STOP GOING TO CHURCH
Scripture Reference: Psalm 92:12-15
Preached at Mount Zion Baptist Church on March 10, 2019
Delivered by Rev. John Daniel Johnson
(Powerpoints are available free of charge if you email me at saved2follow@hotmail.com and request them.)
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Illustration—
A couple of Summer’s ago, I was the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Pike County, Alabama. During the Summer, while my girls were out of school for Summer Break, we’d often ride the ATV’s down the local convenience store and have lunch at the deli. Now at this time, I’d been the pastor of Ebenezer for nearly five years. While my little family was sitting at the table in the store having lunch, I overheard a couple of older men talking. They were talking about religion. As I listened to them, I almost had to laugh as they talked about a few of the churches in the area and some of the members of those churches. I had about as much as I could take of their criticism of the local churches. I asked the men if they went any of the local churches in the area. The first man replied, “Nope, there ain’t no good ones around here.” The other man replied, “Yes sir young man, I go to church at Ebenezer.” My face lit up and I begin to grin ear to ear. Then I replied, “I’ve been looking for a good church to go to in the community.” Then I asked, “Are you a deacon there?” He replied, “No.” I asked again, “Are you a teacher there, server there, in the choir there???” Again he replied, “No.” I even asked who the preacher was, it took him a minute, but stated one of the former preachers of the church who had sadly passed away nearly 6 years earlier. The Holy Spirit spoke boldness into me and I stated, “You belong to a church that you aren’t a deacon, a teacher, a choir member, or even serve in. You also attend a church that the preacher had been dead for six years.” It is time you “Stop Going to Church.”
The Biggest Danger—
There is a danger in going to church and leaving without having church in them. I want to tell you the LORD’s greatest will for mankind. I know that this statement may make some people happy, but the main concern for the LORD is not whether or not you attend church. Now that is a concern of the LORD, and we’ll discuss that topic more Wednesday Night, but that is not HIS main concern. His main concern is not whether you attend church, but if the church is in you! This morning I want to challenge you to STOP GOING TO CHURCH.
Church is not something you go to, attend or become a member of. It’s not like a country club that one pays their dues, visit a few times a year, become a member, and are considered faithful church members. No my friends. That is not what church is not somewhere you go, but something you are.
Now is attending a local congregation of believers important? Absolutely! I dare to say that if one believes that they can worship God without being a part of a local assembly is living outside the will of God and is trying to make the Bible conform to their religion.
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good
works, 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.”
(Hebrews 10:24-25)
“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’
teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
(Acts 2:42)
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
(1 John 1:7)
This past week, I have a pastor friend who posted this saying on Facebook. The saying was, “Don't say you'll go to jail over your faith when you won't even go to church over it.” I was reading some of the comments people made about his post. One person wrote that she disagreed with the statement and stated that church attendance is not necessary and that God will not judge her because she won’t go. She then added, “I go to the Lord daily…right in my recliner.”
Church attendance is vital to stay faithful to the LORD, but there are simply far too many Christians out there who have this mistaken belief that church is just something that you go to for sixty minutes on Sunday morning (assuming the preacher doesn’t go over-time). The truth is—you don’t go to church; you are the church! The church isn’t a place; it’s people! Jesus said…
“You are the salt of the earth.” (Matthew 5:13)
“You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14)
“You are…a city set on a hill.” (Matthew 5:14)
Transitional Sentence—
This morning I want to challenge you not to just attend church. Stop coming to church. Instead be the church. Even more than that, become planted in the House of the Lord.
Read Scripture—
“The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
(Psalm 92:12-15)
For the next few minutes, I want to break these passages down to learn what the LORD wants to reveals to us about the church.
First Scripture—
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD…
Back in the Old Testament, everyone knew what the house of the LORD was. It was the Temple in Jerusalem. Before the Temple was built, it was the Tabernacle. From the days of the Tabernacle, the priests would construct the tabernacle building, cover it in cloth, hair, and animal skin and the presence of the LORD would enter into the building and Jewish tradition states that when the Ruach Hakodesh (spirit of God) came into the building that the curtains would begin expanding and contracting as if someone were breathing in and out.
My friends if you are a true believer, that same Spirit of God now dwells inside of you.
“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and
that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
(1 Corinthians 3:16)
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells
in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
(Romans 8:11)
If you read 1 Kings 6, you’ll notice that the entire Temple of Solomon was built using cedar covered in pure gold. Also both inside and outside the temple walls, he carved palm trees into the gold. Even the temple in Heaven has palm trees etched on it (Ezekiel 41).
These trees were both contained the presence of the LORD Almighty. Literally, the LORD lived within the walls of the Temple and dwelt among His people.
Palm Tree
a. Bears fruit
b. Bends but does not break
c. Is a sign of victory
d. Points the way to water
A cedar tree
a. Releases a fragrance
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ,
and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge
of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to
God among those who are being saved and among those
who are perishing;”
(2 Corinthians 2:14-15)
b. Strongest of the woods
—The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary states about “the trees of Lebanon (especially the cedars), which cast down their roots as deeply as is their height upwards ….” (Stand Tall because rooted deep)
Second Scripture—
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
Definition of Flourish—to grow, produce, increase.
Third Scripture—
They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing,
Ekklesia is a Greek word defined as “a called-out assembly or congregation.” Ekklesia is commonly translated as “church” in the New Testament.
Truth: If you are planted in the House of the LORD (where His presence dwells, you will florish)
When things are planted they will grow
When things grow they will produce fruit
When fruit is produced a harvest will be reaped
When a harvest is reaped more can be planted.
Characteristics of Those Planted in the House of the LORD
1. Those Planted Will Have Roots
"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and
established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing
with gratitude." - (Colossians 2:6-7)
2. Those Planted Will Be Alive and Produce
3. Those Alive Will Stand Strong Despite the Season
