He Preached Peace

Introduction: From Procurement to Proclamation of Peace

0:03 We continue our studies in Ephesians chapter 2 this morning. This chapter which contains the two great contrasts between what the Ephesians were by nature and what they had become by the grace of God. Our attention for some weeks now has been focused upon the second of these two contrasts. The contrast being bounded by verses 11 and verse 22 or the end of chapter 2.

0:39 Having described the Ephesian Christians, particularly the Gentile Christians in their pre-converted state in verses 11 and 12, the Apostle then gives a summary statement of the transformation which has occurred in verse 13 and then in verses 14 through 16. He gives, And so the great theme of verses 14 to 16 is, in the words that I have used,

1:21 if you have other words that help it stick better, fine, there is no inspiration in the words, but it could well be called, And we noted in our study that the peace between Jew and Gentile, overcoming the alienation that existed for centuries between those two people, and the alienation of Jew and Gentile between God, both dimensions of alienation were procured in the work of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice upon the cross. Peace has been made through the blood of His cross.

2:01 It is in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone, Christ crucified, that Jew and Gentile are reconciled to God. Our study now is concerned with verse 17 in which we have a further development of the thought of the Apostle moving from the procurement of peace to the proclamation of peace. For men will not come into right relationship with God and one another simply because Christ has procured peace. The God who ordained that Jesus Christ should procure peace for His people

2:43 has also ordained that that procurement become theirs when that peace is announced or pronounced or proclaimed to them. For He has ordained, by the foolishness of the thing preached to save them that believe. And verse 17 is the text now that is presently under consideration. And He came, or better translated, and having come, He preached peace to you that were far off and peace to them that were nigh.

The Agent of Proclamation: Christ Himself

3:21 And there are three divisions of thought in the text which I have read in your hearing. First of all, the ages. Who came and preached peace? And I sought to establish in the study two Lord's days ago that the agent of proclamation is none other than the agent of procurement.

3:42 The same Christ who broke down the middle wall of partition by His death, the same Christ who reconciled us, Jew and Gentile, to God in His death, is the agent in the proclamation. And having come, He preached peace. And we established from this passage and parallel portions that this text sets forth this glorious concept that Jesus Christ Himself comes preaching whenever His servants preach in His name and in His authority. It was Christ Himself who came to Ephesus preaching, not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,

4:26 through the ministry of the apostles and their associates. So much for this brief review. We come this morning to the second and third divisions of thought in the text. Having considered the agent of proclamation, we have in the second place the substance of the proclamation.

4:46 And having come, He preached peace to you that were afar off and peace to them that were nigh. And thirdly, the recipients. The recipients of the proclamation, those who were afar off and those who were nigh. All right?

The Substance of the Proclamation: The Gospel of Peace (General)

5:02 Having looked then at the agent of proclamation, now we move to the substance of the proclamation, or what was proclaimed by the Lord Jesus. If He is the agent, what was the substance of that which He proclaimed when He came to Ephesus in the person of His servants? Well, the text says, The text sets before us both a general and a specific answer to that question. Consider with me the substance of the proclamation, first of all in general and then specifically.

5:39 In general, the substance of the proclamation was the good news of salvation. The verb used for preaching in this text is not the general verb for preaching, used simply to underscore the concept of verbal proclamation. But it's that unique word which also tells us something about the content of the proclamation. Numerous instances in the New Testament, this verb is translated in its fullest sense as preach the gospel.

6:16 The one word will be translated by the three words in our English Bibles. A couple of examples in Matthew 11 and verse 5. John the Baptist asks the question when he is imprisoned, Is this the Christ or do we look for another? And the Lord Jesus accommodating Himself to John's weakened faith says, You go back and tell him what you see and hear.

6:41 And one of the things that you see and hear, Matthew 11 and verse 5, is that the poor have good tidings preached to them. And the words, Good tidings, preached are used to translate this one verb in the original. And so the very substance of the message is bound up in the verb that is used. It's the word used in Romans 1.15 when Paul says,

7:10 I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are at Rome. It's used again in 1 Corinthians 1.17. Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel.

7:21 So it would not be any injustice, to the mind of the Spirit in the word chosen, if we translated the verse this way. And having come, He preached as good news, peace to you that were afar off, and peace to those that were nigh. So in answer to the question, what was the substance of the proclamation, by which Jew and Gentile are brought together, and Jew and Gentile together are brought to God, the general answer of this text is, the substance of the message was simply the proclamation of the gospel.

8:05 The proclamation of good news. And I want to pause briefly just to apply for a moment this concept. We become so accustomed to reading such things that we lose the ability to be amazed and astounded. We've read in verses 14 to 16, of, what the Lord Jesus Christ was willing to subject himself to, in order to break down this middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile.

8:35 We read that it's through Christ and His death upon the cross, that we are reconciled to God. God taking the initiative, at every step in the procurement of our salvation. And wonder of wonders, the same God who takes the initiative in the procurement, also takes, the initiative in the pronouncement. And having come, He proclaimed as good news.

9:03 And the divine initiative is set in bold relief, in this whole passage. Just as we saw the divine initiative, in the individual salvation of the Ephesians, in verses 1 through 10. There is this strict monergism, that is God Himself working in might and power, to quicken dead sinners, even in this section, where the preaching of the gospel is brought into focus, all of the attention is taken away, even from the human instrumentality, which was very valid, and very necessary, for how shall they preach, except they be sent. But the apostle is concerned,

9:45 that we do not allow our attention to terminate, even upon human instrumentality. And so he says, and having come, it is Christ, that did the preaching, and it is Christ that brought what? Not news of our just condemnation. It is Christ who came, not with an announcement, that God was fed up, with the idolatry of the Gentile, and with the almost pagan pride of the Jew, in His smugness, resting in His religious heritage.

10:20 But Christ came, both to Jew and to Gentile, taking the initiative of grace, and He proclaimed good news. He proclaimed the gospel. This is the word which in its noun form, is the standard word in the New Testament, for gospel. But now let's move from the general statement, concerning the substance of the proclamation, to the specific statement.

The Substance of the Proclamation: Peace (Specific)

10:50 There is one particular aspect of the good news, that is singled out, and emphasized, simply because it suits the present purpose of the apostle. He says, and having come, He preached as good news, peace to you that were afar off, and peace to those, or to them that were nigh. Now the gospel of Christ, is a glorious, many-sided message. The gospel, is a proclamation of righteousness, Paul calls it that in Romans 1.17.

11:30 Therein, that is in the gospel, is revealed a righteousness of God. The gospel is a proclamation of mercy. Go and learn what this meaneth, Christ said. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

11:49 The gospel is a message of forgiveness, a message of judgment, a message that is many, faceted and many-sided. That's why you need to beware of the term, the simple gospel. It is not a simple gospel. It is a complex gospel.

12:06 It is a gospel which, like a beautiful gem, that has many sides and facets, and every time you turn it a different way, and allow the light to bounce off it, or to go through it, you see a new dimension of its glory. And there's a sense in which all eternity, will be an exposition on the richness, of the gospel. The gospel is not simple, in the sense that it can be reduced, to one or two propositions. Now thank God, there is an element of truth, in that God can take the gospel, and make it the instrument of salvation, to a child.

12:43 He can make it the instrument of salvation, to someone who is very limited, in his mental faculties, and we need desperately, to cling to that truth, as we grow in knowledge, and in understanding, that, that we never assume, that unless someone can, as it were, walk around and see all the facets, they cannot see the beauty of the diamond. You need only to hold the diamond, with one facet glistening for me, to grasp something of its beauty. And thank God, the gospel can come with, but one facet of its glory, and pierce the darkened heart of a sinner, under the power of the Spirit. But, at the same time, we need to recognize, it is a glorious, and a many-sided message.

13:27 It's a gospel, as I've said, of righteousness, forgiveness, judgment, mercy, and many other things. But the apostle, in this context, takes but one facet, of that diamond of the gospel, and he says, that when Christ came, preaching good news, the specific element, that was proclaimed, was peace. He came and preached peace, to you, that were near, and peace to those, that are afar off. Now, obviously, he chooses this dimension of the gospel, because the subject at hand, is enmity.

14:09 Middle wall of partition, between Jew and Gentile. Enmity between God and the sinner, be he Jew or Gentile. Enmity between the Jew or Gentile, sinner and God. And since the great theme, is how, how God has broken down this enmity, between the creature and his fellow creature, and the creature and God, he says, it is the enmity, it is the peace element in the gospel, that is dominant, because of his present purpose.

14:42 Not only so, but he says this because, his mind steeped in Old Testament language. He had a phrase from the Old Testament, that was brought to remembrance, for this is almost a verbatim quote, from Isaiah. And I want you to turn, please, to the portion, Isaiah chapter 59, I'm sorry, 57 and verse 19. I was going to say 59, 17, I had an inversion of the 7 and the 9.

15:19 57, 19.

15:23 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. The apostle derives the very language patterns, from this prophecy concerning that, which God will do, through the ministry of Messiah. And so peace then, according to the apostle, is one of the dominant notes of the gospel. So much so, that at times it becomes almost a synonym, for the gospel.

16:02 In this very epistle, chapter 6 and verse 15, notice how the apostle uses this same language, with reference to the gospel.

16:14 Ephesians 6, in the context in which he's exhorting believers, to put on the whole armor, having shod your feet with the preparation, of the gospel, of peace. And here he identifies peace, as being, as it were, the very essence of the gospel. He calls it the gospel of peace. The gospel that sets forth peace, as one of its predominant notes, that effects peace, wherever it is embraced.

16:47 It is the gospel of peace. Notice similar language in Acts chapter 10, and in verse 36. Acts chapter 10, and in verse 36. The word which he sent unto the children of Israel, preaching good times, tidings of peace, by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all.

The Necessity of the Gospel of Peace

17:12 And so, it's as though peace has such a predominant place, that the gospel can actually be called, a gospel of peace. Now that assumes something. If the good news of the gospel, comes particularly as a gospel of peace, then it assumes that the condition, the condition of men is such, that such a message will be good news. If I come to one of you couples, who are all gushy and gooey, not just on the outside, but on the inside, not just to impress others, but because that's just the way you are, you've really established a wholesome relation.

17:53 I'm not talking about you engaged ones. You don't know each other yet. You're just, you're all gushy and gooey with an unknown commodity. I mean, those of us who've been married, and know how bad we are, and how bad our mate is.

18:05 And yet, by the grace of God, we've learned to live together in peace and in harmony. Now, if someone comes to one such couple here this morning, and says, I've got wonderful news. I've got a book here that's going to teach you, and your husband and wife, how to live in peace. Well, that's not good news to some of us.

18:23 Because by the grace of God, we know a great measure of amity, and peace, and delight in our relationship. So the very fact that the specific, the content of the message that Christ preached at Emphasis, was good news of peace, the assumption is that people were in desperate need of the very message that came. It's another declaration that men in and of themselves do not know anything about peace between each other, and peace between themselves and God. Come to a man on dry land, and tell him you have good news, you have a life preserver, it's not received as good news,

19:08 it's received as quacky information. What in the world do I need a life preserver for? Come to a man who's drowning with the same life preserver in the same words, and it is good news. Why?

19:20 Because it is suited to his specific dilemma. And so the assumption in this passage is, that when Christ came through the apostles, and the companions of the apostles, preaching, a gospel that specifically focused upon this matter of peace, the assumption is, that by nature Jew and Gentile were in a state of discord, enmity, division, separation, alienation, with reference to one another, and with reference to God. Now then, how did they preach peace to such people?

How Peace is Preached: The Apostolic Gospel

20:01 Well, when you read the record of the evangelization of Ephesus, you find that peace was preached, in this very fundamental way, Acts 19, verses 8, 10, and 13. Look at it. How did they preach as good news, peace, to those at Ephesus? Well, Acts 19 tells us precisely how.

20:26 Acts 19 and verse 8. And he entered into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading as to the things, concerning the kingdom of God. Verse 10. And this continued by the space of two years, so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

20:52 Verse 13. But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists took upon them to name over them that had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preached. Now put these things together. Reasoning and persuading in the synagogue the things concerning the kingdom of God.

21:16 Hearing the word of the Lord, Jesus, whom Paul preacheth. And then you turn to Acts 20, where Paul reviews his ministry at Ephesus, and he says, This was the content of my preaching. Verse 21. Testifying both to Jews and Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

21:42 Verse 24. The latter part. To testify the gospel of the grace of God. Verse 25.

21:50 Behold, I know that ye all among whom I went about preaching the kingdom. How did Christ preach peace at Ephesus?

22:02 He preached peace by employing the apostle and his companions. By employing the apostle and his companions. In the proclamation of the kingdom of God. In the proclamation of repentance and faith.

22:19 In the proclamation of Jesus. In other words, there is no way to preach peace biblically, but to preach the apostolic gospel. They did not come preaching peace by telling the Ephesians to sit down and begin to work out their problems. They did not come as sociologists to manipulate the people.

22:46 They did not preach peace by turning the people inward and say, Now you've just had negative thoughts about God. Start thinking positive thoughts about God. You see, there are many who would seize upon a text like this and say, See, we just need to preach peace, preach peace, preach peace. That is, tell people, get together, lay down your discord, be sweet, be...

23:07 No, no, my friend. How did they preach peace? How did Christ come and preach peace? He came in the person of these apostolic messengers and their companions proclaiming nothing more or less than the kingdom of God.

23:24 Not some future semi-Jewish earthly kingdom.

23:30 Preaching the kingdom of grace.

23:34 Preaching the kingdom Christ preached in John 3. Saying, Except a man be born again, he cannot enter that kingdom. Preaching the kingdom described in the synoptic gospels that we've heard about in our adult class. Preaching the kingdom of Colossians 1 in which Paul says we've been taken out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of his own dear son.

24:01 Christ never comes preaching peace through any other chariot but the chariot of the apostolic gospel. And when that chariot comes, as it were, into an Ephesus, we have Christ coming proclaiming peace.

The World's Folly vs. God's Wisdom

24:19 Now, of course, this is looked upon as simplistic. The great ones of the world who wrestle with the problems of human alienation. The alienation of racial and ethnic entities in the inner city. The alienation of nation against nation.

24:38 Whenever they come to wrestle with these problems they have one fundamental point of agreement. The apostolic gospel has absolutely no relevance for the problem.

24:51 They may be disagreed on every other point but on this they are agreed. Don't let any Bible-thumping preacher come in the midst and say that the gospel has the answer to man's problems of alienation.

25:08 And so God says, alright, you're so smart. Great ones of the earth, feed upon your folly.

25:15 And the crippling effect of alienation between one segment and another and obvious alienation of man from God and also from himself because of it. This is the judgment of God upon people who will not listen to that message that humbles man's pride. That says your alienation with your fellow man is rooted not in the color of your skin, not in the background and external influences that can be defined and described in sociological terms. The alienation is a problem of the heart.

25:55 Such problems are dealt with only by the gospel. And it means you've got to stand as a helpless, needy, undone sinner saying that in the cross of Jesus of Nazareth is the answer to the question of peace with my fellow man. Peace with a wife or husband with whom I cannot get along. Peace between me and my neighbors.

26:22 The poor soul, who thinks that guilt because of a double life is a sign of psychological immaturity, goes to the professional shrink to find out what's wrong with myself and rather than him saying, look, there is no peace between you and God because you're alienated through sin. Repent and flee to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness. The professional shrink tries to fight against God who's speaking in the very conscience of his client and says your problem is you've got guilt feelings rooted in a false belief. A false standard that goes back to those old days when you allowed your mom and dad to give you the stupid notion that there are moral absolutes.

27:02 And so he goes to work trying to call darkness light and light darkness.

27:08 God leaves them at the mercy of their folly. We do not say these things harshly, dear people. They ought to make us weep because there is no way to proclaim peace but to proclaim the apostolic gospel. And that's why if we really love peace between men and between men and God we must be willing in the language of Jude to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints for there is no taproot of true peace manward or Godward that which is to be found in the apostolic gospel.

The Recipients of the Proclamation: Far Off and Nigh

27:50 So much then for the substance of the proclamation having considered the agent in the spirit of God and the substance now very quickly the recipients of the proclamation or to whom did the Lord Jesus bring this good news of peace. And the text says he came and preached peace to you that were afar off and to them that were nigh. Now these words we've seen before in verse 13 we encountered them but now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. And again the apostles use

28:35 of these words is determined by Old Testament language patterns for they are taken from the text already quoted Isaiah 57 19 similar words are mentioned in Zechariah 9 and verse 10. And as we established in our previous study the words far off have reference to the Gentiles Gentiles considering as being a great distance away from those means by which God would bring salvation to men. They were far away in terms of the scriptures the prophetic office a revealed system of sacrifice and approach to God etc. And he says

29:20 that the recipients of this proclamation were those afar off the Gentile nations to whom the gospel has come since the descent of the spirit of the day of Pentecost and it is also come to them that were nigh that is the Jews contemplated as surrounded by all of these privileges. But will you note it was one message that came to both groups.

29:46 He came and preached peace to them that were afar off and peace to them that were nigh. There was no difference in the message proclaimed to Gentile and to Jew. And Paul does a marvelous thing in this simple little statement by describing the Jews as near and the Gentiles as far off. He shows that he gives respect to all of the great differences between these two peoples.

30:21 The Jews were near. Jesus said to the woman at the well ye worship ye know not what salvation is of the Jews. And they were a privileged people. To them were given the oracles of God.

30:35 To them were given the covenants of the promise and all of these privileges mentioned in Romans 3 and in Romans 9 and in this very passage. And so Paul does not overlook the fact that they were nigh in terms of privilege in terms of the covenants of God. And it's rather humbling for the Gentiles to be told you were far off with all your temples with all your churches with all of your religion with all of your systems of approaching God in your worship of many gods all of this was nothing. You were far off.

31:09 It's almost an insult.

31:12 He maintains the distinctions but when he says that Christ came and preached peace to those afar off peace to them that were nigh he says in essence though the differences were great and many when it comes to the fundamental issue how shall I be able to how shall I be able to how shall a man know God there is no difference between Jew and Greek he did not tell the Jew he was somehow in a place halfway to the kingdom because he was a Jew he said I preach peace to you in Jesus of Nazareth I preach peace on the basis of the work of his reconciliation upon the cross

31:55 and though this message was to the Jew a stumbling block and to the Greek or to the Gentile it was foolishness he had but one message to both groups he explicitly states that in Acts 20-21 when referring to his preaching at Ephesus he said I testify to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and there are several very fundamental lessons that we need to learn from this first of all we learn that any adjustment of the gospel to any racial or ethnic group is without biblical warrant

32:39 any adjustment of the gospel as to its fundamental content we are not talking about manner of approach Paul says to the Jew I became as a Jew speaking of his dress perhaps of his bearing of what he'd eat and wouldn't eat to the Gentile I became as a Gentile to the strong as strong weak as weak but as to content there is not to be any adjustment of content regardless of the distinctions ethnically rationally and religiously we do not have a special gospel for the Jew that says you ought to accept Christ because if and when he comes

33:24 to set up some earthly millennium you want to be found on his side that is a carnal prostitute of the gospel we evangelize Jews as Paul did in Romans 1 verse 18 all the way through chapter 3 and verse 20 he evangelizes Jew and Gentile by declaring they are all under sin and he says there is no difference between Jew and Gentile and dear people we need to stand for this principle in our day there is an erosion of the gospel by well meaning people who approach Jewish evangelism from the perspective

34:08 that we can entice Jews to become fulfilled Jews by somehow baiting them with the notion that carnal blessings will be theirs if they get on the side of Christ there is no warrant in the word of God for this no warrant in the word of God he said I preach repentance toward God faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ

34:33 this is true with reference to the gospel coming to ethnic groups minorities or majorities we do not adjust its content we dare to say lovingly and tenderly and in the authority of God and in the power of the spirit to black to white to mix to yellow and any other color and any other ethnic background Jesus Christ comes to you in the gospel preaching peace peace on his terms peace based on his terms peace based on his terms peace based on his terms peace based on his terms peace based upon his work upon the cross peace based on the reality of his reconciliation peace that demands that you stack arms and bow to King Jesus

35:17 there is to be no adjustment of the gospel in its content because of racial or ethnic distinctions it tells us that regardless of what separates men fundamentally we're all the same that's why the gospel contains the word of God because there is this general and identity of need and then my final word is to you who sit here this morning who know nothing of what Paul is proclaiming here he says of the Ephesians

Experiencing the Peace of the Gospel

36:02 Christ came and preached peace you that were afar off and you that were nigh and the proof of this is we shall see in our study of verse 18 is that through him right now there at Ephesus Jew and Gentile are approaching the one Father in the power of the one Spirit in the virtue and efficacy of the work of the one mediator through him that is Christ we both Jew and Gentile far off and near have access in one Spirit unto the Father oh dear people this is not theorizing to us the Christ who came to us in the gospel preaching peace

36:44 has shown the power of that preaching when subduing our rebel hearts he enables us now to draw near and call the God of heaven our Father in the language of Romans 5 having therefore been justified by faith we have peace with God and then Paul goes on to say not only peace but we have access into this grace wherein we now stand not only do we have peace with God but the scriptures make abundantly clear that being reconciled to God God brings us by drinking of the one Spirit in baptizing us into the one body he brings us into

37:29 peace with our fellow men do you know anything of that peace experimentally that is as your own personal experience can you think of the God of the Bible with delight or do you do it with dread I'm not saying can you think of the God you've made up in your own head with delight a God who's nothing but love a God who's a bit nearsighted a God who's a bit forgetful no no the God of the Bible whose eye runs to and fro throughout the whole earth beholding the evil and the good the God who has no lapses of memory who in the day of judgment the scripture says will reveal the secrets of men's hearts

38:13 the God who is a pure eyes than to look upon iniquity who is not nearsighted nor is he forgetful nor is he all love he is a God of justice a God of infinite knowledge and inflexible holiness who will track down every sin to judgment can you think of that God with delight or do you think of him with dread you see if he's come to you in the gospel preaching peace and you have seen in the Lord Jesus Christ the one who bore the wrath of God against human sin you've seen the justice of God fully satisfied in the death of his son you have fled for refuge to Jesus Christ

38:57 and the Holy Spirit in the language of that great gospel hymn answers to the blood and tells you you are born of God and you can come in the knowledge that you have peace with God and that realization that you have been reconciled to God that the enmity of an angry God to you has been assuaged by the death of his son and your native enmity has been overcome by the inward operation of the spirit that's the basis upon which you can now experience peace with your fellow man that's why you sit here this morning having access to the one God in prayer and

39:42 praise and worship in the power of the one spirit and you're not just here bodily just as really as your body sits in that chair and you're conscious if you turn left or right or behind you of people around you you're also conscious that there are invisible but real bonds of affection that knit your heart in the language of Colossians having your hearts knit together and you feel that there is this knitting work of God in genuine affection for your brethren now how's all that come to pass this passage tells us he came the agent of proclamation was the Lord Jesus

40:24 he came preaching as good news peace and he came to some of us who natively were very near reared in Christian homes Bibles opened up to us from our infancy we were near oh how dead we were how blind we were how deaf we were we knew no peace with God we knew no true peace with our fellow men but he came and preached peace to us even though we were near and when we heard it by the power of the Spirit as though we heard it for the first time though we'd walked up and down in front of the cross that was placarding Christ before us day after day

41:09 week after week there came a time when for the first time we saw and we said the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me some of you were far off some of you were far off I look into the faces of some of you and knowing your spiritual biography you were far off less than two years ago a number of you ignorant of God and the Bible and Christ and there are no fewer than probably 50 words I used this morning that you never even heard before let alone have any meaning to them and now those words have become the very meat and drink of your soul the cross reconciliation justification righteousness

41:53 these are the things that are the meat and drink of your soul how did it all come to pass he came and preached peace to you when you were far off he took the initiative other sheep he said I have which are not of this fold them also and I love the next word I must bring and there shall be they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold one shepherd why are you here among the people of God this morning dwelling in peace with God and his people here's the answer Christ came and he preached and he preached as no human preacher can preach he preached with the very voice

42:37 that spoke into the setting of death and said Lazarus come forth the voice that spoke gave life to the dead and that's why you're here this morning rejoicing in the God of your salvation because Christ has come as surely as you are as surely as he came to Ephesus he's come to you some of you are far off by nature some of you near but he came with the one message proclaiming the one way of access and now we are unified in the one faith and in the one spirit having our access to the one God oh may the Lord fill us with joy in the Holy Spirit upon the remembrance

43:21 of this great reality and if this is not your experience my friend perhaps Christ is coming even to you this morning preaching peace to you you're a far off maybe you've heard many things you say I've never heard these things before but he's coming proclaiming your basic problem is alienation from God and that's the root of your problems of alienation with men and he comes saying your problem is sin and I am the great deliverer from sin I've come to seek and to save that which is lost oh friend we plead with you believe the voice of the one who comes preaching peace

44:06 even the Lord Jesus Christ let us pray our Father we rejoice this morning that there is good news good news for those who are alienated from you because of sin alienated from one another because of sin we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ who procured peace by his work upon the cross and we thank you that he continues to come proclaiming that peace

44:50 as he administers the affairs of his church equips and commissions his servants and then opens doors of utterance for them clothes them with his spirit looses their tongues to preach the everlasting gospel oh Lord Jesus come even this morning with that effectual word with that word that will seize the one full of restlessness and fear and dread oh God grant that some this very hour shall repent and believe the gospel and find peace with you

45:33 and then peace in the name of the Father in the assembly of your people seal the word to our hearts accomplish all that you have purposed in sending it forth we ask through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen