Come, my soul, thy soup prepare,
Jesus loves to answer prayer. He himself has bid thee pray,
therefore will not say thee nay. Thou art coming to a king, large
petitions with thee bring, for his grace and power are such.
that none can ever ask too much. Need to be reminded of that over
and over again. The disciples and everyone else
was impressed with the temple. It took 46 years to build this
temple. What a construction project.
I mean, I'm going to scream at Todd's Road, and that's not that
much of a... I come out here every day, and
I just think, this is driving me crazy. But 46 years. So what an impressive edifice
this must have been. Many parts were plated with gold.
It was kind of a shock and awe of wealth and grandeur, this
temple. It supposedly housed the Ark
and the furniture of the Ark. I somehow doubt that. They claimed
it had it, but it did have the veil. It had the real veil because
you remember when the Lord died, the scripture says the veil was
rent from top to bottom showing this Levitical system is over,
the way into God's presence is now open through the Lord Jesus
Christ. rent from top to bottom. I love
the way it was rent from top to bottom, not from bottom to
top. The Lord did this. He's the one who ripped it and
made this way open. Now the Jews in other lands were
told to pray toward it. It represented the presence and
blessing of God. If they were in another land,
they were to pray toward that temple. It was revered. It was
a building and the architecture was probably among the most dazzling
in the world. Men love stately religious buildings. They love them. They love them. When's the last time you went
into some big giant cathedral? and looked up and saw the big
columns and the silence and the smoke and mirrors and had some
kind of feeling. Some kind of feeling. Let me
tell you this, it wasn't from God. Now what was the Lord's reply
to what the disciples said in verse 5? And to some spake of
the temple. how it was adorned with goodly
stones and gifts. He said, as for these things
which you behold, the days will come in the which there shall
not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. You see this temple? It's going
to be turned into a rubbish heap. And that thrown down is with
violence. And he's given a prophecy at this time of the destruction
of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Titus, the Roman general, came
through and totally leveled that. You can read about it in Josephus,
the Jewish historian. It's kind of wild to listen to
what all took place, but the Lord, 40 years before this took
place, is telling them it will be taking place, and this temple
that you're so impressed with is going to be thrown down to
the ground. It's going to be nothing more
than a rubbish heap. Not only will this temple be
destroyed, but so will everything else. Everything you see is going
to be burned. It's not going to last. This
temple will be destroyed and so will everything else. But there is one temple that
will not be destroyed. That's what I've entitled this
message, The Temple That Will Not Be Destroyed. I've heard people say, all that
will last is what is done for Christ. Where's that in the Bible? Have you done anything that you
think will last and stand the judgment of God? Surely not. It's not true that the only things
that will last is that which is done for Christ, but the only
thing that's going to last is that which He has done for you. That's the only place of safety
there is. Would you turn with me to Acts
chapter 17? We're going to look at three different scriptures
with regard to this temple that is going to last forever. Verse 16, now while Paul waited
for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw
the city wholly given to idolatry. Would to God that we would have
this same stirring in our spirit right now, just the way Paul
did. Therefore, verse 17, disputed he in the synagogue with the
Jews and with the devout persons, the religious people, and in
the market daily with them that met with him. He was waiting
for Timothy, but as he saw all this idolatry in this city, he
preached the gospel to him. Verse 18, then certain philosophers
of the Epicureans and of the Stoics, now these were actual
Greek philosophies, The Epicureans believed that what you needed
to do is get the most pleasure you can out of life. It's not
like they were just absolute hedonists. Deny yourself, deny
yourself, deny yourself, and that way you'll get pleasure
when you do get pleasure. That's what Epicureanism is,
and you've heard of that, I guess. The Stoics were fatalists. No emotion. Whatever comes your
way, take it like a man. They were Greek philosophies.
Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics
encountered him, and some said, what will this babbler say? Others some, he seemeth to be
a setter forth of strange gods, gods we've never heard of, because
he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. That's what
he preached to this bunch of heathen, this bunch of philosophers.
Verse 19, And they took him and brought
him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine
whereof thou speakest is? For thou bringest certain strange
things to our ears. We would know therefore what
these things mean. And then Luke gives his comment
on this, his commentary. For all the Athenians and strangers
which were there spent their time and nothing else but either
to tell or to hear some new thing. They heard things they'd never
heard before, and they thought, well, we want to find out what's
going on. Luke saw their vanity. Verse 22, then Paul stood in
the midst of Mars Hill and said, ye men of Athens, I perceive
in all things you are too superstitious. Now that word is religious. You're too religious. And wouldn't
that be a good description of most people's religion? Superstition. Smoke and mirrors. Who knows
what? Superstition. Now he says why? Verse 23. For as I passed by
and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription.
to the unknown God. Now there were idols, there were different religions, different
gods. They tried to cover all their bases and they thought
just in case we left one out, we're going to cover our bases
and we're going to make this idol to the unknown God. We're not going to let anything
slip. We're going to make sure we're
worshiping all of it. It was a real pluralistic religion. We're taking care of everything.
We're not letting anything fall through the cracks. We're covering
our bases. Now, what does Paul say? Whom therefore you ignorantly
worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples, made with hands. Now, I love the way
Paul says to this, says this to these people, he says, he's
the creator. He's the one who made the heaven
and the earth, and he's the Lord. You know what that means? He's
your Lord. You might not know it, but he's your Lord. I love
the confidence with he speaks at this time. He made heaven,
and He's your Lord and you are under His thumb. He's in absolute
control. Now that's the way God is to
be presented. He's the Creator. He made you. And He is Lord. That means He's
the one whose will is always done. He's the Lord. Now, He
dwells not in temples made with hands. He who cannot be bound
by time or space cannot be confined to a man-made temple. He dwells not in temples made
with hands. Verse 25, neither is he worshipped
with men's hands, as though he needs anything. He's utterly
independent. He's without needs. And among
other things, that means He doesn't need you. You need Him. He doesn't need you. Somebody
says, God's got no eyes but your eyes, no feet but your feet.
God's got... He doesn't need you. He doesn't
need you. You need him. He's utterly independent,
self-existent, without needs, the creator of the universe,
the one who's absolutely in control. He doesn't need anything, and
he's not worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything,
seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things. That
last breath you took, he gave to you, and he can withhold it
if he's pleased to do it. Verse 26, here's what he's done.
He's made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face
of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and
the bounds of their habitation. The time of your death has already
been determined. Where you're going to go and
where you're going to be has already been determined. You
are absolutely in his hand. He is in absolute control. I
love the way he does this when he goes into these people who'd
never heard of the living God. They were Epicureans and Stoics
and he tells them who God is. And here's God's purpose, that
they should seek the Lord. Now here's something I can tell
you to do. Seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. He can be found. You see, he makes himself known.
Seek the Lord. David said, When thou said, Seek
ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, O Lord, will
I seek? Oh, I want to be somebody who
seeks the Lord. He said, that they should seek the Lord,
if happily they might feel after him, and find him, though he
be not far from every one of us. For in him we live, and move,
and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said.
For we are his offspring." Heathen mentioned a heathen poet who
said that. For as much then as we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that Godhead is likened to gold or silver
or stone graven by man's art and device. And the times of
this ignorance God winked at, but now he commands all men everywhere
to repent, to change your mind about the foolish things you
thought about God, the foolish things you thought about yourself,
to change your mind. I love that message Greg brought
last Sunday night on repentance. Change your mind. Oh, may God grant us this change
of mind. A totally new view of things. We don't believe what we used
to. He says, God commands all men, and I'm in that group. I'm
thankful for that, aren't you? God commands all men everywhere
to repent. Now, you're in that group, so
he commands you to repent. And verse 30, And the times of
this ignorance God winked at, but now he commands all men everywhere
to repent, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance to all men, and that he raised
him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection
of the dead, some mocked, and others said, We will hear thee
again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them." He
lets them know God does not dwell in temples made with hands. He's
not worshipped with man-made idols. He has no needs. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
66. Isaiah chapter 66. Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and
the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you build
unto me? And where is the place of my
rest? For all those things hath mine
hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But
to this man will I look. even to him that is poor, and
of a contrite spirit, and trembles, trembles at my
word." Now, men have a very small God if they think God can be
in a temple that they build. What kind of God is that? Now,
I've already alluded to this, but if you ever go into a religious
edifice of some kind and start feeling, oh, God is in this place.
It's the God of this world. It's not the God of glory. The
heavens can't contain Him. I mean, I've been in cathedrals
and I've heard people whisper, oh, this holy place, this is
such a reverent place. No, it's not. No, it's not. God
cannot be contained in human edifices, in human buildings,
in human temples. Here is the temple he lives in. 1 Corinthians 3.16, we read,
you are the temple of God, talking about believers. You are the
temple of God. If you're a believer, God dwells
in you. You're the temple of God. The
church is called in 1 Timothy 3.15, the house of God, which
is the church of the living God. God's church is God's house.
God's church is God's temple. And that's where the living God
dwells. And he gives three descriptions
of that one he dwells in. First, he's poor. Second, he's
of a contrite spirit. And third, he trembles at my
word. Now there is the temple of God. He's poor, he's of a contrite
spirit, and he trembles at my word. To this man will I look
for my dwelling place, and I think it's interesting we don't read
of any elevated rank, no peculiar office, nothing about priests
or clergy, no genius, no special education or religiosity is mentioned. That's not what we expect out
of the living God to dwell in. God dwells in the temple of a
poor, contrite, broken heart that trembles at His Word, is
awestruck by His Word. Now, what if it said the Lord
dwells in a good heart and a righteous heart and a heart that has improved
and a heart that has reached greater heights and greater life
and has just become, what would that do to you? If it said God
dwells in the heart that's sincere and good and all the different
kind of descriptions we can give, where would that place you? I
know where it would place me. I'd say, well, he's not going
to dwell in my heart then. No, he's not. He's not going to dwell
in my heart. If that's what it is, him to
dwell in a good heart, Now, poor means destitute, listen to me,
poor means destitute of all merit. Would that be you? Destitute, poor. destitute of all merit, having
no good works, and having nothing to rely on of your own. You're
poor. Devoid of all strength as well
as merit, I cannot do what I ought to do in the future any more
than I did it in the past. And do you believe that about
yourself? Poor. devoid of strength. If I do repent,
if I do believe, it has to come from Him. If you're saved, you
know that salvation must be of Him from the first to the last. You know that if you're poor
because you don't have anywhere else to look. To this man will
I look, even to him that is poor. Would that describe you? That's the temple he dwells in. To this man will I look, even
to him that is of a contrite, crushed heart, broken over sin. This contrite heart says, I see
no purity in my heart. What do you see? All I see is
sin. That's it. I don't see anything
else. You know, it takes a pure heart
to see that. If you can see something else, it's because you've got
a corrupt heart. You don't have a new heart. You've got an old
heart, and that's why you see the things you see. But if you've
got a new heart, if you've got a pure heart, what you see in
yourself is nothing but sin. Now, that is a contrite heart,
crushed over sin, mourning over sin. Now, all I see is sin, and
I hate myself for my sin. That's the pure heart that sees
that. Oh, how a contrite heart values the righteousness of Christ. His righteousness really is my
only righteousness. I really believe that. That's
the man God dwells in. Poor, and if a contrite heart,
and look at this next description, he trembles at my word. Now what you and I actually think
of God is seen in how we respond to this Word. We tremble. If I'm poor, and if I'm of a
contrite spirit, this is going to describe me. I'm going to
be somebody who trembles at the Word of God. And that's the person
God dwells in. Those who tremble at His Word,
they don't quarrel with it. They don't use it to prove things,
they bow to it. It's the Word of God. They don't
look over it and say, this part's not essential, this part's not
important, but this part's more important. They wouldn't make
a judgment like that. It's all important because it's all revealed
by God. God who is holy, God who is all-powerful,
God who created the universe, has the ability to make the inspired
Word and preserve it for me and you to believe tonight." And we tremble at His Word. We
tremble at what it says. You know, I tremble at the transcendence of the God this
Word speaks of. How He never had a beginning. He never began to be. How He's
utterly holy. Utterly righteous. utterly just,
utterly merciful. We tremble at his glorious attributes. Let me tell you something I tremble
at. I tremble at the thought of Christ
bearing my sins in his own body on the tree. What little I know
about my sins, when I think of Christ actually bearing those
sins and being made to feel and experience the filth of them
and the filth of my heart, that absolutely frightens me. I tremble at it. The temple you admire so much,
the Lord says, is going to be leveled. But here is the temple
that God dwells in, he that's poor. He doesn't have anything to recommend
himself to God. Well, I fit that description.
He's of a contrite spirit. All he sees is sin. I got that one. And he trembles
at the Word of God. Now that's the temple of God,
not some big building. That's the temple of God. Now
turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 2. Verse 4, to whom coming as unto a living
stone. Now this is probably the best
description of a believer maybe found in the Word of God. To
whom coming. And this is what a believer is
always forced to do. He's always coming to Christ. And why do you come to Christ?
Well, you come to Christ because He told you to come. You come
to Christ for mercy. You come to Christ for grace.
You come to Christ for acceptance. You come to Christ for forgiveness.
You come to Christ to preserve you. You come to Christ for faith.
You come to Christ for repentance. You come to Christ for a new
heart. You come to Christ for everything. And you're always
doing it. That's the way you would be described.
One time's not enough for you, and you come to Him the same
way you came to Him the first time. To whom? Coming, as unto a living stone. Christ is the living stone. Verse
4, let's go on reading. Disallowed, rejected indeed of
men. I think of men rejecting the
Lord Jesus Christ. not approving of him. Well, God
does. But chosen of God and precious,
you also, verse 5, as living stones are built up a spiritual
house. Now, this is the temple of God.
You're built up, living stones are built up a spiritual house.
and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. Aren't you thankful it's said
by Jesus Christ? If it said acceptable to God, I'd be thinking, how?
How? Well, I know how it's acceptable
to God. It's by Jesus Christ. He brings these to the Father,
and they're accepted by Him. Verse 6, Well, for also it is
contained in the scriptures, behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone upon which this temple is to be built, elect, precious,
and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded, shall
not be put to shame. Now here is the temple of God.
Christ is the chief cornerstone. Every believer is a living stone.
Elect precious because he's elect precious. And not one of these
people will be put to shame. They'll not be confounded. And
let me tell you why. They don't have anything to be ashamed of.
That's true of every single believer. It's called justification. My
sin's put away. It'll never be brought up. It's
gone. It's non-existent. And I have perfect righteousness,
and I will not be confounded, I will not be put to shame. I'll,
I'll, oh my, that'd make you look forward to Judgment Day,
in that sense. I won't be put to shame. Now,
if the same question was not altogether taken care of, I'd
be scared to death. If even I was going to get a,
you know, the believer's judgment, where they judge believer's works,
reward him a higher place or a lower place in heaven, I would
be just terrified by anything like that, but the Bible doesn't
teach anything like that. The believer will not be confounded,
will not be put to shame. Verse 7, unto you therefore which
believe, you're somebody who's always coming to Christ, you
believe, you're lying on me, you really are. What? He is precious. All I want God to see is Jesus
Christ. And to you which believe, He
is precious. You know, He's precious as your
surety. I think of the Lord, I love to
think of the Lord before time began, saying, everything you
require of Todd Donovan, I'll stand good for. All of His salvation I'm responsible
for. None of it's on Him. It's on
me. Isn't that precious? Oh, it's
precious for me to think of Him becoming flesh because I'm flesh. And Him keeping the law for me. It's precious to think of Him
saying, John the Baptist, thus it becometh us. to fulfill all
righteousness. When He fulfilled all righteousness,
I did too. How precious that is. And how
precious it is to me to think of Him hanging on the cross as
my surety, as my substitute, as my sacrifice, Him putting
away my sins. How precious His blood is. And
how precious His resurrection is. When he was raised from the
dead, I was raised with him. When he went to heaven, I went
with him. I'm there right now. I'm the person of my Savior. Unto you therefore which believe,
he is precious. Now this is how you describe
every believer. To every believer, those who believe, I'm dead sure
of this. He is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
They don't believe the gospel. They don't find him to be precious.
The stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner. God made him that way. You know,
God does everything. I was listening to a message
by a man and he said, he said, God is sovereign and God in his
sovereignty During the time of the cross, he quit being sovereign
and let man be in control because he knew what was going to come
out of it. And I thought, what? If there was ever a second that
God wasn't even in complete control, I'd be scared to death. Now he
said, now God knew what he was doing because he knew what would
come out of this, but no. On the cross, the scripture says,
you all are doing whatsoever his hand and counsel determined
before to be done. He's in control of everything.
Now, what is said here, the stone which the builders disallowed,
the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense, God made him this way, even to them which
stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were, what? Appointed. Appointed. Does it really say that? Yes.
Yes. Do I understand all the ramifications
behind it? No. No. But I do know this God does.
And it says God appointed them to this. And whatever God does
is right. And whatever God does is just.
Whatever God does is holy. Whatever God does is true. I
wouldn't dare try to apologize about God for this. Whatever
He does is right. And it says, what's it say? It says, whereunto
also they were appointed. And I don't have any problem with
anything God does. It's right. It's holy. It's just. It's true. Do I understand
all the in workings and out? No, I don't. But I don't need
to. I don't need to. If I could understand God, there
wouldn't be much to it, would there? It just wouldn't be much
to him, but this is what it says. Whereunto also they were appointed. These people who stumble at the
word, these people who reject the cornerstone, well, here's
what God says about them. Verse 9, But, now here's God's
temple. But you are a chosen generation, chosen of God, generated, given
a new life, a royal priesthood, a kingdom of priests, and a holy
nation. Every believer is holy. You know,
David said, I'm holy. You know, I used to read that
in cringe. I thought, I can't say that. Well, I can now. I'm
holy. You're looking at a holy man. Every believer as a holy
nature. That's a nature that does not
sin. That's a nature that can't, it's the nature you'll have in
heaven. Every believer has a holy nature. You're a holy nation. Verse 9, and a peculiar people. Now my marginal reading says
a purchased people. His peculiar treasure. A purchased
people. You've been redeemed by the blood
of Christ. This is his temple. Not some stately huge temple
that's going to be thrown to the ground. But this is his people.
That you should show forth the praises of him who has called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now I'm sure
of this. I can speak with such confidence here. I know that
my salvation will show forth His praises. There won't be any
coming to me, and they'll all go to Him. I'll be a trophy of
His grace, and I know that. I know it so surely. Show forth
the praises of Him that called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light, which in times past were not a people, but are
now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now
have obtained mercy." Now, all of the materials of man-made
temples are all going to be burned, they're all going to be thrown
to the ground, they won't last, there's nothing to them. Any
sense of religiosity people get from looking at them, it's not
the God of the Bible, it's not the God of glory, it's the God
of this world, men being taken up with things of this nature.
But here's the temple that will last. The temple not made with hands,
made by the God who's utterly independent, men and women who
are poor, and who are of a contrite spirit, and who tremble at His
Word. Men and women who are laid upon
the foundation, the Lord Jesus Christ as living stones, And
they're described in their life as always coming to Christ and
seeing Him as precious. Called, chosen of God, a holy
nation, and a purchased people. Now this temple is forever. As a matter of fact, it's always
been. It's always been in Christ. Always will be in Christ. and
it is forever. I love the scripture in Revelation
where it says there's no temple needed because the lamb, no temple,
no son, the temple's the people. The lamb is the light thereof. This is the temple that will
last forever. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that we might be living stones laid upon the foundation of your
Son. Lord, we ask that we might be
poor and contrite and tremble at your Word. Lord, may we be
your living temple. Dwell in us, O Lord, be our God. Cause us to be your people. dwell
in us and walk in us and cause us to trust thy son completely. Cause us to lay hold upon him.
Lord, as we face this coming week, we ask that you give us
the grace to rest in thy son, to cease from our own works and
look only to his works. Lord, we ask that you would open
up doors for us to preach your gospel to other people and cause
them to believe according to your will. Lord, we pray that
your mercy might be upon this assembly, that you'd give us
grace to love you more, love one another more, seek to be
servants one to another, and oh Lord, that we might be sinners,
we might be, see sinners, brought to a saving knowledge of thy
son. I bless this word for Christ's sake, in his name we pray, amen.