Ephesians 2:19-22 Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; The pride of Ephesus was her world-famed temple, in which the religion, the art, and even the commerce of the city centered and flourished. What the temple of Diana was materially in its visible romp and power, the Church of Christ is to be spiritually, but with a higher splendor and a wider influence. More than once has St. Paul described the Church as a temple. The truths shadowed forth by this name press upon us with weighty importance. I. THE MATERIALS WITH WHICH THE TEMPLE IS BUILT. 1. The foundation. "The foundation of the apostles and prophets" must be the work of the earliest and leading Christian teachers who laid the first stones of the Church. They preached the fundamental truths on which the Church stands - primarily Christ crucified, for Christ is the real Foundation - and they gathered in the first converts. The Church receives its Divine recognition in being apostolic and. in being founded by inspired men - "prophets." 2. The stones. These are the men and women who compose the Church. A building cannot be all foundation. The Church must be the union of individual Christians. It is not the teachers and authorities, but the several members who constitute the Church. These, therefore, are the rich gifts and the honorable mission of the Church. All classes are here united, and those who were once furthest from God - publicans, Samaritans, Gentiles, heathen, corrupt judicials, the neglected, the ignorant, and the base - are brought in. 3. The Cornerstone. Christ crucified is the foundation laid by apostles and prophets in their preaching; Christ glorified is the crowning completion of the whole structure. We begin with Christ; we end in Christ. The temple starts with Christ, and as it rises tier by tier it is growing up to Christ. Christ, the Head of the body and the chief Cornerstone of the Church, is both the supreme authority and the perfect glory of his people. II. THE PLAN ON WHICH THE TEMPLE IS DESIGNED. 1. The adjustment of a variety of separate parts. "Each several building" is "fitly framed together." It is as though the vast temple were begun in several distinct centers, and, as the building progressed, these approached one another till they met and combined in one vast harmonious structure. There is variety all through, for the "frozen music," architecture, is a blending of many different notes. In the Church there are necessary differences. The hot imagination of the South must produce a different type of Christianity from that molded by the cool, practical temperament of the North. All parts of the temple are not for the same ends. One is to take a lowly place in the monotonous run of stones in a wall; another, to be carved into the delicate grace of a capital, conspicuous to all eyes. But every one has its place, and the union is dependent on variety. There is no unity in a heap of cannon-balls. The fitting together of the various parts of an elaborate structure constitutes the highest unity. 2. Ultimate unity. To this the harmonizing of the several parts is tending. Do we not see the work progressing now in the cooling of ancient ecclesiastical feuds side by side with an enlarging liberty of thought? The true unity will be oneness of sympathy, brotherly love, and mutual helpfulness. Every Christian should strive to realize his share of this and beware of the selfishness of individualism. Christianity begins with individual faith, but it grows into an enlarged brotherhood and the formation of one temple. III. THE USE TO WHICH THE TEMPLE IS DEDICATED. A temple is a house in which a god dwells. The spiritual temple is "a habitation of God." "God dwelleth not in temples made with hands." He inhabits the humble and contrite spirit. The real presence of God is in the Church. He does not only bless his children, he visits them and abides with them. He does not confine his presence to a select few - inspired prophets, ordained priests, etc. He fills the whole Church with his presence as the incense spreads through every quarter of the temple. 1. Herein is the true glory of the Church - not in outward magnificence, but in the spiritual presence. 2. From this arises the responsibility of the Church, not to defile the temple of the Holy Ghost, but to let the glory of God shine out through every door and window unsullied by any cloud of sin. - W.F.A. Parallel Verses KJV: Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; |
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