The Cross of Christ Pastor Jason Austin November 3, 2024

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Let's begin. Having been led by the Spirit of God to receive the

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Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the

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Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now solemnly make this covenant with each other as one body in Christ.

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We will walk together in brotherly love. We will exercise a Christian care and watchfulness over each other.

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We'll faithfully admonish and help one another as the need may be. We'll be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation without delay.

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If any stray from the path of truth, we will endeavor to restore them in the spirit of meekness.

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We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together or neglect to pray for ourselves and for others.

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We will seek to educate our children in the Scriptures. We will seek to win our kindred and acquaintances to Christ and to holiness.

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As stewards of the Lord, we will aid in the support of a faithful evangelical ministry among us and in efforts to preach the gospel to the whole human family.

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We will live circumspectly in the world, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and according to our ability and opportunities, will do good to all men.

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We will endeavor as long as we live to glorify him who has called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light.

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The Supper of the Lord Jesus Christ was instituted on the same night on which he was betrayed.

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The Supper is to be observed by the church until the end of the world for the perpetual remembrance and showing forth of the sacrifice of himself in his death.

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The Supper of the Lord is a remembrance of his service and his work.

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In love, he came to serve the need of sinners in the name of his

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Father. And his ultimate act of service was when he died on the cross as a propitiation and substitute for sinners.

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If you have your Bible, turn with me to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 53 speaks of the

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Lord Jesus Christ and speaks of his suffering for us. Who has believed what he has heard from us?

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And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of the dry ground.

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He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him.

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He was despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

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As one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not.

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Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

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But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.

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Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

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All of us like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way.

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The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed.

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He was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that is before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

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By oppression and judgment he has taken away. And as for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people, and they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth.

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Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief.

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When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days.

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The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.

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By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

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Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.

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Yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors.

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The Lord's Supper is for the Lord's disciples, for those who are baptized, and for those who are striving to live for the praise, glory, and honor of God.

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To those who partake of the Lord's Supper there is a very serious warning in 1st

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Corinthians chapter 11 verses 27 through 32.

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Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the

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Lord. Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

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For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

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That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

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But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

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Let's take a few moments to prepare our hearts for the table of the Lord. Our Father, we thank you for the cross.

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We thank you for what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for us. And as we read through what he endured,

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Lord, we see the great love that he has for us. We see how much he wanted to glorify you, the

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Father, and he did just that by bringing many sons to glory.

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And Lord, we are thankful for the cross. We're thankful for his work upon it.

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We're thankful, Lord, that you do the work in our salvation, that salvation is of the

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Lord. And Lord, as thankful children who now belong to you, who now have life and purpose, we rejoice and we exalt you.

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Lord, we confess our sin. We confess our shortcomings, our deliberate sins, our secret sins, our pride, our selfishness, our lack of faith.

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Lord, we pray that we would put these things away and that we would look to Christ, that we would draw near with full assurance of faith because you have sprinkled our hearts clean.

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Lord God, we love you and we thank you for this supper. We thank you for the grace that you give to us.

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You meet us, you are merciful, and we praise you. Thank you, Lord.

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In Jesus' name, amen. Let's pray for the bread.

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I forgot to do that. Lord God, we thank you for the bread. We thank you for what it represents, that it was your body, that it was your body on the cross.

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And we thank you, Lord, that in your sacrifice, you have taken sin completely out of the way.

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What once completely ruled us, what once enslaved us, now,

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Lord, because of Christ's work, we are freed from it. We are freed from its bondage. And so,

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Lord, we pray that as we partake of this bread, that we would remember your example and that we would strive to follow it.

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Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. 1

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Corinthians 11, 23 through 24. For I received from the

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Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you.

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Do this in remembrance of me. Let's pray for the cup.

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Our Father, again, we're thankful for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, and we're thankful that we are saved by his blood, the blood that was poured out for us.

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Lord, this is something that we could never do. We could never save ourselves. And so, you sent the

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Lord Jesus Christ to be the propitiation, to absorb the wrath of God on our behalf.

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You sent him as a substitute so that his blood would be poured out so that we might live.

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Lord, we rejoice in his sacrifice, and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.

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The purple cups have the wine, and the clear cups are grape juice, depending on your conviction.

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1 Corinthians 11, 25. In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

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Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the

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Lord's death until he comes. Amen. James 4.

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What causes quarrels and what causes fights amongst you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

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You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.

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You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.

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You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

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Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

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Or do you suppose it is for no purpose that the scripture says, he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us, but he gives more grace.

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Therefore, it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

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Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

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Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double -minded.

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Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

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Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.

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The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law.

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But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save you and to destroy.

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But who are you to judge your neighbor? Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a town, spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.

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Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

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Instead, you want to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

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As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

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So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him, this is sin.

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Let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, we come before you right now and I ask for illumination to the conversion of dead souls, for the refreshing of the saints.

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And we know when the gospel is faithfully preached, it causes some to be damned.

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And whatsoever your purpose is, may your will be done. I ask that you give our faithful Pastor Jason clarity of mind, thought, and words as he preaches the gospel of God's grace and goodwill toward sinners, only in your

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Son, Jesus Christ, where you meet sinners. And it's in Jesus Christ's name do we pray.

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Amen. On the cross of Christ, J .C.

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Ryle wrote the following, The cross is the foundation of a church's prosperity.

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No church will ever be honored in which Christ crucified is not continually lifted up.

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Nothing whatever can make up for the want of the cross. Without it, all things may be done decently and in order.

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Without it, there may be splendid ceremonies, beautiful music, gorgeous churches, learned ministers, crowded communion tables, and huge collections for the poor.

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But without the cross, no good will be done. Dark hearts will not be enlightened.

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Proud hearts will not be humbled. Mourning hearts will not be comforted. Fainting hearts will not be cheered.

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He then goes on to say that there is no doctrine in Christianity as important as the doctrine of Christ crucified.

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There is none which the devil's tries so hard to destroy. There is none which is so needful for our own peace to understand.

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Please join me to the book of Ephesians. Our text this morning is Ephesians 2 verses 11 to 18.

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This morning we seek to consider and understand three things regarding the cross of Christ.

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Let's look at the text together. Ephesians 2 verses 11 to 18. Therefore remember that at one time you

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Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision which is made in the flesh by hands.

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Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

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But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

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For he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in the place of two.

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So making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross thereby killing the hostility.

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And he came and preached peace to those who were far off and peace to those who were near.

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For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father.

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Beloved we must consider and we must remember number one who we were prior to the cross.

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Verses 11 and 12. What the cross of Christ has accomplished for us.

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Verse 13. And how the cross of Christ accomplished it. Verses 14 through 18.

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Well who were we prior to the cross? Verse 11 and 12.

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Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision which is made in the flesh by hands.

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Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise.

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Having no hope and without God in the world. Prior to the cross of Christ we were

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Gentiles in the flesh. We were called the uncircumcision.

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Circumcision was the outward sign of the covenant that the Lord God had made with Abraham. In Genesis 17

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God said to Abraham as for you you shall keep my covenant. You and your offspring after you throughout their generations.

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This is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised.

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You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

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Furthermore in verse 14 any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people.

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He has broken my covenant. Circumcision was a distinguishing physical mark that set apart the covenant people of God, the descendants of Abraham, from the rest of the nations, the

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Gentiles. Circumcision was an external mark that identified the people of God with the covenant that was given to Abraham and his offspring forever.

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This distinction between circumcised and uncircumcised became a matter of great ethnic and national pride.

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The Israelites boasted in their status as God's chosen people and were marked by a physical sign, the sign of the covenant.

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Even Paul prior to his conversion boasted about his circumcision. Philippians chapter 3, he says, though I myself has reason for confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks they have a reason for confidence in the flesh,

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I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a

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Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

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Circumcision became synonymous with sanctimony and superiority, while the term uncircumcision had become an insulting and derogatory term.

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To the Gentiles, this term would have reminded them of their unchosen and unblessed status.

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It was a constant reminder of the absence of the divine approval and favor of the

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Lord God. Circumcision was a considerable and significant social distinction.

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In fact, there is not a distinction today, be it class, gender, politics, race, or religion, that would match the exclusive and problematic separation that existed between Jews and Gentiles at this time.

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The Jews had an intense hatred for the Gentiles. They were thought of as ignorant and unclean and profane and beastly.

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The Jews sought to avoid Gentiles at all cost. A Jew who had traveled through Gentile territory would shake off his sandal and shake off the dust so as not to contaminate their land with Gentile filth.

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But the Gentiles equally hated the Jews because they were the strict monotheists.

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They had all sorts of customs that were exclusive to them alone and strange practices that separated them from the rest of the nations.

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Over the years, these differences continued to grow and fester and intensify. The animosity and distance between Jew and Gentile continued to expand.

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The two had severe conflict, hostility, alienation, and separation.

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But not only were the Gentiles socially alienated from the Jews by their lack of circumcision, they were also spiritually alienated from the

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Lord God. In verse 12, Paul reminded his readers a Gentile church in Ephesus of their previous state prior to the cross of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2 .12, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

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John Stott called this verse the terrible five -fold deprivation of the ancient

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Gentile world before Christ. The incredible depth of this five -fold deprivation is seen even more clearly when it is compared with the great blessings that are found in Ephesians 1 and 2.

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The great blessings of those belonging to Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1 .3,

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blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

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Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places belongs to the children of God, to those who are found in Christ Jesus, to those who belong to Christ Jesus, to those who identify with Christ Jesus.

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For example, the blessing of election is found in Christ Jesus.

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Being predestined for adoption as the sons and daughters of the Lord Most High is found in Christ Jesus.

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Our redemption, our being purchased from the slave market of sin by payment of ransom and being set free comes from the blood of the

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Lord Jesus. The forgiveness of our trespasses, our enormous spiritual debt, 10 ,000 talents worth that we rightfully owe to the

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Lord God has been forever removed and wiped away according to the riches of his grace which

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Christ Jesus lavished upon us. In Christ the mystery of his will, his eternal purpose, have been made known to us.

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It was set forth in him. In Christ we have obtained a glorious and eternal inheritance that will not perish, defile, or fade away.

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One that is guarded and kept in heaven by our omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Heavenly Father.

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In Christ, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, you were sealed with the promised

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Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

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The Lord God, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ.

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By grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us who are in Christ Jesus.

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All of these tremendous blessings are found in Christ Jesus in stark contrast to these tremendous blessings.

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The Gentiles were neither in Christ nor with Christ, nor had they any knowledge of Christ.

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The Gentiles had no knowledge of a Savior or a Messiah or one who was promised to deliver them from their pain, their suffering, and their injustice.

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The Gentiles had no expectation of a coming Savior or a coming Messiah. Thus the

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Gentiles lived out their days in spiritual darkness and depravity. The Gentiles lived out their days alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that was in them due to their hardness of heart.

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Indeed, the Gentiles were separated from Christ. The Gentiles had also been alienated from the

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Commonwealth of Israel. In his sovereignty the Lord God had chosen the nation of Israel to be a theocracy, a nation whom he himself was

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Lord and King. Israel was the Lord God's chosen people and as God's chosen people they were given special protection and special blessings.

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They were given the priesthood, the prophets, and the care and concern of the

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Lord God himself. Romans 9, they are the Israelites and to them belongs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.

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To them belong the patriarchs and from their race according to the flesh is the

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Christ who is God over all, blessed forever, amen. In the

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Old Testament we also see quite clearly their favored and blessed position.

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Deuteronomy 32, but the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob, his allotted heritage.

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He found him in a desert land and in the howling waste of the wilderness he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them up on its pinions.

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The Lord alone guided him, no foreign God was with him, he made him ride on the high places of the land, he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock, curds from the herd and milk from the flock with the fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats with the very finest of wheat, and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.

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This passage paints a very informative and enlightening picture. The Lord God's portion was his people,

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Jacob or Israel was his allotted heritage, the Lord God found him, he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle the

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Lord God spread out his wings and caught him, protected him, carried him, and alone guided him.

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The Lord God lifted him up, generously provided for him, and blessed him with great abundance.

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All of these blessings belonged to the Israelites, not the Gentiles. The Gentiles were not the

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Lord God's chosen people, the Gentiles were outside of all these blessings, the

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Gentiles were outside the dominion and care of the Lord God, the

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Gentiles were also strangers to the covenants of promise. The Lord God had made various covenants with Israel, and these covenants gave

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Israel specific promises. There were promises to bless, to protect, to prosper, to multiply, to save, and to redeem.

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These covenants gave Israel the promise of heaven and eternal life. The Gentiles were strangers to these covenants, they had no knowledge of these covenants, thus the

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Gentiles had no hope and were without God in the world. The Gentiles were hopeless and all alone.

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Charles Spurgeon remarked, without Christ again there is no hope.

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Sitting erect upon this desert rock, the lone soul looks far away, but nothing can give it joy.

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The poor soul is thirsty and all around it flows only a sea of brine, soon to change to an ocean of fire.

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It looks upward and there is an angry God. It is all lost, lost, lost.

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Without Christ, utterly lost, and until Christ comes, not a single beam of hope can make glad that anxious eye.

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Beloved, hopelessness is the state of every person outside of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. It's the state of every person who has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ.

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The world in which we live and the children of this age are lost, lost, lost, hopelessly lost.

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And being without hope and without God, there is no future for them. There is no purpose in their lives, nothing to look forward to except the just condemnation and judgment of the

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Lord God. Life apart from the Lord Jesus Christ is dark, dismal, and hopeless.

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This hopelessness is seen in humanity's writing and literature. The Greek poet

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Theogonus, 500 years before the birth of Christ, wrote, I will try to have a good time while I'm young, because I will lie under the earth for a long time, voiceless as a stone.

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And I shall leave the sunlight that I loved, then I shall see no more. Have a good time, my soul, while young.

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Soon others will take my place, and I shall be black earth in death. No mortal is happy under the sun.

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The same sentiment is seen 500 years after the birth of Christ in the work of the early medieval theologian,

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Botheus. He writes, for we are all born to suffer, and the happiness of this life is fleeting.

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Indeed, King Solomon was right. Vanity of vanities, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

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This is the state of our world apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Hopelessness is all around us.

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It's seen in the stories we read, in the movies we watch, the music we listen to. It's seen in the sullen, somber faces of the hurting world around us.

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Life apart from the Lord Jesus Christ is a life of emptiness, futility, and hopelessness.

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Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. William Hendrickson described life apart from the

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Lord Jesus Christ as Christless, stateless, friendless, hopeless, and godless.

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Beloved, it's important to remember that at one time, this terrible five -fold deprivation, separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and being without God in the world, this described who we were prior to the cross of Christ.

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But now, things are different. What the cross of Christ has accomplished for us, verse 13.

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After Paul reminds us of what we were prior to the cross, he then explains what the cross of Christ has accomplished for us, verse 13.

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But now, in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

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Notice those first two words, but now. These two words highlight a glorious contrast from what we were, far off, to what we are now, in Christ.

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The far -off description of what we were in verse 12, separate from Christ, but now we are united with Christ.

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We were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, but now we are partakers of the commonwealth of Israel.

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We were strangers to the covenants of promise, but now we are familiar with the covenants of promise.

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We were without hope and without God in the world, but now our hope is in the

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Lord Jesus Christ, who has brought us near to the Lord God. Beloved, it is through the cross of the

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Lord Jesus Christ, it is through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is through the blood of the

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Lord Jesus Christ, that the Gentiles can now share in the same blessings and the same privileges as the once favored

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Jews. Charles Spurgeon emphasized it this way. Are they, referring to the

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Israelites, the seed of Abraham? So are we, for he was the father of the faithful, and we, having believed, have become his spiritual children.

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Had they an altar? So have we. Had they any high priest? So have we.

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A high priest who was entered into the heavenly? Had they a sacrifice and a Passover supper?

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We have Christ Jesus, who by his one offering hath forever put away our sin, and who is today the spiritual meat on which we feed.

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All that they had, we have, only we have it in a fuller and clearer sense.

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For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

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Beloved in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ, the blood of Christ that was poured out for many.

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Well, how did the cross accomplish such a tremendous and generous achievement? How does the blood of Christ make it possible for us, the

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Gentiles, to draw near to the Lord God? Take a look at verses 14 through 17.

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For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

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By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in the place of two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

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And he came and preached peace to those who were far off, and peace to those who were near.

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For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. Through Christ, he has made both groups into one.

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He has made Jew and Gentile into one. He has made one new man in the place of two, thus making peace.

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He himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, is our peace. So for the

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Jew, according to these verses, so far as religion is concerned, in Christ there is no longer a distinction between Jew and Gentile.

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For the Gentile, so far as religion is concerned, in Christ he is no longer far from the

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Lord God. A great summary of these truths is found in the book of Galatians, Galatians 325.

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But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith.

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For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Verse 28, there is neither

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Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

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And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

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In Christ there is no longer any distinction. In Christ there is no longer any difference.

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There is no Jew, Greek, Gentile, enslaved person, freeman, male or female, but all are one in Christ Jesus.

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All who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, all who have received Christ Jesus, all who have put on Christ Jesus, are found in Christ Jesus.

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And if you belong to him, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

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Believing Jews and believing Gentiles who were once at odds and divided by their circumcision or lack thereof, are now both one in Christ Jesus.

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Because Christ Jesus has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances.

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In other words, all of the ceremonial and religious distinctions, the restricted foods, the required washings, the feasts, the sacrifices, the offerings, and all of the external requirements of the ceremonial law were removed and taken out of play.

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Christ Jesus fulfilled the law and abolished in his flesh the enmity.

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The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ has forever established peace.

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Colossians 2 .13, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

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God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.

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By canceling out the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

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You see, the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly obeyed the law in his life, and he bore the consequences of our disobedience in his death.

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He took upon himself the curse of the law in order to free us from it.

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He himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, shed his blood on the cross. He was our divinely appointed substitute.

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He was the propitiation for our sin. In our place, he stood and absorbed the full weight of the wrath of God on our behalf.

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He was our divinely appointed sacrificial lamb, and he reconciled us to the Lord God and to one another.

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The Lord God is now able to forgive us and wipe away our debt. The Lord God is able to bring us near because he canceled out the certificate of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

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It has been set aside. It has been nailed to the cross and buried in the tomb.

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Our acceptance with the Lord God is now through faith in Christ crucified alone, both for the

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Jew and for the Gentile. The law that was a barrier for us, but by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, the

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Lord Jesus Christ abolished both the regulations of the ceremonial law and the condemnation of the moral law, thus establishing peace.

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He himself is our peace. Look again at verses 16 and 17, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

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And he came and preached peace to those who were far off and peace to those who were near. The cross of Christ provides permanent and lasting peace.

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Peace with each other and peace with the Lord God. Romans 5, but God shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners,

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Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

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For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life.

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Beloved, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished precisely what the Lord God intended, to reconcile lost and hopeless sinners to himself.

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The New Ungers Bible dictionary defines reconciliation as the restoration of friendship and fellowship after estrangement.

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Old Testament reconciliation contains the idea of an atonement or a covering for sin.

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In the New Testament, it possesses the idea to change thoroughly from one position to another.

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Reconciliation therefore means that someone or something is completely altered and adjusted to a required standard.

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Beloved, while we were still sinners, while we were still enemies of the

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Lord God, we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son. We were reconciled to the

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Lord God by the cross of Christ and the required standard it took to reconcile sinners to the

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Lord God was Christ's righteousness alone. Nothing apart from the blood of Christ, the righteous blood of Christ, is able to reconcile you to the

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Lord God. Baker's Evangelical Dictionary remarks,

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God reconciles us to himself through the death of his Son. Thus we are no longer enemies, ungodly sinners, or powerless.

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Instead, the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the

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Holy Spirit whom he has given to us. It is a change in the total state of our lives.

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This total and thorough change from one position to another, from a stranger to a son, from guilty to not guilty, from debtor to being forgiven, from enslaved to being free, from enemy to friend.

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This was all accomplished by the cross of Christ. Beloved, it is only through the work of the

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Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary that we have been reconciled to the Lord God and had been given free access to him.

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Ephesians 2 .18, for through him we both have access in one spirit to the

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Father. John Stott remarked, the highest and fullest achievement of the peacemaking

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Christ is this Trinitarian access of the people of God as through him and by one spirit we come boldly to our

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Father. The only way to be brought near to the Lord God is through his

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Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his work upon the cross. Today there may be some of you here who are far from the

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Lord God. To you who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a great distance between you and the

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Lord God. The distance is inconceivable. It cannot be breached.

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There is no work, rite, ritual, ceremony, or good that you could ever accomplish to close the gap between you and the

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Lord God. Friend, your only hope is to trust in the

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Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. You may live a very moral life.

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You may be active in church. You may know a lot about the Word of God. Still, you will remain forever alienated from him, far from his presence, his peace, and his teaching unless you entirely surrender your life to the

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Lord Jesus Christ. This means that you will transfer your trust and self -reliance from yourself for your salvation to the

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Lord Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. This involves godly sorrow over sin and repentance from sin, turning away from your sin, and turning to the

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Lord Jesus Christ in an all -out pursuit to love, submit, fully trust in, and follow the

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Lord Jesus Christ in obedience to his revealed will by the power of the

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Spirit. The good news is that you can be brought near to the

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Lord God this morning through the Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever you may be, whatever you have done, the

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Lord God is able to bring near sinners by the blood of his Son. Trust him alone for your salvation because all else is hopeless.

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There may be also some of you here this morning who think that you are near to the Lord God, but you may not be.

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If you're living a life to your own advantage, if you are living for your will rather than God's will, if you are choosing to pursue sin and unrighteousness, choosing to displease the

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Lord God, then you have no assurance that you are saved. 1st

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John 2 4, whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

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If you feel that you have lost your way, if you have lost your assurance, if you have lost all evidence of true saving faith, if you are struggling with sin, spiritual insensitivity, and a cold and apathetic heart, then go at once to the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Go to the cross and recover them. Spurgeon remarked, to those who are doubting, desponding, and cast down, do not forage up the moldy bread of yesterday, but go and get the manna which falls fresh today at the foot of the cross.

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Now you who have been wandering in backsliding, do not stay away from the Lord Jesus Christ because of your unworthiness, but let your very sins propel you to come the faster to your

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Savior's feet. Beloved, there is no need to worry or despair.

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Christ Jesus has accomplished what we could never achieve. In Christ there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the

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Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

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For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own

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Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh.

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Do not hesitate to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not hesitate to go to the cross, for there you will find peace.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for the cross. We thank you for Christ's work on our behalf.

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Lord, we couldn't do it alone, and we can't do it alone now, and so Lord help us to every day look to you.

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Help us to consider Christ in all of our actions. We pray Lord that you would teach us what these words mean.

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Help us Lord to see things clearly that we might live them out in our day -to -day walk. For those who don't know you

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Lord, we pray that you would save them, that you would grant them the repentance that leads to saving faith. For those who are struggling in their walk, we pray that they would cast aside all of their sin and encumbrances, and that they would look to Christ who has accomplished a great work for us.

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Lord God, we thank you and we love you, and we pray that this would be manifest in our lives by our obedience to your word.