to Ephesians chapter 2, the second chapter of
Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
And since we already discussed a portion of
it on Lord's Day evening, I think we'll
just begin our reading tonight with verse 11,
although we're going to review the whole chapter
also.
Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 11.
Wherefore, remember that ye, being in time past
Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcised
by that which is called the circumcision in
the flesh made by hand, that at that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world.
But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ, for he is our peace
who has made both one and has broken
down the little wall of partition between us,
having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments containing ordinances, for to
make in himself a flame one new man,
so may he keep.
And that he might reconcile both unto God
in one body by the cross, having slain
the enmity thereby, and came and spake peace
to you which were afar off than to
them that were nigh, for through him we
both have access by one spirit unto the
Father.
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 buildings fitly framed together groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye also are built together for an
habitation of God through the spirit.
Now, we mentioned at the close of the
meeting last night that the subject of this
chapter is the transforming power of God, and
so we're just going to write that on
the blackboard at this time.
This is letter D, letter D, the transforming
power of God, chapter
D.
And we suggested at the close of the
meeting last night that in this chapter you
have a series of contrasts that the chapter
describes what grace does with a man, how
grace goes down into the very depths and
picks up a man and puts him in
the very heights.
So, we're going to suggest some of the
things from which grace transforms a man, and
to which grace transforms him.
So, we'll just put here, he transforms from
.
and what did we say last night, the
first one was?
Anybody?
Yes, from death to life.
He transforms, first of all, from death to
life.
And we see in verse 1, you have
to be quickened, and of course there the
word quickened means to bring to life.
It isn't the same word as we use
today meaning fast or speed, but it means
to bring to life.
You have to be given life who were
dead in trespasses and in sin.
And of course, that verse teaches that before
a man is saved, as far as God
is concerned, he's dead.
It doesn't mean he's physically dead, he's far
from it.
It doesn't mean his spirit is dead.
But it means that as far as any
worship to God, or any service to God,
or any thoughts concerning God are concerned, the
man is dead.
And in redemption, in salvation, Christ takes those
who are spiritually dead and gives them new
life.
Now, I wonder, does anybody see what the
second transformation is?
The second great transformation?
Well, I'd like to suggest that the second
one is in verses 2 through 7, and
you have quite a marked contrast there, and
it is this.
From heathenism to the heavenly.
Now, let's see if that isn't what the
passage says.
It says, "...wherein in times past we walked
according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the
air, the spirit that now works 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 others."
That's what the Ephesians were in chapter 2,
and Paul says, "...we," that is, we Jews,
weren't any different.
That's what we were too, chapter 3, verse
3.
But then he says, "...but God who was
rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead
in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ
by gracious grace, hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus."
And so, we will write down the second
great transformation is from heathenism to the heavenly.
Verses 2 through 7.
Verses 2 through 7 from heathenism to the
heavenly.
Now, there's an interesting thing in this chapter.
You have the lowest point in human experience
described in verses 2 and 3.
How low can a man get?
Well, there you have it in verses 2
and 3, and then you have the highest
point in Christian experience in verse 7.
Now, there's an interesting thing also in the
geography of our country.
The highest spot in our country is Mount
Whitney, the top of Mount Whitney.
The lowest spot in the country is not
very far away.
It's Death Valley, just a few miles away,
and so I would suggest to you that
you have Death Valley here in verses 1
through 3, and then you have spiritual Mount
Whitney in verse 6.
Now, it's nothing short of miraculous to think
of the great God of the universe swooping
down, sending his son to Calvary to pick
up ungodly sinners from Death Valley, and to
take them and keep them with Christ in
the heaviness.
Nothing short of wonderful.
Some years ago, there was a man living
in Chicago named Mel Trotter.
How low can a man get?
Now, just think of Mel Trotter.
Mel Trotter was an inveterate drunkard, so everything
he had, had a lovely wife at home
who broke her heart.
God tried to teach the Mel Trotter time
and time again, but he was without avail.
But then the blow fell.
Their baby died, and everybody thought, well, this
will tell the story.
This will straighten Mel Trotter out.
He'll be a different man.
And so Mel Trotter did.
He tried to reform, and yet the power
of sin and Satan was too great for
him.
And while that precious little baby's body was
lying in the casket, the urge for liquor
took hold of Mel Trotter.
He didn't have the money to buy it,
and he took the seeds off his baby's
feet and sold them for liquor.
How low can a man get for any
of this?
And after that, he's walking down the streets
of Chicago, and he's on his way down
to Lake Michigan to throw himself in and
commit suicide.
And on his way down, he passes the
Pacific Garden Mission.
He hears the gospel hymns coming up, and
he receives an invitation to come in.
When he goes into the Pacific Garden Mission,
he's converted to Christ.
Mel Trotter, from that day forth, went teaching
the marvelous grace of God.
The mission is named in Grand Rapids today
after him, the Mel Trotter mission for men
who are lost in degradation and sin.
And here's a wonderful grace of God to
be saved, just like Mel Trotter.
But isn't that what you have here in
Ephesians?
These Ephesians were that type of people.
They were lost in idolatry and in heathen
immorality.
They were as low as you could get,
as it were, and false as aren't we
all.
And there, the Lord Jesus sits down and
says, I'm going to take those people and
give them new life, and keep them with
myself, give them a heavenly position with myself.
Verse 7, that in the ages to come
he might show the exceeding riches of his
grace in his heightened sword up through Christ
Jesus.
Now, this is an interesting verse, and I'd
like to direct your attention to it particularly.
Verse 7, when we get to heaven will
we have perfect knowledge?
The answer is no.
I know that a lot of us have
the feeling that the minute that the Lord
Jesus comes and takes Christians home to heaven,
or the minute we die and go home
to heaven, then we'll know everything.
And I suppose folks base that on the
verse, we shall know even as we are
known.
But all that verse teaches is that we'll
recognize one another in heaven, but we will
not have perfect knowledge in heaven.
If we did, we would be God.
Only God has perfect knowledge.
But instead of that, this verse teaches that
there's going to be progress in heaven.
You and I who are Christians are going
to go on learning more and more in
heaven.
What are we going to learn?
Well, throughout eternity, God is going to be
revealing to us the riches of his kindness
in his grace, the riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
What does it mean?
Well, it means that beginning at the time
we get home to heaven, and ever afterward,
God is going to be unrolling to us
the great drama of Calvary, and telling us
all that it meant to him, and all
that it meant to the Lord Jesus Christ,
to erect that cross on that rugged hill,
and for him to die there for us.
So to me, that gives a very exalted
view of heaven.
I don't care for this idea of heaven
where you just go home and strum a
harp throughout earth, but there's going to be
progress in heaven, and we're going to go
on and learn and learn and learn the
riches of his grace in his kindness.
Now, how long will it take for God
to tell us what Calvary means?
It'll take a long time.
Just how long is it?
It's a subject that will never be exhausted.
You know, we read even in the Gospels
that if all the things the Lord Jesus
did were written in a book, the world
itself wouldn't contain the book.
And certainly that's true of Calvary.
Just think of the riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
And I have no doubt that throughout all
eternity that we'll be rehearsing that grace.
Those of us who are male prodders will
be telling of all the Savior did for
us.
Now, this should give us great incentive.
If I don't have perfect knowledge when I
get to heaven, what knowledge will I have?
Well, I'd like to suggest this to you,
that what you learn about the Bible down
here is what you take to heaven with
you.
You won't take any material things.
You won't take any money.
You won't take any clothing.
You won't take any food.
We take that for granted.
And a lot of the things we spend
our little lives down here learning won't do
us a bit of good in heaven.
For instance, I might know how to fix
a Model T Ford, but I don't expect
to use that information in heaven, and I
don't expect there to be Model T Fords
in heaven.
But anything I learn about this scripture will
go with me to heaven, because forever, O
Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my
words shall not pass away.
Now, that should give us the greatest incentive
to study the Word of God, shouldn't it?
Just remember, it's your initial investment, and I'd
like to suggest to your consideration tonight that
your enjoyment of heaven will be proportionate to
your knowledge of the Lord down here.
Some are going to enjoy heaven more than
others.
If a man has wasted his life down
here and goes home to heaven, he'll be
saved, yet as by science.
But those who come to know the Lord
Jesus experimentally down here, who come to walk
with him, and to really have their roots
deep in God, will certainly enjoy heaven more
than those who have littered their little lives
with Well, just think of that when you
come to this verse, that in the ages
to come, he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness toward us
through Christ Jesus.
How very lovely.
For by grace are ye saved.
And do you know, in the original language
of the New Testament, this reads just a
little differently.
It says, for by grace have ye been
saved.
And I'll tell you why I emphasize that,
because it's an act, not a process.
Some people would say, oh yes, by grace
are you being saved.
Well, that isn't what it teaches.
It says, by grace have ye been saved.
The Ephesians could look back to a time
in each of their lives when they, by
a definite act of faith, accepted Jesus Christ
and were saved.
It wasn't a process that was still going
on called, by grace have ye been saved.
Truth says in that, not of yourselves, it
is a gift of God, not of works
lest any man should boast.
Now, here we have another contrast, and that
is the contrast, that would be number three.
The grace of God transformed men from law
work to light work.
Now, I'll just write that down.
Law work to light work versus faith to
faith.
Now, you have law work mentioned in verse
eight, that not of yourselves.
Verse nine, not of works lest any man
should boast.
When we use the expression law work, we
mean work that man performs, such as keeping
the ten commandments, in an effort to attain
favor with God.
And all the world tonight is in one
of two camps.
They're either trying to be saved by doom,
or they're being saved, or they're saved by
proxy.
There are really only two religions in the
world that Dr. Einstein has so capably pointed
out.
It's either doing or done.
You're either trying to earn or merit or
work for salvation, or you're resting in the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And, law work, our work performed in an
effort to win God's smile.
And, this chapter sits about the not of
works, not of that kind of work lest
any man should boast.
But then we have light work down in
verse ten, for we are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good work which God
hath foreordained that he should walk in vain.
Now, God doesn't save us by law work,
but he does save us through light work.
The moment a person trusts the Lord Jesus
Christ as Savior, he begins those light works.
The hardest thing to get men and women
to realize today is that God isn't looking
for good men whom he may approve.
God isn't looking for moral, righteous men whom
he may pat on the back.
God is looking for ungodly sinners who know
themselves to be such, to whom he may
give salvation as a free gift.
You try to tell it to men, and
they just will not hear you.
Well, that's the third contrast, the transforming power
of God.
He transforms from law work to life work.
Then we have the next comparison in verses
eleven through thirteen, and that is from distance
to nearness.
Verses eleven through thirteen, from distance to nearness.
Verses eleven through thirteen.
Now, we'll just read those verses so they'll
be fresh in our mind.
It says, Wherefore remember that ye being in
times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are
called uncircumcised by that which is called circumcision
in the flesh made by hand, that at
that time ye were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from
the covenants of promise, having no hope in
without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ.
Now, it's hard for us to get the
feel of this passage today for this reason.
In the Old Testament, the Jews were God's
chosen people.
They were the people who held the place
of privilege, shall we say.
They held a place of external privilege with
God.
The fact they were God's chosen people didn't
save them, but it certainly put them in
a place of privilege as far as being
saved was concerned.
Now, that condition doesn't prevail today.
The Jewish people today are a despised people,
unfortunately.
Scattered throughout the earth, and men ridicule them,
and men hate and despise them, and of
course the Jews feel it's heinous.
But in the day when the Apostle Paul
was writing, that wasn't the case.
The Jews, and from him back in history,
as I say, held a place of privilege
with God.
For instance, the word of God was given
to the Jewish people.
The Old Testament, every book in the Old
Testament was written by a Jew, and the
oracles of God were given to the Jewish
people.
And the promises of God were made to
the Jewish people.
God made certain promises to Abraham.
God made certain promises to David.
God made certain promises to Solomon.
And they were all made to Jews.
All the great covenants that God made in
the Old Testament were made with the Jewish
people.
Now, the Gentile was in a far-off
place as far as that is concerned.
He was in a place of distance.
He was living a life of hedonism, and
the Jews spoke of the Gentiles as dogs.
That's just the way they thought, sort of.
Now, how did that situation arise?
How did that distinction between Jew and Gentile
ever arise?
Well, that distinction was established by the law,
believe it or not.
Yes, indeed it was.
It was established by the law.
The law was given to the Jewish people,
and it did make provision for Gentiles who
also wanted to come, but it was primarily
Jewish in character.
Now, we're going to see that the Lord
Jesus Christ, in his coming, broke down that
new law of partition between Jew and Gentile,
which was a very real partition.
He broke it down.
He abolished the enmity which the law set
up, so that he might work out a
wonderful program in this day.
Now, let us look at these verses in
the light of that, word for word.
Wherefore remember that ye, now Paul is writing
as a Jew here to Gentiles, and that's
why he uses the word ye.
It's very helpful, as I said before, to
watch your pronouns in Paul's writing, because they
are significant.
Wherefore remember that ye Gentiles, ye Ephesians, being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, that
is, you were born into the world of
Gentile parents, who are called uncircumcision by that
which is called the circumcision of the flesh
made by hand.
Now, circumcision was the initiatory rite of Judaism.
It was the ordinance, the ritual, which introduced
the child into Judaism.
And so those who were Jews were known
as the circumcision, and they spoke of those
who were not Jews as the uncircumcision.
And you'll remember back to the time of
Samson, I think it was, or David, was
it David who spoke of Goliath as that
uncircumcised Philistine?
Well, that was just the way they felt.
He wasn't a Jew, he didn't race.
Who are called uncircumcision by that which is
called the circumcision of the flesh made by
hand?
That at that time ye were, without Christ,
listen to this catalog, aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel.
An alien is a person who doesn't belong.
The person comes over here from Europe as
an immigrant, he's spoken of as being an
alien.
Not a nice word, is it?
We don't kind of like the sound of
it.
Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from
the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world.
Now let me just explain that position of
privilege that we've been speaking about.
Is there anything that corresponds to it today?
Well, there really is.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that in
the case where a man and a woman
are married and the man is unsaved, the
woman is a Christian.
Paul says, the unbelieving husband is sanctified by
the believing wife.
Else were your children unpleased, but now are
they holy.
Now that verse doesn't teach that the unbelieving
husband is saved because he isn't saved.
And it doesn't teach that the children are
saved either, because they're not saved unless they
trust the Lord Jesus.
But it does say, the unbelieving husband is
sanctified by the believing wife.
In what way is he sanctified?
Well, he's set apart in a position of
external privilege.
You say, what do you mean?
Well, let me ask it this way.
There is an unbelieving man living with a
Christian wife.
He sees her godly behavior.
He sees her getting down on her knees
and he knows she's praying for him.
Now let me ask you, from a human
standpoint, is the chance of that man being
saved less or greater than if he were
living in a non-Christian home?
Well, the chance of him being saved is
greater from a human standpoint because he's in
a place of privilege.
He's in touch, as it were, with a
real born-again Christian.
Well, that's just the way with the Jews
in the Old Testament.
They were in a place of privilege.
They had the word of God in their
hands, and they were nigh to God in
that sense.
And the Gentiles weren't.
The Gentiles were a far off.
But notice it says in verse 13, But
now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes are
far off are made nigh by the blood
of Christ.
Still speaking to Gentiles, ye who sometimes, that
is, at one time were a far off
are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Now this brings us to the next contrast,
and it is from enmity to peace, verses
14 through 18.
I spoke of the enmity which was established
by the law between Jew and Semper.
Now it says in verse 14, For he,
Christ, is our peace, who hath made both
one.
Both there refers to Jew and Gentile, and
Christ in his work on the cross makes
both Jew and Gentile one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition between us,
having abolished in his flesh, that is, by
his death, the enmity between Jew and Gentile,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances,
for to make in himself of twain one
new man, still making peace.
Now let me express it this way.
Under the gospel, a Jew doesn't become a
Gentile, and a Gentile doesn't become a Jew
when he trusts Christ.
In the Old Testament, really, a Gentile had
to become a Jewish convert in order to
draw near to God.
But in the New Dispensation, under grace, a
Gentile doesn't become a Jew, and a Jew
doesn't become a Gentile, but both Jew and
Gentile are made one in Christ.
A new man is formed, you see.
And that's what this passage teaches.
And a new man, of course, of which
Christ is the head, the body of which
Christ is the head.
For to make in himself, verse 15, of
twain, that is, of the two, Jew and
Gentile, one new man, still making peace.
So there are three classes of people in
the world today.
There's the Jew, there's the Gentile, there's the
Church of God.
And everybody is in one of those three
classes, either a Jew by nature, a Gentile
by nature, or he's a child of God
by regeneration.
Verse 16, and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross.
He takes the greatest extremes in life, Jew
and Gentile.
The greatest distinction in all the world is
the distinction between a Jew and a Gentile,
and Christ breaks them down in the gospel
and makes one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached
peace to you which were afar off, that
is, the Gentiles, and to them that were
nigh, that is, to Israel.
Christ preached his peace to both.
Notice first of all it says, he is
our king, and he preached his peace.
All right, it says, for through him, that
is, through Christ, we both, that is, both
Jew and Gentile, have access by one spirit
under the Father.
How does a Jew draw nigh to God
when he's saved?
The same way a Gentile does.
Does he go to Jerusalem the way he
did in the Old Testament?
No, he just by faith draws nigh to
God through the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit,
and it's the same for Jew and Gentile
alike.
Now the next contrast we have is in
verse 19, and that is from foreigners to
fellow citizens.
Verse 19
says,
Now therefore ye are no more, and here
it's ye again, the Gentiles, the Ephesians, ye
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens of the faith and of the household
of God.
You belong now, you're members of the family
of God, just the same as we do
now.
No distinction, no superiority, no inferiority anymore, all
one in Christ Jesus.
All right, and then our final contrast in
this chapter is this.
The chapter closes, In whom ye also are
builded together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit.
Now this is nothing short of miraculous.
The chapter opens with men being guided and
dominated by Satan.
Verse 2 says, Wherein in time past ye
walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of
the air.
The spirit that now works within the children
of disobedience.
In verse 2, man is the habitation of
Satan, and in verse 22, man is the
habitation of God.
And that's the final thing that the transforming
grace of God does, from the habitation of
Satan, verses
2, from the habitation
of Satan, verse 2, to the habitation of
God, to verse 22.
In other words, the chapter opens, man is
dominated by Satan, it closes, he's indwelt by
God.
How does such a miracle take place?
Verse 8 tells us, For by grace are
ye saved through faith.
Now not of yourselves, it is a gift
of God, not of works, lest any man
should boast.
Now we skipped over a couple of verses
here, we're going back to them now.
Verse 20, And are built upon the foundations
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone.
Now the thing to note down in this
verse is that those two words, apostles and
prophets, refer to New Testament apostles and prophets.
Most of us, when we see that word
prophets, go back in our minds to the
Old Testament prophets, the major prophets and minor
prophets.
But these are New Testament prophets.
And we're going to find more about this
as we come to chapter 4, but just
let me say this.
The apostles and prophets were men raised up
by God in the early days of the
Church.
An apostle, a word simply means, as we've
said, a sent one.
And these were men that God raised up,
sent them forth with the message of the
gospel.
And they were given supernatural power.
They could perform miracles to attest that the
message they were preaching was a message of
God.
In other words, they did not have the
New Testament as we have it today.
It wasn't in existence then.
It was just being written, just being formed.
So when these men went forth with the
message, other men might say, well, how do
we know what you're preaching is true?
Well, God bears witness to our message with
signs and wonders and miracles of the Holy
Ghost.
Now, the word prophet really means a spokesman
for God, a mouthpiece for God.
And in the early days of the Church,
something like this could happen.
Here we are gathered in a meeting like
this, a man stands up, he's a prophet,
and he could say, Brethren, I have a
message of inspiration from God.
And the group would sit there and listen.
And they would hear, if he was a
true prophet of God, they would hear a
message directly from God.
And the scripture says, Let the prophet speak
two or three, and let the others judge.
Now, if a man got up today in
the meeting and said, Brethren, I have a
message from God, quite distinct from what we
have in the Bible, and I'd like to
give it to you at this time, we'd
be apt to say to him, well, you'd
better sit down.
We have the complete word of God today,
and we won't listen to any additional message.
But you see, in the early days of
the Church, they didn't have the New Testament.
And this was the way the message was
given to them.
Now, this verse 20 of Ephesians chapter 2
tells us that the work of the apostles
and the prophets was connected with the formation
of the Church.
Doesn't it say that?
It uses the word foundation.
And are built, that is, ye are built
upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.
The only logical conclusion is that the apostles
and prophets were concerned with the foundation of
the Church.
Now that the foundation has been laid, there's
no need for the apostles and prophets anymore,
and we don't believe that those gifts are
with the Church today in that sense.
Now, in that connection, would you please turn
to Hebrews chapter 2.
Hebrews chapter 2.
I'll have to begin at the first verse
for the sake of connection.
Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1, really the
verse I'm coming to is verse 4, but
let me read from the beginning.
Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things which we have heard,
lest at any time we should let them
slip.
For if the word spoken by angels was
steadfast, that's the law, the Ten Commandments, was
given by angels.
If the word spoken by angels was steadfast,
and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward, every time the law was
broken, there was a penalty inflicted, how shall
we escape, who have received a greater message,
if we neglect so great salvation, which at
the first began to be spoken by the
Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them
that heard him?
Knoweth God also bearing them witness, both with
signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and
gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his
own will?
And that verse teaches that the Lord Jesus
attested the message of his early witnesses with
these miraculous signs, in order to prove the
authenticity of their words, of the messages that
they were bringing.
So we're built upon the foundation of the
Apostles and New Testament prophets.
They laid the foundation.
What was the message they preached?
Jesus Christ, Christ himself being the chief cornerstone,
in whom all the buildings fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord,
in whom ye also are built together for
an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Now there are various words used to describe
the Church in the New Testament, and you
have three of them right here.
The household of God, the temple of God,
and the habitation of God.
And each one brings a different picture before
our minds.
The household of God brings a family view
before us, members of the family of God,
of his household.
Then the temple of God, a temple speaks
of a place of worship, doesn't it?
And so that presents the Church to us
as the source of worship to God.
God doesn't get any worship from unredeemed lips.
People say, oh, I go and worship God
in nature.
Do you?
He doesn't receive a speck of worship from
us.
There's only one way to draw near to
God in worship, and that's through the Lord
Jesus.
And so the Church on earth is the
source of worship to God.
Redeemed lips chanting his praises and speaking forth
the glories of his name.
And then the habitation of God through the
Spirit.
And that brings before us the thought that
the Church is indwelt by God.
Now that's perfectly marvelous.
In the Old Testament God chose to dwell
in the tabernacle and in the temple, but
today he isn't dwelling in a building made
with hands.
Today God here on the earth is dwelling
in vessels like these.
And how that should humble our hearts to
think that the great God of the universe
is dwelling in this space.
The one who created this body in the
first place should choose to dwell in it.
Know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit, and God dwells
in the Church today.
And let me just say this, that the
Church is a subject that is very precious
to the heart of God.
A lot of people today don't think too
much about it.
They say, oh now that's something you can
be interested in or not.
But I'd just like to say this, if
you get to the end of your journey
and you haven't been interested in the Church,
then you fail to be interested in what
occupies a very prominent place in the affections
of God and in the affections of Jesus
Christ.
And the thing for us as Christians is
to be interested in the things that God
is interested in.
Now tomorrow night, Lord willing, we're going to
take up the subject.