Mystery: The Church is the Temple of God (Eph. 2:19-22; I Cor. 3:9)
Expelling Fear through an Extraordinary Vision
In this study we are looking at a 3rd aspect of the Mystery of the Church.
First we learned that the Church is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23). God fearfully and wonderfully designed the human body to be a natural Type of the Spiritual Body of Christ, which is His church. We learned that we must live in complete submission to Christ as our Head if we are to experience life to the max.
The second facet of this Mystery of the Church is that the Church is the Bride of Christ (Eph. 5:23-32; 2 Cor. 11:2; Rom. 7:4). We learned how much Christ loves us as His Bride. We are His one great and holy passion. These two aspects of the Mystery are intimately related because a man’s wife is his body (Eph. 5:28-32; Gen. 2:21-24).
Now we are looking at the 3rd part of the Mystery of the Church and we learn that the Church is the Temple of God (Eph. 2:19-22; I Cor. 3:9). The Scriptures teach us that “the body” is also “a temple” (John 2:19-21; I Cor. 6:19). Our Bodies are for the LORD and the LORD for the body (I Cor. 6:13). Our human bodies are designed to become an eternal dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:22; 2 Cor. 3:3; John 14:20-23; Rom. 8:9-11; I John 3:24; 4:13). We were created to eventually be filled with all the glory of God in Christ (Col. 1:27; 2 Chron. 7:1).
The Mystery of the Body reveals our fellowship of Life in Christ;
the Mystery of the Bride reveals our fellowship of Love in Christ;
and the Mystery of the Temple reveals our fellowship of Glory in Christ (Eph. 3:9)!
The Scriptures make it very clear that it is important to understand what the rewards are for faithfully following Christ. In this world it brings temporary persecution and hardship. But in the World to come it brings eternal glory and fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16:11). Knowing that Jesus loves me with one great and holy passion as His Bride is a powerful motivation to serve Him out of love. But to know the glory awaiting me in Heaven for faithfully serving Him is just as legitimate and powerful a motivation (Rom. 5:2).
When we have a clear vision of the glory awaiting us in Heaven we will not fear death like lost people do. We will look forward to going (Phil. 1:20-23; Acts 21:13). Pray that God the Father “may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the… riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Eph 1:17-18; 3:8).
` Moses didn’t fear death and he didn’t fear suffering because he had a clear vision of his eternal rewards in Christ.
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; (25) Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; (26) Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward” (Heb 11:24-6)
Knowing the glorious reward awaiting us motivates us to persevere through every hardship and trial.
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (18) For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Rom 8:17-18; Matt. 5:11-12)
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2Co 4:17-18).
Our LORD Jesus Christ also sets an important example for us of just how important it is to know the eternal joy awaiting those who choose to suffer for the cause of Christ.
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, & is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2; Ps 16:11; I Pet 1:11)
“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. (11) To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (1Pe 5:10-11)
So lets begin our study of the Glory that God has prepared for those that love him, follow Him, and suffer for Him (Rom. 9:23).
The precedent for the people of God to meet at a centralized place of worship is found in the Tabernacle and Temple of the O.T. Corporate worship has been a big part of God’s plan for man and will be throughout eternity (Rev. 21:22 -22:5). Local Churches around the world fulfill that necessity for God’s people today (Heb. 10:25). God wants His people to have a place where they “rejoice before the LORD their God (Deut. 12:7, 12, 18). A Local Church experiences the presence of God in a special way & people grow as they use their spiritual gifts for building up each other (Matt. 18:20; I Cor. 14:3, 24-25; Eph. 4:11-16).
The Temple of Solomon is a prophetic Type of Christ, His Church corporately, & each Christian individually (John 2:19-21; I Cor. 3:16; 6:19). Prophetic Types are a unique Biblical phenomenon that proves the Divine inspiration of Scripture while communicating life changing spiritual truth. The Temple Types reveal the Glory of Heaven awaiting God’s people at the “glorious appearing of the great God & our Savior Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13). The Transcendent glory of Solomon’s Temple lies in its magnificent simplicity, the Prophetic Types hidden in every detail of its design, and its priceless value & exquisite materials. All of which gives us an extraordinary vision into our future heavenly glory.
THE 4 MAIN TEMPLES OF SCRIPTURE
1. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness (Ex. 25:9; 27:8; Num. 8:4; Acts 7:44; Heb. 8:5; 9:23-24).
2. Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem (I Chron. 28:11-12, 19-20).
King Solomon [peaceful] is a Type of Jesus, as the Prince of Peace who will finish building the glorious House of God (Isa. 9:6; Zech. 6:12-13; I Chron. 22:9-10; Lk. 1:33). It took the wisest man who ever lived to oversee the building of God’s house. So God’s wisdom is available to every Christian for building Christ’s Church (James 1:5).
David, in his tribulation prepared for the house of the LORD. It was out of the battles & spoils of war that the treasures were gathered to build the Temple (2Sam. 8:11). We also are involved in an intense spiritual warfare to rescue precious souls for Christ’s heavenly Temple (Jud 22-3; Eph. 6:10-18). We like David must prepare for the house of the LORD with great pains (I Chron. 22:14). We must exhort each other to continue in the faith, realizing that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Act 14:22). But in Heaven there is perfection of security, harmony & peace (Rev.21:1-4). King David’s life becomes a prophetic type of Jesus in his humiliation & suffering, making provision for the House of God. But King Solomon becomes a prophetic type of Christ as the Prince of Peace & Lord of Glory, who finishes the Temple.
3. Jesus Christ is the True Eternal Temple (Rev. 21:22)
John 1:14 can be translated as Christ: “tabernacled amongst us and we beheld His glory.” Jesus confirmed that He fulfilled the Temple Type when He said: “Destroy this temple, & in 3 days I will raise it up… but this he spake of the temple of his body” (John 2:19-21). In Christ dwelt the fullness of the Godhead just as God’s Shekinah glory had filled the Tabernacle and Temple of Solomon (Col. 2:9).
4. Every individual born again Christian is a living Temple of
God in whom the Holy Spirit of God dwells (I Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Col. 1:27; 3:3). The Church corporately, as the spiritual Body of Christ, is the Temple of the Living God (Eph. 2:11, 22; I Cor. 3:16). We must build God’s Church with God’s wisdom (I Cor. 12:4-11; Joh 14:26)
THE PLACE WHERE THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT (2 Chron. 3:1-2)
The place was predetermined by God (I Chron. 22:1-19; 21:13-27; Deut 12:5-8, 11; 2Sam 24). The Temple was built in Mount Moriah where Abraham offered up Isaac as a Prophetic Type of God the Father offering up His Son on the Cross (Gen. 22:1-2). The place itself offers a powerful lesson on God’s Justice & Mercy. God warned Israel that if the people were numbered without collecting the ransom money [kippurim] a “plague would break out among them” (Ex. 30:11-16). In 2 Samuel 24:1-2, 10-17 David numbered the people of Israel without collecting the redemption money, apparently out of pride (I Chron. 21:1). This resulted in the death of 70,000 men (I Chron. 21:17-28). To stop the plague David had to offer blood sacrifice (oxen) on the “threshing floor” of Araunah [shout for joy]. On that spot, where the justice of the broken Law met the mercy of God’s grace, the Temple was erected (2Sam. 24:14; 25). On this spot 1000 yrs. later the sword of God’s justice fell on Jesus so God’s mercy could be extended to His people (Zech. 13:7).
“Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver & gold…, But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Pet. 1:17-20; Heb. 9:12).
THE VALUE OF GOD’S HOUSE (I Chron.29:1-9) (Eph. 1:7, 18; 3:8)
Because the Temple is a Prophetic Type of the Church we can grasp something of the infinite value that God places on His church as well as learn how precious His Church is to Him. The Temple of Solomon is beyond any doubt, the most valuable, precious and greatest Temple the world has ever known. There is not even a close second! The money David had prepared = 100,000 talents of God (3,750 tons); & 1 million talents of silver (37,500 tons) (I Chron. 22:14). In addition he also gave 110 tons of Gold & 260 tons of silver of his own (I Chron. 29:3-4). The leaders gave 190 tons of gold, 375 tons of silver, & 675 tons of bronze. The value of the gold (at $1200 per ounce) is over 120 billion! Add 15-20 billion in silver! What are you giving to build Christ’s Church? Jesus loves it so much! Do You? Wow! What a lesson on how valuable the Church as God’s Temple is to Him. And that’s you & me! (Matt. 16:26).
THE TEMPLE FOUNDATION: (I King 5:17; 6:37; 7:10)
“And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones…”
When Christ said there shall not be one stone left upon another he spoke of the Temple proper, & not the foundation (Matt. 24:2; Mk. 13:2). “The foundation of God standeth sure” (2 Tim. 2:19). The stones are still intact today forming part of the Jewish “wailing wall.”
Christ is the Foundation stone (I Cor 3:11). We must build on Him.
Christ is the rejected CORNERSTONE (Ps.118:22). Reject Christ & die!
Christ the crushing stone (Matt. 21:44). Christ is the final Judge of all.
Christ is the “tried stone” (Isa. 28:16). There is no perfection but in Him.
Christ is the “living stone” (I Pet. 2:4). There is no life but in Him.
THE STONES FOR BUILDING THE HOUSE (I Chron. 29:2)
The House included the Holy Place & Holy of Holies. These stones were clearly designed by God to be a Prophetic Type of the Believers in Christ who are being prepared as “living stones” for the eternal dwelling place of God Almighty (I Pet. 2:4-5; I King 5:18).
The first and most important thing about the stones is that they must be freed from their attachments to the quarry of this world. Just as the Christian has to experience a separation from the materialism, the immorality & the seductive lures set up by the god of this world, so these stones were removed from their strong attachments to this world. It is remarkable that when these stones are in the quarry they are drab & soft, but when brought into the light, they become white & hard. The durability of these stones is a fitting picture of the durability of Christians and the Church throughout history. Each believer is removed from the quarry of this world through various instrumentalities of God’s grace (Isa. 51:1). There is a cutting [like pruning the vine], chiseling, squaring, and sanding process required to adequately prepare the stone for its eternal destiny as part of the House of God (2 Cor. 4:17-18). Ministers of the Gospel are one of God’s main instruments for quarrying these lively stones (Eph. 4:11-16; Hos. 6:5).
THE 4-FOLD GLORY OF ETERNITY 4 EVERY CHRISTIAN
Comparing scripture with scripture we learn these stones receive an amazing 4-fold embrace & foretaste of eternity in their preparation.
1. First they are encased in Silver (1Chron. 29:3-4). Silver is a Type and symbol of redemption (Ex. 30:12, 16; 38:25). Like the stones in the Temple, every one of the living stones of the Church must be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and freed from their enslaving attachments to this world by the “Son of David, Jesus Christ” (IPet. 1:18-19; ICor. 6:20)
2. Then stones are then covered with Cedar wood over the silver. The Cedar is carved with incredibly beautiful symbols of strength, beauty and fruitfulness (1Kings 6:9-10, 15-16, 18, 29). Cedar is a Type of resurrection strength & incorruptibility. The living stones, chosen & redeemed, forming the Temple for the living God, will receive a glorified resurrection body [house] from heaven (2 Cor. 5:1-5). This incorruptible Cedar Wood represents the glorified bodies we receive at the Rapture of the Church. They are sown in corruption, but raised in incorruption; sown in weakness, but raised in power! (I Cor. 15:42-44).
3. The stones are then covered with gold over the Cedar beautifully highlighting the elegance & glory of the underlying carvings. (1 Kings 6:21-22; 2 Chron. 3:4-8). The Gold is Typical of the Divine nature, perfection of Divine works, and incorruptibility of Divine glory. In Christ we become partakers of the Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4; Heb. 12:10). God turns us into spiritual gold through the many trials of life (Job. 23:10). Like the stones, gold is also dug out of the earth. Because it has many earthly impurities in it, gold, like God’s people, must be refined in the fire (I Pet. 1:3-7; Zech. 13:9); Purified to reflect Christ’s likeness in our lives (I John 3:1-3; 2 Cor. 4:17-18).
4. The Gold was garnished with all manner of precious gems (2Chron 3:6). How dazzling is the sight of all that gold, silver & precious gems of brilliant colors glittering & sparkling in the lights of the Holy Place. What a picture of the resurrected saints differing from each other as “stars differ from each other in glory” (I Cor. 15:41; Rev. 21:11). God says “They shall be mine in that day when I make up my Jewels” (Mal. 3:17). Paul must have been thinking of the glory of this Temple when he wrote about believer’s rewards in eternity for serving Christ now in time. “If any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones… he shall receive a reward” but “if any man build with wood, hay, & stubble he shall suffer loss” (I Cor. 3:11-15). Are you using your temporary treasures on earth to lay up eternal treasures in Heaven? (Matt. 6:19-20).
One reason so many people fear dying so much is because all their treasures are here on earth, & they can’t bear the prospect of leaving them behind. They have not been rich toward God (Lk. 12:16-21). On the other hand many believers have great peace at the prospect of dying & leaving this world, because they have laid most of their treasures up in heaven & can’t wait to go! (I Tim. 6:18-19; James 2:5; Rev. 2:9).
ILLUSTRATION: Lessons from refining silver and gold: The fiery afflictions and judgments which God allows His children to pass through are like the refiner’s fire for the purpose of burning up their corruptions and making them pure.
“The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts” (Prov. 17:3).
“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Ps. 12:6)
“For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried” (Ps. 66:10-12; Zech. 13:9; I Pet 1:6-7)
The process of how a silversmith refines silver can really give us a healthy attitude toward the trials that God allows us to encounter in life.
In the old days the Refiner would get some silver ore and place it in a caldron. This caldron or refining pot is likened to “affliction” in Scripture (Isa. 48:10). The refiner heats the impure mixture of silver ore till it melts into a shiny liquid. Because silver is a very heavy “precious metal” it sinks to the bottom and the lighter impurities rise to the surface when the mixture is melted. Then the refiner will scoop off the impurities that rise to the surface eliminating them from the silver. It’s interesting that we often speak of “turning the heat up” to refer to the hardships and trials that really test us and bring out our real character. It’s when we get into a real “heated” discussion that often times the impurities of impatience and anger rise to the surface and we say things we never intended to say. Well, God allows circumstances and other people to turn the “heat up” in our lives so these character flaws can be brought to the surface where we become acutely aware of them. Once we know they are there we can confess them and so God can literally cleanse those impurities from our life and character (I John 1:7-9; Rev. 1:5). The thing with silver is that it is not an easy process to purify. To get the finest and purest silver it will need to be refined at least seven times (Ps. 12:6). Each time the heat is turned up again and the silver remelted, it brings more of the hidden impurities to the surface. It is the same with us in real life. We are slow learners and we have a lot more impurity deep down inside us than we realize.
When will “The Refiner” be satisfied that his silver has been purified enough? When He can see His own image reflected in the silvery mirror on the surface of the purified silver. Each time the silver is refined and more impurities are removed the more clearly the Refiner can see His image in the silver. So God is purifying us like silver over and over, removing more and more of our sinful impurities, until God the Refiner can see the perfect image of His son in us! (Rom. 8:29). What a glorious purpose for our trials! To make us more like Jesus!
God is preparing us to be glorious vessels of silver and gold in His glorious Temple for all eternity. Hallelujah.
