The House Of God
As we've already seen, the Bible calls the local church - the place on earth that we go to and attend - the "house of God."
Let's read it again in 1 Timothy 3:15 - "...but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
How Awesome Is This Place!
Look through Scriptures, and you'll find that God has always had a place to come and meet with His people. You will also find that the Lord sets those places apart ("sanctifies" them), with both His presence and His Name.
Originally, that place was the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:8 says, "The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed." Take note: God did not create man in the Garden; He created the man and then put him in the Garden. Why was Adam put there? Because according to Genesis 3:8, that place was where they met with God during the "cool of the day." Apparently, God met with Adam and Eve each evening in the place that He established.
During the times of the Patriarchs, that place was usually around an altar that was built (and attached) to the name of the LORD. Noah, Job, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all had places where they "called on the name of the LORD."
Later, that place became the Tabernacle of Moses (called "God's house").
After that, Solomon built the Temple (also called "God's house") to be the successor to the Tabernacle.
But when we go back to the time of the Patriarchs, we see the very first mention of "the house of God." It's in the story of Jacob, written in Genesis 28. As he was traveling away from his parents, Jacob stopped at "a certain place." He didn't know how significant that place was until God appeared to him in a dream, as He was standing at the top of a portal to Heaven. In that place, God reaffirmed His covenant with Jacob, promised to keep him wherever he went, and prophesied that Jacob would return to the land of Canaan.
When Jacob woke up, he said: "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it. How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven!" When he woke up, he gave that place a name - Bethel (meaning "House of God"). This was the first time that God's meeting place was called His house.
How many Christians are like Jacob, completely oblivious to how awesome the house of God really is? How many of us are actually coming to this place, but still sound asleep (sometimes spiritually, sometimes naturally)? Are we ignorant of Who else is in that place with us?
Christian, do you really understand the incredible truth behind the words of Matthew 18:20? "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
I believe that the (universal) church needs wake up to how powerful and awesome the (local) church gathering really is!
Assembly Is Required!
Listen to me carefully: YOU are not the house of God, and I am not the house of God. It's only when we come together that WE become the house of God.
"Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in Whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
Now look at 1 Peter 2:4-5
"Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
We are all living stones that make up the house of God. Now think about this: What has to happen to turn stones into a house? They must be gathered and then assembled! Hebrews 10:25 - "...not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
One stone does not make the house...and one believer does not make the church. We are commanded to assemble together. In fact, in this same verse, we're even commanded to encourage each other to keep assembling. This means that one of your jobs is to tell me to come to church!
Belonging To The House Of God
And here's the awesome part, there are a lot benefits that come from being a part of God's house - blessings that you simply cannot receive on your own!
Jacob said, "this is the gate of heaven!" This means that anything God wants to send out of Heaven into the earth, comes through the local church! We also see that the house of God is the place where Jacob saw angels coming and going on their divine assignments. Don't you want angelic ministry in your life? Then you need to get to the place where they're sent out!
When we read about the Tabernacle and the Temple, we find out that, when the house of God was set in order, the glory of God manifested there in the cloud. Don't you want to be a part of that glory? Don't you want His manifested presence? After all, this is what a house is for! In the very name "house of God", we see a promise that God Himself will dwell among us.
In 2 Chronicles 7:15, God said this about His house, "Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place." This promise agrees with what Jesus said in Matthew 18:19, "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven."
Apparently, prayers that we make together are even more effective than the persistent, patient prayers that we make alone. In fact, I'm convinced that a corporate prayer could actually override the endurance and persistence that's required by individual prayer - and bring speedy results! This would make sense; after all, you're sending prayers right through the Gate of Heaven!
This is about more than just singing a praise song in the car and feeling goosebumps. This is about more than just saying a prayer before bed. And this is even more than spending time alone in God's Word. Yes, you need all of those things in your life - but none of them can replace coming together with other believers and becoming the house of God!
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