Preparation in Building — Stephen Kaung

The Materials for God's Sanctuary

Will you please turn to Exodus, the book of Exodus chapter 25. We'll begin with the first verse. Exodus 25 verse 1. And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me a heave offering of everyone whose heart prompted him.

Ye shall take my heave offering, and this is the heave offering that ye shall take of them, gold, and silver, and copper, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and vices, and goat's hair, and ramskins, thy red, and bagerskins, and acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the incense of fragrant drugs, or next stones to be set in the ephod, and in the best plate.

And they shall make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shall show thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of the utensils thereof, even so shall ye make it.

David's Preparation for the House of God

First Chronicles, first Chronicles chapter 22. Chronicles chapter 22 verse 24. No, verse 14. Verse 14. And behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the house of Jehovah a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousands talents of silver, and of brass and iron without weight, for it is in abundance.

And timber and stone have I prepared, and thou shalt add to it. And the same book, chapter 29. First Chronicles chapter 29 verse, and I have prepared according to all my power for the house of my God gold for things of gold, and silver for things of silver, and brass for things of brass, and iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood, or next stones and stones to be set, glistening stones, and of diverse colors, and all manners of precious stones, and white marble in abundance.

And moreover, in my affection for the house of my God, I have given of my own property of gold and silver for the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the house of the sanctuary.

Three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses. Gold for things of gold, and silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work by the hands of artificers.

And who is willing to offer to Jehovah this day? And then we go to the New Testament, Matthew chapter 16, Matthew chapter 16, verse 18. And I also, I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will rebuild my church, and Hades' gates shall not prevail against it.

And finally, Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12, verse 1. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the compassion of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligence service.

And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Verse 4. For as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office.

Thus we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one members one of the other. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we want to thank thee because thou art doing a great work. We praise and worship thee because thou dost say, I will build my church.

And we know that thou art building even today. Lord, we just pray that thou will show us thy work. Thou will reveal to us thy work in us and with us, draw us into thy great work, and enable us to be of use to thyself.

Do deliver us from our own complacency, that we may really yield ourselves to thee and allow thee to finish the great work that thou has been doing through the centuries. And we want to give thee all the glory.

In thy precious name we pray. Amen. The one word that we consider together these days is taken from Matthew chapter 16 verse 18. Our Lord Jesus said, you are Peter, on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

So the word is built. We know that our Lord is building, and he is building his own church. And when you think of the word built, you will find at least a few principle ideas. First of all, if you want to build anything of significance, then you need to have an idea, a purpose, something that you conceived in your thought.

You want to build something for some particular purpose. It is not just something that just comes suddenly and disappears also quickly. Build is something with definite purpose. And then of course, if you want to build anything of value, you just do not try to put things together at random.

You need to have a pattern, a blueprint by which you will build that building. And after you have the pattern, then you prepare for the materials. You gather the manpower, and you decide how long a time you will be willing to spend to finish that work.

And with all the materials and manpower, then you begin to build. So there will be a process, turning the raw materials into finished vessels, or finished forms. And finally, after you finish the building, it just does not stand there, but you present it to someone who will occupy it and who will use it.

So these are the five ideas that we are sharing together these days. Now in our first morning, we share all this matter of purpose. Here we find, before the ages, before God created the heavens and the earth, God already conceived in His heart an idea.

The Bible tells us that He purposed according to the good pleasure of His will. It pleases Him to have such an idea. And this idea is purposed in Christ Jesus. In other words, it is purposed for His beloved Son.

God so loved His Son, that He wanted to satisfy the longing, the heart of His beloved Son. So He purposed that purpose. He wanted to build something that would really make His Son glad and fully satisfied.

And what is the thing that is purposed? The Bible tells us it is the church. So the church is conceived in the heart of God. And He set that purpose for His Son. And that which is purposed is the church, which is to be the bride, the wife of His beloved Son.

So brothers and sisters, the church is not something insignificant. The church is something that is of extreme importance to God Himself and to His beloved Son. And it should be to every one of us. Now on the second day, we share together on this matter of pattern.

Christ as the Pattern of the Church

Does the church have a pattern? If the church is of such significance and so glorious, can it be that God will build the church without any pattern? Even if we are building something. Now we will not do things just at the moment.

We will start to build. We don't know what we are building, how we are going to build it. But just we do it at the moment and then maybe the next moment we think of something else and we try to add something to it.

No, we'll never do. What we will do, we will have a blueprint. Everything will be laid down. All the thoughts, all the ideas, all that you desire to have will be put into blueprints. A pattern is there.

And then afterwards you will build according to that pattern. So the question is, does the church have a pattern? Now we mentioned that to many people the church doesn't seem to have a pattern. We say it is just the product of history.

As we go along, as God's people go along, they begin to change according to time and according to need. So in other words, there is no pattern whatsoever. But actually you will find you are patterned after the world.

In other words, the world influences us. So whatever the world is, gradually you will find the church is conforming to the world. And that's why you will find the church becomes an organization. And that organization begins to develop into a great corporation.

And even you will find it develops into a nation above nations. That is after the pattern of the world. Instead of allowing the world to imitate the church, the church is imitating and following the trend of the world.

But we know that the church of God is not built according to the elements of the world. And some people think that the church just changes according to the ingenuities of man. Man creates the church. So man can form the church according to their own clever ideas.

And that's what you find again in Christianity. And some people think that the church should find its pattern from the Old Testament. As in Judaism, you have a definite place of worship. So today we too have a definite place of worship.

We call it the place of worship. Now if you want to worship, you need to go to that place. But our Lord Jesus in his conversation with the Samaritan woman, the Lord said, the Samaritan woman said, you Jews go to Jerusalem to worship.

And we worship at Mount Gerizim. Now where should we worship? And our Lord Jesus said, the time has come. And now is. Today, people who worship God does not worship in special locations. Or at special times.

But people, true worshipers, worship Him in spirit and in truth. Now according to the Old Testament, you find there is not only a definite place for worship, but there will be a set of rules. The Ten Commandments, and all the statutes, and the ordinances.

And by these, you worship, and you serve God. So today we find that in any Christian organization, you need to have a creed. And everything will be ruled by that creed. And thirdly, you find in the Old Testament, when they worship, they have a certain form of worship.

They have a ritual, a ceremony, that is fixed, and elaborate. And by these, you worship. And today, we find the same thing in Christianity. And finally you find in Judaism, you have the priesthood. A special tribe, a special family, trained to do spiritual works.

And all the others are just laity, lay people. And brothers and sisters, you find this is carried on into Christianity. Where can we find a pattern for the church? Some people say, well, we can find it in the New Testament.

And people begin to read the Book of Acts. And find that the Book of Acts, you know, when the church is formed, you begin to have elders. And of course, you need deacons. And you need a congregation. So, they approach the building of the church from a technical viewpoint.

But after you have all these things done, do you find the church of God? No. So, where can we find a pattern for the church? Thank God, He does give us a perfect pattern. And that perfect pattern is not technical, is not mechanical, is not organizational.

That pattern is a living person. In other words, it is Christ Himself. It is the living Christ. He becomes the pattern of the living church. So, brothers and sisters, the church is spiritual, is heavenly, it is of life.

The more we know Christ, the more the church grows. The church is built. And He alone is the pattern. Now, this morning, we would like to share on the third point, which is preparation. Whenever you want to build something of greatness, you need to prepare for it.

Offering What God Has Given for His House

You need to gather the materials that will be needed for the building of that house. And, of course, you also need the manpower. People will be called together to do the task. And, of course, you need to assign a certain amount of time to complete that work.

Now, if it is the way that man will do a good job, how much more will be our God when He is working on something that is so glorious and so eternal? Now, when God built the heavens and the earth, how did He build?

He spoke the word and it was done. Out of nothing God brought in the heavens and the earth and all the things in heaven and on earth. He called not being into being. He is God. That's the way He built the heavens and the earth.

But, strangely, you find, in the matter of building His house, He used a different strategy. Instead of doing all things by Himself, He involved man in that building. Instead of calling nothing into something, God began His work with something already there, but unfit for His work.

And yet He picked up these unfit materials and turned it into materials suitable for His building. In other words, in the building of the house, He involved man. So far as God is concerned, this involvement gave Him lots of trouble.

It would be much easier if He would call nothing and call it into something. But we do not know why. Why pleased God that in the making, in the building of His house, He decided that He would involve man in the work.

He will work with man. He will work in man. Brothers and sisters, it seems to be beyond our understanding. The only thing that we can think of is because of His love. He wanted to do something very special.

And in spite of the fact that He knows the end from the beginning, He knows what will be involved. He knows how hardship will be involved. He knows what cost He has to pay because He involved man. And yet for love's sake He was willing.

So dear brothers and sisters, when you think of the building of the house of God, it really humbles us. In the Old Testament time, after God had delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them to Mount Sinai.

And then He declared, why did He deliver them? He wanted to make them His own people. A people of His possession. Out of all the nations, He made this people redeemed, delivered to be His own possession.

He gave them His law. And by keeping the law, He will make them, as it were, to be His real people. And on that basis, He declared to them that He wanted to dwell among them. He wanted to be with them.

Build me a sanctuary that I may dwell among you. Now this is the purpose of God in delivering this people to Himself. God wants to dwell among His people. God can easily send down from heaven a dwelling place, a sanctuary.

But instead of that, God said, You, my redeemed people, build me a sanctuary. So He said, tell the children of Israel, offer me a heave offering. Heave offering simply means love offering. Everyone whose heart is prompted by God, by the Spirit of God, voluntarily, willingly, give me a love offering of all kinds of materials for the building of the sanctuary.

Brothers and sisters, we know that the children of Israel, they were slaves in Egypt. For hundreds of years, slaves. They owned nothing. They do not even own their own body. They had no right of any kind.

Nothing. But you know, when God appeared to Moses and said, You go and deliver my people out of Egypt. And when you come out, let everyone ask their neighbors, their Egyptian neighbors, for gold, silver, and clothing.

So you find that when God delivered the children of Israel, He not only delivered the people. You know, in the beginning, Pharaoh was not willing. And then he said, Let the men go, but the women and children remain in Egypt.

But Moses said, No, all must go. All right, you go, but all your cattle and all the animals remain here. Moses said, No, we have to bring them out, because we do not know what will God require of us for sacrifice.

So, brothers and sisters, when the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt, not only the entire population, every family, every member of the family, the old and the young, the man and the woman, all the people were delivered.

But more than that, God permitted the children of Israel to ask of their neighbors. You know, even the Egyptians, some Egyptians living in the Hebrew houses, homes. Ask your neighbors for gold and silver and clothing.

And the Bible said, when they did it, they spoiled the Egyptians. Now, Egypt at that time was the greatest nation in the world. It was rich. But think of that. When the children of Israel came out, they spoiled the Egyptians.

All the riches of Egypt became theirs. Now, in one sense, our God is righteous. You know, they made the Hebrews work without wages for hundreds of years. So God said, these will be their wages. But more than that, all these are given to them abundantly by God Himself.

They own nothing. Even their bodies do not belong to them. Everything was redeemed by God. Everything was given by God. So, when they came out of Egypt, they were the richest people in the world. Now, think of that.

Now, that's only a type. When you come to the reality, when you come to us, this is the very way that God has redeemed us. Not only we are redeemed, but all connected with us are redeemed. As our brother has been speaking, into the fullness.

That's how we came out. And then God said, Give me a love offering out of what I have given you, if you are willing. Now, in case you are not willing, you can keep them. But that will be your disaster.

Whoever's heart is prompted by love, by God, by the love of God, by the Spirit, offer a heave offering. This will be the material for the building of the tabernacle. For brothers and sisters, the enemy of God, Satan, knew it too.

You'll find when Moses went to the mountain to receive the ten commandments, the two tablets, the children of Israel on the plain said, We do not know what happened to Moses. Make us a God to lead us.

And Aaron said, Give me all the gold rings on your ears. So he melted the gold and he molded it into a golden calf. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said, This is God. This is our God. And Aaron immediately, Well, let us proclaim a feast unto Jehovah.

Brothers and sisters, when Moses came down from the mountain, he saw what was going on. He smashed the two tablets of law. In other words, before the law reached them, they already had broken it. And then he melted the golden calf, make it into fine bits, pour on the river and ask the children of Israel to drink it.

In other words, they drank their own sin. But before God could get to the gold, the enemy, now isn't it true with us today? We who are redeemed of the Lord, everything belongs to God. We do not belong to ourselves.

Yet, brothers and sisters, what God has given us, whatever it may be, instead of offering to God as a love offering for the building of His house, of His church, how the enemy came in, tempted us, and took away that which belonged to God.

As we look back, I believe every one of us will realize how we wasted what God has so graciously given to us into something that is against God instead of for His purpose. I believe everyone when he or she is enlightened by the Spirit of God, we will look back and realize how much that belongs to God in us has been wasted into something against Him.

But thank God He is gracious. With the pleading of Moses, God forgave them. And thank God He did not change His mind. Thank God He has given them so much that they are still gold and silver and plenty abundant things for the building of the tabernacle.

So finally, you'll find after Moses pleaded with God and came down, God said let the people whose heart are touched and prompted offer Heave Offering. God gave them a second chance. And when you read from chapter 35 on, you will find how they came and offer and offer and offer until they had to be stopped.

And brothers and sisters, that ought to be our condition, our situation. Are we like that? We have wasted so much of God that has entrusted to us for His purpose. But we have wasted them in many other things.

And when God buys mercy, give us another chance. What will be our response? Could we behold from Him? Then you'll find the same thing happened in the building of the temple. We mentioned yesterday that David had the heart because he knows the heart of God to build God a permanent temple.

He was now not allowed to do it because he was a man of war. He shed too much blood. The house of God represents peace. It would be a misrepresentation if he built it. But still you'll find God not only gave him the pattern of the temple, but hear what David said.

In 1 Chronicles chapter 22 he said, In my affliction I gathered, prepared materials for the building of God's house. Now I wonder what does he mean by in my affliction? Probably he refers to the many wars that he had to fight.

And the Bible said whenever he fought a war and he overcame he separated the spoil for God. In his affliction he prepared thousands of gold, of silver, of iron, of copper, of materials for the building of God's house.

And then again you'll find in 1 Chronicles chapter 29 he said, I prepare for the house of God with all my power. Whatever is within my power I will prepare the material for it. And then in the third verse he said, In my affliction for the house of God.

He loved the house of God. And for my affliction, over and above, all that he had prepared, out of his own, he offered the best gold, the most refined silver, everything of the best. And then he called the people and said, Offer as God moves you.

And how the leaders, how the people, they came and offered willingly. And because they came and offered willingly, they were glad. And David praised God. For, she said, everything is yours. But you make us a willing people to willingly give for the building of the temple.

Christ's Death Produces the Church's Living Stones

Now, that is what you'll find in the building of the temple. The materials. Now, brothers and sisters, in the building of the temple and the building of the tabernacle, these are just types. They are temporarily.

They are shadows. They came and they went. What is the reality? The real thing that our Lord is building is his church. It's permanent. It's forever. Eternal. Now, where comes the material? Now, for this we have to go back to the very beginning.

We remember when God said to Adam, It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helpmate, his like. And with that idea in God for Adam, he began to work. Where could he find a material for the woman?

He couldn't find it in a gorilla. He couldn't find it in any animal. The only material he could get must come from Adam. So the Bible tells us that God put Adam to sleep and God opened his sight. That is the first surgery for man.

But it is a painless surgery. Why painless? Because there was no sin in the world. God opened his sight and took out. In the original, it is not a rib. It is something being taken out. And God used that something out of Adam and built it into the woman.

Now, this is a type where we come to the reality brothers and sisters. Where could our Lord find the material for the building of the church? We mentioned already 2000 years ago He came to this world.

Why did He come? As a bridegroom seeking for His bride. But out of the countless number of people even among the chosen people He couldn't find. And because of this God had to do some surgery. We remember that our Lord Jesus, He came to die.

He came to go to the cross. Why must He go to the cross? You know when He shared with His disciples that He must go and He will be killed. Immediately you find Peter took hold of Him. Shook Him up and said, Lord, never.

You don't need that. You can have the world without the cross. And our Lord turned around and said, Satan, get behind Me. Because you are mine for a man, not of God. If anyone want to follow Me, take up His cross.

Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus came to die. Why? And on the cross. Then you find the soldiers came. They wanted to make sure. And they found they broke the legs of the two robbers. Because these two robbers were still alive.

So by breaking their legs, speeded them to death. But when He came to the Lord, He was already dead. A man of sorrow acquainted with grief. He was not like a man when He was on the cross. So the soldier to make sure that He died thrust a spear into His side.

Brothers and sisters, the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross is the most painful death. Not only physically, mentally, spiritually. Even our Lord cried out, My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?

In other words, our Lord Jesus tasted the very taste of the eternal death. Separated from the Father. Painful, most painful death. Why? Because there was blood seen in the world of the Spirit. The Bible says came out blood.

That is the last drop from His heart. We are told that when the heart is broken, the blood began to disintegrate. So He came out as blood and water. And John, he saw it. In John chapter 19, 34 and further by, he said, I saw it.

I witnessed blood and water came out. And my witness is true. Now why? Why did he emphasize so strongly on this? Because here God put Christ to death. The Father cried out of His side, taking something out of Him.

Blood for the remission of our sins. Water His life. Pour out. Brothers and sisters, this is the material for the building of the Church. No man in the world is fit to be material for the house of God.

When God created man in His image, according to His likeness, He had that thought in view. He wanted man to be that material. If only man would eat the tree of life instead of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

But unfortunately, man rejected God's life and would rather have knowledge in himself. Man declared independence against God. He wanted to be God himself. Totally unfit for the building of the house. Nicodemus, the best of men, came to the Lord thinking that he was not far from the kingdom of God.

He needed some more teaching, some more instruction. Get us some more knowledge. But our Lord said, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The Samaritan woman, sinful, having five husbands and a sixth one, she was not fit for the building of the house.

No one in the world naturally is fit to be material for God. You remember when our Lord was rejected by his people. He retreated to the border of Caesarea Philippi. There he asked his disciples, Whom do men say that I am?

He was not satisfied with the answer. So he said, Whom do you say I, the Son of Man, am? And Simon Peter said, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And our Lord Jesus said, Simon, son of Jonah, you are blessed.

Because this is not something that flesh and blood can tell you. It is my Father in Heaven reveals the Son. And the Lord said, I also say to you, you are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. Brothers and sisters, Simon, the natural man, the man of the earth, the man of sin, of the flesh, totally unfit to be material for the building of the church.

Something God has to do in this man, to change him. So when he, by the revelation of the Father, of the Son, recognized that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, in that confession, something, Simon, you are blessed.

Now you are Peter, heavenly, spiritual, eternal life. Brothers and sisters, here you find the Lord said, you are Peter. Now you are to be the material for the building of the church. As Simon, you are totally unfit.

But now, God has done something in you. It is a new creation now. A new life is given to you. You become a stone now. A living stone. And now, I can take you and build into my church. Brothers and sisters, do you really see this?

God does something more than calling something out of nothing. God does something even more. Something that is completely ruined. Something that is totally unfit. Something that is opposite to everything that God wants.

And yet, God does something in that person. Putting in him something new. A new life. Anyone is in Christ. There is a new creation. A new life is put into him. Become Peter, a stone. And that is the material for the house.

Our Lord himself is the rock. The massive. And we who believe in him, we are all Peters, having the same life. So, Peter understood it very well. You remember in 1 Peter 2? He said, Our Lord Jesus is a living stone.

But as we come to him, we all become living stones. Built up together into a spiritual house. A holy priesthood. Except of our spiritual sacrifices. Acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Now, that is the material for the building of the house.

Our Lord creates his own material for the building of the house. Anything that is of the old creation is unfit. Everything must come from that new creation. And brothers and sisters throughout the centuries, he is calling a people out of every nation, every tribe, every tongue, every people.

And he gathered them together and built them together into the living church. Now, when you have the material, but you do not have the workmen, the material just lies there and cannot become a building.

Every Believer's Part in Building the Church

So you find that not only in the preparation work of the building of the church, you find not only that our Lord, he prepared the materials, you and me. Thank God for that. You know, we should be cast away.

You know, like a porter, when he was putting the clay on that machine, rolling, and it's broken in his hand, and he just cast it off. He took it and made a new vessel out of it. Now, that's what happened to us.

We are cast away. But now God, in His mercy, takes us up, remakes us, gives us a new life, and that new life in us becomes the material for the building. But where are the workers? Now, in one sense, no one can build a church except God.

In Matthew chapter 16, the Lord said, I will build. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 10, God is the builder of New Jerusalem, the city with foundation. In Psalm 127, verse 1, unless Jehovah build the house, in vain the builders labor.

So, in one sense, the building of the church is exclusively the work of God Himself. We are not fit, because this is a creative work. And God is the creator. So, it is beyond us. But, brothers and sisters, in another sense, when He is building the house, He builds in us, and with us, and out of us.

So, here you find, in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, the apostle Paul said, I am a wise master builder, but, strictly speaking, he was a wise foreman. And he laid the foundations. And we, all of us, the Corinthian believers, and all who believe in the Lord Jesus, we are all working in this building.

Now, how do we work? The building of the church is not given to a few of God's. In Ephesians chapter 4, it is true that for the building of the church, the ascended Lord gave to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers.

For the equipping of the saints, perfecting the saints, so the saints will all begin to function and work in this building up of the body of Christ, in love. So, everyone is involved. The universal priesthood of believers.

All believers are servants of the Lord. All believers are working in this work. Now, how do we work? If we work with gold, silver, and precious stones, or we work with wood, straw, and stubble. Now, what does it mean?

Gold, Silver, and Precious Stones in Christian Service

It simply means this. You build with gold, silver, and precious stones. What is gold? Gold represents the nature of God. God's nature is like gold. Indestructible, incorruptible, glorious. So, that's why in the Bible, when the glory of the Lord appears, you know, for instance, like Ezekiel.

He saw the vision of the glory of the Lord, and he saw someone like gold. Radiant. The nature of God. Silver, used for redemption. The redemption of our Lord Jesus. Precious stones. The work of the Holy Spirit.

Patience with pressure, with darkness, with heat, precious stones. When we work with the gold, silver, and precious stones, what does it mean? It simply means that we allow God to work the gold, and silver, and precious stone in us.

So, outwardly, we are building with gold, silver, and precious stone. Actually, it is God himself who is working in us, turning us into gold, and silver, and precious stones. So, it is God working. All we do is allow him to work.

Cooperating with him. Yielding to him. So that his nature, his divine nature, character, may be built up in us. All the goodness of his redemption will be formed in us. And the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, with pressure, with darkness, with heat, with long periods of time, transforming us, changing us from glory to glory as by the Lord, the Spirit.

Brothers and sisters, working is actually allowing him to work in us with these things. And these fit for the house of God. Because they came from God. Now, if we work with wood, straw, what will happen?