Peace - Perfect Peace

Well, let's take our Bible. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 2. I would normally say turn back to Ephesians chapter 2 because we usually have a scripture reading, but because of our testimony time we did not have a scripture reading. Now, I will read the passages as we progress through the message, and we will be in verses 17 to 21. Some of you know that as the next block of scripture in our series, but I'm going to look back in verses 14 to 16. So just have your Bible there turned open to chapter 2, and we'll get there here in a few minutes. Now, most of you know that we've had a three-week break in our study of Ephesians.

The last three weeks we have been looking at what it means to participate in the work of the Gospel. And we've looked at this in a unique place, a wonderful place. We've looked at this in the life of Paul, and we've looked at this in the Philippian church. Paul and the Philippian church had a wonderful and a unique Gospel partnership. They had a wonderful and a unique relationship in the work of the Gospel. We looked at what I titled partnership in the Gospel, was out of chapter 1 verses 3 to 5, specifically there at verse 5. Then we went to the true church conference and we saw this partnership being fleshed out.

That is what Mother Tommy was talking about earlier, about this participation and partnership in the Gospel. And then we looked at opportunities from partnership in the Gospel. And here's my challenge for you. I challenge you to go back and read the book of Philippians, study the things that we looked at and study together. And I know I said this at least once, we're going to come back to this in the future and be praying about opportunities for our church. It's been a joy to hear some men in the life of our church and ladies talk about desiring to serve. And I'm going to talk about that at the close of our service, opportunities to serve.

But for me, I want to tell you it felt good to get back in our study of Ephesians. I told Brother Keith that earlier in the week I felt a little rusty. And what I mean by that is I had been studying somewhere else. And I had to get my mind back in the book of Ephesians, back into some of the things that we've studied together, and back into the verses that are before us. And it really felt good to get back in our study in Ephesians. Now it's been a while since I mentioned the theme of the book. You need to know the theme of the book, but the book of Ephesians is all about the believer's riches in Christ Jesus.

You might want to write that down. The believer's riches in Christ Jesus. Now think about it, from chapter one all the way into chapter two, we have been studying the greatest riches a man can ever possess. And that is God's plan for the salvation of man. And this morning we will see one of the greatest riches we can ever possess within this salvation plan. Now I want you to ponder a question with me. What would be the greatest riches you could ever find or possess? Think about that. What would be the greatest riches that you could ever find or you could ever possess? And we're going to come back to that question at the end of the service.

Now since it's been a while since we have been in Ephesians, we may need to get reacquainted with what we have before us. Really chapter two. In chapter two, Paul is really doing two big things. And we need to remember this. In verses one to 10, Paul was reminding the Ephesians of their moral condition before God. He was reminding them that they were spiritually and morally dead in their sins and that they were walking in spiritual death in every way. In all reality, they were the living dead. They were the death walkers.

But God, I love verse four, some of the most beautiful words in scripture, but God in his rich mercy and grace made them alive in Christ. Even when they were dead in their sin, Paul said that God made them alive in Christ. So as to reveal his great grace and his kindness in them. Now let me pause there. Let me pause there. We see big picture at verses one to 10. Paul was reminding the Ephesians of their moral condition before God. And I say, let's pause there to see what we need to learn. Listen, folks, we have to start right here in our evangelism. We don't teach our children that they're good little boys and girls.

We don't teach our teenagers that they're good kids. We don't look at anyone and say that they are good. We look at what God's word says about our children. And we explain to our teenagers what God's word says about them. And we must be bold and look into the faces of the lost and say what God's word says. God's word says that all men without Christ are dead. That's the bad news of the gospel and it gets brutally bad right here. So remember that folks, we don't ever need to leave what is said in verses one to 10. But also in verses 11 to 12, Paul was reminding the Ephesians of their religious condition before God.

Paul was reminding the Ephesians of their religious condition before God. He was reminding the Gentile Christians that they were at one time alienated from God. They were alienated from God's people, the Jews. They were alienated from God's religion and that would have been Judaism. He was reminding them that in every way they were separated or alienated from God. But again, verse four, those beautiful words, "But God, by God's mercy and grace, they were brought near to God by God." Notice that. "They who were afar away were brought near to God by God through the cross." Look at verse 13. Look at verse 13.

"But now in Christ Jesus, you," that's the Gentiles, "who were formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Of course, this reminder wasn't just for the Gentiles. It wasn't just for the Gentile Christians there in the church. Paul was reminding both the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians there in the Ephesian church that all of them had been alienated from God. He was reminding both groups that they had been brought near to God through the blood of Christ. Now, we've got a good understanding in our mind. We become reacquainted with what is happening in the chapter.

But at this point, I want us to see that Paul is explaining to this church that three wonderful miracles had taken place in them and among them. He was explaining that three wonderful miracles had taken place in them and among them. Now, I know I've taught on some of this already, but we need to revisit these wonderful miracles. And I'm going to take some of this a little further. And this will help us to be ready for verses 17 to 22. First, Paul said that God had made them into one new man. That was the first miracle. Paul said that God had made them into one new man. Second, he said that God had made them into one new body.

That is the second miracle. And we see that in verses 14 to 16. But here, the first miracle. Through Christ Jesus, the blood of Christ, God was making two very distinct and very different people into one. God was making two very different, very distinct people into one. But God wasn't bringing the Gentiles from down low up to the Jews. Also, God wasn't bringing the Jews and the Gentiles together to make some kind of a better man. He was making from two, one. He was making from two, one and not just one, but one new man. And we need to see it like this. They were not even Jewish Christians anymore.

They were not even Gentile Christians anymore. They were one, simply they were Christian. And then the second miracle. Through Christ, God had created one new body. Through Christ, God had created one new body. Through Christ, God reconciled or brought together. Jew and Gentile unto himself, creating a completely new body. Now, this wasn't some kind of a hybrid. This was not some kind of a blend. They were a completely new body. The body of Christ. One commentator said that God had created an entirely new society. That's a good way to put it. This had become a new society.

And although this new body is comprised of different individuals with different spiritual gifts to be used in different ways. This is a spiritual body created in supernatural ways. This is the body of Christ. This is the church and get this, this new body had never been in existence before the birth of the church. But we need to see the third miracle. Through Christ, God had brought peace to those who previously knew no peace. Through Christ, God had brought peace to those who previously knew no peace. Now, this is where I will go a little further than the last time we were in Ephesians.

Now here in verses 13 to 18 is one of the major themes that Paul deals with. And that is peace. Actually, Paul deals with the theme of peace over 40 times in his letters. And he does so eight times in the book of Ephesians. And here we see peace and the opposite, which is enmity or hostility. Now the New American Standard uses the word enmity. The King James, the English Standard uses the word hollus hostility. And if we read verses 14 to 17, we can see Paul speak about this peace. And then he will speak about this hostility, this enmity. And he seems to go back and forth. He seems to go back and forth. I want to read the verses.

Let's look at them together. And see if you can't see it. The peace and the hostility, the enmity and the peace. Paul going back and forth. Verses 14 to 17. For he, that would be Jesus, himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh the enmity. See the enmity? Which is the law of commandments contained in the ordinances. That in himself he might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace. And might reconcile them both in one body, in one body to God through the cross by it having put to death enmity or hostility. In verse 17.

And he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near. So it is easy to see that the theme of peace dominates this section of scripture. We have dealt with this some, but we must ask, what is this peace? And we must ask, what is this peace? Or what or who does this peace pertain to? In their day, a popular understanding of peace was simply the absence of the negative. Basically peace was seen as the absence of strife, the absence of conflict, even the absence of war. Now that way of thinking came from Greek thought.

But in Jewish thought, in the Jewish way of viewing these things and thinking about these things, the idea of peace was much, much different. Peace was the presence of positive things. Peace was possessing a completeness or a wholeness. To the Jews, peace was even seen as being prosperous. Peace was being in harmony with or even being joined together in a positive way. It was the absence of the negative, you see, but it was the presence of a lot of positive. And here in verse 13 and following, Paul was saying that there was peace between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians.

Yes, their conflict was gone, but it was replaced by something positive. They were in harmony with one another. They were joined together and they were prospering together spiritually all in life. There was a wholeness and a unity and a togetherness that was between them. But that is not where we need to stop. We can't just stop there. It is wonderful that there was peace between the Jews and the Gentiles. But the greater miracle was that there was peace between them and God. The greater miracle was that there was peace between them and God. And get this, get this. There was at one time hostility or enmity between them and God.

Both the Jews and the Gentiles were dead in their sins. And they were walking according to the sinful ways of the world with the sinful people of the world. They were truly following after Satan and the powers of darkness. And by their very nature, they were children of God's wrath. But again, verse 4, "But God, but God, while they were sinners, living in their enmity, living in that hostility, God in his rich mercy and love made them alive in Christ. When they were far off and alienated from God through the blood of Christ, God brought them near to himself." And what was the result? Peace. Peace.

The hostility and enmity between them and God was gone. But that negative was replaced by the positive. You see, both the Jews and the Gentiles, they were in harmony with God. They were joined together with God in Christ. They were spiritually whole and healed. And they were unified with God. And listen, the Jews and the Gentiles were prospering spiritually together with God in Christ. They had peace with God. And notice, it was Christ. It was Christ who brought this peace. And it was Christ who was their peace. This is personal. Look back at verse 14.

"But he himself is our peace." And listen, folks, that's in the emphatic in the original language. Paul is saying, "Oh, listen, it is Christ. It is Christ himself who is our peace." Now, I'm going to play a little trick on some of you. I've already given you the first major truth in the message. I've just turned it around. The first observation, the first truth that I want us to see is they possessed peace. That's what I've just explained to you. They possess peace. Both the Jews and the Gentiles who were converts to Christ in this local church, they possessed peace in two areas of their lives. First, there was peace between them. Yes.

But second, and most importantly, they possessed a peace between them and God. It was only because they had enjoyed peace with God that they could ever have peace amongst themselves. You need to see that. The only way they could have peace amongst themselves was that they first had peace with God. Peace with God is the greater miracle. And get this, they possessed peace. And this peace was Christ. Go back to verse 14. What does Paul say? "For he himself is our peace." Now, an application, I've just got to ask you a question. Can you say that? Can you say Christ is my peace?

Can you look at your spouse and say, "Christ is our peace?" You got to ask yourself that question, folks. Can you say that you possess peace? They possess peace. Peace amongst themselves, but more importantly, peace with God. And so we have to ask ourselves a question here. Do we possess this peace? So we see they possess peace. Now, out of all of that that we've just examined, all that we've examined and reviewed, I want us to approach our new verses, verses 17 to 22. And what we have just examined really enables us to see what Christ wants to give us this morning out of our new verses. I thought about a way to illustrate it.

I guess I could say it like this, the review, and what we've looked at is the front porch so that we could go into the front room of verses 17 to 22. So let's get into our new verses. Let's read them together. Verse 17. "And he came and preached peace to you who were far away." We know that language. "And peace to those who were near. For through him, we both have our excess in one spirit to the Father.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Christ Jesus himself, being the cornerstone or chief cornerstone in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the spirit." Well, this leads us to our second truth that I want us to look at this morning. Number two, we see that he preached peace. That's right out of verse 17. He preached peace.

Now, even though this is a short verse and a repeat of some things that we've already learned in the chapter, there's a lot going on here. So follow me. I want you to notice a few things out of the verse. First, this act of preaching. Isn't that what we see in the verse? This act of preaching. Now, this word preached here in the verse literally means to announce good news or to deliver good news. In the New Testament, it is almost always used in proclaiming the good news of salvation in Jesus or what we would call the gospel. And from this word and related words in the original language, we get our English words that we are familiar with.

We are familiar with words like evangelize and evangelist. Now, language scholars tell us that this phrase here in verse 17 can also read, "He came an evangelized peace to them." It can even read, "He came in gospelized peace to them." And any variation is accurate. He came an evangelized. He came in gospelized. He came in preached peace to them. So first, I want you to see the act of preaching. Second, notice what was preached. Notice what was preached. Now, notice it wasn't hell. It wasn't heaven. What was preached had nothing to do with heaven and nothing to do with hell. Notice it wasn't the Christian life. Notice it wasn't religion.

We're familiar with religion. You know, we are familiar with being Baptists or Methodists or non-denominational or Presbyterian. It wasn't anything to do with religion. But notice it was peace that was preached to them. They were evangelized with the message of peace. They were gospelized with the message of peace. Now, you're starting to realize and you should start to realize why it was important to revisit verses 13 to 16. Now, get this. What was preached was peace between man and God, not peace between men. Because the verse reads that he came and evangelized those who were far away and those who were near.

That was the Gentiles and the Jews. Those who were far away and those who were near. So this was speaking of peace with God. That's what was preached. Peace with God. But then notice third who was doing the preaching. The verse reads, "He." Well, who is the "He"? Now, this verse is a quote and an echo of Isaiah 57 verse 19. Some of your Bible translations could have it in italics or note that. It could have a footnote there. But this is an echo and a quote of Isaiah 5719. And Isaiah 5719 says, "Peace, peace to the far and to the near," says the Lord. So some of you know who Isaiah is referring to and that would be Christ. But a question.

Was it Christ that preached to the Ephesians? Go back to verse 17. And he came and preached peace. Was it Christ that preached to them? Well, the answer is no. And the answer is yes. You see, it was Paul. It was Paul who preached to these Ephesians. And it was Christ through Paul who did this preaching or did this evangelizing or did this gospelizing. It was Paul who did this evangelizing with Christ working in him and through him. Now, with all of that said, think with me about what verse 17 says. Paul was saying that Christ through him came and evangelized them by preaching peace.

Paul was saying that he preached that they needed peace with God. Paul was saying that he evangelized them with the message of peace with God. And get this. It was because Paul knew that it was peace with God that they needed and nothing else. I can say it like this. Paul knew that the first thing and the most important thing that they needed was peace with God. So that means that he confronted them with their hostility against God. That means that he confronted them with their enmity that was between them and God.

That means that he told them that they were by nature children of wrath who were deserving of God's judgment and God's eternal damnation. All this would mean that Paul did not give them the good news but the bad news. He gave them the bad news first. He told them that they were at war with God. He told them that they were at war with God and they needed peace with God. They could only come if they were made alive in Christ. You see? Paul knew they were hostile towards God and they were at enmity with God. And he knew that they needed peace with God. They needed spiritual wholeness. They needed spiritual completeness.

They needed harmony with God. They needed to be joined together with God so as to be made whole, so as to be made complete, so even as to be made spiritually prosperous. And you know, if we know our Bibles, this shouldn't surprise us. This really shouldn't. I ran across a few scriptures, some examples, really a list. Out of some John MacArthur material, really dealing with these verses, this will solidify this in our minds. It helped me. I think it'll help you. Just follow me here. Follow me here. And I'm reading. I'm quoting. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9-6, who promised his disciples, "Peace I leave with you.

My peace I give you," John 14-27. "Like their master, his disciples are also to be peacemakers," Matthew 5-9, "and proclaimers of peace." And when he sent out the 70, he commissioned them, "Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.' And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him, but if not, it will return to you." Luke 10, 5-6. Peace surrounded the ministry of Jesus as an aura that continually blessed those who believed in Him. Among his last words to his disciples were, "These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace," John 16-33.

The ministry of the apostles and other preachers of the early church was characterized by preaching peace through Jesus Christ. Acts 10-36. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is characterized by giving, the giving of love, joy, and peace. And the other spiritual fruit mentioned in Galatians 5, 22-23. God's kingdom itself is characterized by righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, Romans 14-17. And the peace of God, 1 Corinthians 14-33, calls His people to peace, 1 Corinthians 7-15. And listen, I think you're starting to see it. Now, look at the implications. Look at the application for us today.

I wonder if we preach peace in our day. I wonder if we've ever preached peace. I really do not think that we preach that men need peace. I really do not think that we preach to folks that they are at war with God, they are in hostility against God, and they need peace with God. Now, parents, listen. You must understand that your children are at war with God. They are at war with God. You might say, "Oh, no, pastor." Yes. What does the Scripture say? "All men are dead in their trespasses and sin." And we need to teach them that they are at war with God. They are hostile against God. And they need peace, peace with God.

When we witness, we have to be bold enough to confront people with the fact that they are at war with God. You might say, "Pastor, that might cause me to lose some friends." Well, what does the Scripture say? "That all men without Christ are dead in their trespasses and sins." Men are at war with God. They are openly hostile to God, and men need peace with God. But I'll be a little more personal. If you're sitting here today and you are not in Christ Jesus, "Ma'am, sir, friend, you were at war with God." You hate God. You hate God's Word. You hate the righteousness of God and the truth of God. You are at war with God.

You are openly hostile to God. And you don't need a better life. You don't need to turn over a new leaf. You must be made new. You must have the miracle of miracles whereby you are made alive with Christ, therefore having peace with God. You'll never get peace in your own efforts. I think everyone here knows about what's happening in the Ukraine, between Russia and the Ukrainians. We know that there is war raging there in the Ukraine as Russia has invaded, and what is needed. Peace. Isn't that right? Peace. Peace and more. The fighting and the conflict needs to stop.

And the Russians and the Ukrainians need to see themselves as neighbors and brothers and friends. But look, people who are lost and outside of a saving relationship with Christ are just like the Russians. They have attacked God and they are at war with God. They are at war against God's holiness, God's Word, God's perfect standard for holy living. They are at war with God. And listen, we must preach peace. We must preach war and peace, not the novel. Men and mankind who are without Christ are at war against God. And they need peace with God. They can only come from Christ and the blood of Christ. So there's a lot there in verse 17.

What does it say? He preached peace. And then third, the third truth I want us to see is a provision from peace. In verse 18, we see a provision from peace. Let's look at verse 18. For through him, that would be Christ. We both, that would be Jew and Gentile, have access to one spirit, in one spirit to the Father. Now, when one has peace with God, there are many different provisions that are made. Think about that. When a man, when a woman, when a young person is at peace with God, there are many different provisions that are made. Yes, heaven and not hell. That's a provision.

But there is one provision here that offers proof of peace with God. As a matter of fact, the Bible commentator William McDonald calls this practical proof that peace with God exists. I like that. This is practical proof that peace with God exists. Now, it's simple. The provision here is access to God. Access to God. Whereas before, Paul says that they were all far away from God. Now, Paul says that we both, Jew and Gentile, have access to God. Access to God has been provided and is the provision from Christ. He has secured it. Christ has provided it by his death and he has brought that to men. And notice the order of things here.

If you really pay attention, the order of things here, speak to the Godhead, speak to the Trinity. It is through him, that is Jesus, that both Jew and Gentile have access to God. And this is all in one spirit, the Holy Spirit. And this access is to the Father, to the Father, to God. And this access is not of man or from man. But this access is given by Christ and through Christ. So, access to God is a provision from having peace with God. Paul says, and I'm quoting the verse, "We both, Jew and Gentile, have access to God." You know, you have to be careful what you watch on television these days.

Sometimes my wife and I will sit down and watch something. And lately we've been watching a documentary on the British Royal Family. It's one of those Netflix series. You have to be really careful with those. But you know, one thing I've noticed is that if someone wants to see the queen, they have to have an appointment, even family, even family. And you know, even if family wants to see the queen, they don't always get that appointment. But what I want you to see is this. For those of us who are in Christ, we have access. To the Father. And this term, having access here in the original language, in their day it was used of royalty.

It was used of important people in their day. And listen, in our day, we have access through Christ. And we don't need an appointment. We don't even need an appointment that could be turned away. Because in Christ Jesus, we have access to the Father, access to the Father. So we have the provision from this peace, access to God. And look, if you don't have peace, you don't have access to God. You're hostile to God, at war with God. And then number four, I want us to see privileges from peace. This is in the rest of our verses, verses 19 to 22. This is what I'm calling privileges from peace. Let's read the verses and then we'll get to them.

Verse 19. "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built up upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone or the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple. It could read sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the spirit." Now here in verses 19 to 22, we actually have Paul's conclusion. We have Paul concluding what he's been teaching in verses 14 to 19.

And he is also expounding a little more on verse 13. I thought about it like this. He's giving a wrap up to the verses, but he's also adding to the sermon. So this is the second sermon he's adding to verse 13. But here in the conclusion, Paul gives three analogies which illustrate a great unity and a great togetherness that come from this peace that he's been explaining. This peace with God, this peace between man and God and one another. Now notice the analogies or the pictures. Look at your copy of God's word. You'll see them. The first one is fellow citizens in verse 19. The second analogy is God's household. That's in verse 19.

And then the third analogy or picture is a holy temple. And that is in verse 21. And these analogies we see, these analogies that we see here, they are privileges that come out of this peace with God. So first, peace with God brings the privilege of being in God's kingdom. Peace with God brings the privilege of being in God's kingdom. Let's read verse 19 or the beginning of verse 19. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints. Now here in the verse, Paul uses several words that are important to see. This word stranger and this word alien. Now these words all speak of non-citizens.

The stranger spoke of the transient foreigner that would pass through their land. And the alien spoke of the non-citizen that settled in their land. And it is very important to see that these terms spoke of inferior peoples. Remember those uncircumcised? Remember Paul talk about the uncircumcised? Those were the uncircumcised people. So these terms spoke of foreigners. Inferior peoples, inferior races, you know those peoples, but not anymore. Because they were at peace with God.

Because they were at peace with God and because they were at peace with one another, these uncircumcised inferior people were now, what does the verse say, fellow citizens. They were now a part of the people of God and the kingdom of God. So this peace brought them the privilege of being brought into God's kingdom. Now notice as naturalized citizens. And get this, they were naturalized citizens of God's kingdom by the blood of Christ. Second, peace with God brings the privilege of being in God's household. Peace with God brings the privilege of being in God's household. We see that in the second part of verse 19. I'll read all of the verse.

"So then you were no longer strangers and aliens, but you were fellow citizens with the saints naturalized and are of God's household." Now here Paul continues with the second analogy. He uses the picture of God's household. This is a picture of family. This is a picture of a home. And with this language, Paul was moving from the picture of an alien, becoming a citizen to a stranger coming into a family. So this peace brought them the privilege of being brought into the household of God, into the family of God. They were adopted. And get this, they were adopted into the family of God by the blood of Christ.

And then third, peace with God brings the privilege of being in God's temple. This peace with God brings the privilege of being in God's temple. And we see this in the rest of the verses. Verses 20, on down to verse 22. "Having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone or the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." Again, Paul continues with the other analogy, the third analogy. And here he uses the picture of a temple.

It can be translated sanctuary or a building. It's right there in verse 21. And notice, even though there is a lot going on here, and there are quite a few verses in verses 20 to 22, Paul's lesson is very simple. Simply Paul is saying that because they have peace with God, both Jew and Gentile have become the stones in the construction of a great and holy sanctuary or temple. Of course, this is the body of Christ. This is the church, you see. Paul is saying that because they have peace with God, the Jew and the Gentile have become the stones in the construction of this great and holy sanctuary, the body of Christ, the church.

The Bible commentator, William McDonald says that with great detail, Paul describes the building of this great temple of which they are the building stones, you see. Now quickly notice first, the foundation of the temple. What's the foundation? The text says the apostles and the prophets. Now, it was not that they themselves were the foundation, no, but that the foundation was laid through them. You see, the New Testament apostles and those New Testament prophets, they were the ones who laid the foundation of the temple. They laid the foundation of the church. It was God that did it through them. And then notice the chief cornerstone.

The cornerstone was Christ Jesus himself. Now, the cornerstone was a very important part of a building in their day. The cornerstone had to be strong enough to support the entire building and the cornerstone had to be laid perfectly. It had to be perfectly laid because the rest of the structure was oriented to the cornerstone. And it is in Christ Jesus that the whole building, the whole building is being built up, that the whole building is being fitted together. I want to go back and I want us to read verses 21 and 22.

In whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the spirit. And this term fitted together, it speaks of the careful joining together of every part of this structure. Every part of the structure is carefully, purposely and perfectly made to fit together. This is Christ's church. This is God's building. So we see the privileges of having peace with God. That is the privilege of becoming the stones in the construction of a great and holy sanctuary. And notice this is the living church of God. Look at those verses, it's living.

You know, in our day, this word privilege is a hot word. It is. If you keep up with what's happening in our culture, you know that privilege is a hot word. But listen, those of us, those of us who are at peace with God, we enjoy certain privileges. We do. We are naturalized citizens of God's kingdom. We are adopted into God's household. Now, did we do it? No. It was by God through Christ. It was by the blood of Christ, but God, rich in mercy, rich in love. He made us alive in Christ Jesus. And we have become naturalized citizens of God's kingdom. We've been adopted into the household of God. Those are the privileges of having peace with God.

But more than that, we have the privilege of being a part of God's building. Look at those verses. We have the privilege of being the construction material of his building of his church. His building materials. Now, I want to ask you a couple of questions here. If we set out on a building project, whether we're remodeling our home or, or building a new home, you know, we can have top quality material or inferior material. Now, let me share with you something. There's no difference between Jew and Gentile. No one is inferior. But I have to say, sometimes we are inferior because we are not the Christian we should be.

We don't deal with sin as we should. We're not as obedient as we should. We aren't as faithful to the word as we should. We aren't as faithful to the work of the church as we should. So my question for you is this. If you see, if you see the great privileges that you have, as being naturalized citizens, being adopted into the family of God, and the privilege of being the materials, the building materials of God's church, my question for you is this. Are you top quality building material? So we have the privileges from this peace with God. And that is being a part of the building of God, his church. Now, I want to begin to conclude.

And I want to revisit something that I said really when I introduced the message. I said that this morning we will see one of the greatest riches that we can ever possess with this salvation plan. And I ask you to ponder a question. What would be the greatest riches that you could find? What would be the greatest riches that you could find? There's been a topic of conversation from a teaching example. Many of you know that Jared teaches our teenagers on Sunday nights. I'm very thankful for that. And he used an illustration in his teaching and it caused some conversation in my home.

And it's called some conversation amongst us men and in the eyes of the church. Jared told the story of an individual in England who invested in cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Now, I'll be honest with you. I don't know much about cryptocurrency and I don't know much about Bitcoin. I can't even keep $20 in my wallet. So how could I have anything to do with cryptocurrency? I remember when it first came on the scene, I called it Bitcoin because it sounded like a con to me. But there's a story of an individual, a real individual in England who invested in Bitcoin back in 2013. And he had all of that saved on his hard drive.

Well, through some computer work, he ended up taking the hard drive out of his computer and he inadvertently threw the hard drive away where all of the Bitcoin is stored. I checked the information with Jared this morning. As of December of 2021, that Bitcoin that he stored and lost is worth over $500 million. And he is digging in the landfill probably as we speak. He has come up with all types of ingenious plans to try to find that hard drive with that Bitcoin there in the landfill. This is a true story. But listen, folks, listen close.

The greatest riches you could find or you could possess or you could gain is not worldly wealth in any form, but peace with God. And get this, it is a perfect peace. Not that we are perfect, no, it is a perfect peace. God's plan to bring peace between himself and his people, it is a perfect peace. And Luke Church, peace with God brings all sorts of privileges, all sorts of provisions. And listen, we have a great responsibility to preach this peace. So what's the title of the message? Peace, perfect peace, perfect peace. And I close by asking two questions. Do you have this peace? Are you at war with God?

And the next question is this, are we preaching this peace? Because we should be. Let's pray. We'll commit this to the Lord and we'll trust God to work in our lives according to our needs. So let's pray together.