Week 22: June 3, 2018

Topic: Building the House of God– Part 2

Bible Reading: Haggai 1:1-8

We shall continue our discussion with the commandments of the Lord concerning the building of the temple/church that were written in the Bible.

The Commandments of the Lord God

One of the commandments of the Lord our God is to work for Him; most especially by building a suitable house for Him where people can gather to worship Him. There is a song which stated that “I will use my money to glorify You; I will use whatever I have to glorify you Father; what profit will it be for me when I am in the grave; the dust of the ground cannot glorify You Holy Father.” Though many Yoruba people are conversant with this song and they usually sing it, but we are not sure that most of them fulfill the content of this song.

Find means and build a sanctuary for God: It is the commandment of the Lord to the Israelites saying, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them” Exodus 25:8. The same commandment is for Christians throughout the world, we must build holy temples/churches so that God can live among us. If the believers want the presence of God in their midst, then they need to build holy churches/mountains.

Whatever occupation that you are practicing, make sure that you find the means of building churches/temples for the Lord or rebuild the existing ones so that Almighty God may take pleasure in it and be glorified Haggai 1:8. Whatever career you are engaged in, it is your duty to find the money for the materials, and the skilled people (experts) to build or rehabilitate the house of God so that He will be pleased and honoured.

Dedication/consecration of the church: It is necessary and essential for Christians to dedicate any house that was built for the Lord. King Solomon dedicated the temple that he built for the Lord and God in His infinite power revealed His glory in temple during the process 1 Kings 8:5-11. If you want the glory of God to be revealed in your church, do not forget to dedicate it to the Lord.

Churches/temples built for the Lord must be sanctified or purified according to the Bible passage which stated that ‘And the Lord said to him: “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually”’ 1 Kings 9:2-3. If you want God to set your church apart as a holy place, keep watch over it and make His presence known/felt in your midst, make sure you sanctify your church. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God, says the scripture Leviticus 20:7. Therefore, do not misuse the house of God, but keep it holy. For this reason, proclaim to all the nations of the world that the Lord has appointed you to build a church/temple for Him at a suitable location and seek among your brethren who want to join you in accomplishing this task 2 Chronicles 36:23. You have been elected to build the church/temple of the Lord, so make haste to achieve this goal and do not disappoint God.

Use your wisdom and skills for God: The best thing that can happen to any human being is to use his/her wisdom and skills for God, else, they will be used for Satan. The Bible says God filled Bezalel the son of Uri with His Spirit by giving him great wisdom, ability and expertise in all kinds of crafts to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze; to cut and set stone, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of crafts. God appointed Aholiab the son of Ahisamach to be his assistance and filled the heart of every skilled artisan/craftsmen in order to make all that He commanded Moses concerning the tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the testimony and the rest Exodus 31:3-7. The Bible confirmed that the aforementioned people together with those who joined them used their skills, gifts and wisdom for the Lord by saying “And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded” Exodus 36:1. Emulate these people by using your wisdom, gifts and skills for God and not against Him.

Give your best willingly to God

Christians are obligated to give their best to Almighty God their Creator to prove their loyalty, and the Lord will reciprocate their gesture by making it to be well with them throughout their lifespan.

Do not belittle God: We must never belittle God, but exalt and magnify Him at all times for all His goodness in our lives. At no point in time must we belittle the Lord our God because of the vanity of this world. It is written that “And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was angry and his countenance fell” Genesis 4:3-5. If you want God to regard you and accept your offering, do not belittle Him but give Him your best.

The people of Israel brought so much material for the work of “The tabernacle of meeting” to the extent that the workers told Moses that “The people bring much more than enough for the services of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.” So Moses gave a commandment which was announced throughout the camp saying “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing any material because the materials they had, were sufficient and more than enough to complete the work Exodus 36:4-7. Whenever they are doing fundraising or other activities to build the house of God in your church, do they always realize sufficient and more than enough funds? Or are people tight-fisted?

Make provision for building the house of God: Making provision for building the house of the Lord is one of the ways to please God so that He can shower His blessings upon you.

King David made provision for building the house of God with all his ability. He provided gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, precious stones, and marble in abundance. He cheerfully gave all the materials because he was delighted in the house of God and devoted to it 1 Chronicles 29:2-4. Do you have the desire to provide for building the house of God? When King David asked the people saying, “Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?” The leaders and the people gave their best willingly for the work of the house of God 1 Chronicles 29:5-9. Who among you will follow the example of King David by cheerfully give offerings to the Lord today?

Strive to build house(s) for God: King Solomon sent messages to Hiram King of Tyre to make necessary materials needed for building the temple of the Lord available to him 2 Chronicles 2:3-4. King Solomon also proclaimed that the temple which he was building will be very great because our God is greater than all other gods 2 Chronicles 2:5-6.

Since you know that our God is superior to all other gods, and He is above them, build a huge and befitting church for Him. Do not forget that God love a cheerful giver, so do not give grudgingly, but willingly give your best to the Lord 2 Corinthians 9:7.

Reasons to build the house of God

There are several reasons to build or rebuild the house of God and we shall briefly mention the major ones.

House of Prayer: Prophet Isaiah prophesied that the house of God will be called “a house of prayer for all nations.” Which means, we need the church/temple to assemble and pray to God Almighty so that He can solve our problems and turn around our lives positively Isaiah 56:7.

Jesus Christ demonstrated the fact of this statement when He drove out the people who are trading in the temple and confirmed this statement by saying “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you have made it a ‘den of thieves’” Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:45-46. From these Bible passages, we can conclude that we need a holy place where there can neither be buying nor selling; a place where people cannot conduct any social activity, have sexual contact or sexual relationship. We need a building where we can serve the Lord with gladness and come before His presence with singing Psalm 100:2. For this reason, show appreciation to the Lord for all His goodness in your life by entering into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Always be thankful to Him and bless His holy name Psalm100:4.

People need to worship God together: Believers need a building where we can worship God together in unity. We need a place where we can be corrected when we make mistakes and spiritually nurture through the testimony together with the experience of others. It is inevitable for Christians to have a place where they can be counseled and edify their faith. We need a building where two or more people can gather together in one accord in Jesus Christ name, so that He will be in our midst and answer our prayers Matthew 18:20. If there is no church/temple to assemble, how are we going to fulfill the scripture which says we must not forsake to assemble together as believers? Are we not going to neglect the meeting of the saints? Hebrews 10:25. Since the day of Christ’s return is approaching we need a place where we can comfort and encourage one another.

Awesome place to have fullness of joy: Jacob identified Bethel as a holy place because he felt the presence of God. When he woke up from his sleep, he said “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it! He was afraid and said “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” Genesis 28:16-22. The Book of Psalm corroborated the fact by saying, “How lovely is your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts!” Psalm 84:1. We must realize that only God can grant you eternal joy and the pleasures of living forever with Him because “In the presence of God there is fullness of joy Psalm 16:11. If you want fullness of joy abstain from misconducts; most especially when you are in the church or its premises. Whenever you are in the church, behave yourself so that God can give you the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to the Bible passage which stated that “But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before Him” Habakkuk 2:20.

Glory of God resides in His temple: God instructed Moses to construct the tabernacle of meeting where He can instruct Moses and display His glory. God performed similar feat during the dedication of the temple built by King Solomon. The Bible stated that as people were singing and thanking the Lord, the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, to the extent that the priest could not continue ministering because of the cloud that descended and fill the temple together with the glory of the Lord which filled the house of God 2 Chronicles 5:13-14.

Prophet Ezekiel attested to this fact by saying, “The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple Ezekiel 43:5. For this reason, be on the lookout for the glory of God in His church/temple because Jesus Christ the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple Malachi 3:1. Watch for the revelation of Jesus Christ our Lord in your church/temple if you are obedient to His commandments.