Building The Sanctuary

BUILDING THE SANCTUARY

1 Chronicles 22:18-19, "Is not the LORD your God with you? And hath he not given you rest on every side? For he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD."

We have just come through a wonderful time of refreshing in the revival that we had last week. God’s Word has done its work, and continues to work in us by washing, cleansing and bringing us into a deeper place in God. But we must go forth from this place, this time and this experience into even deeper depths and higher places in God. We can’t stop here and just bask in the memory of this day. We must step off into the future with a renewed vision and a new direction. It’s time to build a sanctuary in our own lives to the glory of God.

In our scriptures, King David has come down to the end of his days as King of Israel and the time has come for the scepter to be passed down to his son, Solomon.

You may remember a few weeks ago when we pointed out that David was not given permission to build the temple, even though it had been a lifelong dream. He was a man of war. His duty was to secure the land of Israel from all enemies and to subdue those within who would bring about Israel’s destruction through idolatry and all manner of sin.

In the performance of these duties, David had been forced into many battles where blood was shed in abundance. Because of all the blood that had been shed by David’s armies and because of the fact that David had caused innocent blood to be shed in covering up his own sin, he was not allowed to build the temple. What a great disappointment that must have been for David!

I wonder how many people today, who still love the Lord, and who have it in their heart to do great and mighty things for God, will never see those desires come true in their lives because of the sins of the past? I wonder what limitations God places on men and women who have a long record of terrible sins that have caused the hurt of many people?

I know that the Blood of Jesus will wash away every stain of sin. I know that there is no sin so great that he will not forgive. I know that we are made into a new creation and all the old sin and things of the old life are forever washed away, but the fact is that some of the effects of our old life, that are result of sin, will not go away, but will follow us for the rest of our lives.

This was the plight of David. He loved God. He was a man after God’s own heart. His heart was to build God a house to dwell in and to make God’s house the most magnificent building that mankind could conceive. Yet, in spite of David’s true repentance; in spite of the fact that I believe God forgave David; and in spite of the fact that he had finally conquered every enemy and drove sin from the land of Israel, David would not accomplish the building of the temple. He was a man of war and God would not allow his life to bring a reproach upon the Temple of God. He would not be allowed to build the sanctuary for God that he wanted to build with all his heart.

Oh that we could have that same great desire that David had to build a sanctuary for the Lord in our own lives! How much do we desire to have a sanctuary in our lives unto the Lord? How much are we willing to give to him? What price will we be willing to pay to know the Lord in the way that we should?

I know that my greatest desire is to build a sanctuary in my life for God.

A sanctuary is a sacred place; a consecrated spot; a holy place in me that cannot be violated by sin; a place of refuge and protection; and place of shelter from the wiles and attacks of the devil.

It’s a place in God, where I can live the abundant life.

It’s a place in God where I am not such an easy prey for every wind of doctrine that comes along, nor am I an easy target for Satan’s temptations to sin.