May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to Paul's
epistle to the Ephesians and the second chapter and we'll
read from verse 19 to the end. That's 19 to 22 in the second
chapter of the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. Now therefore, ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone in whom all the building, fitly framed together,
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are
builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." These words are very wonderful
and very beautiful words. We might ask ourselves, well,
to whom are they addressed? Who is the apostle speaking to? when he speaks these words of
encouragement. Well, we are told who he's speaking
to. In the very beginning of this
epistle, he tells us, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the
will of God to the saints, which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful
in Christ Jesus. So it will be important, therefore,
for us to know that you and I are numbered amongst the faithful
in Christ Jesus, because those are the people to whom the Apostle
is addressing us. And then for a further confirmation
as to whom he is addressing, we read together in the beginning
of this second chapter of the Ephesians, these words, and you
hath he quickened, that means, and you hath he made alive, who
were dead in trespasses and in sins, wherein in time past ye
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prints of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. So the apostle is setting before
us here those who had received a wonderful change in their life,
those who have been blessed by Almighty God, those who had been,
as it were, singled out, called by God, made spiritually alive,
those who were indeed dead, spiritually dead, with no life at all. And the Apostle, you see, he
goes on to qualify this condition and to Show to us the evidence
necessary to know that you and I are amongst those whom the
Apostle is addressing, because he says, when we walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others." Well, we can bless God tonight if the
Holy Spirit has indicated and shown to us very clearly that
we were far off, that we were walking contrary to God, that
we were walking in accordance with the things of this vain
world. But there's been a change. But
there's been a difference. Let's be very clear, my dear
friends, we all need, we all must have the indisputable evidence
that we are amongst those that the Apostle is addressing here.
First of all, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Secondly, those
who have been quickened, made alive. And the Apostle is encouraging
when he says, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love, wherewith he loved us. Because if we are amongst those
described, this is gloriously true. We are those whom God has loved. And then he says, even when we
were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace
ye are saved. Tonight do we glory in the grace
of God. Do we bless God for his grace,
for the free unmerited favour which we have received, not because
we deserved it, because there was any merit in our life, the
very contrary, as the Apostle has pointed out here, but because
of his great love wherewith he has loved us. And so the Apostle
encourages us to know that in the ages to come he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. It's a wonderful statement, isn't
it? Exceeding riches of His grace. How very humbling, surely, to
us, if we are a true believer, to have the evidence that Almighty
God, who created all things, has gloriously, wondrously condescended
to come and put His hand upon us and to give us the evidence
that we are amongst those who are saved by grace. He says,
for by grace are you saved through faith, God-given faith to believe
the truth of the gospel, not something that you and I can
produce. We would never believe in our heart. We might believe
in our head. That's no good. We need the wonderful grace of
God to show to us that we possess that God-given faith to believe
what the Lord has spoken to us through his word, through faith
in that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And that
will surely produce in our hearts tremendous thanksgiving to think
that we as such a black, hell-deserving sinner, the Lord has stretched
out his hand and touched us and called us and given us to know
that we're amongst those who are a true believer, those whom
he has called, those whom he has saved. Well, there is then
a brief description of those whom the Apostle is addressing
in this epistle. And let us therefore have that
grace to carefully examine ourselves. The Word of God encourages us
to examine ourselves whether we are in the faith or not. And that means look into our
heart to see what's there, to see whether it's the work of
the Spirit of God or whether we're relying, as the Apostle
tells us here, not on works. Relying on our works. Let us
never rely on that. Let us only rely upon the grace
of God. Let us only rely upon what he
has done in our souls, his great and glorious work, that which
has made us spiritually alive. We can therefore testify to the
glory of God along with the Apostle and you, hath he quickened who
were dead. Well, I do pray that all of us
tonight may be inside those words, so that we are amongst those
that the Apostle is addressing because otherwise these words
that we read together this evening will not have any meaning and
they won't have any relation or anything relative to us because
it won't be speaking of us But bless God if we have the evidence
of these great truths then how encouraging it is to be able
to trace how the Lord is speaking to us and of us. And therefore
we come to these words and as the Apostle said, now therefore. It's as though he looks back
and he's seen all that he said and he says now. Now, therefore,
having, as it were, cleared the ground to be able to speak of
who he's addressing, he says, now, therefore, ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God. Well, who are our friends? Who are your friends? the household of faith? Are they
the people of God? Or are they the people in the
world? Where do you feel at home? Do you feel at home like here
tonight, in this chapel, worshipping God? Do you feel at home when
you're speaking to the children of God? Or do you feel at home
in worldly company? Do you feel at home following
the things of the world? Well, here we have this clear
distinction. And the Apostle therefore says,
to those that I've explained and he's explained of course,
now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners. Are
we a stranger to the people of God? Are we a foreigner as we're
here tonight? Do we feel at home? Do we feel these people are my
people? Remember what Ruth said those
years ago when at Nome I encouraged her to go back to her own people,
the people of the world. What was her reaction? She wanted
to follow the God of Naomi. Thy people shall be my people,
and thy God, my God. And so tonight, do we say that? Are we a Ruth? Do we come tonight? with that real desire in our
hearts to be found no more strangers. We will have been in our lives. We would have walked with the
world. And we would have wanted the world. And we would have
been content with the world. And we would have loved the world.
But oh, bless God tonight. if he has made a difference. And that difference is to be
found no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God. There's a wonderful uniting
in the things of God because the people of God, they speak
the language of Zion. They speak the heavenly language,
whereas the people in the world, they speak the worldly language.
They don't know anything of the heavenly language. They don't
know anything of God's grace. They don't know anything of God's
mercy. They don't know anything of God's
love, and they don't want to know either. They want to enjoy
the world. And so what an amazing mercy,
isn't it? If God should have caused us,
and in us, to find there is that difference. So that we do love
the people of God. We love to be in their company.
We love to hear them speak in the things of God. And how important
it is in this day and age in which we live, We do speak about
the things of God. Remember, we have an enemy of
our souls, the devil, who does not want you and me to speak
about the things of God. He wants you and me to speak
about the things of time, which perish away. He doesn't want
us to speak about the things of God, because he doesn't want
the name of God lifted up and honoured and glorified. and he
wants us to perish in our sins. Well, may God give us that grace
to earnestly seek, that we may be often speaking about the things
of God. We read those, remember those
well-known words in Manichae? Then those that feared the Lord
spake often one to another, and a book of remembrance was written.
often one to another, those who were true believers. And we have
to weigh ourselves up, don't we? With regard to the reality
of our religion, as to whether we are a true believer, or whether
we're just a pseudo one, just who pretends to be a Christian,
and hasn't got anything to say, with regard to the work of God
in our souls. We are encouraged to always to
be ready to give an account of the hope that is within us with
fear and trembling. That's not with pride and arrogancy. It's with true humbleness. And
what does that do? That brings glory to God. Because the Church of God rejoiced
to hear the work of God. in the lives, in the hearts of
one another. It's a God-glorifying situation,
how wonderful it is. And it's an evidence, isn't it,
that we're amongst those that are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints. It is a glorious truth
to know that all God's people are the saints of God. That's
very wonderful, that's very humbling, but it's very true that we are
the saints of God. That's what the Apostle is addressing.
He's speaking to those tonight, to us tonight. Now therefore,
you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God. We must really ask ourselves,
mustn't we, the question, does that describe us tonight? Are
we amongst those that this Word speaks of? We want to be inside
these words and not outside. We want to be inside the true
Church of God and not outside. And of course that true Church
of God is worldwide. What a mercy, there is only one
true Church of God. And what a blessing it is when
the people of God meet strangers in the flesh, never met before,
and yet you see when the things of God are spoken, there is that
wonderful and blessed attraction and wonderful blessed union. What does it mean? We are one
in Christ Jesus. And that's because of what he's
done for us. And as such, we can join together
in looking forward to the wonderful place that the Lord has gone
to prepare for the whole Church of God. I go to prepare a place
for you And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you unto myself. What a blessed truth it is, what
a wonderful favour it is to anticipate by the Church of God. And to
the true Church of God, such considerations are not morbid,
the world thinks of death as a morbid subject. They don't
want to talk about it. They don't want to realise that
time moves on year by year. Years ago, I remember a person
saying to me, I hate birthdays. Why? Because time was passing. Well, it's a blessing if you
and I have a spiritual birthday that we can bless God for. and
praise him for what he's done for such an unworthy sinners. And so here we have this statement
for us tonight. And may it be so that we are
now no more. There was a time when we were,
but if the Lord has made us spiritually alive, then we are no more strangers
and foreigners. but fellow citizens, we're the
saints of the household of God. So again, let's ask ourselves
the question, are we amongst these people? Are we amongst
them? And therefore, are they our best
friends, our kindred? We'd love to meet among them
now. Every opportunity, we'd love
to meet, to hear the things of God, To converse together, so
that the name of our God is honoured and glorified. Our problem is
today, we have such a material age. There are so many things
to distract us, so many things to move our hearts away from
the things of God and we need the blessed power of God. As
the Apostle Peter said, as he knew, kept by the power of God,
that means kept near to the Lord, not kept a long way away, but
kept near to the Lord by his power. And it's a wonderful experience
to know union with the Lord, communion with the Lord, and
kept close to the Lord. These are the important things. things of the world, the things
of our life, natural life, our natural possessions, what people
think of us and everything else in a natural way would all vanish
and all perish and it will be said one day and he died and
she died and what evidence was there that they were amongst
these who were strangers in this world and foreigners in this
world but Fellow citizens with the saints. Yes, the people of
this world, they meant nothing to them. Strangers, but fellowship. Fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God. Well, it's a glorious favour
if we are indeed amongst those that the apostle addresses here. And then he goes on to speak
to us and encourage us. and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. Again, we have a very testing
statement, really, as to whether Jesus Christ himself, no one
else, is our chief cornerstone. If He is our foundation, if He
is the cornerstone of our spiritual building, when a building is
erected, what's placed first? The foundation, the cornerstone. You see, unless there is that,
then the building will not be erected very well and no doubt
will fall and fail. So it is in our spiritual life,
you and I need a good beginning. We need a good foundation. We
need to know that we are on this chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ
himself. What is our religion founded
upon? Is it founded upon what the Lord
Jesus Christ has done. Are we relying on his work? Are we relying upon his death? Are we relying upon the atonement
he has made? Are we relying on the great truth
that he has shed his blood to atone for our sins? And that's
a word, atonement for you young people, It means to make us at
one with God because by nature, by natural birth, we are separated
from God because of our sin. We are born in this world sinners
and we need the atonement. We need to be made at one with
Jesus. And that is only through what
he has done on that cross at Calvary to give his life, his
glorious life, to pay the price for your and my redemption. My
friends, what a price there is to pay. Bless God, if you and I are fellow
citizens with the saints, we will have something in common.
And that will be that we all know we are needy sinners. That will mean that we all know
we are undone and that we're ruined and we're lost in and
of ourselves and there's no hope for us and then we shall perish
in our sins unless the lord have mercy unless the lord shows us
his grace and his favor again i wonder i wonder whether there
have been those occasions when perhaps You've trembled to go
to sleep at night, fearful you might wake up in hell. Trembling
before the holiness of God. We've sung about it in that second
hymn, holy, holy, holy is the Lord. And we stood there on that
ground before a holy God. And we've trembled because of
our sin, And we've trembled as to what will come upon us. We've
trembled to think that we shall be cast into hell. We've trembled
before God. And then to have revealed to
us that one who has redeemed us,
has paid the price, that was required to take away our sin,
all of our sin, every sin. Don't forget, there's no sin
in heaven. Every sin needs to be washed
away. Don't think I'm not a very big
sinner. Every sin has to be washed away, taken away, paid for. And what a glorious truth it
is to know that Jesus Christ himself is therefore the chief
cornerstone in our religion. We are relying totally and wholly
upon what he has done, his great and glorious work in dying upon
that cross at Calvary in order to pay the price for our sins. He gave himself as a sacrifice
The Old Testament tells us so clearly of these sacrifices which
were necessary, but they never could satisfy the holy demands
of the law of God, because there was no perfection. But the Lord
Jesus Christ lived that perfect life. There was no sin. He was holy and harmless, and
therefore His life was perfect and his death was therefore acceptable
to his father as that one sacrifice for sin. That one sacrifice,
the price it contained was so powerful, so great that it paid
the price of the sins of everyone of these people called the fellow
citizens and saints. My friends, that precious blood
takes away all sin. It takes away our sin. Glory to God. We stand then,
not complete in ourselves, but we do stand and stand we shall. complete in Christ. And we're standing on this chief
cornerstone. It'll never fail. It'll never
vanish. It'll never wobble. It's firm
and sure. So that we might come and be
able to say with a hymn writer, on Christ, the solid rock I stand. all other ground is sinking sand. Well, tonight, may you and I
have the wonderful evidence that we are on this chief cornerstone,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know it's so exceedingly
humbling, really, to think that the Almighty God should have
taken notice of us who are in union with the Apostle Paul when
he said, he was less than the least of all saints, utterly
unworthy of any favour. And yet the Lord loved him. And yet the Lord loves us, if
we are amongst those described by the Apostle in this chapter. And you see, we are built upon
this foundation of the Apostle's profits and we can think of that
you see this building this foundation it's full of great and glorious
truth the great doctrines of God the doctrines concerning
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the doctrine of God the Father
of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit the gospel of the Trinity
united together the wonderful perfection of the truth of God,
the wonderful favour and blessing of those who are elected, those
who are called. As the Lord Jesus said, you have
not chosen me, we never would, but I have chosen you and ordained
you. You should go and bring forth
fruit and it should remain This is indeed a foundation truth
and what a blessing it is when these foundations are brought
to our hearts, brought to our attention, so that we do come
and we rejoice in them and unite together with the Church of God
in speaking of these things. These things bring honour and
glory to God as we're able to converse about the great truth
of God, the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, all that
it contains, how it speaks to our souls, how encouraging it
is, how it outlines every detail in our spiritual life. There's
nothing lacking in the Word of God. So may we have the evidence
therefore that we are built upon the foundation. We are part of
this heavenly building. This building must rise. It will rise. Nothing will stop
it. The devil can't stop it. He'll
try. He'll be unsuccessful. Yes, because the Lord is the
builder. And the Lord doesn't make any
mistakes. No, there's nothing faulty in God's building. There's nothing that needs replacing
in God's building. That which God builds is perfect. And the wonderful thing is, as
we read in the next verse, in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. As for God,
his way is perfect. God's building is perfect. God
takes poor unworthy sinners and puts them into that building.
And what a mercy if you and I are found part of that heavenly building. We won't be there, vaunting ourselves. We won't be looking to ourselves. What will we do? We'll be found
looking unto Jesus. the author and the finisher of
our faith. We're told, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the Father. Yes, may you and
I be found then in this blessed place, in this heavenly building,
framed together. You see, there's nothing to mar
it, may be in our lives on earth. We're still sinners. We want
to desire that we are not allowed to mar it. We want to pray we're
not the people that cause the problems. We want to pray that
we might be those who encourage one another and to pray for one
another and to bless God that there is this glorious building
that grows. It does and there will be the
final, last member who forms part of this building, that completes
the building, and then there will be no need for time anymore. Time will then be no more. The work of redemption will be
fully evidenced, a wonderful completion, and no one missing. No one missing. All will be found
in this building, which, framed and fitted together, groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord. And it's a glorious building.
It's a glorious building because every member has been formed
by the Saviour. We've been made conformable unto
His image. That is a wonderful thought,
isn't it? As you and I see ourselves, so
lacking. And then to realise that by His
grace, by His grace, we are more than conquerors through Him. More than conquerors. The devil
will not be able to conquer at last. He may have some little
victories, but he won't overcome. because the blessed saviour has
overcome and we shall overcome through him in whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the lord
and then he says in whom ye also are builders together for an
habitation of god through the spirit well tonight may you and
i be blessed with that evidence. And if it is so, may we have
a humble confidence and be able to come like the Apostle Paul
who said, I know whom I have believed. And it's a good thing
to have a good confidence and to know whom we have believed
and to rejoice in the blessed work of God in our souls. To
realize, yes, it's his work. I could not have done it. God
has done that for us, which we could not do for ourselves. And
therefore to realize this word is true. You also are building
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit, the blessed
work of the Spirit. Oh, my friends, do you bless
God, the Spirit, for that which he's done in revealing to us
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, at one time, the Lord Jesus
Christ meant nothing to us. Is it nothing to you, or you
that pass by? But oh, praise God tonight, if
the Lord Jesus Christ is precious. The apostle Peter knew that,
didn't he? When he wrote his first epistle,
he wrote those words with regards to the precious blood of Christ,
and to you, therefore, which believe he is precious. He is
precious. Well, is Jesus precious to you
and me tonight? That means he is very valuable. He is very valuable because without
him we have no hope. Without him we are lost. Therefore
he is exceeding valuable and what a blessing therefore it
is if we appreciate the favour and blessing of Almighty God
in our own souls. and that we are together, build
it together. Unity, the Church of God, blessed
with unity. It's wonderful, isn't it, when
that is so? And may we enjoy it, the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace, recognizing by the grace
of God we are all one in Christ Jesus and that we are amongst
those who are clearly spoken of in these verses here tonight
that we may go on our way thankful and rejoicing to know that we
are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of
God and that one day by his grace we shall be in glory all together
with the Saviour praising his name forever and ever. Amen.