Please turn to Ezekiel 40. We would like to cover four chapters this morning, but I will read only two passages.
Ezekiel 40:1-4:
In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me thither.
In the visions of God brought He me into the land of Israel, and set me down upon a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the frame of a city on the south.
And He brought me thither; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall show thee; for to the intent that I may show them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.
Now turn to Ezekiel 43. We begin with verse 1 through verse 12.
Ezekiel 43:1-12:
Afterward He brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:
and behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east; and His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shined with His glory.
And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city; and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.
And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.
And the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house.
And I heard one speaking unto me out of the house; and a man stood by me.
And He said unto me, Son of man, this is the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever; and the house of Israel shall no more defile My holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, and by the carcasses of their kings in their high places;
in their setting of their threshold by My threshold, and their post by My post, and there was but a wall between Me and them; and they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in Mine anger.
Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcasses of their kings, far from Me; and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.
Thou, son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern.
And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, make known unto them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof; and write it in their sight: that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.
This is the law of the house: upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
In the sixth year of Ezekiel’s captivity, he was brought back to Jerusalem in a vision. There he was shown what was going on in the holy temple. God revealed to His prophet that the abominations committed by the children of Israel in the holy temple of God were forcing Him to leave His house.
Now, brothers and sisters, we mentioned yesterday morning Psalm 132, the psalm in which David loved God. Because of his love for God, he desired to build God a house, that God might dwell among His people and find His rest among His own. Solomon built that house.
But as you read on in Psalm 132, you find in the latter part of the psalm God’s response to David’s heart. In Psalm 132:13-14, He says:
For the Lord hath chosen Zion;
He hath desired it for His habitation.
This is My resting-place for ever:
Here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
In other words, you find not only that there was a desire for the house of God in David’s heart; in God’s heart you find the same desire. God’s desire toward that house in Jerusalem was so intense. He said, “The Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation. This is My resting-place for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.”
God loved this house. God had a great desire for this house. He took it as His house of rest. Because of God’s desire for the house, how reluctant He was to give up that house.
That is the reason why, when He was forced to be driven out of the house of God, the glory of the Lord left the house slowly, gradually, and most reluctantly. First, the glory of the Lord upon the cherubim was lifted up and stayed on the threshold of the house. Then, from the threshold, the glory of the Lord left the house and entered into the court. From the court, the glory of the Lord upon the cherubim was lifted up and went out of the city to the east of the city, upon the mountain.
That was the last we saw of the glory of the Lord in connection with that house.
After the glory of the Lord left the house, that house was an empty house. Even though outwardly the temple continued for a number of years before it was finally destroyed, yet it was an empty house.
Sometimes I feel it would have been much better if that house had been destroyed right away. Why? Because if the glory of the Lord had left that house, and the house still remained, it would be a deception.
The children of Israel still went to that house. They still offered sacrifices on the altar. The priests were still serving in the temple. Everything went on as usual, as if God had never left, as if this were still the house of God.
They did not know that this house was no different from any other house in the city of Jerusalem. It may have been a bigger house; it may have been more valuable and beautiful. But in actuality, after the glory of the Lord had left that house, it was no different from any other house in the city.
Yet because that house still stood there, how blind were the eyes of the children of Israel. They still frequented that house. They still thought that house was the house of God. They still felt that as they went into the house, they worshipped God—but God was no longer there. It was a deception.
But finally, God destroyed the city. God destroyed the temple.
Dear brothers and sisters, is this not true even today? If the glory of the Lord has left, what is left behind is just another house.
Maybe in the very beginning, when God’s people came together, the glory of the Lord filled the house. The house of God today is God’s people. But, dear brothers and sisters, sometimes we find that as God’s people begin to commit abominations, as the hearts of God’s people begin to be divided, and as the love of God grows cold, we leave our first love.
Because we have left our first love, our love for one another grows cold. We cannot forgive. We cannot forget. Outwardly, we may be together worshipping God; but, dear brothers and sisters, if the glory of the Lord has left, it is an empty house. It is a deception.
Oh, that we may be awakened from that deception, that we may not think everything is all right and everything is as it was before. That was the problem with the church in Laodicea. They thought that everything was as rich as it had been once upon a time. They even boasted of their abundance, not knowing that the Lord was outside that house. He was knocking from outside.
Oh, brothers and sisters, would to God that beauty were destroyed, that we might not be deceived into thinking that this is the house of God.
In the twenty-fifth year of the captivity, the prophet Ezekiel had been in captivity for twenty-five years. By the time he was fifty years old, according to Numbers 4, a Levite would have served in the house of God for twenty years. He began at thirty, but at fifty he retired.
Of course, with a prophet there is no retirement. But we know that Ezekiel was a priest at heart. He was fifty years old—the retirement age of a priest—but to Ezekiel, it was maturity.
The temple had been destroyed for fourteen years already. During those fourteen years Ezekiel continued to prophesy. But when it came to the twenty-fifth year of the captivity, when he was in his maturity, one day the hand of the Lord came upon him and took him in vision back to the land of Israel.
He was brought back to the land of Israel to see the glory of the Lord return to the house of God. Dear brothers and sisters, what a comfort that must have been to Ezekiel.
Of course, we know according to history that, by the mercy of God, after seventy years of captivity God called the children of Israel to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. A remnant returned and rebuilt the temple.
But we have no record that they built the temple according to the vision God gave to Ezekiel. From Ezekiel 40 through Ezekiel 43, God showed Ezekiel the house of God—the temple in Jerusalem. But we have no proof that the remnant returning to Jerusalem rebuilt the temple according to the pattern God showed to Ezekiel.
On the contrary, the temple they rebuilt was a small one, not even comparable to the temple built by Solomon. Even before it was finished, the older people who had seen the first temple built by Solomon wept because they knew it could never be as magnificent and glorious as Solomon’s temple.
Nevertheless, the temple was built. But in the temple rebuilt by the remnant, certain things were missing. There was no ark there. In the holiest of all, it was empty. The glory of the Lord did not descend upon that house. There was no fire coming down from heaven to burn the burnt offering, and there was no Urim and Thummim by which the priest could know the mind of God.
But even so, our Lord Jesus recognized this as His Father’s house. You remember that our Lord Jesus said, “Make not My Father’s house a house of merchandise.”
Still, we know that the temple rebuilt by the remnant was not the one God showed to the prophet Ezekiel. Some people think that before the return of the Messiah such a temple will be built again in Jerusalem. I do not know.
Others think it was not a temple to be rebuilt before the return of the Messiah, but that it will be rebuilt in the millennial kingdom. During the millennium there would be such a temple, sacrifices would continue, and worship would go on according to the pattern God showed Ezekiel.
Now, I wonder whether that is the case. You may take it or leave it, for this is the way I feel.
Brothers and sisters, we know that all these earthly, material things are shadows. The earthly temple in Jerusalem was a shadow, a type. All the sacrifices that went on in the temple were shadows and types. They were not the reality. They were there to tell us that one day the reality would come.
When you see the shadow, you know the reality is coming. But after the reality has come, the shadow is gone. You do not hold on to the shadow. With the reality, you have no need of the shadow.
So I wonder whether, in the millennial kingdom, there will be an actual earthly building called the holy temple. I wonder whether, during the millennium, there will be sacrifices of sheep, goats, and bulls offered on the altar. How can these things be resumed after Christ has already fulfilled all these things?
But, dear brothers and sisters, that does not mean there will not be such a temple. Why? Because the temple God showed Ezekiel was the spiritual reality of the house of God.
It was the reality God had been seeking throughout the ages and the centuries. Finally, God receives what He desired. He can say, “This is My resting-place for ever. This is where I will dwell for ever. I am satisfied with it.”
The glory of the Lord fills that house to such an extent that the earth is filled with His glory. Oh, dear brothers and sisters, are we not to praise and thank God that, in spite of the fact that we see ruin all around, shortcomings all around, failures all around, destruction all around, and emptiness all around, yet God is working?
The Lord Jesus said, “My Father worketh even until now, and I work.” Thank God that He is working. Because He is working, He will get what He desires.
As a matter of fact, when Ezekiel was shown the house of God, it was already completed. Do you know, dear brothers and sisters, God has already had His house? Do you know that, so far as God is concerned, the city with foundations is already there?
With God, there is no past, no future, and no time factor. With God, when He desires, He gets it.
But of course, so far as we are concerned, He is building. Our Lord Jesus said, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Abraham looked for the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Thank God, He is building that house. But remember, it is not a house built with dead stones. It is a house built with living stones. God is building us as His resting place.
Sometimes we ask this question: When and how does God build His house? Does God take you, take me, and take another living stone, then work upon each one of us individually? Does He cut us, refine us, and perfect us until every living stone becomes a precious stone?
Then, after He has completed every one of us, does He send us one by one to heaven to be built together as that holy temple? Is that the way God is building that holy temple for Himself?
No. The way God is building His temple is not only by dealing with each individual. He is building us together.
He is making every one of us more and more precious. That is to say, Christ may be formed more and more in us. Brothers and sisters, all our preciousness is in Him. You are not precious, neither am I. We know each other, perhaps, better than we know ourselves.
But if there is any preciousness in any one of us, remember, it is Christ. God is working in every one of us to make every living stone a precious stone. Some may be jasper, some may be sapphire, some may be emerald, and some may be other precious stones. It is Christ formed in us with many constituents of Himself, and these are all different.
Yet we are precious stones, and God is using these precious stones to build together a house for Himself. But, brothers and sisters, when is He doing the building? Now. Where? Where you are.
If God has put you in a certain place with some brothers and sisters, this is the place and this is the time when God is not only working in you, but He is cutting you to measure according to your brothers and sisters, by your right and by your left. This is how He is building us together now.
It is not that God will perfect every one of us and send us to heaven to be built. That would be too late. If we refuse to be built together now, we miss our time. We miss the opportunity.
Thank God, He could show Ezekiel the pattern of the house. It was already there. Of course, when this pattern was shown to Ezekiel, even the temple rebuilt by the remnant was not there yet. But so far as God was concerned, He was able to show His prophet what that house was because with God it was a reality already there.
How we need to catch a vision of that reality.
Why did God show Ezekiel the house? God knew that Ezekiel loved the house of God so deeply. It must have hurt him badly when the news came that the temple was destroyed. So God showed His servant that His house still stands. How comforting that must have been.
But, dear brothers and sisters, you find in Ezekiel 40:4:
And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall show thee; for to the intent that I may show them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.
Here you find that God told Ezekiel, “Behold with your eyes, hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you.” In other words, what God was going to show him, he must hear very carefully, see very intently, and put his heart wholly into.
God wanted Ezekiel to see it so clearly that it would make such an impression upon him that he could never forget it. Not only that, he was to pass it on to the house of Israel, that they too might see that house.
Then turn to Ezekiel 43:10-11:
Thou, son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern.
And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, make known unto them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof; and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.
This house was shown to Ezekiel that he might show this house—the pattern—to the house of Israel. The house of Israel was a rebellious house.
Remember, after the earthly temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the people of Israel were taken into captivity, fourteen years had passed. During these fourteen years, the Spirit of God must have been working in the hearts of those captives.
At least they were delivered from deception. Being in captivity, we are told they were even delivered from idol worship. Through discipline, they were delivered from the abominations they had committed in the house before.
Yet among them there were people who were confounded. They were puzzled. They recognized what they had done, and they wondered whether God would ever show mercy to them again.
Furthermore, God purposely showed them the pattern of this house to confound them—to let them know what they had done. Here was the pattern of the holy house, and when they saw that pattern, it would bring them back to what they had done in the old temple.
They would repent before God, and they would be given a desire to do God’s will. That was the reason why the pattern of the temple was shown.
It was shown for a double purpose. On the one hand, it was to confound the people and reveal to them the abominations they had done in the past, that they might deeply repent. On the other hand, showing them the pattern would create a desire in their hearts for it, that they might be for God and for His will.
Dear brothers and sisters, you know it is relatively easy to see negative things. We can see very quickly and very easily what is going wrong.
But only seeing what is wrong will never lead you into God’s purpose.
I think the problem with God’s people today is that, in general, people do not even see what is going wrong. People think everything is going all right. Everything goes on as usual, and they do not miss anything.
If that is the case, dear brothers and sisters, it is most tragic. It is a hopeless situation. But thank God, among God’s people today there are some whose eyes are opened. They are able to see what has gone wrong in the house of God.
They may begin to see the money changers in the temple area. They may see buying and selling going on in the holy place. They may see again the image of jealousy at the entrance of the court. They may even see things that are hidden.
Many may have their eyes opened to see the negative things, things that are not of God. Thank God that you see them. But the problem is this: if all that you see are the negative things, you will never be brought into that which answers to God’s heart.
You may leave these negative things, and you may create something negative. Why? Because there is no vision of God.
Where there is no vision, the people perish. Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint. Where there is no vision, the people disintegrate.
Dear brothers and sisters, it breaks our hearts to see many who love the Lord and whose eyes are open to see what is wrong—what is wrong here and what is wrong there. Because they see what is wrong, they leave these things and try to be right, and yet there is no vision.
The result is that they perish. The result is that there is no restraint. The result is that they disintegrate. You find that people who have seen negative things cannot be joined together.
People may profess to love the Lord. They may be willing to sacrifice, willing to deny things, willing to be unpopular, and seem to want to do what is right. Yet, dear brothers and sisters, if you do not have a vision from above of the positive thing, you can go out, gather some people together, and try to do what seems right to you—but you will never be right.
You will be creating more confusion. There will be more division. Why? You do not have vision.
The greatest need among God’s people today is vision. Oh, that God will show us the pattern of the house.
Only if we see what God really desires—what is His resting place, what is His dwelling place, what is His home that He truly longs for—only if we see that pattern and see that positive thing, brothers and sisters, can we cooperate with God.
All we can do is follow and cooperate with God. We cannot initiate anything. We cannot start anything. We cannot originate anything. Everything must come from God.
That is the reason Ezekiel was shown the pattern: that he might tell the children of Israel that if they truly repented of the past and really wanted to be God’s house, here was the pattern. Let them know about it, that they might keep the ordinances and follow the law.
Thank God, the glory of the Lord returns. But He cannot return just to any place. He can only return to the house that satisfies Him—a house built according to God.
The glory of the Lord enters from the east and fills the house. God says, “This is the place of My throne. This is where I put My feet. This is My resting-place for ever.”
For the glory of the Lord to return, there must be a house that answers God’s heart.
How important it is today that we see the house of God built among His people. Again, I will repeat: the building of the house of God, where His glory will rest for ever, is going on right now on earth today.
Unless you allow God to build it with you and with your brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has no place to set His foot.
Of course, as you read Ezekiel 40 through Ezekiel 43, you find that the house of God is described in detail. We will not go into all the details. Not only am I spiritually inadequate for it, but technically I do not have the engineering or architectural training to understand all the details.
But, dear brothers and sisters, God showed Ezekiel the house. It is the spiritual reality of the house that is essential. We need to see in the house certain spiritual principles that are embodied there.
In other words, these spiritual principles are the reality of the house of God. If these principles are there, you have the reality, God has His house, and the glory of the Lord will fill the house. If you do not have these principles, then God does not have His house, and the glory of the Lord cannot fill the house.
This morning we will briefly mention a few of the principles embodied in the pattern of the house.
First, Ezekiel was brought in the visions of God into the land of Israel and set upon a very high mountain. Upon it was as the building of a city on the south.
When Ezekiel was brought back to Jerusalem, he was brought to a very high mountain. We know that the temple Solomon built was on Mount Moriah, and our brother told us that Mount Moriah was not a very high mountain.
Yet the house of God that God showed Ezekiel was built upon a very high mountain. It was built like a city. The immensity of the temple was like a city built upon the top of a mountain that cannot be hidden.
Does that remind you of Revelation 21? At the consummation of time, you find that holy city, the New Jerusalem, descending from heaven. This city was on a high mountain, lifted up.
What does that mean? Elevation—spiritual elevation.
Even when our Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples in what we call the Sermon on the Mount, He climbed the mountain and gave the teaching from the mountain. Why? Because it was not something low; it was something heavenly.
So, brothers and sisters, first of all you find that the house of God which is to be built is built upon a very high mountain. It is separated from the earth. It is high. We can say it speaks of the heavenliness of the house of God.
The first principle of the house of God is heavenliness. There is nothing earthly about it. It comes out of heaven. It is heaven.
You remember this is what our Lord Jesus was when He was on earth. It is said that no one has ascended into heaven except He who descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven.
Even though our Lord Jesus was on earth, He was in heaven. He brought with Him heaven—a heavenly atmosphere around Him. Everything that came out of Him was heavenly. There was nothing earthly in Him.
If this is true of Christ, it has to be true of the body of Christ. Brothers and sisters, the first principle of the house of God is heavenly character.
Second, Ezekiel saw a man whose appearance was like brass, with a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed. He stood in the gate.
You find a man there, a man with the appearance of brass—shining brass. Of course, we know that brass in Scripture usually speaks of judgment.
In his hand were two instruments of measurement: a line of flax, or measuring tape, and a measuring reed, or rod. The line was used for longer distances, and the rod, six cubits long, was used for shorter measurements.
This man of brass was to measure everything in the house of God—not only the walls around it and the gates, but even the pavement and everything, great and small. He measured to see that everything was according to measure.
We take it that this man of brass is our Lord Jesus. You remember our Lord Jesus said that the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment unto the Son. Our Lord Jesus is God’s instrument in judging everything.
He measures everything. He is the measurement. He measures everything according to Himself.
Brothers and sisters, if the Lord is measuring us today—and He is—do not wait until that day when we shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ and have our work tested by fire. That will be a little late.
Let us live today under the light of the judgment seat of Christ. You remember that in Revelation 1, our Lord Jesus is the Son of man walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.
The Lord Jesus today is this Man with the appearance of brass. He is walking in our midst. He is measuring you and measuring me. He is measuring us together to see whether we all measure up to His standard.
Dear brothers and sisters, there is only one standard: Christ Himself.
He does not measure you by your mental knowledge—how much you know mentally. He does not measure you by how active or how passive you are. He measures you by Himself. How much of Him are you? How much of Him is being constituted, organized, and incorporated into your life?
It is the measure of Christ. It is the measure of the stature of Christ. It is the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ.
In Ephesians 4, we are told that we are to arrive at the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, a full-grown man, and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
That is what it is. But today He is measuring us. Are we too short, or are we too long? He will deal with us. He may lengthen you somewhat; He may shorten you somewhat. He is doing that work in our lives so that every one of us may come up to that measurement and be fitted one with another.
When that house is built, it is the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ.
Do you allow Him to measure you today? If you do not come up to His measure, because of His love for you and for the house, He begins to chastise you, discipline you, and train you as a child. Will you rebel?
Are you willing to let Him lengthen you? Are you willing to let Him shorten you? Sometimes we are too long. Remember, the house of God is the full measurement of Christ.
Third, the whole temple area was separated from the rest of the land by a wall. The first thing you saw was the wall. There was a wall all around the holy place.
The whole area was surrounded by a wall approximately twelve feet thick and twelve feet high. But the most interesting thing is that in this temple you have more than one wall.
In the garden of Eden, there was no wall, and because there was no wall, the problem came. But this temple was surrounded by walls—not only one wall marking the border of the holy place, but another wall for the outer court and another wall for the inner court. You find three walls, one within another.
Why? Again, it is not the physical or technical detail that is important. The reason for wall after wall after wall is that there is a principle God is trying to impress upon us.
What is that principle? Ezekiel 43:12 says:
This is the law of the house: upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
These walls represent one principle: the principle of being holy.
You know, the opposite of righteousness is sin, but the opposite of holiness is commonness. Anything that is common is not holy.
Many times we think of holiness only in terms of sin. If something is sinful, then it is unholy. Of course, if it is sinful, it is unholy. But, strictly speaking, if it is sinful, it is unrighteous. If it is common, then it is unholy.
Our God is holy. Oh, brothers and sisters, the living creatures cry out day and night, unceasingly, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty.” What does that mean? It means our God is holy. He is not common. He is different. He is unique. He is all alone. There is none like Him.
That is the law of the house. Nothing common can enter into the house of God.
God’s controversy with the children of Israel in the past was that they allowed the common, the uncircumcised, and the strangers to enter into God’s courts and defile God.
But in this house of God, in which God will dwell for ever, you find wall after wall after wall. Everything that is common is kept out. Anything uncircumcised and anything strange is kept out.
Within the whole area, it is most holy. The only way we can explain holiness is that, all around the border, you see God Himself. There is nothing of man. Everything is of God.
You remember when John was shown the holy city, God told him, “Behold, I make all things new.” All things are of God. There is nothing old. There is nothing common, not to say there is nothing sinful.
Brothers and sisters, often our whole approach is, “Is it sinful? It is not a sin; therefore it is all right.” But, brothers and sisters, it is not all right. What God asks is, “Is it holy? Is it of Me? Is it an expression of what I am?”
God is very jealous over that matter. That is the reason why, when Peter said, “It is good for us to be here,” speaking of Moses, Elijah, and Christ, God said, in effect, “I am holy. I am alone. No Moses, no Elijah, but My Son—hear ye Him.”
This is the law of the house. Brothers and sisters, are we holy? Because He is holy, there is only one reason why we must be holy. In Leviticus, God requires His people to be holy, and there is only one reason: “Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.”
Oh, that we may be delivered from all that which is common, all that which is of the world, and all that which is of man, that even at the border, all around, it may be most holy—separated unto God.
Fourth, it is very striking that there is a detailed description of the gates. The gates are very complicated.
We think of a gate as something through which you simply pass, but here you find gates to the holy place, gates to the outer court, gates to the inner court, and gates to the house of God. The gate was actually a gate building.
It was not just a gate. It was a deep building. It had an outer threshold. As you crossed the outer threshold, you entered into a hallway with guardrooms on both sides and spaces in between. At the other end was an inner threshold. As you crossed it, you came into a porch, where there were columns. It was very elaborate.
Thank God for these gates, because if you have a wall without a gate, it is a prison.
Without going into detail, these gates by which people enter in are Christ. Our brother mentioned last night that the Lord Jesus said, “I am the door.” It is Christ.
These gates represent the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. That is how we get into the house of God. It is through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. There is no other door.
How do we come into the house of God? By Christ—by His death and resurrection.
But remember, His death and resurrection are all-inclusive. It is not only through His death and resurrection that we have our sins forgiven and receive eternal life. That is true, but His death and resurrection include you and me.
Not only did He bear our sins in His body, but He took you and me with Him and crucified us in Himself.
In His resurrection, He not only releases life to us that we may have life, but we are raised together with Him. It is no longer we who live; it is Christ who lives in us.
Brothers and sisters, that is the only way to enter into the house of God. You cannot enter into the house of God if you do not know the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus in experience.
That is not to say you are not saved. But if you truly want to be the house of God, brothers and sisters, you must die. It is only on resurrection ground that the house is built.
Fifth, you find the outer court, the inner court, and the house itself.
In the outer court, you have pavement and chambers. People believe that these thirty chambers were probably used by the children of Israel to cook and eat the peace offerings and sacrifices. That was the place where they could eat.
Spiritually speaking, the outer court is the place where God’s people enjoy Christ. They know Christ as their sacrifice. They know Christ as their peace. Because of that, they commune with Christ, feed upon Christ, and enjoy Christ spiritually.
By enjoying and feeding upon Christ, they are strengthened. They are able to walk in their pilgrimage. Dear brothers and sisters, that is what we must have.
We who, by the grace of God, have entered into the court are to enjoy our Christ. We are to feed upon Him. Only by doing that are we strengthened spiritually, that we may walk our way and finish our course.
Then you come to the inner court. In the inner court you find chambers, but these chambers are not for the children of Israel. They are for the priests and for those who take charge of the altar.
In the inner court you find the altar. What does that mean? It means that we are not only believers in the outer court, enjoying Christ as our nourishment; we are also priests unto God.
Remember this: it is not that there are some priests and some children of God. No. Spiritually, in the new covenant, every believer is a priest. So we first enjoy Christ; then, as we are strengthened, we enter into the inner court and begin to be priests. We begin to minister in the house of God.
In the inner court, we are ministering unto the house and unto the people, and then unto God Himself. We may go into that in more detail, God willing, tomorrow.
Then you enter into the holy place, the house itself. In the house you find the table of the Lord. Actually, the table of the Lord is an altar of wood.
In the tabernacle built by Moses, you have the golden altar of incense and the golden table of showbread. But here it is striking, because in the house you find a table, yet that table is the altar. The altar and the table come together. It is both the altar and the table.
Why? Because it speaks of our beginning to minister unto the Lord Himself—not just ministering to the house or to the people of God, but ministering unto the Lord.
Of course, in the holy place there is the glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord not only dwells in the holy place; it breaks out into the house, into the inner court, into the outer court, into the holy place, and fills the earth.
Brothers and sisters, this is what God desires to have. Remember, it is not without you and me. It is to be not only with you and me, but in you and me, as we allow Him to build that house.
Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee because Thou didst show Thy servant Ezekiel that house, Thy resting place, which Thou hast desired through the ages and centuries, and how Thou takest delight in it.
Oh, our Father, we do pray this morning that by Thy Holy Spirit Thou wilt give us wisdom and revelation to see that house which Thou lovest so much: a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish; the bride of the Lamb; the resting place of God.
Lord, show us, that we may be constrained to give ourselves to Thee and allow Thee to work it out in and among us to Thy heart’s satisfaction, that the glory of the Lord may fill that house.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.