Classic Sermon Outlines (continued)
Temples of the Living God
Such devotion, as expressed through prayer and praise should be habitual _and universal among the children of God. tl. DWELLING OF GOD.
A. In Relation to the Jewish Temple.
The Jewish temple was also a place where the great Jehovah was _ pleased to reside. Hence, He is said to place and record His name there and to sit or dwell between the cherubims. When Solomon first dedicated it, we are told, "the house was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house."
B. In Relation to Christians.
Wherefore all this manifestation of the divine glory in the Jewish temple? To show how the high and lofty One makes His abode in all those who tremble at His Word.
1. The testimony of the inspired apostle Paul. To this the apostle more particularly alludes in the words immediately following our text; for having called the Corinthians "the temple of the living God," he adds, "as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and I will walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Strange and strong expressions are these words! Strange and strong as they are, they must be experienced by all who are indeed "the temple of the living God"
2. The testimony of Christ. The testimony of the apostle Paul declares nothing more or less than the prayer of our Lord which He prayed for His people a short time before His bitter passion, "that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one." The truth of this glorious passage is not only for the apostles, but for all of God's children. The time would fail to mention all the Scriptures that speak of this blessing.
3. The testimony of the church universal. In asserting this doctrine we do not give utterance to the fancies of a disordered brain and uncontrolled imagination; neither do we broach any new doctrines or set up the peculiar opinions of any particular sect or denomination of Christians; but we speak the words of truth, we show you the right and good way, even that