ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE HOUSE OF GOD
[p. 118] ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE HOUSE OF GOD
John 8: 34 - 36; Luke 15:24,25; 1 Peter 2:4,5; Ephesians 2:19 - 22
JT It is in mind particularly that we might see the house of God in its attractiveness especially for the young, as affording spiritual enjoyment. To some of them our meetings are dull, and it is needful to keep in mind the features of the house that afford enjoyment, enjoyment that lies in affection rather than in understanding; hence the thought of the house of God must be made concrete. The first scripture has in mind the liberty that is opened up to young believers; the concrete side of the house is in mind rather than the abstract, but the Son abides in it, so that it affords permanence in the way of liberty. Then in Luke it is dependent on the gospel and presented in a peculiarly attractive way as having in it music and dancing, holiness entering into it from the outset, so that, as young ones begin to taste the joys of the house of God, they also begin to realise the need of holiness, that indeed they are possessed of it as having the Holy Spirit themselves. But it is presented in a public way in Luke 15, for the elder brother would discern the merriment going on inside, although he had no taste for it. And then in Peter the holiness is more concrete, it says we ourselves are the living stones as coming to Christ as the living stone, and “built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God”, so that the element of sacrifice enters into the service of God. And then finally, that we are at home there, “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints”, not only in the house, but of God’s household, the foundation and the ornamentation of it in Christ being the corner-stone; it is ultimately a [p. 119] habitation of God by the Spirit. In Luke 14 the house is linked up with the gospel, “That my house may be filled”. Luke 14:23. That is also an abstract view, only the light and the attraction lie in the fact that the house is mentioned, “my house”; those who enter are seen as particularly suited to it, the point is it is the mind of God for them.
Ques Will you say a little more of what you have in mind when you speak of the enjoyment being more in the affection than the intelligence?
JT Well, music and dancing of course do not require the intelligent side so much; enjoyment is through intercourse with persons from the standpoint of affection. When we come to Peter, we have the idea of life and priesthood; priesthood requires intelligence, but the mere thought of the elements of music and dancing does not stress the idea of intelligence.
MWB Why did you turn to the scripture about liberty first? Is it because we must be set free from what would hinder us?
JT I thought that was the first thing to have before us, that the Lord works it out from persons who are serving sin, and young believers are not strangers to that — alas, none of us is a stranger to that — but the Lord does not stress the sin side, but that the servant of sin does not abide in the house for ever; being a bondman he has no fixedness there, he may be ejected at any time.
Ques “Make you free” — is that deliverance?
JT Yes, I think it is. Of course the Lord spoke about them sinning, “Every one that practises sin is the bondman of sin. Now the bondman abides not in the house for ever: the son abides for ever. If therefore the Son shall set you free, ye shall be really free”. It links on with the gospel, but from the standpoint of the profession, I think; that is, those who were already in the profession of christianity,
[p. 120] or in the profession of judaism as it was then; not the gross gentile thing in the world, but whatever was and whatever is now profession.
Ques Is that why the Son sets free?
JT Yes, it is over against the legal profession, not simply that it is legal service, but it is sinful service in that system, and those who are serving thus are bondmen as he says, and they have no title to permanency. The bondman in the type acquires permanency by dying, so to speak, he had his ear bored by the judges, but those who are around us in the profession externally would appear to be serving sin.
Ques “Cast out the bondwoman and her son” Genesis 21:10 — would that come in?
JT Well, the point is that the servant of sin is himself a bondman, and for that reason he can be ejected, he is not to continue, but it is a very solemn thing that it is a bondman of sin; it makes it a very serious matter for all who are serving in a lawless way, for “sin is lawlessness” 1 John 3:4; even if it be religious lawlessness, it is sin.
MWB Would it answer to what we have in Romans 6:22, “Having got your freedom from sin, and having become bondmen to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness”? The bondman idea is implied there; the “fruit unto holiness” involving your second idea.
JT I think that is good, involving the house, as in Peter, and holiness.
MWB This is a liberty implying almost sonship, is it not? That is what is in mind, I think; not that we are said to be sons in John, but the point is that the son is over against the bondman as it works out practically now.
JT I think it is those who are serving in a religious lawless way, and they have no title to stay in the house, but the son remains in it.
JJ [p. 121] In the end of Matthew 11, do we get an example of the Son setting persons free in the company of the Son? He had just been reprimanding various cities; then He says to some, “Come unto me ... and I will give you rest”. Matthew 11:28 Is that the idea?
JT Well, He had addressed His Father, “I thank thee, O Father”, Matthew 11:25 so that sonship is asserted there, and He spoke to His Father about hiding from certain ones and revealing to others, so that it certainly corresponds, I think. The Lord goes on to show that He is a centre of attraction, “... all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. Matthew 11:28. Then He proceeds, in chapter 12, to go through the cornfields; that is really what is in mind in setting them free. And then His disciples pluck the corn and eat it, meaning He had given them liberty on the sabbath; He was setting them free.
Ques Is the Son setting us free an advance on the truth setting us free?
JT Clearly. The truth acts on your conscience and you begin to judge things. “Ye shall know the truth”, the Lord says — a very important side to the matter — “and the truth shall set you free”. But it is the business of those who know it to make it known as much as possible, and, as it is made known, people liberate themselves by the truth itself; it is the action of the truth. The next statement is as to sonship in Christ, which is more an appeal to the heart, I think — a very attractive thought.
Ques When John writes his second letter, to the elect lady, he speaks of the truth first and then he refers to the Lord as the Son of the Father. I wondered whether that would combine the two ideas; it is an expression you do not get anywhere else, “the Son of the Father, in truth and love”. 2 Peter 2:15. I thought perhaps the lady had been set free by the truth and now by the Son. Would you say [p. 122] that?
JT Well, that is good. The truth has a wide circulation now in religious circles, and it is a great matter to keep that before us in our prayers, for the truth has power in itself. That is really a good reason why it should get as wide a circulation as possible; it has power in itself. But then, it deals with the conscience and with the intelligence; then there is the heart, the Person of Christ is for the heart, and it is the Son who gives liberty. The truth sets us free too, so that there is a double service contemplated, what the truth effects and what the Son effects. I think the truth may have a circulation as wide as the profession, but sonship must be known where the Lord’s rights are owned. “Whose house are we” Hebrews 3:6 must involve continuance in the truth. It is there, I think, the sonship of Christ is apprehended.
Ques Is it brought out in the man in John 9 where he seems to get free by the truth, and then gets an impression of the Son, at the end of the chapter?
JT Exactly. The latter is in view of chapter 10, as has often been remarked, which implies the house, because it is the collective side; not that the house is mentioned, but it is one flock and one Shepherd, analogous to the service of Christ in the house. The truth may go very far afield; it has authority in itself.
HH In the beginning of the Acts, we have the house in a very distinctive way. When the Spirit came things were located in a very definite way, but it is not quite the same now.
JT The house was there evidently in the saints and truth too, for Peter begins with his words, “Hearken to my words”, Acts 2:and then, at the end of the chapter we have the apostles’ doctrine.
HH I think what you say helps considerably; it was in the saints. We are apt to look for something in the way of a building, so that that would test us [p. 123] at the present time as to how far we have really got things.
JT I think so, especially as to whether sonship is known, Christ apprehended as Son in all the attractiveness of it, which young saints need to get hold of. Now in Acts 2, first we have the teaching and fellowship of the apostles — the converts persevered in that, and in the breaking of bread and prayers — and then it goes on to tell us that “all that believed were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions and substance, and distributed them to all, according as anyone might have need. And every day, being constantly in the temple with one accord, and breaking bread in the house, they received their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people”. Acts 2:44 - 46. It seems to me that is the thought; the merriment is there; it was a very happy state of things in which anyone in whom God was working would gladly join. Then it says, “The Lord added” to that; but it awaited the truth of sonship, I believe, to complete the thought of the house, the Lord being apprehended in that beautiful relationship with God — indeed ourselves in it, too.
PH Do you link this up at all with the thought of Solomon, as building the house, and the words which he uses, his prayer and his words at the dedication of the house, Solomon being suggestive supremely of sonship? I am thinking of the scripture in 2 Chronicles where the house is built, the work was finished which Solomon made for the house of Jehovah, and where he says that he had built an house of habitation for God, a settled place for Him to abide in for ever. Then it says the king turned his face and blessed the whole congregation of Israel. I wondered whether you would think that Solomon as the son making a house for Jehovah to dwell in [p. 124] and suggesting the thought of blessing in connection with it would fit in with your suggestion as to John.
JT Very fully. And in Kings we have even more attractiveness in the description of the house: the folding doors could be thrown open, so that, according to conditions, the divine Presence is happily entered into. Besides that, there are side chambers in the house, places of intimacy, and the whole position in the dedication of the house involves the feast of tabernacles, that is a feast involving holy nearness among the brethren, dwelling in booths. Not that Solomon carried it to the full length, because Nehemiah and Ezra went further than he did; they had a better time really in the remnant period than Solomon had, in that sense; they had the actual booths, so it is said of Nehemiah’s feast of tabernacles that “since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so”. Nehemiah 8:17. A comforting thought for us now, for I believe it involves sonship and our relations with one another in that way as brethren, so that, instead of being at a distance from one another we enjoy nearness, and the Lord as seen in John 8 is attractive. He sets free; He is in the house for ever in that state of things. Solomon prevailed everywhere and presided over everything that was done; so Christ is everything in the house, He is over it, He built it; here He is in it, so that He is in it and over it, and He is very active for young people. Of course, those of us who have already proved it, we know; but abstention from the meetings and lethargy in them but indicate how little this is understood. The psalms show how they went to the house of God, a joyous company; they had joy even in going. Elsewhere we see how God makes us glad in His house of prayer; even the prayer meetings are said to be happy.
Ques Do you think in Luke 15 the merriment reaches as high as Ephesians 5? “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”. Ephesians 5:[p. 125] 19.
JT I think the terms used — “Let us ... be merry”, and then, “They began to be merry” and then the music and the dancing, involve that it is heard.
Ques Is the music and dancing the result of an appreciation of Christ?
JT Well, it is a figure of real merriment. The Spirit of God does not here bring in such an illustration in verses 23 and 24, though of course music and dancing was employed in the service of God at one time. We have to understand what real merriment in the house of God means now, even in the meeting for prayer. It seems as if Luke 15, which of course is a parable right through, would come in.
Rem I thought, as the Father is in it, it would be pretty high.
JT It is such as is heard outside, and ought to be attractive to anybody. Ephesians is, no doubt, on a higher level, but it is involved in it.
NKM Eating seems to be connected with merriment, “Let us eat, and be merry”, and that passage in Acts 2 you quoted from says, they received their food with gladness and singleness of heart. Will you say a word about that?
JT Well, it is a good feature of the position. We have been speaking about Exodus 24 lately, how the saints, as elevated, ate and drank before God: they did so as regarded as nobles, It involves enjoyment too; it is a figure, I think, of enjoyment. We were saying it is over against the idolatrous conduct in Exodus 32 where they ate and drank and rose up to play without Moses, without the Lord Jesus in type. That is the world, of course; that is outside, and young people are attracted by that. But Exodus 24 is the antidote, what is up there, what we are invited to, for it was God’s own thought they should go up.
Rem If it speaks of the Father in Luke 15 we are to understand it is the house of God that is in mind.
JT Well, exactly. The Father’s proposal does not mention the house; it seems as if we have to look for the house, if we connect it with the doctrine in the epistles, in the prodigal himself; he is the kind of person that forms it, a thoroughly recovered person made heavenly in every way.
Ques Would the psalmist, in Psalm 84, be proving the blessedness of it when he says, “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!”? Psalm 84:1. Then he says, “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they will be still praising thee”. Psalm 84:4.
JT I think the psalms are a fine field for any one who is at all desirous of entering into the house and enjoying it; we have such fine examples of enjoyment in it. I believe that is the great value of the psalms: they give experimental testimony to everything that they speak of, and above all things the house, even before they come to it; they were a joyous company.
Ques Is music and dancing as much for testimony as it is for enjoyment in the house?
JT Apparently so. It is such a happy and glorious state of things that you hardly like to bring in direct testimony, but it is really so, because the elder brother discerned it was there; it was a testimony to him which he refused, so there is testimony in it; and in truth it ought to be seen in the saints that we are a joyous company, that we have something.
Rem In the enjoyment of what is permanent and at liberty.
JT Exactly.
[p. 127] Ques Is the end of Psalm 113 an extension of what you speak of? “He maketh the barren woman to keep house, as a joyful mother of sons. Hallelujah!” Psalm 113:9.
JT Very good. Some say that was one of the psalms sung at the time of the last passover; but anyhow it is the spirit of it, a joyful mother, not of children, but of sons.
WHE Does the house of God take in our own houses in any connection, or does it refer to the saints only as convened at meetings?
JT Well, the way it is put in 1 Timothy makes it very wide. You have eldership and deaconship and other services, and then the apostle says, “That thou mayest know how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house”, 1 Timothy 3:15 as if the thought of it extends in that way to our houses, but, properly speaking, it is the saints viewed as living stones as being built up. Hebrews says, “Whose house are we”, Hebrews 3:6 as continuing; but Peter gives us a concrete thought, I think, of what is concretely permanent, real living stones but built up a spiritual house, leading up to the thought of the service of God. The house of God is usually in the types connected with the temple itself, that is in truth where He was, that is where God dwelt; but the environment was glorious; there were the house of the forest of Lebanon, the house of Pharaoh’s daughter, and the house where the throne was; they are all somewhat vague, but they are all intended to produce an impression of it as an environment full of affection, and Solomon dominating all; the son over all. It was remarked that all those were of like work with the house of God. It would reflect what is in the house of God, but I think the house of God is the temple always.
Ques Might we have a word as to the difference between the house of God and the assembly? Timothy says the house of God is [p. 128] the assembly.
JT We are speaking of the house of God in order to stress the side of affection and enjoyment; the assembly presenting more, I think, the side of intelligence, that in which we have things carried out; so that, when the apostle approaches the thought of the assembly convened, he says, “I speak as to intelligent persons”, 1 Corinthians 10:15 and he stresses throughout the idea of intelligence in 1 Corinthians 11 - 1 Corinthians 14, particularly chapters 11, 12 and 14. It is the same thing the passage in Timothy speaks of, “which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth”. 1 Timothy 3:15. But the house is one thing; the house is to be apprehended, I think, as more setting out the dwelling, as indeed Ephesians stresses, a habitation of God where He dwells, and we there as no longer strangers and foreigners, but of His household, not simply in the household, but of His household, coming directly under the Lord as in the house.
Ques Do the house and the temple coalesce? What would be the distinction?
JT The house is one thing; the temple is another. Everything will be intelligible;. I believe the temple will make everything intelligible. This is a great complete thought and it is growing to that; it is not that yet, it is growing to it.
JJ Is not the passage in Hebrews 3 very helpful? “He has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, by how much he that has built it has more honour than the house. For every house is built by some one; but he who has built all things is God”. Hebrews 3:3,4. And Moses was in the house as a ministering servant, “but Christ, as Son over his house, whose house are we, if indeed we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end”. Hebrews 3:6. I thought it was the house of God — “he who has built all things is God”.
JT It is the house of God right through.
MWB [p. 129] Is what is prominent in Luke 15 particularly affection?
JT That is what I thought. The figure would show that there is music and dancing; it becomes a question really of enjoyment, and you might say nothing else but enjoyment, and hence so attractive in the gospel. That is why one thought of it so that the young people might see there is something worth while, that it is not a doleful place, and that there is real enjoyment in it.
HH Where it says, “no longer strangers and foreigners”, does that take account of the saints as being down here, that is, the saints viewed as God’s dwelling place down here?
JT Yes, only composed of those who are said to have been raised up together.
HH So, as you have said, you hardly get the full thought of it in Romans or Corinthians.
JT That is right, you do not get the house in Romans or Corinthians.
JR Have you the thought of elevation in the house? I was thinking of a verse in Isaiah, “Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer”, Isaiah 56:7.
JT That is a very good scripture to bring in, and it fits in with Ephesians too, for the alien and the eunuch are alluded to: they will be made joyful in God’s house of prayer. It is a very attractive thought, for the prayer meeting is, I believe, often looked at as a secondary matter, and anyhow not as implying any enjoyment; but God says it is more than that, it is my house of prayer and I will make you joyful in it.
PH Are the thoughts of joy elaborated on in Luke 15 in connection with the best robe and the ring and the fatted calf? Are they the features known inside that cause the [p. 130] joy?
JT I think so. Good clothes do make young people feel happy; how much is made of clothes! And God does not shrink from coming down to our small thoughts in these matters, and now He is presenting clothes to us of the very best quality, including the shoes and a ring; they go a long way in making up the happiness of the place. Think of everybody being like that, for that is the idea. We are not in the house according to human etiquette and principles: nothing is more like the fly in the ointment of the apothecary than worldly thoughts brought in in that connection.
Ques Is your thought that the Lord would have us perfectly free to enter into His joy? I was thinking of Zephaniah. “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing”. Zephaniah 3:17. Is that the atmosphere that is entered into in the house of God?
JT Quite so, it is God’s joy in us, I think that enters into Luke 15; it ought to appeal to us, the lavishness expended on us, both in regard to our clothes, our shoes, and then in what is on the table to be included in our enjoyment, in the figure, culminating in, a testimony outside that anyone can hear or discern. In other words, any young person should see that we have something good, we have happy conditions, our meetings are really enjoyable, they are not doleful.
JJ You have said elsewhere that what we receive in the way of testimony has to be consolidated in our minds and that is largely done through singing. I would like to ask you how you would explain that?
JT I think there is something in that. Singing is to characterise a redeemed people and it is stressed in both Colossians and Ephesians, even Corinthians speaks about it. I believe that singing in a spiritual [p. 131] sense is penetrative peculiarly; music is penetrative, both as applying to God and ourselves.
JJ Is that what you meant by being consolidated?
JT Well, things do become consolidated in your soul, for the singing involves real holy sentiment; the whole book of Psalms has that in mind — holy sentiment.
AEL The words that are sung would be the important thing.
JT Well, the music, too. Sometimes we hear, in a meeting like this, that the music is to be from the platform, but really that is a wrong principle; the music is as much a part of the service as the words. In 2 Chronicles 5 the music is the one sound that is stressed; it is part of the service. You cannot have singing without music.
MWB Not to divert you, but while you are on the question of audible singing, there is a habit that is growing in some meetings of almost inaudible singing. Does that show spirituality or the lack of it?
JT I am sure anyone who is silent when a real spiritual song is going on is not much in the good of things; even whispering is poor.
MWB I could hardly understand the feelings of the heart being full and the mouth closed or scarcely opened.
JT I am sure that is important, for many do not join in much. It is a spiritual matter and enters into the service of the house of God more than ordinary speaking as far as I can see, so we ought to accustom ourselves to it.
Ques “Making melody in your heart” — is that not before God?
JT “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”, Ephesians 5:19. That means the singing is first, the melody goes with it. The singers went [p. 132] before and the players on stringed instruments followed after; the music comes after the singing.
PH Psalm 113 begins and ends with Hallelujah — praise Jah! Would that support your thought of the great penetration that is open to the saints in the service of song? And the last five psalms, I believe, give great place to this thought of praising God, Jah.
JT The last book is really the culmination of the whole matter; it is full of that; and then we have not only that, but there is the chief musician and the chief singers, so that music and singing must go together.
Ques In Nehemiah, when the singers sang loud, which suggests that the singing was in line with the music, the people rejoiced so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off.
JT Quite so.
Ques What is the difference between singing with the spirit and with the understanding?
JT Singing with the spirit alludes to what wealth you have; it is that in which you are near to God; God has given us our spirits; I mean it is a peculiar matter, the spirit of a man; it is not from his parents, it is peculiarly from God. The spirit returns to God who gave it. It is that in which we are near to God; it is really the greatest part in man, spirit first, then soul, and then body. So that I think it would allude to the wealth one has, really what one has in his song, and the understanding would mean he knows the right time to use it, or it is governed by proper music.
Ques There can be real music in a good ‘Amen’, can there not?
JT Well, the ‘Amens’ are always part of the singing in the psalms; you will notice you get it at the end of each book; it says let all the [p. 133] people say it.
HH We would like to hear more of them.
JT Quite so.
MWB You referred a little while ago to the paucity of hymns in the actual taking part in assembly service. Would you say a little more as to that? It is sometimes asserted that there are too many hymns, rather deprecating the idea of hymn singing.
JT What we have been saying ought to help. I suppose singing with the spirit would imply the spiritual wealth one has; the understanding would imply how I use it, to use it at the right time and to use the right kind of tune. I know very little about music myself, but I can see that intelligence would include the right time for the hymn and right music. What I had in mind in referring to the paucity of hymns was that I observe, in moving about, that there is one hymn, then the breaking of bread and all that attaches to it, then another hymn, maybe to the Father, immediately after the box is passed, and there are no hymns about the Lord’s relations with His bride, with the assembly, few or no hymns as regards the other offices of Christ that are all operative and in which He is functioning in the assembly. That is what I mean. The Lord has furnished us with these hymns in some measure and I believe they should be used.
MWB I am thankful you have raised the exercise. It would make room for the development of the service of God on those lines which would prepare the soul for further advance.
JT Quite so, the Lord is ready to move us on, but He would have us move on in wealth.
Ques Would the dancing correspond more with spiritual emotions, or, being filled, you bubble up, as it were?
JT The figure would mean, I think, that your whole being is brought into the thing, you are brought into it in your whole moral being. We are [p. 134] told that David danced with all his might, but he was clothed in a linen ephod, meaning he was sober and balanced in it.
Ques Does it involve the appreciation of the precious glories of Christ one after the other? In the books of psalms these various glories come out one after the other.
JT Very good. There is much of that omitted by us; the Lord is amongst us and His varied glories ought to be before us. The contemplation of them involves enrichment.
Ques Does the fatted calf and the killing of it enter into that?
JT Quite. It is not easy to bring that into assembly service, but there is of course the thought of feeding in the Lord’s supper.
Ques Would the breaking of the bread be a suitable moment to speak to the Lord of the assembly? Where would the love of Christ for the assembly come in in the morning meeting?
JT It comes in in the bread, only it is the thought of His devotedness, “This is my body which is for you” 1 Corinthians 11:24 — it comes in there, but it may come in more fully, as it is said, we are to be to Another, “who has been raised up from among the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God”, Romans 7:4. Some of us lately were speaking of the elements that enter into the service of God, even before we have the sanctuary mentioned formally; it is mentioned as the abode of His holiness, in Exodus 15, and it is properly introduced in chapter 25, but before that we have suggestions of sonship: the service is to be at a certain mountain and Jethro brings his daughter Zipporah and his two sons to Moses before we come to Sinai, before we come to the place where the service is to begin. So it seems to me these elements ought to be with us in regard to assembly service, it is a question now of the elements that make up the [p. 135] service, that they are equal to assembly service, then the order of it will come into place. If we let in the great thoughts that God has furnished for our enrichment, I think all else will come clearly before us.
Ques Would it be in keeping to say a word in regard to Mark 14, “When they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives”? Mark 14:26.
JT That is clearly after the Supper is partaken of; there is collective elevation, what we do ourselves; the spiritual movement is of ourselves and there is power there.
Ques Is that hymn to God?
JT All would be to God there, even the Lord’s thanksgiving. You cannot make it all fit. We cannot just say whether the Lord spoke to Jehovah, I suppose He spoke to the Father; but our instruction first lies in what we are taught in the epistles in regard to this. So it is the Lord’s supper, and we speak to Him rightly; it is to the Lord.
Ques Why does it say ‘household’ in the end of this passage in Ephesians 2?
JT I think because it brings God very near to us, not simply that we are in the house, but we ourselves are the household.
Rem It is like a family.
JT Exactly.
MWB Is it more intimate really than the living stone? That is a very concrete idea and living is connected with it.
JT I think it is. Peter, of course, is speaking by contrast, for he is speaking to Jewish saints who would understand the idea of the stone in the temple, and he is making them living ones. And then, being built up a spiritual house, all that is contrast, over against what they were accustomed to at Jerusalem; then the holy priesthood, bringing in the side of intelligence, the service of God. “To offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”.
[p. 136] But Ephesians is the most exalted thought, I believe, we have had, because it is the saints viewed as already belonging to heaven, seated there, seen now here below as forming the habitation of God and that we are His household.