The House Of God

In this sermon the speaker begins by reading Genesis 28:10‑22, focusing on Jacob’s night at Bethel where he dreams of a ladder reaching heaven and receives God’s promises. He highlights Jacob’s response—recognizing the place as “the house of God,” setting up a stone pillar, naming the site Bethel, and vowing tithes—using it as a model for what a true church should be. The preacher then shifts to contemporary examples, recounting a recent revival that led to many conversions, especially among students, and emphasizing the excitement and commitment of those new believers. The bulk of the message draws a series of parallels between Jacob’s experience and the qualities of a genuine “house of God.” He outlines practical criteria: a church must draw people to work for it, be a place where God directs believers, provide visionary dreams and a heavenly focus, repeat God’s promises, offer security and a sense of God’s presence, foster loving fellowship, and encourage faithful tithing. The speaker urges listeners to evaluate their own congregation against these standards, to seek a church where they feel the presence of God and are motivated to give, serve, and return, and to consider moving if their spiritual needs are not being met.

What is Houston's First Baptist Church?

Houston's First Baptist Church is a relevant biblical community where we gather our hearts, grow our souls and give our lives as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). This podcast provides weekly messages from Pastor Gregg Matte and others. Visit us at HoustonsFirst.org to learn more about HFBC, and visit us in person the next time you're in Houston!

Now today, as we continue our journey through the book of Genesis, I'm going to do a little switch, and tonight is very, very important, the 28th chapter of Genesis. This morning, tonight, chapter 27, I'm going to switch them around. I think you need, we need this more this morning, and tonight's message more tonight. And so this morning, we'll skip chapter 27 and cover it in the evening hour. Chapter 28, I'm going to begin reading in verse number 11. Jacob had a serendipity, an unexpected privilege of finding something exciting in a place he did not expect to find it. And it serves, I think, as an exciting background for what God would say to us this morning. Genesis 28, verse 11. Now let's start at verse 10. And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran, and he alighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night, because the sun was set. And he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the 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 in 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 whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land. For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful, not meaning spooky, but awesome is this place. This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel. But the name of the city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob bowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Now, I could preach about an hour and a half right there, as if you didn't know. 4 ,039 people have been saved. Sixteen schoolteachers were saved in Spirino. One schoolteacher brought a class of 47 history students, and all 47 of them accepted Christ in one service. I would not be accurately judging the situation if I did not say to you that this was probably the most in -depth revival of which I have ever been a part. These young people were soundly saved. In the homes, we found them excited and deep as to the dimensions of their relationship to God. They came early at night and would fight for the front row seats. They stood around. They clapped when you took the offering. That's a twist. They clapped when you said Jesus. They clapped when their friends were baptized. And it was not a carnival atmosphere. It was a genuine, holy expression of people excited about the things in life that are worth getting excited about. The last night, Wednesday, 114 of them, and hundreds did not have the time, came to this pulpit and gave a sentence testimony of their faith in Christ. Of the 114, all but 11 mentioned some previous experience with dope, a far cry from the 22 % that a noted psychiatrist found in his survey. I do not know whether we reached the hardest kids or whether under the impress of the Spirit of God they were more honest than they were in response to a psychiatrist's survey. But I do know this. Sound conversions transformed lives. Because of this, there are literally hundreds of people in this city whose eyes are turned toward First Baptist Church that are asking and will continue to ask for months to come, ought I and my family make the effort to go to First Baptist Church and be a part of that church? Is it really worth a trip to town? And I raise my questioning thought to theirs. Is it worth the trouble? Is this church any different from any other church? And if it is not, if we are just a part of the status quo, just another brick building with empty people, then it is not worth their effort to come. We already have enough churches. There are 260 ,000 churches on the North American continent, 258 Southern Baptist churches alone in this city. It is the most difficult to get to. You can get to any other church in town easier than you can get here. There are 1 ,200 churches in our city. There are 1 ,250 denominations, religions, cults, and sects in the United States. The Church of God, for example, have the Church of God, the Church of God of Anderson, the Church of God in Christ, the Church of God of Christ in Anderson, and on and on. We ourselves have denominations that go by the name Baptist that meet on every day of the week. Did you know there are First Day Baptists? There are Monday Baptists, Tuesday Baptists, Wednesday Baptists, on throughout the week. Major denominations in America that are registered with the United States government. We have Eastern Baptists and Southern Baptists. We have American Baptists, Northern Baptists, Conservative Baptists, Free Will Baptists, Billy Goat Baptists. I would come to church, but I would give, but I would sing in the choir, but they butchered it there. Oh, we've got Billy Goat Baptists. We have, we have lily, the devil got me to say that. We have lily Baptists. You know what a lily Baptist is? They toil not, neither do they spin. We have all kinds of Baptists. Now, we have some very large churches. We have churches in America with 18 and 20 ,000 members. We have very small churches. We have, for example, one -third of all Southern Baptist churches that are part -time churches. They are so small. There are 7 ,000 Baptist churches in the United States that did not baptize one convert last year. Conversely, there are churches that baptize three and four thousand people a year. So take your pick. There are churches that have the name being conservative and fundamental that in reality are dead and filled with dead men's bones. There are churches that have the name of being liberal, which are in reality very conservative. For example, Norman Vincent Peale's Marba Collegiate Church is one of the great sound gospel preaching churches of America, and hundreds find Christ every year. Most people are not aware of that. Churches we don't need. But Jacob, had a dream. And some things happened in his dream that caused him, when he awoke, to say, this place is not just another brick building. This place is the house of God. And there is a difference in a church and a house of God. And I want us this morning to put our people, not the building, the people of the church, to the test that he found in this chapter that caused him to say, this place is different. This place is the house of God. And if we do not measure up, if we are no house of God, but just another church, then we certainly cannot justify our existence and ought to shut down and go out of business or become what it takes to qualify as a genuine house of God. When he awoke from his sleep, he said, this is God's house. This is different. This, the house of God, was peculiar. Now what things in his dream caused him, what circumstances caused him to realize that this was different? Not just a building, but a genuine house of God. Number one, look in verse 10. And Jacob went out from Beersheba. A house of God is a place where people work. He had to put out some effort to go. He had to put out some effort to get there. He put out some effort when he was there. A place that does not stir your heart. A place that does not bless you enough to put out an effort for you to be involved to work at the job of being a part of that church is not a house of God. It may be for someone else, but it's not going to be for you. And if you do not love any church enough to invest your life in it, to teach, to support, to attend, to talk, to put out an effort to work in that church, then it is not meeting your spiritual need. And you ought to move to a church that does. Number two, he says, and he lighted upon a certain place. Verse 11, not just any place, a certain place. A house of God is a place to which God directs. Somebody said, what's happened since you came? I said, well, we've had about 1 ,200 additions and a couple of hundred subtractions. Now, if God is blessing you in a church, if it is meeting your spiritual need, if you are sure that God has directed you there, then it will qualify for you in meeting your spiritual need as a house of God. But I want to say very honestly, if our church is too informal or too evangelistic or not evangelistic enough or too highbrow or not highbrow enough, then you should go somewhere that meets your spiritual needs that draws you to Jesus Christ. The door swings both ways. That's why we have denominations. That's why we have different churches. That's why we have different personalities. That's why God directs us. And I say to you who come here, if yours needs are not being filled, if there is something that keeps you from serving Jesus Christ, then you ought to find a church that does meet your need. And by the same token, if you do put out the effort to come, if you do join our fellowship, I want to make dead sure that you are sure that the Spirit of God has directed you. It will cost you something to be a part of this church. We expect that you support this church with your tithes and offerings. We expect you to speak well of its fellowship. We expect you to attend. We expect you to visit. And I pray that not one person looking for a convenient place to be lost in the crowd will come to First Baptist Church. Our people are serious. They have a vision of world evangelism. They have tasted what it means to win people to Christ. And I don't think they're ever going to be satisfied with anything else again. The people of First Baptist Church are dedicated to the premise that we may not win everybody in the world or in Houston to Jesus Christ but under God every facility and resource that we have is going to be made in the effort. A house of God is a place to which you are directed. Not just any place, a certain place. Be sure that this place is that certain place for you. Number three, in this twelfth verse he says, and he dreamed. A house of God is a place where people get a vision. where people get a vision. Where they dream dreams and they are optimistic and their vision is increased. Do you in your Sunday school class, in your home, in your family, want to be a part of something that majors on outreach, that has a dream of winning men to Christ, a vision of more and more beyond what we are and a half for the glory of God, if that's what you want, if that's what you seek, then the First Baptist Church is the place for you. Too many of us see no farther than the end of our nose. But our people are dedicated to reaching others. And I remind you that quantity and quality are not necessarily separated. You can with depth win great numbers of people to Jesus Christ. A house of God is a place where people dream dreams and have visions and hope and dream and to conquest for God. Now the fourth, the next word is this. He goes on to say, he dreamed that there was a, and there was a ladder set up on the earth that reached to heaven. A house of God is a place where men are pointed to heaven. It is a place where men are pointed to heaven. D .L. Moody, the great, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great preacher, used to say when people came to hear him preach that the one thing that he hoped and prayed for the most was when they left, they would not say, my, what a preacher, what an orator, what a church, but what a Savior, what a Savior. Our Lord said the last authoritative word on the question when he said, what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? And I say simply that if you and your family are somewhere where Sunday by Sunday the clarion call of the gospel, the claims of Christ, the way of salvation, are not exalted and made plain, then you best, for your own spiritual sake, get your children in a church where they talk about being saved and major on winning people to Jesus Christ. A real house of God is a place where people are appointed heavenward. And the emphasis of far too many brick buildings with sounding brass and tinkling cymbal from the pulpit is on a social emphasis where people are pointed toward their fellows and pointed toward others and pointed this way. But a man in the center of God's will is in a church that is a house of God that is pointing this way, heavenward. Because he said, if I be lifted up, I'll draw the world unto me. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The world will never be reconciled to itself until it is first reconciled to himself. Jesus said in Matthew 6, 33, Seek first the kingdom of God and all of your horizontal needs will be added unto you. Now he continues, the Lord, in the 13th verse, You see, the house of God is a place where the Lord is exalted. It is a place where Jesus Christ is first. Oftentimes people ask me, Have you had the baptism of the Holy Ghost? My friend, I want to know the first thing I ask a man is, Are you rightly related to Jesus Christ? Are you saved? That's what's first. That's what's important. That's the number one thing. Our relationship to the Spirit of God, our relationship to other men, is all contingent on our relationship to Jesus Christ. And that that makes the Holy Spirit of God the focal point, that that makes the touchstone the question of every theological doctrine, what place does it give to the Holy Spirit, is not the heart of the issue. The heart of all the gospel is what place does it give to Jesus Christ. A man that loves Jesus is a man that's filled with the Holy Spirit. The house of God is a place where Jesus is exalted. The Bible says the Lord stood above it. He must in all things have preeminence. Now the next thing he says, The Lord God stood above it in the 13th verse and said, and said, A house of God is a place where God speaks. It is a place where God speaks. Now how does God speak? He speaks through the Word of God. Don't misunderstand me. There are uncounted hundreds of Bible -believing, gospel -preaching, Christ -exalting churches in this city. The First Baptist Church does not claim to be the only one, but is proud to be part of the many who are. But I say this to you, if you hear a preacher preach, if you are in a church that is always referring to what Dr. Horsefeather says or what Professor Whitzelbritches thinks or what Brother Bottletop tells us about it and does not preach what saith the Word of God for your kid's sake and your soul's sake, you'd better head for high timber and find you a Bible -preaching church. You're going to be in spiritual trouble. A real house of God is a place where God speaks. And how does He speak? He speaks through His Word. Next, verse 7. He said, Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth. And what does He do? He continues to recount again the promise of God. This is the third time that God repeated this promise to Jacob. I suggest to you that a house of God is a place where the promises of God are repeated. Now, it's wonderful to preach through the Bible, as I'm doing, and then next fall, after I've skimmed the Old Testament books this summer, I'll preach for several years straight through the chapters and verses of the New Testament, beginning with Matthew. And I sometimes wonder if it is not true that we ought to do more and say more. And to be sure, one must be widely read and well prepared. But again and again and again, I am reminded of the fact that it is the promises of this old book that stand secure and make the foundations of life sure. I don't know about you, but I don't get tired of hearing, the Lord is my shepherd, Ed, I shall not want. I don't get tired of amazing grace. I don't get tired of blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, or all things work together for good, or God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, or lo, I am with you. When all of the cotton candy of philosophy and all of the tinfoil of this world's theories are stripped away, it is the promises of the word of God that hold the soul secure. And the Christian who has been tossed and serpented and buffeted by the problems of this life will again and again and again be driven to the oft -repeated promises of this blessed and wonderful book. A house of God is a place where the promises of God are repeated. Verse 15, he says, I am with thee. I'll keep thee in all places, whether thou goest, I will not leave thee. Hear me. A house of God is a place where security is taught. House of God is a place where people are made to feel loved, that they belong, that they are secure. God was saying to Jacob in this place that caused him to say, this is a house of God. He was saying to him, I won't leave you. Everything's all right through the thick and the thin. I'm going to hold you in my hand. Psychiatrists use that word insecure over and over and over and over again. Always the parents get blamed for the insecurity of the kids and maybe they ought to be. I do not know, but I do know this. If there's anything our world needs, if there's anything that gives good mental health, it is security. And what more security to a child than that mother and dad are rock -like, steadfast Christians. The house of God in an insecure world is a place in which security is taught and inbred into the life of a child that gives him an inner peace and composure against the powers that come into his life in the world. He goes on, Jacob awaked out of his sleep and he said, surely, verse 16, this, the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. Man, I'm in God's presence and I almost missed it. I almost missed it. This is a wonderful place. I raised the question, how did he know he was in God's presence? Why, he felt it. He felt it. God didn't tell him, hey, this is God's house. He didn't say, hey, looky here, here I am. He just knew it. The Bible says, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy mind and all thy heart and all thy soul. And I've said 10 ,000 times, church, I don't know what it is when I go to church and there's something there I like that makes me want to go back. But I know what it isn't. I know when it's not there. And if it is anything, it is a sense of love, a sense of the presence of God, the koinonia, the fellowship. That's why I say to our deacons, our leaders, over and over again, at all costs, there must be no rift in the body of Christ. There must be no broken fellowship. We must, we may not always agree. We must always be agreeable because when the fellowship is broken and the people fragmented, then the spirit goes and so do the people. The people sense and know that koinonia, that love, that fellowship, that presence of God is there because they feel it. Call it the old time religion. Call it the fullness of the spirit. Call it a baptism of love. Call it koinonia. Call it what you will. But when you go to church and it isn't there, you know it. And the world knows when it is there too. Nobody told him God was in that place. A house of God is a place where you sense the presence of God, where you just know it's there when you walk in the door. Next Sunday, I will be my happy privilege to have been here a whole year. I don't know if you've been keeping track and knew that, but I've been keeping track and know it. And I'm, I'm so excited. Every, every day I just think what the Lord has done, you know, he's come a long way. Offerings have come in and folks have been saved and attendance has gone up and all these things. And you know, the one most important thing I think that has happened, the spirit, the fellowship of First Baptist Church, it's alive and real and warm and oh, it just makes you feel good all over. And when you come in, you want to come back and get another dose. I don't know everything that it is, but I know when it isn't there. Allow me this little personal testimony. Frank and I came down to spend a week looking at the church when you all were looking at us before I tried to make a decision about coming. And I kind of snuck in sort of incognito. That means nobody knew I was here and sat down on the back row Wednesday night. Now we didn't have a pastor. Things were kind of low and cold. And we sat back there and to see what it was like on Wednesday in church. You know, if you want to see how popular the preacher is, you can you can look at the crowd on Sunday morning. You want to see how popular the church is, you look at the crowd on Wednesday night. If you want to see how popular Jesus is, well you look at the crowd on Wednesday night. And it progressively goes down in all churches. So we came on Wednesday to get a real thermometer of the spiritual indication of the church. And we sat down and we sat in the back corner over there and began to count. And we counted 76 folks in prayer meeting. And they're all scattered out on 76 different views. And they're sitting there singing, day is dying in the West. Brother, that and all that was dying in the West. Oh me. I went out here. I said, Frank, deliver me from this place. The next day we started walking the streets. We looked around and prayed and thought and talked, went next door to Sweeney's. Oh, it was Christmas week. And they were having a sale. And they were giving away candy. And there were girls with big grins and red skirts and tinkle. And the cymbals were flashing and pretty Christmas music. And the bright shiny tops. And everybody was happy. They were singing jingle bells. And oh, it was exciting and happy. And we came back the next night and looked at church and looked around and thought of those 78 people singing, day is dying in the West. And packed the Sweeney's. And it was alive. The church was dead. And so help me, if they'd have both given an invitation, I'd have joined the jewelry store. I almost did. Thought about it. Boy, I thought, now this is where it's at. That's where the life was. Well, the Lord's brought us to life. If anything, He's brought us to life. And isn't it wonderful? You know, I'll tell you the truth. I really like to go to church at First Baptist Church. I just have a good time. It's happy. It's joy. Jesus Christ came in the world and in one dynamic speech gave us the purpose of life. He said, blessed are ye, blessed are ye, blessed are ye. He rattled out ten ways to be blessed. You know what blessed means? It means happy. He said, here's how to be happy. Jesus said, I've come to make you happy. And if you go to a church that makes you unhappy and makes you walk out more sour than you came in and defeated and flat and unhappy, you're not going to a house of God. A house of God is a place where you feel the presence of the Lord. And let me show you something else. Verse 17, he was afraid. That means he was in awe. In the awesome reverence, he said, this is none other but the house of God. The house of God is a place where there's enthusiasm. I don't expect he woke up and said, hmm, this is the house of God. I'm thinking, man, I'm in the very presence of God. He was enthusiastic. He was excited. He knew that the Lord was there. Now, in other word, verse 21, he said, I'm going to leave and I'm going to do some things so that I come again to my Father's house. The house of God is a place where people want to go back. It's a place where people want to go back. Let me say this very honestly to you. If you are sensing and feeling Monday to Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday, between the time you come on Sundays, a pull that you want to come back down here, that's the spirit of God guiding you. And if you feel a sense to go to some other church, that's the spirit of God guiding you there. Go to that place where you sense that you desire, you want to return. That's a house of God. Well, verse 22, he says, here's one of the oldies but goodies. And this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Isn't that nice? I'm glad he put that right there, aren't you? Oh, that's one of my favorite things. I love to preach on tithing. You know why? Because tithing blesses you. I know a lot of folks don't tithe at all to and wish they did, but those who have stayed with it through thick and thin, who have found the blessings will never quit. You want to meet your bills. You want your life transformed. You find a place that you love enough to invest with 10 % of your money, and I guarantee you God will bless you. A house of God is a place people support with their tithes. Well, the last thought is this. A house of God is a place where one is important. They didn't have a big crowd. Only one went to church that day. Sometimes people come to me and say, Preacher, I know you're busy, but I may give that appearance, but I don't want to. I want you to know that I am always ready for you. I'm never too busy to talk to you. Brother Knizel and our staff and our deacons and our people always have time for you. A house of God is a place where one is important. If this church does not meet your spiritual needs, let God lead you to one that does. But if you've found a life, a vibrant something here that causes you to say in light of these things, I believe it to be the house of God, then join its fellowship and God bless you. Let's stand together.