Okay, good morning. Would you turn with me to Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 16? These are words very familiar to us. I will read from the Authorized Version, the King James Version:
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter,
and upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Turn with me first to 1 Corinthians Chapter 3. This verse is sort of our theme verse—Verse 9, the latter part, again from the Authorized Version. It simply says:
Ye are God’s building.
Ye are God’s building. Chapter 3, Verse 9.
Now let us read more, beginning at 1 Corinthians 3:10-17:
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man’s work of what sort it is.
If any man’s work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.
Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye.
I want you to turn to Ephesians—another well-known passage. Ephesians Chapter 2; we will begin in Verse 19 and go to the end of the chapter, Verse 22:
So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone;
in Whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord;
in Whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
In 1 Peter—a book we have been considering together in our meditation—we will begin with Verse 4 and read through Verse 10. Our sister, you will remember, read some of these verses at the end of her prayer offering to God. This is 1 Peter Chapter 2:
Unto Whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious,
ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Because it is contained in Scripture,
Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious:
And he that believeth on Him shall not be put to shame.For you therefore that believe is the preciousness: but for such as disbelieve,
The stone which the builders rejected,
The same was made the head of the corner;and,
A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence;
for they stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light:
who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Let us pray.
Lord, we come to You again. In our response to You, we want to offer back those words of Peter in John 6, where he said, “Lord, You alone—You alone—have the words of eternal life. Where can we go?”
We submit to You. We want to hear Your voice. We want to dwell in Your house. We want the words You speak to come to us this day as we gather in Your presence.
Speak, Lord. What is the Spirit saying to the churches in this hour? What is Your word for us? Speak, Lord. As the ancients said, “Thy servant heareth.” Amen.
It has been on my heart—this thing, this theme, I think you must know by now—our corporate response to God.
We shared how God is always calling, and God is always looking for a response. You can see that tracked through the Word, from Genesis to Revelation, right through to the end. God is always calling, and God is always looking for a response from man.
We shared how this response is a twofold response. It is an individual response. We have to respond as individuals when the living God comes to us, manifests Himself, touches our hearts, and the Holy Spirit awakens within our dead spirit something that responds to God. We have to have a response. That is the individual response. It is vital—vital, absolutely vital.
But we said this response is not only an individual response. If you look through His Word from beginning to end, He was calling a people. He was looking for a people in and through whom He could manifest Himself, show His glory, and reveal Himself. That is the corporate response.
I do not know if you remember the theme statement, but repetition is a good teacher, so we will repeat it. This is the burden I left with you:
Without the individual response to God, the Christian life is impossible. You cannot begin without it. But it does not end there. Without the corporate response to God, the Christian life is incomplete.
I hope you see how these two are interwoven and connected. You cannot arbitrarily separate them. God is looking for the individual. He has called you by name, set His love and grace upon you, and when He calls you, He is looking for a response.
But out of that response, He is looking for those who will respond to His heart. There will be a corporate responding to Him, and that is what He is after.
Brother Nee said that the reality of what God is after today in the Body of Christ is a corporate response. I think that is where the burden lies.
This touches the heart of who we are and why we gather. This is the very reason we come together: that there may be a corporate response to God; that He may have a people after His name, under His headship, under His authority—not merely angels and powers, as we heard this morning, subject to Him, but His people subject to Him, responding to His grace and His mercy. This is what He is after: that corporate response.
I will not burden you too much with introduction, but at least a little. You would not feel normal if I did not, so I will.
We began with the first message: “The Body of Christ: Our Corporate Response to God.” You may not remember it all, but let me give you the headlines.
We shared on the privilege of the Body. Brothers and sisters, we are the most privileged people on the face of the earth. Can you imagine? The Lord does not merely call us His servants; He says that we are His Body—bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. That is a remarkable privilege, and it ought to create in us a response to Him.
We shared further on the principles of the Body. There are too many to cover in one message, but at least a few we should remember.
The first principle that governs the Body is the headship of Christ. Without the headship of Christ, there is no Body. Some people think the church is just a democracy, where anything goes. It is sort of like the day of the judges, when every man did what was right in his own eyes because there was no king in Israel.
But that is not what the church is. That is not what the Body of Christ is. In the Body of Christ, the first and most important principle is the headship of the Lord Jesus. It says in Colossians that, holding fast the Head, the Body increases with the increase of God. That is how the Body is built up.
We also shared on this repeated phrase in the Word of God: one body. I encourage you to study it. Over and over, it says one body. The Body is one, though it has many members. There is one Body.
We stand upon that ground: there is no division in the church. We refuse to accept it. We stand under the headship of the Lord Jesus, that there is but one Body. We take no other name but the name of the Lord Jesus. We come under that name, standing upon this principle: there is one Body in Christ, and we are part of that Body.
Then we concluded with the practice of the Body. Brothers and sisters, many people talk about the Body of Christ today, but it is just a teaching to them. In the Word of God, the Body of Christ is not meant merely to be a teaching.
There is teaching, thank God. But the Body of Christ is to be an organic, living, functioning, breathing organism—where Christ is in the members, His life is flowing in the members, and there is an expression of the Body of Christ.
As it says in Acts, He continues to do and to teach through that spiritual Body of His. If we are not functioning as members, then there is no corporate response.
This comes to the heart of so many problems in the church. There are those of us who have it up here, who know very well some teaching about the Body of Christ. But when it comes down to it, are you a functioning member in the Body of Christ? Have you found your place under the headship of Jesus, under that anointing? Is His life coming into you, and are you functioning along with those who are called as members of the Body of Christ?
We must press on. Last time, we began the second message on “The House of God: The Corporate Response.” We went through the first two parts, and I stopped short because I wanted to spend some time on this third part, which gets very practical.
The first two parts were these. First, we shared on seeing the heart of God for the house. God, throughout His Word, reveals His heart for His house.
You can begin in Exodus 25. When He first brought the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt and brought them to Sinai, the first thing He says after the law was given is, “Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”
If you look throughout the Word of God, in every recovery work of God, it is always the house of God that is at the center of things. God is after a people, and in that corporate response He is after a place where He can dwell in His people, manifest Himself in His people, and reveal Himself to the world: the house of God.
We need to see the heart of God for His house. You cannot read the Word of God without beginning to discover this secret, unless you are blind. From the beginning, when He calls a people, it is the house. When He moved sovereignly on Cyrus, king of Persia, it was the house He sought to recover. When He moves again, it is the house.
When He moved in David’s day, He found a man after His own heart. Not only do we need to see God’s heart for the house, but He wants a people who respond, into whom He can put His own heart. David seems to me to be the premier example.
In 1 Samuel 13, God says through the prophet, “I have found David, a man after Mine own heart.” God is after a people—those who see His heart and those into whom He can put His heart.
I believe this is the greatest commendation. In 1 Kings—I think it is Chapter 18; I may be wrong—when David was excluded from building the house, God nevertheless said of David, “It was a good thing that was in thine heart.”
I hope you understand this burden. If you are to understand the building of God, you must see God’s heart for the house. But it is not enough merely to see God’s heart for the house. We need that heart to come into us.
If you read Psalm 132—a tremendous Psalm—you see twice that God speaks of His desire for His house. At the beginning of that Psalm, there is a man, David, who had that same passion, desire, and heart.
It is no wonder that Acts 13 records that David served the purpose of God in his generation. I do not know about you, but I have made this a prayer: “Lord, do not let me be so busy that I do not serve the purpose of God in my generation.” This is my prayer.
God is looking for a man after His own heart. That is the response.
The second thing we touched on is seeing the Builder of the house. Sometimes we think and take too much responsibility for things.
Thank God, in Matthew 16, when the Lord Jesus first spoke of His church, He said, “I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Do you know the only psalm Solomon wrote—the builder of the temple—Psalm 127:1? It says:
Except the Lord build the house,
they labour in vain that build it:
Except the Lord keep the city,
the watchman waketh but in vain.
We need to see the Builder of the house.
Now, this is the last point we have come to today. Like the Body of Christ, the house of God is not merely some grand idea.
When you talk to believers, you somehow get the impression that the house of God is some grand plan that, one day—perhaps if you have enough faith—will be manifested. But we need to see the house of God being built. That is the third seeing.
Not only are we to see the heart of God for His house, and not only are we to see the Builder of the house, but we are to see the very house of God built in our lifetime. I think that is very important.
Sometimes we think things are merely great plans that will never be manifested. I will tell you a story. We spent last year in my company designing the Virginia Performing Arts Center—hours upon endless hours. I cannot tell you how much time we spent doing that.
It may never be built. It is a great plan, but is it only a plan? We have been sitting on pins and needles, so to speak. They are going to do something; they are going to build something.
But God is not just wanting to build something. He has a plan, a heart, and a vision. He builds according to that pattern—not merely something. It is not just a grand plan that He envisioned and that somehow, after all of us earthlings wear Him out with our unfaithfulness, He gives up and says, “I give up. It is impossible.”
Brothers and sisters, I cannot tell you how many times I have gone back to Matthew 16:18. If the Lord Jesus had not said, “I will build My church,” and had somehow said to Peter, “You will build that church,” how depressed we would be.
But thank God, His plan will be done.
Turn with me to Zechariah Chapter 4. This ought to be an encouragement. Zechariah, for those of you who do not know, is the next-to-last book in the Old Testament.
This is the Spirit of the Lord speaking through the prophet—not merely about Zerubbabel, so to speak. Zerubbabel, the governor in this recovery, is a type. This looks beyond Zerubbabel to the Lord Jesus, the Builder of God’s house.
Listen to Zechariah 4:8-9:
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house;
his hands shall also finish it.
Or, as your version might say, “The hands of Zerubbabel will finish it.” Is that not good news? To me, that is tremendous news, because I understand that what God starts, He completes.
He is not like me. Linda has an issue with me—I will tell you this; this is confession. I start things, get about ninety-seven or ninety-eight percent finished, and then stop. Fontaine does not do that, but I do it.
I do not know whether it is some psychological quirk that I cannot get over, but there is one piece of trim on our new office upstairs that we spent so much time building, and I cannot seem to find time to paint it. One piece of edging.
But God is not like that. He says, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; the hands of Zerubbabel will finish it.” To me, that is encouraging.
We are going to look at three things:
These are the things we want to spend some time looking at today.
Building is always a corporate venture—always. I think that is one reason I like the building industry so much. There is such confusion in it when you think about it. You bring all these trades together, and you think you can never coordinate them.
Yet somehow, all these levels, groups, trades, and expertises work together. The secret art of building is the coordination of all the effort so that, in the end, you do not build in chaos, but you build the thing that was intended. That is the simple secret. It is all about management.
In the end, what was intended to be built will be built. You will forget all the rest—the labor, the confusion, the difficulty.
If you have never been to a building site, it would do you well to go to one when you think about the church. We think the church needs to be this perfect little pristine atmosphere where there is no conflict and no turmoil. The moment there is turmoil, we are out of there—we are gone forever.
But a building site can be one of the nastiest places in the world. I cannot tell you the times I have been on sites wearing my bow tie and come home with black smudges all over my shirt. Linda has an issue with that, I will tell you.
It is a messy place, but there is building going on. There is conflict, but there is building going on. There is difficulty, stretching, noise, and issues, but there is building going on.
In the end, there will be a building that speaks of the glory of God.
We are built up together. When you look at the Word of God, you begin to see this little word: together. Over and over again.
Look again at Ephesians 2:20-22:
Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone;
in Whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord;
in Whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
There is a very important key here: we are built up together, a holy habitation for the Lord in the Spirit.
Let me put it in the simplest way I know: there is no building of the house of God unless we are together.
Take your computer Bible program, if you will—or, if you want to be more challenged, take your concordance—and begin to look at all the places where it speaks of being together. You will begin to understand that what God is after is, in fact, a corporate response. If it is not together, it is not at all.
I marvel at people who never leave their house, never meet with anybody, and say, “I am being built into the house of God.” Well, that is a miracle. I know you can telecommute, but you cannot telebuild.
We have more requests from engineers who want to telecommute these days. I do not know what it is with your generation. Maybe I am just old and foggy, but it seems to me that when you work, you go to work.
There is a phrase in the New Testament—I think it is in 1 Corinthians 12—“When you come together in one place.” Maybe I will just phone it in for Sunday. Would I have been there? Could I have been there? Would I have wanted to be there? Telecommuting spiritually.
This word together is enormous. Look at 1 Corinthians 11, dealing with the Lord’s Supper. It says in Verses 17 and 18 that you come together. In Verse 20, “when ye come together in one place.” In Verses 33 and 34, “when ye come together,” that you come together not for judgment.
It seems to me this word together is a huge word.
Let me illustrate. We will go back to the Old Testament. Most of you know the story of the dry bones—the valley of dry bones. I still remember the time Jerry spoke on the valley of dry bones.
In Ezekiel 37, it says:
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
And He caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
That is a pretty bad condition—dry bones everywhere. Then this question was put to the prophet:
Son of man, can these bones live?
That is the issue: a living, breathing organism that can manifest Who Christ is. That is what the Body is. That is what the house is.
Look at Verse 7. This interests me. I had never noticed this before. When they responded to the prophecy, the first thing that happened was this:
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
The bones came together.
The beginning—the first principle—of the building of the house of God is that we are built up together, a holy habitation for God in the Spirit. I cannot think of anything more important to say first.
The reason I am making such a big deal about this is because I think, subtly, an error is creeping into the Christian life. There are those who sound so spiritual when you talk to them. They say, “It is only about me and God, and that individual response.”
If they heard me this morning, they might say, “Brother, you are making too much of a big deal about the corporate response.” They might not even acknowledge me as brother. But I do not see how you can read the Word of God and say that.
There is an error: that only the individual response is important. Brothers and sisters, I believe that is false.
“Me and God.” I have said it before, and I repeat it again because it touches my heart so much. Brother Nee once went to England and came back from England—and I may not have the story exactly right. While he was in the presence of a dear old saint who was passing into the presence of the Almighty, that saint, coming in and out of consciousness, could only say, “I cannot live without my Lord.”
When our brother returned to China, the Lord expanded his understanding, and he said, “I cannot live without my Lord, and I cannot live without my brothers and sisters.”
Can you live without me? Well, sometimes Linda even thinks that, so it would be okay if you thought that. But the truth of the matter is, when we see the heart of God for His house, we cannot live without the Lord. He is first. But then we see that we cannot live without one another—together.
The writer of Hebrews addressed this. It was an old problem when it comes down to it. You know Hebrews 10:24-25:
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works;
not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another;
and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.
Apparently, these believers—and they were believers—began to develop a bad habit. That bad habit was that they did not think it was necessary to gather any longer.
But the writer of Hebrews, as he begins to come to the close of that book, says, “Do not forget this one thing: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the habit of some is”—and so much the more as you see the day drawing near, the day of the Lord.
I have some bad habits; you probably do as well. I tend to rub my eyes very hard when I am tired, which is most of the time, by the way. It drives Linda crazy—squishing eyeballs and rubbing so hard. She always says, “Would you stop? That is a terrible habit.”
Thank you, brother. She has a bad habit too: she rolls her eyes at me all the time. This ocular exercise she has taken to perfection. I always know, the moment I begin, that I do not have to go any further. It is the old eye roll. Our daughter has inherited it, honestly. Philip, I warn you.
We have bad habits, but this seems to me to be a habit unlike the very nature of God: just me, myself, alone—me and God. “I do not need the people of God.”
They became accustomed. It became a manner of life.
May the Lord deal with us. I have heard it even intimated here, brothers and sisters, that meetings are important. Well, if that is all you see, perhaps there is some truth in it. But I do not believe that for a moment when I read the Word of God and see the emphasis upon the building of the testimony of Jesus, and this repeated word, together.
If you see God’s heart, you cannot help but respond. If you see God’s heart, you cannot help but respond with those who love the Lord together. That is the whole thing.
I read something this weekend about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Many Christians know him for the book The Cost of Discipleship. But there is another small book he wrote called Life Together.
He detailed the necessity of the church functioning as a living, vibrant organism—what he called the community of love. Oh, how we need that.
This is really the first point. May the Lord help us. The second point is this: we are built up as living stones. Now, I think that is half the problem—we are alive.
Read again 1 Peter 2:4-5:
Unto Whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious,
ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house.
We, dear saints, are the material for God’s house. To me, that is an extraordinary thing when you think about it. This is the most important house that was ever built, and we are the material for God’s house.
Is that not extraordinary? Do you not think that should provoke in us some sort of response? God could have chosen any other material. He made everything, possessed everything, and could have incorporated anything as the material for His living house. But He chose you and me.
I do not want to counsel God, but sometimes, in my own way, I think He made a bad choice.
It says in Hebrews 2 that He did not lay hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham. What a privilege. You are the material for God’s house—the very material.
Sometimes we watch HGTV—Home and Garden Television. I do watch that on cable. They had this show called Dream Homes.
They take the very best material known in this world and put it into these fabulous dwellings. Therefore, the name dream home.
But think of it. This most important of all houses, this eternal abode of God—you are the material. I am the material.
As living stones, being built up, a spiritual house.
This thought is carried into Matthew 16, when the Lord first spoke of His church. You remember that He said to Peter—an error has come into Christendom over the years—after Peter’s revelation, “Thou art Peter.”
Notice that He did not call him Simon. “Thou art Peter.” Peter is Petros; it means a piece of the rock.
But because the Lord immediately followed this by saying, “Upon this rock I will build My church,” there are those who have thought that somehow He meant He would build His church on Peter.
The word rock is a different word: petra. I am not sure I have the Greek exactly right, but that is not so important. I like the way Lance puts it: if you look it up in the Greek interlinear or dictionaries, it says, “a massive rock.”
In other words, the Lord Jesus is that massive rock, and Peter is that building material. We are built upon Christ, as it says in 1 Corinthians 3—that foundation. No other foundation can be laid than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
He is the massive rock, but you are the petros—the little stone.
Let me say this about stones. Stones are useless in their natural condition. A stonemason here may disagree with me; there are many uses for natural stone. But God does not want stones in their natural condition.
First, stones have to be excavated, or cut apart from the rock. When I think of their being excavated from the muck of the earth, it seems to me that is a picture of redemption.
But then He does not simply take that stone as it exists, with all its natural characteristics, and put it into the building just as it is—just perfect, just as it was found.
God has to begin to work on the stones. No stone that does not come under the chiseling of the Master is built into the house.
I went down the other night to make a very late site visit after our Friday-night meeting, because it was the only time they worked on this parking deck. As I left, I went by the old City Hall in Richmond.
They were actually going to tear that building down in 1972 or 1973. Jerry and I worked for the city; that is how we met and began to fellowship with one another. We were transferred from the old aluminum building to the new City Hall monstrosity that it is. They have actually talked about tearing that down too, so they recently did beautification because it was so ugly.
But that old stone City Hall is beautiful. Go look at it sometime. Every stone is in its place. Every stone has the marks of the chisel on it. Every stone is shaped, fashioned, and fits perfectly into the building.
When you stand back from that building, you see the glory of that marvelous stone structure in all its carvings. It is beautiful.
I will never forget one day, in the Division of Structures, when I went into archives and found the original drawing of the old City Hall. That wise architect had detailed every stone.
From that pattern, that master mason chiseled every stone. Today we do it differently. We have computers, and we put one big note: “Stone.” We do not like this stone; we will choose another stone.
But every stone—we are living stones—God needs to chisel and to work.
Brothers and sisters, this is the reason we are here. If you have escaped the chisel, you will not be ready to be in the house.
There is a sense in which the message of the cross has been left out of modern Christianity. Let me put it this way: there are three aspects of the cross.
First, there is the cross in its substitutionary work. I think everybody understands that. The Lord alone did that work to redeem us.
Second, there is the cross in its inclusive work. I think a few understand that. You remember when Ben stood before us some weeks ago: there is that cross where we were in Christ and were crucified with Christ. Galatians 2:20 says, “Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” New life.
But there is a third aspect. The Lord Jesus, when He was on earth, said that if we are to be His disciples, we must take up our cross and follow Him daily. Otherwise, we cannot be His disciples.
I believe God wants to work in our lives if we are willing to say, “Lord, let Your cross do its work.”
If He can deal with all our natural energy, natural ambition, natural talents, and the things that come out of the ground just as they are, then He can mold us, transform us, and perfect us. Then we will be living stones, fitly framed in the house of God.
I think we spend more energy trying to get out of the cross than simply saying, “Lord, would You deal with me? Would You deal with me?”
I do not want to leave this life with no marks. Are there any marks? They are the loving chiselings of God.
Third point: we are built up a holy priesthood. First Peter 2:5 says, “a holy priesthood.” This is the only one that is repeated; therefore, I think it is important.
In Verse 9, it says, “a royal priesthood.” We are built up a holy priesthood. We are built up a royal priesthood.
Most people here know that it was God’s original intention, when He delivered the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, that they would all be priests.
Our corporate response relies upon this matter of the priesthood of all believers. We do not accept a sacred class and a secular class. We do not accept those who serve and those who do not serve.
We believe, according to the Word of God, “Ye are a holy priesthood. Ye are a royal priesthood.” This is what our corporate response ought to be.
The New Testament preaches, teaches, and makes clear that every believer is a priest. You remember when they came to Sinai. Because of their failure, one tribe, Levi, and one family, Aaron, became priests.
But when you come to the New Testament, you come to God’s heart: we are all priests.
Now we get back to the same place we were with the Body. Many of us know the teaching of the priesthood of all believers, but this is the question I want to impress upon you, leave with you, and make an issue of prayer:
Are you a functioning priest?
Are you a functioning priest? It does not matter if you understand the title or the principle. When it gets down to it, the house of God is built up through the priesthood.
The main question is: are you a functioning priest?
I went to a website—a blogosphere—and there was this acronym, RINO. It is not like the animal, the big ugly animal that waddles in the mud. It is not a rhinoceros. It is R-I-N-O.
I kept seeing it and wondered what it meant. It simply means “Republican in name only.” That is what it means. There are those who have the name, but that is all they have.
I thought perhaps this would be appropriate for the church. Maybe we could call one another PINO. What do you think?
It is humorous, but it is true. Are we priests in name only?
Do you always, when it comes to serving God and serving in the house of God, say, “Others will take care of that”? Then there is no corporate response. Often, we are priests in name only.
You young people, I understand that recently the Lord has touched your heart in a big way. If the Lord has touched your heart, it will be judged by this issue: are you a functioning priest in the house of God?
You may begin to say, “Well, I do not know what you mean by serving in the house of God.” Just look around. There are so many things to do in the house of God.
Sometimes I think we make a mistake. We train our children to believe that service is out there, far away, in some other place. It may be for some. But when it comes down to it, the corporate response God is after is our functioning as priests in the house of God.
You young people—and some of you older folks too; perhaps this sticks a little bit to you—begin to function. You may say, “Brother, what do I do?” There is so much to do. Open your eyes.
Let me share one thing. I know I am going longer than most of you want, but bear with me. This burden is really on my heart.
I will tell you this to my shame. Last year, we had a workday here at the fellowship. We only had two that whole year. It was not as though every weekend you had to show up with your lunchbox.
But we had a workday here at the meeting place to work around here. I did not show up. I called the brother afterward and said, “How did it go?” He said, “Five people showed up.”
I thought, “Lord, what are we spending our energy doing?”
You may not think that is very relevant or important, but I think it is very relevant. I remember when I was brought into this group some thirty-four years ago. I did not know what to do, but I had a passion to be in the house of God.
I remember that all I saw was the chairs at the end, and I made sure every week that the chairs were up. I made sure every week that the chorus books were picked up.
Sometimes it seems to me that we come to the house of God to socialize. But do we come to serve? Priests in name only.
This gets very practical. There are many practical things. Most of us like to divide service into what we call spiritual service or practical service. I do not think the Lord divides it that way.
When we come before the judgment seat, He is not going to say, “Brother, you did okay on spiritual service, but you were pretty lousy on practical service.”
You remember what the Lord said: “One cup of cold water given in My name.”
Look around. Look at the elderly who need help. Look at the mothers who need help. Look at the building that needs help. Look at the tape ministry. Look at the myriads of services and opportunities where we should all be functioning as priests.
Dispense with this attitude that someone else will do it.
You do not want to come before the judgment seat of Christ and have Him say, “You were a PINO.” I doubt the Lord will say that, but you get the point.
May the Lord help us to really see that if this house is to be built, we must be built up together.
May the Lord cause us to understand that we are those living stones. We are the materials.
May the Lord, in His mercy, show everyone in this room, young and old alike, that you are priests. You have been left here for some short season to serve Him and to serve His house.
Shall we pray?
Lord, we pray that Your Holy Spirit would really help us to apprehend these things in a right way.
Oh, to see what You are saying to us. Deal with each one of us. We do not want to leave this life with no marks. We want You to deal with us and shape us.
Bring us to the place where Christ is manifested, where we can be those living stones built in that spiritual house—a habitation for God in the Spirit.
Lord, forgive us where we have said, “Others will do it.”
Oh, God, show us the many needs, and cause us, who have been delivered from the bondage of Egypt, to come and to serve our God.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.