8th October 2023
LUKE 19: 45-48
Reading:45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,
48 And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.
INTRODUCTION :
The word ecclesiology is derived from the Greek words for ” church ” (ekklesia) and “doctrine” (logos).
The Greek word for church is first found in Matthew 16:18 when Christ promised to give His power to the church
The doctrine of the church covers the Bible’s use of the word church, its characteristics, leadership, and ordinances.
This is the most common New Testament Greek word for church.
It means ” called out “
or Separated “; a church is a group of people called out from the world and separated unto Jesus Christ. A church is not a building, but a people. The church is not technically the
” house of God, “
Read in 1 Kings 8:27. “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens can not contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
Also, in 1 Corinthians 6: 19. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
The Bible speaks of the Christian’s body, not the church building, as being ” temple of the Holy Ghost “
The role or the duties of the church as God design it,
(1) Is to glorify God. ” Ephesians 3: 21
(2) Is to edify its membership.
Ephesians 4:11-12.
(3) It is to purify its membership. 1Corintans 5:4,7
(4) Is to evangelize to the world. Matthew 28:19-20.
Today, I want to give you 3 things that’s happening in our churches today that do not reflect the true church and 3 things that show a true church.
What Church is not.
(1) The Church is not a place of dancing.
I challenge anybody to show me from the Bible where dancing happened in the Bible. The passage some people always reference to, is that King David danced , yes David did dance but not in the Church, Temple, Tabernacle or Synagogue.
Let me give you the word used in Hebrew, the
(a) meaning: Twist/Whirl (circular or spiral motion)
(b) Jump/Skip/ Spring.
(c) Side step in ring.
(2) Church is not a place of fashion.
Church is not a place where we go and display our new dressess, our new cars, shoes, and many other things that we do in the church.
(3) The Church is not a place where we do business, that is buying and selling, Jesus Christ rebuked those who were buying and selling in His father’s house which should be a house of prayer.
As I was preaching sometime ago, a woman raised her hand and said. ” Pastor, please about buying and selling in the church, is it good or wrong ? I did not want to answer because it was in the middle of the sermon, I found it reasonable to answer her question because of others who might have the same question. Then I showed her from this passage, Luke 19: 45,46, which says 45 “And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. “
The second part of the sermon is :
What then is the Church.
(1) A church is a place of encouragement .
Psalm 122:1,. ” I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
David said he was glad because he knew that going to the house of God there is joy and peace. David has a lot of enemies that he can not fight in his own power or strength, but with God, everything is possible. When we go to the church, we sing hymns and spiritual songs and sing melody in our hearts to the Lord it makes us happy.
In Hebrew 2: 12, ” Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.”
When we come together as Christians, we encourage, and we are edified by the preaching of the word of God. Look with me to Psalm 19: 7,8 “7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes”.Brethren, there is no better place to be on Sunday than to be in the house of God.
(2) The Church is not only a place of encouragement it is also a place of fellowship. 1 John 1:3,4 ” 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. “
We are admonished not to Forsake assembly of one another.
Fellowship makes us share ideas. When you think you are passing through difficulties, somebody will tell you that he or she is passing through ” hell on Earth “
But coming together to fellowship, then the Bible passage in , Proverbs 27: 17 ” Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
(3) The Church is a place of service.
The church is not only a place of encouragement, or a place of fellowship is also a place of service. Services to God.
Roman 12 : 1 ” I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service”.
We need to serve the Lord in sincerity, with honesty with all our might and our soul.
When I say serving God, I also talk about serving your family, friends, your working place, your money, wherever you go, or whatever you do. You should let people see you serving God. Without any doubt, you will see the goodness and blessings of God in your life.
CONCLUSION : Let us not go to church with the mentality of what I can get from the church. We are not doing God favour, but rather we should know that we are doing ourselves well.
Let us be glad and happy to go to the church.
Let it not be with sadness.
Let us all be able to say, like David said in Psalm 122 : 1 ” I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. “
Amen!!!