Our text for today's message is taken from Ephesians 2:19–22. Today we are celebrating and commemorating our 39th anniversary. Throughout all these years there were many challenges and blessings, failures and successes, things we have done and things we have not done, things we have accomplished and things we were lacking. Nonetheless, it is truly a significant milestone as we can see the hands of God leading us in all these years. There was never a moment whereby God is not with us.
What is the church?
When we say Bethel BP Church is 39 years old, we need to ask this pertinent question: What is the church? The literal meaning of the word church is ‘the called-out ones’, people whom God has called out, set apart, separated unto Himself. Today, whenever we use the word ‘church’, it can basically mean two things. Firstly, it can mean the ‘house of God set apart for worship’. For example, this building, 10 Downing Street in Oakleigh, is a church. Everyone who drives past this building will tell you that it is a church.
Secondly, it can mean ‘the people of God set apart for worship’. And within this definition, there are two meanings as used in the Bible. It can either mean the local and visible church or the universal and invisible church. The local church is a gathering of people made up of believers and unbelievers. We may belong to a local church, but not everyone belongs to God, because not everyone who professes to be a Christian is a true believer. Jesus Himself said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
The universal church, or invisible church, is solely made up of believers, and only in Heaven we will know who are the true believers. There are some churches which do not have a physical building, but they are still called a church. So essentially the church is not about the building. It is about the people, those whom God has called out, and they have professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the preceding verses, the Apostle Paul said, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 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 worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1–2). That is Satan.
But God, who is rich in mercy, has saved us by grace through faith in the death and resurrection of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. We are called Christians, and He has placed us in a local church like this, made up of believers and unbelievers, sometimes known as sheep and goats or wheat and tares. And one day, He will call only the true believers to His eternal heavenly home, whether by the resurrection or the rapture. So, we want to make sure that our faith in Christ is real and true.
Presuming all of us here are true believers and we are worshipping in this church called Bethel, what is the purpose of our existence? What is the meaning of us being called Christians? What is our prospect and responsibility of being a Christian? This is what we want to learn from this passage in Ephesians 2:19–22.
The title of our message is: The Amazing Prospect and Awesome Responsibility of Being a Christian.
I. God’s Kingdom
Firstly, we belong to God's kingdom. Beginning with verse 19: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints” (Ephesians 2:19). The phrase “Now therefore” tells us what happens after God has saved us by grace and through faith. The word “saints” means the holy ones, referring to the believers who have been saved.
It is contrary to what the Roman Catholic Church taught about saints being people who have accomplished extraordinary deeds or lived exemplary lives, and they have also met certain requirements and after their deaths they were officially canonised as saints. But Scripture makes it very clear to us that all believers are saints, redeemed and set apart from sin unto God. So if you are a believer, the Bible tells you that you are a saint.
Fellowcitizens of God’s Kingdom
“Fellowcitizens” means citizens belonging to a city, and this is a reference to God's kingdom where He rules as King. As believers, we acknowledge that God rules over everything. Every circumstance and situation, God is in sovereign control. Whether it be in the past, in the present, or in the future, He also rules in our hearts and lives through the wonder-working of His Spirit.
Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” All the believers past, present, and future belong to the kingdom of God. If we are true believers, then we are fellowcitizens of God's kingdom with the saints from every age, whether Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses in the Old Testament, or the apostles Peter, Paul, John, and James in the New Testament, or the Reformers Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale, and Zwingli, as well as all the believers who have trusted in the one living and true God.
During the time of the Apostle Paul, citizenship was a source of great pride. A man's city provided his identity. The law of the city was his protection. The custom of the city was his pride. The citizens of the city were his lifelong friends. In those days, the Romans were in power and there were many privileges to being a Roman citizen. A Roman citizen could not be arrested and imprisoned without a trial. He could not be scourged. That was the reason why Paul questioned the centurion in Acts 22:25: “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?” If he felt that he was not receiving justice, he could appeal to Rome. So there were many privileges.
Strangers and foreigners were the opposite of fellowcitizens and saints. The Ephesians were previously strangers and foreigners outside God's kingdom. But now they were believers, and they became the fellowcitizens of God's kingdom. There were no strangers and foreigners, no second-class citizens. They received a citizenship far superior than any nation, even more than the much-coveted Roman citizenship. They were fellowcitizens of God's kingdom.
Dear friend, if you and I are true believers, we are fellowcitizens of God's kingdom. It is an amazing prospect because Heaven will be our eternal home. But it also comes with an awesome responsibility. Philippians 3:20: “For our conversation” - which means our citizenship is in Heaven. If our citizen is in Heaven, then that is from where we look to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. So if our true citizenship is in Heaven, then we must behave as one. We must live as true citizens fit for the kingdom of God.
Some of us here are Australians, others are not. Oftentimes people would only think of the benefits and privileges of being a citizen of a particular country and nothing more than that. Some people are made citizens as a matter of choice. Others are made citizens by way of family. Their parents were citizens, so they became citizens. Yet others are due to economic factors, or even by default. But whatever be the case, you may previously be a citizen of a particular country, but now you are an Australian citizen. You must behave like one and be subjected to the laws, customs, and way of living. Likewise, in the spiritual realm, the same principle applies.
I remember my late grandmother who migrated to Singapore in the early 1930s from China. And even after 40 or 50 years living in Singapore, she would still be thinking and behaving like someone from China. She would always be talking about China. On paper, she was a Singapore citizen then, but her heart was buried in China. From then I realised that true citizenship has a lot to do with the heart. Isn't it true for some of us here? Perhaps you may be physically here, but your heart is somewhere else, maybe in Hong Kong, Malaysia, or Vietnam.
Treasure is where your heart is
It is true in the spiritual sense. Where is your heart? Is your heart in this world or in the kingdom of God? Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Treasure is a very descriptive term. It is something that motivates a person in his daily life. A treasure is something that is worth a certain value. No one would treasure something that is of no value to him. If I were to hold a dollar note in front of you, why is it worth one dollar? It is worth one dollar, obviously not because of the paper or the ink, but because of a certain value that has been given to that piece of paper. Once a certain value has been assigned to this note, all of a sudden it takes on all kinds of influences in our lives. We begin to treasure it. We will subject our lives to it in certain ways. The quality of our lives will be determined by how many of these notes we have. How much we have will determine where we live, who our friends will be, what food we eat, what clothes we wear, our future plans, our retirement plans, etc. It can become a tremendous influence in our lives. Before we know it, it has become something that we live for.
The Bible uses a very interesting word: treasure. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Your most cherished treasure and your deepest motives and desires cannot be separated. If money is your treasure, then there will your heart be also. If your treasure is found in this world, then your heart will also be buried in this world. But if your treasure is in the kingdom of God, then there will your heart be also. It is impossible to have your treasure on Earth and your heart in Heaven. They will either both be earthly or both be heavenly. They cannot be separated.
Ask yourself this simple question: Do you feel a certain pain in your heart each time you part with your money? Do you feel any discomfort in your heart when you give of your tithes and offerings? Do you realise that it reflects a great deal about the condition of our hearts? Why does the Bible say, “God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7)? It is not just the gift that is important. It is the heart behind the giving that is more important. And God sees into the innermost of our hearts.
This world is not our home; we are just a passing through. If you are in your seventies or eighties, you are living in your bonus years. Soon death will knock on your doors. That is how our lives are—like a vapour - it “appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). We are just pilgrims in this temporal world. If we truly believe and understand this part, if we truly belong to the kingdom of God, then there should our heart be also, because that will be the place we will dwell for all eternity.
We will set our affections on things above, not on things on this Earth. We will seek to advance the kingdom of God through our evangelism efforts. We will seek to obey our almighty God so that we can glorify Him. We will consider Him in everything we do, say, or think. As Jesus said, “But seek ye first” - first of everything - ”the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).
II. God’s Family
Our second point is we belong to God's family. Look at the last part of verse 19: “And of the household of God.” The original Greek word for household can refer to an entire family establishment, including friends who live with a family, servants, and hired workers. But here Paul was referring to being members of God's spiritual family, the church, made up of other believers. As if being members of the divine kingdom is not enough, God's gracious work in Jesus Christ has drawn us closer to Himself, and He has made us members of His household. All of us would agree that family relationships, no matter what, are most intimate and the bonds even stronger. To become a member of a family, you must either be born into it or be adopted into it.
What does it mean to be a Christian?
Interestingly, the Bible uses both these two terms to describe what it means to be a Christian. Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:7, “Ye must be born again.” And the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 1:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” On the other hand, Ephesians 1:5 speaks of us being adopted into God's family: “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
It is a supernatural spiritual work because we were once children of God's wrath. We deserved to be sent to the eternal lake of fire. But God, who is rich in mercy, has enabled us to be born again and adopted into His family, and we have identified ourselves with Jesus Christ by faith. Now when God sees and treats us, He sees Christ in us, and He loves us with an infinite love. All Christians who are part of God's kingdom are also part of God's family, and we have the same heavenly Father.
Every week we are gathered together for a time of worship like this and we would say the Lord’s Prayer: Our Father which art in Heaven. Why do we do that? Because all God’s children call Him by the same intimate name. He is your Father and He is also my Father, and together we say, Our Father.
If you are a member of God’s household and I am a member of His household, then we ought to be reminded that we have this spiritual relationship with one another. That was the reason why the Apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 5:1–2, “Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.” Take note of the words father, mothers, brothers, and sisters. Those were terms of endearment. We are all brethren in Christ.
There is this spiritual connection between us because of Jesus Christ. No doubt we may have differences in opinions. We may not always agree on the things that we discuss. We may differ in certain matters. But after all, we are a family. The church is the place of love, reconciliation, and acceptance. Sadly, it is so common for people to strive against one another even in the church. Our church is not exempted from this sin of strife. And no church, even the most doctrinally sound and spiritually mature, is immune from this threat of strife.
Strife is always associated with personal and group rivalries and infighting. Someone explained it this way, which makes a lot of sense: it carries the idea of building oneself up by tearing someone else down. Just like gambling, whereby one man’s gain is derived from another man’s loss. But the question is this: would we do that to our own family members? Most certainly not. If I were to tell you that it is a terrible thing to strive against your own mother and father, most of you would agree with me. If I were to tell you that it is a devastating thing to gossip about your own brother and sister, most of you would agree with me. But yet, we do that so often to our brothers and sisters in Christ. May the Lord forgive us.
The privileges of being in God’s family
Being a member of God’s family brings tremendous privileges with it. We can call upon God as our Heavenly Father. We can come to Him in prayer at any moment of any day with any requests. And we have the assurance that He hears us and He will answer us according to His sovereign purpose and perfect will. But it also means that we are not the only child in God’s family. We have other spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ. We share with one another in fellowship, in mutual edification and encouragement. This is why coming to church, especially the prayer meeting, is so important. Some people would say, On my own I do pray, on my own I always pray. That is well and good. But we have been taught not only to say, My Father, but also, Our Father which art in Heaven.
Dear friend, you may be strong to pray on your own. You may not have any urgent matters. Everything is working well for you. Your job is secured. Your business is running smoothly. Your children are doing well. But there may be someone in the church who is too weak to pray and needs someone to come alongside her to pray. Or there may be someone in the church who is facing a life and death issue, and he does not even know what to say. He just needs someone to come alongside him and to help him to pray. Would you be that person? You see, I can give you all the fundamental reasons to come to the church and the prayer meeting, but if you miss the point, you miss everything. You are a member of God’s family, and all the people are your brothers and sisters. We need one another.
III. God’s Temple
Our third point is we belong to God’s temple. Look at verse 20: “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.” The strength of a building depends upon its foundation. And it is true of the church as well. The apostles were the appointed and inspired witnesses of Christ, and one of their primary duties was to write the Holy Scriptures, the New Testament. The apostles were a special group of people who received and proclaimed the Word of God in the years before the New Testament canon was completed. Basically, it refers to both the Old and New Testaments, the Word of God. Here it does not mean that the apostles and prophets themselves were the foundation, because the next phrase said, “Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone”. In other words, they laid the foundation, which was the truth of God’s Word, and it was founded upon Jesus Christ.
God’s Word as the foundational cornerstone
God will bless the church when it is built upon the foundation of His Word. When His truth is constantly preached. When His Word is present in the church, God blesses the church and enables it to grow from strength to strength and from faith to faith. What is the meaning of the chief cornerstone? In the past, when the people constructed a building, the first stone to be laid was known as the cornerstone. This foundational cornerstone was extremely important because it would determine the position of the entire structure where it would be placed. It would support what was built upon it. And all the other stones would be set in reference to this chief cornerstone. So the chief cornerstone was the support, the direction, and the unifier of the entire building.
Allow me to draw your attention to 1 Peter 2:5–8. Allow me to read for you: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient.”
Let me just briefly explain. The leaders of the Jews rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the chief cornerstone. They considered Him a stumbling block, and they crucified Him. A person would either be united to Christ by faith and be saved, or reject Him and consider Him a stumbling block. That is why whenever we share the gospel, we hear people saying that it is foolish to hear and believe in the gospel. They considered the gospel as a stumbling block. But when the sinner believes in the only Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has come to save him, he is united with the chief cornerstone and he becomes a lively stone.
A lively stone chosen by God
To be a lively stone means that the believer has eternal life in Christ. But more importantly, it talks about our connection and union with Christ, the chief cornerstone. We do not just worship Him, obey Him, and pray to Him or in His name, but we are united with Him as stones in a spiritual building of which He is the chief cornerstone. In other words, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ sets the direction for our lives. He is our focus. He is to be considered in the decisions and choices we make in life because He is our foundation, our strength, and our very source of life. Without Him, you and I will be eternally lost.
Back to our text in Ephesians 2:21, “In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.” As believers, we are lively stones which are fitly framed together to form this spiritual building or holy temple in the Lord. Now, there are some valuable lessons we can learn about being lively stones in this holy temple. Firstly, the stones are placed in this great structure not by chance or coincidence. They are specially chosen and shaped by God. God is the architect. It is not for you and me to determine where to fit in or how to fit in.
The stones can be of different shapes and sizes, perhaps even of different materials, and they can be used for different functions. Some of us serve in this way, others serve in a different way. We are given different gifts and talents. Some can sing, some can play the instruments, others can teach, yet others can touch the hearts of people in ways beyond our human comprehension. Each and every one of us is specially chosen and created by God. You cannot find another person that is 100% exactly like you.
Secondly, the stones are placed into position based on their relationship to Christ, the chief cornerstone. They are all attached to Him. If they are not, then they are not part of the building. One inch away from the building is not good enough. We must be fitly framed or attached to the chief cornerstone. It is either you are in Christ or you are not. There’s no halfway house, so to speak. He is either your chief cornerstone or He is a stumbling block.
Thirdly, the stones are linked to one another. Now take a moment and consider the building. Look at all these bricks. They are all connected, but they don’t always know of that connection. By that I mean they may not be able to see the other stones. They are all part of one big structure.
One thing we must understand is this: very often we do not see the whole picture. We cannot fathom how God’s plan works for each and every one of us. We know we are connected, but how God works is so uniquely different from one individual to another. And our finite minds can never comprehend His sovereign plan. How can we ever fathom how God has enabled us to start the mission work in Myanma, thousands of miles away from us, a nation, a people that are of a different language and culture from us? Yet they call us the mother church. Not that we desire for them to call us the mother church, but there is this connection. Yesterday at our annual congregational meeting, we spoke about the possibility of starting an orphanage or children’s home in Myama. Well, even before the foundation of this world, God has already ordained for this special connection in His sovereign plan. Humanly speaking, we may not be able to say it, but we know we are connected spiritually.
Lastly, the stones are chosen, shaped, and placed in such a way not to draw attention to themselves, but to contribute to the great building in which God alone is glorified. By way of illustration, no one will walk into the church and admire the individual brick, but they will look at the entire structure and they will say, ‘Look at that church.’ During the Olympic Games, we see all the participants training hard, almost a lifetime of training just to achieve that moment of glory. And truly, it is just a glory that is momentary. Great sportsmen and great sportswomen have lived and died, and with their deaths the glory faded away. We are quick to say it is so empty. It is vanity.
Giving all glory to God
But what about us Christians? When we serve the Lord in the various ministries of the church, do we bring glory to God or to ourselves Whether we sing in the choir, play the instruments, contribute to the refreshment, teach in the Sunday school, there's a thin line between glorifying ourselves and glorifying God. There's only one person to whom all glory is due, and that is our almighty God. And whatever glory that is due to Him, we take it for ourselves. We are robbing Him. And that is something we must never do. It is empty. It is vanity. It is meaningless. God's holy temple is not complete until every person who will believe in Him has come in.
So every new believer is a new stone in God's temple. That was why Paul said it is growing. “It groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” The habitation of God carries the idea of a permanent home. For all eternity we will be in the presence of God forever and ever. What a joy that will be when we see our loved ones, our relatives, our grandparents, our parents, our friends whom we have shared the gospel to coming to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when that happens, he becomes a new citizen of God's kingdom, a new member of God's family, and a new lively stone in God's holy temple.
Dear friend, what about you? If you are still an unbeliever lingering outside God's kingdom, God's family, and God's holy temple, you will be eternally lost. Come in. The only way to come in is to believe in His only begotten Son whom He has sent into this world to die and shed His precious blood on the cross of Calvary to save you from the penalty of sins. There's no other way. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). You reject Him, you reject the only way. And once you draw your last breath and swing into eternity, like I often said, the old preachers would say, ‘you will swing into eternity hanging on a horse's hair’. It will be too late. Come and believe in Jesus today and receive His salvation so rich and free.
If you are afraid that He may not receive you, well, take heart. Jesus said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). Even at the last moment of His life when He was hanging on the cross, when He was struggling to breathe, every breath He took was with agonising pain. And yet the criminal hanging beside Him said, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” What did Jesus say? “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (John 23:42-43). You know, for Jesus to say that He had to push Himself up to draw breath into His lungs in order to speak. Even in such moments like this, Jesus said, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” If you come to Him, He will never reject you. He is the only way for the rest of us.
Thirty-nine years truly is a significant milestone. But as a church, as a family, as an individual, if we truly understand that we belong to God's kingdom, God's family, and God's temple, then we are expected to behave as one. We must live our lives that befit people who are God's family, God's kingdom, and God's holy temple. May the Lord help us. A blessed 39th anniversary to all of you. Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven, indeed, as we consider the 39 years we have existed as a church, oftentimes we do not take heed of what it means to be a member of the church, to be a Christian. And Thou hast reminded us how we were once lost, dead in trespasses and sins, the children of Thy wrath. But Thou art rich in mercy, and hast saved us by grace through faith in the death and resurrection of Thy only begotten Son. And today we are members of Thy kingdom, Thy house, and Thy temple.
And for all eternity, we will be with Thee in the heavenly home that our Lord Jesus has gone to prepare for us. We pray that as we are mindful of these amazing prospects, we also consider the awesome responsibilities that, as residents of Thy eternal home, we must behave like one, and we must live our lives setting our affections on things above, not in this world. We must seek to advance Thy kingdom. We must obey and glorify Thee. We must consider Thee because Thou alone art our focus, our foundation, our direction. In all our considerations, we put Thee first in our lives. This is how we want to live our lives. May the Spirit of God help us that we will be able to do that. Bless us as we come together to celebrate and remember Thy faithfulness for these 39 years. And if Thou wouldst, we will be faithful for as long as our Lord Jesus shall tarry in His coming, that we may serve Thee with all faithfulness and with all humility. We pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.