WHOSE TEMPLE ARE YOU DWELLING IN?

Date: Sat Jan 10 14:55:17 2009

The Lord has been talking to me about temples. God does not want us dwelling in temples made by hands ñ temples formed by our own ideas and constructs. He has made a heavenly temple for us to dwell in here on earth, the mystical Body of Christ. Unfortunately, a lot of people prefer dwelling in temples made by hands.

We like to create our dwelling place and ask God to live in it. We include the amenities that make us happy. We design a temple for a stress-free life, material prosperity with no adversity, a temple that does not require us to move out of our comfort zone or to associate with people we deem not compatible with our style set.

I have been at meetings where all the decisions were made based upon the wants of people, and then the Lordís blessing is invoked. I believe that is sort of backwards. I am an architect, and when it comes to earthly temples, if all the details and Codes are not followed, there are problems. Some folks like to wing it ñ and make decisions in the field ignoring the work of the architect. These almost never work out.

I designed some changes to a house in Horsham. The couple that bought it was struggling at the time, and told the builder, Sal Paone, to build a two car instead of a three-car garage, to eliminate the home office on the first floor, and to make other economies. They had to get it for what they could afford. The wife was working for a technology company that was limping along. She couldnít get the raises she deserved, and took stock instead, which was practically worthless. Years later, after much hard work, when the company issued an IPO (initial public offering), she was suddenly worth about 14 million dollars. All of a sudden money was no object. They had his and hers BMW's and wanted another garage and a home office and a more luxurious bathroom. I carefully designed everything to look like it had always been there. They followed my plans scrupulously on the garage and the office, with neighbors thrilled at the seamless result, but when it came to a carefully proportioned dormer, they deviated from the plans. That $1,500 item on an $800,000 house spoiled it all. The contractor shortened it by about 18î for some unknown reason without consulting me, and that little deviation severely detracted from the overall result.

There is a saying that Little Foxes spoil the vine. When we were preparing for children about 32 years ago, we decided to live on one income, and my wife retired from her excellent job as a school counselor. That meant we would live a simpler lifestyle than we could have otherwise. It meant generally having a used car instead of a new one, no fancy vacations or expensive nights out, etc. In 2000, the Lord provided a big blessing for us, and I was able to get a new car. In prayer, he told me the maximum amount I should spend, and I asked him about my favorites, a Chrysler 300 M and a flaming red Dodge Intrepid ES. He gave me the green light, and I ended up with a trouble free Intrepid that gave much enjoyment (sorry for those of you that might have had a lot of problems with yours!). However, very shortly after I bought the car, I drove my youngest son out to Gettysburg for a soccer tournament. He had a place to stay with the team, but I didnít and every motel I tried was full. I went to a campground to park and sleep in the car. However, it was dark, and the grass was tall and I ran into an iron reinforcing bar sticking up out of the ground. It made a mark on the plastic bumper about 1/4î square, which ruined everything. It is amazing how much something that small can affect your happiness. The Lord showed me in a split second though, a message from that, which I am sharing now with you. He said that just like I was so upset with the 1/4î flaw in an otherwise perfect car, he felt that same way about us. We can do everything right except one little thing, just like my millionaire clients, but he notices what is wrong. We can build well. We can have everything polished and bright. Yet his eye goes to that little spot that is not perfect. God wants us perfect. He does not make allowances for sin. He does not ignore the little things. Now some of you may say, I am not that perfect ñ I have more than a 1/4î blemish. I have dents on both sides and paint peeling off my hood. My tailpipe is making sparks on the road because no matter what coat hangers or duct tape I use, it seems to work itself loose again.

No matter how little we think is wrong with us, we need to go into the shop. You see, God requires perfection. A friend of mine has won numerous trophies for his restored Jaguar sedan. Everything has to be perfect, from the color of the nuts under the hood to the underside of the car. The judges get on a crawler and go under to evaluate, just like God checks out the parts of you that are invisible to everyone who sees you in church or on the job. His touch and his Spirit are required to make us right. He wants our lives and our assemblies to be built precisely in accordance with the word of God. He doesnít want us to make ìfield changesî or build in ways that do not follow his eternal plan. He has designed our dwelling place with God in the Spirit ñ that is the temple HE lives in. If we do not sense God's eternal presence in our lives or our church, it may well be because we are in the wrong place! We might be in a temple made by human hands while he is across the road in a dwelling place in the Spirit. We had better cross to the other side ñ it is not too late!

As local expressions of the Body of Christ explode, we have to ask the question ñ are they being built by God as dwelling places for his Spirit? I wish they all were, but I know they all arenít. There are over 39,000 denominations and the number grows every year. There are 110 major Trinitarian Pentecostal denominations, another 10 non-Trinitarian Pentecostal denominations, and 18 major Charismatic and neo-Charismatic denominations. Then there are oceans of Baptists, Lutherans, and many others. While some differences are minor, other differences are major, such as what constitutes salvation, whether or not the Holy Spirit is a person, what is included in the atonement, the authority of the Bible, etc. Obviously, since the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible using human instruments, and all scripture agrees, it is impossible for God to have created a spiritual temple for the Holy Spirit to live in that is at odds with what the Holy Spirit himself clearly wrote.

We must build on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles with Christ as the chief cornerstone, not in accordance with the traditions of men, or with those who ignore clear instructions in Godís word, trying to explain them away as being culturally irrelevant to us now or else belonging to some other dispensation. The Word of God stands forever, and God changes not. His compassions do not fail. His standards do not get lower to adapt to fallen society, and his love for you never disappears. We can rely upon God to be there for us, and we can rely on the Holy Spirit to only put things in the Bible that are needful, necessary, and eternal.

Take stock ñ are you following the Word of God exactly? Are you rationalizing any part of it away? Are you following the patterns in the Bible for worship, for Body Ministry, for Church Authority? If so, are you in a spiritual building created by God on the foundation laid by the Prophets and the Apostles? That is the only building the Holy Spirit uses for his temple.

Many wonder why they donít sense the Holy Spirit sometimes. Perhaps it is because he does not dwell in temples not built by God. He doesnít dwell in unregenerate people and he does not dwell in churches that are not built by God in accordance with the blueprints laid out in the Bible. In his mercy, he may drop by, but unless he inhabits the place, it will fall far short of the glory of God it needs to contain. It all comes down to how well we cooperate with the work of God in our lives.

I treasure the work of the Holy Spirit in me and in the church. I want to be sure I donít mess up the image of the man God designed me to be. If I ad lib to change something in my life to suit my whim, I will likely be interfering with the final product God designed. If I rebel against hardship, against correction, against things being chipped away or hacked off, I am not in a good place. You see, it is often more difficult to abandon a good thing than it is to abandon sin. A dilemma is a situation where you have to choose between two good options or two bad ones. No one likes the lesser of two evils, and many do not like to abandon something good for something better ñ they want to keep both. God may tell you to abandon something good. Like Jesus told those wanting to follow him ñ leave your business; leave your family; leave your parents; leave everything. He may tell you to give up a ministry that you love intensely for one that will stretch you for all you are worth.

I was preaching at a suburban church a few years ago. I was so encouraged by the vibrant worship, the dancing, the waving of flags and banners and all that. I was encouraged when a lady prophesied the same thing I was going to preach about, which happened to be intimacy with God the Father. The people were so responsive to the message, and we had a time of ministry praying and encouraging the people after the service that lasted a half hour or more. I saw a man sitting on a pew looking out the window, and walked over to him. I knelt in front of him and asked him what he needed. He told me that he spent entirely too much time watching television. I told him that the Lord would come to him and speak to him while he was watching a great show ñ nothing objectionable, and tell him to turn it off and just spend time with him instead. He just looked at me. He still has a problem with TV and still resists God in that area.

My friends, we must submit totally to God. Jesus didnít do anything he didnít see his Father doing. If our character is to be conformed to that of Christ, we must behave as Christ behaved and have the obedience Christ had and the priorities Christ had. If we donít, how are we preparing ourselves for the marriage supper of the lamb? How are we to live in intimacy with Christ forever in eternity if we donít do it now? We are the Bride of Christ, so everything we had as single folks is old news. Our clothes have changed to garments of praise and robes of righteousness. Our speech has changed from the worthless chatter of this world into heavenly worship and praise. Our loves have changed ñ we reject all other lovers and all other loves - we are the Lord's.

Let's dwell where the Spirit dwells - in the temple not made by human hands or by the will of man. That temple where the Holy Spirit lives is a great place. It is a pure place. It is a place untainted by carnality and fleshly desire. It is a place where God rules because his word is followed and not compromised to suit the whims of man.

What good is it to dwell in a temple if God is not there? There is no shortage of temples. They are all over the place. There is only one temple where God dwells. It consists of all those from all tribes and tongues who chose to be where God is. That is the only temple worth living in. See you there!