Jesus is the name that saves. He is Lord and Christ. He is Prophet, Priest, and King. Let us build now our lives into a house without human dimension. Let us be founded upon the Rock and strengthened with His might. (Ephesians 3:16; Haggai 1:2-6; Matthew 1:21; Acts 2:36)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller, Pastor Melvin Soans
Sermon # 11277
11:00 AM on 6/11/2017

P. Melvin Soans

Greetings from Bombay. P. Carl sends greetings of love to all of you. Glad to be here for the conference.

Eph 5:15-17, Mt 7:24-27, Ephesians is saying the days are evil. Walk circumspectly and be wise and not as fools. Jesus was comparing a wise man and a foolish man.

The wise man builds his house upon the rock, Jesus Christ himself in 1 Cor 10:4 and the foolish man upon the sand. Sands are loose particles. They don’t give us proper foundation but the rock gives us proper foundation. He speaks about our life. That a Christian, one that believes in Christ, has to build his house on a rock. That house will stand. There will be wind blowing and flood and rains falling and will come against our life. If we built our house upon J.C., that house will stand. When Jesus says something. you know it’s true. The foolish man can be Christian, he can walk in this world knowing everything but he can build upon details of life.

In Mt 13, the sower was sowing the Word and there were four kinds of men. One received the word on the wayside. He was a wayside listener. The second didn’t have any soil in his heart and the word was of no use. The third kind heard the word but everything of the seed was on thorny soil. It choked the word and it was unfruitful. The fourth kind of man received the word on good ground. And the word brought forth fruit, one hundred fold, sixty fold, thirty. We are building our house in this life. Everybody is doing something. We have to build. We can’t say I’m not going to build. The day we stop building on Christ we have some danger coming against us. Floods may come. We don’t know. If we build upon Jesus Christ, it’s going to stand against the test of time.

Heb 11, all the faith heroes had one thing in common. They were all walking by faith.

Heb 11:1, Rom 11:17. We need purpose in our life, 1 Cor 3:12. Jesus gave us a redemptive purpose.

We need grace to stand upon in Jn 1:14-16. We have to build our life on Christ in this world which is evil. Everywhere we see evil abounds.

If we walk with Christ closely in Jn 15:5, he said you cannot do anything without me. Because I am the vine, you are the branch and you can’t bear fruit by your own self. If you abide in me, you’ll bear fruit. So he is our Rock, he is our strength in this world. We will complete our journey on this earth and we will never fall. If we are foolish and don’t build upon him, it’s foolishness, and that house is not going to stand. So build your house upon the Rock. It’s great to be building upon Christ. He’s going to reward us one day on what we do on this earth. I think it’s great to be a Christian. It’s great to follow Christ. He is the preeminent one in this world and thank God we can build upon Him. He has an interest in our life also. He wants us to do it. He’s God. He’s faithful and he will carry us through. But, build your house upon the Rock, Christ himself, not upon sand which are details. He’ll give us strength.

P. Schaller

P. Melvin just spoke about building our house upon the Rock and when the storms come, the house stays. It endures the storm. Can you put those words in your mouth and are they in your heart? Be careful how you build. Can you talk to your neighbor about it for a moment? Say a few sentences and repeat what he said. (He’s talking about Faith Promise). Would you give me the money, Lord, so I could support missions? You make a pledge. You’re saying to the Lord, give it to me. You can designate it for a missionary you know…some are out on the field and have come back. Hear the stories of what God is doing in the mission field. Hear the stories like we heard in P. Arpit shared of a man who got saved and was a train robber and robbed five trains. This is how he got money. Never caught or arrested. Never served any time. After got saved started to evangelize and since arrested twice! He’s tempted to go back – NO!! Hearing stories. The testimonies of God’s work in disciples. What God does in our prayer life, what God does in a marriage, what God does with addictions, how God cares about people. God is saving people and changing them. We are building a house on a Rock. I want to share about the house that God has built. Think about the name of Jesus Christ. We’ll move around a bit in our Bibles.

Mt. 1:21, the name Jesus and the house that God has built. We have explained this many times through the years here at Greater Grace. If you come with any regularity you will recognize this simple picture. It’s very fundamental and illustrative. A house with two stories. Life is like the first story, living in the first story of the house is the natural life of man. In the first story, we have our soul, our body phenomena, on all levels. There is a spiritual reality, physical, psychological, relational.

Ecclesiastes is a look at this life on the first story. The key word is “vanity.” Meaning of vanity is emptiness. Man has because of the fall and he lost God, then he lost the second story of the house. He doesn’t live in the second story of the house. God has ordained for man to live in the whole house but when he sinned, he lost God. When he lost God, he lost his purpose. When he lost his purpose he is left with questions. Why am I here? Who am I? We have shallow answers. Like where are you going? I’m going to the school. Who are you? My name is Tom or Debbie or Nancy. Those aren’t real answers. I’m going to the house, the store, the Philippines or Asia or Argentina. Why is man left without a real answer to these questions? Because man has sinned and lost God who designed the man to know God and walk with God. When Jesus came into the world, he was given a very human name.

Mt 1:21, In the O.T. it’s the word Joshua, Moses successor. It was a common name. Even in parts of the world, they use the name as a first name. In Mexico, in the Islamic world. It’s a name of lowliness, humiliation. A name of service. A name meaning to save. He shall save his people from their sins. Jesus.

In Acts 2:36, Peter said God has made this Jesus both Lord and Christ. I’ll put the name up here in the second floor of the house, Christ. Christ was not a proper name used as Peter or Debbie or Nancy. It is a title, a position, a function, Messiah. It’s a definition of a service. Christ. The Savior, Jesus in his humiliation has been highly exalted and made Christ. When he was on the earth he was Christ but didn’t finish his work until he died on the cross and was raised from the dead and seated at the Father’s right hand. In the Gospels we see the word “Jesus” more often than any other place but in the epistles we see the name Jesus Christ. He is more than simply a man humble and humiliated and in the dirt and hunger and thirst of the first floor. But he has been raised and put at the Father’s right hand. In this sense he is the key to living life in the whole house. What does that mean for us? We have received riches in him.

Eph 1:7 Life has changed for us because we now have Christ in our life. Christ has put us in a way, you could draw it this way. We have been baptized into him. We are many members and part of his body. On this side of death, if death is the way we get out of our body and enter into the fuller understanding and reality of his person, we are on this side and we are privileged to be partakers of and experience the reality of this person who is living in the whole house and is the house. He has said extraordinary things about this transcendental reality. No one has gone up to heaven but the Son of Man who is in heaven. Christ said no one has gone up but me who is there now. As I am on the earth in Israel, I’m also in heaven. Another astounding verse, if with my finger I cast out demons no doubt the kingdom of God has come unto you. How about this one: two or more gathering in my name I am there. I know we will one day be raised, but don’t you know I am the resurrection and the life. Right now live in the whole house. It’s yours. It’s ours. He was not simply Jesus. He was Jesus Christ. He was the one that brought man into the full reality of who God is.

If you want to see the Father, if you see me you have seen the father in Jn 14.

Don’t you know I have overcome death in Jn 5:24? Remember Martha and Mary crying with their lost (brother). We know he will be raised at the last day. Jesus shifts to don’t you know I am the resurrection and the life. Don’t you also know if you believe you will see the glory of God? Anyone seen it lately? Have you seen the glory of God? I saw my taxi, the dirt, ran out of gas, can’t pay my mortgage, struggling with my bills, my wife angry with me, children lost or disinterested. God says that’s my world too. I know what it is on the first floor of the house. I want you to walk with me and follow me. Hear me. I want you to understand who I am and what I have done. I want you to be in the Spirit. I want your mind renewed. I want you to be deeply encouraged.

When we are in the fellowship of the faith, this is the meaning here – Eph 3:8. Let’s tuck Paul away in the lowest place we can in our picture. Who are you Paul? I murdered Christians. Arrogant Pharisees, deceived, upset and troubled that I have been an enemy of God. I grew up to be a righteous man and found I wasn’t. I’m less than the least but God has given me grace. Unto me. Unto me is this grace given. What kind of grace. That I should preach in vs. 8. Paul was amazed God could use him. When Paul preached there was something more than just him, the anointing of God, the Spirit of God. When they listened to Paul, The Spirit fell on people. They were anointed of God. They began to understand what Paul understood. God didn’t put us in the world without J.C. God didn’t put us on the first floor of the house just to hack through life. He gave us his Son so we would have abundance.

vs. 8. The unsearchable riches of Christ. Preach what people generally could never figure out or find it. They could never get it. They can’t really find it. You don’t stumble over it in the yard sale. You can’t read it in the library or internet. You can’t talk to your teacher or priest or pastor and get it. Even browsing through your Bible or looking here or there. It’s illusive. It happens to all of us. We live on the first floor and don’t believe we can find anything more. Christians say I done that, tried it. That’s fine. When you and I taste it, we say I want more. I got it. I see it. I want it. I want Jesus in my life. I want Christ in my life. Way beyond.

vs. 16. This is the prayer for the church at GG today and around the world and all the brothers and sisters, Baptists, Presbyterians – whoever is a believer, this is our prayer. Where? In the inner man. Where are you living? Outer man. But this is his prayer we would be strengthened in the inner man. We would get it, see it. The inner man would be strengthened. This kind of strength in you. I want God. I’m after God. God is real for me. I’m seeking. I will find. I will find. I got that. That happens to us. You think if in the Gospels anyone met Jesus and really met him they would go away indifferent. Yeah, I met him. I’m going to get a sandwich. It was an event. No.

vs. 17. How is it happening? By faith. Keep walking by faith. Do you ever expect anything? Do you ever expect anything from God? Do you expect him to quicken you? Do you expect liberty, freedom, joy? Do you ever have expectation that comes from God? Do you say I am believing God and I am serious about it? I want to drink richly from that fountain. I want God to satisfy me deeply. I’m not just believing the way we do with our creeds and doctrines and go on my merry way. Not only am I believing it but pursuing it. I want to embrace it. By faith we be rooted and grounded in love. If I’m here on this first floor as a Christen pastor, do you know how many problems, how much counsel, how much discouragement, how many disappointments you can have with yourself? Do you know how bored you can be with yourself and your life? It’s no different from anyone else in life. There’s no real magic bullet for this thing called life except one thing and it’s real. Sometimes you say I can’t speak. I don’t even want to speak. I go to God and say please help me and minister to me and lead me. Sometimes the message is so clearly coming to your heart and mind you find the H.S. is speaking and ministering to you and you’re able to do it and say thank you God. That was awesome. Thank you for building us up and edifying us. Just you and I sitting in the congregation realize God has touched us. Christ has visited his people. Christ is the head of the church. Christ is the ultimate answer for anyone’s life. He has built a house that can’t be overcome by anything this world can throw at it. Convention theme is called Built on the Rock. The church is built on the rock which is Christ. The second floor and the first floor in the sense Christ came into this world as Jesus. Jesus obeyed the Father in his weakness and hunger and thirst and temptation and God has made him both Lord and Christ. What does this mean for us? He is anointed. In the O.T. there were three offices in the government of the O.T.

The king, and he was anointed, 1 Sam 10:1; the priest in Lev 8:12. Moses told to anoint the priest with the oil and make him special. The oil went on his ear, right thumb and right toe. Anointed with oil and blood. He’ set apart by God so in his ear he would hear God, in his thumb would work and God with him and when he walked God was with him in his service. This happened to Christ. He is a king and also priest.

Everything he heard from the Father in Is 50:4. He would wake up morning by morning and learn. He heard as a learned person. He wasn’t educated naturally. He was hearing and the result was he was highly educated. The Father was educating him. He was hearing from the Spirit. He was a man but also Christ.

Prophet in 1 Ki 19. We read the anointing of the prophet. David was these three. Because he sat before the ark and wasn’t of the Levi tribe but was of Judah, he was able to dance before the ark and serve as a priest. Jesus is the only one in our N.T. and he was anointed with these three offices. King, will of man. Priest, emotions of man. Prophet, understanding or mind. There are three parts to your soul that are very important. Your will, feelings and mind. When Christ came into the world, he addressed every one of those parts of us that is damaged by our sin. Because of our sin we are disobedient. He became obedient and can minister to you will. I can take your will and affect your will and influence you. Follow me. It’s your decision. If you follow me I will influence you and your will will become my will. That’s a message in itself. That’s an amazing consideration for our meditation. This house here God has Christ that will influence your life personally in a deep way. You might say Pastor, I don’t have the strength. We say you have Christ. You say, Pastor, my emotions. I’m upset and troubled and guilty for my sin and who I am. This is my problem. You have Christ. You say it’s too far away. No, it isn’t. He came into the world. He came into the world and says hello? I have done this so I would be your minister. I will be your psychologist or counselor, your doctor, your healer, your guide. I will influence you. Can you get really deep in me? Yes. Nobody can get deep in you as I can. I made you in my image. Who am I? My name is Tom. Live by faith in him and the answer gets deeper. My name is Tom or my name is Debbie but I am a child of God. Thy word was found and I did eat it and it was the joy and rejoicing of my heart for I am called by thy name. Called by thy name. Adam and Eve had two names.

But Ge 5:2 says their name was Adam. Look at the picture. We are in Him and called by his name. My name is Debbie but my name is actually his name is Christ and I’m called by his name. God is my father. You might say how about it? How does it work? The anointed one has wrought in us a new life where I have my will is affected, my emotions, and my mind. Therefore for me to live is Christ.

Gal 2:20 I live by the faith of who? The son of God. Even my faith is the faith of the son of God.

Eph 3:18 Comprehend is a big word. How broad? It doesn’t give a number. When built Noah’s ark had a number. Tabernacle had numbers but this portion has no numbers. On the second floor of the house, where are the numbers? It’s as big as God is. Where are the numbers? Where is the limit of his love? Where is the limit of his patience, of God’s grace? It is unsearchable. It’s what you have received in him. It takes a spiritual mind to think of no limits. Way beyond the stars, the universe. Our concept of God is important which is why he is invisible. If God was visible there would be limits, boundary, and shape. Our God is invisible because there is no way he could be in that realm of measurement of breadth and length and depth and height that is spiritual. To know the love of Christ.

Haggai 1:2-6. One of the amazing things about this church is that 50 years ago or so, pastor started to dream and think what we would do if we believe and follow and trust. He decided to start a Bible school in 1972 and say to us let’s do something. Let’s go with the Gospel in the world. Let’s study the Bible, bring the message of the finished work.

vs. 2. The time is not come that we are going to bring the Gospel into the world, that we are going to build God’s house. The time is not come that we are going to start a Bible school but will do it later. This is the idea.

vs. 3-4. You could say I believe in missions but I got to build my house now. I believe in the church but have to raise my family now. I believe that is true but I have my profession now, my relationship with people, my life. How about discovering myself? I got to find myself and discover myself. That’s how we are as people.

vs. 5-6. This is another message. That’s a powerful word right there. First floor of the house, this way of life we all live in, God says hold it. Stop. Consider your ways. How are you doing? We say I am empty, needy, not satisfied. I’m drinking but not filled. Eating but not satisfied. Building my family but something is missing. I have my marriage, family, kids, job, car, things. I have a spiritual hunger but don’t know how to find it.

God says stop your life right now and consider your ways. Something is missing. What does he say? Build now my house. Stop. Priorities. Change it. Seek me and you will find me. There are too many of us who can live on the first floor and years go by. A picnic, a new car, a life, movies and it goes on and on and the Lord is saying I have something better for you. The breadth and the length and height and depth is amazing. I gave you J.C. so you can live in him not later when go to heaven but now in his lifetime. There is a lot to say about it but that is enough.

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