Latest / HBCWestminster / Ephesians 2:11-22

Transcript

Ephesians 2:11-22 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  We'll start with verse 11 in chapter 2. Paul has, in verses 1 through 10, he has already told the readers just how amazing God is. He said that, I will take you to me to... I'm sorry. And we're going to slide down. I wish I had the time, but we're going to slide down to about partway down.
• 0:30
  In the first couple of verses there above chapter 11, he's talking about that we've been made alive together with Christ. If you see right down about halfway down the page, it says verse 11. We've been made alive together with Christ. By grace you've been saved. You've been raised up with Christ and seated with Him in heavenly places.
• 1:00
  This workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. See, he's creating this wonderful picture of how great God is. And then suddenly Paul says, well, wait, wait, time out though. You need to understand that you don't deserve any of that. God has done it all. And in fact, I want you to remember the way you were before you knew Christ. And so I'm going to talk about...
• 1:33
  The way you were before you knew Christ. And then I'm going to show you who you are now. And then he's going to end with sharing who we are in Christ and who we are in the body of Christ. And so as Paul walks through it, one thing we need to remember as he starts, and that is how much the Jews and Gentiles didn't like each other. That's an understatement, right?
• 2:02
  I mean, animosity doesn't even quite do it. Maybe the word hate. I mean, they really didn't like each other. And so, that's kind of the picture we're going to see as we pick up with verse 11. So, let's read verse 11 all the way through verse 22. And then we'll kind of pick our pieces to the end here. Okay? So, he starts out, if I can find my verses. And he starts out with, therefore.
• 2:33
  And again, that therefore is therefore because he's been talking about how great the promises are. Right? And then he begins to say, therefore, now remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision. In other words, he's basically calling them uncircumcised heathens by the Jews.
• 3:02
  Again, you kind of see that animosity. Which is made in the flesh by hands. And then he says, remember again. Remember that you Gentiles were at that time separated from Christ. You were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. In other words, you were separated and alienated from the nation of Israel. As if they didn't already know that. Right? I think they kind of knew that. And they were strangers.
• 3:32
  To the covenants of the promise. They have no right to the promises. That the Jews had. And therefore. Having no hope. And without God. Talk about a situation. No hope. And no God. In the world. But. I love the buts of the Bible. Don't you? But. But now. Right now he's saying. But now in Christ.
• 4:00
  But now, because of what Christ did, you who were once far off, who's that? You who were once far off, that's the Gentiles, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is what? He is our peace, who has brought us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall.
• 4:28
  of hostility. He broke down the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile. And he did it by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself, what? One new man. He's not talking about just a...
• 4:53
  new thing he's talking about an absolutely new man that never existed before and we'll see what that new man is in just a minute and he he did the new man in place of the two in place of the jews and the gentiles and so making what peace and that he might reconcile us both to god in one body through the cross thereby why did he do it thereby killing
• 5:22
  or destroying the hostility that was between the Jew and the Gentile. Can you see the picture where he's going with this? And he came, this is Jesus, he came and he preached peace to you who were far off. That's who again? The Gentiles. And he preached peace to those who were near. For through him we both now have access.
• 5:52
  we can approach in one spirit to the Father. So then, now Paul is concluding. Now in conclusion, he's bringing it down to it now. He's saying you're no longer strangers. You're no longer aliens. But you are fellow citizens. That's what we're going to get to at the end tonight. You're citizens along with the saints and you're members of the household of God.
• 6:22
  Having been built up on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Get that. We stand on the foundation of those who went before us. Starting with the apostles representing the New Testament and the prophets representing the Old Testament. And Jesus Christ himself being what? The cornerstone.
• 6:50
  in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him, in Christ, you Gentiles also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by or through the Spirit. Let's pray. Father, there's a lot there. There's a lot there.
• 7:17
  But Lord, I thank you. You're going to unpack it. It's going to be simple. I pray that you'd give me the words. I pray the words will be clear. And Lord, you'd be glorified. Father, we don't want just information. My desire is, Lord, tonight we have transformation. And we're going to be different when we leave than when we came in. We're going to understand your word better. We're going to understand ourselves better. And Lord, we're going to know you. We're going to want to be that.
• 7:46
  that stone that is in the exact right spot where you want us in the temple of God. So, Lord, I thank you for tonight. I thank you for this time. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Well, so, we're going to start with this is our status before Christ. If we look at verse 12, it talks about...
• 8:18
  We're separated, or they, the Gentiles, but I'm going to say were. Before we knew Jesus, weren't we separated? We were separated, and that's the fill-in, by the way, your first fill-in, if you didn't get that. All right? We're separated from Christ. We're ignorant. We're estranged. The King James Version says we're without Christ. We were without. We didn't know Him. There was a distance.
• 8:47
  And we're talking about that vertical relationship, aren't we? We're talking about a vertical relationship with our God, or Jesus, and us. And so we were separated by a big gulf. And it goes on and says, we were alienated. We're alienated from God's people. We were not a citizen of the nation of Israel. And again, the Gentiles knew that well.
• 9:16
  The Jews made sure. And we're going to see that in a minute, how definite they made that sure. See, we were excluded. We couldn't participate in the promises that God had for us. The Gentiles couldn't participate in anything having to do with the temple or the worship of the God of the Jews. They were without any rights or privileges.
• 9:44
  And so all of a sudden we have this horizontal relationship. There was no horizontal relationship between the two, right? So the poor Gentiles, there was no vertical relationship and there was no horizontal relationship. That was before they knew Jesus. But verse 12 goes on and says what? We were what else? Separated? Alienated? Now what? Strangers. We were strangers.
• 10:16
  to the covenant of the promise. One translation says they were strangers to Israel's incredible heritage. So you've got to remember that the Jewish nation was God's special people. And He wanted them for a purpose to share how great a wonderful God He was. And they didn't do it. They hoarded that. And they twisted it. And it became so personal to them.
• 10:48
  that they wouldn't let anybody else in. The Jews had no right to come in. So they were strangers to Israel's incredible heritage. And Paul goes on. See, since the Gentiles were separated from God, since they were alienated from God's people, and they were strangers to the great and precious promises, Paul goes on in verse 12, and he summarizes by saying what? They have no what?
• 11:19
  They had no hope. I don't know about you, before you knew Jesus, but I got over there, I got to figure there was times when you had no hope. Because there was no life in you. You didn't have the life of Christ dwelling in you richly. And there was no hope for the Gentiles at this point. They were lost. I guess I want to ask you just a question to think about right now. Is there any part of your life
• 11:54
  Right now you're struggling and you're saying, God, there's no hope. No hope. Is there someone in your life, a son or a daughter or somebody that you've been praying for how many years for their salvation and you're saying, God, is there any hope? Is there any hope? And somebody you know that's got that terminal illness or you've been praying for them for how long to be healed and you're beginning to say, God,
• 12:27
  Is there any hope? I don't see anything. I know you promise, but is there any hope? Are people you know or maybe you know that have been struggling financially over and over and over and over and you're getting so weary and you're saying, God, is there any hope? Is there any hope? I want to pray for you real quick. I want to just say, if you know that, that's where you are.
• 12:58
  Let me pray for just a second. Lord, Lord God, you are the God of hope. Lord, that confident expectation that feeds our faith, Lord, I pray for anyone in that situation right now. Lord, may it help us turn your eyes back on you, not on the problem, not on the issue, not on how long it's been taken.
• 13:27
  But God, I pray we can get our eyes back on you. Lord, you're the author and the finisher of my faith. Lord, only you're the one that can give us hope. And so, Lord, right now, I pray for my brothers and my sisters in Christ that, Lord, if there's any area in their life that they're struggling with, however hard and for however long they may have been struggling, Lord, would you touch them? Would you encourage them?
• 14:00
  Would You show them You're still on the throne? That promise hasn't left the Bible yet, but I know it's still there. And so, Lord, I pray they would stand again on Your Word. They would look up to Your promises. And Lord, they would receive that Word again. And that You will accomplish that which You purpose.
• 14:31
  I thank You for that, Lord. I thank You that You're faithful, that You love us more than we can even imagine, and You're working behind the scenes, and You never leave us or forsake us. So, Lord, I thank You that where there seems like there's no hope, there is hope. And where there seems like it's not working, Lord, I know You're working in their lives now. Show it to them now tonight. Reveal it to them. Encourage them, Lord, in Jesus' name.
• 15:02
  Amen. Amen. Amen. Because there's nothing, I don't think there's anything harder than walking without hope. And that's where the Gentiles were. They were without hope. And then in verse 12, it finishes and it says they were without God. They were godless. They were godless. Again, that vertical relationship wasn't there. And then if we read a little further on...
• 15:33
  Verse 13, we see the sixth status before Christ, before knowing Christ. The sixth status was they were far off. That word there is they were a great way off. They weren't a little ways. They were a far off. So, let's look at the status after Christ. If we look at verse 13. If we look back at verse 13, I just want to read verse 13.
• 16:07
  Again, and it says this. It says again that, but now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. That's the promise. Is that we have been brought near. That's the fill in. See, His love pulls me in. And that's when we believe we have no hope. Remember the love.
• 16:40
  Of Christ. He's always pulling us in. He wants us near. He's not aloof. He's not a God that just spin the world out and left. He wants to walk with us. He never leaves us or forsakes us. And so the Gentiles found out that they had been brought near. And in verse 14, it says, we have been given peace. Peace. And that word is peace.
• 17:12
  It's the same word that in the Hebrew is shalom. And it's just not an absence of stress. It's not an absence of conflict or turmoil. But it can faze the idea of a sense of wholeness. It's not just peace, but a wholeness that's around us. It's the idea of safety.
• 17:42
  of success, of prosperity, of well-being, of divine health. But we have to remember, it's from God. It's not from circumstances, but it's from God and it's part of surrendering to Him. That's when the peace is, in the midst of the turmoil. In the midst of the crisis, we just say, Lord, it's yours. I can't do it. And I thank you for your shalom. I thank you for your peace, God, because He's the God of peace.
• 18:15
  And that's what he gave the Gentiles once they came to know him as their Savior and Lord. See, in the Greek, it's a little more blunt. It says, it is he who is our peace. And I like that because it puts the emphasis in the right place. I like the emphasis of peace. But I like the peace that comes from Jesus. He is our peace. See, he's the subject. It is, he is our peace.
• 18:47
  And the one thing that I've noticed too, one of the surest ways to bring two opposing parties together is through a mutual friend. If you're warring with your two neighbors and a neighbor you both respect sits there and pulls you together and sits you down and faces you, something's going to happen there, right? Because there's a trust in that third party. And so when Jesus,
• 19:17
  Brings Jews and Gentiles together. And that's what he's saying. They both respect him and can receive from Jesus. He's pulling them together. Because Jesus is our peace. Then it goes on in verse 14. And it says, He made us both one. He made us both one. So therefore Christ has united both Jew and Gentile.
• 19:49
  He's united them. And again, the Greek is emphatic when it says, it is He who has made us both one. Again, the emphasis is on Jesus. It is Jesus who made us one. We didn't make ourselves one. That was an impossibility. And then, verse 14 continues, and I love this illustration.
• 20:21
  When it says, Christ has broken down the dividing wall. And we have a picture up there of the temple. And what he's talking about when he says he's broken down the dividing wall is there was a little bitty wall right here. It was only about 18 inches, maybe 3 feet tall at the most. Not very big. But that wall basically said, Gentile,
• 20:53
  You can be in what's called the court of the Gentiles. Anywhere out here, you can be there. You better not cross that wall. There was a dividing wall between Jew and the worship of Almighty God and the Gentile who was left out of that worship. See, what you had was not only were they left out, distance-wise,
• 21:25
  But they were left out as far as going up toward God. Because you had all these stairs, about 14, 15 stairs that went into the Gate Beautiful, into what's called the Court of the Women. So that even the Jewish women could go in further than the Gentiles. And then they had to go up another 15, 16 steps into what's called the Court of the...
• 21:54
  Israelites or the court of the men. And then beyond that was the court of the priests. And so as you went up closer and closer you got into what's called the holy place and then eventually the holy of holies back in the temple itself where the presence of God dwelt. So you see to the Jew this was the presence of God. And outside of that was the Gentiles. And Paul is saying the
• 22:23
  the wall, the dividing wall has been broken down. That's the wall that has been broken down. And that then gives access to the Gentiles into the courts and can begin to worship God. And see, that's what he's saying is Gentiles now have the right to come in and worship the same God that the Jews were worshiping. See, in fact,
• 22:57
  In fact, that wall was so absolute that there were signs periodically all around that wall to show you how absolute it was. And in 1871, and then later in 1935, two of those signs were discovered. And this is the exact wording that I wrote down for you. It says this.
• 23:25
  No foreigner may enter within the barrier and enclosure around the temple. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death. So as a Gentile, you cross that wall and you're a dead man. That's how far apart the Jew and the Gentiles were. And that's what God did as He brought us together.
• 23:56
  He brought us together as one. As one. Not only Jew and Gentile, but realize too, He brought us together with the Lord. So we have this vertical relationship and we have the horizontal relationship because that wall is no longer there. Hallelujah. Let me ask you this. Is there anybody in your...
• 24:30
  Sphere of influence? Where there's a wall between you and them? Has anybody got a wall between you and a son or a daughter? Is there a wall between you and your boss? God's not into walls. He's broken down every wall. He doesn't want any walls in your life. There's that horizontal. Is there any animosity there? We want to take care of that tonight. How about the vertical? Is there any wall?
• 25:08
  Any area of your life where you've got a wall between you and God? Is there a point of hurt where you've been offended? God hasn't done it your way? He didn't do it the way you expected and you've got kind of a wall there. God wants to take care of that tonight. He didn't want any walls. He wants it broken down. Is there any area of unforgiveness that God's saying, Tom, I want you to forgive that person. That's a wall.
• 25:47
  that needs to be broken down. We don't want anything between us and God. So again, let's pray. Father, oh God, I pray tonight if there's any wall between anybody else in our life, Lord, would you show it to us? God, would you help us to see that that wall, I don't care if it's 18 inches or if it's a mile high, God, you want it down. Lord, I pray that nobody would be excusing
• 26:23
  Making excuses. Putting up more walls. God, may the walls come down. No excuses. No pride. No hesitation. God, I pray we can be obedient quickly. We can forgive. We can choose to let it go. To make it right. And God, if there's any area between you and us, Lord, show that to us. Any area, Lord,
• 27:04
  stopping the flow of your blessing to us. Lord, that hinders any part of our prayer life. God, will you show it to us? Can we ask forgiveness? Lord, can we humble ourselves before you? Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters. Lord, there's no walls, horizontally or vertically. And Lord, as we leave tonight, Father, even as you're working with us so often, Lord, as we go home,
• 27:38
  God, will you continue to work, continue to bring to mind any area that we've pushed aside, that we've tried to look the other way? God, I pray we can have that full fullness of a relationship with you, nothing between it. Fullness relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ and a fullness relationship with others, Lord God, that we need to make right.
• 28:12
  So Father, I thank You that there are no walls now in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, let's move on. No walls. Hallelujah, Lord. No walls. Verse 15. When we're still going on, and now that we know Christ is our Savior and Lord, we have been created into one new man. In the place of the two,
• 28:47
  Now there's one. Hallelujah. There's only one body of Christ. There's not a Jewish body and a Gentile body. There's not an American body and a European body. There's one body in Christ Jesus. There's not a Baptist body and a Pentecostal body. There's not a Baptist body and a Catholic body.
• 29:13
  One body in Christ Jesus as we know Jesus is our Savior and Lord, right? There's no dividing wall. Verse 15. He says, And so making what? Peace. There's that peace again. Verse 16. Christ what? He reconciled the filling. He's reconciling us both to God. Both of us. He's bringing us together fully.
• 29:45
  That word means fully reconciling, fully bringing us together. And it's together with each other. And it's together with God. Again, that vertical and horizontal. God wants it both. And then if we look at verse 17. I want to read that. Verse 17. And it says this. If I can find it. I've got it here. Don't worry. It's right after 16. I know that. I know that.
• 30:19
  So, I got it, I got it. And, and, and, he came and preached peace to you Gentiles who were far off, and peace to those who were near, that's the Jews, for through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. Let's go on, verse 19. So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you're fellow citizens.
• 30:51
  We're the saints and members of the household of God. So in verse 18 we see, and now we have access to the Father. Verse 19, we're no longer what? We're no longer strangers and aliens. So those fill-ins, we're no longer strangers and aliens. We're not foreigners. We're not sojourners. See, we're not outside.
• 31:25
  In a sojourner is someone who's just temporary. Just passing through. I'm not temporary. I'm permanent in Christ Jesus. I'm not passing through. I'm dwelling. I'm staying put. I'm standing in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Paul paints or is trying to project three pictures. And this is what he wants to leave us with. Three pictures.
• 31:56
  And in verse 19, he says, you're not strangers or aliens, but you have become what? Fellow citizens. Now we're citizens. See, and I think that's referring to citizens of the kingdom. We're now citizens of the kingdom of God with all its privileges, with all its rights. I don't think I get a vote. I don't think I get a vote.
• 32:30
  I don't have a veto power, but I got everything else. I got the promises of God. I got a kingly God that knows who I am and knows what's best for me. And I'm living in that kingdom. So, I am a citizen. Then he goes on in verse 19 and he says, we're becoming members of what? Great picture. Of his household. Right?
• 33:01
  We're members of His household. I'm members of His family. That's what I am. I'm members of His family. I'm a son and my wife's a daughter of the living King. Sons and daughters of God Almighty. And that is, if that's not a privilege, you don't know what a privilege is. Right? But not only the vertical, but what else am I? I'm a brother of you guys.
• 33:37
  We're brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. That's who we are. We get to fight and fume a little bit. But you know what? I'm still your brother. I don't care whether you like me or not. I don't care if I'm going until 8.30 or 9 o'clock. I've got stuff you're still going to let me in. Okay, there's a point you can only say so far. But, do you see it? As a family member in Christ Jesus, we've got that.
• 34:09
  Family love. That storge love that's out there, man. Vertical and horizontal. And then it goes on and it says this. Verse 21. We are becoming a part of the holy temple of the Lord. Notice the grammar. It says, we're becoming, we're being joined together. We're being built. This is an ongoing process.
• 34:43
  It's not going to be completed until God calls us home or He comes for us. It's an ongoing process with a fancy term called sanctification. Right? I am being built up in my most holy faith. And there's three parts to this temple. When you see the temple of God, there's three parts. First is I'm built on a foundation of the apostles.
• 35:13
  and the prophets. What a privilege. See, they laid the foundation for us. But not just them. The foundation was built on others who have gone before us. That foundation was built by the Apostle Paul. He built the foundation in his letters to us. Church fathers built on Paul's foundation.
• 35:48
  The D.L. Moody's, the Billy Graham's, and who else do you want to say? I'm who I am because of their foundation. I'm standing on their foundation. And you know what? I'm standing on Pastor Rick's foundation. And we're standing on Pastor Danny's foundation. They're laying a foundation of Jesus Christ. See, I don't have to reinvent my understanding of baptism because I've been taught baptism.
• 36:20
  I don't have to reinvent the concept of the Trinity. I've been taught the Trinity. See? And, you know, for my kids, I don't want them to have to start over and learn from nothing. It wouldn't hurt them. But I want them to build on the foundation that Linda and I lay for them. I want them to build higher than we have. I want them to know more about Jesus
• 36:50
  than we're ever going to know in our lifetime. Because they're building on the foundation that Pastor Danny has laid and I have laid. And what you guys are laying, what you're laying in Sunday school, what Sam's laying in the youth group right now, those kids are growing further and growing stronger than you or I. Because of the foundation that has been laid. And then we look at
• 37:20
  at Jesus as our cornerstone. See, a cornerstone was always laid first, right? And I'm not talking about that wincy little plaque type thing in the corner of a building. I'm talking about this huge block of stone, maybe 5 feet by 20 feet. A big piece of stone that's laid first. And that dude is sitting.
• 37:50
  the parameters of that building. And how it's laid out is dependent upon that cornerstone. And that cornerstone is whom? Jesus Christ is our cornerstone. On Him, I want to be perfectly straight, lined up. I want to be true. It's on Jesus that makes the integrity of the structure. Without that cornerstone, the integrity of the structure is not going to be nearly as strong.
• 38:21
  not going to be nearly as straight, and it's not going to work the way it's supposed to. And Jesus is the cornerstone of this temple. And then finally, each believer becomes a stone built in that temple. You and I are a part of that temple. And without you, that temple is not complete. Without me, that temple is not complete.
• 38:53
  And again, remember, it is an ongoing process. The stronger I get in the Lord, the stronger that part of the temple is where I'm at. The more I use my giftings, the stronger that temple becomes. The more you use your giftings, the more you grow in Christ Jesus, the stronger that part of the temple gets.
• 39:24
  And remember, Jesus isn't coming back until that temple is strong. He wants a bride without spot and without wrinkle. It has nothing to do with the temple. It's the only thing I can think of. But do you see it? Our part is so important. And we've got to understand that we need each other. And that vertical has to be...
• 39:55
  right on or I can't grow the way God wants me to grow. And the horizontal has got to be there because I need your input. I need you rubbing the rough edges off me. I need your input into my life so I grow and become all that I can be in Christ Jesus. That's what Paul's saying. You also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. As Gentiles,
• 40:26
  we now have access together with our fellow Jews. And in conclusion, why is Paul reminding his readers of their prior history as pagan heathens? Why is he describing their current status as members of this one new man? What's our one takeaway tonight? And I believe he says, so he could show them that they are now important citizens.
• 40:58
  Of the kingdom of God. Sons and daughters. Of the family of God. Living stones. That are being built together. Into the dwelling of God. The body of Christ. That's who we are. That's what we need to understand. We are a vital part. Of God's holy temple. Our part of this dwelling place. Gives it strength. It gives it power. And it gives it beauty.
• 41:29
  That's what Paul wants us to take away tonight. Is we're all important. We can't be Jew and Gentile. That wall of dividing has got to come down between anybody with you in the body of Christ. Anything dealing with you and God so that we can be built up in our most holy faith. Take our place in the temple of God so the body of Christ can be as strong as it can be.
• 41:59
  And we get to do our part for the glory of God. Let's pray. Father, I thank You for tonight. I thank You for Your Word. It's so precious, God. Lord, You love us so much. You don't want us to leave without doing business with You so that, Lord, we're a better part of the body than when we came in. God, I want each one of my brothers and sisters to be as strong as possible.
• 42:33
  I want you to be so real in their life that nothing comes between you and them. And then, Lord, you can help them so that nothing comes between our brothers and sisters in Christ. So, Lord, I thank you for your word. I thank you for loving us, for helping us, for teaching and ministering and building us up in our most holy faith in Jesus' name. Amen.