The New Temple

Introduction

“My brethren, do you believe in the Holy Ghost?...Have we such a reliance upon the Holy Ghost? Do we believe that, at this moment, He can clothe us with power, even as He did the apostles at Pentecost? Do we believe that, under our preaching, by His energy a thousand might be born in a day?” ~ Charles Spurgeon

The New Testament is full of imagery from the Old Testament, the depth and complexity of Scripture is beautiful

How the NT reflects the OT is a testament to the consistency of God’s nature.

So this means we cannot fully understand the OT without the NT and vice versa

With that all being said the beauty of what the church is called to be in Acts 2 intensifies.

we are called to be the temple, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 ESV

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

The temple / tabernacle is a theme we see throughout the Old Testament and with that being said how does understanding the Old Testament temple help us be a better temple today?

It Filled the entire House / tongues as of fire (v. 1-3) / 2 Chronicles 7:1-3

As the new era of the temple began it started with a sound of a mighty rushing wind that filled the entire house the believers were sitting in

This scene is very reminiscent of what occurs at the dedication of the temple built by Solomon

2 Chronicles 7:1–3 ESV

As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

4 Takeaways for being the temple as we look in context of 2 Chronicles 7:

1) The glory of the Lord fills us, as it did the Temple and the house on Pentecost

The temple in the OT was looking to the fulfillment of God’s plan

To go into the Holy of Holies (where God dwelt) took special preparation and sacrifices

to encounter God there would mean death apart from preparation

The holy of holies now dwells in us, how does that not equate to our death

Sacrifice of Jesus

does equate to the death of sin

If we truly live in the glory of God, sin is mortified

Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you. -John Owens

2) A heart of godly worship opens us to being the temple

the events we read in 2 Chronicles come as Solomon finishes his prayer

How do we become the temple of God, we come to the Lord in humble prayer that is our first act of true worship

It is in that moment that the Lord comes into us like a mighty rushing wind

a noticeable change occurs in our life that can only be credited to the supernatural work of God

3) The temple is a place where offerings and sacrifices are offered up

Offerings and sacrifices did not end at the temple in the Old testament

Today in the New testament temple we are called to still do these things

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

What are you offering?

It is a call to offer more than just Sundays and Wednesdays, offering 1% of your time to the Lord is only offering what is not inconvenient to you

How have you dedicated your house to the Lord?

Is it a place of hospitality?

We talk about making people feel welcomed at church, do we strive for that at home

Is it a place of holiness?

When people come to your house do they feel as if they are stepping into the house of God

How have you dedicated your car to the Lord?

When you buy a car are you not only financially responsible with the purchase, but also spiritually responsible?

Do you ask for the Lord to use your car?

Tell Shreveport story

How have you dedicated your time to the Lord?

What daily routines do we have in place

Do you allow the Lord to disrupt your routine?

Lets be honest we need some disruption to keep us from being caught in going through the motions

What are you sacrificing?

Don’t let your church life revolve around only going when it is the convenient option

Fellowship with believers is not based on convenience, but necessity

What worldly opportunities have you given up in order to go down the path God has called you to?

Do we sacrifice our comfort?

That is radical giving up comfort and pleasures

the culture we live in has a view of self-entitled happiness. Our culture acts as if we should always be happy and should do everything to maximize happiness

What a life of fleeting meaning

Happiness is emotional based and fleeting.

Just like a drug addicts life unravels in a pursuit of the next high, our culture of happy addicts have life's that are unraveling

This pursuit of happiness is not beneficial to our spirituality, the pursuit of happiness if we are being honest is something we need to sacrifice

Studying Scripture is not a happy pursuit

we study with the intention of coming under conviction (not a happy experience)

Stepping out of our comfort zones is often not a happy step

We don’t have the tough convos out of being happy

We don’t necessarily follow a calling because it makes us happy

My time in Shreveport was not a happy maximizing journey

A journey of faith is not about finding happiness in things of this world, the journey of faith is about sacrificing things of this world in order to pursue a joy filled life in the Lord, which is a life of contentment and hope in the Lord

4)The temple as a place where the glory of God could be unbearable, and now that unbearable glory resides in us

Pause and think about the presence of God that would cause a man to die if they stood in his presence unfit, the glory of God that Moses could not look directly on, the glory of God that made Moses face shine, is the glory of God that resides in us today

Two questions:

Why have we not died?

Before we became the temple of God, we were not fit to enter the temple, in light of what we read in the OT upon God entering us we should have died upon him entering

But unlike in the OT we don’t to sacrifice animals to be made ready, Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice and his blood preserves us when we encounter the Glory of God

We are only able to be transformed and renewed by the grace and mercy of God because of the judgment of God

Now death does occur when God enters us as the temple

the Glory of God as said earlier will mortify sin and as sin is mortified we must let it be killed and not hold onto it

Stop trying to not sanctify parts of your life

What did Jesus do when the Jews forsook the holiness of just a part of the temple?

He went to flipping tables

Why do we not have a radiance like that of Moses?

2 Chronicles 34:14 ESV

While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given through Moses.

The word of God had been lost in the temple beneath money

Our life does not radiate the glory of God when we bury the Word of God under material pleasures

in 2 Chronicles this glory was not rediscovered until it was dug out and read afresh

What have you buried the Word of God under?

What steps do you need to make to read the word of God a fresh

Outroduction

2 Chronicles 7:3 ESV

...“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

Praise the Lord he is consistent, that the radicalness of his glory is still present today

Praise the Lord his steadfast love endured through every age of the temple and that it allowed for his plan to continue to go forward unfoiled