A Heavenly Building

1Ch 17:1 And it happened as David sat in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is under curtains.
1Ch 17:2 And Nathan said to David, Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.
1Ch 17:3 And it happened the same night the Word of God came to Nathan, saying,
1Ch 17:4 Go and tell David My servant, So says Jehovah, You shall not build Me a house to dwell in.
1Ch 17:5 For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel until today, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.



……………….1Ch 17:11 And it will be, when your days have ended so that you must go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, who shall be from your sons. And I will make his kingdom sure.
1Ch 17:12 He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.


David built houses for himself in the city of David.He took wives for himself. His heart was full of gratitude to the Lord for all that God had done for him and he wished to do the best for God that he was capable of.


“Let me build a house for the Lord!” he cried out.This reminds us of Peter when with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. “Let us build a Tabernacle for you Lord!” he said.
Nathan the prophet gave his consent to this well-meaning desire, saying : “Do all that is in your heart!” This kind of counsel is often given to a well meaning heart.

Yet God spoke to Nathan in the night, and said to him, “Not so, David. I will build a house for you. I will raise up one of your descendants after you and he will build for me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. Likewise, Peter, who wanted to build a tent for the Lord, was himself dug up and exposed to be the foundational rock for a house with foundations that Jesus is building.


Mat 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

What is the scripture teaching us about church building? It is this. The ideas that Men have about how to build are very different to God’s ideas. Why?

Because Men apply their natural understanding to how things ought to be done. David reasoned that if he dwelt in a house of Cedar than why should God not also have a house like his ?

Here in Spain where I live a “Church” is considered to be the building at the center of every village next to the Plaza. The quickest and easiest way to express ones gratitude to God in every age is to build a building, but God has never once told us in his word to do that.

1Ch 17:6 Wherever I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people, saying, Why have you not built Me a house of cedars?

Jesus told us to go out and make disciples, and teach them to be over comers. When these disciples come together, that is his church, for Christ said that where two or more are gathered in his name he is in their midst.

Moreover, Jesus never once told us to go out and plant churches. The modern concept of “Church planting” is foreign to the New Testament.Nowhere in scripture are we told to plant or build churches. The early Christians were scattered and wherever they went they made disciples, and those disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. Even Paul made disciples; he did not “Plant churches” or build churches. When disciples are together, that is the church.

The formulas which we see today for planting and building churches seem successful to the natural mind.Buildings are built, organizational structures are set up, and members are made.The church is built, but is this the same church that Jesus was speaking about?Despite what God had said to David about his different perspective, David still went ahead with his earthly building plan.His son Solomon built a splendid temple.

……….I will raise up your seed after you, who shall be from your sons. And I will make his kingdom sure.
1Ch 17:12 He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.

Solomon, however, was and wasn’t the “seed” that God was talking about.He was a son of David, but not the Son that the prophecy was referring to.This prophecy, as many biblcal prophecies, had a double fulfillment.Solomon’s Temple was to be built, but the everlasting temple in the prophecy was not the temple that Solomon constructed. Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, it was not everlesting.We build outwardly that which is impressive to men but what is temporal. God builds inwardly that which is hidden to men but is eternal.

Christ’s church and churches men plant are two different things.Christ’s church is eternal, and what men build is temporal like Solomon’s temple.What man builds will be burned up by fire and only what is of a hidden and eternal character, God’s work, will remain.

When Moses wanted to put into action God’s plan of deliverance he killed an Egyptian and hid him in the sand. This action led to him being exiled into the wilderness for forty years to be a shepherd and to learn the ways of God. The nation of Israel were sent back into the wilderness for forty years after they attempted to enter into the promised land their way, without God. After that failed attempt they went in circles for forty years until the entire older generation died. During that time God was building for himself a people.

These examples show us that God has to take us through a process of delivering us of our good ideas and natural reasoning before he can build into us a dwelling place for him. We cannot build a church as much as David couldn’t build a temple; God builds his church into us. In you, he says to David, is my seed, and I will raise him up. Christ in us is the seed of God and it is God who raises up Christ in us to become his dwelling place .God is building his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it .

When Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan he was only there for forty days, not for forty years like the Israelites, and he was found to be perfect. Satan could find nothing in him to rule.He was a perfect cornerstone. Satan could not get Jesus to reason with him concerning the scriptures.Jesus lived only by God’s words, not by an interpretation of scripture. He did nothing apart from God.

Every lust that Adam’s race had fallen under , the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of pride, had no hold over Jesus. He was tested and found pure in the wilderness and Satan left him for a more opportune time .Jesus came out of the wilderness in the power of the Spirit preaching repentance and the rulership of God. He was the cornerstone of God’s temple.To Christ the church would be aligned. He chose twelve disciples and trained them to be overcomers as he was, they were conformed to him. Beginning first with their attachment to possessions and gradually exposing the rulership of Satan in their lives and destroying Satan’s hold on them so that they might come to a place of true overcoming. No one of them could be Christ’s disciple without having Satans rule destroyed in his life.

It is not possible to be a disciple of Christ if there is any part of us that is not yielded to Christ.God raises up his seed in us, which is Christ, and by so doing he builds his church. Any part of a Christian that is not yielded to Christ is ground for Satan to exercise control over that Christian.It is not so much only possessions that must be yielded to God but the heart which covets possesions. There are possessions that are not material that must be yielded up. A good reputation is a possession that can be fertile ground for Satan to work in unless it is yielded up to Christ. Only God can deliver us of the rule of self through the way of the cross. We become the dwelling place of God as self is crucified.We become his temple.We are the church that God is building. Paul was able to say that his old life was crucified and that it is no longer he that lives but Christ that was lives in him. Only God can do this work.This is how he builds. We grow with a growth which is from God.As we are building what we think is the church, God is actually building his eternal church.His works will remain, our works will be burnt up.

We should not make the mistake that both Peter and David made, thinking that the church is some kind of structure that we can erect using our natural reasoning and talents.Our advertising campaigns and seeker friendly meetings can draw crowds into our buildings but is that the Church? Men must be conformed to the cornerstone, Jesus, if they are to fit into the Temple that God is erecting.

You shall not build Me a house to dwell in.
1Ch 17:5 For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel until today, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

God does not dwell in structures erected by men, he lives in tents. That is, he dwells in us, it is our bodies which are his temples and at this point our bodies are tents. We have a building in heaven which is being made, but at the present time God is not interested in anything else but living in tents, that is good enough for him.

These tents in which he dwells are joined together, and that is the church. It has nothing whatever to do with the millions of people all over the world that attend meetings on Sunday mornings. Many of these are part of his church but are not part of it because they attend Sunday meetings. Many who are part of God’s Church never go into “church” at all. Many are in prison.

We,and you, the true church, are all living stones being built up by God into a dwelling place for him. Let us not think that we can make administrative structures for him or buildings and call them “ our church”. Many “church” members are not and never will be part of God’s dwelling place.

Having understood all of that, it now seems ludicrous that we build church buildings at all. Church buildings did not exist for the first couple of hundred years of the existence of the church. Much more money , time and effort go into buildings than into what Jesus commanded us to do, i.e. making disciples and preaching to the nations.What a waste.

God is building his church into us, which is Christ within. Our worldly attempts at building the church results in multitudes of religious people who are not even converted, not even disciples at all. Church structures with all variety of names will be burned up by fire with multitudes of false Christians or Tares. All that will remain is what God himself has built. There is only one church.Many of us in ‘born again’ church circles look with disdain at the sumptious buildings and worldy politics of Holy Roman Catholic Church and fail to see that we are following the same path.In a few hundred years of following this path we will put them to shame, our temples and structures will outshine the great Cathedrals of Europe.

To some christian leaders greater numbers and bigger churches seem to promise change in society because of having more political clout. Large membership is also capable of bringing in huge amounts of money, which to the natural mind is an indication of power. However most of this financial power is spent on programmes, buildings and comforts for Christians to enjoy. “Lets, face it, says a prominent Christian church leader in America- we tithe to ourselves.” The jews were very proud of their fabulous temple. Let us be reminded that Solomon’s and Herod’s temples were razed to the ground. The same will happen with all our carnal attempts to build the church. All our building is hay and stubble.


Our reasoning leads us to build buildings, establish organizations, collect funds, start bible colleges and all kinds of well intentioned activity. We want to build God’s house. Jesus never told us to do any of that. He told us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. Now how can that possibly be the way to building the church, we wonder? We are so used to building buildings and running businesses that once given an opportunity to serve God we come up with a hundred good plans to advance the Kindom. When Peter foolishly suggested a building program, God spoke from Heaven and said:

“ This is my beloved Son, listen to him.”

I suspect that what Jesus will say to us will be very different from what we are accustomed to do in the world.God doesn’t need our money, he doesn’t need our methods. Indeed he told his disciples to give away all their money before following him. He told them to take up their cross, deny themselves and to follow him. He was going to the cross, and that is where he commands us to follow. Peter was full of good ideas about church building, but he would never have thought of the path that the Lord had for him:

Joh 21:18 Truly, truly, I say to you, When you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you grow old, you shall stretch forth your hands and another shall gird you and carry you where you do not wish.


God is building his church into us, and only as we diminish can his presence increase among his people. Despite all the beautiful buildings , efficient organization and professional worship that we have in the church today, there is a distinct lack of the presence of God in the everyday lives of Christians. God’s presence is manifested in holiness, patience, humility and long-suffering. But it is not evident. This holiness, which is Christ indwelling his people, can only be imparted to us through suffering. Later on in his life, Peter was able to explain in his book the path that Christ had chosen for him, the path that he did not wish.

You also, as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house…..
You have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example to follow in his steps…..
Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm youselves also with the same purpose..
To the degree you share the sufferings of Christ,keep rejoicing…
Judgement begins with the household of God…
Let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right…
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.. …( all from 1 Peter)

Had Peter lost his mind when he wrote these verses, or had he gained the mind of Christ?This is a very different Peter to the one who wanted to build a tabernacle for the Lord. He was now a stone that knew from experience how it is that God conforms us to his cornerstone so that we may be fitted into the Temple that He is building.

Tribulation and suffering, trials and self denial are the only way that God can conform us to Christ.The very thing that most Christians today are doing their best to avoid, is the means by which God builds his church. This is what Spurgeon has to say about it:


“We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
- Act_14:22
God’s people have their trials. It was never designed by God, when he chose his people, that they should be an untried people. They were chosen in the furnace of affliction; they were never chosen to worldly peace and earthly joy. Freedom from sickness and the pains of mortality was never promised them; but when their Lord drew up the charter of privileges, he included chastisements amongst the things to which they should inevitably be heirs. Trials are a part of our lot; they were predestinated for us in Christ’s last legacy. So surely as the stars are fashioned by his hands, and their orbits fixed by him, so surely are our trials allotted to us: he has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us. Good men must never expect to escape troubles; if they do, they will be disappointed, for none of their predecessors have been without them. Mark the patience of Job; remember Abraham, for he had his trials, and by his faith under them, he became the “Father of the faithful.” Note well the biographies of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and you shall discover none of those whom God made vessels of mercy, who were not made to pass through the fire of affliction. It is ordained of old that the cross of trouble should be engraved on every vessel of mercy, as the royal mark whereby the King’s vessels of honour are distinguished. But although tribulation is thus the path of God’s children, they have the comfort of knowing that their Master has traversed it before them; they have his presence and sympathy to cheer them, his grace to support them, and his example to teach them how to endure; and when they reach “the kingdom,” it will more than make amends for the “much tribulation” through which they passed to enter it.


Moses tried to do God’s will his way, and he had to go into the wilderness for forty years to be changed. The fact that he was by this trial changed into the most humble man on the face of the earth did not automatically secure salvation for the whole nation of Israel. They, in their turn, had to suffer their own trials for forty years in the wilderness to be delivered of their rebellion and unbelief. Jesus was in the wilderness being tested for forty days, and demonstrated that the evil one had nothing in him. His perfection does not automatically secure our deliverance from rebellion towards God and unbelief. We need to delivered from our old nature through sufferings in the wilderness. This is the way God builds his church.He wants to take us into the promised land, but the old man must die in the wilderness first. It is very different from our way of doing things.

When Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow him our minds rebel and we try to think of a hundred more reasonable and succesful ways of building the church.Like Peter and David we rush ahead to build something more in keeping with our idea of religion.We try to avoid at any cost the way that God has marked out for us, the way of the cross of Christ.We are busy building splendid edifices that are destined for destruction, but as we do that God is building into us something hidden which is eternal and will remain.

What a relief it is to know that despite all the wordly building efforts that we see, God is building his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.Let the Muslims turn our buildings into Mosques ! So what if our cathedrals become shopping centres and museums!Our organizations are destined to become dusty institutions in the next generation, but Christ will build his house and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!



Rev 3:12 He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, ………and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name.
Rev 3:13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.