The
Temple Being Built by the Spirit
Christ
loved
the church, and gave himself for it. He
intends to present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such
thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish. (Ephesians 5:25,27.) The word
church as used in the Bible does not refer to a
building in which people worship. It rather
signifies those who have gathered together. The
Christian church consists of those who have in
response to the voice of the Holy Spirit found
repentance and have experienced conversion, those
who have been led by the Spirit to forsake the
world and live the new life in Christ Jesus, and
those who have been born again by water and the
Spirit. (John 3:5.) Christ bestows His supreme
regard upon His church, for its is the
church
which he hath purchased with his
own blood. (Acts 20:28.)
The church represents God
in this world. She deals with matters of the
soul, moral worth, virtuous living, the higher
life, the pure, noble, holy, and true. Her
concerns include worship, the extension of
Christs spiritual kingdom, and the Bible
code of ethics. She teaches that man empowered by
the Spirit can live in this present evil
world as he will live in the new earth.
Isaiah described the
church as a watered garden whose waters fail not.
Water symbolizes the blessings
imparted by the Holy Spirit. (Isaiah 58:11;
44:3.) Paul likened the church to the body of
Christ (Ephesians 1:22,23), the members of which
are perfectly joined together in love-beautiful
symbol of how the Holy Spirit unifies the
activities of the church members so that they act
together as one (Ephesians 4:16). The inner
secret of the unity of the believers is that they
all partake of the same Spirit. 91
Corinthians 12:1-13.)
Those born into the
family of God think of their church as their
spiritual home a home where all members of
Gods family, old and young, rich and poor,
healthy and sick, are treated as they have need
in the daily ministrations. (Acts 6:1-7.) Under
the superintendence of the Holy Spirit, the
church will always have overflow blessings to
impart to those nearby and afar off.
One of the most vibrant
and meaningful symbols that the New Testament
applies to the church is the temple. Who is the
builder of the spiritual temple? The Holy Spirit.
Ye
are built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone;... in whom ye also
are builded together for the habitation of God
through the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22.
Of what material is this
spiritual church built? The Apostle Peter
portrays the Christian as a living stone in
Gods spiritual house. (1 Peter 2:5.) To be
living stones, we must be infilled with the
Spirit of life. (Romans 8:2.) Every person
who is indwelt by the Spirit is a spiritual
temple in a special sense. What? 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? For ye are bought with a
price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in
your spirit, which are Gods. 1
Corinthians 6:19,20. We should not defile this
body temple. Those who abuse the body by wrong
habits of eating and drinking, by sensuality
(Jude 19), or by excess of any kind pollute this
blood-bought temple and call down the wrath of
God upon their heads. Gods Spirit will not
dwell in a defiled temple. (1 Corinthians
3:16,17.)
Gods spiritual
temple consists of many, many living stones; some
are pillars in His temple (Revelation 3:12), and
some are corner stones, polished after the
similitude of a palace (Psalm 144:12).
Although each person is a living temple, when all
are fitly framed together, they
compose Gods great temple, His church.
(Ephesians 2:21.)
The apostles (that is,
the writers of the New Testament) and the
prophets (that is, the writers of the Old
Testament) make up the foundation of Gods
great spiritual temple, while Christ Jesus stands
as the elect, precious
and chief corner stone. (Ephesians
20-22; 1 Peter 2:6.)
The church has had a
sorry, and in some cases a stained and spotted
history. It has been disgraced by the
inconsistencies of many of its professed members.
It has been drive3n by persecution into many a
wilderness exile. False teachers, false
preachers, and false prophets have attacked it on
all sides. Undermining from within has added to
its trials. False messiahs have plagued its
borders.
Yet, through it all the
church has demonstrated a marvelous vitality.
What secret has enabled it to survive so much
tribulation and yet extend the triumphs of the
cross? It is the inner strength that Christ
provided for each member in the gift of the Holy
Spirit. No wonder Jesus, looking across the
centuries, insisted that the gates of hell would
not prevail against her. (Matthew 16: 16-18.)
The churchs secret
of strength consists not in its institutions, its
wealth, its pulpit oratory, its well-appointed
places of worship, but in the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit in the hearts of its members. Those
who compose the church when Jesus comes the
second time will be those in whom He has put His
Spirit and who in their lives have developed the
fruits of the Spirit. Those will be but a part of
the ransomed of all ages that have lived up to
all the light they had. (Proverbs 4:18; 24:12.)
Today, in all lands and in all communions,
honest-hearted souls are responding to the
prompting of the Holy Spirit and living up to all
the light that falls upon their path. All such
who have accepted Christ are a part of His church
and are accepted by the Father. (2 Timothy 2:19.)
The hour for the church
to receive power for her militant warfare has
arrived. Gods temple is to be fully built
up. The description found in Son of Solomon 6:10
will soon become a glorious reality: Who is
she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as
the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an
army with banners?
However,
before her triumph the church must engage the
powers of darkness in a warfare that will bring
the warriors of the cross to the very gates of
hell. The honest-hearted in all lands and in all
communions must be gathered out. The crisis of
crises rushes toward us. Christ assures victory,
but only through the omnipotent power of the Holy
Spirit. The church must now seek that power.
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