In Psalm 122:1 David said, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’” The house of the Lord in David’s day was the Tabernacle. It would be Solomon’s responsibility to build the Temple where God would put His presence. It is interesting to me that there was only one Tabernacle, and later on, one Temple. I know of no one who would claim that there were many tabernacles or many temples where one could go to the one of his choice.
In Isaiah chapter 2, the prophet speaks of a time when the Lord’s house would be established. In 1 Timothy 3:15, we learn that the house of God is “the church of the living God.” Isaiah did not speak of the “houses” of the Lord. Neither did Paul say that the “houses” of God are the “churches” of the living God. Jesus stated in Matthew 16:18, “…I will build my church…,” not “churches.”
Did any Israelite ever talk about “going to the temple of your choice?” Why then, since Jesus, Paul and others spoke of the one body, one church and one house, do we hear some today talk about “going to the church of your choice?” It is God who gives the choice, and He only gave one church, thus one choice. The attitude of “many churches” is of man, not of God.
