WEBVTT 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:11.759 I am really, really happy to open the word of the Lord with you this morning because Jesus has done great things in my life. 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:15.439 And I know that a lot of you, He's done great things in your life too. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:18.960 And one thing I know is that there's always more to Jesus. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:27.120 There's always more than more of who he is that I don't know yet, more of what he's done that I haven't become aware of yet. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.640 And that's what happened this week as I'm studying this in Ephesians 2. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:35.600 So if you want to turn there, Ephesians chapter 2, 13 through 22. 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:38.719 Let's look and see what Jesus did, okay? 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:49.920 But now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:01:19.760 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and broken down in his flesh, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:26.799 And he came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and peace to those who were near. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:33.200 Through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:56.400 So then you're no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:04.959 In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:08.159 Father, thank you for your word. 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:11.120 We treasure it this morning. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:22.639 We thank you that you're a God who speaks and you don't leave us without knowing what to do or without revelation of yourself, but you disclose yourself through your scriptures. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:28.960 And so this morning, Lord, we pray, show us more of who Jesus is, more of what Jesus has done. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:35.759 Lord, let your word divide the parts of our heart that it needs to. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:41.039 Soul and spirit, joints and marrow, thoughts and intentions of our hearts, Lord. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:42.800 Come and do your work, we pray. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:44.000 In Jesus' name. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:44.639 Amen. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:52.800 So we're making our way through Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus and been doing it for quite a few weeks now. 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:58.479 And we're at this section where Paul is reminding them that they aren't who they were. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:02.080 At one time you were this, but now you are this. 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:07.599 And it starts out, this passage starts out, but now, but now, in Christ Jesus. 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:09.840 There's a difference that's been made here. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:12.000 And this is the good news of the gospel. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:17.039 This is what was preceded by the bad news of the fall of man. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:21.840 So you understand God created man in his image. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:29.919 He made us able to fellowship with him, able to walk with him, to hear his voice, to commune with him. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:33.280 And sin changed all that. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:38.479 So we were one thing, and then because of sin, we're not what we were. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:40.800 Sin changed everything. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:42.639 It affected our relationship with God. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:45.520 We were friends and now we're enemies. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:48.000 We were near, now we're separated from God. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.120 It even changed our relationship with other people too. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:57.919 Because it broke, it built this wall between us and other people. 00:03:57.919 --> 00:03:59.919 This is what Paul's talking about here. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:03.919 So we focus on ourselves and therefore we're not able to play well together. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:08.000 We don't love very well. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:16.000 And there's these jealousies, and there are these insecurities. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.800 So there's factions and there's rejection and there's war and all of this. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.800 And sin brought physical death, which never was part of the plan. 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:29.519 And sin brought physical death, spiritual death, which was not part of the plan either. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:31.360 That separation from God. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:38.720 And if you come to physical death, being spiritually dead, it means there's an eternal death. 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:41.360 It's the opposite of eternal life. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:43.839 There's eternal separation from God. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:49.839 We aren't who we were, who we were when God created us. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:54.160 But then Paul is saying, here, okay, that's who you were. 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:56.879 God created us this way. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:57.439 We fell. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:04:59.360 We aren't who we were. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:01.759 But then we became this because of sin. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:04.639 But now because of Christ, we're not that anymore. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:08.639 We're not who we were with the effect of sin. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:11.759 There's a change here that Paul's talking about. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:14.720 Now in Christ Jesus, you aren't who you used to be. 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:17.279 We were far off, but now we're brought near. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:18.720 We're reconciled. 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:22.879 You were without hope in the world, but now you have hope in Christ. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:28.240 You were strangers and aliens, but now you're fellow citizens in this household of God he speaks of. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:33.920 So now, now in Christ Jesus, we aren't the broken people we used to be. 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:37.519 This is where, this is the part of Ephesians, this is where we're at. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:42.959 This little part where he's saying, although you were dead in your sins, but God has made you alive again. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:45.199 You're not who you used to be. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:48.319 So your relationship with God has been mended. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:54.560 Your relationship between people, even your enemies, has been mended. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:56.079 And so live like that. 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:57.759 Paul is saying, live like that. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:02.720 So he goes on from the in the from here in the rest of the book, and he talks about how to live like that. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:06.879 Now, I've come to realize that remembering is really important. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:12.399 The scripture speaks about remembering who we were and who we are. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:18.240 That we were once dead in sin and now we're alive to God, that we were once without hope and now we have hope. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:20.560 It's really important to remember that. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:25.360 Because remembering stirs us to love and gratitude. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:28.720 Remembering makes us humble. 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:33.519 Remembering causes us to live our lives with the right perspective. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:38.879 It changes everything when we remember who we were and who we've been, who we've been made. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:42.800 So, do you feel distant? 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:47.279 You feel like your love for Christ is growing cold? 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:50.079 And maybe you've forgotten. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:54.000 And maybe you need to remember who he is and what he's done. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:58.959 At one time you were this, but now in Christ Jesus, you are this. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:01.040 This is the good news of the gospel, right? 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:03.920 And it's also a great way to share your story with other people. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:05.279 It's really super simple. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:11.040 So this is who I was, this is who I am, and the difference is Jesus. 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:15.360 And all of us who are in Christ have that story. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:19.199 This is who I was, this is who I am, and Jesus made the difference. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:20.240 Very simple. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:23.519 So these are gospel truths we need to remind ourselves daily. 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:29.120 But Paul is pointing something out that's much deeper. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:32.000 He's teaching us through this letter to the Ephesians. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.480 And so, in order to understand what he's writing to them, we have to kind of put ourselves back in their shoes. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:41.920 There's some things we need to know about the early the church of Ephesus and that culture. 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:55.519 So if we were to transport ourselves back to the first century in the Middle East, we would see two groups of people who had been separated by centuries of hatred and suspicion. 00:07:55.519 --> 00:08:00.000 Actually, in the 21st century, we still see that. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.399 We still see it, right? 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:05.360 And this, but this was affecting the church. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:08.000 And Paul's point here, he's speaking to people. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:09.519 He's speaking to people in Christ. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:11.279 So he is actually making a point. 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:13.439 In the church, this is happening. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:20.160 There's an effect in the church between there's a problem between Jews and Gentiles here. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:26.639 So remember the very first church was made up mostly of Jews, who Jews who believed in Jesus. 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:31.040 And therefore, uh, when the Gentiles were added in, it was a big deal. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:32.879 They were like, what are we supposed to do with this? 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:35.840 It wasn't even on their grid, and they had to deal with that. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:37.840 They had a church council that talked about that. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:41.840 You can read about that in both in Acts 11 and Acts 15. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:42.960 You can read about that. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:47.919 So it was a big issue when Gentiles were added to these Jewish believers. 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:50.240 But now in Ephesus, it's kind of the other way around. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:59.600 In Ephesus, which is not Jerusalem, in Ephesus, it was mostly Gentiles who were part of the church, and there were some Jews added into that mix. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:01.600 Okay, there's Jews, there's Gentiles. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:03.120 There's a there's a separation there. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:05.200 There's two different people groups. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:17.600 And Paul writes that these Gentiles were at one time outside of the covenant that God made with the Jews, and so they had no way of getting to God. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:18.639 They were aliens. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:20.480 He uses the word aliens. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:29.600 And many of us maybe can relate, you've had relatives in the past that came here from another country and they became American citizens. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:32.080 And it was, but it was different when they came here. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:34.960 They were they were viewed as outsiders, right? 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:36.720 You're not from around here. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.279 And and maybe you felt that as well. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:45.200 If you moved to a new city or a new job or to a new school, you you feel like, I don't know, I don't feel like I'm a part of this. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:46.559 I'm I'm I'm not from here. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:50.320 Well, from a Jewish perspective, those non-Jews were aliens. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:53.440 They were outside, they don't belong in the covenant of God. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:10:04.480 Now, the Greek and Roman people in their big cities, impressive cities, thought that people outside those cities, and especially Jewish people, were below them. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:07.600 They thought themselves superior to them. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.480 But the Jews did exactly the same thing. 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:12.960 They saw themselves as superior. 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:16.159 Because in the Old Testament, we see that God had a plan for the Jews. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.559 He chose a people, right? 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:23.840 And the whole idea was that they would serve God, they would shine the light of God to the nations. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:25.039 That's what the plan was. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:38.879 Instead, though, they had they developed this arrogant attitude, this pride, this nationalism, this racism in their own hearts toward the people who were non-Jews. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:40.240 They built walls. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:44.879 They built walls that kept them from showing God to the world. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:49.759 They built walls that kept them from showing God to the world. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:55.039 And many of the Jews in Paul's day had an immense hatred for Gentiles. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:11:01.120 In fact, I learned that it was not lawful for a Jew to assist a Gentile woman in childbirth. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.080 Because we don't want another Gentile, do we? 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:12.480 If a Jew married a Gentile, the funeral of that Jew would be held because his family considered him dead to the family. 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:17.039 Even to enter a Gentile house made a Jew unclean. 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:25.919 And even it was even said by some that Gentiles were created by God to be fuels for the fire of hell. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:31.039 It's pretty hateful, isn't it? 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:36.639 So they were separated by hearts filled with hate and racism and nationalism. 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:39.600 Of course, this doesn't apply to us at all today. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:43.360 None of this happens today in our culture. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:51.840 But this had been so deeply reinforced by centuries of their customs and their culture. 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:56.320 So what can penetrate this kind of hatred and this kind of division? 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:01.200 You can't change it through laws, you can't force it from the outside. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:05.519 The problem's in the heart, there has to be a change in the heart. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:08.799 You must be born again. 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:18.639 So in our text today, Paul's telling us that God provided the solution for this hatred and the division through the work of his son. 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:20.720 The answer is the gospel. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.159 This is what look what Jesus has done. 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:25.840 He's provided an answer. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:27.200 He's broken down this wall. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:29.600 It says, He himself is our peace. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:40.159 And he who has made us both one, both of them one, and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of the hostility. 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:52.000 Okay, so the Jews would certainly understand what he's saying there, because in Jerusalem, in the temple, there was a wall between the temple proper and the outer court of the Gentiles. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:53.759 And you can kind of see it, maybe you can see it a little bit. 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:55.440 There's a wall of separation. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:13:01.120 You can go this far, but you can't go any farther if you're a Gentile. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:04.879 There was a literal stone wall there. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:13.360 In 1871, they were excavating that uh temple area, and these archaeologists found this tongue, this stone there. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:18.879 The stone was written in Greek and in Latin, so you could make sure everybody could understand it that wasn't Jewish. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:20.480 And you can see it there. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.559 You can't really read it, can you? 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:29.279 But they say it says that no foreigner, it's a warning, no foreigner should go into the sanctuary. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:33.759 Anyone caught would be responsible for his or her own death. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:35.279 That's what it says. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:37.679 I don't know if it means by God or by people. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:39.279 I'm not sure what that means. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:40.960 Don't go past the wall. 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:42.000 There's a wall here. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:53.679 So there was a literal stone wall separating Jews and Gentiles, people of God, people who are not yet in covenant with God, insiders and outsiders. 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:54.879 But that's not all. 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:57.200 There was other things separating them too. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:05.279 Paul was pointing out that there was another wall between them, and it was the laws and the man-made rules of clean and unclean. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:12.960 Not only a literal stone wall, but these laws, the the wall of laws. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:17.840 I mean, I think, I think probably all of us can understand that. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:24.080 We've either ostracized people or been ostracized ourselves by what we do or don't do. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:28.000 We don't meet your, I don't meet your standard, and so I'm judged by you. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:32.720 But these are these were laws of God or traditions of the elders. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:34.639 So these are not just man's opinion. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:37.600 This is God's opinion, and you're not, and you're unclean. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:38.879 You can't be the people of God. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:40.000 You don't keep the law. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:49.440 So the Jewish people call the Gentiles the uncircumcision because they didn't bear in their body the mark of the covenant of God, and we are the circumcision. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:15:02.159 And then that the problem with that attitude, that pride attitude that they had is that that was disqualifying them from acting like the people of God. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:04.399 He they weren't representing God at all. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:10.000 They were not representing his nature or his purposes at all. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:21.919 So here's the situation: Jews and Gentiles, insiders, outsiders, separated by a literal stone wall and stony hearts. 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:27.679 Which is more difficult to deal with than a stony wall. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:32.960 You can break a wall down, but what's going to break your stony heart down? 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:38.159 Well, the answer is the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:39.679 This is what Paul does. 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:45.200 So Paul helps him to see that Jesus demolished the wall in his flesh. 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:54.879 He canceled the details of the rules of the law so he could uh create one new person out of the two. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:59.440 He Jesus Himself said, I came not to do away with the law, but to fulfill it. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:04.799 He fulfilled the law and he broke that wall down so he could bring the two together. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:06.879 It's the power of the cross. 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:13.759 The power of cross is the power, one of the powers of the cross is to break down walls that separate us from other people. 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:24.399 But these believers here in Ephesus were either not aware of this yet or they weren't willing to live like that. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:31.120 So Paul deals with the divisions in the church by going through an understanding of what Jesus did on the cross. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:35.759 He said, He said he tore down that wall in his flesh. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:46.159 So we're brought near to God and to one another by the blood of Christ, and we're, and he made Jews and Gentiles into one new man by the breaking of his own body. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:48.000 Now, I never saw this before. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:52.000 I've read this so many times until this week I never saw it. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.840 But this is this is literally a reference to the Lord's Supper. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:57.840 This is communion. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:01.279 Communion, which means common union. 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:03.440 It's like we're together. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:04.480 Communion. 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:10.400 It's the Lord's Supper here that Jesus, by his own shed blood, brought us near to God. 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:16.079 By his own broken body, he brought back together the two into one. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:23.440 He broke himself to bring them back together again and to make one new man. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:29.200 So that all those who believe in Jesus by faith have access to God. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:32.079 All of them, Jews and Gentiles. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:35.440 You and the people you hate. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:41.119 You and the people you think don't think are worthy. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:43.839 Look what Jesus has done. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:45.519 This is good news. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:47.599 Between God and man, he broke down the wall. 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:49.519 Between man and man, he broke down the wall. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:52.640 In fact, the Spirit continued to lead the church. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:18:01.039 If you read there in chapters, uh the chapters of Acts, the middle chapters of Acts, as the gospel is going out, they're dealing with these problems. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:02.880 Acts 11, Acts 15. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:04.000 You know, what do we do? 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:05.200 These Gentiles are coming. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:06.559 Do they need to keep the law? 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:07.279 Do they not? 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:07.599 I don't know. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:08.640 What are we gonna do? 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:09.440 I don't understand. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:14.880 God's doing the same thing with those people we don't like that he's doing with us. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:16.559 The same thing. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:21.519 Apparently, God has a different opinion than we do. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.039 I know. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:25.920 Surely that's not true. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:27.920 Surely he thinks like us. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:35.519 But now everyone, they find out, everyone has access to God under the condition of repentance and faith. 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:37.839 And so Paul paints a picture. 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:39.119 He uses a picture here. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:44.799 The picture he uses is a picture of a temple or a building that God is building. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:47.359 God is building a temple. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:56.160 So he's using this imagery of a temple or of a house, and it's a dwelling place he's building for himself. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:02.240 He's using Jews and Gentiles. 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:09.119 And this temple is being carefully constructed using different kinds of people who are united in their faith in Christ. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:10.319 So he says this. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:12.960 Let's read this again, verses 19 to 22. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:14.480 You are fellow citizens. 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.960 Okay, this is a corporate you. 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:21.200 This is not you personally, this is you, like I'm speaking to the church. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:22.160 You guys. 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:42.000 You guys are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:48.480 In him, you are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:50.240 And we all say, Amen. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:57.359 As long as it's the people we like, as long as they worship the way we do. 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:00.720 It can't be the Baptists. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:08.079 Can't be those old staunchy people or those old crazy people on the other side over there. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:12.720 You know, Lord, oh God, thank I thank thee that I'm not like them, oh Lord. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:18.240 For I know the true way of worship. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:20.400 Wow. 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:24.880 It's funny and it's tragic, isn't it? 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:34.240 So Paul's helping us see the heart of God and the eternal plan of God is building this building. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:42.000 He's emphasizing right here, starting in this point of the letter, all the way through the rest of the letter, he's emphasizing unity. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:44.000 It's a brand new thing, unity. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:45.519 He talks about you all. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:47.519 He talks about it in the plural form. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:50.079 He talks about keeping the unity of the faith. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:55.039 There's one Lord, one hope, one baptism, one God and Father of all. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:58.240 Strive to maintain the unity that you've been given. 00:20:58.240 --> 00:20:59.920 He's already given you unity. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:00.880 Maintain it. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:05.039 He gives fivefold gifts for the unity of the church. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:08.160 He talks about one another is over and over and over and over. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:10.319 Oh, one another, one another, one another. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:11.839 All of us together. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:12.720 Here we are. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:15.519 And this church has Jews and Gentiles. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:16.319 Okay? 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:17.839 But they're worshiping together. 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:18.480 Do you see? 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:25.440 When they took communion, and Paul is brilliant because he's talking about, he's talking about the body and the blood of Jesus. 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:34.960 When they sat together, they took communion regularly, and they sat together with each other in their differences, and everything was level. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:43.279 And the wall was broken down because the ground is level at the foot of the cross. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:48.559 And they all saw we have a need. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:52.160 And they all saw God gives salvation to all of us. 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:57.920 And they all saw that we all have access to one God through his son Jesus. 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:02.240 And Paul's reminding them, and he's giving them a picture of it, right? 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:03.759 Wow. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:08.640 So the Holy Spirit, now, why is this important for Paul to write this right now? 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:12.720 This was written maybe around 660 AD, something like that. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:20.079 And Paul probably could not have known what was going to happen in 10 years. 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:26.720 But within 10 years, the temple in Jerusalem would be a pile of rubbles. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:28.079 Just stones. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:31.759 In fact, Jesus said, not one stone laid upon top of another. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:37.839 And Roman armies came in under Titus and they leveled the temple. 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:44.240 That little stone wall that was saying, keep out, they literally destroyed it. 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:46.720 Along with the whole temple. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:57.440 Their place of worship, their identity as Jewish people, their reference point for knowing God, for following God, for worshiping God. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:59.119 It was all destroyed. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:02.160 Ten years from this letter. 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:11.680 From the stone temple in Jerusalem to the new temple that Jesus was building. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:18.240 Temple that wasn't made of dead, inanimate stones, but living stones. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:29.599 As Peter said later in chapter 2 of his first letter, as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, speaking of Jesus, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:44.079 And then you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:47.680 God is building something brand new in a brand new way. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:49.839 It's not like it was. 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:57.119 It's not in a certain place at a certain time, in a certain way, it's in Christ for all nations. 00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:02.079 So as I was studying that this week, I I remembered something that I saw years ago. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:02.720 It came to mind. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:06.160 Is there any Lego enthusiasts here? 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:07.119 Oh, come on. 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:07.920 This is great. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:08.559 I love it. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:10.160 This is all for you, right here. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:10.720 Okay. 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:14.720 So there was a okay, so it was a guy years ago, and he built this. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:18.400 I know you can build, you can get these um these kits and build churches. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:22.880 Lego churches are pretty impressive, but this guy, this guy was a computer programmer. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:24.880 So we know he wasn't crazy. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:27.440 He built, he built a Lego church. 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:31.119 75,000 pieces. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:35.519 Took about a year and a half to plan it and to build it. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:41.680 It seats 1,372 Lego people. 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:44.720 It's big. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:45.519 It's big. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:48.720 Well, they're little people, but it's relatively big. 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:52.480 It has 3,976 window blocks. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.359 You see that? 00:24:53.359 --> 00:25:11.119 It has a foyer, a balcony, stairs up to the balcony, restrooms, it has bathrooms, coat rooms, mosaics, a baptistry, an altar, a crucifix, a pulpit, and it has an organ that's made up of 2,500 pieces. 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:16.799 Man, what kind of person does this? 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:18.960 That's what I really want to know. 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:25.759 He's a computer programmer, he can't be crazy, but he's like gotta be a little eccentric. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:27.440 And for what purpose? 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:28.160 Why do you do that? 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:28.720 I don't know. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:33.680 Well, so I read this reviewer, this uh tech reviewer, and he said about the guy. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:40.000 He said, This is one of those people that I'm very happy to have seen on the web, but are too scary to meet in real life. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:46.079 Oh, you Lego enthusiasts, you know what he's talking about. 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:48.400 Okay, it's impressive, right? 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:51.920 It's impressive, but it's not alive. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:55.759 It can't grow on its own. 00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:59.839 It's Legos, it's plastic pieces. 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:01.119 That's all it is. 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:04.079 Jesus said, I will build my church. 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:06.640 And it didn't take a year and a half. 00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:11.039 He's been he's been working on it 2,000 years plus. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:13.599 He's been working on it, right? 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:17.359 And he's using a far superior building material. 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:23.519 People like you and me, Jews and Gentiles. 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:27.759 People with different gifts, every tongue and tribe and nation. 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:31.519 It's an organic building capable of growing together. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:33.279 The scripture says it grows together. 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:38.880 He fits you together, and you grow together into a house where God truly lives. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:41.200 You understand the church is special? 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:46.000 This is not the Kowanas or the Lions Club. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:49.039 This is the church of the living God. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:52.720 We are the body of Jesus Christ on earth. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:55.839 And God dwells in our midst. 00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:10.559 And it's built on, it's built by God on the foundation of his son through his torn body and his shed blood, wholly set apart by God for the purpose of showing him to the world. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:28.000 And this church includes Hispanics and Asians and Africans, and Ukrainians and Russians, and Jews and Palestinians, and even us. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:30.640 God breaks the wall. 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:33.839 He breaks the wall in the flesh of his son. 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:35.200 He's broken the wall down. 00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:37.119 Look what Jesus has done. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:59.680 From the heart of the Father, who purposed to have us as sons and daughters, through the work of his son, who justified and redeemed and forgave and included and paid for us by the activity of the Spirit who baptizes us into one body and gives us gifts for the common good from all nationalities and groups. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:02.640 Jesus continues to build his church to this day. 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:06.240 Today he's building it, and we're part of it. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:17.519 But in Ephesus, something is threatening to destroy what Jesus is building. 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:27.200 There's these silent but industrious little termites eating away the foundation. 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:37.359 What's the danger Paul's warning about? 00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:40.319 It's prejudice. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.079 Prejudice. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:46.160 In the heart of people. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:55.519 Can we do some business this morning? 00:28:55.519 --> 00:29:02.160 Can we allow the Holy Spirit to do some work? 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:06.000 I know we came we all came here to to to be blessed, I know. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:08.000 And here's something encouraging. 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:18.880 But maybe God wants to do something in our hearts to take away the stuff that is hindering us from being encouraged and being blessed. 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:23.759 Maybe he's trying to rip some things out so that he can build something. 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:27.119 Can we allow the Holy Spirit to do business in our hearts? 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:33.519 Here in Ephesus, it was racial prejudice, it was ethnic prejudice. 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:36.079 My race is superior to yours. 00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:39.119 My nation, my nation is superior to yours. 00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:40.799 That's what he was dealing with. 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:48.240 And prejudice divides and it steals and it kills and it destroys. 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:51.839 It is the happy continual work of the devil. 00:29:51.839 --> 00:29:53.680 This is what he does. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:54.640 Just build a wall. 00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:56.160 Build a wall. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:30:07.680