The Building

Introduction: The Staggering Privileges of God's People

0:02 We continue this morning our studies in Ephesians chapter 2, particularly verses 19 through 22.

0:12 And as we turn to that portion of the Word of God, I cannot help but think of the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2,

0:23 quoting from the book of the prophecy of Isaiah, in which he says in verse 9 of 1 Corinthians 2, But as it is written, things which I saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him, but God has revealed them unto us through the Spirit. In other words, the Apostle is saying, quoting from the Old Testament, that God alone could conceive. He could conceive the richness of the privileges marked out for his own, and his own could never know them unless God who conceived them was pleased to reveal them. I hath not seen, nor has it entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those that love him. But the God who has conceived them in grace has revealed them, by the grace of God. But the God who has conceived them in grace has revealed them, by the grace of God.

1:32 By the Spirit, even the Spirit who guided the authors of the Scriptures to give us a revelation of God's mind towards us. And in the passage that is the focus of our study, Ephesians 2, verses 19 through 22, certain things are said with reference to the privileges of the people of God that are absolutely staggering, things that we could never conceive of. We might say, well, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. We might imagine what privileges grace would design for needy, rebel, hell-deserving sinners, but certainly we would never have conceived of privileges that reach the heights or plumb the depths of the privileges set before us in this portion of the Word of God. The Apostle, having given this contrasting description of what all men were and what believers now are, through grace, in the first paragraph, verses 1 to 10, then sets before us that contrast, particularly between what Gentiles were, verses 11 and 12, and what they have now become by the grace of God. And in verses 19 through 22, as I have often reminded you, we have a climax and a summary statement of all of these great privileges.

The Component Parts of God's Living Temple

2:57 The Apostle, saying that God has negated the former status, you are no longer, verse 19, strangers and sojourners, and then expounds the present status, you are fellow citizens, that is, full members of the city of God, you are household members of the family of God, and then he gives this marvelous description of their privileges as living stones in the temple of God. And it is that third imagery of the privileges of the people of God, which occupies the Apostle's mind in great detail. And we are attempting to open up something of the richness of the significance of that portion of his description. And I've suggested that the passage can be approached, first of all, by seeking to grasp what the Apostle gives us concerning the component parts of this living temple comprised of Jews and Gentiles. In verse 20, we have a description of its foundation. We stand, as it were, and look at this amazing edifice, not a physical edifice, but this spiritual temple, this sanctuary in which God dwells.

4:15 And we examine its foundation. And this passage says that the foundation is constituted by or of the Apostles and Prophets. That is, the revealed truth of God, embodied in the Word, the words of the Prophets and of the Apostles. And then we considered its chief cornerstone, described here as Christ Jesus.

4:42 Christ Jesus Himself. Christ Jesus alone. Christ Jesus continually. And that's the emphasis of the Apostles' words.

4:53 And then I attempted to lay before you something of the significance of that imagery of the cornerstone. It was the stone. Which bore the weight of the structure. It was the stone which was regulative for all of the angles of the structure.

5:10 It was the stone which bound together the two walls. It was the stone which above all held the place of supreme prominence among all the other stones. And Christ Jesus in this living temple is indeed the chief cornerstone. Christ Jesus in all the glory of His unique person.

5:35 Christ Jesus in all the sufficiency of His saving work. And so we've seen then, and this concludes our review, the two constituent elements already set before us. The foundation of the temple, Apostles and Prophets. That is, the doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets.

The Identity of the Superstructure: Jews and Gentiles United in Christ

5:55 The chief cornerstone, Christ Himself. Now we come to the third cornerstone, the component part of the temple, namely, the superstructure. If the doctrine of Apostles and Prophets is the foundation, if Christ Jesus is the chief cornerstone, of what are the walls constructed? Of what are all the porticos and porches of this living temple constructed?

6:20 Of what is the ceiling and the roof constructed? Well, this passage gives us a very adequate description of the structure of the temple. Of what is the ceiling and the roof constructed? Of what is the ceiling and the roof constructed?

6:30 Of the superstructure of this great spiritual sanctuary. And what I propose to do in our study this morning is first of all to direct your attention to the identity of the superstructure. Then secondly, the native condition of the materials of the superstructure. Then thirdly, the gracious transformation of the materials of the superstructure.

6:57 And then to draw out some vital, lessons from the teaching contained in what we've already covered. First of all, what is the identity of the superstructure? In this portion, the answer to that question is clear. Look at your Bibles.

7:16 The group of people described in verse 20 as being built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets. The group of people described as being brought into vitalness in the temple of Christ Jesus the Chief Cornerstone is precisely the same group envisioned in the preceding verse who are called members of the city of God and household members of the family of God. Well, who are they? Well, they are precisely the ones described in verse 18.

7:53 For we both through him have access in one spirit unto the Father. Well, who are they? Well, you back up to verse 17. He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, a reference to the Gentiles, and peace to them that were nigh.

8:13 So then the identity of the superstructure is clear. It is Jews and Gentiles, those who were near the Jews, the Gentiles who were afar off, who have now been constituted living stones, in this living temple of the living God. Well, how did they become such living stones? And you'll notice that the emphasis in verses 21 and 22 is upon the concept of union with Christ.

8:49 Look at your Bibles again. In whom, that is, in union with whom, in connection with whom, and the whom, of course, refers to Christ, Jesus. In whom, each several building fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord. Verse 22.

9:11 In whom ye are builded together for inhabitation of God in the Spirit. So we have three references to union with Christ. In whom, in the Lord, in whom, and then this reference to union with the Holy Spirit. Now, putting it all together, what do we have?

9:34 Well, we have precisely this. The identity of the materials in this superstructure is to be understood as Jews and Gentiles who have been brought into vital union with Christ Jesus through the power and instrumentality of the Holy Spirit. Now, let me give you that again. Because if you miss that, you cannot grasp the teaching of this section of the Word of God.

10:06 Foundation, apostles and prophets. That is their doctrine. Chief cornerstone, Christ Jesus, the Christ of biblical revelation in all the glory of His unique person, in all the perfection of His saving work. Superstructure, Jews and Gentiles.

10:25 Jews and Gentiles of all nations, from all kinds of nations, from all kinds of backgrounds, who have been brought into vital union with Christ, in whom, in the Lord, in whom, through the instrumentality of the Spirit. Habitation of God in the Spirit. Alright, having identified then the superstructure, consider with me in the second place the native condition of these materials. How did these Jews and Gentiles become part of that living temple?

The Native Condition of the Materials: Dead and Unfit Stones

11:04 How were they brought into union with Christ? By what means did the Spirit incorporate them into that living temple? And let's carry through the whole imagery of the temple constructed of stones. Granted, they are living stones when once they become part of the temple, and though that imagery may seem strange to us, it's a biblical concept.

11:28 Peter speaks in 1 Peter 2 of living stones built up into this temple of God. As God would construct this temple, what does He find in hand for His building materials? He's revealed the truth concerning His dear Son by the word of apostles and prophets. Christ has been constituted cornerstone, but now the raw materials, the stones of which the superstructure will be built, what is their native condition?

12:01 Well, their native condition is given to us in chapter 2, verses 1 to 3. They are dead stones. They are stones that are in one sense the very property of the devil himself. They walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience.

12:24 They are stones under the displeasure of God. They are under divine wrath and under condemnation. They are marred stones, lifeless stones, misshapen stones, misshapen by ignorance and sin. And as we behold them, we say they can never be fit stones for a sanctuary in which the living God Himself will dwell.

12:51 The stones in their native condition are described for us in chapter 2, verses 1 to 3. Further on in verses 11 and 12, they are described for us as stones, some of which are very near to the building site. The Jews are those who are near. Some of the stones are scattered very far from the building site.

13:15 That's the Gentiles. But whether near or far, they are utterly unfit to be incorporated into that living temple. Their native condition is one that finds them utterly unfit to become part of the dwelling place of God. That's their native condition.

The Gracious Transformation of the Materials: God's Activity Through the Gospel and Spirit

13:34 Now consider with me the gracious transformation of these materials that makes them fit to become part of the living temple of God. How does this transformation come about? Who effects the transformation? Well, consider in the first place that this transformation was wrought by the activity of God and God alone.

13:59 Look at verse 20. Being built upon. Here they were, stones, some of them near to the construction site, some of them far, but all equally dead, all equally marred, all equally the property of the prince of the power of the air, under the wrath and disfavor of God. And yet, verse 20 says, these very stones, some near, some far, have been built upon.

14:29 Now notice it doesn't say being, having built yourself upon. The apostle is careful to use a passive verb. Having been built upon. And in the passive verb, the agent is none other than the living God himself.

14:49 And so the transformation must be attributed to the activity of God and of God alone. The stones did not shape themselves. The stones did not fit themselves into the temple. And if we can look upon the stones as having a mind and a soul, if we can have animated stones, the last thing in the world they wanted in and of themselves was to be a part of this temple.

15:17 And so the gracious transformation must be looked upon as wrought by the activity of God. But now secondly, it was wrought by the activity of God through the gospel. Verse 19 is the conclusion. So then, you are now built upon.

15:40 And that conclusion is inseparably joined to the preceding flow of thought. And the preceding flow of thought indicates that they were brought into this union with Christ, not by some kind of a mystical experience that simply burst upon them with no reference to objective truth, not by a direct revelation from heaven, not by some ecclesiastical decree or some sacramental manipulation. Verse 17 says, And he came and preached peace to you that were afar off, and peace to them that were nigh. In other words, this activity of God to take stones near to the building site and stones far away from the building site, both utterly unfit to be incorporated into the temple, this activity of God was wrought through the gospel. The gospel came to these stones that were near and these stones that were afar off. And it was the proclamation of the gospel, that is, the declaration of the truth concerning Jesus Christ the Lord and the salvation wrought in Him that was the instrumental means of fitting these stones

17:07 to become living stones in the temple of God. First Peter chapter 2 is a beautiful description of this very fact. First Peter 2, the parallel passage to Ephesians 2, this section at least, 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 1, putting away therefore all wickedness and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings, as newborn babes long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation, if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect precious, ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ because it is contained in the scriptures behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect precious and he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame for you therefore that believe is the preciousness. You see what Peter is saying? How did they become living stones? By coming unto that living stone,

18:34 that living cornerstone, Christ himself. And what is coming to Christ? It is nothing more or less than believing upon him. Peter uses the term synonymously as they are used in many other places in the word of God.

18:49 So we are asking the question, how did that gracious transformation occur? Which came to these stones in their native unfitness and fitted them for this temple? Well the activity was wrought by God but it was wrought by God through the gospel. Now I want to add to that in the third place, it was wrought by the activity of God through the gospel by the direct agency of the Holy Spirit.

19:21 Notice in verse 22 of Ephesians 2, after using three times the concept of union with Christ, in whom, verse 21, the latter part of the verse, in the Lord, the first part of verse 22, in whom, he closes the description with this phrase, a habitation of God in the Spirit. Now what is the relationship between in Christ, and in the Spirit? Well the relationship is precisely this. No one is ever brought into vital union with Christ except by the direct supernatural agency of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who regenerating us, incorporating us into the body of Christ, effects our union with Christ. So to be in Christ is to be in the Spirit. To be in the Spirit is to be in Christ.

20:31 These stones did not become fit for the temple of God by an activity of God through the gospel that was merely academic. It was not simply by the categories of truth proclaimed in the gospel being assimilated into those dead stones that they became part of that living temple. No, no. There was a direct, a supernatural agency of the Spirit.

21:00 The Spirit dealing directly with the sinner through the gospel. And you say, what in the world do you get so excited about that? Well because you see that's the heart of the gospel. It's one thing to say, oh yes, it's only by the gospel, but now how does the gospel operate to bring us into that living temple?

21:19 Does it operate by putting some magical power in the sacraments? That's the teaching of some segments of the visible church. Oh yes, it's the gospel. But the virtue of the gospel is somehow funneled through the sacraments.

21:33 We say no. No, no. No, no. The virtue of the gospel is funneled directly into the heart of the sinner by the Spirit bringing the sinner to embrace the Lord Jesus in faith.

21:49 Others say, well, the benefits of the gospel are mediated through the genes and chromosomes of other living stones. So if you've got a living stone for a mom and a papa, then because of that relationship to other living stones, you somehow have gospel benefits conferred upon you. No, no. The scripture says, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

22:15 It's not being in the proximity of the proclamation of the gospel. It's not having just a mental acceptance of the categories of thoughts set forth in the gospel. No, no. How did those stones in their native condition utterly unfit for the temple become fit for the temple?

22:34 They became fit by the activity of God, the activity of God through the gospel, the activity of God through the gospel by the direct agency of the Holy Spirit. Now that's not complicated, is it? But if you understand that, you understand the heart of what the apostle is setting before us. As he stands back and views that amazing edifice made up of Jew and Gentile stones that were near, stones that were afar off, he conceives of that temple as being a monument not to the cleverness of men, not to the activity of the stones themselves. It is a monument to the gracious and almighty activity of the living God himself. What tools did he use? What tools did he use?

Application 1: Defining Church Membership (Inclusive Breadth, Exclusive Narrowness)

23:33 He used the gospel. He came and preached peace to you that were afar off, peace to them that were nigh. That gospel was made effectual by the power of the Spirit. Well, so much then for the identity of the superstructure, Jews and Gentiles who've been brought into union with Christ through the gospel.

23:54 So much for the native condition of the materials, utterly unfit, the gracious transformation of the materials now. What does this say to us sitting here this morning? That's the teaching. Now, in what ways is it profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness?

24:13 May I suggest several this morning. First of all, this teaching relative to the superstructure of God's living temple defines accurately the limits of membership in the church of Christ. What are the limits of membership in the church of Christ? And when I say church, I'm not talking about the church local, the church individual, the Trinity Baptist Church.

24:39 I'm talking about the church general, the church universal, the people of God for whom Christ shed His blood, that people known only in perfection to God Himself, the church of chapter 5, that Christ redeemed with His precious blood and will present to Himself without spot or wrinkle. How are we to define membership in that church? For that church, you see, is the only one of which you must be a member if you are to be saved. Outside of that church there is no salvation because it is that church whom Christ redeemed and that church whom He will present to Himself.

25:22 And outside of that church there is nothing but damnation. Now this passage, I say, defines accurately the limits of membership in the church of Jesus Christ. Look, first of all, at its inclusive breadth. How broad is the membership of the church of Christ?

25:44 Look at that temple. The apostle describes it as being constructed in its superstructure of those who were afar off the Gentiles. Think of them for a minute. He has described them in chapter 2 as dead, bound, and condemned.

26:02 Chapter 4 as being filled with ignorance, devoid of the life of God, abandoned to lasciviousness. He describes their activities in chapter 5 and says, For these very sins the wrath of God cometh upon the sons of disobedience. Can it be that people who natively are filled and twisted with ignorance, who are dead and bound and condemned, should become part of the living temple of the living God? Think of the Jews, many of them near the building site, but the very ones who crucified the Lord of glory, the ones who are charged with that heinous crime on the day of Pentecost when Peter says, You took Him by wicked hands and crucified and slew Him. And yet, wonder of wonder, that wonder of wonders, the inclusive breadth of membership in that church, it brings in every single Jew or Gentile who discovering his need of Jesus Christ and through the gospel applied with power to the heart and to the conscience, comes to the living stone, casts himself upon Christ as he is offered in the gospel. His past neither commends Him nor proves Him from being included in that living temple.

27:30 May I state it this way, God could care less what your past has been. Any virtues in external morality which you bring in coming to Christ do not commend you. All viciousness and wickedness you bring cannot keep you from Him. Oh, how wonderfully inclusive is membership in this church.

27:58 The church of Christ made up of living stones, some near, some far, some with all the benefits of revealed religion, with all the hedging influences of Christian nurture and training, some with none of this. But the apostle says, You who have through the gospel and the power of the Spirit been brought into union with Christ without exception, you are all incorporated into that living temple. None so wicked, none so besotten with vile affections, dulled by ignorance, warped by superstition. But what coming to the living stone and imparted life from God is immediately incorporated into the living temple. But you see, it's not only a definition of membership in the church of Christ that is inclusive in its breadth, it is exclusive in its narrowness. Inclusive in its breadth, but exclusive in its narrowness. None are living stones in this temple on any other grounds other than union with Christ by the Spirit.

29:23 All who are united to Christ are in that temple. None who are not united to Christ are in that temple. Charles Hodge was absolutely right when he said, commenting on this passage, Union with Christ is the sole essential condition of our being parts of that living temple of which Christ is the cornerstone. Now, follow closely.

29:53 Since there is no other revealed way of coming into union with Christ except by faith, and since no further faith is recognized as true faith but that which is in the context of the preaching of the gospel. Follow me now. No one has any grounds to claim he is united to Christ unless there has been exposure to the gospel and a believing response to that gospel. Now, I am fully aware that if God has elected an infant or all infants, if God has elected people whose minds cannot comprehend the gospel truth as it is preached, He will bring them into that living temple by some other means other than what is revealed. And I am not speaking to that issue. That is God's business. The things that are revealed belong to us and to our children.

30:56 And I assert, choosing every word carefully, there is no other revealed way of union with Christ apart from faith in the Christ of the gospel. Now you see how exclusive then and narrow is this description of membership in the true church? I say to some of my dear friends, and I use the word dear without tongue in cheek, who tell me that the reason they sprinkle their children is because they are members of the church by virtue of their blood relationship to living stones. I say, what does this do with Paul's definition of the exclusive narrowness of the church of Jesus Christ? I read from the formulary found in our own hymnal. Before the baptism of an infant, the minister shall require that the parents acknowledge the duty of believers to present their children for holy baptism, etc. This is in the Trinity hymnal, and we do not subscribe to this.

32:03 I am simply reading it to show that I am not attacking straw men. Question one that you are to ask a parent is this. Do you acknowledge that although our children are conceived and born in sin and therefore subject to condemnation, they are holy in Christ? Members of his church ought to be baptized?

32:27 Well, how did they get holy in Christ and become members of his church? Because they are the children of believers. That is not what Paul is teaching us in this passage. He envisions a superstructure constructed not of living stone and responded to the gospel agency of the spirit-hearted instrument not extracted from the New Testament.

33:08 With all due respect to the names of men who daily, weekly, are my teachers, the great masters of biblical studies from the Reformation onward, Calvin and Luther and the great Scottish divines, the Bannermans, the Cunninghams, the Hugh Martins, those who preached as I will never preach, the Whitefields, the Jonathan Edwards, with all due respect to these dear and esteemed fathers in Israel, I say in the light of Ephesians 2, did the apostle envision a temple of God comprised of living stone that has been preached plus their children? No, no, no, no. Their children only in so far as their proximity to the preaching of the gospel has been blessed of the Holy Spirit to effect faith in the hearts and only then are they members of that living temple. I say to my sacramentalist friends, to men such as Mr. Lenski

34:19 from whom I quoted this morning, who would somehow have grace mediated through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I say to them, where is any of that in the passage that is before us? Union with Christ effected by faith, faith in response to the gospel, by the work and power of the Holy Spirit. No, no, my friends, you see this is exclusively narrow as well as inclusively broad. I say to my decisionist friends, who the moment they can induce someone to pray the sinner's prayer, then pronounce him absolved and in union with Christ, the Holy Ghost may not have even breathed one little zephyr of influence upon the mind and heart, producing conviction of sin and a spiritual revelation of Christ. But because they've been manipulated through the little syllogism, Christ died for sinners, yes. You're a sinner, yes. All who believe in him are saved, yes.

35:16 Well, then you're in. And there's some kind of promise and absolution pronounced over them. Now you're a member of the body of Christ, not necessarily so. In whom?

35:31 Until the Holy Spirit has brought us into vital union with Christ, in revelation of the Son of God, there is no membership in that true church. You see, the church here, local and visible, is to be as much as possible a reflection of the church universal and general. You see it? Every church individual every church specific should as much as possible be a reflection of the church general, the church universal.

36:10 Well then, if none are members of the church universal, but those who are brought into union with Christ by faith in response to the gospel, then none should be admitted to or remain in good standing with the church visible, the church specific, the church local, but those who manifest union with Christ, who show sufficient acquaintance with the facts of the gospel to make faith possible, who so show sufficient evidence of the power of the gospel to demonstrate that they are in the Spirit. For the Scripture says, Ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. They that are Christ have crucified them. They have crucified the flesh with the affections and the lusts thereof. And so when people throw into the teeth of those of us who are concerned to maintain purity of church membership and they take one of the names of the early heretical sects and say you are Adonatists, my friends, it will take more than hurling names to drive us from this clear biblical concept.

Application 2: The Inseparable Relationship Between Being in Christ and in the Spirit

37:25 The church, visible, local, ought to reflect the church universal. So I say the teaching of this passage is first of all a very accurate description of the limits of membership in the church of Christ. But I must hurry now. Secondly, it not only describes accurately the limits of membership, but it describes succinctly, that is in a very summarized form, the inseparable relationship between being in Christ and in the Spirit.

38:01 I already alluded to this. Let's go back to it. You see, the apostle can move very naturally from the concepts in verse 21 and the first part of verse 22 of being in union with Christ, in whom, that is in union with Christ, each several building or everything that is building is fitly framed together. It grows to a holy temple in union with the Lord, in union with whom you are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

38:32 How can he move almost carelessly, we would say on the surface, from speaking of union with Christ to speaking of being in the Spirit? For the simple reason that to be in Christ by faith is to be in the Spirit. And the only way to be in the Spirit is to be in a faith relationship to Jesus Christ. Galatians 3, and verse 1, is the clearest commentary on this principle that I have found anywhere in all of the word of God.

39:07 Galatians 3 and verse 1. O foolish Galatians, who did bewitch you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly set forth crucified? In other words, the apostle says when the gospel was preached among you, Christ crucified was placarded before your eyes. Now, follow closely.

39:29 This only would I know when I learn from you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Well, wait a minute. Paul, did you give a lecture or did the original preachers at Galatia give a lecture on how to get to baptism or did they simply preach the gospel?

39:48 How to be forgiven? Through the mediation of the one who died upon a Roman gibbet. You see what the apostle does? He says the gospel was essentially this.

39:59 Christ crucified was placarded before your eyes. And when He was, what was the response to Him? Did you then say, well, if we will get circumcised and if we will keep the ceremonial law and do this and this and this, maybe the crucified Lord will eventually give us the Spirit and incorporate us into the number of His own? Paul says, unthinkable.

40:24 You receive the Spirit by the hearing of faith. Faith. Faith directed to what? The wonderful message of Christ crucified.

40:34 You see how he brings it all together? And they got into the condition of being in the Spirit when by faith there was response to the placarding of Christ crucified. Essentially the same inseparable relationship is set before us in 2 Corinthians. And this is the only other passage I want you to look at in this regard.

40:58 11 in verse 4. Dealing with these false apostles with their false gospel, he says, For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we did not preach, or ye receive a different spirit which ye did not receive, or a different gospel which ye did not accept, ye do well to bear with him. Do you see what he brings together? The preaching of Jesus, the receiving of the Spirit, and the receiving of the gospel.

41:28 Why does he bring these things together? He's not careless. It's because of this recognition of this inseparable relationship between being in Christ and in the Spirit. And oh dear people, our own day is full of confusion on two points and two fronts with reference to this very principle.

41:49 On the one hand, we have those groups that say, Look, the problem with the church is this. Everybody's heard the gospel of Christ crucified and they've responded to Christ and they're saved. But they've never heard the gospel of the baptism of the Spirit. And now if we preach that second gospel and people will respond to the Holy Spirit, then the church will take off with fresh power.

42:12 You see what it's doing? It is wrenching into inseparable categories receiving the gospel and receiving the Spirit. It's saying I can be in Christ but not in the Spirit. And that the way to be in the Spirit is by responding to a message about the Spirit.

42:28 That is not the teaching of the Word of God. The Holy Ghost fell upon the household of Cornelius not when Peter was giving a lecture on how to receive the baptism of the Spirit. He wasn't laying his hands on people and psychologically conditioning them. Say after me, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, praise the Lord, praise the Lord.

42:49 Let your tongue go relax. Jesus of Nazareth and he preached about Christ, about his life. And it says, while he preached these words, the Holy Ghost fell upon them. Oh, the cursed error.

43:18 Inundating not only our country but the mission fields of the world. Why? Because there's been careless dealings with passages such as the one before us in the Lord. The two are inseparable.

43:35 But on the other hand, on the other hand, we've got the curse of what I call positionalism. And I just heard an outstanding Bible teacher this morning going over that same old ground that certain Bible teachers have been going over for 75 years saying that our standing in our state have absolutely no relationship to one another. Some of you heard that before? So you've got all these people that say, oh yes, I'm in Christ because I've accepted his cross work on my behalf and there isn't a smidgen of evidence that they're in the Spirit.

44:11 No evidence that the heart has ever been ravaged. The sight of Christ that has broken the stubborn will. No evidence that the Spirit has come subduing the desire to be my own little God. No evidence giving a powerful and prevailing position unto holiness.

44:35 They talk about, well, I'm in Christ by faith and my position and my standing and my state have absolutely no... My friends, my friends, listen.

44:43 If you're in Christ by faith, you're in the Spirit because the Scripture says you're not in the flesh. Be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you and if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he's none of him. And the balance of this to the vacuum of hunger for something real has to do with heresy. The church has only maintained the balance of truth in this when there has been that proclamation of Christ crucified as the object of faith. There has been that utter dependence upon God to create faith in the heart of the sinner. And then the realization that when he does, all who believe on him will become new creatures. And then finally, the teaching of this passage not only describes, as I have suggested, or defines accurately the limits of membership in the church of Christ, describes succinctly the inseparable relationship between being in Christ and in the Spirit, but finally, the teaching of this passage

Application 3: The Only Way to True Church Increase

46:12 delineates clearly the only way to true increase in the church of Christ. If the superstructure is made up of the raw materials of Jews and Gentiles who are naturally dead, they may be near and surrounded with privilege, but utterly dead and bound and unfit for incorporation into the temple. If the raw materials of those Gentile stones are far off, full of ignorance, darkness, estranged from even the slightest knowledge of revealed truth, O dear people, if we believe that the church is what we have here, the activity of almighty God, making living stones and incorporating them into his church, it will affect every facet of our thinking and our praying with reference to the progress of the gospel and the growth of the church in our generation. What will our events be and what will evangelism be? It will be a careful adherence to the message by which God is pleased to change those stones. We won't tamper with that message.

47:32 We'll present it in all of its pristine glory, in all of its flesh withering, carnal mentality blasting richness, allowing tumbling block and foolishness, but seeing it the power of God into everyone that believes it. O my dear people, what this poor Sodom and Gomorrah like area of New York and New Jersey desperately needs, what this country of ours needs reeling to and fro drunk on the one hand with the heady wine of its own philosophy and humanism and utterly besotten on the other hand with its preoccupation with the flesh and with the sensual what is needed? that somehow try to polish these stones to rub out some of the unsightly mark and to take their invisible church the work of God is committed to do and our need, not men who has a pedestal upon which

49:01 to parade on cleverness. I'm sick at listening to some of the drivel that is so-called preaching. Clever personality boys who tell their string of jokes with all the mess of a Johnny Carson in his opening one-liner. Nothing of the sense of awe, the sense of grandeur, nothing sense of the hidden faith of the preacher.

49:33 If you put any value upon his glory for this generation. Lord of harvest, not twaddlers into thy heart. Then as we pray that he raise up preachers if this is our view of the church the raw materials are constructed of stones that were lifeless and dead but made alive. Confidence will be in nothing but the living God himself. And the measure of our prayerfulness as a church is the acid test of the measure of our understanding of this truth. We'll cry to God who alone can give life and we'll plead with him Lord increase your church build upon apostles and prophets a mighty, mighty church.

50:48 It will affect our evangelism upon what does God build them when he brings them into the church he plants them right smack down on the doctrine of apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus having the central place. So where is God most likely then to increase his church? Where the doctrine of apostles and prophets is faithfully expounded and Jesus Christ occupies the central place. That makes sense doesn't it?

51:16 And my friends it's mocking God. Ask him to bring in stones to that living temple. You're the foundation. You're the chief corner.

51:33 We'll be proposing to you tonight as a congregation some specific steps to which we're committed in terms of providing a place adequate for those whom God is bringing to us. Oh my friends may God help us not to get our eyes turned aside with brick and mortar and beams and real estate. These will be necessary preoccupations for many of us for many hours, for many months ahead. Oh the increase of the church is in no way directly dependent upon brick and mortar but upon the activity of God making living stones out of dead stones and incorporating them into his temple. Well I haven't preached for two weeks and my voice can't take anymore so I better be done. Oh may God write upon our hearts this portion of his word. I am constrained to ask a final question.

Concluding Exhortation: Are You Part of the Temple?

52:37 Are you a part of that temple? That's a simple question. But oh no question is of greater importance. Are you a part of that temple?

52:45 That living church? My friend listen. When Christ comes in flaming fire to take vengeance on his enemies he's going to consume everything but that living temple. Everything else is going to be consumed including you if you're not part of that temple.

53:06 I didn't say unless you're a member of this church. No, no, no, no. Talking about that church universal. Are you joined to Christ by faith?

53:14 Have you been born of the Holy Spirit? Oh you say well I'm lying near to the construction site. Oh my friend that's not enough. Some of you children you've been near the construction site from birth because mom and dad are believers and the word of God and the gospel has been so near and you're like those who are near the building site but listen it's not enough to be a foot away from the wall. You've got to be part of it.

53:43 You'll never be part of it until you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I call upon you to believe on him this morning. Throw yourself upon his mercy. Ask God to give you a new heart.

53:55 Ask God to give you his spirit for Christ Jesus sake who purchased all needful gifts for his people. Let us pray. Oh Lord what can we say before the authoritative word of Holy Scripture. We confess with shame what we were when you found us.

54:32 Marred, useless but oh we confess even with greater joy our appreciation for your amazing grace. That you should have taken us some of us who were near, some of us who were far off and incorporate us into that living temple. Oh God we praise you this morning. May it please you to advance in great degrees in our generation the growth of that living temple. Oh God do it. Do it that men may see that amazing edifice raised up by sovereign power and that unto principalities and powers in the heavenlies may be made known through the church. Not the cleverness of men but the manifold wisdom of you our God. Hear our prayer.

55:32 May the benediction of your presence rest upon us and abide with us enabling us to hallow and sanctify every hour of this day. Hear our prayer oh God we pray for the glory of Christ the great cornerstone of the church. Amen.