Fitly Framed / Growing / Holy

Introduction: The Goldmine of God's Grace and the Temple Imagery

0:02 We turn again to Ephesians chapter 2 this morning, as we are drawing near to the close of our studies in this chapter that has been, I trust to you, what it has been to me, a goldmine of tremendous and lofty concepts of the grace of God to needy sinners. We are presently studying the final cluster of thought in the Apostles' development of the manifold grace of God to sinners, that cluster of thought bounded by verses 19 through 22.

0:47 So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the Apostles, and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom each several building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. The psalmist declared that the works of the Lord are great, sought out of all those that have pleasure therein.

1:31 And again, in that same psalm, the psalmist said, God has made his wonderful works to be remembered. In the passage before us, we are confronted with some of these mighty works of the Lord, which cannot help but capture the interest of anyone who has any delight, whatever, in the Lord and in his works. The works of the Lord are great, and they are sought out of all those that have pleasure. This is why, if some of you wonder why I don't use humor to secure people's attention, why I don't begin sermons with anecdotes to secure attention,

2:13 I believe that you delight in the works of God and that you've come predisposed to seek out those works because you delight in them. And that's why I dare to break what has become almost a cardinal law of homiletics in the modern view of preaching. Namely, don't start out simply reviewing what you've studied in the past, simply reading a text and plunging in. You first of all must get the people's attention.

2:44 Well, I believe you're here because your attention is already gotten and that you desire to plunge into the word of the living God. So then I would remind you, assuming that, of the thread of thought that we pick up, in verse 19, the apostle in this second paragraph of the second chapter of Ephesians has been drawing out this contrast between what the Gentiles were as a people before the grace of God and what they have now become since the grace of God has been manifested to them. Ye were is the great theme of verses 11 and 12,

3:26 but ye now are, verses 13 and following. And as he develops this tremendous theme of the present privileges of the Gentiles, particularly as a people in relationship to the visible people of God, he comes to the climactic statement in verses 19 through 22 in which he says that these Gentiles are now part, citizens of the city of God. They are now members of the family of God and living stones in the temple. And having mentioned the concept of a living temple, the apostle then takes off again on this theme and enlarges upon it.

4:09 And what we have done in verses 19 through 22, having expounded what they once were, the former status negated, the summary statement of what they have become, we have looked for several weeks at this spiritual temple made up of Jews and Gentiles, particularly concerning, and we have found ourselves with what I have called the component parts of that temple. Verse 20, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself, the chief cornerstone. If we can visually conceptualize this temple, not that it is a literal temple, but the imagery conveys the reality of God's dwelling place,

4:54 as we come up close to that temple, the apostle says, if you dig back, you will notice that the foundation, is constituted of the doctrine of the apostles and the prophets, that is the revelation of God's mind in the scriptures. And the stone which has that place of peculiar honor, the stone to which all of the others are regulated, which binds them together, the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself, the glorious son of God in the perfection of his work, and in the beauty and uniqueness of his person. And if we then look at the walls, and the roof, and all of the parts of the superstructure,

5:38 we will discover that it is made, or they are made, of living stones, Jews and Gentiles, quarried by the grace of God, out of the great mass of Adamic humanity, fitted to be part of that temple. So we have looked at the component parts, the foundation, apostles and prophets, cornerstone, Christ Jesus, superstructure, Jews and Gentiles, in union with Christ, through the work of the Spirit. Now today we move to the second major division of thought, given to us by the apostle, with reference to this living temple. Having looked at the component parts, we now move to the second broad area,

The Primary Characteristics of the Living Temple

6:23 namely the primary characteristics of this temple. It is as though the apostle, having taken us very close to the temple, to analyze the parts, now says, take me by the hand, and he walks off a few paces, and now stands back and says, look at that glorious temple. Now that you understand the foundation upon which it is built, the cornerstone which holds that unique place of importance, you know that the raw materials are Jews and Gentiles in union with Christ, back off with me, and behold the glory of this temple in its primary characteristics. In other words, Paul is doing with us

7:05 what the Psalmist exhorted the people of God to do in Psalm 48. He says, mark well the bulwarks of Zion. Look at all of the various facets of this great building of God. And so this is our concern this morning, to ask the question, or to have the question asked, what are the primary characteristics then of this temple constituted of that foundation, that cornerstone, and those materials in the superstructure.

7:39 And I would suggest that there are three characteristics of the temple given to us in verse 21. In whom each several building fitly framed together. Characteristic one is its symmetry, symmetrical beauty. It is fitly framed together.

8:00 Characteristic two, it groweth. It is not only symmetrically beautiful, it is vital in its growth. And then thirdly, it grows into a holy temple in the Lord. It is essential that we view it as a holy temple.

Translational Clarification of 'All the Building'

8:24 Now before I seek to open up those three aspects of the primary characteristics, I must address myself very briefly to a translational problem in this verse. If you have the authorized version, that's the King James Version, your Bible reads, in whom all the building, one building, all the parts. If you have an ASV 1901, such as I have, it says in whom each several buildings. If you have an RSV, you have in whom the whole structure.

8:59 Well, it's obviously a translational problem. And without boring you with a lot of linguistic details, let me just summarize quickly what the problem is. First of all, there's a textual problem, whether or not the article is there. And most would agree that the article was probably not there when Paul originally wrote this.

9:18 But then there's a problem of an awkward grammatical construction. Legitimate, but awkward. And on the surface, you would think that the plural rendering would be right. In whom each several building, as though the apostle is speaking of many buildings being fit together into one great complex.

9:35 But this would contradict the whole context. It would not fit with the number of the following participles and verbs, which are all singular. So then, the rendering of the old King James is good. It's a good translation.

9:49 In whom all the building, or the RSV, in whom the whole structure, or as some have rendered it, in whom everything that is building. Or in whom every part of the building. Alright, that's the translational problem. You'll understand why it's there.

10:09 Your faith in the scriptures will not be shaken. And I opt for the old authorized translation because it is a good translation. In whom all the building. Now what's the first thing that he says about it?

Characteristic 1: Symmetrical Beauty ('Fitly Framed Together')

10:22 We're backing off now. We're no longer looking at the elements of that building. We want to catch something of the impress of the characteristics of that building. And the first thing the apostle introduces us to is its symmetrical beauty.

10:38 Now what does the word symmetrical mean? And I told my wife driving over, or she was driving me over here today, I wasn't satisfied with my heading, but it's the best I could come up with. And this is the reason why. Symmetry has reference to the interrelation of parts to form an aesthetically pleasing whole.

10:58 It implies correspondence in the form, size, and arrangement of the various parts. Back as a kid when I used to be quite a weightlifting addict, and used to get some of the old, I even forgot what they called them, weightlifting magazines, they would sometimes comment on a certain weightlifter or bodybuilder, he has great strength, but he has poor symmetry. Well what they meant was, he may have had big bulging 18 or 19 inch biceps, may have had a 54 inch chest, but when you put it all together, it didn't look good. It was out of proportion, you see.

11:33 But they'd say of a certain man, he may lack strength or muscle bulk, but he has great symmetry. That is when you put all the muckbees together, they look nice. There was symmetry. You see symmetry has to do with what?

11:47 It has to do with correspondence in the form, the size, and the arrangement of the parts. Now the Apostle Paul is telling us that the first characteristic that strikes us when we behold this amazing spiritual temple made by the living God, is the beauty inherent in its symmetry, and he expresses it in a 25 cent, now with inflation this is a 50 cent word, he says it is fitly framed together. And those three words are an attempt to translate one word in the Greek. It's a compound word that is three words thrown together.

12:30 And so we needed three words in English to sort it out and convey the concept. And it's used only one other time in the New Testament, in chapter 4 and verse 16, where Paul changes the figure of the church from that of a temple to a body. What does he say of that body? Verse 16.

12:48 From whom all the body, here's our word again, fitly framed. Now I believe we can arrive at the meaning of the word in chapter 2 by means of a digression into chapter 4. Now what is a fitly framed together body? Well it's a body in which the arm is right where it's supposed to be.

13:11 If you saw someone come into this building this morning with a fully developed, arm, I mean he had five fingers, had a wrist, had a forearm, had an upper arm, but it was sticking right out of the middle of his chest, you'd say the poor fellow is a freak. It's some kind of a genetic deformity. Why? Because his arm was not fitly framed to the rest of his body.

13:37 When an arm is fitly framed together with the rest of the body, it's right where it ought to be. And if both arms are right where they ought to be, then there is a symmetry. There is a symmetry in the relationship of those arms to the body. Now you get the meaning then of fitly framed with the various parts of the body?

13:57 Now Paul uses the same word here. In this spiritual temple, the first characteristic that strikes us is the beauty of its symmetry. Every stone is fitly framed into the edifice. And it's the picture of the stone mason making his building.

14:16 What does he do? And some of those buildings were made without mortar, in which fit framing was even more vital. The stone mason would pick up a stone as he was laying the next course. He'd set it there, and he'd say, no, it doesn't quite fit.

14:33 He'd chip some off here, pick it up, set it up again, take it down, chip some more, set it up again, and he'd continue to do that until that particular stone perfectly suited that spot in the building in relationship to everything else that was already there in the building. He would fitly frame the stone in the construction of the building. Now the apostle says that's exactly what God in His grace not only has done, because He uses a present participle, that's what He is doing in this temple. He is fitly framing all of the individual stones

15:15 that make up this living temple of God. By sovereign selectivity He lays hold of the stones. By the mighty power of His Spirit He operates upon them to give them life and to shape them and to fit them and to put them into His temple. And by the continuous operation of the Holy Spirit He more and more fits them into a harmonious relationship each day with the other and all to the whole.

15:50 Now you see when He talks about being built upon the foundation He uses an aorist passage. God did something once for all. When He brought you into the church He placed you upon Christ in terms of apostolic and prophetic doctrine. But now having brought you into the temple this fitting process is not static.

16:13 Unlike an earthly building once the mason sets the stone it's there for good or ill. But thank God the apostle is not bound by his analogy. He bends the analogy to the reality. And the reality is that when God fits us into the temple He continues that work so that more and more we are perfectly fitted together into this living temple.

16:38 Think of what an amazing thing this was. When He took Jew stones and Gentile stones and God first started fitting them together in the same temple I tell you it was like flint on steel. Right? Tremendous problems.

16:54 Because the Jews just couldn't fit next to those Gentile stones. And the Gentile stones couldn't fit next to the Jew stones. They just had so much not in common but so much of diversity of perspective and background. The whole issue of Christian liberty that we were dealing with some weeks ago.

17:12 Much of the problem was these stones rubbing instead of being fit. What happened? Well, in the process of time you see God more and more fitted them together so that one of the most amazing things was to find in all of these centers of the Roman Empire places where these peoples with ancient antipathy and bitterness and prejudice to see them dwelling together in the unity of the Spirit and in the bond of peace until people had to back off. Back off and say only God could make a temple of stones from such diverse quarries and yet wonderfully fitted together into this holy temple.

Characteristic 2: Vital Growth ('Groweth')

17:55 Well, that's the first characteristic the beauty of its symmetry. Now, secondly, he says unlike the earthly temple it's characterized by its vital growth in whom each several building or in whom all of the buildings fitly framed together groweth. Now, the word for growth is the common word in the New Testament for growth. It's used sometimes with reference as for instance in Matthew 6 to plants.

18:27 The lilies of the field grow our Lord says. In Matthew 13, 32 when he speaks of the mustard seed when it is grown. Now, in that sense the meaning is obvious. The natural development of plant life from the simple to the more complex from the seed to the full-grown tree.

18:51 It's used in Luke 1, 80 of John the Baptist the child grew and waxed strong. It's used of our Lord in Luke 2, 40 and the child grew. Now, in that case it's speaking of natural physical, emotional and psychological development in a human being. Sometimes it's translated increasing as we have in 2 Corinthians 10, 15 where we have the increase of faith or Colossians 1, 10 increasing in the knowledge of God.

19:24 You know, we take words for granted. And I said, grow. I don't need to pause to define grow. Everybody knows what grow is.

19:30 And I said, well, preacher do you know what grow is? And then when I began to meditate and say, well, what is grow? The text says the second primary characteristic of this temple is that it is growing. And I had to ask myself, well, what is growth?

19:43 Well, what is growth in the lilies? In the mustard seed? What is growth in John the Baptist? In our Lord?

19:50 What is growth in faith? Well, it's obvious, is it not? That it is increased. That many times is both intensive and extensive.

20:02 Growth involves not only increase of size but increase of quality. And I'm convinced in this passage if we intend to interpret it in the light of the rest of Scripture what the theologians and commentators would call the analogy of faith that is the general teaching of the Word of God in other places that the apostle is underscoring this wonderful characteristic of this living temple that it is a growing temple. And he uses a present tense of the verb in whom the whole building fitly framed together is growing intensively

20:46 and extensively. What do I mean by that? Simply this. That each of the stones in themselves grows while it is in the temple and while it is being more and more fitly framed in that temple.

21:01 The stone itself is growing. Growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Growing in the knowledge of the will of God. Growing in faith.

21:12 But not only is there an intensive growth there is also an extensive growth. That is the temple itself is getting bigger not because the stones alone are growing in size but because the great architect and builder is incorporating more and more stones into that temple as he places them upon the foundation and upon the cornerstone. In the language of our Lord himself I will build my church. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring.

21:54 There shall be one fold and one shepherd. And this work of the temples growing intensively and extensively is going to go on until that temple is complete extensively and has reached the degree of growth intensively that the Lord designs and then the Lord himself shall suddenly come invisible manifest presence to that temple. And we shall be forever with the Lord. Well then there is a third characteristic.

Characteristic 3: Essential Holiness ('Holy Temple in the Lord')

22:29 No application now I am just expounding and we will have to hold the application to the end. The third great characteristic of this living temple according to this passage is its essential holiness. Look at the text. In whom all the building fitly framed together symmetrical beauty groweth into a holy temple in the Lord.

22:57 Now you have got another translational problem. It could be rendered groweth into as we have it in the ASV a holy temple in the Lord. It could rightly be rendered groweth into a temple comma holy in the Lord. But in either case you see the thrust of its message is essentially the same.

23:18 Whether the emphasis falls upon the fact that it grows into a holy temple in union with Christ or whether it grows into a temple that is holy by virtue of its union with Christ. In either case whether the holy is an adjective preceding the noun temple. Or whether it is a temple that is constituted holy in union with Christ. You can't get away from it.

23:44 It is an essentially holy structure. And therefore the third primary characteristic of this living temple is its essential holiness. Now what does that mean? Well you have often been reminded and I will remind you again this morning that the word holiness with its rootage in the Old Testament has in the Old Testament primarily the connotation of separateness.

24:14 There were holy days that is days separated unto special usages for God. There were holy accoutrements of the temple. Things that were not inherently sanctified and pure but they were set apart unto God. And as the concept of holiness unfolds and you young men that were there yesterday morning now you will understand something of what Mr. Fisher was emphasizing

24:41 of the significance of biblical theology. More and more the concept of holiness as it unfolds becomes less and less concerned with things that are holy in terms of external relationships and more and more concerned with things that are holy in the internality of the thing itself. So that in the New Testament we don't have holy buildings. The only holy building is the body of the Christian.

25:12 What know ye not that your body is a temple of God? You see? We still have a holy day the Sabbath that undergirds all of God's relationship to His creatures but more and more the emphasis falls upon a separateness unto God that is not ceremonial but is ethical and moral and religious to the very core. Because now the Spirit has come in great and amazing breadth of operation upon all flesh in the New Covenant and His coming is what sets us apart and sets us apart as those who are holy.

25:55 So in this passage where does the emphasis fall? It falls upon this temple being constituted not just a separated temple unto God positionally but a temple a living temple that has experienced and continues to experience through union with Christ the virtue of true holiness spiritness from sin and separatedness unto God. This is why when the Apostle moves into the more intensely practical section of this letter you find language such as this in chapter 4 in verse 17 This I say therefore

26:39 and testify in the Lord that ye walk no longer as the other Gentiles walk. Further on in the chapter he says put away these sins. Put on these virtues chapter 5 verse 1 the imitators of God chapter 5 verse 3 put off these sins and right through the end of the letter he is emphasizing the ethical the moral the practical implications of personal holiness worked out at every level of human experience. The primary characteristic then of this temple is that it is a holy temple.

Application Principle: Universal Ideal to Local Manifestation

27:22 A temple that is set apart from sin and the world unto God likeness to his character and commitment to his service. Well I believe at least in brief this is the mind of the spirit in this passage. The primary characteristics of this temple we've seen it its symmetry its growth and its holiness. Now what does all this say to us?

27:50 And a key principle in my application this morning if you missed this you'll scratch your head and say why did he make those applications. The key principle is this what the church is in its ideal and universal description it ought always to seek to be in its practical and local manifestation. We have a description in Ephesians 2 not of any specific local church. We have a description of the body of God's redeemed the universal church.

28:28 But what the church is universally and ideally beautiful in its symmetry constantly dynamic in its growth and ever more and more conformed to the image of her God. What the church is ideally and universally she ought always to seek to be visibly and locally. Now that being so I see in this text first of all a teaching which affords a most helpful corrective to two fundamental errors. The scriptures are profitable for teaching that's what you've had in the first 25 minutes.

Corrective to Two Fundamental Errors Regarding Church Growth

29:09 But for reproof for correction that's what you're going to get in the next 10 or 15 minutes. I see in this text a most helpful corrective to two fundamental errors. You see error is often nothing more than fragmented truth. Error is often nothing more than fragmented truth.

29:31 If the truth is looked upon as a teacup error is the pieces of the teacup when you've dropped it on the floor. Error is often fragmented truth. Or to state it a bit differently error is often truth wrenched from its essential relationships to other truths. Error is an arm cut off at the shoulder.

29:52 Error is an arm cut off at the shoulder. Error is an arm cut off at the shoulder. Error is often the shoulder which becomes lifeless useless which when attached to the shoulder was an integral useful part of the whole. And I see in this text a corrective to two fundamental errors errors that are fragmented truth.

30:22 What is the first? Precisely this. The error that says visible growth in the church is to be desired and obtained at all costs. Visible growth in the church is to be desired and obtained at all costs.

30:39 And you know there are people committed to that error in our day. It finds expression in many ways. For some it means any method is legitimate if it will increase the size of the church. So if you bait people to church by offering free hamburgers well let hamburgers serve King Jesus.

31:01 On with the hamburgers. And if you don't want to have hamburgers in your home you can have on with the hamburgers up with the church. If you need to titillate people to get them into the church by imitating the world in its entertainment forms in its suave slick self-confident peddlers of cheap jokes then parade them across your platforms but get them in. The only thing that matters is swell the ranks the methods a matter of indifference.

31:35 Others say well you see we have the heart of the message given in the Bible but it doesn't matter with what we surround that heart. We want to keep Jesus and the cross. We must never do away with Jesus and the cross. But we can as it were round off some of the right angles the offense of the gospel.

31:59 We're not going to use such biblical terms as the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. The wrath of God. We're not going to use the word deceit to men. Therefore we're going to alter the message to be more palatable.

32:22 Why? Because you see growth in the church is to be desired and obtained at all costs. Methodology in content I've actually heard men say and preaching to other preachers encouraging them to imbibe this mentality I heard one preacher say I have a hundred people in heaven who just make it by the skin of their teeth than ten people who enter heaven full grown in Christ. See what he was saying?

32:52 In other words I'm not concerned about holiness I'm not concerned if those that profess the name of Christ are part of that symmetrical building integrated into the self withering flesh withering intimacy just so long as they're somehow stuck somewhere at any angle in the building. I'm not concerned that they grow intensively or that they grow in holiness just get them somehow stuck on the side of the building with a little bit of the epoxy of decisionism. Growth is to be desired and obtained

33:36 at all costs. Oh my friends look at the text The church which our Lord is building is a growing church but it grows not only intensively and extensively but it grows in its characteristics of what? Beautiful symmetry and essential holiness and when Jesus Christ is building He builds in symmetry and in holiness where sinners redeemed by grace are not being integrated into shared life which pinches the living nerves

34:20 of carnal selfishness and more and more makes them in honor prefer one another and submit one to another in love and more and more manifest moral likeness to Jesus Christ those integrated in the church who are not characterized by being fitly framed and growing in holiness somebody other than Christ is putting them in the church. This text affords a tremendous corrective to that vicious error visible growth in the church is to be desired and obtained at all costs but there is another error

35:04 on the other side of the coin and it is this visible growth in the church is not to be sought but feared because of its inherent dangers visible growth in the church is not to be sought but feared because of its inherent dangers and where this error is imbibed you will find indifference to aggressive evangelism you will find an unscriptural standard of admitting people into the church instead of asking excuse me all that the scripture asks the credible profession of faith and reasonable evidence of a transformed life they have got a whole manual

35:49 of advanced Christian conduct interlaced with vicious legalism before a person in the church why because they have an inherent fear of growth in the church you will find them suspicious if they hear that in a given church twenty or thirty people have been added in a month they just sort of look out the side of their eye and sneer out of the side of their mouth shall of evangelism what has happened well you see truth has been separated from its counterparts they look upon increase as being suspicious they look up in their own

36:34 eyes and say what kind of movement is this is this is this is this a statement of the word they do so they look up in their own eyes and see in their own consciousness what they Poking up the phrases, just writing them down as they came to me. I found phrase after phrase like this coming to my mind. The Lord added daily, such you should be saved. Believers were the more added to the Lord.

37:15 And a multitude of the priests became obedient to the faith. And the number of the disciples multiplied greatly. A great number mightily grew. This is the language of King Jesus.

37:30 But with that you will also read, And fear came upon them all, and no man dared join himself to them. They were such a holy bunch that word got around, If you dare to lie while you're part of them, God may kill you.

37:50 Word got around. In one day, Ananias and Sapphira. And word got around why they died. In the person of his official representatives, the apostles.

38:07 And God killed them. Right in the church. They knew that the God who dwelt in that living temple of saints was a consuming fire. And yet the scripture says the Lord added to them.

38:22 No man dared join, but the Lord joined them. There was holiness, there was integration. It says the multitude that believed, and this amazes me, were of one heart and one soul. Multitude.

38:41 One heart, one soul. You know that's the text God used to shake the last vestiges of heaven. You know that's the text God used to shake the last vestiges of heaven. I have a fear out of my system concerning growth.

38:49 I tell you I was scared to death, and God began to give us the kind of growth He began to give us a couple of years ago. It scared the liver out of me. I said Lord we're going to lose the fitly framed life that we've known. Lord we're going to lose that concept of shared life.

39:07 Growth Lord is an enemy of that. And God very graciously brought to my awareness those passages, particularly those in the early chapters of Acts. Where having actually given the knowledge. Numbers that 3,000 were added in the first day and then the numbers swelled to 5,000 men and the multitude of those that believed were of one heart and one soul.

39:31 Simply praying, simply praying.

39:36 Growing into a holy temple, no man dared join himself to them.

The Centrality of Christ in Building and Growth

39:43 Oh dear ones, and I speak to the members of this assembly, has God given you something of the vision of that? In this teeming metropolis, in the northern New Jersey metropolitan area,

39:59 how desperately there is needed a city set upon a hill. A body of people whose life together, whose worship bears no explanation but that the mighty God made them fit to be part of His temple, fitted them together,

40:23 dwells in their midst by His own power. And that's where the whole matter of a building fits in. The explanation, external building, has nothing to do directly with this work that we're talking about. That we don't live in Palestine where for most of the year we could meet on a hillside whether we were 200 or 2,000.

40:43 And God knows, the situation climate-wise, even if it were warm enough to meet on a hillside here, the diesel trucks going by would drown me out unless you got me a bullhorn to preach through.

40:57 We're not making anything sacred of brick and mortar or metal beams or whatever else. We're not making anything sacred of brick and mortar or metal beams or whatever else. We're not making anything sacred of brick and mortar or whatever else. We're not making anything sacred of brick and mortar or whatever else.

41:04 is involved. But our concern is that we shall plead with God for growth. Yes! Growth that is reflective of what?

41:14 Of the blessing of the Holy Ghost upon the truth concerning Jesus.

41:22 Well, I must hurry on to a second application. Not only do I see in this text a corrected to these two errors. The one that says growth is to be had at any cost. The other says growth is to be feared.

41:33 The text underscores the centrality of the person and work of Christ.

41:39 If there is to be any view of the life and growth of the church that is biblical. We looked at these words in another connection last week, but look at them today. You say, Pastor Martin, why didn't you expound that first phrase? You told us about the translational difficulty.

41:56 In whom all the building. You see, he's told us that we become part of the building when we are built upon. Passive verb. God's the agent.

42:08 When God. God places us upon the foundation and in vital relationship to Christ the cornerstone. Now he says, and in the virtue of that vital relationship in whom, in union with whom, all of the building being fitly framed together is growing unto a holy temple in the Lord. You see what he's telling us?

42:35 That central to the whole process of building. The building. Fitly framed together. The growing unto holiness is union with Christ.

42:46 It is in connection with Him that we're fitted together. And it is in connection with the Lord that we become a holy temple. In other words, the apostle, even when he backs off from that temple, he's no longer looking at the component parts. Apostles and prophets foundation.

43:05 Christ Jesus, chief cornerstone. Jew and Gentile, the superstructure. When he backs off, he backs off to look at the characteristics. He can't forget that the only thing that gives that temple life, the only thing that is the answer to its integration, it's being fitly framed.

43:22 What is it that's operating upon these stones that for years, if we could personify the stones and give them eyes and ears and hands, were stones that stood off, glaring at one another with clenched fists and saying, you punch me first and I'll give it to you. What happened? These stones are snuggled up together. They're in the same building.

43:42 He says, I know what the answer is. It's in connection with him. I see in this phenomenon a manifestation of the power of Jesus. And how is it that it's become a holy temple?

43:58 Look what those stones were. They were besmirched and fouled and unfit to become a temple of the living God. Let's clean them up. And what is continually cleaning them up?

44:10 He says, a holy temple in the Lord. In other words, he cannot contemplate any facet of these primary characteristics of the temple, its beautiful symmetry, its growth, or its holiness, apart from the person and work of Jesus Christ the Lord. Not so much his past work upon the cross, but his present work as the administrator of the whole affair of his church, or all the affairs of his church. And how desperate.

44:43 How desperately do we need constantly to remind ourselves we are not only saved by Christ in terms of the past work that he has wrought in us, and we would never minimize the cross and the open tomb and the ascension and heavenly session, but the scripture says when Christ who is our life, he is that now. And in the language of Colossians, having received Christ Jesus the Lord, we are to walk in him rooted, and grounded, and built up in him in whom is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And therefore, as we, in a very practical sense,

45:26 try to understand what God is doing in our own midst, as we plead that he will grant increase to his church for his glory, we need to understand that that increase is true increase, only to the extent that every new stone that is brought into the temple, the temple understands at the outset, and then increasingly understands with the passing of time, that Jesus Christ is not only central in the process of incorporation. Through the gospel you confront Christ, and by the work of the gospel through the spirit you are brought into the temple. Christ is central in the incorporation, yes,

46:08 but he is central in the total functions of the church. He is its living head. We draw all our life from him. He is its sovereign Lord.

46:19 We draw all of our directions from him. And the day he ceases to be that, you know what we've become?

46:28 We've become a shell.

The Only Way of Incorporation: Union with Christ

46:32 That's all. We no longer are a true temple, because it is in union with Christ, and with union with Christ alone, that all of these things are possible. And then finally, the text points to the only way of incorporation, into that church. The only way of incorporation into the true church.

46:55 And since the church ideal universal is the pattern after which the church local and visible is ever to be fashioning itself, there should be but one way of incorporation into the church local and visible. It has nothing to do with bloodlines. It has to do with grace working internally by the power of the Holy Spirit, uniting us to Christ. Look at the text again.

47:18 It's in union with him. That all the building is fitly framed and grows to a holy temple in union with him. And then as though we're so thick we can't get the message. Verse 22.

47:29 In whom did he says? Never think of the church in any facet of its life. How do I get incorporated into it? How do I function within it?

47:41 And the apostle confronts us again and again. In Christ. In Christ. In whom?

47:45 Why? Because he's never left his theme in chapter 1 and verse 3. Never left. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places.

48:01 In Christ Jesus. And he's never left that theme. Though he's moved all away from the lofty concepts of individual sovereign electing grace to the nitty gritty of getting Jews and Gentiles together in the same functioning assemblies. He's never left that great theme that every blessing is in Christ.

48:23 My friend, there's only one way to become part of the true church. The church which Christ has purchased with his own blood. And that's to be in Christ. And there's only one way to get into Christ.

48:35 You don't get into Christ by virtue of being next to someone who's in him. You don't get into Christ by association. You don't get into Christ by virtue of bloodlines that are traced back to someone who's in him. You get into Christ only by...

48:51 By the mighty operation of the Holy Spirit bringing you to that place where out of a sickening sight of your own sin in the blessed sight of Christ crucified you cast yourself upon him in the abandonment of faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The works of the Lord are great, my dear friends. Sought out of all those that have pleasure in them.

Call to Self-Examination and Prayer

49:19 Let us admire God's mighty work in erecting a temple, a church, a church, a church, a church, characterized by these three things. Beautiful symmetry, dynamic life, growth, and essential holiness. Let us ask the question, am I a part of that church? Let us pray.

49:52 O Lord, we do praise you for your great and mighty work in building this spiritual temple out of the raw materials of sinners such as we are. We do thank you for that. We do thank you for that work that has given us life in connection with that great living stone, the Lord Jesus.

50:17 And our Father, we pray that you will take the truth expounded and applied this morning and cause it to bear its holy fruits in all of us. For some, O Lord, that desperately needed fruit of repentance and faith and fleeing to Christ. For others, O Lord, the fruit of correcting the error, of growth at any cost on the one hand or fear of growth on the other.

50:47 O Lord, if we've lost sight of the one who is the life of his church, grant that our thinking may be corrected by the word this morning.

51:00 O Lord, for any who hope to find acceptance any other way than union with Christ, have dealings with them today. Lord, bear fruit from your word, we pray. We're not content. We're not content simply to proclaim what you've said, though we thank you for the holy privilege of that.

51:18 We long to see the fulfillment of your promise. So shall my word be that goeth forth from my mouth. It shall not return unto me void. Hear then our prayer.

51:30 Seal the word to our understanding. And be pleased to rest upon us with your own blessing throughout the hours of this day. Hear our prayer as we dare. To approach you and ask these things boldly through the merit and worth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

51:50 Amen.