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By Abraham Eli
This study was first taught on January 19, 2020
Topic: The New Way (1): The Temple
(use the audio to study)
Background
Last week as we concluded on "<strong>The State of the Church Today</strong>" we noted what must happen in the church today going forward. We noted that:
1. The church must return to the One who established it—the Father plants, the Son is the Vine, and the Holy Spirit is the Nurturer.
2. The church must return to the word of God for its operational guidelines and receive instruction from the Holy Spirit ONLY.
3. This means that church doctrine must be biblical and Holy Spirit inspired; denominations, pastors, etc. must give way to the kingdom of God; activities must be word-based; appointment of church leaders must be the Book, not be bookmakers; etc.
4. The church must be planted and built on the instruction of Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit, else we would begin to see tolerance for sin—homosexuality, racism, ethnicity, political power, etc.
5. The church must have deep roots in Christ's love in order to bear the fruit of the Spirit upward.
6. The church must be eternity-focused, more than earthly-concerned.
Essentially, the church must be word-based, Holy Spirit-led, kingdom-minded, rooted in Christ, God-ordered, and eternity-focused, otherwise it will just be another religion or any other worldly institution.
Scripture Text(s)
Acts 3:1
Following the message delivered by Peter on the Day of Pentecost and the outcome thereof, <strong>Acts 3</strong> begins a new chapter in the apostles' lives and ministry. Two of them—Peter and John—went together to the temple at the hour of prayer, ostensibly or by inference, to pray, but God had other plans—<strong>Acts 3:2ff</strong>.
Our focus will be on the fact that there was a new way into which they had been baptized, but here they were going back to the old way! (<strong>2 Corinthians 5:17; John 14:6; Acts 9:2; Hebrews 10:19-20</strong>)
With the new way everything was supposed to change, but here we find Peter and John—foremost apostles and 'close confidants' of the Way—going to the temple to pray at a prescribed hour of prayer.
Generally, a temple is a building or place where a god/idol is worshipped. This would include a shrine, monastery, church building, etc. With direct reference to Almighty God, a temple is referred to as the house of God, where God is worshipped, implying that people/worshippers would go there to worship God.
Psalm 135:15-18; 115:2-9; 2 Samuel 7:1-17; Acts 7:44-51; Isaiah 66:1-2a; Exodus 3:1-5; Joshua 5:13-15; Exodus 25:1ff; Amos 9:11; Acts 15:13-17; John 4:20-21.
Conclusion
The temple in Jerusalem was symbolic of Judaism, the old way, and so it was inappropriate for Peter and John to be going there to pray. Besides, the Bible makes it aptly clear that God does not dwell in buildings built with human hands. Indeed, what God wanted and He asked Moses to erect, was the tabernacle in the wilderness. And having built it, it was finally brought to rest in Shiloh.
After the Ark was captured by the Philistines and eventually, returned to Israel, David desired to have it within close proximity in Jerusalem. After an initial disastrous attempt to move the Ark, it was finally taken to Jerusalem, where King David built a tabernacle for it. It was this tabernacle and not the tabernacle of Moses that God said He was going to rebuild. This rebuilding was a reference to the gathering of the Jews as well as the Gentiles into one body—the church.
Indeed, when the Lord had an encounter with the Samaritan woman, He told her that the worship of God was not a matter of location—neither on one of the mountains in Samaria nor in Jerusalem. This will be the subject of further discussion in our next instalment.
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