THIS OLD HOUSE
Link to video of sermon:https://youtu.be/ZokzDbqkWk4?si=jDvuLIyVxTvjOU03
Sermon notes:
This Old House
1 Peter 2:4-10
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. 6 For in Scripture it says:
‘See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.’
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is
precious. But to those who do not believe,
‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,’
8 and,
‘A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.’
They stumble because they disobey the message – which
is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once
you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Introduction
In
Glasgow, Scotland, there once were rows and rows of old tenement buildings.
These old brick buildings used to house the workers in the day of Clydeside
shipbuilding. As the shipbuilding industry died a death in Scotland so did
these buildings. They became slums – good only for the wrecking ball! And so
whole communities were disrupted as the demolition crews moved in.
Whole
communities such as the Gorbals were demolished! The displaced people became
known as the “Glasgow overspill.” There was social upheaval – social unrest.
Then someone had a brainwave. Instead of destroying the community why don’t we
renovate? And so rows and rows of old tenement buildings were spared. After
renovation people flocked to these buildings wanting to live in these
communities. It’s amazing what can be done with an old house.
If
you were an old house, what do you think could be done with you? Do you think
you should be condemned as unsafe? Or do you think you could be renovated to
become a home fit for royalty? Well, in terms of the Bible, all mankind is
standing like rows of condemned houses.
We
are like derelict and dilapidated buildings with broken windows and leaky
roofs. We stand covered in grime and soot awaiting the wrecker’s ball. But God
has decided to spare some of us. He has decided to renovate us! He has
purchased us and He is forming a new community. So let’s consider some of the
work the Lord is doing as He renovates us.
- Walls Removed
There has been a solid brick wall built up between
you and God. Of course,
this wall was demolished when you were converted. For when God began His
renovation in you, He removed that wall. How did that wall get there? Well, sin
built a wall between you and God. You inherited your house from your great,
great… grandfather Adam. Adam was the master plan for every house that was to
come after him. And he was the one that built the wall that separates each of
us from God. His design was passed down from generation to generation.
Therefore, you live in a house with a wall separating you from God.
However,
when God moved into your (ie, the Christian’s) house, the wall of the carnal
mind which is enmity against God was torn down. Romans 8:7 says, “The
mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God…” Or as the NKJV puts it, “The carnal mind is enmity against God...” “Enmity” or “hostility” is
something that separates. Enmity is a barrier, a wall. And as the walls of
Jericho came a tumbling down, God levels that wall in you first off. Then He
begins to patiently clear away the dust and rubble of that wall.
There’s another wall that needs to be torn down. The wall between you and your
brother and sister in Christ. Scripture says, “There
is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”
Galatians 3:28.
There
may be racism, social distinction, sexism in the world outside, but there is to
be none of it in Christ’s church. Each of us has our different roles to play in
the church and in society, but we are not to despise others because of their
station in life.
In
New Testament times, the Jews despised the Gentiles and called them dogs! But
when a Jew and a Gentile were converted, they became as one. “For He
Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the
barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” Ephesians 2:14.
However, the wall between you and your non-Christian
neighbour stays in place. If you’ve ever renovated a house, you’ll know about “supporting” walls.
A supporting wall cannot be removed unless you want the house to fall down.
It’s kind of like our spine – we need it to keep us upright.
It
was Adam who erected the wall between you and God. This wall is taken away by
Jesus Christ. But it was God who put the wall in place between the Christian
and the non-Christian. The Lord said to the serpent in the Garden after Adam
fell, “And I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will
crush your head, and you will strike His heel.’” Genesis 3:15.
The
“Offspring” or “Seed” of the woman is of course Christ, Galatians 3:16. And
since the offspring of the serpent are all the non-elect, it means that there
is a barrier between those who are of Christ and those who are of the world.
Jesus says, “‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated
Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is,
you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is
why the world hates you.” John 15:18-19.
Therefore,
the wall between the Christian and the world has to remain or Christianity
crumbles. Christians need to be aware that it’s not a flimsy plasterboard
partition. It is a load-bearing wall. The Apostle Paul emphasizes this where he
says,
This
doesn’t mean that we are to turn our backs on the world. No of course not!
Jesus sends us into the world with good news for the world. The point is “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-16.that
we are not to become like the world. There is to be a difference between His
Church and the world.
So
we’ve then seen a couple of walls removed in the “old house” which is the
Christian’s body.
- Wires Replaced
What we’re talking about here is the rewiring of the
mind. You wouldn’t
renovate an old house without rewiring it. If you’re going to think the
thoughts God wants you to, you’ll need a new electrical system. Scripture says,
“Do not
conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is –
His good, pleasing and perfect will”
Romans 12:2.
You
used to be wired according to the system of this world. But now you’ve been
rewired to accommodate a power way stronger than the power in the world.
You can now do things that you couldn’t before. You now have the power to
glorify God.
Before
your regeneration and subsequent conversion, you didn’t have the power to do
any spiritual good. Sin had tripped the breaker, blown the fuse. Sin had broken
the connection with God. But now God has come into your house and is busy
rewiring.
Now
you have the ability, not only to understand the will of God, but to
obey and do it. Where before, you were at best like a Pharisee able only to
keep God’s Commandments outwardly. Now you can say with Paul, “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength” Philippians 4:13. This means that
sin has no power over you. It doesn’t mean that you’ll never sin again. It does mean that sin has lost its
dominion over you. Your sin used to rule in your old house like a tyrant. But
now that the Lord has begun His renovations, you are back in control.
Your
mind that was once controlled by sinful impulses, is now capable of resistance.
Those sinful cravings can now be resisted by the power of God in you. If you
were a glutton, for instance, the Lord has given you back control of your
appetite. If you were a drunkard, the Lord has empowered you to control your
drinking. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Do not
be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men
who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor
drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And
that is what some of you were.” 1 Corinthians 6:10-11.
The
Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The Lord is able to save even the
vilest of sinners from their sins. He does so through regeneration and
conversion whereby the power of Christ and His cross is, by the Holy Spirit,
transferred to the Christian’s old house.
But
this old house needs to be rewired to accommodate that power. You need to be
converted from Alternating Current to Direct Current. The difference between AC
and DC is this: Alternating Current means just that, that the current
alternates back and forth, whereas Direct Current flows constantly in one
direction only.
So
then, before your conversion from AC to DC you would flip flop back and forward
over things. You were like the children mentioned by Paul, who were “tossed
back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching
and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming…” Ephesians 4:14. But the Holy Spirit has rewired the
old house in which you live.
Conversion
from AC to DC was complete when you were hooked up to the new power generator.
The living, active and powerful Word of God is hidden in your heart like a
battery in a watch. The Holy Spirit has flicked the switch and enabled you to
welcome Christ into your home.
While
running on this new power source you heard a knock at your door. You recognized
the voice of the Lord and He came into your home to dine with you (Revelation
3:20). Things are still a bit of a mess in your house – what, with a couple of
walls removed.
And
when there are wires being replaced it can look like spaghetti-junction for a
while. In fact, you’re embarrassed the Lord has come to visit and the place is
in such a mess.
But
don’t ever forget the reason why the Lord has come to your house. He has come
to renovate, and He will clean up the mess. And the Lord will keep on
renovating and cleaning up the mess until the job is completed. “He
who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus
Christ.” Philippians
1:6.
But
what about all those grime-covered and broken windows?
- Windows Repaired
An
old building wouldn’t be an old building without its grime-covered windows
smashed. The world has been throwing mud and stones at you all your life. But
the Lord is repairing your windows.
What
are windows for? Windows are for letting in air and light and seeing out of.
However, they also let out light, don’t they? When the Lord turns on the
power in the Christian’s house the lights come on.
If
Christ the Light of the world comes, by His Spirit, to live in your home it
stands to reason that the lights will come on. A Christian house with all the
lights on is warm and inviting on a cold dark night.
Now,
Australia is a strange place at Christmas time. The sun is splitting the
concrete in the streets. Even though it’s the middle of summer the Christmas
cards are covered in snow! Therefore, no matter where you live you’ve all seen
the little house with the warm glow emanating from it. The one with the
snow-covered roof that looks all warm and cozy inside.
It
would be a lie to tell you that the Christian’s heart is always like the house
in that picture. However, there is a peace that transcends all understanding in
the Christian’s heart. And that peace comes across to those who are on the
outside looking in.
Where
there were once panes of glass that couldn’t be seen through, there is now a
welcoming warmth emanating out into the surrounding world. It’s a place of rest
and refreshment for weary travelers. Why? It’s because Jesus, the Light of the
world, lives in that house by His Spirit.
He
is the One who is breaking down the walls. He is the One who is rewiring your
home. He is the One who doesn’t want you hiding your light under a basket. He
is the One who says, “Come to me, all you who are
weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” Matthew
11:28.
If
someone came to you with a heavy problem, would you try to hide Jesus in the
closet? Would you say, “Quick Jesus, in here! There’s someone at my door!”? No!
It might very well be that the person has seen the light on in your home on a
cold and dark night, when everyone else in the street has gone to bed so to
speak.
And
when the Lord repairs our windows, we begin to see the world through different
eyes. We begin to see the enmity, the hostility, between the world and
the kingdom of God. We begin to see the forces of darkness at work. We
begin to see the battle between light and darkness.
We
see it in the political arena. We see it in the state schools. We see it in the
streets. We see it on the TV – on the radio – and in the newspapers. We see
clearer and clearer the enmity between the seed of the serpent and the Seed of
the woman.
But
never forget that the Lord is more than able to save even the vilest of
sinners. However, when the Lord repairs your windows, you are able to see the
vileness of sin in the world outside – the sin that at one time had overcome
your heart. But thank the Lord that you are able also to see the kingdom of
God. Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, no one
can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” John
3:3. To have the Lord
renovating your old house is to be born again which is to be converted. And
when, by the grace of God, you are converted you see the world in a different
light.
I
began by talking about the old derelict tenement buildings in Glasgow being
renovated. And we used that as a picture of the individual Christian being
renovated by God. But let’s not miss an important point – as we begin to tie
things together.
Christians
tend to be a bit too individualistically minded. In other words, we tend to act
as single people. But in
Glasgow whole communities were renovated, not just individual houses. And so it
is with us – we are part of a renovated community – a Christian community. We
are a community within a hostile community. The world with all its false
religions and philosophies setting themselves up against God.
Now,
Jesus says that we are to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every
nation. It seems to me that the local churches have been doing this in their
communities. However, I believe a strange thing has been happening.
Because
the churches have been so busy out
there campaigning, they’ve been neglecting the upkeep of their houses,
even their own Christian community.
It’s
good and Scriptural that we reach out to the lost and dying in the world. But
what about the Christian home? Scripture says, “Therefore,
as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who
belong to the family of believers”
Galatians 6:10.
So
it’s right that we seek to do good to our non-Christian neighbour, but it is
clearly wrong to neglect our own household. In fact, it makes you worse than an
unbeliever if you neglect your local church.
Scripture
says, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and
especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an
unbeliever”1 Timothy 5:8.
A
neglected house becomes dilapidated. A row of neglected houses becomes a slum.
And a slum becomes ready for the wrecking ball.
At
present, many other churches are obsessed
with outreach in the community. On the surface this looks good. It’s good to
care about winning the lost – but what’s really happening? Well, like any army
on a campaign overseas, the home front becomes weak and prone to attack. A
bunch of old codgers like “Dad’s Ary” are guarding things at home while the
forces are overseas as it were. The enemy has been busy on the Home Front –
busy swinging the wrecking ball. Whole Christian communities are being
demolished rather than renovated.
And
how does the enemy swing the wrecking ball? He does it by talking Christians
into removing supporting walls. Do you remember that the Lord has put a wall
between us and the world? Well, the enemy wants that load-bearing wall to come
down. Remove that one and the building is liable to collapse and destroy
everyone in it!
The
enemy swings the ball by filling churches with people desiring to have their
ears tickled. The Devil is filling the Lord’s Church with people who have no
interest in sound Biblical preaching – as more and more churches become like
the world to attract the world. Then the Christian community becomes a slum.
Think
of the church at Corinth. The Corinthians received the Apostle Paul’s severe
rebuke for turning the Lord’s Supper into a common meal that you could find in
any everyday restaurant. When we evangelise and invite people to church, make
sure they are coming to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed, that they
are coming to a place that is special, a place that is as different from the
world as the Lord’s Supper is to a Happy Meal from Maccas!
However,
the Lord is in the business of renovating. He can even rebuild run down
Christian communities. He can remove walls. He can renew wires. He can replace
windows.
Conclusion
I
don’t want to live in a slum – do you? So let’s encourage our brothers and
sisters in the faith. God has renovated you the individual along
with others. He has renovated our whole church community. Your number one
priority is to build up your brother and sister in the faith to the glory of
God. Therefore, live as God wants you to live at peace with your Christian
neighbor in a God-glorifying community. The Lord will draw others into your
community as He spares other houses from the wrecker’s ball.
If
all the old houses the Lord has renovated were gathered into one place, what a
picture that would be. Think of it, all those little lights making up one
greater light – the church. Now picture this on the top of a hill on a cold and
dark night. What a sight this would be to a traveler wearied by this world.
Look
around, people are sick to the back teeth with crime in the community. They’re
sick of people spray-painting slogans on their walls. They’re sick of break and
enters. They’re sick and tired of criminals getting away with murder. They
don’t want their neighbourhood to become a slum. The whole nation is becoming
weary of it all.
We
have the answers! Can’t you see? The harvest is white so shine the light. But
make sure there are walls where there should be walls. But also make sure there
are no walls where they shouldn’t be. Make sure the wires are able to handle
the power of the Lord. And finally, make sure the windows are clean. Make sure
you can see the world outside. But make sure that the world can see the lights
on in your home.
Isn’t
it amazing what the Lord can do with an old house?
