Revelation 21:22 says, “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”
I will comment on this verse, and perhaps use no other verse, in this post. I see something here that may not be obvious to everybody, but I am sure many others have seen it. What I see is that there will be no temple in the new earth or heavens. This may blow the minds of some people, since so many seem to be enthused with buildings that have been built for worship services. I certainly do not think it is wrong to build sufficient building for places of worship, but I seriously doubt that God is really impressed by elaborate buildings. Look with me at I Corinthians 3:16-17: “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.” It seems that the apostle Paul, in writing this letter to the church at Corinth, was a bit surprised at the misuse of human bodies by some of the Corinthians. I am often amazed at how some people care for their houses, cars and a number of other things, while abusing their own bodies. Since our verses says that our bodies, if we are saved, are the temple of the Holy Ghost, meaning that the Spirit of God lives in our fleshly, human bodies. By the way, Paul was writing to a church that was about as worldly as a church could be, yet he says that the bodies of the Corinthians, at least of all of them who were actually saved, were the temples of the Holy Ghost, meaning that God lived in their bodies. Those who twist scriptures and make it seem that only a few select, highly spiritual believers have the Holy Spirit are “whistling in the dark”, for all who are saved have the Holy Spirit living inside. them.
Romans 8:9 will prove my point concerning the indwelling of the Spirit in all who are saved: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” There is only one Holy Spirit, according to Ephesians 4:4, which says, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” So, every saved person has the same Holy Spirit living in him as every other saved person. Perhaps the thing that needs to be emphasized is what is said in Ephesians 5:18: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.” The actual Greek meaning of this verse is that all believers should continually be filled with the Spirit of God, or be controlled by the Spirit. We cannot be saved without possessing the Holy Spirit, but we may not be filled, or controlled, by the Spirit as we should be! Some churches in our modern day seek to dictate what actions should accompany the filling of the Spirit of God, but Ephesians 5:19-20 says of the one who is filled with the Spirit: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So, being filled with the Spirit does not necessarily mean that one shouts and jumps church benches, but rather that he speaks in his heart with words of good songs and hymns; that he makes melody in his heart to the Lord, as he gives thanks to Him in the name of Jesus Christ. I am afraid that many individuals and churches have “added to the Scriptures”, perhaps without even noticing it, by their own “theologies” of what a believer should do when filled with the Spirit. Actually, being filled with the Spirit may not necessarily mean that one makes any kind of physical movement, although some may. Rather, the idea of being filled with the Spirit is that of being controlled by the Spirit, thus the Spirit of God is the One Who determines what we do when we are filled with the Spirit, and nobody else has that right! It is interesting that some well-meaning people seem to assume that they know what one should do when filled with the Spirit, but only God knows that!
J. Briggs King
