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If you're able, would you please
remain standing for the reading 

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of God's Word? 
This morning I'll be reading 

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from Paul's letter to the 
Ephesians, chapter 2, beginning 

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with verse 11, Paul writes. 
Therefore remember that at one 

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time you Gentiles in the flesh, 
called the uncircumcision by 

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what is called the circumcision,
which is made in the flesh by 

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hands. 
Remember that you were at that 

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time separated from Christ, 
alienated from the Commonwealth 

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of Israel and strangers, the 
covenants of promise, having no 

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hope without God in the world, 
but now in Christ Jesus. 

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You who were once far off, have 
been brought near by the blood 

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of Christ. 
This is the word of the Lord. 

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You may be seated. 
Remembering often takes hard 

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work. 
Remembering takes work because 

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we're so prone to forget. 
And not only do we forget things

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like our car keys and our 
homework, most of us live lives 

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forgetting much deeper 
realities. 

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We forget who we are. 
We forget where we come from. 

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We forget who we belong to. 
We forget where we're going. 

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This is why I believe the act of
remembering is a kind of 

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spiritual discipline. 
In fact, throughout the Bible, 

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God calls his people to remember
the book of Exodus. 

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God calls Israel to remember the
Passover, to remember that he 

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brought them out of slavery, out
of Egypt with a mighty hand and 

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outstretched arm. 
The Psalms call the people of 

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God to remember the wondrous 
works of God, to remember that 

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God is sovereign, He really is 
in charge of all things and all 

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His ways are good. 
He calls us to remember that 

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because it's so easy to forget 
with every fear and every 

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circumstance and every 
disappointment. 

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And here in the book of 
Ephesians, Apostle Paul calls us

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to remember. 
To remember who we were, to 

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remember who we are now, and to 
remember where we are going. 

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Because we so often forget that 
we belong to Jesus, that we bear

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his name, and that we know the 
end of this story. 

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So this morning Paul calls us to
remember. 

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He's going to call us to 
remember in three ways. 

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The first is this. 
Paul calls us to remember who we

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were. 
Look with me, Ephesians 2, verse

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11, Paul writes. 
Therefore remember that at one 

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time you Gentiles in the flesh, 
Paul calls this church in 

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Ephesus to remember. 
He will use this word twice in 

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just two verses, and he's not 
calling him to any kind of 

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remembering, but he's calling to
the spiritual discipline of 

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remembering to remember first 
who they were. 

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He uses the word. 
Therefore, he's pointing back to

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the 10 verses, the beginning of 
Ephesians chapter 2 that are 

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leading up to this one. 
So if you have a Bible this 

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morning, invite you to turn to 
Ephesians chapter 2. 

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If you don't have a Bible, 
please take the Blue Pew Bible 

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in front of you. 
That's our gift to you. 

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Ephesians 2 verse one, Paul is 
calling us to remember, to 

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remember who we were and to 
remember the story of the 

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gospel, to remember what he's 
already written. 

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Ephesians 2 verse one goes like 
this. 

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Paul says, And you were dead, 
and the trespasses and sins and 

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which you once walked, following
the course of this world from 

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the Prince of the power of the 
air, the Spirit that is now at 

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work, and the sons of 
disobedience. 

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Paul says, remember who you 
were. 

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Remember that before Christ you 
were a Sinner. 

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You were dead in the trespasses 
and sins in which you walked. 

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You are sons and daughters of 
disobedience. 

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You were cut off from God, 
you're orphans, strangers, and 

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you turned your back on Him. 
But the story doesn't end there.

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Verse 4 Paul continues 2 
beautiful words. 

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But God being rich and mercy, 
because of the great love with 

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which he loved us, even when we 
were dead in our trespasses, 

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made us alive together with 
Christ. 

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By grace you have been saved. 
Paul is saying, remember who you

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were. 
Remember the gospel that's been 

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offered to you, this free offer 
of salvation to all who will 

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trust in the name of Jesus, his 
death and resurrection for our 

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salvation. 
Whatever your background, 

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whatever your culture, wherever 
you come from, every tribe, 

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every tongue, every nation, this
gospel offering is for you, 

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Christ, for the nation's, the 
hope of glory. 

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And now here in Ephesians 2 
verse 11, Paul is applying this 

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free offer to the gospel, to a 
very particular group in the 

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Ephesian church. 
He's applying it to the 

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Gentiles. 
Look again with me, Ephesians 2 

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verse 11, Paul says. 
Therefore remember that at one 

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time you Gentiles in the flesh, 
now Gentile was anyone who 

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wasn't Jewish. 
There's those who are often 

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called the nations, these 
different cultures and peoples 

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outside of the Jewish heritage. 
The city of Ephesus, where Paul 

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planted this church, was a 
metropolitan city filled with 

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all kinds of cultures and 
backgrounds. 

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Yes, it was home to a group of 
Jewish people who are part of a 

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much broader community of Jews 
who were scattered abroad. 

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They had been Hellenized, 
influenced by the Greek culture 

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around them, and we know that 
they're in the heart of Ephesus.

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There was a synagogue, because 
we're told the book of Acts that

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that is exactly where Paul 
started his mission. 

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He was preaching Christ in the 
synagogue, and that's how he 

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planted this church in Ephesus. 
We also know the city of Ephesus

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wasn't just home to these Jewish
people who'd become Hellenized, 

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was also home to all kinds of 
cultures, especially the Greeks.

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In fact, the city of Ephesus was
home to one of the seven ancient

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wonders of the world, the heart 
of Ephesus, the temple to the 

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goddess Artemis. 
Artemis is a Greek goddess of 

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fertility. 
So we have to imagine that the 

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city of Ephesus and including 
this early young church that 

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Paul planted had to have been 
influenced by all of these 

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cultural realities. 
And so these first Christians 

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that Paul is writing to this 
letter to the Ephesian church, 

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we're bringing with them all 
sorts of cultural baggage. 

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Jews, on the one hand they are 
Jewish heritage and practice and

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the Gentiles on the other with 
all of their Pagan worship, even

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worship of the goddess Artemis. 
So in writing them, Paul's now 

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applying the gospel to the 
Gentiles, which all of us for 

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the most part would relate to. 
Most of us don't have Jewish 

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heritage. 
We are among the nations 

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Gentiles who've been invited 
into the promise. 

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Paul is now applying the gospel 
to them. 

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He's saying, remember that at 
one time you Gentiles in the 

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flesh, and then he refers them 
to them as the uncircumcision. 

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You may notice in your Bible is 
put in quotation marks because 

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Paul is actually quoting a 
reference he probably heard in 

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this Ephesian church. 
They have been called the 

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uncircumcision by others, by the
Jewish Christians who were 

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there, who were looking down on 
the Gentiles because they 

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weren't circumcised. 
And they 'd be wondering this 

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morning, well, what in the world
does any of this have to do with

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us? 
This isn't 1st century Ephesus. 

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This is 2026, Dallas, TX. 
And what in the world are we 

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supposed to do with this idea of
circumcision? 

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What's that have to do with 
Jesus? 

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Well, the story of Jesus 
actually begins the very first 

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book of the Bible in Genesis, 
where God makes a promise to a 

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man named Abraham. 
It comes to Abraham not because 

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Abraham deserves it, because 
there's something about 

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Abraham's resume that makes God 
choose him. 

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But no, out of God's sovereign 
grace and mercy comes to Abraham

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and he makes him a promise. 
The Bible calls it a covenant. 

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It's a vow, and God makes this 
promise to Abraham, and he says,

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I will be your God and you will 
be my people, Abraham. 

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I will make you a father of a 
multitude of nations. 

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Kings will come from you, and I 
will give you a land for an 

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everlasting possession. 
And this promise of land and a 

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Kingdom and nations will be for 
you and for your offspring, and 

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for their offspring, and for 
their offspring. 

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And their offspring in this 
promise, will last for 

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everlasting. 
I will be their God, and they 

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will be my people. 
This everlasting promise is 

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still in effect today. 
And as a sign in response to 

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that promise, God called Abraham
and all of his descendants the 

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practice of circumcision. 
Now, with many of the covenants 

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throughout the Bible, these 
promises that God made by his 

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grace to his people, He would 
give a sign. 

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For example, God promised Noah 
never to destroy the earth again

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with a flood, and he gave Noah a
sign. 

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Some of you may know what that 
sign was. 

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It was a rainbow. 
Well, God didn't give Abraham a 

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rainbow. 
He gave him circumcision. 

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You should be asking why. 
Why circumcision? 

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Among many reasons, it was an 
indelible mark, a permanent 

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reminder that Abraham and all of
his descendants belong to God. 

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And now Fast forward to the 1st 
century in this little church 

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plant in Ephesus filled with 
both Jews and Gentiles. 

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Jews who are circumcised and 
Gentiles who weren't. 

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And generations of Jewish 
practice of circumcision had 

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given way to the idea among the 
Jewish people there that the 

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thing that identified them the 
most was circumcision. 

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They were so focused on their 
religious practice that it 

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eclipsed what the religious 
practice was supposed to point 

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to. 
They focused more on the sign 

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rather than the thing it 
signified. 

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And they thought the thing that 
set them apart from all the 

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Gentiles was circumcision rather
than the fact that they belong 

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to the one true God. 
So much so we see this language 

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used by the Apostle Paul the end
of verse 11. 

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Notice what he says. 
You Gentiles are called the 

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uncircumcision by what is called
the circumcision, which is made 

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in the flesh by hands. 
And what you can't see here in 

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English is that the Greek that 
Paul is using is the same 

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language that he would use and 
is often used to describe making

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an idol with your hands. 
We don't worship statues of gods

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and goddesses because they're 
made with human hands. 

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They're made in our image. 
In other words, what Paul is 

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saying is that the Jewish people
in the 1st century and this 

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little church in Ephesus had 
turned circumcision, this 

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religious practice, into an 
idol. 

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Brothers and sisters, we can do 
the exact same thing. 

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We can take a God-given 
practice, something that's 

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designed to point us to him, and
we could turn it into an idol. 

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We can worship the thing rather 
than God that thing points to. 

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We can worship music and a 
style, particular preacher or 

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pastor or a tradition. 
All of these things have been 

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given by God in order to point 
us to Him. 

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But we if we stop short at the 
foot of the throne, we end up 

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worshipping the thing itself 
rather than Christ alone. 

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This is what was going on in the
Ephesian church, a division over

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the practice of circumcision and
elsewhere. 

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In Paul's letter he makes it 
clear that circumcision can't 

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save you. 
Colossians 2 verse 11. 

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Paul says in Christ you also 
were circumcised with a 

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circumcision made without hands 
by putting off the body of the 

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flesh, by the circumcision of 
Christ having been buried with 

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him in baptism, in which you are
also raised with him through 

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faith in the powerful working of
God who raised him from the 

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dead. 
Here in Colossians Paul is 

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saying circumcision can't save 
you. 

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So it doesn't matter if you're 
circumcised or not, only Christ,

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his death and resurrection can 
save you. 

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And now, if you are in Christ, 
if you trust in his death and 

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resurrection, then you too have 
now been given an indelible 

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mark, a permanent reminder that 
you belong to God. 

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No longer is that circumcision, 
Paul says, but it's a new 

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circumcision, a greater 
circumcision, a circumcision of 

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Christ, which is called baptism.
And that is why we baptize 

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professing believers and their 
children, because it's the new 

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and greater circumcision, a sign
of God's faithfulness and His 

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covenant. 
That's for a different sermon. 

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For now, this is what I want you
to understand. 

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Just as circumcision cannot save
a person, the greatest problem 

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for the Gentiles in the Ephesian
church was not that they were 

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uncircumcised. 
That wasn't their problem. 

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No, their problem was far 
deeper. 

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And this is what Paul says. 
He goes on in verse 12. 

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He says, remember that you were 
at that time separated from 

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Christ, alienated from the 
Commonwealth of Israel, 

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strangers, the covenant of 
promise, having no hope without 

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God in the world. 
Their problem wasn't that they 

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weren't circumcised, it's what 
they're uncircumcision pointed 

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to. 
The day before Christ, outside 

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of his death and resurrection, 
were separated from Him. 

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They were alone in their sin. 
They were aliens and strangers 

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to the covenants of promise. 
What promise is he talking 

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about? 
His promise to Abraham? 

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I will be your God, and you will
be my people. 

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They had no hope and they were 
without God in the world. 

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What we must all reckon with is 
that this description describes 

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us outside of Christ. 
So this morning, if you are 

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curious but filled with doubt, 
if you've come this morning just

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to check out Christianity, but 
you would not call yourself a 

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Christian, if you've not trusted
in the death and resurrection of

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Jesus for your salvation, then 
this describes you now. 

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You're a stranger to God. 
You are his enemy. 

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You're without hope. 
You're without God in the world.

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But Paul is saying for all those
who are Christians, all those 

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who have trusted in his death 
and resurrection, then this is 

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who you were. 
And I want you to hear me this 

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morning. 
It's who you were. 

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You were a Sinner, you were a 
stranger. 

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You were God's enemy, you were 
cut off from him, you were 

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without hope, but it is not who 
you are now. 

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That's the second thing that 
Paul wants us to remember. 

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He calls us to remember who we 
are. 

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Look with me verse 13 Paul says,
but now in Christ Jesus 5 

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important words, the 1st 2:00 
But now in other words, 

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everything that Paul just said, 
stranger, alien, cut off from 

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the promise, without hope is no 
longer who you are if you belong

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to Christ. 
But now we have a new identity. 

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What is it? 
He tells us the next 3 words in 

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Christ Jesus. 
There are not three more 

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important words in the apostle 
Paul's writings. 

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He used something like this 
phrase in Christ Jesus over 160 

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times throughout his letters. 
For Paul, being in Christ is 

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synonymous with being a 
Christian. 

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And what he's saying is that if 
you believe in Jesus, it's not 

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as if that this list of 
propositions and this theology 

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and this faith is out there that
you give just intellectual 

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assent to. 
But the one who believes in 

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Jesus becomes so united to Him, 
so connected to Him, so near to 

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him, that is, if they are in 
him, in Christ Jesus. 

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Let me give you a few examples 
of this throughout the writings.

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The apostle Paul, Ephesians 2, 
verse 10, Paul says we are 

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created in Christ. 
Galatians 2, verse 20, we've 

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been crucified with Christ. 
Colossians 2 verse 12. 

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We've been buried with Christ. 
Romans 6 verse 3 we've been 

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baptized into Christ. 
Romans 6 verse 5, we've been 

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united with Christ in his death 
and in his resurrection. 

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Paul's message is simple. 
To be a Christian is to be in 

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Christ, to be given a new 
identity. 

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So this morning, if you have 
trusted in Jesus Christ for your

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salvation, then you are so 
connected to Jesus that you're 

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bound to Him. 
He's bound himself to you. 

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The only problem is if you're 
honest, if you're like me, 

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rarely do our lives match that 
identity. 

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And we live our lives so often 
disconnected from the reality 

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that we are in Christ Jesus. 
This isn't just true because we 

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go on sinning, although we do, 
but often it's just our apathy. 

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Most of our lives are striving 
after other things and we forget

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who we are. 
But the things of this world 

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really don't matter as much as 
we make them out to be. 

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Not because they're not 
important, but because we've 

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forgotten the most important 
thing that we are in Christ 

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00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:31,320
Jesus. 
We've forgotten who we are. 

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00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,400
GK Chesterton put it this way. 
In a book called Orthodoxy, he 

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wrote we've all read in 
scientific books, and indeed in 

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00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:43,160
all romance, is the story of the
man who's forgotten his name. 

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00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:48,120
This man walks about the streets
and can see and appreciate 

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everything, only he cannot 
remember who he is. 

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00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:54,760
Well, every man is that man in 
the story. 

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Every man has forgotten who he 
is. 

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00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,200
We are all under the same mental
calamity. 

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We've all forgotten our names. 
We've all forgotten what we 

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really are. 
What Chesterton is saying, I 

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00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:15,360
think, is frightening. 
True, most of us live these 

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00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:21,640
lives desperation and striving, 
forgetting our names. 

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00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,120
The Book of Revelation says that
all those who are in Christ have

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been given a new name. 
The very name of Jesus have been

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00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:38,040
written on us, and we go out now
bearing his name to the world. 

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00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,920
Yet we often forget that this is
now who we are. 

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00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:49,680
So Paul says remember, remember,
remember that in Christ 

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everything that he has done, his
death and resurrection, is now 

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00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:58,680
ours. 
We died with him, and our sin 

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00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:04,200
died with him, and when he rose 
from the dead, we rose with him 

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to new life. 
We must remember that in Christ 

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00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:12,120
Jesus all that Christ is, and 
His righteousness has been given

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00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:16,280
to us. 
We have been made holy because 

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of Christ and West. 
Remember that all of Christ, 

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00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:26,680
Christ promises to one day come 
again, to make all things new 

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00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:32,000
are now ours, and that this is 
not the end of the story. 

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00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,320
That's the third and final thing
Paul calls us to remember where 

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we are going. 
Paul says, verse 13. 

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00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:45,480
But now in Christ Jesus, you who
were once far off have been 

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brought near by the blood of 
Christ. 

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00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,680
It's directional language, but 
it's also relational. 

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00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:56,600
Paul's borrowing from the 
prophet Isaiah 57. 

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00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,960
We're through the prophet 
Isaiah, God promises peace to 

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00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:03,800
those who are far off and those 
who are near. 

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00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:08,400
Paul will directly quote this 
verse just a few verses later in

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00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:13,440
verse 17 of chapter 2. 
It's both directional and 

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00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,600
relational because the prophet 
Isaiah is referring to the 

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00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,080
temple. 
What are we near to are far 

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00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,880
from. 
For Isaiah, it's the temple of 

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00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:25,240
God. 
It's where He dwells were either

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00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,200
near to or far from His 
presence. 

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00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:33,400
And we know in those days, in 
the 1st century, the temple was 

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00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,440
constructed with a series of 
dividing markers. 

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00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:42,520
The most inner marker was a 
curtain that separated the Holy 

334
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:44,880
of Holies, where the Ark of the 
Covenant lay. 

335
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,120
That is where the presence of 
God dwelled. 

336
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:54,600
The outer marker was a wall that
did not allow Gentiles to go 

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00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,880
into the Temple Mount. 
In fact, recently they 

338
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:03,880
discovered a sign at that wall 
that said any Gentiles caught 

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00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:09,400
past this sign have them own 
selves to blame for their death.

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00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:16,480
When Christ died on the cross, 
these dividing lines were torn 

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00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,960
down. 
Every tribe, every tongue, every

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00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:25,440
nation, every Gentile now 
belongs to God because of Jesus 

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00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:27,880
through his death and 
resurrection. 

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00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,640
Gospel of Luke tells us when 
Christ died, the curtain was 

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00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,760
torn in two that separate the 
Holy of Holies, and now His 

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00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,800
presence does not reside in a 
place, but in a people. 

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00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:43,200
We, as the Church of Jesus 
Christ, are now the living 

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00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:49,160
temple of God, and we who are 
once far off have been brought 

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00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:53,960
near. 
He dwells in US. 

350
00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:00,600
And it's amazing that this 
reality is, this nearness that 

351
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:06,000
we now enjoy is just a glimpse 
of the nearness that awaits 

352
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:11,120
everyone who belongs to Jesus. 
And so we must never forget 

353
00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:15,080
where we're going on this 
Ascension Sunday. 

354
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:19,080
We must never forget that our 
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 

355
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,920
ascended and he reigns and rules
from the throne. 

356
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:28,320
But one day he promised to 
descend, to come back, to come 

357
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:33,640
near to us once and for all. 
Until that day comes, Paul calls

358
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,000
us to remember our future, to 
remember our future. 

359
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:38,760
He said, well, how can I 
remember something that hasn't 

360
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,200
happened yet? 
Well, as Christians, we know the

361
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,520
end of the story. 
We've been called to remember 

362
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,880
how the story ends. 
We do that every time we come 

363
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:53,560
together on the Lord's Day to 
worship, to reorient ourselves 

364
00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:57,880
in that story, to remember. 
We do that every time that we 

365
00:26:57,880 --> 00:26:59,560
come and take communion 
together. 

366
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,880
You see, communion is not just a
memorial, it's an anticipation. 

367
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,800
First Corinthians 11, Paul tells
us that every time we eat this 

368
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:15,560
bread and drink this cup, we 
proclaim the Lord's death until 

369
00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:21,600
he comes again. 
And so this morning as you come 

370
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,200
to the table, remember, remember
who you were. 

371
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,800
You were a Sinner. 
You were cut off from God. 

372
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,880
You were without hope. 
You are dead and your trespasses

373
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,200
and sins. 
As you take the bread and the 

374
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:43,840
cup, remember who you are. 
You are now in Christ Jesus. 

375
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,520
And as you go, remember where 
you're going. 

376
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:56,520
Because as surely as this feast 
set before us fills our weary 

377
00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:02,520
souls this morning, it is just a
foretaste of the feast that is 

378
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:08,440
to come when Christ draws near 
to us once and for all and makes

379
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:10,720
all things new. 
Let me pray. 

380
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:14,000
Father in Heaven, we pray now 
that you have blessed this feast

381
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:18,440
before us and us as your people,
as we come to commune with you 

382
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,840
and with one another. 
O Lord, we may now taste 

383
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,800
forgiveness and drink mercy, and
may we get just a glimpse, just 

384
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:28,600
a foretaste of the feast that 
awaits us. 

385
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:35,480
And may that feast melt every 
fear, every fear, every anxiety,

386
00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:39,080
and may we find victory over 
every sin. 

387
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:41,200
In the name of Jesus we pray. 
Amen.