A Faithful House

A Faithful House Hebrews 3:16-19

And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 18 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? 19 So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest

• • The writer of Hebrews is again reminding us of the sins of the Israelites
  • He asks three questions to engage our thought process: 

• The first question: Who is it that rebelled against God, even though they heard God’s voice?

• • • Today’s translation would be something like this– Who still doesn’t obey God even after all the things He has done for you? – List them (Saved, forgiven, rescued you, healed you, set you free, provided for you)
    • He answers for them, so they don’t come up with some cover up answer – because we tend to be silly sometime – What’s a woman?
  • Answer: It was the people that Moses led out of Egypt 
  • He wants you to know that these are the same people that had been in slavery over 400 years, God delivered them, and yet they had the audacity to rebel against Him
  • They obeyed when it benefited them 
    • Avoided the plagues 

• Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold – Exodus 12:35–36 (Nkjv)

• Yet, they ended up using those same blessings to build an idol and replace God in their worship –Exodus 32:2–4 (Nkjv)

• The second question: And who made God angry for 40 years?
• This question can be seen in two different ways:
  • An angry God who holds a grudge for 40 years 
  • Or a merciful God that still provides for them (Manna) and protect them (Pillar of fire and cloud) despite their rebellion 
• The writer answers us yet again, so we don’t start guessing – It’s the people that sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness – A people that had a promise, but they rebelled against the Lord and chose death 
• The third question: – And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest?
• It was the people that disobeyed God – those that thought that their plans were better than God’s – because that what we are saying when we disobey is, I know better 

Main Point

• • The Source of all this: 19 So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest
  • The writer summarizes by saying – that the root cause of their spiritual and physical death was a result of unbelief!!

• Matthew Henry says: “Unbelief is the root; disobedience is the fruit.” (symptom)

• The opposite of unbelief is Faith 
• Human nature:  If I don’t have faith in who you are, what you have done, what you have said – then I have no business believing you! 
• The truth is that God has already proven Himself over and over, He has been faithful beyond our imagination, and He has said all that He needs to say to us and even written it down.
• So, their unbelief or our unbelief is not because of God — it’s because of our heart condition
• Unbelief leads to sin, disobedient and eventual death 
• The writer concludes that they could not enter into rest – what a sad moment

REST

• • I know that when I speak of rest, you are probably thinking 5pm, the weekend or even vacation – that relief from tiredness 
  • Have you ever been so tired, you want to just sit in the hallway for a second or pull over and just take a short nap 
  • Well, yesterday I took my tiredness to the next level – Wellsfargo 
  • I just want rest!! – this world there will be trouble (Adaaaaaam)!
  • That is not the rest that we are speaking of here 
  • What kind of rest are we referring to?
    • Think this through, the Israelites were rescued from slavery – 400+ years
    • It was time to go to the Promised Land – the land their ancestors spoke about and died waiting for
    • But because of sin, a short trip ended up becoming a long, long journey – leading to death 
    • And the rest they were hoping for – they lost it because of unbelief
  • What can we learn from this: 
  • You can’t inherit promises with a heart that refuses to believe God
  • God has promised us rest 

• Matthew 11:28-29 (Nkjv) Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am [a]gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls

• Hebrews 4:9–11 (Nkjv) So there is a special rest[a] still waiting for the people of God. 10 For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. 11 So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.

• • We have been called to be faithful and as a church (Body of Christ) we have been called to be a FAITHFUL HOUSE OF THE LORD 
  • A faithful house of the Lord is:
    • Set apart – Holy because He is Holy – 1 Peter 1:16 (NLT)

• Built on obedience – Matthew 7:24 (NLT) – 24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.

• Confident in Christ– Hebrews 3:6 (NLT) But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ

• Devoted to prayer– Isaiah 56:7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

• • A faithful house has unity – imagine if they had unity at Kadesh-Barnea, where they all agreed that yes, there are giants, however the One who saved us is greater than they are
  • They would have entered the original rest, which was the Promised Land
  • A faithful house serves with one accord – There is one goal and one desire 
  • They encourage each other, build each other and wish each other well -A team effort 
  • The Bible says that we are one body -and each part of the body has its work

• 1 Corinthians 12:12 (NLT) The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.

• Imagine if all the body parts moved in uniform – now that’s a faithful house 
• I was blown away when I read this verified real life event:

Charles Spurgeon

• • Around 1860 in London, there was a young man in his late twenties who had already been preaching since he was 16 and a minister since 19. He was leading a church of over 5,000 seated with another 1,000 standing, and every week the Metropolitan Tabernacle was filled to capacity. His sermons were printed every Monday, distributed worldwide, and translated into many languages. People traveled from around the world to hear him, and many testified that the moment they stepped into the chapel, they felt the heavy presence of the Holy Spirit.

• When visitors came, Charles Spurgeon often asked, “Would you like to see the secret of this church?” He would not take them to his office or the sanctuary, but downstairs to the basement, (he often called it the church’s “boiler room,”) where hundreds of believers gathered for prayer, before the service, during the sermon, and after the service. Some kneeled, some wept, some cried out, some prayed quietly, some prayed Scripture but all were interceding. This was not an event; it happened every single week. Spurgeon said no sermon was ever preached in power unless that basement was full of prayer.

• • One day a group of American pastors visited to learn “the secret.” Spurgeon welcomed them and said, “Let me show you the powerhouse.” He led them to the basement where 700 people were already praying before the service began. Spurgeon smiled and said, “There, gentlemen, is the secret of the blessing upon this ministry.”
  • Before the service, several hundred prayed for souls to be saved, conviction, anointing, revival, and the lost entering the room.
    During the sermon, hundreds continued praying for clarity, conviction, broken hearts, and strength for Spurgeon,. He said, “While I preach, they hold me up as Aaron and Hur held up the hands of Moses.”
    After the service, others stayed to pray for those under conviction or coming forward.
  • My friends, this is a great example of a faithful house 
  • I wonder which young man, older gentleman, lady, or seasoned saint prayed in the boiler room in the 1800s – and whose prayers have touched a life in 2025
  • Spurgeon said: “While I preach, they hold me up as Aaron and Hur held up the hands of Moses.”
  • I want to hold up the hands of our Pastors as they battle for us
  • What would happen to Auburn/Washington if we were as faithful 
  • FVC -Where are my faithful people on Monday night prayer, on their knees praying through out the week for the Wednesday service, Sunday service, Pastor Matt, for those that will come to Christ and those who received Christ 

• 2 Chronicles 16:9( AMPC) For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth so that He may support those whose heart is completely His.

• Those believers at the Metropolitan Tabernacle carried the burden of the future. Their weekly prayers pushed the gospel so far forward that you and I are still being blessed today by the words Spurgeon spoke and wrote

Personal time with God

• • A faithful house has faithful members that do their part 

• 1 Corinthians 12:14-16 (NLT) Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 

• Ephesians 4:15-16 -Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love

• • Our individual walk is as important -being part of a faithful house requires a faithful human

• A faithful house starts with you!

• You don’t have to have it all together; you just need to be willing to be used by God 
• A group of seminary students were on a study trip to England. One of the places they visited was the Epworth Rectory, the home of John Wesley, the great revivalist of the 1700s. Wesley was a man of deep prayer, often praying for hours every morning for revival and for God to shake England. He prayed so much, so long, and so consistently in one specific spot beside his bed that…
• Two deep indentations, Actual knee-shaped grooves -were worn into the wooden floor

When the professor showed the students the marks, he reminded them:

“This is where Wesley prayed for revival — and God answered.”

The students got back on the bus. But one student was missing.

The professor went back inside to look for him.

He found the young man kneeling in the exact knee holes Wesley prayed in, crying out: “Lord, do it again.
Lord, please do it again…
And let it begin with me.”

The professor put his hand on the young man’s shoulder and gently said: “Come on, Billy… we must go.” That young man was Billy Graham

And God DID do it again. And He DID begin with him

• • Where are our young people that have a zeal for the things of God and are willing to ask the Lord to do it again
  • When we are willing to ask God to do it again and start with me, my family, my church
  • He will hear us and do it again! – He is the same yesterday today and forever 
  • A faithful house needs: 
    • Boiler room prayer warriors 
    • Those willing to kneel and cry out to the Lord to do it again 
  • Unbelief will say – we see giants and we feel like grasshoppers

• But Faith will say : You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel (1 Samuel 17:45 Nkjv)

• Remember unbelief and faith are contagious – check your seeds – seeds are private, but fruit is public 

• • The faith of our house (FVC) determines our future 
  • A faithful house endures together and inherits God’s rest
  • God help us to have Faith!

• 1 John 5:14–15 (AMP)  This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that [a]if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us. 15 And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.
• FVC, I dare you to ask the Lord to do it again and start with you!