A Pillar has become a House
“And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:21-22)
This is preached very rarely today. Pastors, tell, when was it last time you preached about tribulations? But it was constantly preached by Apostles and by Christ Himself. It is amazing how far Christianity has gone, that for many churches the word about tribulations and sufferings – I know what I am talking about – is something like speaking about lepers, because their theology build on earthly happiness. And the root system of their teaching is built on the idea that you must be well. And more than that, this is actually God’s purpose for man on earth, to make him well. But tell me, why then Christ had to shed His Blood. Is blood required to make someone feel well? One can bless without blood.
These are serious things. It is written in Scripture, who wants to be friend to the world becomes enemy to God. And if we by our nature believe that we must be friends to the world, we do become enemies to God. The outcome the apogee of the clashing of these two different world is that the Son of God dies on the cross, He dies to death, and the Blood shedding Christ becomes God’s answer to this world – the dead and then risen Son.
So with the Apostles it was foundational teaching in every place they came, in all different political, economic, cultural situation – “strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” Think, why today our Gospel often doesn’t work, people come and leave, they can’t get rooted? Because there’s no soil, and the gospel we preach is not the gospel. Apostles weren’t bothered not to lose people in a gathering and never set entertaining events, like we often do trying to attract and entertain people.
“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” – I love this with my spirit, soul may tremble, but for the spirit this is oxygen, this is the gospel, this is the true Christ, who suffered and died for our sins. Therefore, do not forget this and preach Christ crucified! No matter how successful or burdened man may be today, he needs the word about Christ crucified, because this is the word that his soul is looking for, because the chosen people will recognize the truth right there, that Christ died for them. And woe to those who distort the Gospel, because by doing so he loses strength and intimacy with God and betrays Him indirectly as he shuns from the Crucified Son. This is why we should not avoid other people’s pain; this is why we should be strong to accept sufferings.
But when members are superficial, and pastors teach them that everything will be all right and cool, Christ will take care, we escape sufferings – people are unprepared. The Scripture says that the time will come for the great tribulation, and some say this is already in progress – it doesn’t matter. At any time the church must be prepared. We said it recently that from the very beginning of our church we’ve preached the same message; you won’t find a difference, be it before the pandemic or after, or many years ago. We never changed the gospel and always preached the cross the way we do it now. I don’t know what you like to preach on, but here it is written that Paul taught this in every place, that through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God.
Revelation.
“It was shown how the Eastern Gates were covered by a cloud. Only the cloud was visible, the Gates were not. Then inside the Gates, inside the cloud something was begotten, as if the Gates got pregnant from the cloud that covered them. Something started growing inside the Gates, and the time came to give birth. And a new cloud showed up from the Gates and began to come forth from the Gates like a baby comes forth from the one who has in the womb. The new born cloud was like the one that covered the Eastern Gates, only it was new like a newborn and had its own color, taste and voice, which was heard from this cloud. The new cloud began to grow and gradually covered the Gates until it did completely. The new cloud was in constant movement, when it moved the Eastern Gates moved as well, when it spoke with its voice, the Gates also spoke, their voice was in unison and was heard even far away”.
Amazing, this speaks of a new cloud being born. We also feel this, and I think that this refers to what is happening with us here, when creativity becomes part of our gospel. And I am not talking about painting or music or dance or cinema etc. God is the Creator, Christ is the Artist – it says in Proverbs 8, that wisdom was the Artist with Him. I think we lack this today, we have replaced creativity with “churchness”, scared to step beyond the church service frames.
I certainly understand those Apostolic theologians who were in the beginning and developed the doctrine of liturgy – instead of listening to primitive human thoughts (so it is often the case) liturgy will replace with a higher thing – here’s the Word, if you have nothing to say better read the Word and pray, and speak of the importance of the passage. Otherwise if you raise pathos and bubbles having nothing inside, you teach hypocrisy not only yourself, but the people.
We are speaking about creativeness – this is the gospel that is released in colors, and it’s wonderful when you have stereo instead of mono and all your senses are involved. You receive all the fullness of the Creator, you receive all the fullness of His Word. The Gospel is not only about Christ dying on the cross for redemption. Yes, this is vital for us today because this is the Gates. You are given the key and told, “listen, don’t lose it, keep it on your neck”. The key is crucial to having an access, but the key isn’t the treasure. The key is means of access to something great and unspeakably beautiful – to the Kingdom!
Jesus did not stop to stay on the cross. He rose again, but didn’t stay on earth either, He was taken into heaven. He didn’t stop to stay in Heaven, He will return for His Bride! He doesn’t stop even here – He will take her to the wedding feast through the rapture, and then He will have more people taken from the judgments. And then they will submit to the Father, and the heavens will roll down, and there will be new heaven and earth, and there will be seventh day.
So when the church starts to deify the key, decorating it with gems – she deifies and worships the key, not understanding about the Kingdom, not understanding why God created the universe, not understanding that the plan of redemption was actually repairs.
When God created heaven and earth – and we are talking about creativeness – He did it with a vast intention, He took from there the souls predestined and those spirits of the righteous that were ordained from the beginning and introduced them into the world of creation. He created Adam, He created Eve from Adam, He planted Eden on earth, separated waters from waters and called it the firmament – He was creating the world created, flora, fauna and man. Christ and the Church were born in the sixth day, because Eve is taken from the rib.
But man spoiled it all – Adam and Eve fell. Say, you were building a house, but one of the walls crushed. What does this mean? It means that the Lord sends His Son, who repairs this mistake of man. But the building process continues. He doesn’t stop at this wall to mourn, how great the mistake of man was, and gets stuck there, this child remains by the wall repentant, waiting for Christ to return and wake him up.
This was the mistake of man, this was sin. And the Lord sends His Son to correct, to fix this mistake for something greater than only redemption. Redemption in itself means that something bad happened, and what was sold not at our will has to be redeemed. And He redeems it by His blood and sacrifice and yet continues the more general purpose on the universal scale. The global purpose continues.
God’s most global plan does not stop at the redemption, but it goes higher than redemption of man. God continues to create, and further it will be the seventh day, when God rested from all his works.
This is the greatest plan, which is called God’s house-building (dispensation), and the church is a part of this house-building. Many people got stuck and spend their life mourning, by the cross where Christ is not anymore – He entered hell, He ascended and is coming again. And we must understand – yes, we preach to the world Christ crucified, we hold on to this, this is the point of all the destiny-carrying events that happen to us through the prism of the gospel. That is, we interpret all God’s ways in our destinies and say these are His destinies. God has one destiny, but His destinies are our destinies in Him. Those are wondrous ways and wondrous strings, which He sets in tune on His divine organ. God’s great plan proceeds further than redemption, the Lord is above the created world. God is not created – He was, is and ever will be. The created world begins in Genesis in the visible world, but before that God had always been, there are the world that are not for us to comprehend. But here it is when God began to create both visible and invisible in the creation – we begin to read it; and than this plan is completed. Redemption is inside it, in the beginning of the New Testament. But Revelation goes further – Christ is not dying on the cross anymore, Christ is already engaged in different things. He invites John the Apostle and starts showing him what He does: He sanctifies the Church on earth through the messages to the seven churches, and then the seals and cups, and plagues, and Angels are working so that the Bride may be cleansed and Israel prepared, and all the things in heaven and on earth may be joined, and then the Bride and the Spirit in unity say, “Come”. The Beloved comes and the curtain falls at that, because the seventh day is still concealed: “the ear hasn’t heard, the eye hasn’t seen what the Lord has prepared for those who love Him” – we can’t embrace this bliss.
We continue to preach only redemption and abide in it, but the eternal plan of God goes further. I consider it really deep error that we stopped seeing further and set redemption as the ultimate purpose of God – “God almost lost to the devil and scarcely one the matter”, and this is the end of it. As if Christ remained crucified in heaven. But He is not. In heaven He is clothed in His beautiful garment, girded with a golden band, His eyes are like a flame of fire, out of His mouth goes a sharp two-edged sward, which He will kill the lawless one with – He is the King, the King of kings, Lord of lords, God of gods.
This is the amazing Good News of the Gospel and altogether divine Word, which expands our boundaries. And this new cloud is not only about kinds of art, do not limit creativeness by the arts. Art is simply a language of human genius, ways to express this genius, which in interpretation means the highest spirit – what is highest, exalted, pure and noble in man. And this genius interests God, and this genius speaks the language of creativeness.
And the highest purpose of creation is to unveil the beauty of God. And we are also creation of God, its apogee – there’s no higher being on earth than man. Man is able to consciously restrain himself, no animal is capable of that. He can sacrifice himself, he can love when doesn’t feel like loving, he can die while he wants to live. Man is capable of things, which Jesus pointed to as divine capacity.
I will also give a few stones.
Why did God love us before we did? Well, we have our own idea of love out of the experience we have had, which is all different, according to our different mentality. Man and women have it different. We said that love can give herself as a sacrifice, so many women would not die for their husbands while their husbands would do it. For man it is more clear, he is a warrior (if he is) and it is a valor to die for someone. Yes, there’s wife and children, but I think Enoch sorted this out when he was to leave, he did not resist when God desired to take him. He delivered his family to God, who would certainly take care of them if He decided so.
Also we see examples and stories of other people, which also adds to our idea of love, along with education and upbringing. All these things shape our understanding of love, but this all may be, forgive me, rubbish, compared to what God considers love.
This is why God loved us before, when we were still sinners, and He died for us, in order to demonstrate the right understanding of love. So that pushing from it and it being the foundation we could build our lives on love. So that we don’t have a false idea of love, but take His example as etalon and be moved by His love.
Therefore, “let us love Him because He loved us first”. Build on love that is from God, not that which is of your opinion. And this love is not only sacrificial, it is also wise. This refers not only to man and woman relationship. We read about David and Jonathan, how David had no woman in his life whom he would love like he loved Jonathan, there was none among women closer to David than Jonathan. Therefore, do not pull all things into family, value friends, value people.
And this global plan of God:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”
The created world began with light! The Light has come – enlightenment! All things became evident from the light. What was hidden, became evident and manifested. God was creating, and He keeps creating – the Sabbath still remains for God’s people.
I want to bless you with this great plan of God, this is the greatest treasure, the great diamond of incredible beauty and radiance – that the eternal plan of God does further than redemption on earth. He keeps creating universe – we must enter this great plan. Do not spend all of your life by the broken wall, Christ has already healed this wound. Christ died… and we carry this dimension and tell this to all people. But this broken wall will be present in their lives if they don’t see the truth.
So the first stone is God’s house building, the second – because He loved us first. And this is prophetic teaching, do you see?
The third stone:
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”(Gen.28:16-22)
This pillar shall be God’s house. He had his head on this stone, he saw the ladder and the angels of God ascending and descending, he woke up and was impressed and said, “How awesome is this place!” A stone in the field – and this is a portal! He poured the oil he had with him and declared this stone God’s house, Bethel, and this pillar shall be God’s house.
A pillar speaks for marking and remembering something. This is experience. How can experience become church?! I am shaken by God’s revelation. Experience can become God’s house! We are all building and depositing into one great house, each one from his side. Some build walls, some hold the gates, some pray, some to subtle work, others global, some do apostolic work, some priestly – but whatever it may be, part of the experience turns into the house.
The pillar is experience. He receives an experience with God, sets the stone, pours oil and says, “this stone shall be God’s house”, and he leaves. Then he forgets it, many years full of different things pass by. But God reminds him and tells him to go back, offer a sacrifice, He pressed Jacob to return there. So he does after making that global destiny changing circle. Je returns, offers a sacrifice and call is El-Bethel, which is “God in God’s house”. And another level of blessing comes – since this time he is Israel, not Jacob. He becomes the father of nations, he enters into the promise of father Abraham, Isaac and Abraham, and becomes, well – king of Israel, the Patriarch. Patriarch is greater than king. What a beauty!
Addressing us today I say that we have testimonies of incredible experiences with God. Though it may be that considering your testimonies you mark totally wrong spots than you should. You made up your red days for yourselves, but those were usual days. Things that you paid attention at – you did so in the measure of your corruption, being unsanctified. But things you paid no attention to were true traces of God. Think about this, look back at your life journey, and may the pillar become the house. What you’ve had with God, divine wondrous visitations, destiny changing moments – they can become God’s house. God has many houses, and the great Kingdom in heaven is all God’s. There you see God everywhere and always. But your own establishment, this building process may take quite a deal of time, do not hurry. Even to comprehend this takes time. Prepare yourselves, gird yourselves, a long journey is ahead, long and not simple, but it is true.
This prophetic speech is not quite clear to you, because you build your minf on reason. But I tell you prophetically – make you pillar a house. Amen.