HOUSE OF THE LORD?

First of all, I need to reveal that I am a Church goer. I attend a church on a regular basis, and even when we travel I seek out Churches, as well as Fellowships, to gather together with the Brethren. I am not a "signed member" of any Church, and this is from a personal conviction that as I have pledged allegiance to the Lamb, I will not dilute that allegiance.

     Where does the expression "HOUSE OF THE LORD" come from? The word "house" in Hebrew has a variation of meanings, but especially "family," as in the House of Joseph, the House of Pharaoh, etc. The question in regard to "The HOUSE OF THE LORD" is, where does God dwell? We hear the expression today, as we go to Church, "Welcome to the HOUSE OF THE LORD!" Is this accurate? The questions that I have, and any that we might all have, should be coming from a place of safety and peace; that place is abiding in Christ! I pray for this, and from this position I press on, seeking the very Provision of God that I need this day to get by. Lord, please give me this day Your daily Bread.
      For the physical places that we find the Word of God describing "The HOUSE OF THE LORD," I believe we must go back to the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, first. After delivering the Hebrews from "Egypt, out of the House of Bondage" (Ex. 13:3 and 20:2), God established "The HOUSE OF THE LORD." I find this first reference in Ex. 23:19 (in regard to the tithe/first of the firstfruits). The word "Tabernacle" does not appear until Exodus chapter 25. God directed that this Tabernacle be built to exact specifications (because it was a pattern of Who was to come in its place). Here's the purpose of the Tabernacle, as I find it first in Ex. 25, "And let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." (Ex. 25:8)
    Later, this traveling Tabernacle becomes a Temple, which serves the same purpose. In the books of Samuel we hear of the "TEMPLE OF THE LORD," and in Kings we see again how God explicitly lays out the building of the physical Temple. Speaking to Solomon, God says, "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel. So Solomon built the house and finished it." (1 Kings 6:13-14) Keep in mind that the Children of Israel, His people, were not a people until He created them as such through Abraham.
     The Word of God establishes that during this Old Testament time, "The HOUSE OF THE LORD" is where God met His people. As we fast-forward to the time when Jesus walked on the earth, we hear Him say (quoting Isa. 56:7) "MY HOUSE IS (or, SHALL BE CALLED) THE HOUSE OF PRAYER: BUT YOU HAVE MADE IT A DEN OF THIEVES." (Matt. 21:13, Mark 11:17 & Luke 19:46) John gets a bit more descriptive: "make not My Father's House an house of merchandise. And the disciples remembered that it was written, The ZEAL OF YOUR HOUSE HAS EATEN ME UP." (John 2:16-17) It was the misrepresentation of The HOUSE OF THE LORD that ate Him up. The very Provision of God was denied to the people by men who would not enter into the Rest of the Lord, and by adding restrictions, selling sacrificial animals for exorbitant prices, they placed undue burdens on the people, and in a sense, shut the door so that others could not enter. Why? or how did they do this? They loved the praise of men and the love of money more than the Honor of God!
     Then, speaking to the "Merchandisers/Thieves," Jesus reveals to us that the meeting place of God is no longer going to be in a building built with hands, but in Him! He says to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.... He spoke of the temple of His Body." (John 2: 19, 21) Well, they did not receive this, nor could they without the Spirit of God residing in them, but the zeal in which they both rejected it, and persecuted Jesus and His Church, is well chronicled in history. The Cornerstone of God's New Temple is the Stone which the builders rejected. I, for one, do not want to join them in their rebellion. When the reality or fulfillment of what the Temple represented comes into being, we are not to live by the pattern of such things, nor draw back from the new and living way that the Spirit of God has established.
     When I was a kid, there was a mindset, that when you faced a trial in life, you needed to get to church to pray. Today, I know we need to get to Jesus, but in those days I was taught God was only with the church (of your choice). Naive, probably, but that was a rather common thought among many people. I believe all this connects to, and really was never severed from, Judaism. Initially, Believers came "outside the gate," and met "In Christ." It was only later, a couple of hundred years later, that "churches" became organized. From this there developed the Catholic Church, which was universal, but they in a sense (just look at their rituals) became Judaized Christians, who also included Pagan rituals from Rome. What we call “Protestants” are merely Protestant, or Protesting, Catholics, who, while rejecting much of Catholicism, have retained many of the Jewish and Pagan customs that were found acceptable in the "church."
     Today, nearly 2000 years since Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven, we have Evangelical, Charismatic and Pentecostal (and other forms of) Believers, who have come out of those aforementioned affiliations, both Protestantism and Catholicism, but have carried over many of the customs. I believe that as in the past, when God dealt with Israel, He is now dealing with His true Church, that she would come out from the whorish influence of Babylon. God is calling us to the reality, away from the form of religion. Martin Luther went through a Reformation which broke from the Catholic Church, but he did not go through a total Transformation. (He had a hatred for Jews and was sympathetic to slavery, to name a couple of things.) God is purging the Body of Christ today in order to present to Himself a spotless Bride. He will use EVERYTHING in life to bring this about.... Count it all joy when He does so.
     With Israel as our example, look back and see how firmly God dealt with His people who became a religion. Jesus exposed this as He walked among them, confusing them with God's point of view that contradicted their pious views. For example, "do not sound a trumpet before you [when giving alms], as the hypocrites do in the synagogues.... And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues..., that they may be seen of men.... But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret.... ...use not vain repetitions...." (Matt. 6:2, 5-7) Jesus is opposing the outward trappings of religion and speaking of a private, personal relationship with God. This was too hard to take for the outwardly pious who loved the praises of men more than the praises of God. It is a common human trait that apart from the Spirit of God entering a person, all mankind would remain separated from God through different forms of religion, which to God is another form of sin. Come out from among Her!
     Here's the catch. It is easier for us (our flesh) to have an outward substance to worship. Maybe we don't worship golden calves, but we have our idols. Give us a formula to follow, stained glass windows, steeples, buildings and choirs, and we will feel comfortable in our distance from God, just like the Hebrews who wanted Moses to approach God for them. This muted relationship is something that grieves God, and keeps men from God (like the merchandisers do) and leads to death. It is Rebellion! It is as the Sin of Witchcraft! It is a web of deceit that binds men into a captivity that they come to enjoy. We are told to draw near to God, but religion creates a separation.
     Religion is a "form of righteousness" that substitutes the works of your hands for the Provision of God. It actually rejects Christ as it proclaims Christ. It comes from "another spirit" that masquerades as the Spirit of God, and it teaches a righteousness that actually rejects the true Righteousness we have IN Christ. (See 2 Cor. 11: 13-15 to see where this deception comes from.) In a sense, Religion leads us into "WORKS" while the Spirit leads us into "REST." Again, Israel is our example: "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, [sound familiar?] but not according to knowledge [recognition, discernment]. For they being ignorant [through disinclination] of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law [requirement] for righteousness to every one that believes." (Rom. 10:2-4) This is not to say that everyone that goes to church has a false righteousness, but the subtlety of the serpent needs to be recognized, rejected, and repented of.

    So, why is the Tabernacle, the Temple (Synagogue or Church) no longer necessary? For Christ has come, is risen, and sits at the right hand of God. "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.... Who [earthly priests] serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things,... ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN SHOWED TO YOU [by Moses] IN THE MOUNT." (Heb. 8: 1-2, 5) When the Heavenly fulfillment arrived, the earthly pattern is done away with. New Tabernacle & New Covenant replace Old Tabernacle & Old Covenant. "In that He says, A new covenant, He has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away." (Heb. 8: 13) The question we are faced with is, why haven't they vanished away? I believe the answer is through the subtlety of the serpent.
     "We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the [earthly] tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts [the sacrifices upon the earthly altar] ... are burned without [outside] the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without [outside] the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto HIM without [outside] the camp...." (Heb. 13: 10-13) In scripture, just after the time Jesus drove the merchandisers out of the Temple, the Gospel writers, quoting Isaiah 8, say: "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,... IS BECOME THE HEAD OF THE CORNER." (Matt. 21:42, Mark 12:10 & Luke 20:17) Peter, even more strongly, speaking directly to the High Priest, Annas, and others in authority, says this of Jesus Christ: "This is THE STONE WHICH WAS SET AT NOUGHT [despised or held in contempt] OF YOU BUILDERS, WHICH IS BECOME THE HEAD OF THE CORNER. Neither is there salvation in any other...." (Acts 4: 11-12) Christ, the sacrificial Lamb of God, rejected by Israel, is "outside" the camp/gate. We are to go unto Him, where Salvation is to be found, "Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb. 12:2) He was despised and rejected of men, yet acceptable to God.
     What actually did the High Priest, Annas, and the other (Jewish leaders) builders do? Consider this: after Jesus was crucified, they continued with sacrifices, rituals, etc. Keep in mind that it was Jewish people who accepted and followed Jesus, Gentiles coming in later. The nation of Israel, represented by their leaders, rejected God's Atonement. Think back to Abraham, of whom God's Promises still are true. What did Abraham do, in the same situation? Abraham had built an altar and was willing (as hard as that might be to imagine, but Abraham was a man who walked by faith) to offer up Isaac. God intervened, (as the faith of Abraham had indicated when he spoke to Isaac about God providing a sacrifice) and provided a ram in the thicket for a sacrifice. What if Abraham rejected the provision and plunged the knife into Isaac? That's basically what the High Priest Annas had done to Jesus.
     Here's where this rejection or acceptance applies to us in regard to THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. When you don't have Christ, the church building (Temple/Tabernacle) is the best place to go, to get close to God. It is a temporary provision of God, made and designed by God, much like the Law written on stone before it becomes written upon your hearts. When Christ has come, and you receive Him, "there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw near unto God." (Heb. 7: 18-19) The atonement of the blood of bulls and goats, man's efforts, cannot make you "perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;... But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle [built by God], not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building [or through human effort];... [but] the Blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, [is able to] purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God". (Heb. 9: 9, 11,14)
      Chapter 10 of Hebrews is a great overview of the shadow of things to come, being replaced by the reality of Christ. With the shadow, there is no deliverance from guilt and shame. If it could have delivered, then "...the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins. ...SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU WOULD NOT [did not desire], (NEITHER HAD PLEASURE THEREIN), BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED ME.... ...He takes away the first, that He may establish [confirm] the second. By the which we are sanctified through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Heb. 10: 2-3, 5/8, 9-10) If this is true, and it is, why is there so much remembrance of sin in the churches, rather than a lifting up of Jesus? If we exalt Jesus, He will deal with our "sins." When the focus is on wrongdoing, it is off Jesus. The Holy Spirit's conviction of sin leads to Repentance and Deliverance, much like Peter's, while carnal efforts lead to sorrow and death, much like Judas'.
     If God's Word is true, and it is, let us trust His Spirit to work in us to do what is pleasing to Him, for only His spirit can produce this satisfying fruit that is acceptable to God. "For by one offering He has perfected for ever them that are sanctified [consecrated, made holy]. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us [do we trust Him?]: for after He had said before, THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS [when the shadow is replaced by the very image it represented], SAYS THE LORD, I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR HEARTS, AND IN THEIR MINDS WILL I WRITE THEM; AND THEIR SINS AND INIQUITIES I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE. Now where remission of these is [do we believe our sins are remitted?] there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness [confidence, trust] to enter into the holiest by the Blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which He has consecrated [prepared, made ready, holy, sacred] for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." (Heb. 10: 14-23) This “HOUSE OF GOD” is “THE HOUSE OF THE LORD” we need to be standing in!
     In John, chapter 13, after He was betrayed by Judas, Jesus tells His disciples that He is going away: "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified IN Him. (Caps mine.) Peter said unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake." (John 13: 31, 37) Peter, by the power of his flesh, spoke of his desire. Jesus, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, boasted of God. Where was Jesus going? Okay, we know that it is the Cross that He is going to, but we lose sight of that when we misread the following passage. Why is Jesus going to the Cross? (Think on it a moment before reading on.) Well, it wasn't so that He could go and build mansions for us in Heaven; it was to restore us to God. Regardless of what is going on in your life, earthly conditions, physical, financial, etc; Jesus says, "Let not your hearts be troubled [though very troubled times were ahead for all of them]: You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions [residence, a place to abide, or an abode]: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare [provide a way] a place [of acceptance] for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14: 1-3) Where will Jesus be? I believe it is in the Presence of God, described as "mansions" and "streets of gold" that give a weak impression of the wonders of God. Jesus goes on to say that on the Day of Pentecost when they receive the Comforter, The Spirit of Truth, "...you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you." (John 14: 20) Welcome to THE HOUSE OF THE LORD!
     "And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a Son over His own house, Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." (Heb. 3: 5-6) The Father, The Son, and we (The Body) are THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. Abide in, Remain in, Christ.
     Paul writes on occasion of Priscilla and Aquila, and other individuals, and the church that is within their house. Always greeting the brethren, he writes, "...unto Philemon our dearly beloved,... and to the church in your house...." (Philemon 1-2) Again, saluting the brethren, Paul writes of others IN Christ: "These only are my fellow workers unto the Kingdom of God, which have been a comfort to me.... Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house." (Col. 4: 11, 15) This clearly shows that we, the Church, are fellow workers in the Kingdom of God.
     So, today, this being Sunday, we are about to get ready to go visit with the Church that meets in a building up the road a bit. God will not be found in a building made with hands, but in the Body of Christ, The HOUSE OF THE LORD. God is calling us back to Him, away from our idols, out of our false comfort zones. He is shaking all things so that only the true things will remain. Economies are failing, so are nations, but His Word will endure forever. "Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith [true, genuine faith]; prove [test, discern] your own selves. Know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is IN you, except you be reprobates [worthless and rejected, by implication because of neglect or misuse]?" (2 Cor. 13:5) Also, to the Thessalonians, he wrote, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (1 Thess. 5:21)
     I will close with a quote from Peter: "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17)
     

With much love, Joe (with Mercy)