August 22nd,
1959 “Building the
Jeremiah 10:19,20
“Woe is me for my hurt!
My wound is grievous: but I said, truly this is my
grief and I must bear it. My tabernacle is spoiled and all my cords are broken.
My children are gone forth of me and they are not, there is none to stretch
forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.”
God
is speaking. God is feeling grieved because His tabernacle is forsaken by His
own children. This is the tabernacle which they had in the wilderness. It was a
mobile worshipping place. It was built according to the Word of God. The ark of
the covenant of the Lord was in it. The stones on which the commandments were
written with the finger of God were inside. Now God says the cords are broken.
The children are gone forth from Him. There is none to repair it. The pastors
cannot do it because they have not sought Him. Will you put up the tabernacle?
Have you the desire to build it up? If you try to build it with your own hand it
will break. It is not the human hand but the hand of faith that must stretch
the cords. People must meet the spirit of God when they enter in. The spirit
that calms the heart must be there. Who is able to fix the tent? People who fear
God can do it. We must not go without prayer to a place of worship. You must
take the presence of God with you. Then people around you cannot be careless.
You must be a help to the preacher by taking the spirit of God with you. We go
to church with clean clothes, but we have impure hearts and impure eyes. How we
defile the house of God The body which should be the temple of the Holy Spirit
is filled with sinful emotions. We forget that He is a holy God. You loose
consciousness of everything else - even your clothes. But remember you are
before a holy God. You can remember there about your sick child or your
relative who has missed the way. God will hear your cry. Sometimes we quarrel
and go into God’s house. Sometimes we go there with a regret
that we don’t have good clothes. Oh that we could make our worshipping place a
place of power! Let us not think of the preacher or his defects. Do not
remember these negative things. Do you want to repair your church? Repair
yourself first. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
When
you repair your tabernacle do not be afraid of anything. God will take care of
you and all that concerns you. How privileged we are to see the beauty of His
Word and the power of His gospel.
I know a pastor who never cared for his church. His family was just scattered. There is not one useful member of his family to be seen now. Let us be careful. Let us build the tabernacle of God. His strength will sustain us.