Where the Wall is Down 1984

We've been saying that this congregation is located in the center of one of the ripest mission fields on Earth. We don't have to cross the oceans to find people of many nations, they're right here. We don't have to stand on our heads to prove that life in this world is tragic and absurd.

Most of the people we deal with know this already. The places where we live, whether it's here in the immediate neighborhood or out across the suburbs, places where we work, and here where we gather, we're located in the middle of a ripe harvest field. All we have to do to bring people into the kingdom of God, understand I'm saying the kingdom of God, they don't have to join this church, they can fit in wherever they are led by God to fit in, but to bring people into the kingdom of God by the hundreds, I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say by the thousands.

All we have to do is be the literal fulfillment of a passage I like to read from Ephesians chapter 2 starting at verse 13. To be this, Ephesians 2, 13, But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off, have been brought near in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made us both one, both meaning Jew and Gentile.

And expanded now in our situation to mean Jew and Gentile, Arab and Jew, black and white, Puerto Rican and Mexican, urban and suburban, young and old, rich and poor, and on and on. And has broken down the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace. And might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end.

If we here are in fact a place, a people, where the wall of hostility is down, the wall of hostility between man and God, as well as the wall between man and man, the power of the kingdom of God and the gospel of the kingdom will move out from this place with such power that it will ignite the city. See, if that wall of hostility is down in our own hearts and in this place, we'll then have the authority to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom and heal the sick so effectively that the surrounding miles will be stirred. It's not a matter of developing some new missionary technique, some new gimmick, nor is it necessary to use the media in any way, all due respect to the media.

All we need to do is, it depends on what we are as a people, what we are if we are such a people. Where in fact the dividing wall of hostility is down. If we live that, the fire of the Lord will be here and will go forth and people will be drawn.

An example would be a passage from Acts chapter 13 verse 1. Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manny and a member of the court of Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Now this is a description of an event attended by five men that was really the send off of the gospel out into the known world. In a matter of just a few years, this gathering of five men produced a gospel, sent it forth into the Roman Empire with such effective power that within a few years people were worshipping Jesus and serving him all over the place. Now what we have here, five men among whom the wall of hostility is in fact down.

First of all, they are at one with God. They are worshipping the Lord and fasting. They are consumed with love for God.

They are in touch with the Father. But they also have the barrier down between themselves. The wall of hostility between them is down.

And they are at one with each other. These five men, three of them are from the Jewish nation, and two of them are from the black nation. And here they are, one.

This was almost unheard of then and in fact almost unheard of now. But when this happens, the life of God goes forth. And what we have in the professing Christian Church today, if we're honest, is a place where this divining wall of hostility is up.

We pretend that it's down, we like to say how wonderful it is, you know, that we all get along so well. But taking the professing Christian Church as a whole and including ourselves, we have to see that all too often the wall is high and it's thick. A wall of hostility.

And because that wall is there, the Spirit of the living God cannot move with freedom. Never will move with freedom until that wall is in fact down. Let me read that part of it again.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, soul making peace. Show me a place where this wall is down between men and women and God and where it's down between them, between men and men, nation and nation, man and woman and so forth.

And I'll show you a place where heaven is on this earth and men and women and children are in fact saved and healed and utterly transformed. Reading from Revelation chapter 7 verse 9. After this I looked and behold a great multitude which no man could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Again this is an awesome thing.

On this earth the wall, the dividing wall separates every nation, people, kindred and tongue. But here people have been gathered out of every one of them and they are one. Standing before the throne and before the Lamb clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb.

Then one of the elders addressed me saying, who are these clothed in white robes and whence have they come? I said, sir, you know. He said to me, these are they who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

This is the ultimate miracle. Because here we have people from every kindred, nation, tribe and tongue together. The dividing wall of hostility is broken away.

They are one. Now this is something which is absolutely impossible to find anywhere on earth except where the kingdom is in fact. Not where we say it is, where it is in fact.

Plus they are before the throne. The barrier between man and God is removed and they can look up into his face. Again something which is almost, which is impossible to find anywhere really on earth except where the kingdom is in fact.

And how does it come about? These are they who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And even if this doesn't sound scientific and even if it offends all your erudition, whatever it is. The only substance in this world, mystery of mysteries, that is able to dissolve the wall of hostility is the blood of the Lamb.

Nothing does it. Everything else has been tried again and again. We hear it mouthed, all the theories, but look and see what happens and the wall is still there.

The only place where the wall is down is where that blood touches. These are they who have come through the great tribulation. Meaning that they have shared in the anguish of the cross and by the fire of suffering which they share with the master.

They are welded together into the one new man. Now this is a picture of how it will be in the end. It is also a picture of how it is meant to be in the kingdom now.

But it is not present on the earth anywhere else except where the kingdom in fact is. And the reason we don't find that kind of unity present anywhere in the earth, no matter what ideology we subscribe to, is that there is in fact a wall. And here is where the wall began.

We could mark it as the beginning of human history. From Genesis chapter 3 verse 22. Then the Lord God said, Behold, a man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil.

And now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed a cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way of the tree of life.

The description of the expulsion of the human race from paradise. So now Adam and Eve and all their children are outside the wall. Inside the wall is communion with God.

Outside the wall is estrangement from God. And this is where the children of Adam live down to this moment. But there is another aspect to this wall which we find just a few verses down the page in Genesis 4 verse 8. Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go out to the field.

When they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? He said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? The Lord said, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.

So Abel is dead but so is Cain. Cain is dead in a far worse sense. Because Cain now is outside behind the wall of hostility.

Which does not come down when he murders his brother. It is still there. And down to this moment from that moment we live behind the wall of hostility.

Which not only keeps us out of the paradise of God but also cuts us off from each other. And to live behind that wall of hostility is living death. Consider the ways in which this wall has figured in every one of our lives.

Who of us has not spent years of his or her life living behind a wall of hatred? A wall which says, I wish you were out of my way. And I really wouldn't mind one bit if you were to die. Who of us hasn't lived years behind a wall of indifference? Which says, I could care less how you feel.

And it really doesn't matter to me what happens to you. Who of us hasn't lived for years behind a wall of compulsive judging? Which says, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong. God I thank thee that I am not as other men are.

And who of us hasn't lived for years behind a wall of contempt? Which says to others, how can you be so stupid? Now the power of the gospel of the kingdom is that Jesus through his death and resurrection has brought about a breach in the wall. Now we're not talking about theory, we're talking about fact. We're talking about something which any human being can experience if he's honest enough to seek it.

That there is one place on this earth where the wall has been breached. One place. And anybody from any place who goes to that place where the wall is breached can experience communion with God.

And can begin to taste union with other men from every nation and people and kindred and tongue. And the place where the wall is breached is the cross of Jesus. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility. I want to try to say it clearly whether, you know, just take it and think about it whether you find it hard to accept or not. If we say that we are following Jesus and we are in fact in our living still living behind the wall of hostility.

Then it can only mean that we are not at the cross. Not under the blood. If I'm at the cross in my living and if I'm under the blood in my living.

This is going to manifest itself first of all and foremost in the fact that the wall of hostility in my own heart is down. It's funny, you know, I'm thinking about this all last night. I woke up around 11 o'clock.

They're having the biggest party they ever had across the street on Vinewood. Cars lined up, you know, and you just bang, bang, bang all night long until 4 o'clock in the morning. And, you know, they're talking about not being hostile.

You know, but it's a fact. God tested us. If I say I'm following Jesus, the proof that I'm following Jesus is that that wall is down.

And I'm not walking around with paranoid fear and constant suspicion and always never giving anybody the benefit of the doubt. I'm always with a chip on my shoulder. Now, Jesus knocks the wall down by his death and resurrection.

But now that he has done that, it's up to me to maintain that wall as down. Once he knocks it down, it's up to me to keep knocking it down and make sure it doesn't come back up again. And you can say that the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, is the basic handbook on how to keep the wall down.

How to live at the breach of the wall, to stay at the cross. You know, and if, once he's knocked that thing down, I let it come up again, it's my fault. Example, Matthew 5, 21.

You have heard that it was said to the men of old, you shall not kill. And whoever kills shall be liable to judgment. But I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.

Whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council. Whoever says you fool shall be liable to the hell of fire. So if you're offering your gift at the altar and there, remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there at the altar and go.

First, be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift. Because, if my brother or sister has something against me, or if even I know that they think they have something against me, I have made no attempt to try to clear this up. The wall is rising up again.

And now it's not Jesus' responsibility to knock it down, it's mine. See, and top priority in my life is to keep that wall down. There's no way I can walk with God and there's no way I can walk at peace with my brother unless I keep that wall down.

So I leave my gift at the altar and I go and I get it straight. Another example, and you can go through the whole Sermon on the Mount and find this, but in Matthew 7, 1, Judge not that you be not judged, for with the judgment that you pronounce, you will be judged. The measure you give will be the measure you get back.

Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. And the log in our eye is the wall of hostility which manifests itself as continuous judgment of other people. Now the Lord knocked that thing out.

He brought it down by His death and resurrection, but it's now up to me to keep it away. And every time that log appears, it's up to me to get that thing in, yank it out, at all costs, no matter what the price, get rid of it. So if there are people among us who have never tasted unity with God, communion with the living God, you can have that.

You can come to the breach of the wall today and start by asking that the Lord Himself can manifest Himself to you and bring forgiveness to you, and you'll do it. If there are those among us today who once tasted it and lost it, you can have it back. But once we have it, it's up to us to maintain it.

The reason for our powerlessness as a people and as individuals is because we're living behind the wall. And we need to teach ourselves, discipline ourselves to stay at that place where the wall is down. Between us, between each other, between us and the Father, between nation and nation.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility. By abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man, in place of the two, so making peace.

And might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end. The time has come for us to be the literal fulfillment of that passage. To be a place where people can breathe the atmosphere of the presence of God, because the wall is down.

To be a place where people can taste peace between the nations, because the wall is down. We will be such a place, and when we are, we will be such a people. And when we are, the power of the kingdom of God will spread out from this place and others like it, across the face of this city, like a cleansing fire.