 1080 00:45:56,069 --> 00:45:58,509 maybe you've been under conviction numerous times. 1081 00:45:58,509 --> 00:46:01,384 You remember the man there in Mark 12? 1082 00:46:01,384 --> 00:46:03,896 That question: what is the greatest commandment? 1083 00:46:03,896 --> 00:46:07,281 Jesus said loving God, loving your neighbor. 1084 00:46:07,281 --> 00:46:10,202 And that scribe said, "that's right, Lord." 1085 00:46:10,202 --> 00:46:13,371 He said, "you're not far from the Kingdom." 1086 00:46:13,371 --> 00:46:15,044 And we get people like that. 1087 00:46:15,044 --> 00:46:17,666 You haven't been out at the edge. 1088 00:46:17,666 --> 00:46:19,128 You've sat under the Word. 1089 00:46:19,128 --> 00:46:20,749 You've been exposed to it. 1090 00:46:20,749 --> 00:46:24,615 And you even have some liking to it. 1091 00:46:24,615 --> 00:46:26,185 You may be reading your Bible. 1092 00:46:26,185 --> 00:46:28,888 You may have come under conviction 1093 00:46:28,888 --> 00:46:29,895 at different times. 1094 00:46:29,895 --> 00:46:31,610 You're one of the ones that's near, 1095 00:46:31,610 --> 00:46:34,543 but you've never closed with Christ. 1096 00:46:34,543 --> 00:46:36,087 You've sought to be religious, 1097 00:46:36,087 --> 00:46:38,082 but you're like the rich, young ruler. 1098 00:46:38,082 --> 00:46:39,936 Ever so close. 1099 00:46:39,936 --> 00:46:42,970 Ever so moral. 1100 00:46:42,970 --> 00:46:47,987 But something is just not at rest. 1101 00:46:47,987 --> 00:46:49,977 You can be close. 1102 00:46:49,977 --> 00:46:51,256 But if you miss Christ, 1103 00:46:51,256 --> 00:46:52,651 no matter how close you are, 1104 00:46:52,651 --> 00:46:55,560 you've missed the bus. 1105 00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:57,590 But even you... 1106 00:46:57,590 --> 00:46:59,996 it's like yeah, but hypocrisy 1107 00:46:59,996 --> 00:47:03,685 and self-righteousness and religiosity. 1108 00:47:03,685 --> 00:47:06,474 But He says, "Come. 1109 00:47:06,474 --> 00:47:10,535 I call you just as well." 1110 00:47:10,535 --> 00:47:14,359 You're religious? 1111 00:47:14,359 --> 00:47:18,507 You're like Nicodemus - not like Zacchaeus? 1112 00:47:18,507 --> 00:47:21,113 Come. 1113 00:47:21,113 --> 00:47:23,718 Far off. Near. 1114 00:47:23,718 --> 00:47:28,118 Come. 1115 00:47:28,118 --> 00:47:30,106 Peace. 1116 00:47:30,106 --> 00:47:31,918 Remember what He said to that storm? 1117 00:47:31,918 --> 00:47:34,997 Peace. Be still. 1118 00:47:34,997 --> 00:47:37,559 And it was calm. 1119 00:47:37,559 --> 00:47:39,111 And many of us in this room, 1120 00:47:39,111 --> 00:47:40,406 we know that. 1121 00:47:40,406 --> 00:47:44,587 Our lives just foaming and filth and dirt 1122 00:47:44,587 --> 00:47:46,753 and muck and mire 1123 00:47:46,753 --> 00:47:51,855 and waves and restlessness... 1124 00:47:51,855 --> 00:47:58,017 Oh, those Sunday mornings, 1125 00:47:58,017 --> 00:48:02,726 hungover and this gnawing. 1126 00:48:02,726 --> 00:48:04,797 No rest. 1127 00:48:04,797 --> 00:48:07,174 The best thing to do is to get as sober 1128 00:48:07,174 --> 00:48:10,049 as I can so I can go drink more 1129 00:48:10,049 --> 00:48:13,851 and just not have to think about it. 1130 00:48:13,851 --> 00:48:16,147 Just put on a movie. 1131 00:48:16,147 --> 00:48:20,053 Just get to noon so there can be football on 1132 00:48:20,053 --> 00:48:23,187 so I can just forget this gnawing. 1133 00:48:23,187 --> 00:48:24,977 I've got to get with my friends. 1134 00:48:24,977 --> 00:48:26,071 Let's get high. 1135 00:48:26,071 --> 00:48:29,969 Do something. Something. 1136 00:48:29,969 --> 00:48:33,039 For some, it's I've to get to church. 1137 00:48:33,039 --> 00:48:35,701 I've got to get to church. 1138 00:48:35,701 --> 00:48:40,890 I just talked with a sister a week and a half ago 1139 00:48:40,890 --> 00:48:43,716 that we actually baptized. 1140 00:48:43,716 --> 00:48:45,348 She was just saying she felt like 1141 00:48:45,348 --> 00:48:46,798 she needed to get to church. 1142 00:48:46,798 --> 00:48:48,559 She needed to do the religious thing. 1143 00:48:48,559 --> 00:48:50,472 She had to keep going; had to keep going. 1144 00:48:50,472 --> 00:48:52,338 To me it was get to the football game. 1145 00:48:52,338 --> 00:48:53,976 Get to where I could drink again 1146 00:48:53,976 --> 00:48:55,487 and not throw up. 1147 00:48:55,487 --> 00:48:58,064 And she's like I've got to get to church. 1148 00:48:58,064 --> 00:49:00,633 Brethren, whether it's far off 1149 00:49:00,633 --> 00:49:04,765 and all the time the Lord came into this world, 1150 00:49:04,765 --> 00:49:06,716 He knew He was coming to people 1151 00:49:06,716 --> 00:49:08,956 just like this. 1152 00:49:08,956 --> 00:49:12,283 And He says, "Peace." 1153 00:49:12,283 --> 00:49:13,791 I know who you are. 1154 00:49:13,791 --> 00:49:19,570 You are hell-worthy. 1155 00:49:19,570 --> 00:49:24,165 You are ugly and you are defiled. 1156 00:49:24,165 --> 00:49:28,171 And you deserve judgment. 1157 00:49:28,171 --> 00:49:33,562 But, I am the very radiance of the glory of God. 1158 00:49:33,562 --> 00:49:38,458 I declare the Father. 1159 00:49:38,458 --> 00:49:40,189 And I've come to this world 1160 00:49:40,189 --> 00:49:43,213 that you might know 1161 00:49:43,213 --> 00:49:46,203 that He bids sinners to come. 1162 00:49:46,203 --> 00:49:49,172 Peace. 1163 00:49:49,172 --> 00:49:50,904 Peace. 1164 00:49:50,904 --> 00:49:54,741 I've gone to that cross. 1165 00:49:54,741 --> 00:49:57,931 I've taken your chastisement on My head 1166 00:49:57,931 --> 00:50:00,833 for your peace. 1167 00:50:00,833 --> 00:50:08,768 Come. Take it. 1168 00:50:08,768 --> 00:50:14,566 Father, I pray that that message of peace 1169 00:50:14,566 --> 00:50:18,240 would reach the ears 1170 00:50:18,240 --> 00:50:22,026 and that You would heal "him," 1171 00:50:22,026 --> 00:50:25,653 just as it says there in Isaiah 57. 1172 00:50:25,653 --> 00:50:28,539 Lord, heal him. 1173 00:50:28,539 --> 00:50:36,398 Heal this true Israel. 1174 00:50:36,398 --> 00:50:40,316 Those wandering sheep. 1175 00:50:40,316 --> 00:50:47,263 Those who comprise this one new man. 1176 00:50:47,263 --> 00:50:50,961 Lord, bring him in. 1177 00:50:50,961 --> 00:50:52,982 Give him ears to hear. 1178 00:50:52,982 --> 00:50:54,906 Far off or near. 1179 00:50:54,906 --> 00:50:56,998 May they have ears to hear, 1180 00:50:56,998 --> 00:50:59,062 Peace. 1181 00:50:59,062 --> 00:51:02,094 Peace. 1182 00:51:02,094 --> 00:51:04,312 Peace by the blood of the Lamb. 1183 00:51:04,312 --> 00:51:07,999 Peace because He took all that hostility 1184 00:51:07,999 --> 00:51:13,732 upon Himself at that cross. 1185 00:51:13,732 --> 00:51:15,610 Have mercy, Father. 1186 00:51:15,610 --> 00:51:17,874 Please have mercy. 1187 00:51:17,874 --> 00:51:19,599 We ask it in Christ's name, 1188 00:51:19,599 --> 00:51:20,659 Amen.