THE HOUSE
(TEMPLE) THAT WILL NOT FALL
MF Blume
Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a
wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Matthew 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
THE TEMPLE
AND THE CHERUBIMS
Eden's Garden was a paradisical
Temple. Mankind was anointed by God with authority over all creation. This
authority over all creation was symbolized by the Cherubims of which we read
in the Bible, beginning with the reference to the Garden of Eden and man's
expulsion from that Garden. (See further notes about cherubims in pertinent
studies as so named in this website).
Long after man fell in the Garden,
Moses' Tabernacle was erected in much the same fashion as the Garden of Eden.
Both the Garden and the Tabernacle had only one entrance which faced eastward.
And both had a focal point within themselves. There was the tree of Life
in the midst of the Garden and the holiest of holies which held the Ark of
the covenant in the midst of the Tabernacle. Upon the curtains and the veil
of the Tabernacle were the likeness of cherubims. As the cherubims blocked
man from entering into the Garden after the fall into sin, the veil blocked
man from entering the holiest of holies, the counterpart to the Garden.
Much later again, we read of
Solomon's temple which also was laid out in fashion as the Garden. In that
temple, Cherubims (of which we first read about in Genesis 3:24) were also
pictured throughout the structure. The repeated reference to these creatures
always seemed to point man to the original setting of humanity in the Garden
of Eden, man's first home, where they were first mentioned. In the Garden,
man was given dominion over cattle, fowl and beasts. The faces upon the cherubims,
along with the face of the man, indicated the very creatures over which Adam
was given authority.
It was in the Garden of Eden
where God desired that man dwell. Returning to the Garden indicates a return
to the will of God for humanity. The eternal plan of God had it that humanity
be united to Him as a Bride, made in His image, bone of his bones and flesh
of his flesh. Since God is not flesh and bone we see that He foreordained
to manifest Himself only once in flesh as a man, from which His Church would
come. It was His human death on the cross which brought forth the church.
As Adam laid down his life and allowed God to remove a rib to form a woman
for Adam, Christ laid down His life and died, after which a soldier pierced
the same location of His body as that from which God took Adam's rib - His
side.
THE NEW JERUSALEM
OF TODAY
The church, today, is the Temple.
It is the Garden. The aspect of the Garden of Eden being the capital, per
se, of the world, is seen in the later picture of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was
where the Temple was located and where the king of Israel dwelt. With this
in mind, consider that God has given His name to the Church much like He
gave His name to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was referred to as a woman in the mind
of God during Old Testament times. Notice the thought of a man searching
among many women for the bride of His choice as you read the following description
of Jerusalem.
1 Kings 11:36 And unto his son
will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before
me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.
2 Chronicles 6:5 Since the
day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city
among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be
there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:
2 Chronicles 6:6 But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there;
and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.
Jerusalem later became known as
the MOTHER of God's people.
The aspect of motherhood and
enduring through all eternity is hinted at in the following reference to
Jerusalem.
Isaiah 66:5-11 Hear the word
of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that
cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he
shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. A voice of noise
from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth
recompence to his enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth; before
her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing?
who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one
day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed,
she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause
to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the
womb? saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her,
all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations;
that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.
Gala 4:26 But Jerusalem which
is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
The name of Jerusalem was originally
Jebusi, which interprets as "trodden".
Josh 18:28 And Zelah, Eleph,
and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem...
1 Chronicles 11:5 And the
inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless
David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David
God took Himself a city and changed
her name as a man marries a woman and gives her his name. God changed Jebusi
to Jerusalem, "city of Peace."
All this is informative as to
why the Church is referred to as Jerusalem in Hebrews 12:22-23. The church
is the Bride of Christ. We have been espoused to one husband, Jesus.
2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous
over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband,
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
We must remain in the Temple as
Adam should have remained in the Garden, by standing upon nothing but the
grace of God according to the Word which He gave to us. Adam failed God by
not standing upon His Word in obedience. We can fail of the grace of God
as Adam failed of God's Word to him, and be cast from the Garden of the Church
and left to fall with all the rest of the world which shall one day pass
away. We must stay in the Temple and truly learn how to live by grace in
our everyday lives. We must learn about grace and grow in grace (2 Peter
3:18).
REMOVED FROM
THE ROCK
The believer who does not completely
rely upon the grace of God will soon be removed and will fall in troubles
and trials. They are not fully founded upon the Rock of God's Word, which
to us is the Word of Grace and faith.
Colossians teaches us about
being grounded and settled firmly "in Christ."
Colossians 2:6-15 As ye have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as
ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any
man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of
men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye
are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision
of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen
with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him
from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of
your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you
all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them
openly, triumphing over them in it.
All the benefits of being in Christ
are listed above in Colossians. To remain in Christ alone, and not resort
to human philosophy and tradition, is to stand upon His grace alone. Whenever
they are confronted with the proposition by the religious world to add a
certain element to their faith, the believers who cry forth, "Nothing can
save my soul and spirit but my acceptance of the fact that Christ died in
my place to redeem me from sin," are the ones who will never fall. They stand
on Grace. They stand on the Rock. The Rock we stand upon is not our good
works nor is it our efforts to please God. The Rock is the WORD OF GOD. Nothing
else will stand. Nothing else!
John 6:28 Then said they unto
him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? John 6:29 Jesus
answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe
on him whom he hath sent.
The work which the Lord Jesus
told the people they should exert is to BELIEVE upon God.
Notice how Colossians bids us
stand in grace:
Colossians 1:11 Strengthened
with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience
and longsuffering with joyfulness;
This is grace! Grace is divine
empowerment. To live in this manner is to have been grounded in grace. It
is strengthened not by weak fleshly will power to do good, but by His glorious
power.
Look how we are made fit to
be heirs of His inheritance.
Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks
unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light:
We read that GOD made us meet
or fit. We do not make ourselves fit through works of righteousness which
we have done. God alone can make fit.
Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of
his dear Son:
He delivered us into His kingdom.
He did it!
1 Peter 2:3-7 If so be ye have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye
also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore
also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner
stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the
corner,
We who find that God is GRACIOUS
are those who are built up a spiritual house (Temple), as described spiritually
in the words speaking about the chief cornerstone laid in Zion!
We are the temple that is built
up as a spiritual house in Zion!
1 Peter 2:10 Which in time past
were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
As in Colossians 1, 1 Peter 2:10
says that God made us fit to be heirs by God making us a people.
IN CHRIST
AND SETTLED UPON NOTHING ELSE
The ministry of Paul the Apostle
is so wonderfully deep and blessed towards those who desire to be Christ's
disciples. This man of God ministered for the ultimate purpose of having
people one day presented to Christ as being "complete in Christ."
Colossians 1:28 Whom we preach,
warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Perfect in Christ. This means
that we must be presented COMPLETE in Christ. We must not look to anything
other than Christ and that which is found in Him alone as our means to standing
before God with a blessed reception from God. The reason we must completely
rely upon Christ is due to the fact that nothing else will stand. All else
will fall. Everything we need is found in Jesus Christ. Everything that is
of God works by grace through faith. Therefore we must be established in
faith.
Colossians teaches that we are
buried with Christ and resurrected with Christ and forgiven of all sins,
thus blotting out all ordinances which were against humanity. God removed
the ordinances out of our way. Once forgiven, there is no law to judge us,
for what law can judge one with no trespasses?
Colossians 2:13 And you, being
dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross;
We have been forgive of all trespasses,
leaving us without relation to a Law which came for the reason of trespasses.
1 Timothy 1:9 Knowing this, that
the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient,
for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of
fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
When we are abiding in grace,
we are above law.
Gala 5:22 But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gala 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Living by grace renders us strong
and unremovable, for we have patience and longsuffering if we truly live
by grace through faith.
Colossians 1:11 Strengthened
with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering
with joyfulness;
All of this is descriptive of
the very thing which the parable of the wise man who built his house on the
rock is trying to relay to us. We will never fall, but be grounded with Christ
for eternity, while all else passes away, if we stand by God's grace and
not fail of this grace.
LUCIFER
The comparison with the garden
in Eden and the temple-like existence of that garden is even seen with Satan
before his fall, and foreshadowed by the Babylonian King Lucifer.
Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been
in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering,...
As a high priest, Lucifer stood
in the temple with precious stones covering a breastplate.
Ezekiel 28:14 Thou art the anointed
cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain
of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
He was in Eden, in the Garden
in Eden, upon the MOUNTAIN OF GOD. Here is the picture of the house on the
Rock. This is similar to ZION. It is the temple. The outer court, holy place
and holiest of holies is seen in (1) Eden, (2) the garden of God (since Eden
was not THE Garden, but the Garden was eastward IN Eden) and (3) the mountain
of God.
Ezekiel 28:17 Thine heart was
lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason
of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before
kings, that they may behold thee.
Ezekiel 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine
iniquities...
He was cast DOWN since he was
upon a MOUNTAIN. He fell. He defiled his sanctuaries as Adam defiled the
sanctuary of the Garden.
FAITH TO LIVE
BY
When the Bible speaks about
failing today it refers to failing from Grace (Hebrews. 12:15)..
True faith is the persuasion
that God will keep and protect us. Too many believers do not have this faith.
They are not grounded upon God's grace. This is a faith which we LIVE by.
We were saved by faith in God's grace for salvation, but now we must LIVE
by faith in God's grace for our eternal stand. And whereas all believers
have accepted the grace for salvation, too many do not exert faith for living.
As a result of this, years will pass as life comes to a close for each individual,
and many believers will have lost out with God because they never really
learned to LIVE by faith, patiently enduring all opposition.
Colossians 1:11 Strengthened
with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering
with joyfulness;
Such believers who fail are those
who try to avoid the thought of the need to have faith in trials. they do
not want to think of trials. But we must accept it that trials will come
and we must live by faith. Let us get faith.
I can be in that temple, enduring
the storms and winds. I can live by faith and endure all opposition! I can
do it! Since we have come to Zion, let us be settled there by learning how
to trust in grace and live enduringly by faith.
We must come to ZION and stay
there. We came by faith in Christ's death for our salvation. We must be rooted
there now, by using that same faith and directing it towards a life of victory
through any storm life may throw at us.
Hebrews 11 speaks of the faith
we need.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith
it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that
he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We must use that faith and apply
it to daily living above sin in the midst of trials ever afterwards! Let
us dedicate ourselves to ensure we remain in the Temple that never falls
- the HOUSE of God on ZION.
Through Jesus Christ we have
peace with God.
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
The particular avenue of "through
Christ" is how the faith we exert puts us at peace with God. One cannot just
exert any old faith in any deity or religious teaching. Peace with God only
comes through Christ.
ZION
Zion represents people of God
who have learned to live by faith and who can resist opposition and trial.
Psalm 48:2-6 Beautiful for situation,
the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the
city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge. For, lo,
the kings were assembled, they passed by together. They saw it, and so they
marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away. Fear took hold upon them
there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
Zion is the joy of the whole earth
since it consumes all other kingdoms of sin and fills the whole earth. It
is ZION that is depicted in Christ's kingdom as follows:
Daniel 2:34-35 Thou sawest till
that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet
that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron,
the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together,
and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried
them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the
image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of
these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
This kingdom will stand forever.
God set this kingdom up. It is a mountain - Zion. It is the New Testament
Gospel.
Indeed, the Gospel turned the
world upside down in Acts.
Acts 17:6 And when they found
them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city,
crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
The Kingdom of God, represented
by the MOUNTAIN OF GOD, ZION, is the only thing that will last, hence we
read:
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first
the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall
be added unto you.
Seek it first. Even in the Lord's
prayer, it is the first thing we must pray about:
Matthew 6:9 After this manner
therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come...