The House of God

[Sam]

I don’t know how old this is. There is no copyright. It is on a cd that I have which contains writings of some folks who were known as Plymouth Brethren. I thought this was interesting. It sounds like something I’ve heard preached in Apostolic Churches.

Nine Features of the House of God

Just as every house has certain fundamental features, such as a builder, an owner, a foundation, certain materials, an occupant etc., so also has the house of God. In the Old Testament one could look at the Jewish temple, God’s House, and see gold, pillars, a holy place etc. However, in the New Testament, God’s house is spiritual instead of physical. As we have learned, God looks at His church as a house, for that is where He lives on earth, “the house of God which is the church of the living God,” 1Tim 3: 15. Following are nine dynamic spiritual features of God’s present day house:

1 Ownership
“the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood,” Acts 20:28

The church does not belong to any one group of people for they did not buy it. But the Lord Jesus Christ did. He redeemed it with His own precious blood. It does not belong to those who follow Martin Luther or those who happen to practice baptism, etc. Therefore, the church should follow the owner’s desires and not man’s desires.

2 The Builder
“Upon this rock I will build my church” - the Lord Jesus, Matt. 16:18

It is the Son of God who is the builder of the church. If it is important enough for Him to be involved in, shouldn’t we be also? It is not built by some religious council or by a democratic majority vote of delegates or members, but is to be built according to the builder’s blueprint – the Word of God. In 1Cor. 3, we learn the Lord Jesus entrusts the building (the outworking of truth) to the ones He has saved. He does this by uniquely gifting every believer, as the Holy Spirit chooses, with certain abilities for the purpose of building up one another. We are responsible, however, to carefully follow the Lord’s blueprint.

3 The Building Materials
“ye [believers] as lively stones are built up a spiritual house,” 1Pet. 2:9

Just as a house is built out of specific materials, so is the church - living stones, which are Spirit born believers. It is not to be built with a mixture of living and dead stones. Although the unsaved can listen and observe the church meetings, they are not to participate in the service or the spiritual activities. In the O.T., an ox (clean animal) and a donkey (unclean) were not to be yoked together when a field was plowed. The fulfillment of this is in 2C’or. 6:14-19 where God states that because believers are His temple they are not to be yoked together with unbelievers in spiritual endeavors.

4 The Occupants
“ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them” 2Cor 6:16.
“Christ in you,” Col. I:27
“In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit,” Eph. 2:22

Just as a house is designed to have someone living in it, so the church was designed to be the place where God the Father, Son, and Spirit live in and operate. The character of the people who live in a house, determines what one feels free to bring into it. Since God is holy, we should be very careful not to bring unholy things or bad habits into our lives and into our local assembly. “Holiness becometh thine house, 0 Lord, forever, ” Psa. 93:5. Warning -- “ If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

5 The Foundation or Rock
“For other foundation can no man lay that that that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1Cor 3:11

Just as every house must have a right foundation on which to rest thus keeping the house a solid unit; so the true church’s one foundation and common bond is Jesus Christ the Son of God. Peter calls the Lord Jesus the chief cornerstone, 1Pet. 2:6. The church is not to be built on a certain religious creed or tradition but on Jesus Christ Himself - His deity, His complete blood atonement for sin, His living authority as Lord and only mediator to intercede for sin. A group of people standing on a different foundation are not God’s true church but a counterfeit, no matter what name they go by or what else may be right. The foundation must be right or the house will not stand in the day of God’s stormy judgment, Mat 7:24-27.

to be continued