Sermon Notes | Sunday, June 4th, 2023
The Fruit of Stewardship | Managing Mysteries
Pastor Chris Pletcher
The Beauty of HOME
We love our houses because they become our HOMES... the place where we share life and grow up with our families. This is what makes a house a HOME.
1. The opportunity to BELONG in a family
2. The opportunity to BE LOVED unconditionally
3. The opportunity to GROW UP into maturity
1 Corinthians 4:1-2
This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
Managing Mysteries
1. The Message of His WORD (Col. 1:24-28)
2. The Miracle of His GRACE (Eph. 3:1-10)
3. The Management of His HOUSE (Heb. 3:1-6)
4. The Maturity of Our GIFTS (1 Peter 4:7-11)
5. The Maintenance of His TEMPLE (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)
Hebrews 3:1-6
Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
What does God's word have to say about HOME?
Psalm 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 26:8
O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.
Psalm 27:4
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
Psalm 36:7-9
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.
Psalm 65:4
Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!
Psalm 84:10
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
TO HAVE A HEART FOR GOD IS TO HAVE A HEART FOR HIS HOUSE.
Revelation 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
GOD IS A FATHER. HE IS THE HEAD OF A HOUSE. HE WANTS TO DWELL WITH HIS CHILDREN.
Do you let just anyone enter your house?
Psalm 5:4-7
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.
Psalm 93:5
Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O Lord, forevermore.
Psalm 101:6-7
I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me. No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes.
DAVID HAD LEARNED SOMETHING FROM GOD ABOUT MANAGING HIS HOUSE.
John 14:22-24
Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me."
THIS IS THE CRITICAL QUESTION: Where is God's dwelling place CURRENTLY?
Ephesians 2:17-21
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
LATTER DAY PROPHECIES //
Isaiah 2:2-3
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Haggai 2:6-9
For thus says the Lord of hosts: "Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace," declares the Lord of hosts.
So what does this mean for us?
Do you love his house?
Do you seek to dwell there?
Do you serve his house with the same zeal with which you serve other houses, businesses, pursuits?
Do you cherish the promises of Scripture related to His house?
If your desire/love/zeal for His house is weak, here are a couple of questions that you can ask yourself.
Have I missed scriptureʻs revelation for the beauty of Godʻs house?
Have I given my passion to other pursuits that seem more enticing?
Have I developed a habit of seeking my desire/pleasure in God, or do I primarily seek for pleasure outside of God?
Am I spending my zeal on other things with nothing left to give to the household of God?
John 2:15-17
And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”