Temple of G-D

In Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians—2:3,4—Paul writes about the Great Day of the L-RD and how it doesn’t happen until “the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”

Looking at Barnes’s Notes. He makes the following comment concerning the Temple of G-D:

“Sitteth in the temple of God – That is, in the Christian church. It is by no means necessary to understand this of the temple at Jerusalem, which was standing at the time this Epistle was written, because: the phrase “the temple of God” is several times used with reference to the Christian church, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 3:17; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21; Revelation 3:12; and, . . When the Christian church was founded, it was spoken of as the peculiar dwelling-place of God.”

The Christian Church, according to Pastor Barnes, is the Temple of G-D. I wondered about this.

Jesus did refer to His body as the Temple. “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,c and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. (John 2:18-21)

The references cited by Pastor Barnes refer to the individual Christian, the Christian’s body, as being the Temple of G-D, or the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Is the Pastor wrong? What am I missing?

The Christian Church—the True Church of Christ—isn’t a religious institution, it isn’t a specific place or building. The Christian Church is considered the Body of Christ on Earth, which is made up of all Believers in Christ. In this regard, the Church is the Temple of G-D. Pastor Barnes has a point. The Christian Church is the Temple of G-D on Earth.

When we think of this man of lawlessness of whom Apostle Paul speaks, we think antichrist. When we think about the Temple that will be desecrated by this antichrist we think about a reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem, on the site of two former Temples.

When Pastor Barnes thinks about the Temple he thinks about the Church. He says of the antichrist that he is “claiming in the Church of Christ the authority and homage which God had in the temple at Jerusalem.” Pastor Barnes also dispels the thought that the antichrist must actual say he is G-D. He puts it this way, “Showing himself that he is God – This does not necessarily mean that he actually, in so many words, claimed to be God; but that he usurped the place of God, and claimed the prerogatives of God.”

Rather, then, than a man who stands in a building proclaiming himself to be god, could we understand this as a way of thinking that affects our heart? Think about “authority and homage” in relation to us as individual believers. What have I allowed to hold authority over my life? To what do I give homage that is due only to the Father of our L-RD Jesus? Do I revere and submit to people or institutions or even ideas in any way above or even equal to our G-D? Those would be gods. Idols. Could the views and ideas of politicians, scientists, philosophers, public health authorities, hold sway over me above that of G-D? If they don’t now, could they in the future?

And G-D spoke all these words, saying, “I am the L-RD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the L-RD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:1-5 The First Commandment)

Is the Antichrist about to be revealed?

Micheal Brown, writing in the Christian Post, asks the question “Is the Antichrist about to be reavealed?

“. . .events surrounding the coronavirus have demonstrated how quickly the status quo can be overturned, how dramatically the fortunes of nations can shift, and how a call for one-world cooperation can arise,” wrote Brown. “And what if there was a worldwide economic collapse, accompanied by plague and famine? Is it too farfetched to imagine that a powerful, problem solving leader could gain an international following?”

Brown points out that Jesus answered His disciples’ questions about His return, as reported by Matthew (chapter 24):

“See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.”

In the article, Brown explains at least two potential candidates for antichrist in our times: The muslim mahdi and a messiah of the ultra-orthodoxy in Israel. It’s fascinating reading.

But Brown also stresses that “To say it again, I do not believe we are at that point. But I do believe that, in front of our eyes, we’re seeing how quickly the table can be set, even from an entirely secular point of view.”

Brown isn’t pointing to either the Iranian or the Israeli messiah as the antichrist.

I think they are examples of how easily the world can be decieved, especially in a time in which there is so much fear, desire for a remedy, desire for some form of normalicy in our lives and our world.

“But all this talk about the Mahdi being here, ready to be revealed, along with the traditional Jewish Messiah being here, ready to be revealed, underscores the point I have been making. It would not take much for a counterfeit Messianic figure to arise and deceive many,” Brown wrote. “Let us, then, keep our focus on the Second Coming of the true Christ (= Messiah). But let us not forget the warnings about that false Messiah (= antichrist) who will come first,” Brown concludes.

We must, as Yeshua said, “See that no one leads you astray.” We must see that no one leads us astray. No one. We must look into the eyes of our L-RD, that the things of the world grow dim in His light.

Salvation is on its way. . .

[ I began this note New Year’s Day. I added pieces to it on and off for a week or so before dropping it. Now I’ve come back to it. I share it now with you. Perhaps it’s a good time to do so. ] The New Year is barely underway, yet things are as CRAZY as ever. Happy New Year! [ belated, now. ]

Since I began this post on New Year’s Day, things haven’t changed much globally, though. There’s still the talk of a small financial hiccup that could lead to a major melt down of economies all over the world—or not. Your guess is as good as anyone’s guess. And people actually get paid to guess about these things. They don’t have to be right in their predictions. They just spout them off and move on to the next impending crisis meant to worry us.

I’d earlier written that the outlook for the new year is much the same as the events reported throughout the world as we closed out last year. Namely, refugees flooding into “safe-haven” countries, the ever-expanding Islamic State, terrorism, freak storms and other threats to our safety, and violence against and by law enforcement personnel. Oh, and of course we’ll see even more coverage on the American political scene. [ Here it is April, and that’s still accurate. ]

The common denominator in all events reported is that we need solutions to all that is going on in the world. The conclusions we are to reach is that the state of the world isn’t good, but there are people offering solutions that are good. It’s all about saving the world. It’s about salvation. Seriously!

What does salvation mean to us? What is the opposite of salvation? I’ve thought about these questions in the past. They return to me as I reread what we call the “transfiguration” of Y’shuaJesus, Matthew 17:1-13.

Salvation, according to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, means: “. . .the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians (Ex. 14:13), and of deliverance generally from evil or danger. In the New Testament it is specially used with reference to the great deliverance from the guilt and the pollution of sin wrought out by Jesus Christ, “the great salvation,” (Heb. 2:3).

Simply put, salvation is an action that directly benefits us. It is an action of G-d through Y’shuaJesus toward us. The Name Jesus comes to us from the Hebrew name Y’shua. It literally means L-rd Saves. As John Parson puts it, it is “understood in light of G-d’s redemptive power and saving acts.”

But to a very secular world, salvation means something different. Science offers salvation when it gives us solutions to “help” us make our lives “better.” We have financial experts who offer the salvation of wealth, and the management of wealth. We have the medical establishment that includes the pharmaceutics industry that offers the salvation of health and healthy living. We have an automobile industry that offers the salvation of better and safer cars. We have military and law enforcement that offer us the salvation of protection, safety. And we have politicians that offer their own brand of salvation in creating laws to govern our lives, to make our lives “better.”

it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. 1 John 2:18

The Biblical opposite of Salvation is the antichrist. Antichrist, according to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, refers to “against Christ, or an opposition Christ, a rival Christ. The word is used only by the Apostle John. Referring to false teachers, he says (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7), “Even now are there many antichrists.”

(1) This name has been applied to the “little horn” of the “king of fierce countenance” (Dan. 7:24, 25; 8:23- 25).
(2) It has been applied also to the “false Christs” spoken of by our Lord (Matt. 24:5, 23, 24).
(3) To the “man of sin” described by Paul (2 Thess. 2:3, 4, 8- 10).
(4) And to the “beast from the sea” (Rev. 13:1; 17:1- 18)”

So. . .

So, here we are and in the Northern Hemisphere we’re looking at summer coming. Well, here in the American State of Georgia that is very true. But just a couple weeks ago, snow and storms made their way through some northern states. It’s been five months since New Year’s Day. The Dow is climbing again after dropping severely. Nobody even notices anymore. The price of silver dropped, and now rises. Gold is following that pattern, too. Even the price of oil, which dropped so low folks were thinking it would cause a crash, has begun to rise just enough that it’s not a big topic. Yet still voices of doom cry that the economy is going to fail, that riots overwhelm the resources in cities, and martial law will be declared. And on and on and on. . .

Salvation. Buy this. Do this. Prepare for this. Worry about this. . . and that. . . and a whole lot of other things. It’s enough to make a person. . . CRAZY.

But not that’s not all. Rumors abound about political candidates for the highest office in America, the presidency. Controversy surrounds the death of a conservative Supreme Court Justice, Justice Antonin Scalia, who’d served since his appointment by President Reagan in 1986. We’ve got people attacking the right of Christians to conduct their business affairs according to Christian values. For two-hundred years America has stood for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to bear arms, freedom from unlawful search and seizure. Today these freedoms are being attacked. Not from foreign enemies, but from within our own borders, by people who are native-born citizens. We’re either being led to believe that the world is ending, or the world is ending.

It’s enough to drive a person. . . CRAZY!

What’s a person to do?

O keep my soul, and deliver me:
let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me;
for I wait on thee. Psalm 25:20,21

Too simple?

It seems to me that the secular world wants it to be complicated to match the CRAZINESS of the world. The secular world is still filled with chaos. We still need to persevere in our preparations for any event, any disaster, that might come our way. We must be wise. We must be gentle. We need to be reminded occasionally that we need not worry. He who called us to Him, He who offers true salvation, will come. It will be in His time. It will be in His way. Like Gandolf in the Lord of the Rings, our Lord Y’shuaJesus will not be late; He will not be early; He will always be right on time. His time. His way. His truth.

I am rereading Romans. I came to chapter five and really didn’t like what I read. But there it is. We will experience tribulation. We will. Not only that but we will glory in tribulations. Wow. Okay. We’ll glory in tribulation. Ouch. But it has its reward.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans 5:1-5

Our L-rd Y’shuaJesus is our salvation. And that’s the only thing that’s not CRAZY!