Kingdom People in the House of God

Building up the Church as the Dwelling Place of God to House the Kingdom of God

Ephesians 2:19-22 [11-22]

THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD

Here in Ephesus Paul is dealing with the building up not only of the local saints in the church of Ephesus but making sure that there was an understanding that the church in Ephesus was the dwelling place of God. The church here today, just like then is Gods earthly habitation. Here is the place in which God can have His rest and put His trust. In this dwelling place God lives and moves to accomplish His will and satisfy the desire of His heart. Because the church is God’s dwelling place, the church is where God expresses Himself.

A house is a great way to express who you are, it is said that you can tell a lot about a person by what they house look like, I’m not going to spend too much time here saints. But lets’ just say Gods’ house should look like an expression of God!

1 Timothy 3:16 Paul states that the church is God’s manifestation in the flesh; God not only desires to make his home in the church and to have a resting place there; He also wants to express Himself in the church. He wants to practice His New Testament economy, speak forth His desire, and manifest His glory in the church. All that He is all that He is doing and all that He wants to obtain are to be manifested, expressed in the church as His dwelling place.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

When you visit someone’s house you don’t go to the icebox and start pulling out food and cooking it, put on their house slippers and sit down in their recliner and then ask their spouse to bring you lemonade. Now if your given the go ahead to do those things then that’s’ different, its like green light. When we moved into our home Melissa prayed that our home would become a refuge, I was like ahhh wait a minute. Your home rules don’t transfer over into my home, and vice versa. As a believer in Christ Jesus my citizenship goes with me worldwide, in the house of God I can share with fellow believers the things that God has blessed me with without thinking twice. As a kingdom dweller it is my enjoyment for being responsible to worship, love and feel loved among the saints. Hebrews 10 tells me that I’m not to forsake the gathering of the saints, or make others feel unforgiven.

Text Structure: In order for there to be comfort in the house of God the people of God most become comfortable in serving in a capacity that is acceptable God. This means that God’s perspective must over rule our perceptions.

Objective: To look at our corporate worship and be honest about the presence of the Holy Spirit during our worship experience.

Question for today: How do we make our dwelling place [The House of God] a worthy representation of the Kingdom of God?

1. We must not alienate ourselves from one another, or outsiders.

KJV Vs.19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God

· This foundation is not new, Abraham was a sojourner [temporarily stay somewhere] out of the land of Ur of the Chaldeans into the land of Canaan. Our day to day experiences is a reminder that living Holy is not a call to alienate ourselves into a bubble of isolation. We should be living ministries, a living example, a living blue print of what the dwelling place of God should look like. We are off shoots, the branches of Jesus, how is Gods’ Kingdom building agenda working in your ministry? We are like Peter in Mt 16:18 today a rock on which those that come after us will continue to prevail in the order of scripture to live for Christ Himself, the only true Foundation, and the subject of why you are sitting here looking at me wondering why is he talking about building up the church, we good, we getting along. I don’t want to just get along, I don’t want FBC to just be good. We want souls saved, lives to be changed, addictions to be broken. I want to roll with some Holy Ghost sold out for Christ kingdom people. Even though we are operating through this axiomatic sphere that God has created to be dwellers in a foreign land, it only means that we should be in the world, but not of the world.

Application: Don’t settle.

How do we make our dwelling place [The House of God] a worthy representation of the Kingdom of God?

2. There must be a serious commitment to seeing that we make it a personal conviction that the foundation we lay is long lasting.

Vs. 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.

· {Straw, paper, wood] We are a living growing” continuous organism, we have a beautiful sanctuary [say amen] we have made a commitment to increase in the stones, and carpet, walls ect. But dare we become as the carpet and the stones of this building. Compare 1 Pe 2:5; says we are “lively stones continuously building up a spiritual house. Our neighbor has a weeping willow that I cut more than he does seems like. This tree is beautiful when its’ in full bloom. It reaches out and then it covers and lays down a marvelous shade. Branches are stemming off of it in all directions. Joined together for one common good, the beauty of that tree. The whole fabric of the universal church, with all its members, doctrines in which they believe, the precepts which they obey, and the promises which they embrace, is a beauty to those who enter its domain. This is a covering for the homeless person that finds their way through the doors, the mother with no help and five mouths to feed, the addict who was up all night shooting up heroine. Check this out, do you ask yourselves sometime how we look to those that enter Gods dwelling place. When we went through leadership training Sister Loretta made a profound statement about her first impression of FBC. Are we living in the expectations to live in eternity; fitly framed together — harmoniously joined in our several parts, and compacted so as to add beauty, strength, and unity to the whole growth of our body and to one another as well as this community, or is it Brother I’m getting in Ill pray for you. Are we living stones? Fitly dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ as being raised and supported by him; a temple in which God displays his presence, yea, dwells, and is worshipped in spirit and in truth.

Application: Branch out, become a covering!

How do we make our dwelling place [The House of God] a worthy representation of the Kingdom of God?

3. By understanding that our solidification with one another is important to how the manifestation of the Holy Spirit holds us together as a corporate entity.

Vs.22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

· Is this a Holy habitation of God”? Christ is the inclusive Head of this building, the element in which it has its being the sole purpose of our growth, as a dwelling place and a corporate body. The church is designed as the place of the special residence of the Holy Spirit on earth; It is the beautiful temple where the Spirit dwells; this marvelous sanctuary houses the saints of God and the Holy Spirit. How true is this statement; how pure should we be, is there a pure representation in each Christian here as an appropriate host for the Holy Spirit! Holy should be the heart where that Spirit dwells. How anxious are we to care for and cherish the presence of such a guest, how important is it to you that you guard your conduct that We may not grieve the spirit in any kind of way! [No one wants the Achan rep] “And when, through allowing secret sin to lurk within the soul, the Christian is overcome and brought to shame by his spiritual enemies, how much more seldom it is that he has the courage to gird up the loins of his soul and renew the conflict, in full confidence that victory will be his in the end!” How important to you is it that we not turn anyone away from Gods’ dwelling place! Should someone feel obligated to attend church, that’s like being an inmate to the church? Wow preacher. Paul says that he is a slave [servant] of Christ, not a slave to Christ. He enjoys doing it, even though it is hard.

Application: Pray for peace and strength, then let God handle the broken.

Roderick Williams

First Baptist Church KCK

June 24th 2018