Just wanted to spend this last
few minutes looking at the Lord Jesus coming to the temple. This
temple is his body. It says in verse 21, he spoke
of the temple of his body. A body destroyed. A body raised up. It's the temple. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that
you might bless your words to us so that we might see yet again
the glory of your dear son and the perfection of his being and
the wonder of his revelation of you to us in his life and
his death and his resurrection. And that we might find, Heavenly
Father, now we praise you heavenly father
for sending the gospel to us and revealing your son in his
glory may you yet again do that to us we pray in jesus name amen
salvation is christ The temple has three designations
in the scriptures, isn't it? And they're all related to the
temple of his body. Individual believers are the
temple of God. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 6, and we'll see something. I want us to see something of
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in his temple. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, He
says, verse nine, he says, know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves of mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of
God. All of that's involved in merchandise of one sort or another.
And such were some of you. But ye are washed, ye are sanctified,
but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God. We have all going on to reveal
to us that the Lord Jesus Christ is both raised, verse 14, and
will also raise us up by his own power. And then in verse
15 he says, know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members
of Christ and make them members of a harlot? God forbid. What? Know ye not that he which is
joined to a harlot is one body? For the two, saith he, shall
be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the
Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication, and every sin
that a man doeth is without the body, but he that commiteth fornication
sinneth against his own body. What, know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have
of God? You are not your own. which are our goals. He says similar things about
us being the temple of God in 2 Corinthians 6. And he says, yet again, do not
be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. What fellowship
has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion has light
with darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? Or what path hath he that believeth
with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For you are the temple dwell in them, and walk in them,
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you." What a remarkable promise of
the believers individually being in the temple. It's his body
But we are one with Him, in union with Him, and there's no understanding
of the resurrection and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ without
a sense of understanding of His union with His people. And the
church assembled is called the Temple of God in 1 Corinthians
chapter 3. For we are labourers together
with God, verse 9, for you are God's husbandry and you are God's
building. According to the grace of God
which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the
foundation, and another has built thereon. But let every man take
heed how he builds thereon. For other foundation can no man
lay, and that is Jesus Christ. Verse 16. Know ye not that ye
are the temple of God. Him shall
God destroy, for the temple of God is holy. Which temple ye are? It's only understood like all
of the scriptures in light. He speaks in Ephesians 2, and
I'm just amazed at these verses. He says in verse 13, he says,
but now in Christ Jesus ye who are sometimes far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ. He is our peace. It was both
one has broken down the middle wall of petition between us.
And we're no longer, verse 19, no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints and the household of God. And I build upon the foundation
of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief
cornerstone. In him, in her, all the building
fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord."
These are the promises of God. His church He's talking about,
in whom you're also built together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit. So everything, everything about
salvation is pictured in the Lord Jesus Christ coming to His
temple. Salvation realized is the Lord
Jesus Christ coming to His temple. It's Christ in you, the hope
of glory. is pictured in Christ coming
to his temple. Acceptance with God in the family
of God is Christ coming to his temple. Peace with God is Christ
coming to his temple. The acceptable sacrifice is Christ
coming to his temple. Propitiation is in Christ coming
to his temple. Faith looks to Christ alone. Sanctification is Christ coming
to his people and revealing himself to them. There's all of their
holiness and all of their righteousness before God. It's all about righteousness. Regeneration is Christ coming
to his temple. It's the messenger of the covenant
that comes to his people and comes to his temple. And he comes
suddenly. He comes at a time of his choosing
and his doing in his remarkable way. So the church is Christ
coming to his own as he proclaims himself. He gathers his own. I love the
way the Gospel of John begins, doesn't it? With the most glorious
description of the Lord Jesus Christ, the most glorious description of God. And then the Lamb comes
with sovereign power and he calls his own to himself and says,
come and follow me. Come and see. And he takes them to a wedding.
And here before us in John chapter 2 we have the Lord Jesus Christ
taking these same people up to this temple and telling them
what that temple is all about and telling them at the beginning
of his earthly public ministry exactly what's going to happen
in three years time. Christ came to a temple. Moses
was told What was the pattern in heaven?
Where was the pattern in heaven made? The pattern in heaven was
made in the internal covenant of grace in the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It typified Him. And these earthly
things, these earthly structures, were all there to picture the
Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That great high priest who goes
in with that blood. The Lord Jesus went up to this into this temple and worship
God in spirit and in truth. And those following in his footsteps
who come to Christ the temple and worship in spirit and truth
will find the offence of the merchandisers who are bargaining
and selling the Lord Jesus Christ and trading with him, they'll
find him as offensive as he did at that time. He came with There is, in their challenge,
they asked for a sign and he tells them there's only going
to be one sign in my death and resurrection and he told them
later on there will just be one sign given and that's the sign
of Jonah. Jonah of course is their substitute,
you know the story well. Jonah was asked to go to Nineveh.
And he went in exactly the opposite direction. And Chance happened
to find him a ship that was taking him as far away as he possibly
could. But the Lord moved Jonah to be
a picture. of the Lord Jesus Christ and
him crucified. They took up Jonah and they cast
him forth into the sea. And the sea ceased from her raging. What a great picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ being cast with all her sins into that raging
wrath of God. And the love of verse 17 of Jonah
1 says, and now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow
up. Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days
and three nights. This is a sign. It's all about
the Lord Jesus and him crucified. And listen as I read the chapter
two about Jonah. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord
his God out of the fish's belly, and he said, I cried by reason
of mine affliction unto the Lord. If you recall those words that
we read in Psalm 69 and the previous weeks, and Psalm 22 and others, he cried. And he heard me out
of the belly of hell, cried I. Thou heardest my voice, for thou
hast cast me into the deep in the midst of the seas, and the
floods can pass me about, and thy billows, listen, thy billows
and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I'm cast out of
thy sight, yet will I look again toward thy holy temple. The waters can pass me about,
even to the soul, the depths closed. Me round about, the weeds
were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottom of
the mountains and the earth with her bars was about me forever. Thou hast brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord and my prayer came in under Thee, into
Thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee
with the voice of thanksgiving, and I will pay that that I have
vowed. He speaks of covenant keeping. He's speaking on behalf of the
Lord Jesus. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spoke unto the fish,
and it fondled Jonah up on dry land. Like Jonah, the Lord Jesus Christ
will be through a day's hidden. Like Jonah, the great transaction
of Jonah's salvation is a transaction that's hidden from man. The great
transaction of our salvation, brothers and sisters, is hidden
from man. That's what the temple typified, wasn't it? The great
high priest went in. Picturing our Lord Jesus Christ
going into the Holy of Holies in heaven. Religious men think
that he made an offer to men. The transaction of the covenant
is a transaction between God and God. Hebrews 9 says, But Christ, being
come, and high priest of good things, to come by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, having to
say not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and cows,
but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place.
having obtained eternal redemption for us. He's got it in his hands,
brothers and sisters. For if the blood of bulls and
goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling of the unclean sanctified
to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot. from dead works to serve the
living God. The messenger of the covenant
says, destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days. Destroy this temple of my body
and I will raise it up in three days. Paul says he's crucified
with Christ. people were united in one with
him, crucified with him, raised with him, loved by him. Of course, there can't be a resurrection
of this temple without a death. He talked about it as a destroyer. They sought ways through the
rest of his ministry to find ways to destroy him. destroy this temple. Death. What is death? There is just one reason for
death and that is sin. God says in Genesis chapter 3
in the day you eat thereof. He says when, he doesn't say
if. for our God. He says when you
eat it, you shall surely die. It is the wages of sin That death
that came from one man spread upon all men, in that all have
sinned, Romans 5.12. Whereas by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, so that death passed upon
all men, for all have sinned. Death in the Scriptures is seen
in three lives, isn't it? Of course, Adam and Eve didn't
die, they went on. Living, it says in the original,
in dying you shall die. But Adam died spiritually, instantly. There is a spiritual death, there
is a physical death that Adam and Eve were to die, and there
is an eternal death. a resurrected Lord comes. What's
spiritual death? Well, like all death, a dead
person has no ability to perform any of the functions of life.
They cannot see who the Lord is and they cannot see who they
are, they cannot feel, they cannot touch, they cannot love, they
cannot smell, they cannot embrace. They cannot believe, they cannot
repent, they see no beauty in Christ. and they see no reason
to worship him. Adam and all of his are dead. A fellow I knew well down in
the village had a magnificent garden. He died last year, and
I went down there some little time after he died, and he had
the most amazing garden and the most amazing flowers, and these
azaleas and other things were flowering, and the camellias,
and it just looked amazing. And as I walked by, I thought,
this man will never see The spiritually dead can perform
all sorts of religious duties. The spiritually dead can obey
all sorts of traditions and man-made laws and things. The spiritually
dead can think that they are serving and worshipping God,
just like these people did in the temple the Lord Jesus Christ
met with that day. You see, it must be raised up. To be taken from spiritual death
is not an act of the will of man. born of God, the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of the resurrection of all of
his temple from spiritual death. It's why the gospel is a gospel
of the grace of God. God acts as a sovereign. There is, of course, the physical
death of our bodies that all of us will meet with. Some people
think If they can live until the Lord returns, then they might
escape physical death. But physical death is the removal
of this body of flesh. And it will be removed for everyone
in one way or another. Either here, before the Lord
comes, or when He comes. And there is eternal death. See, the Lord is talking about
this destruction of this temple. And the Lord Jesus Christ died As God, he couldn't die. As man, he must die. As the God-man, he did both. So he died in all those ways,
didn't he? He died spiritually. That's what
he's talking about, the death, the destruction of this temple. We read it in Psalm 69. You can read it in Psalm 40.
And the Lord cried from Calvary's
tree in Psalm 22. He says, my God, my God, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from
my groaning? from helping me and from the
words of my roaring. My God, I cry in the daytime,
but thou hearest not in the night season, and I'm not silent, but
thou art holy. The Lord Jesus Christ, bearing
the sins of his people, died a spiritual death. And in the destruction of their
body, as much as the wicked hands of men were so much a part of
it, and there is so much guilt in what they did, and what we
did in causing him to go to the cross, it was God the Father
who was pleased to cross him. God finding sin on his son, having
been made sin. upon him and he experienced eternal death he says in psalm 16 you won't
leave my soul in hell I cannot but believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ experienced hell, brothers and sisters, under the wrath
of God. If his soul was not left in hell,
his soul experienced hell. We think so little of it. But the thought of being made
sin broke the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ and the thought
of being that which he abhorred in every possible way. What extraordinary
love for his bride. What extraordinary love for the
glory of God's name. What extraordinary
reverence for everything that that temple meant. He experienced
spiritual death being cut off from his father. He experienced
eternal death. And he experienced physical death.
There was a dead man, a real dead man placed in that tomb.
And his death is a unique death. There was no man like the Lord
Jesus Christ. There was no man, there is just
one man who is God. His death is unique, because
his death is the only death that could ever satisfy the justice
of God. Where God could say, I've had
enough, my wrath is satisfied, the holiness of my law is honored. Why does hell go on forever?
Because God is holy. And no amount of physical suffering
of any man can ever satisfy the death, the justice of a holy
God. When God says, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked, he's saying, I have no satisfaction
in the death of the wicked. But when Jesus Christ died, he
satisfied the justice of God. God's law was satisfied. And
he raised himself. He was raised by God the Father. And he raised himself from the
dead. demands that he be raised from
the dead, and justice demands that all for whom he died must
be raised from the dead as well, in this life and eternally. I quote Romans 4.25 because I
just love it so much. He was delivered. He was delivered
for our offenses. He was delivered because of our
offenses. and he was raised because of
our justification. Most of that religious world,
in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't have a clue what
he was saying and didn't have a clue what they saw on the cross
and didn't have a clue when they heard the remarkable stories
of resurrection. And such as it is today, unless
away from people's hearts and shows them the glory of the Lord
in his death and resurrection he raised himself he was delivered
because of our offenses and he was raised because of our justification
therefore verse 5 Romans 5 therefore being justified that's in the
passive tense it's got nothing to do with us It means having
been justified by the Lord Jesus Christ. By faith we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By Him also we have access
by faith into this grace wherein we stand. All of our salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ coming to this temple. sins are gone, being justified,
it means that I have no reason for guilt before God. The very
law of God and the very character of God and the very justice of
God demands that salvation is tied up in this.
Look what David says in the previous chapter, chapter four, he says,
blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Blessed are they whose sin, iniquities
are forgiven, whose sins are covered, covered. of our bodies and revealing himself
to us in ways that he doesn't reveal himself to the world. It's our hope, a blessed, blessed
hope. No wonder Paul makes a challenge,
doesn't he? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's lip? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. As is written, for thy sake we
are cured all day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. When he comes to his temple,
when he gathers the stones of his temple and brings them together
to be in his presence to worship him, Remind us of his death and his
resurrection. Destroy this temple. Destroy
this temple. And I'll raise it up. In three
days, he'll raise up all of his people. And may the words of
John 2.22 be our comfort. When therefore he was risen from
the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them,
and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had
said. Believe the scripture. May God
in mercy grant us the faith to believe the scriptures and believe
the word that God has said. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we pray that you would bless the preaching of your gospel
amongst us, amongst those that we love and care for, Heavenly
Father, and throughout this place, this world, where you gather
your people to proclaim the prizes of the glory of your dear and
precious Son. Bless us, Heavenly Father, As
we prepare to be gathered again by you and bless our waiting
Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you for those that
wait upon you, won't be ashamed or confounded. Oh, our Father,
be merciful and gracious, forgive us our sins and cause us to look
to your Son. Amen.