Recently, I have been thinking over a question that has come to my mind from time to time and about which I have been asked on more than one occasion. The question is about the room in which our Church gathers on Sunday mornings to worship God… is that place a “Sanctuary” or is it an “Auditorium?”
While this may strike most people as being of little or no consequence, to some people it is a very important issue. It can, in fact, be a very emotional issue for some! I certainly feel it deserves my time and attention to think it through and come to what I believe to be a biblical conclusion.
I have researched the Scriptures, I have thought it through, and I have come to a biblical conclusion. Let me share my thinking with you…
According to Dictionary.com, the word, “sanctuary” means, sanc·tu·ar·y (sangk-choo-er-ee) noun, plural sanc·tu·ar·ies.
1. a sacred or holy place.
2. Judaism:
a. the Biblical tabernacle or the Temple in Jerusalem.
b. the holy of holies of these places of worship.
3. an especially holy place in a temple or church.
4. the part of a church around the altar; the chancel.
5. a church or other sacred place where fugitives were formerly entitled to immunity from arrest.
I think most Christians today think of a “Sanctuary” as the main room in a Church facility where the members meet to worship God.
This was much easier to discern in the Old Testament when God met with His people first in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple! Seems easy at first – but, not so fast! What made the Tabernacle and the Temple a “Sanctuary” was not the presence of God’s people there, it was the very presence of God! In both the Tabernacle and the Temple, God had chosen to dwell uniquely within the Ark of the Covenant, which was physically located within these structures.
So the “Sanctuary” where God is worshiped is that place where God (Who is, of course, omnipresent) chooses to dwell and to manifest Himself and His glory in a unique way to enable and facilitate worship.
With that being said, let’s look at the key New Testament Scriptures:
First, it is perfectly clear that God through His Spirit indwells the body of the individual believer!
1st Corinthians 3:16-17 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
Second, it is perfectly clear that God through His Spirit is manifestly present when His people are gathered together!
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
2nd Corinthians 6:14-18 “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
Ephesians 2:19-22 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
So, here is what the Bible teaches about “God’s Sanctuary”:
The physical body of the believer is “God’s Sanctuary” where He dwells in order to enable us to worship Him!
The Body of Believers who are gathered together is also “God’s Sanctuary” where He dwells among us to enable us to worship Him!
Therefore, the beautiful room in which we gather together on Sunday mornings is not a “Sanctuary” but it is rather an “Auditorium!”
According to Dictionary.Com, an auditorium is: au·di·to·ri·um: aw-di-tawr-ee-uhm, noun, plural au·di·to·ri·ums
1. the space set apart for the audience in a theater, school, or other public building.
2. a building for public gatherings; hall.
The root of this word is, of course, “to hear”. It is a room where people gather to hear someone or something.
Beloved Ones, I – like you – thank God continually for the beautiful facilities He has allowed us to have and to use for His glory and the good of His people. But, all of us desperately need to know that YOU AND I (both individually and corporately) are the “Sanctuary of God” and that He uniquely dwells in and among us!
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