Worship

Course: The Higher Calling to Worship

Lesson 4

 

Lesson Title: The inner sanctuary where God is 'more present'

 

Text:  '…In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto an holy temple in the Lord:'  (Ephesians 2:21)

 

Introduction:

  • The prophet Ezekiel had seen the Glory of God depart from Solomon's Temple at the time when the Jews were taken into Babylonian captivity (Ezekiel 9-11).  This was almost six hundred years before Jesus was born. 
  • Even though the Second Temple was rebuilt seventy years later, the glory never came back to dwell in the inner sanctuary.  The Second Temple built by Zerubbabel and rebuilt by King Herod never contained the Ark of Covenant or the Shekinah glory of God. 
  • The glory of the Second Temple that the prophets spoke about was fulfilled through the coming of the Lord Jesus. 'The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, says the LORD of hosts.' (Haggai 2:9)

 

Introductory Story:  Herod's Temple in Jerusalem

  • Herod's Temple looked spectacular from its outward appearance.  But the glory of God never dwelt in the inner sanctuary of this temple.

 

  • For most people, there was not a lot of difference between the temple with the glory of God and the temple without the glory of God. The temple was still the heart of the nation and the centre of the Jewish religion.  The everyday affairs of the temple carried on exactly the same, and the people gloried in the outward appearance of the magnificent building that Herod had built.  But there were some who looked for the 'glory of Israel'.  One of these was an old man called Simeon.  When Jesus was taken to the temple to be dedicated, Simeon took hold of the baby and said,  '…a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel' (Luke 2:32).

 

  • The glory of Israel was Jesus, but most people were content with the glory of the temple building and the activities of organised Jewish religious life.  It is exactly the same in the Church today.  Many people in the Church have no desire for the presence of the Lord.  They are satisfied with living as Christians and being respectable people in the community.  They do not want to become fools for Christ, or to be worshipping witnesses to Christ.  They are genuinely saved, but they have no desire for worship beyond singing some songs of worship.  They are missing the highest calling of God to become worshippers. 

 

Exposition:

1.      The temple is the place where the glory of God dwells.

  • Isaiah saw a place where God sits enthroned in the heavens; where the angels of God worship crying 'Holy, Holy, Holy'.  The temple where His glory dwells.  Where God is 'more present', Isaiah 6:1-3.
  • God's eternal plan was that the glory of His presence would dwell within a temple made of living stones.  A temple built of people who have been lifted from the depths of sin to the heights of holiness; a people created for worship (1 Peter 2:5).

 

2.      Jesus came to build a temple for worship

  • Jesus came to prepare a people for worship; living stones that would cry out in praise and worship  (Luke 19:40).  Jesus was always aware that He had come to build the temple of the Lord (John 2:19).  Jesus was telling them that His body is the true temple where God dwells.  He was prophesying that they would kill Him, but on the third day He would rise again.

 

3.      The body of Christ is the true temple of God

Through His death and resurrection Jesus became the Head of the body,

and every person who is in Christ has become a member of His body.

The believer in Christ is

  • crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20),
  • buried with Christ (Colossians 2:12),
  • risen with Christ (Colossians 3:1), and is
  • seated in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:6).    

 

4.      The temple of God is the place where God is 'more present'. 

  • It is the place where His nature and character is manifest, and His power is known.  When God is 'more present' great mountains will be removed (Isaiah 64:1);  Mighty kings of the earth are made to tremble in fear (Daniel 5:5-6).
  •  The wisdom of God glorified Himself through the weak things of the world.   The Son of God redeemed a people: insignificant in the eyes of the world, but a people separated for His possession.
  • Living stones of the temple of God where He is 'more present'  (Psalms 29:9).

Story of Revival:  Heavenly Chorus at Azusa in 1906.  All Saints Church in Sunderland, England in 1907. 'When the fire of the Lord fell, it burned up the debt'.  It was this move of God in Sunderland that brought Smith Wigglesworth (1859-1947) into the higher realm of worship.

 

Conclusion:

1.      Jesus came with the purpose to build a new temple made of living stones.  A temple where God is 'more present', and where His glory dwells.         

2.      Every person who has received Christ as his or her Saviour is called to the higher calling to worship. 

3.      We have been created in Christ Jesus to be a place of worship, and to be worshippers.  

4.      We who are in Christ have become the dwelling place of God and will be for all eternity.

 

 

Lesson Outline

 

Course Index

 

 

Textbook  - The Higher Calling to Worship