Why do this? It sounds like a good question. I could ask another one. Why not? Or, why would we have to? If Church was what it's intended there would be no need for a Solomon's Porch. So, I guess the answer for why lies in the battle between flesh and spirit. Or, more aptly put, the battle between the things of God and the things of the World.
If the form, formality and organized religion of the Pharisees was good enough why would He, the Father, be seeking true worshipers to worship Him? Why? Because it wasn't happening. God had to build a new House on the cornerstone of Yeshua/Jesus because the house that held His name was built in vain. He needed a new foundation and new cornerstone for the rest of the house to build upon and around. We see the effect of this new "building" in the Book of Acts. Thousands of people were being saved on almost a daily basis. People were caring for and taking care of one another. Needs were being met. The Word was being taught and people were being discipled. Miracles and signs and wonders were present. The World was being shaken and lives were being transformed.
Ephesians 2:19 (NKJV)19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
So, what happened? Man and his desire for control is what happened. As the Church grew we saw and more of the flesh creeping into things. We got a glimpse of it in the Upper Room when Peter took it upon himself to call for a vote to appoint someone to take Judas' place (Acts 1:15). While it was a well meaning act it was not ordained by the Lord. The only thing the Lord told them to do was tarry but Peter decided not to sit still and had to do something. It is my belief that the appointment of Matthias belonged to Paul, whom the Lord knew was coming.
In our need to "help" the Lord make decisions and do His work we do things that while well meaning are not good. We create Ishmael's that God must honor instead of waiting for Him to birth Isaac. Don't you think that if the Lord wanted the Apostles to replace Judas He would have said something about it during the 50 days He was with them? I do. Here was have the seed of the flesh that is planted into the new ground called the Church. Over the years that seed would become a weed growing out of control. During the explosive, exciting years of the birth of the Church this weed kept getting crushed by the Holy Spirit and killed by the blood of the saints. As long as the power and convicting presence of the Holy Spirit was constant in the church the devil could not inspire the flesh to flourish. The flesh could not take control over the Church as long as it was constantly fighting for its life. The threat of being a martyr kept anyone from assuming leadership or taking a position of prominence unless inspired by the Holy Spirit. It wasn't until complacency set in and the original leadership had died off that this weed took over.
The date is 300 A.D. and the Emperor Constantine has made Christianity the State endorsed religion. Instead of helping Christianity with this endorsement, Constantine set the stage for the corruption of the Church. Now instead of standing up to the ways of the World and the corruption in it, the Church's main goal was to fit in and be accepted. Compromise with the World was the death knell of the Book of Acts Church. The same Church that was accused of "turning the World upside down" was now a Government endorsed religion.
James 4:4 (NKJV) 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The Holy Bible, New King James Version
The leaders of the Church gave Constantine control over the Church. Once they did that they tainted the Church and began its slide into worldliness. Constantine didn't want the control. He wanted to leave the Church the way it was. However, the older leadership was threatened by the explosion of the Holy Spirit going on in the homes of believers and, fearing that they would lose complete control, asked Constantine to take over leadership of the Church.
Whenever we abdicate our ability to serve the Lord to the standards of the World be quench the Spirit and kill the move of God. One of the first things Constantine did after making Christianity a State Religion was to appoint his own leaders and to forbid home churches. All of these bubbling pots of the Holy Spirit's presence were forced to move into the empty temples left over from the now dead pagan religions. Instead of many being called and few being chosen the Church became of group of called and chosen by men whether the Lord called them or not. Organized religion was born and before anyone noticed the Church had become just like the Pharisee structure that it warred against.
The Holy Spirit was put into a box and only let out when it fit into the program and didn't interfere with man's plans or schedule. Once the inspiration of the Church the Holy Spirit had become the annoyance of the Church. Worshipping the Father in Spirit and Truth was no longer the plan. Making sure the Church got along with Government was the goal. The devil decided that he couldn't beat the Church in a direct confrontation. So, he decided that compromise and infiltration was the way to stop its work. Do you think its a coincidence that the Dark Ages were soon to follow? Anytime the Light of the Holy Spirit is put into a box darkness will follow. Without the freedom of the Holy Spirit in worship services to convict, to heal, to deliver and spread Its gifts the Church died. Without the Living Church, the condition of the World followed suit.
It would be another thousand years before the Reformation and the rebellion of Martin Luther against the organized religion that Constantine help birth, the Catholic Church. Now, I am not making a blanket condemnation of the Roman Catholic Church nor am I going to discuss the Reformation inspired by Luther and others. What I am saying is this - once the Church joined forces with the World "religion" crept in and the freedom of worship Yeshua/Jesus taught and died for ceased.
The example of the Book of Acts Church ceased and organized, traditional religion took over. The Father immediately set in motion actions that would reveal the true gold of the true Church by violently sifting it. And, as with any sifting process whereby dross is removed from the gold, all that will remain will be the Remnant that wishes to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth; who desires to see people saved, healed and delivered belonging to a "family" and not an organization.
Sometimes when something goes so horribly off track the only thing you can do is get back to where it began. Getting back to the basics, if you will, allows for a new beginning and a renewed fervor.
The Porch is a place to do just that - get back to basics and get a renewed fervor that comes from the fire of the Ruach haKodesh/Holy Spirit.
That's "why"!