GOD AND HIS HOUSE

" ...the house of God, which is the church of the living God..."

(1Tim. 3:15)

At the outset of this article, lest I be misunderstood, let me make it crystal clear I am pro-church: I am a 100% church man. Out of a ministry that spans threescore and three years, I pastored two local churches twenty 0f those years.  

From the beginning of my ministry I was associated with a group that, I'm sorry to say, oftentimes, magnified the church at God's expense. They're like in the case of the King James sect, of which I belong — with reservations, who speak more of King James than King Jesus. 

The writer of Hebrews tells us, "He who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house." What would you think of a bride who showed all her friends around each room of the house, showing it off, while her husband, who built it at great expense, sat in the front room unnoticed?

Most certainly Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it. But He also loved the world and gave Himself for it. And Paul goes on to tell us He loved him and gave Himself for him. The world and Paul don’t come before our blessed Lord!

A good Bible illustration of the above is Jacob. When he had that blessed heavenly vision at Luz, he called the place Bethel, meaning, the House of God. But upon returning, many years later, he called it, El-Bethel; meaning the God of the House of God. He realized the difference!

It is well to remember that when we no longer have a house to worship in, we still have God! There is an interesting scripture in Psa. 74:8. "they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land." There was no public place of worship; but blessed be the people that know that worship of God is not confined to four walls and a roof. 

Jesus taught this to the woman at the well. "The woman saith unto Him...Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him," Jn. 4:19-21,23. As the old Puritan said, "Going to your closet is as important as going to Church."

"Some people don't know what to do when left alone with God!"

(rds)

By An Old Disciple