1 Kings 9:8
And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?
When Solomon finished building the temple, he asked God to bless this great work. God’s response to Solomon was that He would place His name on this place. However, God also said if Solomon or Israel forsook Him, He would take His blessings away from the temple. God said if they forsook the LORD, one day, people would pass by and look at the temple in astonishment and ask, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?
Take a ride with me, and let us look at a few church buildings around America. Let me take you to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to the buildings where Dr. Lee Roberson used to pastor. The church he used to pastor is now closed, and the building that he built the great church in is burnt to the ground. Why did this happen? Because the pastors after Dr. Roberson forsook the way that Dr. Roberson practiced that brought God’s blessings to his ministry.
Let us take a turn and go to another city. Let us go to Pontiac, Michigan, and see the church Dr. Tom Malone used to pastor. Sadly, the church is closed, the buildings were sold, and the great work of Dr. Tom Malone is no longer in existence. What happened? A pastor forsook the ways and methods Dr. Malone used that God blessed, and the result is the place closed down.
Let us journey to Detroit, Michigan, and see what used to be the Temple Baptist Church. J. Frank Norris was the pastor of this great church and was used by God to see thousands of souls saved. However, another pastor didn't like J. Frank Norris’ methods and compromised, but they found God's blessings were taken from that church to the point that the church is now closed.
I could take you to churches all over America and show you places that once used to be a bastion of the old paths where souls were saved and baptized weekly that are either no longer in existence or a shadow of what they used to be. What happened to these places? These places forsook what brought God’s blessings on them for some other way, and God took His blessings from those churches.
The warning of Revelation 2:5 is still true, Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. My friend, the story of many churches that God once used to use that are now gone is because they forsook what brought God’s blessings on them. You can pass by their empty buildings and be astonished that they are no longer being used. This all happens because they forsake the LORD and His methods, and empty buildings are the result.
Oh, how every church needs to be so careful that they keep doing what God tells them to do. Keep soul winning, preaching the KJB, practicing separation, running the buses, keeping the altar calls, and using the baptistery weekly, and you will keep your church from becoming a place of astonishment. Let’s keep our churches as places of astonishment because of God’s blessings and not because of God taking His blessings from us because we stopped doing what brings His blessings to our churches.
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