Foundation of Believer's Unity

The Unity of Jew and Gentile in Christ

You'll turn with me once again in the scriptures to Ephesians chapter 2 we will continue. The study we began in this text in the morning service Ephesians chapter 2 if you were with us this morning, then you remember that We began looking at the subject of our unity in Christ the unity in the body of Christ the theological basis upon which Christian unity is based whether that might be Christian unity across Great distances for example the unity that we have With our persecuted brethren whether they be in China as they are being persecuted right now or in North Korea or in Islamic lands or wherever else it might be we have unity with those because we are Dwelt indwelt by the same spirit we stand before God in the same fashion but likewise unity with those Within our own fellowship with those within our own circle of fellowship like-minded churches.

There are many ways in which we can look at this subject of unity and see That God has provided a beautiful Way of creating this as we saw in the text one man this one body this body of Christ and yet today there are obviously as there has been in every generation, but especially today there are many forces seeking to bring division and the only way I believe to respond to those forces is to start at the foundation and Yet, that's the very area that is normally neglected.

In the discussions that are going on in our day about how believers are to have unity with one another my Deepest concern is that much of the discussion that is going on brings in language That is not derived from Scripture Concepts not derived from Scripture sometimes those concepts will then be placed on to the language of Scripture, but in a foreign fashion and I'm very concerned that this is taking place with regularity in Not only It's been going on literally for for many many decades Literally a century in what we call liberalism, but let's be honest ourselves We just sort of figured the liberals are out there someplace, and they're not really going to have any impact on us.

Instead what is now happening is this is taking place and is being taught within Seminaries that only a very short period of time ago we would have been very glad to send young men to for training in the ministry, which means that these Concepts these ways of thinking these presuppositions That can so thoroughly Change the way we interpret the Bible's teaching on morals and ethics and and the gospel itself is truly in in danger not in the sense that Oh Lord We are the only faithful people left now God is still in control of this church, but we are called to be watchmen upon the wall.

We are called to Recognize the danger as it is as it is coming. We certainly live in a day where our society Has lost all connection with moral and ethical sanity. When we when we literally Just in in Canada this past week and in California you now have movements to where the government is stepping in and demanding that when you are Talking about young people right now It's just in foster care, but you know it once it goes there it's gonna move into the family itself demanding that parents foster parents work to provide Gender transition Surgery Hormone blockers, etc, etc For any child, I mean down to six and five years of age That make the claim that they are a different gender Than they really are and the government is stepping in and and literally Demanding that that the society mutilate these children and that's what it is that it would be a mutilation or even to the point of surgery prepubescent children, it's insanity.

What is going on around us? And so if if a society can have that level of utter insanity in that area Then it is quite obvious that how the world hears what we say. We have to be aware of the the twisting of the words because of the being forced through a filter that has become almost the exact opposite of The worldview that comes from recognizing that you have a creator He made you and he has the right to determine what is right and wrong in his world.

We now live in a world where we don't have a creator we are our own creator and we get to determine what reality is between our own two ears even if that reality changes every few minutes and So we live in an amazing time.

Access to the Father Through Christ in One Spirit

And so we must have a firm foundation in our own understanding of What has been accomplished in Christ and how we as believers relate to one another and so we finished off this morning with verse 18 Of chapter 2 for through him.

We both have our access in one spirit to the father. We noted at that time The beautiful Trinitarian language that is found here Through him that is through Christ having put to death the enmity through the cross through him we both whether Jew or Gentile have our access in one spirit to the father and So we have one object of worship.

We have one spirit who brings us into the presence of the father. The way is open to us through the work of Jesus Christ. I have said many times if we do not have a clear and Accessible understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity and what that doctrine teaches and how it is taught to us in Scripture some of the deepest most beautiful aspects of The gospel will be closed to us.

I Do not understand for example, how could a oneness? Person Jesus only a person understand this. Through Jesus we have access in one Jesus to Jesus and it doesn't really flow very well, doesn't it doesn't make much sense.

Because they deny that there are three divine persons there's just one person that's taken on different roles or if You're in the United Pentecostal Church. You have the idea that Jesus was actually two persons.

He's the son and he's the father as well. And so you just have this tremendous confusion. If you do not understand what the scripture teaches on this particular subject. But the point the emphasis that we want to make this evening, of course is the fact That as we gather here this evening around the around the table All of us are going to pray the same prayers we're worshiping the same Lord we're partaking of the same elements.

We claim the exact same righteousness Imputed to us by Christ. You have one work of Christ. You have one spirit. You have one father one body worshiping together that is worth maintaining and It is necessary to maintain it because once you allow Divisions to enter into that it fundamentally must impact the nature of the gospel itself it has to.

Fellow Citizens and the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets

So then we continue on you are no longer strangers and aliens remember earlier in the passage. That was the very terminology that was used you were strangers. You were aliens. You were far off you were separated from the the covenants and so on and so forth.

No longer you are fellow citizens with the Saints and are of God's household. You have received the fullness of the benefits That come in Jesus Christ, there can be no second-class Christianity there can be no division between Jew and Gentile that is why Paul would stand up publicly against one of the first witnesses of the resurrection an Apostle who walked on the water with Jesus.

Okay, he started sinking, but he still walked on the water with Jesus. One of the Apostles that was on the Mount of Transfiguration. Yeah, he let his mouth run off because he didn't know what he was saying.

But you know what I'm saying? It was Peter and He stood up to Peter. Because Peter was taken in hypocrisy and if Peter's actions had been allowed to stand there in Antioch It would have led to a division in the church and Paul recognizes this is impossible.

And so you are fellow citizens with the Saints the Holy Ones. Not a not a lower level of holy. You know, you've got the really holy Jewish Christian and then you've got the holy but not really super holy Gentile.

No Fellow citizens of the Saints you are of God's household. You're not just the servants in the household. You are of God's household. There is one body Having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is Growing into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit now.

We cannot on the evening of the Lord's Supper even begin to unpack everything that can be and should be said about this particular text of Scripture because it is probably One of the top four or five texts in all the New Testament that lay out for us theological foundations for understanding the nature of the church the nature of the church over time and Especially if you have been Perhaps challenged by some of the things that we have looked at in the history of the church over the past Year or so or more.

I guess it's coming up on year and a half two years. We've been doing church history in the Sunday school hour. You may have been troubled by some of the things that we've studied and some of the false teachings that had become very prevalent or things that have happened and Without an understanding of this text and what it says about the nature of the church I can certainly see how someone could flounder a bit To in the in the deep seas of church history.

The Church as the Dwelling of God in the Spirit

But when you think about what is being said here I want to sort of follow the same thread through while touching upon some of these things. But we cannot we cannot unpack all of them. But the reality is that this one new man this one body Is not just an amorphous Undefinable thing.

You see the the Roman Catholics like to claim that you need to have a specific church organization that has a certain kind of Historical pedigree historical pedigree is an important thing. We We have seen so many cults and isms come along where there's there's no connection.

There can be no connection whatsoever drawn to what God has been doing in the church all along. No question about that. But it is the nature of the church and the nature of that pedigree and connection that must be kept in mind.

You see we have a foundation that has been provided by the Apostles and prophets. That is there has been a consistent divine revelation given to us and how do we have that Foundation provided to us today.

How do we know what Apostles and prophets said and did and taught? Well Roman Catholics would say we know that because we have bishops and we can trace bishops back. But you and I know that's not the case the foundation of the Apostles and prophets is found for us primarily in divine revelation.

Which is found for us in the scriptures and Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Well, is that talking about scripture? No, but what we know about Christ what we know about what he's done.

What we know about is atoning death. We know about his nature his authority his power. We know because God has provided that information to us in the scriptures and already Paul has Referred to historical realities by the shedding of his blood for example by the blood of his cross.

These are historical realities. This isn't just some type of mythology. This isn't like what the Gnostics came up with where they would come up with these these myths that had no connection with what took place in history, no.

Even the the phrase Christ Jesus, that's the Messiah Jesus. And so there were the messianic prophecies and all these things you have God having revealed his truth as to what he is doing and he has laid a foundation and the unity and Consistency of Apostles and prophets you and I take that for granted.

That is a presupposition when we do theology. We need to not merely in a simplistic fashion. But in a thoughtful and careful fashion. Handle the Word of God so as to allow it to speak for itself and the presupposition.

Is that there is a truth that is revealed therein you need to understand. That that assumption on our part sets us into a small minority in the theological world today. Now maybe you don't have a lot of exposure To what is classically called liberalism or leftist theology?

Which is the predominant? perspective of theological seminaries in the United States today by a large percentage. In fact, I would say a solid 85 Would not believe that there is a consistent Revelation from God given to us from the Apostles and prophets or Jesus himself.

They don't believe it we are in a minority. Now, I hope that doesn't bother you. I hope that you understand the reasons why we are and why we should remain in that minority and That that is something over which there must be unity amongst ourselves and Division from those that do not believe God has spoken there can be no fellowship.

With those who for example, I mentioned this morning some of the responses to the statement began. Such as Union Theological Seminary statement began we confess the errancy of Scripture. The Scripture is what men thought about God in the past.

But it is not the divine Word of God. Well, is that how Jesus used Scripture? Was that Jesus's view? Of course not. Of course not. And So we can have sweet and blessed unity as long as we're built upon this foundation.

You get rid of this foundation. What are we going to build on? How can there be any unity if we cannot even know what the blood of the cross was supposed to accomplish? If we cannot know the resurrection if we cannot know that the character and nature of Jesus Christ, how can we have anything?

Other than just simply the opinions of men. We can't and that's the problem. And so we have a foundation to stand upon. God has worked with men called Apostles with men called prophets and he has used His own incarnate Son to set his seal of authority upon that revelation in Jesus's own dealing with Scripture when he would Speak to the scribes and Pharisees the citation of Scripture ended the argument.

Ended the argument. He never said believe me because I'm the Son of God. That would be a pretty impressive argument. But instead what he does is he says thus saith the Scriptures. Have you not read that the Scriptures say now, of course, he was the author of those scriptures as a Divine pre-existent being but you see the point.

And so there is a foundation. It's an unchanging foundation. That's what's so dangerous about the the mindset that we see in our society today most of you have been following I'm sure the Supreme Court nomination hearings and and there are a lot of people in our society that Believe that what you should do with Documents written more than two weeks ago.

Is they are living documents? That sounds so wonderful. You don't want to call a document a dead document, right? That sounds terrible. You want a living document? But what that is is newspeak. For a document that does not carry any objective meaning in and of itself.

You get to fulfill the meaning with whatever comes out of your brain and your worldview that you want to bring to it today. So there's no objective standard. There's no foundation when you do that to the scriptures, well, the result is PC USA United Church of Christ all the liberal denominations that have have melted down over the past number of decades.

Christ Building His Church Across Time and Place

In whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord. And so there is a foundation and upon that foundation Christ is fulfilling his promise to build his church. He was doing it Very shortly after his resurrection when letters like this were written and he's been doing it in every generation every decade every year since then not only in Ephesus or in Rome, but now here in Phoenix, Arizona nearly two millennia later.

There is this Growing of the building the whole building being fitted Together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord and who's doing this. Well, we certainly aren't doing it. It's not from our own power.

But you see so much of the current controversy is Based upon the acceptance of a very strongly man-centered perspective of the faith. And given what our society is doing. I mean human autonomy. You the arbiter of all reality you the arbiter of your reality you get to choose your pronouns.

I can tell you something when I look up your profile on Facebook or Twitter and You actually provide your pronouns. I know you've got a problem. Because I don't I don't need to need that. I don't need to know that.

And it's silly to me that you think that I need to know that because that means you've already given into the spirit of this age. You've already given in the spirit of this age. I know some of you might need to know that unless you get in trouble or something, but the reality is.

It is an act of abject rebellious arrogance. To think that you can tell God. What pronouns need to be used of you? That tells me clearly you don't think you have a creator. You think you are in charge and it's arrogance and that's what our society is all about that's what's going on around us and.

So if we think that we have that kind of power and authority then we also get to determine how we fit into God's plans. God doesn't get to tell me and When you bring people into the church without challenging that fundamental worldview.

They're gonna bring that very powerfully distorting idea right into the Christian theology itself. God gets to build the church as he sees fit. He gets to build it with whom. Wherever however, he sees fit.

And it was just a given for me when I was a kid. I mean, yeah, remember those of you that are around my age if you were in the church back then, you know. And I imagine it's still still probably this way within most decent churches.

But you know when you're a young person you're asking what are my gifts and what's God calling me to do? And what's God's purpose in my life? You know, what is God's will that was the big thing? What is God's will in my life and and so you'd have these things you could fill out and this is long before the internet obviously and and so it's on papers an amazing thing is on paper and You could fill these things out and you could you get an analysis of what your gifts are and things.

What was the presupposition of all that that God gets to determine? What gifts he gives to you and he doesn't have to give the same gifts to everybody else. You know, that was that was one of the good things about about sports you know back in the day is.

Not everyone got to participate and got a participation trophy. I try it out for one of the teams once and I got cut. I didn't make it. I was not as good a catcher as the other guy was and I got cut. You know, I had to deal with it.

Just had to deal with it. They weren't under any pressure to stick me in there and let me mess everything up for everybody else. I just decided well, you know what that's that's not what I've been given the gift to do.

And so I'm gonna do something else and that was a maturing thing. We don't seem to have that anymore and so when that comes into the church we start telling God where he's gonna put us and how he's gonna treat us and That does not work.

That does not work. That's why Philippians chapter 2 the key the oil to the Christian experience and the fellowship. Do not look to your own things for the things of others. That's Really a key to relationships of all kinds.

But do not look to your own things look the thing of others. Today's worldview can't even begin to understand what Philippians 2 is even talking about. What do you mean things of others? I'm the center of the universe.

No, you're not and So when it says being fitted together, it's not fitting itself together. It's God who fits the church together as he sees fit. With the result that it is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.

Now when we look at the church from the outside We can go oh, I see a lot of warts. I see a lot of you know, the the the church in this world. But you see Paul is here talking about the true church the body of Christ.

Which in this world, you know Paul had to deal with false professors. Paul had to do deal with those he called pseudo Delphi false brethren. From the world's perspective. It can be a very messy thing, but don't think for a second that God doesn't know Exactly who his people are and that he is accomplishing his purpose in his way.

The church is growing into a holy temple in the Lord in Whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the spirit. Now obviously this can't be just talking about the external church because we're talking about actually being indwelt by the Spirit of God.

His point here is that instead of having a a physical building someplace where the the the Location of God is to be centered like behind the the veil in the temple the church partakes of a very very different nature and.

And so the church transcends space and time in the sense that God is drawing his people in his way at his time and He is building them together fitting them together Into a dwelling of God in the spirit you want to see the kingdom of God.

You look at what he's done in becoming king in the hearts and minds of his people. You want to see the temple of God. Today you want to know why we shouldn't be building temples like the Mormons build temples because it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of What the dwelling of God is to be.

The dwelling of God is to be in the spirit. And it is made up of all those Who are indwelt by that spirit all those who've bowed the knee to Christ all those who have received his righteousness all those who have been united to him by faith.

There is the one body that is being built together into a dwelling of God in the spirit and so How could this be how could any of this high exalted language? About the building up of the church be if there could be any kind of fundamental recognition of Divisions between us based upon any pre-existing Relationship prior to our coming into union with Christ.

No Ethnic, Social, or Class Divisions at the Lord's Table

So in other words you cannot have a rich person's church, and you cannot have a poor person's church. You cannot have a church for the powerful in the Roman Empire and for those not powerful in the Roman Empire.

You can't have a Jewish Christian Church or a Gentile Christian Church drawing from Colossians chapter 3. You cannot have a church primarily for Scythians and Barbarians barbarians just being all the people out around the the borders of Rome those are ethnic divisions and You cannot have a church for masters.

And a church for slaves. None of those political ethnic. Any of those types of relationships that man creates none of those relationships can for even a moment be brought into the church as a source of division or everything else in the fitting together of the Holy Temple to the Lord is undone.

The foundational assumption is that One blood one Christ one cross Has provided the foundation upon which this church can be built because the stones out of which it is made Have been created by God and He places them as he chooses in that Relationship to one another and they see each other as fellow heirs fellow citizens all of the same household.

If that's lost. Well look through church history. Look through church history. You'll see the result. It can it can happen on a major scale can happen on minor scales. I give you lots of examples of what happens when that takes place and so two things first, I I hope as Opportunity arises an opportunity will arise and You have conversation with other believers that if you are asked Questions about well, where does your church stand about XY and Z?

About this subject or that subject that the first thing you will think about is the Theological foundation that we seek to make very clear and plain and consistent in the proclamation of the Word of God and That in giving an answer you will do so based upon What has been preached from this pulpit how the Word of God has been handled consistently over the years.

We have a very clear statement of faith. That does not allow for the kinds of divisions that people would like to introduce into Into the body, but secondly this evening we are about to partake of the Lord's Supper and I will tell you for those of you who did not see this happen a number of months ago I Put together and this is something I would have to explain to Pastor Fry, but he's not here.

I put together a meme. Yes. That's a word that didn't have much meaning only a few decades ago, but now Everybody knows what a meme is. If you don't you're probably going. What's a meme? Okay, I've got a few people going.

I don't know what a meme is so obviously we still have some who Do not partake of the Facebook culture very much, but a in this particular instance the meme. Is that normally graphical? Presentation of a short statement.

Something that grabs the attention sometimes. It'll be on a video background or something like that, but Memes have become the way to say short punchy Attention-grabbing things or humorous things whatever else it might might be.

Actually the term came from Richard Dawkins the evolutionary biologist, but we won't get into that right now because of this particular conversation. I Had put together a meme. That said something along these lines you have to be short you have to be somewhat concise.

The Lord's table the Lord's table is a Christ space it is a mediator space. It is a Redeemer space. The reason for this is that I've been having this back and forth with someone and they were talking about white spaces and black spaces in the church, and this is a foreign concept to me and We were discussing the propriety of this kind of language or even this way of thinking about things and so I made the statement that the Lord's table is a Christ space a mediator space a Savior space and then I said anyone who brings ethnicity into that space Does not understand the promise of the gospel and what is going on in the Lord's Supper.

Now I thought that would be sort of a self-evident statement. I thought it was pretty obvious that when you come to the Lord's Supper you lay aside Any animus you examine your heart as to whether you bear anything against your brother or sister in the fellowship?

It's time of self-reflection. But it's primarily a time of focus upon the finished and perfect work of Christ. I Silly me. Silly me because the person to whom I was speaking writing. One of his responses immediately was He was a black man.

He responded by saying we must bring our ethnicity Into the Lord's table for us. It is a matter of survival. I wanted to know what that meant. But that was followed up with a call on his part for an ecumenical council.

Now think about it folks. We haven't had an ecumenical council for a very very long time and The ecumenical councils are like the Council of Nicaea. You know Ephesus Constantinople Chalcedon. They were things about the Trinity and the deity of Christ and stuff like that, but he called for an ecumenical council in Philadelphia, maybe that's where Don and Roxy went.

Maybe they got the got the call. I don't know. I know they're in Philadelphia. I'm a little worried now but called for an ecumenical council in Philadelphia to Identify as Heresy. The perspective that I had just enunciated that needs to be identified as heresy, so I've become arias.

For saying that the Lord's table is a place that because of its focus upon one Savior Defines the unity we all have one another in light of him not light of anything else. Whether it be your ethnicity Anything else You are defined by your relationship to God through Christ because of what he did.

Period add to that and you've got major problems. So as we come to the supper We need to ask ourselves the question When we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes do we do that as a unified body. Or merely as individuals divided from one another how much do we really Appreciate what God has given to us in the unity that is ours in Christ as We partake of the supper this evening.

Let us consider these things and be thankful to the Lord. Let's pray together our Heavenly Father as We come to the table. Now. We do ask that you would prepare our hearts that we would Truly celebrate in an appropriate way What our Lord and Savior has done for us?

The price that was paid for our redemption and the recognition that that price was the same for each one. No matter what our background no matter what our history it required the very giving of the life of the incarnate Son of God and That when we recognize that when we recognize that is his righteousness.

It gives us peace with you. Then we recognize That there is no basis for us to look down upon anyone else in the body. But that we indeed stand upon level ground at the foot of the cross. May we live in light of that may we rejoice in light of that.

Bless this time now as we seek to be obedient to command of our Lord and Savior. It is in his name that we pray Amen You.