The Church: A Spiritual House

Pastor Koay Kheng Hin
19 September 2021

Another week has gone by and in a sense, another period of opportunity for spiritual growth has passed. In the midst of the practical pressures of the temporal life, we need to be aware of the importance of maintaining and growing in our spiritual fervor. Every day that passes is a time of opportunity to grow strong in our faith and be strengthened by it, to grow unto spiritual maturity. 

The text for the sermon today is taken from the first epistle of Peter written to believers living in five different provinces. 1 Peter 2:4-5 and I read. 

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The apostle Peter was writing to believers during a period of suffering and trials caused by the first Roman persecution of the church in the mid AD ’60s. 

His aim was to draw their attention to the fundamental essence of the church and emphasize upon believers where their true priority in life should be. Peter describes the church as a spiritual house. 

In the use of this description, he is looking at the church in terms of a building. He begins with Jesus and calls him metaphorically the living Stone. 

The capital “S” denotes that Jesus is the cornerstone of the whole building, the whole spiritual house. He is the living Stone, focusing upon the fact that in him is life. 

What kind of life is in Jesus and therefore in us as believers? We are living stones of the church, which is a spiritual house. It becomes clear that the life found in Jesus is a spiritual life. 

This spiritual house is built to be a holy priesthood. 

In the Old Testament, Israel as the people of God had a priesthood that oversaw the sacrificial system of worship. The primary task of the priesthood was to facilitate the worship of God through the sacrificial system. 

In the New Testament, specifically described here, the church is the priesthood itself. All of us as believers can approach God and worship him directly through our one and only Mediator, Jesus Christ. 

The sacrifices that we are to offer are then “spiritual sacrifices”. 

Hebrews 13:15, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips that confess his name.”

This is worship, the EXALTATION of God. Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship.”

This is growing in holiness and godliness, the EDIFICATION of the believer. Then, there is Romans 15:16, “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

This is sharing the gospel, EVANGELISM to the lost. EXALTATION, EDIFICATION, EVANGELISM defines the mission of the church as a spiritual house built to be a holy priesthood. 

What is a primary stumbling block to our spiritual growth? As the church is a spiritual house, with believers leading spiritual lives and worshipping God through spiritual sacrifices, therefore, in regard to blessings as a people of God, believers should learn to focus on spiritual blessings rather than temporal ones, “Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”(Ephesians 1:3). 

The spiritual blessings of adoption, redemption, forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Such a time of difficulties and suffering brought along by the pandemic is a good time for all of us as believers to engage in contemplative spiritual reflection and ascertain what it is that matters to us. 

As spiritual living stones making up the spiritual house of God, our focus should be on the spiritual blessings more than on the temporal blessings of success, health, and wealth. 

We thank God for these temporal blessings, but it is important to realize that these temporal blessings should not become our idols and the center of our lives. If it does, as often is the case, then it becomes a primary stumbling block to our own spiritual growth.

In understanding the mission of the church as expressed in Exaltation, Edification, and Evangelism, and appreciating the full significance of the church being a spiritual house, believers leading spiritual lives, offering spiritual sacrifices, and enjoying spiritual blessings, the first step to take in maintaining and growing in such spiritual fervor and enthusiasm is the act of CONSECRATION.

Where we lay down our heart in its thoughts, emotions, morality, and will at the Cross of Calvary, focusing upon Jesus, the author, and finisher of our faith offering our lives as living sacrifices to God as a spiritual act of worship. 

Consecration is only the beginning of the process of the spiritual transformation of the heart. It is when consecration is followed through with Word reflection in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit through prayer and worship that we can encounter God afresh and spiritual transformation can take place. 

Such a subjective experience of the presence of God needs to be nurtured and cultivated continually and diligently to maintain our spiritual fervor and enthusiasm and to grow spiritually strong, especially through such difficult times. 

Romans 12:11-12 written to believers in the church at Rome centuries ago gives us encouragement to persevere,  “¹¹Never be lacking in zeal, but to keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer.”