Were Far Off, Are Made Near

The Two Great Contrasts in Ephesians 2

0:06 We return today to our consideration of the word of God as found in Paul's letter to the Ephesians and chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2. This chapter which contains the two great contrasts, contrasts which were true in the lives of the Ephesian believers and true in a less immediate sense, particularly the last contrast of every true believer, but true nonetheless. To every Christian. The first contrast is bounded by verses 1 and 10, a description of what the Ephesians and all men are by nature, verses 1 to 3.

0:52 And then an amazing description of what the Ephesians and all Christians become by the grace of God, verses 4 through 10. The primary emphasis is upon what we might call individual salvation. What is the contrast between an individual? An individual dead in sins and an individual quickened together with Christ.

1:14 Well, verses 1 to 10 gives us that contrast. However, in verses 11 through the end of chapter 2, the contrast has to do not so much with individual salvation, but with salvation as it works itself out in human history among the nations. It is the contrast between the state of the Gentiles prior to the coming of Christ, and the condition of Gentiles and Jews after the coming of the Son of God. And this very theme, begun in these verses, spills right over into the third chapter and comes to an amazing climax with that prayer with which the third chapter is concluded.

Remembering the Gentiles' Former Condition (Ephesians 2:11-12)

1:59 Now, in our previous study, in this second contrast, and there was but one, I sought to lay before you the truth contained in verses 11 and 12. I shall read these verses, briefly remark upon them, and then we shall proceed to verse 13. Wherefore, remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. In these two verses, we noted the people who are addressed. Paul is speaking particularly to the Gentiles who are in the Ephesian church, those whose background was one in which they had no association with the visible people of God, the Jewish nation. And the command he gives to them is to remember. Wherefore, remember.

3:07 Remember. He wants them consciously to recall what they once were, not just as individual sinners. He did that in the first three verses of the chapter. Dead, bound, and condemned, but what they were with reference to God's dealings with the nations, particularly His dealings with the Jewish nation as the channel of redemption.

3:32 And after addressing this people and giving them a command, he describes their condition, He describes the condition essentially as being, in the words of the text, apart from Christ. Not just in the sense that all sinners, Jew and Gentile, are apart from Christ, but in the peculiar sense that Gentiles were apart from Christ, apart from the sphere in which Christ was revealed and promised and set forth by type, by prophecy, and by shadow. That was their condition essentially. And essentially, objectively, he says, you were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of the promise, those things that were peculiar to that nation into which God entered, with which He entered into special covenant relationships. And then he describes their condition subjectively, having no hope and without God in the world. Now, why did he call upon the Gentiles to remember such things? Why does he write in such language as demands their thoughtful reflection upon the various dimensions of their Gentileness?

The Purpose of Remembering Our Former State

4:50 Well, he does so for the simple reason that the intelligent, realistic reflection upon what we were by nature is calculated to deepen our appreciation of what we have become by grace. Wherefore, remember, you Gentiles, and understand, and having understood, keep it foremost in your thinking how bad off you were that you might have a present, warm appreciation of how good off you now are in Jesus Christ. For you remember that the Lord Jesus said, To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much, and to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth. Little. The measure of our appreciation of the grace of God, then, becomes, in a very real sense, the greatest factor to determine the degree of our love to God, and our love to God is the most critical matter in our obedience to God. So you see how the thing is all tied together.

5:57 There can be no true piety apart from true love to God. And there can be no true love to God without an appreciation of the grace of God. We love Him, John told us this morning. Because He first loved us, and you can't appreciate the grace of God unless you understand that from which grace rescued you.

6:15 And so he says, Wherefore, remember. Remember to the end that you may appreciate the amazing grace of God. God says in Isaiah 51.1, Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord.

6:31 Look unto the rock from whence you were hewn, and unto the hole of the pit from whence ye were born. That's exactly what Paul is doing with the Ephesians. He's saying, Ephesians, look unto the rock from whence you were hewn. You were part of that mass of Gentile humanity.

6:50 Consider what you were. Essentially apart from Christ. Far away from Christ. What you were in terms of your objective position.

7:00 Alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. Strangers from the covenants of the promise. Consider what you were subject objectively without hope and without God in the world. And now the contrast hinges on verse 13.

The Contrast Asserted: 'But Now' (Ephesians 2:13)

7:16 But now, in Christ Jesus, ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. And verse 13 is a capsule statement of the contrast that Paul begins to expound in the latter part of the Bible. In the latter part of this paragraph. And verse 13 is, as it were, the summary statement, the opening of the door into what they now are and how they have been constituted such by the grace of God.

7:50 So we'll attempt to open up verse 13 this morning and then we shall see in our subsequent studies that verses 14 and following are an amplification, an opening up of the flower of truth contained in the 13th verse. And what do we have then in the 13th verse? Well, we have, first of all, the contrast asserted. Here is an assertion of a contrast.

8:15 Notice the first two words that confront us. But now. The contrast in the first paragraph was introduced with the words of verse 4. But God.

8:28 This is what you were. Dead, bound, condemned. But God. Now he has described what they were in verses 11 and 12.

8:37 This, this, this, and this. But now. And he sets before us this vigorous contrast. And he does not use the normal word for now but the emphatic form.

8:51 As if he said, but even now, at the present time, this is what your condition is in contrast to that which it was. And the word but now is a word that points to the present time. In contrast with the past time. Look at verse 11.

9:11 Wherefore remember that once or better translated, at one time ye the Gentiles in the flesh. Verse 12. That he were at that time. And in the original that's very emphatic.

9:26 He were at that precise time. But now. You see what he's doing? He's contrasting the time sequence or the time situation prior to the coming of the gospel and what they now are.

9:42 He's seeking to draw their minds and ours to be prepared for a statement of profound contrast that has to do with time. He's able to do this because the work of God in the new birth no matter how gradual, no matter how indistinct were the particular elements of God's dealings in any given soul, when God has constituted someone, a new man or a new woman in Christ, the contrast is so marked that we can talk about what we were then and what we are now. Now I am not saying the time when the contrast is initiated we will be able to trace out with great precision the ways of the spirit or like the wind. And anyone who tells you you've got to know the day you were saved or you're not saved is either poorly taught. I want to use a stronger word, but I won't. But he is at least poorly taught and terribly unkind and pervasively unscriptural.

10:48 There's not a verse in the Bible that says you must know the precise time when the past time became past and what you now are became your true condition. But, but, though the ways of the spirit are like the wind and though we cannot often trace out the precise dealings and know at what precise day and hour we pass from death unto life, this element of contrast is never lost. Ye were at one time, but now. And he asserts this deep and tremendous contrast as he introduces the subject for us.

The Imagery Employed: 'Far Off' and 'Made Nigh'

11:25 Well, having asserted the contrast, we now look at the imagery that he employs. What is the imagery employed to teach us some of the elements of the contrast? Well, the imagery is, found in these words, ye that once were far off are made nigh. Far off, made nigh.

11:50 He picks it up again in verse 17. Notice it. And he came and preached peace to you that were far off and peace to them that were nigh. Far off.

12:06 Now, what does this imagery mean? Well, the word, words themselves are used in Scripture as the common words for describing spatial relationships. In Luke 7, 6, it speaks of one who was not far off from the house. That is, there was not a great distance between him and the house.

12:27 Acts 22, 21, God says to Paul, I'm going to send you far hence to the Gentiles. That means many miles on ship, on horseback, on foot. It has a spatial connotation. The word far off, John 11, 18, and 19, 20.

12:45 The word for near has a spatial relationship. Sometimes a time relationship. The time is at hand. The time is near.

12:54 Revelation 1, 3. But as with English words, we can use the words near and far to speak of spatial relationships. I am relatively near those of you sitting in the first pew. Those of you who are sitting downstairs are relatively speaking far off.

13:10 Now, I come to you a little more directly by means of that thing that sits on the back wall. But it's a spatial relationship. But I can also say that man is far from the truth. I'm not using the word far now in terms of spatial relationships.

13:26 I'm using it figuratively. I can say that man is very near to the kingdom of God as Jesus did. Well, it's not talking about physical space. And in the same way, these words are used in Scripture in this, vivid imagery of nearness and farness, not geographically, but in terms of spiritual realities and spiritual privileges.

13:50 And this is Old Testament language that the Apostle Paul is picking up and inserting here in this word that is directed primarily to Gentile Christians. In Isaiah 57 and verse 19, we have one of the most vivid usages of this concept of near and far. Isaiah 57 and verse 19. Isaiah 57 and verse 19.

14:10 Isaiah 57 and verse 19. Isaiah 57 and verse 19. Isaiah 57 and verse 19. I create the fruit of the lips, peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I will heal him.

14:28 Those near were, of course, the Jews. The far off were the Gentiles. And Peter in the day of Pentecost picks up that thread, you remember, and preaches as recorded in Acts 2.39, having enunciated, the blessings of the new covenant grounded upon the work of Jesus Christ.

14:46 He says, and the promise is to you and to your children and to those that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him. Now, according to verse 17, the meaning of these terms, this imagery is indisputably settled. He came and preached peace to you that you are not alone. To those that were afar off, Gentiles, and peace to them that were near, the Jews, for the whole setting is the breaking down of the partition between Jew and Gentile in terms of their distinctiveness in the economy of God.

15:28 So then, I've spent a little bit of time to try to establish with some precision what these words mean.

Two Dimensions of 'Far Off-ness' and 'Nearness'

15:37 Those that are near, those that are far off, and he is telling these Gentiles that the contrast between what they were and what they now are is all bound up in the difference between being far and being near. Now, precisely then, what did that mean in their case? Well, it had two dimensions, or two directions, or two aspects. They were far off on the horizontal plane, and they were far, far off on the vertical plane.

16:13 And this is the key to this passage. And I confess that I just pondered over this thing and found myself unable to feel that I really had gotten hold of what the Apostle was saying until I hooked into this concept and it's not original with me. Some of the commentators said it, but having read it and seen it, I didn't see it until I saw it. Now you know exactly what I mean.

16:36 All right? In what sense were the Gentiles far off? Well, he has described, he has described them in verses 11 and 12. They were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel.

16:47 There was no place for Gentiles in that nation unless they were to become proselytes, which then made them Jews. They were circumcised and submitted to the Mosaic ritual and worshipped at the Hebrew temple and all of the rest. So he says they were far off. They were cut off from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God.

17:08 There was a horizontal sense in which, as Gentiles, they were far away from those privileges that would lead them to the knowledge of the true God, the knowledge of forgiveness. They were far off horizontally, but they were far off vertically. Their sins had separated them from God. Therefore, they were without hope and without God in the world.

17:32 Now then, once we see that the far-off-ness had two dimensions, inward and outward, vertical and horizontal, individual and corporate, now we understand what the nearness is. For the nearness takes its clue from the far-off-ness. Having been far off, that is away from the ordinances of God, the sacraments of God, the worship of God, the message of God, the messengers of God, the prophets and the sacrifices and all the rest. Now he says you're near.

18:07 In what sense are you near? You're near in the two dimensions in which you appear. Far off. You are now brought near.

18:15 You are brought near. That means of revealing the knowledge of God. The gospel has been preached. God has established a new dwelling place as we shall see in the unfolding verses.

18:27 It is the church, and it's in the context of the fellowship of the church that we draw nigh to God. And the word of apostles and prophets comes to us explaining the glories of salvation in Jesus Christ. So they understand, they are now near to all of those things which reveal Christ and are the means of conveying Christ. But ah, it is not just a horizontal nearness.

18:53 They are brought near to the living God Himself. Verse 18, For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father Himself. As their far off-ness was horizontal and vertical, so their nearness, is both horizontal and vertical. And that's the key to everything else that He opens up in the passage.

19:20 For He's going to explain how those who were far off are made near at the horizontal level. They were far off because of a barrier that God had erected. And that barrier was the law in all of its dimensions given to Israel. And that barrier was there to preserve Israel as the covenant nation from being infected and polluted with the defilements of the Gentiles.

19:46 But God Himself who put the wall around them has broken that down. This is how they've been brought near now. So that all the truth revealed to the two is now the possession of the people of God. How many so ever be the promises of God in Him is the yea, and through Him is the amen to the glory of God.

20:05 We're brought near. We were far. But now we are near. And blessed be God, we are not only brought near to the means by which God reveals Himself, but we're brought near to the God who reveals Himself in the means.

20:21 And we are brought into living communion with Him. Now we'll have more of that as we open up the subsequent verses. Suffice it now just to underscore the imagery given far off and near does not have in this context primarily an individual reference. It has a corporate reference.

20:43 Otherwise you've got Jews who were saved and yet still needed the gospel to get saved. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. You see there is an external nearness that may not mean internal nearness. They are not all Israel who are of Israel.

21:03 And that can be true of us. We as Gentiles are now near in the external sense. The gospel. The gospel is being preached in a Gentile assembly this morning.

21:14 The word of God is being heralded. The message of salvation through the promised Redeemer. You're near. But you may be terribly far off individually.

21:24 You may be as far off from God as one star in the nethermost galaxy of the great universe of God is from the star that comprises the nethermost reaches of the farthest galaxy at the other end of the universe. But yet so far.

The Means Described: 'In the Blood of Christ'

21:45 And if we understand that dimension, two-dimensional nearness and farness, I believe the passage will open up to us under the blessing of God. Well, so much having looked at the contrast asserted, but now the imagery employed, near, far. Now notice the means described. We do well to ask the question, what powerful instrument was brought into play to overcome this two-dimensional nearness or two-dimensional distance for the Gentile sinner?

22:17 What happened to make possible his nearness to the covenants of the promise? To come into the commonwealth of true Israel?

22:29 What powerful influence has entered?

22:32 What has crossed the paths of these Gentiles to effect so mighty a transformation? Well, the answer of Paul is in verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, ye that once were far off are made, I in the blood of Christ.

22:53 And this phrase, in the blood of Christ, is a phrase that speaks of instrumentality, by means of the blood of Christ. It's one of those uses of the preposition N that carries with it the whole connotation of means. You are made near, he says, by means of the blood of Christ. Now, what does that phrase, the blood of Christ, mean?

23:24 Well, you say it obviously has reference to his death. Some would say, well, that's sufficient. In some way or another, when Jesus of Nazareth died upon the cross, something that he did somehow affected God in some way that is in some undefinable manner connected with our salvation. Well, that is certainly not what the Apostle Paul had in his mind.

23:49 That is certainly not what the Apostle Paul had in his mind. That is certainly not what the Apostle Paul had in his mind. When he said, the means of our being brought into this new condition of nearness is the blood of Christ, in the use of that phrase, the Apostle Paul packed all of the richness of his Old Testament heritage, now illuminated and suffused with the light of the gospel and the spirit of the gospel, and he meant nothing less than the death of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for sin.

24:24 You see, the blood of Christ, that phrase has its tap roots deeply embedded in the soil of the Old Testament. And there in the Old Testament, God made it plain to the nation of Israel that all of his dealings with his people in covenant mercy, when he came to them in covenant mercy, he ratified his covenants in blood. And all of their responses to him in terms of the covenants were responses in the midst of blood.

25:00 And all you need to do is sit down at one reading and read through the book of Leviticus, and if you're really thinking and trying to imagine what it meant to carry out those directions, you'll almost get nauseous. They worshipped almost in a sea of blood.

25:17 And when this God would manifest himself, he gives commands to take the blood of the offering and sprinkle it upon the book which set out the terms of the covenant and upon the people who enter into covenant. Why this blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood? So much so that the writer to Hebrews says, everything in the old economy was cleansed by blood and without shedding of blood is no remission. You see, God was underscoring this fundamental principle.

25:45 The blood has many significances and many functions. Some for purification. Some have an ethical connotation. But the primary, the dominant connotation, the dominant thrust of the concept of the blood of Christ is Jesus Christ's death as a sacrifice for sin.

26:06 A death that turns away the wrath of God by satisfying the righteous anger and judgment of God against sin. This is its primary significance. And so in this text we are told the power of the blood of Jesus Christ is a powerful instrument by which we are brought nigh both to God and to His visible people is that of the death of Christ as a sacrifice for sin. This death that He endured as the surety of His people that removed every obstacle Godward and manward.

26:43 Look at the context. We'll just give you a hint of it now. Verse 14, For He is our peace who made both one and He's not talking about God and man now. He's talking about those that were far off and those that were nigh.

26:56 He made both one and broke down the middle wall of partition having abolished in His flesh the enmity the law of commandments contained in ordinances that He might create in Himself of the two one new man so making peace and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross.

27:18 You see it? Bring them both to God through the cross. The horizontal cross. The vertical barriers broken.

27:26 The vertical barriers broken. Bringing the both together in one man unto God. And I trust that God by His Spirit as we go into these other verses in detail for I remind you verse 13 is just the opening of the door upon this whole statement that fleshes these things out that God will give us a new appreciation for the death of our blessed Lord by which we have been brought nigh not only to God for often we think of that but that death by which we've been brought nigh to the covenant community from which we were cut off for generations as Gentiles who were without hope and without God in the world. And isn't that the very language of the Apostle Paul in Romans 9 where he talks about that one olive tree of redemption and he says you smart alecky Gentiles don't go around strutting. Remember you are a bunch of wild olive plants and God broke off the natural branches and He grafted you in. He didn't go plant another tree and those who teach that there are two distinct purposes one for Israel and one for the church and the twain shall never mix I don't know how in the world they can honestly treat Ephesians 2 and Romans 9 through 11.

28:43 There is one olive tree of redemption and for centuries if you were to be a part of the true Israel you had to become a part of external Israel.

28:54 You had to be circumcised. You had to submit to all of the trappings of the Levitical way of life. Now how could we come near to the sap and to the root system of that trunk, that olive tree of redemption? Well that barrier had to be broken down and Jesus Christ in His death broke that barrier down.

29:15 It is in the blood of Christ that we've been brought nigh to the covenants of the promise the commonwealth of true Israel and it is by that blood that we've been brought nigh to an offended God who if He dealt with us in justice and in mercy would forever cut us off in our sins. Well there is one more line of thought in the text to which I would direct your attention this morning and it is this. How in the world do we come into such a relationship with the blood of Christ that we too are brought nigh to the people of God and to God Himself?

The Sphere of Experience: 'In Christ Jesus'

29:52 Has that blood been so shed for all mankind indiscriminately that God will apply its virtue to all of us? Has that blood been so shed for all mankind indiscriminately? Has that blood been so shed to all mankind without discrimination? Well that's certainly not the emphasis of this passage.

30:05 He's speaking to a distinct body of people who once were Gentiles in a certain condition but who are now something else by the grace of God. And the sphere in which all of this transpires is given to us in the first few words of the text. Look at it. But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were afar off are made nigh in the blood of Christ.

30:31 And we're right back to that little phrase that haunts us through the book of Ephesians in Christ Jesus. He's right back to the doctrine of union with Christ. He says the blood of Christ in its powerful effect of bringing man into communion with the people of God and into God Himself operates in no sphere but union with the Christ who shed the blood. It is in Christ Jesus that we are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

31:06 Paul is simply giving us a further exposition of his own text in the first chapter. Verse 3. Remember it? Can you remember way back when we were in chapter 1?

31:16 Some of you aren't old enough. Chapter 1 in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places where in Christ at the outset he says every blessing that God will ever confer upon sinners every redemptive blessing finds its sphere here in union with Christ and then he opens up the great doctrine of election in verse 4 he chose us in him. Verse 6. He redeemed us in him.

31:53 Verse 7. He made us accepted in him. And down in the chapter in him we were sealed with the Spirit chapter 2 he says we were quickened with him we were raised with him verse 10 we were created anew in him and now he comes back the same theme again he never tires of it he says the sphere in which we were brought near was in union with Jesus Christ the Lord and the only sphere in which this transformation occurs is the sphere of union with Christ which makes this little phrase both wonderfully inclusive and soberingly exclusive it's wonderfully inclusive every little Gentile sinner every single Jew sinner who is in union with Christ is brought near to God and to the people of God but now Jesus ye that were afar off are made nigh in the blood of Christ think of what they were Paul describes them not only in chapter 2 but later on in chapter 4 he talks about the condition of the Gentiles in the darkness of their mind their lascivious ways chapter 5 he talks about

33:22 Gentile lifestyles here they were as it were drunk with the wine of their own lust of their own bondage to sin groping in the darkness of pagan Diana worship but when they were brought into union with Christ all of that was of no account they were brought near just as much as that Jew who had all the benefits of the temple worship of the prophets of the scriptures and who externally with Paul could say touching the law of my life was blameless the wonder of this passage is all those distinctions are of no account when a man comes into union with Christ because in Christ he's part of the one new man that makes approach to the one new man unloved by the one spirit to form the one temple oh dear people that's the glory of this passage and I hope something of it will burst in upon our hearts wonderfully inclusive some of us are ashamed of our pedigree no one would ever bring out something that traced our bloodlines in our pedigree we'd hang our heads in shame ah dear Christian if you're in Christ Jesus you're in the best company in all the world in Christ Jesus you've been made nigh nigh to holy Enoch nigh to godly Abraham

34:52 nigh to Moses nigh to Joshua nigh to Caleb nigh to a multitude of others whose names are known only to God God says you're brought nigh to the innumerable company of those who form the general assembly of the church of the firstborn we're brought nigh wonderfully inclusive but listen my friend it is soberingly exclusive if you're not in vital union with Jesus Christ you are yet afar off oh you may not be afar off in the sense that these Gentiles were before the gospel was taken from the Jewish nation and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof you may be right now like a Jew was in the old covenant you may be very near in terms of the privilege of hearing the gospel in terms of the privilege of hearing the gospel in terms of association with the covenant people of God but my friend until you are in Christ you are not near you're not near in the sense that they were you cannot know that common affinity of life in Christ with those who sit here who possess that life you know nothing of approaching God in the language of the later part of the paragraph by one spirit having access through Christ unto the Father you know nothing of what it is to bask in the light of the reconciled face of God

36:19 and call him Father you know nothing of that and oh my friend if you're not in Christ listen to me you may subscribe to everything the Bible teaches about the blood of Christ you see that's where this text hangs up this whole idea if you believe Christ died on the cross then you have all the benefits of what he did no no no no no no Paul says look you that were afar off were made nigh how? in Christ Jesus and you do not partake of the benefits of his redemptive death until you are in union with the person who died it is in union with Christ that the blessings of his death and his life are yours ah but someone says then how in the world did they ever get in union with Christ well now we're right back to the heart of the gospel you know how they got in union with Christ Paul tells us in chapter 1 he tells us further in here right in this very context let me just sneak down a little bit alright and he came and preached peace he came and preached peace verse 17 to you that were afar off and peace to them that were nigh it's by means of the proclamation of the gospel union with Christ is effected in the life of a sinner who is dead in his sins bound in his sins under wrath and condemnation union is effected

Applications: For Believers at the Lord's Table and for Unbelievers

37:48 when the gospel of the grace of God is preached and when by the operation of the spirit in the hidden depths of a man's being he sees glory in the face of Christ he sees that Christ is perfectly suited to his needs as a sinner and he casts himself upon the Savior for acceptance and pardon he comes into vital life union with Christ by the operation and indwelling of the Holy Spirit and then all of the blessings of the Redeemer are his no repentance no faith no union with Christ no union with Christ no nearness but now ye that were afar off are made nigh how in Christ Jesus as we close our study this morning I want to bring two specific applications one to us who are the people of God in the light of this day this being the first Lord's Day of the month we are privileged to gather at the Lord's house at the Lord's house at the Lord's table in a few hours and when we come to that table I hope something of the flavor of this morning's study will still be in our mouths spiritually as we take in our hands that bread speaking of that body that was broken violent death not just ordinary death most forms of death

39:17 the blood and the body are not separated even when a man's shot to death he doesn't lose all his blood and when blood and body are totally separated there's been violent death Jesus said this is my body which is given up to the violent death of the cross this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed which is poured out as a sacrificial offering and what is the effect of that work that Christ did upon that cross we who were afar off are made nigh and as we sit at the Lord's table tonight let's remember that we're nigh to Abraham Isaac Jacob and all the saints because the middle wall of partition has been broken down we're part of the commonwealth of the true Israel of God we're incorporated into all the promises that are yea and amen in Christ Jesus and here we are some of us who were Hebrews by birth in background and here we sit with Gentiles in the name of Jesus is upon our lips and some of us who were near in terms of gospel privileges reared in Christian homes we had the gospel preached to us week after week

40:45 and in between Sundays in our own homes but we were as far from God and his people as night from day but now we love his people what's done all of this in Christ Jesus ye that were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ it is the virtue that flows in the name of Jesus from the blood that has brought us nigh to one another and nigh to our God oh the wonder there are some of us who if we were still in a state of nature couldn't exist for 15 minutes under the same roof we'd tear one another to pieces and here we are and I say it I hope not sentimentally almost delighting to be crowded together in this little building to feel the warmth of our brothers and sisters and we say Lord what in the world ever happened to me that this is my greatest joy I'll tell you what's happened verse 13 we who were far off have been brought nigh by the blood of Christ made in rich are coming to the Lord's table this afternoon and then my final word is to those of you in whom this is not true Paul could not say of you but ye who once were are now made nigh now my friend let me ask you

42:14 a very simple question this morning why are you not nigh you cannot say as Gentiles could have said for centuries I've not heard of the means by which one can draw nigh I've not been told of the way in which sinners can approach a holy God no you are nigh in the sense that the Jews were nigh you are nigh in the sense that the Jews were nigh you are nigh you are nigh you are nigh you are nigh you are nigh you are nigh you are nigh you are nigh the gospel is before you the word of faith which we preach and it's the very same word used in Romans is nigh thee in thy mouth and in thy heart it's the same word it's near thee but my friend you're still far off and why are you far off because you love your sins and ye will not come that you might have life you choose the agonizing insulation of your sins insulated from God insulated from God insulated from His people and I believe dear friends that that's the curse of curse curses in the doctrine of hell as found in the Bible it is eternal insulation from God and from His people insulated with nothing but all the potential of your own foul heart and depraved nature

43:40 oh my sinner friend boy, girl, man or woman what kind of insanity keeps you afraid and far off the blood has been shed the sacrifice has been offered and every gospel preacher is warranted on the basis of the scripture to say come things are ready the feast is prepared draw nigh draw nigh don't look within yourself draw nigh to Him who bids you come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest and that same Christ who invites you to come promises a welcome Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out well there's the great contrast given to us in germ form in verse 13 the contrast is asserted but now the imagery employed far off made nigh the means described in the blood of Christ the sphere in which that is experienced in Christ Jesus may God grant that as we go into Paul's description and amplification of this great truth in these succeeding verses

45:07 that the Holy Spirit Himself will pull back the veil and give us a new sight of the glory of our redemption wherefore remember wherefore remember you Gentiles that's what we were perhaps our hearts could best be prepared for the Lord's table by spending a few minutes this afternoon in sanctified remembrance remembrance where would I be my friends listen there are multitudes in the world today who are still afar off it is as though Christ had never come for them because remember verse 17 says He came and preached this peace to you it was not enough that it was procured until it was preached there could be no entering into its benefits why are we here showered with gospel privileges God in His ordinances near to us we have to say even so Father it seemed good in Thy sight may God fill us with a new sense of the glory and wonder of His sovereign mercy to undeserving sinners that we shall pour out at His feet an offering of love this afternoon that will please His own heart let us pray O Lord we thank You for Your Word we thank You

46:35 for Your dear Son whom that Word proclaims we thank You for the blood of the everlasting covenant O how we praise You today for the blood of Christ that sacrificial offering by which our sins were expiated by which propitiation was rendered O Lord help us help us we pray to feel something of the glory and the wonder that we should be recipients of such gospel mercies forgive us that we grow so dull so accustomed so familiar with these things that they cease to thrill us they cease to fill us with holy wonder and bafflement O God we bless You this morning and we earnestly pray for those who sit here upstairs and downstairs and in the balcony strangers to this nearness Lord let their appetite let their appetite oh God fill them with holy envy and jealousy as they've looked upon others this morning obviously having their own hearts ravished with a new sight of the Savior and reveling in the glories of their gospel privileges and they find themselves shut off from all of this oh God we yearn for them

48:03 but we cannot bring them Lord do Thou bring them by the power of Your Spirit that they too in Christ Jesus may be brought nigh and may be by the blood of Christ hear us Father and may the benediction of Your own Spirit rest upon us as we leave this place may this Your day be hallowed to our prophet and to Your praise may we know something of the felt presence of our Savior at His table tonight and in our further worship oh God crown this day with Your own presence in our midst and for this we shall praise You through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen