THE TABERNACLE OF GOD
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." (Revelation 21:3).
There are those who might be surprised to learn
that the Bible refers specifically to six distinct temples of God. There are
the four most obvious, which are: Moses' tabernacle in the wilderness which God
commanded Israel to build after they made their exodus from Egypt; Solomon's
great temple in Jerusalem; Ezra's temple which was built by the children of the
captivity when they returned from Babylon; and Herod's temple which stood
during the time of Christ and was destroyed by the Romans. The other two temples are less obvious
because they are less visible to the natural eye. The first of these is the temple of God in
the heavens after which every other temple has been patterned. "The
point of what we are saying is this: We do have a high priest, Who sat down at
the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and Who serves in the
sanctuary, the true tabernacle
set up by the Lord, not by man.
Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and
so it was necessary for this One also to have something to offer. If He were on earth, He would not be a
priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the
law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in
heaven. This is why Moses was warned
when he was about to build the tabernacle: 'See to it that you make everything
according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.'" (Hebrews
8:1-5 NIV). The second is the Church of
Jesus Christ on earth. "Ye also, as lively stones, are built
up a spiritual house." (1 Peter 2:5a).
"Now therefore ye are...built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being
the chief corner stone; in Whom
all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
in Whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22).
When the Bible refers to the church, it is not
referring to a particular denomination. It
is also not meaning a church building or any other structure that has
been built by man. Instead, it is
referring to a body of believers who have been born again and washed in the
blood of the Lord Jesus. These believers
are connected by the Spirit of the living God which He has sent to indwell each
of them and empower them to live lives of victory, love, peace, and moral
integrity. They are a brotherhood, and
they are a family. They have been
adopted into the family of God.
The spiritual bond that exists between true
believers has become strained, splintered, and even broken in many cases by division
and strife. The glorious temple of God -
His church and His body - has been badly damaged and divided by the doctrines
of men over the ages. We have allowed
things like dress, music, spiritual gifts, grace, makeup, and an endless array
of other issues, to divide and separate us from our brothers and sisters simply
because we cannot agree with one another on how we should live out our
faith. In many cases, a believer's
fellowship is restricted to those of his or her particular denomination, and
even then, there are schisms that arise which strain once solid relationships,
and even split churches. Speaking about
this very thing, Paul writes, "For
ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and
divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" (1 Corinthians 3:3). The only
thing that separated Christians in the New Testament was geography. There was the church of Jerusalem, the church
of Rome, the church of Ephesus, the church of Antioch; and there was only one church in each of these
cities. God has never changed that
arrangement, although man certainly has.
Today, God still recognizes but one church in Rome, Italy; one church in
Paris, France; one church in London, England; and one church in Marion, Ohio. Yes, there may be various locations within
each city for believers to physically meet due to sheer numbers, but it is
nevertheless all the same body of Christ.
The purest form of "church" is when two or three believers meet
and spontaneously begin to share their faith with one another. This can happen at work, at the grocery
store, or anywhere. (See Matthew 18:20).
We are very good at designating ourselves as
God's spokesmen and God's judges. It is
the Holy Spirit's job, though, to lead each believer into truth. "Howbeit
when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He
shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show
you things to come." (John 16:13).
We must be careful not to become like the Pharisees and Sadducees of
Jesus' day. They meticulously observed
every period and comma of the letter of the law, but missed altogether the
spirit of the gospel by missing mercy and the love of God. Even so today, some would even exclude others
from the kingdom of God because they don't look or act exactly like themselves,
and don't belong to their "church."
When I was very young in the Lord, an older
Christian began to reprove me every time he would see me because I had long
hair. I had been wonderfully saved and
rescued from a life of drugs and alcohol, and my life had drastically changed
for the better; but I still had hair past my shoulders and knew of no reason to
cut it. It was all this brother could
see, however. I was not like him and to
him I was in error. He went so far as to
insinuate that I would not be saved if I didn't cut my hair. This hurt me very much, but it also confused
me. I did not feel that the Lord was
speaking to me to cut my hair; and I certainly didn't feel any condemnation
from the Lord, but yet I knew this issue was killing any real fellowship that I
might have with this brother in the Lord.
Finally, I went to talk to an elder Christian about the problem. He told me that whatever we do, we should do
from a heart of love for God and for His people, and that we should learn to mind
the Spirit in all the issues of life. Later,
God did indeed speak to me to cut my hair, but it was more about pleasing the
Lord in all things than it was about the letter of the law. I learned also that it is more important that
we sometimes relinquish our "freedom" in order to gain a brother.
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