A pure temple consumed with pure holy fire

Ultimately, if we want to be dangerous for God and His Kingdom, we have to consider “1 Corinthians 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” In the Old Testament, God first dwelled in the Tent of Meeting during the days of Moses, and then in the Temple following the reign of Solomon. With both the tent and the temple, absolutely great care needed to be taken for the ‘dwelling place’ to be constantly kept sacred, consecrated and undefiled. Even the utensils used had to be kept sanctified to maintain high levels of consecration. God is a holy God, and with God nothing is impure. God dwelled in such dwellings, specifically in the Holy of Holies, and thus demanded an ‘environment’ that is completely and utterly kept ALL THE TIME from any form of defilement or corruption. So God moved from Mount Sinai to the tent to the temple. And then He moved by the Blood of the Lamb and the presence of the Spirit into the hearts of man. We are now the temples that accommodate God and where God dwells!

Some may view all the laws and regulations regarding the sanctification and consecration of such dwellings as being legalistic, laborious and archaic. The reality is nothing ever was done in the Old Testament to be legalistic or religious. It was done with great purpose, intent and functionality. The purpose, in this case, was to show us today that as God required a pure and sanctified dwelling ALL THE TIME, free of defilement and corruption, just so God is looking to dwell in a temple (we as His disciples) that is free of any defilement or corruption. Jesus prayed in John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” As we walk in the truth of God, we walk in His will, in His way, in His Spirit and thus in His holiness and purity. Truth keeps us on the right path. The Spirit leads us on such a path of holiness and purity, for the Spirit leads us all in the truth of conviction, spiritual morality and repentance. 1 Peter 1 says “5 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Thus, the call is for us to be a holy temple in which God can dwell – undefiled, unblemished and uncorrupted by the world and carnality.

In Leviticus 22:20 we read how God said that nothing must be offered unto Him with a defect. In Malachi 1:8, the Lord accuses Israel of bringing Him blemished offerings: “‘When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?’ says the Lord Almighty.” Bringing animal sacrifices to the temple that were blind, disfigured, or sick was a direct violation of the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 22:22; Deuteronomy 15:21). The reason for this command was that such sacrifices dishonoured the Lord. “Do not profane my holy name” (Leviticus 22:32). They were sacrifices in name only; a true sacrifice must cost something, and there was no pain involved in getting rid of something already slated for culling. More importantly, each sacrifice was a symbol of the future sacrifice of Christ, who was “a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19). The cheap, marred sacrifices of Malachi’s time were travesties of Christ’s perfection.

The application for Christians today does not involve animal sacrifices, of course, nor is it even directly related to financial offerings. Rather, it is a matter of treating God as holy. Our entire lives must be a testimony of God’s perfection, holiness and purity. This concerns all areas of life, ranging from how we speak of God, to how we obey Him and how willing we are to sacrifice our lives unto service. Offering God a blemished animal was like treating God as an afterthought, and it truly mocked Him. We can never treat God in such a manner. He deserves our best and our all. We must be disciples of excellence, seeking to be consumed and be burning all the time with His holy fire. We do this by being an offering of purity and holiness. Thus it says in “Ephesians 5:27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish,” and also “Revelation 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” The message remains clear. As the temple of God, we must remain pure and clean. Be not defected by the world, and remain an offering aflame with God’s presence.

So we need to realise that just as God only dwelled in a tent or a temple that was kept clean, pure and holy, just so God is looking to dwell in a pure, clean and holy vessel. Nothing has changed when it comes to God and the ‘environment’ He seeks to inhabit. He seeks to habitually dwell with us through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, yet He is looking to dwell in a temple, thus a vessel of blood and flesh, that is consecrated (set apart) and consecrated for God’s glory and presence. You see, God wants to dwell in us in our entirety. If there is something offensive or defiled or impure or unholy also occupying the ‘environment’, do we not think this is an affront to the Spirit of God? Everything about us must be completely and utterly surrendered to God. The Lord dwelled in His entirety in the entirety of the tent of meeting and the temple, not in portions. May we truly seek to surrender all to God so that God as an all-consuming fire may consume us completely and utterly. For then we become dangerous in love and faith and conduct and speech and thought!

In 2 Chronicles 7, we read of the consecration of the temple. It says “1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.” When we truly offer ourselves as a consecrated and pure vessel of habitation to the Lord, then the Lord will fill us with His glory and strength!

The fire was God’s approval (just like the fire that came down from heaven to approve of Elijah’s offering in 1 Kings 17). It was the fire of cleansing. It was the fire of purification. It was a holy fire, and just so we are called to be vessels of His glory that is on fire in His service. We are called to be consumed by God, and we are called to remain consecrated and sanctified 24 hours a day, just as the fire was not allowed to go out in the ceremonial days of offerings. Indeed, we are now the offering unto God, and we are called to dedicate our lives unto Him – submitted, yielded and surrendered. We are called to yield and submit so that His fire may burn in us all day and every day by the Spirit, so that by the Spirit we remain consecrated, purified, refined, cleansed and a worthy living sacrifice. For in such a dwelling God seeks to inhabit and fill. And such a habitation is a dangerous one full of God’s power, glory and might!

During Pentecost, we read at the time of the outpouring of how the tongues of fire rested upon the disciples. The fire was significant, for as in the days of the consecration of the temple, the disciples were now being consecrated and sanctified through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. This is the fulfilment of what John the Baptist said in “Matthew 3: 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” As the fire fell in the days of Solomon, now it fell in the days of Pentecost. The fire was ‘to burn up the chaff’ within us as His disciples. Indeed, at Pentecost, the disciples were baptized by the Spirit and the fire. It was the pure fire of holiness, of beauty, of majesty and was intended to consume the disciples. Truly in the Upper Room, we find that God burned away the old religious ways and the disciples were not set apart by holy fire in service to God. They were now ready to be pure vessels, thus pure wineskins to receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit.

We also read in 2 Chronicles 7 the following: “11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. 13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.”

We need to realise that we are now are called to be such a consecrated temple where God dwells. And truly one day we will walk with God side by side. Yet for now, in this earthly body, we can rejoice that as in the days of Solomon, God’s eyes and heart will always be with those that God inhabits! Yes, this is a Word from God – a prophetic word – that His heart and eyes are open to His disciples. As God sees, we shall ‘see’ the Kingdom of God according to John 3. This then connects to Psalm 91 about “1 whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty,” and how “the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry (Psalm 34:15, 1 Peter 3:12), and how “God will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)”. For this reason we can pray unto God and He will answer. We can rejoice in “1 John 5: 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him,” and also “John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

God thus filled the temple in the days of Solomon and promised to hear them and answer their prayers IF they remain humble, pray, seek His face and turn from their wicked ways. He also promises forgiveness and healing. As the new temples of God, this still applies to us today! We also need to remain humble, we need to continue praying and seeking God and we need to continually turn from our wicked ways. Thus the truth of “James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” 1 Peter 3:12 also says that God’s face is against those who do evil. Matthew 7 declares “7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Glory to God. He forgives when we seek Him and repent. He heals when we cry out to Him. He is still our God of deliverance! In such truth we are dangerous in our hope and courage!

During the dedication, the Lord said to Solomon: “19 “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.” This warning was fulfilled when both the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel wee led away in captivity because of idolatry. Such idolatry was exposed in Ezekiel 8 where the Lord took the prophet into the inner sanctuary and showed him all the abominations that was happening in the temple that was once dedicated and consecrated by Solomon. In this chapter for example we read “17 He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.” In Ezekiel 10 we read of how the Glory of the Lord departs from the Temple because of the wicked ways of the people.

Also take note ‘although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.” This is in contrast to 2 Chronicles 7 where the Lord said He will hear from heaven, yet He hears those who are truly abiding in God (John 15) and who seek to follow God with a pure heart. Psalm 24 declares “3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face.” Glory to God, for this all ties into Matthew 6 which speaks of first seeking God’s Kingdom and His righteousness and the rest shall be added. Thus, if we are truly a vessel of purity, we shall be on that seek God’s Kingdom and His ways and will and truth above all. God will hear us, God will keep us and His countenance will shine on us!

What happened in the days of Ezekiel is still a clear warning for us today. We cannot mock God. We cannot flirt with the world or entertain demons or continue in our old ways of carnality while serving God. We cannot, therefore, be a temple of God that is defiled and corrupted. God will indeed be with us, and hear us, and move powerfully in us to His glory if we keep ourselves from defilement, corruption and spiritual pollution. For then we become dangerous to His Kingdom, we are dangerous in our purity, and in such purity, God dwells in great power and glory!

As we deny ourselves, we then become a sweet aroma unto the Lord. This is what the Lord is looking for and seeking – for us to be a pleasing offering unto Him. 2 Corinthians 2 (AMP): 15For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: 16To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?] 17For we are not, like so many, [like hucksters making a trade of] peddling God's Word [shortchanging and adulterating the divine message]; but like [men] of sincerity and the purest motive, as [commissioned and sent] by God, we speak [His message] in Christ (the Messiah), in the [very] sight and presence of God.”