God's Dwelling Places, Part 3

Today I wanted to conclude a series that we've been talking about in God's dwelling places. Let me bring you just up to speed on some of the things that we've talked about in the past so that we have our time set here. You'll remember back when we talked about five dwelling places of God the first time we talked. We talked about the Garden of Eden. We talked about the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. We talked about Solomon's Temple. As we talked about those things we learned, we learned some things about God and we learned some things about the Temple and how God dwells with His people. We had the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. We saw that Israel built the Tabernacle in the Wilderness exactly to the specifications that God had given them. He was very pleased with the level of detail and how much attention that they paid to what He gave them. He was very pleased and His glory dwelled in that Temple or that Tabernacle. Solomon followed the same thing. Solomon's Temple was beautiful. I think that we have artist renderings of what Solomon's Temple looked like, but I think we would all be astonished if we actually could see the beauty of that Temple. The love that Solomon put into it, the love that he had for God that went into that Temple would have been astonishing. You'll remember when we talked about that Temple and when Solomon made his prayer to God. God responded to Solomon. He said, I will dwell in this Temple forever. What he said was, what your behavior is outside this Temple is going to dictate whether I dwell with you forever. The Temple was beautiful. The Temple was built of specifications, but it was what Israel was going to do, how they were going to obey, how they were going to follow God's principles and edicts. And as long as they did that, He would dwell among them in that building forever. Of course, in Old Testament times, they did look to those buildings. The second Temple wasn't as beautiful as the first Temple, but God dwelt in it too. It was the Temple that was standing when Jesus Christ was on earth. And He went into those courts, and He worshipped God there. He made some memorable comments there. And of course, it was there that He overturned the tables of the money changers and declared that to be His Father's house. Forty years after that Temple was destroyed, the Levitical, forty years after Christ was crucified, that Temple was destroyed. And there was no more Temple, but we learned that the Temple of God is dwelling in you and me today. That's where His Holy Spirit is. That's where He's working. This is what He's building. This is the Temple in you and me individually, and of course in the Church, that He's building, that He's returning to. And with each series of these places that we talk about that God is dwelling in, we learn something more about Him and more about us, what He expects of us. It's not just a place.

It's not just about the architecture. It's about what He's doing, what He's building, something that will last forever. And so, as we are here today, and we look forward to Jesus Christ's return, and we know that He will return and He will establish His kingdom, and He will, at that time, build another Temple, or another Temple will be built, that people will flow to.

And I want to talk about that today, and then the seventh one that we'll talk about as well. But to lead up to that time of that Temple being built, turn with me to a few preparatory scriptures. Let's go back to Isaiah 40 to begin. We know that between now and the time of Jesus Christ's return, there will be some tumultuous times.

There will be the Great Tribulation. There will be great wars. Mankind, the number of them will die. They will see things that they can't even imagine. First, Satan takes his wrath out on mankind in Israel, and then God takes his wrath out on mankind before Jesus Christ returns. Isaiah 40 and verse 1 tells us about some of these things that will happen, and some of these verses can be seen in a spiritual aspect, but physical as well.

We'll see Isaiah 40, verse 1. Comfort, yes, comfort, my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places will be made straight, and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the eternal has spoken. Valleys brought low, other places elevated. Everyone will see the glory of God when he returns. Let's go back to Zechariah. Zechariah 14. Zechariah 14 and verse 2. Zechariah 14 too.

For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. Now we know that time is ahead, Jesus Christ said. In Luke, that armies will gather around Jerusalem. I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, the women ravished. Half of the city will go into captivity, but the remnants of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle.

And in that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. When he returns to the Mount of Olives, it will split in two. There will be topographical changes in the earth. With everything that goes on leading up to the return of Jesus Christ and his return, changes will be made in the earth.

We read, I won't take the time to be reading in Isaiah 35 and some of those millennial verses that talk about some of the changes that are going to take place, some of the beautiful changes that will take place once Christ is on earth and his Holy Spirit is extant upon people. Let's go over to Revelation 16.

Revelation 16, speaking of one of the trumpets, the devastation that that will bring upon the earth. Revelation 16, verse 17. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake. Such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her cup to the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Verse 20. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And then you read about the great hail. Changes on the earth, changes in the topography around Jerusalem, changes in the land that we know and that we have today. All leading up to the return of Jesus Christ, then he returns, and then a new society will be built upon his principles with him as the king of kings, with him in Jerusalem where the law will go forth.

Let's go back to Malachi. I'm sorry, is it Malachi? Micah, I think. Micah 3. That's where we want to go to. Micah 3. Micah 3 verse 9. Let's begin in verse 8. Verse 8, Malachi 3. Now you remember who Jacob is, who Israel is, the twelve tribes who we're speaking about here. Now hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity, who build up Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity. Her heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, and her prophets divine for money.

Yet they lean on the Lord and say, isn't he among us? No harm can come upon us. That defines our world today. Judges do things out of character. They judge for bribes. Priests are more interested in their pay than they are in what they really are supposed to be doing.

They do all these things in direct contrast to anything that God commands people to do, and yet they say, isn't God among us? He'll work with us. He'll save us.

Therefore, verse 12, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the temple like the bare hills of the forest.

Nothing left. Desolation on the earth, ravaged by warfare, ravaged as mankind reaps what he has sown in the way of sin, in the way he has lived his life, with the way he has rejected God and ignored him and really wanted him out of his life. And so Jesus Christ returns to a planet that is nothing like the planet and the earth that we know today. Jerusalem, nothing like the city that we might see shots of today. It's certainly the land we live and will be nothing like we have today. After it has gone through the three and a half years, and after God has exacted his vengeance. Chapter 4, though, gives us the hope of Jesus Christ returning, what it will be like when he returns, when he establishes his government, and when he is king of kings. Chapter 4, verse 1, it'll come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house will be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills. It'll be the chief of the kingdoms, all of the kingdoms, all the nations will look to it. Peoples will flow to it. Many nations will come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths. In that day, there will be a central place for the government. It'll be Jerusalem. That will be the central, the capital of the world, if you want to call it that. That will be where Christ will rule from. That's where the law will emanate. That's where the healing of the nations will occur. That will be where justice is served.

As we go on, it says, for out of Zion, the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore.

That's where the world will look. They'll be being taught something totally different than we do today. Today, we look to Washington, D.C., don't we? The world even looks to Washington, D.C., when there's a world crisis. What is the United States going to do? What is their government going to say?

And often, and many times, we don't really like what our government has to say. It doesn't seem to make sense sometimes. But the world looks to it. And we don't hear a message of peace coming from our government. We hear a message trying to get to peace, but the Bible says they don't know the way to peace. And whatever we try just doesn't seem to work the way it is, because other nations don't respect it, don't live by those same precepts. The world is just a very, very different place. But in this day, when people look to the capital city of Jerusalem from there, with a powerful king over all the earth, with the people that work there with him, there will be a common message go out of peace. This is the way to peace. This is the way to live. This is the way that have everything you always wanted. Satan will have been put away at this time. He will no longer be there to influence people. Christ's message will be there. It will go forth from Jerusalem, from a capital city, from a temple here, a temple complex that we'll see in a minute, that will capture the world, and people will flow to it. This is verse 4. We see a little bit of what will happen to the world. Verse 4. Everyone will sit under his vine and under his fig tree. No one will make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. There will be peace and there will be safety in this land. Now in Israel, the modern-day nation of Israel that's over there where Jerusalem is, I don't know how many people are sitting under their fig tree and thinking peace and safety and not worried about it and not worried about what's going to happen. Probably they're thinking about when is the next shoe going to drop? When is the next rocket going to fly over from Hamas? But not in that day, not in that day, when there's a righteous government on earth and all people and all nations are flowing to it. That's what the world has to look forward to. That's what you and I have to look forward to. That's what you and I have to look forward to because we're going to be a part of that if we learn and if we yield to God and if we allow him to build us into who he wants us to be in this day in life. And in this beautiful, beautiful context here of what we've seen, there is going to be a capital that the world will marvel at. Let's go back to Ezekiel. Ezekiel and look at what God says and what God revealed to Ezekiel about what that temple, that dwelling place of God will be like. Let's begin in chapter 39 of Ezekiel. And in verse 21. Chapter 39 of Ezekiel, verse 21. He says, God inspiring Ezekiel, he says, I will set my glory among the nations. All the nations shall see my judgment, which I have executed, and my hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the eternal their God from that day forward. The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity because they were unfaithful to me. Therefore I hid my face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.

In that day, when Jesus Christ returns, Israel, the lost tribes of Israel, who we know where they are today, they'll know God. Now remember when Ezekiel wrote this, the ancient nation of Israel had already gone into captivity. They had, a hundred-some years, 130 years before this, had already gone into captivity. So when he writes this, he's writing it for Israel.

They'll know, and the Gentiles will know, why God punished them. Answers will be, this is what happened. This is why things happened the way they did in this time before Jesus Christ. This is what led up to it. We didn't follow God. We rejected him. The Gentiles, verse 23, will know, therefore I hid my face from them. I gave them into the hands of their enemies, and they fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness, verse 24, and according to their transgressions, I have dealt with them and hidden my face from them. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and I'll have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name, after they have borne their shame and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to me, when they dwelt safely in their own land, and no one made them afraid.

Jesus Christ will bring back Israel to their promised lands. He will recall them from the captivity that they're in, from the devastation that they've experienced of people that have been absolutley, I'm sure, traumatized by what has gone on and what their actions have brought upon themselves, and He will bring them back to Israel. Verse 27, when I brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they will know that I am the eternal their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide my face from them anymore, for I shall have poured out my spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord God. In that day, they will understand. In that day, they will have the same spirit that God has given you and me. In that day, they will recognize their sins and their faults and what they've done and how they departed from God. And they will recognize Him, and they will follow Him. Chapter 40, Ezekiel now writing, it says, in the 25th year of our activity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the 14th year, after the city was captured, on the very same day, the hand of the eternal was upon me. And He took me there. In the visions of God, He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain. On it toward the south was something like the structure of a city. So you can see where Ezekiel was, as he's looking out over this vision that God has given him, he sees a city, something like a city off into the distance. He took me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway. And the man said to me, Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and fix your mind on everything I show you, for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see. Now there was a wall around the outside of the temple. What he's seeing off in the distance as he sees this city, in the man's hand was a measuring rod six cubits long, each being a cubit and a hand breath. And he measured the width of the wall structure, one rod, and the height, one rod. And then it goes on to describe in the next eight chapters this city that he saw, this complex that God gave Ezekiel the vision of.

And it's a beautiful city. It astonished him, it amazed him at the majesty it had and how different it looked. It was a place that had all sorts of things in it. It was the temple of God, and if you look here at the Hebrew, you see that house is really where you see temple in Ezekiel. It really should be translated house, but we'll use the word temple here today because it is the city of God that he's looking at, that Jesus Christ that will be erected at the time when he is king of earth. The place that all nations will flow to, established there where the government will be, where the laws will go forth, where justice will go forth. A place that amazed them, and a place that had all sorts of things in it. It had outer courts and inner courts, chambers. The centerpiece of it was 25 stories high. It had a thick wall all around it. It was an enormous place. It had windows, it had arches, it had six gates, it had kitchens, and it had altars where sacrifices were going to be made and offerings were going to be made. It had engravings of palm trees, pomegranates. The detail that's in Ezekiel 40 to 48 that describes what this place and what this city looks like shows that a lot of people can be there. It was bigger than the old temple, and it had a lot of features in it, which we don't have the time to go through all of them today, but it certainly is worth reading through Ezekiel 40 through 48 and see the detail that God had put in there, and why many people are just fascinated with the architecture and the physical presence of this city that God will prepare, and that will be there during the millennium from which justice and which the law and which Jesus Christ, where He will be at the seat of government of the world that is coming tomorrow. Let's look at Ezekiel 41 here. One of the things, verse 13 of Ezekiel 41.

Just talking about one of the gateways and chambers there, just so you can see the dimensions that are in here. So, then He measured the gateway from the roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the other.

The width was 25 cubits, His door faces door. This is where I want to be.

He has Ezekiel 41.

Oh, I'm in the wrong chapter, that's right. Ezekiel 4, I thought that doesn't sound like where I wanted to be. Ezekiel 41, verse 13. So He measured the temple 100 cubits long, and the separating courtyard with the building in its wall was 100 cubits long. Also, the width of the eastern face of the temple, including the separating courtyard, was 100 cubits. And as you read through, and the dimensions that are there, the measurements that are there, you see that there's perfect symmetry in what God has done. This area, which is just part of the temple, as people have put together all the statistics or logistics of this temple, they talk about it being covering, you know, an area that can encompass 280 houses, typical size houses that we would have today.

A very large area, and that's just in the common space. But it's perfectly square. It's a perfect square, not just 100 by 100 by 100, as it says here, but as you look at the whole complex, it is. A magnificent structure that would catch the eye. Now, I want to show you a couple pictures just before we go on here. First one I want to show you is, this is an artist's rendering of Solomon's Temple. You've seen this temple before. You notice the structures that are there. You see the wall. You see the Holy of Holies, the inner court, and the outer court's there.

It's a large complex. The Jews believe that this is on the Temple Mount. Remember, a few weeks ago, we put up a slide that showed the Temple Mount today with the Al-Aq, Samask, and the Dome of the Rock, that that's where this, there, it's where this temple sat. And the second temple as well. Now, let me show you an architect's rendering of what the Millennial Temple would be.

I hope that comes out clear. You can see, just in the width that it is, it's a much bigger complex, where the walls of the temple, the old temple, were there. And the walls in this temple, as you read through the descriptions in Ezekiel, you'll see that there are chambers in those walls. And I don't know that the architect got it all right, because as you read, in fact, let's read here in Ezekiel 40, Ezekiel 41, verse 6, verse 5.

Here, and here he's talking about the walls here of the temple. And you can kind of see, as you look at the walls, that there's little, there's little rooms, chambers around built in front of those walls. It says next in verse, chapter 41, verse 5, he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits. The width of each side chamber all around the temple was four cubits on every side. The side chambers were in three stories. So as you see that wall, and you see those chambers, they were in three stories, not just one room like it looks in that picture like it would be.

But that was the best picture I could find of what someone had rendered. The side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, 30 chambers in each story. They rested on ledges, which were for the side chambers all around, that they might be supported but not fastened to the wall of the temple.

As one went up from story to story, the side chambers became wider all around, because their supporting ledges in the wall of the temple ascended like steps. Therefore, the width of the structure increased as one went up from the lower story to the higher by way of the middle one. So, and there's an elevation that it talks about in here. So, this is a good idea of what a what kind of a city it would look like.

It may not be theoretically correct in every detail that's here in Ezekiel. But what is being built or what will happen in Ezekiel 40 when Christ is there is you have what Ezekiel saw a city, a city, not just the temple, but a city surrounded by very thick walls. That'll be the seat of the government.

And there are many rooms in this city, and there are many places in this city. Some of the things that the new temple doesn't have that Solomon's temple did. It doesn't have a table of showbread. It's not mentioned in Ezekiel 40. Doesn't have an altar of incense. There's no veil mentioned between as an entrance into the Holy of Holies. The Ark of the Covenant isn't there, and there's no separate court of women or Gentiles. The outer courts everyone can come into. Not a separate place for women and another not another place for Gentiles. Now with Christ on earth and his government, you can spend some time thinking about why those things might not be there, and you would you would come up with the answers. You have Jesus Christ as king of kings. He's the one who's running the government. This is a seat of government to which all nations will flow.

Let's read a few verses here in Ezekiel 43, because God does glorify this place. Chapter 43 and verse 1. Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east.

And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east.

His voice was like the sounds of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city.

The visions were like the vision which I saw by the river Kbar, and I fell on my face. I remember he's talking about the vision in Ezekiel 1 of the throne of God. If you haven't read that for a while, it's a good thing to go back and read, as Ezekiel describes in detail what the throne of God as in his words was like. Verse 4. The glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court. And behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Then I heard him speaking to me from the temple while a man stood beside me. And he said to me, Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the souls of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever.

No more shall the house of Israel defile my holy name, they nor their kings, by their hyrulatry, or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. When they set their threshold by my threshold, and their doorpost by my doorpost, with the wall between them and me, they defiled my holy name by the abominations which were committed. Therefore I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put their hyrulatry and the carcasses of their kings far away from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. Again we learn, if you're going to have God dwell among you, you must put away your way. You must put away the way of evil. You must put away that's in contrast to his way. Son of man, verse 10, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities, and let them measure the pattern.

Remember those words. Let them measure the pattern. Does God want us to memorize everything that's in Ezekiel 40-48? Does he want us to memorize how wide the chambers were, how high each story was? Do we have to know exactly how big a cube it was? Because if you go on the internet you can find three different viable ideas of how big? No. He's saying, there's a pattern in these temples. There's a pattern where I dwell. There's a pattern, as we study God's dwelling place, where he's telling us something about him and something about how to dwell with him. The buildings are beautiful. Solomon's temple was beautiful. This place is beautiful.

But it's not just the beauty of a building that God is looking for, is it? He's looking for what we do with our lives, and he wants us to learn how to live with him and have him live with man forever. Verse 11, if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ordinances, all its form and all its laws. If they show an attitude of repentance, if they want to know me, then reveal this to them. Ezekiel, let them see the pattern. Write it down in their sight so they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances and perform them.

This is the law of the temple. The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy.

Behold, this is the law of the temple. A temple that God wants us to learn the pattern of, because he's dwelt with man several times in these temples. And each time, as we learn something about where God dwells with man, we should learn something about him, and we should learn something about us. Now, this temple complex is very large. That's one of the notable differences. It's not Solomon's temple. As you go back and you look at it, it's not the same temple that Solomon built that God directed. It's much larger. In fact, it couldn't fit on the temple mount as we know it today. If someone was going to set out to build this to the exact dimensions that God has said, the architects say it couldn't be done. The temple mount's not big enough.

Well, we know that as we look at where this temple will be, it talks about in Zion, not Mount Moriah. The other two temples were there. But remember, before Christ returns, there's going to be changes in the earth. There's going to be a different landscape as a result of all the tumult and everything that the world has gone through, and Jesus Christ returning to earth.

Let's look over at chapter 44, verse 1. Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces toward the east.

But notice this gate was shut. And the eternal said to me, this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter it, because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it. Therefore, it shall be shut. As for the prince, because he's the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He will enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and he'll go out the same way.

Also, he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. So I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell on my face. And God said to me, Son of man, Mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you, concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. Mark well, who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary.

Telling words, aren't they? Mark well, son of man, Mark well, those who will enter. Mark well, those who know the laws of the house of the Lord. Mark well, those who may enter, and Mark well, those who may be in the sanctuary. Mark them well. Know it. And then in verse 6, he begins talking to the rebellious, and what will befall them who will not be in that place of habitation where God is.

A lot we can learn from the temples of God, a lot we can learn as we look through these eight chapters of Ezekiel, not all of which we can talk about today, but it would be a good Bible study to go home and look at some of these chapters and read through there and see the things that are written there that aren't just talking about how this should be built and how this should be built, because through these chapters you find some things about you and me, some things about the temple of God. You will learn some of the pattern of God that he says we must know if we're going to be part of what he has. Let's look at... there's three I'm going to talk about today.

But before I go there, let me... I see a verse I want to go through before I go there. Let's look at Ezekiel 46 and verse 9. I'll give you an example. I'm not going to dwell on this one. I'll let you go home and you can think about this. One of the laws of the temple there. Early on in chapter 46, it says, the gates will be open. On the Sabbath day, here in verse 9, it talks about the feast days and the holy days. Verse 9, when the people of land come before the Lord on the appointed feast days, whoever enters by way of the North Gate to worship shall go out by way of the South Gate.

And whoever enters by way of the South Gate shall go out by the way of the North Gate. He shall not return by way of the gate through which he came, but shall go out through the opposite gate. Now you can think about that. Why would God say, you don't come in the same way you went out. You go through the temple. You go through and you exit the opposite way. The prince shall then be in it in their midst. When they go in, he shall go in. When they go out, he shall go out. At the festivals and the appointed feast days, then he talks about the grain offering.

It's one of the things that God says in there that we can think about. What is it that he's trying to teach us? What is it in this temple that will be there in the millennium that he wants us to know?

You know, Christ talked about the temple. He referenced it as he was on earth. We talked earlier about the chambers. Remember the chambers around the walls in the temple up there? Three stories high. They were kind of staggered there. Many rooms to be filled there.

Priests will live there. There's another place that talks about the kitchens that will be in the in the temple where the sacrifices will be boiled. There's gateways. There's ways. There are all sorts of places for people to work in the temple or in that complex, that city of the Lord.

Let's go over to John 14. John 14.

Christ speaking to his disciples before he was arrested, but after that last Passover, he spoke on earth. That last Passover he kept on earth. John 14, verse 1, he says, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, but leave also in me.

In my Father's house are many mansions. In my Father's house are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also.

And where I go, you know. And the way you know.

In my Father's house, there's a lot of offices to be filled. There's a lot of chambers and rooms that need people to serve in that temple. There's a lot of places for people to be that God is looking for people to fill those positions. People who will be part of the firstfruits of spirit beings, but he knows his Father's house and he knows that it has many positions.

Many people are called to fill those positions, but as you heard in the sermonette, many have excuses. Not now. I'm too busy now. I've got this to finish before I can take up that cause and follow you. We can't have any excuses. This is the calling, if I can use, this is the calling of a lifetime. There is nothing in life that will ever compare. Nothing that the world can offer you. Absolutely nothing that can compare to the calling that God has given you. Nothing.

Young people? Nothing. No allure. Nothing compares to what God has given you. Eternity, future, preparation to be part of what he has prepared for eternity. None of us should take lightly. None of us should forsake it. None of us should put it in second place. It should always be in first place if we really understood and if we really appreciated the magnitude of what he has called us to.

Christ says, in my father's house there are many mansions. I'm going and if I, when I go, I'm going to return again and I'll prepare a place for you and receive you to myself.

That where I am, there you may be also. And where I go, you know. And the way you know. We know the way, don't we? We know the way. We know what to do. But we have to make those choices day in and day out to do it. We have to make those choices to be who God wants us to be.

So Christ spoke of, alluded to that, many rooms in his father's house. A physical temple, but we also can look at some of the spiritual principles or the spiritual aspects of these things as well. Let's look at another one that is pretty well known. Ezekiel 40.

Ezekiel 40. With any notable structure, we see this element built into it. Certainly in Solomon's temple, it was quite prominent in that structure. Ezekiel 40 and verse 49.

The length of the vestibule, he's talking about the cord, he's talking about the doorposts, the things that you see there, leading up to the temple area that led into that area that had the 25-story building. The length of the vestibule was 20 cubits and the width 11 cubits. And by the steps which led up to it, there were pillars by the doorposts. One on this side and another on that side. Pillars. Every great building has pillars, don't they? I mean, the White House has pillars. I mean, they're kind of fascinating. When you see a house or see something with pillars, you just think, ah, the building is solid, the building is strong. It's being held up by those pillars. Even the temple. Remember the temple of the Philistines. When Samson, he leaned against those pillars we got, it gave him the strength. And when he pushed those pillars aside, the whole structure came crashing down. Pillars. Solomon's temple well-seen. If we had the picture back up there again, you would see at the entrance to that holy place that's in the courts, you would see the pillars that were there. Let's go back to 1 Kings 7, verse 21. In Solomon's temple, those pillars were also mentioned and highlighted. 721. 1 Kings 7, 21. Then he set up the pillars by the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the right, and he called its name, Jacob. And he set up the pillar on the left and called its name, Boaz. He named those pillars. Isn't that interesting? Jacob and Boaz. We might name our homes, we might name our cars, we might name a lot of things. It never occurred to me to name any pillars. I don't know that I ever lived in a house with pillars, but to name the pillars. But what Solomon did, Jacob and Boaz, Jacob and Boaz means stability and strength. Stability and strength.

And that's why Solomon named them that. Stability and strength. That's what those pillars provide in a structure. Let's turn over to Revelation 3. Revelation 3.

Christ walking among the seven churches in chapter 3. Verse 12, he says this.

And of course we know that when God identifies weaknesses and strengths, those are things that we need to be aware of, regardless of what church he's writing it to. But in verse 12, to all the churches he has a he who overcomes, but here in verse 12 of chapter 3 it says, he who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. To Jacob, of Boaz, those prominent features that we look at and that we see and we're impressed with the building and the beauty of it. Now we know we say that about people all the time, don't we? They're pillars in the community. They're pillars in the church.

They're pillars in the family. And when we lose one of them, if one dies, it's like, ah, some of the strength, some of the stability of this family is gone. Some of the strength, some of the stability that made this structure or this church or the community or whatever these pillars are, it's notable. It's a compliment to be called a pillar. We should all be looking to be pillars. And if we let God lead us, if we let God direct us, we will be pillars. To he who overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Christ said, I'll make him a pillar. Now we know we can't overcome. We can't even overcome ourselves by ourselves. If we rely on our own strength, we will never be there. The only way we overcome is by yielding to God, giving him ourselves, yielding to him, allowing him to live in us, change us, grow us, and allowing his Holy Spirit to permeate every cell of our body. Over the course of a life, we overcome. And he says, you'll be pillars. You're pillars in a temple, just like the temple we're looking at, the millennial temple. Let me read what the Barnes commentary says about this section. He says, the promised reward of faithfulness here is that he who overcame would be honored as if he were a pillar or column in the temple of God. Such a pillar or column was partly for ornament, partly for support. Now what he's saying here is that, you know, pillars are beautiful, right? We look at them, we know they provide support, that we know they provide stability, but they're pretty to look at, aren't they? They really make a building attractive. You know what? We're attractive to God.

How? By the clothes that we wear? No. Not by the outer dormant, but by what is in our heart, what's in our mind, what it is that we allow him to develop. It's that inner beauty that he's looking at. And that when that inner beauty is there, their strength and stability, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Barnes says, such a pillar or column was partly for ornament, partly for support. And the idea here is that in that temple, he would contribute to his beauty and the justness of his proportions, and would see this, and at the same time be honored as if he were a pillar, which was necessary for the support of the temple. A notable thing to have said of us.

Now, I'll just finish the thought here in Revelation 3 verse 12, because that's not the only thing he says. He says, he who overcomes, I'll make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more. He'll dwell in that temple forever.

The only people that can dwell in the temple of God forever are the ones who abide by its laws, the ones who learn the pattern, the ones who understand what God is doing. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write on him my new name. I will write on him my new name.

He will be my son. He will be one of me. When people see him, they will know what to expect, just like they know what to expect of God. Now, all we think of God, because he's working with us so that we become like him over the course of our lifetime.

Let's go back and look at one more. Ezekiel 47. This happens to be my favorite part. Always warms when I read Ezekiel 47 and this feature of the temple, of the temple complex, the city of God. Ezekiel 47, verse 1, another notable feature of that temple, that place where on which the law of God will emanate and justice will go forth. Ezekiel 47, verse 1, He brought me back to the door of the temple, and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east. The water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east. And there was water running out on the right side. And when the man went out to the east with his line in his hand, he measured 1,000 cubits, and he brought me through the waters. The water came up to my ankles. Again, he measured 1,000 and brought me through the waters. The waters came up to my knees. Again, he measured 1,000 and brought me through.

The water came up to my waist. Again, he measured 1,000, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed.

He said to me, Son of Man, have you seen this? And he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. When I returned, there along the bank of the river were very many trees on one side or the other. And he said to me, this water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed, and it shall be that every living thing that moves wherever the rivers go will live. What a beautiful picture. What a beautiful thought. What a beautiful thing God has built into that. These waters go out. The law goes out. Justice goes out. Healing waters go out from that temple, from that house of God, from that city of God. Everywhere those waters go, it's life. A world that has been parched, a world that has been desolate, a world that has been absolutely devastated by what has gone on before. Healing will come from the waters of Jesus Christ, from the waters that emanate from this temple. When you read Isaiah 35 about the deserts that bloom and the parched desert that sings, waters touch it. Of course, the Infrancier is the Dead Sea, which is close to Jerusalem when these healing waters touch it. It comes to life again. Fish live in it again where no fish live in it today. All these things, life comes from the temple. Life comes from God. In Deuteronomy 30 verse 19, God said to Israel, I said before you this day, life and death, blessing and cursing, choose life. Choose Him because that's the only place that life comes from and the only place that life comes from we see in the temple. The waters that flow out the waters that heal the land, the waters that heal the people, the waters that will spiritually heal the people when we understand the significance of that as well. Back in John 7, Christ spoke of these living waters as well. Let's go back there and look what He said. John 37, it's a verse you probably hear every year at the Feast of Tabernacles on the seventh day of the feast.

John 7 verse 37.

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Out of his heart will flow these rivers that will heal. And I could, let me give you a few verses. I'm not going to take the time to turn to them right now. You can write down Isaiah 55 verses 10 and 11. Isaiah 58 verses 11 and 12. The talk about the water and the symbolism of it in the Bible. We know the water represents the Holy Spirit. And when Jesus Christ is talking here today or here in verse 37, He talks about these healing waters, that whoever drinks of it, well, that's going to be the next verse, will live forever. But you know the Holy Spirit, when we anoint someone, we anoint them with oil, representing God's Spirit, and we ask God to heal. It's an important part of the faith we have. But, you know, the spiritual healing is something we all need from the day that we're called until the day we die. And that Holy Spirit continually cleanses us, continually purges us, continually heals us as we allow it to go through our body, as we allow it to permeate our minds and our hearts.

The spiritual healing comes from God's Holy Spirit, the spiritual healing of those waters. Let's go back to John 4, just a few chapters back. Christ speaking to the woman at the well here in this chapter, and she doesn't know what he's talking about, but he knows what he's thinking about. He's thinking of the spiritual aspects, and he's likely thinking about the complex and the millennium that will be there, too, or the land and everything that the water touches will be healed. John 4, verse 13, Jesus answered and said to her, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again.

But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

And of course, she rightly replies, then give me that.

The water that leads to life, the water that satisfies, the water that fills up, the water that settles us, the water that makes our life worth living, gives us purpose, gives us meaning, and gives us the strength to go through the things that God brings us through so that he may strengthen us, develop us, prepare us for whatever chamber, whatever office, whatever position he wants us to have in the kingdom. There's a lot. There's a lot in the temple. There's a lot other places in those eight chapters that you can see some of the pattern of what God has done. As we think back over the dwelling places of God and what we have talked about, I hope you see some of the pattern. The temples were not just architectural edifices that God put up there for people to come to him through. There were things that we were supposed to learn along the way. There's a pattern that began in Eden that will extend right through the end of time of us learning him, of what it is for him to dwell with us and us to dwell with him, and what that means and what eternity is and what excitement that should bring to us. Well, that's the sixth temple, but we know that the end of the physical earth, when God's plan for mankind is done. When everyone has been resurrected and everyone has had a chance to choose God or reject him, and sadly many will reject God and burn in the lake of fire, but many, many will receive eternal life and will be with him for eternity. There's yet one more dwelling place the Bible speaks of. Let's go back to Revelation 21 and see that. And I'm just going to read through many of these verses. I don't think I need to necessarily elaborate on what God has said because the verses are beautifully written. And as we go through these, think about some of the things that we've talked about. See how the pattern of God, from the Garden of Eden when he created God, right through the Tabernacle, through Solomon's Temple, through the second temple, through God working in us, which he is doing today. This is the temple. You are the temple. We are the temple that he is building today. And that millennial temple, the same concepts that are here in the temple that will last forever when God dwells among men. Chapter 21 of Revelation, verse 1.

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then he, who sat on the throne, said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Then one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came to me and talked with me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square. Its length is as great as its breadth, and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of man that is of an angel. And then he goes and describes some of those things. Let's drop down to verse 22. But I saw no temple. I saw no building. I saw no temple in it. For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light, and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

Its gates shall not be shut at all by day. There shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. chapter 22. And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there, they need no lamp, nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.

verse 12. And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to His work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Blessed are they who do the law of the temple. Blessed are they who understand the pattern that God has called us to learn, the pattern of repentance, turning to Him, being led by His Holy Spirit, communicating with Him, always pointing to His return, and to what God has in mind for us, and not allowing ourselves to be caught up in the here and now.

Behold, He says He's coming quickly. Only He knows when that time is.

You heard in the sermon, don't start too late. Don't start too late, remember that?

Be ready. Be ready and make sure you're ready to enter into the gates of that city when the time comes.