Living in God’s House

1 Ki 8:1 Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the City of David, which is Zion.

1 Ki 8:2 Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

1 Ki 8:3 So all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

1 Ki 8:4 Then they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up.

1 Ki 8:5 Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.

1 Ki 8:6 Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.

1 Ki 8:7 For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.

1 Ki 8:8 The poles extended so that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.

1 Ki 8:9 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

1 Ki 8:10 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

1 Ki 8:11 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

Approximately 3,000 years ago, something historic and amazing happened in the city of Jerusalem: the God of the Universe chose to take up residence among His chosen people. It’s important that we appreciate the historical context. At the time, the Israelites were unique in worshipping ONE God. The rest of mankind was worshipping a whole committee of deities: animal totems, ancestors, god-kings, earth spirits, and other varieties of polytheism, most of which, by the way, survive to this day in one form or another. But the God of Israel was the One God, whose name expressed His being: I AM. Solomon well understood the paradox of asking this omnipotent God to inhabit a physical dwelling. In verse 27 he says, “Will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!” And yet, that is exactly what God did: he came to live among His people, and while over the last 3 millennia the nation of Israel has been conquered, enslaved, dispersed to the ends of the earth, persecuted, and almost obliterated before being re-gathered in these last days, to this day if you visit the place where Solomon addressed the people of Israel, even though the place itself is only a remnant of its former glory, you will see devout Jews worshipping this same God, bringing their petitions to him, crying out to their God for mercy. Why? Because they believe the temple of Jerusalem was the dwelling place of God, and will be again.

What would it be like to live in God’s House? From the description we have in 1 Kings it sounds like it was more than any human could stand. But if we could live there, how would you describe it? In old testament times, you would probably say, “Terrifying”. Certainly to Solomon, it was awesome, glorious, but it was also frightening. In Isaiah’s visionary visit to God’s house he saw seraphim and cherubim standing eternally before God’s throne saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory!" He too was terrified – Woe is me, Isaiah laments, “for I am a man of unclean lips”. But the Psalmist paints a different picture: In Psalm 84 we read: How lovely is Thy dwelling place, Oh Lord of Hosts! My soul longs and yearns for your courts! How many of you feel like that? The psalmist says, “One day in your presence is far better to me than a thousand anywhere else – I’d rather be the doorkeeper to your house than to live the good life in the mansions of the ungodly”.

Each of us has the opportunity to find out. Actually, we have several opportunities. This morning I am going to talk about 3.

The first way to live in God’s House is to become His House. John 14:16-17: 16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. In Romans 8:11 we read: But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Paul is saying that each of us can become God’s house! In 1 Cor 3:16 Paul writes, Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? But, of course, you all knew that when any person acknowledges his or her need of salvation and accepts Jesus Christ as the only savior, that they become a new creature in Christ, with His Spirit living in them. Each of you who has discovered this wonderful truth is living in God’s house! So what’s it like for you? Do you get overwhelmed by God’s glory? Are you humbled by His mercy? Does he talk to you during the day? Are you touched by His love for the people around you? Are you humbled by His mercy? Do you have joy unspeakable? All of the above? Well, you’re not alone. But wait – that’s not all! You know, we often joke about people who live together so long they begin to look like each other? Well, in 2 Cor 3:18 the Bible promises that we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Living in God’s house makes us more and more like Him! Now, this doesn’t happen overnight – I have a long way to go, as Chris will confirm, but she has God’s promise, and she is holding Him to it!

One of the very best things about following Jesus is that you get to see miracles. Chris and I have a code word for those times when you realize that some amazing work of God is unfolding or about to unfold: we say, “We’re in miracle territory”. I love miracle territory. Its sort of like when you enter the Magic Kingdom at Disney world. The Disney people have worked hard to make you believe that anything might happen – but entry into God’s miracle territory is a free gift. You can go there anytime, and there are no lines. Most importantly, God really does perform miracles when his Spirit moves in.

[Personal experience with watching God enter the life of a family member]

There is a second way to live in God’s House: give your home, your apartment, your room, or wherever you happen to live, to God. Invite Him to take ownership! Bear in mind that when God owns your home He might decide to do something with it that you hadn’t expected, but I can promise you from personal experience that it will be exciting. Your home will become miracle territory. 1 Cor 16:19 The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.

Chris and I owe our salvation to one such home. In 1971 I knew my co-worker Bob Neulen was a pretty straight-laced guy. He wasn’t offensive, and he had a great sense of humor, but he never engaged in profane conversation or malicious gossip. If the subject came up, he would tell you straight up that he was born again. He surprised me one day by inviting Chris and I to his birthday party, so we got a sitter for Jeni and went. It was an interesting experience. Bob’s wife Jean was as sweet as Bob was nice, and all their other guests were friends from their church. No alcohol was served. Nobody smoked. We drank soda, swapped stories about our children, and now and then they all talked about the miracles God was doing in their families and the church. Chris and I felt like we had entered the Twilight Zone or something, – which of course, we had – and we liked it! Bob and Jean’s house was miracle territory. A few weeks later, they got to see the miracle God had planned all along when Chris and I answered an altar call and met Jesus for ourselves. The rest as they say, is history. Now our home is miracle territory – something amazing happens at least once a week, unless Chris has been really busy in prayer, in which case it may be every day.

This church is filled with homes like the Neulen’s, where God’s ministry proceeds along from day to day, week to week; where His Spirit empowers marriages and the relationships between parents and children; where God’s love flows out into the community in hospitality and generosity. I don’t say this in with any sense of pride, because it is God’s work, but the truth is, we have blessed homes! Miracles are happening in our homes because God lives there.

Lastly, I want to talk about God’s House in the traditional sense: the Body of Christ, or as its known locally, Cane Creek Baptist Church. One of the choirs’ favorite anthems is “How beautiful is the Body of Christ”, because it’s both a beautiful song, but also because we get to see it. I’m not talking, of course, about our church building, although I think it, too, is beautiful, but us. Romans: 12:5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Is God alive in Cane Creek Baptist Church?

It’s not a rhetorical question. Back in 1965, when a young preacher named Jack Ray was pastor here, a number of theologians proclaimed that God is Dead! They weren’t actually saying that God used to be alive and somehow turned up dead one Sunday morning, but they were saying that the idea of God, at least as we know him, was no longer relevant to our culture – and in fact, might be destructive. To the “God is Dead” movement, even if God does exist in some form, we are better off without Him. It should not be a surprise that, measured in terms of members / 1000 people, over the past 40 years only one major denomination has grown: namely the churches affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. So, I ask again, does God live in Cane Creek Baptist Church?

To answer that, I could just tell you what I believe, but in the end, its what you believe that counts. Or I can quote scripture: Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. But if you really wanted to know if God is alive, if his Spirit is at work, if Cane Creek Church is miracle territory, then all you needed was to be in church during the last month. It was just three weeks ago that we sat here and heard about several:

- An urban Presbyterian and rural Baptist churches united in Christ
    - 50+ people whose faith and fellowship have been strengthened

    - 50+ people who have lived the truth of Mathew 25:37-40
    - 12 families who know that Christ lives because they saw Him at work

- Our "walk-in" ASP volunteer neighbor
   - Young Thomas Holmes will never be the same

    - Erin Huntington's decision to join our church
    - Seeing the beauty of holiness in the lives of people you love

And I haven’t even scratched the surface – those involved could list another hundred.

Last week we heard from our youth about their camp experiences. Obviously, its something you have to experience to understand. We don’t know all that happened in their hearts, but I saw a number of walking miracles. Two of them live at my house, it its exciting. On the face of it, it sounded like the Kid’s club had the better deal – swimming and kayaking and crafts – pretty neat. Caswell didn’t sound all that exciting – from what Christopher told us, I gathered that he basically spent about 5 hours out of the day in church, and yet he can’t wait to go back next summer!! Now that’s a miracle!

These are happening because we are God’s House.

I think this is exciting and I want to experience more of it! One of the most provocative scriptures I know is John 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. If we believe that Jesus actually meant what he said, there’s no limit to what he might do here in His House.