Title The Temple of the Heart Visible Temple
Contents
the temple of the heart, the visible temple
1 Kings 9:1-9
The church has two sides, one is the invisible ecclesial aspect and the other is the visible ecclesial aspect.
After the Word enters the heart, they are transformed into a new person, become children of God, and gather to form a new community. This is the invisible aspect of the church.
Now that God's people have gathered a lot, the meeting will have a frame. We have prepared a building for the gathering, established the system of the meeting, established the organization, and established the form of the meeting.
In the church, these two aspects must coexist, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, the invisible spiritual community and the visible community must be established.
In order for a church to be a good church, the invisible church, that is, the essence of the church, must be excellent.
Through the work of the Holy Spirit, word events and events of faith must flourish.
Next, the visible church that protects and shines this invisible church must also be good.
If possible, the building should also be functional. And the system must be efficient.
In the end, for a church like a church, both of these aspects of the church must be good, and furthermore, these two aspects must be in harmony and balance.
Today's text records God's response to Solomon's construction of the temple and dedication to God. In summary, God's response to the dedication of the temple is threefold.
The first is to set apart this temple as holy.
The second is that God's name will be in this temple forever.
Third, God's eyes and God's heart will always be in this temple. Simply put, it means that God has received this temple preciously. And you want this temple to be very special.
Our church needs to build a temple in the future, but as we are praying, I hope that our church will be able to dedicate a truly beautiful temple to God like Solomon.
Here, we realize one important fact: God does not only want the visible temple, but rather emphasizes the invisible temple.
That's right.
We should not be preoccupied with building the visible temple, nor should we neglect the building of the invisible temple.
Then how should we build the invisible temple? Of course, the answer is simple.
You just have to build it the way God wants you to.
If you look at today's text, you can discover the invisible church that God desires.
1. Let's have a God-oriented heart
An invisible church can be established when the members first have a heart toward God.
Verse 4 says, “Be whole and upright in heart, as David your father did.”
In a nutshell, like David, you have to have a heart oriented toward God.
God saw his heart when he abolished Saul and made David king.
He saw the heart of David that even the prophet Samuel had not seen, nor his father Jesse.
(2Sa 16:7) That heart is a heart that is completely oriented toward God.
David's heart begins to be revealed one by one as he reigns as king. In 2 Samuel 6, David became king and began to rule in Zion. The first thing he thought about was the ark.
The ark was left unattended in Abinadab's house for many years. No one cared.
King Saul and the priests at the time forgot this fact.
But David was different. I always felt sad that the ark had been left unattended.
Then, when he became king, he was the first to bring the ark.
Because his heart was always oriented toward God. This is David's heart.
That's right. The invisible church is built right when its heart is always directed toward God.
When we worship God, we need to focus on whether God will accept this worship rather than how we can receive grace.
When we serve the church, we need to focus on how God will be glorified rather than how many people benefit and we who serve are worthwhile.
This kind of heart is precious to God.
On May 3rd, there was a topic that a church held a service at a temple.
It means that they offered only 108 times, omitting the order of worship such as hymns, Bible readings, sermons, and benedictions.
And there is a reason why we worshiped like this.
It is said that he wanted to repent of what Christians had done rudely toward Buddhism.
That is why the worship service on this day, the day after Buddha's birthday, was replaced by penance in front of the Buddha.
What do you think? Some say they were impressed. Others appreciate it for practicing the path of reconciliation between religions. Of course, it's understandable that you care about Buddhists.
It is understandable that he was concerned about ordinary people who did not believe.
However, there is one crucial problem. It is that these people did not care about God.
It means that they did not think about how God would understand that the worship that should be offered to God was offered in front of the Buddha. That heart was not completely oriented toward God.
In 1 Kings 11:4, Solomon was later rebuked for not having the heart of David.
The reason was that they allowed their queens to bow before idols other than God.
In 1 Kings 15:3, Abijam king of Judah was also rebuked for not having the heart of David.
Again, the reason was that high places and idols were allowed.
This is because they did not think about what God's heart would be like when God's people bow down before their idols.
That's right. In order to properly establish the invisible church, the saints must have a heart that is thoroughly oriented toward God like David. You must not give your heart to anything that is not God.
We must not exalt non-God as God, rely on non-God as God, or serve non-God as God.
2. Live a life of obedience
The invisible church is then built up when the saints live obedient lives.
Verse 4 says, “If you obey all my commands and keep my statutes and statutes, just as I have commanded you.” In a word, it is just as David obeyed God's word.
David's life was simply a life of obedience to God's Word. Looking at the process of becoming a king, he thoroughly inquired of God and followed His word. In Samha, it is written several times that “David inquired of the Lord and said,” He always lived a life that pursued God's will rather than his own.
He did not do what he wanted, but lived according to what God said.
Of course, David's life was not without mistakes. I have committed a fatal sin. Nevertheless, if you look at the image after sin, you can see the scene of listening to God's Word and obeying it.
In 2 Samuel 12, the story of David's repentance for the fatal sin he committed against Bathsheba is recorded.
Although he committed a great sin before God, when God sent the prophet Nathan to speak, he heard the word and repented thoroughly.
In 1 Chronicles 21, David sinned before God through the census, but he thoroughly repented. David took a census to reveal his righteousness.
God sent a prophet Gad to rebuke him. Hearing those words at that time, David thoroughly repented.
That's right. The right life before God is to listen to God's Word and obey it thoroughly. I'm not talking about living ethically and morally right.
A life that is praised by others is not a life that you can satisfy yourself.
When we live the right life before God in this way, the invisible church will be built beautifully.
In Matthew 26:36 and below, we find Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus knew that he had to carry the cross. But he could not bear the cross.
So he prayed to God. But in that prayer, he heard the word of God.
And Jesus answered.
"Yes! Father” This obedience allowed God to accomplish the great work of salvation.
In 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 we read, “For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did not say yes and no, but to him it was only yes. All God’s promises are yes in Christ, so that we can say Amen through him to glorify God This means that we Christians should have the faith to say, “Amen!” after our Lord.
That's right. Today, we must follow the Lord and live a life of obedience, a faith that says “Amen”.
When that happens, God is glorified and he does amazing things. This is another valuable characteristic of the invisible church.
Dear all! We are building the visible church. I try to make it as good as I can. But we must also build a church that we cannot see. Build it as well as you can. Only then will our church become a church-like church on this earth and a church that pleases the Lord.
In order to build the invisible temple well, our hearts must be more thoroughly oriented toward God. Next, we must live a life that is more obedient to God's Word.
Amen We must be armed with faith.