LOVE YOU IN THE LORD MINISTRIES
     RADICALLY OUTRAGEOUS FOR JESUS
Building the House   Dr. Rickey Honea, Th.D.

2 Sam 7:4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, 2 Sam 7:5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? 2 Sam 7:6 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. 2 Sam 7:7 In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?

As Christians I believe we have a duty and an obligation to build the Lords House. I see in this verse that God desires a house to dwell in. In the passage I believe we can make spiritual application if we look closely. I notice that God did not have house to dwell in since he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, or you could say since he redeemed them out of the hand of Pharaoh. Egypt is a type of the world in the bible and being so we can make this application. When God redeemed our soul, saved us, led us out of Egypt, have we built a house for him to dwell in, or have we just continued on as we were, we know God's there, we know he wants to do something, but we just haven't let him move in and dwell within us. We ought to build up our Spiritual house. I want to look at a few points both literal and figurative making application to building a house for God.

I. Build up the Spiritual House

1 Pet 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 1 Pet 2:3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Pet 2:4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 1 Pet 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

The Spiritual house will by far be the most important house we ever build. We may not live in fancy homes while we're here on earth and we may never have all the riches the world has to offer, and we may not have the designer clothes, but none of that really matters. Those things are temporal. You can work a whole lifetime to build a foundation built on wood, hay, and stubble, and in the end it will be all burnt up. Rather, we should work our entire lives to build up our Spiritual house, the one built on the foundation of Christ. I don't NEED a big home here on earth, I don't need all the riches of the world, because my Father in heaven already owns everything and I've got an inheritance waiting for me in the next life. An inheritance that will last an eternity. Not until the stock market crashes, not until the company downsizes, not until some crazy nut sues me and takes all I have. No. It is an inheritance eternal.

John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

I've got a home already prepared for me. I've got more riches in heaven waiting for me than Bill Gates and all the Wall Street gurus will ever have. We've got to get focused on this thing of building up ourselves Spiritually. We've got to learn to keep our mind on Christ. We've got to learn to separate time and eternity. Either live for time or live for eternity. Build up your spiritual house.

1. We need to be built up on the assurance of our Salvation.

John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

The bible says in this passage if it were possible to lose your salvation you couldn't get it back. Why??? Because you would crucify Christ again. Christ came to die only once for all mankind.

Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

Only one sacrifice was made and that one sacrifice was good enough to cover the sins of all men from time past, present, and future. The God we serve is powerful enough to cleanse our sin, and the blood of Jesus Christ was good enough to make atonement for my soul. When He saves, he saves to the uttermost. He didn't come and preach a gospel of works. If we could work our way to heaven then there never would have been any reason for Christ dying on the cross. Anyone who believes you have to work you're way into heaven is lost and wicked and caught up in heresy. They don't believe God, they don't trust God, they don't have any faith in God. They can go to church all they want but if they never trust Christ enough to save them to the uttermost I would have to wonder if they're saved at all. A person who believes in works salvation doubts that the blood of Christ was good enough to cover their sin. Every child of God needs to be grounded in the assurance of their salvation. It is essential to the foundation of our Spiritual house. If we are doubters of the blood then the foundation of our Spiritual house may as well be built on sand, always shifting and never stable. But the believer is known of God. Our God KNOWS who we are. Each of us here tonight, God knows those that are his.

John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Let's compare what this verse says about him knowing us to another passage.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

It doesn't say, I knew you at one time, and then you got lost. No, had these people been saved at one time the Lord God would have known them according to John 10:14. But he NEVER knew them. Amen. I'm so glad that God knows me and I know Him. This is the first step in building our Spiritual house.

2. Study to Show Thyself Approved

2 Tim 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

To effectively build our spiritual house we are going to have to be diligent in our study of the Word of God. How else can we learn the truths of the bible if we don't take the initiative to sit down and spend time searching the scriptures.

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

The scriptures testify of Christ. If we say we love Christ we should spend time in our bibles studying. We need to be workmen, not ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. We ought to be able to give answer to every man. There may be a time when someone has a question for you concerning spiritual things. Are you prepared to answer? If their soul was hanging in the balance, would you know enough scripture to lead them to Christ. How is your spiritual house tonight? Is it well tended. Is it in order. Have you studied to show yourself approved?

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

We ought to search the scriptures daily seeking knowledge of the things of the Lord. Even if we only spend a few minutes reading a passage out of the bible it will help us spiritually to keep our mind on Christ. Christ said:

Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

How do we learn of Christ? Through his Word, the Holy Bible. This is necessary to effectively building our spiritual house. Let's not forget at this point the reason why we are building our spiritual house. We are doing it for the Lord, so He will have a place to dwell in our lives, that He may abound in us.

1 Pet 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Not all Christians are going to be on the same level at any given time. New Christians should desire the milk of the word to grow. But anyone who has been saved any length of time needs to grow out of the milk and into the meat.

Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

I don't know about you, but I like to study the deep things of the bible and sit and just ponder on whatever I happen to be studying. I liked the milk, but sometime we have to leave milk behind. Paul was talking to folks that should have been teachers by the time he had wrote unto them, yet they were still on the milk. They were still as babes. I'm afraid that in our churches today that that is what we have. A bunch of babes in Christ still feeding on milk and not skilful in the word. And the sad part is that these folks have been saved for years and years but have never moved on to the meat. We need to study so that we KNOW our doctrine and why we believe what we do.

3. Gird up the Loins of your mind

1 Pet 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Something that can effect the building of our spiritual house is our thought life. If we are not guarding our thoughts then we can fall prey to carnal mindedness.

Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Mark 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: Mark 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Evil thoughts can defile a man. We must guard against these thoughts and refuse to let our minds dwell on them. Some say, well it is hard not to. No one said it was ever easy. It's something we ourselves have to guard against. We have to submit our thought life to the Lord to enable us to overcome evil thoughts.

Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

We have an example of things that we can think on. And as we think on these things we continue to build our spiritual house. We lay the foundation of salvation, we build the walls of our doctrine through study, and we decorate our house with pleasant thoughts.

4. The Armour of God

The fourth thing we need in our spiritual home is the armour of God. It is with this armour that we provide protection for our spiritual home.

Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Every good Christian soldier needs to be well equipped with this armour. We must have a defense for our spiritual house and the armour of God provides that.

5. Prayer life

The last thing I want to discuss in building our spiritual house is our prayer life. It is the roof which covers our spiritual house.

1 Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

Each day of our life we ought to communicate with the Lord. We have an open line to the Father at any given time. We as children have access to the very throne of God, and we can go before Him and commune with the Lord. What a thought!! That we as flesh and blood can enter into the spiritual throne room through prayer. I wonder why some can't seem to grasp the magnitude of the fact that God wants us to visit with Him. Paul said:

1 Tim 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

We read about lifting up hands and some Baptist folks get a little nervous. Afraid they might be branded a Pentecostal or something. But you know, if anyone has the right to lift up holy hands, it is those that are his children. Haven't you ever sat beneath the stars at night and while your mind is thinking about the glory and majesty of God, just lifted up your hands to the Father out of adoration. Or maybe in some other setting there was a time when you just lifted up your hands out of a holy reverence. These are the things that bring us near to the heart of God. These are the things that build up our character. These are the things that grow us up spiritually.

Phil 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

II. Build the Physical House

The second house I want us to look at building tonight is the Physical house. By the physical house I mean this house made of the dust of the earth in which we dwell. Our bodies. I believe that as we build the spiritual house some things ought to be happening in our physical house as well. We should bring the flesh into submission to the Lord.

1. Mortify your members

Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: Col 3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

That word mortify means "to put to death" in Romans and "to make dead" in Colossians. What it is telling us is that we need to put to death the deeds of the body. We need to quit living after the flesh. Now it doesn't say we are supposed to go out and kill ourselves, that isn't what it is talking about. It is making application to bringing the body under the control of the Spirit. In Colossians it says to mortify your members which are upon the earth. And it goes on to list the things we should mortify. Why?? Because if we don't then we allow the flesh to control the spirit instead of vice versa and when that happens you are only out to please self and not God. And besides these are the things that bring God's wrath and it said it was going to come upon the children of disobedience. Now these children of disobedience are those who are lost. If you want to see them just go uptown some Friday or Saturday night and you'll find them hanging out in pool halls, sitting on the side of the road, and running up and down the highway all night shouting obscenities at you as they pass bye. Let me just say to the young people you aren't missing a thing because these are the children of disobedience. We are the children of righteousness and we have no business acting like these others do. If you can't bring your flesh under control then somewhere down the line you mark it down, you're going to have serious problems. This ole flesh is allot tougher than what you think it is and if you give it a chance it will grasp the moment to try and overthrow the spirit. It doesn't like it. It's a constant battle and if you've never gone through the battle maybe the flesh is ruling your life right now and you ought to wake up and mortify the flesh tonight.

Mat 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Well, now it goes to getting sticky. It says they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. As Christians every day should be another day to bring our flesh into subjection. I don't believe it is something that just happens overnight but it is something that is perpetual. We should work at it every day to build our physical house for God.

2. Present bodies a living sacrifice

 

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

As we build our physical house we need to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Each day of our lives we have a responsibility to live holy and righteous. This is just our reasonable service. But we need to do this so that others might see the image of Christ in us. Why?

Some other verses that can be put with this are Rom. 6:6, Eph. 4:22, Col. 3:9

3. Your Body is the Temple

 

1 Cor 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Cor 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Our bodies are the temple of God. That is why we should be obligated to live a holy life. .If you read these verses closely it might make one a little tense because it says If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. I believe that once we become Christ's we become his 100%. And the place where God dwells is a holy place. Heaven is a holy place tonight and God dwells there. But God also dwells within us. We also are His temple and there are dire consequences for those who would defile the temple. And we need to be aware of this as we build our physical house for God to dwell in.

4. Watch the tongue

 

What is the one thing that can get us in trouble faster than anything else?? Our tongue. Maybe it's something different for you but for me I sometimes speak a little too quickly and the next thing I know I'm chewing on my shoe.

James 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. James 3:7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: James 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. James 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

All I can say is Oh Me! The bible is pretty explicit when it speaks of the tongue. How easy it is to just open up our mouths without thinking and out comes all kinds of things that we shouldn't be saying. Unless you're perfect, we're all guilty of saying things we shouldn't at times. We must guard our tongue so that we do not say things around lost people that we shouldn't. I can't speak for you but it bothers me if I think I may have said something around a lost person that would be a hindrance to the possibility of them being saved. And if we mess up, we can apologize with the same tongue that committed the offence. The tongue is a member of our physical house, and we can control it, but we have to be willing to tame it.

Eph 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Eph 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

The bible says that talking can be foolish. And it goes on to say that foolish talking is not convenient. But rather we should be giving thanks. Sometimes we are probably jabbering about inconvenient things when we could be giving thanks to the Lord. Many will say they do not have time to pray, but I challenge those to examine their daily routine to see how much time is spent visiting with someone about foolish things when they could utilize that time to pray.

5. Watch how you dress and what you look like

Now, if our bodies are the temple of God you would expect the dwelling place of God to be adorned in a holy manner as well. Now I don't think folks are going to see Christ in someone who can't dress modestly. Lost people expect Christians to act different and be different from the world. I hear the argument at times that says:

1 Sam 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

To which I like to respond that whatever is in the heart is going to work it's way out.

Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Mark 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: Mark 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Yes, it's true that the Lord looks on the heart, that's why we need to strive to be pure in our hearts. So let me ask you this, do you look like your heart?? Is your outward appearance a representation of the inward man. I don't care if a person doesn't have nice clothes, that's not what we're talking about. I'm talking about Christians that wear vulgar clothing and shame the cause of Christ. I'm talking about people who call themselves Christian men who have earrings dangling down to their shoulders. And something that is popular now is this thing of piercing the eyebrow. I don't think we would see Christ getting into body piercing. It is a shame that they are destroying the temple of God, IF he really does dwell in their hearts. They mockingly say, "God looks on the heart". Amen. He sure does and he sees exactly what WE see because of the way you dress and what you look like.

Another thing I can't stand are these t-shirts that Christian people wear that look like a Budweiser symbol until you get up close to it. Well, I've got a verse for those folks too.

1 Th 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Now the last time I checked abstain meant "to stay away from". And the last time I checked, beer was still an alcoholic beverage. And according to the bible that God uses, the King James Bible, alcohol was sin. So why do Christians want to be a stumbling block to others by wearing a shirt that is deceptive. It's wicked, it's wicked, it's wicked. What kind of temple are we providing for the Lord to dwell in. I don't want to be seen wearing anything that resembles a beer can. And there are other emblems out there too that the contemporaries have "christianized." Just be on the lookout for them and don't be caught up in this mess of sinking to the worlds level to be an effective Christian. It will never work. If you become as one of them, then they will never see any reason to be different.

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Our physical house needs to be presented in a holy manner. We need to remember to mortify our members. Present our bodies a living sacrifice. Be aware that we are the temple of God. Watch the tongue, and be careful to not give off an evil appearance by the way we dress and what we look like.

III. Building the Church House

Finally the third house I believe we need to be building for Christ to dwell in is the church house.

Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

We need to be faithful to be in Church as often as we can. The Church is a family and we need to be here to learn from our pastor and to be built up in the Word of God. God places a great importance on the Church. The Church has a great commission that it must fulfill.

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

As a member of a Local New Testament Baptist Church you are obligated to help build Christ's Church. He didn't say for us to never go anywhere, never baptize anyone, and never teach them. No, we have a great commission to follow. And we have a responsibility to one another as members of the Lords Church.

1. Responsibility to other members

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Eph 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

We have a responsibility to be kind to one another. And tenderhearted. These are simple characteristics of the Christian life. But it goes farther than that.

2. Responsibility to present a good testimony

We have a responsibility to present a good testimony, not only for our sakes, but for the sake of the Church. For the sake of one another. As brothers and sisters in Christ our lives should not only have a good testimony for ourselves but for one another as well. If you live like hell itself outside these doors for all the world to see, then you are damaging the testimony of other Christians and this church and ought to get right with God. I don't think Christ establishes a church just to be doing it. I believe he established the church as an organism that must be tended to, that must be maintained, that must be perpetuated until He comes to redeem us. And we have no right to try to put a blemish on something so holy. The Church is very important to Christ and we ought to treat it as such. Many people today think they can throw up any old sign that says "church" and be a church, but brethren that isn't so. Christ founded a Church and that church exists today as the Baptist Church. We have a responsibility to build this local church here for Jesus Christ. We're not doing it for money, we're not doing it for social standing, we're not doing it to provide some sort of dating service for hormonal teenagers, we're doing it for Jesus Christ and Him alone. He desires a house to dwell in. When we come to Church do we come here with the mindset that Christ never enters this place. Maybe we need to grasp the thought that every time we meet here Jesus Christ ought to be present. Do we think that, or do we just look upon church as a bunch of people getting together for a few hours to read a little bible and socialize.

Our desire should be that Christ would meet with us each and every time we walk through those doors. We are coming here to worship the Lord and in doing so we should expect the Lord to meet with us and instead of wondering if he will. We should come expecting a blessing rather than the attitude of "bless me if you can".

3. Responsibility to go soul winning

Another responsibility we have as Christians is reaching the lost. I believe the passage in Matthew said Go. We ought to go and make an honest effort to reach the lost. I believe God honors a Church that goes out together to knock on doors and pass out tracts. There are people out there we just have to go find them. And you know, God may be preparing a family to just drop in out of the blue because we were faithful to go out and spread the gospel.

4. Responsibility to obey your pastor

Heb 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

In building up a great Church house it must be full of obedient Christians. The pastor of a Church is he which must give an account of your soul. When he stands before the Lord, he will confess what kind of church member you were. Whether or not you were faithful in service or you were disobedient. Sometimes we don't like the idea of being obedient because it's one thing for Christ to be our authority in heaven, but to actually have a flesh and blood authority right here in front of us is another. Those who get uncomfortable with that probably has a little bit of a problem with self will still and needs to get that ironed out of their lives. It's the self will attitude that says "Well, who is he to tell me what to do?" Well, he is the man of God, he is the pastor, and he is the one who's going to have a little talk with Jesus about you someday, so you better learn to be obedient to the Word he preaches so that he can give a joyful account of you.

5. Responsibility to take care of the building

Finally, we have a responsibility to take care of this building we meet in. We ought to keep it looking nice and clean and tended too. You ought to wipe your feet before you come in, clean up any mess you make, and take care of the furniture. We ought to take as much care of this place as possible because it belongs to the Lord. It is the building He has provided for us to meet in and we ought to be thankful for that. Some churches have people who have no respect for the House of God and they abuse it, they tear it up, they stick gum under the tables, under the pews, they tear up the songbooks, they leave black marks from their shoes on the carpet. They just don't care. But if we really desire to build the Church house we will be sure to take care of it.

If any of these three houses that we can build for the Lord are not satisfying to our soul, maybe it's time we did a little construction and build the proper house for the Lord to dwell in.

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