A London Minister Ezekiel 41:1 Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side… I. THE LIVING TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD WILL EXHIBIT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF UNITY AND DIVERSITY. The Father of our spirits has made none of His intelligent creatures in all respects alike. There is as much difference in their gifts and characteristics as there is in their personal identity, and this variety must border upon the infinite. The idea of a temple involves the bringing together of a great variety of materials, each kind being adapted to serve a special purpose in the building. II. THE CHURCH OF GOD WILL BE THE ABODE OF PURITY. The word temple involves this idea. A temple is a building set apart, consecrated to a religious use. This temple is represented as being surrounded by a wall of separation. But the living temple will be one of spiritual and conscious purity. The distinctive element in it will be (Revelation 21:27). III. THIS CHURCH OF THE FUTURE WILL INCLUDED WHAT WAS SYMBOLISED BY THE TEMPLE OF THE PAST. In the beginning of a human life there seems a very little of the spiritual, a great preponderance of the material. But as the child grows, the intellectual and moral part of the man develops itself, until by and by, if the ideal manhood is reached, the animal part of the man is swallowed up in the spiritual part. IV. THE DIMENSIONS OF THIS SPIRITUAL CHURCH CAN BE TAKEN BY HEAVENLY MEASUREMENT ONLY. Solomon's temple could be measured by a human hand, the temple of Ezekiel's vision needed an angel of God to measure it. Its size could not be rightly estimated by an inhabitant of earth or by earthly measures. The Church of the redeemed will consist of a multitude which "no man can number" (Revelation 7:9). V. THIS TEMPLE OF PURITY IS THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD. The living spirit inhabits the human body so long as that body remains in a certain state of purity and unity, viz., so long as it can, by the retaining of its animal life, resist the decomposition which sets in immediately after death. The living spirit is a temple for the living God. (A London Minister.) Parallel Verses KJV: Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle. |
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