WEBVTT 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:01.240 Excellent. 00:00:01.900 --> 00:00:04.940 It is genuinely good to be with you again. 00:00:05.060 --> 00:00:07.820 Thank you so much for your welcome and your friendship. 00:00:07.820 --> 00:00:18.120 And as we were saying before, just your incredible, overwhelming generosity to me and Jen and to the work that we've been doing and to UCCF and to the CUs. 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:25.100 You have been quite literally a bedrock of our lives here in Edinburgh right from the start. 00:00:25.420 --> 00:00:27.160 So we want to thank you so much. 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:36.539 And what I forgot to mention is that I am moving on into working for Chalmers Church as a minister in training, which is both exciting and daunting. 00:00:37.259 --> 00:00:39.740 So thank you for encouraging me in that as well. 00:00:40.179 --> 00:00:42.859 This church has given us a lot. 00:00:43.620 --> 00:00:45.340 And I don't say that as a platitude. 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:46.159 I mean that sincerely. 00:00:46.579 --> 00:00:48.079 So thank you very, very much. 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:51.740 But today we are looking at Ephesians. 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:55.120 Ephesians chapter 2, verses 11 to 22. 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:00.079 If you've got your Bibles, it would be great to have it open as we go through it. 00:01:00.839 --> 00:01:03.699 Ephesians is often called the jewel of the New Testament. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:08.060 It is a wonderful, wonderful book. 00:01:08.479 --> 00:01:12.340 And it's short, but it is packed with incredible stuff. 00:01:12.759 --> 00:01:19.219 And this is a wonderful part of this as we move through Ephesians, this passage. 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:20.459 Ephesians 2, verses 11 to 22. 00:01:20.459 --> 00:01:22.079 And let's read it together. 00:01:23.039 --> 00:01:24.879 And then I'll pray for us. 00:01:25.019 --> 00:01:28.559 And then we'll begin Ephesians 2, 11 to 22. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:39.480 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision, 00:01:39.740 --> 00:01:41.659 that's done in the body by the hands of men. 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:45.400 Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, 00:01:46.579 --> 00:01:50.800 excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, 00:01:51.099 --> 00:01:54.060 without hope and without God in the world. 00:01:54.060 --> 00:01:59.900 But now in Christ Jesus, you who are once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 00:02:00.460 --> 00:02:06.500 For he is himself our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:11.719 the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. 00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:18.039 His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:24.560 And in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he puts to death their hostility. 00:02:25.379 --> 00:02:30.639 He came and preached peace to you who are far away and peace to those who are near. 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:36.479 For through him we both have access to the father by one spirit. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:44.759 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:51.899 built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 00:02:52.659 --> 00:02:57.219 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 00:02:57.219 --> 00:03:04.139 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. 00:03:04.139 --> 00:03:06.559 Let's pray as we start. 00:03:07.939 --> 00:03:10.759 Heavenly Father God, we thank you so much for your word. 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:13.479 Thank you that it is true and thank you that it is good. 00:03:13.699 --> 00:03:18.519 Lord, we pray that as we come to it, we would be softened in our hearts by the spirit. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:22.519 Lord, may what the spirit has to teach us, may it stay with us. 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:24.419 May we go out of here feeling changed. 00:03:24.899 --> 00:03:30.759 And may we go out of here feeling like we've met with you and that we want to be more in love with Jesus Christ. 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:37.199 Heavenly Father, I pray that as a church body, we would be wanting to tell people about Jesus. 00:03:37.739 --> 00:03:42.039 Heavenly Father, I pray that as we go through Ephesians today, you would warm our hearts to yourself. 00:03:42.139 --> 00:03:43.639 Lord, we thank you that we have your word. 00:03:44.179 --> 00:03:46.719 Lord, we thank you for being with us now in your mighty name. 00:03:47.219 --> 00:03:47.459 Amen. 00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:47.599 Amen. 00:03:50.280 --> 00:04:06.819 On a warm summer's day in the middle of a vast wealthy city, 200,000 men, women and children flocked to the steps of a nation's national monument as they clamored and jostled for space, craning their necks to see if they could spot the man of the hour. 00:04:06.819 --> 00:04:21.219 Workers downed their tools, teachers in schools, left their classrooms, families sat around TVs, those who had them, while police up and down the country were on high alert as everyone flocked in their droves to the epicenter of history being made. 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:25.680 Everyone wanted to glimpse this man. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:30.620 A man who had seared himself on the consciousness of that nation and the world. 00:04:30.939 --> 00:04:35.000 A man whose every movement, speech and mannerisms was clocked, calculated and reported. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:40.439 A man who was very well aware of just how incendiary even his name had become. 00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:43.720 They wanted a glimpse of the king. 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:49.180 On the staging, someone moved a lone microphone towards him. 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:52.580 The crowd fell silent as a hush descended over the masses. 00:04:53.580 --> 00:05:01.100 And the next 17 minutes were to be the defining moment in a long and bitter, hard-fought battle. 00:05:01.960 --> 00:05:04.360 And the king spoke. 00:05:05.640 --> 00:05:07.020 I have a dream. 00:05:08.140 --> 00:05:11.260 It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 00:05:12.200 --> 00:05:13.280 I have a dream. 00:05:13.739 --> 00:05:20.879 That one day, on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down at the table of brotherhood. 00:05:21.579 --> 00:05:22.659 I have a dream. 00:05:23.359 --> 00:05:32.859 That one day, even the state of Mississippi, sweltering in the heat of injustice, sweating in the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:35.019 I have a dream today. 00:05:35.019 --> 00:05:35.240 I have a dream. 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:35.800 I have a dream. 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:36.420 I have a dream. 00:05:36.420 --> 00:05:36.920 I have a dream. 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:36.960 I have a dream. 00:05:36.960 --> 00:05:37.420 I have a dream. 00:05:37.420 --> 00:05:37.720 I have a dream. 00:05:37.720 --> 00:06:07.720 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:08.720 I have a dream. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:09.280 I have a dream. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:39.279 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:39.559 imizים. 00:06:39.559 --> 00:06:43.399 I have a dream. 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:50.019 22, we have an insight into what's really going on between the Jew and the Gentile. And we see 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:54.639 what God brings about when he starts fixing this divide. It's nothing short of amazing. 00:06:56.019 --> 00:07:00.399 The civil rights issue and the problem of racism and slavery was a monumental problem, 00:07:00.719 --> 00:07:04.539 an issue very few people felt would ever get rectified. And to a certain extent, that still 00:07:04.539 --> 00:07:11.519 continues. Indeed, even today we talk about it. But as we look at what Paul paints for us, 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:16.399 we see that there is a deeper problem with the divide that we are talking about here. 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:22.259 And the bringing together of the Jew and the Gentile has as much greater eternal significance. 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:28.759 And it's a very theologically important point that Paul makes in Ephesians 2. 00:07:29.859 --> 00:07:32.680 If you're taking notes, I'm going to go through my talk in three points today. 00:07:33.419 --> 00:07:39.359 If you're not, don't worry, it's still three points. But my first is this. We are alienated 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:45.360 from Christ. And this is this is the argument that Paul is making in Ephesians 2. One, we are 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:53.480 alienated from Christ. If you notice, when we read this, Paul starts his thought here in verse 11, 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:59.259 very similarly to the way that he starts his thoughts in Ephesians 2 verse 1. Now, let's flick 00:07:59.259 --> 00:08:03.460 back to that for a moment, shall we? I think it's very important. It says this. 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:09.139 As for you, this is Ephesians 2 verse 1, as for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:16.060 which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world. Here in Ephesians 2 11, we read, 00:08:16.459 --> 00:08:22.659 therefore, remember that formerly you who were Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those 00:08:22.659 --> 00:08:26.779 who call themselves a circumcision. Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ. 00:08:26.779 --> 00:08:35.179 Now, can you see the similarity? Paul brings us right back to where we were in verse 1. We are 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:41.539 separate from Christ. Can you see that? But there is a very different emphasis here in verse 11. Verse 1 00:08:41.539 --> 00:08:49.259 is because we're dead, spiritually comatose. In verse 11, it's because we're Gentile. 00:08:49.259 --> 00:08:59.399 And what did being a Gentile mean? Well, verse 12 goes on to say this, that it not only separates us 00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:06.740 from Christ, but we are excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenant of the 00:09:06.740 --> 00:09:13.539 promise. And if that isn't bad enough, Paul goes on to say that we are in fact without hope and without 00:09:13.539 --> 00:09:20.480 God in the world as a consequence. And this is where we realize that in many respects, the Jews 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:26.159 had it good. They had the promise of Abraham. They had the physical land. They had the nation 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:31.659 around them. They had redemption history behind them. They had the patriarchs and the prophets, 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:37.480 the circumcision and the covenant. This is what the Jews had. Indeed, they were God's chosen people. 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:44.560 They had the father of the nations, Abraham. They had the great redeemer, Moses, the mighty King David, 00:09:44.659 --> 00:09:50.700 the powerful Isaiah and the uncompromising Daniel. And all the way down through this redemptive history, 00:09:51.060 --> 00:09:56.320 these patriarchs and these prophets, these kings and these rulers were pictures of the king who will 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:04.379 arrive, that will have an eternal kingdom whose rule will never end. Do you get that? The Jews had it 00:10:04.379 --> 00:10:09.919 really good. And all the way down through this redemptive history, we are reminded that the 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:18.240 Gentiles didn't. And the Jews certainly knew that. Let's have a little look at this divide in greater 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:24.639 detail. Here's what William Barclay says of the Jewish Gentile divide at the time of Jesus. He says, 00:10:24.700 --> 00:10:31.019 as quoted by John Stott, this, the Jew had an immense contempt for the Gentile. The Gentiles, 00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:37.340 so the Jews were created by God to be fuel for the fires of hell. God, they said, loves only Israel of all the 00:10:37.340 --> 00:10:44.199 nations he has made. It was not even lawful to render help to a Gentile mother in her hour of sorest need, 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:52.699 for that would simply be to bring another Gentile into the world. Deep seated animosity to the point of intense 00:10:52.699 --> 00:11:00.579 hatred and a hatred that works both ways. Mixed with the realization that the Gentile, because of his status of not being 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:05.840 Jewish nation, was cut off from the promises of God and a foreigner to the covenant. 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:14.480 Destitute of an inheritance they could not lay their hands on. And Paul says, this is who you are. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:23.799 Or this is who you were. We don't have the history of the prophets, the kings, the priests, the judges. 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:29.360 It was seen that we may as well be dead back in verse one, because life as a Gentile doesn't seem to be that 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:34.279 much better. We are, as John Stott says, doubly alienated from God. 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:44.139 Is this so much of a problem? Well, yeah, it really is. It's a big problem. You see, all the way down 00:11:44.139 --> 00:11:49.240 through this redemptive history, we are reminded that there will be a king who will be the mainstay of 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:54.519 the remnant after the exile, and a king who will prove himself to be the Messiah and lead his glorious 00:11:54.519 --> 00:12:01.299 people into a glorious revolution of justice, peace, and freedom. That is the covenant promise that the 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:07.879 Gentile is excluded from. And how is that fulfilled? Well, it's fulfilled in Christ. 00:12:09.579 --> 00:12:16.019 Therefore, we are excluded from the wonder of being able to know Christ and be with God. That is a huge 00:12:16.019 --> 00:12:20.039 problem. As Paul himself says here, you are separate from Christ. 00:12:22.839 --> 00:12:26.240 Who on earth could do anything about this divine? 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:41.180 God. Then Paul nails it. But. That glorious, glorious conjunction. But. Now, in Christ Jesus, 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:48.940 you who were once that far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 00:12:48.940 --> 00:12:51.720 Isn't that amazing? 00:12:52.460 --> 00:12:56.560 This brings us on to our second point. Two, we are made one in Christ. 00:12:57.580 --> 00:13:02.060 The solution to this alienation is the person from whom we are alienated. 00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:03.280 Christ himself. 00:13:04.900 --> 00:13:09.460 Paul continues to use chapter 2, verse 1 to 10 as his parallel thought here. 00:13:09.760 --> 00:13:13.340 So follow me for a bit. Go back to verse 4 of chapter 2. 00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:14.400 We read this. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:18.139 But because of God's great love, we are made alive with Christ. 00:13:19.059 --> 00:13:24.220 Then, here in verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have been brought near. 00:13:24.959 --> 00:13:30.340 So just as there's a solution to my being dead, there is a solution to my being Gentile. 00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:31.459 Got it? 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:37.559 And as there are different issues to me being blocked off from God, 00:13:38.079 --> 00:13:41.000 one being dead and two being Gentile, 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:43.159 the solution, however, is one and the same. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:46.860 Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 00:13:49.179 --> 00:13:51.279 But how does he reconcile this division? 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:54.820 Well, he reconciles it through his death, 00:13:55.559 --> 00:13:57.019 through the shedding of his blood. 00:13:57.460 --> 00:14:00.399 We have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 00:14:01.860 --> 00:14:04.960 And what does that shedding of blood actually accomplish for us? 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:06.620 Let's read the next few verses together. 00:14:06.940 --> 00:14:09.919 Ephesians 2, 14 to 18. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:12.340 It says this. 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:14.639 For he himself is our peace, 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:17.460 who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, 00:14:17.539 --> 00:14:18.720 the dividing wall of hostility, 00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:22.899 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. 00:14:23.500 --> 00:14:26.820 His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, 00:14:26.899 --> 00:14:27.879 thus making peace, 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:31.659 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:33.820 by which he put to death their hostility. 00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:37.019 He came and preached peace to you who are far away 00:14:37.019 --> 00:14:38.279 and peace to those who are near, 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:42.639 for through him we both have access to the Father by one spirit. 00:14:44.139 --> 00:14:46.620 The language is quite vivid here, isn't it, actually, 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:47.419 if you really think about it. 00:14:47.439 --> 00:14:49.980 We have two pictures, if you like. 00:14:50.439 --> 00:14:54.179 Paul paints two pictures of what this Jew-Gentile divide looks like 00:14:54.179 --> 00:14:55.539 and how the solution works. 00:14:55.779 --> 00:14:59.419 The first picture is the wall of hostility that divides. 00:15:00.819 --> 00:15:02.079 Now, when Paul was writing this, 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:06.900 he would have been writing to people who really, really understood what this issue felt like. 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:09.020 Today, sitting here in 21st century Edinburgh, 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:13.540 we don't necessarily feel this division like the readers would have felt this division. 00:15:13.860 --> 00:15:18.440 And so Paul uses language that the Ephesian church would have really picked up on. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:21.660 And language also that really helps us today, 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:22.860 seeing what's going on. 00:15:23.540 --> 00:15:26.660 For example, he uses the picture of the dividing wall of hostility. 00:15:26.659 --> 00:15:31.719 In the main temple built by Herod, 00:15:31.839 --> 00:15:35.439 there really was a physical dividing wall of hostility. 00:15:36.459 --> 00:15:38.299 And it was to appease the Jews. 00:15:39.339 --> 00:15:40.600 There was a huge concourse. 00:15:40.959 --> 00:15:42.919 And in this concourse, there were three main sections, 00:15:43.079 --> 00:15:45.819 one for the priests, one for the Jewish men, and one for the Jewish women. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:47.559 Outside of this concourse, 00:15:47.719 --> 00:15:50.419 you descended five steps to a wall with an arch. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:53.240 You went through the wall, through the arch, 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:54.960 and you go down another 14 steps, 00:15:55.139 --> 00:15:59.019 and you end up on a big, vast plaza that ran around the entire temple. 00:15:59.560 --> 00:16:02.299 This was the tourist part, if you like. 00:16:02.980 --> 00:16:05.639 And on the wall that divided the concourse from the plaza, 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.519 which was literally called the dividing wall, 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:10.220 was written these words. 00:16:11.340 --> 00:16:15.299 No foreigner may enter within the barrier and enclosure around this temple. 00:16:16.340 --> 00:16:20.940 Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death. 00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:26.460 And what does Paul say has happened to this wall? 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:28.580 It's been destroyed. 00:16:29.760 --> 00:16:31.060 It's been taken down. 00:16:32.620 --> 00:16:37.340 Reading of this dividing wall that condemned the Gentile to death as being removed 00:16:37.340 --> 00:16:40.940 would have provoked an immediate feeling of euphoria in the Ephesians. 00:16:41.060 --> 00:16:42.480 That's amazing language. 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:47.400 We are allowed then to associate with the Jewish people. 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:51.259 That wall being obliterated means I can step over the barrier, 00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:55.259 through the gate, onto the concourse without fear of death. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:00.139 Indeed, it is as if I were Jewish. 00:17:00.139 --> 00:17:04.059 And as soon as we understand that, 00:17:04.819 --> 00:17:07.720 we instantly get what Paul goes on to say in verse 15, 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:12.160 when he says that it was his purpose to create in himself 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:14.700 one new man out of the two, the Jew and the Gentile, 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:16.559 thus making peace, 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:17.839 and in his body, 00:17:18.099 --> 00:17:20.220 to reconcile both of them to God through the cross. 00:17:20.420 --> 00:17:21.900 And that's our second picture. 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:24.759 This picture of two men becoming one man. 00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:30.879 It means I am one with the Jew in Christ, 00:17:30.980 --> 00:17:32.500 in the body of Christ, you see? 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:37.480 It's not enough for me to be somehow tacked onto the family line. 00:17:37.879 --> 00:17:40.819 In Christ's body, I am made one with the Jew. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:42.640 I have that status. 00:17:44.900 --> 00:17:47.339 And as Christ dies on the cross and sheds his blood, 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:50.059 so the dividing wall of hostility comes down 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:51.799 at the very moment he breathes his last. 00:17:51.799 --> 00:17:56.359 The Jew and the Gentile are one in Christ. 00:17:56.460 --> 00:17:57.960 That's unbelievable language. 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:00.960 The Jew and the Gentile are one in Christ. 00:18:01.539 --> 00:18:02.919 It is gloriously true. 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:05.399 But we know, don't we, 00:18:05.419 --> 00:18:06.819 that there's another divider that comes down 00:18:06.819 --> 00:18:08.799 the moment Jesus breathes his last. 00:18:10.019 --> 00:18:13.579 And as the dividing wall in the temple metaphorically crumbles, 00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:17.480 so the curtain in the temple physically tears. 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:23.420 And I am allowed to walk in unhindered to the room of the presence of God himself. 00:18:25.460 --> 00:18:28.279 And what does verse 14 remind us we have? 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:29.920 Peace. 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:33.599 He himself is our peace. 00:18:34.620 --> 00:18:36.599 Christ is our peace with God, 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:38.920 so I can move into the holy of holies. 00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:42.980 And he is also my peace with those who are separated from me on earth, 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:45.420 so I can move into the concourse of the Jew. 00:18:45.420 --> 00:18:49.420 He is the peace that rectifies this hostile divide. 00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:54.240 And we're beginning here to get an idea of what Paul is doing in his argument, 00:18:54.420 --> 00:18:56.120 how it plays out in chapter 2. 00:18:56.700 --> 00:18:57.720 In verse 1 to 10, 00:18:57.980 --> 00:19:00.160 because of Jesus Christ, I'm made alive in him, 00:19:00.220 --> 00:19:02.580 and so my relationship with God is perfectly restored. 00:19:03.320 --> 00:19:05.539 And as my relationship with God is perfectly restored, 00:19:05.800 --> 00:19:07.019 so in verse 11 onwards, 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:10.700 my horizontal relationship with mankind is perfectly restored. 00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:15.240 It's the inversion of everything that went wrong in Genesis 3, 00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:20.000 where creation order was unceremoniously dumped upside down, 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:23.360 as animal deceived woman who tempted man who defied God, 00:19:23.620 --> 00:19:26.360 so our relationship with him was severed at that moment. 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:29.080 And as soon as that happened, 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:31.299 so their relationship with each other was severed. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:33.759 Adam and Eve started to blame each other. 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:36.619 They created their own physical barriers to each other, 00:19:36.859 --> 00:19:39.980 those made of clothes out of fig leaves to hide their shame. 00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:44.559 Zoom on thousands of years to Christ on the cross, 00:19:45.140 --> 00:19:48.980 and I see everything falling back into perfect order. 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:51.759 As my relationship with the living God is reconciled, 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:54.299 whilst at exactly the same time, 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:56.980 the divided relationship with my brother, the Jew, 00:19:57.059 --> 00:19:58.220 is also reconciled. 00:19:58.220 --> 00:20:01.319 I am one in Christ, 00:20:02.100 --> 00:20:04.600 and I am one with the Jew. 00:20:06.180 --> 00:20:08.160 And the two happen at exactly the same moment 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.620 as Jesus sheds his blood, 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:12.819 as that final sacrifice on a wooden cross. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:16.860 But just before we move on and tie up this point, 00:20:17.460 --> 00:20:20.319 I'm going to do what I sometimes do in a student Bible study 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:21.940 and ask a painfully obvious question. 00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:24.000 And it is this. 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:25.700 Just take a look at verse 16 00:20:25.700 --> 00:20:29.500 and work out who it is that is actually to be reconciled to God. 00:20:29.600 --> 00:20:33.779 Who is it that is actually to be reconciled to God in verse 16? 00:20:35.360 --> 00:20:36.440 It's both. 00:20:38.220 --> 00:20:41.960 And in his body, reconcile both of them to God. 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:43.120 Can you see that? 00:20:44.340 --> 00:20:48.160 The Jew is also to completely be reconciled in death 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:51.039 and the resurrection to God through Jesus. 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:52.960 But what about their history? 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:55.980 What about the priests, the prophets, the rulers, the judges, the kings, 00:20:56.059 --> 00:20:58.039 the promise that we were talking about earlier? 00:20:58.400 --> 00:20:59.460 Well, it's all true, 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:02.200 but it's all pointed to Jesus Christ. 00:21:03.700 --> 00:21:07.200 You see, just as the Gentiles had the issue of not being Jewish, 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:10.299 the Jews had the issue of facing the law. 00:21:11.299 --> 00:21:13.759 And try as they might, the law was never kept. 00:21:14.620 --> 00:21:16.620 And as verse 15 reminds us, 00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:20.400 Christ abolished in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:22.600 You see what Paul is doing here. 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:27.040 As much as the Gentiles were doubly alienated from God, 00:21:27.280 --> 00:21:28.759 the Jews were also lost. 00:21:29.860 --> 00:21:33.080 They also needed to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ 00:21:33.080 --> 00:21:35.420 because they couldn't keep the law of their own covenant, 00:21:36.100 --> 00:21:37.940 just as the Gentiles can't. 00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:43.559 There is no other name under heaven by which man can be saved. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:50.580 The Jew and the Gentile both need to be reconciled to him through his blood. 00:21:52.660 --> 00:21:54.640 And that's the whole point of the Jewish nation. 00:21:55.539 --> 00:21:57.200 That was the whole point of the old covenant. 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:00.840 Everything from creation and the fall onwards was a foreshadow 00:22:00.840 --> 00:22:03.440 of what the promised kingdom really looked like. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:07.680 Even in the heart of the covenant of the promise of Abraham in Genesis 12, 00:22:08.059 --> 00:22:11.480 God himself says that he would be the father of many nations, 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:12.680 not just one. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:16.120 You see, as Gentiles, 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:20.000 we were eventually always going to be included into this family, 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:23.920 just as the Jew was always meant to be reconciled to God, 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:25.480 despite the law condemning them. 00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:28.880 And it was to be through the same person, 00:22:29.380 --> 00:22:31.420 the promised Messiah, 00:22:32.259 --> 00:22:33.120 Jesus Christ. 00:22:35.259 --> 00:22:38.039 And sometimes I look and rejoice in the fact that I am one with the Jew. 00:22:39.140 --> 00:22:42.720 The Jew can look at the Gentile and rejoice in the fact that they are one with the Gentile. 00:22:43.860 --> 00:22:47.440 As they understand that the promise of the covenant is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, 00:22:47.559 --> 00:22:49.259 who has done his job. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:53.480 He made the Jew and the Gentile one. 00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:58.700 Now, let's move on to what that looks like. 00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:00.940 What does that now look like? 00:23:02.120 --> 00:23:02.860 My third point, 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.059 we are united with Christ. 00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:09.620 Let's just read the last few verses together for the last time. 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:11.380 It's Ephesians 2, 19 to 22. 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:12.000 Consequently, 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:14.500 you who are no longer foreigners and aliens, 00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:17.720 but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:20.559 built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:23.460 with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:24.700 In him, 00:23:24.740 --> 00:23:28.419 the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 00:23:29.339 --> 00:23:29.919 And in him, 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:30.460 you too, 00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:34.819 not being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. 00:23:37.159 --> 00:23:42.319 What are the consequences of this incredible act of unification with peace through Christ's blood? 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:43.319 Well, 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:44.919 whatever they are, 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:46.779 the consequences are immediate and eternal. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:49.359 Verse 19 says, 00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:50.500 as a direct consequence, 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:53.019 then I am no longer a foreigner and an alien, 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:57.740 but a fellow citizen with God's people and in God's household. 00:23:57.799 --> 00:23:58.759 That's incredible. 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:02.480 With this double alienation from God, 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:03.819 I stand in Christ, 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:05.759 saved by his righteousness, 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:07.339 called a son of God, 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:08.680 and at the same time, 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:10.440 standing one with the Jew, 00:24:10.779 --> 00:24:14.720 and so having access to the covenant of the promise by being called a son of Abraham. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:20.220 I was tempted to go up and ask the musicians if they wanted to play, 00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:21.420 Father Abraham, 00:24:21.740 --> 00:24:22.380 many sons, 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:23.059 many sons, 00:24:23.140 --> 00:24:25.039 but I didn't think it would go down too well. 00:24:25.220 --> 00:24:26.640 But it's true. 00:24:27.940 --> 00:24:28.339 And actually, 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:30.620 it's a very important theological point, 00:24:31.259 --> 00:24:36.100 in that we have to be engrafted into the line of Abraham so that we can enjoy the covenant promise. 00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:42.400 My complete and terrifyingly insurmountable twofold barrier to God 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:47.140 is perfectly destroyed by a complete and wonderfully unbreakable twofold salvation. 00:24:49.120 --> 00:24:50.900 If I am one with the Jew in Christ, 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.360 then I get everything that the Jew was eligible for. 00:24:54.360 --> 00:24:56.640 I suddenly become eligible to the promise, 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.060 an inheritor of the covenant. 00:24:59.560 --> 00:25:01.380 I am a citizen of Israel, 00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:02.740 but better still, 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:07.880 we both are fellow citizens in the new Israel. 00:25:09.940 --> 00:25:11.060 Now, get a load of this. 00:25:11.059 --> 00:25:14.339 If the Jew and the Gentiles thought they'd made it by this point, 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:15.919 they sort of missed something. 00:25:17.059 --> 00:25:21.559 Because what kind of country does this new Jew Gentile man now live in? 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:23.879 The church. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:26.639 The glorious, 00:25:26.859 --> 00:25:27.619 nation-consuming, 00:25:27.799 --> 00:25:28.460 gospel-carrying, 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:29.440 completely unified, 00:25:29.679 --> 00:25:30.019 worldwide, 00:25:30.259 --> 00:25:30.700 multilingual, 00:25:30.879 --> 00:25:31.279 international, 00:25:31.419 --> 00:25:32.139 interdenominational, 00:25:32.259 --> 00:25:32.940 awesome and terrible, 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:33.899 as an army with banners, 00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:34.419 church. 00:25:34.420 --> 00:25:37.279 That's what we belong to. 00:25:39.120 --> 00:25:40.120 A friend said to me, 00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:41.680 as we were discussing this passage, 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:44.060 he said that I had to get across that the church is great. 00:25:44.360 --> 00:25:44.960 So I'll say it, 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:45.680 the church is great. 00:25:47.580 --> 00:25:48.600 The church is great. 00:25:48.840 --> 00:25:51.000 The church is not boring ideology. 00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:54.180 It's a mind-bending reality. 00:25:54.900 --> 00:25:56.620 And we are a party to that. 00:25:56.860 --> 00:25:57.200 Indeed, 00:25:57.360 --> 00:25:58.420 we are that. 00:25:58.420 --> 00:25:59.300 We are that. 00:26:01.120 --> 00:26:02.840 And what are we? 00:26:04.420 --> 00:26:05.880 We are a body of believers, 00:26:06.080 --> 00:26:06.539 that is, 00:26:06.600 --> 00:26:07.140 verse 20, 00:26:07.320 --> 00:26:10.500 built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, 00:26:10.620 --> 00:26:12.519 with Christ himself as the chief cornerstone. 00:26:12.740 --> 00:26:16.480 Can you see how this is a direct consequence of me being accepted into the line of Abraham? 00:26:18.840 --> 00:26:20.220 We are a body of believers, 00:26:20.320 --> 00:26:22.180 where the Jew and the Gentile both stand together, 00:26:22.460 --> 00:26:26.120 looking back over the entire history and covenancy of Israel, 00:26:26.119 --> 00:26:27.000 and we can say, 00:26:27.099 --> 00:26:28.159 I am included in that. 00:26:29.859 --> 00:26:31.619 We are built on this history, 00:26:31.719 --> 00:26:33.579 and the church is built on this covenant. 00:26:33.899 --> 00:26:35.939 This is the new Israel. 00:26:37.779 --> 00:26:38.699 And fundamentally, 00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:40.339 we are built on Christ. 00:26:40.639 --> 00:26:42.359 Christ who is the chief cornerstone. 00:26:42.639 --> 00:26:44.939 Christ who was slain before the foundation of the world. 00:26:45.179 --> 00:26:47.779 And Christ who is the final word of the Father. 00:26:48.959 --> 00:26:51.799 Christ whose act on the cross spans before the ages, 00:26:52.099 --> 00:26:52.759 before us, 00:26:52.879 --> 00:26:55.159 and right back through to the dawn of time beyond us. 00:26:56.939 --> 00:26:57.219 Indeed, 00:26:57.379 --> 00:27:04.379 the foundation of our unity as a church is built on the only one who could unify the ununifiable division of God and man, 00:27:04.739 --> 00:27:05.559 and Jew and Gentile. 00:27:07.659 --> 00:27:10.339 And just as we were looking at the dividing wall falling down, 00:27:10.399 --> 00:27:12.179 and the dividing curtain being torn down, 00:27:12.419 --> 00:27:13.319 in verse 21, 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:17.979 we are shown the active joining together of this remarkable new building. 00:27:17.980 --> 00:27:22.180 And then we see it rising to become a holy temple in the Lord. 00:27:22.500 --> 00:27:22.880 Paul says, 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:28.880 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:34.420 And I've done several sessions of God's big picture. 00:27:34.500 --> 00:27:35.220 I don't know if you've read that book. 00:27:35.320 --> 00:27:36.360 I think it's a brilliant book. 00:27:36.460 --> 00:27:39.140 It's a walk through the whole of redemption history. 00:27:39.220 --> 00:27:40.040 It's a walk through the Bible. 00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:43.819 And it looks specifically at the idea of God's kingdom. 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:46.460 I think many of you students I can see have actually done this with me, 00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:46.859 I think. 00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:49.119 And with each chapter, 00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:52.940 which corresponds to a big moment in Israel's history, 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:56.700 there are three criteria that you have to look at every single time. 00:27:56.819 --> 00:27:57.920 And they're all the same. 00:27:57.980 --> 00:28:00.159 At every single point in redemption history, 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:01.319 the three things are the same. 00:28:01.720 --> 00:28:03.359 Who are God's people at that point? 00:28:03.679 --> 00:28:05.539 Where is God's place at that point? 00:28:05.699 --> 00:28:08.379 And what does God's rule and blessing look like at that point? 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:11.859 And when we get to this point in the Bible, 00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:13.919 this is the proclaimed kingdom, 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:14.959 as this book calls it, 00:28:15.459 --> 00:28:18.079 we see that God's people is the new Israel, 00:28:18.439 --> 00:28:20.019 the international church of Christ. 00:28:20.399 --> 00:28:22.479 God's place is the whole earth, 00:28:22.479 --> 00:28:23.699 not just one nation. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:27.019 And God's rule and blessing is pictured as the spirit himself 00:28:27.019 --> 00:28:29.119 being in the heart of the believer, 00:28:29.459 --> 00:28:31.519 no longer separate from mankind. 00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:33.919 We, 00:28:34.819 --> 00:28:35.819 as his church, 00:28:35.979 --> 00:28:39.119 are the antithesis of separation from Christ. 00:28:39.899 --> 00:28:43.159 We are now the temple that houses him. 00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:46.839 The temple of the Holy Spirit. 00:28:48.699 --> 00:28:50.039 This is magnificent. 00:28:50.299 --> 00:28:50.979 Can you see that? 00:28:52.159 --> 00:28:53.240 Truly magnificent. 00:28:54.639 --> 00:28:55.740 And guys, 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:57.839 I dare you to take a look around, 00:28:58.379 --> 00:28:59.599 as embarrassing as that may be. 00:28:59.699 --> 00:29:00.319 Look at each other. 00:29:00.740 --> 00:29:02.599 Have a look at the people that you sit next to week after week. 00:29:02.599 --> 00:29:03.939 Sunday after Sunday. 00:29:04.019 --> 00:29:04.599 Look at your friends, 00:29:04.679 --> 00:29:06.159 the people that you don't know particularly well, 00:29:06.199 --> 00:29:06.819 who are in the church. 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:08.679 You are together this church. 00:29:10.699 --> 00:29:12.419 You are sitting here in this building, 00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:14.099 which is not the church, 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:18.740 as a people who are now the temple of the living God. 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:20.079 You are this church. 00:29:20.819 --> 00:29:22.059 That is your status. 00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:24.699 That is who you are. 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:27.819 As you step through that wall of hostility, 00:29:27.819 --> 00:29:30.039 this odd assortment of young and old, 00:29:30.139 --> 00:29:30.619 big and small, 00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:31.599 international and local, 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:32.399 student and worker, 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:36.059 people you would never dream of associating with on your own terms. 00:29:37.139 --> 00:29:38.500 You are here together, 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:39.500 doing so, 00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:41.919 because you are this church. 00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:48.039 And you know I'm not just talking about us here this morning, 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:50.159 or even Brunshall Evangelical in general. 00:29:50.460 --> 00:29:51.819 I'm talking about the church. 00:29:52.439 --> 00:29:54.500 The millions upon millions of brothers and sisters 00:29:54.500 --> 00:29:57.380 that we are unified with across the span of the entire globe. 00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:03.500 Now be careful that this doesn't make us all feel fuzzy and warm too quickly. 00:30:04.759 --> 00:30:06.240 It is a glorious truth. 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:08.759 But we know that in our own church families 00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:09.559 and our relationships, 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:10.359 they're fractured. 00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:12.420 Our hearts are divided, 00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:14.059 that there are people I can't stand, 00:30:14.200 --> 00:30:15.579 situations I find really tough. 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:17.200 We know that church is difficult. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:18.299 And even more so, 00:30:18.440 --> 00:30:20.799 when I feel I need to be united with people. 00:30:20.900 --> 00:30:22.380 But that's kind of the point. 00:30:22.380 --> 00:30:26.140 Because we can't do this on our own. 00:30:27.600 --> 00:30:29.840 We can't be united together on our own. 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:32.160 We can only be because of Christ. 00:30:34.340 --> 00:30:35.740 And what that all looks like, 00:30:35.780 --> 00:30:37.060 the messes that we get ourselves in, 00:30:37.080 --> 00:30:37.980 and how we deal with each other, 00:30:38.020 --> 00:30:39.880 that's exactly what Ephesians goes on to next. 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:42.420 And that's really important. 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:47.100 We are this church, it is true, 00:30:47.180 --> 00:30:49.020 but it has nothing to do with us. 00:30:49.019 --> 00:30:52.139 Our selfishness, our pride, our bitterness, 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:53.180 our survival instincts, 00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:54.940 they'd never allow us to meet together, 00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:56.779 let alone live life on life with each other. 00:30:56.940 --> 00:30:57.799 You know that's true. 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:02.240 We are only this church because of Christ, 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:04.180 built on the foundations, 00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:07.279 reinforced by the prophets and the apostles, 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:08.759 and maintained through the Spirit, 00:31:09.139 --> 00:31:10.900 who is actively, continuously, 00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:13.279 and tirelessly working in our individual hearts, 00:31:13.460 --> 00:31:15.700 every single moment of every single day. 00:31:15.700 --> 00:31:19.940 It's also worth remembering that being a part of the church 00:31:19.940 --> 00:31:21.819 is actually a worldly desire, 00:31:22.059 --> 00:31:23.279 to a large extent, isn't it? 00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:26.160 We hear every day on the news, 00:31:26.259 --> 00:31:28.740 the words, closer community, big society. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:31.100 We hear of the necessity for more peace talks, 00:31:31.180 --> 00:31:32.299 a desire for diplomacy. 00:31:32.680 --> 00:31:34.180 We crave an end to all wars. 00:31:34.259 --> 00:31:35.440 We're starving for peace. 00:31:35.620 --> 00:31:37.640 And that is great things to be wanting. 00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:41.100 This is what the world is screaming out for. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:42.360 But for all the rhetoric, 00:31:42.359 --> 00:31:44.459 all we see is devastation, destitution, 00:31:44.639 --> 00:31:45.579 destruction, and despair. 00:31:47.240 --> 00:31:49.819 The world cries out for what Christ offers. 00:31:50.099 --> 00:31:52.559 The world desires to be the church in that sense, 00:31:52.679 --> 00:31:55.219 but won't accept that Christ's way is the right way. 00:31:57.679 --> 00:31:59.639 This idea of church isn't foreign. 00:32:00.439 --> 00:32:02.559 It is Christ showing how our deepest desires 00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:03.779 actually are most fulfilled. 00:32:04.219 --> 00:32:07.139 In unity with those we would never be unified with 00:32:07.139 --> 00:32:08.179 only because of him. 00:32:08.299 --> 00:32:10.559 And ultimately, our desire is to be unified 00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:11.579 with him himself. 00:32:12.359 --> 00:32:16.639 And that is why we as a church 00:32:16.639 --> 00:32:19.000 need to look radically different. 00:32:21.119 --> 00:32:23.339 The world is meant to be able to look on the church 00:32:23.339 --> 00:32:26.459 and say, how can that ragtail bunch of misfits 00:32:26.459 --> 00:32:28.859 actually work together in such close community? 00:32:30.740 --> 00:32:33.359 The church is where, as Martin Luther King says, 00:32:33.599 --> 00:32:34.679 where the black and the white 00:32:34.679 --> 00:32:35.979 should be one without thought. 00:32:37.079 --> 00:32:38.559 Where the Israeli and the Arab 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:39.939 can embrace and cry with each other. 00:32:39.940 --> 00:32:41.440 Where the Englishman and the Scot 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:43.220 can watch rugby without malice. 00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:44.180 I have a dream. 00:32:46.299 --> 00:32:49.360 And where the Jew and the Gentile stand as one person, 00:32:49.620 --> 00:32:52.320 all because we are united in Christ. 00:32:55.259 --> 00:32:57.320 Don't you see that being a united church 00:32:57.320 --> 00:32:58.759 of ununifiable people 00:32:58.759 --> 00:33:02.640 is in fact our greatest apologetic for Christ? 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:04.220 Can you see that? 00:33:06.040 --> 00:33:09.820 It is also our greatest evangelistic tool for him. 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:15.400 Our being united in the face of a hugely fractured world 00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:19.300 of disunity illuminates the incredible power of the cross. 00:33:22.600 --> 00:33:24.320 Let's return to scripture for the last time 00:33:24.320 --> 00:33:25.200 as we draw to a close. 00:33:26.020 --> 00:33:27.780 Go into the bookends of the Bible 00:33:27.780 --> 00:33:30.140 to sum up the status of the church 00:33:30.140 --> 00:33:32.320 and our inclusion in the promise of the covenant. 00:33:33.700 --> 00:33:35.640 Exodus 19 verse 5. 00:33:35.980 --> 00:33:38.040 God tells Moses just before giving him the law, 00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:39.640 say this to the Israelites. 00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:43.140 If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, 00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:44.800 then out of all the nations, 00:33:44.920 --> 00:33:46.220 you will be my treasured possession. 00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:48.920 Although the whole earth is mine, 00:33:49.020 --> 00:33:50.840 you will be for me a kingdom of priests 00:33:50.840 --> 00:33:51.920 and a holy nation. 00:33:53.520 --> 00:33:55.000 1 Peter 2 verse 9. 00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:00.819 But now you are a chosen people, 00:34:01.460 --> 00:34:02.920 a royal priesthood, 00:34:03.299 --> 00:34:04.660 a holy nation, 00:34:05.299 --> 00:34:07.059 a people belonging to God 00:34:07.059 --> 00:34:08.980 that you may declare the praises of him 00:34:08.980 --> 00:34:10.179 who called you out of darkness 00:34:10.179 --> 00:34:11.539 into his wonderful light. 00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:14.039 Once you were not a people, 00:34:14.500 --> 00:34:16.739 but now you are the people of God. 00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:18.320 Once you had not received mercy, 00:34:18.420 --> 00:34:21.059 but now you have received mercy. 00:34:21.059 --> 00:34:25.420 And how do we get from Exodus 1 to Peter? 00:34:25.820 --> 00:34:26.559 Exodus to 1 Peter? 00:34:28.820 --> 00:34:29.900 On a cold spring day, 00:34:29.980 --> 00:34:31.519 on the edge of a vast, busy city, 00:34:32.599 --> 00:34:33.880 hundreds of men, women and children 00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:36.039 flocked to the hill of a nation's execution ground 00:34:36.039 --> 00:34:37.779 as they clamored and jostled for space, 00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:39.159 craning their necks to see 00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:40.599 if they could spot the man of the hour. 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:43.159 Workers downed their tools, 00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:44.840 rabbis in schools left their classrooms, 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:46.199 families sat around fires 00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:47.460 whilst guards and centurions 00:34:47.460 --> 00:34:49.139 up and down the country armed themselves 00:34:49.139 --> 00:34:51.239 as people flocked in their droves 00:34:51.239 --> 00:34:53.039 to the epicentre of history being made. 00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:56.379 Everyone wanted a glimpse of this man. 00:34:57.559 --> 00:34:58.960 A man that had seared himself 00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:00.279 on the consciousness of that nation 00:35:00.279 --> 00:35:00.900 and the world. 00:35:01.199 --> 00:35:03.139 A man whose every movement, speech and mannerism 00:35:03.139 --> 00:35:04.679 was clocked, calculated and reported. 00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:06.679 A man who was very well aware 00:35:06.679 --> 00:35:09.519 of just how incendiary even his name had become. 00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:12.960 They wanted a glimpse of this king. 00:35:14.539 --> 00:35:15.500 On the staging, 00:35:15.659 --> 00:35:17.079 a cross was slowly hoisted up 00:35:17.079 --> 00:35:18.019 and fixed into place. 00:35:18.019 --> 00:35:19.400 The crowd fell silent 00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:20.880 as a hush descended over the masses 00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:22.480 and the next three hours 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:24.139 were to be the most defining moment 00:35:24.139 --> 00:35:26.759 in a long and bitter hard fought battle. 00:35:27.579 --> 00:35:28.860 And the king spoke. 00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:31.139 It is finished. 00:35:33.079 --> 00:35:34.259 Let's pray as we close. 00:35:36.920 --> 00:35:37.759 Heavenly Father God, 00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:40.820 thank you so, so much for your gospel. 00:35:41.380 --> 00:35:41.920 Heavenly Father God, 00:35:41.980 --> 00:35:44.039 thank you so much for your son, Jesus Christ, 00:35:44.179 --> 00:35:45.920 who dies for us on the cross, 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:47.240 who shed his own blood 00:35:47.240 --> 00:35:48.780 so that we may know you. 00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:49.639 Heavenly Father, 00:35:49.720 --> 00:35:51.579 thank you that he rose again from the dead, 00:35:51.740 --> 00:35:52.539 beating death, 00:35:52.720 --> 00:35:54.380 so that we know that he is truly God 00:35:54.380 --> 00:35:56.280 and that we will be able to reign with him. 00:35:56.480 --> 00:35:57.039 But Heavenly Father, 00:35:57.119 --> 00:35:57.880 thank you so much 00:35:57.880 --> 00:35:59.500 that you made us church. 00:35:59.659 --> 00:36:00.840 You put us into church. 00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:02.320 Thank you that we are a church. 00:36:02.700 --> 00:36:03.820 But we know that that is hard. 00:36:03.900 --> 00:36:05.099 We know that sometimes this is difficult. 00:36:05.099 --> 00:36:05.780 But thank you 00:36:05.780 --> 00:36:07.579 that this is where you live. 00:36:08.220 --> 00:36:09.500 Well, this is incredible language. 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:10.940 May we not take that for granted 00:36:10.940 --> 00:36:12.260 when we step into this building 00:36:12.260 --> 00:36:13.740 or when we go out of here, 00:36:13.820 --> 00:36:15.079 when we speak to each other, 00:36:15.139 --> 00:36:16.619 when we speak to people who don't know you. 00:36:16.700 --> 00:36:17.720 May we always remember 00:36:17.720 --> 00:36:20.240 that we as a church bear your name. 00:36:21.400 --> 00:36:22.619 Lord, that is so important. 00:36:23.340 --> 00:36:24.480 Lord, thank you so much 00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:26.220 for making us a part of this covenant, 00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:28.679 even when we had no right. 00:36:30.280 --> 00:36:31.800 Thank you so much, Heavenly Father, 00:36:31.880 --> 00:36:33.059 that despite our sin, 00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:33.900 our foolishness, 00:36:33.900 --> 00:36:35.740 and our continual struggles, 00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:37.039 you call us back 00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:38.780 and you make us right with yourself 00:36:38.780 --> 00:36:40.560 because of Jesus Christ. 00:36:41.720 --> 00:36:42.300 Heavenly Father, 00:36:42.380 --> 00:36:44.200 I pray that we would not be ashamed 00:36:44.200 --> 00:36:44.980 of this gospel. 00:36:45.220 --> 00:36:46.000 Lord, forgive us 00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:47.720 when we feel so ashamed of this gospel. 00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:50.720 May we be willing to share it. 00:36:50.820 --> 00:36:52.180 May we be prepared 00:36:52.180 --> 00:36:54.260 to proclaim it clearly. 00:36:55.340 --> 00:36:55.780 And Lord God, 00:36:55.840 --> 00:36:57.120 may we also be teaching it 00:36:57.120 --> 00:36:58.300 to ourselves and to each other 00:36:58.300 --> 00:36:59.980 as we love each other well, 00:37:00.180 --> 00:37:02.240 as we live life on life with each other. 00:37:02.720 --> 00:37:03.820 Those of us, Lord, 00:37:04.220 --> 00:37:05.460 people we struggle with, 00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:06.000 Lord, I just pray 00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:07.440 that you'd really help us in those areas. 00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:09.420 Lord, thank you so much 00:37:09.420 --> 00:37:10.860 that we are your church. 00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:12.980 And we pray that you'd send us out of here 00:37:12.980 --> 00:37:15.380 being encouraged by this 00:37:15.380 --> 00:37:17.539 and more in love with Jesus 00:37:17.539 --> 00:37:18.840 who has unified us. 00:37:19.340 --> 00:37:20.280 We pray these things 00:37:20.280 --> 00:37:22.880 in your strong, strong name. 00:37:23.820 --> 00:37:24.079 Amen.