In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes that we are no longer dealing with shadows, but with the reality of God's desires for us. He highlights the gathering of people from every nation, tribe, town, and people to be built up as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood. The speaker also discusses the importance of offering acceptable spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. The sermon references the story of Jacob and his dream of a ladder connecting heaven and earth, illustrating how God desires to connect with humanity and extend His promises.

Will you please turn to 1 Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 5. 1 Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 5. Yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, as we gather here together in thy presence, our hearts are full of gratitude. Who are we that thou shalt grace us with such grace that thou shalt gather us together at this hour before thy presence? We want to thank and praise thee that thou hast thy word for thy people. Lord, we are all here. Speak, thy servants hear it. May thy name be glorified. May thy work be done. We ask in thy precious name. Amen. The theme of this conference is taken from 1 Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 5. A spiritual house, a holy priesthood, and acceptable sacrifices. We believe that it is God's desire to have a spiritual house. And in that spiritual house, there will be a holy priesthood. And that priesthood will be able to offer acceptable sacrifices. We believe that this is most basic to us. And I believe that to most brothers and sisters, this is quite familiar. But we know that familiar breeds despise. So it is a time that we shall be reminded again. And furthermore, we do not take this just as a theme for the conference. We feel that this should be a reality to each one of us in our daily lives. And for this, we really need to look to the Lord, that He may give us wisdom and revelation, that we may truly know Him. We know that it is the desire of God from eternity. We know that it is God's desire from eternity to have a spiritual house. Even when He created man, He had that in view. That is the reason why He created man in His own image, after His own likeness. This is because He wants to commune with man. He wants man to be His dwelling place. And also man may have God as their dwelling place. And you remember when God first delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them to Mount Sinai. And there He revealed to them His heart. Now why is it that He should deliver that people? He deliver them that He might dwell among them. And this is the desire of our God. But we know that in the Old Testament, these are types and shadows. And they will be imposed until the time when God will recover all things. At the time when God will set all things right. And that is at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So with the coming of the Lord Jesus, God has brought us into the reality. It is no longer shadow we are dealing with. It is reality that God desires us to be in. Out of every nation, every tribe, every tongue, every people. God gather a people unto Himself. And this people are built up together to be a spiritual house. To be a holy priesthood. And to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So brothers and sisters, today we are not dealing with shadows anymore. We are dealing with reality. It is therefore most important for us. What really is that which God desires. And what grace has done for us. And how shall we respond to God's working in us. And this is the reason why we gather here together. So may the Lord give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation. That our inner eyes may be opened. That we may be led into the reality of God's heart. As our brother mentioned last night. We will approach this theme from three directions. One, spiritual house. And one is holy priesthood. And the other is acceptable sacrifices. Even though we look at this theme from three directions. But really, they are one. And my burden is on spiritual house. In this first section, we would like to fellowship on God's desire for the house. And God willing, the next morning, we will deal with the pattern of the house of God. And then thirdly, we will deal with the building of God's house. I think when in Chinese, we translate it into ling gong, which is spiritual palace. I think this is a little bit misleading. Because the emphasis is on the house. Because the impression of a palace to you is different from the impression of a house. The house gives us a more intimate feeling. So I would prefer the house of God. Instead of the palace of God. Now will you please turn to Genesis chapter 28. Genesis chapter 28. We will read from verse 10. And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went towards Haran. And he lighted on a certain place and lodged there, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of the place and made it his pillar and lay down in that place. And he dreamed and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth. And the top of it reached to the heavens. And behold, angels of God ascended and descended upon it. And behold, Jehovah stood above it. And he said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land of which thou liest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed. Jehovah stood above the ladder and said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the land of which thou liest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And to thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places to which thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awoke from the sleep and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone that he had made his pillow and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bel-El, but the name of that city was Lodz at first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me and keep me on this road that I go, and will give me bread to eat and a garment to put on. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me and keep me on this road that I go, and will give me bread to eat and a garment to put on. And I come again to my father's house in peace. Then shall Jehovah be my God. And this stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that thou wilt give me, I will without fail give the tent to thee. And Exodus, chapter twenty-five, verse one, and Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring me a heave offering of everyone whose heart prompted him. Ye shall take my heave offering. And they shall make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shall show thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the utensils thereof, even so shall ye make it. Let's turn to Ephesians, chapter two. We'll begin with verse nineteen. Ephesians, chapter two, verse nineteen. So then ye are no longer strangers and foreigners, but ye are fellow citizens of the saints, and of the household of God. So then ye are no longer strangers and foreigners, but ye are fellow citizens of the saints, and of the household of God. Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone, in whom all the building fitted together increases to a holy temple in the Lord. In whom we also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. The first mentioning of the term, the house of God, is found in Genesis, chapter twenty-eight. And we know according to the principle of first mentioning, usually you find all the principles, main principles of that term are included there. So when we are talking about the house of God, we will go back to the story of Jacob. And we know how Jacob cheated his brother. How he cheated his brother in order to rob him of the birthright. And later on, how he cheated his father in trying to get the blessing of the firstborn. And because of what he did, he had to flee for his life. Because his brother wanted to kill him. Now we know Jacob was a very homely person. He is not like his brother Esau. His brother Esau is a hunter. Living an outward, outside life. But Jacob is a person who loved to stay at home. But because of what he did, he was not allowed to remain in his father's house. He had to flee for his life. While he was on his way, the sun was set. So he found a stone and make it a pillow for him. And he was so exhausted that he was able to fall into sleep even with a stone as a pillow. And as he was asleep, he dreamed a dream. Jacob must be thinking about his father's house. He was lonely. He couldn't stay in the love of his father's house. He tried to cheat his brother and his father. He tried to gain the birthright and also the blessing of the firstborn. But now in all appearances, you find he lost everything. So he must be thinking of what has transpired. So he must be thinking about these things. And there he dreamed a dream. God gave him a dream. The heaven was open. And he saw a ladder set up on the earth and it reached up to heaven. And behold, angels were ascending and descending on that ladder. And behold, Jehovah God was standing at the top of the ladder. And you know, Jacob was lying, was sleeping at the end of the ladder. In a sense, that ladder joined Jacob to God and God to Jacob. And there God spoke to Jacob. God promised him all the promises that God gave to Abraham, his father. How his seed will have all the land that God has promised to his father. And his seed shall be as the sand on the seashore. And in his seed, all the nations shall be blessed. In other words, all that God has promised to Abraham, God re-promised to Jacob. And God said, I will take care of you. I will see to it that you will return home. And I will do all that I have said to you. And Jacob woke up. It was a dream. And he said, I do not know that God is here. He was all alone. In a sense, forsaken by man. Because of what he did. He lost everything. All that he tried to grasp at, were lost. And he lost more than he tried to grasp. He was in a most miserable condition. But at this most miserable condition, God shall meet him. So here you will find the grace of God. He saw that he was all by himself. But God was with him. He saw the heaven open. He saw God himself. He heard God's promises. And he said, this is a dreadful place. Now brothers and sisters, think a little bit about it. Here was a man, who was in such condition. We will say God probably had forsaken him. And unexpectedly, God was with him. And if we had the presence of God, we would think this is the most blessed place. And yet, Jacob said, this is a dreadful place. Why? Because he was not prepared to meet God. He was unfit to meet God. So to him, this was a dreadful place. He never expected that God was here. And yet, God's grace came upon this man. The heaven was opened. Brothers and sisters, sometimes you find in the most unexpected condition, God's grace will open heaven to you. And there he saw that letter. Now it is the letter that connects God with man, and man with God. God alone does not make a house. Man alone cannot make a house. But God and man makes the house of God. But it is the letter that brings God and man together. And I believe that brothers and sisters, you remember in the Gospel of John chapter 1, there was a man who was called Nathaniel. He was a true Israelite. And when his friend Philip led him to Jesus, our Lord Jesus spoke to him and said, you are a true Israelite. There was no guile in you. And Nathaniel said, now how did you know me? The Lord said, I saw you under the fig tree. Evidently, Nathaniel, when he was under that fig tree, we know the fig tree is a symbol of the nation of Israel. So probably when he was under that fig tree, he was thinking about the nation of Israel. How the nation of Israel was chosen by God. But now look at the condition of Israel. So he must be worried about the whole situation. He was concerned with the actual situation of the chosen people of God. Maybe he was thinking, now where is the Messiah? Where will the promise of God become true? But our Lord Jesus saw into him. He saw him. Not just outwardly, but our Lord saw through him. He said, you are a true Israelite. There is no guile in you. And when Nathaniel heard this, he said, my God, my Lord, and the Lord Jesus said, you shall see greater things. You shall see a ladder setting up. And angels ascending and descending upon that ladder. Nathaniel was only thinking of the nation of Israel. The earthly people of God. What will be the future of the earthly people of God? But our Lord revealed to him something more. Show him the heavenly reality. Because our Lord himself is that ladder. It is a ladder that is set up on this earth. The Word became flesh and tabernacle among man. Full of grace and truth. Our Lord is the ladder that connects earth to heaven. Our Lord is the ladder that connects man with God. Man have gone astray. Man have sinned. Man are far away from God. Man are in a condition like Jacob was. But God in his mercy and grace, he sent his only begotten Son into this world. To connect man again with God. To bring man back to God. And angels ascending and descending on that ladder. We know that angels are ministering servants. God sent them to minister to those who will follow him. To be redeemed of the Lord. So you find that angels are very active working. Bringing God to man and man to God. And join God and man together. And all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters. Here you find a type. But the reality has already come. And thank God that we have Christ Jesus as our ladder. Without him we can never go to God. Nor can God come to us. But he is the one who joins us together. And when man and God are joined together, there is the house of God. Brothers and sisters. Even before the foundation of the world, God has a desire. He wants to dwell among man. This is God's sovereign will. We do not know why. Most likely it is his love. So you find that even before the world's foundation, God already has this thought in his heart. He wants man to be his house. Or we can put it in another way. Because in the Bible the word house can be a dwelling place. It can also be interpreted as the household of God. That is the home of God. Brothers and sisters. Has it ever come to your mind that our God is homeless? He who created the heavens and the earth and yet he was homeless. The heavens and the earth could not satisfy his heart. According to Isaiah, chapter 66 verses 1 and 2, it says, Heavens are my throne. And the earth is my footstool. Now when you think of throne and footstool, does it give you any thought about a home? What is the impression that gives to you? Heavens are my throne. Earth is my footstool. Well, this is God's office. So evidently God created heavens and the earth. And they are just his office. That's where he works. But where is his home? God said, Where is it? Does God dwell in a building built with man's hand? No. We find God look upon the afflicted and the contrite in spirit. And who tremble at his word. In other words, the heavens and the earth cannot satisfy his heart. But he looks for a people. A people who are afflicted and contrite in spirit. And who tremble at his word. And there, God will dwell with them. So here you find the story of Jacob again. You know, Jacob was homeless. While he was at home, he never thought of such thing. But now, being away from home, he began to think of his home. But he was homeless. A homeless person lying there on the ground with a stone at his pillow. You can never think of a more pitiful situation than Jacob. But there, God opened the heaven. And show him that God also is homeless. A homeless God met a homeless man. And joined these two together. And there you find the house of God. God dwells among man. Brothers and sisters, this is God's desire. Jacob was not prepared for that. I wonder, brothers and sisters, are we prepared for this? The Lord has come into this world. And he has already joined man and God, God and man together. But are we prepared for this vision? You find there, this is not a world but certainly the house of God. Jacob said, this is the gate of heaven. Why is it so? Because we know that God is in heaven. And we are on earth. God is heavenly in his character, in his nature. And we are earthly in our nature. These two do not fit together. You cannot bring the earth into heaven. Because they do not come together. So something must be done. Here you find Jacob said, now this is the house of God. And this is the gate of heaven. Jacob realized this. That as an earthly person, he cannot be joined to God who is in heaven. But this vision opened the way to heaven. The letter will lead him from earth to heaven. He has to leave the earth behind. And through the letter he has to ascend to heaven. God has already come down from heaven to earth. In the person of his beloved son. Now the angels will work God's work. They will minister to those who are redeemed. To bring us out of earth into heaven. So when we first believe in the Lord Jesus, the heaven was open to us. But it is not God's will that we should remain earthly. That we should remain as Jacob, the supplanter. Even though at the time we are redeemed, there is much in us that are unfit for heaven. Unfit to the house of God. And these have to be dealt with. So everything that is earthly, everything that is natural, everything that is of the flesh, everything that is of this present world, everything that is not of God, everything that is not spiritual, everything that is not heavenly, we find that God has to deal with us. And these things have to be cast off. The cross has to work in our lives. To take away all these that are unfit for heaven. That cannot be in the house of God. In order that we may be transformed. And be conformed to the image of God's beloved Son. Then we be truly the house of God. We can dwell in Him, and He dwell in us. You know, God's house has to be like God. Just like in any house that you live. If you stay in a hotel, you have to take it as it is. But your heart is not satisfied. Now, if you want to have your own house, if you want to have your own home, you will find that you want everything just fit your own taste. And because if it fits your taste, then you rest in your house. Otherwise you will be restless. So this is the house of God. The house of God has to be like God. Everything will speak of God's nature and character. And only then can God rest in man. Dear brothers and sisters, has it ever come to your mind how unfit you are for the house of God? Do you realize that how much God has to work in our lives to take away all that is unfit? He opens the heaven to us. The gate of heaven is open and we shall enter in. And on the way He will gradually transforming us that we will be like God. We will take above the character of ourselves the character of God. We will be conformed to the image of God's Son. And then you'll find we are truly God's house. And God can really rest among His people. And at the same time we rest in God. So, brothers and sisters, here you'll find Jacob when he woke up. He called this place Bethel. Bethel means the house of God. And he set up the stone pillow into a pillar. And he poured oil upon it. And he vowed a vow to God. Now, here you'll find he is still Jacob. And even though God has promised him so much, all the promises God gave to Abraham God gave to Jacob. And God also assured him that he will be with him. He will not leave him. Until everything is done. But look at Jacob. He vowed a vow. And said, if, if you really keep me, if you give me bread to eat, a garment to put on, and if you leave me back home, then I will make you my God. And this pillar shall be God's house. And without fail I will give you one tenth. Jacob is still that bargaining Jacob. God gave everything to him freely. It is all of grace. But Jacob did not understand grace. To him, everything has to bargain. And everything has to grasp that. So you find that he only expects a little bit of God. And even that little bit is conditional. But he said, now if you will do this, I will take you as my God. And this stone pillow will be God's house. And I will give you one tenth. Brothers and sisters, is this our condition? You know, sometimes we laugh at Jacob. With such a tremendous vision, that vision should caught him up to the third heaven. And yet you find he is still on earth. And he is still natural. He is still bargaining. There is no faith. There is no living faith in him. Brothers and sisters, are we like Jacob? God has opened heaven to us. He has revealed to us his heart desire. He wants to make us his home. He wants to dwell among us. And we will have our dwelling in him. Oh, the promises of God. Oh, yeah, and amen in Christ Jesus. And yet, brothers and sisters, how little faith do we have? We are still bargaining. If you will do this little bit for me, then I will repay you. So you find it took God twenty years. Twenty years God worked in Jacob. God put him into situations to open his eyes to see who Jacob really is. Because in his father-in-law, Laban, he saw himself. He met his match. It's a mirror image. For twenty years he has to go through the grind. And gradually God began to transform him. To make him Israel instead of Jacob. Even after he returned to Canaan. Even God met him by the river. And even God wrestled with him. He wrestled with God all night. He was strong until the angel of God touched his thigh. And Jacob's strength went out. He clung upon the angel of the Lord. Bless me. I will not let you go. Because without thee I have nothing now. All my strength are gone. I lean upon you. And God said your name shall be called Israel. The Prince of God. Now even with such happening you find Jacob after he returned to Canaan he was still using his own cleverness. He tried to arrange everything. And yet he knew he was not sure. He still cheated his brother. And God dealt with him and dealt with him. If he sick him God dealt him again. Until finally God said now you go back to Bethel where you vowed unto me. And Jacob returned and he built an altar. And God said now your name shall be Israel. So he called that place El Bethel. That is in Genesis chapter 35. God is the God of the house of God. It is God who enabled us to be his house. It is the work of grace that brought us into the reality of God's house. God is the almighty God. He is the all sufficient God. And he does everything. Brothers and sisters this is the first mentioning of the house of God. So all the spiritual principles of God's house you can find in this story. When we read Luke chapter 15 we think of the story we usually say it is the story of the prodigal son. Because our emphasis our attention is on the prodigal son. Because we know this prodigal son. It is our experience how we receive everything from God. Our life, our talent, our time, everything is all given by God. And yet we went far away from God's house. And we wasted everything on ourselves. We reduce ourselves to poverty. To spiritual poverty. And we have no hope. Death is before us. And we are like the prodigal son. By the grace of God it dawned upon us. Our father's house had food to eat. And we should be starving to death. You know when we really repent and return to God we are still rather selfish. We return to God. We believe in Jesus for a while. For our sake. We do not want to go to hell. We want to go to heaven. And we want to enjoy the Father's bounty. Everything is for us. God is for us. Christ is for us. Heaven is for us. Brothers and sisters, when we are saved we are rather selfish. But that's what we are. You cannot help it. That's where it begins. Brothers and sisters, but we rarely think of what happened to the Father. Actually in that parable the emphasis should be on the Father not on the prodigal son. Our Father possesses everything. We want His possession. But we do not want Him. We went far away from Him. We fell into sins and transgressions until we become hopeless. And at that time we began to think of our Father's house. Not the Father, but the Father's house. The Father has lots of servants, have lots of food, and I'm starving here. When we come back, what happened? The Bible said, when the prodigal son was still far from the gate, maybe the prodigal son began to wonder, Will my Father receive me again? I have spent away all that He has given me, and I'm now reduced to a beggar. Will He ever forgive me? Will He ever receive me back? Maybe He has traveled already a distance, but that little distance between the house and Himself are very difficult to travel. Maybe He stood there and wondered, but the Bible said, the Father was at the gate ever since the prodigal son left home. Every day the Father was standing at the door waiting for His Son to come back. The Father was homeless. He was in the house, but He was homeless. Without His Son, His heart was broken. There He was waiting for His Son, and the Bible said that old man ran to the Son. That is the only occasion God runs. And the Father grabbed Him, kissed Him, forgave everything. Brothers and sisters, our God without us is homeless. We need to know the heart of God. How His heart was broken over us. How He wants us to be with Him. And He will transform us. He will take away our rugged clothes and put on the best robe. He will cure the fatted cow. And He will rejoice for the Son has returned. Brothers and sisters, this is the Father's heart. So dear brothers and sisters, thank God. By His grace, He has brought us back. But the thing is, do we really desire God's house? Do we have the same desire for God's house as God Himself? So let us turn to Psalm. Psalm 127. No, 132. Psalm 132. Jerusalem Remember for David all his afflictions. How he swore unto Jehovah, vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob. I will not come into the tent of my home. I will not go up to my couch of my bed. I will not give sleep to mine eyes, slumber to my eyelids, until I find out a place for Jehovah, habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob. Here you find the heart of David. David is a man after God's own heart. In other words, David's heart and God's heart are one. His heart answers to God's heart. He knows what is in God's heart. And here he said, Lord, remember for David all his afflictions. I believe in the context of this song. Even though David is a person who has been greatly afflicted, how he was neglected by his father, how he was despised by his own brothers, how he was persecuted by King Saul, he was really a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. But I believe in reading the context. He does not ask God to remember all his troubles, all his tribulations, all his suffering. I believe the afflictions he mentioned here is a specific affliction. He is afflicted for God's house. That's the reason why. He said, I will not come into the tent of my home. I will not go up to my own bed. I will not allow my eyes to close. I make myself restless. I afflict my soul. For what? For finding a place for God to rest. To find a place for the Lord. Habitation for the mighty one of Jacob. You know, David, for a long time, he was a fugitive. He had to hide in caves. And he had to change his dwelling all the time. He was a homeless person. And as he was homeless, he thought of God. God was also homeless. Brothers and sisters, you know, after the ark came back from captivity, when it came back from the Philistines, it was hid in the wood in the forest. It was hid in the house of Abinadab. The children of Israel, they did not care for the ark of God. It was hidden there for twenty years. And during the time of King Saul, he never bothered to ask about the ark of God. But David, even when he was wandering in the wilderness, he thought of God's homelessness. So he wanted to find a place for God. You know, as soon as he became king, the first thing he did was to take Jerusalem because that's the place where God would set his name there. The second thing he did, he brought the ark back to Zion and put it in a tent prepared by him. And he even had the desire to build God a permanent house. He could not rest unless God rests. Brothers and sisters, this is David's heart. We need to have this heart of David. Brothers and sisters, are we concerned about God's house? Are we concerned about God's rest? Are we really occupying ourselves with finding God a habitation? Or do we just think about our own comfort and we forget God? Brothers and sisters, we need to have the desire of David because this is God's desire. And when these two hearts come together, then eventually you find the temple. So dear brothers and sisters, at the first session, let us ask the Lord to open our inner eyes and to look into the heart of God and see what He really desires. And at the same time, may the Lord have mercy upon us to create within us the same desire. That we are willing to give up everything so that God may rest among His people. May the Lord have mercy upon us. Shall we pray? Dear Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that Thou does love us so much. That Thou does send Thy beloved Son into this world to seek and to save the lost. Oh, how we praise and thank Thee, O Lord, that Thou has brought us back to the Father's house. But Lord, we confess that our desire for Thy house is not strong. And we are not prepared. We are not fit to be Thy house. How we rebel against Thee again and again. How we neglect the working of Thy Spirit in us. Thou does desire to make us Thy dwelling place. Thou does desire to rest among us. Forgive us for giving us Thee restlessness. Do have mercy upon us. Enable us to submit ourselves to Thee in such a way that Thou are able to work out the full salvation that Thou may rest among Thy people. And we may rest in Thee. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.