WHEN GOD FILLS THE TEMPLE

 

            Last week we talked about A Fit Habitation for God.  We look at the materials that Solomon used in building the temple of God.  We paid close attention to the cedars of Lebanon recognizing that this wood had a strength, endurance, character, beauty and fragrance like no other wood of that day.  We mentioned that the outside of the temple was made of stone, coming from the earth.  The inside of the temple was lined with pure gold representing purity, holiness and righteousness.   Looking at these materials we related them to Christians by pointing out that the New Testament teaches that we are the temple of God.  II Cor. 6:16 says, “For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” As the temple of God we should display the same character as the materials used to build the earthly temple. 

ACTS 17:24

          Paul here is speaking to the people of Athens.  Athens was known for its many temples.  They had temples for every god that they could think of and just in case they had missed one, they had a temple for the unknown god.  Paul in witnessing to these people said I come to represent the unknown god.  He starts first by declaring that the almighty God does not dwell in temples made by man’s hands.  He now chooses to dwell in the hearts of those who love and worship Him.  We who are children of God are the temples in which he dwells.  So this morning I want to talk about “When God Fills the Temple.”

II CHRONICLES 5:4-14

The Ark was a symbol of the presence of God.  Though the Ark was already in Jerusalem, it resided in a tent.  David had desired to build a temple for God but was not allowed to do so because he was a man of war.  However, God promised David that Solomon would be allowed to build the temple. Bringing the Ark to the temple was a great day in Israel.

EXODUS 25:10-16

This passage provides a description of the Ark.  It was a chest made of acacia wood, about four feet long, two and a half feet wide, and two and a half feet high.  It was overlaid with gold inside and out and had a ring of gold at each corner through which poles were passed to carry it.  The lid of the ark, also called the mercy seat, was made of pure gold.  At each end of the mercy seat was a cherub made of gold.  Inside the Ark were the tablets of the law given to Moses.  Look at verse 15.  The staves were not to be withdrawn from the Ark.  In other words they would take the Ark into the tent, sit it down and leave it there until it was time to move it again.  Since they were still moving around a lot this would keep them from having to touch the Ark to reinsert the staves.

II CHRONICLES 5:7-8

When they brought the Ark in they did not sit it down in just any old place in the temple.  There was a special room prepared in the temple just for the Ark, the Holy of Holies.  When God designed mankind He designed a special place in man in which God is to dwell.  Man is a three part being, spirit, soul, and body.  God influences the soul or mind of man, but he does not dwell in our minds.  That is why many who simply have head knowledge of God are not saved.  God wants to occupy more than just the head.  It is not enough to know about God, one must know God.  God wants to control the actions of our flesh, but He does possess us in the same way as a demonic spirit would possess a man.   The special place where God resides in us is our spirit which is also called the heart of man.  In Ephesians 3:17 Paul prays, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.”  When we become the temple of God, God takes up residence in our hearts.  As the human heart is the organs controlling the physical life in man, so the spirit or heart of man defines the spiritual life of man. God takes up residence in our heart or spirit, in the very core from which our life flows.

II CHRONICLES 5:9

They drew out the staves.  When the stave were left in the Ark it symbolized that they was no resting place For God.  Removing the staves signified that God finally had a permanent place of residence among the Children of Israel.  God finally had a permanent home in Jerusalem. 

When God comes to dwell in us it should be a permanent house.  God does not want to just drop in for a visit.  He wants to settle down.

HEBREWS 5:8-9

God wants to dwell in our hearts forever, but in order to do so we must commit to obeying him.  He is the author of eternal salvation for those who obey Him.  God does not want to be a roomer, moving in and out at the request of the land owner.  He wants to be the land owner and have permanent residence.  Some want to be saved today and unsaved tomorrow.  They jump back and forth like a yo-yo on a string.  God wants to permanently reside in us.  By the way, though Solomon built a house for God, they still refused to obey him.  Eventually the temple was destroyed and the Ark was moved again from its resting place.  In order for God to have a permanent resting place in our hearts we must commit to a life of permanent obedience.

II CHRONICLES 5:11

          After placing the Ark in the appropriate place the priest left the room.  This symbolizes a surrender of the room to God.  This is where many of us often fail in our walk with God.  We invite Christ to come into our hearts, but we fail to surrender to him.  We ask him to be the Lord of our lives but then we refuse to let him rule over us.

LUKE 6:46

          Lip service will not do.  Jesus asked the multitude that was standing about listening to him teach, “Why do you call me Lord, and then refuse to do as I say?”  If Jesus visited churches across America this morning I am afraid that he would have to ask that same question.  Why do we call Jesus Lord, but yet not allow him to be lord.  Lord is not just a title to be used with royalty.  To call Jesus Lord is to call him supreme ruler, the one who is in authority and rules. 

ROMANS 6:16

          Whoever rules your actions is the ruler of your life and thus the lord of your soul.  If we do not obey God, then automatically we are obeying the Devil and if we are obeying him then we are being ruled by him.  We belong to whomever we serve and our actions show who we serve.

LUKE 16:13

          Though many try to do it, Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters.  Some want to stay as close to the world as possible and still be in the family of God.  We must make up our minds.  We must set our minds as Christ did and declare that nothing or no one will be more important to us than our relationship with God and our serving Him.  We cannot hold on to the world and hold on to God also. When Jesus comes to occupy our hearts we must completely surrender it to Him.  We can not be lord of our own lives and have Christ as Lord also.

GALATIANS 2:20

          Paul said in I Cor. 15:31 “I die daily”.  This is the attitude God wants us to have.  We are to be dead to our own desire and alive only for Christ.  We cannot serve ourselves and God.

II CHRONICLES 5:11-13

          Once the Ark was in its proper place all the Levites began to play musical instruments and sing giving praises unto God.  There focus was not on how magnificent the temple was.  They were not oohing and awing over the splendor of the temple.  Their focus was on God, giving him praise and thanks for coming to dwell among them.  We on the other had spend too much time worried about the temple and the temple desires and thus focus very little on the king who dwells in the temple.  Yes we want to keep the temple strong and healthy, holy and sanctified. For it is where God dwells.  But many of us spend much of our efforts on trying to keep the temple happy instead of pleasing the master of the temple.

II CHRONICLES 5:13-14

          What does Ps. 22:3 say? “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.”  When the priest began to praise and thank God the glory of the Lord filled the house.  Note that they put the Ark in the Holy of Holies, but the glory filled the house.  The Shekinah Glory of God demonstrates the brilliance, splendor and radiance of God.  The glory was so great that the priest who were praising and thanking God could not continue to do so. 

When we open up our heart to God and give him complete control He will fill the whole temple, spirit, soul and body.  As we surrender to him He will change our way of thinking.

PHILIPPIANS 4:8

          As God fills our temple we will be drawn to think on the positive not the negative, to think of ways to build others up and not to tear down, to think honestly and not conjure up deceptions.  When God fills the house he will change our desires.  We know that Matt. 6:33 says “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  We know it with head knowledge.  But when God fills the house we will began to do Matt. 6:33.  Nothing will be more important to us than seeking to fulfill the will of God for our lives.

MATTHEW 6:19-20

          When my heart is filled with the glory of God eternal treasures will have more importance to me than earthly treasures.  I will remember that

II Corinthians 4:18 says, “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.” 

          When the glory of the Lord fills our temple we will clearly understand when Jesus says in Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world.”  The light of God that is in us must shine forth to give light to the world.

MATTHEW 5:16

          When God fills our temple He brings with Him the light of His glory.  It is this light that is to shine forth in the earth.  It can not be seem by mere visual inspection, but it radiates in the works that we do and the life that we live. 

II CORINTHIANS 3:18

          When the Spirit of God comes to dwell in us He takes on the job of changing us into the image of Christ.  He works in us so that more and more of the glory of God will shine forth through us.  He then uses the glory of our lives to draw others to Christ.  Thus it is important that we yield to the Spirit of God so that He can work both in us and through us. 

I CORINTHIANS 6:20, 7:23

          Who bought us?  So who do we belong to?  Since we belong to God, who should direct our actions?  What will God direct us to do?   Knowing all of this, recognizing that we have been bought by God, why do we allow man and mans way of thinking to direct our actions?   When we open up our hearts and truly allow God to fill us the attention will be drawn away from us.  We will no longer see ourselves and our desires as more important than God.  The glory of God will be seen in us and through us and God will be glorified.

I CORINTHIANS 3:16-17

           The Children of Israel had special rules about what could and could not be done in the temple, who could enter the temple and what parts of the temple could be entered by which people.  They had to obey these rules or else the temple was considered defiled.  Likewise we are the temple of God and thus we must be careful of what we do in our bodies.  We do not want to defile the temple, because the promise here is that the one who defiles the temple will be destroyed.  When God filled the temple in Jerusalem it went from being an ordinary building to being a holy and sanctified building set apart for God’s purpose, the dwelling place of God.  When God by His Spirit comes to dwell in us, we likewise are then set apart for God’s use.  We are the dwelling place of the almighty God.  We can no longer do whatever we want in and to our temple. 

          God wants a permanent resting place in our hearts.  He wants us to get off of the throne of our own lives and give rulership and authority over to Him.  He wants us to change our focus from our own earthly desires to a focus that is totally centered on Him.  He will then fill not only our hearts but all of us.  Our spirit, our soul and our body will show forth the glory of God.  When we Christians allow God to fill our temples the radiance of God’s glory will shine forth and the world will stop to behold the glory of God.