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Belonging to the Household of God · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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our worship of God today, and we're singing firstly in Psalm 122.
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Psalm 122, we'll sing the whole of the psalm on page 416, if you're using the psalm books.
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Psalm 122, a psalm that celebrates the coming together of God's people for worship,
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going back to the days when they made their way to the temple in Jerusalem
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and came to join together in worship there.
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And that follows on, of course, into our own practice for gathered worship,
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for public worship, as we usually call it.
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And let's seek to rejoice in that, as the psalmist here is.
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I joyed when to the house of God go up, they said to me,
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Jerusalem, within thy gates our feet shall standing be.
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Singing the whole psalm, I joyed when to the house of God.
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I joyed when to the house of God.
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Go up, they said to me,
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Jerusalem, within thy gates our feet shall standing be.
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Jerusalem, as our city is, compactly built together.
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To that place the tribes go up, the tribes of God go thither.
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To Israel's testimony there.
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To God's name thanks to pay.
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For thrones of judgment in the thrones of David's house of Sersay.
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Pray that Jerusalem may have peace and felicity.
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Let them that love thee and thy peace.
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I'll sell prosperity.
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Therefore I wish that peace may still
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within thy walls remain.
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And ever may thy policies
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prosperity retain.
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Now for my friends and brethren,
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say,
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peace be in thee I'll say.
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And for the house of God our Lord,
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I'll seek thy good away.
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Now we're going to call upon the Lord in prayer,
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so let's join together in prayer.
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Our gracious and loving God,
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we thank you for the reminder and teaching these words have given us,
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of the unity with which your people come together to worship you,
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and of the privilege that we have in gathering together as worshipers of the Lord God.
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We thank you,
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we thank you, Lord, for all that comes to us by way of worshiping your holy name.
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The benefits that are described for us in your word,
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that your people experience when they come together to worship you.
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The benefits not only of fellowship one with another and sharing in the matters of your salvation,
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but the benefit especially of waiting upon yourself,
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waiting for the blessing of your spirit to touch our lives again,
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waiting for your own blessing of us inwardly,
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in such a way that our hearts may be stirred and moved to love you more
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and to serve you in a way that would proceed with our commitment to you.
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We thank you, Lord, today that we are gathered in this place.
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We thank you for every other gathering in many places throughout the world today
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that gather as we do to worship the same God.
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And we thank you, Lord, for the privilege of belonging to your children,
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belonging to your church in this world,
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belonging to that household of faith,
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that household and family of God,
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belonging in a way of citizenship,
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belonging to the inheritance your people have in heaven.
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And we give thanks, O Lord, today that you build your people up
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as a place of habitation for yourself,
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a spiritual house in which you are pleased to dwell.
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And we give thanks, O Lord, today for all that that means to us
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and for the way that you challenge us separately, individually as well as collectively,
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to look at ourselves and to look at our relationship with you
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and to look at how we relate today to the privilege we have of salvation in Jesus Christ.
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Lord, we ask today that you would help us to draw near to you through him.
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We know that he is the way, the truth and the life,
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as he himself declared during his time here in this world.
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And we thank you for all that that means to your people,
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that they are brought into your very presence through that new and living way that he is.
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We thank you today for all that he has accomplished through death and resurrection on his own part,
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to lay a foundation for us upon which we could build,
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a foundation that will last us and will remain unchanged
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and will not be subject to removal or change throughout all eternity.
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Oh, bless us, we pray today through your Holy Spirit.
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Bless us, Lord, in such a way as would know that we have indeed met with God,
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that you have been pleased to come to show to us your way, to teach us your paths.
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Help us as we come before you, Lord, to realize that we have sinned to confess,
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that we have hearts that need to repent of our sin.
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But we come not only through faith, but also in repentance.
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And grant us, Lord, that as we do repent, we may know your forgiveness,
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the washing of us clean from our sins,
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the guidance of us into further ways of obedience and commitment to your name and to your cause.
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Oh, Lord, remember today we pray all who are bound to you in bonds of love and of grace throughout this world.
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And we thank you today that we can pray for one another,
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that we can bring before you people we've never met, but we hear about,
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people who serve you in different parts of the world,
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in very different circumstances, many of them to our own.
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We pray especially for those today who serve you in difficult and challenging circumstances
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of persecution, of war, or various other circumstances in your providence that come upon us from time to time.
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Let's those beset with poverty, those who are struggling to feed their children, to look after them,
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particularly where there is also conflict and war at the same time,
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such as we find in Yemen and other places, Lord, in our world.
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Oh, remember them, we pray, O Lord, and provide for them.
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Help us as we hear of it, as we open our hearts to pray for them,
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and as we give of what we can physically, materially for them.
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We pray for your blessing for them, O Lord,
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for you can do for them what we cannot,
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and you are able to do for them and for ourselves more than we are able to ask or even think.
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Remember, too, we pray, the situation in Ukraine and all that's related to it.
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Lord, our hearts go out to the people there, for while we are protected in so many ways
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from the devastation that has been wrought upon them, O Lord, we do pray for them.
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And we pray that you would remember them as a nation at this time.
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We give thanks for the clarity with which that conviction is portrayed by them,
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that they wish to remain a nation independent of any other control but their own.
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Lord, we thank you, Lord, that as they seek to maintain the integrity of their citizenship
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and of the ways in which they would present themselves as a people in the world,
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Lord, remember them, Lord, at this time, as they are under the devastation and aggression that has come upon them.
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Remember those of them who have fled their homes or had to leave their homes,
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many of them, Lord, with their homes already wrecked anyway, who have gone to other lands, to neighbouring countries,
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and some perhaps even to our own nation as well.
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O remember them, we pray, as they leave so much behind them,
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and especially as they leave so much of what was their heritage and is their heritage and will remain their heritage,
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as they, Lord, seek to re-establish themselves meantime elsewhere.
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O remember the president of that country as he daily proclaims his resistance to the aggressor,
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as he daily gives encouragement to his people.
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Lord, remember him and all who help him.
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Remember your church, your people in that nation.
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Remember them, Lord, as they face such critical times in their experience.
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Look after them, Lord, we pray, and keep them safe, we ask, O Lord.
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And those of them who again have had to leave the country,
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remember them, Lord, as they carry their testimony to Jesus with them into these other nations.
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We pray that you would bring this devastation and terror to an end, O Lord.
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And as you preside over all things in your purpose and in your wisdom,
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we commit this situation to you, O Lord.
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We appeal to you, Lord, as one who has made his grace and his compassion
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and his love of peace known to us through the gospel.
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And we commit this to you and ask that you would deal with the regime that are perpetrating these evils, Lord, upon this people.
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And we ask that you would remove them in your own way.
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Whatever way is open to you and always are open to you.
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Whatever it is, O Lord, of your choosing.
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But we do pray that you would remove this aggression
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and that you remove those who are perpetrating it at this time.
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Lord, we ask in our own weakness and in our own inability to gather together thoughts and words that will ever be adequate to set this situation before you.
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Remember us, Lord, in your mercy.
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Grant us to continue to persevere in trusting in you and giving thanks to you for your overwhelming goodness to us.
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Hear us, Lord, now we pray.
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Continue with us as a congregation through this week.
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And as we turn once again to a meeting to elect a successor to the assistantship in our congregation,
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we remember them.
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We remember, O Lord, all of us as we engage in that matter.
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We pray that you would grant to us, O Lord, a ready mind to deal with that issue prayerfully.
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And we commit it to you and ask that you would guide us through it.
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And we pray for Keniai as he continues his retirement.
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And we know that he himself will have a measure of relief when someone comes to be appointed as a successor to him.
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And while again we thank you for all that he was able to do in the congregation, we commit him to you in these days.
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We ask that your blessing will be with all today who are ill.
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We pray especially for those who have contracted the COVID virus.
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We pray for them, for their families, for children that have also caught the virus.
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Lord, remember us, we pray, and continue to protect us and to watch over us.
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And in all of these things, accept now our praise.
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Continue with us and bless us and pardon our sin for Jesus' sake.
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Amen.
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Now let's read God's word as we find this in Ephesians.
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Chapter 2, Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
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And chapter 2.
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And we'll read from the beginning through to the end of the chapter.
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Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
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Chapter 2.
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And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.
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Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.
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But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.
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By grace you have been saved.
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And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
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So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
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For by grace you have been saved through faith.
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And this is not your own doing.
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It is the gift of God.
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Not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
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For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
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Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands.
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Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
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But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
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For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.
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And might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
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And he came and preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near.
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For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father.
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So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
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Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
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In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
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Amen.
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May God be pleased once again to bless to us this reading of his word.
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We'll sing now again to his praise in Psalm 118 and sing Psalms this time.
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Psalm 118 on page 156.
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And we're singing verses 15 to 24.
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Triumphant shouts of joy resound in places where the righteous dwell.
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The Lord's right hand is lifted high, his mighty hand does all things well.
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I shall not die, I shall live.
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The Lord's great works I will proclaim.
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The Lord severely chastened me, but rescued me from death's domain.
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Verses 15 to 24.
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And again we'll stand to sing.
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In places where the righteous dwell,
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In place where the righteous dwell,
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Thora will seek the Lord's right hand to control all things well that
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For proclaiming our comfort,
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does not know them both in their sight.
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Itweisen.
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That no, Patricia inf mantener our grace,
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His mighty hand does all things well.
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I shall not die, but I shall live.
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The Lord's great works I will proclaim.
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The Lord severely chastened me, but rescued me from death's domain.
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Throw wide the gates of righteousness,
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I'll enter and give thanks to God.
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This is the gate of God through which the righteous come before the Lord.
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You answered me, I will give thanks.
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Salvation comes from you alone.
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The stone the builder shall refuse.
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Else now become the cornerstone.
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Let's now turn for a short time this morning to Ephesians chapter 2.
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We're going to look at verses 19 to 22.
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Ephesians chapter 2 at verse 19.
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So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,
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but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
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built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
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Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
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in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
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In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
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Out of the horrors and the devastation that we're seeing in Ukraine,
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we're seeing that wonderful sense of identity that Ukrainian people speak about
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whenever they're interviewed for TV reports,
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that sense of identity as Ukrainians,
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a sense of identity that they're determined not to lose,
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not to be overtaken and overwhelmed by the Russian forces,
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a sense of identity that's shown in their patriotism,
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but also in their commitment to their own particular identity and culture and way of life.
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And that's such a wonderful thing to see,
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and so wonderful to see the determination to retain that
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and not to give in to the aggressor that has come upon them so drastically.
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And in this passage, in Ephesians chapter 2,
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it's the identity of God's people that the apostle is dealing with.
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And as he deals with the identity of God's people,
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Paul here is leading the Ephesians to consider what they now are,
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but he does that by beginning with what they once were,
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what they were once identified as, as Gentiles.
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They didn't belong to the Jewish people,
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the people that had been given by God his revelation
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throughout these years of the Old Testament.
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And he's emphasizing here for them that now they've become fellow citizens with the saints.
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They are very much fully integrated into God's people
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and what defines God's people and God's church as it is in this world.
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You are now no longer strangers and aliens,
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but are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
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They are equally with the Jews,
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now party to the blessings of the gospel and the salvation that is in Christ.
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And you can see in the chapters we read through it,
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and as I'm sure you've known previously,
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the distinction that was then in place throughout the world
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between the Jews and Gentiles.
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The Jews were people that God had been pleased to reveal himself to,
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to give them his laws, to give them the regulations that they kept as a people
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and that distinguished them as a people down through these years of the Old Testament.
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In contrast to all the nations that were round about,
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that's why in the Old Testament you find such reference to the nations,
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the nations that were still following a pagan way of life,
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in contrast to those that had come to be regarded by God as his covenant people,
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the Jewish people.
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And all the way up to the days of the New Testament,
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you had that division.
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And it's impossible for us really today to even to begin to estimate
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or to appreciate just how firm and how wide that division was
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and how established it was in the world up to this moment of the New Testament age.
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Because up until that time,
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the blessings of God largely were confined to his people,
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his covenant people, the Jews.
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And here in this passage, the apostle is actually bringing the Ephesians,
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who were, of course, a pagan people in Ephesus,
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he is bringing them to a greater appreciation
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of what it now means to be the people of God.
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And as he does so, he brings us many things that we ourselves apply to our own circumstances,
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very different to the way of life in Ephesus.
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But these are principles that follow through into wherever God's people are found.
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The identity of God's people remains the same as they are found in Christ.
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And it doesn't matter where they are found in the world,
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their identity is not in terms of their geographical location,
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but of their being in Christ,
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their being the people of God as they are found in Him.
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And all the way through here, you find an emphasis on either in Him or through Him or by Him.
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It's all focused on Jesus as the one,
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as the ground, as the foundation on which they are set.
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But in doing so, he brings us these wonderful images.
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They're really portraits or pictures of God's people or of the church, if you like,
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in these verses to help us to understand something of the privilege that we have
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in being members of the people of God,
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in having this involvement in this household of God
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or fellow citizens with the saints,
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or as he says here, being a holy temple that's growing
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and being built together for a dwelling place for God Himself.
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You have really images there, the three images really,
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citizenship, your fellow citizens with the saints,
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and also members of the household of God.
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That's the image or the picture of a family, an organized family.
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And then, of course, that moves thirdly into the image of the temple,
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a spiritual temple in which God is pleased to dwell.
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Now, we're going to take the first of those two together,
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as you find here in verses 19 and 20.
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And you find there an emphasis on,
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you are no longer strangers and aliens,
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but you are fellow citizens with the saints.
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We'll need to look at what that means in itself,
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but that's joined on very closely to being,
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also he says, members of the household of God.
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And both of these are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
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Christ Jesus being the cornerstone.
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And then that naturally provides a link, really,
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to the next image, which is that of the temple,
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in whom the whole structure being joined together
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grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
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So that's the run of the thoughts of the apostle
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as he joins together these wonderful images
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that help us to understand something
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of the privilege of belonging to God's covenant people.
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Let's look at it firstly, the household of God,
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taking the reference to the fellow citizens along with that.
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He says, you are fellow citizens,
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you are fellow citizens with the saints.
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Remember we mentioned the division a few minutes ago
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between the Jew and the Gentile,
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and how that's come now to an end in Christ,
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and how you are, he says to the Ephesians,
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now fellow citizens with the saints,
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with all the people of God that were in covenant with him
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down through the years of the Old Testament,
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you've now entered to join with them in covenant with God.
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You are now God's people.
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You weren't once God's people, but now you are.
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You equally share, he means, in all the privileges of salvation.
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It all stems from the death of Christ,
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from the death of the cross,
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from the death and resurrection of Jesus
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has come about this wonderful unification of Jew and Gentile in him.
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This is what he means in the middle of the chapter there.
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He means there the two being made one.
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He is our peace, verse 14,
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who has made us both, that's Jew and Gentile,
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he has made us both one,
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and has broken down in his flesh, through his death,
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the dividing wall of hostility.
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The hostility, the division between Jew and Gentile.
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He's broken that down, he says, through his death,
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so that they both come to be one.
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Now, this was a huge issue in the days of the apostles.
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As you read through the Acts of the Apostles
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and then into the epistles of the New Testament,
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and indeed in the Gospels too,
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you'll find that the apostles themselves,
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to begin with, some of them at least,
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found great difficulty in understanding this
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or dealing with this,
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or appreciating this, or accepting this even.
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When you go to the likes of Acts chapter 10,
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remember that famous incident where Peter met with Cornelius,
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and where Peter was prepared for meeting Cornelius
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with the vision that he was given by God
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of this great sheet being let down from heaven,
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containing all kinds of animals,
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clean and unclean in terms of the Old Testament,
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but the Lord said to Peter,
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now he says, kill and eat, rise up, kill and eat.
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Peter said, by no means, Lord,
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for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.
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And the voice came a second time to him,
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what God has made clean, do not call common.
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And then Peter was inwardly perplexed
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as to what the vision that he had seen might mean.
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Then the messengers came from Cornelius,
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this centurion, this Roman, this non-Jew.
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And the messengers came and brought to Peter this message
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that Cornelius was waiting for him
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and made inquiry for him
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as had been directed by God himself.
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And so as the account continues,
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you can see the conclusion from verse 34
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that Peter came to.
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Peter opened his mouth and said,
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truly I understand that God shows no partiality,
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but in every nation,
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anyone who fears him and does what is right
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is acceptable to him.
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As for the word that he sent to Israel,
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preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ,
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he is Lord of all.
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You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea.
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And he continues then to speak about Christ and Christ's death.
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And see how Peter himself had to come to learn
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and appreciate that that dividing wall of hostility was gone,
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that no longer were the Gentiles kept
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outside of the covenant people of God.
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They were being incorporated into this relationship with God
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that the Jews had long enjoyed.
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Because God has only one church.
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And in his own way of providing for his church,
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he's now brought things around in the New Testament
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so that the Gentiles,
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all who are outside of the Jewish people of Israel,
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are incorporated into the church.
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That means you and I, of course, as well.
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And you'll find the same thing all the way through,
31:30
for example, Ephesians itself,
31:32
chapter 4 and verses 3 to 6.
31:36
You'll find that same similar emphasis there.
31:38
There is, he says there,
31:41
only one body and one spirit,
31:43
just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call.
31:48
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
31:50
one God and Father of all.
31:54
And he goes on to then diverge from that
31:57
in terms of speaking about Christ's ascension
32:00
and Christ's giving gifts to his people.
32:02
And then, of course, in Romans 15,
32:06
you find an emphasis there on Paul's concern
32:10
to gather, to make a collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem.
32:15
Those saints of the Jewish section of the church,
32:19
as it then was,
32:20
they came to be then,
32:22
they were making a collection for them
32:23
in these formerly pagan parts of the world.
32:28
Why is he doing that?
32:29
What is his rationale?
32:31
What is his argument in favor of that?
32:33
Well, it's not just that he's going to try
32:35
and alleviate their poverty and their distress,
32:38
though that, of course,
32:38
is something that's important to him.
32:40
The reason, beneath all reasons,
32:43
why he's organizing that
32:44
and is concerned to bring that collection
32:46
for the poor saints in Jerusalem
32:48
is that they belong to the one family,
32:52
the church in Nehemiah,
32:53
and these places that were once pagan people,
32:56
they're now being incorporated,
32:57
they've been incorporated into the church,
32:59
they're in Christ.
33:00
And because they're in Christ,
33:01
the Jewish people in Jerusalem
33:03
are the same family spiritually as they are.
33:06
Why do we actually send relief,
33:08
as far as we're able,
33:09
to Christians in the likes of Moldova,
33:12
who have so few of the physical,
33:16
of the financial and material commodities that we have?
33:20
Well, of course,
33:21
it's to try and provide for them in their poverty.
33:24
It's because we know that they need these goods
33:28
so that they can have something more
33:30
of the kind of comforts that we enjoy,
33:34
even at a basic level.
33:35
But there's more than that to it.
33:37
We remember these saints,
33:39
these Christian people,
33:41
though we don't confine our charity to Christians,
33:43
of course,
33:44
but we are required to do good,
33:47
especially to the household of faith,
33:49
as Paul himself puts it.
33:52
We're doing that because they are the one family,
33:54
because we belong under the same Father,
33:58
God,
33:59
to the one spiritual family in Christ.
34:02
They are fellow citizens with us
34:04
and with all other saints,
34:06
fellow citizens,
34:08
enjoying the privileges of being people of God.
34:11
Remember,
34:11
we saw citizenship in Philippians 3,
34:14
not so long ago,
34:15
Philippians 3,
34:16
verse 20,
34:17
where he's talking there about,
34:20
we have our citizenship in heaven.
34:23
This is the place where our citizenship is recorded,
34:26
as he said to the Philippians.
34:29
And that's really how it is for these Ephesians as well.
34:32
They were once,
34:33
in a spiritual sense,
34:33
they were once stateless
34:35
and also hopeless.
34:37
But now they have both.
34:40
They have a state they belong to,
34:42
the state of God's kingdom,
34:44
the state of heaven itself as their inheritance.
34:47
And they have this hope,
34:49
this living hope in Christ,
34:50
this positive hope.
34:53
They have all of that themselves.
34:56
And, you know,
34:57
Paul is saying to them,
34:58
you should really appreciate that.
35:00
They now have a passport.
35:02
It's been issued by God himself.
35:04
It's relevant to their passage
35:07
from this world to heaven.
35:10
Their citizenship is marked on it.
35:12
They carry it with them,
35:14
spiritually,
35:15
so in their hearts,
35:16
in their minds,
35:17
in their way of life.
35:20
And what we're seeing in Ukraine,
35:23
in the cultural sense,
35:25
or in the sense of belonging to a certain people,
35:29
in the ethnic sense,
35:30
you can translate that very easily
35:32
into a spiritual sense.
35:35
Walter Scott,
35:36
a famous Scottish writer and poet,
35:40
who was well known firstly for poetry,
35:42
and that was his first love
35:43
rather than his other writings.
35:45
But he said this,
35:45
Now that's the Christian.
36:05
We are wandering on a foreign strand.
36:07
We are in this world.
36:08
We are aliens in this world.
36:10
We don't have a home in this world.
36:12
We have an inheritance elsewhere.
36:14
We are citizenship of a heavenly country.
36:19
And God has given us the passport
36:21
through faith in Christ.
36:24
That's how it is for Paul
36:27
and for his beloved Ephesians.
36:29
That's what it means to him
36:30
to have this privilege
36:32
of belonging to God's children,
36:34
to God's people.
36:35
And then the imagery moves from that
36:38
to members of God's household.
36:41
You are fellow citizens
36:42
with the saints
36:43
and members of the household of God.
36:46
You can see how there's a certain move
36:48
in advance of citizenship
36:50
by speaking of members
36:52
of the household of God.
36:53
When you're a citizen of the state,
36:55
as you are when you're a UK citizen,
36:58
that's a privilege.
37:00
Your passport is marked
37:01
as a citizen of the UK.
37:05
But then when you think
37:06
of a family setting,
37:07
you think of closer relationships
37:11
than you have between a citizen
37:12
and the state.
37:14
You then have a relationship
37:15
between children and a father.
37:18
And so as Paul moves
37:20
from citizenship,
37:21
thinking of citizens
37:22
of the state of heaven,
37:24
and of course there's a personal
37:25
relationship with Jesus
37:27
and with God in that,
37:29
but he moves to speaking about this
37:31
as members of the household of God.
37:34
And the word household there
37:35
is exactly the word
37:37
that's used for family
37:38
and for family life.
37:40
They are actually members
37:41
of the household of God.
37:43
The household in which God
37:45
is the Father,
37:46
over which God is the Father.
37:49
And he's their Father.
37:51
And he's their Father
37:52
because he has made them
37:53
his children.
37:55
He has adopted them
37:56
into his family spiritually.
37:58
And so that really brings in
38:01
the preciousness of that relationship
38:03
with God as a Father
38:05
that we have
38:06
when we come to be
38:08
members of the household of God.
38:10
When we are in Christ,
38:12
when God has brought us
38:13
to Himself through Jesus,
38:16
and when Jesus is our Savior,
38:18
when we come to accept Him,
38:21
then it's really introducing us
38:23
then into the fatherliness
38:26
of God as our Father as well.
38:28
Look at verse 19,
38:29
sorry, verse 18 there,
38:30
the end of verse 18.
38:32
He's talking here about Jesus,
38:33
of course,
38:34
in the verses here.
38:35
He came and preached
38:36
peace to you who are far off,
38:38
peace to those who are near,
38:40
that's Jew and Gentile,
38:42
for through Him
38:42
we both have access
38:44
in one spirit to the Father.
38:47
We both, Jew and Gentile,
38:49
have access in one spirit
38:51
to the Father.
38:52
That word access is important
38:53
because it means
38:55
more than just having a way
38:57
into the presence of the Father.
38:59
access does mean that.
39:02
Access is an opening
39:03
of a way for us.
39:05
And Jesus Himself is the way
39:07
and the truth and the life.
39:08
But there's more than just
39:09
access involved
39:10
in the meaning of the word
39:11
because the word includes
39:13
introduction.
39:16
Jesus is not just
39:18
bringing us an access
39:20
to the Father in Himself.
39:21
He is the one who introduces us
39:26
to the Father.
39:27
That conjures up a wonderful image
39:29
when you come to know Christ
39:31
as your Savior.
39:32
It's effectively,
39:33
in a spiritual sense,
39:35
Jesus coming into such
39:36
a relationship with you
39:38
by His grace
39:39
and through your faith in Him.
39:42
You can just picture that
39:43
as Jesus taking you,
39:45
as it were,
39:46
spiritually
39:46
into the presence of God,
39:48
the Father,
39:49
and saying,
39:50
Father,
39:51
here is the next
39:52
member of our family.
39:56
Let me introduce you,
39:57
He says to you,
39:58
to your Father.
40:00
This is what's happening.
40:02
This is what happens
40:02
in Christ.
40:04
This is how we come
40:05
into this relationship
40:06
with God
40:07
as our Father.
40:08
the preciousness
40:14
of belonging
40:14
to the family
40:15
of God.
40:18
And you see
40:18
all the way through here
40:19
an emphasis on
40:21
through Him
40:22
as you have in verse 18.
40:24
Through Him
40:25
we both have access
40:27
in one Spirit
40:28
to the Father.
40:29
Wonderful way of
40:30
combining the three persons
40:32
of the Trinity there.
40:34
I'm not going to go into that.
40:35
It's there.
40:36
The theology of it is there.
40:38
The Father,
40:39
the Son
40:40
who introduces us
40:41
to the Father
40:42
and the Spirit
40:44
who is also involved
40:45
in our access
40:46
to God.
40:50
How important
40:51
is Jesus?
40:54
How important
40:55
is Jesus
40:56
to you personally?
40:58
Where does He
40:59
feature in your life?
41:01
Is He at the center
41:02
of your life
41:03
and of my life today?
41:05
Is He foundational
41:06
to your hopes
41:07
for eternity?
41:09
Is He the one
41:10
on whom your hope
41:11
is founded?
41:12
On this rock
41:13
that Jesus is?
41:15
Do you know Him
41:16
today as one
41:17
who has introduced
41:18
you to God
41:19
in such a way
41:20
as now knows
41:21
God as your Father?
41:24
Because if not,
41:26
if Jesus is not yours,
41:27
none of this is yours.
41:29
If Jesus is yours,
41:30
then all of this is yours.
41:31
You see,
41:32
that's what makes
41:33
the big difference.
41:34
That Jesus Himself
41:35
stands central
41:37
and foundational
41:38
in our relationship
41:39
to God
41:40
as members
41:41
of the household
41:42
of God.
41:45
Is there anyone
41:46
at all here today
41:47
that doesn't yet
41:49
know God
41:50
spiritually,
41:51
meaningfully
41:52
as their Father?
41:54
That has not
41:54
accepted Christ
41:56
in the offer
41:56
of the gospel?
41:57
Not my offer,
41:58
not the offer
41:59
of the Kirk Session
42:00
here,
42:00
not the offer
42:01
of the church.
42:02
It's the offer
42:03
of God
42:03
through the gospel
42:04
that's saying to you
42:06
and to me
42:07
every single time
42:08
we hear the gospel
42:09
proclaimed
42:10
and the call
42:11
of the gospel
42:11
reaches us.
42:12
What He's really saying
42:13
is,
42:14
come to me
42:14
so that I can
42:15
introduce you
42:16
to Father.
42:17
Come to me
42:18
so that you will
42:19
rest in me
42:20
forevermore.
42:23
Today,
42:24
Christ is
42:24
absolutely crucial
42:26
to every single
42:28
one of us here.
42:29
and as Paul
42:31
is reminding
42:32
the Ephesians
42:32
and teaching
42:33
the Ephesians
42:34
and as this passage
42:35
reminds ourselves
42:36
and teaches us
42:37
of the privilege
42:39
of belonging
42:40
to God's covenant
42:41
people,
42:43
he brings us
42:43
to the very
42:44
foundation of that,
42:45
the privilege
42:46
of knowing
42:47
and having Christ
42:48
for yourself.
42:51
Whoever else
42:51
does or doesn't
42:52
have is really
42:54
not the most
42:54
important thing
42:55
to you,
42:55
though it is important.
42:57
Do I have Him?
42:59
Is my life
43:01
based upon Him?
43:03
Is my eternity
43:05
sure because of Him?
43:07
These are the
43:08
vital questions.
43:10
These are the things
43:11
the gospel
43:12
really sets
43:13
before us.
43:15
So you,
43:15
he says,
43:16
are no longer
43:17
aliens
43:18
and strangers,
43:19
but you are
43:20
fellow citizens
43:21
with the saints
43:22
and you are
43:23
members of the
43:24
household of God.
43:26
And then he says,
43:26
built on the
43:27
foundation
43:28
of the apostles
43:29
and prophets,
43:30
Christ Jesus
43:30
himself being
43:31
the cornerstone.
43:32
Now,
43:32
in what sense
43:33
is he saying
43:34
you're built
43:34
on the foundation
43:35
of the apostles
43:36
and prophets
43:37
by which he means
43:38
New Testament
43:39
prophets
43:40
or those who
43:40
accompanied the
43:41
apostles
43:41
in the early days
43:43
of the New Testament
43:44
and establishing
43:45
the church
43:45
in the early days
43:46
of the New Testament.
43:47
In what sense
43:48
is this?
43:49
Well,
43:49
not in the sense
43:50
in which
43:50
the apostles
43:51
themselves
43:52
are spiritually
43:53
the foundation
43:54
of the church.
43:55
Jesus is that.
43:57
And that's why
43:57
he says,
43:58
Jesus Christ
43:59
himself being
44:00
the cornerstone
44:01
in whom
44:02
the whole structure
44:03
joined together.
44:05
Christ is the
44:06
foundation spiritually.
44:08
Christ himself
44:08
is the one
44:09
on whom
44:09
everything else
44:10
is built,
44:11
on whom you
44:12
build when you
44:13
live by faith.
44:15
But the apostles
44:16
were foundational
44:19
in the sense
44:19
that through
44:21
their teaching
44:22
and through
44:22
the leadership
44:23
that God
44:24
gave them
44:25
uniquely
44:25
for that time,
44:28
God established
44:29
the New Testament
44:31
church,
44:33
combining with
44:34
what was in
44:34
the Old Testament
44:35
to be this
44:37
church of Jew
44:38
and Gentile.
44:39
It's not a new
44:40
church.
44:41
It's the same
44:41
church,
44:42
but its dimensions
44:44
have been increased
44:45
and enlarged
44:46
to incorporate
44:46
the Gentiles.
44:48
And the
44:49
apostolic period
44:50
is absolutely
44:51
crucial in
44:53
the setting
44:54
down of
44:55
the church
44:57
from this
44:58
time onwards.
44:59
That's why
45:00
we find it
45:01
very important
45:01
theologically
45:02
to confine
45:04
our theology
45:06
of salvation
45:08
to what was
45:09
established
45:10
in the days
45:10
of the apostles.
45:12
If you find
45:13
somebody
45:13
in the street
45:16
that tells you
45:17
actually
45:18
God has made
45:19
me an apostle
45:20
and has given
45:22
me authority
45:22
like the apostles
45:23
in the days
45:25
of Peter
45:26
and of Paul
45:27
and I have
45:28
that authority
45:29
and God
45:30
is revealing
45:31
to me things
45:31
which I can
45:32
now add
45:33
to what you
45:33
find in the
45:34
Bible because
45:35
I have this
45:35
position from
45:36
God.
45:36
You can tell
45:37
them you're
45:38
either just
45:38
being deliberately
45:39
difficult or
45:41
else you're
45:42
grievously
45:43
short in your
45:45
understanding
45:46
because the
45:48
apostles
45:49
were for
45:51
that time
45:52
and just
45:54
as you have
45:54
the apostle
45:56
writing to
45:57
the Ephesians
45:57
he's writing
45:59
truths that
45:59
are there
46:00
foundational for
46:01
the church
46:01
for that time
46:02
onwards.
46:04
So these are
46:04
crucial things
46:05
for us to
46:05
remember as
46:06
we find
46:07
variations in
46:08
understanding
46:09
among people
46:10
of what the
46:11
apostles were
46:11
really about
46:12
and who they
46:13
were and what
46:13
they were for.
46:14
So he's saying
46:14
the foundation
46:16
of the
46:17
apostles and
46:17
prophets.
46:18
The teaching
46:19
about Jesus
46:20
especially and
46:21
about God's
46:21
relationship to
46:23
his people that
46:23
was established
46:24
through the
46:26
apostles and
46:26
prophets.
46:27
Christ Jesus
46:28
himself being
46:29
the cornerstone.
46:31
The one in
46:31
whom the
46:33
church is
46:33
founded and
46:35
who establishes
46:37
the whole
46:38
structure as
46:39
it's built in
46:39
relation to
46:40
him.
46:41
Now that
46:41
introduces us
46:42
to the next
46:43
image which
46:44
is that of
46:45
the temple.
46:46
So there you
46:46
have the
46:47
household of
46:47
God,
46:48
fellow citizens
46:49
with the
46:49
saints,
46:50
members of
46:50
the household
46:51
of God
46:52
built on
46:53
the foundation
46:53
of the
46:54
apostles and
46:54
prophets,
46:55
Christ Jesus
46:55
himself being
46:57
the cornerstone.
46:58
In whom,
46:59
in Jesus,
47:00
the whole
47:00
structure being
47:02
joined together
47:02
grows into a
47:03
holy temple
47:04
in the Lord.
47:07
And that of
47:07
course is a
47:08
familiar image
47:09
from the Old
47:10
Testament as
47:10
well.
47:12
That as you
47:12
find in the
47:13
Old Testament
47:14
a physical
47:15
structure called
47:16
the temple,
47:17
so that moves
47:18
into the
47:19
spiritual reality
47:20
of the
47:21
spiritual temple
47:22
that God's
47:23
people are.
47:24
All of you
47:25
who are in
47:26
Christ today
47:26
are part,
47:28
they are
47:28
stones,
47:29
as Peter
47:29
calls it,
47:30
living stones
47:30
in 1 Peter 2.
47:32
You as living
47:33
stones are being
47:34
built up into
47:35
this spiritual
47:36
temple.
47:38
Every time
47:38
someone is
47:39
converted,
47:40
that becomes
47:41
a spiritual
47:42
stone that
47:43
God is
47:44
placing in
47:44
the walls
47:45
of his
47:45
spiritual
47:46
temple.
47:47
So every
47:48
single person
47:49
here that
47:49
has come
47:49
to know
47:50
Christ is
47:51
a living
47:52
stone in
47:52
the temple
47:53
of God.
47:54
You have
47:55
come alongside
47:55
and in
47:56
contact with
47:57
all of
47:58
those,
47:58
not only of
47:59
this generation
48:00
currently that
48:01
live in the
48:01
world,
48:02
but everyone
48:02
who has
48:03
gone before
48:03
and all
48:04
who will
48:04
come after,
48:05
who will
48:05
accept Christ,
48:06
who are in
48:07
Christ,
48:08
together they
48:09
form one,
48:09
wonderful
48:10
spiritual
48:11
edifice,
48:11
the spiritual
48:12
temple of
48:13
God.
48:14
And the
48:15
apostle is
48:15
emphasizing the
48:16
privilege of
48:17
belonging to
48:17
the people of
48:18
God,
48:19
where he's now
48:19
changing the
48:20
image,
48:20
but not
48:21
changing the
48:21
emphasis on
48:22
the privilege
48:23
of being
48:23
living stones
48:24
in the
48:25
temple of
48:25
God.
48:28
And he's
48:29
saying,
48:29
you are
48:29
being built.
48:31
You are
48:31
being built
48:32
together.
48:33
It's growing
48:34
into a
48:35
holy temple
48:35
in the
48:36
Lord.
48:38
Just as
48:39
every changed
48:40
life,
48:40
every conversion
48:41
comes to be a
48:42
living stone
48:43
that's added to
48:44
those already
48:45
who are in
48:45
Christ.
48:47
So he's
48:47
saying this
48:48
means the
48:49
building is
48:49
being constantly
48:51
built,
48:52
and it won't
48:53
be finished
48:53
until Jesus
48:55
returns,
48:56
until the
48:57
last living
48:58
stone is
48:59
placed in the
49:00
walls of
49:00
this temple.
49:02
When that
49:03
will be,
49:03
who knows?
49:04
God knows.
49:06
But all the
49:06
time that the
49:08
church exists
49:08
in this
49:09
world,
49:10
that God's
49:10
people exist
49:11
as his
49:11
covenant
49:12
people,
49:12
living stones
49:13
are being
49:14
formed and
49:15
created by
49:15
God to be
49:16
placed in
49:17
this temple.
49:20
Let me
49:21
just make a
49:23
brief reference
49:23
to something
49:26
that's very
49:26
currently in
49:27
the news.
49:29
And that's
49:30
the plan or
49:31
plans to
49:33
have a law
49:34
in place that
49:35
bans so-called
49:37
conversion
49:38
therapy.
49:40
That's not a
49:40
term that we
49:42
accept for a
49:42
start,
49:43
conversion
49:43
therapy,
49:45
because
49:45
conversion in
49:46
the Bible,
49:47
the idea
49:47
behind this
49:48
is that
49:48
people are
49:50
being forced
49:50
to change
49:51
their way
49:51
of life,
49:53
to change
49:54
their chosen
49:54
way of life,
49:55
by the likes
49:56
of Christians
49:57
who want
49:58
them to take
49:58
up a
49:59
different form
50:00
of life
50:00
or way
50:00
of life.
50:02
And that's
50:03
a gross
50:04
mistake of
50:05
what the
50:05
gospel is
50:06
about.
50:07
And it's
50:08
a distortion
50:08
of what
50:09
conversion is.
50:10
Conversion is
50:11
not therapy.
50:12
Conversion is
50:13
the result or
50:14
the outcome
50:14
of being born
50:15
again through
50:16
the Spirit
50:16
of God.
50:18
And the
50:18
gospel and
50:19
the preaching
50:20
of the gospel
50:21
is not
50:22
spiritual
50:23
bullying.
50:25
If somebody
50:26
tries to
50:26
force someone
50:27
else into
50:28
their way of
50:29
thinking,
50:29
that is
50:30
bullying,
50:30
that's not
50:31
what Christians
50:32
are about.
50:33
That's not
50:33
what the
50:33
gospel is
50:34
about.
50:35
That's not
50:35
what our
50:35
understanding
50:36
of conversion
50:37
is about.
50:38
Because here's
50:38
one of the
50:39
benefits of
50:39
knowing the
50:40
catechism,
50:41
for example,
50:42
that so many
50:42
people sadly
50:43
in our world
50:43
don't know,
50:44
and certainly
50:45
people in
50:45
positions of
50:46
authority of
50:46
politicians and
50:47
so on,
50:48
have long
50:48
since forgotten
50:49
what is
50:50
effectual
50:50
calling.
50:52
Effectual
50:52
calling is
50:53
God's work,
50:55
of God's
50:57
Spirit,
50:58
persuading us
50:59
of our sin.
51:00
And he
51:02
moves on
51:02
to say,
51:04
thereby
51:04
persuading
51:06
and enabling
51:08
us to
51:09
embrace
51:10
Jesus Christ
51:11
as he's
51:12
offered in
51:13
the gospel.
51:15
Willingly
51:16
we come.
51:17
We are
51:17
made willing
51:18
by God's
51:19
Spirit.
51:20
We are not
51:20
forced into
51:21
becoming
51:21
Christians by
51:22
the church.
51:23
If the
51:23
church is up
51:24
to that sort
51:25
of activity,
51:25
then it
51:26
shouldn't be.
51:27
There's no
51:27
part of the
51:28
gospel.
51:29
There's no
51:29
part of
51:29
showing the
51:31
love of
51:31
God and
51:31
the grace
51:32
of Christ.
51:34
And you
51:35
know,
51:35
we have to
51:35
try and
51:36
get the
51:37
message
51:37
through that
51:37
this
51:38
description
51:39
and what
51:39
lies behind
51:40
it of
51:40
conversion
51:41
therapy is
51:42
really a
51:42
misnomer as
51:43
far as
51:44
conversion is
51:44
concerned.
51:46
And it's a
51:47
distortion of
51:47
what the
51:48
gospel is
51:48
about.
51:51
And as
51:51
far as we
51:52
need to,
51:53
we need to
51:53
bring that
51:54
to light.
51:56
And we
51:57
need to lay
51:57
to rest once
51:58
and for
51:58
all,
51:59
that what
52:00
the Christian
52:01
church is
52:01
about is
52:02
forcing or
52:03
bullying people
52:04
into becoming
52:05
Christians,
52:06
into changing
52:07
their way of
52:07
life from
52:08
their own
52:08
preferred choice
52:09
into that
52:10
which the
52:10
church wants
52:11
them to be.
52:13
That is not
52:13
what we're
52:14
about.
52:15
If people
52:15
choose to
52:16
refuse and
52:17
to resist the
52:18
call of the
52:19
gospel, then
52:20
that's on their
52:20
own heads.
52:22
It's not up to
52:23
us to try and
52:23
force them into
52:24
a change of
52:25
mind.
52:27
God is
52:27
well able to
52:29
do that
52:29
himself.
52:30
And that's
52:31
what he does.
52:32
He doesn't
52:32
force people,
52:34
but he does
52:35
change people,
52:36
and he changes
52:37
people so
52:38
they're made
52:38
willing to
52:40
accept Christ,
52:42
to receive
52:43
his salvation.
52:45
If I were to
52:46
ask every one
52:47
of you today
52:47
who knows
52:48
Christ as
52:49
your own
52:50
Savior,
52:51
were you
52:51
forced into
52:52
that?
52:52
Did the
52:53
church make
52:53
you do it?
52:54
Was it a
52:55
minister who
52:56
bullied you
52:56
into that
52:57
change of
52:58
mind, into
52:58
the mindset
52:59
you now
52:59
had?
53:00
Of course
53:00
you would
53:00
say, if
53:01
you're a
53:02
Christian at
53:02
all, you
53:02
would say,
53:03
of course it
53:04
wasn't.
53:04
God persuaded
53:05
me.
53:08
God made
53:09
me willing,
53:10
and I'm
53:10
glad he made
53:11
me willing.
53:13
I give
53:14
thanks to
53:14
him that he
53:15
made me
53:15
willing,
53:17
because my
53:18
change through
53:19
his grace
53:20
has come into
53:22
the possession
53:22
of something
53:24
I would
53:24
never have
53:25
achieved by
53:25
myself,
53:26
or by my
53:27
resisting his
53:28
offer in the
53:29
gospel, the
53:30
possession of
53:31
salvation, of
53:33
security, of
53:34
peace, of
53:36
well-being, of
53:38
citizenship, of
53:39
membership of
53:40
his family, of
53:41
the hope of
53:42
eternal life.
53:45
It goes into
53:46
a holy temple
53:48
in the
53:49
Lord, in
53:51
him,
53:52
being joined
53:53
together, it
53:55
grows into a
53:56
holy temple in
53:57
the Lord.
53:57
In him also,
53:59
in him you
54:00
also, are
54:01
being built
54:02
together into
54:03
a dwelling
54:03
place of
54:04
God by the
54:06
Spirit.
54:08
Two things
54:08
in that, I'm
54:09
just going to
54:09
finish with
54:10
this.
54:12
A dwelling
54:12
place of
54:13
God means a
54:14
place God
54:15
calls home.
54:17
We're not
54:18
being built
54:19
into a
54:19
spiritual temple
54:20
with God
54:21
somewhere out
54:22
there outside
54:23
it.
54:24
The spiritual
54:25
temple that
54:26
God's people
54:26
are as they
54:27
are joined
54:27
together by
54:28
him and by
54:29
his grace,
54:30
they form a
54:31
dwelling place
54:32
for him, a
54:34
place that he
54:35
is pleased to
54:35
call home, to
54:37
make his
54:37
residence, because
54:39
the temple is
54:40
also a palace, the
54:41
palace of the
54:42
Lord, the place
54:44
in which he
54:44
loves to dwell.
54:45
temple.
54:48
It's God with
54:49
his people.
54:50
It's God
54:51
worshipped by
54:52
his people.
54:54
That's what a
54:54
temple is for.
54:56
And the
54:57
spiritual temple
54:58
is especially
54:59
so, worshipping
55:02
the Lord as
55:04
his people.
55:06
Now, let me
55:07
just finish with
55:07
this.
55:08
I mentioned
55:09
at the
55:09
beginning the
55:11
way that Paul
55:11
moved from
55:12
emphasizing what
55:13
they once
55:14
were to
55:15
what they
55:16
now are.
55:17
And you can
55:17
read this
55:17
through when
55:18
you've got time
55:19
carefully for
55:20
yourself.
55:21
And just look
55:21
out for this as
55:22
you read through
55:22
the chapter again
55:23
yourself.
55:25
Go through the
55:26
first part of it
55:26
and see what he's
55:27
saying about what
55:28
they were.
55:29
You were dead
55:30
in trespasses and
55:31
sins in which
55:32
you once walked.
55:34
You followed the
55:35
course of this
55:35
world.
55:36
You followed the
55:37
prince of the
55:37
power of the
55:38
air, that's
55:38
Satan, the
55:39
spirit that is
55:40
now at work in
55:41
the sons of
55:42
disobedience, among
55:43
whom,
55:43
we all once
55:44
lived in the
55:45
passions of
55:46
our flesh, and
55:47
Paul is not
55:47
excluding himself,
55:49
being children
55:50
of wrath like
55:52
the rest of
55:52
mankind.
55:54
That's what
55:55
they were.
55:57
That's where
55:58
they once stood.
55:59
That was their
56:00
identity then.
56:03
But now,
56:05
see what he's
56:05
saying here in
56:06
verse 13?
56:08
But now,
56:11
in Christ
56:11
Jesus, you
56:13
who were once
56:14
far off have
56:15
been brought
56:16
near by the
56:17
blood of
56:17
Christ.
56:18
And Paul
56:19
loves this.
56:21
He loves
56:22
drawing this
56:23
contrast.
56:24
You'll find it
56:25
elsewhere in his
56:25
epistles as well.
56:26
This contrast
56:27
between what we
56:28
once were by
56:29
nature without
56:30
Christ in our
56:32
unconverted state,
56:33
Jew and
56:34
Gentile alike,
56:35
what we once
56:36
were, and he
56:36
emphasizes that,
56:37
not so that we
56:38
can actually
56:39
have thrown
56:40
at us the
56:41
ugliness of
56:42
our sinfulness,
56:42
though that's
56:43
part of it.
56:44
It's so that
56:44
we'll appreciate
56:45
the wonder of
56:46
being taken
56:46
from that
56:47
into Christ.
56:51
But now,
56:53
you who were
56:54
once far off
56:54
have been
56:55
brought near
56:55
by the
56:57
blood of
56:57
Christ.
56:58
So, he
56:58
says, you
56:59
are no longer
57:00
strangers and
57:01
aliens, but
57:02
fellow citizens
57:03
with the saints
57:04
and members
57:05
of the
57:06
household of
57:07
God.
57:09
You see, it
57:11
is Jesus who
57:12
makes all the
57:12
difference.
57:14
The difference
57:15
between what
57:16
they once were
57:17
and what they
57:19
now are.
57:21
And it's
57:21
Jesus that
57:22
makes the
57:22
difference in
57:23
your life and
57:23
my life,
57:25
individually,
57:25
personally as
57:26
well.
57:28
And your
57:28
identity today
57:29
is in some
57:31
way or other
57:32
related to
57:32
Jesus.
57:35
Either by
57:36
not being
57:37
found in
57:37
him, and
57:39
therefore your
57:40
identity is
57:41
with the
57:41
world and
57:42
with sin and
57:43
with death,
57:45
or being
57:45
found in
57:46
him, knowing
57:48
him, having
57:49
him, and
57:51
being identified
57:52
with and
57:54
being part
57:54
of the
57:56
people, the
57:56
family of
57:58
God.
57:59
May God
58:00
bless these
58:01
thoughts on
58:02
his word to
58:02
us.
58:03
We're
58:03
going to
58:04
sing now
58:04
in conclusion.
58:06
Our
58:07
singing this
58:07
time is in
58:07
Psalm 27.
58:09
Again, it's
58:10
saying Psalms on
58:10
page 32.
58:13
Psalm 27,
58:14
verses 4 to
58:15
6.
58:17
One thing I'll
58:18
plead before the
58:19
Lord, and this
58:19
I'll seek always,
58:21
that I may come
58:22
within God's
58:23
house and dwell
58:23
there all my
58:25
days, that on
58:26
the beauty of
58:27
the Lord I
58:27
constantly may
58:28
gaze, and in
58:30
his house may
58:30
seek to know
58:31
direction in
58:33
his ways.
58:34
Verses 4 to
58:35
6 of Psalm
58:36
27.
58:39
One thing I'll
58:42
plead before
58:43
the Lord, and
58:47
this I'll seek
58:49
always, that I
58:54
may come
58:56
within God's
58:58
house and dwell
59:01
there all my
59:03
days, that on
59:08
the beauty of
59:12
the Lord I
59:14
constantly
59:16
make ease, and
59:21
in his house may
59:24
see eternal
59:27
direction in
59:31
his ways.
59:34
For in his
59:38
dwelling he
59:40
will keep me
59:43
safe in troubled
59:46
days.
59:49
within his
59:52
tent he'll
59:53
shelter me, and
59:57
on a rock
1:00:00
me raise.
1:00:01
My head will
1:00:07
then be lifted
1:00:10
I above my
1:00:14
enemies.
1:00:16
and in his
1:00:21
tent I'll
1:00:22
sacrifice
1:00:25
with
1:00:26
shouts of
1:00:28
joy and
1:00:30
praise.
1:00:33
Now may the
1:00:34
grace of the
1:00:35
Lord Jesus
1:00:35
Christ, the
1:00:36
love of God
1:00:36
the Father, and
1:00:37
the communion of
1:00:38
the Holy Spirit
1:00:39
be with you now
1:00:40
and evermore.
1:00:41
Amen.
1:00:42
Amen.
1:00:42
Amen.
1:00:42
Amen.
1:00:42
Amen.
1:00:42
Amen.
1:00:42
Amen.
1:00:42
Amen.
1:00:42
Amen.
1:00:42
Amen.
1:00:44
Amen.