“He shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory.” – Zechariah 6:13.
“There’s music in all things, if men had ears;
This world is but the echo of the spheres.”
Heaven sings evermore. Before the throne of God, angels and redeemed saints extol his name. And this world is singing too; sometimes with the loud noise of the rolling thunder, of the boiling sea of the dashing cataract, and of the lowing cattle; and often with that still, solemn harmony, which floweth from the vast creation, when in its silence it praises God. Such is the song which gushes in silence from the mountain lifting its head to the sky, covering its face sometimes with the wings of mist, and at other times unveiling its snow-white brow before its Maker, and reflecting back his sunshine, gratefully thanking him for the light with which it has been made to glisten, and for the gladness of which it is the solitary spectator, as in its grandeur it looks down upon the laughing valleys. The tune to which heaven and earth are set, is the same. In heaven they sing, “The Lord be exalted; let his name be magnified for ever.” And the earth singeth the same: “Great art thou in thy works, O Lord! and unto thee be glory.” It would seem, therefore, a strange anomaly if the church, the temple of the living God, should be void of song, and we bless God that such an anomaly doth not exist, for “day and night they praise God in his temple.” And while it is true the ceaseless circles of the starry heavens are praising him without cessation, it is also true that the stars of earth, the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, are each of them evermore singing their hymns of praise to him. To-day, in this house, thousands of voices shout his name, and when the sun of to-day shall set, it shall rise upon another land, where Christian hearts awakened, shall begin to praise as we have just concluded; and when to-morrow we shall enter upon the business of the week, we will praise him when we rise, we will praise him when we retire to rest, and we will solace ourselves with the sweet thought, that when the link of praise here is covered with darkness, another golden link is sparkling in the sunshine in the lands where the sun is rising when it sets upon us.
And mark how the music of the church is set to the same tune as that of heaven and earth – “Greet God, thou art to be magnified.” Is not this the unanimous song of all the redeemed below? When we sing, is not this the sole burden of our hosannahs and hallelujahs? – “Unto him that liveth and sitteth upon the throne, unto him be glory, world without end.” Now, my text is one note of the song. May God help me to understand, and to make you to understand it also. “He shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory.” We all know that the Lord Jesus Christ is here alluded to, for the context runs – “Behold the man, whose name is the Branch” – which title is ever applied to the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. “He grew up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; even he shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”
Now we shall notice this morning, first of all, the temple, that is the Church of Christ. We shall notice next, its builder – “He,” that is Jesus, “shall build the temple.” Then we shall stop a moment and pause to admire his glory, – “He shall bear the glory.” Then we shall attempt, under the good hand of the Holy Spirit, to make some practical applications of the subject.
I. The first point is THE TEMPLE.
The temple is the church of God; and here let me begin by just observing, that when I use the term “church of God,” I use it in a very different sense from that in which it is sometimes understood. It is usual with many Church of England people, to use the term “church” as specially applying to the bishops, archdeacons, rectors, curates, and so forth: these are said to be the church and the young man who becomes a pastor of any congregation is said to “enter the church.” Now I believe that such a use of the term is not scriptural. I would never for one moment grant to any man that the ministers of the gospel constitute the church. If you speak of the army, the whole of the soldiers constitute it; the officers may sometimes be spoken of first and foremost, but still the private soldier is as much a part of the army as the highest officer. And it is so in the church of God, all Christians constitute the church. Any company of Christian men, gathered together in holy bonds of communion for the purpose of receiving God’s ordinances, and preaching what they regard to be God’s truths, is a church; and the whole of these churches gathered into one, in fact all the true believers in Christ scattered throughout the world, constitute the One true Universal Apostolic Church, built upon a rock, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. Do not imagine, therefore, when I speak at any time of the church, that I mean the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, and some twenty other dignitaries, and the whole host of ministers. No, nor when I speak of the church do I mean the deacons, the elders, and pastors of the Baptist denomination, or any other – I mean all them that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth, for these make up the one universal church which hath communion in itself with itself, not always in the outward sign, but always in the inward grace; the church which was elect of God before the foundation of the world, which was redeemed by Christ with his own precious blood, which has been called by his Spirit, which is preserved by his grace, and which at last shall be gathered in to make the church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven.
Well, now, this church is called the temple of God, and Christ is said to be its builder. Why is the church called the temple? I reply very briefly, because the temple was the place where God especially dwelt.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
