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THE HOUSE OF THE LORD--PART 1
PSALM 122:1
Introduction
Going to God’s house can be a chore or a delight! It is all in our attitude!
I personally love going to Church. Its not because I’m a preacher. It was raised in Church.
I was raised to love going to Church. My parents loved the House of God. The Church was a priority in our house.
When I was growing up, preachers were some of our favorite people. They still are.
We housed and fed many Revival preachers and Missionaries in our home as I was growing up.
What a blessing it was to be around many good men of God!
Our closest friends and acquaintances were Church people. We would have Church folks over to our house on a regular basis for fellowship and those same folks would reciprocate.
When it came time to go to Church. Nothing got in the way of us going to Church except in rare cases of extreme sickness and I do mean extreme!
What am I saying? Church was and is a priority in my life. It was and is important to me and my family!
I like going to regular Church services–Sunday School, Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night!
I like going to special services–Revivals, Missions Conferences, Fellowship Meetings, whatever!
I like going to Church at my Church and I like to visit other Churches when I’m away from my Church on vacation or when other Churches are having special meetings!
I like to be wherever Jesus is being worshiped in Spirit and in truth and wherever the Truth of the Word of God is being preached!
There are many people today who call themselves Christians who have the wrong attitude toward the Church–they can “take it or leave it.” Many would rather leave it than take it!
Its not a big deal for them!
Many folks lay out of Church at the drop of a hat and some of them will even drop the hat!
I’ve got to tell you that I really wonder about people like that because something is definitely wrong with that.
Now I am fully aware that if we have sin in our lives or if our love for God has cooled, or if there is something troubling going on down at Church, then there may come a time when we find worship a chore, but that’s not the way it is supposed to be!
And I don’t believe that God will let us stay in that condition too long before He deals with us about that!
If we are close to God and enjoy His presence, we will hunger to worship and praise Him!
Our attitude toward God will determine our worship!
Here in our text we see where the Psalmist said, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go unto the house of the LORD.” David loved the house of God. For him, going to the house of God was a delight. David was excited to worship with God’s people in God’s house.
Whether we recognize it or not, it is a special blessing and privilege to be able to have a good Church to attend. I’m afraid that there are many folks who profess to be Christians who often take it for granted that the doors of the Church will always be open.
It is sad today to know that many Churches all across our land (including some independent, fundamental, Bible believing Baptist Churches) are selling their buildings and shutting their doors.
Sometimes it happens because a town dries up.
Sometimes it happens because the people of the Church get cold and indifferent toward the things of God and the Church dries up and becomes dead.
Sometimes people in the Church grow careless and allow the devil to get a foothold in the Church and the Church is destroyed from the inside out.
Sometimes Churches have to close their doors because people will not give enough of their financial means to meet the expenses of their local Church.
Anyone who is truly born again by the blood of Jesus Christ should love the local Church!
I say that because Jesus loved the Church to the extent that He gave Himself for it! It is His body!
Since Jesus loved the Church that much, shouldn’t we who are saved make a continual effort to do everything that we can not only to keep her doors open, but also to lend our efforts and our finances to see that she thrives in the work that God has called her to do. (i.e. The Great Commission–that is, carrying and sending forth the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world!)
What must we do to keep the House of the Lord, the Local Church, open and to see her flourish in these last days before the Lord comes back?
I. WE MUST SPEND TIME WITH HER MASTER! (Colossians 1:18; John 15:1-11)
The more time we spend with Jesus, the better Church members we will become!
A. We Must Spend Time In His Worship!
1. Worshiping Him In Praise And Adoration!
Psalm 50:23–“Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me:”
Psalm 7:17–“I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.”
2. Worshiping Him In Prayer And Acknowledgment!
Ephesians 6:18–“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
Proverbs 3:6–“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
B. We Must Spend Time In His Word! (John 15:7)
Jeremiah 15:16–“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart:”
Colossians 3:16–“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
C. We Must Spend Time In His Walk! (Luke 6:46)
Ephesians 5:1-2–“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
Oh that we would be as Enoch and Noah of whom it was said that they “walked with God..”
So if we want to see the Church flourish, WE MUST SPEND TIME WITH HER MASTER!
II. WE MUST SEE TO HER MEETINGS! (Hebrews 10:22-25)
A. We Must Give Her Our Attendance!
Hebrews 10:25 specifically tells us to not “forsake” the assembling of ourselves together.
The word “forsaking” in that passage means to “abandon or utterly forsake” the Church.
We must make it a point to be at Church every time the doors are open!
The Church must become a priority in our lives and the lives of our families!
We must be like the Church in Jerusalem spoken of in Acts 2:42–“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
B. We Must Give Her Our Attention! (Hebrews 10:22-24)
Not forsaking the assembly here means more that just showing up for Church!
We must not only be present in body, but we must be actively involved in her worship and work!
We Must Giver Her Our Attendance, Our Attention. . .
C. We Must Give Her Our Admonition!
Did you know that we have an obligation to admonish one another.
To “admonish” means “to put in mind, that is, to caution or reprove gently.”
Romans 15:14–“And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”
We are to encourage one another to be faithful to the Lord!
We are to do it so much more as the day of the Lord’s return draws near!
So if we want to see the Church flourish, WE MUST SPEND TIME WITH HER MASTER!
WE MUST SEE TO HER MEETINGS! . . .
III. WE MUST SPEAK OUT HER MESSAGE!
Mark 16:15–“. . .Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
The only way for the Church to “thrive” is to give out its message so sinners might hear!
A. We Must Speak It Believingly!
Do you believe that the Gospel is still the “power of God unto salvation” unto all who believe? (Romans 1:16)
Do you believe that the Gospel is still the answer to man’s problems?
B. We Must Speak It Broadly!
Acts 1:8–“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
C. We Must Speak It Boldly!
Acts 4:31–“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
Boldness in the early Church was directly related to being filled with the Holy Spirit of God!
D. We Must Speak It Becomingly!
Colossians 4:6–“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
E. We Must Speak It Benevolently!
1 Corinthians 13:1–“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”
2 Corinthians 5:14–“For the love of Christ constraineth us;”
F. We Must Speak It Beseechingly!
Luke 14:23–“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
G. We Must Speak It Blamelessly!
Acts 24:16–“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.”
2 Corinthians 6:3–“Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:”
H. We Must Speak It Busily!
Colossians 4:5–“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.”
Sharing Christ at every opportunity, because the time is short.
Conclusion
That’s all we have time for this morning, we’ll drive up a peg here and pick back up where we left off next week Lord willing. Is still have four more points I want to share with you.
But, how are we doing thus far? Are we doing all that we can to see that this Church will be here and not only be here, but flourishing in the days to come?
Are you spending time with her Master?
We Must Spend Time In His Worship!
Worshiping Him In Praise And Adoration!
Worshiping Him In Prayer And Acknowledgment!
We Must Spend Time In His Word!
We Must Spend Time In His Walk!
Are you seeing to her meetings?
We Must Give Her Our Attendance!
We Must Give Her Our Attention!
We Must Give Her Our Admonition!
Are you speaking out her message?
We Must Speak It Believingly!
We Must Speak It Broadly!
We Must Speak It Boldly!
We Must Speak It Becomingly!
We Must Speak It Benevolently!
We Must Speak It Beseechingly!
We Must Speak It Blamelessly!
We Must Speak It Busily!
Home Page Contact Us Service Times Sermons Are You Going To Heaven?
NOTICE: THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!