Anciently, the Temple in Jerusalem was the central place of worship for the people of God.  In the next life there will also be a Temple for His people located in New Jerusalem.  The first Temple was made of physical materials.  The future Temple, its building “stones” already being prepared, will be strictly spiritual.  God’s Very Elect will be the “stones fitly joined together” into a perfectly formed spiritual Temple in which Father and Son will dwell forever.  Today those future “stones” are made of flesh, bone, muscle and blood.  They are God’s true saints who are allowing Him to “saw, hew and chisel” them into what they must become spiritually in order to be used in that future glorious Temple.  Read The Spiritual Learning Curve and Testing, How God Separates Sheep from Goats.  Key words–Curve and Testing respectively.

As was no doubt the case with the construction of Solomon’s Temple, there is in today’s world what is called a “blueprint” which precedes the constructing of any significant building.  A blueprint is a minutely detailed set of instructions which reveals exactly how the structure will appear when the work is completed.  Homes, business buildings, government buildings, etc. all begin with with a blueprint of the finished product which shows the builder exactly how each individual part is to be formed so that it will fit with all other pieces.

In the spiritual realm where construction involves God’s spiritual Temple, His blueprint is called His Law, His Truth, His Word, His Will, His Gospel.  Collectively it is known as the Holy Bible.  Only a few, Jesus said in Matthew 7:13,14, would follow His Father’s blueprint when building their spiritual lives and planning their spiritual “walk” (lifestyle).  For this reason He wrote the original blueprint in stone and hid it from man so that he could not take hammer and chisel in hand and change it to match his preferences.  Adam and Eve set the standard for that type of theology.  But man has taken God’s pen and ink version of God’s blueprint and made hundreds of alterations, additions, subtractions in it.  The finished product is called “church doctrine” and given importance over and above God original document.

But God has always had a remnant–a few true believers who, in spite of relentless pressure from fake believers, have clung to Him by learning, believing and obeying His blueprint in letter and spirit.  These have judiciously worked to prevent any changes in His commanded manner of life (“walk).”  Their efforts are ignored at best and cursed at worst as man, channeling Adam and Eve, has “improved” God’s blueprint into hundreds of conflicting, contradicting, contending shapes.  Each shape (denomination) has a following which declares that its version of God’s blueprint is His true version.  And Satan smiles.

An honest study of the Holy Scriptures will reveal that the Lord’s blueprint has not changed.  The Gospel the apostles taught the early church had earlier been taught to Abraham by the Lord Himself, identified in Galatians 3:8 as “the Scripture” (aka “the Word”–Jesus Christ–Jn. 1:1-4,14).  Only once did God adjust His instructions to fit a situation.  This took place when Israel refused to obey Him, prompting Him to require the shedding of animal blood for the forgiveness of their sins (Gal. 3:19).  The Father later nailed that temporary law, called the “handwriting of ordinances,” to Christ’s cross.

Solomon, under instructions from God, built his physical Temple from physical stones that had been formed, shaped and perfected far away from the temple site.  Today, God’s Temple is spiritual–a “house” (church) comprised of spiritual “stones”–obedient servants (Eph. 2:19-22)    –who have allowed Him to form, shape and perfect them according to His perfect will.  Hear how the Apostle Paul describes these humble souls: “NOW YOU (INDIVIDUALLY) ARE NO LONGER STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS (SINNERS) BEFORE GOD, BUT ARE  CITIZENS WITH THE OTHER SAINTS WHO COMPRISE THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD.  YOU ARE EACH BUILT (FORMED, SHAPED, PERFECTED) IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS AND THE APOSTLES (THE HOLY BIBLE), JESUS HIMSELF BEING THE CHIEF STANDARD WRITER AND SPEAKER OF GOD’S TRUTH.  INDIVIDUALLY, YOU ARE FITLY FORMED AND PLACED TOGETHER RESULTING IN A HOLY TEMPLE (CHURCH) IN THE LORD.  YOU (INDIVIDUALLY) ARE A SINGULAR TEMPLE OF GOD THROUGH THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU.”  Together those stones make up the Church of God in this world–not to be confused with the religious organization by that name.

In God’s family, no one “belongs to” a church.  Each saint “is” a church (Temple) unto himself (1 Cor. 3:16).  Therefore, even if one is physically alone in his walk with God, such a one can meet with Him on His 7th day Sabbath and fellowship with Him.  He tells us that where two or three come together in His name, He will be among them.  If He will meet with two, He will meet with one, for He does not require a specific number to be a congregation.  For most of His life on earth Jesus was alone in His relationship with the Father.  It was only after choosing the 12 disciples that He had people with whom He could truly fellowship on the Sabbath.  Not even His mother and siblings believed in Him as He tells us in John 7:5 and Matthew 12:46-50.  In Matthew 12, when told that His brethren wanted to talk to (correct) Him, He pointed to His disciples and declared that (only) THEY were His spiritual “brethren.”  And not even His hand-picked disciples were guaranteed eternal life.  Recall Him identifying His brethren as “… they who do the will of My Father in heaven.”  In John 15:13,14 He told the disciples that He would die for His friends.  He then said: “You (disciples) are My friends IF YOU DO WHATSOEVER (EVERYTHING) I COMMAND YOU TO DO.”  Recall that one of those God-chosen disciples who had preached the gospel, healed the sick and cast out demons failed to obey Him.  Judas Iscariot will not be rising to meet Him in the air upon His return, will not descend with Him to the Mt. of Olives, will not go with Him into Jerusalem, will not assist Him in establishing the Kingdom of God, will not rule and reign over the earth for 1000 years and will not rule and reign over the universe for eternity.  Why?  SIN–THE TRANSGRESSING OF THE LAW (1 Jn. 3:4).

Satan has blinded the religious community to this Truth.  The Lord has me working day and night to remove the blinders.  By the standard established by those with huge congregations, I have failed.  As I said in the previous series, whatever success I might have will be revealed during the Great Tribulation when, hopefully, some people will remember my messages and turn to the Lord.  Until then I will continue to teach “This gospel of the kingdom” which, due to a small cadre of dedicated ministers, is going out to “every nation under the sun” (Mat. 24:14).

Hopefully, some readers are being shaped into the form commanded by the Lord.  Hopefully there are some building “stones” who are being made ready to become part of the spiritual Temple of God that will take shape in New Jerusalem that will one day descend from heaven as God the Father comes to abide among men.  In the meantime His building “stones” are being formed, shaped and made ready to become part of that incredible Temple.  The testing and trying of those stones is anything but quiet as they often wonder what is going on in their lives when everything seems to go wrong.  I always remember the Apostle Paul spending three days and nights floating in the ocean, being beaten with rods, being stoned and left for dead.  And let us not forget the trials and tribulations of Jesus during His ministerial years.

As “stones” God’s saints are being “sawn,” “whittled,” “chipped,” etc. unto perfection.  When the time comes for constructing the spiritual Temple in New Jerusalem, those who allowed God to test and try them unto perfection will quietly assume their proper place in God and Christ’s universe headquarters.  Remember the pencil analogy.  Those who allowed the Godhead to grind them until they “come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”  (Eph. 4:13) will join Father and Son in paradise.  L.J.