Fitly Framed Together - Tim Conway
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0:01 - 0:11You can turn in your
Bibles to Ephesians 2. -
0:11 - 0:16Brethren, I'm ready to leave Ephesians 2,
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0:16 - 0:22but not yet.
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0:22 - 0:26Before we bid farewell
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0:26 - 0:38and explore the wonders
that lay ahead in chapter 3, -
0:38 - 0:40I want to say a personal word.
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0:40 - 0:43What I'm saying today is personal
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0:43 - 0:49to me and to our church here.
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0:49 - 0:54Look, I want to talk about race.
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0:54 - 0:59I want to talk about
the color of our skin. -
0:59 - 1:03And you know,
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1:03 - 1:08I don't know the best words to use.
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1:08 - 1:10I've heard, well, if you're from Asia,
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1:10 - 1:13you're offended if
you're called "oriental." -
1:13 - 1:15I've heard that blacks don't like
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1:15 - 1:17to be called African American sometimes.
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1:17 - 1:21Look, I hear what whites are called,
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1:21 - 1:23whether it's gringo or guero.
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1:23 - 1:27I don't know all the right terminology.
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1:27 - 1:34So, let's just have a bit of
thick skin among ourselves. -
1:34 - 1:38I may not use all the exact right terms.
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1:38 - 1:39But here's the deal,
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1:39 - 1:42I don't want to leave Ephesians 2
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1:42 - 1:45without really bringing the rubber
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1:45 - 1:48down to meet the road.
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1:48 - 1:52This is practical in my estimation.
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1:52 - 1:55Really practical.
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1:55 - 1:57And sometimes, it's hoped
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1:57 - 1:59that when you deal with a chapter
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1:59 - 2:00like Ephesians 2 -
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2:00 - 2:02especially the last half
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2:02 - 2:07from about v. 11 all the way to the end,
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2:07 - 2:13it deals with racial issues
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2:13 - 2:19at a level that is practical
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2:19 - 2:22to racial issues among Christians
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2:22 - 2:25anywhere at any time.
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2:25 - 2:27And sometimes as I'm
preaching these things, -
2:27 - 2:30I'm hoping that people
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2:30 - 2:31are making the application.
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2:31 - 2:32But you know what?
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2:32 - 2:36Sometimes the application
needs to be made for us. -
2:36 - 2:40It can be helpful.
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2:40 - 2:42I want to tell you about
the personal impact -
2:42 - 2:44that Ephesians 2 has had on my own life.
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2:44 - 2:47I didn't know why I had
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2:47 - 2:50this picture in my mind
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2:50 - 2:55of sitting at Community Baptist Church,
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2:55 - 2:57and I can just see where I'm sitting -
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2:57 - 2:59Pat Horner preaching up there,
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2:59 - 3:05and he's probably
preaching on Ephesians 2. -
3:05 - 3:08Gospel.
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3:08 - 3:11But I just have this picture
in my mind of sitting there, -
3:11 - 3:15as my mind is beginning to put together
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3:15 - 3:18the realities of what the church
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3:18 - 3:23should look like.
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3:23 - 3:25I'll just tell you right off,
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3:25 - 3:31some of you know this.
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3:31 - 3:34I went to a church in Michigan.
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3:34 - 3:39The pastor - he didn't believe
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3:39 - 3:42blacks could be saved.
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3:42 - 3:46He believed they bore the mark of Cain.
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3:46 - 3:48Now, I didn't know that.
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3:48 - 3:50I wouldn't have gone there.
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3:50 - 3:51Craig and I had little brothers
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3:51 - 3:53in the Big Brother Little Brother program
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3:53 - 3:56we were bringing from
the inner city of Kalamazoo. -
3:56 - 3:58And he told Craig after I came down here,
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3:58 - 4:00"I don't know why you
guys ever brought them. -
4:00 - 4:06You know they can't be saved."
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4:06 - 4:08Ruby and I got married.
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4:08 - 4:10That pastor from Michigan
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4:10 - 4:12specifically told Craig he would not
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4:12 - 4:14send us a card
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4:14 - 4:18because I had married a Hispanic girl.
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4:18 - 4:20I didn't know these things about him
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4:20 - 4:21when I was there.
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4:21 - 4:25I would not have gone there.
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4:25 - 4:28I came down and I sat
at Community Baptist Church, -
4:28 - 4:34and I began to see some diversity.
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4:34 - 4:38And there was a pastor
who seemed to like that; -
4:38 - 4:43encourage that.
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4:43 - 4:44I remember when Charles Wilson
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4:44 - 4:46came over from Japan.
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4:46 - 4:48He was transferring in the military.
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4:48 - 4:51So now we had Hispanics
and whites and blacks. -
4:51 - 4:55I don't remember if there were any Asians.
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4:55 - 4:58Yeah, there were. The Tagawa's.
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4:58 - 5:02They're kind of Hawaiian I guess.
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5:02 - 5:04So, I saw this diversity.
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5:04 - 5:08And the thing is I'm hearing Scripture.
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5:08 - 5:13And really, I find nothing more impactful;
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5:13 - 5:15more prominent;
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5:15 - 5:19more of an extensive treatment
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5:19 - 5:22in all of the Bible than I find right here
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5:22 - 5:26in the second half of Ephesians 2.
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5:26 - 5:33If you train your eyes on v. 21,
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5:33 - 5:38notice the words: "being joined together"
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5:38 - 5:40V. 21 "In whom the whole structure
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5:40 - 5:46being joined together."
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5:46 - 5:48That's what the New
King James and the ESV say. -
5:48 - 5:50The New American Standard:
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5:50 - 5:54"being fitted together."
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5:54 - 5:56The King James Version:
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5:56 - 6:03"fitly framed together."
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6:03 - 6:07That's the word that I especially want
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6:07 - 6:10us to lay hold on today.
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6:10 - 6:13It's one word in the Greek.
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6:13 - 6:18"Fitly framed together."
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6:18 - 6:21So, let's read v. 19-22,
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6:21 - 6:22and just notice how this
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6:22 - 6:24"fitly framed together."
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6:24 - 6:27And then, a close; a similar word in v. 22
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6:27 - 6:31being built together.
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6:31 - 6:35"So then, you..." now look.
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6:35 - 6:37If you're just visiting with us;
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6:37 - 6:39you're just joining in right here,
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6:39 - 6:41you need to recognize who the "you" is.
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6:41 - 6:48The "you" is specifically
speaking to Gentiles. -
6:48 - 6:52You Ephesian Gentiles.
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6:52 - 6:56And that's exactly what the emphasis is.
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6:56 - 6:58You who are Gentiles
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6:58 - 7:02who have been saved.
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7:02 - 7:06You non-Jews who have been converted
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7:06 - 7:10"...are no longer strangers and aliens,
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7:10 - 7:12but fellow citizens with the saints
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7:12 - 7:14and members of the household of God,
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7:14 - 7:17built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, -
7:17 - 7:21Christ Jesus Himself
being the Cornerstone, -
7:21 - 7:23in whom the whole structure,
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7:23 - 7:26being joined together grows
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7:26 - 7:28into a holy temple in the Lord."
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7:28 - 7:30Now, notice this.
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7:30 - 7:33He basically comes along and says
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7:33 - 7:38almost exactly the same thing in v. 22.
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7:38 - 7:42It's a lot of synonymous verbiage.
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7:42 - 7:46You know what the big difference is?
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7:46 - 7:50"You also..." that's the big difference.
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7:50 - 7:52You see what he's doing here?
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7:52 - 8:00"In Christ, you Gentiles also..."
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8:00 - 8:03That's the remarkable thing to Paul.
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8:03 - 8:06You're included!
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8:06 - 8:08"You're also being built together
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8:08 - 8:12into a dwelling place
for God by the Spirit. -
8:12 - 8:14You know what this last half
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8:14 - 8:16is all about?
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8:16 - 8:22It's a Jew-Gentile thing.
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8:22 - 8:23That's what's happening.
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8:23 - 8:26Look back up at v. 11.
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8:26 - 8:30"Therefore remember that at one time..."
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8:30 - 8:31Here it is.
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8:31 - 8:32"...you."
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8:32 - 8:35Now you see, I'm not making this up.
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8:35 - 8:36What's on his mind?
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8:36 - 8:39You Gentiles.
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8:39 - 8:43That's specifically what he's got in mind.
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8:43 - 8:45That's who he's speaking
to whenever he says, -
8:45 - 8:52"you" throughout this latter half
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8:52 - 8:55of Ephesians 2.
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8:55 - 8:59"You Gentiles in the flesh..."
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8:59 - 9:01Now notice this:
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9:01 - 9:08"called the uncircumcision."
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9:08 - 9:09They don't call themselves that.
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9:09 - 9:11That's what the Jews call them.
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9:11 - 9:13It's derogatory.
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9:13 - 9:15You know different races typically
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9:15 - 9:17invent derogatory names
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9:17 - 9:19for people of other races.
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9:19 - 9:22Do you ever notice that?
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9:22 - 9:25Even in our own generation?
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9:25 - 9:30That's common.
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9:30 - 9:34They're called the uncircumcision
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9:34 - 9:38by what is called the circumcision,
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9:38 - 9:41which is made in the flesh by hands.
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9:41 - 9:45Brethren, we need to
feel the difference here. -
9:45 - 9:52Some of you who have stayed aloof -
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9:52 - 9:54well, maybe that's not
the best word to use, -
9:54 - 10:03but those of you that
stayed most connected to - -
10:03 - 10:05even in the church -
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10:05 - 10:11racial issues,
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10:11 - 10:14you get an idea
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10:14 - 10:17about the differences -
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10:17 - 10:20the differences of opinion;
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10:20 - 10:22how polarized these things can be.
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10:22 - 10:24You don't feel that when it comes to
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10:24 - 10:27circumcised - uncircumcised.
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10:27 - 10:29Because we're not familiar with it.
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10:29 - 10:31We don't have to deal with it.
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10:31 - 10:32It's not familiar to us.
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10:32 - 10:34It's not part of our experience.
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10:34 - 10:35So we really don't get it.
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10:35 - 10:37But let's try to get it again.
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10:37 - 10:39I talked about it way back,
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10:39 - 10:41but let's talk about it again.
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10:41 - 10:44Jesus is dealing with a
Syrophoenician woman -
10:44 - 10:46and even He says the Jews are children;
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10:46 - 10:50the Syrophoenician woman is a dog.
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10:50 - 10:54Jesus comes to a well in John 4.
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10:54 - 10:57The woman is surprised that a Jewish man
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10:57 - 10:59would even speak to her.
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10:59 - 11:01And she says so.
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11:01 - 11:04Jews don't have dealing with Samaritans.
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11:04 - 11:10Do you know that when Paul
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11:10 - 11:16has to rebuke Peter in Galatians,
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11:16 - 11:19in his dialogue with Peter,
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11:19 - 11:24he says we are not Gentile sinners.
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11:24 - 11:27That was basically the attitude.
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11:27 - 11:30Gentiles are lawless.
They don't have the law of God. -
11:30 - 11:31They don't have the true God.
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11:31 - 11:34They're just sinners - Gentile sinners.
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11:34 - 11:36That's how Paul, an apostle
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11:36 - 11:38to the Gentiles themselves,
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11:38 - 11:42would categorize Gentiles to another Jew.
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11:42 - 11:45They're just Gentile sinners.
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11:45 - 11:48Not without hope,
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11:48 - 11:50but that's how he classified them.
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11:50 - 11:52You remember how, again,
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11:52 - 11:54derogatorily - here's the Pharisees.
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11:54 - 11:56You want to say something
wicked about Jesus, -
11:56 - 11:58what did they say?
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11:58 - 11:59You're a Samaritan.
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11:59 - 12:03You have a devil. You have a demon.
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12:03 - 12:06Derogatory.
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12:06 - 12:07You know what?
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12:07 - 12:12There was hatred between
Jews and Gentiles. -
12:12 - 12:14Both thinking themselves superior.
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12:14 - 12:16Both at odds with each other.
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12:16 - 12:25There was not unity.
There was not harmony. -
12:25 - 12:26Do you know what the point
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12:26 - 12:31of the second half of
Ephesians is all about? -
12:31 - 12:36It's that Christ's blood was shed
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12:36 - 12:42to tear down; to destroy the barriers.
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12:42 - 12:43You see that.
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12:43 - 12:45Look at v. 14.
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12:45 - 12:48"He Himself (this is Christ)
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12:48 - 12:51is our peace
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12:51 - 12:56who has made us both one."
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12:56 - 12:59Ok, my agenda today is not to deal
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12:59 - 13:01with Jew and Gentile other than
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13:01 - 13:03how Jew and Gentile are a great reflection
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13:03 - 13:05of black and white
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13:05 - 13:08and any other racial
issues that we have today. -
13:08 - 13:13Listen, the same truth applies,
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13:13 - 13:16that by the blood of Christ,
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13:16 - 13:20black and white Christians are made one.
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13:20 - 13:26That's a reality folks.
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13:26 - 13:28Don't try to tear that down.
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13:28 - 13:30Don't try to back away;
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13:30 - 13:32don't try to wiggle your way out of it.
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13:32 - 13:33And I'll just say this right off.
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13:33 - 13:35Brethren, you know one of the truths
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13:35 - 13:37that we find about Scripture,
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13:37 - 13:40is that the devil comes and casts tares
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13:40 - 13:42among the wheat.
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13:42 - 13:44Have you ever read that?
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13:44 - 13:46Anybody read that?
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13:46 - 13:48What do you think that means
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13:48 - 13:49on a practical level?
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13:49 - 13:52You think it means we might
have some tares in here? -
13:52 - 13:55Or in the church at large?
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13:55 - 13:57You think so?
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13:57 - 13:59Let me ask you this.
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13:59 - 14:02What color is their skin?
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14:02 - 14:05The tares.
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14:05 - 14:07What color do you think they are?
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14:07 - 14:09If you were to examine their skin,
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14:09 - 14:11what do you think?
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14:11 - 14:14All colors.
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14:14 - 14:15You know what?
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14:15 - 14:17Just because someone
professes to be a Christian -
14:17 - 14:19doesn't really mean they are.
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14:19 - 14:21And if they in any way speak to you
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14:21 - 14:23in a way that would cause you
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14:23 - 14:25to back away from this reality,
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14:25 - 14:27turn it off.
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14:27 - 14:29I don't care if they're white;
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14:29 - 14:32they're black, they're green.
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14:32 - 14:35The reality is that if we
are black and white -
14:35 - 14:37and we are in Christ, we are one.
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14:37 - 14:39We are not separate.
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14:39 - 14:43We are not two distinct peoples.
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14:43 - 14:46Yes, you may like Menudo.
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14:46 - 14:48You might like grits.
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14:48 - 14:50I may prefer steak.
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14:50 - 14:53Well, you probably like it too.
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14:53 - 15:00But, yes, we may have those flavors.
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15:00 - 15:02But you need to consider your identity
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15:02 - 15:06at the deepest level.
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15:06 - 15:09We are one.
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15:09 - 15:12That's what Scripture says.
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15:12 - 15:14One.
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15:14 - 15:16"And He's broken down..."
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15:16 - 15:19that means He's destroyed,
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15:19 - 15:22"...in His flesh, the
dividing wall of hostility." -
15:22 - 15:24He tears it down. Now, I know,
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15:24 - 15:26when it comes to Jew and Gentile,
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15:26 - 15:27we may be speaking about
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15:27 - 15:30legal realities - even realities
from the Old Testament, -
15:30 - 15:31but what I'm telling you
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15:31 - 15:33is that the reality is the same.
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15:33 - 15:34That among the Gentiles,
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15:34 - 15:37no matter where we come from,
no matter what our background is, -
15:37 - 15:39no matter what country
you were born in, -
15:39 - 15:41no matter what language you speak,
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15:41 - 15:42no matter what color your skin is,
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15:42 - 15:45if we are in Christ together,
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15:45 - 15:47we are one.
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15:47 - 15:50That is the greatest point of our identity
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15:50 - 15:54in all the world, the universe, eternity.
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15:54 - 15:56That is the greatest reality.
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15:56 - 15:59Our identity is in Christ.
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15:59 - 16:06Now listen,
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16:06 - 16:10"we are made one."
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16:10 - 16:13The reality is that Gentiles aren't made
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16:13 - 16:16into physical Jews.
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16:16 - 16:17There's a spiritual reality,
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16:17 - 16:19but they're not made into physical Jews.
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16:19 - 16:22Jews aren't made into Gentiles.
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16:22 - 16:24What happens is this,
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16:24 - 16:25and Paul clearly says this,
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16:25 - 16:29all former categories dissolve away
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16:29 - 16:32and are replaced by a new category.
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16:32 - 16:36That's what you see right there in v. 15.
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16:36 - 16:41"That He might create in Himself
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16:41 - 16:47one new man
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16:47 - 16:49in place of the two."
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16:49 - 16:51Did you catch that?
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16:51 - 16:55There's a replacement.
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16:55 - 16:58The Gentiles don't replace the Jews.
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16:58 - 17:01The Jews don't replace the Gentiles.
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17:01 - 17:04Both categories are replaced
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17:04 - 17:11by one new man.
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17:11 - 17:12And you know what happens?
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17:12 - 17:16All these new men; all these new women,
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17:16 - 17:19they are collectively together
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17:19 - 17:24in what's called here "one body."
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17:24 - 17:26Do you see that? v. 16?
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17:26 - 17:27"...and might reconcile us both to God
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17:27 - 17:31in one body through the cross."
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17:31 - 17:33Now as I said when we
dealt with that text, -
17:33 - 17:35that's not Christ's body.
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17:35 - 17:38That one body idea shows up in Ephesians
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17:38 - 17:41and in Paul's writings over and over,
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17:41 - 17:43and he doesn't mean the body of Christ.
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17:43 - 17:45He means the church.
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17:45 - 17:47It's one body.
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17:47 - 17:50Christ is the Head.
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17:50 - 17:54One body.
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17:54 - 17:56Do you know what it's comprised of?
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17:56 - 17:58A bunch of people who were
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17:58 - 18:02formerly disunified Jews;
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18:02 - 18:05disunified Gentiles.
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18:05 - 18:06But now they're all together
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18:06 - 18:10in one body.
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18:10 - 18:12And what's happening?
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18:12 - 18:14They're being reconciled to God.
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18:14 - 18:16We've just come away from a season
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18:16 - 18:19where "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,"
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18:19 - 18:22is commonly sung:
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18:22 - 18:25"God and sinners reconciled."
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18:25 - 18:29But you see, Paul's point here -
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18:29 - 18:31it's not just any sinners;
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18:31 - 18:34it's sinners who
formerly in their lostness -
18:34 - 18:37were so radically divided
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18:37 - 18:40and now in one body,
they're brought together. -
18:40 - 18:44They have reconciliation together,
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18:44 - 18:47both by way of the cross
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18:47 - 18:48and be certain of this,
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18:48 - 18:50there is no reconciliation at all
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18:50 - 18:53apart from the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. -
18:53 - 18:54This is the church.
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18:54 - 18:55It's reconciled.
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18:55 - 18:57It's something absolutely new.
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18:57 - 18:59Both Jew and Gentile.
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18:59 - 19:00And you know what happens?
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19:00 - 19:02The door gets thrown wide open
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19:02 - 19:04to draw near to God
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19:04 - 19:06for everybody in the body,
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19:06 - 19:08and that's what you find in v. 18.
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19:08 - 19:10We have access.
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19:10 - 19:12And notice,
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19:12 - 19:15"for through Him, we both..."
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19:15 - 19:17Don't you like how he keeps coming back
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19:17 - 19:18and he says, "we both..."
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19:18 - 19:21One new man in place of the two.
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19:21 - 19:24We both have access.
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19:24 - 19:26And again, I'm not wanting to deal
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19:26 - 19:28primarily with Jew and Gentile today.
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19:28 - 19:31I want to deal with every color of skin
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19:31 - 19:33and ethnicity that we have in this room,
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19:33 - 19:34because the reality is,
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19:34 - 19:35there is a people here.
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19:35 - 19:38And it doesn't matter what
shade of skin we have, -
19:38 - 19:40that by reconciliation through the cross
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19:40 - 19:42the door has been opened
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19:42 - 19:44so that we actually have
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19:44 - 19:47real communion with God,
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19:47 - 19:49and we can enter before Him.
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19:49 - 19:52Again, we're dealing with
the greatest realities -
19:52 - 19:55about our identity.
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19:55 - 19:59Your greatest identity is
not the color of your skin. -
19:59 - 20:02Your greatest identity is the fact
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20:02 - 20:04that you are one who has been paid for
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20:04 - 20:06by this blood
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20:06 - 20:09and the doors are thrown open for you
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20:09 - 20:16to come right into the presence of God.
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20:16 - 20:18And you know what happened?
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20:18 - 20:22I'm out there at Community Baptist Church.
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20:22 - 20:23I'm not a pastor yet.
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20:23 - 20:25I don't even know if I was preaching.
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20:25 - 20:30But things are beginning
to formulate in my head. -
20:30 - 20:31Thinking about that pastor -
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20:31 - 20:33it's now been made clear to me
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20:33 - 20:34where I came from.
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20:34 - 20:39It's like what is all that?
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20:39 - 20:42And I'm watching the church at Community.
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20:42 - 20:44I'm hearing verses like come out
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20:44 - 20:47of Ephesians and there's a picture
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20:47 - 20:49that begins to develop in my mind
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20:49 - 20:50about what the church
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20:50 - 20:52should be looking like.
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20:52 - 20:54And the thing is here
-
20:54 - 20:56Paul's not done.
-
20:56 - 20:58Paul's not done.
-
20:58 - 21:00He just keeps going on and on.
-
21:00 - 21:02He wants to drive this point home
-
21:02 - 21:03over and over again.
-
21:03 - 21:06Your identity is no longer
-
21:06 - 21:07in your circumcision
-
21:07 - 21:09or your uncircumcision.
-
21:09 - 21:11It's no longer in the color of your skin.
-
21:11 - 21:15Your truest identity is not on that level.
-
21:15 - 21:17Your identity is somewhere else now.
-
21:17 - 21:20And look at v. 19.
-
21:20 - 21:26"...fellow citizens with the saints,
-
21:26 - 21:29members of the household of God."
-
21:29 - 21:32But then he goes even further.
-
21:32 - 21:35The reconciled ones are all being -
-
21:35 - 21:37and here's that word -
-
21:37 - 21:39jointed or joined together.
-
21:39 - 21:43Fitly framed together.
-
21:43 - 21:46"...Into a temple for God to dwell in."
-
21:46 - 21:48And you know, the thing about it is
-
21:48 - 21:52some might wonder at that.
-
21:52 - 21:56I just said Paul goes even further.
-
21:56 - 22:00Does that even sound right?
-
22:00 - 22:01Some might wonder that I say
-
22:01 - 22:04Paul goes even further.
-
22:04 - 22:10Look, to go from family to building -
-
22:10 - 22:13it is really an escalation of imagery
-
22:13 - 22:15to go from the one to the other,
-
22:15 - 22:16but it might not feel like that.
-
22:16 - 22:26Why? Well, family seems warm.
-
22:26 - 22:30It seems loving.
-
22:30 - 22:31It's just not as nice a picture
-
22:31 - 22:35to think about building pieces in a wall.
-
22:35 - 22:41Is Paul's imagery really escalating here?
-
22:41 - 22:43Oh yeah.
-
22:43 - 22:46Don't think warmth.
-
22:46 - 22:49Think cohesion.
-
22:49 - 22:51What's that word?
-
22:51 - 22:54That's like glue.
-
22:54 - 22:56Cohesive. Super glue.
-
22:56 - 22:58You glue something together.
-
22:58 - 23:01Adhesion or cohesion.
-
23:01 - 23:03It's the stickiness.
-
23:03 - 23:06It's something being stuck together
-
23:06 - 23:10or built together.
-
23:10 - 23:15That's the imagery of cohesion.
-
23:15 - 23:17Being furthered.
-
23:17 - 23:20Is there cohesion in all
being in the same country? -
23:20 - 23:21To some degree.
-
23:21 - 23:23Is there cohesion in
being in the same family? -
23:23 - 23:24Yeah, maybe even more so.
-
23:24 - 23:28But when you're fitly framed together
-
23:28 - 23:30as a piece of construction material
-
23:30 - 23:33into the same wall,
-
23:33 - 23:34you know what?
-
23:34 - 23:37There's a truer merging of parts
-
23:37 - 23:42than even in a family.
-
23:42 - 23:43You say really?
-
23:43 - 23:44Yeah, you know what?
-
23:44 - 23:48One of the boards in that wall
-
23:48 - 23:49does not say,
-
23:49 - 23:54well, I think I'm going to get
married and move to Missouri. -
23:54 - 23:57They're together.
-
23:57 - 23:59You see, families - people can go
-
23:59 - 24:01different places.
-
24:01 - 24:05There is a closeness in family,
-
24:05 - 24:09but there's a cohesion in building parts
-
24:09 - 24:12that comes even closer.
-
24:12 - 24:15The idea of Jew and Gentile
-
24:15 - 24:18so closely fitly framed together
-
24:18 - 24:20into the same structure
-
24:20 - 24:23seems to be so exceptionally
important to Paul -
24:23 - 24:24that you know what?
-
24:24 - 24:26It's assumed that he actually
-
24:26 - 24:29invents a word right here.
-
24:29 - 24:35Now, I'm not the world's
most renowned etymologist. -
24:35 - 24:38(studier of words)
-
24:38 - 24:41But Lloyd-Jones says Paul invented it.
-
24:41 - 24:43He said there's no indication
-
24:43 - 24:45that the word ever shows up
-
24:45 - 24:47anywhere else in history;
-
24:47 - 24:49anywhere else outside of Ephesians.
-
24:49 - 24:52And it can't be found
in any secular writing. -
24:52 - 24:54It's thought that what Paul was doing
-
24:54 - 24:58was he was grasping for imagery
-
24:58 - 25:01or for a term and he was limited -
-
25:01 - 25:03limited enough in his own vocabulary
-
25:03 - 25:05that he needed to create a word
-
25:05 - 25:07to try to communicate to these folks
-
25:07 - 25:09exactly what he meant.
-
25:09 - 25:11And what he did was he basically took
-
25:11 - 25:13three separate words
-
25:13 - 25:17and stuck them all together
-
25:17 - 25:22in apparently what was
an invention of his own. -
25:22 - 25:25The three words are this:
-
25:25 - 25:30The first one is "sun,"
-
25:30 - 25:33which means "together with."
-
25:33 - 25:38The second one is "harmos."
-
25:38 - 25:41Now Jeff's going to correct me
-
25:41 - 25:43if my Greek pronunciation isn't right.
-
25:43 - 25:45You know, it's funny.
-
25:45 - 25:47As Americans we like to say
-
25:47 - 25:49about Greek or Hebrew,
-
25:49 - 25:54well, that isn't the way you say it.
-
25:54 - 25:58We actually had a Hebrew Christian
-
25:58 - 26:03sit at our table before.
-
26:03 - 26:07Brethren, he said words
from the Old Testament -
26:07 - 26:09in ways you would not
even recognize them. -
26:09 - 26:11And you know, we're
correcting one another. -
26:11 - 26:12Well, this is the way you say it.
-
26:12 - 26:16But if you actually heard the way
that it was said in the original language, -
26:16 - 26:17we'd probably all recognize
-
26:17 - 26:19that we're just doing good enough
-
26:19 - 26:22if we can communicate in our own
-
26:22 - 26:24Anglican pronunciation.
-
26:24 - 26:28But, you have "sun" - together with;
-
26:28 - 26:33"harmos" which means "joint."
-
26:33 - 26:36Joined together with.
-
26:36 - 26:40And then "logeo"
-
26:40 - 26:43which is the verb of "logos,"
-
26:43 - 26:52which has the idea to arrange in order.
-
26:52 - 26:54You know what happens?
-
26:54 - 26:55The King James Version
-
26:55 - 26:58actually comes the closest
-
26:58 - 27:00to striving to bring
-
27:00 - 27:02all three components out.
-
27:02 - 27:04They actually use three
words in the English -
27:04 - 27:07to parallel the three in the Greek.
-
27:07 - 27:11Fitly framed together.
-
27:11 - 27:15It's the idea of logeo is to arrange;
-
27:15 - 27:18like even an arrangement of music
-
27:18 - 27:20or an arrangement of a sentence.
-
27:20 - 27:23But it's to put something in order,
-
27:23 - 27:24and it's a picture -
-
27:24 - 27:26it's what God is doing to us.
-
27:26 - 27:29It's not something that
we're doing to ourselves. -
27:29 - 27:33God is placing in the church
-
27:33 - 27:39and joining together with
-
27:39 - 27:40and fitly framing.
-
27:40 - 27:43It's the idea of harmoniously
-
27:43 - 27:47fitting together.
-
27:47 - 27:49It is a tight cohesiveness.
-
27:49 - 27:53And Paul just invents this word
-
27:53 - 27:57and says to these Gentiles,
-
27:57 - 28:02do you really recognize how one you are?
-
28:02 - 28:06How closely fitted together?
-
28:06 - 28:09And obviously there's
something profound in this. -
28:09 - 28:12When Paul does this;
-
28:12 - 28:16when he invents this,
-
28:16 - 28:18brethren, this is the church.
-
28:18 - 28:20That's what we have going here.
-
28:20 - 28:23That's what we have a picture of here.
-
28:23 - 28:24He wants to try to explain
-
28:24 - 28:26to these Ephesian Gentiles
-
28:26 - 28:28to feel their close cohesion
-
28:28 - 28:30with these Jews and with everyone else
-
28:30 - 28:31who's a Christian.
-
28:31 - 28:35God takes each one of these living stones
-
28:35 - 28:39and carefully arranges them by design,
-
28:39 - 28:42and He puts them in here
-
28:42 - 28:44and fitly frames -
-
28:44 - 28:45you think about framing a window.
-
28:45 - 28:46And they're fitted.
-
28:46 - 28:48It's almost like there's one after another
-
28:48 - 28:50and they're fitly framed together
-
28:50 - 28:53and joined together in cohesion
-
28:53 - 28:59and a tightness.
-
28:59 - 29:01This is the church.
-
29:01 - 29:03And do you know what
the building blocks are? -
29:03 - 29:05They're living stones,
-
29:05 - 29:08and they've got every
different shade of skin -
29:08 - 29:11under the sun.
-
29:11 - 29:13That's the reality.
-
29:13 - 29:15Various nationalities,
-
29:15 - 29:17skin colors -
-
29:17 - 29:21they used to be separated,
-
29:21 - 29:22disjointed,
-
29:22 - 29:27unharmonious, conflicting, clashing...
-
29:27 - 29:29It's like as a child,
-
29:29 - 29:35I remember I got a battleship model.
-
29:35 - 29:37Remember the old models?
-
29:37 - 29:38You put them together.
-
29:38 - 29:42I don't if young people
even do that anymore. -
29:42 - 29:44And you pull the top off
-
29:44 - 29:49and you basically have
these frames of plastic -
29:49 - 29:53with all the individual
parts across there. -
29:53 - 29:55And you've got, typically,
several sheets of these things, -
29:55 - 29:57and you pull them out.
-
29:57 - 29:58And you've got the big pieces
-
29:58 - 30:02like the halves of the hull and whatever,
-
30:02 - 30:04and you begin to put
all these pieces together. -
30:04 - 30:05At first, they're all disjointed.
-
30:05 - 30:08They're disconnected.
-
30:08 - 30:11But then you take out that model glue
-
30:11 - 30:13and you begin to put them together,.
-
30:13 - 30:16And you know, some of
the pieces are the same. -
30:16 - 30:17Many of them are not the same.
-
30:17 - 30:18They're not like each other.
-
30:18 - 30:20It's not like a cookie cutter thing.
-
30:20 - 30:22If you just opened it up
-
30:22 - 30:23and you had a hundred pieces
-
30:23 - 30:26that all looked identical,
what do you create out of that? -
30:26 - 30:27It's the same with the church.
-
30:27 - 30:30Paul uses other illustrations
in 1 Corinthians 12, -
30:30 - 30:32but where do you get a body
-
30:32 - 30:34if everybody's an eye?
-
30:34 - 30:34You don't.
-
30:34 - 30:36Where do you get a battleship
-
30:36 - 30:38if everything is a gun turret?
-
30:38 - 30:39You don't.
-
30:39 - 30:41You end up with some
ugly horrendous thing. -
30:41 - 30:44It doesn't even go together.
-
30:44 - 30:45You could glue it all together,
-
30:45 - 30:50but it's going to be a monster.
-
30:50 - 30:53But as a child, you put
all those pieces together. -
30:53 - 30:56This is what God is doing in the church.
-
30:56 - 30:59Fitly framing.
-
30:59 - 31:02And brethren, I'll tell you this.
-
31:02 - 31:05About 17 years ago,
-
31:05 - 31:09when we started this church,
-
31:09 - 31:13I was just naive enough to think
-
31:13 - 31:14and to actually believe
-
31:14 - 31:17that texts like this
-
31:17 - 31:20had real life implications.
-
31:20 - 31:22I believe that.
-
31:22 - 31:26I actually believed that if such
radically different people -
31:26 - 31:28as Jews and Gentiles
-
31:28 - 31:35could actually lose their
own native identities -
31:35 - 31:37and so identify with Christ,
-
31:37 - 31:39that they could come together
-
31:39 - 31:40in the same churches
-
31:40 - 31:42and function together and live together
-
31:42 - 31:43and love together
-
31:43 - 31:45and spread the Gospel together.
-
31:45 - 31:47I actually was naive enough to think
-
31:47 - 31:49blacks and whites could
do that in San Antonio. -
31:49 - 31:53Along with the majority population
-
31:53 - 31:55of the Hispanics.
-
31:55 - 31:57And thankfully, if God threw Asians
-
31:57 - 32:00into that mix as well.
-
32:00 - 32:02I thought it might be
just reasonable enough -
32:02 - 32:04to think that if we
located our church meetings -
32:04 - 32:07here on the east side of San Antonio,
-
32:07 - 32:08we might actually witness
-
32:08 - 32:10the same power
-
32:10 - 32:12that brought Jew and Gentile together
-
32:12 - 32:17bring all sorts of different
people together here. -
32:17 - 32:20That was my thinking.
-
32:20 - 32:22And you know what? Some might think
-
32:22 - 32:25that I'm reading too much into the passage
-
32:25 - 32:30in these last two verses of chapter 2.
-
32:30 - 32:33But the image produced in my mind,
-
32:33 - 32:37it wasn't just a theoretical image.
-
32:37 - 32:41It was an image that I saw
-
32:41 - 32:47came right down to local churches.
-
32:47 - 32:50See, I didn't really imagine the temple
-
32:50 - 32:55being built and all the stones over there
-
32:55 - 32:57are black;
-
32:57 - 33:01and all the stones right there are white;
-
33:01 - 33:03and all the stones right there
-
33:03 - 33:04may have a reddish hue
-
33:04 - 33:06or a yellowish hue.
-
33:06 - 33:09I didn't see it like that.
-
33:09 - 33:11I saw them fitly framed
together in my mind. -
33:11 - 33:14Maybe you think I'm
reading too much into it, -
33:14 - 33:18but like I say, I was just naive enough
-
33:18 - 33:23to think that a brother with dark skin
-
33:23 - 33:27could be placed in there.
-
33:27 - 33:29And then a Hispanic sister
-
33:29 - 33:33could be placed next to that.
-
33:33 - 33:36And then an Asian sister
-
33:36 - 33:40could be placed next to that.
-
33:40 - 33:43And I actually believed,
-
33:43 - 33:45well, if God could do that back then,
-
33:45 - 33:48God can do that now.
-
33:48 - 33:50I mean, if God is capable.
-
33:50 - 33:51And the thing is,
-
33:51 - 33:53I didn't just think,
-
33:53 - 33:56oh, that's for heaven.
-
33:56 - 33:57See, we have to wait for heaven
-
33:57 - 34:00because here everybody's going
to be in their Korean church; -
34:00 - 34:02everybody's going to be
in their Indian church; -
34:02 - 34:04everybody's going to be
in their white church; -
34:04 - 34:06in their Hispanic church,
in their black church. -
34:06 - 34:07And we wait for then.
-
34:07 - 34:09Then, of course, it's all
going to mix together. -
34:09 - 34:12You see, I just kind of thought
-
34:12 - 34:14that the fact that we're being built
-
34:14 - 34:16together this way actually has to do with
-
34:16 - 34:17the here and now
-
34:17 - 34:20and right in our generation.
-
34:20 - 34:22And I kind of thought that
-
34:22 - 34:25side by side we could work together
-
34:25 - 34:31for the sake of the Gospel.
-
34:31 - 34:35Brethren, I'll tell you this.
-
34:35 - 34:40I did not know exactly
how it would happen, -
34:40 - 34:43but in those first seven months
-
34:43 - 34:46of the life of this church,
-
34:46 - 34:50this was becoming more and more
-
34:50 - 34:52of a burden.
-
34:52 - 34:53Now, let me tell you,
-
34:53 - 34:55we started by meeting on
-
34:55 - 34:59the south side of the city.
-
34:59 - 35:02I'm not going to say it's all Hispanic,
-
35:02 - 35:05but heavily so.
-
35:05 - 35:07That's where we had a Bible study
-
35:07 - 35:11for a number of years.
-
35:11 - 35:15But you know, as time went on,
-
35:15 - 35:18I didn't want to stay there.
-
35:18 - 35:20I had my eye on this part of the city.
-
35:20 - 35:22And I know there were voices saying
-
35:22 - 35:24well, that's not right.
-
35:24 - 35:26If God called you to be on the south side,
-
35:26 - 35:28who are you to be moving away from it?
-
35:28 - 35:31Well, I'll tell you what
God was doing inside me -
35:31 - 35:34was trying to think strategically -
-
35:34 - 35:36if we're going to have a church
-
35:36 - 35:38where blacks and whites and Hispanics
-
35:38 - 35:42and other ethnicities are likely
-
35:42 - 35:45going to come together,
-
35:45 - 35:48what I felt like was
-
35:48 - 35:50if we could be close to downtown
-
35:50 - 35:53and maybe actually off into a more
-
35:53 - 35:56black part of the city,
-
35:56 - 36:01I thought that's the
strategic location to be. -
36:01 - 36:02Now, you may take issue with that.
-
36:02 - 36:04But that was my whole thinking.
-
36:04 - 36:05My thinking was,
-
36:05 - 36:07let's go to where the needs are;
-
36:07 - 36:09let's go to where the prostitutes are;
-
36:09 - 36:11let's go to where the drug problems are;
-
36:11 - 36:13let's go to where they need the Gospel;
-
36:13 - 36:15but let's also position this
-
36:15 - 36:16where we're close to downtown.
-
36:16 - 36:18You've got maybe what tends to be
-
36:18 - 36:21the more white areas to the north.
-
36:21 - 36:23You've got the more
black areas to the east. -
36:23 - 36:26West side is little Mexico.
-
36:26 - 36:29South side is going
to be heavily Hispanic, -
36:29 - 36:33but it felt central.
-
36:33 - 36:36That was my thinking: central.
-
36:36 - 36:38Because that was the desire.
-
36:38 - 36:39Now as I looked out at the church,
-
36:39 - 36:42it was all Hispanic in those first days
-
36:42 - 36:44except me.
-
36:44 - 36:46But I began to pray.
-
36:46 - 36:48I recognized, no matter
-
36:48 - 36:49where you are in this city,
-
36:49 - 36:52if God's working with us,
-
36:52 - 36:54Hispanics are going to be there.
-
36:54 - 36:56But it's going to take an extra effort
-
36:56 - 36:59to try to bring whites and blacks
-
36:59 - 37:01into the same church.
-
37:01 - 37:03So, strategically, where should we be?
-
37:03 - 37:04And I began to pray,
-
37:04 - 37:05Lord, please...
-
37:05 - 37:07And it wasn't just skin colors;
-
37:07 - 37:09I often prayed -
-
37:09 - 37:11those that were here in the early days,
-
37:11 - 37:13it was often that the converted lawyer
-
37:13 - 37:15would sit next to the
converted prostitute, -
37:15 - 37:17whatever their colors.
-
37:17 - 37:20But I wanted this different
social strata as well. -
37:20 - 37:21God saving from the rich.
-
37:21 - 37:24I know not many (1 Corinthians 1),
-
37:24 - 37:27but some and many of those
-
37:27 - 37:29in the poorer sections.
-
37:29 - 37:30Look, could we have moved
-
37:30 - 37:31up to the north side?
-
37:31 - 37:33Could we have moved
up to Stone Oak? -
37:33 - 37:34Yes, we could have.
-
37:34 - 37:36I mean, there was
freedom there to do that. -
37:36 - 37:39But that wasn't the agenda -
-
37:39 - 37:40not in my heart.
-
37:40 - 37:42Not based on texts like this.
-
37:42 - 37:44I had an image in my mind
-
37:44 - 37:46of this multi-colored
-
37:46 - 37:50fitly framed together,
-
37:50 - 37:52and I didn't want to
wait to heaven for it. -
37:52 - 37:54I wanted to see that cohesiveness
-
37:54 - 37:55worked out right now.
-
37:55 - 37:57Because brethren, I really believe
-
37:57 - 37:58that it's a testimony
-
37:58 - 38:00about the grace and the power of God.
-
38:00 - 38:02I believe that.
-
38:02 - 38:04I believe it says something about
-
38:04 - 38:05what the power of the cross
-
38:05 - 38:08is able to accomplish in people.
-
38:08 - 38:10And I knew what I saw
up there in Michigan - -
38:10 - 38:12that was not a testimony
-
38:12 - 38:15to any power of any cross.
-
38:15 - 38:20Not that kind of - was it racism?
-
38:20 - 38:23Or was it horrible ignorance?
-
38:23 - 38:25Definitely not a man qualified
-
38:25 - 38:27to be in the pulpit.
-
38:27 - 38:29But did Jesus say this?
-
38:29 - 38:31Did He say, well,
-
38:31 - 38:35people will know that you're My disciples
-
38:35 - 38:37by the fact that blacks need to stay
-
38:37 - 38:38in their churches,
-
38:38 - 38:40and whites need to stay in their churches,
-
38:40 - 38:42and there's Hipanics in theirs.
-
38:42 - 38:44Because we don't love one another
-
38:44 - 38:46enough to work through the differences.
-
38:46 - 38:47Is that what He said?
-
38:47 - 38:49Is that how the world's going
to know that we belong to Him? -
38:49 - 38:51That is not what He said.
-
38:51 - 38:53What He specifically said is that
-
38:53 - 38:57"by this all people will know
-
38:57 - 38:59that you are My disciples,
-
38:59 - 39:02if you have love for one another."
-
39:02 - 39:04Brethren, the truth is
-
39:04 - 39:06that this is the truth.
-
39:06 - 39:09And you know it.
-
39:09 - 39:12If we can't make it in the
same church together, -
39:12 - 39:19it's a lack of love on somebody's part.
-
39:19 - 39:20That's just a reality.
-
39:20 - 39:22Plain and simple.
-
39:22 - 39:25Do you remember the
church there in Acts 6? -
39:25 - 39:26Let me tell you about it.
-
39:26 - 39:29You don't feel this,
-
39:29 - 39:33but it's likely a difference of ethnicity
-
39:33 - 39:35stronger than blacks and whites
-
39:35 - 39:36in the same church.
-
39:36 - 39:42When you had Hebrews and Hellenist Jews
-
39:42 - 39:43in the same church.
-
39:43 - 39:46Did they have problems?
-
39:46 - 39:51Of course, they had problems!
-
39:51 - 39:55Brethren, some people walk around
-
39:55 - 40:00almost with this foreboding:
-
40:00 - 40:06"there are problems in this church."
-
40:06 - 40:09Of course there are!
-
40:09 - 40:12Were there racial problems in that church?
-
40:12 - 40:14Of course there were!
-
40:14 - 40:18Look, this issue isn't whether
or not we have problems. -
40:18 - 40:21The issue is that love works
through those problems. -
40:21 - 40:24You know what was happening?
-
40:24 - 40:27The widows - not any widow.
-
40:27 - 40:32Not widows indiscriminately.
-
40:32 - 40:34But the widows of a certain race
-
40:34 - 40:36in the church -
-
40:36 - 40:43the widows of the Hellenist Greeks.
-
40:43 - 40:49They were not being taken care of
-
40:49 - 40:52like the Hebrew widows were.
-
40:52 - 40:56That kind of a race thing. And it is.
-
40:56 - 40:58Somehow they were being neglected.
-
40:58 - 41:00Somehow they were being overlooked.
-
41:00 - 41:02You know what?
-
41:02 - 41:04Did the apostles say,
-
41:04 - 41:08Hellenist Greeks, this
isn't going to work. -
41:08 - 41:09The way to remedy this:
-
41:09 - 41:11pack your bags, go down the street,
-
41:11 - 41:13start a Hellenist Greek church.
-
41:13 - 41:15That's what we need to do.
-
41:15 - 41:17Because after all that's what
-
41:17 - 41:20just about everybody does today.
-
41:20 - 41:22That's not what they did.
-
41:22 - 41:24What they did was they looked at it
-
41:24 - 41:27and they said you know this is a reality.
-
41:27 - 41:32And they sought to meet the need.
-
41:32 - 41:34And what's interesting to me is
-
41:34 - 41:36that it has often been observed
-
41:36 - 41:39that the seven men that were chosen
-
41:39 - 41:43were actually Greeks.
-
41:43 - 41:45And I've thought about that.
-
41:45 - 41:47You know, that bothered me.
-
41:47 - 41:49That bothered me
-
41:49 - 41:52for a long time that they did that.
-
41:52 - 41:54Because I thought,
-
41:54 - 41:56shouldn't the Hebrews
-
41:56 - 41:59have been able to become deacons
-
41:59 - 42:01just as ably as the Greeks
-
42:01 - 42:05and minister to the Grecian widows?
-
42:05 - 42:08Why all Greeks?
-
42:08 - 42:10Well, it bothered me.
-
42:10 - 42:12Maybe it still does bother me a little bit
-
42:12 - 42:14that that happened that way,
-
42:14 - 42:16but maybe there's something to it.
-
42:16 - 42:19You don't have to pack up
and move down the street -
42:19 - 42:20and start your own church,
-
42:20 - 42:22but maybe there is something to
-
42:22 - 42:24Grecian men.
-
42:24 - 42:25Maybe they're more plugged in.
-
42:25 - 42:27Maybe they're more sensitive.
-
42:27 - 42:28Maybe they're more aware.
-
42:28 - 42:33Maybe they would be able to relate better.
-
42:33 - 42:34That's just a reality.
-
42:34 - 42:36We come from different backgrounds.
-
42:36 - 42:38Maybe it was better on a practical level.
-
42:38 - 42:41Well, that's what happened.
-
42:41 - 42:42Yeah, they had problems.
-
42:42 - 42:45And you know what?
-
42:45 - 42:50I know that if we try to have multiple
-
42:50 - 42:55various ethnicities and
different backgrounds - -
42:55 - 42:59brethren, I've heard it
said before in this church. -
42:59 - 43:01I've heard it said.
-
43:01 - 43:04I know it's true.
-
43:04 - 43:07People have said
-
43:07 - 43:08they are now friends with
-
43:08 - 43:10and they hang out with people
that in their lost state, -
43:10 - 43:12they would have never hung out with;
-
43:12 - 43:14they would have never been friends with.
-
43:14 - 43:17Well, of course that's true.
-
43:17 - 43:18Of course it is.
-
43:18 - 43:21We ought to expect that
that's going to be true. -
43:21 - 43:23Because in our lost state,
-
43:23 - 43:26we were divided; we were disunified;
-
43:26 - 43:28we were unharmonious.
-
43:28 - 43:29There was clashing.
-
43:29 - 43:32There was no cohesion.
-
43:32 - 43:35We were hated by each other
-
43:35 - 43:37and we were hating one another.
-
43:37 - 43:40And that's fairly biblically descriptive
-
43:40 - 43:44of what lost people are like.
-
43:44 - 43:47But something's happened.
-
43:47 - 43:50And you know that church didn't remain
-
43:50 - 43:54just apathetic and indifferent
-
43:54 - 44:00to the needs - to the true needs
-
44:00 - 44:06of one of the ethnic groups in the church.
-
44:06 - 44:10Brethren, through the years,
-
44:10 - 44:12I remember we had when
we were over at Fatty's, -
44:12 - 44:16an Indian family came from Houston.
-
44:16 - 44:18I asked them where do you go to church?
-
44:18 - 44:20Oh, we go to an Indian church
-
44:20 - 44:23in Houston.
-
44:23 - 44:25I travel over to Romania
-
44:25 - 44:27and they've got the Romanian church
-
44:27 - 44:28and the Gypsy church.
-
44:28 - 44:34Now look, again, I'm
reading Adoniram Judson. -
44:34 - 44:36You know what, they saw converts
-
44:36 - 44:38among the British troops.
-
44:38 - 44:39He was an American missionary.
-
44:39 - 44:42But they saw converts
among the British troops. -
44:42 - 44:45They saw converts among the Burmese,
-
44:45 - 44:48among the Taling people
and among the Karens. -
44:48 - 44:50And they put them
all in different churches, -
44:50 - 44:51but you know what?
-
44:51 - 44:54They spoke different languages.
-
44:54 - 44:55I understand that.
-
44:55 - 44:58Look, we've got to be able to communicate
-
44:58 - 45:00to one another in a language
that we understand. -
45:00 - 45:02Otherwise, we're not going to be
able to preach to one another. -
45:02 - 45:04We're not going to be able to communicate.
-
45:04 - 45:07You know, the whole Christian life
is involved in so much communication. -
45:07 - 45:09If you can't speak the same language,
-
45:09 - 45:10there are real barriers.
-
45:10 - 45:12And I understand that.
-
45:12 - 45:13I understand that with the
Spanish-speaking group -
45:13 - 45:15that meets here.
-
45:15 - 45:16We're trying to have interpretation,
-
45:16 - 45:19hopefully put the music in Spanish
-
45:19 - 45:20up on the screen.
-
45:20 - 45:26I understand that when
there's linguistic differences. -
45:26 - 45:27But the reality is
-
45:27 - 45:31why the Romanians and the Gypsies
-
45:31 - 45:34have to be in different churches
-
45:34 - 45:36when they know the same language
-
45:36 - 45:39and they both speak
Romanian very fluently. -
45:39 - 45:41Do you know what happened
-
45:41 - 45:48when - the example I'm
thinking of specifically, -
45:48 - 45:55a bunch of Italians got converted
-
45:55 - 46:00in a revival situation in New York City.
-
46:00 - 46:02And I'm trying to think of the pastor
-
46:02 - 46:05who got so disgusted with the situation
-
46:05 - 46:07that he left.
-
46:07 - 46:10Was it Tozer?
-
46:10 - 46:17A well-known preacher saw
-
46:17 - 46:23where the white folks in New York City,
-
46:23 - 46:25they're preaching the Gospel.
-
46:25 - 46:27They were actually evangelistic,
-
46:27 - 46:28and you know what God did?
-
46:28 - 46:30Instead of saving a whole
bunch of white people, -
46:30 - 46:32He saved a whole bunch of Italians.
-
46:32 - 46:35Now, Italians might
be considered Caucasian, -
46:35 - 46:38but they were different.
-
46:38 - 46:40And you know what?
-
46:40 - 46:42The people in that church just felt like
-
46:42 - 46:45it just messed up their church too much.
-
46:45 - 46:47And so they shipped them all off
-
46:47 - 46:49and they started an Italian church.
-
46:49 - 46:51And whoever the preacher
was there at the time -
46:51 - 46:55said, uh uh, I don't like this.
-
46:55 - 46:57Was it A.B. Simpson?
-
46:57 - 46:59Anyway, I can't remember the name.
-
46:59 - 47:01But I feel the same way.
-
47:01 - 47:03When I see those kinds of things happen
-
47:03 - 47:06it's like wait. Isn't
something broken here? -
47:06 - 47:08What are we saying?
-
47:08 - 47:10Are we saying that those people
-
47:10 - 47:14are too poor for them to be among us?
-
47:14 - 47:16I recognize this:
-
47:16 - 47:18That if we had gone up to Stone Oak,
-
47:18 - 47:19we would not be attracting people
-
47:19 - 47:21off of Hackberry and Cherry
-
47:21 - 47:25to come to that church there.
-
47:25 - 47:27Somebody recently told me but
-
47:27 - 47:29I don't know when they visited
-
47:29 - 47:31Hagee's church, but
they were talking about -
47:31 - 47:32all the rich people up there.
-
47:32 - 47:33That's up in Stone Oak.
-
47:33 - 47:34I recognize this,
-
47:34 - 47:37some rich people might be willing
-
47:37 - 47:39to come here, but most of the people
-
47:39 - 47:40from the inner city are not
-
47:40 - 47:42willing to go there.
-
47:42 - 47:44Perhaps. Perhaps there are some.
-
47:44 - 47:47But I just felt like this
was the most strategic -
47:47 - 47:48if we're going to really seek
-
47:48 - 47:49to make this happen;
-
47:49 - 47:51see these parts come together.
-
47:51 - 47:53Brethren, from time to time,
-
47:53 - 47:55I was reminded of this -
-
47:55 - 47:57Ruby and I met with Jonathan and Letty
-
47:57 - 47:58on Friday,
-
47:58 - 48:01and Ruby brought up how
-
48:01 - 48:03many different times, people who have
-
48:03 - 48:05visited our church from the outside
-
48:05 - 48:07and they have commented
-
48:07 - 48:09on the racial diversity here.
-
48:09 - 48:11And I've heard that too.
-
48:11 - 48:13I've heard those comments.
-
48:13 - 48:14How that blesses people
-
48:14 - 48:16because they say things like
-
48:16 - 48:19I haven't seen that before.
-
48:19 - 48:22Brethren, let me tell you something.
-
48:22 - 48:29The racial diversity that we
have at Grace is unique. -
48:29 - 48:32I'm not saying we're the
only place that has it. -
48:32 - 48:35But it's unique and it's special.
-
48:35 - 48:40And look, it's not found
in many other places. -
48:40 - 48:44And if we're going to keep this diversity,
-
48:44 - 48:48we need to fight for it.
-
48:48 - 48:50But here's the thing,
you'll never fight for it -
48:50 - 48:52unless you value it.
-
48:52 - 48:54See, I value it.
-
48:54 - 48:56Because I look at Scripture and I believe
-
48:56 - 48:59it bears witness to these verses.
-
48:59 - 49:01And I believe it bears witness
-
49:01 - 49:04to the reconciling power of the cross
-
49:04 - 49:07and of the blood to remove the barriers.
-
49:07 - 49:10When I hear about barriers being removed,
-
49:10 - 49:11again, maybe you think I'm
-
49:11 - 49:13reading too much into the text.
-
49:13 - 49:14I recognize that there were
-
49:14 - 49:16Scriptural barriers between
-
49:16 - 49:17Jews and Gentiles.
-
49:17 - 49:18I recognize that.
-
49:18 - 49:21But when I hear about
the barriers being removed, -
49:21 - 49:23again, I'm naive enough to think
-
49:23 - 49:26that means every barrier that keeps
-
49:26 - 49:27any ethnicity apart.
-
49:27 - 49:29They have been broken down.
-
49:29 - 49:32And that our identities in the two old men
-
49:32 - 49:33that we used to be -
-
49:33 - 49:36us and whoever else you
want to compare yourself to - -
49:36 - 49:38have been dissolved if we're in Christ.
-
49:38 - 49:42And our new greatest identity
-
49:42 - 49:47is the new man.
-
49:47 - 49:58Brethren, just recently,
somebody mentioned -
49:58 - 50:00Hudson Taylor.
-
50:00 - 50:04And I love Hudson Taylor.
-
50:04 - 50:07I love his example.
-
50:07 - 50:11Just recently, there's been some dialogue
-
50:11 - 50:15among some in the church about music,
-
50:15 - 50:19and maybe even racial aspects
-
50:19 - 50:22that affect the music.
-
50:22 - 50:29And it was suggested that maybe
-
50:29 - 50:33the example of Hudson Taylor
-
50:33 - 50:36might be brought in and applied
-
50:36 - 50:38to this situation.
-
50:38 - 50:40And I would agree.
-
50:40 - 50:41What's the example of Hudson Taylor?
-
50:41 - 50:43I love it. I think there's something there
-
50:43 - 50:46for us to all glean from it.
-
50:46 - 50:51Hudson Taylor, unlike the others
-
50:51 - 50:57who went to China before him -
-
50:57 - 51:02Hudson Taylor and a man named Burns -
-
51:02 - 51:06he was used in a revival
in McCheyne's church - -
51:06 - 51:10they dressed like the Chinese.
-
51:10 - 51:11They wore their shoes -
-
51:11 - 51:14really uncomfortable horrible things.
-
51:14 - 51:15They grew their hair
-
51:15 - 51:18in that really weird 1800's way
-
51:18 - 51:19where they had the ponytail,
-
51:19 - 51:22but the front part was all shaved.
-
51:22 - 51:24So they had the hair
that came off the back -
51:24 - 51:26in a ponytail (incomplete thought).
-
51:26 - 51:28And you know, for a European,
-
51:28 - 51:30you're in that sun and that heat
-
51:30 - 51:34and it burns his head.
-
51:34 - 51:36He wore their clothes.
-
51:36 - 51:37So we look at that.
-
51:37 - 51:40And sometimes that can
be brought up today. -
51:40 - 51:42And it was suggested that
-
51:42 - 51:51if we want to reach east side blacks,
-
51:51 - 51:55shouldn't we be like Hudson Taylor?
-
51:55 - 51:57And I would say yes,
-
51:57 - 52:00we should be like Hudson Taylor.
-
52:00 - 52:03But here's the thing,
-
52:03 - 52:05Hudson Taylor went into China
-
52:05 - 52:10because he desired to
see a Chinese church. -
52:10 - 52:12You see, brethren,
-
52:12 - 52:13I don't want a black church.
-
52:13 - 52:18I don't want a white church.
-
52:18 - 52:23If you're going to use Hudson Taylor,
-
52:23 - 52:25what you want to think about
-
52:25 - 52:29is what would Hudson Taylor have done
-
52:29 - 52:31if instead of just reaching the Chinese,
-
52:31 - 52:34he wanted to reach blacks,
-
52:34 - 52:38Hispanics, Asians, and whites
-
52:38 - 52:45all at the same time?
-
52:45 - 52:47You might say, well, he probably
-
52:47 - 52:57would have dressed really funny.
-
52:57 - 53:00How do you do that?
-
53:00 - 53:01Well, you know what?
-
53:01 - 53:03When we came here
to the east side, -
53:03 - 53:04I didn't know.
-
53:04 - 53:11I remember we moved to Hackberry.
-
53:11 - 53:12And it was like,
-
53:12 - 53:14ok, we bought the place,
-
53:14 - 53:17and it had a glass front door.
-
53:17 - 53:21And I have this image in my mind
-
53:21 - 53:24of us kind of looking out that door.
-
53:24 - 53:26Ok, we're here.
-
53:26 - 53:30What do we do?
-
53:30 - 53:33I don't know.
-
53:33 - 53:37But I know this,
-
53:37 - 53:42our mandate is to preach the Gospel.
-
53:42 - 53:46I remember going down
to that Salvation Army -
53:46 - 53:50over there on Nolan.
-
53:50 - 53:52We're speaking to people about the Lord.
-
53:52 - 53:53We're handing out tracts,
-
53:53 - 53:55and this guy says,
-
53:55 - 54:01I don't know why you all
came to the east side. -
54:01 - 54:04He said you're never going
to change the east side. -
54:04 - 54:10I said you're right, but God will.
-
54:10 - 54:13That's my hope.
-
54:13 - 54:18Brethren, do you know what you find
-
54:18 - 54:20when you go to chapter 4 of Ephesians?
-
54:20 - 54:23You find that the same word is used:
-
54:23 - 54:25fitly framed together.
-
54:25 - 54:26Paul doesn't just use it once.
-
54:26 - 54:27He uses it twice.
-
54:27 - 54:30And he talks about us being joined
-
54:30 - 54:31and built together.
-
54:31 - 54:34Again, fitly framed together.
-
54:34 - 54:36And he specifically says this:
-
54:36 - 54:43"when each part is working properly."
-
54:43 - 54:46Don't you like that?
-
54:46 - 54:47You know what needs to happen
-
54:47 - 54:49if this thing is really going to work?
-
54:49 - 54:55Each part needs to work properly.
-
54:55 - 54:57You see what they did in Jerusalem?
-
54:57 - 54:58We've got seven guys over here
-
54:58 - 55:01who aren't yet exactly
working just properly right. -
55:01 - 55:03We need to put them in this position
-
55:03 - 55:05where they make sure that the widows
-
55:05 - 55:06are being fed over here.
-
55:06 - 55:09And once they were properly working
-
55:09 - 55:11up to their gift
-
55:11 - 55:14and the need in the church,
-
55:14 - 55:19then the thing was good.
-
55:19 - 55:23Let's be fair.
-
55:23 - 55:26The church came to the east side.
-
55:26 - 55:29It didn't go to the north side.
-
55:29 - 55:35Let's be fair in the
evaluation of our ministries. -
55:35 - 55:37Men of every ethnicity -
-
55:37 - 55:40not every nation in the world,
-
55:40 - 55:41but you think about the men
-
55:41 - 55:44who have stood in this
pulpit and preached. -
55:44 - 55:45It hasn't just been one color,
-
55:45 - 55:48one ethnicity.
-
55:48 - 55:49Think about our evangelism.
-
55:49 - 55:51Have we tried to each UTSA?
-
55:51 - 55:53Yes, we've tried to reach SAC.
-
55:53 - 55:54We actually have tried to reach
-
55:54 - 55:57every single college campus in the city.
-
55:57 - 56:01But we didn't bypass St. Phillips.
-
56:01 - 56:03When we've done nursing home ministries,
-
56:03 - 56:06we haven't gone up to Stone Oak
-
56:06 - 56:10or the Dominion.
-
56:10 - 56:12The vast majority of nursing home ministry
-
56:12 - 56:14that's been done out of this church
-
56:14 - 56:16has been right on Nolan Street.
-
56:16 - 56:18Anybody that's ever been there,
-
56:18 - 56:23they can tell you the ethnic
makeup of that place. -
56:23 - 56:25Do you know in our missions -
-
56:25 - 56:27the missionaries we've supported;
-
56:27 - 56:29the missionaries we've sent out -
-
56:29 - 56:30you're pretty hard pressed
-
56:30 - 56:32to find any kind of Caucasian people
-
56:32 - 56:35that we have sought to reach out to.
-
56:35 - 56:37There's been some perhaps.
-
56:37 - 56:40You've heard me talking more recently
-
56:40 - 56:42about Poland and Ireland.
-
56:42 - 56:45But that's after 17 years.
-
56:45 - 56:47Primarily our outreach has been what?
-
56:47 - 56:49Indians of India,
-
56:49 - 56:55The Nepalese of Nepal, or the Nepali,
-
56:55 - 56:59Mexicans, Nicaraguans,
-
56:59 - 57:01Indonesians;
-
57:01 - 57:08again Papua, Indonesians.
-
57:08 - 57:12To be fair, and I'm bringing that up
-
57:12 - 57:15because there have been comments made
-
57:15 - 57:16that have come to my ears
-
57:16 - 57:19about the fact that our church
-
57:19 - 57:20is not given sufficiently
-
57:20 - 57:23to certain social justice issues.
-
57:23 - 57:28Listen, you're not showing due justice
-
57:28 - 57:30to any race or ethnicity,
-
57:30 - 57:34unless you're willing to
take the Gospel to them. -
57:34 - 57:37And that has been the primary
agenda of this church -
57:37 - 57:41and will continue to
be the primary agenda. -
57:41 - 57:44The reality is our Grace Houses
-
57:44 - 57:47have housed Asians,
-
57:47 - 57:50Hispanic, black, and white.
-
57:50 - 57:52That's just a reality.
-
57:52 - 57:57The reality is that when
we have had schools, -
57:57 - 58:00children of different ethnicities
-
58:00 - 58:01have been in those schools.
-
58:01 - 58:03When we've had programs for helping
-
58:03 - 58:05husbandless mothers,
-
58:05 - 58:07that's primarily been blacks
-
58:07 - 58:11that have been helped.
-
58:11 - 58:15Brethren, here's the thing.
-
58:15 - 58:18This body, made up of all these
-
58:18 - 58:21different pieces and parts
-
58:21 - 58:23and different colors and ethnicities.
-
58:23 - 58:26It's not cookie cutter.
-
58:26 - 58:27God loves diversity.
-
58:27 - 58:29He loves to make us different.
-
58:29 - 58:31And you know what we should expect?
-
58:31 - 58:32Different people in the church
-
58:32 - 58:34are going to have different burdens?
-
58:34 - 58:37You know what my burden
is for the new year? -
58:37 - 58:39My burden is that the Word of God
-
58:39 - 58:42might have power in this church.
-
58:42 - 58:44I preach.
-
58:44 - 58:45I want that to happen.
-
58:45 - 58:47I desire God would use me in that.
-
58:47 - 58:49We start the APT.
-
58:49 - 58:51I desire that reality.
-
58:51 - 58:52I have a burden to see harmony
-
58:52 - 58:54over in Poland.
-
58:54 - 58:56I have a desire, yes, to see
-
58:56 - 58:58a church started over in Ireland.
-
58:58 - 59:02I desire to see Jinotega
protected and grow. -
59:02 - 59:05I desire to see Monteray under Alberto
-
59:05 - 59:08really prosper. I desire that.
-
59:08 - 59:11I desire to see how God might use
-
59:11 - 59:15Diego and myself in Cuba or in Ecuador.
-
59:15 - 59:17I desire that. Those are my burdens.
-
59:17 - 59:18And you know what?
-
59:18 - 59:22You may have different burdens.
-
59:22 - 59:24And that's ok.
-
59:24 - 59:27And your burden does not
have to be my burden. -
59:27 - 59:29You say what about bearing
one another's burdens? -
59:29 - 59:31Well, yes, but you need to bear mine
-
59:31 - 59:34just as much as I need to bear yours.
-
59:34 - 59:36You see, the reality is
-
59:36 - 59:38that if you have a burden for something
-
59:38 - 59:40that you don't feel like our church is
-
59:40 - 59:41(incomplete thought).
-
59:41 - 59:43You know, I've noticed that
-
59:43 - 59:44there's basically two kinds of people.
-
59:44 - 59:46There are the people that come along
-
59:46 - 59:49and they see a need and they go after it.
-
59:49 - 59:50They say there's a need,
-
59:50 - 59:52and I can answer that.
-
59:52 - 59:53I love that.
-
59:53 - 59:56I remember like Alex Dufre,
she comes into the church -
59:56 - 59:58and she's got a burden for this,
-
59:58 - 60:00and let's start this women's Grace House.
-
60:00 - 60:02That's where James Jennings was.
-
60:02 - 60:04He comes to talk to me
-
60:04 - 60:07about a men's Grace House
-
60:07 - 60:09and I've already been praying about that.
-
60:09 - 60:11I saw the example of Keith Green,
-
60:11 - 60:13and I thought, Lord, we need to do that.
-
60:13 - 60:14And so I'm praying, Lord,
-
60:14 - 60:16give us a house;
give us a guy. -
60:16 - 60:17And here comes James.
-
60:17 - 60:19You know, I've been burdened about this.
-
60:19 - 60:21Lay hold on the need.
-
60:21 - 60:23Then you have the second kind of people
-
60:23 - 60:24that come in and say,
-
60:24 - 60:26look what they're not doing
-
60:26 - 60:29and they want to find
fault with everybody. -
60:29 - 60:30Well, you know what,
-
60:30 - 60:31if you see that there's a need,
-
60:31 - 60:34don't expect that I need to be
burdened about the very same thing -
60:34 - 60:37that you think there's such
a dramatic need about. -
60:37 - 60:42That's the diversity of the church.
-
60:42 - 60:45Brethren, we have a calling:
-
60:45 - 60:48The Great Commission.
-
60:48 - 60:51Let's take that Gospel out.
-
60:51 - 60:53We're on the eve of a new year.
-
60:53 - 60:56I'll tell you what turns
the world upside down, -
60:56 - 60:58what changes this world:
-
60:58 - 61:00it's preaching Christ.
-
61:00 - 61:02What turn the world upside down;
-
61:02 - 61:04what Satan fears:
-
61:04 - 61:05praying people,
-
61:05 - 61:09righteous people, holiness.
-
61:09 - 61:11You know what he fears?
-
61:11 - 61:15He fears holy, righteous, praying people
-
61:15 - 61:17who love one another
-
61:17 - 61:18and love the world enough
-
61:18 - 61:20to take the Gospel out to them.
-
61:20 - 61:21He fears that.
-
61:21 - 61:24Because that does turn
the world upside down. -
61:24 - 61:25People get saved when that happens.
-
61:25 - 61:31His kingdom is damaged when that happens.
-
61:31 - 61:33Brethren, I think, racial diversity
-
61:33 - 61:35in this church is something to fight for.
-
61:35 - 61:36I think it's a good thing.
-
61:36 - 61:38I think it's a testimony to the world.
-
61:38 - 61:39And you remember this:
-
61:39 - 61:42Jesus said they'll know that
-
61:42 - 61:43you're My disciples
-
61:43 - 61:45when you have love for one another.
-
61:45 - 61:46Do you know what that means?
-
61:46 - 61:48That means that Jesus really did expect
-
61:48 - 61:51the world to be watching us.
-
61:51 - 61:53Believe me, they're watching.
-
61:53 - 61:54Your lost family members,
-
61:54 - 61:55your lost friends,
-
61:55 - 61:57your lost co-workers,
-
61:57 - 61:58they're watching.
-
61:58 - 62:03The world is watching.
-
62:03 - 62:05Is this worth fighting for?
-
62:05 - 62:07To me, it is.
-
62:07 - 62:12To me, this construction,
-
62:12 - 62:16fitly framed together.
-
62:16 - 62:18Our truest identity:
-
62:18 - 62:22we are in the dwelling place of God.
-
62:22 - 62:26We are reconciled in one body
-
62:26 - 62:28through the cross.
-
62:28 - 62:31One new man in place of the two.
-
62:31 - 62:34I don't want a black church.
I don't want a white church. -
62:34 - 62:35You know what I want?
-
62:35 - 62:37I want a new man church.
-
62:37 - 62:39That's what I desire.
-
62:39 - 62:43(incomplete thought)
-
62:43 - 62:47Have you ever noticed?
-
62:47 - 62:50You'll never see the same sunset twice.
-
62:50 - 62:52Ever.
-
62:52 - 62:54Now, you people that
aren't from the north, -
62:54 - 62:56you don't know this probably,
-
62:56 - 62:58unless you just heard it through
the grapevine somewhere, -
62:58 - 63:00there's never two snowflakes
-
63:00 - 63:03just exactly alike.
-
63:03 - 63:04They're always different.
-
63:04 - 63:06You think how different could they be?
-
63:06 - 63:08Oh, you just put your glove out
-
63:08 - 63:09and let them fall on there,
-
63:09 - 63:11and you begin to look at them.
-
63:11 - 63:13It's kind of like going out at night
-
63:13 - 63:14and looking up at the stars.
-
63:14 - 63:16Even Paul says there in 1 Corinthians 15
-
63:16 - 63:19no two stars have the same glory.
-
63:19 - 63:22There's a glory of this
and a glory of that. -
63:22 - 63:24It's the same way in the building together
-
63:24 - 63:25of the church.
-
63:25 - 63:27There's a glory about every one of us.
-
63:27 - 63:29There's a specific glory.
-
63:29 - 63:33There's a specific distinctness.
-
63:33 - 63:39And in all that variety and distinction,
-
63:39 - 63:41there's a unity.
-
63:41 - 63:43There's a oneness.
-
63:43 - 63:47One new man in place of the two.
-
63:47 - 63:50One body.
-
63:50 - 63:52One kingdom that we're citizens of.
-
63:52 - 63:54One family.
-
63:54 - 63:56One building.
-
63:56 - 64:03Fitly framed together.
-
64:03 - 64:06And I pull in that text from Philippians.
-
64:06 - 64:08Side by side
-
64:08 - 64:12for the sake of the Gospel.
-
64:12 - 64:15Look, I'll just tell you.
-
64:15 - 64:17I was here from day one.
-
64:17 - 64:23I was the first officer in the church.
-
64:23 - 64:28I think that God put a desire for this
-
64:28 - 64:32and a vision for this.
-
64:32 - 64:35It was a prayer that I have desired
-
64:35 - 64:36from the very beginning,
-
64:36 - 64:38that I think God to some degree
-
64:38 - 64:40has answered.
-
64:40 - 64:42I actually don't think it's naive
-
64:42 - 64:45to think that this should work
-
64:45 - 64:48here and now.
-
64:48 - 64:52And I hope that you will seek
-
64:52 - 64:54to fight for this
-
64:54 - 64:58as we go forward.
-
64:58 - 65:00Yeah, we're going to have problems.
-
65:00 - 65:02But we need to be thinking,
-
65:02 - 65:04how does love deal with this?
-
65:04 - 65:08For the sake of the Gospel,
-
65:08 - 65:11how do we move forward?
-
65:11 - 65:16Listen to me carefully.
-
65:16 - 65:22The world out there is full of racism.
-
65:22 - 65:24It's full of disharmony.
-
65:24 - 65:27It's full of hatred.
-
65:27 - 65:29And if you rub shoulders with it,
-
65:29 - 65:33and I was talking about this
last week on the Internet - -
65:33 - 65:35a lot of what purports itself
-
65:35 - 65:37to be Christian, is not Christian.
-
65:37 - 65:39It's ungodly. It's wicked.
-
65:39 - 65:43And it's divisive.
-
65:43 - 65:46And look, it's not going to work.
-
65:46 - 65:48If your greatest identity is being white;
-
65:48 - 65:51if your greatest identity
is being Mexican; -
65:51 - 65:54if your greatest identity is being black,
-
65:54 - 65:58before it is finding your
identity in Christ, -
65:58 - 66:00then you're going to have a problem.
-
66:00 - 66:02You're going to have a big problem.
-
66:02 - 66:04Brethren, this is an identity issue.
-
66:04 - 66:06Where is our identity
-
66:06 - 66:09at the deepest level?
-
66:09 - 66:11Identity.
-
66:11 - 66:13Brethren, I'm a Christian.
-
66:13 - 66:16If you're a Christian, you're my brother,
-
66:16 - 66:18you're my sister.
-
66:18 - 66:21We're being fitly framed together.
-
66:21 - 66:24If you lend an ear to the world,
-
66:24 - 66:26they will tell you this can't work.
-
66:26 - 66:27You ought to hate each other.
-
66:27 - 66:30You ought to stand up for your rights.
-
66:30 - 66:34That's not Jesus' message.
-
66:34 - 66:38That is not His message.
-
66:38 - 66:43So don't bring the world's trash in here
-
66:43 - 66:45in your minds, in your brains.
-
66:45 - 66:47Don't listen to it.
-
66:47 - 66:48You know what?
-
66:48 - 66:50Some people need to read their Bibles
-
66:50 - 66:52more than they need to listen
-
66:52 - 66:59to what's happening on Facebook.
-
66:59 - 67:00May God help us.
-
67:00 - 67:06Father, please, nothing
starts ahead of You. -
67:06 - 67:09Lord, I believe that any burden
-
67:09 - 67:10that was given to me
-
67:10 - 67:12and to the rest of the brethren
-
67:12 - 67:14back there 17 years ago -
-
67:14 - 67:16Lord, that was Your doing.
-
67:16 - 67:22The idea to try to be strategic
-
67:22 - 67:24in making this happen;
-
67:24 - 67:27to have a desire, to pray,
-
67:27 - 67:30Lord, it was because You burdened us.
-
67:30 - 67:32And Lord, when we prayed,
-
67:32 - 67:36we've seen answers to those prayers.
-
67:36 - 67:40Father, my prayer is that
-
67:40 - 67:48as we move forward,
-
67:48 - 67:49Lord, I pray that there would be
-
67:49 - 67:52such an ethnic makeup of this church
-
67:52 - 67:54as would indeed show
-
67:54 - 67:58the power of God, the power of the cross,
-
67:58 - 68:01the power of regeneration.
-
68:01 - 68:03Lord, may we see the beauty
-
68:03 - 68:06of this fitly framed together
-
68:06 - 68:09work out right in our own midst.
-
68:09 - 68:11And I pray, Lord,
-
68:11 - 68:14I pray that You would raise up laborers
-
68:14 - 68:17to lead this church
-
68:17 - 68:21who are Hispanic
-
68:21 - 68:23and black and white,
-
68:23 - 68:26Lord, give us a variety
-
68:26 - 68:29in the leadership level,
-
68:29 - 68:31in elders, in deacons, in missionaries,
-
68:31 - 68:33in evangelists.
-
68:33 - 68:41Lord, I pray, bring us depth.
-
68:41 - 68:45Lord, we see that the real agenda
-
68:45 - 68:49is that we all attain to the full measure
-
68:49 - 68:52of the stature of Christ
-
68:52 - 68:54and we're all being united together
-
68:54 - 68:56in the same faith
-
68:56 - 68:58and the same doctrine
-
68:58 - 68:59and the same knowledge
-
68:59 - 69:01of the Son of God,
-
69:01 - 69:03and I pray Lord, that that would happen,
-
69:03 - 69:05and that it would be
a reality in this church. -
69:05 - 69:07Every piece.
-
69:07 - 69:10Every part
-
69:10 - 69:15working as it should
-
69:15 - 69:19when every piece and every part
-
69:19 - 69:22is working properly.
-
69:22 - 69:24It makes the body to grow
-
69:24 - 69:27so that it builds itself up in love.
-
69:27 - 69:34Lord, may that rule the day.
-
69:34 - 69:36I pray in Christ's name,
-
69:36 - 69:37Amen.
- Title:
- Fitly Framed Together - Tim Conway
- Description:
-
It doesn't matter what shade of skin we have, but by reconciliation through the Cross, the door has been opened so that we actually have real communion with God and we can enter before Him. We are talking about the greatest realities of our identity. Your greatest reality is not the color of your skin. Your greatest reality is that you are one whose sin has been paid for by the blood of Christ. By the blood of Christ all Christians are made one; that is a reality that we must not deny.
MP3: https://illbehonest.com/fitly-framed-together
Text: Ephesians 2:21-22
Listen to Tim's full series on Ephesians on SermonAudio: https://goo.gl/ZZ3Qae
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 01:09:38
Carrie Spradlin edited English subtitles for Fitly Framed Together - Tim Conway | ||
Carrie Spradlin edited English subtitles for Fitly Framed Together - Tim Conway | ||
Carrie Spradlin edited English subtitles for Fitly Framed Together - Tim Conway | ||
Carrie Spradlin edited English subtitles for Fitly Framed Together - Tim Conway | ||
Carrie Spradlin edited English subtitles for Fitly Framed Together - Tim Conway | ||
Carrie Spradlin edited English subtitles for Fitly Framed Together - Tim Conway | ||
Carrie Spradlin edited English subtitles for Fitly Framed Together - Tim Conway | ||
Carrie Spradlin edited English subtitles for Fitly Framed Together - Tim Conway |