From Far Off To Brought Near In Christ - Ephesians 2:11-22

A wall can shape your whole life, especially when you don’t even realize it’s there. We open up Ephesians 2:11-22 and follow Paul’s blunt contrast: once far off, without Christ, without hope, and without God, then suddenly “but now” brought near by the blood of Jesus. The heart of the message is grace, the exceeding riches of God’s grace that saves us first and then sends us into the good works God already prepared, not to earn anything, but because we are made new.

From there, we talk about access and peace in plain terms. Jesus does not just bring peace, He is our peace. His cross puts hostility to death, breaks down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, and opens a living way into God’s presence. The torn temple veil becomes more than a detail in the crucifixion story, it becomes a picture of what God has done: the barrier is removed from top to bottom, and we can come boldly to the throne of grace because the price has been paid.

We also dig into belonging, citizenship, and adoption into the household of God, with Jesus as the chief cornerstone and sure foundation. If you have ever felt like an outsider, this passage speaks directly to that ache, and it also gives a practical next step: “Not my will, but your will be done,” and a simple prayer of surrender that turns into action. Subscribe for more, share this with someone who needs peace, and leave a review telling us what “brought near” means to you.

Transcript

Therefore And The Riches Of Grace

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The book of Ephesians lately, and Pastor Andrew spoke on this uh last week. And uh the beginning of my section today starts with the word therefore. So I'm gonna tell you what it's there for. Uh Pastor Andrew mentioned in the uh first part of chapter two, if you have your Bibles handy, uh, or we'll be posting uh verse 11 and forward uh later today. So if you don't have your iPhone or your Bible phone or your uh there is one in the seat pocket in front of you potentially as well. So uh he spoke from Ephesians chapter two, the first uh 11 verses, where Paul the apostle explains this uh dramatic transformation from spiritual death into eternal life in Jesus Christ and gives the reason why. He says it's because of the, this mic's a little bit hot, guys. Thank you, because of the exceeding riches of God's grace. Let me say that again, the exceeding riches of God's grace. So keep that in our minds as we plow forward. Because Paul says, the things I say now are based on that fact, based on that truth, that we are living in a period of grace because of what Jesus Christ has done. And that when we are saved from eternal death by faith and trusting in that one, the way, the truth, and the life that we just sang about Jesus Christ, we are now called into a brand new life. Uh so I believe the crux of the first part of chapter two was you're called out from something, but you're called to something else. That something else is to good works, actually, the works that God has foreordained that he knew before time that you would be doing. So I thank all of those who are doing work for the Lord, whether it be uh someone washed these windows the other day, I can tell because it's very shiny in here now. But uh, whatever God calls you to do uh for his kingdom, uh he knew about this a long, long time ago. And so we do not work to gain our salvation, but we work because we are now saved. We're living a brand new life. We have a great future and a hope. And as we'll see today, Paul will explain that transformation a little more openly in the second part of this chapter. As we move into verse 11 and forward, we see the miracle of uh new relationships that are formed because of Jesus Christ. And as we saw week one, they are in Christ. So in Christ you have amazing benefits, blessings, things that just come your way because you're with him, he's in you, the hope of glory, he's described in one verse, uh, Christ in you, the hope of glory.

A Church That Prays

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Let us pray. We do a lot of praying here at CBC if you didn't notice that. Um, but Jesus said, This house will be called my house, a house of prayer for all nations. So, Heavenly Father, we thank you for a place where we can gather together unafflicted in this nation, at least so far, Lord, thank you for the peace and the safety we have here, to worship you in spirit and in truth without being attacked. But we know that there is an evil one, and he seeks to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Lord, we pray against that force, and we ask, Lord, that you would guide and guard your people today. Open our eyes, illuminate our hearts and spirits. Help us to see something that we can never unsee, Lord, today in your beautiful word. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. The uh

Remember When We Were Far Off

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Gentiles, as we know, those who were not from Jewish roots or families, were once, as Apostle Paul describes it here, they were far away. They were considered not a people, they were many people, but they had no origin of faith, right? They were far from God in a sense because they did not have the commands of God, they didn't understand his perfect will, they didn't know about his great love for his people, and they saw this Jewish nation as some kind of a weird thing, right? They were they were the strangers, they were the odd ones. But in the economy of God, he had chosen this one tiny nation to represent him in the world. Their job was to receive God, to trust in him, walk in his ways, and also to shine a light into the Gentile world of what uh God is and how holy he is. Unfortunately for us uh Gentiles, the Jews did not accomplish that second part. They held the law, they kept it rigorously to the best of their abilities. We know they all failed miserably at some point, uh, trying to keep the law with their own human uh power or strength. Some, however, did trust in God by faith, and they are recorded in this book, right? Men like uh Moses and Noah and others, right, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord because they trusted in him and understood that he was the holy one and we are not, but he wants to draw us into his holiness. And in the New Testament, the Bible describes how God accomplished that. He was to bring Jesus Christ into the world, his very own Son, a picture of the perfection of the law, the one who did no sin from the moment of his birth to the moment of his death, but only the will of his heavenly Father. So he was the answer that the entire world was looking for. Some saw it, some did not. Fortunately for us, the Gentile nations found him very quickly, but the Jews are still somewhat blinded to it. So it's unfortunate, and the Apostle Paul prays uh often for his brethren in the flesh, so to speak, the Jewish nation. And today we still pray for them that God would open their eyes, so take the scales off, help them to see that the one who came from their own lineage was the promised one, uh, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He's actually a Bethlehem, but they didn't know that for some reason. They didn't trace his roots back to his actual birthplace. Ephesians 2 11 begins, therefore, remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, who were called, who are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, made in the flesh by hands, that at the at that time you were without Christ. So here's a description of the Gentile uh nations without Christ, number one, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, number two, and strangers from the covenants of promise, right, that came along with the law, God also gave promises to all those who would trust in him. And it says uh further about the Gentiles having no hope. It's a sad existence, right? And without God. Some might call that theist or atheist without God or not believing in God, and in the world, right? So they're in a world, it's not seeking after God, and therefore they have no hope of anything in the future, just this present life and whatever they could grab or grasp, and then they die and it's over, right? That's a sad existence. And a description of the Gentiles at the time of the Apostle Paul, and he says, but now, and here is the light coming into the picture. Uh, I

Brought Near By The Blood

SPEAKER_00 7:36

think it was uh last week Pastor Andrew said, but God, right? When God enters, everything changes. Paul says, but now in Christ, that key phrase that we've seen all through chapter one, I think it was at least ten times that that was mentioned, some form of that, in Christ Jesus. You who were once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. So the far out ones became very close. And how did that happen? Jesus Christ. Uh I know in Sunday school they taught me that as a little shaver. Whenever you don't know the question, Johnny, just say, Jesus, and you'll probably be right. Because everything is in him, isn't it? All the promises, all the covenants, everything is fulfilled in him. In fact, when the uh the staunch Jews said, Who are you and what are you teaching, or where is this doctrine from, right? He said, I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. And he in himself is the fulfillment of the law. So when we are in him, the law is fulfilled in us. We don't have to struggle or uh clamor about it any longer. We still make effort, right? And I believe God uh does not deny us human effort and uh attempts to do things that are good, to do well, but there is now no earnings necessary, right? The bill has been paid. The fine that we owed at the court, the judge has slapped the gavel and said, My son has done it all, right? Anything necessary for our salvation is taken care of through and with and in Jesus Christ. So our main goal today is to make sure you don't leave here unless you're in Jesus Christ, right? That needs to be the desire of your heart. And I hope as you read what happens when you do and when you don't, uh you you develop the same conclusion that I have come to. Being an ah theist is not the way to go, right? Taking God out of the picture makes things very dark, very bleak, and very hopeless. And they're actually we're gonna see later homeless as well, right? Have you ever seen that that person on the street? Doesn't your heart go out to them? It's like, wow, I just every time I see a young guy out there, I say, Well, that could that could be my son right there. You know, that just kind of pricks me in the heart. I'm like, wow, I gotta try to do something or say something or help in some way, shape, or form. Because that was us. We were aliens, strangers. We were homeless, hopeless, but then Christ, right? Jesus came. So the uh aliens and the strangers without hope, without God, now what they can receive in Christ is adoption, hope, and peace. According to the Apostle Paul here, because of Jesus and his perfect blood sacrifice, he meant business on that cross. He gave it all. He gave up his human life so that we could have eternal life. We sinners now have the opportunity to approach the holy God of ages. The Apostle Paul shares uh a beautiful passage in Hebrews chapter four in verse sixteen. And it it says, Because of our sympathetic high priest, right, the one who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities, the one who lived in flesh, he now uh opens the way up to the throne room of God's grace. And in verse 16 it says, Therefore, let us therefore, again in Bible school they said, every time you see therefore, read the verse in front of that and find out what it's there for, right? The therefore is because we have a sympathetic high priest. Therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. Uh that mercy seat is in the holiest of holies, right? The holy place of God. There was the Ark of the Covenant. On top of that ark was a golden seat, and on that seat was dripped the blood of sacrificial animals for for centuries until the coming of Jesus Christ. And when he died on that cross, the Bible says, the veil that separated the holy place from the holy of holies, where the ark was kept, where the mercy seat was sitting, the that veil, that 60-foot veil, 30 feet high, four inches thick, tore from the top to the bottom when Jesus said, It is finished on that cross. That was reported in the scriptures. It did happen, and it says, In uh I'm not sure if it was Matthew or John, but it says, and it was ripped from the top to the bottom. Not not it wasn't a work of man, right? It came from the top. It came from the authority of God, saying, Now there is a new way, a living way to enter the place of mercy. And so when you cry out help to God, that's what he wants to hear, right? That's what the Savior came for, to save, to seek and to save the lost. John 3 17, he didn't come to condemn the world, but the world, but that the world through him might be saved. So this new uh boldness, as Paul describes it, that we have now in Christ is not out of arrogance, right? We don't say, Oh, I deserve to mosey on into the holy presence of God. No. Uh it is it is out of faith and great appreciation. Amen. That we enter in a bold fashion, knowing that everything has been paid for us to accomplish that, right? When someone buys you a ticket to a famous event, right, and you show up at the door and they go, Why should I let you in? And you say, Well, I have a ticket. It's right here. Boom, somebody paid for it. It wasn't me, but I get in, right? When you present that ticket, who is that? That is Jesus Christ, right? He paid the debt that we owed, but we could not pay. And uh in Jesus' perfect work on the cross, uh, we trust in that. We we put our faith in what he did because the father said that was sufficient, right? One man for many men, one sinless one for all sinful people. That means he had to be pretty perfect, right? He had to be pretty amazing. He was quite accepted in the beloved, right? There's only a few times you hear God the Father speaking verbally in the scriptures, and most of the time he's saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. I think that one was on the Mount of Transfiguration, right? When they were trying to, Peter wanted to build temples to Moses and Elias and Christ. It was like, no, wait a second, Jesus is here. He is the one. Uh let's listen to him. He's the one who accomplished my will, and it is sufficient for all time, for all people. Anyone who will call on the name of the Lord, the Bible says, will be saved. So that doesn't exclude Jews or Gentiles. They they can all come. Some say that the Jews are out now, their time is over. You know, the Bible says they are the original olive uh branch, and they were lopped off. They were separated so that we could be grafted in. Can he not also graft in the original branch if he was able to graft in a wild branch, right? And that's who we are. We're the wild branches, right? And you can tell by the way we act, right, and the way we behave. Um sometimes uh it's a little wild, but God has taken us in and he's culturing us, he's teaching us. Uh, we are learning what it is to bear fruit in his kingdom. Uh, number two today, uh Jesus, his his complete payment for our sins, opened this access way to the holiness of God, and it procured our peace with God.

He Himself Is Our Peace

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Ephesians 2 14 uh starts with this line. Paul writes, For he, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, for he himself is our peace. When I read that, I was thinking about another verse like God is love, uh, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. It's not just what he does, it's who he is. It is his essence to be filled with peace. So if you are hunting for peace today, and many are, right? I've had met people just walking down the street and they tell me, I just want to have peace. I'm just looking for peace. If anyone says that to you, you tell them, I know the Prince of Peace. I know his name. And you can have a personal relationship with him. That way, peace is a part of who you are now. It's not just what you have, but you live in it all the time. And when you come to him, when you make your peace with him, you know it right away, right? Isn't there? There's a sense of calmness and tranquility that you cannot explain when you're in the presence of the Prince of Peace. And it says, this is what he has done, this peace that belongs to us. He himself is our peace. Why? Because he has made both, speaking of Jew and Gentile alike, to be one now. In his sight, I believe we were all part of humanity. You know, those who were made in the image of God. He chose out one nation to expose the brightness and the glory of his presence, to hand them his law and explain his holiness, but also to be a light to those who did not know him. Uh, and now he is pulling them back together in one, who is Jesus Christ. It says, He has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation. Uh today I decided to to uh name this little sermonette God's holy temple. And I had a photo, I don't know if it's up there or it was in the first slide, perhaps, of the temple of uh Herod, which was the second temple after Solomon. It was actually, they're both models in some way, shape, or form of the original uh tent of meeting, the tabernacle of the Lord in the wilderness, uh, and all the implements of uh worship and service were lined up in the same order in all of these places, right? With the lavers in the front out with the golden altar where sacrifices were made to the uh, you know, the washing of hands, and then they move in closer into the holy place, and then you find at the end is the Ark of the Covenant in the holiest place, called the Holy of Holies in some places. Uh but this picture of God's dwelling place also had like an outer court, and that was called in Herod's day, it was when Jesus was walking the earth, it was called uh the court of the Gentiles, right? So they were not allowed into these other uh places in the temple, but they could circle around in the courts surrounding them. I believe that's where Jesus was driving out money changers and whatnot in his day, saying, You're turning my father's house into a house of merchandise, you know, but it should not be. It should be a house of prayer for all nations. And so Gentiles were allowed in, but not in too far, not too close. There was a middle wall of separation where they could not go. Uh I had an assistant pastor years ago who traveled to Israel and he walked in where the wailing wall is now, the one wall that's left over in Jerusalem, and the Jews will go in and tuck in little prayers into the crevices of that wall, and they would stand there and pray. And then there was another mat over on the side, and there were some uh folks from a different religion there praying, and he walked in that area with his shoes on and he was chased out of there by a guy with a machete. He pulled out a knife and he started chasing uh Pastor Ross out of there. He's like, Get those shoes off your feet. You know, he had walked into what they considered to be a holy place and he didn't take off his shoes, and he was he was in big trouble. He's like, Thanking the Lord, he was in the army and he was good on his feet. He was very quick. Uh he could run and he ran out of there as fast as he could. My dad was watching this whole thing, he was with him, and uh he's like, oof, I kind of thought you weren't supposed to go over there, you know. But um, there are places where mankind was not allowed, right? In that holy place, there was only one man once a year, the great high priest, who was allowed to walk in to that area after he had washed and sacrificed an animal for his own sins, and then they would sacrifice many animals for the sins of the people. That blood was caught in a basin, and he would carry that in into the holy holiest of holies, and he would take a hyssab branch and dab it onto the mercy seat for the sins of all his people for one whole year. And we know, according to scripture, that this was only a temporary idea that God had placed, right? I believe it started back in the garden, right? The sacrifice of an animal for the sins of Adam and Eve, and they covered them with animal coverings, the Bible says. So an animal had to die, uh, unfortunately, for the sins of mankind. Uh, it was not supposed to be that way, but man decided to be ornery and stubborn and prideful and disobey God, the one rule they had. They only had one command and they could not pull it off. Uh we are born from them, guys. That's who we are, and that's how we start in this life. But there is another way. There's the way of peace. And uh here Paul says God uh or the Lord, he himself is our peace. He is made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, which I just described, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, and I'll explain that word in a minute, that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself, there's that phrase again, in Christ, in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross. Very clear how this was accomplished. It was by the death of the perfect sacrifice of God, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Thereby putting to death the enmity. There's that word again. And he came and preached peace to you and me who were afar off. And to those who are near. Speaking of the Jew here, who were very close to the commands, they carried them around in the wilderness. They put them in the Ark of the Covenant, and they hoisted them from one city to another. Wherever they went, they brought that ark with them. But it says, For through him we both have access by one spirit to the Father. And this is what that Hebrews verse was talking about. We can now walk into the Holy of Holies. Not the high priest, but but we uh little priests, I guess, we are called kings and priests unto him. But now we can enter not with the blood of an animal, but because of the precious blood of a Savior, whose name is Jesus Christ. Now we have access, but also the enmity has been put down. So to the Jews, uh, Gentiles were always considered the outsiders without hope of redemption. But now we, the Gentile nations, are welcomed into fellowship with God and all his faithful followers by faith in one, whose name is Jesus Christ. I was talking about that word enmity. That means to be actively opposed to and to be hostile against something or someone. And we know this hostility brought itself against God, right? So not only were the Gentiles atheists or atheists, but they were without God, without hope, but they were contrary to the doctrines of truth and faith in God. They were opposing them, right? And this is what you see in the world today. Uh Jesus said clearly, He that is not with me is against me, right? But these some were, you know, killing Christians, driving people out of synagogues, you know, just slaying people who had faith in God because their sin had gotten so rampant that they didn't want any sight of light in their world, right? So you will experience that in this world. You can't really hide your light. You might try to, but if you have joy in your heart, it's really tough for that not to come across. Just watch Pastor Andrew when he preaches. Like you can see his teeth 24-7. He just, he's a smiley guy. Like there's a joy bubbling up there, and you can't, you know, you might try to mask it, but uh you cannot hide that. And the world doesn't like it. They see it. If you start speaking of truth and peace and goodness, it exposes lies and evil and hardship and murder and all these things. The light of God has a way of exposing the darkness. And the darkness not only doesn't comprehend what the light is doing, but it doesn't like it, right? It says, you don't come to the light because your deeds are evil, so therefore you rather hide in the darkness because you think maybe God can't see me now. But get that idea out of your head because it's not true. He knows everyone, he knows exactly where you are. He has his own uh GPS satellites, he he knows uh how many hairs are on your head. David said, I can run into hell, behold, you are there. You know, you think God can't get close to evil? Well, he did. He sent his son right into the pit of it, right? Into one of the worst places in the planet, and they crucified him. Uh, but he did so because of his great love for us. Someone say, Praise the Lord back there. All right. And and Pastor John, get to point three here. So Jesus broke down that middle wall, that wall of partition that separated uh Gentiles not only from the Jews, but from the holy place, and it opened up our way into his holy presence. So

The Only Way Through Jesus

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Jesus, um, on that day, on that fateful day, that he even prayed, Lord, let this cup pass if it be your will. But nevertheless, and this is a key phrase for all of us, not my will, but your will be done. We should be saying that every day in our prayer. Jesus said, Pray that way, right? Father, your will be done here on earth the way it is in heaven. That means in my life too. That's what that means. You can't get away from that. He wants his will to be done in you, by you, through you, and down here on this earth. But when Jesus died, the Bible says the earth grew extremely dark. There was a great dark period. And then there were thunderings and lightnings came, and to the point where the soldiers were trembling, right? And they're wondering what is going on. And there were resurrections all over the place. The Bible says graves were being opened, and Christians from who had passed were coming to life. Uh, God-fearing people were coming out of their graves and walking around the city, right? And uh it was a great and a terrible day at the same time. But this is the day that that that purple uh veil, uh, they tell us it was woven of blue and purple and scarlet all together. This four-inch thick, thirty, uh, thirty feet high, uh sixty foot wide veil in the temple was ripped. Mark 15, 37. And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. I believe this is when he says, It is finished, right? That was his last word, I believe, from the from the cross. And it says, then, verse 38, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Uh, this was the sign of the new way, the opening, right? When Jesus didn't just say, I am the way, the truth, and the life. He is the way, he is the only way. And it sounds narrow, but it's a beautiful way. And I don't know, I keep, remember I mentioned how narrow this way is. I always tell people, if your son died for it and I said, Well, that's not good enough for me, what would you say to me? You know, what do you mean? I gave my only son for you. That's not a good enough way. You need another way? The answer is no. There's no more powerful, more loving way than that. I mean, God knows it. The son knew it, right? He went, even when he prayed, he knew this was the way. It had been determined from all eternity past that this was the way that God would demonstrate. So if anyone tries to tell you that God is dead or he's not loving, or he's um trying to hurt you, trick you, or you know, slide you into some kind of you know crazy servitude that's gonna kill you, you say, look at the cross of Jesus Christ. I have to go back to that every time because, yeah, as people, we have doubts, we have fears, we we let that creep in. We get nervous and anxious and things like that. But he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father except through me. It is a straight and a narrow way, but it is a beautiful way, and it's the only way. And I'll say that to any different religious person that comes to me because I know it's the truth as well. The challenge here is, and I say this to lots of people in the hospital, but I'm gonna say it to you today before you get there, because we all go that way, right? The Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment. And usually the hospital comes in between there somewhere, right? But you don't have to wait till you get to the hospital before you answer this question. Have you made your peace with God? And I don't know how many people I've asked that question to, but the next question is would you like me to help you with that? Because I do know who the Prince of Peace is. I know him by name, and he knows my name, right? He knows who you are, and he's calling you to himself right now. Uh, do not wait until the last day, right? You're wasting a lot of great time in between. Uh, one preacher was telling his other preacher friend, he goes, Why, we had a great service the other night, and he said, Well, what happened? He said, Well, uh, three and a half people got saved. And he said, What? Three and a half? What was that? He goes, Well, there were three young people. Then there was this old guy, he was on his last leg, but he decided he made his peace with God. But he's got nothing left. He went home and just died, you know. But no, I'm only kidding. But hey, David says, Remember thou your creator in the days of your youth. Don't wait until you're an old rickety one like me and you can't get around anymore and you're losing stamina and strength. Let's remember him now, right? A lot of young people in here today, remember him now in the days of your youth. Give him those days. You will not regret it. I think some of you were here when I asked my 95-year-old aunt, you know, have you regretted one day of following Jesus since you were a little kitty? And she said, Absolutely not. And she was in her 90s, okay? So, I mean, that carries some weight with me. I don't know about you. You know, CBC, we're coming up on our, we'll be talking about our 100th anniversary pretty soon. Uh, we have a little picture here in uh point three gets into this idea of the sure foundation, the hope on which we stand, uh, the the building of God, of which you and I are a part.

Adopted Into God’s Household

SPEAKER_00 31:09

And do you know who the chief cornerstone is? Answer in uh Sunday school. Jesus, Jesus Christ, our sure foundation, the hope on which we stand. Ephesians 19 to 22, the last few verses here this morning. Jesus is inviting us to join him and become a member of his royal family, the family that is founded on him and in him. And he's saying, Do you want to be a part of that? I think there's an old testament story of a little kid named Mephiboshef who limped on one leg and he was just a rickety little kid, and uh he thought nobody, he was like a dog, he calls himself, right? And he comes in, David calls him into the king's palace one day and says, I want to see this young man. And he comes in shaking in his boots, because this was he was the grandson of the prior king, right? And normally that family gets wiped off the earth, right? In the days of kingdoms and kings. That's just what kings do, right? They wipe out all the adversaries when they come to power, but not David. He said to Jonathan when he was a younger man, Jonathan, about ready to assume the throne of his father someday. And he said, If I come into power and God gives me the throne, your family will always be taken care of, Jonathan. They had a bond, the two of them, right? And when he saw Mephiboshef, he bowed down before the king and he thought it was his last day. And he said, Son, take your seat at my table and never leave. I will take care of you until you die. You will have never have to worry about a thing, and you'll have dinner with me every night, right, in the king's palace. This is what we're being offered here. Again, Paul begins with his favorite word, therefore. So, because of all that, he likes to connect everything. Everything is connected by the Apostle Paul. It's like one big puzzle, but he's got it figured out. He could see it all. God had given him great and many visions, and for that he had a thorn in the flesh, the Bible says, so that he would not become too exalted in his own opinion, right? He wouldn't get too cocky. But he says, Now therefore, you are no longer strangers, no longer foreigners, but you are fellow citizens and with the saints. So now you have your citizenship, right? And members, and here it is, of the household of God. You can eat at the king's table. You're one of the king's kids. You have a royal heritage. Before you were not a people, but now you are a people. You have a name. This is like royal adoption, right here, in the legal sense. And my, I don't know if many of you know, my older son adopted a little baby girl uh almost a year ago. She was two days old, and she is every bit a lawson as any lawson we have. And she is the pinkest thing I've ever met. Uh, we had a lot of blue in our house. I say, but now it's all pink, everything's pink. But she has brought so much, so much joy into our family. We we're thinking, okay, we're gonna help this little infant, you know, into a beautiful place, and uh, we're gonna be such a blessing to her. Do you know what? It's the tables have turned, and I see some nodding heads. She has brought, uh yeah, she's helping us. She's teaching us how to rest, how to, how to gather together, how to enjoy uh being a family. And uh it's it's powerful, as you can tell. All right, get the fans. All right. I'll close with this. Here is a cool photo I have for you guys. I hope the A B can pull this up, but it says, now therefore, you're no longer strangers or foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints. So we can call ourselves saints, which is really weird for me, right? My wife will tell you that's not true. No. And members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, right? He utilized the Jewish nation as his beginning point. There has to be a start to everything good. Uh, and then it says here, Jesus Christ himself, very clear when Paul writes, being the chief cornerstone in that building of the temple. Some say David laid apart all of the implements to build the original temple of Solomon, right? But because he was a man of war with blood on his hands, God said, You will not build the temple for God, but I will let you stockpile the stuff. So he built all these things, he made them mapped out, he had all the directions, knowing that someday maybe his son Solomon could complete this project after he was gone. And some uh Hebrew scholars say that there was one stone they could not find. And when they dug through the pits, they say, Certainly this is not it. And they discarded it for a long time. There were weeds growing around there, and finally someone said, There's another stone. We they were ready to build and they couldn't find the cornerstone of the building, right? And then probably they pulled out the directions and saw that it was a very oddly shaped piece of stone. Went and found this stone. Some old timer said it's out there in the field. I've seen it myself. They brought it in, sure enough, it fit perfectly into the corner of that building. And if you know the cornerstone is you know, builders out there, you know, most important stone of the building, right? It's where you start. I have a picture here, someone wants to throw that up. Um yeah, it's a little uh foggy there because it's black and white. My photo is not that great either, but I took a photo of it and blew it up a little bit. And um, this is uh the cornerstone of our old building back in, I think this photo comes from 1939. Um the association began in 1927, so like I said, I think in January we come up to our 100th year as a an association, a church here in Rhode Island. But they placed in that cornerstone significantly a Bible. It says Holy Bible, and you can read it in the photo, you can see it on there, and they set that Bible in a box, and then my great-grandfather, who is now little Haven Nevea's great-great great uh grandfather, if I got that correct, and he shook hands with his mentor there in the faith who uh said, God has a calling on your life, and I believe you have to preach this gospel because it's affected you in this way. And they shook hands over it and they put that Bible in the cornerstone of the building on the uh northwestern corner, kind of pointing at us right now, and it's about five miles away from here. And then they built a four-story brick building on top of that cornerstone, but that Bible is still in there. If you go today, you'll see in the corner it says 1939 on a little rock. Right behind that is a tin box, as my aunt told me, and inside that box is a holy Bible. Um, and that's why we kind of we name changed, we went to Cranston Bible Chapel because we feel uh we are founded on Christ Jesus Himself and upon his holy word. Uh, he is the word made flesh who dwelt among us. Um so just kind of a cool story about cornerstones, but the Bible says he is the cornerstone of God's holy temple, of which you and I are a part. That's relationship there. That's the most important relationship you will ever have. I know a lot of married couples coming together now in this season. It seems like there's something in the water here at CBC, I tell people. But that's a great union, great relationship. It does point to Jesus Christ and the unity we have in him. But there's one more relationship that's even more important than that, and that's the relationship that your marriage points to in Christ, is the one where he brings all things together under himself, all to be one. First Corinthians six, nineteen. Or do you not know, Paul writes to the Corinthians, that your body, this frame that we have of God, is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom ye have from God, and you are not your own, for you were bought with a price, and that is the price of his blood, right? Therefore, Paul's favorite word, let's connect these two thoughts. What should we do now? And I'll leave you with this thought today. Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's, meaning which belong to him, because we now have belonging. You know, that's the thing that people are searching for today. Uh, it's a human need. It's on uh Maslow's hierarchy. I think it's up there near number one. We all need to belong to something, someone. Uh some, you know, want to belong to the rotary club or, you know, the softball team or whatever, and these are all great things. But you can belong to the holy God of gods, uh, the Lord and master of the universe. Um, there was a little seven-year-old girl who one day asked her mama, she said, uh, after dinner, she said, or after breakfast, she goes, Mom, what can I do for you today, mama? And her mama almost passed out on the floor. What can I do for you, mama? Right? Here's my challenge. Ask God to help you to see and to accomplish his will in your life in some powerful way today and this week. Just say, What can I do? You know, what do you have for me to do? It's not that difficult. He's done so much for us, hasn't he? But you know, when your kids ask you that, you will fall on the floor, you know, because it doesn't happen that often. But isn't this what Jesus did every day of his life? Right? He just wanted to do the will of his heavenly father. The Bible Bible says he always did it. I mean, that was some son right there, right? He always accomplished that will by the power of God. He trusted in him. Let us pray. Maybe

Closing Prayer And Marching Orders

SPEAKER_00 41:06

we could stand for this last prayer. Thank you. You know, after that mom got up off the floor and wiped the dust off, she uh she felt so much joy, right? This little kid, she just wants to do what mama wants and she wants to please uh her mother. Um just think for a moment as we pray how much joy our Heavenly Father experiences when he hears his little children say, Abba, Father, you know, what do you have for me to do today? Not my will, but your will be done. Dear Jesus, we thank you, Lord, for breaking down this wall, this separator, for tearing open the veil, which the word says was your body in the flesh, giving us access to your mercy, to the great mercy seat of God that sits in your throne room. Thank you for your willingness to forgive our sins and our enmity, our hostility and opposition to you, and Lord, for providing peace and unity in this new eternal relationship with you, our Lord, our chief cornerstone, our sure foundation that we stand on. Thank you for your willingness to accept all of us, Lord, once once foreigners and strangers, but adopting us into your royal family and providing for us a seat at your table in your household of faith forever and ever, never to part, never to have need again. Thank you, Lord, for the presence and the closeness of your Holy Spirit, not just around us or before us or behind us, but literally dwelling inside our hearts, helping us, illuminating our eyes, our spiritual eyes, guiding us, reminding us of what you said, directing us and giving us the power to do the things that you're calling us to do in your perfect will. Lord, prepare us to be your sanctuary today, pure and holy. Drive out the dross, push away the fleshly desires, and give us your pure and loving desire, not just for us, but for our neighbors, for the people around us. Give us uh your marching orders today, we pray, in Jesus' name. And everyone said, Amen. Let's go march, march for Jesus. God bless you all. Enjoy the beautiful weather out there.