The Church

Date: 22 September 2007
Speaker: Pastor Kong Hee
Venue: City Harvest Church

1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man; The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Genesis 26:1-6
There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. [Gerar was a pegan city.] Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. [Do not panic with the rest of the world. Stay in your faith.] Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

Genesis 26:12-14
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. [Note that Isaac sowed seeds despite the famine.] The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; ["prosperity" was mentioned thrice in this verse.] for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. [Isaac lived in glory, and was a testimony of God's goodness.]

Genesis 26:25
So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well. [He first built his altar, then took care of his family's needs, finally, instructing his servants. God, family, career/ministry; This is the right order.]

Genesis 28:10-22
Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. [The house of God, is a place of visions where you can connect to God.] And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” [The house of God, is where the Holy Spirit will show you revelations.] 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!” [The house of god, is the gateway to heaven where you can meet God.] 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.”

2 Samuel 24:18-25
And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.” Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.” [You cannot give God that, which costs you nothing.] Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel. [an attitude of love and sacrifice.]

The altar is where the power of heaven is going to pour down to the people.

Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. [The battle is between the kingdom of God and hell.]

1) Spiritual Maturity- We will always be giving because we want to be like Jesus.

2 Corinthians 8:7
But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.

2) Spiritual Revival- As the people strive to rebuild the temple, revival came.

Ezra 9:9
For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

3) Spiritual Purpose- As soon as we get connected to Him, the Spirit of revival will come.

2 Corinthians 8:5
And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.

Malachi 3:10-12
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. [Tithing keeps the church going, heaven will be over you, and prosperity will be poured out on you.] “ And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts; [God will keep the devil from you, and you will prosper at work.] And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” Says the Lord of hosts. [Your legacy will be felt all around the world.]