The Temple NOT made by Hands
"Alan Mc Savage"
Many years ago, more than I want to admit to at this present time I received a word from the Lord in respect to the restoration of the Tabernacle of David, also the building of the final great Temple that the Lord was to manifest Himself in, and through, to all mankind.
Hag 1:2-9
2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'This people says, "The time has not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt."'" 3 Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?" 5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, " Consider your ways! 6 "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes."
7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, " Consider your ways! 8 "Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says the LORD. 9 "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.
At that time I was working with a group in a small town in Ontario Canada and we took from those words that the Lord wanted us to build at least a two thousand seat auditorium and establish a church.
Hag 2:3-9
'Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison? 4'But now take courage, Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD, 'take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,' declares the LORD, 'and work; for I am with you,' declares the LORD of hosts. 5'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!' 6 "For thus says the LORD of hosts, ' Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 7'I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of hosts. 8'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of hosts. 9'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the LORD of hosts."
From these words we went to the Local museum and looked up in the archives that the town we worked in had formally had a large temple that had anywhere up to 3,500 seats and people used to come from far and wide to worship there.
To clarify this we went to Tulsa Oklahoma where we just KNEW we would find the answers. We went to Oral Roberts University and went directly to the Prayer Tower and looked in awe at the beautiful buildings all around us especially Christ’s Chapel where 3.500 people can be seated in the main sanctuary.
Of course to our very impressionable minds, THIS WAS WHAT THE LORD HAD BEEN TALKING ABOUT! And wanted for the little town we labored in.
. Boy, what a mistake that was and how we had been caught up in a Charismatic fool’s errand.
One thing led to another and we proceded to build up a ministry with the view in mind of eventualy building this great big temple.
We went from one building to another and eventualy wound up on Beach Blvd in Hamilton Ontario.
All told we went through about 400 thousand Dollars in about five years and finally through frustration more than anything else, also my impending open heart surgery, gave the whole thing over to a young church that had come into town. The reason being that most of our people had left us to go to this church as "they were more spiritual than us."
I know now that the vision the Lord had given to me was of the building up of the Temple not made with hands, the body of Christ with the Lord Jesus as the head thereof.
RESURRECTION LIFE
There shall arise a group of overcomers who shall appropriate even here and now their heritage of Resurrection Life in Jesus Christ. God has placed His only Begotten at His own right hand in the heavenlies, until all his enemies have been placed under His feet. (Ps. 110:1; 1 Cor. 15:25,26.) There He shall remain, in obedience to the Word of the Father, until there arises a people who shall go in and possess their heritage in the Spirit, and conquer over all opposing forces of World, Flesh, and All Evil Illusion.
We are speaking of the saints reaching out and appropriating even here and now in their earthly temples the very Life of Christ,
of entering into their heritage in the Spirit,
of participating in the Melchizedek priesthood and kingdom,
and of living the very spotless, immaculate life of the Son of God Himself in virtue of His abiding presence within.
Let us remember that God is bound by His word and His oath, but He is not bound by the dispensations, by general historical procedure, nor yet by the notions of men. "It is appointed unto men once to die . . .," that is quite true; but even though death is quite general God was free to reach down and translate Enoch "that he should not see death" when this holy man believed for it. (Heb. 11:5.)
Nor did it prevent God from catching Elijah up into heaven in a whirlwind, when He chose to do so. (2 Kgs. 2:11.)
Nor could it prevent the Lord from extending the life of John the Beloved for two thousand years, if He chose to do so.
It was neither Peter's business, nor ours, nor was it contrary to God's Word, if the Lord wanted it that way. (Jn. 21:22.)
Jesus has promised that He would raise up "at the last day" all those who would believe on His Name. (Jn. 6:40.)
There is no question about that.
But that did not stop Him from resurrecting Lazarus, even during His earthly ministry. (Jn. 11:44.)
Nor did it prevent Moses from rising from the dead as he must have done according to Jude 9
Neither did it prevent the tombs from bursting open when Christ died on the Cross, and the bodies of the saints arising and coming into the city and appearing unto many. (Matt. 27:52,53.)
God is perfectly free to raise whom He will any time He chooses; to impart Divine Life to whomsoever he will, whenever one shall believe for it; and to translate any one that has the faith for it.
Let us not argue with the owner of the House; is He not free to do as He will with His own?
If we have bargained with God for a resurrection at the last Day: are we going to have an evil eye if God in mercy and love imparts His resurrection life to some before the last day?
The Resurrection and the Life is not a mere historic event, to take place in the distant future,--but the Resurrection and the Life is a Person, even the Lord Jesus Christ who dwells in our hearts. How He cried out over Mary and Martha at the tomb of Lazarus, and as He sought to inspire faith in their hearts to believe in Him. But they would insist, like the vast majority of Christians today, in believing facts about Him and about God, instead of believing in Him. "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection . . . I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God....."
But all the time Jesus was wanting them to believe that He was the I Am, the answer to their immediate need.
A historical resurrection? Of course, they would believe in that.
Christ, the Messiah? Why of course, they would believe that.
But this kind of faith is not sufficient to bring one into the fullness of sonship, and to a real genuine appropriation of Divine Life here and now.
They confessed their faith in the fact that Lazarus would rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
But Jesus replied, "I am the Resurrection, and the Life . . ."
Resurrection and Life, then, are not merely the attributes of the resurrection, and events which are to take place in the future. But the Resurrection and the Life are held out to the Sons of God even here and now.
"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live . . ." That was the case of Lazarus, was it not?
And did he not live again, because he died believing in Christ?
And then the Lord continues, "And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (Jn. 11:25,26.)
It is certain we DO NOT believe it.
Oh yes, we might believe it theoretically but not one of us has believed it experientially,
or Divine Life would be surging through our beings.
But the promise is there nevertheless, even though we all disbelieve it. "Let God be true and every man a liar."
By faith all things are and shall be possible.
The very dispensations themselves are but weak barriers and obstacles if men of faith are enabled by the Spirit to reach out and leap beyond them.
Enoch did it.
So did Elijah.
And so shall the Sons of God.
The Word of faith shall grip their hearts, and they shall reach out and appropriate the Resurrection and the Life even now in this life.
If they do not, Christ never will return to earth.
For God has surely said, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." (Ps. 110:1.) And the last enemy is Death!
THE COMING OF THE LORD
There has been a general misunderstanding of the Word of God throughout Christendom concerning the truth of the coming of the Lord; for it is clear as we consider all the Scriptures on the subject, that the Lord's coming is a spiritual visitation in the midst of His people, as well as a literal and bodily visitation.
The word commonly translated "coming" in the New Testament is "parousia," which signifies "presence," or "a being alongside." It is therefore used of the coming of men in the flesh, as well as of the coming of Christ.
That the word signifies "presence" more than the act of one's arrival, is evident from 2 Pet. 1:16.17. In this passage Peter describes the glorious visitation of God on the mount of transfiguration as the "coming," the "parousia," the "presence" of Christ.
Now Christ had already come in the flesh; the four men had walked together up the mountain; but here was a "coming" of the Lord not previously known.
And so he says, "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Notice how the apostle associates the power and coming of Christ with the glory of God that appeared in the hour of Christ's transfiguration.
In fact, the Lord Himself explains that this visitation of the Glory was in reality, the very Kingdom of God.
In each of the three accounts where the scene is recorded the story is preceded with the remark: "But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Kingdom of God." (Lk. 9:27.)
Matthew describes it as "the Son of man coming in his kingdom." (Matt. 16:28.) Mark refers to it as "the kingdom of God come with power." (Mk. 9:1.)
and Peter combines the two statements in the words, "The power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
My Beloved Friends
Have you experienced this appearing, have you felt His Presence, have you experienced His Divine Life surging through your bodies as you laid hands on a saint of God who was expecting for something to happen.
Well I have, and there is nothing on this earth that can compare with the Glory of His Presence - In His Temple Not Made With Hands -
Zech. 4:6
"Not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts."
Alan
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