02.18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen The Temple of Solomon filled with Glory When God had planted Israel in the land which He had promised, and settled them there, David desired to find a Tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built Him a house. No sooner was the house built and prepared according to the pattern, than the glory of Jehovah filled the house of God (1 Kings 3:10-13; 2 Chronicles 5:11-14; 2 Chronicles 7:1-4).

There are three particulars to notice in connection with the glory filling the Temple:—First, the bringing in of the ark into its place in the Holy of Holies, and under the shadowing wings of the larger cherubim. In the Ark we have seen a beautiful type of the person of our Immanuel. God has given to His beloved Son a central place of authority and glory. For Him there was no place in His own world, or on the throne of His father David; but there was a place for him on high. To Him God the Father said, “Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. “When the Ark of the Covenant was brought into its proper place, “the cloud filled the house of Jehovah, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah. “When the Lord Jesus came, after His resurrection, into the midst of the disciples—the doors being shut for fear of the Jews—He stood in their midst. On the first Lord’s Day evening, and on the second Lord’s Day evening, He takes His own proper place in the midst. Let us give the Lord Jesus Christ His proper place, gathering unto His name and around Him now. Secondly, when Solomon had prayed, and the sacrifices were offered “the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Jehovah filled the house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of Jehovah upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised Jehovah, saying, For He is good; for His mercy [loving-kindness] endureth for ever. “The value and acceptability of the sacrifice upon the altar was attested by the fire descending and consuming it. So Christ, having presented Himself as an offering and sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savour, God the Father showed His acceptance thereof by raising Him from the dead and setting Him at His own right hand, and also by the descent of the Holy Spirit, filling the Church of God with the glory of His presence (Acts 2:1-4).

Thirdly, after the Ark was in its place, and the sacrifices had ascended as a sweet savour unto God, then, when the priests were come out of the Holy Place, “it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Jehovah... the priest could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of God. “ So now, if we would have the house of God filled with the glory of God, we must observe the lessons here taught us; for these things are foundation principles. A crucified, risen, and glorified Christ; a Christ having His own proper place of authority, in gathering and rule; the hearts of His people as one in rendering thanksgiving, praise, and blessing—then shall the glory of the presence of the Lord be known amongst us. The first disciples (Acts 1:2) had been gathered around His person; they were one in heart and mind, perfectly joined together, determined to give the Lord Jesus Christ His own place (as David’s servants were of one heart to make David king). Then we read, “There came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. “The glory of Jehovah and His presence was manifested when the Divine Eternal Spirit canie into the midst of the gathered disciples, filling all the house, and resting in tongues of fire upon each of them. Is not He “the same yesterday, today, and for ever “? Is not He who sought of old the companionship of man still desirous of renewing His Edenic walks with man? Will He not walk with every Enoch who seeks to please God? If we make for Him a sanctuary, a holy habitation, will He not dwell with us? If we are of one mind and one heart to make Jesus King, to accept His authority, and give Him the glory due unto His name, will He not fulfil His own promise, and manifest Himself to us? What we want in our assemblies is the realised presence of God in Christ; the glory of the Father in the person of the Son, manifested by the ungrieved Holy Spirit, as the quickener of dead souls and sanctifier of the believer unto increasing meetness for the glory yet to be revealed. Three things are essential to the manifested presence of God. The first is that we are all ready to hear and are able to say, “Now, therefore, are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God” (Acts 10:33), to hear God’s voice speaking to us from off the mercy-seat, out of the Holiest of all. Are we listening for the voice of God, desiring communion with God, who has said to the scattered ones, “I will be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries whither they shall come” (Ezekiel 11:16). We may find the presence of God wherever we are—

“Where’er we seek Him He is found, And every place is holy ground. “ The next essential is Jesus in the midst, the supreme authority of the Lord Jesus Christ in His own Church. Do we recognise the Lordship of Christ? Further, there must be the unhindered power of the Holy Ghost. Is our ministry carried on, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but in the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth? God is waiting to come in; Christ is willing to occupy His proper place. The Spirit of God has not lost His majesty and might; He is as ready as ever to take of the things of Christ, in the glory of the Father, and reveal them unto us. When the Temple of God shall be erected in the millennial reign; when the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it; then shall the glory of God once more fill the house. Jehovah shall be in His holy Temple; His glory shall be revealed: and all flesh shall see it together. When we, as living stones, are builded together in resurrection perfectness a holy house for God, a habitation of God through the Spirit, then shall the presence of God and of the Lamb and of the Eternal Spirit fill it with everlasting glory. Turn to Revelation 21:22, to that wondrous description of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, the Church, the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife— “I saw no temple therein; for Jehovah God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light [lamp] thereof. “lamp is the word used in the original by the Spirit of God. The word “lamp “reminds us of those lamps which, supplied with oil, illuminated the sanctuary of old with brilliancy and light. So the glory of God will forever be seen in the face of Jesus Christ, manifested and made known by the Eternal Spirit of our God. The presence of the Holy Ghost here on earth is a constant witness of the exaltation and glory of Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Majesty on high (John 14:16-20). By the Pentecostal Spirit were all believers baptised into one body, and made to drink into one Spirit in union with the Head in glory, one Spirit with the risen Lord. O to realise this according to the prayer of the Apostle in Ephesians 3:14-19— “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole [every] family in heaven and upon earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may he able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with [into] all the fulness of God “! O wondrous word! Can we be so filled? Filled into all His infinite, eternal, boundless love, like some tiny shell in ocean’s depths, or like a little fish swimming in a boundless ocean. Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; upheld by the power of Omnipotence; supplied by the bounty of Him whose fulness is inexhaustible, and whose love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us. “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. “

—Our Daily Homily