Our House

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning the 19th of July, 2020, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service, due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  We were not able to stream the service this morning, but our YouTube streaming channel is:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

It doesn’t take much searching through our Bible to see the “house of the Lord” discussed.  I mentioned a couple such instances earlier, where King David sang of the house of the Lord in psalms.  But these passages are not referring to a physical structure.  They’re not talking about an actual house or building.  The biblical references to the house of the Lord are to a spiritual construct.  It’s something we humans can more easily understand as a concept, even without divinely inspired insight.

Let me read to you one prophet’s take on the house of the Lord, one man who was indeed inspired by and spoke for God.  Please listen and follow along to God’s word as spoken and recorded by the prophet Micah, from the 4th chapter of the book bearing his name, verses 1 through 5, and I’ll be reading this from the New American Standard Bible…

1 And it will come about in the last days
That the mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be established as the chief of the mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
And the peoples will stream to it.
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord
And to the house of the God of Jacob,
That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For from Zion will go forth the law,
Even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they train for war.
4 Each of them will sit under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid,
For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 Though all the peoples walk
Each in the name of his god,
As for us, we will walk
In the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. 

--Micah 4:1-5 (NASB)

Let us pray…  Father God, we long for those days of peace Your prophet Micah describes.  A time when war is forgotten and people can be at ease, not afraid of harm from other men or even disease.  We who accept Your Son as our Lord know that this will only come to pass when we enter Your house in heaven.  Father, please help us get to that point.  Help us get through this life with our faith and belief intact when Your Son returns.  And Father, please protect this family from all the effects of the coronavirus and what is going on in the world around us.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through the trying days ahead.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us for this day, that it may stay with us through the days ahead.  Help us take guidance and strength from Your Holy Spirit within us. This we pray under the blood and in the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


From a national survey of strong families, conducted by the Human Development and Family Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1983, comes this profile of a strong family:

Appreciation:  "Family members gave one another compliments and sincere demonstrations of approval.  They tried to make the others feel appreciated and good about themselves."

Ability to Deal with Crises in a Positive Manner:  "They were willing to take a bad situation, see something positive in it and focus on that."

Time Together:  "In all areas of their lives - meals, work, recreation - they structured their schedules to spend time together."

High Degree of Commitment:  "Families promoted each person's happiness and welfare, invested time and energy in each other and made family their number one priority."

Good Communication Patterns:  "These families spent time talking with each other. They also listened well, which shows respect."

High Degree of Religious Orientation:  "Not all belonged to an organized church, but they considered themselves highly religious."

These are attributes that make for strong family cohesion.  Sometimes a family unit can be a highly caustic, even explosive environment.  Especially, it seems, if it includes a teenager.

But how much better would it be if all families put these traits into practice?  How much stronger and close-knit could we be if we worked hard to make each other feel appreciated, feel good about ourselves?  If we were willing to see something good and positive in even the worst situation?  If we spent more time together in all aspects of our lives, even if we had to schedule that time in?  If we invested time and energy in each other’s happiness and spiritual well-being?  If we just really listened to each other?

We – Pilgrim Church – we are a strong family.  But how much stronger could we be?


God chooses to speak through certain people that we call prophets, both major and minor.  Through Micah, God tells us of the time when His peace shall reign.  Now understand that this only comes after Jesus returns and sets the world aright.  In the last days, Micah says, God will finally be exalted and people will come to Him, will obey Him, and He will judge everyone, great and small.  We're not there yet, but we are getting closer.

We're not there yet as a people.  Rather than turning our swords into plowshares, we're sharpening them.  Rather than never again training for war, we're preparing for battle, abroad and even at home, including within this, our house - the house of our family of God.  We believers must continue to walk this life in the name of the Lord our God, no matter what comes next.


Jesus gives us signs of what to expect as the time of His return nears.  He warns of brother rising up against brother, of families being torn apart.  Listen to the words of our Savior as recorded by the Apostle Mark in chapter 13 of his Gospel account, verses 7 and 8 and 12 and 13…

7 "But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.

12 "Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

--Mark 13:7-8; 12-13 (NKJV)

Tell me…  Have any on you seen evidence of this type of behavior lately?  “Nation rising against nation”…  In our Bible, when we see the word “nation”, it generally refers to people, not countries like we know of them today.  The next part, “kingdom against kingdom”, is more of what we are used to, with countries at war with one another.  And we’re seeing both, right now.

In our country, at this very time, we see people rising up against one another over issues of social injustice, or how to protect ourselves from the spread of disease.  Brothers are fighting with brothers, sisters with sisters, children with their parents.   The Middle East is rife with conflict, China is making veiled threats against Taiwan, North Korea threatens everyone.

Earthquakes, famines, troubles…  we’re seeing all kinds of natural disasters as well as the man-made variety.  It doesn’t get much more troubling than the coronavirus and how it has impacted the entire world.  And we believers are being hated, more and more, just because of our profession of faith.

The church, the body of Christ, is seeing persecution from more sources now, including the government.  Yes, I truly believe we’re getting closer to the time Micah tells us about.


Jesus also warns that a house divided against itself cannot stand.  Again turning to Mark’s Gospel account, back to chapter 3 and verses 24 and 25, Jesus says…

24 "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand."

--Mark 3:24-25 (NKJV)

The Pharisees accused Jesus of being able to drive evil spirits out of people by the authority of Satan, but Jesus reasoned that Satan would not allow for his own servants to be vanquished, otherwise his “kingdom”, his “house”, would fall.  And what He said goes for any organized body, including the family.  A family that fights against itself cannot stay intact.

The church is the body of Jesus, the family of God.  The church of Jesus our Christ will stand, will survive.  But individual church families may not, if divisions within them cannot be healed.


Everything seems to be working against us right now.  We have this terrible disease sweeping the globe, and somewhat arbitrary reactions to it.  The economy is suffering, people are out of work, those still working are having to do everything differently.  Arguments arise over whether to wear masks or not, whether to start up all businesses or wait a while longer, whether to have students return to the classroom or continue trying to learn from home.

And through it all, we’ve forgotten how to treat each other.  We’ve forgotten to love - first and foremost, above all else, to love one another.  And all this unrest and distrust and frustration and outright hatred has bored down even to the family level, even into the church family.


Brothers and sisters, this isn’t the Lord’s house.  This is our house!  We are the Lord’s people.  This is the place we come together to worship our Lord.  This is where we gather before going out into the community to do the Lord’s work.

This is our house and we are our Lord’s people.  Let’s distance ourselves from the world, put our personal feelings aside and renew our love for one another.  Let’s patch up the divisions and reunite this family to the service of Jesus and the worship of God.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, our Master, our Savior.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for speaking to us through Your prophets, giving us insight into what we can expect in the future.  Thank You for the promise of hope Your word provides.  Please help us get through all this mess each day.  Help us survive with our faith intact and vital.  Help us remember that You are still in control and working Your plan for the redemption of the world.  And Father, help us be more trusting, more loving, more merciful, and more kindhearted in our daily walk.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You straight from our hearts, promising to repent of our sinful ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, some beautiful day You will return to call Your church home and You will right all the wrong in this world.  Then we will know true peace.  But until that time comes, we will continue to see the world sink further and further into chaos.  We’ll see wars and pestilence and disease increase.  Greater chasms will open up between peoples, even within families.  Jesus, help us, please, to survive all this.  Help us to get through each day that lies ahead.  Help us to not fall victim to Satan’s attempts and temptations that pull us away from You.  Please heal the divisions that creep in and separate us, even within Your church family.  Help us to love one another, to treat each other with respect, to seek justice, to have mercy.  And please, Lord, be ever with us as we walk through these troubling times.  Help us remain faithful and obedient through it all, concerned more with our church family as a whole and with the needs of others than with our own wants and desires.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.