BUILT TOGETHER INTO GOD’S HOUSE

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 18, 2022 under 2022 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Sermon Message; December 18, 2022 from Ephesians 2:19-22

Theme: We are being built together into a dwelling place of God through Christ.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Before we look together into God’s word this morning, I’d like to ask you first to look around you, and think for a moment about our church building.

I love this place. Don’t you? I’m very glad that it looks just like what it is—a traditional church building. And it clearly means something significant to the people in the community.

I don’t know if you’re aware of this; but very often, during the week, people park their cars in the parking area, walk around, and photograph this building. There have been times when people have set up easels out on the church grounds and made paintings of it. I was told long ago that someone was looking through a magazine that was published in New York, and found a picture of our church building in an ad. There have even been a few location scouts for motion picture production companies that have asked if they could use the building in a film or television show. (I always politely decline, though; because this is a sacred place, and we don’t want it to be used in that way. But I think we all appreciate the compliment.)

This building was built in 1895 by its first pastor, Rev. John Wesley Beckley—who, as you might guess from his name—was a Methodist preacher. The early church members dragged timber up Germantown Road from the St. Johns community to build it. And Rev. Beckley and his family lived in a tent while he built the building—and then built the parsonage a year later. He did an amazing job; because it’s all still here—sturdy and strong—127 years later. I’m grateful for his vision and his workmanship; aren’t you?

Back in 1948, the church family realized that they needed a place for people to socialize, or have Sunday School classes, or to enjoy meals together. And so, they decided to put jacks under the building, raise it up, dig out the basement, and set the building back down on a cinder-block foundation. Physically lifting the church building up, in order to dig out the basement, seems like it would have been an almost impossible task. But the men back then were from ‘the greatest generation’ and didn’t know that it was almost impossible; and so they did it anyway.

In the early 1950s—in order to add a larger Sunday School facility—the church leaders acquired a government housing project building that had survived the tragic 1948 Vanport Flood. It was moved behind the church building, fixed up, and made into a usable set of classrooms. I’m told that it may be one of the few surviving buildings from that historic flood still in existence in Oregon. It expanded our facilities; and made it possible for us to have something that the church hadn’t had before—indoor restrooms! And then, about forty years later, the downstairs area got remodeled; and we added something that the church hadn’t had before—a kitchen.

It used to be that, to get inside the building, you had to go up a series of narrow, cement steps. But about twenty years ago, the church leadership team got the church family behind an effort to remodel the front entryway into a beautiful, wide, easily accessible walkway and porch. And while they were at it, they added wheelchair access to all entryways. And then, about ten years ago, the church leadership hired a contractor to strip down the old planks from the church. And along with his work-partner Finn the Finish Carpenter from Finland (I’m not making that up!), he completely resided the building, put in new installation, sealed it up tightly, and repainted it. It looked like a brand-new, traditional church building.

I love it when people come by and say, “You certainly have a wonderful church.” They always ask how old the building is; and I love to tell them its history. But I also try to clarify to them that this building isn’t the church. The real church is the people who love Jesus and are redeemed by His blood; and this just happens to be the building that the church meets in. And that’s important to remember. As much as you and I love this building, we have to recognize that it won’t last forever. I think Rev. Beckley and those early church members did an astonishing job; and I know that—like me—you hope this building remains standing and in good shape for many more decades. It will eventually fall apart, though; and will have to come down. No earthly building—not even a beloved old church building like this one—is meant to last forever.

But this morning, I’d like to ask you to turn with me to a passage in Ephesians 2 that describes another ‘church building’. It’s a building that will never fall apart or come down. It’s built to last for eternity as God’s own eternal dwelling place through His Son Jesus Christ.

In Ephesians 2:19-22, the apostle Paul wrote to a group of Gentile believers—formed together into a church family; and he told them,

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

This is describing to us a true ‘church building’—one not made out of bricks and planks, but of men and women who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus—one that the Holy Spirit has formed and has bound together—one in which God the Father Himself takes up residence and indwells as His own holy temple. And the Holy Spirit has recorded these words about it for us, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; so that we can think about our part in this eternal building with a sense of deep gratitude and awe; and to rejoice that we belong.

As much as we love our old church building, just think, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, of what a greater and more glorious temple it is that God has formed you and me together to be! We are being built together as God’s eternal dwelling place.

And as much as we love our own church building, we ought to love—even more—the church building described in this morning’s portion of Scripture.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; to really appreciate the importance of what this passage is telling us, we need to remember its context. The apostle Paul was writing this letter to tell his brothers and sisters in Christ about the wonderful, eternal blessings that are ours in Christ. But with respect to the specific section we’ve been studying, Paul had a particularly important purpose in mind. He wanted to assure his readers—who were Gentile believers—that they are now as welcomed into the covenant blessings of the God of Israel as every Jewish person who believes on Jesus.

In former times, the world had been divided up into two groups—the Jewish people, and everyone else. The Jewish people are the chosen people of our heavenly Father. They were natural-born inheritors of the covenant blessings of God. It was through them that God revealed Himself to the world. It was through them that He gave the Scriptures. And most important of all, it was through them that the long-awaited Messiah—Jesus Christ—was born. All these blessings and privileges had been only for the people of Israel. And the people of the Gentile world were—you might say—’outside looking in’.

But once Jesus came, and died on the cross for our sins, and rose from the dead for our justification, God then opened the door for everyone to draw near. There is no other way to enter into a relationship with God but by faith in His Son Jesus Christ. And now, all who believe on Jesus as Savior and Redeemer—whether Jew or Gentile—are welcomed to Him on equal terms.

Paul explained all of this in verses 11-18. And now; in our passage this morning, Paul tells us what the results of it all are. God has formed all who believe on His Son into one body—one ‘new man’—and has reconciled all to Himself through Christ. And as you look at this passage, you can see that Paul makes a special point of showing that his Gentile readers are a part of it all. In verse 19, he says that they “are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”. And in verse 22, he tells us Gentile believers, “you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

What a privilege we have, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! We—undeserving and unworthy Gentiles—are joined with God’s people; and are all together made into His holy temple! We are a part of the greatest and most permanent “church building” of them all!

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; I am not a builder. I’m not even slightly handy. But I think I know at least a little of what a building requires. A building requires good building materials. Those materials have to be placed on a good, sound, reliable foundation. The structure needs to be designed and built with a specific purpose in mind. And all the parts need to be bound together in a unified way to fulfill that purpose. There are many more things involved, of course. But those are the basics.

And those are the kinds of things that we find in this passage. In verse 19, we’re told what the building materials of God’s eternal ‘building’ are. And then, in verse 20, we’re told about the foundation. In verse 21, we’re told what the purpose of the building is. And in verse 22, we’re told what it is that unifies the building and unites the pieces in order to fulfill its purpose.

So then; let’s first look at verse 19—at the building materials. As we do, we find that …

1. THE BUILDING MATERIALS ARE US … THE REDEEMED.

Paul had explained how God had brought Jewish and Gentile believers together in one body in Christ, and made all the blessings of His covenant promises available to all believers equally. And as if to make sure they knew that they were no longer ‘outsiders’, Paul then encouraged his Gentile Ephesian readers by telling them, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God …”

Think of what they had been. They had been ‘strangers’ to God’s covenant promises. That was a way of saying that they didn’t belong. They didn’t have a place at the table. What’s more, they had been ‘foreigners’. They weren’t citizens of God’s kingdom. They were aliens. Any time they drew near, they were out of place. They truly had been ‘outsiders looking in’ … with no way to make themselves anything else but strangers and foreigners.

But that’s no longer the case for them. Now that they had placed their faith in what Jesus—the Jewish Messiah—had done for them on the cross, Paul said that they were now ‘fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God’. The ‘saints’ is another way of describing the people that God has set aside for Himself—His ‘sanctified’ and ‘special’ ones. That had previously only been the Jewish people. But now we Gentiles, who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, have been made into full-fledged ‘fellow citizens’ with the saints—with all the rights and privileges that come from being citizens of God’s kingdom. But even more, we are also now members of His household. We haven’t just been invited over as dinner guests. We have a permanent place at the table, and have been given our own room in the house. We are adopted completely into the family as God’s own full-fledged family members!

And this means that we redeemed Gentiles—along with all redeemed Jewish people—are equally made into the building materials of God’s eternal building. This would not be true of anyone who has never placed their faith in Jesus. But for those of us who have trusted His sacrifice on the cross, and have been born again by faith in Him, we are now made into His redeemed building materials. We’re given a beautiful picture of this in Ephesians 4:11-16;

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:11-16).

What an honor it is to be made into ‘building material’ for God’s eternal building!

* * * * * * * * * *

And then, as we look at verse 20, we find another important aspect of God’s building—and that’s the foundation. A builder can use the best building materials; but if it isn’t built on a good foundation, the building won’t stand. And this verse shows us that, when it comes to God’s building …

2. THE FOUNDATION IS THE GOSPEL OF JESUS.

We’re told that we are the building materials, “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone …” (v. 20).

Now; you might hear that and say, “Wait a minute. You said that we are built on the foundation of the gospel of Christ. But here, Paul says that we are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” And that’s true. But didn’t mean that God’s eternal building is built upon a group of men—even outstanding men like them. Rather, he means that God’s eternal building is built on the foundation that was laid by those apostles and prophets—which is the gospel of Jesus that He gave them to preach.

In the Old Testament, the prophets testified—way in advance—of the coming of Jesus. Think of the very specific things that Isaiah promised about Jesus, and Ezekiel, and Zechariah, and King David—things that sound almost like New Testament passages in their accurate descriptions of what Jesus would do for us. In fact, as Jesus Himself taught us, the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures was about Him. And when the Lord sent His apostles out into the world, they bore witness to Him and made the testimony of the prophets even more clear.

Think of what the Lord Jesus once said to the apostle Peter. He asked the apostles who people were saying that He was; and they answered that people were saying that He was ‘this’ or that He was ‘that’. Everyone had their opinion—just like today.

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:15-18).

That God-inspired answer that Peter gave—that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God—is the declaration of the gospel. And it would be on that ‘rock’—that solid foundation of the gospel—that Jesus would build His church. The apostle Paul said the same sort of thing in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11. He wrote;

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-11).

And do you notice how Paul carefully expresses this in our passage? He said that the foundation is the one laid out by the apostles and prophets. But it’s not upon just mere ‘doctrine’ that the building rests. It rests upon, and finds its starting point in, the Person of Jesus Himself. Paul said that it is built on the foundation with “Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone”. A cornerstone is the stone that the builder would set down first. All the parts of the building would be built from, and draw their central unity from, that stone. And for us, Jesus is that stone. As it says in Isaiah 28:16;

Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily (Isaiah 28:16).

So; as the building of God, we’re solid and secure. We’re built on the foundation of the gospel … with Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone.

* * * * * * * * * *

And then, consider the purpose of the building. A wise builder has a purpose in mind for the building that he constructs. And as verse 21 shows us, in our case …

3. THE PURPOSE IS TO BE THE TEMPLE OF GOD.

We’re told that Jesus Christ is the great cornerstone of this building, “in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord …” (v. 21).

Long ago, when God called the people of Israel to Himself, He met with them in the tabernacle. His presence was identified to them by the ark of the covenant that sat within that tent-like structure. Later in their history, He made His presence known to them in the solid temple that King Solomon built; and after that, in the temple that was rebuilt in Ezra’s time. Later on, God identified His presence to His people in the Person of His Son Jesus. And now that Jesus has died, risen, and sits at the Father’s right hand, God’s presence on earth is in His redeemed people—His church. He dwells in them; and they are His building.

And that means that right now, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you and I are being fitted together as God’s dwelling place—His holy temple on earth. The apostle Peter, in 1 Peter 2, tells us that Jesus was a stone – rejected by men – who has become the chief cornerstone of God’s new building. And he writes;

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-5).

God has redeemed us and made us into His set apart ‘building stones’. And He has a glorious purpose for bringing us together and making us into one building in Christ. It’s that He might dwell in us as His holy temple on earth—to receive worship and praise. That’s what the church is: His Holy temple—His holy dwelling place on earth—for holy and priestly purposes.

Doesn’t that make you want to live like what you are?

* * * * * * * * * *

So then; we see that the building materials are us—His redeemed people. We see that the foundation upon which we are built is the gospel of Jesus Christ—Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone. We see that the purpose is so that we would be a holy temple—God’s own dwelling place. And that leads us finally to what unites it all together. Verse 22 tells us that …

4. THE UNIFYING PRINCIPLE IS THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Paul tells us that we are built upon Christ, “in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” That phrase “in the Spirit” can also be translated “by the Spirit” (which, by the way, is how it’s translated in the New International Version).

Now; Jesus Himself declared, in John 14:23, that

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23).

If you love Him and keep His word, and if I love Him and keep His word, then we are together being built into a habitation in which both the Father and the Son will make Their home. What a staggering thing that is! We are the dwelling place of God the Father and God the Son! And what is it that binds you and me together—along with all others of our Gentile and Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ who have been redeemed? It’s the Holy Spirit Himself. We are being built together as God’s dwelling place “in the Spirit”. His presence in us is the unifying principle that binds us permanently together into one unified dwelling place of God.

Paul spoke of this in Ephesians 4:1-6. He wrote;

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:1-6).

* * * * * * * * * *

So then; just think, dear brothers and sisters, what a privilege it is to be the church—the building of God! We’re the true ‘church building’. And unlike the wonderful old building that we’re meeting in today, we’re a building that will last forever.

And how should we respond to all this? Let’s go back and review what we’ve seen so far:

• The building materials of this eternal building of God are all His redeemed people—born again through faith in the shed blood of Jesus. There are no other ‘stones’ that God will use to build His eternal building but redeemed people. I suggest then that we, each one, make absolutely sure that we have placed our faith in Jesus and are truly born again.

• The foundation of this eternal building is nothing else but Jesus Christ Himself—through the gospel that has been given to us through the apostles and prophets—with Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone. I urge then that we commit to always being a biblical church family—always faithfully proclaiming the gospel as it is given to us in God’s word. For God will build His building on no other foundation than on Jesus Christ and His gospel message.

• The purpose of this eternal building is to be a holy dwelling place of God—a holy temple in which His holy services are performed. I urge that we keep ourselves holy, so that we might be a fit dwelling place for the Lord—a fit temple that is sanctified for our Lord’s use.

• And finally, the unifying principle that binds us together is the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit dwells in you as dwells in me—and in all who have been born again through faith in Jesus. We don’t have to create that unity. It’s already given to us through the indwelling Holy Spirit. I urge that we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s enabling power and guidance in our lives; and work hard to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

And may it be that, just as people look at our building and say, “What a charming old church this is!”, they will look at the people meeting within it and say even more, “What a wonderful Savior they have!”

AE