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  25^th April 2024

ThursdayReflection

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Dr. Ligon Duncan shares

Embrace What God Is Doing

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No Longer Strangers and Aliens

I invite you to turn with me to Ephesians, looking chapter 2.

You see, the greatest promise that God ever gave to His people in the Old Testament or the New is that He would dwell with us, and that we would dwell with Him forever ...we would be in fellowship, in sweet communion with Him.

You see what the Apostle Paul is saying here?
He is saying 'Once upon a time, the visible demonstration that God was in the midst of His people was the temple.
But now Jesus is building a new temple.'

Do you remember?
Jesus got in trouble with the Pharisees for pointing out one day and saying 'You see that temple? I can tear it down and build it in three days.'

And the Pharisees were not happy about that!

And they were not happy about it because that was the visible symbol that God dwells in the midst of His people.
And, you see, Jesus was not only indicating that He was going to be raised from the dead, but in His resurrection He was going to do .... what?

Create a new temple not made of stones, not made of bricks, not made of steel or made of concrete... but made of people!

And the Apostle Paul is saying 'You are the new temple!

You are the new dwelling of God collectively as you are brought together.
As the Lord Jesus, as the Holy Spirit, builds you into living stones, you become the place where God will dwell !'

It is the fulfillment of every promise, it was the dream of the depth of the heart of every believer in Israel, and Paul is saying to that little group of Gentiles and Jews gathered in Ephesus 'You are the temple of God.'

And I'm saying that to you on Paul's authority and the authority of the word of God.
If you trust in the Lord Jesus with all your heart alone for salvation, as He is offered in the gospel, you are part of that temple of God.

But, my friends, think of it:
If we are ourselves the temple of God, how grievous a thing it is for us to live like the world.

And, you understand, that's a collective responsibility.
If ten percent of the people who have professed His name have come into the fellowship, and they have brought with them a life which is out of accord with His word, then we dishonour God.

What a great privilege it is to be the living temple of the living God, and what a great responsibility it is!

If you this day are living a parallel life, a life which sometimes professes to be God's family, in private or somewhere else in public, are living a life that says 'That's not my kingdom,' - today is the day that God has appointed for you to realize that, and to reckon that there is no third option.

We are either in God's kingdom or we are not.

And if today you are a believer and you're struggling with your weaknesses and your infirmities and the way you stumble and you fall, and the way sometimes you're drawn after the world...but your heart really isn't with the world, it's with the Lord God...then remember what God has made you, and live like it.

This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request

Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III
Ligon Duncan (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Edinburgh) is the Chancellor & CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, and the President of RTS Jackson.
He has authored, co-authored, edited, or contributed to numerous books.

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Let's pray.
Lord God, we love Your kingdom.
We love Your family.
We're stunned that You have made us Your dwelling place.
O God, grant that we would live like it.
Grant us the confidence of knowing that by the grace of the Lord Jesus
You have made us Your children,
You've made us citizens of Your kingdom,
You've made us living stones.
But, Lord God,
if this day we are playing games and we're pretending to be Christians sometimes
but our hearts are just not in it,
wake us up from that sleep of death,
for Christ's sake.
Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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