The Lord's House Part 1

 

 

Greetings in the Name of Jesus. This is Rob Haymes. This program is called 15 Minutes with Jesus. Today we are going to speak about the Lord's House. Let's turn to Zechariah chapter 6, verses 12&13, Then speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying: "Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of the LORD; Yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD. He shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both." ' Now let's turn to Psalm 127, verse 1, Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. Now let's turn to Matthew chapter 15, verses 8&9, This people draws near unto me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

We have previously spoken about The Foundation, at the direction of the Lord Jesus. The purpose for a foundation is to support a house. As Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, our foundation must be established on the Rock for the house to endure. It is not only The Foundation for each of our individual lives with God, it is also The Foundation for His House which He is building. It is also The Foundation for each local Body of Christ fellowship. Jesus establishes us on His Foundation. We must be established and built upon His true and solid Foundation. He is the Chief Cornerstone which the builders rejected. Let's go to First Peter, chapter 2, verses 1-7, Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believes in Him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner... Eph 2:19-22 , Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Eph 4:11-16, And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

The Lord's House is a habitation of God: a place for us to fellowship with Him and one another in Spirit and in truth. 1 John 1:1-10 , That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. Again, as I said, The Lord's House is a habitation of God; a place for us to fellowship with Him, and one another, in Spirit and truth. Jesus builds The House upon His true, solid foundation. Jesus is a wise Master Builder. He will first establish a solid foundation, and then He will build His House. He will not build it upon a faulty foundation. So, unless He is building the house, unless He initiates the work, the labor is in vain. The builders must be trained by Him and prepared by Him and sent by Him. If they are sent by Him they have His authority and direction to build the house as He is working through them. He will be glorified through the work. The builder of the house has more glory than the house. Heb 3:1-6 , Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but 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. Jesus must be the builder. He must receive the glory, as only He can bear the glory. The government is upon His shoulders. Isaiah, chapter 9, verses 6&7 , For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Is Jesus there? Is He in the house? If The House is built by Him, in His truth, and we are gathered together in His name, not a preacher's name, not a denomination's name, teaching His doctrine by the Holy Ghost, worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth, He will be there. Matt 18:20, For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." In the original greek it says, "Unto my Name". Wherever two or more are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst. When Jesus is there, the Holy Ghost will be there glorifying Him and the Father; the fear of the Lord will be there: Isa 11:1&2, There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. There will be true wisdom and understanding, true counsel, the power of God will be manifesting, and there will be true knowledge. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Words He speaks are Spirit and they are life. The truth will be spoken by the Holy Spirit. There will be life in the place, and in the people. There will be true love among the brethren. But if the people and their leaders harden their hearts and turn away from His truth to follow after lies and doctrines of men, then He will no longer be present; as He is the Truth. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Truth. So He will in no way be manifesting His presence and His power to confirm lies or justify sin in the house. He will be giving space for repentance, rebuking and chastening, because He loves them. Rev 3:19, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. But if the people refuse His correction, He will remove their lampstand and move on with those that truly love Him. Rev 2:5, Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place-unless you repent.

We must be established in the Lord's Foundation; keeping His Words, walking in them, not allowing ourselves to be offended; forgiving, loving, humbling ourselves in every situation, in order to be able to stand against the attack of evil when it comes. If we see ourselves hardening our hearts, we must humble ourselves and acknowledge it to the Lord, repent, and ask for grace to help in the time of need. The reason we harden our hearts is because of iniquities, self-love, pride, and offenses in us. As we humble ourselves before God and confess our faults, He will go about to forgive us and cleanse us, and we will overcome and be able to stand.

1 Cor 12:12-15 , For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? Verse 18, But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. Verse 25-31 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. 1Co 13:1-3, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. I have to say this, it is in my spirit: In John chapter 3, Jesus said, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The Bible says that Jesus loved us and washed us from our sins in His own Blood. It says in 1 John, Beloved if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. All 0f this works by love, as I have been saying in almost every message lately. The Lord's House is full of love: love for God; love for each other. We fellowship with Him. If we love God; Jesus said, If you love me you will keep my Words. If we love God, we will want to purify ourselves, we will want His House to be clean; a place where He is welcome and honored; a place where He is worshipped in Spirit and in truth. We do all of this; we enter into fellowship with Him because we love Him, and He loves us. He loves us. We know that. He proved it when He gave His beloved Son to die on the cross for our sins; so that we might enter into that fellowship with Him, and live with Him forever in His glorious Kingdom.

Interpretation of Tongues:
I am God Almighty. Those of you that are listening to this message: If you will humble yourselves, I will exalt you. You men that seek to be something in my sight; you must humble yourselves; you must lay down your lives before me, the Living God, and then I will exalt you, and I will raise you up; a true minster of my Gospel, says the Lord.
I am God! The Maker of Heaven and Earth. There is nothing too small or too great for me says the Lord.