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A Shatterproof House of God
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I Peter2:4 says that we come to Jesus, "that living stone, rejected by men but in God's sight chosen and precious; and like living stones we ourselves are built into a spiritual house." I want us to grasp an understanding for a moment that it is God that builds his church as Jesus said to the apostle Peter, "you are the rock and upon this rock, I will build my church." There is no apostle or prophet, pastor or teacher, no evangelist who can build the church. Only the Lord can build the church. In fact, the word says that the laborers, labor in vain, unless the Lord build the house.
So we understand that we are being build together as the house of the Lord. We are to be living stones, knowing Jesus as the cornerstone. We are the stones that are build together to form the habitation, the dwelling place of God. My wife, Lenore, and I with our children when they were younger, have moved from time to time, going where we felt the Lord would have us go. I would travel alone to find a house and get things ready before bringing the family to the new house. Then I would say to Lenore, "Honey, this is our new home, this is it." I work at being good husband and I know her needs and desires. When I looked for a place, I looked for something that I knew would make her happy. However, if I had picked a place without enough room for her to turn around; a place where there was no room for our five children, then my wife might turn to me and say, "Well, Bruce, I see you've got a house for yourself, but I'm not living here!" But that would never happen, Praise God. Let us talk about our relationship with God and the fact that we are to be living stones to form the house of the Lord, the habitation of God. I believe there are times when we get together and we build something and God comes to say, "You've built yourself a house, but I'm not living there." It is so important that we have a fresh revelation of what the church of Jesus Christ is all about. If, in fact, we do not become that which God almighty chooses to live in, we are wasting our time. We just read, that we are to be living stones built together to form the house of the Lord. You and I are to be living stones forming God's house. Now a simple question: "Are you a living stone?" Before you answer, I want to tell you a story. A number of years ago, I went to minister in the island country of Haiti, while there we were going to build a mission building. While looking for a piece of property on which to build I had with me a wonderful and wise Haitian man. I thought the property that we looked at was ideal. It was the right area and there were hundreds of stones scattered over the proper. I said to my friend, "This will be ideal, all we need do is buy mortar cement and we can use the stones for building." He responded, "No, these are dead stones, you can only build with living stones." "What do you mean," I asked, "all stones are dead!?" "No," he said, "Some stones are living stones!" I inquired about the difference. His reply: "You're the preacher, you should know!" I didn't know the difference and I asked him to help me understand. The Haitian man began to look about the field and picked up two stones which he said were living stones. "Only build with living stones," he said. He then took two stones, and cracked them together. When he struck them together, they almost rang like a bell. He said "Living stones, only build with living stones." He dropped those two, and then picked up two of the stones that were so plentiful. He said "Dead stones, you cannot build with dead stones." He took those two stones and cracked them together. Immediately they crumbled, pieces falling to the ground on impact. My Haitian friend repeated, "Dead stones, you can't build with dead stones." Immediately, I knew God was showing me a revelation of his Church. In the church of Jesus Christ, we need to build with living stones, not dead stones. At that point in my life I didn't care if they were living stones, dead stones or pieces of dried mud. I just wanted to build. In those days, we would build and build and the walls would get so high, then start crumbling and fall apart . I would always wonder, "God, why is it that when we get so much accomplished in Your kingdom everything begins to fall apart?" I now understand that when we build with dead stones, the pressure will crush them! What kind of material is to be used to build the house of God? Now I ask: are you a living stone or are you a dead stone? Bruce Mitchell ABLE Ministries USA
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Messages
Outline:
Isn't the Church just that.... by passerby, 2001, Nov 27
Living Stones by TT, 2001, Nov 27
Are there dead stones in our churches who need to be revived? Please comment. eom. by Ivan, 2001, Nov 27 
There is only One God and We are the Living Stones and Christ is the Chief Cornerstone by TT, 2001, Nov 28
Did you miss this? by RTC, 2001, Nov 28 
The Fundamentals by Yesuthass, 2001, Nov 30
Yes Yesuthass by Ivan, 2001, Nov 30
Request... by Forum Master, 2001, Nov 30
New e-mail by Yesuthass, 2001, Dec 01
A good example of a modern sermon. At the end of it you wonder what it was all about. n/t. by Interested , 2001, Nov 27
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