From: allan-sv@algonet.se   
      
               The Pattern of the Temple of God   
      
      
   When they would make the tabernacle and what that belonged to it,   
   then the Lord said to Moses, "And look that thou make them after   
   their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount." Exodus 25:40.   
      
   Before Solomon began to build the house of the Lord, he had   
   received a pattern from his father David. "All this, said David, the   
   Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even   
   all the works of this pattern." Chronicles 28:11-19.   
      
   Like as Moses and Solomon got patterns to follow, so it is also a   
   pattern for building up the real Temple of the Lord, the Assembly   
   of God. What is the pattern of the Temple of God? It is all that the   
   Bible teaches about the Body of Christ, God's Temple or the   
   Assembly of God.   
      
   Moses received his pattern through a revelation from God. And   
   the pattern of the Assembly of God has also been given through   
   revelations. Everything that Paul and the other apostles preached   
   and taught concerning the Assembly of God, and that we can read   
   in the New Testament, they had got from God. God himself had   
   revealed it to them. "But God hath revealed them unto us by his   
   Spirit." 1 Cor. 2:10-13. 1 John 2:27. They could not think out   
   this, for it had from the beginning of the world been kept hid in   
   God. Eph. 3:1-11. In 2 Cor. 12:7 Paul writes about "surpassingly   
   great revelations". Please, also read Rom. 16:25-27, Col. 1:26-29,   
   2:2-3.   
      
   How is the Temple of God today? How is the temple building?   
   Is the Temple of God built up according to the pattern that God   
   has given us by his Word? How is it with the Christian unity?   
   It seems bad. The Christians are divided in many churches   
   and denominations.   
      
   According to God's word it must be a clear boundary between   
   the Assembly of God and the world. Please, read 2 Cor. 6:14-18.   
   Now this boundary is very unclear. Instead there are many other   
   boundaries across through the Assembly of God, which separate   
   Christians from Christians. These boundaries have also been   
   drawn out long outsides the Assembly of God, so that many   
   ungodly people have been called Christians.   
      
   Nevertheless, the real boundary between the Assembly of God   
   and the world is yet intact. The Lord knows those who belong to   
   him, and now, when the Lord restores his Assembly, the boundary   
   will be obvious. People who have a semblance of godliness but do   
   not obey God's word and deny its power, they come to unmask   
   themselves. They cannot put up with to hear the message of revival   
   that the Lord let preaches. "We shall again see which difference it is   
   between the righteous and the ungodly, between the one who   
   serves God, and the one who do not serve him." Malachi 3:18.   
   (From the Swedish Bible). Psalm 1:5.   
      
   When they made the tabernacle, then the Lord was very strictly   
   with that they made everything according to the pattern. Those   
   who would carry out the work, they could not do it by their own   
   professional skill. They received a special education through   
   God's Spirit. Please, read Exodus 35:30-35, 36:1-2.   
      
   In Hebr. Chapters 8, 9 and 10, and in Col. 2:17 we see that the   
   old covenant and its tabernacle, the temple and laws are only a   
   shadow of the things that were to come. The Lord was very   
   strictly concerning the shadow picture, then he must be still   
   more strictly concerning the real temple - the Assembly of   
   God. Here human wisdom is not enough. Here it demands the   
   hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our   
   glory. 1 Cor. 2:7. God will prepare his people for works and   
   service, so that the Temple of God may be built up.   
   Eph. 4:11-16.   
      
   Jesus says in Luke 21:29, "Behold the fig tree, and all the trees..."   
   And many Christians look at the nation Israel, that is the fig tree.   
   They speak about Israel and see it as a great sign of the times.   
   But how many Christians think that the real Israel is the Assembly   
   of God? "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither,   
   because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but,   
   In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the   
   children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the   
   children of the promise are counted for the seed."   
   Rom. 9:6-8.   
      
   Israel's people have come back to their country again, but how is   
   the Temple of God? It is more disruption now than ever. The   
   preachers speak about that the time is short and that Jesus shall   
   come. Nevertheless, how is the temple building? They themselves   
   live in fine houses and they build churches for millions of money   
   while the Temple of God is cracked into pieces and in disrepair.   
   Haggai 1:4-10.   
      
   The pattern of God's temple consists of everything that God's word   
   teaches concerning the Assembly of God, not only in the New   
   Testament but also in the Old Testament. During the times of the   
   Old Testament, the Assembly of God was a hidden mystery that   
   God himself alone knew. Eph. 3:1-11. In the days of the apostles   
   the Holy Spirit revealed this mystery. Rom. 16:25-27. In that time   
   the foundation of God's new Temple was laid and they began to   
   build up God's Assembly.   
      
   Allan Svensson   
      
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   The Pattern of the Temple of God   
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   The Assembly of God is no Pentecostal church   
   http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/ASSEMBLY.HTM   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)