OPEN: The great English preacher Charles Spurgeon told of a man who had been sentenced to death by a Spanish court. This man happened to be BOTH an American citizen AND also Englishman and the consuls of both countries decided to intervene. They declared that the authorities of Spain had no right to take his life, but despite their repeated protests Spain refused to change mind.
At the execution, both nations representatives were allowed to be present, and before the sentence could be carried out both the Britain and the US deliberately wrapped the prisoner in their flags – the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes. And they issued this warning:
"Fire if you dare! But if you do, you will bring the powers of two great nations upon you!"
There stood the condemned. But the rifleman would not shoot.
Protected by those flags and the governments they represented, the man was invulnerable.
APPLY: Citizenship has its privileges.
This weekend is the July 4th weekend and there are numerous celebrations across our nation celebrating the fact that we are still citizens of a great country. But… sometimes I don’t think we realize what a great nation we have. That we don’t fully grasp how wonderful the privileges are that we have. Much of what we have – we take for granted.
We’re US citizens so we just presume we should these rights and privileges.
· The right to free speech
· Freedom of religion
· The Right to bear arms
· The right to lawful assembly
In fact, our Bill of Rights lists the things Government is not allowed to touch. AND nothing makes us angrier than when our government infringes on those rights.
But what if we were NOT citizens?
What if we were aliens?
What if we didn’t belong to this nation?
What if we didn’t have those rights?
How much would we be willing to give to be granted those privileges?
ILLUS: Over the past few years, our nation has struggled with the concept of Illegal Aliens. People who try to cross our borders so that they can live in our nation… even though they’re illegal. Hundreds of aliens die each year trying to cross over from Mexico or come by boat from to Florida. They risk the lives of their families as well as their own lives to be HERE.
But why? Why would they be willing to risk so much to just to live here?
Why? Because the lands they come from don’t have our advantages.
· They had no future where they came from.
· No opportunities.
· No hope.
· Life was a constant struggle - often under oppressive governments/ religions
For many people across the world, America is literally a beacon of hope.
Essentially, that is what Paul was telling the Ephesians about their relationship with God.
“… REMEMBER that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:12
Paul is telling them that
· at one time they had been aliens
· at one time they had had no opportunities, no hope, no future.
Because they had no God.
Now why was Paul telling these Ephesian Christians this?
Why was he reminding them of WHO they were and WHERE they were at with God?
Well… he was reminding them because somebody was trying to convince them they weren’t where they thought they were.
ILLUS: When GPS devices were still in their infancy, they could give you wrong readings once in awhile. The story’s told of a couple of adventurers who were hiking in the mountains of Colorado. One of them turned to the other and asked “Where are we?”
The 2nd man consulted his GPS and said
“Well, according to this… we’re on that Mountain over there.”
Somebody was lying to the Ephesian Christians.
Somebody was telling them that - according to THEIR GPS – the Ephesians were on the wrong mountain. They were lost. They were STILL aliens. They were still on the wrong side of border.
They were still without citizenship, without hope… without God.
And some of the Ephesians were being taken in by this. But why? What possible reason could convince these Ephesians that they weren’t Christian?
The answer is found in verse 11
“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (that done in the body by the hands of men)” Eph. 2:11
Formerly they HAD been called Gentiles. They HAD been called “uncircumcised”.
What’s that all about?
Well, when the Church began around 33 AD, every Christian had once been a Jew. In fact, for the first 3 or 4 years of Church’s existence… the ONLY Christians were Jews. And all male Jews were circumcised.
It was the MARK of their covenant with God
If a Jewish male was NOT circumcised – he was cut off from God.
PERIOD!
But then along came the Gentiles.
And in Acts 10 we find that God decided to change the rules of the game.
He intended to make a dramatic statement that would leave NO DOUBT that circumcision would no longer be required to belong to His covenant people.
In order to do that, God picked on the most stubborn, mule headed leader in the early Church. A man who would be almost impossible to convince of anything. A man named Peter.
God visited Peter with a dream where the heavens opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.
Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."
"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."
The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
This dream was given to Peter 3 times… because Peter was a hard man to convince. But once he woke from that 3rd dream, there was a knock at the door… and a delegation of Gentiles from a man named Cornelius explaining that an angel had sent them to ask him to come preach to them about this Jesus in whom he believed.
It didn’t take long for Peter to connect the dots and realize this is what God intended. So the Bible tells us that Peter and 3 “circumcised believers” (Acts 10 and 11 are the only places this phrase is used – because God wanted to make it clear that the issue had to due with this matter of circumcision) accompanied the Gentiles back to Cornelius’ house and preached to the people assembled there.
Suddenly before Peter had a chance to finish his sermon, Acts 10:44 says “the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.” Now, the text doesn’t say, but it seems they began speaking in tongues or some other obvious manifestation of the Spirit’s presence because Peter later said
"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us AT the beginning.” Acts 11:15
The Holy Spirit came on them as He had come on the Apostles “AT the beginning.” In other words, this type of experience had only happened once before – at Pentecost. This event was a dramatic departure from how people ordinarily came to speak in tongues (such gifts were usually given by the laying on of hands by the Apostles – see Acts 8:17; Acts 19:6; II Timothy 1:6).
Immediately Peter realized what this meant. These Gentiles didn’t have to be circumcised before become Christians. That’s why in Acts 10:47 he asks the “circumcised believers” who’d come with him "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water?…”
Why would Peter ask that question? Because the plan apparently was to circumcise these Gentiles (make them Jews) AND THEN baptize them into Christ.
So first – God convinced Peter that Gentile converts did NOT have to be circumcised.
Then He convinced Paul of the same thing.
Then God convinced the church leadership.
And in Acts 15, the Elders and Apostles at Jerusalem sent out a letter to all churches indicating God no longer required physical circumcision as a mark of His covenant.
That should have settled the matter… but certain Jews refused to accept it. They began to visit the churches where the Gentiles worshiped and declared:
“You’re not circumcised? Sorry, you don’t have a green card!
You’re on the wrong side of the border.
You have no place among the saved!
You’re still aliens!
You’re still outsiders!”
And they visited so many churches and caused so much confusion that Paul became angry. And many of his letters addressed this very issue.
So, here in Ephesians 2, Paul makes no bones about it:
Therefore, remember that FORMERLY you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men) - remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:11-13
For the first 2 chapters of Ephesians, Paul spends time convincing the Gentile Christians at Ephesus that:
· they were saved
· they were chosen
· they were valuable to God beyond all measure
And that they had something that was far better than anything this world had to offer.
But Paul had to do that because someone had placed a doubt in the minds of Christians there.
· If someone can place a doubt in your mind they can throw you off your balance.
· They can steal your confidence from you
· If they can just put a sliver of doubt in your mind they can get you change how you live your life
ILLUS: Some teenagers were sharing a cruel trick they played on a friend one day. They watched him walking down the hallway at school, and one of them said
“Do you know you walk funny?”
Now that boy wasn’t walking any different than he ever had. His walk was full of confidence. His walk was that of a boy who knew where he was going.
But when he heard that single comment … a doubt had entered his mind.
And you know what happened?
He began to wonder if he actually DID walk funny.
He began to think about how he walked.
He began to change how he walked.
And as he changed his walk… he became more and more awkward until he could hardly take a step without questioning how “funny” he might look.
His so-called friends had robbed him of his confidence.
They robbed him of his assurance.
They robbed him of his ability just to walk.
They made him “walk funny” because they succeeded in placing a doubt in his mind.
There are all kinds of people out there who make it their goal to put doubt in your mind.
· They try to make you doubt your Bible
· They try to make you doubt God
· They try to make you doubt your salvation.
You’ll find them on TV on NBC, ABC, the History Channel, and the Discovery Channel.
They’ll highlight “experts” who are supposedly knowledgeable about scriptural matters, but who are really liars who are intent on undermining the faith of those who believe in Jesus.
You’ll find people who will try to make you doubt in the movies, in the music you or your kids might listen to, and you’ll find them writing popular books.
ILLUS: Several years back there was a popular book called “The Da Vinci Code”. It was a book that subtly but boldly attacked the Christian faith. The author SAID it was just a fictional account (made up story)… in fact, there was little historical truth in the book at all.
But I know of at least one young woman who read the book, and never came back to church. She walked away from her church, she walked away from the church… and walked away from Jesus, all because that evil book placed a doubt in her mind.
She had allowed the fictional story by an author she didn’t even know to make her question her walk with God to make her wonder if her faith made her look “funny”. And she (at least for the time) threw away the most valuable gift she’d ever had.
All Because She Trusted The Wrong Authority!
CLOSE: If you allow the wrong authorities to place doubt in your mind you can some of the most precious gifts God wants you to have.
But if trust in the right ones, it can give you the confidence and strength God wants you to have.
ILLUS: Years ago, when my nephew Josh was about 9 years old we were out in the yard playing tag. He had tagged me and was running for all he was worth to get away from me. He was laughing and laughing as he looked back at me chasing him. Then he turned around and ran into a tree.
It knocked him right off his feet and I swear he took a bite right out of the tree bark. A couple of his teeth were loose and bleeding and he was crying uncontrollably. My sister, along with his aunt tried reasoning with him - telling him the bleeding was temporary, and that his teeth would be ok… but he just kept on crying.
Realizing this wasn’t working, I asked them to step aside and I sat on the bed beside him. I gently put my hands on his shoulders and told him “Josh look at me.”
And he did.
“Do you trust me?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Josh… you’re gonna be ok. Your teeth are gonna be just fine. Do you trust me on that?”
He nodded again… and the tears dried up…. And he went outside to play.
All the reasoning in the world wasn’t going to change how he felt.
But his trust in me did.
It all depends on who you trust.
It all depends on who you trust.
Some people have become Christians because they’ve put their trust in me. And that’s not altogether a bad thing. In fact I work very hard at being as trustworthy as I can be so that I have the reputation that will allow others to come to Jesus through my influence. And I know that many of you work hard at being trustworthy for the very same reason. And that’s good thing.
But some people go one better and trust in God’s Word. Trusting the preacher is good, but trusting God’s Word is ten to twenty times better, because God’s Word has no errors. It’s totally trustworthy, while men like me can make mistakes now and again.
But as important as it is to trust the preacher, and even more so to trust the Bible, the best trust we can have is in Jesus. Because it is only through Jesus that anyone can ever be saved.
That’s why Paul wrote:
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:13
(Offer invitation)
