Building God’s Temple Recognising that we are temples of God’s Holy Spirit and are being built together as living stones to His Glory.

Keynote scripture 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty." Haggai 2:9

Context of verse After a period of exile the Jewish people have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding God’s temple. (Ezra 3-6) They face a lot of opposition and have struggled and have stopped working. God challenges Zerubbabel and Joshua to complete the work.

Careful thought needed! This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honoured," says the LORD. Haggai 1:7-8

Personal temples “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Application Each of us who have accepted Jesus as Lord are inhabited by God’s Holy Spirit. We are responsible to build this temple in accordance with God’s directions. A temple is a building set apart for the worship of a deity. This takes effort on our parts to prepare a suitable dwelling place and keep it from being defiled.

Solomon’s Temple Based on the blueprint of the Tabernacle given to Moses. This was a temporary structure. 1 Chronicles 28/29 and 2 Chronicles 1-7 tell the story of how the temple was built by Solomon using the resources and wealth handed down by his father King David.

Lay out of the temple Outer CourtInner Court – Holy Place Inner Court – Holy of Holies Open to gentiles.Jewish believers only. High priest only. Altar of sacrifice and Laver. Lampstand, table of showbread and altar of incense Ark of The Covenant and Mercy Seat BODYSOULSPIRIT

Altar of Sacrifice Altar = a table, platform or elevated place on which a priest placed a sacrifice as an offering to God. In OT daily sacrifices occurred here. The blood of animals made a temporary way for sinful people to enter into the presence of a Holy God.

New Testament Application The OT Altar of Sacrifice foreshadowed the CROSS. Jesus was sacrificed at the cross as an offering to the Father to pay the penalty for our sin. The beauty of the cross is that it shows the humbleness of our God who chose to reveal Himself as a servant.

The Power of the Cross Both terrifying and beautiful! Jesus was called to die so that we can live. We are now called to die too so that we can live.

Confession – the way to die. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8-9 But there is more…..

Confession = exposure of true self “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 This is death at it’s most painful!

Authority to forgive others “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." John 20:23 As believers we have authority to speak forgiveness and acceptance over others who confess their sins to us. This is an awesome and frightening responsibility!

Sacrifice of self Confession in the name of repentance brings healing. Confession NOT in the name of repentance remains in the service of sin. We are therefore called to die to the image that others have of us. The ‘social saint’ dies. Healing is only found in the confession of sins to one another!

The Helper and helpers! True confession requires the Holy Spirit to help us. He is our helper and counselor! Ask God what we need to confess. Ask God to show us safe people who we can share with.

An after death experience! The purpose of confession is to kill the false images behind which we all live. May need to confess many times especially for deep wounds and deep seated behaviour patterns. However, after death at the cross of Christ there is always resurrection life released.

Freedom! We should seek this resurrection life as it allows us to walk in true freedom from sin and bondage and to enter into true intimacy with our God. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36

The Holy of Holies God desires a full and intimate relationship with each of us. He calls each of us to enter into the Holy of Holies and there we are to meet with Him. The veil that separated us from Him was torn by the death of Jesus on the cross. As we come to the cross by confession of our sin we can enter in to find the healing and mercy He freely offers.

The glory of the latter temple! Haggai prophesied that the glory of the latter temple would be greater than that of the former. We are the latter temple! God resides in us and we are all living stones being built into a wondrous temple called the Bride of Christ. We are shaped as a living stone into God’s image by the power of confession at the cross of Christ.

Living Stones.”.you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. “ 1 Peter 2:5