Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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From a sermon by Preacher Clark at Grandma’s house, October 4, 1970.
From Gary Savelli’s Reel 11, CD 33, Track 11
I love simple truth that cannot be questioned or denied, truth that is so simple that it is overlooked in the flesh’s vain search for “deep” things. In his sermon, Preacher Clark mentioned this kind of simple truth. He said, almost in passing, that “The temple of God is where the holy Ghost is.” When I heard that, I began to realize that the temple of God is not just where the holy Ghost is today but that the temple of God has always and only been where the holy Ghost is.
First of all, the temple of God is God’s own spiritual body in heaven because the holy Ghost is the Spirit that is in Him. Secondly, He chose to put His presence, by the holy Spirit, on the tabernacle Moses built in the wilderness, and it became the tabernacle of God. The moment that this was done is recorded in Exodus 40:34-35: “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”
Then, the Lord chose to fill Solomon’s temple with his presence, and when the Spirit of God moved in and sanctified that building, “the glory of the Lord filled the house, and the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house” (2Chron. 7:1b-2).
The temple of the Lord has always and only been where the holy Spirit of God is. It has been that way forever, and it will always be that way. I love that truth because it is simple, and to take in such simple truth makes one wise. To have such little nuggets of wisdom in our hearts prepares us to receive God’s next word for us, and they help protect us from the errors of men who say they are sent from God but are not.
Failing to understand this very simple truth, Christian prophecy teachers read in 2Thessalonians 2:4 that the “man of sin” (“the antichrist”) will be sitting in the temple of God, and based on that verse, they teach that the antichrist will take over a religious building in Jerusalem and reign from there. But even if the Jews, or the antichrist, were to build another temple in Jerusalem, it could not possibly ever be the temple of God unless God moved into it with His presence. Part of the revelation that came with the New Testament of Jesus Christ is that God “dwelleth not in temples made by hands”. Remember the simple truth from Preacher Clark? The only temple of God that exists is where the holy Ghost is!
The “man of sin” is the unclean spirit of Christianity that sits in the temple of God right now, not the temple of God in heaven, but the temple of God on earth – His people! And the starting point for understanding that “mystery of iniquity”, as Paul called it, is to understand that in all eternity, the only place that there has ever been a temple of God is where the holy Ghost has dwelt.