[Songs in the Night - May 10]
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? I Corinthians 3:16
THE figure of a temple is variously used in respect
to the church.
Each Christian is spoken of as being a
temple of the Holy Spirit after he receives the begetting
of the Spirit.
Each congregation might be considered
the temple of God.
And the church as a whole
when gathered to the heavenly condition will be God's
temple, in that God will dwell in them.
According to
another figure, each Christian is a living stone in
preparation for the great temple of the future, now
being chiseled, polished, made ready for his place in
the temple above.
The thought is that as God in olden
times was represented in the tabernacle by the
Shekinah glory of the most holy, and was also represented
in the literal temple of Jerusalem, so he is
represented now in all those who are begotten of his
Holy Spirit, and will be represented further by all
who walk in harmony with their Spirit-begetting and
continue to abide in the Lord's love. Z'16-14 R5831:5 (Hymn 332)