“A
Spiritual House” By Associate General Pastor Hubert Ulysse April 29th,
2018 1
Peter 2:1-5 Wherefore
laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies,
and all
evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word,
that ye
may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To
whom
coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God,
and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual
house, an
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by
Jesus
Christ. May the Lord
bless the portion of His Word for the edification of our souls, and for
His
Glory. Thank you, you may be seated. This letter
was written by Peter to Christians who were scattered, and being
persecuted.
And, he wrote them to remind them that they are a privileged people. He
wrote
to them to encourage them, and then he reminded them that they were
redeemed,
they were redeemed by the Word of God. They were redeemed by an
Incorruptible
seed, which is the Word of God, and that's why in verse one, in First
Peter,
chapter two, verse one, it says, “wherefore,” so, if you go to chapter
one,
it's continuing. Whenever you're reading the Bible and you see
wherefore, you
do need to go back to understand. Why? Because, they were redeemed by
the Word of
God, an uncorruptible Word, and then it says: 1 Peter 2:1-2 Wherefore
laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies,
and all
evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk… Well, by saying
this he assumes that everybody understood what does it mean when a baby
desires
milk. Right? What do they do? Do they just wish they had some milk? Do
they
just, you know, do a soft request for milk? I'll tell you right now
they cry
about it; they want it, and they are going to get it. Until they get it
they
keep on crying. They are persistent. So he says, “…as newborn babes,”
to have
that desire. And, we went over desire pretty much this trip. Desire is
not like
just a soft wish; desire is something you're after it, you want it.
Okay? But,
it says the sincere milk of the Word, so there is milk, and there is
sincere
milk. Oh, yeah, just because you want milk doesn't mean you'll drink
any
anything. What, you're not going to check to see if it's expired? You
don’t
check to see if it's good for you? Milk can hurt you, you know that,
right?
Very quick. So he's talking about the sincere milk. And, we all know
that the
sincere milk is the pure Word of God; that's what it is. “…That ye may
grow
thereby,” we may grow thereby. Remember, we went over where Peter told
the
Christians to add to their faith, right? Add to their faith, and, he
says if
these things be in you, and they abound, then that will make you so
fruitful (2
Peter 1: 8). And, so, that's how we grow. We are—we grow into
salvation. It's
like a baby is born, right? But, to get into maturity, they need that
milk, and
that supervision, and all that kind of things in order to grow into
maturity.
It's the same thing when we are born in Christ, we say we're saved, but
we are
growing into salvation. Okay? “If so be you have tasted that the Lord
is
gracious…” If you have tasted, if you have tasted that the Lord is
gracious
you're going to do all that. You're going to desire the sincere milk.
And, it
says to whom—who is this whom? Whom we place here? Verse four: To whom
coming,
and we go to verse three again: “If so be you have tasted…” who “…is
gracious?”
The Lord. To whom coming, who is this whom? Coming to the Lord. To
whom, he
asked them to come as unto a living Stone. Who is a Living Stone? The
Lord. “…Disallowed
indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious…” Now, I just want to
get your
attention to the word coming, here. In Greek, when they read that word,
it
that's something a little more than the way we may take it. This
drawing nigh, coming,
had the meaning of come with intent to stay. It's not coming to check
Christ
out. It's not coming to check the Lord out, to see what you can get out
of it,
it's just like you come, but with intention to stay. So, when he says
come, to
whom coming, they understood it's like he's saying coming and we're
coming to
stay in the Lord. Okay? So, here it means to stay in the presence of
Christ in
an intimate communion. In John, fifteen, one, John, fifteen, verses one
through
eight, I'm just going to read verse four for you, Jesus said: John
15:4
Abide
in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except
it abide
in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. So, that's
why, in order to bring any fruit, you have to come and abide in Christ;
you
have to come to stay, you cannot just come temporarily. You have to
come to
stay in order to bear fruit, okay? A branch cannot come to the tree and
say,
I'm just going to stay for a couple of weeks and see. No, that's not
the way it
works. You stay there and get fed. And, then you grow. And, continuing
in verse
five, in verse five it says: 1
Peter 2:5
Ye
also, as lively stones…. Jesus Christ
was the Living Stone because He was dead and Resurrected but when we
are in
Christ we are Lively as well, because we have our life in Christ. Okay?
Now, as
Christ was chosen by the Lord, because He was disallowed indeed by men,
but He was
chosen by God, it's the same way we also are chosen by God. Actually,
the Bible
says no one can come, Jesus Himself said no one can come to Him except
the Father
draw Him. Right? And, plus, He told his disciples you have not chosen
Me, but I
have chosen you (John 15:16). Actually, even in First Peter, in his
introduction, in verse two--First Peter chapter one verse two, Peter
called
them, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…” (1
Peter 1:2) So,
that's how special they were they were not just by accident. They were
elect.
And, not only elect, but they were elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the
Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and
sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2). When you come to Jesus,
there is a
process. So, if you find yourself in this room, take it seriously. You
have a
calling. That's been established long, long ago. So, Christians are so
intimately identified with Christ that the very Life of Christ is
present in
them. The very Life of Christ. So He is the Living Stone, we are the
living
stones. Okay? Actually, in Colossians, three, one through four, it says: Colossians
3:1-4
If ye then be
risen with Christ, seek those things which are
above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your
affection on
things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead [right?], and your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with him
in glory. Remember
what Paul said? He counted himself
faithful. I mean, he says he thanks the Lord for counting him faithful,
and
putting him in the ministry (1 Timothy 1:12). So, God put you in
Ministry; God
put me in Ministry. We are chosen. Actually, I think in Psalm 127,
where it
says except the Lord build the house, what happened? You'll build it,
but in
vain. So, you can come to church, you can do whatever, but, except that
calling
is there, oh, anything you do, really, if it's by your own power, you
will do
it, but it will just be in vain. So, he
continues to say, “Ye are built up a spiritual house,” and that's where
we get
our title, as Lively Stones, we are built up a spiritual house (1 Peter
2:5),
so God is creating a spiritual house by placing all the Believers, you
and I,
grouping us, and activating us into the Life of Christ. That's what
He's doing.
That's what He's doing. Hebrews, three, four six: Hebrews
3:4-6 For
every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is
God. And
Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a
testimony of
those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over
his own
house; whose house are we, if we hold fast [If we hold
fast] the confidence and the rejoicing of
the hope firm unto the end. You don't
come to check him out, and leave. If you come to stay, you don't take a
break,
build a house, and, after that, take it and get out, the brick is for
the
Builder, it stays there. It stays there. So, what God is doing, He's
building
us. We are stones. I'm sure we've all experienced seeing those workers
using
stones. Do they just take the stone and place it? What do they do? They
measure
it, and then they have something like a chisel to cut it and make sure
it's fit
for the spot. And, they place it. And, the one that's fit to one spot
will not
necessarily fit to another spot. Because it is made for that special
spot. So,
if we are stones, and God is building a House with us, guess what is
happening?
You think He's easy with the chisels, and just cutting us? No, it's not
easy.,
So He’s—when you feel uncomfortable, when you feel like brothers and
sisters
are bothering you, or anything you feel that, that's the Chisel, God is
making
you and I. No, you're laughing, it's not a joke. No, I'm just kidding.
Yes, it
is true, God is working in us. I love this song, I'm not a song person,
but the
song, it says God took so many days to form the world, and the stars,
and
whatever, but he's still working on me. Still working on me. That's
what
happens every day, every time you feel something is bothering you, and
this
brother, you know, he just—you are impatient and he's just—God is
working on
you, because He building a House, He is building a House, and we need
to pay close
attention so that you don't run out, because, you know what? sometimes
the
worker takes a stone and just tap it, and the whole thing falls apart.
What do
they do? They'll throw it out. They'll throw it out. So, if God is
working in
you, and God is trying to shape you, and then you just break down, then
just
move aside. You were chosen, you may be in the pile to be used, but
you're no
good. So, even though you were chosen, you still were put aside because
you're
not firm enough, you collapse with the first tap. Okay? And then after
He just
tap you and shape you, and that's when He used to cement, to seal you,
eternally. Ephesians two, Ephesians two, verses eight to twenty-two.
I'm going
to read for you eight to ten: Ephesians
2:8-10
For by grace are
ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should
boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them. You can
continue for yourself, but in verse eighteen: Ephesians
2:18-22
For through him
we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellowcitizens with
the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the
foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner
stone;
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy
temple in
the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God
through
the Spirit. That's what
we are. All those stones separately, when we come together we build a
habitation for God, through Jesus Christ. So, when you are here, you
count. I
remember, that probably a couple years ago, Greg Bozarth took me to
Williamsburg, and then they give us a tour, and then the tour guide
asked us a
question: “How many bricks it took to finish this building?” Like, how
much—can
you guess how many bricks it took to finish this place? Just guess.
Nearly a
thousand? Everybody give a number, and the answer was, one. It took one
to
finish, that's all it took. To finish a building, is one. And, what I
get out
of that, is every one of us count. Without one of us, the building is
not
complete. So, if you consider yourself like a stone, then you count.
And, the
building is not complete without you. And, he continues to say in verse
five, we
are a holy priesthood. Anytime you say House of God, you must see the
priesthood. Now, Moses built a house, which is called the Tabernacle.
And, this
was commanded, that wasn't his choice. And, God told him exactly how to
do it.
David wanted to build the Lord a house, but the Lord says, “No. Let
your son do
it.” So, Solomon build Him a house. But, between the Moses house, and
Solomon's
house, there were things in common. Right? Like what? It has the Holy
of Holies,
where the priest offered to sacrifice. It had the Holy of Holies, where
the
priest would come every single day, to offer sacrifices. Actually, you
could
not come without the sacrifice. Okay? The sacrifice was coming, the
Holy of Holies,
you find that. And you also had the High Priest who would come once a
year. So,
it was coming. So you have these two houses, but there was a third one,
the
Holy Ghost build his temple in us. We are, we are the Temple of the
Holy
Spirit. We are. We are the Temple of the Spirit, and you know what?
And, we're
still the priests, because it says we are. It says we are an holy
priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (1
Peter
2:5). So, not only we form the Temple,
the House of God, but we are the priests, we are the priests. Now, when
Solomon
built the temple, you know it was wonderful, it was great. In Second
Chronicles,
chapter six, verses one and two, Solomon said: 2
Chronicles
6:1-2
Then said
Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the
thick darkness [That is the Lord
said that he would not live among men. He will
live by himself]. But I have built an
house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever. Okay, the
Lord says He will not dwell among men, but this guy built Him a
beautiful home.
He has a concern. In verse eighteen, in verse eighteen, he has a
concern: 2
Chronicles
6:18
But will God in
very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold,
heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less
this house
which I have built! Yes, that's
true, I spent all this money, I made You a sacrifice, I built this
house, but
will God accept this house? Will God truly come and live in it? You
know, these
words, I love them, about what money can buy. Yeah, his money made a
beautiful—
you can buy with your money, you can buy a house, right? But what
cannot you
buy? What cannot you buy? You cannot buy the home. You can buy the
house, but
you cannot buy the home. You can buy medicine, right? Can you buy
health? No.
So, there are many things your money and your sacrifices can have you
to have,
but there are things it cannot help. So, after he built this beautiful
house,
he said, “Oh, my goodness, now there is a concern. Will the Lord even
live in
it?” Then, in Second Chronicles, seven, one through four. Now, the rest
of the
chapter, chapter six, he had a long prayer, long prayer, begging the
Lord to
accept it. And, in chapter seven: 2
Chronicles
7:1-2
Now when Solomon
had made an end of praying, the fire came down
from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and
the glory
of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the
house of
the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. That's a
sign, the Lord says, “Yes, I got it.” 2
Chronicles
7:3-4
And when all the
children of Israel saw how the fire came down,
and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with
their
faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the
Lord,
saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. Then the king
and all
the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. And, in Second
Chronicles, chapter seven, still, starting at verse twelve, pay
attention to
this: 2
Chronicles
7:12
And the Lord
appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I
have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an
house of
sacrifice. For an house
of sacrifice. And he continues, and that's where we get the key verse
that we
say a lot: 2
Chronicles
7:14
If my people,
which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked
ways; then
will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal
their land. So, that's
what He promised. Now, this should remind us what is the purpose of the
house
of God. The purpose of the house of God is for sacrifice, because the
priests
could not come without sacrifice, and you and I, in the house of the
Lord,
there must be sacrifice. My house shall be a house of sacrifice. But,
the first
question, “Yeah, we build Christ a church, we are the temple,” but,
have we
asked ourselves the question, “Will God live in my house?” Will God
live—“Yes, Lord,
we are Your church, we are Your temple. But, I am concerned, Lord. Are
You in
me? Are You in our church?” Because we know the building will not
impress God.
Much noise will not impress Him. But, God's acceptance depends on its
function.
God's acceptance to the House depends on what the House is used for.
His House should
be a House of sacrifice. Anything good in life calls for some kind of
sacrifice, you agree? Anything in life. If you want a good marriage,
you think
it's just going to come? Think you can just pray for it and it will
just fall
down from Heaven? What if you want a great degree? If you want a degree
in
anything, you just go to the mountains and pray and it will just come
down?
Think about it. Imagine anything you want to imagine. Even if you want
to be
lazy, it takes some sacrifice to find a place to sit down. Anything
good,
anything you really, really want, requires some sacrifices. But, for
us, it's
talking about offering spiritual sacrifices and it's good for you and I
to know
what are those spiritual sacrifices, which are many, many, many. I'm
just
giving you an idea. Okay? Obviously, spiritual sacrifices are not
sacrifices
that you would offer for forgiveness for sin because this is done;
Christ did
it once for all. You're not doing anything—anything you are doing is
not for
salvation. Christ got this covered. All you have to do, come to Him and
like it
said, we are His workmanship. There are things already placed for you.
So,
whatever we do, we don't do it to be saved. We do it because we are
saved.
Okay? But, generally speaking, in offering yourself totally to God for
His service,
in accordance with His will, like in Romans, chapter 12. It says: Romans
12:1-2 I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable
service. As Christians,
individually, we are the Temple of God. Our Spiritual sacrifices, is
like when
we Face something that you were not a Christian, you would not endure
it. But,
because you are a Christian, you remember that you are crucified with
Christ,
right? Nevertheless, I live, but… when your flesh wants you to act a
certain
way, and even if everybody would say you are right, you, you, you—but,
you say,
“Yes, I know I'm right, but I am a House of sacrifice.” What would
Jesus do?
Would Jesus let it go? Or would Jesus suffer it? You know, if we
understand
what it is to be a Christian, a House of sacrifice, our marriages would
stay;
our friendships, our relationships would be solid here; we would be
forgiving,
we would be accepting, and doing like Paul says, “Hey, why can’t you
suffer
this? Why can't you suffer a wrong?” (1 Corinthians 6:7) You don't
suffer it because
of your flesh, you suffer it because you are a House of sacrifice.
Spiritual
sacrifice. Yes, it's wrong. Yes, you are right, whatever judge you
would go before,
they would say, “Yeah, you're perfectly right, this one.” But, it says,
“No,
I'm a House of sacrifice; I do this for Christ.” That's what the House
of
sacrifice is. But, we know we are Christians, but, yet, this, “I just
cannot
forgive this. I cannot let it go. I cannot let this go. You did this to
me, you
did that, this, no.” You know, I hear the story about the young man who
had
something with somebody and came to the pastor and he said to the
pastor, “This
is what,” and the Pastor said, “You have to forgive.” He said, “No, I
cannot
forgive.” The guy said, “I cannot forgive this.” And,
the Pastor insisted. He said, “No, I
cannot forgive this.” And,
the Pastor said, “Well, let us pray.” And the pastor praised the Lord,
and said,
“You don't have to worry about this brother; he can take care of
himself. He
doesn't need your protection. He doesn't need a, you know? He can take
care of
his own self.” And, that solved the issue. Whatever you say you are not
forgiving, you should have this conviction the Jesus did it for you. He
did it
for you. And you may say, “Well I'll forgive this, but not that.” We
are living
sacrifices, but Christ truly died for us so we can have life. Remember,
you're
dead in Christ. You're living, but yet not you (Galatians 2:20). But,
if we
know the Scripture, and we don't want to practice it, aren't we
hypocrites? I'm
not saying it's easy, I'm not saying it's coming automatically; it's
hard.
Sacrifice hurts. It's not convenient. It's not like taking, “Yeah, I
will do
this, but this, no.” no, no, no. It's really hard. And, also,
there are offerings of praise, and thanksgiving, acts of loving service
to God's
people. And Hebrews, thirteen, fifteen through sixteen: Hebrews
13:15 By
him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
that is,
the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. That's a
spiritual sacrifice. Hebrews
13:16 But
to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God
is well
pleased. To do good.
Never return evil for evil. But, you do good not only when—always! Not
only
among ourselves, but, what? Among all. Never—when it comes to evil for
evil,
never. Never. As spiritual sacrifices, as Houses of God, an House of
God, when
it comes to evil, forget it! Always good. You say, “Well, this evil,
really it's
an evil.” Yes, but you return good for it. This is a sacrifice; God is
well
pleased. Do you know, if only we could do this, we would be so great.
So great,
if only, “I’ll never return evil for evil.” It will work in our houses,
it will
work in our church, it will work at our work, it will work wherever we
are, “Okay,
because it's evil, I know it, I see it, but I'm not going to return
evil for
evil.” That, by itself, will be a testimony! People always say, “Man,
who is
this person?” When they find out, “Well, I'm a Christian. I could do
something,
but because Christ is in me, I am the Temple of Christ I am the house
of
sacrifice, I leave it alone…” And, that
may cause people to come. I want this. And then, to communicate, this
word, in
Greek it's koinōnia, I think, it means fellowship. This word is
fellowship,
like to do good and to fellowship, don't forget that. Don't forget
that. It's a
sacrifice, sometimes, to find time to be together. It's a sacrifice,
sometimes,
to give a call. It's a sacrifice to talk to each other, but, it is a
sacrifice,
that's why it's not convenient. But, as a House of sacrifice, if you do
it, God
will be well pleased. Well pleased. Very well pleased. Actually,
Malachi, I
think it says, “Those that love the Lord,” what do they do? And what
God does, Himself?
He heard them, and what happened? He wrote a book. He has a book!
(Malachi
3:16) And, every time you get together, every time you could go there
for
coffee and talk, the Lord is so happy. It pleases Him, the sacrifice,
and then He
writes it down. You know, when you go to Revelation, I think, four,
five, it's
talking about what was before the throne and the Beast and all that...
(Revelation
4) And, then he says there was a little thing that had a great smell in
it, it
was the prayers of the Saints (Revelation 5:8). So, when we get
together, God
is happy, it's before the Lord, and at the very end, our
communications, our
fellowship, will be before the throne, will be before the throne.
Philippians, two,
seventeen; I have a couple of short Scriptures, I'm not going to
elaborate on
them, and then we're finished. Verse seventeen: Philippians
2:17 Yea,
and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I
joy, and
rejoice with you all. Who is
speaking? If I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith,
I Joy,
and rejoice with you all. What attracted me to this Scripture is when I
read it
in French. When I read it in French, something was a little different,
so it
pushed me to go to the Greek word, where it says, ‘be offered upon,’
and I find
out that word, called in French, libation, that's what the word they
use in
Greek, and, what it says, it's like when you have fire, for example,
you make a
fire to cook anything, you have the big piece of wood, but you need
small
pieces so the fire can go, what's that called? So, that's what he's
saying,
even if I be served for that, to get that sacrifice going, I rejoice, I
joy,
and rejoice. So Paul was saying I'm a sacrifice, and even if I serve
like the libation,
to be offered up, the sacrifice, I'm happy. Can you imagine if we
understood
what we are, as the house of God? And knowing, all I am, all I am is to
get the
fire going. Even if I'm used for that. But, if we don't see us as being
the
sacrifice, we really cannot say we are the House of God, because the
House of God
is sacrifice! And the House of God, not only sacrifice, but we are the
priests
who offer up the sacrifice, that's what we are, all of it! And, let me
finish
with Micah 6. And, let's stand up, please, let's read Micah, six, and
six through
eight: Micah
6:6
Wherewith
shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall
I come
before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? What kind of
stuff I'm bringing before the Lord? I'm trying to impress the Lord? The
way I
dress, the way I say hallelujah, the way I jump, the way I humble, like
on the
outside, will I come with much money? And let everybody see? no. Micah
6:7-8 Will
the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of
rivers of
oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my
body for
the sin of my soul? [Will I do great,
great, great things?] He hath shewed thee, O man, what is
good; and what doth the Lord
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with
thy God? May the Lord
bless you. Amen.
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