House Moving and Building by Brother Duke Hansen

         There are a few places where we will be reading this morning. Our first scripture is going to be in Psalm 127. Before we read from that selection, I wanted to say a couple of things. First, we were born into spiritual warfare without our knowledge. Some homes people are born into are weighed with heavy burdens. Other homes have had generational curses that have chained and bound bloodlines. There is no neutral ground in spiritual warfare. Our flesh is far more concentrated with the lack it has in life rather than the blessings already present.

        Looking at the story of Ruth and Naomi, we find the beginning of the story Naomi, along with her husband and sons, move to the country of Moab to escape a famine. There are people who do a similar move in life today. They flee what they think is going to be bad and easily escapable. They forget that in scripture as well as in life, famines are not eternal. You are born into a house of conflict, strife, and burdens. The decisions you make is everything for you to get out of the house you were born into and begin to work on your own house. We are going to read verse 1 of Psalm 127.

        Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

        2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sheep.

        3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

        4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are the children of the youth.

        5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

        We went from God building the house to your body being the temple of the Lord. From except the Lord build the house, the Lord keep the city to the house you are born into. You either like the environment you are in and grow or you can break some bonds. If you aren't aware you have a problem, how can you correct it. Once you are aware of the problem, you need to learn to hate it.

        The subject this morning is about moving from the house you've been living in, and building your own house. The house is what matters. Who's building this house? You or God? The three steps of salvation merely sets the foundation for the home, but, there are people who think you can move into it. To some that is a completely logical move. We all belong to the Lord good or bad. We pray for stuff we don't need and neglect the things that are important. If we live like its our house, we are living in iniquity. 

        Our next stop in scripture reading is John chapter 3. We will start reading at verse 1.

        There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

        2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

        There are people out there who want the blessings and miracles of God. They want all the benefits but not have a relationship. If you can't see the house in your mind, how can you go through the door?

        3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

        4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter into his mother's womb, and be born?

        5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

        6 That which is born of flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

        7 Marvel not I say unto thee, Ye must be born again.

        When we begin talking about building this spiritual house we need the water and the spirit. Jesus commanded man to repent and remission of sin is in his name. Two very distinct and separate steps for man to complete. Repentance is not God forgiving your sins. That comes in the form of water baptism in his name.

        Building the house is up to you. The spirit of God is everywhere and omnipresent. It is his will for everybody to come into repentance. Building your house in your ways is not going to be well developed at all.

        8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

        Let's break this verse down. You can't tell when it comes and where it goes. God is in control of where his spirit comes and goes, who it draws and when it happens.

        Doing things your way will not build your house that is livable. Can you admit "I don't know how it works" in your relationship with God. God wants you to choose hi,. You're going to have to pursue that spirit the rest of your life. It is God's house. All creation is his. We are going to go to Ephesians chapter 1. The first few verses are extolling greetings and blessings. We will be reading from verse 7.

        7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

        Repentance is not salvation. If it was, it would be the only step written about in the New Testament. Repentance is admission you are wrong and needing help. Let's read on to verse 8.

        8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

        9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

        10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.

        If you are building your house the way God instruct and not in your own way, your house is really a fixture or space to a much larger complex. Like with the potter's house and the various sizes of vessels so also there are various sizes of homes.

        11 In whom 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:

        12 That we should be the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

        13 In whom ye also have trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,

        God's intentions towards you are good. Your own intention often are not. Whose house is it? God's house. Seeking the kingdom and seeing the kingdom are two different things. If you need the Holy Ghost you need to 1) see that you need it and 2) seek his face. Ask, seek, and knock while you still can.

        After that you believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. When I say seal, you think it's permanent. You think that it's good until the day of your death. Here's something for you to consider, seals can be broken. Let's read verse 14.

        14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

        You are sealed with the holy ghost, and the earnest of your inheritance. Earnest is showing how serious you are in something. God is serious in purchasing us. He has a promise, not a payment, in us. God is serious, How serious are you with him in getting the purchase finalized? God is invested in you. God has ownership of all and still he is willing to purchase. Take up your cross and follow him. God put himself on the cross to show his earnest in you. He didn't want any of the humiliation, torture, and death of the cross, yet he allowed it to happen to him. God is the decider when things are too late. God doesn't look at things the way man does. You can really picture what God wants to do and build for you. More often we are looking back at what had happened before.

        Humility is hard to truly practice. You can give the impression of being humble when you remain full of yourself. It's easy to use other people as an example when you speak in general, but what impression are you giving to others? What is your example? A good and solid house even after being built needs to be maintained. You need to know your value and God wants you to have that full value.

        Contentment is hard. It's being okay with the current situation. You can't worry nor be anxious and live in contentment. We're here to teach repentance to others by living the example and getting baptized in Jesus' name. That is our call.