Date: May 24, 2009
Title: Building A Temple
Bible Text: Ephesians 2:11-22
Subject:
Complement:
Main Idea:
Intro: Building a temple is pretty serious work! People travel all over taking pictures of various temples and religious structures. They stand back and look at the architecture and say things like, “Wow”, or “Amazing” as the look and are in awe of the magnitude of the work done. These magnificent edifices are humankinds attempt at paying tribute to just how awesome and powerful and to be revered their God is! The bigger and more ostentatious the structure, the more powerful and amazing and worthy of praise their God! Look at some samples with me:
1. No one knows exactly when the Shwedagon Paya (or Pagoda) in Myanmar was built - legend has it that it is 2,500 years old though archaeologists estimate that it was built between the 6th and 10th century.
2. Tiger’s Nest Monastery, perched precariously on the edge of a 3,000-feet-high cliff in Paro Valley, is one of the holiest places in Bhutan.
Even Christians over the centuries have gotten into the “My buildings bigger than yours” therefore my God is bigger and better.
3. The National Cathedral in Washington DC
Trans: Well today I want us to take a look at what God says is to be the way a true Temple for God should look like.
I. Building A Temple Requires The Master Carpenter Bringing Together All The Right Building Materials. (2:11&12; Matthew 20:1-16)
A. There is great value in remembering we were separated from God. (vss. 11-12)
1. We always need to ask, what is the “therefore” there for?
a) We learned last week in verses 1-10 of chapter 2 the whole process of being the walking dead and finding life!
b) We were reminded by God’s Word just what kind of people we were.
2. Paul writes here, not that it is just a good idea, no he is making a point that we remember where we used to be.
a) See, the gentiles, the non-Jews were so far from being able to know God.
b) The God of the Jews was considered by the Jews to be a very exclusive God!
c) Jews were not even to enter a Gentiles house as it would dirty them and make them unclean and unable to be right with God till they went through an elaborate process of washing their clothes and themselves.
3. Yahweh was the God of the Hebrews!
a) The Gentiles worshipped a multitude of Gods!
b) And the Jews despised them!
4. As Paul writes here he is revealing to the gentiles in Ephesus that they were far, far away from the true God.
B. Remembering how far we were from God helps us keep a right perspective towards those not yet believers.
1. The Bible here reminds us all that we were once far, far away from God.
a) We were once outcasts.
b) Gentiles – separated from Christ.
c) Our sins had created a virtual wall of hostility separating us from God.
d) Foreigners and aliens to new life in relationship with God.
e) Excluded, without hope and without God.
2. DO you remember those days of being distant and outside the family of God?
a) There is value in you and I never forgetting who we once were.
b) It keeps us grounded and sensitive to the plight of others who need our help.
ILL. Sometimes if we are not careful we can become like the folks on Cape Cod that I got to know when I pastored there. They would regularly complain about the people moving to the cape. The joke was that the last person over always wanted to pull the bridge over with them when they got there. Someone would complain about the influx of new people and you would ask them how long they had lived there and they would say, “Oh, Three years.”
They had just got there and already they were resenting those who were coming after them because they were making it more crowded. Sometimes, if we are not careful, we can look down are noses who are now where we used to be, far from God!
Our culture is one of picking sides. In many cases, like for sports teams it is good fun. But we would be naïve if we didn’t acknowledge that we also live in a day and age that is really not much different than Biblical times. Class envy and class warfare is still a part of life. Issues like race and gender still become imposing barriers between different segments of humanity.
3. Jesus spoke to this very issue in Matthew 20:1-16.
a) In the parable of the workers in the Vineyard those who came first resented those who came later.
b) They quickly forgot the generosity of the master and only were concerned with what they deemed as fair.
c) In their eyes it wasn’t fair!
d) Jesus reminds them that He is a generous Lord and Savior and we should be glad for all who escape the slavery and despair of life apart from Christ and rejoice to see those who were once far away come near!
4. We need to remember where we were before we met Christ.
Trans: Remembering our previous place is important. But Paul goes on to encourage us with who and where we are once we have new life.
II. Jesus Makes Relationship To God And Others A Reality. (vv. 13-18; John 14:6)
A. Jesus makes closeness to God possible. (vs. 13)
1. We are brought near to God because of Jesus.
a) Notice it doesn’t say, “But now, in Christ Jesus or any other Higher being you choose to follow, you who were once far away…
b) Or “but now, because you are a nice person, you who were once far away, have been brought near.”
2. It says that the only way back to God is through Jesus Christ.
a) Jesus Himself said, "I am the Way & the Truth & the Light. There is no other way to the Father except by me."
b) There is no other Savior, no other way to God
3. Now in a world that embraces virtually everything, that says that "one religion is as good as another," or "one way of life is as good as another," that’s very difficult for some to accept.
4. And when Christians say, "There is only one way back to God," the rest of the world says, "If that is what you believe then the message of Christians has made you the most narrow minded, bigoted people who have ever lived."
5. How are we to answer that?
a) I don’t want to be perceived as being narrow minded & bigoted.
b) I want to be as open as I possibly can be.
6. But I suggest that whenever we are telling the truth we are not being narrow minded or bigoted.
a) We’re being loving & compassionate.
ILL. If you go to the doctor & he tests your blood & then he says, "You have diabetes. But, I have good news for you. You can take insulin. You’ll probably have to take it the rest of your life. But it will permit you to live pretty much a normal life."
But you say to him, "I don’t want to take insulin. Why can’t I take two aspirin instead? Or why can’t I take penicillin? Or why can’t I take some other drug? Why do I have to take insulin?"
So he tries to explain to you that insulin is the only thing that helps. And you say to him, "You are the most narrow minded & bigoted doctor I have ever seen."
No, he is not being narrow minded or bigoted. He is being loving & compassionate because the only thing that will help you is insulin. So he tells you the truth.
7. It is the truth that will set the world free!
8. This being “brought near” we are told is a result of Jesus’ blood.
a) We need to take a moment to reflect on this.
b) The blood isn’t magical, this statement means that His life was given.
c) Romans 5:9 says, Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!”
Trans: What we see is that Jesus is the one who made this peace between God and us possible. But the text goes on to imply even a larger sense of this unity provided by Christ. Not just with God, but also with one another…
B. Jesus makes closeness to others possible. (vv. 14-18)
1. He has destroyed the religious barriers between the Jews and the Gentiles.
a) I believe it is hard for us to fully fathom just how hostile Jews and Gentiles were towards one another.
b) We are talking class warfare on steroids. Race warfare that dripped with hatred.
ILL. We have our hostilities towards others, but nothing compared to the Jews and the Gentiles. I’m not sure if you’re a sports fan or not, but this is one of my favorite stories.
On the first day of school a first grade teacher explains to her class that she is a Yankees fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they, too, are Yankees fans.
Wanting to impress their teacher, everyone in the class raises their hand except one little girl.
The teacher looks at the girl with surprise and says, "Janie, why didn’t you raise your hand?"
"Because I’m not a Yankees fan," she replied.
The teacher, still shocked, asked, "Well, if you are not a Yankees fan, then who are you a fan of?"
"I am a Red Sox fan, and proud of it," Janie replied.
The teacher could not believe her ears. "Janie, why pray tell are you a Red Sox fan?"
"Because my mom is a Red Sox fan, and my dad is Red Sox fan, so I’m a Red Sox fan too!"
"Well," said the teacher in a obviously annoyed tone, "that is no reason for you to be a Red Sox fan. You don’t have to be just like your parents all of the time. What if your mom were an idiot and your dad were a moron, what would you be then?"
"Then," Janie smiled, "I’d be a Yankees fan."
c) This passage is telling us that not only has Jesus made peace with God possible through His shed blood on the cross, but that He has also made possible a oneness with others in this world where there was hatred before.
2. The imagery that Paul is using was familiar to all Jews – the idea that in the Jewish temple there was a wall dividing the outer most courtyard and no Gentiles would be allowed past this wall or they would be put to death.
3. But Jesus Himself is our peace who made the two at enmity to be in unity.
c) That barrier between the Gentiles and the Jews has been torn down!
d) Now, the dividing wall of hostility is gone.
4. The way Jesus did this is explained in verse 15.
c) Jesus took all the rules and laws and regulations of the Old Testament and made them obsolete in His death on the cross.
d) In other words, Jesus opened the door for Gentiles to know God and be His chosen people too, just like the Jews!
5. Verse 15b says that His purpose in this was that there would be one new man that would come from the two.
c) It wasn’t that Gentiles now could become Jews and it wasn’t that Jews needed to become Gentiles.
d) No, it was that both of these entities could now become right with God through Jesus Christ!
e) In His body, verse 16 says, Jesus reconciled both these groups of people to God.
6. Jesus has made it possible for all humankind to have access to God.
c) To have an intimate relationship with God.
d) Whether Jew or Gentile, anyone can know God because of what Jesus has done for us by God’s grace.
Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV)
26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
7. Look at verses 17 &18.
c) Everyone can have access to the Father by one spirit of unity in Christ!
Trans: So we see God’s grace in how He made nearness to Himself possible through His Son. But, we also see that there is now available to us a never before known closeness that we can have with others where race, social economic status, age, gender, you name it, can never bring division. We can be one with anyone through Jesus Christ!
Next our text takes us into just what this should look like in the church.
III. We, The Church, Are The Perfect Holy Temple In The Lord. ( vss. 19-22)
A. We are all part of God’s household. (19; Galatians 6:10; 1 Timothy 3:14-15)
1. I love the imagery here of fellow believers in Jesus Christ being one big happy household.
2. Regularly Paul uses the image of a family to describe the church.
Galatians 6:10 (NIV)
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
1 Timothy 3:14-15 (NIV)
14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
3. The church is to be a household.
a) A place where we learn to work at removing barriers and instead develop relationships with one another.
b) Where people from all kinds of backgrounds can be part of the family.
c) Race, gender, age, social economic status, even Yankees fans and Red Sox fans can get along in harmony!
4. We must continually look for ways to be loving each other more instead of complaining about one another or causing division in God’s household.
5. Being a member of God’s household brings tremendous privileges with it.
a) It brings us into the supportive network of our spiritual brothers and sisters.
b) It gives us a share in the oversight, fellowship, and prayers of the church.
c) It gives us a place in God’s plan.
d) More important, it gives us access to God as Father.
Trans: So, we have a picture of the church as a family. Paul finishes up his thoughts here by clarifying how we all “fit into” this entity called the church.
B. The church household is constructed on a firm foundation of truth. (20; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Isaiah 28:16)
1. Paul refers first to the foundation.
a) The church is not just throwing a bunch of people together with no direction or rule of law.
b) While we do work hard to love each other and get along, we don’t do so at the cost of sacrificing our foundation.
2. In other words, there are limits to our tolerance and expressions of love.
a) There is a time when someone comes into our household and they say, “ I believe there are many ways to heaven and that we should be more tolerant of Muslims or Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
b) Because of our foundational core values and beliefs we must say, “no, sorry, that won’t work and we won’t tolerate such teaching.”
c) Now hopefully we would disagree with compassion and love and try to help the person see the truth of Scripture, but we cannot be so loving and inclusive as to erode our foundation which is God’s truth.
3. Paul says that this foundation is "the apostles and prophets."
a) Over in his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul makes this point differently, saying, "No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthians 3:11
b) But the point is really the same. Jesus is the foundation that all the prophets pointed to in their teaching and prophecy.
4. The point is that the basis of the church’s unity is truth or sound doctrine.
5. And this doctrine (accurate Biblical teaching) is held together by the cornerstone.
a) In 1 Corinthians 3:11 Paul called Jesus the "foundation."
b) Here he calls him the "cornerstone."
c) A cornerstone was important for two reasons. It was part of the foundation, and it also fixed the angle of the build¬ing and became the standard from which the architect traced the walls and arches throughout.
d) Jesus was referred to as a conerstone back in the OT by Isaiah: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed" (Isa. 28:16).
C. The church is a temple not made of brick and mortar, but of people. (21-22; 1Pet. 2:5)
a) Paul does not mention stones specifically in our text, but that is what comes to mind when we read v. 21-22.
b) Believers are mortared together with Christ, as God the architect through his workmen, the preachers of the gospel, builds his church.
c) Peter said it in 2:5 "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5)
2. The applications of this part of the picture are so obvious as hardly to need elaboration. Let me suggest a few.
a) First, these stones are chosen and shaped for their position by God, not us.
b) Second, the stones are placed into position in relationship to Jesus Christ.
c) Third, the stones are of different shapes and sizes, perhaps even of different material.
d) Fourth, the stones are linked to one another.
e) Fifth, the stones of this temple are chosen, not to draw attention to themselves.
f) Sixth, the placing of each stone is only part of a long work begun thousands of years in the past that will continue until the end of the age when the Lord returns.
Conclusion: Chapter two of Ephesians is so important for us today. Last Sunday we saw the miracle of bringing life to those who are the walking dead. We were made alive through Jesus Christ. We know that it was not by works (vs. 8) that we were saved, it is by faith. But, at the very end of that section we find verse 10 – We don’t work our way into heaven but we are expected to do good works as a result of Christ in us.
It is not by accident that this next section has us focusing on the work of Christ Jesus to bring all sorts of people from different backgrounds and mind sets. And Jesus builds them into a beautiful temple that honors God the Father! That is how the good works will best be accomplished.
So, if you and I were to take a picture of the church today, we might be tempted to take a picture that looks like this.
Show C&T picture.
Not a bad picture.
But, after reading the scriptures today, hopefully we realize that this is not God’s idea of an accurate picture of the church. If God was to take a picture of His church here at C&T it would look more like this; It’s people, people leading us in worship, people serving others in the kitchen, people, living stones, serving as small group leaders, Sunday school teachers for our children, people working with our teens, handing coffee to strangers at 5:00 AM…. That is the picture God takes of His church.
So which picture of the church do you have? A building or a temple made up of people doing Good Works prepared for them to do in advance?
My prayer today is that as we leave here we will go out into the world as a Holy temple built of living Stones that when people see us, the church, they will say, “Wow, amazing!”
