I love that hymn. I love to sing
it. Speaking of loving the house of God, I'm not speaking of a
building. I'm talking about the people of God, the church of
God, the place that He's chosen, the people He's chosen to put
His name there. Call them His sons. Call them
Christians. Christ's disciples. Go back to
1 Kings 8 with that. What we read there in Psalm 122,
wasn't it? They loved the peace of Jerusalem,
His people. A great peace they'll have. Look at verses 20 and 21 again
with 1 Kings 8. The Lord hath performed his word
that he spake. And I, Solomon, am risen up in
the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel,
as the Lord promised, and have built a house for the name of
the Lord God of Israel. And I have set there a place
for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with
our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt." A
house for his name and a place for the ark. That's what the
church is. Solomon is the one speaking here. Son of David. King of Israel. Builder of the temple. But a
greater than Solomon is of whom this speaks, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God, yes, Son of David, but Son of God, King of kings
and Lord of lords, the builder of the Lord's church and temple.
Solomon said, I have built a house. And the scripture says, except
the Lord build the house, they labor in vain. We, God's people,
the church, are His building, His temple, His workmanship. And unless the Lord does that,
you can try all you will, but you can't build a church. You
can't build ourselves up on this most holy faith. The Lord has
to do it. There was a man named Paul Thacker years ago. You know
his wife who comes here occasionally. But the Lord led him to build
a building down in Pikeville, Kentucky. The Lord, in His amazing
providence, sent a flood through Pikeville and wiped out how many
bridges? Twenty-seven bridges or something
like that. These little low-lying bridges. And wiped them out.
A flood. And Paul was a contractor and
got the contract for all of those bridges. And with the money from
that flood, he built the church house. before they had any people,
before they had a pastor. But like David, the Lord said
to David who wanted to build a house for the Lord, a temple. David wanted to build his temple,
but God said, no, you won't do it. Your son will do it. But
God said, you've done well in that you wanted to build a house.
You've done well a house to my name. And Paul did well, didn't
he? But unless the Lord built a house, unless the Lord bring in the people. There won't
be a church there unless the Lord raises up a pastor. There
won't be a church there. Well, He did. He did. You know
Brother Tom Harding and some of the people there. Everything
that man builds is going to be torn down. But what the Lord
does is forever. He's the builder and He's the
foundation. Scripture says, other foundation
can no man lay. He's the one who builds his church
and he's the one on whom the church is built. He's that chief
cornerstone. He said to Peter one day when
he asked the disciples, who men say that I am? And Peter said,
Thou art the Christ. And he said to Simon Peter, Blessed
art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
this to you. That is who Christ is. but my Father which is in
heaven. And upon this rock, that is,
Christ Jesus, I will build my church." Every one of his people
are built on Christ the solid rock. All other ground is sinking
sand. All other ground is sinking sand.
But those built on the rock shall forever stand. And the gates
of hell, he said, won't prevail against it. How is the church
going to last built on crime? How are we going to last built
on crime? He said in verse 20 that the
Lord, I built a house according to the promise of the Lord and
our Lord who came, the Lord Jesus Christ came according to the
scriptures, didn't he? He lived, he died, he arose according
to the Scripture. And he's the one who built this
house. And he built it, look at verse 20, a house for the
name of the Lord God of Israel. A place for the ark. A house for a name. A dwelling
place for the name of the Lord God of Israel. That's talking
about the living and true God. There's only one God. Hear, O
Israel. Speaking to the people of God,
that's the true people of God. Israel, Jacob have I loved, that's
Israel. Esau, hear O Israel, the Lord
our God is one God, is the one true God. A house for the name
of the God of Israel, the living and true God. All other gods
are no gods at all. The God of Israel. He says he
built a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. And remember
Solomon down there in verse 27. He said, Will God indeed dwell
upon the earth? Will God dwell in buildings made
with hands? Well, David's the one, I believe,
that wrote that and said, God dwelleth not in buildings made
with hands. And yet, he did. We have the story that
when God said, I will, I'll dwell there. And did not Christ say, where
two or three are gathered together in my name, that's where I'll
be. The heavens can't contain him. He that sitteth on the circle
of the earth, will he dwell in a building made with hands? No.
Yes. You know, when the Lord, He first
gave the tabernacle, the tent, which is a good picture of this
tent that we dwell in and the visible church that we meet in
now. It's all going to be folded up
like a vesture, isn't it? It's not going to last, is it?
But the temple that He builds is in glory. This new man, you
can't destroy him. But at any rate, that old tabernacle,
when the world passed by, all the Hivites and the Hittites
and the Jebusites and so forth, and they looked down at that
brown tent, badger's skin covered brown tent, hairy tent down there
in the valley that kept moving around. They saw no beauty in
that. And if somebody said to them,
that's where God dwells. And the people of Israel would
say that, wouldn't they? Sure they would. This is where God
dwells. This is the place where God is. The Shekinah glory of God is.
All the acceptance of God. This is the only place that God
will meet with His people. This is the only place that God
will speak to His people. This is the only place you can
know God and see God and be accepted by Him. This is it. And they
scoffed at that, didn't they? They scoffed at that. Well, what about this little
building here? A little hill on top of a big river. What about
this little brown building, little red brick building? Many people
say that God is with us, don't they? I saw that on a so-called
church bulletin board recently. Where was I? Oh, up in West Virginia. And it said on the board, God
is here dwelling with us. Everybody says that. How do you
know? I'll tell you how you know. Well, God tells us how we know.
It's a place. A house for the name of the Lord
God of Israel where he is placed for his ark. That's how you know. That brown skin tent down there,
that's where the name of God, the true God was declared and
inside that ark there was something vital that you could not know
God or be forgiven by God or accepted by God except by that
holy thing. What is it? Right inside the
heart. That's what the purpose is. You
prayed that prayer determined not to know anything among you.
It's not a church. It's not a house of God unless
His name is declared there, His honor, His glory, His person. And right in the middle is the Ark. Christ and Him crucified. That's how you know. May it be so with this little
house. May it be so. If it's not, God will shut the
door. It's not his house. If it's God's
house, it's for his name. What's his name? Well, it's his
name. It's for his name, not man's
name. Some wrongly called the temple of old Solomon's Temple,
didn't they? It's not Solomon's Temple. It's the Lord's Temple, isn't
it? Solomon didn't design it. It wasn't for his honor and glory. It's for the honor and glory
of his Lord. You know, the Passover was called the Lord's Passover,
wasn't it? He said, this is my Passover.
This is all about me. It's for my glory and honor.
Your salvation, yes, but my glory and honor. Well, when finally, Ichabod was written over the
door of Israel. Christ came and they didn't recognize
Him. They despised Him and rejected
Him. He came to His temple. They said, get out. You know what the Passover was
being called at that time? The Jews' Passover. You know
what the temple was called? The Temple of the Jew. The Jewish
Temple. The Jewish Temple. How many places
today bear men's names and even women's names? St. Peter. Would Peter allow a church
to be called by his name? Would Martin Luther? Huh? Oh,
no. That's why I don't even like
the term Baptiston. That's why we change it. Because
that's not what we're all about per se. You know, years ago when
Some of you began to meet in the basement of this building. And you didn't know the Gospel,
did you? But finally, the Lord built the building. When was
that? What year was that? This erected on top of the... 1963 is when you start meeting. 1967 erected this building. And they put a plaque on the
corner out there with the man's name on it. He didn't know better
at the time, did he? He does now. If the Lord doesn't
build this place, if it's not for His name, His church won't
stand either. It's for His name. A place, a
house for His name. His name. What is His name? The
Lord. Look with me at Exodus chapter
3. Anytime you see the name LORD
in all capital letters, You know what that name is. Jehovah. Often in Scripture, the name
Lord is capital L and in small letters, O-R-D, which means sovereign,
with Sir, sometimes Sir, a name of respect. But any time you
see the name capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, that's
Jehovah. Jehovah. And he told Abraham,
he said, I wasn't known, or he told Moses, I wasn't known by
Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. I was known by the name of God
Almighty, but by my name Jehovah, I was not known. Well, right
here is that name. In Exodus 3 verse 14, Moses asked
him, whom shall I say has sent me? What is thy name? And he
said, verse 14, God said unto Moses, I am That I am. Thus shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel." That's who are going to know that. I am
Jehovah. I sent you. Jehovah. That's a distinct name.
A distinct name. There's no mistaking, although
men don't know His name, there are many who use that name, but
they really don't know what it means. There are a bunch of witnesses
so-called out there who don't know His name or don't know Him.
What does the name Jehovah mean? What does it mean? He said it,
I am that I am. That means eternal. Not I was. I was, or I was God, the Lord
God. I was God, and now I'm different
in the New Testament than I was, or I will be if you let me be
God. I am, always was, always am,
always will be God, eternal God. Never change. He doesn't change.
That means He's immutable. Never change Him. Malachi 3.6,
he said, I am Jehovah, I change not. And boy, the sons of Jacob
need to be real glad. You're not consumed, he said.
Why? I don't change. And when I made that covenant,
the sheer mercies of David with you, and I sent Christ to pay
for your sins, nothing and no one can change
what I've said and done regarding you. Jehovah. Those that witness so-called
of Jehovah, they really don't even believe in Jesus Christ.
He's not their salvation at all. I'll tell you who knows Jehovah.
Those that trust Christ. Christ said, did not Christ say,
if you believe not? Brother Henry, you and I love
this verse, don't we? When we first really saw it,
John 8, 24. He said, if you believe not that
I am, you'll die in your sins. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is very God of very God? Jehovah? Oh, flesh and blood
didn't reveal that to you. But the Father which is in heaven.
You're a house for His name. You're the temple of the Lord.
Yes, you are. And so is every church or gathering place or
congregation where His name is known, eternal, immutable. Does
it not say in Hebrews 13, verse 8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever? I am that I am. I don't change. Call his name
that. Jesus. What does the name Jesus
mean? Jehovah's Saints. Jehovah's Saints. We are Jehovah's
Witnesses. Yes, we are. Jehovah Sidkenu. Some fellows came to witness
to me of Jehovah one time, and I asked them that question. Do
you know the name Jehovah Sidkenu? I said, no, we haven't seen him.
I said, well, do you know the name Jehovah Ra'ah? No, we haven't
seen him. Do you know the name Jehovah
Ra'Pah? No. Jehovah Nisi? Jehovah Shalom? No. I said, well then, I do. I'm Jehovah's Witness. I know
his name. And that of whom I spoke is Jesus
Christ. Jehovah Sidkenia, the Lord our
Righteousness. Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our
Peace. Jehovah Ra'ad, the Lord our Shepherd. Jehovah Father. You see, there
are three that bear record in heaven. Jehovah Father, Jehovah
Son, and Jehovah Holy Spirit. But these three are one. Jehovah.
They don't change. Holy Spirit, Son, Father, they're
all Jehovah. And this house, The house that
was greater than Solomon built was for his name, the Lord. The Lord God. The Lord God. Jehovah God. Look there in our
text. The Lord God. That's who this
name, this house is for. The Lord God. God. God. Creator. Sovereign. Ruler. Controller. Many use that name,
don't they? And God said He wouldn't hold
them guiltless or use it in vain. And it's being used now. God's people don't use that name
carelessly. Oh, my God. We only use that name. We do
say that, don't we? Oh, my. Better be from the heart
and not from the lips only. Or in vain. Or in blasphemy. His people know His name. It
says, The Lord God of Israel. Of Israel. That's the elect,
isn't it? Jacob have I loved. The Lord chose Isaac, not Ishmael. The Lord chose Jacob, not Esau. He's the Lord God of Israel.
Our Lord came to the woman at the well that day. And she said,
our fathers worshipped here. We believe this. We have many
faiths. You say this. We have many faiths, but one...
No, no, no, no. He said, you know not what you
worship. You don't know the God, the true God. He said, salvation
is of the Jew. Remember that? Salvation is of
the Jew. He's elect people. God of Israel. A house for His
name. A house for His name. That means
for His glory and His honor. His glory and His honor. When
you do something in someone's name, you do it for their glory
and honor. If you have a so-called birthday party or memorial service,
you do it for that person's honor and glory, don't you? That person
and you name their name. Every funeral. It is proper and
fitting, I think, to give a eulogy. before the message. And that's
good. You say something about that person and you keep speaking
their name and talking about their virtues and character and
so forth, as it should be. It's in their honor and a memorial
for them. What's this house all about?
What's everything all about? What's worship all about? For
the honor and glory of our God. And when we meet in this house,
this building, every time, See, this is our Father's house. We sing that song, don't we?
This is the Lord's day. This time is reserved at all
times for the Lord. This is His house, and His name
is the one we honor. His name is the one we glorify. And a house for His name is a
house in the reverence and fear of Him. Psalm 111 says, holy
and reverend is his name. That's why I detest and despise
the term reverend. And we didn't learn that, did
we, until years later. Men were called reverend. They
didn't know better, really. But we do now. Psalm 111, verse
9. Holy and reverend is his name.
The one we fear and respect and revere is the Lord God of Israel. We call Him, Reverend, Holy Father. You know how a person uses His
name, tells whether or not they fear Him and know Him or not?
Fear does. And a house for His name. Our
Holy Father. And a house for His name means
a house in love to His name. joy and rejoice in his name and
great gladness to say and hear that name proclaimed. The name. When I say a name,
if you love that person, it will give you joy and gladness, if
you love that person. If I say Gabe Stoniker, I see some smiles. Some. Yeah, all now. You say a name
of someone that you love, and Stan Anderson, John Smiley, Sam
Smiley, they love you. You say that name. You say a
name, it invokes that person. It makes you think of that person,
doesn't it? Those that love that name, that
person, when you say their name, it brings joy and gladness to
their heart. Illustration. When my grandchildren hear that
I'm coming over, how do they act? Excited. Paw, paw. That may not mean anything
to you, but it does to them. And buddy, when I come and they're
standing at the door waiting on me, and I watch them mouth
those words through that glass, they love me. How do you think that makes
me feel? I will lay down my life for them
without even thinking about it. All of my earthly goods are theirs. Let such as love thy name. Let love thy salvation. When
I say the name of our God, when I say the name of His altogether
lovely Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, does that give you joy? And gladness. I was glad when they said unto
me, let's go to the house of the Lord. You love somebody,
you love to go to their house. You love for them to come to
your house. That's the nature of love. This house is a house
for the name of the Lord God. And a house for His name is the
name. And the name of the Lord is to
have faith in His name, to trust His name. The name of the Lord
is a strong tower. Psalm 9, verse 10 says, they
that know thy name will put their trust in thee. Some may like the sound of the
name. It has a good ring to it. But those who know His name,
the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd. The
Lord is my right. The Lord, Jehovah, doesn't change.
The Lord, Jesus. Call His name Jesus. Why? He
shall save His people from their sin. My Savior. My Lord and my
Savior. Christ. Messiah. Substitute. Representative. Covenant Head.
Daysman. Atonement. Wisdom. Righteousness. The Lord Jesus
Christ. You know that name. You'll put
your trust in Him. All your trust. All your faith.
Not everyone that saith, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom. Because they draw near with their
lips. Oh, but if the Lord puts it in our hearts to know His
name, to trust Him, everyone who fears Him, everyone who trusts
Him, who loves His name, the Lord Jesus Christ, it shall be
well with them. And it says, nothing shall offend
them. to invoke the name of the Lord, a house for the name of
God, the Lord God of Israel. And when we come here, we pray,
don't we? This is a house of prayer. Our Lord said, My house
shall be called a house of prayer. Well, who do we call on? Whose
name do we invoke? Whose name do we call on? St. Peter? St. Christopher? St. Mary? Oh, no. There's one name. Only one name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. And when God hears that
name, He said, I'll hear you. I love them that love My Son.
And our Lord said that one time to His disciples. My Father loves,
because you love Me, He loves you. And you ask anything in
My name. He'll hear you. And it's not just with the lips,
it's with the heart. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. And we call unto our Holy God, O Father,
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. In
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, pardon my transgression for they
may. In the name of the person and the work and the blood and
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, O Father, please
meet with me. Please bless me. Please bless
me. He'll hear you. He promised. He promised. Invoke the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this house, O Lord God made
this house, this little brick building up here be always a
place for the name of the Lord God of Israel, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And verse 21, and he says, I've
set there a place for the ark. And I didn't deserve enough time,
I'm determined to shorten these things up, to say less and really
with saying more. But a place where his ark is,
a place for the ark. Solomon, in verse 1, it says,
Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribe,
and they all gathered to Solomon. What were they doing? What was this all about? Why
did he gather them? To bring up the ark. Keep saying that. To bring up
the ark. Our Lord said, if I be lifted
up, I will draw all men unto Thee. Christ and Him crucified.
To bring up the ark. It will resemble in His name
by the Lord Himself all that the Father giveth me. The great
Shepherd will call on me. He said, They'll come to me.
To do what? To see Christ high and lifted
high. What was that ark? What was that ark? To most, it
was just an old box. Ain't nothing to that. To God's
people, it was salvation. That ark inside was the covenant
of the Lord. All the mercies of David were
right there. The mercies of David. The sure
mercies of David. Sealed up and covered with blood.
Inside that ark, the testimony of the Lord, nothing else, the
testimony of the Lord. It was a golden vessel on the
inside were all the promises of God that were yea and amen
in that ark. Inside that ark was the will
of God, the Word of God, the promises of God, the salvation
of God written down. Christ is that ark. On top of
that ark was a seat, a mercy seat. It wasn't a place for sitting
down, It was a place of rest. But it was a place where the
blood was poured on that mercy seat. The blood that made atonement
for the soul. And every time that ark was used,
blood was poured on it for the redemption of the people's sin.
Christ is that ark. In whom are all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. In whom are all the promises
of God. On whom is the mercy seat that
we trust. Christ and Him crucified. By
whose blood we have redemption. By whose stripes we are healed.
In whom is all the love, the mercy, the grace of God. Solomon assembled the elders
to bring it up. And our Lord said, if I be lifted
up. So they took it up. They took it up. And it says,
verse 5, they brought it in. They brought the ark in to the
holy place, the holy of holies. Does not Scripture say that we
have a place, a building not made with hands? A sacrifice not of bulls and
goats and lambs, but by His own precious blood. He entered in
not to a tent or that temple's gone, but into heaven itself
there to make an atonement for His people. And when he had by
himself purged our sin, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness
of sin. It says, look at verse 10, that
when the priest came out, the cloud filled the house. Verse
11, and the glory of the Lord had filled the house. Had filled
the house of the Lord. when a message will be glorious.
You know, when we'll see His glory. If the Spirit of God moves
like He did on the face of the waters. If the Spirit of God,
who is that cloud, takes the pains of Christ and shows them
unto Christ our ark and blesses the message to you to see full
redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ. you won't be able to
stand. That the glory of the Lord will
fill your heart and fill this place. So Solomon said, that's
what he said, I've built a house for the name of the Lord God
of Israel. And I've built a place to set
the ark there. And it must be so. It must be
so if this is to be the Lord's house. And I thought about this. And this message will mean nothing
to anyone unless the Lord does something with it. I thought
about this, young, old and young. God's people themselves are called
the temple of the Lord. He said, you are the building
of the Lord. Christ in you is the hope of
the Lord. A place, we hope, where His name
dwells there, His glory and His honor. A place for the ark. And unless God shows us, every
one of us, old and young alike, unless God makes us for His glory
and His honor, we live our life. But in these tents, these tabernacles,
we'll live our lives, all our lives, for ourselves, for sin, for the world, and don't
know His name and aren't for His glory, we'll fold it up like
a vesture and cast it out. But if God chose us. that we
are made, like all things, for His glory, to give Him honor
and glory. How many people go a lifetime
without even thinking of God, without giving God a thought? And unless we see Christ, unless
He is in our hearts by faith, unless we see Christ and Him
crucified, unless we see that the reason The reason God put
His Son on that tree is for sinners like me. And unless He is my
substitute, God's going to cast me out. That temple of old, when the
name of the Lord was no longer there, it was the Jewish temple. When the Passover became the
Jews' Passover. And it was all by lip service,
and there was no heart in it, and there was no more blood.
Where's the Ark after all this? Read it for yourself. When they came and tore down
Solomon's Temple and led the Jews captive, took them to Babylon. Later on, Zerubbabel rebuilt
it, but there's no mention of the Ark ever again. No mention. So it was a hollow
place. It's just a building. There was
nothing to it. And when the Lord, the Ark came,
John, the Ark did come. By the mercy and grace of God,
here comes the Ark into His temple. Once again, He wasn't there.
It wasn't there. It was gone, but He came. Oh,
my. And a blessed few saw the Ark's
back. And like the people of Israel,
when David brought the ark back, they all danced with joy. Some
of the people, they shouted when the Lord came into town, blessed
is He that the ark has come back. Salvation is with us again. And
that's what we are for, human beings. That's the only purpose.
Only purpose. Not for ourselves. He makes Himself known. Go home
and ask Him to make Himself known to you. Show me thy glory. Reveal your Son in me. If not, I have one in my mouth. Either have the Son or have the
lie.