Series: Ephesians
Title: Household of God
Text: Ephesians 2: 19-22
Date: November 24, 2013
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Ephesians 2: 19: Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but…of the household of
God; 20: And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21: In whom all the
building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22: In
whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
By the grace and workmanship
of God, every saint in heaven and in earth is a member of the family of God—one
with God and with one another in Christ.
Ephesians
3: 15: Of whom the whole family in
heaven and earth is named,
God is our Father and we his
children. The Son of God is our
everlasting Father—the last Adam (1 Cor 15: 45; 1 Pet 1: 23) Our Elder Brother—“the
Firstborn among many brethren.” (Rom 8: 29) Every saint in heaven and earth are
brothers and sisters one of another.
Ephesians
2: 14: For [Christ] is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between us;
The church of God—in heaven
and in earth—is a family: of the household of God. Christ was faithful, “as a
son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and
the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. (Heb 3: 6)
Proposition: We are one with God in Christ! To show how one every saint is with God in
Christ, and with one another, the Holy Spirit uses Paul to give us the metaphor
of a house, particularly, a temple.
Illustration: Every stone or brick, every material
in your house is united to make one house.
So is every believer.
The Old Testament temple was
made of stones. You and I, along with
every other believer in the earth, along with the saints in heaven, make up the
temple of God. Paul wrote our text. He and Peter
ministered in separate places. Yet, they
each spoke by the same Holy Spirit. Therefore, Peter uses the same metaphor. He
describes every believer as a living stone which makes up this new temple of
God.
1
Peter 2: 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house,…
The Old Testament Tabernacle
and Temple pictured Christ and his true, spiritual temple. His true temple is his
household made up of living stones—his redeemed, regenerated saints.
A few weeks ago, we saw how
political Israel typified God’s spiritual Israel—made up of his elect called
out from among Jew and Gentile—“if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed
and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal 3: 28) So plainly true! Last time, we
saw that earthly Jerusalem in earthly Mt. Zion is a picture of heavenly
Jerusalem in heavenly Zion—Ephesians 2: 19: Now therefore ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints”. “Jerusalem which
is above is the mother of us all.” This time, we see the Old Testament tabernacle
and temple pictures Christ and his spiritual temple, the household of God. Everything
in the Old Testament typified Christ and his people.
Divisions: 1) Our new temple has a builder. The
whole chapter has been showing us what Christ has done. By Christ—v20: [we are] built—v21: In [Christ] all the building is fitly framed together and
growth unto an holy temple in the Lord. v22: In whom ye also are builded together 2) Our temple has a
foundation—v20: And are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner stone; 3) Our temple has a use—v22: [In Christ] ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
I. OUR NEW TEMPLE HAS A BUILDER
The Old Testament Tabernacle
The Old Testament Tabernacle
was built, framed up by some builder. Those materials did not put themselves in
that building, neither do we put ourselves in this building.
Our text says, v21, “All the building is fitly
framed together.” Moses fitly framed together the tabernacle. In Exodus 26, it
was made of ten curtains of fine twine linen—each a specific measure—God
elected a specific people unto salvation—he chose the exact measure of people
who will make up his temple. Five curtains
were coupled together and the other five coupled together—we are fitly framed
together. Fifty loops were made so that they “may take hold one of another.” Fifty
“taches of gold” coupled the curtains together--“and it shall be one tabernacle.”—we make up one temple. Every piece,
every board, every socket was all fitly framed together so that it was one
tabernacle.
Moses a Type of Christ
Moses was called of God to
build that house exactly according to the pattern God gave to him. Moses was
faithful. He fitly framed those materials together. But Moses did that to
testify of someone greater than Mose. Moses was a type of Christ, the Builder of his true Tabernacle.
Hebrews
3: 1: Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the
Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 2: Who was faithful to
him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. 3:
For this man [Christ] was counted worthy of more glory than Moses,
inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. [Moses
was living stone in the house Christ builds. Therefore, Christ is worthy of
more honor than Moses.] 4: For every house is builded by some man; but
he that built all things is God. 5: And Moses verily was faithful
in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to
be spoken after; [to testify of this gospel I am speaking to you now] 6: But
Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
Brethren, Christ is the
Builder and his true tabernacle is his people.
Hebrews
8: 1: Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have
such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty
in the heavens; 2: A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle,
which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Brethren, it will be proven
we are of this house if we hold fast in faith unto the end. And we shall if
Christ has framed us.
The Old Testament Temple
Solomon built the first
stone temple. Those stones did not put themselves in that building. Yet, again,
Solomon was a type of Christ. David was Solomon’s father, God said to David,
1
Chronicles 17: 11: And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that
thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee,
which shall be of thy sons;
Solomon was the son of
David, the son of God—Christ is the Son of David according to the flesh, the
Son of God come from heaven.
1
Chronicles 17: 11: and I will establish his kingdom.
God established Solomon’s
earthly kingdom—God established Christ’s heavenly kingdom, raising him to his
throne and giving the GodMan all power in heaven and earth. Christ’s kingdom
was Solomon’s kingdom. So God
fulfilled this spiritually
to Solomon as well.
1
Chronicles 17: 12: He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne
for ever.
Solomon built an earthly
temple. Solomon’s throne is established forever because Christ’s throne is
Solomon’s throne. Christ said of every believer—Rev 3:21: To him that
overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame,
and am set down with my Father in his throne. But Christ is the builder
of God’s spiritual temple. Christ’s throne is established forever in the
heavens.
Jeremiah
23:5: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a
righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment
and justice in the earth.
Zechariah
6: 12: And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying,
Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his
place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: 13: Even he shall build the
temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon
his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace
shall be between them both.
Brethren, our text says by
Christ Jesus we are “built”—v21: In [Christ] all the building is fitly framed
together groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord. Believer, we are living stones and we make up the
temple which God has built and not man.
Illustration: We are given an illustration of how
Christ builds up his lively stones, how he fitly frames his people together, by
looking at how God commanded Solomon’s temple to be built.
1
Kings 6:7: And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made
ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe
nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
Skilled men dug the stone
out of the quarry. They hewed the stone—made it ready. Then they brought it to the building sight. The
under-builders were used but by God’s direct order they never lifted any of
their tools upon those stones.
Christ is the chief
Masterbuilder. The Father elected his people and Christ found them all in the
quarry of corruption. By his righteousness and his blood he made each child
ready—perfecting us by his one offering on the cross. Then Christ brings us to
his building, his church, his temple. Christ
fitly frames us together using his under-builders but it is Christ who preaches
peace to us by his gospel through their mouths.
Therefore, his preachers,
and his people, need not—must not—lift one of our earthly tools upon his lively
stones for we are God’s workmanship—built up by Christ, fitly framed together
by Christ. We put our tools to it we pollute it.
II. NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE A BUILDER, OUR TEMPLE HAS A FOUNDATION—v20:
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone
Saints are built upon the same
foundation as the Apostles and Prophets which is Christ Jesus himself—the chief
cornerstone.
Jesus Christ Himself is our Foundation
The APOSTLE Peter preached
from the PROPHET Isaiah when he wrote,
1
Peter 2:6: Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in
Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. 7: Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto
them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is
made the head of the corner, 8: And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of
offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto
also they were appointed.
·
Christ
is the chief cornerstone laid by God the Father—all
the elect of God are established upon Christ our one foundation, according to
God’s eternal purpose of grace.
·
Christ
is the first elect of God—chosen of God to save his people, to be
the firstborn among many brethren. We
are chosen of God in him.
·
Christ
is precious to God—he is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, he declares the glory
of God, it pleased God for his Son to have all preeminence and it pleases us,
too.
The
Church’s One Foundation
Is
Jesus Christ Her Lord
She
is his new creation
By water and the word
From
heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her
And for her life He died.
·
He
that believeth on him shall not be confounded—Through the gospel,
the incorruptible Seed, we are born of Christ’s Spirit: made one with God, made
one with Christ, made one with one another.
Like a corner stone, Christ holds the whole house together. We are not
ashamed to confess him and not
ashamed for confessing him.
·
Unto
you therefore which believe he
is precious—you who are established on our one foundation are not
ashamed. Christ is precious to you. His
blood is precious. We sing with joy:
On
Christ the Solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
The Apostles and Prophets
Therefore, we cannot
separate the foundation of the apostle and prophets from Christ himself. The
foundation on which they themselves were built was Christ—and, the foundation
they laid by preaching, was Christ Jesus. The prophets were saved the same way
we are and they preached Christ.
1
Peter 1:10: Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched
diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11: Searching
what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory
that should follow.
Luke
24:44: And [Christ] said…all things must be fulfilled, which were written in
the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me—The
entire Old Testament is concerning the Lord Jesus Christ—everything!
Speaking of Genesis to
Malachi, Christ said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have
eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (Jn 5: 39) Stop looking
for life, for earthy things, for earthy kingdoms in the scriptures. Look for
Christ!
Of the apostles—the apostle Paul
said,
1
Corinthians 3: 9:…we are labourers together with God:…ye are God’s building.
10: According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise
masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But
let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11: For other foundation can
no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
The apostles only had the
Old Testament written by the prophets. So they preached the foundation of the
prophets which was Christ. Paul said,
Acts
26: 22: Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day,
witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which
the prophets and Moses did say should come: 23: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first
that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to
the Gentiles.
As the prophets and the
apostles preached Christ, Christ himself called out his elect, fitly framing
his living stones together through the Holy Spirit. That is why we read,
Revelations
21:14: And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names
of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Illustration: Again, we are shown how Christ does
this by looking at what God said when the second temple was being built,
Zechariah
4: 6: Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of
the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,
saith the LORD of hosts. 7: Who art thou, O great mountain? before
Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the
headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
Christ builds his living
stones upon him, not by a sinner’s might or power, but through the gospel, by
his Holy Spirit. He makes every proud,
stout-hearted mountain a flat plain. The same way he brought the first living
stone, he shall bring the very last stone, crying, Grace, grace unto it! And By Christ our Life we grow into an holy
temple! You ever heard of a building growing—we are alive, living stones.
Another illustration: Ezekiel 40-48 is
mysterious to men. Jews can’t study it till they are 30 years of age. There, a
glorious Man appeared to Ezekiel, with feet like brass (just like John saw
Christ to have in Revelation.) He showed Ezekiel a city but the whole city was
a temple. For 8 chapters, that glorious Man goes about carefully measuring
every inch of that temple. I thought of Ephesians 4: 13, Christ sends forth his
preachers,
Ephesians
4: 13: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ:…15:
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is
the head, even Christ: 16: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and
compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual
working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love.
Ephesians 2: 20: [We] are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21:
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in
the Lord:
III. THRIDLY, OUR TEMPLE HAS A SPECIFIC PURPOSE—V21: [We are] an holy temple in the Lord: 22: In whom ye also are builded together
for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
A Habitation of God
When you read Ezekiel 40-48,
Ezekiel says he saw a city. Then he
describes the entire city as a temple. When John was shown heavenly Jerusalem
he said,
Revelation
21:22: And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
the temple of it.
Here we read, Christ’s
church, every living stone, is the holy
temple in the Lord and God inhabits us, his temple, through the Spirit. So put those scriptures together and we see
that God in Christ in his people is the city and the entire city is the temple
that our God is and that we are being one with our God in Christ.
So brethren, the first
purpose of Christ making us his temple is that we might be inseparably,
indescribly one—with God in Christ—“your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Col
3: 2)
John
17: 22: And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be
one, even as we are one: 23: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made
perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast
loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Ephesians
1: 10: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are
on earth; even in him.
A Holy, Royal Priesthood
We see another purpose for
us being his temple. That Old Testament temple had a
priesthood. The Holy Spirit says of every saint, we are a holy priesthood.
1 Peter 2: 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a
spiritual house, an holy priesthood…
He says in v9 “a royal
priesthood”—king-priests.
Revelation
5: 9: And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10: And
hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Brethren, the purpose of us
being his temple is first, that we might be one with God in Christ—a habitation
of God through the Spirit and secondly, that we might be God’s holy, royal
priesthood.
To Offer Up Spiritual Sacrifices in Christ
Thirdly, in the old testament temple, sacrifices were
offered continually. Peter says now that we are his temple, a royal priesthood,
our purpose is to offer up a different kind of sacrifice.
1 Peter 2: 5:…to offer up spiritual
sacrifices,
Not the blood of bulls and
goats--
Hoshea
14:2: Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all
iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
1
Peter 2:9: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Psalm
69:30: I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with
thanksgiving. 31: This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock
that hath horns and hoofs.
Romans
12:1: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service.
But brethren, how can holy
God receive such spiritual sacrifices, and be delighted with them, when they come
from such sinners like us? In the old testament temple, the sacrifices were
accepted upon an altar.
Hebrews
13: 10: We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the
tabernacle….15: By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God
continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Therefore, Peter says of our
spiritual sacrifices, they are
1 Peter 2: 5:…acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
Brethren, do not look back
to the old: not to old Israel, not to old city, not to the old temple, old
priesthood, old sacrifices or old altar. Do not diminish the glory of Christ
Jesus by looking for the old to be built again when Christ returns. Believer, we are the Israel of God, the city
of God, the household of God. Jesus Christ himself is the chief corner stone,
we are an holy temple in the Lord. God
dwells in us and we in God through the Spirit.
Look forward to God our Savior himself!
Amen!