Are You a Living Stone in God's House?

I'd like to pause today and begin with thinking about God as creator. One of the things that God is is a creator and a lawgiver. He's a designer. And when God makes something, He makes it really, really well. Consider that when we look at a bug, an insect, an animal, an amoeba, anything, these are the far, far down descendants of the original copy, the original animal.

And yet, in perfection, we have birds and animals and insects and flowers and trees, perfectly in good shape today. They just replicate and the fish in the ocean. We sort of take for granted that when God engineers something, He engineers it right and it lasts and it would go on and on as long as He would allow.

Let's go to Psalm chapter 45. And here, through the mind of the writer in Psalm 45, we look at this Creator God. Psalm chapter 45. Let's drop into verse 6. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. So when we think of God, His throne, it wasn't something temporary, but rather something eternal. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. So that which God's throne, which is kingdom, which is family, which His house is built on, is pure right. And that will be pure right forever in the future and it's pure right going back as far as God has ever been. You love righteousness and you hate wickedness.

Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. So God, Jesus Christ, and His God, God the Father, both sharing those terms, they are in perfection in their minds and in their creation. Now, we come down to verse 10 and we are given an indication here of an inclusion of you and me. Listen, O daughter. Now, what are we considered? Ten virgins, Jesus talked about a bride of Christ, we look forward to be. Listen, O daughter, and consider and incline your ear. Do you want to be a part of this family? Do you want to be a part of this eternal creation?

Do you want to join the family of God? Forget your own people also in your Father's house. Come out from society. Verse 11, So the King will greatly desire your beauty, because he is your Lord. Worship him. So this is talking about Jesus Christ. He is our Lord. We are to worship him. And he's calling us. He's calling you and me. In verse 13, it says, the royal daughter, you know, we are to be royalty and a holy generation, a royal priesthood. We are to be chaste virgins.

And at baptism, we become betrothed to Jesus Christ. Listen, O royal daughter, is all glorious within the palace. Her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors. The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you. With gladness and rejoicing, they shall be brought. They shall enter the King's palace.

Now, when you and I think about the King's palace or the house of God or the throne of God, the family of God, to enter that, we have to really be like God. We have to be made like him, mentally and physically, something that will last for eternity. God and Jesus Christ are building a divine house. You've heard of the house of David or the house of this individual or the house of that individual, the house of Israel.

Well, we have the house of God. And the house of God, the term the house of God is used 88 times in Scripture. It's referring to where God dwells. It's referring to the temple in the physical form on earth, the type on earth, but the spiritual form in heaven, the throne, the house of God. And Jesus talked about, in my Father's house are many rooms, many dwellings.

If we want to be part of that house, then we're going to be part of something that this great creator is building with precision to last forever. The earthly type of this house, something Solomon built, is something we can learn from. Let's go to 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9. 1 Chronicles 28 and we'll begin in verse 9. As for you, my son Solomon, this is David speaking, he's saying now, in building this temple, as for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your Father and serve him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind.

What does that have to do with building a temple? You might think, oh, we need some stone and we need a design. Now it all begins here with knowing God and serving him with a godly, loyal heart, a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intents of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. So when we think about being part of this house or stitched together with God and this great creation that he's making, the eternal family he's making, we're always presented with this.

Jesus presents us with it. If you do this, then that will happen. If you do that, the other thing will happen. But there's a personal responsibility. Verse 10, consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong and do it. Verse 12, and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, the plans of this house came to David by God's Spirit. Solomon didn't come up with a single one. He would do it to David. Remember, this is God's house.

He will build it his way. So he said, the plans for it, for all that he had by the Spirit of the courts of the house of the Lord, of all the chambers all around, like his spiritual house, there are many chambers, there are many mansions, the King James mentions. There are many dwellings in this, of the treasuries of the house of God, the treasuries for the dedicated things. Also, verse 13, for the division of the priests and the Levites, for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, for all the articles of service in the house of the Lord.

See how God builds the physical temple, how he builds the temple of his Holy Spirit, the Church of God, the body of Christ, ultimately the family of God. This is all designed out in very great detail by God. We find in Ephesians 4 and verse 11 that he himself chose some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. And then God himself chose those who are being called at this time to be firstfruits in the Bride of Christ. So here we are in this very cherished position, a very blessed opportunity that we have, but it comes with responsibility, doesn't it?

We find that just as Solomon was commissioned to build this physical type of God's house, God as an architect and master builder is expanding his spiritual house. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 10 now in verse 19. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19. Therefore brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. What's he talking about? He's talking about the temple. He's talking about the house of God. Only the literal spiritual one, the Holy of Holies in heaven.

Entering it with boldness by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is through his flesh. Now verse 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. So as we come before God and we look for an opportunity here, we need to recognize the way and that way is through his flesh.

Verse 21. And having a high priest over the house of God. You want to be something, some part of what God is building? This house of God has a high priest over it? I do. Of course you do. That's why we're here. So let's pause and let's think about our role in relationship to this house of God that has a high priest and how we can grow up and be a dynamic part of it for all eternity.

In 1 Peter 2 and verse 5, we're going to break into a statement here that Peter made and then we'll come back to it later. 1 Peter 2 and verse 5. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house. So you and I, as living stones, as if Solomon were constructing that physical temple or as if God were constructing the spiritual temple, maybe expanding it.

Spiritual stones is the type here, the analogy that is going into this. You then, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house. What essential elements go into every detail of a spiritual house that God is designing and God is constructing and all the relationships, the order, the service, the roles? What must this holy priesthood that will assist Jesus Christ be like? What must we conform to and what must we represent? For those who will be glorified and shine like the God family, will look like God, will have powers and abilities as children of the God family and will reign with Christ. What must you and I be like to represent God's house, God's kingdom, God's family forever?

I'd like to ask the question, am I a lively stone? Am I a lively stone that Peter mentions? Being built into this building or one can become disconnected? Am I becoming disconnected from that and maybe seeing a different house I'd like to be built in? Or maybe my own creation, made up my own way with my own thoughts and ideas.

It's good for us to consider what each one of us is doing and what our relationship is with the house of God. So today let's examine both the foundation and the structure that is being built up by God. The title of the sermon today is, Are You a Living Stone in the House of God?

What are you building into your spiritual life and your physical life? What foundation are you building it upon? You can see many houses. We just might assume that a house is a house, right? Somebody crafts a house, they craft a house. Mary and I once saw a house floating down the Ohio River. It didn't have a foundation. It was just floating along, a two-story house. It was a flood and here it came, and it came to a bridge.

The bridge was not very high. It was the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge. The house top hit the bridge and the top crumbled, sheared off, the house broke apart and the refuse went on down the river. A little further up the river, it was interesting, there was another house. It was a multi-story office building. Somebody got the bright idea that since all of Cincinnati downtown was taken years ago, and since everything across the river in northern Kentucky was taken and built up years ago, they would build an office building on a big barge and float it on the front row, right there on the water.

Great idea! Save on property taxes, great visibility, could even move it if you had to. Another problem was this giant multi-story building was sunk on one side and settling in the water because the foundation didn't float.

So, you know, when you and I think of, oh, a house and let's build, we have to have the right foundation, don't we? In Matthew 16, verse 18, Jesus Christ speaks of this. Matthew 16, verse 18.

And I also say to you that you are Peter, you are Petros, a pebble, and on this rock I will build my church. So we are a church, but what are we built on? Some man, some human beings, some special ideas, some ideas of our own. No, he said, I will build my church. I will build my church on this rock on himself. So any other foundation would not be the church of God. Any other foundation will fall.

And it says here, the gates of Hades, the gates of the grave shall not prevail against it.

Now, when you think of the gates of something, you think of something when the gates are closed, nobody leaves and nobody enters. And that's the way gates work. Gates of a city or gates that were closed at night, invaders couldn't come in, but the residents couldn't leave either.

When gates are closed, they're closed. And here he's saying, the gates of the grave shall not prevail against the church. When the gates of the grave are closed, nobody's getting out, nobody's getting in. Okay? That's what happens if they prevail. Now, if they don't prevail, if they fall apart, well, then I guess you can come and go as you will. But the problem with the grave is, once you go in the grave, the gates close and no one ever gets out. Nobody ever gets out except Jesus Christ. And he's saying here, the gates of the grave will not prevail against the church. Why is that? Because of the first resurrection. All those who are Christ will hear his voice and they will come forth to the resurrection. So you and I have this honor and privilege now of not only being built on the rock, but also having the promise of being part of this building for eternity. We won't be dead forever. Those gates will not prevail against us. We will rise at the seventh trump and we will meet him in the air. In John chapter 5 and verse 28, he tells us about this event. John chapter 5 and verse 28, do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in their graves will hear his voice. This happened at two different times.

And they will come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. So you and I, once again, have a choice, don't we? We can be part of this eternal building, family, house, or we can we cannot be, we can choose not to be, do something else, and be part of eternal, you might say, nothingness. The blackness of darkness forever, there's just nothing there. The body of Christ is being built on a specific foundation. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. If we begin in verse 11, and he himself gave some to be apostles. It's not something that anybody chooses.

Some prophets or teachers, some evangelists, some pastors, teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, for the edifying, or the building up of the body of Christ.

So that's what Jesus Christ does in God the Father. It's their church, and they craft it and organize it in a supremely perfect manner as far as their objective goes, objectives and opportunities. What's imperfect is you and me and our response to their objectivity and what they offer us.

So he gives us this, but the growth here is for the building up of this house, the building up.

In verse 15, but speaking the truth, and love may grow up into all things into him who is the head Christ, from whom the whole body join in it together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share. It causes growth of the body for the edifying or the building up of itself in love. So we all are to have a part in this spiritual building. We're to be lively stones in the building. We all have to grow up, be joined together. Each joint is supplying things to the other joints, effective working, each doing our share. We're causing growth through agape love, which comes from God the Father, and we end up one body in oneness. That is what God is striving for. Now, it's good to take stock of one's relationship with that body and say, am I connected to this? Am I harmonious with this? Am I involved with this? Am I doing my part? Am I doing my share? The goal here is to be a living, lively stone in that spiritual temple of God, and yet we are currently flesh. I don't know about you, but the last time I checked, I still am not perfect up here, and I'm getting more imperfect physically as you get older and things. You know, you just sometimes just think, well, I don't know, who can save me from this body of death? That's what Paul asked. Yes, there's that factor, but at the same time, we should not lose heart and we should stay dedicated, because it's not our perfection in this life that's going to make us a member of the God family. It's our desire to be godly. It's our effort to be godly. It's our wrestling with that selfish nature and against the wiles of the devil that's going to prove us in God's eyes worthy of the resurrection and worthy to escape the great tribulation. That's what the Bible speaks to us about.

You and I are being prepared, fashioned, molded, and we are imperfect. We're like gold, but it needs to be refined. Silver, you find it in the rough, but you know, you have to get rid of the impurities.

We have to be washed, the Bible talks about, and dressed as the bride. You look here in chapter 5 of Ephesians, drop down here too.

Verse 25 of Ephesians 5, husband loved your wives as Christ loved the church, gave himself for her, verse 26, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. That's a process. We have to move through that in this life.

And so we're all in that process. Don't get discouraged in that process. Keep moving.

It reminds me of 1 Kings 6 and verse 7 when it came to the actual building of this temple. You know, they didn't just walk out and, oh, perfect stones to put in Solomon's temple. How nice and sweet.

No, you and I weren't selected as perfect stones. We had to be quarried, didn't we? We had to be found as diamonds in the rough. And so it was in 1 Kings 6 and verse 7.

1 Kings 6 and verse 7. And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry.

So somewhere out there, there was some a mountain, a hillside. They dug out some and exposed some rock, and they started quarrying the stone. And then once you chunk out the big pieces, then you begin to refine it. At the quarry, the stone was finished so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. So we then are created over here, as it were. It says in Revelation chapter 19.7, 8, and 9, the bride has made herself ready. Then she comes in. She's invited in to the the the bridal banquet. See, then we're presented just as those stones were quarried somewhere else. So you and I are being dressed as it were off site. We're in the human form. We're here on earth. We're not in heaven. We're not at the throne of God. But nevertheless, we are very, very important to God. And spiritually, we can come before God in heaven. So a spiritual house can only be built with God's direction, with His intellect, with His inspiration and power. You know that physical temple in Jerusalem, when it was finished and Solomon was presenting it, did Solomon say, Oh God, I built you a temple. What do you think?

Come on in. It says in Psalm 127 verse 1, you don't tend to think of the Psalms being written by Solomon. Nevertheless, this one was. It's Solomon who said in Psalm 127 and verse 1, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

And so it is. With anything you and I might think we're going to build or be part of, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor uselessly who strive to build it. So before we hurry and zeal to sort of be built into God's house, we need to consider, consider, you know, put aside the emotions, the ones that say, Oh yeah, I'm ready, or the ones that say, Oh, I'll never make it. That's just emotional stuff. With God, all things are possible.

We need to be part of something that is in the planning, that's in the doing.

We need goals in our life, assessing those goals. We need to be busy in God's Word and see the objective that's there and see the challenges that are there and work through those on a daily basis. We need to follow the plan that Jesus Christ laid out for us. The plan is, you know, first of all, you put God's kingdom first. You seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

And these other things are going to work out. You become agents of agape, love, and truth, and right as we began. That's what God's throne is about. It's forever in love and truth and right.

That's what I need to become then, like God. Jesus said in Matthew 7 and verse 24, Matthew 7 and verse 24, Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine, hears them, internalizes them, and does them.

I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Who's the rock? Jesus Christ already identified Himself as the rock.

Notice our responsibility here is not building me. It's not building some shrine to myself, some, you know, personal status that everybody really recognizes and try to increase the status and then hang on to the status and all that stuff. No. It is building it on Him.

Our responsibility is to recognize that it is God and through Jesus Christ that have done everything for us and make everything possible for us in the future.

Each man's work will be tested as he continues on.

And the rain descended and the floods came. Oh, wait a minute. We weren't expecting that.

Oh, that's how it is in life. You know, yes, you're given the opportunity to build your house.

Whatever you build it on, it's going to be tested. And now the rain descends. The floods came. The winds blew. They beat on that house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock.

Life, your body, Satan, other people, the economy, the world, it's all going to conspire against your house, whichever house you're building, whichever house you have, physical or spiritual. It's going to conspire against you. In fact, it's going to try to take you out. But he said here, that founded on the rock did not fall. It will not fall. So if we don't, continuing on, those who do not do them, verse 26, will be like a foolish man built his house on the sand. Now, let me tell you something about sand. Sand is rock. Sand and rock are the same thing, or at least they were. You know, sand is just broken up rock. It is, it's pieces of the rock.

You can say, well, this is rock. That's rock. You know, this is rock too. Sometimes we can say, well, there's a similarity here. This is good enough for me. Or you can take the rock and break it apart into 500 pieces and think that, oh yeah, this is all still the rock. But it says here, if a person hears these sayings of mine and does not do them, he'll be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the same rain descends, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on the house, and great was its fall. So unless we really are careful here, humanity tends to build a house, even a spiritual house, on the wrong foundation. And as we know, there's a great fall coming. Babylon the Great will fall. All the nations of the earth will fall. Things will fail. But those of God will triumph.

God must be the one that we are building on. Let's consider for a minute that if we disconnect through our own carnality, and that's what it is, if we disconnect from Jesus Christ and God the Father and a focus on them and a respect and honor for them and building up their family, and I shift it over, oh, I've got a house too. It's about me and my house and my family and my career and my life and my status and my fun and my happiness. See where that's going to go long-term. It's not going to go very far. It may seem good for the here and now, but it is disconnected from God. We don't have time for God anymore. We don't have time for study and prayer. We don't have time for the mindset of God. No, it's about me and my ideas and my will and my look in scripture and my little pet theories and doctrines and things. It's about advancing me.

Humans can get enamored by things I feel about, and the pretense is my carnality is righteous.

The advancement of me is righteous. I somehow, in my religion, in my views, in my understanding, in my great, prophetical understanding, in my position, and all this stuff, and the number of people that follow me, that's righteous. We turn carnality into righteousness. We call evil good, in other words. Then we can look back and we can say of others, oh, those who are really not recognizing me, they're looking to God. We can call good evil. It's very easy for humans to build on a wrong foundation and to be caught up short. When we sin, for instance, we can disconnect from God and cause others to. It says in 1 Corinthians 8 and verse 12. Just listen to these words.

But when you thus sin against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Just plucking those words out of context. When you sin against the brethren, in other words, it's not loving them. You're doing some personal ungodly thing against the brethren.

What's going on? Well, when you sin against the brethren, you wound their weak conscience and you sin against Christ. That breaks us away. That getting members, getting others to do what you want, what you feel, what you believe is breaking them off of the house of God and the high priest of the house of God. That's not to condemn anybody. It's to condemn, though, what is being spoken of, and that's sin when you sin. So let's not somehow be one who could then fall into a false pretense that sin is actually good. Sin is right. No, it's wrong. It's always wrong. We can have opinions. We can be very opinionated and actually break people off from the body of Christ. Trash the house of God. Pull bricks out of the house, as it were. 1 Timothy 6 and verse 4. 1 Timothy 6 and verse 4.

Sometimes our carnality will say, well, but this is justified. This is right.

1 Timothy 6 and verse 4. He is proud. Proud just means of himself. He is elevating himself, knowing nothing but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words from which comes envy, strife, reviling evil suspicions. What does that do? It starts to break apart the body of Christ. It leads some to try to lay another foundation, some improve spiritual, pseudo-spiritual entity. 2 Timothy 6 and verse 4. Since I know more, others don't like me. That's unfair. So they are unfair. So they are corrupt. Therefore, I am holier than they are. And my church, my new church, is holier than their church with improved understanding. Does this sound all like Lucifer? Just a little bit? Just have to break away. Just have to shatter a part of the house of God.

In Jude verses 11 and 12, Jude verse 11, Woe to them, for they have gone the way of Cain, have run greedily in the air of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. Who is being spoken of here?

Leaders in the church. That's who is being spoken of here.

So we're not talking about here somebody over the horizon. We're talking here to human beings who want to elevate the self. And Cain, Balaam, Korah, more for me, more for me.

These are spots, verse 12, in your love feasts.

While they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.

There are clouds without water, etc., etc.

In verse 16, these are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts. They mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

What foundation is being built on? A man or a woman. That's what. Flattering person. See, this happens at times. You have to be aware here, as we are going to be built into the house of God, who the house of God is, what it's being built upon, and don't fall for any of these tempting humanly logical diversions. In verse 19, these are sensual persons who cause divisions.

The point is, there's only one body. Anything else is tearing it down.

Tearing it down. That one body has one foundation.

Jesus uses himself as an analogy of the foundation. He also uses the apostles and prophets as the analogy of the foundation, with himself being the chief cornerstone. Let's look in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 11.

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Now, if anyone builds on this foundation, now here's where you and I come in on.

Sometimes we see imperfection in others. Probably not ourselves, but in others. And we say, well, I don't know. This can't be the true church because I perceive imperfection. But notice, in his one foundation, he says, now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, there's a lot of things that can go onto this foundation.

Each one's work will become clear. Remember the rain and the floods and the winds and the storms.

It's all going to come. For the day we'll declare it because it will be revealed by fire, and fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. The lake of fire is coming, and if you're spirit, you won't burn up in it. Pretty simple. Verse 16.

Now, do you not know that you are the temple of God? There's the building. There's the house.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. So it begs the question, am I a living stone in God's house, in his temple, in his spiritual temple? It's a great question to ask only myself.

Each one of us can ask that question, and as we strive to be a better stone, more godly, more Christ-like, more loving, giving, serving, edifying, then we can move from those other types of stubble to wood, wood and hay to precious stones and, you know, moving up, moving up. You and I need a unity of mind with God, and where can this come from? Isaiah chapter 58 shows us a great place to let it come from, a tool of fasting. Isaiah chapter 58. We'll begin in verse 1.

Here's a great passage. You may have never heard it this way. Let me read it to you. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and tell my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Why do I say, in a new way? Instead of thinking about it as somebody else, are you God's people? Are you God's child? Am I? So we should cry aloud, spare not, and tell God's people their transgression. Fasting is a great way for us to see what our transgression is. Verse 2, yet they seek me daily in delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask me of the ordinances of justice, take delight in approaching God. We do that. But could we be deceiving ourselves? You know, the heart is desperately wicked. Could we be deceiving ourselves? In verse 6, is this not the fast that I have chosen? You know, at times when you're just really feeling on top of the world and everything's going just right for me, that's a time fasting works really well. You say, you know what? Something's not right here. This just doesn't feel right. I think my focus here might just be too much on the physical, too much on myself, and if I'm not careful, I just might get a big surprise down the road. And so by fasting, what are fasts for? Well, to loose the bonds of wickedness, to stop and examine and let Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, who like a sharp sword can divide up every bone and marrow and even the thoughts and intents of the heart and show me, show me where I can improve and what I can put out, to undo the heavy burdens. You know, yeah, if everything's going right in my life and everything's just so smooth, who's carrying the load for all of this? You know, largely if somebody's just having a great day, somebody else is sacrificing for that person to have a great day. Who is carrying the load? Who has the burden here?

Should I look around and seeing who's loving me and perhaps I'm just a taker?

To let the oppressed go free. Who have I, by my lips maybe, have just sort of locked in boxes and places and said, nah, you can't get out. You know, you're, you're, that's who you are. I stereotype you, put you in your box and you can't get out. To let the oppressed go free.

So that we, we can come to understand that we all have challenges, we all have weakness, we're all fighting things. And every one of us should not let anybody feel under bondage by us, by our criticism, or by our opinions, or by our judgments. We should let them go free.

That we break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?

You know, how many times in Scripture does Jesus say, remember the poor? You know, give your bread to the hungry. Who in Matthew 25 will be in the family of God? Who will be in the kingdom?

Well, it'll be those who gave their bread to the hungry, clothe those who are naked, gave water to the thirsty. And again, those are things that you don't see somebody thirsty or hungry. You actually have to care and you have to get to know and inquire and want to serve. To bring to your house the poor who are cast out.

When you see the naked that you cover him and not hide yourself from your own flesh.

Verse 14, breaking into the verse, I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth.

See, if we do those things, we get the right mindset. We really start to grow, not a brick in the wall, but as our stone, a living stone in the family's house that is growing.

If we do that, then ultimately, I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, above the nations with Jesus Christ reigning and ruling.

In 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15, Paul tells Timothy the pastor, he says that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God.

The house of God. We are the house of God.

In the church, we each need to be those living stones conducting ourselves well.

The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth.

1 Timothy 3.15. So that's a pretty high bar, isn't it, for us? And it's good to remember how high this bar is from that creator who only builds with perfection and wants quality elements throughout his structures. In 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19, Paul tells Timothy about the house and the foundation. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19. All of us find ourselves imperfect, and yet Jesus came and said, I didn't come to condemn people. I came to help people change, to give them opportunity for light and then life, to see a new path, to see the right path, and ultimately to have life and, more abundantly, life eternal. That's what God wants. He wants us to forget those things which are behind and press forward to the things which are before the upward call, that high upward call of Christ. So forget about yesterday and life before in that sense, and let's focus here on something. What can we do about this? As we wrap this up, look in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19.

Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands. It's a solid foundation. It's the one foundation, and it has this seal. The Lord knows who are His. I don't. You don't. Don't guess. Don't start saying, oh, I think this person is really converted and that person really isn't converted, or this person's grown a lot, or that person hasn't. You wouldn't have a clue, and believe me, neither would I. That is God's business. God knows who are His, and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. We all have that in common. Every one of us, members wherever we are around the world, together, alone, sprinkled like salt across the globe, have that in common.

God knows us because He chose us to be a living stone, and we need to depart from iniquity. We need to cleanse ourselves. We need to purify ourselves and be right in His eyes. Verse 20, but in a great house, in this house of God, and in any great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. So a vessel is a type of a container. Some were for honor, maybe a goblet. Some were for work, a water pitcher.

Some were for dishonor. A chamber pot. There are all kinds of things in a house.

But notice what God says, therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the ladder, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. The sky is the limit.

God calls all of us in our imperfection. He calls us all as rough stone to be fashioned, and He will bring us into His kingdom in perfection. But it's up to us to cleanse ourselves, to put that sin out of our life, and continue to work on that, to be purified, to become godly-minded. And in doing so, we actually become living stones that are helping God build His house. So in conclusion, as we see our calling to be these living spiritual stones in God's family temple, we know our foundation is to be on Jesus Christ, to be Christ-like, to be holy materials in what we think and what we do. We then invite us to be part of their spiritual house. And what a great honor that is, and what a huge responsibility we have in representing the family as part of that house. Let's go back to 1 Peter 2 and read the passage there that we plucked a scripture out of before. 1 Peter 2, we'll begin in verse 1. 1 Peter 2 and verse 1. Therefore, what's the theme? Depart from iniquity, pursue righteousness. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby.

Look for a source of food, a source of daily bread, that is pure from God, it's love. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, coming to Him as a living stone.

Oh, we were to be living stones, weren't we, in the temple of God, the house of God. Well, He is also a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.

You also, as living stones with Jesus Christ, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

In verse 9, you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, who were once not a people, but are now the people of God, who have not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lust, which war against your life, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works, which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

So we are here to be examples, living examples, that God's way is wonderful, and God's mind is wonderful, and God's family is wonderful. And someday, when the lenses come off and the ears are open, and they see that, they will glorify God. And we have opportunity to be lights for the family at this time. So God is building His church with holy, righteous character. That's what you and I are here for. Ask God to direct you as a living stone to be a perfect fit within the house of God.