I invite you to turn with me
tonight to Psalm 127. 127. This is another song sung by those
pilgrims going to Jerusalem. And as I read this I tried to
put myself back in that day. Do you ever
do that when you read the Bible? I like to try to imagine sitting
in that boat when the Lord came up and just stepped in the boat.
Wouldn't you like to have been sitting there listening to Him? And I started thinking about
these worshipers and I tried to put myself with those worshippers
making their way to Jerusalem. They were going there to partake
of the feast days, those typical feasts and ceremonies. And I
believe I can say, because I have the same feelings, I'm a worshipper
also. And the minute I started thinking
about it, I thought of something I haven't said yet about those. They were filled with anticipation. They just went once a year. Just
once a year. Brother Carroll, myself, the
folks in Kingsport, most of the grace churches will have a Bible
conference once a year. And you might think about it
along the way, but boy, when it gets a couple weeks away,
I get so fidgety. I'm just anticipating what it's
going to be. Who's going to be there? What
are they going to preach on? What's the Lord going to say?
What's he going to teach me? And you begin to anticipate these
things, and I think they did much the way we did. I know as
the holidays draw near, we begin to recall all those fond memories
like Thanksgiving. And I'll pull my iPhone out and
go back through them pictures, and here's this picture and that
picture and all the memories. And, boy, you just get filled
with anticipation, don't you? Well, tonight I want us with
as much anticipation as we can muster. We're still in the flesh. We grow tired. We grow weary. We don't know everything we need
to know. But we do know some things, and
I want us with as much anticipation as we can muster to learn a song
about the house of God. and he who built it. That's what
this song is all about. It's the song of the builder. A song about the Lord's house
and the Lord himself who built it. You quoted that scripture
about Peter. Thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. Peter, flesh and blood didn't
reveal that to you. The Spirit of God revealed that
to you. Then what did He tell you? Upon
this rock, I'll build my house. Huh? That's what this song is
about. They're going down to the house
of God. They're going to go down and
worship Him. And they start thinking past that old temple. They start
thinking past all them things. Now natural men, men with no
revelation, they come up and all they do is ooh and aah over
the building. Scripture's full of it, where
they stood up before that great building. And our Lord told them,
he said, well you tear this temple down, I'll build it back in three
days. They said this thing was 46 and a half years in the building,
you gonna rear it up in three days? Yes I am, yes I am. but it says he was talking about
his body his body, that's the house, ain't it? his body I'm going to rear it up in three
days and you know what it says? after he arose from the dead
his disciples understood what he said that day now we know
and boy could they write about it I've got four things, four verses,
if you will, to this song that I hope will fill our hearts
with wonder and comfort and inspiration. I want us to see this house being
built. He's building his house. He's
building his house tonight. He'll be building his house tomorrow.
He's building his house. And then I want us to see the
sure and certain folly of anybody but God building that house. And then I want you to see the
benefits of the house. Oh my soul, if you're not in
His house, you're not in His church. His house is His church. It is His body. What a glorious house. I used
to call a building the house of God. That ain't the house
of God. Myself. This church, that's the
house of God. And then lastly, I want you to
see who occupies the house. So let's begin here with the
house itself and the builder. And I want to begin with the
character of the house. It's a spiritual house. God's
house is a spiritual house. The Lord told the Jews who thought
a nation and a king and a physical land constituted God's kingdom, we'll vow at this time, restore
the kingdom of God. You don't need to restore it,
it ain't never been torn down. And he turned and he told them,
the kingdom of God cometh not with observation. You can't see. You have to have eyes to see
my house and my kingdom. He said in Luke 11 20, they told
him he cast out devils by the spirit of Beelzebub. And here's
what he told them. He said, if I, with the finger
of God, cast out devils, You know that the kingdom of God
is coming. The kingdom of God. Over in 1 Peter chapter 2, the
apostle speaks of our coming to Christ as coming to a living
stone. Disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God and precious. And he said, ye also as living
stone. are built up a what? Spiritual
house. And holy priesthood to offer
up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. The house that God is building
is a spiritual house. The materials in this house are
living stones. Men and women born of God, called
of God, given eternal life. I love what our Lord said to
those men. He said, God could of these stones
raise up children unto Abraham. And he did, spiritually. He did. that whole company of men and
women that God delivered out of Egypt some estimate in the
millions came out of Egypt a processional that went on for miles and miles
and miles he calls them Moses' house over
in Hebrews chapter 3 he said Moses was faithful over all his
house But Christ is a Son over His
own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the whole firm unto the end. And then in Ephesians chapter
2 and verse 19, listen to this. He said, now therefore, there's
some Jews out there and there's some Gentiles out there and there's
rich people and poor people and all. He said, now therefore,
you're no more strangers. See that epistle was written
to Gentiles. But he tore down that middle
wall petition. Now he just has one people. And
he said, now therefore, you're no more strangers and foreigners,
but you're fellow citizens with the saints and of the household
of God. And you're built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building, that's what we're
talking about here, in whom all the building fitly framed together. groweth unto a holy temple in
the Lord, in whom we're builded together for an habitation of
God through the Spirit. I was a builder for many, many
years. And the last of my building was
done in Lexington, Kentucky. That's the city of horse racing. Old, old money. Everybody, I
don't care what they built, the neighbor had to build one bigger.
And the last house I built, I built for my employer, and Southern
Living came out and I actually took it off of their featured
house, but I built it and we did a whole lot more to it. And
when I got done, Southern Living came out to look at it and did
a whole thing on that house. It was something else. It was
something else. But that house would be a shack
compared to this house. You remember the, what's her
name, came to see the Queen Sheba. She'd heard about Solomon. She'd
heard about Jerusalem. She'd heard about all these things.
She came to see it. And when she got done looking
at all of it, listening to his ministers, looking at his servants,
looking it up, she said, I have, but it's not being told. Now I'm telling you, there's
glory in the house. There was glory in that house
that I built. And I didn't know it until I
got it built. But the real glory goes to the
guy who built it, not the house. They'll come away, and my boss
used to tell everybody that come there, look, they do it all over
that house. He had a back patio, swimming
pool, fountains, rival, anything you ever seen in Hollywood. And
he'd tell everybody, this young fella right here built my house.
Built my house. And that's what the Lord said.
The builder of the house had more glory than the house. And
God built all that. but especially to build his house. Now watch this, 1 Corinthians
chapter 3 verse 9. Paul said, we are laborers together
with God. Do you believe that? Do you believe God's building
a spiritual house. There's nothing else to compare
to it. I couldn't even say with the
Queen of Sheba that the half is not being told. The tenth
hadn't been told. This is the most glorious house
that you could ever imagine. And he said, we're fellow laborers
with God. on this house. I don't know about you, that
makes me shame myself. You believe that God the Holy
Spirit works in his preachers and their labors together with
God? And that you, as the body of
Christ, support those pastors, and you, our fellow labors, with
God. Those who support a pastor whose
gospel preaching works in conjunction with the Holy Ghost, your fellow
labors with God. And Paul was so convinced of
this, that he said, I have begotten you through the gospel. Wow, wow. Are you with me so
far? We're talking about, I don't
have words to describe this house. And then he tells us this. Paul
tells them, other foundation can no man lay than that which
is laid. God is building this house. This
house is going to be built by his design and I ain't got any
input. I'm just a laborer. He said put
that there before they nailed it down and I go nail it down.
It's already been designed. The design of it is complete. When he's all done, they're going
to stand back. And they're going to look at
it like they did in Zechariah, and they're going to say, Grace
unto it. Oh, what a house. And the other
foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, Jesus Christ. Him and his people constitute
this building. And there's a sense in which
his house is complete in his eternal purpose of grace. You see, God don't have to wait
for things to happen. He declares the end from the
beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I'll
do all my pleasure. It done in the mind of God. I say, I don't know if I can
go along with that. Well, let me ask you something.
Back yonder in Genesis 2, God finished creating the world.
And He said, He rested. Didn't He know that Satan was
in the world? Didn't He know that in just a
short, short Satan was going to tempt Eve? And Adam couldn't
stand the thought of losing his bride? And he's going to partake
of that fruit? Didn't he know that all mankind
was fixing to be plunged under the curse of God? Didn't he know
that in a few generations every imagination of the thoughts of
man's heart was going to be only evil continually? Didn't he know
even after the flood and even after a restoration, a preservation
of man, That a bunch of men going to
get together and try to build a tower in the glory. A way to go to heaven without
God. Didn't he know that? Didn't he
know when he sent his son into this world that men were going to despise
him and spit on him and curse him and mock him? And while he's
hanging there so disfigured you wouldn't even know who he was,
and they're going to laugh at him while he's dying on the cross.
Didn't he know that? Then how could he rest? I'll tell you how he could rest.
I'll tell you how he could rest. He rested all things in his Son. That's right. was as complete as if it's standing
at the end in His Son. If you don't believe me, read
the book of Proverbs and you'll see Him rejoicing with the sons
of men before man was ever created. Isn't that something? Jesus Christ descended into glory
Brother Larry told us a while ago, Ephesians 2 verse 6, He
raised us up together with Him and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. That is the future, but we already
see it. Do you reckon there is any possibility
of failure? No way. No way. And these pilgrims were going
down to typical Jerusalem. John said he saw new Jerusalem
coming down from God out of heaven. They knew what believers did
in that day, knew what Jerusalem was. It was typical. It was a
typical temple there. And they went there to partake
of typical feasts by faith, understanding what these things represented.
Figures, it says in the book of Hebrews, for the time then
present. And what did they, we mean figures,
well they stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings
and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation. Patterns, he said, of things
in the heavens, Hebrews 9.23. Shadows of good things to come,
Hebrews 10. This house is a spiritual house. It's laid with spiritual mortar.
It's nailed with spiritual nails, and it's covered with spiritual
coverings. You can't see them. God has to
give you eyes to see. And it's a great house. It's
a one-of-a-kind house. It's God's house. Except the Lord build the house. And that brings me to the second
thing, the second verse of this song. They labor in vain who
build it. I can't save anybody. I can't even make them hear what
I'm saying. I can read it to them. Brother Mahan was preaching
the gospel and the church was getting upset, especially this
one deacon, and he couldn't stand it. So Henry determined that
morning he was just going to read in Sunday school class,
he was just going to read the book of Ephesians. And so he read it. And he got
down there, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.
And that deacon got up and he said, that's enough! He said,
I know what you're trying to do. And Henry said, I'm not trying
to do anything. Oh, don't tell me. I know exactly
what you're trying to do. You're trying to teach election
and predestination. He said, no sir, I'm reading
to you the word of God. I'm reading Ephesians chapter
1. Is election and predestination
what you got out of it? Because that's what I got out
of it. And he got mad. Walked out of
the church and never did come back. It's a great house. It's a one-of-a-kind
house. It's God's house. And they labor
in vain who try to build that house by themselves. Oh, I'll
tell you what we'll do. I'll tell you what. We'll form
a denomination. And we'll find other churches
with similar beliefs. And we'll come under one band. And we'll all get together. And then we're going to get us
a council together. And they'll be over all the churches.
And then we'll elect a president and a vice president. And then
we'll sit down and we'll figure out all the church laws and rules
and all this kind of stuff. We'll make some covenants. We'd
build a house. You're laboring in vain. Oh, this house requires a special
knowledge, special gifts, and special material. And you cannot
build God's house simply because you want to. Natural man don't even know what
God's house is, let alone how to build it. He told those Pharisees, tear
down that temple, I'll build it again. I don't even know where the spiritual
stones are, do you? I don't have a clue. That's why
if somebody calls me in North Carolina and tells me to come
preach, I'm coming to preach. I don't know where the stones
are. But he has them. And I'll tell
you what he told his disciples. Now people take this great commission
and they try to make that the foundation of universalism. God
loving all men. God wants everybody to be saved. That's why He did it. He did
it because they don't know where the stones are. You go into all
the world and preach my gospel. Well, how am I going to know
where the stones are? He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. I don't think baptism is all
that important, really. Then why did he say it? Are you saying it's necessary
for salvation? Nope. But I'm telling you the Holy
Ghost wrote it in there that way. You better take heed to
it. He tells his laborers, go ye
into all the world. Where will you lay these living
stones? These false builders called out
the Son of God. Peter said in Acts 4.11, this
is the stone which was set at nought of your builders, which
is become the head of the corner. Oh, I love that. I love it. Do you know in this building,
we're talking about coming to this building and God's building
it, and you're just spinning your wheels if you try to add
anything to it. He built it. But you can stand
behind the cornerstone and you can see clear back into eternity
past. Back yonder when God struck a
covenant with himself. I can see Moses wasn't around
when God created the world, but he wrote about it. How can he
do that? He's standing behind the cornerstone.
You can look right back into the past, you can see the creation
of the world, the light, what all these things represent, the
fall of man in the garden. I wasn't in the garden. And then you can turn this way,
Brother Carol, and you can look all the way into eternity future.
Huh? What a house. God's preachers preach a person. Paul went through several passages
of the Old Testament at Antioch. He didn't have a New Testament.
He was part of those who would one day write the New Testament. But he went through several passages
of the Old Testament at Antioch and then in Acts 13, 38 he said,
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through
this man is preached unto you the forgiveness
of sins and by him all that believe are justified from all things
from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses and then
he said something else beware beware that what the prophet
said don't come upon you Verse 41, Behold ye despisers, and
wander and perish. For I work a work in your days,
a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare
it unto you. They who try to build this house
labor in vain. This is God's house. God's house. And except the Lord build a house,
they labor in vain that build it. One of the last projects
I worked on for my boss, we put in a subdivision. Actually, we
put in several, but this was the newest one. And I told him
if he built two or three houses, it would start some activity
out there, and these other contractors would come in and start buying
lots and building their houses. Kind of like the carrot that
the goat chases and pulls the wagon. And so we built two or
three and this druggist came by and he said, I bought a lot. And he said, I'd like for you
to price my house. So we did. And he saw the price
and he went, whoa, no, I ain't going to pay that. He said, I've
got some money to build it. Go get it. You can't get away with nothing.
Everything has to be inspected, you know. Go get it. So he did. And I was out there doing some
finish work on that house, finishing it up. And I looked over there,
and that guy had never been on a piece of machinery in his life.
And he come out and started digging that basement. It was out of
square. It was awful. Awful. He run down. He hit a rock. down
on the bottom, so he cleaned out all around the rock. But
up there, you're going to hit rock. It's all rock. And you
have to blast it out or drill down and chip it out. You've
got to get down. Everything has to be, but he
didn't do that. And then he got down there, and he got some forms,
and he had that water going up and down and all around. And
I told my boss, I said, I'm telling you right now, that building
inspector is not going to pass that. And so the homeowner came out
and his man and they were standing in the front yard waiting on
the building inspector. And I saw him coming up the road
and I just kind of sat on the porch and watched. And the building
inspector come up and he rolled his window down and he took one
look and he rolled his window back up and he left them standing
in the yard and drove off. They labor in vain. They labor in vain. You've got
to look at it like you did Cain's offering and disregard it. The Lord has a house and he builds
his house with chosen material, fellow laborers, and the means
he has ordained. And it's a sure and certain folly
To build what only God can build and attempt to make it something
that is not designed to be. Alright, here's the third thing
I want us to see. The benefits of the house. Psalm
127 verse 2. It's vain for you to rise up
early. Stop bothering you. You can't sleep. anxious cares. Oh, they found something on the
x-ray. They only give me two months.
Something's bothering me. Boy, you're up. You're up at
30 o'clock. Can't sleep. It's vain to rise
up early. It's vain to sit up late. Can't
go to sleep. I'm working patiently. It's vain to eat the bread of
sorrows. Run around all day. Everything I do comes to naught. Does that surprise you? It won't if you know who you
are. It's banned to eat the bread
of sorrow. What's he saying? He's telling
you that the house of God is the most secure thing ever. Upon this rock I'll build my
church. Now listen, the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. Here come the floods. No, God
built his house on rock. He ain't going nowhere. Flood
water just go right away. It's the most secure place that
you could be And I ain't talking about a building, I'm talking
about a spiritual house that's represented by that local assembly. He tells us forsake not the assembling
of yourselves together because these little assemblies are just
little figures of the church. Well how's he build it? I read
it to you out of Ephesians 2. He builds us together. Isn't
that what that says? When we're fitly framed together. Can you imagine what the temple
would have looked like with all the stones still laying where
they were? All the cedars in Lebanon still
in Lebanon? What kind of a temple would that
be? And over and over He tells us
we're built together, fitly framed together. And when this thing is built,
you're inside this house. Oh my soul, there's no need to
worry. There's no need to worry. Why is His house so secure? Because that's where the Lord
abides. That's where He abides. In Exodus 25, our Lord said,
let them people make me a sanctuary that I might dwell among you. He abides in the local assembly
where two or more gather together in my name. I'm in the midst. I'm in the midst. And there's
no need for anxious worry in the house that God builds. One rainy night, there was a
young man out there, had a big old backpack on. Hadn't been
too successful and had his thumb out and it started pouring down
the rain. Rain just running down. A fella
comes along and a big old, one of them old 50-something Cadillacs,
built like a freight train. Pushes the door open, he said,
get in, friend. I'll take you as far as I'm going.
Get in. And so the guy does. He gets
in, and the driver's looking for traffic, and then he pulls
out. When he turns around, this guy's sitting like this in the
seat. And he said, friend, just throw
your backpack in the back. Oh no, he said, I couldn't do
that. I couldn't do that. He said, you was nice enough
to pick me up. I'll carry my own pack. We're in God's house. You won't
carry your own pack? Just put it down. You put it
down. He carried you and a bag. Isn't it? Yes, he is. Casting all your care on him. How much? All your care. For he carries for you. And since he's carrying us and
all of our burdens, doesn't it sound foolish? To leave the packs
on? Don't eat the bread of sorrows.
Don't wallow in your sorrows. Now, look at the end of that
verse, verse 10. For, here's why. He giveth his beloved sleep. Sleep. Oh, if you're in the house
of God, you can sleep. You can if you're not. The bed's
too short to lay on, the covers are too small to cover up with.
But you sleep in God's house. Hebrews 4, 3, We which have believed
do enter into rest. What rest? The same rest that
God rested in. In Him also We have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of Him
who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. That we should be to the praise
of His glory who done what? First trusted in Christ. I have the same rest God does.
Huh? Man, look what happened to this
world. He rested right through it. Rested right through it. Nothing is going to come upon
you that is not sin of God. And if He sins it, it is necessary
for you to add it. And it is for your good. And then lastly, let's just talk
for a few minutes about who occupies this house. Who lives there?
Can anybody go in? Who lives there? God's children. God's children. Heirs of God. Who lives there? All those called
of God and made meek to be partakers with enlightened saints. What
this house all about? It's all about God's children. Listen to this, verse 3 in our
text. Look at this. Lord, children
are an heritage of the Lord. Who's children? He ain't talking
about the children of the devil. You're a father of the devil,
the lust of your father. No, we're children of God. No,
if you're children of God, you love me. Children are the heritage of
the Lord. And the fruit of the womb is
his reward. I read this and I thought, what
on earth does all this mean? It took me forever. And all of
a sudden it hit me. Listen to this. As arrows are
in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that has his
quiver full of arrows. They shall not be ashamed, but
they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. What's the gate? Everything important that goes
on in the city is conducted at the gate. If an enemy purposes
to take that stronghold, he comes to the gate. And God's children,
God's portion, God's heritage, Paul prayed for the church at
Ephesus, asking God to open the eyes of their understanding that
they might know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches
of the glory of God's inheritance in the saints. That's God's heritage. And I tell you, you better be
careful how you talk to us. We're warned in the scriptures
about this. He said there, T-H-E-I-R. Their angels do always stand
before their father. You ever think about that? God
created a whole race of beings to minister to those who shall
be heirs of salvation. Ain't no telling how many times
angels have intervened in your life and you wouldn't even worry
about it. His children are his heritage. And they are as arrows in the
hand of the Almighty. In His hand and by His might,
He can set that arrow in that bowl and slay a sinner. Or He can put that arrow in and
put food on the table. Arrows in His quiver. Think about
it. And if necessary and called upon
to do so, they'll go to the gate. They'll go to the gate and they'll
get face to face. You'll get face to face with
somebody. I used to when I was young. I wanted to since, but
I got better since. But when I was young, I'd get
face to face. We'd go bellybutton to bellybutton.
Now what do you say? God's children will go to the
gate. Now Peter was wrong, but he pulled
that sword out. He's going to kill every one
of them people. He wasn't aiming for that servant
of the high priest here. He's aiming for his neck. They'll go to the gate. And he's not going to be ashamed
of any of them. Not any of them. You're going to be ashamed of
yourself, but in Christ God's not ever ashamed of you. Not
ever. And he said, if you're ashamed
of me, I'll be ashamed of you. I'm the father of three. I have
eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He said, happy is the man. Happy
is the man who quivers for. And nothing makes me happier
than to see them safe in my house and know that they love me and
know that I love them. Isn't that what God's saying
in the psalm? Happy is the man with a full
quiver. Oh, my soul. He said, no man,
Christ did, shall pluck him out of my hand. And even if they
could, no man could pluck him out of my Father's hand, who's
greater than all, and I am my Father one. Oh, great God of heaven, help
me to sing this song, the song of the bitter. Help me to sing about His foundation
and His glory in the house. For Christ's sake.