There seems to be so much emphasis on a church building and monuments that are made to the Lord. We do not want to slight this fully for the Old Testament is replete with altars, monuments, twelve stones, bethel's, temples and sanctuaries. But we must also understand that in the New Covenant God is desiring to dwell with His people where ever they gather. So the building or even no building if they meet under a tree. What matters to the Lord is the hearts who are His who make together the Church.
As the Scriptures say in 1 Peter 2:5 - "You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
Brian Long shares his heart passionately on this subject, and is including in the upcoming Principles Book, here is an excerpt of the message:
"Displaying and seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus. We beheld His glory. Our Lord went to the cross, died on the cross for our sins, was raised again on the third day, ascended into heaven and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father. That temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. Not one stone found left on top of another. I still hear the Spirit of the Lord ‘Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you build for Me? Where is the place of My rest?’ God longing to visit His people. Where is the place once again where God will display His glory? Habakkuk said ‘I see the Lord in His holy temple, all the earth be silent’ and through that holy temple the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth even as the waters cover the sea. But where is that temple? Stephen said in Acts 7 ‘the Most High no longer dwells in temples made with human hands.’ Where is that temple? The answer is given by the Apostle Paul:
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”775
The prophet says ‘I see the Lord in His holy temple’ and the Apostle Paul says ‘yes, the temple of God is holy and which temple you are.’ You see it, brothers and sisters, that’s the vision. The vision of God’s coming glory is the coming of the greatest display of the glory of God ever in the history of the world. I want to tell you that this is the Church’s finest hour. I believe it with all of my heart. We are living in incredible days. God almighty wanting to display His glory once again to such a degree: that glory will be greater than the former glory. It has to be if the knowledge of it will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. He wants to do it where? Through His Church, through His body, through His temple which is us.
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Footnotes:
775 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
May we be part of a gathering in a local area where the Lord can manifest His glory in the midst. May the Son of God be honoured as we gather towards Him.
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“Christianity was birthed in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and will only continue as we have this empowering from above. God is always looking for the willing vessels that will trust Him afresh for the impossible.” from: Principles for the gathering of Believers under the Headship of Jesus Christ.Since 2012, a growing group of believers in North America started to warn of coming persecution to western countries. This message was shared in a variety of ways. One of the responses to this was to compile a book taking principles from underground Churches around the world of how they thrived under pressure and persecution. The volume, Principles for the Gathering of Believers, had in a short time over 50,000 downloads in ebook format and much interest was shown. Some new house churches started through this and other existing groups were encouraged.