Building the Temple

SERMON: 2016-04-17--bt0316--building-the-temple-part-3 SOURCE DURATION: 00:39:49.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.95 APPROVED: false REASON: The entire provided transcript constitutes a continuous theological exposition and sermon, starting with reviewing previous points (Segment [0]) and concluding with final thoughts on God's presence (Segment [291]). ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: none ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: no ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: none Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- I pointed out last week that when by faith we are joined to Jesus under the terms of the new covenant, we can expect four benefits to come our way. Let me quickly list them for you one more time. Number one, our sins are forgiven. Romans 8.1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." Number two, we are declared righteous before God. Our sins aren't only forgiven, we are actually declared righteous. Second Corinthians 5.21, "God made him who had no sin, that is Jesus, be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Number three, we have access to God's throne of grace. Hebrews 4.16, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." We just sang about that. Lord, we need you. God is the answer to our need. And then number four, "God can freely live in us and among us once again." 1 Corinthians 3.16, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you?" That's where we want to pick it up this morning because if there's one theme that runs throughout scripture that we've been looking at these last couple of weeks, it's the fact that God wants to dwell among his people. And as we have seen, sin is a huge obstacle, but in the person of Jesus Christ, God has broken through the sin barrier and so the result is that he can now once again dwell among his people. And just as in the Old Testament his dwelling place was first the tabernacle, then later on the temple. Under the new covenant, he no longer lives in buildings made with hands. He lives in and among God's people. You and I become the temple of the living God. Listen one more time to 1 Corinthians 3.16, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you?" You are the temple and God's spirit dwells in you. Now what I want to point out for starters this morning is that this indwelling of God's Holy Spirit in and among Christians takes place on two different levels. First of all, it takes place in our lives as individual believers. Again, in Corinthians, this time chapter 6 verse 19, Paul says, "Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God, you are not your own." One of the first things that happens when a man, woman, boy or girl comes to faith in Jesus is that you become eligible to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit as you know is the third person of the Godhead. He is the agent through whom the Father and the Son realize their plan and purpose and the spirit of Jesus imparts to us the life of Jesus so that now under the terms of the new covenant we have the law written on our hearts. That is the genius of the new covenant predicted years ago by the prophet Jeremiah and quoted for us by the writer to Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 8 the verses 10 and 11 when he quotes from Jeremiah, "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord, "I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor or a man his brother saying, 'Know the Lord because they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest.'" Notice what he is saying. Under the terms of the new covenant, God's will is not simply expressed from the outside like it was under the old covenant. It is internalized. It is written on your heart. That's the big difference between the covenant made at Mount Sinai and the covenant in the blood of Christ sealed on Mount Calvary. Under the old covenant, God told you what it was that you had to do, but he didn't give you, generally speaking for the general population, help on the inside to live that way and so Israel continually broke the commandments of God. But under the terms of the new covenant, God in the person of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit comes to live within you. And from the inside out, he begins to change your life because your body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit. Last week after the service, a person here asked me a really insightful question. She said to me, after we had been talking about the covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai, which is a law covenant, she asked me the question, "Why did God give all these commandments to Israel when he already knew that they weren't going to be able to keep those commandments?" And I said, "That's a very important question because there are two answers to that question. One is that God gives a law to Israel to help keep them on the straight and narrow, just like you tell a child, 'Do this, but don't do that,' so that they wouldn't drift too far away from God. Didn't always work very well, but that was one motive. But there was a second motive even more significant, and that's to actually show them that the law couldn't keep them on the straight and narrow. It was to serve as a conviction of sin so that when Jesus was revealed that they would understand they would need a savior from outside themselves. Paul writing to the Galatians puts it this way, Galatians 3.24, and you could read his old argument in that particular chapter. The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. God never gave the law. God never tells you what he wants you to do with the expectation that that's going to make you a righteous person. In fact, the more you understand what it is that he wants and the harder you try to live up to it, the more you're going to fail. And that's the way it's been designed. Because that drives us to our knees, and that drives us to Jesus for forgiveness, restoration, and redemption. So on one level, God gives the Holy Spirit to each of us as individual Christians. It's what sets Christians apart. Christians aren't just better people than non-Christians. Christians are people indwelled by the Holy Spirit. And if we allow that Holy Spirit to have his way in us, he will change us from the inside out to make us more and more like Jesus. That's one level. But there's a second level, and that is he comes to dwell in us as a community of believers. He comes to dwell in us corporately. 2 Corinthians 6 16, Paul says, "We are the temple of the living God. As God has said, 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.'" Notice it's plural. We are the temple of the living God. God isn't interested only in living in a whole bunch of individual Christians. He is also interested in taking up his habitation in a group of Christians together. Not only is our body the temple of the living God, the church is the temple of the living God together. And I'll give you one reason for that. God is a triune God. He is relational. From all eternity past, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit have demonstrated their love together relationally. And one of the purposes of the church is to manifest the character of God. And you cannot manifest the character of God fully as an individual. You need other people around you because it is in the give and take of love relationships that God's character comes to expression and gets revealed to the world. For that reason, when people say, "Well, you know, it's just God and me. I don't need the church," their theology is seriously at fault. Because from God's perspective, it's never just you and God. That's where it starts, as we'll see in more detail in a few moments. But it's never just you and God. It's you and the rest of God's people because God's purpose according to the book of Ephesians is that the manifold wisdom of God should be revealed to the principalities and the powers through the church. And so God dwells not just in the individual believer's heart, he also dwells in the community of faith. And that is why David was so committed to God's purposes for the nation of Israel. That's why he was committed to building the temple. And that's why in the New Testament, under that analogy of the temple, Paul talks about being built up in Christ together so that we can become a holy habitation for God's Spirit. You see where that argument goes? It's not just you and me, lone little wolves off to the side. No, it's you and me together. I believe with all my heart that what God wants to do is build local churches that are so filled with the presence of God's Holy Spirit that the world knows that these are people who are God's people who in their relationship with each other and in their relationship with the world are able to manifest the Spirit of God and reflect his glory. Now here's what I want us to understand this morning. For this to happen, you can't just throw a bunch of bricks together and hope that a building comes out of it. The building has to be built up from the ground on up. And that's what Paul is talking about then in these verses that are really our text this morning. In him, that is in Jesus, the whole building, which is now the temple, the church, is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. The reference here is clearly to the building of Solomon's temple back in the Old Testament. I don't know how many of you remember, but building that temple was not only a major undertaking, it took a long time. It took seven years. If you read those chapters in 2 Chronicles, then you discover that King Solomon recruited 153,000 plus slaves, foreigners in the land, to do the work in building the temple. And it was a costly enterprise and a glorious enterprise. One of the interesting things about the temple is that all the components for the temple were prepared off-site. So that when the temple was actually assembled on that threshing floor that David bought from Aruna, not a sound of a hammer or a chisel was heard. Here's how 1 Kings 6-7 describes it in building the temple. "Only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel, or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built." An interesting tidbit of information. Don't want to read too much into that, but I suspect that what's being pictured here is the silent way in which God through history has been gathering his people together and building up the church. It's almost invisible to most people, but it happens around the clock, because that's what God is aiming for, because when Jesus comes again, he is going to come for a people among whom God can dwell in his glory forever and ever. So then here's the question. If the image of the temple in Paul's writing here is dynamic rather than static, that is to say it is something that is actually happening in time and in space, what needs to happen for this kind of temple to arise? What needs to happen for God to be able to dwell in his glory among his people, not only individually, but also corporately? Well, I submit to you two things. Let's walk through them. The first is that every stone must relate properly to the foundation. Every stone must relate properly to the foundation. You are no longer foreigners and aliens, fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone. Two things in those two verses that we need to note, and the first is the emphasis on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. What Paul is saying there is that as God is building his church, he's building his temple, it starts with a foundation. All buildings, if they're going to last, are built on a foundation. What is the foundation the church is built on? Well, it is the apostles and the prophets. What does he mean? Well, it is the revelation received by the prophets of old and the apostles in the New Testament concerning the person of Jesus Christ that he is the foundation, he is the cornerstone on which the church is built. That's why he goes on to say then, point out the second thing, that Jesus Christ himself is the chief cornerstone. The chief cornerstone and the cornerstone, as you know, is a block that holds the building together and that determines how the structure is made, particularly in old times when buildings were made of stone and blocks. Here's a picture of what a cornerstone back then would look like. It is a huge stone that served to bind a building together. When Psalm 118 says that the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner, it is the cornerstone that is being talked about. It's a verse that is quoted at least five times in the New Testament, always with reference to Jesus because he is the cornerstone. Sometimes it's translated as a capstone. The two are not the same. A cornerstone is what you see. A capstone is on top that holds a building together. But in either case, the message is exactly the same. The church is built in relationship to Jesus who is the foundation. Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 311. No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So here's the point. You don't just willy-nilly become part of this temple that God is building. You don't become part of this temple because you were born into a Christian home. You don't become part of this temple because you've gone to Sunday school or you've gone to church or because you've learned how to live a good life. No, you can only be part of this temple if you are born again through faith in Jesus, which means confessing your sins, recognizing that you don't have what it takes to be the dwelling place of God in the Spirit and you have come by faith to Jesus in repentance, saying, "Lord, I want you to be the Lord of my life and I need your Spirit to live in me because apart from that, I cannot be what you want me to be." Now those are the basics of faith, but the basics of faith are very easily overlooked because you see, we live in a world where people recognize the fragmentation of human society, the tribalism of the nations that goes back all the way to the building of the Tower of Babel. And if you listen to our political leaders about all the tensions and the difficulties in society today, then everybody is trying to reduce life to a common denominator so that somehow or another we can get along with each other. Isn't that true? It's never going to happen. Because Babel was reversed at Pentecost, it can only be overcome through the power of God's Holy Spirit. And if you want to be a living stone, as Peter describes it, you've got to come to Jesus to become part of this building. In Peter 2, 4, and 5, he says, "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 spiritual priesthood." The Christian life always begins by each of us individually coming to faith in Jesus. And if we want our lives to be part of this temple that God is building, we need to be living stones through the new birth that only Jesus Christ can produce. And if you're not sure about that in your own life, then would you please make sure because no other foundation can anyone lay but that which is laid which is the person of Jesus Christ. So every stone has to be properly related to the foundation. But take it a step further, every stone also has to be properly related to every other stone. I said earlier, a pile of stones a building does not make. They have to be assembled to become a building. And so, here again, every stone in him, the whole building, is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. Now keep that verse up for a moment because there's a lot more to that verse than the English translation would indicate. The phrase "joined together" is a Greek word that doesn't occur anywhere else in the Bible. And the reason for that is that it is a word the apostle Paul makes up. And he makes it up by combining three Greek words together. And without going into all the details related to that, let me just say that the best way to translate that phrase "joined together" is with the English phrase "harmoniously fit together." And the picture here is that of a stonemason assembling a building out of field stones. Now most of our buildings today are made out of blocks and bricks and that leads us in the wrong direction because they're all the same size and they all fit together just so. But think of a fireplace mantle that has put together a field stone or some of the older buildings that have been assembled out of stones gathered in the field. That's quite an art because the first thing the mason has to do is he has to collect all these different stones and he will pick them for variety and for color and for variation. He will pick some and he will reject others as unsuitable and he'll gather all of those stones together. He'll bring them to the building site and then he will start fitting them together. And he will take one and look at it and he says this is a good stone that I could begin with and he will cement it to the foundation. And then he'll pick another one and he will say you know these two would look good together. Let me put them together and on he goes in this whole process. Some stones will fit together really well. Some will not fit so well. So what does he do? He takes his hammer and his chisel, knocks the edges off and in this way he assembles the wall or the building until it rises to become a multi-faceted demonstration of a wall that demonstrates the skill of the mason. That's the image Paul is drawing on here and that's why he makes up his own Greek word to talk about stones that not only fit together but that fit together harmoniously. And what you have here is a picture of how God goes about building the spiritual temple in which he wants to live. You'll have noticed, I'm sure, that our dear Lord has a lot of very odd sheep in his flock. I mean you and I are the measure of what's normal. Everybody else is just a tad off color, right? And you and I in the natural, this is why fragmentation of the world is such a big issue, in the natural everybody gravitates to their own kind. Read an article in the paper just this past week, somebody's been doing a long study on sperm whales and how they communicate with each other and they've discovered that they favor their own pod and they've developed their own level of communication and nobody else can be part of that. That's a good example of what happens with tribalism in the human race. How in the world do you ever bring that all together? The world keeps on trying, it's never going to succeed because it runs contrary to nature. But what God does is he picks people from every tribe, tongue and nation, black and yellow, red and white, they're all precious in his sight. We sing our little children's songs and so he picks you with your temperament, he picks somebody else with another temperament, he picks still somebody else who's got rough edges and he starts building you together. And in those places where you don't fit together he knocks off the rough edges. And then he says I'm going to cement you in place next to this one who's very different from you, but you know you kind of look together, you look good together with your different colors and with your different personalities and with your different temperaments. And so God builds the church as a fitting habitation for God in the spirit. As I said earlier that fits the context in Ephesians 2 where Paul is talking about Jew and Gentile coming together. You and I can begin to appreciate the difference between Jew and Gentile in biblical days. As I've said earlier it's like having a child molester living next to you and inviting him to come in to babysit your children while you're going to a party. That's how big the difference was. And Paul says in the cross of Jesus that division has been overcome and by the spirit of Jesus God is putting you together to be a holy habitation for God in the spirit. You with me? So there are two questions that I want to leave you with this morning. Number one, are you properly related to the foundation who is Jesus? Has there been a time and a place in your life where you have made sure that by faith your sins are forgiven, you've surrendered your life to him as best as you know how, and you have invited his spirit into your heart to change you from the inside out? Because I'll tell you something, apart from that transformation, you're never going to make it because what the Lord is going to ask of you is beyond your human natural capabilities. You haven't got, and I don't care how nice the person you are, you will soon reach the end of your niceness when you are cemented next to a rough stone that is very unlike you. Are you related to the foundation? But secondly, the big question is this, are you willing to let the Lord do in you what needs to be done to make you into a holy temple? Are you willing for the Lord to break down all those things that are barriers between you and other people? And are you willing to be bound together by the power of God's holy spirit in a way that enables the temple to rise up and be a dwelling place of God in the spirit? Are you prepared to be part of community? Are you prepared to rub shoulders with people that are unlike you? Are you prepared to deal with lingering resentments that live under the surface that keep the unity in the body of Christ from happening the way that it needs to happen? Are you willing to let the Lord deal with the peculiarities of your life that get in the way of community in the body of Christ? And are you willing to allow your giftedness, your unique ability, your presence to be demonstrated for the good of all, taking the risks that you need to take so that you're not just a passive participant, but you're an active participant because it matters to God that your colors show up. And do you understand what I'm saying? Your colors need to show up on the wall because you matter and God has chosen you. That's one of the words that Paul uses, by the way, when he says jointly fit together. God has picked you for a purpose in his temple. And I believe with all my heart and I'll say it again, that God is building communities of people who are so transformed by his power that God can show up in glory. So what happens when this temple gets built up? When this body begins to take shape according to the promises of scripture, well think back to Solomon's temple. What happened when after seven years, Solomon's temple was finished and it was dedicated? Well, we read about it in Second Chronicles, chapter seven, verse one and two. When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the what? The glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. Same thing happened years earlier, Exodus chapter 40. When the tabernacle was dedicated, the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The glory of the Lord is the manifest presence of God's Holy Spirit. Same thing happened on the day of Pentecost when they were gathered together in unity. The Holy Spirit was poured out and it changed everything. Let me speak to you from the heart. Why do you think being part of church is so important? Why do you think showing up for a service is so important? Why do you think giving your heart to God's people is so important? Because God is building a temple. God is building a place where he can live by his Holy Spirit. And I believe in all my heart that when God's people are first of all built on the foundation of Jesus and then allow themselves to be built up in the unity of faith by the power of the Holy Spirit, God shows up. And when God shows up, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the poor have good news proclaimed to them, lives change by the power of Jesus. Don't ever think you just come to church to sing a few songs or listen to somebody talk or put some money in the offering plate. They're all important components, but church is a lot more than that. Jesus said, "Where two or three, let alone many more, are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them." And what ought to happen when God's people gather together in the unity of faith and in the unity of the Holy Spirit is a holy expectancy that says God is here. And when God's here, what's he going to do? How's he going to speak to me? How's he going to change my life? How's he going to transform me? How's he going to give me instruction, direction, plan and purpose? One of the women here talked to me last week after one of the services and we had been singing the song, "Come Lord Jesus, come." And she said to herself and to the Lord, "I wonder what would happen if the Lord really came." And right that moment, totally unexpected for her. Her heart was filled with joy, unspeakable. That is that foretaste of glory that God wants to give to his people. It'll come in different forms to different people. We don't all have the same personality. We don't all have the same need, but I'll tell you when God's spirit hovers over a congregation and you know that he's here, spiritual gifts pop forth, lives change, he shows you what needs to be shown you and the church demonstrates the character of Jesus for the world to see. That's where lies our power. But it takes surrender, surrender to Jesus, surrender to community for God to build us up because when he builds us up, [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:39:46.080; remove through 00:39:49.000] he shows up. [CUT] [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:39:49.000; resume after this marked segment]