Rochester Conference Part 1: The Corporate New Man in Ephesians (1996)

Sister, give it up. We’re tired of you doing all this stuff anyway. I’ll tell you something else: it’s drawing a lot of attention to one part of the body, which comes down to egotism, to “let’s do what comes naturally.” Let’s be the body of Christ and see what it is we were ordained to do before the foundation of the world. Isn’t this wonderful? Why aren’t you standing up on your chairs, cheering the graces and the glories and the kindnesses and the mercies of the glory of His grace?

If anyone thinks that I’m doing some damage to this book in the New Testament, that I am in some way twisting scripture, will you please stand up? I think I’m reading it like it is. Have I invented anything? It’s even better than it sounds. Praise the Lord. Thank you, brother. Thank you very much.

Before He comes back. Shall the Lord come soon? I have a strange feeling; I don’t want Him to come back. I honestly don’t want it because I know, and I knew this even when I was a teenager. When I get really close to death, I’m going to say, “Alright, Lord. Come on back. I don’t want to die. Come on now, Lord. Do it, Lord. Now.” I don’t want Him to come back. Forgive me, I know that I’m supposed to, I read all those verses that said I’m supposed to want Him to come back. Well, those were written during the time when things were looking fairly good. I don’t want Him to come back. I want Him to come back when this is, if not the greatest testimony on the earth, at least one that is known.

I want God’s people somewhere to have the joy and beauty of living in His life and living in His church without condemnation and the reality of these things, without a bunch of chesty, high-testosterone men going around terrifying sisters and other brothers. I know I’m supposed to want Him to come back, but brother, I don’t want Him to come back. Therefore, I can’t answer your question honestly. I’m totally prejudiced.

By the way, let me tell you, it’s the strangest thing in this world. People have been predicting His return for hundreds of years, but He didn’t do it, and yet, they’re passing up the one year that should be His return, and that’s 1996. If the calendar is off four years, Jesus Christ was born in 4 BC, and if these towheads are really right about the birth of Christ, you know, you got 2000, 2000, 2000, 1000, then in October of 1996, He’s coming back, and nobody has even said anything about it. I figured this year there’d be people on the hills, selling their homes. They did that three years ago. Watch October 1996. Why October? Because that’s when the Jews celebrate the gathering, and I think all theologians expect them to come back in, you know, late fall, autumn. If you read The Return by Gene Edwards, you will notice. Did anybody see it? They were getting all these messages into Houston’s space, and one of them said, “You’re sure messing up a beautiful autumn day.” Did you notice that? It did. I throw things in like that.

So, brother, He may come back this year, and boy, I’m going to be glad it’s over with, and I’m looking forward to a transformed body. But I want to perpetrate on all of you the Edwardian view of how to bring the Lord back: We must all stop believing He’s coming back. If we will all stop believing He’s going to come back, He said, “I will come back at a time when nobody believes I will come back.” And our generation has called for more days and written more books than any other in history. How could He possibly come back? Everybody’s wanting Him to come back and expecting Him back. Hal Lindsay has just blown everything. Everybody’s convinced He’s going to return. Hal, just didn’t do that to us. I bet the Lord would have come back if you had written that book.

Okay, we have not been on a scriptural topic for the last five minutes. In case anybody is listening to these tapes, then you don’t take anything I’ve just said seriously. We’re in verse eleven. Therefore, remember that formerly you; did you get one here? That’s right. Well, what is this one, brother? 49. “Therefore remember that formerly you the Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision.” By the way, He doesn’t even admit there is a circumcision. He just admits the so-called circumcision. Would you make a point of that? He doesn’t say it is. …performed in the flesh by human hands. And that’s a dig, as over against this thing is done by humans rather than by God. Remember that you, is it 51 right here? I know, but is that the number? I didn’t actually count the Gentiles, did I? Those are brothers and sisters in that church. Okay, you get it. Remember that you were at that time, that’s right, at that time separate. And this is a group of Christians in Hierapolis.

You were separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. Man, what a powerful word, that is from the church and strangers to the covenant of promise. Are we going to let Him have strangers? No, we’re winning this game; we can be graceful. Okay. No. …to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God on this planet, but now inside of Jesus Christ, you who were formerly far, far away, have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. Well, that’s us, saints. Now, He may not be speaking of the church here; he may be speaking to a group of individuals to remind them where they were formerly. Nonetheless, we have to know it was plural, and it was addressed to a group of people who got together, who considered themselves the body of Christ. But now, the eternal now of Christ inside of Jesus Christ; you who were formerly far away have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. For Christ Himself is our peace. Alright, that’s 54.

I don’t think I even need to turn to show you this, but sister, give me a definition of peace. I’ll give you a shorter word. Peace is Christ. That’s what it says right here. For Jesus Christ is our peace. Now, I’m going to tell you something, and I know it might be a little difficult for you to believe, but I have spent most of my life as a Christian outside the organized church, and I know that there is among ministers and among God’s people everywhere a constant struggle that is always there. Now, you may believe me if you wish; you may not believe me if you wish, but I would say the typical brother and sister, and this is not true of everyone, but the typical brother or sister comes into an experience in the body of Christ, and within two to three years, that struggle ends.

Now, that doesn’t mean there’s still not tension; that doesn’t mean everybody goes to sleep and yawns, but that struggle ends, and the satisfaction of knowing you’re in church, you’re in the body, and the one thing you discover is that all the rest are in a bigger mess than I am. And oh, it’s a wonderful burden that you lay down, but you’re wrong. You thought you were the world’s worst. No, you’re just thrown into a body of the world’s worst. And oh saints, I tell you, holy ones, that is such a relief. Golly, they’re worse than I am. Well, God must really have mercy on us, then, because, well, not any of these people like to pray. They all like pizza more than they do prayer. And so it goes. I am telling you, I’m exaggerating this, and yes, I’m being humorous, but I am telling you something wonderful. Brothers and sisters, when you come into the body of Christ, somewhere along the way, there is some element of the Christian struggle that ends, and that is because Christ becomes your peace.

Christ made both groups one. That’s 56, brother. The two groups are 55, but the “one” is number 56. Are you following me? That one is corporate. We could throw a tent down right there, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall… And we’ll have to stop right there if we plan to eat lunch. I hope that when this weekend is over, you will go home with a new Bible, at least new epistles. And yeah, we’re going to go back to suspect some of the ways we’ve been reading the Gospels.

Brothers and sisters, I have preached harder than this. And I have seen God’s people stand on their feet, cheering. I have seen ovations, and I’ve seen people cry and weep, but in all my ministry, I have never spoken more revolutionary than I am just by reading verses and opening the fact that you and I are learning that we are a herd, we are a flock, we are a tribe, give me another animal word, a school, we are a gaggle, we are a murder – I bet you don’t know that one – you do, crows, we are a tribe, we are a people. We are a commonwealth. Every description given to the church is plural. A commonwealth, a nation, a citizenship, a people, a family, a colony, it’s always plural.