Does
the physical location of assembling to worship matter? Yes! Does
your group assemble to worship him in places dedicated to false religions? Then
it is doing wrong!
A
COMMAND AND WARNING
Exodus 34:
11-16 "Observe thou that
which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite,
and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the
Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a
covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a
snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy
their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For
thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a
jealous God: Lest thou make a covenant with the
inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do
sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; And
thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring
after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods."
Deuteronomy 7:
1-5 "When the
LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it,
and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites,
and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and
the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And
when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite
them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor
shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make
marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his
daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will
turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will
the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But
thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down
their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with
fire."
Deuteronomy 12:
1-3 "These
are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land,
which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that
ye live upon the earth. Ye shall utterly destroy
all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods,
upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And
ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their
groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and
destroy the names of them out of that place."
The
Lord's command was to destroy the places where false gods were worshiped and
warned against making agreements with the people of the land, which includes
making agreements not to rent or use
their places. When
renting these type of places, are you not helping them out financially to spread
the false doctrines. God made it clear not to have anything to do with
these pagan religions. God
warned that these places of worship would be an influence, so they
were to completely separate themselves from other religious practices.
THE
TEMPLE OF GOD
1Corinthians 3:
17 "Know ye not that
ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If
any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God
is holy, which temple ye are."
Should
we as the temples of God worship within the temples of the ungodly?
THE
COUNTER
But we
know the true God and are worshipping him alone.
1Corinthians 8:
9-11 "But take heed
lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that
are weak. For if any man see thee which hast
knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of
him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to
idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother
perish, for whom Christ died?"
Yes,
one should be strong enough in faith to understand and stand firm against
paganism, but those that are weak, or new, who are facing trials may end up
stumbling into the hands of the group whose building you are using. Is it worth
the risk?
1Corinthians 10:
20-21 "But I say, that the
things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God:
and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye
cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be
partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
2Corinthians 6:14-17 "Be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with
darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?
or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And
what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the
living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and
I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not
the unclean thing; and I will receive you."
SUMMARY
Why would you
want to meet in a building that is dedicated to the worship of a false
religion or whose owners advocate against the truth?
Why would you want
to worship surrounded by idols, paintings, or symbols that violates
the Ten Commandments (You shall
not make unto thee any graven image)?
Scripture
is full of examples showing that, when they refused to obey God's instructions
they always were punished for their disobedience.
