"To dwell above with saints we love, O that will sure be glory.
But to dwell below with saints we know, We; that’s a different story!”
Sad to say, the fellowship of too many churches can be described by that little jingle. But while that may be so, it is not what God desires, nor is it what needs to be. God’s people can dwell in unity; and that is the subject of Paul’s discussion here concerning the church.
In verse 19, Paul uses social terminology in his discussion of church unity. He then proceeds in verses 20-22 to speak of how God sees His church as being His temple, and uses this imagery to mention some things about the church that should serve to unify us.
1. The foundation of the temple – v. 20
While in his other writings, Paul speaks of Christ as the foundation, because his emphasis here is different, he speaks of the foundation being “of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.”
The cornerstone was the great stone put in the angle of the
substructure where the walls met. It was the stone on which the stability of the whole building depended. In ancient building
methods, the cornerstone had special importance as the stone used by the builder to determine the “lie” of the whole building.
It was the stone in the foundation with which all the other stones were to be in agreement. The foundation would be level and square only as each stone was in agreement with the cornerstone.
So it is that Paul uses this imagery to tell us that one of the things that should unify us as a people is our agreement on who Jesus is. The foundation of the church is our common testimony concerning Christ! First declared by the Apostles and Prophets, declared by God’s Word, and declared by all today who know Him as Savior and Lord, this common confession about Jesus should serve to unify us as believers.
A quote often credited to Augustine is “In Essentials, Unity; in
Non-essentials, Liberty; in All Things, Charity.” I believe that is the essence of what we are told here serves to unify us as believers.
A. In Essentials, Unity - Essentials define us, and God says that the essentials which define His church and bring unity to His people are related to the person of Christ.
This would include such doctrines as the testimony concerning Christ (the inspiration of the Bible) the divinity of Christ (Trinity); the uniqueness of Christ as the “God/Man;” salvation is only by grace through faith in Christ; the virgin birth of Christ; the necessity and sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ; the resurrection of Christ; the return of Christ; and the Lordship of Christ (eternal judgment, heaven & hell).
B. In Non-essentials, Liberty - Non-essentials distinguish us. A
contemporary service is distinguished from a traditional service, for example, by music style, worship dress, etc., but neither is more right or more wrong than the other. Rather than focusing on the “form” we must look to the “substance.” Is Christ being honored?
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking,
but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because
anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and
approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what
leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work
of God for the sake of food.” - Romans 14:17-20a (NIV)
The church in Paul’s day was threatened by arguments over eating meat and celebrating feast days. He told the Romans not to confuse form for substance; to not major on minors. Too many are divided
today because they major on minors. They make non-essentials into essentials and thus, divide over things they should not divide over.
C. In All Things, Charity - Non-essentials exalted above Essentials
divide us. And if develop the habit of exalting non-essentials above the essentials, we will forget why we’re even here in the first place.
There was a man who would start his day by kneeling beside his bed and spending an hour or so in prayer. But he had a cat that would disturb him would nuzzle up against him. So to keep his cat from disturbing his prayer time, he would tie the cat to his bedpost.
His son tried to follow his dad’s example. But he was busy, so he only prayed for 20 minutes or so as he sat on the bed. He, too, had a cat, who he would tie to the bedpost to keep from disturbing him.
A grand-daughter came along, who wanted to maintain her family tradition. But things moved even faster in her day, so she didn’t even bother to spend time in prayer each morning. She would just get around and go off to meet her day. But as she was getting ready, she always made sure to tie her cat up to the bed post.
And so it is that in this way, we end up putting form before
substance and majoring on minors.
We must never forget that what serves to unite us is our common
confession about Jesus. The foundation of the church is not
uniformity - how we are to act; nor is it unanimity - what we are to do; but unity - who we are to please: Jesus!
2. The construction of the temple – v. 21
What Paul says here reminds of Peter’s words:
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men
but chosen by God and precious to him—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 2:4-5 (NIV)
God says each of us has a special place of responsibility within His church that only we can fill. As each of us lines his or her life up with Christ, the chief cornerstone, seeking to do His will, then we will contribute to the growth of His church. The fact that each of us is needed to make the church what it ought to be and that no one is expendable ought to serve to unify us as well. We need each other - even those among us who may occasionally rub us the wrong way.
Two porcupines found themselves in a blizzard and tried to huddle together to keep warm. But because they were pricked by each other’s quills, they moved apart. Soon they were shivering again and had to lie side by side once more for their own survival. They needed each other, even though they needled each other!
“May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.” - Romans 15:5-7 (NLT)
How has Christ accepted us? Just as we are . . . yet He loves us too much to leave us that way. We need to patiently encourage each other to be involved and to grow. Again, realizing that as we commit to making a difference, a difference is made in us! Each of us is needed in the life of the church! This fact ought to serve to unify us.
3. The purpose of the temple – v. 22
We are told that the purpose of the church is to “become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” What Paul is describing here is not the Spirit’s indwelling of the individual believer, but the Spirit’s moving among God’s people. This is what Jesus spoke about:
“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” - Matthew 18:20 (NASB)
Christ’s desire is that He might be free to move in the midst of His followers. Jesus tells us that the key to this being true is that we gather “in His name.”
In His commentary, David Guzik says, “Gathering in the name of Jesus means gathering according to His character and will.” When we gather with the proper desire (we want to fully appreciate Christ’s character) and the proper disposition (we want to fully participate in Christ’s will), Jesus will show up in our midst every time.
A man walked by a book store, and in the window saw a book with the title How to Hug. Being somewhat of a romantic, he went in to buy the book. To his disappointment, he discov ered that it was a volume of an encyclopedia covering the subjects “How” to “Hug.”
Everyone knows that the church is a place where they ought to be able to meet God, and many people have come to church with that hope - only to discover something as dry as an encyclopedia.
Christ wants to meet here with us every time we gather. But He will only do so as we gather in His Name - with a desire to know him and a willingness to serve Him.
Conclusion: A visitor to a mental hospital was astonished that only three guards watched a hundred dangerous inmates. He asked his guide, “Don’t you fear that these people will overpower the guards and escape?” “No,” was the reply. “Lunatics never unite.”
Satan doesn’t have to do much to keep God’s people in bondage, when, like lunatics, we refuse to unite around our common desire know to Christ and a common willingness to do His will.
Instead, let’s see ourselves as God sees us. As a temple, founded on a common confession concerning Christ and built by a desire to do His will through His church; and let’s watch Jesus show up when we gather and move in our midst!
