With this issue of ‘Trumpets’ we enter our fourth year of sending you this newsletter. God (Yah) has blessed us bountifully these three years and enlarged our ministry so that we are preaching the Gospel to people who have not heard of the Messiah. All this is possible through the Almighty’s blessings and your continued prayer support. You can also send us your prayer requests and we will pray for you and be in agreement with you (Matt.18: 19).
The dwelling place of the Lord:
The Lord loves mankind so much that He wants to spend time in fellowship with them. He loved to be with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden but because of their disobedience they were cast out from the garden. In Ex: 25: 8 we read that God (Yah) told Moses to make Him a sanctuary that He may dwell with them. He wanted to be in the midst of His chosen people Israel while they were journeying from Egypt to the Promised Land. He promised them that He would appear on the mercy seat of the ark. The Israelites forsook the Lord when they came to the Promised Land and the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant away. David brought it back and promised that he would build a temple for the Lord where He would dwell in all His majesty. He promised that he would not give rest to his eyes till he found a place for God (Yah) to dwell (Ps. 132: 4,5) King Solomon built the Temple and he was blessed for this act. The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle when Solomon dedicated the temple. (1Kings. 8: 11)
Throughout the scriptures we read how the Holy Spirit filled and dwelt with His prophets and kings like Moses, Joshua, Othniel, Deborah and Barak, Samson, Samuel, Elisha, Elijah and Daniel to name a few.
All the prophets prophesied that God (Yah) would dwell in their land and be their God (Yah) and they would be His people but the people did not listen to the prophets but went their own way, worshipping strange gods (Deut.32: 17).
Is.57: 15,’ I dwell in the high and mighty place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit’.
Man thought that he had no need of the creator, that everything he had was through his own wisdom. He forgot the creator and worshipped the creation. Rom.1: 21-25. He set his face against the Lord and lived a sinful life. So God (Yah) repented that He made man and destroyed him. (Gen.6: 6) in the hope that man would turn from his ways and worship Him sincerely.
He sent His prophets with the message of salvation but man rejected them and even stoned them! (Matt.23: 37).
He sent His only begotten Son in the hope that they would listen to Him but even here He was disappointed.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John.1: 14), i.e. He became an ordinary man and lived as a common man and was subject to all sufferings, temptations and persecutions like us. But he offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins so that we may enter into eternal life. He conquered death and ascended into heaven and is right now pleading on our behalf to the Father. Before He ascended into heaven, He promised His disciples that He would send another comforter (John. 14: 16) who would lead us into all truth and He will dwell with us and be in us. This promise of the Holy Spirit is one of the greatest promises mankind has ever known. The Holy Spirit will dwell with us, i.e., be with us permanently, fulfilling the prophecy of Joel.2: 28-29, ‘ I will pour out my spirit on all flesh’.
Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says,’ your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you’. (1Cor.6: 19). A temple or Tabernacle cannot be unclean. True, God (Yah) is present everywhere but He will not tolerate dirt, i.e., sin, uncleanness, wickedness or unrighteousness. If we want the Lord or the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, we should first cleanse ourselves. Therefore put away from yourselves that wicked person (1 Cor.5: 13). Put away all childish things (1Cor.13: 11). Let all bitterness, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice (Eph.4: 31). Put away all the works of darkness and put on the armor of light… put off our old man and put on Christ (Messiah), created in righteousness and holiness. If any man be in Christ (Messiah) he is a new creature. (1 Cor.5: 17) And it is in such a new place or creation that the Holy Spirit dwells. Paul earnestly desires that we should be clothed with our habitation, which is from above (2 Cor.5: 2). We should be clothed with the fine linen of righteousness of saints.
We are the temples of God (Yah) and the Spirit of God (Yah) dwells in us. Our bodies were made for God, they were purchased for him. If we are true Christians our bodies are yielded to him, and he inhabits and occupies them by His Spirit; so that our bodies are not our own, but his. The temple of the Holy Spirit must be kept holy. Our bodies must be kept as His whose they are, and fit for His use and residence. We are to honour Him with our bodies and spirits. When the Holy Spirit dwells in us a change takes place in our lives. Our attitude to life changes. Our mental powers are awakened. Our reasoning powers are put on the right track. Our will comes out of the clutches of satan and becomes the will of God (Yah).
Let us therefore consider our lives? Are our hearts clean and pure? Are we worthy to be called the tabernacle or dwelling place of the Almighty?
Eph.2: 19-22,’you are no more strangers and foreigners… in whom you are being built together for a habitation of God (Yah) in the Spirit’.
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