ATTACHMENT TO GOD'S HOUSE
A. "WE WILL NOT FORSAKE THE HOUSE OF THE LORD"
- This was the answer of Nehemiah with regard to the responsibility
of the ministers of the Lord:
- They should never have divided interests at any time.
- The services of God in the house of the Lord come first and foremost - Matt. 6:33
- The resoluteness of the prophet to tend to God's house should be:
- A challenge and an incentive to us to be attached to God's house at all times.
- "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord." - Ps. 122:1-9
B. ATTACHED TO THE HOUSE OF GOD
- Our attachment to God's house is based:
- Upon our attachment to the Lord - Jer. 17:26
- The blessings connected with the house of the Lord -
- The gracious presence of the Lord.
- The bestowal of God's blessings upon the worshippers.
- The revelation given by God to His people in the house of the Lord.
- A serious and personal responsibility:
- "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning" - Ps. 137:5
- "If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth" - verse 6
- Some reasons for this serious resolve:
- Our attachment and union to and with the Lord - Rom. 8:31- 39; 2 Tim. 3:14
- It bears the name of the Lord - 2 Sam. 7:13
- It is the center of Christian fellowship.
- A day in the house of the Lord is better than a thousand elsewhere - Ps. 84:10
- It is the house of prayer - Isa. 56:7
- It is the heaven provided shelter for God's people - Mi. 4:8; John 10:15, 16
C. SOME VERY SPECIAL BLESSINGS FOR ALL WHO ARE ATTACHED TO THE HOUSE OF THE
LORD
- There is the presence of the Lord:
- "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" - Matt. 18:20
- It is the place of edification from the Lord - 1 Thess. 5:11
- It is the center of the preaching of the word of God:
- The temple - Luke 2:6
- The synagogue - Luke 4:16-18
- It is where the wonderful and solemn ordinances of the Lord are dispensed: John 13:1-17; 1 Cor. 11:22-36
- It is the place where we can hear the testimonies of the believers: Mal. 3:16, 17
- It is the most hallowed meeting place in the realm of God's cause:
- How should we conduct ourselves in the house of the Lord to which
we are attached?
- Paul was greatly concerned that the believers know how to walk in the house of the Lord - 1 Tim. 3:15
- It fills my heart with sorrow to see how some of our young people are so disrespectful to the house of worship.
- The Lord is sorely displeased with the irreverence of some of our children in the services of the church.
- There is a sacred duty for every parent to give the children the needed instruction to be reverent in God's house.
- "Reverence my sanctuary" - Lev. 19:30; 26:2; Ps. 89:7
- There is room for improvement for the older people. Too much noise and too much talking in the church.
- Let us enter the house of God with prayer and dedication.