Well, this morning we are going to get back to Ephesians 2, and we're not going to get through the whole guide that is there in your Bible, and that's okay. But I think really kind of the theme that sort of I think we've kind of listened to even from the update is just the importance of focusing on the Word of God as the people of God. And really, that's what the first part of the message that we'll be looking at. So if you want to keep your message guide for next week, you can, too. But here in Ephesians chapter 2, we have just some more blessings of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And just a kind of quick review. In Ephesians chapter 1, back in verse 3, we're told, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. and uh... one of the things that you're kinda surprised about as you go through the book of ephesians is just how many blessings there are that we have as christians blessing after blessing after blessing uh... in chapter one we saw blessings that we have in the father blessings that we have in the sun blessings that we have in the holy spirit and those blessings just continue to multiply even through chapter two and of course these blessings are reserved for if you remember back in in verse eight of chapter two it's reserved for those who by grace are saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, those who know Jesus as their Savior are just deluged with all of these great blessings that we have in the Lord. Well, last time, if you remember, we learned about the blessing, that through Jesus Christ we actually have access to God the Father. In fact, if you go back to verse 18, it says, for through Him, through Jesus, We both, and of course he's talking about both Jews and Gentiles who are now united into one body as the church of Jesus Christ. For through him, through Jesus, we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. And then, of course, with that access in the rest of these verses, we find some illustrations of what it means. So starting in verse 19, through the end of the chapter, Paul describes our relationship with God in three different ways. And we focused our attention on two of them last time, and then starting this morning and going into next week, we'll look at the third. But starting there in verse 19, we're told that we are fellow citizens with the saints. This simply means that if you are a child of God, if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you are a full-fledged citizen and subject in the Kingdom of God. Of course, we know in the Old Testament that was restricted to those who would be members of the Jewish community, the members of the Children of Israel, but now all true Christians are full-fledged citizens and subjects in the Kingdom of God, and you and I now have unfettered access to Jesus as your King. And praise God for that. Remember, even Queen Esther didn't have access to her husband, who was the king, until he put down that scepter of recognition, and she had to hold on to that. And of course, we know that Jesus is that scepter of recognition from the Father to us, so that we can have access to God. Second, we also are of the household of God, we're told there in verse 19. We're of the household of God, which again means that all Christians are actually part of God's own family. So not only are you part of God's kingdom, you're part of God's family, and you can go to Him at any time and in any place and for any reason as your own Heavenly Father. Of course, that's something that we looked at last time. So in addition to all of this, as we'll see here in verses 20 through 22, Paul changes the image just a bit. First of all, in verse 19, he talks about a household or a family, but then he moves on to the house itself. and basically describes God's people as the house of God Himself, the very building of God. That's a very common way to describe the church in the New Testament, but it simply means that not only can we go to God, but God has already come to us. He's come to us in order to dwell with us and to dwell in us, since He has made us as Christians and as a church, His own new temple on earth. Of course, we know that in the Old Testament they had the tabernacle, which is where God's people would meet God in the wilderness. And, of course, then that was transformed into the temple where God's people would go and meet with God there in the temple. But of course, that was destroyed even after the Lord Jesus was here. In A.D. 70, the Romans completely destroyed it. It hasn't been there since. And now, the true temple is that new temple. The Lord Jesus Christ dwells in His people. We are His building. So, three descriptions, three illustrations of the people of God. We are His kingdom, we are His family, and we are His house. We have access to God as our King, we have access to God as our Father, and now we have access to God because He actually is living with us and in us as His own temple on earth. All of this comes to us through the gospel. All of this comes to us through the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. That's why Paul then says in verse 20 that we also, believers in Christ, 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 ye also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. And of course, as Paul's been pointing out to us all through this chapter, this is true no matter what background you have, no matter what nationality you have, whether you're Jew or Gentile, or whether you're American or Mexican, or whatever it is. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, all of these things are true for you. And so there are even more blessings that belong to us since we are also the building and the temple of God. And really, we're going to just focus this morning on the very first part of verse 20. And that is how we, as part of God's building, as God's new temple, are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. We're built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And, of course, that blessing means that, and this is your first point there, the first blessing of being part of God's building is that we are supported by Christ Himself. We, as God's church, are supported by Christ Himself. That, of course, reverts to the church as a whole, but also in individual churches. You know, just like the churches that we were seeing on the screen there. The churches in these different locations, these churches in these different people groups, All believers are supported by Christ. He is the one who forms the very basis and foundation of the church and of the fellowship that we have with God and with each other. And again, there in verse 20 it says, It's all because we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. You know, just like any other house or building, you know, we saw some of the houses and the buildings that were being built there on the screen. They can't and they don't build themselves, do they? They can't and they don't build themselves. This church was built by the people of this church. And it wasn't something that they built by themselves. I remember when I was a boy living out in Broomfield, Arvada, Colorado, my parents worked at a college called Denver Baptist Bible College. And it was out in Broomfield, Colorado. And I remember as a kid, sometimes we would love to go with my dad to go see what this college was all about and just to be able to enjoy playing hide and seek through the hallways and different things like that. I don't know if your girls ever did that in college. It's a lot of fun. But they were going to build a new campus. And so they bought, actually, some land. And on this land, there were actually some kind of walls that had already been built for another campus of some sort. And eventually, they were going to get the money. And of course, the same issue, I guess. They didn't have the funds to get it all finished. But I remember sometimes we would go out there just to see how things were progressing and see how things were like. And I remember sometimes my dad would take us, and we would go hunting for jackrabbits. uh... my brother would have a twenty two or even have a pellet gun we go honey for jack rabbits there on on that campus uh... but even beyond that it was just fun to explore these they weren't ruins because there was nothing ruined they were ruined because they were still trying in the process of building but there are these walls here and there and hide and seek it was never finished and the fact is there was no money for it and if there's no money there's no workers for it But that is the same with the church. As God's building, it's not going to build itself. There is someone who does this building, and that is ultimately God Himself. He is the one that builds the very building that is the people of God. And that's why it says in verse 20, we are built. We are built. That's a passive word. That is, we are being built and have been built by God on this firm foundation. Even Paul told the Ephesian elders back in Acts 20, 32, if you remember, he had spent some time with them, some three years with them, establishing this church in Ephesus. And then after that period of time, He was going back to visit them, and he had the elders come together, and in Acts 20, 32, he says, Oh, brethren, as he's just about to leave them, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up. God builds His church through His word. God builds His church through His word. Again, Paul says, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up. And so even though when we see buildings being built and we praise God for the money and the workers and all that was involved for those things for people to go and worship and serve God, just like the building that we have, we know that ultimately the building of the church is not a structure made of wood or stones or bricks. The church of Christ, the building of Christ, is the people of God that is built together and rooted together in the very words of God and Christ Himself. So God Himself builds the building of the church, and He uses both His Word and His workers to do so. In fact, the word of His workers forms the very foundation of the church as a whole. Again, there in verse 20, we are built upon a foundation, and even the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Now the Apostles mentioned here, of course, were those men of God who were personally sent by Christ in order to preach and proclaim the message of the gospel. That's who the Apostles are. Of course, we know the Apostle Paul was the primary apostle for the Ephesian church. Later on we know that John would be another apostle that would lead the church there in Ephesus. But an apostle simply means someone that had been with Jesus, had seen Jesus, had been sent by Jesus to go throughout the world and to spread the gospel to every creature. And so an apostle was sent by Christ to proclaim the gospel message to this world. And they were not only eyewitnesses, But they were earwitnesses of what God had said and did through the Lord Jesus. And so they provided a reliable and firm foundation for us to believe. And of course, we recognize that many of those apostles we have learned about through the study of the Gospels, and some of those apostles God used to write the very New Testament that we have, and so when it's talking about the foundation of the apostles, it's talking about the foundation of the message of the apostles, and what they wrote and what they said about Jesus and about the Gospel. This is the foundation for every church, every true church. This is the foundation of our church. But then, in addition to the apostles in the earlier church, we also know that there were prophets. There were prophets who were also men of God that were specially gifted to speak for Christ. So the apostles were sent by Christ because they'd seen and heard what He did and what He said, but also then we had these prophets who spoke for Christ. And they were given to the church in order to prepare the church to grow in God's grace and in God's knowledge. So, if you think about when the apostles would go from church to church and found these little congregations all throughout the world, all throughout the known world at that time. Well, when the apostles left, who would come and help them? Who would feed these churches? Who would raise up these churches? Well, God gifted His churches in those early days with specially gifted prophets. to help build up the church in the grace and knowledge of Christ. And that's why, actually, in chapter 4 of this book, that's why in chapter 4, verses 11 and 12, Paul even tells us that the Lord gave some, and he's talking about the churches, some of the churches, he gave some of them apostles. like the church in Ephesus, and then even some of those churches he gave prophets, and then some evangelists, and many would look at those evangelists as missionaries, like our missionaries, and then some pastors and teachers, or some even include that as pastor-teachers. And so we have four offices, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. And what were these all gifted for? In verse 12 of chapter 4, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. In other words, God gave gifts to men, some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, in order to build up this building of God's people, God's church. And so these early Christian prophets were given by God the words that the church needed in order to be established in the gospel. And so from this we can see that the ministries and messages of both the apostles and the prophets are the foundation of the church. And that's why we have in our Bibles the New Testament. Genesis through Revelation are given to us and recording for us the ministries and the messages of both the Apostles and these prophets so that we have a firm foundation for our church. Now, when it comes to building a building, when is a foundation laid? First thing, of course you've got the footers, but that's part of the foundation, right? And of course you lay that foundation. It's the very first thing. It's at the very beginning. And that's what we have here, the ministries of these two offices. Apostle and prophet were for when? The beginning of the church. The very foundation of the church. And from our standpoint, that is in the past. It is not something in the present. You see, even today, and really ever since the time of the apostles and prophets back then, there has been no more need for apostles, and there's been no more need for prophets, because their messages have been recorded for us and preserved for us in our Bibles. And so, maybe you've probably turned on the TV or heard on the radio and someone says, I'm apostle so-and-so, or someone else is a prophet so-and-so. They are not part of this foundation, because that foundation has already been laid. That foundation is all that we need, and that foundation is given to us in the very Word of God. And that's why every church, every true church, is formed upon standing on this bedrock, not the bedrock of somebody else's revelation, or somebody else's word, or somebody else who says they're an apostle or a prophet. The Bible itself, and the New Testament especially, is the foundation of God's building and God's church. And that's why we'll sing a little bit later here, "'How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.'" Where? In God's excellent Word. And I really appreciate how Brother Jerry has said that the focus of the churches that you know, his ministry overseas and even really inculcates in those people that are going out to be missionaries, pastors from their college, is that it's not just about having fellowships, though fellowship is good. It's not just about, you know, having parties, so sometimes it's good to enjoy that company with each other. The main function of the local church is the ministry of the Word of God. Because this is what builds us up, this is what supports us. This is one of the reasons why on the Lord's Day we gather together, not just for fellowship and worship, but especially to be rooted and grounded in the things of God's Word. This is our foundation. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in God's excellent Word. And then he asks, what more can be said than to you God hath said, to you who from refuge to Jesus have fled? There's nothing more that we need than the word that we have here. That doesn't mean that we don't understand everything or that we understand everything in this work. Because the Apostle Paul even tells young Timothy as a young pastor, study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So it takes work. for both pastors and elders and deacons, but for all of us, whatever God has gifted you in, whatever office you have within the church, we are all to be rooted and grounded in this word, studying to learn more about it, to know more about it, because this is how the church grows. This is how we are supported as a church. The fact is, when we get off of the foundation, we lose the very source of our support. We become very weak as a church. We become ineffective as a church when we ignore the foundation that we've been given. And yet, through the ministries and the messages of the apostles and the prophets, they were great. What they proclaimed was even greater, and that is what we can say is the salvation of Christ. the salvation of Christ. The apostles were the ones that were sent by Christ, for sure. The prophets were the ones that spoke for Christ, but it was all for the greater service of the one who is the Savior, and even the salvation of Christ. Because Jesus then tells us, in the rest here of verse 20, that we are not only built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, but we're also built upon who? the Lord Jesus Christ who himself is being and is and forever will be the chief cornerstone. That's what this word is all about. In fact, if you kind of picture maybe two parts of a foundation of a building coming together, all right? And you're going to join those together to be able to start building your walls and start building your structure. On that foundation, we have the very first cornerstone that is laid. It ties everything together and lends its support and strength to support the very building that is being constructed on it. And that's what the prophets and that's what the apostles were all giving to us, giving to us the very cornerstone, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Because even if you go to the buildings around us, most of those foundations are where? They're buried underground, right? You can't see much of them. And really, that's what the apostles and the prophets of the New Testament church wanted. They wanted themselves to decrease, but that He might increase. I remember when I was in third grade, out in Denver, Colorado, really, Arvada, Colorado. Our school was trying to get money together to build a gymnasium. And I remember because our classroom was right next to the lot where they were building this gymnasium. And I'm not sure who designed it or who was constructing it, I'm not sure all of that, but I remember selling a lot of world's finest chocolate bars to be able to build up this gymnasium for our Christian school. But I remember one afternoon as we were sitting there as third graders, all of a sudden we felt this great big boom. And I remember distinctly that my chair and my desk literally jumped probably six inches off the ground along with everybody else. The pressure from whatever it was that fell hurt our ears. They were ringing. And then there was just dust everywhere. And all of a sudden we had the fire smoke alarms going off and all of these things. We're like, what happened? Was there a bomb? Was there an earthquake? Earthquakes were known out there in Colorado at the time. And we just didn't know what it was. And so our teacher got us out of that room. The principal found us. We got into another area of the building away from that area. But apparently what happened was part of the wall that they were building for this gymnasium fell inward. and almost took out the classroom in which the third grade was. One of the reasons why that happened was because they weren't building off a corner. Because that corner, whatever cornerstone there would have been, would have lent some strength and support to all of the walls. They just started building the wall straight up. And they thought they had some braces and stuff, but there was a great gust of wind right out of the west, blew that part of the wall straight over, and praise God, it was not tall enough to reach the room that we were in. But that's the importance of the cornerstone. That's the importance of the Lord Jesus Christ to the body of Christ, to the building of Christ. But of course, the only way that we know about the Lord Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, is through how? through the ministry of the prophets and through the ministry of the apostles that has been preserved for us in the Word. And that's why, again, verse 20, we as Christians, we as a church, must be built and stay built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, which all lead to us knowing that Jesus Christ Himself is the chief cornerstone. That is the very purpose of the church. The very purpose of the church is to know God's word, to know the gospel, because that is the only way we will have support in our lives and in our church and our ministry, in just being our witness for God in this world. Remember that Jesus is that cornerstone, and we have a foundation that has been laid, and this is the foundation that we need to build our church and lives upon. Let's close in prayer. gracious father i thank you again for your word i thank you lord that that uh... we have exactly what we need in order to grow as a building for your glory uh... a building of a holy temple as we'll see even in the next couple of verses but lord i thank you that because your word and because The Lord Jesus is the very foundation of your building, the church, that, Lord, we have the very support that we need in order to grow as your church. Lord, we don't have to go looking for other programs or other techniques or other gimmicks or other ways of worship or anything else. We don't have to adopt the world's methods to be able to build up the very church that we've been built on. which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Father, I pray that you'll help us to recognize just the power and the value of the foundation of the apostles and the prophets that we have in your Word. O Lord, have firm a foundation. we have as saints in the Lord that is laid for us in your excellent word. Help us, Lord, to rely upon it. Help us, Lord, to rest in it. Lord, help us to believe in it. Lord, help us to access it. Help us to read it. Help us to study it. Help us to grow in it. Because, Lord, if we ever want to continue to grow, As a building, which is something that is still happening. We see that in the next couple of verses. But Lord, if we ever go and ever stray, if we ever move off the the foundation, the moorings of your word in the gospel. Lord, it will not be effective, effectual and effective for your kingdom and for this world. So Lord, I thank you again that you've given us the foundation that all leads to, and points to, and shows to us that Jesus really is the chief cornerstone of our church and of our lives. We thank you, Lord, for that. For it's in Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.