Reverence the Church – The Fourth Commandment

Reverence the Church

The Fourth Commandment

How shall we regard the Church?

Leviticus 19:30

“You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.”

Leviticus 26:2

“You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.”

The Lord’s Day is a day for holy convocations. The “sanctuary” of the Lord in ancient Israel was His dwelling place in the midst of His people. The people of Israel were to “reverence”—literally, fear—His dwelling, so that they regarded it as holy, and whatever was done there as worthy of the most sincere devotion.

The Church is the dwelling place of the Lord, by His Spirit. We are to fear the Church, to regard her as holy and worthy of reverence, even when she is not. Here’s a real challenge for us: How can we criticize the Church and seek her continual renewal while reverencing and fearing her at the same time? But then, how can we, if we reverence and fear the Church, not want to see her as holy as God calls her to be?

Sign up to receive Crosfigell, our thrice-weekly email devotional, featuring T. M. Moore’s insights to Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition.

–

In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.