THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND THE SCRIPTURES
[p. 113] THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND THE SCRIPTURES
John 2:18 - 22; John 5:46,47; John 10:35; Revelation 3:12
This service will take the character of remarks (I hope, in the power of the Spirit) on the Holy Scriptures and on the Temple of God. These are two prime subjects, important at all times, but particularly in our own. I selected John’s writings only, as they have peculiarly in view the last days. It will be remembered by most of us that it is recorded in the last chapter of the gospel of John that John was following Jesus, and Peter inquired of the Lord, “what shall this man do?(John 21:21)” Evidently John was an unimposing, markedly unambitious brother who valued love more than most things. The Lord in replying to Peter said, “If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me”, (John 21:22). The Lord, although not meaning that John should remain alive until He came, certainly meant to connect Peter’s mind with the period of His coming, and that, as it approached, provision would be made for the peculiar conditions that should arise. So it is that the bearing of John’s ministry is toward our days, for which, those of us who have understood this and proved it, thank God continually. John, therefore, among other things, stresses the Scriptures, but also stresses the Temple of God, connecting it, in our first scripture, with the body of Christ here; and in Revelation 21 with Christ as the Lamb in the holy city. He says, “I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb (Revelation 21:22)”. The conditions in the city are suited to the divine presence, yet the idea of the temple is there, and divine Persons are said to be in it; implying that They are very accessible. The Lamb will [p. 114] certainly be accessible, and God in Him; so that inquiry will be made then in the temple.
I purpose to speak about the Scriptures first. They are peculiarly the object of the enemy’s attack at the present time; for many years past, indeed, they have been the subject of attack continuously; for, although a certain body of professing Christians of great antiquity and renown, assumes to recognise them in toto, yet they are largely nullified by its interpretations - as effective a way as there is of rendering them ineffective as read by men.
In the period of the Reformation, as many of us will know, the authority of scripture was asserted. This was met by the body, to which I allude, some years later, by spurious additions to the Scriptures, beclouding them and dragging them down, to say the least, to the level of mere human productions; the Apocrypha was added to the canon of scripture. Then again in regard to the temple of God, God graciously, in later years, revived the thought of it. The truth recovered included what Paul conveyed in his question to the Corinthians, “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16. Light from the temple was thrown on the holy page of scripture and the true canon of scripture was discerned and preserved, and has been maintained to the present moment, and will be, by the help of God, to the end: the Spirit being here. This great revival of the truth, so far-reaching, so illuminating, so practical, entering into the various meetings of the saints for the study of scripture and for ministry, is discounted by the same religious body in what it calls The Bull of Infallibility, in which a mere man, under certain conditions, is regarded as competent to speak with divine authority. Antichrist, we are told in the Scriptures, “sits down in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”, 2 Thessalonians 2:4.
[p. 115] I mention these facts, dear brethren, because we should know them. They belong to the working of evil against the Scriptures, against the Holy Spirit, an against the temple of God. It is well to have them in mind, because God is looking for faithfulness amongst us, that the authority of scripture may be maintained inviolate, and that the presence of the Holy Spirit, as constituting saints in whom He dwells, the temple of God, should be maintained not only in terms, but in practice, so that we need not speculate on what any part of scripture means. No honest Christian would say that he understands all scripture, but, in dependence on God, as the brethren assemble together in the light of the temple, the Holy Spirit sheds light on the holy page of scripture, so that we understand. Many of us have been gladdened as on such occasions light broke in, the Spirit of God in His own way, sometimes quite unexpectedly, making a passage luminous in a fresh way. A peculiar joy enters into the heart of a servant when he has such an experience. The blessed Spirit of God moving, acting in the temple, causing light to shine in, gladdens, perhaps, not only the one whom He used, but all who heard. If there are those here who regard what I am saying as unintelligible, I would urge you to look into the matter and consider the significance, as seen in scripture, of the temple of God.
There are two words used for temple in the New Testament, both appearing in John 2:14,19, the former referring to the general building called the temple, the latter to the inner sanctuary, and is the word used throughout the book of Revelation. It refers to the immediate presence of God, where also He makes communications, as in Numbers 7:89. Think of the greatness of it! The Psalmist says, “to inquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4)”. It may be there are those here who have never thought of it, but the temple of God is one of the most important facts of the moment. It is parallel [p. 116] with the Scriptures in importance. It is in virtue of the temple that the canon of scripture has been determined. Whatever may be said of ecclesiastical councils and their findings, it is in the power of the Spirit that the saints determine what is of God; what is authoritative as from Him. They, as of the temple, discern it, and regard as spurious, however canonised, what has no part in the Holy Scriptures.
I want first to speak of the Scriptures before continuing about the temple. You will see how the two thoughts as to the temple are linked in my first passage — John 2; first, the temple in the general sense, out of which the oxen, etc., were cast; and then the Lord speaks of the temple of His body; and, as to the latter, John says, that after He rose from among the dead. His disciples “believed the scripture”. We have a suggestion here of the importance of the light of resurrection in relation to scripture. They believed the scripture. Many of us here, it may be, believe because we have been born into Christian households. We have regarded the Scriptures according to their face value, theoretically perhaps, scarcely reading them much. Presently some school teacher tells you that the book of Genesis is doubtful, and the book of Jonah a fanciful story, and you partly believe it. In thousands of cases this has happened. Hence the importance of looking into the great matter of the resurrection. John says, on more than one occasion, this included, that the truth of the resurrection and glory of Christ bears on the authority of scripture. In truth it is as apprehending by the Spirit, Christ risen and indeed glorified, that we get the full bearing of scripture. The Bible becomes a new book to us. It is lighted up with the glory of Christ. Hence here the disciples after Christ arose “believed the scripture” — it is put first, and after that “the word which Jesus had said”. The word which Jesus had said, as I hope to show presently, implies the temple.
[p. 117] The body of Christ was the temple. It was the temple while He was alive, and here in the flesh, but now His word is believed. He raised Himself, and the light of His resurrection enabled the disciples to believe what Jesus said as well as the Scriptures. Hence, as believing the Scriptures, on this principle, they become peculiarly interesting. A living thought enters your soul, the resurrection of Christ is a wonderful fact in the soul. One of the most remarkable things is that after He arose He expounded to two wandering saints in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself — Himself in that condition. Of course they refer to Him in flesh and blood, but now He is in a new condition, and so the effect of resurrection in the soul enables one to read the Scriptures in a new way. They are Appointed to be read in churches — thank God! especially in England; but how read? The Lord says to one, “how readest thou?” And again an honest man, the Ethiopian eunuch, in answer to Philip’s question, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” says, “How can I, except some man should guide me?(Acts 8:30,31)” That is the attitude of soul to take, and hence I lay stress on the word read in John 2, “they believed the scripture”.
This is the first point; the second point I would make is the exposition of the Scriptures. “He expounded unto them”, we are told by Luke (Luke 24:27). God furnishes expositions, and He would urge us to use them, to avail ourselves of them; the Lord led the way into it; “he expounded unto them in all the scriptures”(Luke 24:27) — what an unfolding! How one would love to hear how He touched on the different books of the Old Testament! He never touched on the Apocrypha, you may be sure. Philip again in answer to the eunuch, preached unto him Jesus, beginning at the scripture the eunuch was reading. I cannot say that he was reading the prophet Isaiah right through; but undoubtedly it was under the guidance of the Lord that he was reading that particular [p. 118] chapter; and it was under the direction of the Lord that Philip was there to help him to understand; and so it is the Lord provides expositions of scripture. Why not avail ourselves of them prayerfully? One could list some of them, but I would certainly urge the use of divinely furnished expositions. They are of God, and to neglect them is loss. Do not allow them to replace the Scriptures, read the scripture first and then the exposition.
Then again, I would say. Search the Scriptures. That is what the Lord says in John, “Search the scriptures”. We may do so, as for hidden treasure, and we will not fail to find it. The Lord says, “in them ye think ye have eternal life”(John 5:39). You will find eternal life spoken of in the Scriptures, but you will not find the substance in the Scriptures, you will have to go to Christ for that. Eternal life is in Christ, but the Scriptures aid you in the understanding of it. He says, “ye think that in them ye have life eternal, and they it is which bear witness concerning me”, John 5:39; and again, “ye will not come to me that ye might have life”, John 5:40. Many pore over the Scriptures in that way instead of linking the reading of them with Christ; He is the substance of all scripture, the spirit of all scripture. Then again, the Lord says “the scripture cannot be broken” — a very great thought. What a word, dear brethren, at the present time, when men are so boldly, blasphemously, suggesting that Christ told lies. He makes much of Moses. He says, “if ye do not believe his writings”, John 5:47. Think of the Lord putting the writings of Moses before His own words! Yet men would make some of Moses’ writings fictitious. The Lord says, “if ye do not believe his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” (John 5:47) I am speaking so that we might be fortified. Times are getting worse and worse, and God would have us fortified on these points. “The scripture”, said the Lord, “cannot be broken”, John 10:35.
[p. 119] Many of you will remember the connection. They thought the Lord was blaspheming because He said He was the Son of God, and He said, “Is it not written in your law, I said. Ye are gods?” (John 10:34) and, in this connection, the Lord says that the scripture cannot be broken. Let us accept it. Well, says the Lord, if those to whom the word of God came are thus spoken of, “do ye say of him whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world. Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am Son of God?”(John 10:36) I speak thus, as I said, that we might be fortified, that our feet may be on solid ground in accord with the Scriptures. They cannot be broken, the Lord says, and anyone who attempts to break them is taking direct issue with Christ. He will do well to remember that he is not stronger than the Lord.
Well now, in the few minutes that are left I wanted to return to the temple. I have connected it with John’s writings, because he uses the word more than any of the evangelists, quite a number of times in the book of Revelation. I quoted one in chapter 21, where the thought is connected, as I said, with the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. “I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb (Revelation 21:22)”. So that it is connected with divine Persons, and hence in our scripture in John 2, the Lord refers to His body as the temple. As He was here in the flesh, how approachable He was! Yet in His answers He was concerned about the divine thought governing the question, and on the other hand, the state of the questioner. Now He is risen and in heaven, and will function as the temple in the heavenly city presently; in the meantime the temple is here in the saints. Let no one be afraid of that remark as to the saints, but here it is the saints viewed organically. Some of you may be quite out of contact with this thought of an organism and, of course, you are losing enormously. It is the time to learn how to function in the organism called “the mystery of God;
[p. 120] in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge”, (Colossians 2:3). They are hidden there. The hiding implies spirituality in the saints, for the saints are viewed, in the Scriptures, in a mysterious sense, as possessing the Spirit; and viewed thus, they have in them, deposited by the Spirit, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Can any Christian assume to get along without this wonderful thing — the mystery of God? It is God’s thought for each Christian, that you should have part in it, and so the apostle says to Christians not very far advanced — those at Corinth — “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ... for the temple o God is holy?” 1 Corinthians 3:16,17.
We need not, as I said before, be speculating if a thing is not clear to us in the Scriptures. The Lord would have us to have recourse to the temple, and at the same time to have patience. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11)”. That would preclude speculative and fanciful thoughts. I need not be fanciful, I am not strengthened by it, I am not helped by it, nor are my hearers. I should have recourse to the temple; the matter may not be made clear at once, but I may go again, and again, and again; presently, as I have said, light breaks through. I am able to revise my article in dependence on the Lord. I am able to take my stand as responsible for its contents; if I do not, I should not publish it. The temple meets it all. We are wonderfully furnished, dear brethren, and the Lord would bring this to us, “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16) What is it for? For inquiry. It is much safer to inquire there than from any brother; not that we should not inquire from one another; I am not disparaging that — but the temple, the Spirit being in it, is the supreme thought in this matter, and God would have it honoured. Hence we find in the most complicated [p. 121] period seen in scripture, in the book of Revelation, the temple is more referred to, and actually used, than in any other book.
What a complicated state of things is now coming in? What darkness in varied forms of apostasy is spreading abroad rapidly! How essential that the temple should have its place! John shows us that it is to have its place in the conditions depicted in the book of Revelation; hence I have read the passage that relates directly to our own times, to this meeting tonight: Revelation 3:12. The Lord refers to it in speaking to Philadelphia; He assumes that the overcomer in that assembly understands the temple. We may assume that that brother had been ministering; had given addresses, and sought to expound scripture. How could he be sure of the truth of what he ministered? By the temple. The Spirit of God is speaking, according to these addresses, to the assemblies; the temple is involved in this, and the overcomer in Philadelphia understands. The Lord says, “him will I make a pillar in the temple of my God”, Revelation 3:12. The Lord was the temple itself — only He could be that. Now He will make the overcomer a pillar in the temple of God. Why does He say that? Because the overcomer would understand and value the great honour of being a pillar there. How shall I be a pillar there, if I have not been a pillar here? It is here that I am to stand up for the truth, and the assembly is “the pillar and base of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15)”. It is possible and most important that the minister should understand, should be assured as serving the saints, that what he is saying is according to God. It is possible for him to speak “as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11)”. Thus he values what the Lord proposes to him, to make him a pillar in the temple of His God. That would be a support to it, and an adornment to it.
Dear brethren, that is the need now — support and adornment of what is of God. We often speak of these [p. 122] things, and rightly, in our Bible readings; but then what about certainty as to what we are saying? What about assurance that it is the mind of God, that you can subscribe your name to notes of it, depending on the Lord? “In many things”, says James, “we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man”, James 3:2. Mistakes are made, but I am speaking of the possibility, in a general way, of speaking the word of God, and knowing that it is the word of God. The saints need to be assured, and the minister needs to stand by what he says and writes, assured that it is in its general substance and bearing the word of God. He can do so in virtue of the temple. It is in part the Lord’s answer to modernism. It is a wonderful thing, that the Spirit of God is actually speaking today, the temple of God running concurrently with the authority of scripture; so that the Scriptures are understood and can be applied in a spiritual way. It is a great triumph, and the Lord would have us to enlarge on it, to understand how to inquire in the temple of God. There are two things as to the house of God that the Psalmist — indeed David himself — stresses: “to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4)”. He says, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple”. (Psalm 27:4). The soul is to be entranced by that — “the beauty of the Lord”, the wonderful divine traits that are delineated for us in the house: it is a question of the place of the affections. Then there is more, namely, to “inquire in his temple”. It is quite right to take the concordance, and read the Bible carefully and studiously; but do not forget to inquire of the Lord in His temple. Read in your own room, of course, but the light usually comes in more freely and fully as one is in the attitude of inquiry when the saints are together as in the temple. Let us accept it as a fact. It is
[p. 123] a fact, and many of us have proved it. Let us prove it more. We have only touched the fringe of this great truth. It is God’s way of meeting modernism, and al that is like it at the present time. The incorruptibleness of the Scriptures, the spirituality of the Scriptures, and their applicability to all circumstances are lighted up by the Spirit in the temple. There is a great door opened up to the dear brethren, and one is urging it, on oneself and on all, to make much of this side of the truth — the temple of God. We have not far to go to seek it. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God”, says the apostle, “and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)” As we come together humbly and simply, in recognition of these things, the light shines around us — what Christ is to God, and the way by which Christ effects all His thoughts. All these things come out when we inquire in this way, in His temple. May God bless the word!