Concerning the Temple and the Church

Concerning the Temple, the Church

 

[The Place Where the Temple of God Was Built]

 

2 Chronicles 3:1 "Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite."

 

In fact, the one who first desired to build the temple was David. However, because David had shed much blood through many wars (1 Chronicles 22:8), God caused His house to be built through David’s son Solomon. And unlike David, who had fought many wars, God gave Solomon peace from all his enemies round about, so that he could build the temple (1 Kings 5:3-4).

 

The word in 2 Chronicles 3:1 above tells us about the place where the temple of God was first built on this earth. It was called "Mount Moriah in Jerusalem." This Mount Moriah was also the place where Abraham had once intended to offer his only son Isaac (Genesis 22). In the passage above, it is described as the place where God appeared to David, namely, the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. In 1 Chronicles 21:24-30, we read that David sinned against God by numbering Israel, and a plague came upon them. But at the threshingfloor of Ornan, God repented of the evil and stayed the hand of the destroying angel from that place (1 Chronicles 21:15). Therefore David bought the place where the angel of God had appeared, paying the price for it, and there he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered him by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.

(In this sense, all these events that happened earlier to Abraham and to David were, amazingly, testimonies concerning Jesus, who would one day become the sacrificial offering in our place in order to pay the price for the sins of mankind.)

 

[The Purpose for Which God Caused the Temple to Be Built]

 

2 Chronicles 6:5-6 "5Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel: 6But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel."

 

2 Chronicles 6:10 "The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel."

 

As the passages above show, the purpose for which God caused His temple to be built on this earth was so that His holy name might be placed there. We must remember that God chose Mount Moriah in Jerusalem and caused the temple to be built there in order to place His name there. If we forget this original purpose, our faith will inevitably become corrupted. Then, as Jesus said, "Destroy this temple" (John 2:19), even the temple of God can be torn down at any time (Luke 21:5-6). If we remember the purpose for which God commanded the temple to be built, we will not come to the temple for ourselves. Since the temple of God exists only for the name of God, it must never become a place for man, or a place where man is at the center. In the same way, the priests who serve in the temple of God, that is, pastors today, should become servants who please God rather than servants who please men (Galatians 1:10).

 

Romans 1:21-23 "21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things."

 

[The Temple in the New Testament Age, after Jesus]

 

John 2:19-21 "19Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21But he spake of the temple of his body."

 

As shown in the passage above, Jesus testified that now the temple is not a visible building, but His own body. At that time, people did not understand the word of Jesus, and rather regarded His statement about destroying the temple of God as blasphemous (Matthew 27:39-40). But according to the word of Jesus, the visible temple is no longer the temple of God. Just as the body of Jesus became the temple, our bodies also must become the temple of God. For this purpose, just as David bought the threshingfloor of Ornan for a price (1 Chronicles 21:22), Jesus bought us with the price of His blood.

 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 "19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s."

 

1 Corinthians 3:9, 16-17 "9For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. 16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."

 

All of the passages above teach us that we ourselves are the temple. Therefore, the place where we worship is no longer what is important. In the Old Testament age, people had to come to Jerusalem, the place God had chosen, in order to worship. Even today, there are people who regard the place of worship as important. But after the gospel of Jesus, the place is no longer important.

 

Acts 17:24 "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands."

 

Acts 7:48 "Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands..."

 

As the passages above say, God does not dwell in temples made with hands. This is because our bodies are now the temple of God. That is why Jesus was not bound to the place called Jerusalem, but preached the word of God in the fields, on the mountains, and wherever He was. The apostle Paul also preached the word in his own hired house. We today also must know that what matters is not which place we go to, but whether, wherever we are, our hearts are such that Jesus will come to us.

 

Acts 28:30-31 "30And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, 31Preaching the kingdom of God..."

 

John 4:20-24 "20Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

 

Now, as the passage above says, the place where we worship is not what matters. What matters more is how we, who have become the temple of God, worship with all our hearts in spirit and in truth. Just as God commanded the temple to be built for His name, if we gather for the name of Jesus with hearts that are in spirit and in truth, Jesus will come to us and make His abode with us, regardless of the place or the number of people.

 

Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

 

John 14:23 "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

 

In the Old Testament age, God chose Jerusalem and commanded the temple to be built there in order to place His name there. In other words, the reason our bodies are called the temple of God is so that God may place His name in us. Jesus, whose body first became the temple, did not live in His own name, but was called by the name of God and lived in the name of God [see The Name of God, "Jesus"]. The apostle Paul, who was chosen after the resurrection of Jesus, was the same.

 

Acts 9:15 "But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel."

 

This shows that the apostle Paul’s being chosen for the name of Jesus is in the same context as God choosing Jerusalem in the Old Testament age and placing His name there.

 

[The Attitude We Should Have as the Church]

 

After the gospel, we are now the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17). Nevertheless, the reason we need a place called church is because, in the last days, we may be weak by ourselves, and therefore we are told not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

 

Hebrews 10:23-25 "23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

 

And naturally, for people to gather, some kind of place is needed. But the place is only a place. We must not confine Jesus to that place, nor should we ourselves be bound to that place. What matters is the heart of us who have become the church. Wherever we worship, if we offer worship in spirit and in truth, remembering the name of Jesus, Jesus will come to that place (Exodus 20:24, Matthew 18:20, John 4:23).

 

Therefore, our church must never become a church for man, or a church where man is at the center. This is because the purpose for which God established the temple on this earth was only for His name. Just as the purpose for choosing the apostle Paul was for the name of Jesus (Acts 9:15), the reason He has chosen and called us today is also for the name of Jesus (Isaiah 43:7). Therefore, within the church, there can be no strife, envy, or jealousy. Such things are all fleshly things that arise because people insist on what is their own (1 Corinthians 3:1-4).

 

If we are all for the name of Jesus, then in Jesus we can all become one (1 Corinthians 1:10). Therefore, churches should not be divided into many denominations and sects, but should belong only to Jesus as one. This is because we all exist as individual members for Jesus.

 

1 Corinthians 1:11-13 "11For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?"

 

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 "12For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ... For the body is not one member, but many... And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body... That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 26And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 27Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."

 

As the passage above says, although each member is different, just as the body is one, we are all members of Jesus, who is the body. Therefore, we must now cast down our own thoughts and arguments (2 Corinthians 10:5-6), and become people who work together for good for the name of Jesus. Then, on the day when Jesus comes again, we also will all participate together in the glory of Jesus...

 

Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

 

2 Thessalonians 1:12 "That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."