Dedication Of Building, To The Lord
59-0708M, Dedication Of Building, To The Lord, Church Of Faith, Cleveland, TN, 58 min




As I was coming in just a few moments ago, Billy, my son told me, I believe, that Sam Jones was the Evangelist. Is that right? [A brother says, "Sam Jones Coleweather, that--that's with Sam Jones."--Ed.]... lives here. So this spot must be kind of in a sacred spot, at a spot dedicated to the Lord. And we have built a building on top of this holy place. And this morning we are here for dedication of this building to the God Who has protected it and brought all these things to pass.
And it's always a great pleasure to me to--and a privilege, to speak a few words concerning, in a dedication of a church to the service of the Lord. Now, the church is just a building. But it was said once that--by Stephen, he said, "Solomon built Him a house. But howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in the houses made with hands; but a body has Thou prepared Me." See? [Acts 7:47-50], [Hebrews 10:5]

I'm going to ask that this pastor, to have a part in this dedication, to read out of the Bible, II Chronicles the 5th chapter, before we have the dedicational service: II Chronicles 5, Brother Littlefield.

Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and the instruments, put he among the treasure of the house of God.
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, out of Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant out of--the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.
And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.
And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels and were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.
And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for--for multitude.
And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracles of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:
For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof and above.
(Brother Littlefield says, "Would everyone stand please.")
And they drew out of the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracles; and they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day.
There was nothing in the ark save two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present was sanctified, and did not then wait by course:
Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with the mu--their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with the trumpets:)
And it came--and it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were one, to make one sound to be heard in the praising and thanking the Lord; and when the--and when they had lifted up their voices with the trumpets, with the cymbals and the instruments and the musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;
So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God. [II Chronicles 5:1-13]
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, out of Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant out of--the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.
And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.
And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels and were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.
And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for--for multitude.
And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracles of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:
For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof and above.
(Brother Littlefield says, "Would everyone stand please.")
And they drew out of the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracles; and they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day.
There was nothing in the ark save two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present was sanctified, and did not then wait by course:
Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with the mu--their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with the trumpets:)
And it came--and it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were one, to make one sound to be heard in the praising and thanking the Lord; and when the--and when they had lifted up their voices with the trumpets, with the cymbals and the instruments and the musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;
So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God. [II Chronicles 5:1-13]
Brother Littlefield says, "God's richest blessings upon His Word."--Ed.]

But I have built Him a house...
As we solemnly look to the Word of the Living God, and speaking on this subject of "Dedication of Building" to the Lord, I would like to make this statement: That it is known among most of us, and especially among scholars, that God is omnipresent. Well, I believe, in a measure, that God is omnipresent. God is omnipresent, Him being omniscient makes Him omnipresent. If God is omnipresent just like the atmosphere, then He is a myth.
But God is a Person. Therefore He has to have a certain place that He dwells. And He is omnipresent by being omniscient. Therefore if He is everywhere, because being omniscient, He knows everything. Therefore if He knows everything, He knows what's going on at every place. But God Himself dwells in a certain place. [I Kings 8:12-13], [II Chronicles 6:1-2]

Therefore, God being infinite and omniscient, He knows all things, and He knows everything that's going on at all places at all times. But He Himself is a Person, dwelling in one place. Therefore He could--we could call Him omniscient. [Psalms 147:5]


Then God took Moses up into the mountain of fire where the lightnings was flashing and the thunders a roaring. And He showed him what kind of a dwelling place He desired to dwell in on earth. For Moses patterned the earthly tabernacle after what he had seen in heaven, a sanctuary of the Lord.
Oh, I think that's so beautiful, to think that God before He would let a church building be built, that that building had to be a pattern of His heavenly abode. Moses made all things after the pattern of the heavenly. [Exodus 25:8-9], [Hebrews 8:5]

And we notice one was called the court, or the congregational place. The next was called the holy place. And the next was called the holy of holies. All these pointed to Christ. And even the furniture that was in the--inside its walls; everything spoke of Christ.
That's the reason that in Christ dwells the Fullness of God, 'cause all things led to Him. And Christ was God made flesh, God tabernacling on earth. Therefore, it was said by Stephen, "That Solomon built Him a temple. But the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; but a body has Thou made Me." [Exodus 27:1-21]

When Elijah went up to look, and said, "The skies was like brass," Divine judgment upon a sinful nation. Brass speaks of judgment. The serpent itself and the pole spoke of judgment passed (God's Divine judgment on the serpent), and spoke of the coming of Christ, where He would be made sin, and God's Divine judgment would be poured out on Him. That He being man and God would have to come down, made lower than the Angels so that He might die for the sins of us all.
His soul could not die because He was God. But His body had to be made a body of flesh so that it could die to be a sacrifice: virgin born body die for a sacrifice, that we sinful people might be brought nigh unto God by believing on this. [Numbers 21:7-9], [John 3:14], [Hebrews 2:7-9]

Sometimes I'm amazed at going and seeing houses with twenty one rooms in it, fifteen rooms. But you only live in three. That is the kitchen, the parlor, and the bedroom. You may have three bedrooms. You may have sun porches. But there is really only three. You may have a dining room. But that's just an off-breed from the kitchen. Kitchen, where you eat, the parlor, where you fellowship, and the bedroom where you rest...
And it speaks of God's order of His Church. We come into the kitchen by hearing the Word and eating the good things of God. That's justification. Then we come into sanctification where we have fellowship one with the other while the Blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. And then we have a place of rest and security when we're baptized with the Holy Ghost: justification by faith, sanctification by the Blood, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. [Acts 2:37-39]

You cannot have the Father without the Son. You cannot have the Holy Ghost without having both Father and Son. But you can be justified without being sanctified. And you can be sanctified without having the Holy Ghost. They agree in one. But Father, Son, Holy Ghost are one.
You can be in one court justified, by faith believing. You can be in another cleaned up from a life of sin and sanctified. [I John 5:7]

That's how by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body and are at rest. Oh, what can the world do? I'm so glad God got a hold of me before the church did with all of its doctrine. I've found a resting place. Oh, that sweet abiding place "where there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," that's found that eternal rest. [I John 5:1-9], [I Corinthians 12:13]

And Isaiah in the 28th chapter, He said: "For precept must be upon precept; and line upon line; here a little, and there a little: hold fast to that which is good, for with stammering lips and other tongues will I speak to this people. And this is the rest."
Oh, that perfect rest, to come from the congregation to the altar, from the altar to the bosom of Christ, the bed, the night, the secret place, the resting place. Justification, Martin Luther taught it. Sanctification, John Wesley taught it. Now, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the Pentecost taught it. By the Holy Spirit enter into a everlasting, eternal rest. And as long as you are in that room you are hid away in the holiest of holies with God, and you are in the Church of the firstborn. You are baptized into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you are free from judgment. For you have passed through the Blood, and "When I see the blood I pass over you." And Christ took your judgment and you'll never have to go through the judgment, but you've passed from death unto Life. So to enter into the true abiding place of God is by spiritual baptism. [Hebrews 3:1-18], [Isaiah 28:10-11], [Exodus 12:11-13], [I Corinthians 12:13]

Yet in that heart still, desires, the root of evil to do wrong because the tree's just cut down. He can only be forgiven for what he done, not what Adam done, what he done, the sins that he did. He can ask forgiveness for what he did. But he cannot ask forgiveness for what Adam done. Then the Blood of Jesus Christ, through sanctification, comes in and cleanses that heart from all sin, and roots out every element of sin.
The word "sanctify," people stumble at it. But it's a Greek compound word which means "being cleaned and set aside for service." The altar sanctified the vessel and cleansed it, and it was set aside for service. But being set aside for service isn't in service yet. But when the Holy Spirit comes to this sanctified vessel, It fills it and puts it into service of the Lord.

The Church is perfected through justification, sanctification, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Then you're sealed until the day of your redemption. And he that's once purged by the Blood of Jesus Christ has no more desire of sin. You passed from death unto Life. [I John 5:1-9], [Ephesians 4:30], [John 5:24]


No wonder we have so much backsliding. No wonder we have so much troubles in the churches today. Because they don't come all the way with God till they enter into that place where it's dead. Man dies out to his own intellectual thinking. Remember, a little seed, it cannot bear any life until it is rotten. Put a grain of corn in the ground, just as yellow as it could be, harden cased. But until that corn dies and rots to its own body, it'll never bring forth another sprout. And when the new life comes in it's absolutely, altogether different from the first life. It's soft and flexible and life. It comes from that little grain of life that's cased in the outside. [I John 5:1-9]

There you are. Moses, or Aaron, and the prophets and so forth... I believe today that no preacher has a right to preach the Gospel until he's come into this holy place. There's where the miracles took place. [Acts 2:37-39]

You can take a dead sinner, rotten, carnal in his mind and in his thinking a criticizer of the power of God, and bring him into the Presence of the Holy Ghost, there'll be something happen to him. Sure. Entering into that lonely place with God... "He dwells," says Moses in the next chapter, "in the thickness of the darkness." That's where God dwells. That's where life stays. Is in the midst of the rotten corruption. Where does the life stay? In the seed after it's rotten. When it dies to itself it brings forth a new life.
Where does God stay? He will stay with you if you're ready to die out to yourself and give Him a chance: service: body. intellectual: spirit, thoughts; and soul, your faith in God: three room house. [Numbers 17:1-10]

That's the reason our sins are red. That's the reason the Blood of Christ is red. You take a red piece of glass and look at a red piece of glass and see what color you'll get. Red through red looks white. Though our sins be as scarlet, when God looks through them through the Blood of His Son they are white as snow. Red, redemption, red through red looks white. When God looks through the Blood of His Son that you confessed to be your Saviour, He don't see your sins any more; they are white as snow. Red through red... [Numbers 19:1-6]

Trouble of it is today, we try to yoke up with everything. The church and the denominations are trying to yoke up with the world. But the power of God is not yoked to nobody but God. No denomination can say, "I have it." God has it, no church, no denomination, no certain man, no creed, but God has it. Yoke yourself not up with unbelievers, but come out from among them; be yoked with God. "Take My yoke upon you," said Jesus, "and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly, and you'll find rest to your souls." [Numbers 19:1-6]

Notice, then this heifer was to be burned. Her hoofs, her head, her horns, the dung in the heifer, everything was to be burned. And in the burning there was to be put scarlet, cedar wood, and hyssop. [Numbers 19:1-6]


It was the hyssop that they get from the lamb's blood that went over the lintel of the door-post in Israel. Hyssop, weeds, just common weeds, making the humility of the Gospel of the waters of separation... Because the waters of separation is the Word of the living God. They were to be burned together: the heifer, the scarlet, the cedar wood, and the hyssop, all burnt together. And the ashes was to be kept in the outer court by--in a holy place. [Numbers 19:1-21]

Let these ashes, the waters of separation, be kept in a holy place. No believer that ever takes on the Name of the Lord Jesus, that ever confesses Him as Saviour, should ever do anything of the world. If he does, he should repent of it quickly, because them words of the waters of separation must be kept in a holy place, handled with clean hands.
No man has a right to preach the Gospel without first being sanctified from the cares and things of this world. [Numbers 19:1-21]

The preacher should have a clean, pure, unadulterated heart. His hands should be undefiled from the things of the world. That preaches the Word, is kept in a holy place, and ministered with holy hands. Ephesians the 6th chapter says that we are washed by the water of the Word: separation. "Faith cometh by hearing, hearing of the Word."
What are we doing? We're entering to this building. Here sets the tent, but before anyone can come in, that's been an alien, that's away from God, that's once been and backslidden, or is gone out into the world, or one who is born outside of Israel, must first come and be sprinkled with the waters of separation, separating him from the things of the world, that his desire and love and desire is for the Word of God. He counts it greater than anything else. [Numbers 19:1-21], [Romans 10:17]

You must remember, and seven times this was sprinkled. Which means all seven thousand years that human beings will exist upon the earth, because the blood has been, and will be the only grounds of fellowship that God will ever meet man on, the fellowship of the blood. [Numbers 19:1-21]


What are we doing? We're coming into that first temple that was dedicated. What was it? Hear the Word first. Then come and recognize the Blood. Yes.
People say today, "Sanctification, old fogy." "Sanctify" means "to be clean." And a man that can't recognize the Blood of Jesus Christ that cleansed him from his sins, will never be able to fellowship with the true Church of the living God. You can't do it. [John 3:1-8], [Acts 2:37-39]

Oh, precious is the flow
That makes us white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
That makes us white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
No denomination, no church, no building, no barrier, no nothing but the Blood of Jesus. That's the only fount I know for cleansing. And every fellow that comes to worship God must first be recognized that there was a sacrifice who died and His Blood was shed that you might enter into this fellowship. And accept it.



Don't care your denomination may be as old as the country is. But the Blood was the first thing God recognized. It was His only preparation for the cleansing of the soul. And it's the only thing that God will recognize, and the only thing that God will fellowship by, is them that's under the Blood. "For when I see the blood, I'll pass, I'll pass over you." Only through the Blood, a man must recognize that.


Now, when he gets into this place, when he comes and recognizes the Word, washed by the water of the Word, next, he recognizes the Blood; he's sanctified. Then he's brought into the fellowship of the believers and with God. Then in this tabernacle... Oh, I feel good, real religious. [Ephesians 5:26]

This anointing oil represents the Holy Spirit. Aaron was the high priest, a type of Christ. And notice, that anointing oil had in it the perfume of the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the Valley. The Rose of Sharon, that beautiful big red flower, who stands in its beauty, who represents Christ. Perfume can never be brought from this flower until that flower is crushed, and mashed, and squeezed out of it the perfume to be a sweet smelling savour unto the Lord. [Song of Solomon 2:1]

He was the Lily of the Valley. What do you get out of lilies? Opium. What does opium do? It soothes pain. It puts you to sleep in a dream land. What does the Holy Spirit do? The opium of the Holy Spirit eases every pain, takes away every tear, mends every heartache. The Lily of the Valley...

And Abraham had the oath confirmed to him as the little Light went between those dark horrors and the sacrifices. The Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, the Rose of Sharon, the Fairest of ten thousands to my soul...
The minister then that stands in as a high priest to take the place of Aaron, must be anointed with fellowship. He cannot draw a denominational barrier in the house of God. You cannot say this house--this church belongs to the Presbyterian, this place belongs to the Methodist, or the Baptist, or the Pentecostals, or whatever it may. It must be an open house for every man that's been separated from his sins and filled with the Spirit, can have the gladness of the fellowship of the Oil of the Lord. Oh, what a place to worship. [Song of Solomon 2:1]


I want to get the pattern of this. We're fixing to build one in Jeffersonville. I like this.
I love your pastor; I love you. But brother, there is the order of the house of the Lord. It's a temple that's dedicated.
That was in a shadow. Moses saw it. Then one day, David was setting with the prophet, and he said to the prophet, Nathan; he said, "Is it right that I myself live in a house of cedar, and the ark of the covenant of my God is under them tents out yonder yet?"
And Nathan, being a prophet, knowed that David was right with God. He said, "David, do all that's in your heart, for God is with you." [II Samuel 7:1-3], [I Chronicles 17:1-2]

When the Lord showed me that one day, I thought, "O God, what could I be?" A poor little preacher back there, never knowed no more than Jeffersonville. And one day by my cave, the Lord turned that to me, and the first time I'd ever read it, said, "I'd give you a great name like Oral Roberts, or--or Billy Graham, or some of them. Where'd I get you from? What was you?" [II Samuel 7:1-14], [I Chronicles 17:1-13]

But in types and in dedication, Solomon built the temple. Remember, it was cut out of every different kind of stone. It was cut this way and that way. And for forty years in its structure, there was not heard the buzz of a saw or the pounding of a hammer. It was so perfectly cut out. [II Samuel 7:1-14], [I Chronicles 17:1-13]

The stones were cut out different, from different parts of the world. But when they come together, there wasn't a buzz of a saw or a sound of a hammer. Someday the Chief Architect will come and the body of the Lord Jesus Christ... All you Oneness, Twoness, Threeness, Churches of God, Pentecostal, Assemblies will come together without a murmur and you'll fit joint by joint, all be anointed, the High Priest is anointing.
Let Him be standing always in this building anointed, to reach out a hand to shake you, any man that's borned of the Spirit of God. No matter what church he belongs to, he's your brother; that's your sister. When you draw a denominational barrier, God will leave this tabernacle when you can't recognize all the Body of the Lord Jesus. For He died that we all could be saved. And God's doing this for a purpose.

Here's one thing that they did, and that's one thing the Church is doing today. In the erecting of the first tabernacle, stationary, from being a tent to go from place to place, it was this: They found out. They started the building, and they went so far, and they found out, they found a funny looking stone. It was a odd stone. It didn't look like the rest of the stones. And they rejected it, and throwed it over in the weed pile. They said, "That stone won't fit in this building." And they kicked it out into the weed pile. But as they kept coming up to a certain place, they kept running into a place, after while they had a hole in the building. And they didn't have nothing would fit it.

You made denominations, "We have it; the rest of them's not in it." You're leaving out the love of God, the chief cornerstone. I don't care how many miracles you can perform, how many prophets you have, how many works of grace you do; it'll never meet or never do anything because the Church of the living God is melted together and cemented by love. And they rejected that stone.

I think that's what we've done today. We've had fire, and blood, and smoke, and rushing wind. We've listened so much to rushing mighty winds till I wonder if we haven't refused to hear the still small voice?
Let it not be so with this tabernacle. May it stand still, listen for God, as, "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with the wings of an eagle; they'll run and not be weary (That's flusterated.). They'll walk and not faint. Teach me Lord, teach me Lord, how to wait."

Then when the building was assembled together and all completed, Solomon called the day of dedication. That tabernacle was built just exactly like this here. The congregation, the court, the altar, and the holiest of holies. But look at the principles they had to come to. Look what they had to stand for. Look how they had to have this common place of fellowship.


In closing I want to say this. They called them together. And when the people coming to see that God finally had a place that He would meet them... The appropriation of His Gospel was made clear. The way of approach was made clear. Everything was made right.
Look, they called out the sons of the different instrument players, and they went down to the east side of the altar; they was dressed in white, and they sang the songs with joy. The people praised God till it sound like one voice. If that ain't Pentecost, I never seen it in all my life, when it's in its power and its holi... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]

The Pentecostal church today... And this pastor here, I believe with my heart, is a man of God. I believe that he stands for the principles that God has laid out to us. So you see, the dedication of a church don't only mean coming and saying, "Lord, we give You this building." But it means, "Lord, we give ourselves to You in sacrifice." It isn't a lily on the altar that God wants every Easter morning; it's the sinner on the altar. It's not the class and the beauty of the building, which is fine. Solomon's temple was the same. But it's coming under the articles of God, coming self sacrifice to the service of God.

Then Solomon stood to pray and to make the dedication to the Lord. And when he did that, remember, the ark had already been brought in under the wings of the Cherubim and set back in the holy place. But when the people dedicated, not the church, not the building, but when the people got with one accord, and prayed with one accord, and sang with one accord, and everything was of one accord, then the Holy Spirit in the form of a Pillar of Fire, moved into the building and settled upon the place. And it was so much glory in that building until the priests could not minister any more. [I Kings 8:1-11], [II Chronicles 5:1-14]

Come under the same order as they come and happiness will come to your heart. Bear in your heart that you'll never condemn any man that's borned of the Spirit, that you'll have fellowship with all of His servants, with all of His people. May this stand as an interdenominational institution. May this stand to a place as a wayfaring may come by. May this be a place this house by the side of the road. May it be a place where the pilgrim, the wayfaring man can find rest as he enters its door. May its pastor live to see the coming of the Lord. May the congregation grow and prosper in all that you do. May God's blessings rest upon it. And He Who made me a minister by His grace, I pronounce this blessing to this little church, as long in promise as it will stay under the order of God it shall remain. But if it gets out of the order of God, anything can happen to it. [I Kings 8:1-11], [II Chronicles 5:1-14]

May the anointed high priest with oil of the opium to soothe every broken heart. May the Rose of Sharon, the sweetness of the Spirit are so richly with the anointing oil, so be preached here and demonstrated here, till men from all parts of the country will come in and say, "Truly, God is with you."



O Lord God, let it be so, that the same Holy Ghost and the same articles of God will be preached in the antitype now in this tabernacle. May the Holy Spirit move today, and come in through the doorway, and settle upon everyone. May the power of the living God be in this tabernacle. May it always stand to the glory of the Name of Jesus Christ.

May it be, Lord, that You're Spirit will come into this place. May every man or woman that's out of Christ, when it walks through that door, may it recognize that it's coming under the Blood. May there be such a feeling here of the blessedness of Christ, the sweetness of the Spirit, until men and women will flow from all parts of the city and around about to hear the Gospel from here. May this congregation so be seasoned and salted with the baptism of the Holy Ghost until they'll be called the salt of the earth. Grant it, Lord. Hear our prayers this morning.

