THE HOUSE THAT GOD BUILDS- PART ONE
Welcome, friends. Today, I want to speak on the House that God Builds or the House that God is Building. And we take the text from,
Hebrews 3:1-6
Hebrews 3:1-6
1Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 2who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. 3For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. 4For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. 5And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
PRAYER:
Father, this moment we yield to You that You would speak clearly to us from Your infallible Word, by the power of Your Spirit, speaking through the lips of clay. Minister Your grace; minister life to the ones You love in radioland, in Jesus Name. Amen!
Verse 4 of where we read, Hebrews 3, that verse makes this commonsensical observation; it makes this obvious observation, and that is: every house is built by someone. We find that in Hebrews 3:4. Every house is built by someone. And it goes on to say that the builder of all things is God. I think this is an allusion to the Story of Creation, according to the Book of Genesis. In the context of our text, the building in question is the house of God. And the house of God is the Christian body of believers. Verse 6 makes us know that. But Christ as the Son over His own house rise as a Son over His own house whose house we are…if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope unto the end which house we are – believers. 1 Timothy 3:15 and 1 Peter 4:17 say, that the church of Jesus Christ is the house of God. So the house that God is building is the church, not a physical structure – but a community of believers in Christ. And this is the most important building project – and in fact the most important project in the world. In examining the house God builds or the house God is building we shall consider briefly the following:
- The blueprint or the plan of the house God builds,
- The foundation of the house that God builds,
- The walls of the house that God builds,
- The doors and windows of the house that God builds and
- The equipping of the house God builds.
Let’s take those briefly.
Number One:
The church is not God’s first building project. Prior to building the church God built the tabernacle in the wilderness. He gave Moses the blueprint of that building with this repeated warning. And the repeated warning is: build it according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain; build it according to the blueprint which was shown you on the mountain. He said this repeatedly to Moses – Exodus 25:9, Exodus 26:30, Numbers 8. And when Stephen retold the account of the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness he made sure he included the warning to build it according to God’s pattern.
In Acts 7:44 Stephen says:
Acts 7:44
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen…”
In keeping with His ways of doing things, God has a pattern of the house He is building, even though a number of people today feel that God’s pattern has been suspended or has been superseded by their own imagination and fancy. But in 1 Timothy 3:15, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy:
1 Timothy 3:15
15 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
God has a pattern: a blueprint – for the church He is building. And the blueprint is His Word. What we teach, what we practise, as the church of Jesus Christ must be judged by the Word of God: His blueprint. Do not invent your own truth, your own teachings – with what you call new revelation.
Number Two:
Secondly, of the components of the house God builds none is as important as the foundation. We know how important foundation is to any structure.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
The foundation of the house God builds is Jesus Christ. If you do not know Him personally, if you have not repented from your sins and received Him as your Savior, if you do not preach Him: you have no spiritual foundation that can stand the test of time and eternity – because He is the only true and reliable foundation. The Word of God says in,
Acts 4:12
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Have you accepted Jesus Christ, God’s foundation, as your Savior and your Lord? Pastor-friend, preacher-friend, do you preach Him and Him alone? It is a mark of serious spiritual ignorance to contemplate the house of God without this solid foundation. Building a house without this solid foundation is an unacceptable risk.
A building owned by a church in Lagos collapsed on Friday the 12th of September 2014, killing 115 people, most of them foreigners. It is believed that this tragedy resulted from a faulty, that is, an inadequate foundation. A foundation for a two or three storey building can never be adequate for an eight storey building. It is foolish and indeed criminal to think otherwise. We were told that the house collapsed because an airplane flew over it a couple of times. If that house collapsed because an airplane flew over it a couple of times it means that it didn’t have a solid foundation.
Jesus says in,
Matthew 7:24-27
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Foundation determines how wide we build. Foundation determines how high we build. Foundation determines the integrity or the strength of the building. Is your Christian faith founded on the rock which is Jesus Christ the Lord? If it is not, your Christian faith cannot stand the storms of life – never!
PRAYER:
Father, it is my prayer that as many as have heard my word will consider seriously the foundation of their faith whether it is the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us, O God, to come to this realization that there is no other foundation of faith other than Christ – and Christ alone. Thank You, Lord Jesus, the Rock of Ages. Thank You. Amen!