Will you please turn to the gospel according
to Matthew.
Matthew chapter 16 verse 18.
And I also I say unto thee that
thou art Peter and on this rock I
will build my church and Hades gates shall
not prevail against it.
Hebrews chapter 3 verses 4 and 5 and
6.
Maybe we'll start from verse 3.
For he has been counted worthy of greater
glory than Moses by how much he that
has built it has more honor than the
house for every house is built by someone
but he who has built all things is
God 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.
And the same book of Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews chapter 11 verse 10.
For he waited for the city which has
foundation of which God is the artificer and
constructor.
Verse 16.
But now he they seek a better that
is a heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed
of them to be called their God for
he has prepared for them a city.
First Corinthians chapter 3.
Our brother read it this afternoon.
First Corinthians chapter 3.
We begin with verse 9.
For we are God's fellow workmen.
We are God's house and God's building according
to the grace of God which has been
given to me as a wise architect I
have laid the foundation but another builds upon
it but let each see how he builds
upon it for other foundation can no man
lay besides that which is laid which is
Christ Jesus.
Now if anyone build upon this foundation gold
silver precious stones wood grass straw the work
of each shall be made manifest for the
day shall declare it because it is revealed
in fire and the fire shall try the
work of each what it is.
If the work of anyone which he has
built upon the foundation shall abide he shall
receive a reward if the work of anyone
shall be consumed he shall suffer loss but
he shall be saved but so as through
the fire.
And finally Ephesians.
Ephesians chapter 4 verses
15 and 16.
But holding the truth in love we may
grow up to him in all things who
is the head the Christ from home the
whole body fitted together and connected by every
joint of supply according to the working in
his measure of each one part works for
itself the increase of the body to itself
building up in love.
We have been considering before the Lord on
this matter of spiritual house.
First of all we mentioned that God even
before he created he had this very thing
in his heart.
He wanted a house.
And that's the reason why he created the
universe.
Not in the sense that he created the
universe to be his house.
Because the heaven and the heaven of heavens
cannot contain him.
The heavens are his throne and the earth
is his footstool.
So what he created is not his house.
But then why did he create?
And we find that he created man.
So brothers and sisters God is not after
a physical house.
If he is after a physical house he
could easily create it for himself.
God is after a spiritual house.
And this spiritual house is made up of
the man whom he created.
He wanted to dwell among man.
He wanted man to be his dwelling place.
His home.
And that is the eternal purpose of God.
In the book of Hebrews we are told
whose house are we?
If indeed we hold fast the boldness and
the boast of our confession firm to the
end.
In 1st Timothy chapter 3 verse 15 we
are told that God's house is the church
of the living God.
The base and the pillar of truth.
So in a sense we can see very
clearly what is this house or this home
that God is after from eternity to eternity.
It is his church.
We are his house.
If we hold fast the boldness and the
boast of our confession to the end.
So brothers and sisters it is of tremendous
importance for us to understand what this house
is.
We are involved in it.
We are to be that house.
And of course we want to know what
is the meaning of this house.
Now yesterday morning we shared together a few
of the meaning of the house of God.
We went through the Bible picking up some
illustrations to illustrate the meaning of God's house.
We will not go back and go over
again.
But to mention it.
The house of God means the union and
communion of God and man in Christ Jesus.
Unworthy as we are.
We are like Jacob.
Holy, righteous is our God.
And yet it is his desire to come
to us.
It is his desire that we may be
joined to him.
And we may have communion with him.
Now how can it be done?
It is through that letter.
Our Lord Jesus.
So brothers and sisters the first meaning of
the house of God is the union of
God and man in Christ Jesus.
And communion.
And then we find that when God commanded
Moses to build him a tabernacle as his
dwelling place.
And why did he want that dwelling place?
Because he wanted to communicate with his people.
He wanted to speak to his people on
the mercy seat between the two children.
And not only that.
He also wanted us to speak to him.
He desires fellowship.
He desires communication.
And are we given him that?
And then we find in the heart of
David to build a temple for God.
It is a place of rest.
Brothers and sisters, since man sinned, God has
lost his rest.
He has been seeking, searching, looking for, finding
the lost.
He is longing to rest in man.
But as we mentioned before, unless we first
are rested in the finished work of Christ,
we will not be able to give him
that rest.
And then in Solomon we find he built
a temple.
Not because he believed that God would really
dwell in that temple.
But he believed that God would put his
name there.
God would commit himself there.
He would listen to the prayers of the
people who pray in that house or pray
toward that house.
So brothers and sisters, what is the church?
Where two or three are gathered together unto
my name, there am I in the midst
of it.
Our Lord Jesus has committed his name to
the church.
And because of this, how much we need
to be committed to it.
And finally we mentioned the remnant returned to
rebuild the temple.
And they did it out of pure love.
So what is the church?
The church is a house of love.
Now these are the things that we covered
yesterday.
Now this evening we would like to consider
together before the Lord on this matter of
the building of God's house.
It is really eye-opening when you read
the scripture.
You find that whenever the house is mentioned,
the word build is used.
Or to put it another way, the house
is to be built.
It is not to be created.
Our God is the God of creation.
But he is also a great builder.
By his wisdom and power, he created the
heavens and the earth.
But he built his church by giving his
own self or his own son.
So brothers and sisters, you do see that
the building of the house is a greater
work than the creation of the universe.
In creating the universe, God only uses wisdom
and through his power.
He is not in a sense directly involved.
But in building his house, you find that
he is so involved himself that he even
gave up his own beloved son.
The cost is so much greater.
Why?
Because the house is so much nearer, dearer.
Brothers and sisters, we admire his creation.
But do we admire?
We love his creation.
We enjoy his creation.
But how much do we really love his
house?
He gave everything for that house in giving
of his own son.
And brothers and sisters, if this is the
case, do you think we can give more
for that house?
Do you think that in giving to that
house, it would be too much?
If it costs God everything, if you love
the house of God, it should cost you.
This matter of the building of God's house,
you find it is throughout the scripture.
It is in types.
Even from the very beginning, in the book
of Genesis, you find that God created man.
In chapter one, God created man in his
own image after his likeness.
Male and female created he them.
Now that is the creation of man.
But when you come into the actual work
of creating man, you find that in chapter
two.
And there you will find God took the
earth, the dust, the red earth, and he
formed it into a body.
He breathed into that form's nostril, the breath
of life.
And the Bible said man became a living
soul.
Adam was created.
And then God said it is not good
for man to be alone.
So you find that God led all that
he had created, all these living creatures, one
by one, to Adam.
I personally feel it is the law of
elimination.
Because God said it is not good for
man to be alone.
He needs a help, a counterpart, his life.
So God just brought all these living creatures
to him, the bigs, the small, the queer,
the strange, all kinds of animals were brought
to Adam.
Let Adam look at them.
You know it is more than just a
task of asking Adam to name these animals.
Now of course he named all of them.
He is a natural zoologist.
He didn't need to go to school.
He named every one of them.
By naming them, he put them in their
specific area.
He couldn't find his like in any of
these animals.
So God put him to sleep.
And out of his side, God took out
one of his ribs.
Now in the original, it said God took
out something, took something out of him.
We don't know whether it is a rib
or not.
But God took something out of him.
And built a woman.
So you see, man was created, but woman
was built.
But woman was built out of man.
God did not take another lump of clay
and form the form of a female and
breathe into it.
And he became a living woman.
God didn't do that.
God took something out of Adam and built
that something into a woman.
And then he led that woman.
Oh he of course woke up Adam first.
And he led that woman to Adam just
like he led all the other animals to
Adam.
But when a woman was led to Adam,
Adam looked at her and said, well I
see myself in him.
This is me.
Part of me.
Bone of my bones.
Flesh of my flesh.
Called him a woman.
And they too became.
Now brothers and sisters, we know that Adam
and Eve, they are types of Christ.
What is the meaning of building?
Now, we know in studying the Bible, there
is a principle called the principle of first
mentioning.
You know, whenever something is mentioned the first
time in the scripture, usually it gives you
that basic idea of what that is.
Now according to the principle of first mentioning,
that word build is used the first time
in the Bible.
And it is in building that woman.
Now, what is the basic meaning of building?
Building is different from creating.
Because creating is you create something out of
nothing.
There was nothing there.
No material.
Nothing.
And God just used his word.
He spoke a word and it was done.
In other words, he created the whole universe
out of nothing.
That's creation.
But building is different.
Building is taking something out of the original
creation.
And build it up into something.
Now that is the basic idea of building.
Applied to Christ and the church.
God said, it is not good for him
to be alone.
Even before the foundation of the world.
In eternity past.
If we may, we may say, well, there
was only God the Father, God the Son,
God the Spirit, the Triune God.
They were self-existing and one.
One day, in eternity past, the Father looked
at the Son.
He loved his Son so much.
He said, it is not good for my
Son to be alone.
I will give him a helpmate.
His like.
And God had that idea even before he
started creating the universe.
And that's the reason why he created man.
But unfortunately, that man fell into sin.
And since that time, God was looking for
that man.
Who could be his Son's helpmate, his Son's
counterpart.
Just like his Son.
But he couldn't find it.
So finally, he had to send his Son
into this world.
Do you know why our Lord Jesus came
into this world?
You know, the gospel of John is the
gospel that gives us the inner meaning of
the life of Christ.
Why did God's Son come into this world?
He came into this world.
Well, in other gospels, you find that he
came to seek and to save the lost.
But if you read the gospel according to
John, you get into the inner meaning, or
you get into the very mind of God.
You find that God sent his Son into
this world for one purpose.
To seek for his bride.
To look for his counterpart.
He was on earth for 33 years.
He looked everywhere, but he couldn't find.
So finally, God put him to sleep.
But his sleep was different from Adam's sleep.
Because when God put Adam to sleep, there
was no sin in the world yet.
Sin had not come into the world yet.
So you find that Adam's sleep was a
very peaceful sleep.
And not only that, that operation was a
painless operation.
No blood.
But with our Lord Jesus, man have sinned
dreadfully.
So the Son of God, the Son of
Man, he had to bore our sins in
his body.
He who knew no sin was made sinless.
Brothers and sisters, it is a mystery.
We do not understand.
We could understand somewhat our Lord's rejection by
man.
We could understand somewhat the attack of the
enemy, of Satan, when our Lord was on
the cross.
In other words, we could understand the first
three hours of our Lord's crucifixion.
Because during the first three hours, there he
suffered from the hand of man and of
the powers of darkness.
We could understand a little bit.
But we couldn't understand the last three hours.
At midnight, we find the sun hit its
face.
The earth turned into darkness.
Why?
Because God made him sin.
All our sins came upon this spotless Lamb
of God.
Pure and spotless.
He was made sin.
And because he was made sin, God, the
righteous one, crushed him.
Departed from him.
So our Lord cried out, My God, My
God.
He did not say, My Father, My Father.
He has such sweet fellowship with his Father
through eternity.
And when he was on earth, there was
uninterrupted communion.
He always pleased the Father.
He did the things that the Father wanted.
The Father was always with him.
He always saw the Father's face, smiling face.
But during that time, he could only say,
My God, My God.
Why?
He stood in our ground.
A corrupted, defiled, sinful, rebellious old creature.
My God, My God, why has thou forsaken
me?
It was a painful, but thank God,
before he gave up his spirit, he said,
it is finished.
The work is done.
He has borne our sins in his body.
But then you remember, because the next day
was a Sabbath day, and the Jews honored
that day, and would not allow any body
to be hung there, because to be hung
on a cross is a curse.
So the soldiers came, broke the legs of
the two robbers, because they were strong.
They were still living.
So they broke their legs to speed their
death.
But when they came to our Lord Jesus,
they saw he was already dead.
To make sure that he was dead, a
soldier thrust a spear through his hand, and
out of the spear came out blood and
water.
You read John chapter 19.
John was there.
He saw the spear thrust in.
He saw it was drawn out.
And he saw the blood and the water.
And he bore testimony that what he saw
was true, that you may believe.
Now, why did he make it so emphatically?
What is the meaning of that?
It is because there you'll find God put
our Lord Jesus to death.
And out of him, God took out blood
and water.
Now, I do not know.
Some people say that's the last drop of
water, of blood still in his heart.
He shed all his blood, and there was
still some remaining in his heart.
But he died of a broken heart.
So the blood disintegrated into blood and water.
But anyway, you'll find that something was taken
out from his very heart, blood, to
atone our sins.
Water to give us life.
So, brothers and sisters, here you'll find, out
of the body of our Lord Jesus, God
took out blood and water.
And with this blood and water, he built,
brothers and sisters, if we remember this, blood
to atone our sins.
Water to give us life.
It is only when our sins are atoned,
and we have his own life in us,
and this is the material that he builds.
It is coming out of him.
Therefore, he can say, this is me.
What is the church?
The church is Christ, in his corporate expression.
The church is the extension of Christ.
He looks at the church and says, this
is me, my flesh, my bone.
And because of this, the church can be
united with him in one spot.
He builds the church.
Well, we mentioned about Jacob.
Jacob thought that if God will bless him,
give him food to eat, garment to wear,
and lead him safely, peacefully back home, then
he will make God his God.
And he will use this pillar that he
used for his pillow.
He put it up and said, now this
pillar shall be the house of God.
And I will give one tenth.
Jacob thought that if God shall bless him,
then he will serve God.
He will build God a house.
And actually, he built God a monument, not
a house.
Because a pillar is a monument if it
is not a house.
He will build God a monument, and also
he will give God one tenth.
In other words, to show his gratitude, he
will serve God with his work, with his
service.
He thought that is the way of building
the house of God.
But God said, no.
God will take hold of Jacob, this original,
and transform him into Israel.
And with Israel, he will build.
The same thing is true with the children
of Israel.
God redeemed them out of Egypt.
And you know, not only they were redeemed,
their women, their children, their cattle, their sheep,
all these were taken out of Egypt.
But more than that, before they left Egypt,
they spoiled Egypt of her wealth.
You see, Egypt was a very wealthy nation
at the time.
And when they came out of Egypt, they
literally spoiled Egypt of all her wealth.
They had gold and silver and all these
precious things with them.
Now, our brother mentioned, they became a free
people.
Not only a free people, but a wealthy
people.
Now, how are they going to live their
lives?
How are they going to use their wealth?
They could easily live a very comfortable life,
luxurious life, enjoy themselves, because they have all
the wealth.
But brothers and sisters, God asked them
for a key offering, a love offering.
They shall offer what God had given them
to build.
You know, it is very easy for God
to drop a tabernacle from heaven.
Now, in a sense, you know, when Peter
was in ecstasy, he was on that roof,
you know, it was noon time and he
must be hungry, so he was thinking of
food when he was praying.
And God gave him a vision.
A white sheet coming down from heaven and
full of particles and creeping things.
And the voice said, rise, kill and eat.
Surely, God can easily drop a tabernacle from
heaven and say, now I'm going to dwell
among you.
No.
That would be creation, not building.
So God said, no.
Out of what I have redeemed of you,
you give and then with that, build that
tabernacle.
That's building.
So you see, the basic idea of the
building of the church is building.
You take something that God has already given
and then you build it into the house.
That is the concept.
Now, who is the builder?
Our brother has already stolen my message.
I just want to re-emphasize it, that's
all.
You already know it.
Now, who is the builder?
The Lord Jesus said, I will build upon
this rock and the gates of Hades shall
not prevail against it.
The church is so precious to our Lord.
He cannot commit the building of it to
anyone other than himself.
So he said, I will build my church
upon this rock.
He is the builder, the only builder, the
only one who can build that house, God's
house.
Many people can build, but he is the
only one who can build a house for
God to rest.
He is the only one who is able
to do that.
Nobody else.
You cannot do that.
I cannot do that.
None of us can do that.
The angels cannot do that.
I will build my church.
In Hebrews, it is said that Christ
should have more honor than Moses, just as
the builder of the house is more honorable
than the house.
So here you find Moses is the house,
and the Lord is the one who builds
Moses.
In Hebrews 11, you find Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob.
They wandered in the promised land as sojourners.
If they wanted to go back to their
homeland, Ur of Chaldea, they could do that.
Even halfway to Haran, they can do that.
But they were looking for a city with
foundation, whose architect and constructor is God.
God has prepared for us a better.
This is the city that you find in
Revelation 21 and 22.
That is God's house.
God and man dwell together in unity for
eternity.
Now who is able to build that house?
Except.
God cannot trust anyone to be the architect
of that house.
No architect has the wisdom to draw the
design.
He cannot trust anyone to construct it.
No construction company in the world can do
this job.
God alone is the builder.
Now brothers and sisters, we cannot emphasize enough
on this.
Because we find in Christianity today, out
of good intention, we are trying to build
God's house.
We have been trying for 2,000 years.
Almost 2,000 years.
And what do we get?
We get the tower of Bethel.
Not the house.
Therefore I hope that tonight there is none
among us who has a secret desire to
build the house of God.
You better give that up.
Today we hear a lot of church painters,
church builders.
But what they build is the tower of
Bethel.
To spread their names, not to give God.
We cannot build it.
Don't try it.
God is the only builder.
He designs it.
He builds it.
He does everything in it.
But then brothers and sisters, you would challenge
me and say, did I not read in
the very beginning some scriptures that tells us
we are the builders?
Our brother already mentioned this afternoon so thoroughly.
Paul said, we are God's workmen and you
are God's husbandry and God's building.
Paul said, I'm like a wise master builder.
Now some version said a wise architect and
some version said an expert builder or master
builder.
But as a matter of fact, if you
try to put it more properly, probably what
Paul means is, I am a wise chief
foreman.
So here Paul said, I am a master
builder.
I lay the foundation.
Even Christ Jesus.
And there can be no other earth but
the foundation, but Christ.
And then each one of you, remember he
wrote to the Corinthian believers and to all
who call upon the name of the Lord.
So we are included.
You, each one of you, pay attention to
what you build upon it.
If you build with gold, silver and precious
stones or you build with wood, straw and
stubble, one day a fire will appear and
will test what you build.
And if you build with gold, silver and
precious stone, it will just glorify it and
you will receive a reward.
Now if you build with wood, straw and
hay, it will be burned.
But you will be saved.
Barely.
So you are building.
Everyday we are building.
Everyday you are putting something on.
And then you look at Ephesians chapter 4.
You find that all the different members of
the body work together, fitted together and work
together according to the measure that God has
given to each for the self building up
in love.
In other words, we are all involved in
this building work.
No one is accepted unless you are not
the Lord.
If you are the Lord, you are involved
in that building.
Now how are you going to reconcile these
two opposites?
I think there is one verse that can
solve that problem.
And it is found in Philippians chapter 2.
Philippians chapter 2 verse 12 and 13.
So that my beloved, even as ye have
always obeyed, not as in my presence only,
but now much rather in my absence, work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
for it is God who works in you
both the willing and the working according to
his good.
Now indeed, the Lord himself is the only
builder.
But how does he build?
He first works in you, that you may
work out with fear and trembling.
Now do you see this picture?
In other words, it is not that you
have an idea what the house of God
should be like.
So you draw up a blueprint.
You are the architect.
You give it the concept.
Now, God is the architect.
He is the one who has the concept
of the house of God.
He is the one who draws the blueprint.
But he works this in you.
By revelation.
He reveals that to you.
And after you receive that revelation and understand
it, it is working out of you.
So who is working?
Who is building?
He builds.
He builds in you, through you.
After all the work is done, all you
can say is, he has done it.
You haven't done anything.
Because all that comes out of you is
what he has worked in you.
The same thing is true.
Not only with the blueprint.
It is true with the whole process of
building.
You find that everything that is put into
the house of God, he first works in
you.
And then it works out from you, with
fear.
All the materials he first worked in you.
And then you give it back to him,
with fear and trembling.
All the power he first gives to you,
and then he works it out from you.
So brothers and sisters, thank God he wants
us to work together with him.
But actually he does all the work.
But we share the glory.
I always remember that story.
One day the father is going to move
a table.
It is a heavy one.
But the father is strong.
So he began to lift up the table.
And a little boy, he said, father let
me help you.
So father said, good, I need your help.
So he allows that boy to hold one
of the legs.
And together they move the table.
As a matter of fact you find that
the boy puts more weight to that table.
So he bears not only the table but
also the boy.
And finally he moves the table and the
boy said, father we have done it.
Now that's what it is.
How he loves us and honors us.
And that's the reason why after everything is
done you have to go back and say
we are but unprofitable servants.
He is the builder.
Now brothers and sisters, if only tonight we
can remember this, it will save us lots
of headaches.
Not only you, but your brothers and sisters.
Lots of headaches.
Well, let's come to this matter of, I
am just starting you know.
I am telling the truth.
Now how does God build?
We need to go into some of the
processes.
Building processes.
You know that's important because that's how it
is built.
God created man with the idea of building
man into his house.
But unfortunately man did not.
Man did not follow God.
Man did not eat the tree of life.
If man should eat the tree of life,
they will receive that uncreated divine life in
them.
And thus they can be united with God
in life.
And from that life it can be developed
into a house.
But unfortunately man ate the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.
Man declared independence of God.
Man fell into himself.
Man became flesh, spirit, lost contact with God.
Man became slaves to sin, to the enemy,
under the bondage of death.
Satan holds that bondage over man.
So brothers and sisters, when God looked at
this material, could he take it up and
build his house?
That clay was marred before it became a
vessel.
There was no way to repair it.
You know we are always thinking of trying
to repair it, to reform it, to beautify
it, to decorate it, to add something to
it.
And then it will become.
God looked at man and said, what can
I do?
I cannot do anything with it.
I cannot build my house with this kind
of material, polluted, defiled.
The holy God cannot dwell in that unclean.
So the first thing you find God had
to do, he had to send his beloved
son into this world.
To do the work of redemption.
God did not throw away man completely and
say, well, this is finished.
I will create another kind of man.
Maybe a kind of man without a free
will.
So I can build up to be my
house.
God cannot do that because God is the
free will.
And for the free will to dwell in
no will, he couldn't do that.
It is not like him.
No counterpart there.
And yet you find God did something marvelous.
I do not remember who said that.
Maybe it is Moody.
He said, God will take the cast away
of the devil.
What devil cast away?
God said, I will have it.
And that is what it is.
We are a bunch of nothing.
Worse than nothing.
And God had to do a tremendous work.
Every time you think of redemption, you see
the heart of God.
He shall throw us away, but he couldn't.
He loves us.
So he had to give us his son.
Christ has to die for us in order
that he may give us a new life.
If anyone be in Christ, he is a
new creation.
All things have passed away.
All things are made new.
And all things are of God.
So brothers and sisters, you do not know
the cost that God paid in building his
house.
So the first thing is, he has to
do a work of redemption.
He has to bring in a new mankind,
a new race, a new creation.
A people whose sins are forgiven, who are
righteous in the sight of God.
A people who have his own life.
Now that is the first thing God has
to do.
Our brother also already mentioned that.
See, the building material of God is man.
But not just any man.
Any kind of man.
Not just a man that we know.
God builds with man, but it is a
new man.
A born from above man.
A regenerated man.
A man with God's life in him.
And that life in him, that new creation
is the building.
You are not the building material.
I am not the building material.
It is the new creation in you.
It is Christ in you.
It is life in you.
That is the building.
And that is the reason why you find
when Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the
Son of the Living God, what did Christ
say to Peter?
You are a stone.
Formerly you were dust, earth, clay.
But now on your confession, a new element
has entered into your life.
You now become a living stone, as our
brother mentioned.
So as we come to the Lord, first
of all you find from dust we are
turned into stone.
How is the tower of Babel built?
It is built with brick.
And brick is mixing up with straw.
That is how the tower of Babel is
built.
But the house of God is built with
stones.
Living stones.
Stones, the life of God in them.
That is the building block.
Our problem is, we say what is the
church?
The church are the gathering of the believers.
The church is the gathering of you and
me.
And that is the church.
But that is the problem of the church.
The problem of the church is because of
you and me.
We try to come in and build with
wood, hay and straw.
We come in.
Instead of letting the life in us be
the building material, we come in with our
human nature.
Our own glory.
Our own energy.
Our own work.
And we say we are building the church.
That is the power of Babel.
You have to build with gold, silver and
precious stones.
It is the Christ in you.
It is the Christ in me.
The hope of glory.
You have no hope of glory.
I have no hope of glory.
The hope of glory is Christ in you
and me.
So brothers and sisters, what is the church?
The church is Christ in His corporate expression.
The Christ in you, the Christ in me
are built together.
These stones are built together.
And that builds.
So anything that is you, anything that is
me has to be
separated by the cross.
Before you enter into the church.
Whenever we try to bring anything of ourselves
into the church, remember, you destroy, you do
not build.
And that is the reason why the church
is an awesome thing.
We need to build it with fear and
trembling.
Not only that, we find that when the
Lord builds with stones, these are not just
stones, these are precious stones.
You know, when you read the Holy City,
the New Jerusalem, you find these are precious
stones, not just stones.
Sometimes we think that, well, as long as
we are saved.
So God just built all these saved ones
together into His house.
Now you build a nursery.
All babies here.
And weeping here, crying there, and every baby
is very self-centered.
At midnight, if he is not happy, he
cries.
If you do not cater to his desire
quick enough, he gets angry.
Well, that is what you have today.
Not just stones, not just babes in Christ.
God builds with precious.
Now, how can stones be turned into precious
stones?
You find these elements.
You know, precious stone is a compound, not
an element.
You find all these different elements buried deep
down in the earth, in darkness for centuries,
under great pressure, heat.
Eventually, certain elements began to be compounded together
to become a precious stone.
And this precious stone is different from the
other precious stones.
Brothers and sisters, God builds with precious stones
only.
As our brother said, our Lord is a
precious stone Himself.
Not just a living stone, a precious stone.
What is that?
That is character.
Simply with life is not enough.
This life has to develop, to grow into
character.
You know, when life follows its natural nature,
it becomes character.
Every life has a nature.
But if you follow that nature long enough,
it becomes a character.
If you do not follow that nature, it
does not become a character.
It still remains in that immature stage.
We have too many babies in the church.
On the one hand, it's good.
We love babies.
But on the other hand, it breaks our
Father's heart.
Because we are always in that stage of
receiving, receiving, receiving.
Self-centered.
Everything is for me.
God is for me.
Christ is for me.
Everybody is for me.
Me, me, me.
How can you build a church?
God's house.
But brothers and sisters, character building is painful.
That's the reason why I always feel if
God saved me, He should rapture me to
Him right away.
That would save me all kinds of temptations,
all kinds of trials.
Why does He leave me on this earth,
miserable earth?
Passing through all these trials and testing and
many failures because
He wants you to be precious stones.
He wants to develop character in you.
Through suffering, through pressure, through darkness, through
heat, that you may find the different elements
of His divine life begin to form in
a special way.
Become Peter is one precious stone.
John is another precious stone.
But they all manifest Christ.
Not Peter, not John.
And yet it is in Peter, in John.
All the character of Christ must be developed
within us through much suffering.
Suffering is good.
But then, brothers and sisters, it is not
just precious stones.
You go to the museum and you see
some precious stones displayed there for people to
look and admire.
And maybe some people hope that they may
have it.
But that's not God's purpose.
God's purpose is not just to create some
spiritual giants that He can display to the
world.
What's the use of that?
It only brings spiritual pride.
God is too practical for that.
So you find that these stones, now in
one sense it is important to see these
stones being developed into precious stones.
Every one stone is a precious stone with
different combination of the nature of Christ in
a special way.
And only you have it.
And another brother, another special way.
You know, there is an individuality that God
loves.
You know, even in eternity there is an
individuality there.
Peter is always Peter, even though he is
a different Peter than when he was a
rock stone.
He becomes a precious stone, but it is
still Peter.
There is an individuality there.
It's precious, brothers and sisters.
You are you.
And God wants you to be what He
wants you to be.
You know, He doesn't want you to be
somebody else.
He is developing you in an individual way.
He loves it.
And I hope you will love it too.
But brothers and sisters, individuality is something
that will continue to eternity.
But individualism must be done.
In other words, you are still one precious
stone.
But that one precious stone has to be
fitted together and joined together with other precious
stones.
You cannot maintain your individualism and say, You
know, I'm going to stand here alone to
be a specimen of the wonderful work of
God.
That's not possible.
It's not for your glory.
It's for His glory.
So you find that these stones have to
be fitted together.
Now, that's the problem.
The more precious that stone becomes, the more
difficult for it to be fitted with one
another.
You know, when you quarry these precious stones
out of the mine, you have to do
a lot of work on these stones.
When you take them out of the mine,
you do not see any radiancy there.
Lots of light there.
It's covered with dirt, with all kinds of
elements.
And you need to do lots of breaking,
cutting, purifying work, you know, to take off
all these things that are attached to that
precious stone.
And this is the same thing with us.
Even though the Lord is working within us
each and develop within us each as precious
stones, but brothers and sisters, you'll find that
we still carry with us a big load
of all kinds of things.
Right?
We still have the world upon us.
We still have maybe some sin.
We still have some weight.
We still have our flesh there.
We still have the self there.
Brothers and sisters, all these things need to
be purified.
And that's the reason why.
You'll find in Ephesians chapter 5, the Lord
loved His church and gave Himself for her.
And then He said He sanctified them, purifying
them by the water with the Word, that
they may become a glorious church without spot
or wrinkle or any of such sort.
Dear brothers and sisters, the cross has to
work in our lives to purify us from
all those draws that we carry.
Do you not find sometimes that there is
just too much draws?
Do you accept the working of the cross
in your life?
The cross is not only a subjective, that
is the foundation, but on that foundation of
the cross of Christ that we believe, we
must allow the Holy Spirit to apply that
cross to our daily life.
He will enlighten us.
He will show us where the draws is.
He will show us where it needs to
be.
His Word will divide the soul and the
spirit, will penetrate, keep dividing.
And let you see, this is soul, not
spirit.
It has to be purified.
The world has to be purified.
Your flesh has to be brought to death.
Your self must be denied.
Brothers and sisters, these works of the cross
have to be going on in your life,
in order that you may be fitted together
with one another.
More than that, even though all these draws
are purified, brothers and sisters, you still cannot
fit with one another.
You need to be cut, be sawed, chiseled,
smoothed, according to your brother and sister, that
will be built to your right, to your
left, to your bottom, to your top.
According to God's will.
Here is a big piece of precious stone,
but to fit in with another precious stone,
the corners, even some part of that precious
stone, had to be cut off, to be
made into that.
Some brothers and sisters are too big to
be cut.
They are too big to be built with
brothers and sisters.
They want everybody to be cut, so they
can occupy a place larger than God's design.
Even the gift that God has given to
you needs to be dealt with.
Do nothing because this is given by God.
It is spiritual gift.
Look at Corinthian church.
Even this gift has to be regulated, that
everything will be done orderly and in calm.
Think about it.
Not because God has given you this gift,
therefore, everywhere you go, my gift.
Brothers and sisters, sometimes your gift has to
be hidden for a while, lay aside for
a while.
It is not the time to use it,
and to use it according to the proposal.
Our spirituality.
What's wrong with our spirituality?
Brothers and sisters, oftentimes your spirituality frightens your
brothers and sisters away.
You want to measure everyone with your spirituality.
Therefore, when you meet a brother or sister,
all they get is condemnation.
You judge them.
You need to be cut.
Sometimes God may even take away your spiritual
virtues.
God has to break you down, to make
you pliable in his hand, that you may
be fitted together with your brothers and sisters.
We are told, when the temple was built,
all these stones that are quarried out of
the mine, actually was discovered under Mount Moriah.
The masons will go into these mines, and
will cut these stones according to.
There is a plan there.
Every stone in the temple is already planned.
And every stone is numbered.
It's numbered.
And all these stones are cut in the
mine, in darkness.
So when they are transported up to Mount
Moriah, to be put together, in 1st Kings
chapter 6, verse 7 it says, there is
not a sound of hammer, or the sound
of iron.
All these stones just put together quietly, without
making any sound.
You don't need to do any further work.
Iron work.
No spark, no fire.
Just put one to another, and they fit
so beautifully.
Because everyone is cut according to measure.
According to one another.
Brothers and sisters, lots of God's dealing with
us, is more than personal.
Personally, you may not need these dealings.
But because God wants to fit you, with
the brothers and sisters, therefore, you have to
go through all these dealings.
A shoulder must be cut.
A corner must be cut.
Some smooth must be chiseled, and even sawed.
So brothers and sisters, you know God has
a place for you in His house.
It's already labeled.
Your number, so and so.
And you will be put in a certain
position.
Only you.
Nobody else.
And you will have, next to you, another
number.
God has already put the number.
And it is according to that, He is
sawing you, cutting you, chiseling you, and smoothing
you.
How patient the Holy Spirit is.
But how impatient we are.
All these works have to be done in
a hidden place.
In your private closet.
If this work is not done, what you
will find is, when all these stones are
put together, you have to hear lots of
sound of hammer and iron.
Lots of sparks.
And that's what you are having now.
Because you have not allowed the Holy Spirit
to complete His work in your life.
We need one another.
I cannot do without you.
You cannot do without me.
The Lord cannot do without any one of
us.
And that's the house.
It is also a dreadful place.
But it is the gate of heaven.
Brothers and sisters, what I am trying to
say is simply this.
The building of God's house is not a
common thing.
It is most precious in God's heart.
And hopefully it becomes very precious to our
heart.
God spent everything for that house.
Are we willing to spend?
All that God has given us, actually we
have nothing.
It's all given.
But are we willing to put our all
in His hand and let Him do whatever
is necessary to make us fit to be
put into the place He has ordained for
each one of us.
And when that house appears, that's what you'll
find in Revelation chapter 1 and chapter 21
and 22.
That holy city, the new Jerusalem.
A glorious church without spot or wrinkle of
any of such sort.
A bride suitable to the bridegroom.
In union forever.
Ruling, reigning in glory.
Brothers and sisters, this is the purpose of
God.
With you and with me.
May the Lord have mercy upon us.
Dear Heavenly Father, we acknowledge
that human words are so inadequate.
Even our understanding is so limited.
We are not able really to enter into
Thy heart, Thy mind, Thy love.
We really are not able to feel how
Thou feel concerning the house, that rest that
Thou art seeking for.
But Lord, we do pray that in Thy
mercy and grace Thou will at least give
us a glimpse of it.
We pray that Thou will touch our hearts.
Give us at least a heart for Thy
house.
Lord, we do acknowledge that when we see
what Thy house really is, to us it
is dreadful.
Dreadful to our flesh.
But Lord, we want to commit ourselves to
Thee for that house.
Do whatever is necessary in each one of
us.
Do not let us go.
Remember, tonight we have committed ourselves to Thee
and to Thy house.
Thou are faithful.
Perfect Thy work.
To the praise and Thy glory.
We ask in the name of our Lord
Jesus.