Will He Really Come? Series

If you have ever seen the Universal Studios movie “Field of Dreams” then you will more than likely recall that unforgettable scene where Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) is standing in the middle of a cornfield when he hears a voice say to him, “If you build it, he will come.” Ray then looked around and didn’t see anyone, and then he heard the voice speak again, “If you build it, he will come.”

The “it” that Ray was supposed to build was a baseball field, which was to be built right smack dab in the middle of his Iowa cornfield. The “he” that the voice was referring to was Joe Jackson, or Shoeless Joe, who was a member of the 1919 Black Sox baseball team. This voice told Ray that if he built this huge baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield that Joe Jackson would come back from the dead to play baseball there.(1)

Don’t ask me to make sense of the movie. I just want us to recall a statement that is probably wedged deeply in the minds of everyone who has ever seen the movie “Field of Dreams” - “If you build it, he will come.”

We have probably asked the questions, “How do we make the church grow?” and “What are some things we can do to get more people here?” There are some things we can actually try as a church, like outreach events, revival services, Vacation Bible School, and certain programs. There are many outward things that can be done to try to grow a church. Some churches even embark on a building program thinking that a new flashy building will draw people in.

I think there is something more important to focus on than church programs and new buildings, and that is focusing on our spiritual growth. I want us to really think about the statement, “If you build it, he will come.” As we look at 2 Chronicles 7:11-22, I want us to rethink such statements as “If we build it, God’s presence will come,” or “If we build it, many people will come,” or “If we do this or that program then God will show up.”

Is revival the result of the outward things we do such as elaborate programs and new flashy buildings? Or is it the result of the inward man and what is happening inside us spiritually? What must happen “spiritually” before God’s presence will come and dwell among us?

Solomon Constructed a New Church Building (v. 11)

11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house.

In 2 Samuel 7:5-6 the Lord told Nathan to speak to King David and say, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle’.” God had commanded David to build for Him a temple, which was basically a church building or a place of worship, but we read in 1 Chronicles 22:7-11 that David had lost the privilege of building the temple. We are told that David had shed too much blood in war, therefore God passed the torch along to David’s son, Solomon.

We see here in 2 Chronicles 7, verse 11, that King Solomon accomplished the task that was given to him. As we are going to see, after he had finished building the temple then God’s presence came and dwelled there. However, I want to ask you, was it because Solomon had constructed a new sanctuary that God’s Spirit dwelled there? Was it the sight of the new temple that pleased God and resulted in His presence abiding there?

He Will Come When We Seek His Face (vv. 12-16)

12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to [the] prayer made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.”