We will please turn to 1 Peter, 1
Peter 2, verse 5.
1 Peter 2, verse 5.
Yourselves also, as living stones, are being built
up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to
offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
Genesis, chapter 28.
We will read from verse 10.
And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went
to a town.
And he landed on a certain place, and
was there, because the sun had set.
And he took one of the stones of
that place, and laid it his pillow, and
lay down in that place.
And he dreamed.
And behold, a ladder was set up on
the earth, and the top of it reached
to the heavens.
And behold, angels of God ascended and descended
upon it.
And behold, Jehovah stood above it.
And he said, I am Jehovah, the God
of Abraham thy father, and the God of
Isaac.
The land on which thou liest, to thee
I will I give it, and to thy
seed.
And thy seed shall be as the dust
of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad
to the west, and to the east, and
to the north, and to the south.
And in thee, and in thy seed, shall
all the families of the earth be blessed.
And behold, I am with thee, and will
keep thee in all places to which thou
goest, and will bring thee again into this
land.
For I will not leave thee until I
have done what I have spoken to thee
of.
And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said,
Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I
knew it not.
And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful
is this place!
This is none other than the house of
God, and this is the gate of heaven.
And Jacob rose early in the morning, and
took the stone that he had made his
pillow, and set it up for a pillar,
and poured oil on the top of it.
And he called the name of that place,
Bethel.
For the name of that city was Luz,
at the first.
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God
will be with me, and keep me on
this road that I go, and will give
me bread to eat, and a garment to
put on, and I come again to my
father's house in peace, then shall Jehovah be
my God.
And this stone, which I have set up
for a pillar, shall be God's house, and
of all that thou wilt give me, I
will without fail give the tenth to thee.
And then the book of Revelation, chapter 21.
Revelation, chapter 21.
We begin with verse 1, through verse 7.
And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the
first earth have passed away, and the sea
exists no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down out of the heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice out of
the heaven, saying, Behold, the terminator of God
is with men, and he shall terminate her
with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them, their
God.
And he shall wipe away every tear from
their eyes, and there shall not exist any
more, nor grief, nor cry, nor discourage shall
exist any more, for the former things have
passed away.
And he that sat on the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new.
And he says to me, Write, for these
words are true and faithful.
And he said to me, It is done.
I am the author and the maker, the
beginning and the end.
I will give to him the first of
the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcomes shall inherit these things, and
I will be to him God, and he
shall be to me Son.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank
Thee that through Thy beloved Son, Thou has
drawn us unto Thyself.
We are now in Thy presence.
We do open our hearts to Thee, and
ask Thee to speak to us from Thy
throne between the cherubim.
We pray that Thou will give us ears
that can hear.
We ask Thee to deliver us from familiarity.
We pray Thou will give us fresh, living
revelation that we may see what Thou art
after, that we may long for Thou dost
desire, that we may give ourselves for what
Thou art after.
We do commit this time into Thy hands.
We do acknowledge that unless Thou dost speak,
human words obey.
Lord, speak, Thy servant hearing.
We ask in the name of our Lord
Jesus.
Amen.
I believe we all know that the theme
that God seems to give us for this
time is spiritual health.
Because we are actually touching upon the purpose,
the eternal purpose of God.
God has a purpose, which He purposed in
His beloved Son.
And He purposed that even before the foundation
of the world.
And what He has purposed for Himself in
His Son is a house, a dwelling place,
a home.
God created the heavens and the earth, but
these are not His home.
His house, His dwelling place.
His desire is to dwell among men.
And that's the reason why you and I
are created.
He created us men to fulfill that longing
of His heart.
He wants to dwell among men.
He wants to make men His eternal home.
That men may also find their eternal home
in Him.
And this is God's purpose.
Now brothers and sisters, I feel as we
touch upon this matter of spiritual health, we
have a problem here.
And the problem is we are so familiar
with all these terms.
We are familiar with house, God's house.
We are familiar with church, the church of
God.
Now all these things are so familiar to
us.
And because of that, somehow I'm afraid.
We have lost that cutting edge.
That conviction.
That commitment.
That is necessary when we touch upon the
eternal purpose of God.
So we are just looking to the Lord
that He will enable us to forget all
that we have known in the past.
About the house, the dwelling place, the church.
Now let's forget everything that we have known.
And just come to Him as a little
child.
That we may receive living revelation from Him.
And really be drawn into the purpose of
God.
And be part of it.
So this is really our prayer.
Now I have mentioned last night that the
house that God is after is not a
physical one.
Unfortunately that's always what we think He desires.
He wants a spiritual house.
He can only dwell in a spiritual house.
Because the heaven and the heavens cannot contain
Him.
He is too big for the physical universe.
And He is spirit.
So what He desires is a spiritual house.
And He wants to find that house in
man.
And you can see right away that man
has to be spiritual in order to be
His house.
And that's the reason why you find in
Isaiah it is said, To those whom God
would look are those who are of afflicted
and contrite spirit.
And who tremble at the word of God.
Because it is not just any kind of
man.
It is spiritual man that God wants to
build His spiritual house.
Now for this morning we would like to
focus on the meaning of God's house.
The first mentioning of the house of God
is found in Genesis chapter 28.
I believe we are again familiar with the
story.
Jacob the twister.
He stole not only the birthright but the
blessing of the firstborn from his brother.
And because of this he had to flee
for his life.
He was in the wilderness.
And the sun was set.
So he took a stone and made that
stone a pillar.
To lay his head upon.
Now brothers and sisters that very picture will
show you.
How miserable, how pitiful, how sad.
Is the situation.
And yet in the most unlikely place.
The desert.
To the most unlikely person.
Jacob the supplanter.
Under the most unlikely environment.
Because he was fleeing from his brother.
Away from his home.
A homeless person.
And yet you find the first mention of
the house of God was revealed.
So brothers and sisters I do feel.
That it is not because of what we
are.
It is because of the mercy of God.
You know it is the mercy of God
that he should reveal his house to his
people.
Not because we deserve it.
It is all of God's mercy.
Jacob dreamed a dream.
And in that dream he saw a ladder.
Set up in reach to heaven.
And God was stationed there.
At the top of the ladder.
And Jacob of course was sleeping at the
foot of the ladder.
And the angels of God ascending and descending.
Very busy.
Upon that ladder.
And God spoke to him.
Brothers and sisters.
This is the first revelation of the house
of God.
What is the house of God?
The house of God is the union and
communion of God and man in Christ Jesus.
That is the house of God.
We know today what that ladder is.
Because you remember in John chapter 1 verse
51.
There was Nathanael.
That honest Jew.
And he was led to the Lord.
He couldn't believe that anything good can come
out of Nazareth.
And yet when the Lord saw him.
The Lord said I saw you under that
fig tree.
Now strangely you find when the Lord said
I saw you under that fig tree.
Immediately he said my Lord, my God.
Why?
Because he was a true Israelite.
Evidently under that fig tree.
He was dreaming about that kingdom.
Because the fig tree is a type of
Israel.
He was dreaming of the kingdom, the Messiah.
Messianic kingdom.
He was longing for that kingdom to come.
So when the Lord said I saw you
under that fig tree.
The Lord really spoke to his heart.
And immediately he realized that this is the
Messiah.
But the Lord said you are going to
see something bigger.
You know he was only thinking of the
Messianic kingdom.
That's big, yes.
But there is something bigger than that.
And the Lord said you shall see the
angels.
Ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
Now brothers and sisters.
Here you find that ladder.
That ladder is the Son of Man.
He who is the Son of God.
He who is equal with God.
He who is in the form of God.
He emptied himself.
And took upon himself the form of a
slave.
Even the fashion of a man.
He came into this world.
To become the Son of Man.
Why?
Because he was to be that ladder.
He is the one who is to connect
earth with heaven.
Heaven and earth.
He is the one who is to bring
God and man.
Man and God together.
He is the only way that we can
come to God.
He is the only way that God can
come to us.
And not only he brings God and man
together.
But you find there is a communion between
man and God.
The angels who are ascending and descending on
that ladder.
We know angels are ministry servants.
They are minister.
God to man.
And they minister man to God.
In other words you find that through the
work of the angels.
They are trying to bring what Christ has
done for us.
Into our life.
So brothers and sisters.
The first meaning of the house of God.
Is the coming together of God and man
in Christ Jesus.
The union of life with God.
The communion that God and man will have.
Now God stanching himself at the top of
the ladder.
And he spoke to Jacob.
He said I am the God of your
father Abraham.
The God of Isaac.
The place that you sleep now will be
yours.
I will bless you.
And your seed shall be as the sand
on the seashore.
And the land.
East, West, North, South.
Shall all be given to you.
And in thee and in thy seed.
All the families of the nation shall be
blessed.
I will be with you.
Until all that I have said shall be
done.
Now here you find God is the giver.
He is there giving everything.
And Jacob is the receiver.
He is there receiving.
But unfortunately you find that.
After God has spoken to him.
He woke up.
He woke up and said.
He doesn't know that God is here.
How dreadful is this place.
In a sense you know Jacob knew.
That he wasn't fit for God.
God is holy.
And yet.
Look at Jacob.
What a person he is.
He understood that.
So when that revelation was given to him.
He said it was a surprise.
He didn't know that God was present there
with him.
Who would think that God would be with
such a person.
And yet God was there.
He felt it was a dreadful place.
You know brothers and sisters.
Today when we talk about the house of
God.
We feel so dear.
So good.
So comfortable.
So peaceful.
I think that's our problem.
Because if we can really see.
How dreadful is this place.
I think there is hope.
We make it too common.
As if the presence of God.
Is nothing.
The presence of God demands a lot.
And Jacob knew it.
He knew he was totally unfit for God.
God came to him.
And he was afraid.
And yet.
He knew.
That's the house of God.
God wanted to be with man.
God wanted to be joined together.
Even with Jacob.
He knew that.
He said this is the house of God.
The gate.
But how did he react.
To this great revelation of the house of
God.
You know the house of God is a
greater thing.
Than the messianic kingdom.
Because it is universal.
And yet.
Jacob was so limited by his petty self.
In a sense you can see that Jacob
just couldn't rise above himself.
How did Jacob responded.
On the one hand he understood.
This is the house of God.
God was after a house.
God wanted to be united with man.
Through Christ Jesus.
He knew that God was desiring for communion.
With man.
He knew all these things.
He knew that's what it was all about.
And yet on the other hand.
He just couldn't take it in.
He couldn't understand.
He just couldn't.
Rise above himself.
He was Jacob.
So he began to bargain with God.
If you say he did not believe in
God.
That God would say.
I think he did.
But the problem is.
He was so confined.
By his own self.
So God gave him great promises.
And yet.
He bargained with God for little things.
Because that's all.
He understood.
He said if.
He couldn't trust anybody.
He couldn't even trust God.
So he said if.
Now you gave me all these great promises.
Alright.
If.
If you gave me food to eat.
If you gave me a garment to put
on.
If you will lead me peacefully back home.
Then I will make you my God.
And I will use this pillow.
And he set it up as a pillar.
And this pillar shall be thy house.
And I will give you one tenth of
all that I have.
Wonderful.
You know.
He was thinking all of himself.
He didn't understand that the revelation of God's
house.
Is for God.
He was self-centered.
Not God-centered.
He was interested only in himself.
His own right there.
He wasn't interested in God's interest.
He was so limited.
By himself.
And even with.
God gave him food to eat.
Garment to put on.
And eventually led him safely home.
He said alright.
This pillar shall be thy house.
In other words.
You find he is only thinking of the
physical.
As if God wants a physical house.
He did not understand.
That God wants to make Jacob his house.
And in order to make Jacob his house.
God had to transform Jacob into Israel.
It is not so much of what Jacob
will do.
To build God a house.
And as a matter of fact a pillar
is not a house.
It is not his service.
It is God who is working for that
house.
In Jacob.
By transforming him into Israel.
So that God can be united with him
in life.
And also there can be that communion.
Now he did not understand.
But thank God.
Twenty some years later.
After God had dealt with that man.
You remember.
In Genesis 35.
Eventually he went back to Bethel.
He called this place Bethel.
The house of God.
And eventually he went back to Bethel.
And when he went back to Bethel.
He built an altar.
And he called that place.
El Bethel.
The God of the house of God.
Now brothers and sisters.
An altar is an expression of communion.
So finally we find Jacob beginning to understand.
What God is really after.
In his life.
God wants a house.
That there will be union and communion.
Now dear brothers and sisters.
We laugh at Jacob.
But how about ourselves.
Do we have a revelation.
Of the house of God.
Or are we so wrapped up with ourselves.
That even if that revelation is given.
We do not understand.
Maybe mentally we do.
Have some idea.
This is the house of God.
The gate of heaven.
And yet actually in our life.
You find we are all wrapped up with
ourselves.
We are still interested.
In our own interest.
And if we bargain with God.
And say now if throughout my life.
You give me food to eat.
Garment to wear.
And give me peace.
Security.
Then I will make you my God.
And I will also serve you.
I will build you a house.
A physical one.
Brothers and sisters.
Is this not what we are doing today.
Do we really understand what is the house
of God.
Do we know that.
That what he is really after is we.
Us.
Not what we can do for him.
But we.
We are what God is really after.
Do we understand that in order that this
house.
May be a reality.
He has to do much work in our
lives.
He has to transform us.
From Jacob.
We are all Jacob.
Into Israel.
Prince with God.
Do we understand.
That he is longing for communion with us.
Union with us.
In Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters.
I wonder.
We need to be delivered.
Out of ourselves.
We need to be delivered from our self
-centeredness.
We need to deliver from self-interest.
In order to really enter into.
The house of God.
That he is after.
So brothers and sisters.
I do feel.
That it is a time for us to
reconsider.
Before the Lord.
Before we really understand.
What the house of God is.
We as Jacob.
Are we fit.
To be one.
With God.
In Christ Jesus.
Do we realize that there are so much
in us.
Almost all in us.
That needs to be drastically dealt with.
Before we can be fit.
To be his house.
Do we understand that what we long for
is communion.
It is not what we can do for
him.
How many of us are busily.
Serving him.
Doing what we call Christian work.
Involving many activities.
Building the church.
Painting the church.
And so on and so forth.
Brothers and sisters.
Are these what really God is after.
It is not after.
A time with us.
Mary.
Has chosen.
The better part.
Now this is the house of God.
So first of all.
The house of God is union.
And communion.
Of God and man.
In Christ Jesus.
That is the house of God.
Secondly.
When you come to this metal of the
house of God.
You will find the cabinet.
Let's read Exodus.
Chapter 25.
Exodus.
Chapter 25.
Verse 1.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying.
Speak unto the children of Israel.
That they bring me a heave offering of
everyone.
Whose heart prompted him.
You shall take my heave offering.
Verse 8.
And they shall make me a sanctuary.
That I may dwell among them.
According to all that I shall show thee.
The pattern of the tabernacle.
And the pattern of all the utensils thereof.
Even so shall ye make it.
Verse 21.
And thou shalt put a mercy seat upon
the ark.
And shalt put in the ark the testimony
that I shall give thee.
And there will I meet with thee.
And will speak with thee from above the
mercy seat.
From between the two cherubim.
Which are upon the ark of the testimony.
Everything that I will give thee in commandment.
Unto the children of Israel.
After God delivered the children of Israel out
of Egypt.
He brought them to Mount Sinai.
Now when he delivered them out of Egypt.
He didn't tell them why he delivered them.
What was his purpose in delivering them.
But after he brought them to Mount Sinai.
There you will find he revealed to them.
Not only the ten commandments.
But also the tabernacle.
Now unfortunately today we are more concerned or
we know more of the ten commandments.
As if on Mount Sinai God revealed nothing
but the ten commandments.
But actually you find that on Mount Sinai.
God did reveal the ten commandments to the
children of Israel.
As his testimony.
As the law given to his people.
But even more.
You find God after he has given the
ten commandments.
The testimony.
The law.
He revealed to Moses the pattern of the
tabernacle.
He said let the people give a key
offering.
Now key offering is love offering.
In other words it is not something forced.
But it is something that you give out
of love.
With a redeemed people.
God asked for a love offering.
You know as a matter of fact.
We who are redeemed.
We are bought with a price.
Even with the blood of our Lord Jesus.
We are no longer ours.
We are God's.
We belong to him.
And he has every right to demand that
we give offerings to him.
But that is not the way God works.
Because if he did in that way he
will never have his house.
So with a house in you.
You find that even with a redeemed people.
God never deal with us in a legalistic
way.
God always deal with us in love.
So God said now you are redeemed.
I have brought you out.
Out of slavery.
You are a free people.
Now out of your free will you give.
For what purpose?
That you may make me a sanctuary.
A house.
A tabernacle.
That I may dwell among you.
So brothers and sisters.
The purpose of redemption.
Is God's dwelling with his people.
That is the purpose.
Do not think that God deliver.
Well let us think.
The children of Israel you know they were
slaves for so long.
And suddenly they got their freedom.
Now they are free.
What do you think?
Well they think now we can do what
we could not do in the past.
Now we can have our house desire.
Now we can live our own life.
Formerly we were slaves.
We have no life.
We could not do what we want to
do.
We could not have what we want to
have.
Now we are free.
And not only we are free when we
got out.
We actually took everything out of Egypt.
We deprived Egypt of all its wealth.
And now we have all this gold and
silver and everything.
Oh what a life we can live now
for ourselves.
Now suppose the children of Israel were thinking
in that way.
Now God says wait a minute.
That is not the purpose of my delivering
you.
The reason why I deliver you out of
slavery is that I want to dwell among
you.
I want to be with you.
That is my purpose.
Brothers and sisters isn't that true with us
today?
We who are bought with a price.
The Lord never demanded that we should give
ourselves to him as a living sacrifice.
The Lord said it has to be a
heave offering.
It has to be a love offering.
Therefore brethren by the mercies of God I
beseech you.
To present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Holy.
Acceptable to God.
It is your reasonable service.
Or your spiritual.
So God said give me a heave offering.
Why?
Why do we need to present our bodies
a living sacrifice?
It is because God wants to dwell among
us.
He wants to use what we have offered
to build a sanctuary.
A holy place.
For himself.
And also for us.
That is the purpose.
You know when God gave that pattern to
Moses.
On the one hand you find it is
as if God said you cannot approach me.
I am holy.
You are unclean.
You are unholy.
You are sinful.
Even though you are redeemed you are still
defiled.
You cannot approach me.
Therefore you find the approach to God is
quite elaborate.
It is not simple.
You have to go through the brazen altar.
You have to go through the laver for
washing.
You have to go through the holy place.
The candlestick.
The shewbread.
The altar of incense.
And there is a veil there.
No one can enter.
Only the high priest.
Once a year with blood and smoke can
just go in to make atonement and quickly
withdraw.
In other words the way to the holiest
was not open.
So brothers and sisters when you read the
tabernacle you get the impression that God is
so holy.
And we, who are we?
That we can draw near to him.
We cannot.
It is difficult.
Very difficult.
And yet on the other hand you find
that God gives the tabernacle to man.
Why?
Because it shows God's longing for communication.
God's longing for fellowship.
You get a very mixed feeling in your
heart.
And brothers and sisters, isn't that true?
God longs to communicate with people.
You know, in the tabernacle, in the holiest
of hell is that ark.
And in the ark is the testimony.
And on the cover of the ark is
the mercy seat.
And God said, I will speak to you
between the cherubim.
On the mercy seat.
All that I will command to you.
I will speak to you.
And not only that, this is our meeting
place.
You will meet with me.
And you will speak.
Dear brothers and sisters, what is the house
of God?
The house of God is a place of
communication.
You know, if you have a house, and
I'm thinking more, less of the physical building,
the more of the people in the house.
A home.
Now, what is a home?
A home is more than just you have
a building of brick, or of wood, or
even of mud and scrub.
So you have a house.
No.
You have a home.
No.
A home is those who are in that
house are communicating one with another.
That makes it a home.
If there is no communication.
Suppose you have a family of four people,
or maybe eight people, and yet you find
there is no communication.
There is no communication between the father and
the mother, no communication between the parents and
the children, no communication between the brothers and
the sisters.
There is no communication.
They are all living there in that house.
But, no speaking.
Everybody is quiet, silent, glad at each other.
And, do you call this a house?
Do you call this a home?
No communication.
What is the tabernacle?
The tabernacle is a meeting place.
Where God and man meet.
That God may speak to man, and man
may speak.
That is the house.
Of course, in the Old Testament time you
will find it is very difficult.
Very difficult.
You have the altar court, the holy place,
the veil, and then the holiest of all.
Now we know, of course, that the ark
is a type of Christ.
And the law of God, God's testimony, can
only be kept in Christ.
You remember when the law was given?
And the children of Israel said, Oh, that
God has said we will do it.
We do not even need to hear directly
from God.
It is good enough for us to hear
just indirectly, and we will keep everything that
God has said.
But before the two tables of stone reached
them, they broke the law already.
In other words, nobody can keep the law.
But the law is kept only in Christ
Jesus.
He is the end of all laws.
But then God, He not only kept the
laws of God, but you find it is
covered with the mercy seat.
In other words, on the basis of righteousness.
He has fulfilled all righteousness.
And on the basis of that, God in
Christ can show mercy to us.
Now brothers and sisters, today we are in
such a better position.
Why?
Because Christ has already come.
He is our mercy seat.
The wall is broken, is rent.
There is nothing standing between.
So here you find our communication, our communion,
our fellowship with God can be uninterrupted.
This is our position today.
In Christ Jesus, we can have uninterrupted communion
with God.
And God is able to speak to us.
And we are able to speak to God.
There is communication between God and us.
And that makes the house of God.
In the book of Hebrews chapter 3.
In Hebrews chapter 3, verse 5.
And Moses indeed was faithful in all his
house, as a ministering servant, for a testimony
of the things to be spoken after.
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.
So here you find that we are his
house.
If indeed we hold fast the boldness and
the boast of hope firm to the end.
Now verse 7.
Immediately you find, wherefore even as says the
Holy Spirit, today if you will hear his
voice, harden not your hearts.
Are we the house of God?
We are.
If we hear him.
Our God is a God who speaks.
Not only he has spoken in the past
to our fathers, through the prophets, in many
ways and in many forms.
But in the last days he has spoken
to us in his son.
So dear brothers and sisters, we find that
there is a voice coming out from the
mercy seat incessantly.
God is speaking in his son, continuously to
us.
But do we hear?
We say we are the house of God.
But do we hear his voice?
Individually?
Are we hearing him?
We are a day past without
hearing a word from him?
Is it possible?
Is it normal?
Or if we have heard, do we harden
our hearts?
We do not obey.
Brothers and sisters, I am thinking today, we
are almost like the time of Eli, the
judge.
Because you remember in 1 Samuel you said
during the time of Eli, the judge, the
priesthood, the word of God was rare.
And the vision was infrequent.
Is that the normal condition?
Of God's relationship with his people?
His redeemed people?
God cannot speak to the rare today.
Because the women listen.
Even if God speaks, they say offenders.
They do not understand.
They cannot hear the voice.
But the church today, as the Israelites of
old, we are the redeemed of the Lord.
And here you will find God's words are
rare, were rare.
God rarely spoke.
And he rarely appeared to his people.
Very infrequent.
Can that represent the house of God?
Do we hear the voice of our Lord
every day?
He that has ears, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches.
For the churches are not listening.
Our condition has forced God into silence.
Even worse, you will find that after Malachi,
the last prophet, for 400 years, God was
silent.
He couldn't speak.
How saddened his heart.
Think if you are parents, and for one
day you are forced to be kept quiet.
You cannot say anything to your children.
Because if you say something, probably there will
be an uproar.
Another rebellion.
Think of that.
Can you call that a home?
But this is what is happening today.
We are not listening.
We harden our hearts.
Dear brothers and sisters, how we need to
repent.
And really be before the Lord.
Pray that the Lord will give us a
hearing heart.
That we may hear him every day.
You know, he will speak to us.
I'm not thinking of audible voices.
Sometimes God does.
But more so, he will speak through his
Spirit.
Who dwells in our spirit.
The reason why we do not hear him
is because we are so far away from
him.
We are occupied with so many things.
We hear so many voices.
That we cannot hear him.
Or we need to have a tender heart.
A heart that is turned towards him.
And I do believe that if our hearts
are turned towards him, you cannot fail to
hear him speak.
He loves to talk with you.
He loves to communicate what is in his
heart to you.
You know, he is shut up to himself.
He loves to share his burden with you.
He loves to share what is in his
heart with you.
But where are the people who are ready
to receive his burden?
We are not interested.
And brothers and sisters, more than that, he
wants us to communicate with him.
He wants us to draw near to him.
Not because we are worthy of our own
righteousness.
No, never.
It is because Christ is our righteousness.
And through our Lord Jesus, we have ready
access to him.
And he wants us to go to him.
To talk to him.
To converse with him.
Communicate.
Tell him everything that is in your heart.
Pour yourself out to him.
You know, brothers and sisters, today we find
people are very lonely because they have no
one to talk to.
But here is your Heavenly Father always waiting
with patience, love, sympathy to hear what you
want to say to him.
And why don't you do it?
This makes it the house of God.
Individually, this is so.
Corporately, it is so.
The church should hear the voice of the
Spirit.
When the church does not hear what the
Spirit of God is saying, something is very
wrong.
And the church ought to be a place
where you can bring everything.
So this is the second meaning of the
house of God.
Now, of course, together with that, I should
mention also that the tabernacle is a place
of service and worship.
Out of communication comes service and worship.
You know, you cannot worship if you do
not know.
The more we know God, the more we
know his heart, the more we know his
purpose, the more we know what he has
done, the more he gives you worship.
Otherwise, worship is empty.
See, oftentimes I feel that when we are
praising God or worshiping God, oftentimes I feel
these are words, beautiful words, many words, but
where is the substance?
We do not know him.
We do not know his work.
And that is the reason why our worship
is so weak.
Worship is based on communion, on communication.
And the more we know of him, the
more he draws from you that worship.
You find that he is worthy.
You can place him in the place where
he ought to be.
And also you realize what your place is.
That's worship.
And of course, service actually comes out of
worship.
Service leads back to worship.
But service comes out of worship.
You know, if you try to serve and
yet there is not, it doesn't come out
of worship, it is not spiritual ministry.
Spiritual ministry begins with God.
And it has to come out of worship.
And if there is worship, there cannot but
be spiritual service.
You cannot be just a worshiper and not
a server.
You know, we cannot divide these two things.
These two things go together.
So, the meaning of the house is communication
and worship with service.
Now let's go on to the third.
And of course, the third thing on the
house of God is David.
Our time is almost up, so I have
to rush on.
I believe our brother will speak on these
things more.
Anyway, you find a David.
After God gave David the kingdom, and he
dwelt in his palace.
In 1 Chronicles chapter 17, you find David
say to Nathan, he said, I live in
this house of Seder, and yet the ark
of God still lives in a tent.
That is not right.
So Nathan said, you can do whatever is
in your heart.
But immediately the word of God came to
Nathan, and said, you go back and tell
David.
And brothers and sisters, you go back and
read 1 Chronicles 17.
As you read it, you will weep.
Because when David had the desire to build
a house for God, you know the whole
idea is the idea of rest.
What is the house of God?
The house of God is a place that
God rests.
Now David rested in his palace.
It was God who gave him rest.
You know David, he lived a very restless
life.
He was a wanderer.
He was a fugitive.
He was hunted.
He had to flee hidden caves.
He had many enemies.
He had to fight many battles.
He had a very restless life.
But God in his grace gave David rest.
Finally you find God build David his house.
He had his kingdom, his throne, his palace.
He was rested.
And when David was given rest, he became
restless for God.
Finally he was restless because of himself.
And now you find he has got his
rest.
So he began to become restless for God.
He was thinking of God's rest.
And that very thought touched God's heart very
deeply.
God said to David through Nathan, He said,
Since I have delivered the children of Israel
out of Egypt, I have wandered with them
from tent to tent, from tabernacle to tabernacle.
And even after I have planted them in
the land I promised, have I ever asked
anyone to give me, to build me a
house to live?
I haven't asked for it.
And yet you are the only one who
wants to do it for me.
It touched God's heart.
You see, God, can we say that in
the whole history of mankind, from Adam and
Eve, after they sinned, burned out of Eden,
not only man became wanderers, but God lost
his rest.
Can a father rest if his son or
daughter are away as particles?
No rest.
So God has no rest.
And his role, he is looking for a
place of rest.
He is looking to rest among man.
But man did not give him rest.
Man gave him lots of trouble.
Only when Christ came into this world, in
Christ, doth find his rest.
This is my beloved son, in whom I
am well pleased.
For what God desires is not just one
man.
He wants a new mankind.
He wants a new mankind that will give
him rest.
That he can rest among his people, among
his own people.
Now brothers and sisters, this is the meaning
of the house of God.
But in a very real sense, we will
never give our God rest until he first
gives us rest.
That's very true.
But when we are given his rest, you
know in Hebrews chapter 4 you'll find there
is a sabbatism, there is a rest prepared
for us.
Enter into his rest.
We need to enter into his rest.
Why?
Because everything is done.
Christ has done everything for us.
On the cross he said, it is finished.
Everything is done.
Brothers and sisters, we can rest in Christ
Jesus.
And if we do rest in Christ Jesus,
then it is time for us to get
restless for God.
Let us give God rest.
He can rest when we really trust him.
When we really obey him.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus, he learned
obedience through the things which he has suffered.
And God finds rest in that man.
The same thing is true.
God can only rest in us if we
obey him.
Obedience is better than sacrifice.
Just remember this.
How I foreplay.
You find Solomon.
Eventually, Solomon built a house.
Now when Solomon dedicated that temple, in 2
Chronicles chapter 6, you find Solomon.
He said, will God indeed dwell in this
house that I built?
God is too great for that.
But it is a place where God will
put his name there.
And it is a place where people can
come and pray.
Because his eyes is upon that house.
And his ears is upon that house.
And he will hear.
And he will forgive.
So what is the meaning of the house
of God?
The meaning of the house of God is
where God puts his name.
He puts his name in his house.
Where two or three are gathered together unto
my name, there am I in the midst
of them.
That is the house of God.
The brothers and sisters, unfortunately, when God put
his name upon that temple, the children of
Israel misrepresented that name completely.
They disgraced that name.
So eventually the temple has to be destroyed.
What about the church?
The Lord said, I commit my name to
the church.
He commits himself a name.
To put a name there is a commitment.
You will find that he commits himself to
the church.
And when he commits himself to the church,
how do we react?
Do we really honor that name?
Uphold that name?
Exalt that name?
In other words, put ourselves under that name,
under his authority?
Let Christ be the head of the church.
Let Christ be the Lord of each of
our lives.
Do we honor his name?
Or do we bring disgrace to his name?
The name is given to the church.
But whether it is under reproach or whether
it is in praise, it depends on us.
And it is a place that we can
pray.
You know, prayer.
You remember our Lord in John chapter 16
said, Hereafter I give you my name.
You can pray to the Father and whatever
you pray, it shall be done unto you.
Brothers and sisters, when we use that name
and pray, what does it mean?
Does it mean that we pray in his
name for our own interest?
No.
We pray in his name for his will
to be done on earth as it is
in heaven.
So this is the meaning of the house
of God.
Name and prayer.
And finally, you remember when the children of
Israel came back from Babylonian captivity in Ezra.
Book of Ezra.
They lived in Babylon for 70 years.
They have built their houses.
They have built up their businesses.
They live a very comfortable life.
And they were given much freedom even though
they were slaves.
They could worship God.
They developed that ingenious religious system of synagogue
that enabled them to worship God even much
more convenient than a temple.
But the temple was destroyed.
You know.
But suddenly you find they were free to
go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the house
of God.
In other words, you find the only reason
given to return to Jerusalem is to build
God's house.
To restore God's name upon this earth.
That he may have a dwelling place.
That is the only reason.
Most of the Israelites remain in the land
of captivity.
They did not bother to go back.
Why?
Because if they return they will come to
a ruined city surrounded by enemies.
And they return for only one reason.
To build God's house.
Now is God's house so important to their
lives?
So most people think it's not that important.
Our house is all the more important.
Our welfare is all the more important.
So they stay in the land of captivity.
Not ideal, but they stay.
But only a remnant whose spirit was stirred.
In other words, you'll find they return to
build a house totally out of love.
There's no other reason.
Because they love God.
They love his name.
That's the only reason.
They are willing to forsake everything.
Their comfort, their businesses, their houses, their enterprises,
their comforts.
They are willing to give up everything to
go back to Jerusalem for God's sake.
To build a house for God.
That God's name may be upon this earth.
Brothers and sisters, that's love.
What is the house of God?
The house of God is a house of
love.
God is love.
And if there is love, there is God's
house.
In the second letter to the seven churches
you'll find the letter to the church in
Ephesus.
You have all of the good things there.
But you have your first love.
God said, repent.
If you do not repent, I will remove
your lampstand.
Lampstand stands for the church.
In the sight of God.
When that is removed, it means the testimony
is removed.
So brothers and sisters, what is the house
of God?
The house of God is a house of
love.
Only when we continue in our first love
with him is the house of God a
reality.
Whenever our love towards him we gets cold.
Repent.
So remember, the house of God is not
just a concept.
Something for us to speculate and talk about.
The house of God is very real.
Very real.
And it ought to bring lots of convictions
to us.
It ought to bring us to our knees.
To repentance.
It ought to bring us into renewed consecration
and commitment to him.
And finally, remember, it is God's house.
In other words, it has to satisfy.
You are satisfied, but is he satisfied?
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank
thee that thou shalt so honor us as
to even show us thy heart, thy desire,
thy longing.
We do praise and thank thee that thou
hast been so gracious to us in delivering
us out of the world.
To bring us to thyself that thou mayst
be able to build us into thy house.
That thou wantest to rest in us, to
be loved, to be worshipped, to be honored,
to be fellowshiped, to be in union.
Oh Lord, it's too much.
We just cannot comprehend.
We do ask thee Lord that thou will
continue to open our understanding and draw us
into that reality and reveal to us how
unfit we are.
Lord, give us a holy discontent that we
may really repent and return to thee.
We want thee to have that house.
Oh Lord, how we praise and thank thee
that one day thou will have it.
We know it.
It's already there.
We ask in thy precious name.