Title: Temple Management
Contents
Title/ Temple Management
Text/ Matthew 21:12-17
When the church loses its purpose as a church, it becomes a secular place.
First, the church is the house of God (Isaiah 56:7), “I will bring him to my holy mountain, and I will make them happy in my house of prayer, and their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar. It will be called a house of prayer.”
Second, it must be a place of teaching (Mark 12:35), healing (Matthew 21:14), and praise (Matthew 21:15-16).
Just as Jesus did the temple purification in today's text, we must also make the purification of “the temple on earth, the temple of the heart, the temple in heaven” a daily practice.
1, It must be built according to the will of God.
(Style = hi/tabnit: model, figure, structure, shape)
(Exodus 25:8-9) “I have made them a sanctuary for them to dwell among them;
You shall build it according to the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of its utensils.”
The dwelling place where God lives was designed and built by God Himself.
(1 Chronicles 28:11-19) "David said, "The hand of the LORD has rested on me and made known to me the food of all that is above."
The God who made preparations through David and made Solomon build the temple-
(Haggai 1:14) “And the LORD ... excited the hearts of the governor, the high priest, and all the people, and they came and did the whole work of the LORD of hosts, their God.”
2, earthly, heart, heavenly temple management
1) Earthly Temple (The Church is the body of the Lord / Ephesians 1:23)
Do not build a house for business (John 2:13-16) A house for all people to pray (Matthew 21:13)
2) The temple of the heart (the body given while on earth)
(1 Corinthians 3:16-17) “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, and so are you.”
3) Heavenly Temple (New Heaven and New Earth)
(Rev 21:22-27) “I saw the temple in the city…No one who is unclean or detestable or lying will ever enter it, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev 21:22-27). Philippians 4:3) “In the book of life are the names of your servants and yokemates.”
3, the reward of those who did good temple maintenance
(1 Thessalonians 5:23) “May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
While we live on earth, our soul and body must be well managed and preserved through the Word and prayer.
(Rev 4:4) “And around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat the twenty-four elders, clothed in white robes, and crowns of gold upon their heads.”
(Rev 20:12) “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as they were written in the books.”
A reward is awarded for recording life on earth in a book of deeds.