Our present Position as Christians - our citizenship

Well, today we're down to chapter 2, 17 through 19. And so what I've been doing is I've been looking at, I really, if you haven't noticed, there's several people I kind of like to use. Wren and I talk about, he has, we each kind of have our own particular person that we like, and it's wonderful. There's great, great resources out there.

So I have this outline that I'm going to use from Chester McCauley, and he labels this section In chapter 2, 11 through 22 components of the church. So the first part we actually was covered back I think Bob covered it. Our past as Gentiles, and that was a section that talked about We're separated from Christ with the uncircumcision That whole section, but this section we're coming into now for the end of the chapter is basically truths about us That's great, a prayer answered already. So this is our present position in Christ.

Randy started this last week and we're just going to continue on with that. And there's wonderful, as we go through this, we were kind of talking, we get together, the elders get together every Tuesday. I appreciate your prayers for that as we get together and we pray for everybody as need in the congregation and we think about We're just talking about that it's so important to see the relevance of scripture in your lives. I think Randy has kind of hit on it.

There are so many wonderful truths about us as a believer in Ephesians. It's just amazing. In this section, Randy started last week, the last two parts of this is just amazing. The truths about us. But it is presented in the context of the Gentiles and the Jews, which is absolutely correct, because that's exactly what Paul was. He was the apostle to the Gentiles. So he presents it, but it has application to us. So there's just many wonderful truths about us as a believer that come across in this.

So basically, the new position, and this talks about the fact that, in fact, if you have your Bibles, just open to chapter 2, and look at verse 13 for a second. Because I want to kind of get this in context as we go on with the rest of the chapter here. Verse 13 talks about, it says, But now in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. And literally that's the idea of being made near, and it's the idea that we've come into this new relationship that we never had before and it's just a wonderful beginning to the our present position in Christ that we've been we've been made near by the blood of Christ just a wonderful truth and then 14 through 18 which Randy covered part of that last week I'm going to cover the last couple verses and then we go on into what McCauley calls a new relationship in terms of our citizenship foundation and growth so I'm going to concentrate on the part that kind of dovetailing with Randy.

We're going to talk about, you know, 14 talked about that Christ is our peace. He's made both groups into one new man. He also talked about breaking down the dividing wall. And then 16 talks about reconciling Jew and Gentile in one body through the cross. So we're going to kind of start into this section in 17, which is the next chart.

So could someone read, actually I wouldn't mind someone going back to starting with verse 13 and reading 13 through 19 for me in chapter 2. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ for he himself is our peace who has made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolition abolising in his flesh the anemone which is the law of the commandments contained in ordinances so that in himself he might make the two into one new man thus establishing peace and he might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross by it having put to death the anemone and he became and preached Peace to you who are far away, and peace to those who are near. For through him we both have our access in one spirit of 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.

Great. Thanks. Appreciate that. Okay, so there's several things you'll see here. He comes back to the idea of peace again. Christ came and preached peace to you who are far away, and preached peace to you who are near. And then he talks about access.

We're going to spend quite a bit of time talking about our access. That's a wonderful truth. But I think we sometimes, we know we have that access, but boy, Ephesians and other passages in Scripture really bring that across. That we have access. So what does that access mean? So we're going to talk about that. Then lastly, we're going to kind of summarize that. There's a so then, or it could be therefore.

You are no longer strangers and aliens. You're fellow citizens. So what does it mean to be a fellow citizen with the saints? What kind of citizenship do the saints have? Are we a Democrat or a Republican? No, we're not. Thankfully we're not. So that's the good news. Alright, so that's kind of the overall plan here. So we're just going to kind of dive into it.

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and preached peace to those who were near. He came, or literally having come, it's a fact, it's a past point fact. and preach peace. It's interesting that we saw earlier that he is our peace. Now Paul is going to focus on the fact that he preached peace.

There is something that you are going to see through here. It isn't explicitly stated, but every person, every people I looked at, kind of caught on it too. There is the aspect of the the far and the near in terms of the Gentile and the Jew. That's kind of the context here. But there's also the idea that far and near in the sense of an unbeliever and a believer.

Because we see that outside of Christ, we're far. Below the radar scope, you're going to see that's going to be referred to, kind of implied, that without Christ, we're far. And actually, that was a message that was shown in the Old Testament. We'll see that too, that talking about people that were outside the nation of Israel.

They were far away from God, where those in the nation of Israel were near to God. So we're going to see that as we go through this. The word preached is a derivative of the word to evangelize. The root word is euangelion, but that's a derivative of that. And it's almost always used of preaching the good news concerning the Son of God.

And if you look in, could someone read, go over to chapter 3 and read verse 8, 18 rather. Is it 3-8 or 3-18? I think it's actually 3-8. I may have a typo there. Is it 3-8? And to me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Great, thank you. So correct that in your notes there, it's 3.8.

Then also, he says he preached, and what did he preach? He preached this peace, or reine, harmonizing relationship between God and man accomplished through the gospel. So let's look at, and I'll read this part, let's look at Acts 10. So we see in Acts 10 that same preaching piece, or preached piece, in Acts 10. And let me look at those verses. And it kind of shows that there's an intent of this preaching. It's to establish peace. And here's where we get the kind of picture of the dual purpose between those who are outside of Christ So, 1034.

In opening his mouth, Peter said, I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality. But in every nation, the man who fears him and does what is right is welcome to him. The words which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. So this idea of preaching peace, the only one that can establish peace is Christ.

It's interesting in our world we hear people all the time, we're going to have peace in our time. Think of how many peace accords they've had with different parts of the Middle East. Documentary. Every president has had some kind of big peace agreement in the Middle East. Well, it's still a mess. It's just a terrible mess.

Anyway, Christ is the only one that can bring us true peace. Actually, Constable kind of picks up on what I kind of mentioned here. Not only is Jesus Christ our peace, personally, we saw back in verse 14, He also preached peace. He preached the message of peace. And that peace is really, and this is where it kind of focuses on the fact that you can't have peace with God outside of knowing Jesus Christ. You're at enmity with God. So then the question is, when did Christ preach peace?

So, what do you think? Is there a time when you can think He specifically said, I'm going to talk about peace here. And this is just to get some dialogue going here. I have a thought, and we can look at some things too. If you have some thoughts about that. I'm speaking the verse I'm trying to record.

That is my peace I give, not as the world gives. Excellent. Good. That's good. Other thoughts? 114 it says that he is our peace. Right, right. So just him being there. Right, right. Well that's kind of the dual aspect here of the fact that he is our peace, but he also proclaimed peace. So there's kind of, you know, he is inherently because of who he is, he has, because of his death on our behalf, he has secured our peace with God, right? But this verse is talking, he came and he preached peace to kind of these two groups of people here. Parts of this verse show up in the Old Testament. This is why I was mentioning that God was concerned about establishing a harmonizing relationship with man. The B part of Isaiah 57 is, Peace, peace to him who is far, and to him who is near, says the Lord, I will heal him.

So of course at this time, We didn't have the church. We didn't have the body of Christ. So this is kind of in a different context. Those outside of not knowing the Hebrew God, not knowing the Yahweh. So anyway, there's application to us here. So now we're going to see this. I'm going to kind of transition into you who were far away. So who, in the context of what we're reading, and this isn't a hard answer. Who are the far away? The Ephesians was not a tribe of Israel by any stretch of the imagination. Basically all Gentiles are regarded as here. So the far away are the Gentiles, right? In this context the far away are Gentiles.

So let's just look at a couple verses here. Actually 13 we've already looked at. That was back talking about We were made near by the blood of Christ. But let's look at Acts. Could someone read Acts 2.39?

For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself. So this is Peter again. And if you go back in the context, he talks about, back to 38, he says, And Peter said to them, Repent, let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And that's what Vani read. So the promise is for you and your children who are far off, as many as the Lord your God shall call to himself.

So here, actually, even in this context, you have to be kind of careful. Sometimes it looks like, well, who's far and who's near? And it just depends. It can mean outside of Christ, or it can mean Gentiles. And so you just kind of keep track. So to those, those ones who are near. Who is near? Near probably is Jews. Absolutely. Right. OK. So then, actually, This is a quote taken a little bit out of context.

This is trying to address the question about how did Christ preach peace? He preached peace to those who are far away and to those who are near. So this is kind of addressing...Kospel kind of makes the point that it was following his ascension, the apostles were the ones that preached that message. And we've just been reading about Peter and others.

And if you look in Just go back to Acts chapter 1 if you're still there. And you'll see that in Acts 8 it talks about, but you shall receive power. So this is Christ when he ascended up. And he said to them back in 7, he said to them, it is not for you to know the times or epics which the Father has fixed for his own authority.

But you shall receive power. when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, even to the remotest part of the earth." So that message of peace, peace reconciling man to God, was preached by his apostles.

And then actually McCauley I thought was good. He even goes so far, I think he went back and kind of looked at the Old Testament context, and he generalizes this, which this is true a good part of the time, but there's other, you know, the words far and near are Hebrew idioms that describe the position of the Jew and Gentile, and Vani observed, I used to go through this with Vani, Vani observed that in his quote here, the part I left out, you know, the Jew is near, and the Gentile is far off, but it looks like in this context it's flipped around, so don't, hopefully that's not a confusion point. Alright, hope I haven't confused you too much with that. Alright, so I was going to go on to the next verse if there's no more questions, or any questions. Alright.

For through Him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. For through Him, or through Christ, both Jew and Gentile have our, or the, it's actually the definite articles of the access Have access. Have is this idea of a thing in one's possession and it's in the present tense. This is a part that gets personal, if you will. This is something that every believer in the Lord Jesus has. He has access. Access is this word, and I have a couple of folks that I quote here, leading or bringing into the presence of. The first part here, this word is made up of two parts. a go, to bring, and pros, meaning face. So it's use of a person who brings another into the presence of a third party. And you think of the king, and you have someone that's your mediator. In times past, you couldn't approach any king without somebody as a middleman.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. How about writing it? Probably even Queen Elizabeth. I don't think you can just stroll right in and say hi. Hi, Queenie. How are you doing there? How are things in the UK these days? We're your good buds. Somebody has to introduce you. You're so-and-so. You're one of these crazy Americans or whatever. So you need an introduction. That's what access is all about. And then the second part, which I think is from Weiss here, Access, which is associated with a thought of freedom to enter through the assistance or favor of another. Not everyone is able to enter in certain situations if you're in certain places.

You don't have the credentials. I'm not a secretary of whatever. You can't come into this body. I can't go into Congress and just stroll into the House or Senate and say, hey, I have something to tell you guys about what you should be doing. I'd like to do that sometime, but you can't do that. You're not a senator or representative.

So you need the right credentials. And it's such a beautiful word, because you think about what our Savior did for us, and He fulfills, He allows us to have that that access to our Father. It's just neat. So I'm going to spend a couple more verses on this. I want to keep going on this access. Thoughts? I mean, it's like God, you couldn't... No, you couldn't go in the holy holies. They didn't have that access.

But just let your mind kind of explode with the access that we have. I mean, just scripture after. In fact, I haven't even scratched the surface when I'm going to show you the next couple of verses. There's just so much. We can go right in, you know, the veil's been broken. Hebrews talks about this access we have. It's just incredible. I don't want to steal your lesson. The thing I find fascinating looking at this from an Old Testament perspective is the fall happens and access is taken away. That's a good point.

And then we get to Abraham. And God kind of shows up to Abraham's house, right? He's just going to hang out at Abraham's tent. And he's just talking with him. But that's a special occasion. You get to the temple and the access is again, there's the veil and there's the Holy of Holies and there's separation. But what has happened from Satan's perspective is Satan wants us in the flesh Exactly. Fear access. Right. And I think as believers, I can speak for myself, that I don't feel that I have... Well, Lord, I don't, you know... Do I really feel that I have the access that scripture says I have? I'm going to get some more detail.

Yeah. Well, that's why I stopped where I did. Okay. Thank you, Randy. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So, we're going to look at two other verses here, and then kind of a wrap-up here. Okay. More on access. Okay. Here's a really cool verse. Actually, let's go back. Could someone read verse 1? I realize I have to put this up here. Someone read verse 1 here, and then we'll go into verse 2.

Romans 5.1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exult in hope of the glory of God. OK, this is a cool verse.

OK, but it's kind of... Does someone else have a... How about King James? Does someone have a King James? Read that 5.2 in King James? Or other verses? Or other versions? I have a King James. OK. Romans 5.2? Sorry. It's OK. We have the time. I was in Ephesians. I wonder why. I know. We can go there if you want. It's okay. We're allowed to do that. I know.

I'm just giving you a hard time. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, in the joys and hope of the glory of God. Okay, so actually what yours is cool. In American Standard, I think they blew it. But anyway, that's my opinion. They put it, obtained our introduction. The core word is more like that, but boy, access is, put access in there, it helps you. So here, you know.

First of all, who is this? And Randy read for us. That's the Lord Jesus, obviously. Through whom? The Lord Jesus. We have obtained our introduction. Or, much better, we have access. And access, from the previous definition, is a leading or bringing face-to-face. It's a wonderful thing that our Savior has done for us. He has provided for us this face-to-face interaction with God. It's amazing. And look at it, we have access, this bringing face-to-face, by faith, key, key, key, by faith, into this grace. And we're going to go on with that. Much better rendering.

Maybe that's why the Catholic Church uses another version, as opposed to access. I don't know. I don't think we have access. Well, yeah, because they're the access, right? We're the access. We're the priests of that. And what's cool is the tense of this verb, have access, is the perfect tense. I'll like to spell it out. We had access in the past by faith and continue to have access up into the present by faith. We have a permanent relationship Permanent access. And it's by faith. The whole Christian life, from start to finish, is by faith. Trusting in what Christ has done for us, for salvation, and trusting day by day, moment by moment, in what He has done for us, and what He's doing for us.

That's one cool verse. One down. We've got another cool verse here. Someone read this for me. You can just read it from the overhead, if you like. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Okay, so this is pretty cool. It kind of adds a little, verse 12, for in whom, in Christ, we have boldness and confident access. So that word is added. We have confident access, or access and confidence. So the Lord wants to assure us that this is not going to, tomorrow we're going to wake up one day, whoops, I lost it. I lost my credentials. I lost them in the parking lot. Tom?

It kind of leads into a little side juggle, but it does explain it in different terms. If you're getting on the interstate in Kansas, they don't just say anything like California says, freeway entrance, zoom, you're on. It actually goes into OK, stop to pay attention to it. Somebody come up from behind and honk at you.

OK. All right. OK. OK. OK. So. So what's interesting is that there's this modifier. We have this confident trust assurance. The route is to persuade. So let's see if I can. So how is this. How is this confident access possible. So let's see here. Does someone have a thought? I think the clue to this, I ask these questions based on this verse. So, what in this verse tells us that we have confident access? And you guys know, this is another easy question.

It's not like this is... Because we're in Christ. Exactly. Yeah, duh. We're in Christ. But I love the eternal purpose. Oh, I know. Hear it out. In Christ. So the eternal purpose Remember our brother Hal went through the whole thing about God's eternal purpose. This is just one of the many.

The thing I think, tying in with the eternal purpose perspective, is that Satan wants us to feel like we don't have access, like we're not good enough, and God doesn't really desire intimacy with us. But this says quite the opposite. That it was God's eternal purpose He desired to have intimacy with us and created a way for that to take place. So when we find ourselves feeling like, oh, I don't have confident access, that's probably not the Holy Spirit. True. And that can be our own nature too. Our own nature is very capable of telling us all that stuff. Cool. Okay. Great. Another question.

How do we obtain it? Do we get some stickers? Like with our grandkids. Do we give them stickers and they get 10 stickers and they get Confident Access? Right. That's what it says. In whom we have boldness and confidence through faith in Him. Cool. Like I said, this access and then there's just a lot more. It's a lot more. So actually, okay, what do I have in this verse here? Could someone read? Yeah, okay, this is a cool verse. Could someone read 2 Corinthians 3, 2-4?

He are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men. Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. And such trust we have through Christ to guide us. So that word, trust, unfortunately, should be translated confidence. Everybody has their own, you know. So that's another place where that word, the Greek word, shows up, confidence. Okay, so now, let's do the rest of the verse. So the remainder of this verse gives us more details about our access.

And this is really cool. This adds even more things that are just spectacular. First of all, for through him we have our access in one spirit, or probably better, by means of one spirit, to the Father, or I like what Wiest has, into the presence of the Father. So I saw a couple things that kind of fell out of this. We have access in our position. Think about this. This is really cool.

So we go way back to verse 6. So that's been a little while ago. So what does verse 6 say? Can someone quote it or read it? raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Okay, so we've been raised up, so we're there in our position, we are there, our access is right there. Number two, We have access in our prayers.

And this is a wonderful thing I got to teach two, three years ago. And it's just, it's just mind boggling. So, Randy, why don't you read it for us? I remember you, you, Romans 26 and 27. Yeah, yeah. I should have memorized, but I... I haven't sort of memorized, but shame on me. There's a guilt trip. Romans 8, 26 and 27.

In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, saints according to the will of God. So we see that the Holy Spirit is guaranteeing our access. He is guaranteeing the access of our prayers.

And this is probably a biggie, because I don't know about you, but this is a toughie. You say, well Lord, I prayed and nothing happened. Nothing happened. Well... Or not the way you wanted. Or not the way I wanted. I wanted it this way, Lord, and you gave it this way. What's going on here? Do I really have access to you or not? Yeah, but it's 20 years later. That's when you say, Lord, thank you. Thank you, Lord, for not answering the way I prayed about it.

This is the way. It says the Holy Spirit, He knows the mind of God. He knows what's going on. He understands us. In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness, or helps the weakness of us. And if you look carefully, this is what's really cool. For we do not know how to pray. And actually, that's not the best, because it says, yeah, I know how to pray. I pray to the Father, and the name of the Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit. I learned that back a long time ago.

Well, this is actually, that how is actually the what. We don't really know The exact right prayer to pray for, we say, well, Lord, I'd like to have a better job. The job you have right now is what I think you should have. So we pray for a better job, and we keep having to have the same job, or whatever it might be.

So He knows, the Holy Spirit, He knows the what. And He helps our weakness. And He intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. So in a way we don't have to worry. We pray what is on our heart. And let the Holy Spirit, He's going to sort it out. And we have to trust that that's the way God operates. And He's not going to miss anything. So that's cool.

So basically this access has so many tangential things in the Christian life. There's just so many parts. And we have access. And I haven't even talked about the thing In the Holy of Holies, in the Hebrews there, that verse I didn't even cover, but there's just so much in terms of the access that we have. Any last thoughts on access? We're going to move on to another blessing we have as a believer.

Randy? The thing that I think is something I wrestled with the most when I was younger, and I'm harping on this, although I'll just provide the context, is the flesh always told me I didn't have access, right? And that's a place where I couldn't have the confidence, I couldn't have that sense that I could draw near to God, because I didn't understand my position. The access and the position, you highlighted that a bit, the access and the position are really key because when we understand our position then we can boldly go and confidently go and say, okay, God of the universe.

Everybody else in the Old Testament, you know, God has to tell Moses because he's a little daft, take your shoes off. But we find later on, you know, here Paul writes to us and the author of Hebrews tells us in chapter 4, Confident access to have grace and mercy and wisdom.

And what does God want us to have? He desires that intimacy and that mercy and that wisdom. But when we pray, what do we pray? We pray with fear of access. We pray for fear that we'll ask too much. We pray all those things and this conglomerate of verses you've just gone over I think are great to remind us that we You should not have the worldly, earthly mindset. Because that's not what we're called to.

You know, it breaks your heart because you know other believers who you love, and you don't at all understand this, what their position is. And it's so sad because they don't have that fellowship, and they don't have that boldness to go and with their prayers. And it's heartbreaking. And you can't, you know, you can do everything you can, but it's really up to the Holy Spirit to show them what their position really is. It's very sad. Well great, good.

We're going to have to hurry here to get the next blessing in. So verse 19 is our next wonderful blessing. Actually, verse 19, people looked at that and said, wow, look at this. Does somebody have therefore, starting verse 19 by chance? Or now therefore? I think that's maybe some translation. He's been talking about a bunch of wonderful things that we have. Now he's going to kind of wrap it up and then tell us about another wonderful blessing.

So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but are fellow citizens with the saints and are of the household of God. So then, or now then, or therefore, so we says, Paul brings to conclusion with this statement, what we have covered in 14-18, and draws from the natural and comforting inference. He says, you Gentiles, remember we are in the context of, we can apply it to ourselves, but the view through what Paul is writing is talking about Gentiles. You Gentiles, which is us, before Christ, are no longer strangers and aliens. So we're going to see two you are's in this. If you look carefully, you'll see one at the very beginning, you are no longer. And then, but you are fellow citizens. So there are two. And this is this really neat word called emi in the Greek. And it's a to be verb. It's a state in which someone or something continuously exists.

So he's telling us, this is another permanent fact about us. You are no longer, a permanent fact, strangers and aliens. So the Gentile relationship has changed to God. And our relationship has changed. And that's Paul's point here. Your relationship has changed. We just talked about access.

It kind of goes back to strangers and aliens, which is a thing that we see through the Old Testament too. No longer it's an adverb of time. No longer no more strangers, which denotes a foreigner. The word speaks of that which is of different quality or nature, less alien to it. So there are a couple of verses that talk about that.

Let's see here. Let's just look at the Hebrews. Oh, sorry. Sorry, sorry. Can someone read Hebrews 11, 13? He always died in faith without assuming the promises, but having seen them, and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. Right.

So there's a sense in which, and here's another kind of take on this strangers and aliens ideas, that we're, as believers, since we're heavenly citizens, which we're going to see just shortly, we are strangers down here. We are strangers and aliens as we walk on this earth.

And that's another concept that kind of is in here as well. So we're strangers and aliens in that sense. And then here's a sense which we're outside of Christ. Weiss kind of comes across with that. Sinners are aliens, strangers to the kingdom of God, having a totally depraved nature that makes them different and different in a hostile sense. So there's a sense there. So look at these words, and they have multiple applications and multiple points to be made.

And then we talk about, and no longer aliens. Sojourner, one who dwells in a foreign land temporarily. And that's certainly the picture that Paul wants to show us. Because he's telling us that we're heavenly citizens. And it tells us other places that we set our minds on things above. We're not to be, you know, this is not our home. Our home as heavenly citizens.

And we're going to see that, I'm kind of getting a little bit ahead. So in Acts, you see a sense, there's a physical idea in Acts Where it talks about... Can someone read Acts 7.29? This is kind of the physical sense, talking about Moses here.

Acts 7.29.

Then fled Moses at this saying, and there was a stranger in the land, and he and him were to beget two sons. Okay, Edward uses stranger. What I found is, unfortunately, the English and the Greek, the words are kind of, you know, sometimes someone will have the same word translated two different ways. Anyway, that's the same word for alien there.

But the sense that I think is interesting is the spiritual sense. And I quoted the verse we're looking at, but the first one is, and let's turn to 1 Peter, let's go to chapter 2 first, 1 Peter chapter 2. And that says, 1 Peter chapter 2 says, I'm going to start in verse 10.

It says, For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God, who had not received mercy, but now have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you, as aliens and strangers, to abstain from fleshly lust, which wages war against your souls. So in this context, in the spiritual context, he's talking about the fact that Since we're believers in the Lord Jesus, we're to act as strangers and aliens. This world is alien to us because we're heavenly citizens.

And then in 1 Peter 1, go back to chapter 1, verse 17 it says, And if you address as father, the one who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourself in fear during the time of your stay on the earth. Can someone read their version, like in King James? How does that read in the King James? And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons judges according to every man's work, past the time of your sojourning here in here.

Okay, yeah, and that's basically our sojourning, that's our word. Okay, so we've gotten up, so you're no longer strangers and aliens, but, and that's a sharp contrast, but you are fellow citizens with the saints. So here's the second, the first you are, was kind of stated negatively, you're no longer strangers and aliens, The next one is you are, same word, Amy, the state in which something continually exists, your fellow citizens.

And this is another rich word, another great study. If you were going to Vern's class, I'm sure he has a whole lesson just on your citizenship. And it's this word, the derivative comes from the word for politics. This is together with. And it's a member of a city or a state, a fellow citizen. So it's going to talk about the fact of a relationship.

Paul's making the point here that you're no longer a stranger. You're now part of the family. You're now a fellow citizen. A fellow citizen of heaven, right? That's what we see in other places. You're a fellow citizen. And he says, with the saints. So you were strangers and aliens. You're no longer a stranger, but now you're a fellow citizen.

And let's see here. So I want to spend just the last few minutes here talking about what's said of the saint's citizenship. So this talks about we're fellow citizens with them, or of the saints, which reads a little bit hard. I think with is actually better. So what does it mean to be? the citizenship of a believer. What's that about? There are a couple of verses that really speak to that.

Can someone read Philippians 3.20?

Philippians 3.20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Great. So what's cool is here, where are you waiting from Aurora, Colorado for the Savior? This is kind of Laura is waiting for this. But what's cool about this?

It says it's always just blows my mind. It tells us where to wait from. You say, why do I need to be told where to wait from? It's back to what we just talked about, what we talked about. Knowing your position. If you wait from Aurora, which is, you will physically wait from Aurora or Denver or wherever you're at. But this says, our mindset is to be, I'm waiting from heaven. Isn't that incredible? We've already seen that. We're already, we're waiting from heaven.

I know, I know. Go ahead, I'm sorry. Word. That's too bad. It says for our conversation. I know. Actually, you know, that was not a wise watered down where it is that we don't speak 1611 English. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, yeah. It means your lifestyle. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, that that that's another word for it. Yeah.

If you look at the. Let's see in here, I don't have the other places, but unfortunately that's too bad. It's one of the politic words, so I'll call it that. There's a group of words that all have a derivative from the word politics in the English. That's too bad, that's too bad.

In other words, I wanted to look back in Philippians there, because someone read 127 for me. And this is a little bit cloaked too, unfortunately. Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to see you or remain absent, I will hear of you, that you are standing firm. Does someone else have something besides conduct yourself?

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Go ahead. with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Great, great. Sorry to jump the gun here. I'm so excited about this work. Okay, does someone else have, in 127, only... I have conduct yourselves. Somebody has something different than that? Mine says only let your conversation, which... I know, that's even...

Well, actually what it means is, it literally means behave as a worthy citizen. Basically, it says behave like who you are. Citizenship is this relationship that we have as fellow believers. Behave as a citizen worthily is another approach. So that's pretty cool. Our citizenship is just incredible. And there's a lot more to be said, but to wrap it up here. Oops, outlier there. So this is the last chart. The last little phrase is, which is really wonderful.

We are fellow citizens with the saints. Think about your citizenship. We have the same citizenship with every believer for all time. Think of Paul. Think of Peter. Think of whoever it might be. We're fellow citizens with them. Think of that. Well, I'm a citizen of America. I'm a citizen of Aurora. I'm a citizen of wherever. We're citizens with every saint.

And he kind of adds a little additional thought. And are of the household of God. Are basically members of the household of God. So the last verse, can someone read Galatians 6.10? So that while we have opportunities, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. Okay, and what's interesting is, you'll see that it will be called of God's household, the household of faith. There are various expressions, but it's still a body of believers.

That's God's household. We're God's household. There are so many wonderful ways to look at our relationship with our Savior and with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. We have a household. And members of the household care about one another. And so it has a wonderful sense in terms of the local body of believers too. Actually, the Timothy verse talks about conducting himself in the household of God. We're going to revisit household in chapter 3. Yeah, we are. We're going to have lots of things to say about the household. That's very true.

Any last thoughts? Before we close, we thank you, Father. We thank you for our time today, Lord. And we thank you for this wonderful truce, Lord, that we learn about our relationship with you and how you've maintained it. You're making it work, Lord. And you ask us to operate by faith in all that you do. In Christ's name, amen.