WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.820 Well, good evening and a warm welcome. 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:07.140 It's great to be with you again. 00:00:07.140 --> 00:00:10.060 If you'll turn with me to Luke chapter two, 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:14.640 this is page 857, we'll have a Christmas message 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:16.480 at the end of July. 00:00:18.059 --> 00:00:19.699 We'll be referring back to that passage 00:00:19.699 --> 00:00:21.780 that we read earlier from Ephesians chapter two, 00:00:21.780 --> 00:00:23.379 but what I'd like to notice here 00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:26.980 is we have a remarkable announcement 00:00:26.980 --> 00:00:31.980 given to a very unremarkable audience. 00:00:31.980 --> 00:00:36.039 Chapter two at verse 13, Luke's gospel. 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:39.399 And suddenly there was with the angel 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:42.539 a multitude of the heavenly host, 00:00:42.539 --> 00:00:44.039 praising God and saying, 00:00:44.039 --> 00:00:47.780 glory to God in the highest and on earth, 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:52.780 peace among those with whom he is pleased. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:55.820 As you survey the Bible, 00:00:55.820 --> 00:00:58.579 as you read through the old in the New Testament, 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:01.939 angelic messages were quite rare. 00:01:01.939 --> 00:01:06.939 They happened, visits and ministry of the angels occurred 00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:10.340 in the old and in the New Testament, 00:01:10.340 --> 00:01:12.379 but messages from the angelic host 00:01:12.379 --> 00:01:14.420 or visions of the angelic host, 00:01:14.420 --> 00:01:17.219 the great army of the angels, 00:01:17.219 --> 00:01:20.180 were by comparison extremely rare. 00:01:20.180 --> 00:01:23.379 We see glimpses of the angelic armies in the Old Testament. 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:27.819 We see the angelic hosts surrounding the throne 00:01:27.819 --> 00:01:30.179 in the book of Revelation, 00:01:30.179 --> 00:01:33.140 but to announce the arrival of Jesus, 00:01:33.140 --> 00:01:36.340 one angel was insufficient 00:01:36.340 --> 00:01:40.539 because first we have the angelic messenger 00:01:40.539 --> 00:01:44.340 speaking to the shepherds saying, fear not, 00:01:44.340 --> 00:01:48.539 for behold, I bring you good news of great joy 00:01:48.539 --> 00:01:51.340 that will be for all the people. 00:01:51.340 --> 00:01:53.299 For unto you is born this day 00:01:53.299 --> 00:01:57.939 in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. 00:01:57.939 --> 00:02:01.479 So the message of the angel was remarkable in itself, 00:02:01.479 --> 00:02:03.939 but the message of the angelic host 00:02:03.939 --> 00:02:08.939 was to underline what an auspicious 00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:12.919 and unprecedented event was to occur. 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:15.979 But the audience was quite unremarkable. 00:02:15.979 --> 00:02:17.780 We're told that there were shepherds 00:02:17.780 --> 00:02:19.780 that were simply doing what shepherds do. 00:02:19.780 --> 00:02:22.819 They were watching over their flocks at night 00:02:22.819 --> 00:02:26.299 and they were the audience for this great message 00:02:26.299 --> 00:02:29.219 of the angelic host, this rare appearance 00:02:29.219 --> 00:02:34.219 of the angelic army to announce the arrival of the Son, 00:02:34.219 --> 00:02:37.180 the Savior, Jesus. 00:02:37.180 --> 00:02:39.780 And what the sum of their message was 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:43.419 was that God was to receive the highest glory 00:02:43.419 --> 00:02:48.139 because to God alone belongs all glory, honor and praise. 00:02:48.139 --> 00:02:52.899 But this was a message whereby peace was declared. 00:02:52.899 --> 00:02:54.739 But the context is quite remarkable 00:02:54.739 --> 00:02:56.979 and Luke captures that for us. 00:02:56.979 --> 00:03:01.979 You see, Luke was an outsider who came in to the faith. 00:03:02.679 --> 00:03:06.939 Matthew and Mark and John were Jewish writers. 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:10.060 They had come to know Jesus and follow Jesus 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:12.019 whereas Luke was a Greek. 00:03:12.019 --> 00:03:14.779 He had come to know Jesus later in his life 00:03:14.779 --> 00:03:16.819 and accompanied the apostle Paul 00:03:16.819 --> 00:03:19.979 and others on journeys, missionary journeys. 00:03:19.979 --> 00:03:24.780 So as Luke introduces this great scene, 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:27.500 in verse two he reminds us, 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:32.500 he said, in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:37.139 that all the world should be registered. 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:40.180 Now the mention of Caesar Augustus is not by chance. 00:03:40.180 --> 00:03:43.560 Not only does this set us in time and in place, 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:48.300 but this reminds us of a period of unprecedented peace. 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:51.740 It was known as the Roman peace, the Pax Romana. 00:03:51.740 --> 00:03:56.020 For more than 200 years it was considered impossible 00:03:56.020 --> 00:03:59.140 that you could have a period of extended peace 00:03:59.140 --> 00:04:00.900 across an empire. 00:04:00.900 --> 00:04:03.060 And that's exactly what happened. 00:04:03.060 --> 00:04:06.140 That under Caesar Augustus and the later emperors 00:04:06.140 --> 00:04:10.539 over 213 years was a time of peace, 00:04:10.539 --> 00:04:13.799 of prosperity, of growth. 00:04:13.799 --> 00:04:16.219 But in the midst of this peace, 00:04:16.219 --> 00:04:18.699 a different peace was proclaimed 00:04:18.699 --> 00:04:21.819 and a different emperor was announced. 00:04:21.819 --> 00:04:24.819 Because you see, the peace of Rome 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:29.819 was not a permanent peace and it was not a genuine peace. 00:04:30.579 --> 00:04:32.939 Reflecting many years later, 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:34.699 Napoleon near the end of his life, 00:04:34.699 --> 00:04:38.360 he had a period of enforced exile 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:40.620 and he had a chance to think. 00:04:40.620 --> 00:04:43.220 And he reflected upon the emperors 00:04:43.220 --> 00:04:46.500 and upon the empires of the world and he said this. 00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:49.300 He said Alexander and Caesar, 00:04:49.300 --> 00:04:53.259 Charlemagne and myself established great empires. 00:04:53.259 --> 00:04:54.660 But upon what? 00:04:54.660 --> 00:04:56.259 Upon force. 00:04:56.259 --> 00:04:59.259 Jesus Christ established an empire, 00:04:59.259 --> 00:05:02.699 but he established his empire on love. 00:05:02.699 --> 00:05:06.020 And to this day, millions will die for him. 00:05:06.019 --> 00:05:09.299 And from that Napoleon reason this, 00:05:09.299 --> 00:05:14.299 he said I know men and Jesus Christ is no mere man. 00:05:14.379 --> 00:05:16.779 There is something remarkable about this Jesus 00:05:16.779 --> 00:05:20.180 that sets him apart from any other world leader, 00:05:20.180 --> 00:05:25.180 any other emperor, any other leader. 00:05:25.979 --> 00:05:30.699 And the peace that is announced is unlike any other peace. 00:05:30.699 --> 00:05:34.740 You see the peace, the Roman peace was established by force. 00:05:34.740 --> 00:05:38.139 It was much easier to go along with Rome 00:05:38.139 --> 00:05:39.819 than to oppose Rome. 00:05:39.819 --> 00:05:41.340 And for this period of time, 00:05:41.340 --> 00:05:44.460 there was a relative peace and a relative calm 00:05:44.460 --> 00:05:46.819 throughout the Western empire. 00:05:46.819 --> 00:05:50.939 But the peace that Jesus brings is a remarkable peace. 00:05:50.939 --> 00:05:53.220 It's a piece that begins in the heart. 00:05:53.220 --> 00:05:55.620 It's a piece that transforms the life. 00:05:55.620 --> 00:05:58.340 And it's a piece that ultimately will be experienced 00:05:58.340 --> 00:06:01.420 not in one place or at one time, 00:06:01.420 --> 00:06:04.939 but in all places and for all time. 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:06.980 Now it's been said that we as people, 00:06:06.980 --> 00:06:09.879 we have the capacity to declare war, 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:14.620 but only God has the capacity to declare peace. 00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:17.460 Because to declare peace must be accompanied 00:06:17.460 --> 00:06:20.740 by the power to achieve that declaration. 00:06:20.740 --> 00:06:24.939 And only God can achieve that kind of peace. 00:06:27.139 --> 00:06:30.580 In the Bible, in the New Testament, 00:06:30.579 --> 00:06:33.479 when the message of Jesus is proclaimed, 00:06:33.479 --> 00:06:36.500 there's not one single word that can capture 00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:38.659 what Jesus has come to do. 00:06:38.659 --> 00:06:40.500 There's not one word that can capture 00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:43.699 what Jesus has achieved or accomplished. 00:06:43.699 --> 00:06:47.139 But the biblical authors use several different words. 00:06:47.139 --> 00:06:49.699 They use words that are characteristic 00:06:49.699 --> 00:06:53.240 of the legal courts, words like justification. 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:56.779 Because on the cross, Jesus died so that we, 00:06:56.779 --> 00:07:00.000 the unrighteous, can be declared righteous. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:02.699 The good, the righteous Jesus died 00:07:02.699 --> 00:07:05.980 so that the unrighteous can be made righteous. 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:08.259 That's the language of the courtroom. 00:07:08.259 --> 00:07:10.379 There's also the language of the marketplace, 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:13.180 language like ransom or redemption 00:07:13.180 --> 00:07:15.860 that speak of a price being paid. 00:07:15.860 --> 00:07:20.579 And the price being paid to cause a release to be achieved. 00:07:20.579 --> 00:07:24.759 The idea here is like a prisoner of war or a slave. 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:28.860 They're captured, they're at the mercy of another. 00:07:28.860 --> 00:07:31.460 And some benefactor comes and pays a price 00:07:31.460 --> 00:07:34.259 and sets the captive free, sets the slave free. 00:07:34.259 --> 00:07:37.100 So there's the marketplace language. 00:07:37.100 --> 00:07:40.460 There's relationship language like reconciliation. 00:07:40.460 --> 00:07:42.180 Because in and of ourselves, 00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:46.540 we are not at peace with God or peace with one another. 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:49.500 Relationships have been broken down. 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:53.180 And God through the gospel, Jesus through the cross, 00:07:53.180 --> 00:07:55.180 brings reconciliation. 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:57.420 He reconciles us to himself. 00:07:57.420 --> 00:07:59.699 And he reconciles us to one another. 00:07:59.699 --> 00:08:02.460 So there's relationship language. 00:08:02.460 --> 00:08:05.819 But there's also language of the battlefield. 00:08:05.819 --> 00:08:09.540 There's language of victory and language of peace. 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:10.500 And with you this evening, 00:08:10.500 --> 00:08:14.259 I'd like to explore the peace that is declared 00:08:14.259 --> 00:08:18.900 and the peace that is achieved by Jesus. 00:08:18.900 --> 00:08:20.819 Because if you are a Christian tonight, 00:08:20.819 --> 00:08:22.660 you are now at peace. 00:08:22.660 --> 00:08:24.840 You are at peace with God. 00:08:24.840 --> 00:08:27.020 You enjoy the peace of God. 00:08:27.019 --> 00:08:30.219 And there is a peace that should categorize 00:08:30.219 --> 00:08:33.740 or characterize your relationships with God 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:36.460 and your relationships with one another. 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:41.220 Because the peace that God brings is unique. 00:08:41.220 --> 00:08:43.120 Because the peace that God provides 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:47.899 and the peace that is achieved by Jesus is a permanent, 00:08:47.899 --> 00:08:52.899 is a lasting and is a all-encompassing peace. 00:08:52.899 --> 00:08:56.620 Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace 00:08:56.620 --> 00:08:59.899 among those with whom he is pleased. 00:08:59.899 --> 00:09:02.659 The peace of Rome disappeared. 00:09:02.659 --> 00:09:07.659 Human efforts at peace can achieve certain results. 00:09:07.659 --> 00:09:10.299 But again, those results are temporary. 00:09:10.299 --> 00:09:13.459 In the 1920s, there was an initiative 00:09:13.459 --> 00:09:16.179 among the Western democracies. 00:09:16.179 --> 00:09:19.220 After that cataclysm called the Great War 00:09:19.220 --> 00:09:21.620 or the War to End All Wars, 00:09:21.620 --> 00:09:26.620 the Western democracies felt that if we can outlaw war, 00:09:27.500 --> 00:09:30.299 we can achieve peace. 00:09:30.299 --> 00:09:32.860 And many of the Western democracies signed up. 00:09:32.860 --> 00:09:37.000 It was to this new act to outlaw war. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:40.259 I'll give you a hint, it didn't work. 00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:42.419 1939 comes along. 00:09:42.419 --> 00:09:46.399 And the old ways in which we referred to the Great War 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:48.080 or the War to End All Wars, 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:51.240 we don't call that conflict the 1418 war 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:54.659 or that anymore, we call that World War I. 00:09:54.659 --> 00:09:57.659 Why? Because the 3945 war followed, 00:09:57.659 --> 00:10:00.460 which is called World War II. 00:10:00.460 --> 00:10:03.659 The war to end all wars did not end all wars. 00:10:03.659 --> 00:10:07.620 The act to abolish war was not successful. 00:10:07.620 --> 00:10:09.700 And if you want depressing reading, 00:10:09.700 --> 00:10:11.740 you can look on the internet again, 00:10:11.740 --> 00:10:14.060 that great source of knowledge. 00:10:14.060 --> 00:10:19.060 And there are at least 25 active conflicts today on earth. 00:10:19.059 --> 00:10:24.059 Israel, Palestine is one democratic Republic of Congo. 00:10:24.459 --> 00:10:25.579 There's another. 00:10:25.579 --> 00:10:30.579 That's a country that's been rife with civil war for decades. 00:10:32.299 --> 00:10:34.859 But some of these conflicts are lesser known. 00:10:34.859 --> 00:10:37.059 Destabilization in Mali, 00:10:37.059 --> 00:10:40.500 border conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 00:10:40.500 --> 00:10:44.019 And you look and you survey the world as we live in it 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:46.899 and you say there is an absence of peace. 00:10:46.899 --> 00:10:49.819 People just can't seem to get along. 00:10:49.819 --> 00:10:53.419 Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan, 00:10:53.419 --> 00:10:56.819 long standing, not just years, not just decades, 00:10:56.819 --> 00:10:59.139 but centuries and millennia. 00:10:59.139 --> 00:11:02.779 There is a profound absence of peace on the world stage 00:11:02.779 --> 00:11:06.500 and there's a profound absence of peace in the human heart. 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:09.980 There is not satisfaction, there is not completion. 00:11:09.980 --> 00:11:12.620 Because in the Bible, the language of peace 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:15.939 is not simply an absence of war. 00:11:15.940 --> 00:11:19.100 But the language of peace is a language of completeness, 00:11:19.100 --> 00:11:22.220 a language of wholeness, a language of harmony. 00:11:22.220 --> 00:11:24.700 And what you have often here, as I've seen, 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:28.660 you'll have when the singing is led, 00:11:28.660 --> 00:11:32.340 oftentimes the singing will be led in all the four parts. 00:11:32.340 --> 00:11:34.380 You'll have four part harmony. 00:11:34.380 --> 00:11:37.060 And when you hear the voices blend together, 00:11:37.060 --> 00:11:40.140 you have such a rich and such a full sound. 00:11:40.140 --> 00:11:42.820 But if you had four people leading the singing 00:11:42.820 --> 00:11:46.100 and each sang a different tune and a different pitch 00:11:46.100 --> 00:11:49.940 at a different pace, it would be a cacophonous mess. 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:52.140 And that's what we are like. 00:11:52.140 --> 00:11:55.780 There is no harmony in the human heart or the human soul. 00:11:55.780 --> 00:11:58.820 There is no harmony among the human society 00:11:58.820 --> 00:12:02.100 or human culture because we are incapable 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:04.340 of producing such peace. 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:07.740 If you go back to the very beginning of the Bible, 00:12:07.740 --> 00:12:09.460 look at those first two chapters, 00:12:09.460 --> 00:12:12.180 there is peace and harmony. 00:12:12.179 --> 00:12:14.699 We are at peace with God our maker. 00:12:14.699 --> 00:12:17.859 We are at peace with one another, Adam and Eve. 00:12:17.859 --> 00:12:20.419 We are at peace with our surroundings, our environment, 00:12:20.419 --> 00:12:22.539 and there's even a sense of internal harmony 00:12:22.539 --> 00:12:27.539 and completeness with those first members of the human race. 00:12:28.099 --> 00:12:30.500 Genesis chapter three comes along 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:35.419 and that fourfold harmony is shattered, is destroyed. 00:12:35.419 --> 00:12:37.419 No longer peace with God. 00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:39.779 No longer at peace with one another. 00:12:39.779 --> 00:12:42.459 No longer at peace or in harmony with the environment 00:12:42.459 --> 00:12:44.459 and no longer at peace within ourselves. 00:12:44.459 --> 00:12:47.500 There's a fracture that has taken place 00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:50.659 and the cause of that fracture is sin. 00:12:50.659 --> 00:12:55.659 And that sin has a profound impact 00:12:56.500 --> 00:12:59.259 upon every heart and every life. 00:12:59.259 --> 00:13:01.579 And the impact is twofold. 00:13:02.459 --> 00:13:06.699 There's a vertical impact that separates us from our God 00:13:06.699 --> 00:13:09.339 and there's a horizontal impact that separates us 00:13:09.340 --> 00:13:10.899 from one another. 00:13:10.899 --> 00:13:14.780 So when the gospel declares peace on earth, 00:13:14.780 --> 00:13:17.820 what God means by that is that the vertical 00:13:17.820 --> 00:13:20.700 and the horizontal peace has been achieved 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:24.180 not by ourself, not by human effort, 00:13:24.180 --> 00:13:27.320 not by legislation, not by force of arms, 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:32.320 but only God himself can bring this kind of wholeness, 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:36.780 this kind of harmony and this kind of peace. 00:13:36.780 --> 00:13:38.379 We could look at many different texts, 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:40.500 we could look at Romans chapter five, 00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:44.539 but this evening I'd like to look at Ephesians chapter two 00:13:44.539 --> 00:13:47.100 because this is one of those places in the Bible 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:50.860 where the apostle Paul brings before our attention 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:55.860 such profound truths of the gospel and its impact. 00:13:57.580 --> 00:13:59.460 So if you look at Ephesians chapter two 00:13:59.460 --> 00:14:02.460 and it's page 976 in the pew Bibles, 00:14:02.460 --> 00:14:05.419 if you have one of the black covered Bibles, 00:14:05.419 --> 00:14:10.419 we see the vertical work of the gospel in verses one to 10. 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:16.479 What does God do for us? 00:14:16.479 --> 00:14:18.259 What has God done for us? 00:14:18.259 --> 00:14:21.539 And what is God doing within us? 00:14:21.539 --> 00:14:23.659 In verse one of chapter two, 00:14:23.659 --> 00:14:25.979 we're simply told there's a problem 00:14:25.979 --> 00:14:28.419 and that's a profound problem called death 00:14:28.419 --> 00:14:32.419 and you were dead in the trespasses and sins 00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:35.419 in which you once walked. 00:14:35.419 --> 00:14:37.899 And the apostle Paul then begins to describe 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:41.779 the threefold enemies that we confront. 00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:45.059 There's the world, the world that was created by God, 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:47.059 but the world that doesn't know God, 00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:49.240 the world that is working in its own way 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:52.860 to its own end by its own standard. 00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:55.579 We have the world, we have the evil one, 00:14:55.579 --> 00:14:58.620 the prince of the air, the devil, 00:14:58.620 --> 00:15:00.980 the one who slanders, the one who lies 00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:03.259 and the one who conspires against God 00:15:03.259 --> 00:15:05.379 and against all that's good. 00:15:05.379 --> 00:15:06.500 And if that wasn't enough, 00:15:06.500 --> 00:15:08.039 if the world and the devil weren't enough, 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:11.420 we have the flesh, our own desires 00:15:11.420 --> 00:15:13.580 that are at odds with God, 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:17.139 our own desires that contradict God in His word 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:20.060 and contradict God in His character. 00:15:20.060 --> 00:15:24.940 So there's dead humanity and there are powerful enemies 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:28.139 and God in His grace and in His power 00:15:28.139 --> 00:15:31.419 has made us alive, verse four, 00:15:31.419 --> 00:15:34.419 but God being rich in mercy 00:15:34.419 --> 00:15:37.100 because of the great love with which He loved us 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:40.819 even when we were dead in our trespasses 00:15:40.819 --> 00:15:45.659 has made us alive together with Christ 00:15:45.659 --> 00:15:48.860 by grace you have been saved. 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:51.819 The impossible made possible. 00:15:51.819 --> 00:15:55.419 The declaration of peace, the reconciliation, 00:15:55.419 --> 00:15:59.019 the salvation that has been brought by God 00:15:59.019 --> 00:16:02.299 to lost mankind. 00:16:02.299 --> 00:16:05.099 That great epic poem in the 17th century, 00:16:05.099 --> 00:16:07.419 John Milton's Paradise Lost. 00:16:07.419 --> 00:16:11.419 We lost, only God can regain. 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:14.779 We lost and only God can restore. 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:17.860 Spiritually dead people are incapable 00:16:17.860 --> 00:16:20.099 of doing anything good. 00:16:20.099 --> 00:16:23.740 We are dead in sins and dead in trespasses. 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:27.539 We cannot live, we cannot do, we cannot achieve, 00:16:27.539 --> 00:16:30.980 but God being rich in mercy. 00:16:30.980 --> 00:16:35.220 So we see this vertical aspect of our relationship with God. 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:38.379 He takes the initiative, He achieves the result, 00:16:38.379 --> 00:16:41.019 He deserves all the glory 00:16:41.019 --> 00:16:44.620 and we are the beneficiary of His grace, 00:16:44.620 --> 00:16:47.139 of His love and of His mercy. 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:50.500 The dead are made alive. 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:52.940 But the declaration of peace does not end 00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:55.820 with the absence of hostility to God, 00:16:55.820 --> 00:16:58.180 the absence of enmity towards God, 00:16:58.180 --> 00:17:02.980 the now being made alive in Christ. 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:04.900 We are now given a new life, 00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:06.620 we are now given a new desire 00:17:06.620 --> 00:17:08.580 and we are now given new work to do 00:17:08.580 --> 00:17:12.500 as we mentioned earlier today looking at Titus. 00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:16.220 In verse 10 we're told that the dead are now alive 00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:18.500 and that they are now equipped. 00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:22.740 For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus 00:17:22.740 --> 00:17:24.140 for good works, 00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:28.539 which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 00:17:29.700 --> 00:17:33.299 Now we could easily end the discussion of peace 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:34.940 or the discussion of the gospel 00:17:34.940 --> 00:17:38.339 or the discussion of Jesus at verse 10. 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:43.339 The dead made alive, the lost found, the lost saved. 00:17:44.339 --> 00:17:47.099 The those under the power of the world, 00:17:47.099 --> 00:17:50.940 the flesh and the devil released and restored and renewed. 00:17:50.940 --> 00:17:53.820 But the apostle Paul does not stop there. 00:17:53.820 --> 00:17:57.580 And this reminds us that we have a profound responsibility 00:17:57.580 --> 00:18:01.340 as those who have been recipients of God's grace, 00:18:01.340 --> 00:18:03.019 those who have been made alive, 00:18:03.019 --> 00:18:06.380 those who have experienced this new relationship with God 00:18:06.380 --> 00:18:09.660 because that relationship can never stop 00:18:09.660 --> 00:18:11.980 simply with that relationship. 00:18:11.980 --> 00:18:15.380 We cannot simply say I am now at peace with God. 00:18:15.380 --> 00:18:17.500 I now enjoy the peace of God. 00:18:17.500 --> 00:18:19.539 I now am alive, I once was dead. 00:18:19.539 --> 00:18:21.339 I now was blind. 00:18:21.339 --> 00:18:24.579 I now can see the language of amazing grace. 00:18:24.579 --> 00:18:27.740 But the apostle Paul goes on to say that the peace 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:31.259 that has been declared is a profound peace 00:18:31.259 --> 00:18:36.259 that impacts our lives horizontally, our relationships. 00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:39.940 In verse 11, therefore remember 00:18:39.940 --> 00:18:43.700 that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh 00:18:43.700 --> 00:18:47.379 called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, 00:18:47.380 --> 00:18:50.220 which is made in the flesh by hands. 00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:55.020 Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, 00:18:55.020 --> 00:18:57.660 alienated from the commonwealth of Israel 00:18:57.660 --> 00:19:01.100 and strangers to the covenants of promise, 00:19:01.100 --> 00:19:04.900 having no hope and without God in the world. 00:19:06.580 --> 00:19:10.540 Dead in trespasses, dead in sins, 00:19:10.540 --> 00:19:15.540 hopeless, helpless, separated, alienated, strangers. 00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:18.220 This picture of darkness, this picture of isolation, 00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:21.339 this picture of separation is profound. 00:19:21.339 --> 00:19:25.139 This is what we are apart from Christ. 00:19:25.139 --> 00:19:28.579 But then we're told that God has done something profound 00:19:28.579 --> 00:19:31.940 to bring us together as people. 00:19:31.940 --> 00:19:34.779 Verse 13, but now. 00:19:34.779 --> 00:19:38.139 You see in verse four, but God being rich in mercy, 00:19:38.139 --> 00:19:42.740 made us alive, but now verse 13, in Christ Jesus, 00:19:42.740 --> 00:19:47.740 you who once were far off have been brought near 00:19:48.299 --> 00:19:51.099 by the blood of Christ. 00:19:51.099 --> 00:19:53.380 We are brought near to God, yes, 00:19:53.380 --> 00:19:55.779 but we are brought near to one another. 00:19:55.779 --> 00:19:59.859 So the dividing barriers that exist between people, 00:19:59.859 --> 00:20:03.380 the cultural barriers, the religious barriers 00:20:04.819 --> 00:20:08.940 that would otherwise keep us apart have now been destroyed, 00:20:08.940 --> 00:20:13.140 have now been nullified, how can this happen? 00:20:13.140 --> 00:20:15.940 How can God take Jews and Gentiles? 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:18.900 How can He bring them together as one people? 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:21.740 How can He tear down the barriers 00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:24.019 that separate people today? 00:20:24.019 --> 00:20:27.059 Barriers of culture, barriers of language, 00:20:27.059 --> 00:20:30.180 barriers of class, barriers of education, 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:33.779 barriers of opportunity, because every place you see, 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:35.940 you see separation. 00:20:35.940 --> 00:20:37.940 Those who are rich and those who are poor, 00:20:37.940 --> 00:20:40.299 those who are educated, those who are illiterate, 00:20:40.299 --> 00:20:43.380 those who have access to resource and those who don't. 00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:45.820 And you think these separations are profound 00:20:45.820 --> 00:20:48.660 and they are insoluble, just as our efforts 00:20:48.660 --> 00:20:53.019 to abolish war are unsuccessful, 00:20:53.019 --> 00:20:55.460 our efforts to abolish separations 00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:57.740 between people have been unsuccessful. 00:20:59.299 --> 00:21:01.019 I've heard estimates as to what, 00:21:01.900 --> 00:21:05.460 in the 1960s, President Johnson, Lyndon Johnson, 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:08.259 announced the Great Society, 00:21:08.259 --> 00:21:10.059 that the United States would spend 00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:13.660 an unbelievable amount of money 00:21:13.660 --> 00:21:17.180 to do exactly what is described here, 00:21:17.180 --> 00:21:19.700 that the barriers that existed in society 00:21:19.700 --> 00:21:21.539 would be eliminated. 00:21:21.539 --> 00:21:23.620 Everyone would have access to education. 00:21:23.620 --> 00:21:25.740 Everyone would have access to electricity. 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:28.460 Everyone would have access to healthcare. 00:21:28.460 --> 00:21:30.420 It was estimated that the Great Society 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:34.500 has cost $2 trillion, at least. 00:21:34.500 --> 00:21:37.700 Now, that's just a lot of money. 00:21:37.700 --> 00:21:39.460 $2 trillion of anything is a lot. 00:21:39.460 --> 00:21:41.779 $2 trillion is a lot of money. 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:44.420 And we've have to, it's been, 00:21:44.420 --> 00:21:47.579 even the most optimistic advocates 00:21:47.579 --> 00:21:50.819 of the social experiment had to conclude 00:21:50.819 --> 00:21:53.500 that the Great Society has failed. 00:21:53.500 --> 00:21:56.819 The barriers still exist between the rich and the poor. 00:21:56.819 --> 00:21:59.539 The barriers still exist between the races. 00:21:59.539 --> 00:22:02.099 The barriers still exist in terms of education 00:22:02.099 --> 00:22:05.980 and opportunity and access and resource. 00:22:05.980 --> 00:22:10.980 So human capacity is insufficient to bring peace. 00:22:11.459 --> 00:22:13.619 We cannot bring peace with God. 00:22:13.619 --> 00:22:15.859 We cannot bring peace with one another. 00:22:15.859 --> 00:22:19.619 We cannot destroy the barriers that separate people, 00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:21.699 no matter how hard you try, 00:22:21.699 --> 00:22:23.980 or no matter how much you spend. 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:26.659 But God himself in Jesus Christ, 00:22:26.659 --> 00:22:29.139 remember that declaration of peace, 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:32.060 he himself can bring peace 00:22:32.060 --> 00:22:34.220 where there previously was enmity. 00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:36.460 But now in Christ Jesus, 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:39.660 you who once were far off, 00:22:39.660 --> 00:22:42.220 the alien, the stranger, 00:22:42.220 --> 00:22:45.900 the isolated, the separated, the cut off, 00:22:45.900 --> 00:22:50.340 you have been brought near by the blood of Jesus. 00:22:50.340 --> 00:22:53.380 So here's a different type of language together as well. 00:22:53.380 --> 00:22:56.780 Here's the language of the sacrifice of the temple. 00:22:56.779 --> 00:22:59.139 Here's the language of death, 00:22:59.139 --> 00:23:02.539 but here's the language of death that brings life. 00:23:02.539 --> 00:23:06.099 And that's so often the apparent contradictions 00:23:06.099 --> 00:23:07.779 of the gospel. 00:23:07.779 --> 00:23:09.819 The apparent contradictions of the gospel 00:23:09.819 --> 00:23:11.819 in that you have a righteous God 00:23:11.819 --> 00:23:14.700 who is able to work in the lives of unrighteous people. 00:23:14.700 --> 00:23:16.420 That seems incongruous. 00:23:16.420 --> 00:23:19.899 You have the life of God in Jesus Christ 00:23:19.899 --> 00:23:21.779 and the death of Jesus Christ 00:23:21.779 --> 00:23:23.779 is able to bring life to others. 00:23:23.779 --> 00:23:27.099 It doesn't seem to make sense and yet it does. 00:23:27.099 --> 00:23:29.660 The death of Jesus brings life. 00:23:29.660 --> 00:23:32.940 The sacrifice of Jesus brings peace, 00:23:32.940 --> 00:23:37.539 for he himself is our peace. 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:40.019 He who enjoyed perfect peace with the Father 00:23:40.019 --> 00:23:42.460 came down to a place of strife, 00:23:42.460 --> 00:23:44.700 came down to a place of conflict 00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:48.980 to give his life so that we could be the beneficiary 00:23:48.980 --> 00:23:53.099 of this peace that was announced by the angelic host. 00:23:53.099 --> 00:23:57.779 He himself is our peace who has made us both one 00:23:57.779 --> 00:24:02.059 and has broken down in his flesh 00:24:02.059 --> 00:24:04.980 the dividing wall of hostility. 00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:09.179 The dividing wall that separates people from people. 00:24:09.179 --> 00:24:12.379 The dividing wall that separates Jew and Gentile. 00:24:12.379 --> 00:24:16.500 That separates all other races or classes 00:24:16.500 --> 00:24:19.939 or economic levels of society. 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:23.539 Those dividing lines have now been destroyed 00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:25.660 because of the work of the gospel, 00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:27.259 because of the work of Jesus Christ, 00:24:27.259 --> 00:24:31.059 not because of our effort, not because of our work. 00:24:31.059 --> 00:24:34.299 So if you're today here as a Christian, 00:24:34.299 --> 00:24:36.700 you now are at peace with God 00:24:36.700 --> 00:24:39.059 and you now are at peace with one another. 00:24:39.940 --> 00:24:42.340 Anything that would separate us on a human level 00:24:42.340 --> 00:24:45.180 is now been destroyed, is now been taken away 00:24:45.180 --> 00:24:48.980 because we share this profound relationship with God. 00:24:48.980 --> 00:24:50.900 We're part of the same family. 00:24:50.900 --> 00:24:52.779 We're members of the same family. 00:24:52.779 --> 00:24:55.579 God is our father, Jesus is our elder brother 00:24:55.579 --> 00:24:59.539 and every other believer is part of that wider family. 00:24:59.539 --> 00:25:03.259 We are part of one people, not many people. 00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:05.460 We have different denominations 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:07.740 and different divisions within the Christian church 00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:11.339 that sadly undermine this reality. 00:25:11.339 --> 00:25:14.860 But every believer in Jesus Christ is at one 00:25:14.860 --> 00:25:17.339 with every other believer. 00:25:17.339 --> 00:25:19.859 That is how God sees it 00:25:19.859 --> 00:25:22.179 and that is how we should see it 00:25:22.179 --> 00:25:25.939 and we should make that peace visible. 00:25:25.939 --> 00:25:28.220 Just like the peace that we enjoy with God, 00:25:28.220 --> 00:25:30.740 that vertical relationship that should be visible 00:25:30.740 --> 00:25:34.740 in our lives, how we live, how we respond to God, 00:25:34.740 --> 00:25:37.980 we praise Him, we honor Him, we glorify Him. 00:25:37.980 --> 00:25:41.939 But when the barrier has been broken and taken down, 00:25:41.939 --> 00:25:45.939 when the divisions have been removed between people, 00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:49.500 we as a church, we as the people of God 00:25:49.500 --> 00:25:54.299 should be a living illustration of this great reality. 00:25:55.580 --> 00:25:58.740 You're soon to be assistant minister, Thomas Davis, 00:25:58.740 --> 00:26:01.340 among many other things as a great reader 00:26:01.340 --> 00:26:03.299 and he encouraged me to read a book 00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:06.820 which is entitled The Lost Letters of Pergamon. 00:26:06.820 --> 00:26:09.140 They were written by a New Testament scholar, 00:26:09.140 --> 00:26:10.539 they weren't biblical letters, 00:26:10.539 --> 00:26:14.299 but they were written in the style of first century letters. 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:18.940 And these letters captured a fictional 00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:22.419 but yet biblically accurate conversation 00:26:22.419 --> 00:26:25.059 which included among others the historian Luke, 00:26:25.059 --> 00:26:27.899 the biblical writer Luke and various characters 00:26:27.899 --> 00:26:29.940 in the ancient Near East. 00:26:29.940 --> 00:26:32.099 And what these letters captured 00:26:32.099 --> 00:26:34.819 in that Lost Letters of Pergamon 00:26:34.819 --> 00:26:37.539 is the way in which the cultural barriers 00:26:37.539 --> 00:26:41.700 within Roman society were strangely broken down 00:26:41.700 --> 00:26:46.700 by the gospel, that free men, citizens and slaves 00:26:46.819 --> 00:26:50.580 would sit together, eat together, worship together, 00:26:50.580 --> 00:26:53.100 speak together, they would call each other 00:26:53.100 --> 00:26:55.180 by their first names. 00:26:55.180 --> 00:26:56.940 This was unheard of. 00:26:56.940 --> 00:27:01.100 Roman culture was stratified, the rich and the poor, 00:27:01.100 --> 00:27:06.100 the free and the slave, the privileged and the despised. 00:27:06.980 --> 00:27:09.740 And these were classes that just never mixed. 00:27:09.740 --> 00:27:11.859 But all of a sudden, these were people 00:27:11.859 --> 00:27:15.220 that were sitting side by side, singing the praises of God, 00:27:15.220 --> 00:27:18.700 sitting side by side, passing the wine and the bread 00:27:18.700 --> 00:27:20.420 and sharing and fellowship. 00:27:20.420 --> 00:27:23.220 And in the Roman world, this was just unheard of. 00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:28.220 How is it that this group of people sit down together? 00:27:28.299 --> 00:27:30.500 And there's Jews in the group and there's Gentiles 00:27:30.500 --> 00:27:32.059 in the group and there's Romans in the group 00:27:32.059 --> 00:27:33.500 and there's Greeks in the group. 00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:36.460 And they seem to have a fellowship and a friendship 00:27:36.460 --> 00:27:39.579 that's not based upon what they can do for one another. 00:27:39.579 --> 00:27:42.899 They seem to have a relationship which is unheard of 00:27:42.899 --> 00:27:44.220 in the ancient world. 00:27:45.460 --> 00:27:47.379 And even those who were great critics 00:27:47.379 --> 00:27:50.319 of the Christian faith had to conclude 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:52.899 that one reason that the Christian faith 00:27:52.899 --> 00:27:56.619 spread so quickly in the Roman empire was this, 00:27:56.619 --> 00:28:00.899 was the quality of the lives of the Christian believers. 00:28:00.899 --> 00:28:04.779 They spoke of love, but they actually did love. 00:28:04.779 --> 00:28:08.099 They spoke of grace and they acted towards one another 00:28:08.099 --> 00:28:10.099 in a gracious way. 00:28:10.099 --> 00:28:13.099 The fruit of the spirit loved joy, peace, 00:28:13.099 --> 00:28:14.859 patient kindness, goodness. 00:28:14.859 --> 00:28:17.539 They demonstrated the fruit of the spirit 00:28:17.539 --> 00:28:20.939 in their lives, in their character, in their action. 00:28:20.939 --> 00:28:22.439 They looked after the weak. 00:28:22.439 --> 00:28:24.099 They cared for the poor. 00:28:24.099 --> 00:28:25.539 They gave to those in need. 00:28:25.539 --> 00:28:28.539 They shared with what they had with others. 00:28:28.539 --> 00:28:32.779 And this had a profound impact those 2,000 years ago. 00:28:32.779 --> 00:28:36.419 It was an age of cynicism, an age of skepticism, 00:28:36.420 --> 00:28:40.340 an age of unbelief 2,000 years ago. 00:28:40.340 --> 00:28:43.539 All of a sudden, lives were transformed. 00:28:43.539 --> 00:28:46.060 All of a sudden, communities were transformed. 00:28:46.060 --> 00:28:49.019 People saw the gospel in practice 00:28:49.019 --> 00:28:52.900 and they couldn't explain it apart from something to do 00:28:52.900 --> 00:28:56.180 with this Jesus that they constantly speak about. 00:28:56.180 --> 00:28:58.860 This Jesus that they appear to worship. 00:28:58.860 --> 00:29:02.259 This Jesus that they appear to give credit to. 00:29:02.259 --> 00:29:05.060 It all comes down to Jesus. 00:29:05.059 --> 00:29:07.740 And the visual expression of our faith, 00:29:07.740 --> 00:29:10.539 the way we react and interact with God, 00:29:10.539 --> 00:29:12.859 but the way we interact with each other 00:29:12.859 --> 00:29:14.899 can do one of two things. 00:29:14.899 --> 00:29:17.299 It can put people off. 00:29:17.299 --> 00:29:19.059 These are a people that speak of peace. 00:29:19.059 --> 00:29:21.259 These are a people that speak of love. 00:29:21.259 --> 00:29:22.940 They're not very peaceful. 00:29:22.940 --> 00:29:24.539 They're not very loving. 00:29:24.539 --> 00:29:25.579 They speak of kindness, 00:29:25.579 --> 00:29:28.019 but they don't seem to show kindness. 00:29:28.019 --> 00:29:30.220 The world does not need hypocrisy, 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:32.700 saying and doing different things. 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:35.140 But when the world sees something different, 00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:37.539 something distinct, something attractive, 00:29:37.539 --> 00:29:41.980 something genuine, they are attracted to that. 00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:46.980 And they come to know for themselves this gospel. 00:29:47.059 --> 00:29:50.259 In verse 15, we're told that the dividing wall 00:29:50.259 --> 00:29:54.259 of hostility having been abolished, broken down. 00:29:54.259 --> 00:29:55.660 By abolishing verse 15, 00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:58.740 the law of commandments expressed in ordinances 00:29:58.740 --> 00:30:02.340 that he might create in himself one new man 00:30:02.339 --> 00:30:05.259 in place of the two, so making peace. 00:30:05.259 --> 00:30:09.500 And might reconcile us both to God in one body, 00:30:09.500 --> 00:30:13.819 through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 00:30:13.819 --> 00:30:17.819 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off 00:30:17.819 --> 00:30:21.699 and preached peace to those who were near. 00:30:22.579 --> 00:30:24.539 He takes the initiative. 00:30:24.539 --> 00:30:26.179 He proclaims the gospel. 00:30:26.179 --> 00:30:27.500 He proclaims peace. 00:30:27.500 --> 00:30:28.779 He achieves peace. 00:30:28.779 --> 00:30:30.299 He destroys hostility. 00:30:30.299 --> 00:30:32.539 He breaks down the barriers. 00:30:32.539 --> 00:30:36.379 So this is a people who have known Jesus. 00:30:36.379 --> 00:30:38.419 This is a people who worship Jesus. 00:30:38.419 --> 00:30:41.940 And this is a people who have experienced the grace of Jesus 00:30:41.940 --> 00:30:44.180 and express the grace of Jesus 00:30:44.180 --> 00:30:46.259 in their relationships with one another. 00:30:47.419 --> 00:30:50.099 2000 years have elapsed. 00:30:50.099 --> 00:30:53.059 We live today in an age of skepticism. 00:30:53.059 --> 00:30:56.339 An age of unbelief, an age of cynicism. 00:30:56.339 --> 00:30:59.460 There are many who do not share our faith. 00:30:59.460 --> 00:31:02.700 Many who do not share our beliefs. 00:31:02.700 --> 00:31:05.900 But I guarantee you this, they're looking. 00:31:05.900 --> 00:31:07.220 They're listening. 00:31:07.220 --> 00:31:08.819 They're observing. 00:31:08.819 --> 00:31:11.059 And what do they see? 00:31:11.059 --> 00:31:15.779 In Ephesus, they saw a people who loved Jesus 00:31:15.779 --> 00:31:18.420 and a people who loved one another. 00:31:18.420 --> 00:31:23.420 And that was a powerful and a persuasive apologetic. 00:31:24.259 --> 00:31:26.500 We often think of apologetics. 00:31:26.500 --> 00:31:28.180 If you read the works of C.S. Lewis 00:31:28.180 --> 00:31:30.539 or Francis Schaefer or Tim Keller, 00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:33.180 and some, there are some very gifted apologists 00:31:33.180 --> 00:31:36.140 who can defend and who can explain the faith 00:31:36.140 --> 00:31:37.900 and who can counter arguments 00:31:37.900 --> 00:31:40.420 and who could give a good defense of what it is 00:31:40.420 --> 00:31:43.740 that we believe and why it is that we believe it. 00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:46.860 But in large, those are the exceptions. 00:31:46.860 --> 00:31:48.660 They are particularly gifted people, 00:31:48.660 --> 00:31:51.060 particularly articulate people. 00:31:51.060 --> 00:31:52.620 But I'll suggest this, 00:31:52.620 --> 00:31:54.340 that if you're a Christian here today, 00:31:54.340 --> 00:31:57.820 you too are an apologist, a defender, 00:31:57.819 --> 00:31:59.220 a proclaimer. 00:31:59.220 --> 00:32:01.980 You are defending and proclaiming the gospel 00:32:01.980 --> 00:32:04.980 and the quality and the character of your life 00:32:04.980 --> 00:32:08.099 and the quality and the character of your relationships. 00:32:08.099 --> 00:32:09.339 Never perfect. 00:32:09.339 --> 00:32:10.539 You'll get it wrong. 00:32:10.539 --> 00:32:12.059 We get it wrong. 00:32:12.059 --> 00:32:13.579 You'll get it wrong at home. 00:32:13.579 --> 00:32:15.059 You'll get it wrong at work. 00:32:15.059 --> 00:32:17.019 You'll get it wrong in church. 00:32:17.019 --> 00:32:18.939 But nonetheless, there's a recognition 00:32:18.939 --> 00:32:23.539 that the work of Jesus has profoundly changed 00:32:23.539 --> 00:32:27.299 every relationship, our relationship with God, 00:32:27.299 --> 00:32:29.019 our relationship with each other, 00:32:29.019 --> 00:32:30.500 our relationship with our family, 00:32:30.500 --> 00:32:32.539 our relationship with our community. 00:32:32.539 --> 00:32:37.299 And the declaration of peace brings a harmony, 00:32:37.299 --> 00:32:40.139 brings a wholeness, brings a completeness 00:32:40.139 --> 00:32:43.740 that no one else and nothing else can bring. 00:32:44.899 --> 00:32:49.899 Human effort has attempted much and achieved little. 00:32:49.940 --> 00:32:54.180 Divine effort has achieved everything. 00:32:54.180 --> 00:32:57.980 When God declares, He also enables. 00:32:57.980 --> 00:33:01.500 When He declares peace, He enables peace to happen. 00:33:01.500 --> 00:33:03.900 When He declares that hostilities have ceased, 00:33:03.900 --> 00:33:06.700 when He declares that walls have been broken down, 00:33:06.700 --> 00:33:08.380 that barriers have been removed, 00:33:08.380 --> 00:33:13.380 He accompanies His declaration with power and with authority. 00:33:15.259 --> 00:33:18.779 There are many people today that we are in contact with. 00:33:18.779 --> 00:33:20.420 They might not be here tonight. 00:33:20.420 --> 00:33:24.259 They might not be willing or able to come to church now, 00:33:24.259 --> 00:33:26.019 but they are listening. 00:33:26.019 --> 00:33:28.100 They're listening to the words that you speak. 00:33:28.100 --> 00:33:29.140 They're looking. 00:33:29.140 --> 00:33:31.620 They're looking at the lives that you live. 00:33:31.620 --> 00:33:35.779 And they're looking at how we interact with one another. 00:33:35.779 --> 00:33:38.660 And the unity that we can demonstrate 00:33:38.660 --> 00:33:42.620 can be a persuasive and powerful apologetic 00:33:42.620 --> 00:33:45.980 that Jesus really is who He says He is. 00:33:45.980 --> 00:33:48.660 It's not so much that we are who we say we are, 00:33:48.660 --> 00:33:51.100 but the quality of our lives can testify 00:33:51.100 --> 00:33:54.259 that He is who He says He is. 00:33:54.259 --> 00:33:57.180 We can give credibility to His message 00:33:57.180 --> 00:33:59.540 and credibility to His claims 00:33:59.540 --> 00:34:02.019 by the quality of our relationships. 00:34:02.019 --> 00:34:03.460 We love one another. 00:34:03.460 --> 00:34:05.220 We care for one another. 00:34:05.220 --> 00:34:07.700 We demonstrate that love in word. 00:34:07.700 --> 00:34:10.340 We demonstrate that love in action. 00:34:10.340 --> 00:34:13.900 And a people observing us should be able to say, 00:34:13.900 --> 00:34:17.480 see how they love one another. 00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:21.240 The gospel was proclaimed in a time of peace, 00:34:21.240 --> 00:34:23.039 but the peace that was announced 00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:25.840 was a peace that passes all understanding. 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:28.360 Transcend's time, Transcend's culture 00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:31.719 is for now and for all eternity. 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:35.519 And that peace is found nowhere else but in Jesus Christ. 00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:39.280 A reconciliation that takes the dead and makes them alive. 00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:42.039 That takes the lost and makes them found. 00:34:42.039 --> 00:34:45.360 And it's a profound and transformative peace 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:49.200 that destroys the barriers that separate people 00:34:49.200 --> 00:34:52.200 and unites us together as one. 00:34:52.200 --> 00:34:54.519 That's His gospel. 00:34:54.519 --> 00:34:56.360 That's His proclamation. 00:34:56.360 --> 00:34:58.760 And He accompanies His proclamation 00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:01.360 with the power to achieve it. 00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:05.160 So He is worthy of all glory in the highest 00:35:05.160 --> 00:35:07.360 because He has announced peace on earth 00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:10.000 and goodwill to men. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:12.200 May God bless His word to us. 00:35:12.200 --> 00:35:13.360 Let us pray. 00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:16.760 Father, we so often fall short of your standard. 00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:19.800 We so often fall short of our own standards. 00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:22.320 We so often miss the mark. 00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:25.440 Lord, remind us that we are called to love you 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:27.200 and to love one another. 00:35:27.200 --> 00:35:29.800 That we have a profound relationship with you 00:35:29.800 --> 00:35:31.599 through your son, Jesus. 00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:34.079 And that relationship with you through Jesus 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:36.800 gives us a profound and powerful relationship 00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:38.320 with one another. 00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:40.800 There are many things that separate us. 00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:45.800 Culture, language, background, education, economics. 00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:49.480 And yet in Christ we have a unity 00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:52.440 that transcends all of these barriers 00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:55.039 and destroys all of these barriers. 00:35:55.039 --> 00:35:58.400 And I pray that we would be able to demonstrate the peace 00:35:58.400 --> 00:36:00.160 that we enjoy with you 00:36:00.160 --> 00:36:03.960 by demonstrating a peace that we enjoy with one another. 00:36:03.960 --> 00:36:06.240 That instead of discord, there would be harmony. 00:36:06.240 --> 00:36:08.480 Instead of division, there would be unity. 00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:13.480 And instead of dissent, that there would be a harmonious love 00:36:15.599 --> 00:36:18.159 that characterizes the people of God. 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:20.960 That characterizes this, the church of God. 00:36:20.960 --> 00:36:24.920 And that may be heard and seen by a world that does not know. 00:36:24.920 --> 00:36:28.480 A world that has not heard in a world that does not believe. 00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:32.400 That they too might come to know for themselves the Jesus. 00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:35.159 Who shed His blood that we could live. 00:36:35.159 --> 00:36:38.039 Who died to give life and to give life 00:36:38.039 --> 00:36:39.759 in all of its fullness. 00:36:39.759 --> 00:36:43.400 So Lord hear us and help us, enable us to put into practice 00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:44.840 that which we know. 00:36:44.840 --> 00:36:47.559 To put into practice that which we believe. 00:36:47.559 --> 00:36:50.480 And to demonstrate the reality of the gospel 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:54.400 in the integrity of our own individual relationships. 00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:56.519 These are things that we cannot do. 00:36:56.519 --> 00:36:59.960 But we trust that you can do these things in us. 00:36:59.960 --> 00:37:02.519 And that you can do these things through us. 00:37:02.519 --> 00:37:06.559 So give us love and give us hope and give us joy 00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:08.360 in every increasing measure. 00:37:08.360 --> 00:37:37.360 We pray in Jesus' name, amen.