1. The House of the Lord. DEC ~ 1 ~

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1 Reading: Psalm 84 Theme: Dwelling in the House of the Lord Forever. (Psalm 23:6b) Isn t Psalm 23 a remarkable and wonderful psalm? It has been an honour and thrill to spend time preparing and preaching on it. It turns out this is the 14 th message on it and I still feel I ve only scratched the surface of it! In this psalm David does not pray, does not ask for anything, does not say I hope this is so, but the psalm is above all a psalm of wonder and privilege, as David speaks of what God has done for him as a child of God through the imagery of a sheep and its shepherd. It is the joyful appreciation of the Shepherd by the sheep for all that the Shepherd has done; is doing and will do for him. It pulsates with the joy of the care of the Shepherd. It begins with personal possession - the Lord is my Shepherd and only because of that relationship does all the care and keeping occur. David speaks of what he had experienced - all except death s dark valley, but he had a confidence as he considered that, because the Lord had been with him in other dark places. Here in v6 we have seen of David s confidence and assurance. As he reviewed all the Lord has done for him, all the care of his Shepherd, David is certain of the Lord s care. We saw last week David s Confidence Surely ; David s Companions - goodness and mercy, love would follow him and then the Lord s commitment to him for all the days of his life. David was aware of God s care and blessing as he journeyed through life, but he knew he would not be a pilgrim and wander as a nomad for ever; for his Shepherd would use the sheepdogs of goodness and mercy to bring him home. Spurgeon in his hints to preachers gives the theme of v6 as On the road and at home, or heavenly attendants and heavenly mansions. As we look at the 2 nd part of verse 6 want to use 2 headings: 1. The House of the Lord. DEC ~ 1 ~

2 David speaks of dwelling in the house of the Lord. He views it as a privilege for God s people - not a sheep pen, or slaughterhouse, but the house of the Lord. To dwell, to live in the house of someone else means that we were strangers to them, it is a privilege; if they are great then it is our honour. It is an amazing privilege and honour for the likes of us and even David to be able to say and mean I dwell in the house of the Lord. We are to remember that by nature we are God s enemies, hate Him, are against Him, separated from Him and banished from His presence because of our sin. Yet God in His grace, mercy, love and holiness has provided the way, the only way, in which we can without fear dwell in, be in His house and not be there as beggars, not even as honoured guests, but as His beloved children. To even be able to think about and contemplate this privilege means that God has been good to us. Yet the term the house of the Lord applied at 2 levels speaking of the church on earth (Church militant) and the church in heaven (Church triumphant) or better speaks of 2 times: A. Now. The house of the Lord or the house of God is a term used in OT to speak of the Temple, Tabernacle or even where God was when He met with someone. So Jacob spoke of Bethel as the house of God (Genesis 28:17); David spoke of the Tabernacle in Psalm 27:4 as the house of the Lord; the sons of Korah expressed the same in Psalm 84:10 calling it the house of my God. The Lord Jesus in NT rebuked the moneychangers for turning His Father s house into a den of thieves (John 2:16) and He meant the physical, earthly temple. The temple and those places were where God s people met with God and God met with them. That is why they were special and honoured places. The temple Solomon built, the Tabernacle Moses built, the way God came down in glory at their completion, where He promised to meet with His people. Without His presence they were but stone buildings, or a posh tent. Jacob s stone erected in the wilderness was in and at a place where God met with him. DEC ~ 2 ~

3 In NT we never read of a church or chapel building, let alone a Minster or Cathedral! In the NT it is clear that the Church is not the building, but the people. Our forefathers would call the building the meetinghouse or the meeting place where they as a people would meet together to meet with God. The NT speaks of the house of God as being the people e.g. Hebrews 3:6; 10:21, 1 Peter 2:5, or as God s household in Ephesians 2:19 and Paul goes on to speak of it as a holy temple, built on the solid foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ the chief cornerstone. In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul speaks of behaving as we ought in God s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth. We are to note and remember that the Church here on earth i.e. God s people are the house of God and a local representation of the church militant. So what? It means we are to get away from the idea of a religious building, with religious people, good nice moral people etc in it. The true Church has been and always will be only those who are born-again of God s Spirit, those who have trusted the Lord Jesus as their Saviour and because of that they have been called out of the world, sin, spiritual death and darkness and into a relationship with the Lord Jesus and therefore they are part of the Church militant. We are to realise that in any local church there will usually be a mixture of those who are truly God s children, and people, even though they are religious and good, who are still in their sin and outside of God s kingdom and people. Which camp are you in? Only those who have by faith trusted in the Lord Jesus have been made part of the Church militant will be able to be part of the Church triumphant in heaven and so we see: B. Forever. Being in God s house for ever begins now! Forever is not just for when we die, but it starts now and goes on beyond our physical DEC ~ 3 ~

4 death. A number of commentators make the point in passing that David speaks of dwelling in the house of the Lord forever, AFTER he had spoken of the valley of the shadow of death! We all know that there will come a time when we will have to leave this life, when our part in the Church militant on earth will end and we enter into the reality of the shadows and types. We will not change our company as we will still be with the Lord and His people, but we will change our position as we will go from our earthly tent, to an eternal house in heaven, a building from God (2 Corinthians 5:1). We go from earthly friends in God s house, to the house of God in heaven where our brothers and sisters, our love ones in Jesus have gone on ahead. We have only glimpses of heaven in the Bible. Yes they are marvellous, wonderful, amazing and thrilling glimpses, but only glimpses. In fact the Bible speaks more of hell than it does of heaven - as if to drive home the awesomeness of hell that is to be fled from and avoided. Yet the glimpses we have of heaven are wonderful. Hell is far worse than we could ever imagine, but then heaven also will be far more glorious and wonderful than we could ever imagine! In my reading of the Bible I ve not found where it says that believers will go to heaven! The Bible speaks of us going to be with God, to be with Jesus, to be in His presence - but His presence makes anyplace heaven! When we are with the Lord Jesus we will see Him and be made like Him. If He is precious and wonderful to us in this life, how much more so will He be in heaven? Then we will worship Him as we never thought possible, we will be preoccupied with Him; we will praise, adore and worship Him and incredibly we will never get bored, never need to rest, never think less of Him only more and we will appreciate and wonder at Him more and more. We need to read the praise of heaven in God s word and especially the book of Revelation to practice now! DEC ~ 4 ~

5 There in our Saviour s presence in heaven we will all worship Him with unsinning hearts forever and there will be nothing to distract us, to affect us, to have afflicting effects on us - no death, no pain and no sorrow. There in heaven our struggles, our wrestling contest with sin will be over and we will be like Him. We will be dressed in His righteousness with no sinful nature or effects ever to afflict us and the devil never affect, deceive or defeat us. Then and only then our understandings and hearts will know the height, depth, length and breadth of the love of God and we will have no dim minds or dim sights at our God and of the so great salvation He has provided us. As an old hymn says: When I stand before the throne, dressed in beauty not my own, when I see Thee as Thou art, love Thee with unsinning heart, then, Lord shall I fully know, not till then, how much I owe. There in heaven our life s tapestry will make sense and we will see all the way He led, cared for and provided for us and we ll praise Him for it and enjoy perfect rest in our Father s house - (MP 22v3) All the way my Saviour leads me: O the fullness of his love! Perfect rest to me is promised in my father s house above. When my spirit, clothed, immortal, wings its flight to realms of day, this my song through endless ages - Jesus led me all the way. Doesn t that sound too incredible? Yet believe it or not, that is the place of Shepherd wants us to and will bring us to! In fact the Lord Jesus prayed for us to be there, because He really, really wants us to be there to behold His glory and to be with Him (John 17:24). It is His aim and purpose as He shepherds us, leads us, restores us, keeps us provides for us - that He will bring us to be with Him and to know the wonder of heaven forever. To be there in heaven, in God s house, in the Church triumphant, we need to be part of the Church militant and that only occurs when we trust the Lord Jesus as our Shepherd, our Saviour. What DEC ~ 5 ~

6 glorious things to consider, to think about, have as a sure hope and confidence and it causes us to have: 2. Delight. It should delight us to think we are now dwelling and will dwell in the house of the Lord. Again this is again at the 2 time levels: A. Now. Do we recognise the great privilege of being part of God s house, household now? There should be no such thing as an orphan Christian and having no house - we are saved and made part of God s family, with brothers and sisters, we are part of the household of God. Sadly some Christians - truly saved, truly God s people, yet they live up to the older translation of being God s peculiar people - through temperament, disposition or choice! Such ones can see faults and failings in the churches and they, through pride, disappointment or fear, set themselves apart, often writing off these other believers. They themselves are not perfect, but they cannot tolerate others not being perfect and have no time for them! We are all to wise up, for the local church, the best of believers are not perfect and we do God and others a dishonour if we isolate ourselves. God has given us the privilege and honour of being in the house of God and its local representation - even with all our failings and struggles. We are to remember this church, as all local churches, is a part of the church militant and we are in battle, in transit and we are all pilgrims, and if we have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ we are all saved sinners and still we are dogged and affected by sins deceptive, poisonous and polluting influence. If only we recognise the privilege we have in dwelling in God s house NOW! David was glad to go up to God s house when others suggested it (Psalm 122:1). The sons of Korah saw it is a great honour and they were glad to be a doorkeeper in God s house (Psalm 84:10). Do we have the same yearnings as David and the DEC ~ 6 ~

7 sons of Korah Psalm 84:1-2 How lovely is your dwelling-place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. We are to recognise the honour God gives to us in bringing us to the house of the Lord - Psalm 65:4 Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. We need to have biblical views of our privileges that as believers we can meet together; dwell together as we meet with our God. With all its faults and failings, here in our church the Lord is loved, His word and gospel is proclaimed, we do try and worship Him. Because of such things we should value it, we should consider the privilege we have now dwell in the house of the Lord as represented by DEC. if we follow and imitate David s attitude in OT dispensation, using OT means of grace what a transformation it would make to our services and to our attitudes! We are to delight in being part of and in God s house now, to appreciate and delight in all the privileges we have now. B. Forever. As good, as sweet, as pleasant as it is for brethren and sisters to dwell in the unity of fellowship here on earth, it is going to be gloriously more so when we dwell in the house of the Lord forever in heaven. In heaven, and only in heaven, will there be perfect unity, harmony, fellowship and purpose. All of us will be perfect, sinless and spotless. All will have the same understanding. Pride, arrogance, resentment, sinfulness and self will not intrude and we will delight in worshipping the Lord together; we will delight in Him and all the infinite wonders of His love, leading and guiding. We will even delight to be with those we did not get on with here on earth, those we did not see eye to eye with and be united in perfect and holy truth. DEC ~ 7 ~

8 In heaven we will know one another, know all the greats of church history, all the smalls of church history too and even we will be known and loved! Yet the greatest joy will be to see the Saviour, our Shepherd, to be in His house and to more fully understand what He meant when He said In my Father s house are many mansions, dwelling places, rooms (John 14:2) and dwell there forever. We can anticipate the delight of this assurance, but it is not a delight reserved for them, but begins now. Our home, our place in heaven is reserved, is kept for us and thankfully we are kept for it (1 Peter 1:4-5) this is not because we are worthy, but because He has promised to give His sheep eternal life and they shall never perish. The Lord Jesus emphasises our security by these last words - eternal life and never, ever perish. Twice He said no one can snatch them out of my Father s hands (John 10:27-29). For a believer not to get to heaven 2 impossible things would have to happen - Jesus would need to fail to keep His promise and then God the Father would have to fail to keep them secure in His hand. Our safety, our security doesn t lie in us, in our abilities, character and being, but in the character and being of the Shepherd. Here was David s confidence, because the Lord was his Shepherd. Do you have the same confidence because the Lord is your Shepherd? You can have! This is a great and glorious Psalm. Last words on it go to Spurgeon May God grant us grace to dwell in the serene atmosphere of this most blessed Psalm! DEC ~ 8 ~