David, a type of Christ, about whom God said ‘his heart was perfect’ [1st Kings 11:4 and 15:3] said “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the House of the Lord” [Psalm 122:1].  So what can we deduce from this? A few things, namely, that a man whom God said was perfect in his heart was for leaving one’s home and going to a local physical place known as a “house of God”. The phrase “The House of the Lord” is found 213 times in the Bible! Even the word grace is not found nearly so many times. Something God put in the Bible 213 times is obviously important. Let that soak in a moment. In John’s written record of Christ Jesus we find the Son of God “in the temple” [John 2:14] in Jerusalem. While there He did something very unacceptable among the robed genteel ‘seeker sensitive’ crowd: He ran people out of the church and told them to have their yard-sale fund raiser merchandise junk elsewhere. “And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise” [John 2:16]. Christ said plainly that, that the physical location in Jerusalem, that rock and stone building made with hands WAS His “Father’s house”. When the Lord went to Peter’s house [Matt 8] He didn’t turn over a single table, didn’t throw over any cages or whip anyone and He didn’t call it a temple even though there were believers gathered there. Not convinced? Well take Matthew 13:36 where Jesus is in a house with two of His disciples and some other believers – but he didn’t call it a temple and he didn’t do what He did at the temple in Jerusalem [John 2]. See a church has an ordained, trained, God called Pastor set over it by a parent church under authority. Can these ‘churches’ be ordained inside a regular house? Yes of course. But ONLY by a man sent under the authority of God, trained and approved by God called men who themselves were trained and ordained under authority. There is always a pastor, placed at its head by God. If you want to know what the qualifications are for a man to lead the church of God you can read it clear as glass in a King James Bible in 1st Timothy 3. Now back to John 2 and let’s consider verse 17. Seeing the “Son of God” toss the junk out and drive people who were there for the wrong reason out, the disciples remembered that it was written of the Lord, “…the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up”. Not zeal of McDonald’s. Not zeal for the bass boat or the horse corral. I’m afraid many today have more “zeal” for their lawn or their boat or their hobby [Luke 14:19] than for the “house of the Lord”. But Pastor, what if I am bedridden and cannot go to the “house of the Lord”?  There is a clear difference between someone who wants to obey God but can’t VS someone who can but doesn’t have a zeal for things of God. Rather than hide this lack of zeal why not just ask God to give you back your zeal for what He wants in your life? This Sunday find your zeal for the things of God again and go to church! If you don’t have one, come visit with us at Calvary Baptist Church across from Pizza Hut on the Loop. 903-729-5924