There is another symbol in Scripture for the bride, we have already talked about it some, and that’s the Temple.  Ephesians 2:19-22 says, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”(NIV) 

Jesus is our chief cornerstone, that first stone, the main stone, without that stone there would be no foundation.  The temple raising up off the chief cornerstone and the foundation of the apostles and prophets. 

How many temples is He making?  One.  Only One.  Not the Baptist Temple, not the Methodist Temple, Not the Presbyterian or Luthern Temple or the Church of Christ Temple or the Catholic Temple or the Messianic Temple, I don’t care what you call it, there’s just one.  One Temple and that is all.

I Peter 2:4-10 states, “As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him– you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  For in Scripture it says:  “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”  Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”  They stumble because they disobey the message–which is also what they were destined for.  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”(NIV)

We have received mercy, but when we argue with our brothers and sisters in Christ, even over doctrine we are not giving them mercy.  We are a precious, precious Temple to Him.  In Solomon’s Temple there were walls, doors, courtyard, and pillars, yet only one Temple.  If we were to pull out a pillar and let it stand by itself it could not be the Temple, instead we would call that a ruin.  We need each other.  We have to have each other because we are one Temple and we must all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God.

Here is my next question.  Do you believe the time is coming near for our husband, our bridegroom to return for His bride?  Do you believe that?  We are built on the cornerstone and foundation and if He is about to come that means He is about to put in the final piece.  He is the final piece.  He is not only the cornerstone, but also the capstone.  The capstone was the final piece that held the arch in place.  He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.  So if we are close to being done shouldn’t it be obvious as to what we are?  Shouldn’t it be more and more obvious as to what we are? Or are we still a wall over here and a pillar over there and you can’t really tell what it is yet?  But if we are getting close to being done shouldn’t it be obvious as to what we are?

Let’s go back to I Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-23 where is says,  “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.  By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.  But each one should be careful how he builds.  For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ…  Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?  If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.  Do not deceive yourselves.  If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written:  “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”  So then, no more boasting about men!  All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future–all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.”(NIV) 

From God the Father, to God the Son, to His precious Bride.  All are yours. 

I think we are seeing some improvement in the body of Christ in the sense that we don’t mind getting together with other believers from other denominations as much as we did 30, 40, or 50 years ago.  We are also seeing more and more Jews believing in Messiah and therefore more believers are coming to understand the Jewish Roots of the faith.  But there is still need for improvement, isn’t there?  We have come far, but we must keep pressing on. 

In II Corinthians 6:16b Paul says, “For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”(NIV)  He so desires to be our God and for us to be His people, for us to be able to walk hand and hand with His beloved Son.  However, we can’t do that if we don’t even take the hand of one another, across whatever lines you want to draw within orthodoxy.  We must realize that all are ours. 

You see my Methodist sisters, you’re my sisters.  My Presbyterian sisters, you’re my sisters.  My Lutheran sisters, you’re my sisters.  My Catholic sisters, you’re my sisters. My Messianic sisters, you’re my sisters.  We are supposed to be one together.  Even in thought.  Isn’t that what Paul says in verse one of I Corinthians?  “Perfectly united in mind and thought.”(NIV) Hard words to hear since we have become so divided and comfortable in that division. Again, we have come a long way, but still have a long way to go.

But let’s face it we have to have walls, we have to have pillars. Each part has to do it’s work. I did not come to Christ in the Southern Baptist Convention. God brought me into this convention to use me where He wants me in the time He wants me here.  Period.  Nothing else matters except living the life He has called me to live.  Living the life He has called each and every one of us to live.  This is our period of sanctification when we must completely set ourselves apart. 

I have another question for you.  What is the single most said complaint by people outside the church about the church?  Too many hypocrites in the church, I don’t want to go there. They’re no different from me.  What do they have that I don’t?  That’s what they see, isn’t it?  Because unfortunately, we talk the oneness talk, but we don’t live the oneness life.  Yet our unity would speak volumes to the world that is lost apart from our beloved Bridegroom. 

Our next post will be about how we become one.  It really isn’t as hard as our minds try to make it.  Remember we are not to think and act as mere men, but as His Bride!  In the mean time, let’s be more mindful of building up each others walls as part of the one temple rather than tearing them down.

Your Sister in Messiah,

Vicky