The Glory Of The Church

Each time we approach a national presidential election we hear much about the electoral college. Many do not understand why we have the electoral college when The President of the United States is elected by the populace.

We have the electoral college because our forefathers saw a danger and they wanted to provide the country with a “safety net.”

God has provided a “safety net” for the church. He has set it up so that the church that:

- Will acknowledge God,

- Will worship God, and

- Will obey God,

will never be AT RISK!

However, any church that turns its back on God runs the RISK of soon having God turn His back on them.

We see clear examples of this in scripture. Let’s examine THREE steps, or elements, in God’s relationship to His church.

I. THE DESIRE OF GOD.

It has always been the desire of God that His church be a strong, godly influence in the molding and shaping of this nation to be what God would have it become.

HOW CAN THE CHURCH BE A STRONG INFLUENCE AND ACCOMPLISH THAT? It can only happen as we are empowered by God’s Holy Spirit. When God’s people will:

- Acknowledge God,

- Worship God, and

- Obey God,

God can use His church.

In America we have the silly notion that if you build a building and place a steeple on top of it and go through the motions of a worship service in it that God is obligated to be there.

Illus: Many think that God looks down from heaven and sees men building a building and He thinks, “I wonder what they are building?” Then one day, when they put a steeple on top, He says, “Oh, they are building a church building for Me.” Then He moves in when the building is completed.

Listen, the only time God has obligated Himself to be in any church is the time when people come together to acknowledge Him, worship Him, and obey Him. Matthew 18:20 tells us, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” When these ingredients are present, God is there. For example,

- When MOSES acknowledged God, worshipped God, and obeyed God, the Bible reveals that those who saw him afterward, noticed he glowed.

- Later, when ISRAEL acknowledged God, worshipped God, and obeyed God, God sent His Shekinah glory on the Ark of the Covenant in the tabernacle for nearly five hundred years.

- Later, when the TEMPLE was built, God moved into the temple and dwelled there for four hundred years.

For almost a thousand years, God’s presence was with Israel. However, when Israel CEASED to acknowledge God, worship God, and obey Him there came a time when God withdrew His Shekinah glory. They trusted in a false security. They thought God would never leave them; BUT, HE DID LEAVE! Look at-

II. THE DEPARTURE OF GOD.

When did God depart? Historical records reveal that the Babylonian empire had become the super power of that day in the near East and they were beginning to threaten the kingdom of Judah.

Prophets like Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel, tried to warn the people of God of the impending danger. During the next ten years the people of God refused to repent. Instead, they indulged more and more in idol worship.

Then we read these startling words in II Chronicles 36:14-16, “Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.” Look at the words, “...there was no remedy.” Why was there “...no remedy”? Because from the priests on down to the people, everyone had forsaken God. God said of the situation that the relationship between Himself and Israel was beyond repair! God decided He had been on the RECEIVING END of having wickedness thrown in His face long enough. He decided to be on the GIVING END. The situation was irreparable!

Look at Ezekiel 5:8-9. God, Who had been their glory and Who had always been with them, then said, “...Behold, I, even I, am against thee...”

Once God was against them, look what God said would happen to them as you read Ezekiel, chapter 8. God gave Ezekiel a special vision of what was going to transpire.

Look at Ezekiel 8:3-4. We read, “And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.” The important thing I want you to notice is what Ezekiel saw when God picked Ezekiel up by his hair and held him between heaven and earth over Jerusalem to look toward the temple. The scripture says, verse 4, “And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.”