IT AIN’T THE BUILDING, IT’S THE HEART

¶ Before we “START” let me remind you that Jesus Christ said, “IT’S FINISHED” (John 19:30). He also said, “Not one of these stones will be left upon another. They will all come down” (Matthew 24:2) ¹wcv

¶ You see, It’s not what I think about this, neither is it what you think about this, and so, to get to the TRUTH of the matter, perhaps the wise thing to do would be to search God’s Ultimate Library to see what He thinks about this matter of TEMPLES. After all, He did say of all those magnificent buildings, “Not one stone would be left upon another.” In view of all that, let’s take a close look at two TEMPLES and two COWS, the TEMPLE of the HOLY SPIRIT and the THIRD TEMPLE, along with that long-sought-after, legendary RED HEIFER and what likeness this RED HEIFER might bear to the GOLDEN CALF.

¶ However, before digging into this, we need to consider God’s stance on all matters, which takes us to the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 55, Verses 8 & 9, which reads, “My thoughts are not you your thoughts, neither are your ways MY ways. For as high as the heavens reach above the earth, so are MY ways higher than your ways, and MY thoughts higher than your thoughts, says the LORD” (Isaiah 55, 8,9)

¶ Considering what we just read, written by the Prophet Isaiah; Who? in all of creation, until it was revealed to the Prophets for the revelation, understanding, salvation, and restoration of all mankind, would have ever even dreamed that Almighty God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth would come and walk amongst us in this fashion? That He would be Born of a Virgin overshadowed by the Spirit. That He would be Born as a Babe in a stable in Bethlehem, and that as a Man, yet before it was His Time, at the request of His mother, He would work a miracle just for her at the Wedding Feast of Cana, when, at His mother’s request, He turned water into wine – just because He loved her so greatly. He also worked diligently neath the careful eye of his benevolent, “earthly father” as a carpenter in Nazareth until the age of 30, when His Other Father gave Him a gentle nod that it was Time for Him to step out into His “Ministry”, which He did by taking twelve rough-hewn, uneducated fellas, and in just three years, He turned the world upside down. You see, God loves us so much that He became one of us. Jesus, the Son of Man, the Son of God, our KINSMAN REDEEMER still has the human Body and the human Soul with which He was born, though they are now glorified. Don’t think that this “Friend Who sticks closer than a brother” doesn’t understand us, for He is, to this very day, one of us, yet He came to make us one of Him.

¶ Who would ever have thought that God Himself, Whose ways and thoughts are so absolutely incomprehensible to man, would have such a Love for us that He would become one of us and walk amongst us in the body of a Man named Jesus simply because He wanted us to know Him as a Brother, and come to know His Father as our FATHER, that we, in like manner, might come to know HIS WAYS, that they may become our ways and that HIS THOUGHTS, by the Spirit of Revelation, would become our way of thinking. Jesus Christ went far beyond the limits of mankind’s understanding when He took on the sins of all mankind in His own Body, OUR SINS, and by suffering a horrid Crucifixion in our stead, nailed them to a terrifying Roman Cross, COMPLETELY WASHING AWAY OUR SINS IN HIS OWN BLOOD, and with one last, agonizing breath, said, “IT’S FINISHED”. Thus the NEW COVENANT, THE BLOOD COVENANT, between the Father and the Son (for the redemption of man) was sealed in the Blood of the Lamb Slain and confirmed beyond any shadow of a doubt by His Rising from the Dead Three Days later, which shook Satan and his present, evil world to the core by relieving him of the Keys of Death and Hell. (Revelation 1:18)  It was to that end, that the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, our Kinsman Redeemer, defeated Death, Hell, and the Grave, JUST FOR US.  Jesus Christ, in an agreement, a COVENANT, with the Father did all of that just for us so that we might become Joint Heirs with Him, not only of Eternal Life but of ALL THE BENEFITS contained in that COVENANT between Him and the Father, that we might, as Joint Heirs with Christ, inherit all that is the Father’s. This NEW COVENANT, this BLOOD COVENANT between the Father and the Son, is a COVENANT that cannot be BROKEN. In this  NEW COVENANT, everything we own and everything we are belongs to the Father, however, when we are TRULY IN CHRIST, everything that is the Father’s – EVERYTHING – IS OURS, that we might, with all confidence, say, to this present, evil world and its “brief usurper”, “Oh Death, where is your sting, O grave, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55) And I might add, “Oh Poverty, where is your punch?”

¶ The Lord did all of this just for us that He might, in this wonderful exchange between God and man, with our Kinsman Redeemer as our Peacemaker with the Father, build us up as His HOLY HABITATION ON EARTH (Ephesians 2:22) that we might then become known as THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (1 Corinthians 3:16), in which HIS HOLY SPIRIT would RESIDE IN US with our regenerated spirit so that His Spirit might REVEAL to our spirit, His ways, and His thoughts. Never, never, never, forget, if you are truly His, then you are, with hands raised, hands down,  “the TEMPLE of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

¶ The Apostle Paul then goes on to give us unequivocal clarity of the one and only TEMPLE of God spoken of in the NEW COVENANT, THE BLOOD COVENANT of THE LAMB SLAIN. One of the places He does so is in the Book of One Corinthians, Chapter Three, verse Ten, where Paul says,

10 It is according to the grace of God, and the grace of God alone, that I have become a wise masterbuilder. I have laid a FOUNDATION that others may build upon, but let every man take heed, even beware, of how and what he places upon this FOUNDATION.”

 

11 For there is NO OTHER FOUNDATION than that which has already been laid down, and that FOUNDATION is Jesus Christ.”

 

12 Now, when men build (a house / TEMPLE) upon this FOUNDATION, whether it be gold, silver, or precious stones, or whether it be wood, hay, and stubble – know this… 

 

13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest, for That Day (the Day of the Lord) shall declare it, for it will be REVEALED by FIRE. A Fiery Touchstone will PROVE everyman’s WORK, to find out what sort it is.

 

14 If any man’s work stands, which he has built upon that Precious Foundation, he will be rewarded.

 

15 On the other hand, if any man’s work is burned, he will suffer great loss,but he shall be saved (only if that House / that TEMPLE is fixed upon that Good FOUNDATION), but it will be by Fire.  (See v. 17 for “Surefire” clarity)

¶ However, KNOW THIS; The “WORKS” of the HARLOT CHURCH and All those that partake in her SLY & UNDERHANDED BEHAVIOR will not be saved by Fire. Quite to the contrary, according to the book of Revelation, Chapter 17, She will be relieved of her great wealth, stripped of her power and her astounding attractiveness – and – all of her pomp and haughtiness will be put to the sword. She will, along with her richly adorned, enticing to the eye, False Foundation be burned with the fire of the One World Order (the Ten Horns, the Beast) that she once “served” so faithfully, and upon whose back she did so arrogantly ride. (Revelation 17:3 -6

¶ Considering this, I would seriously…

“Let no one deceive me BY ANY MEANS (neither would I let my own heart run wild), for That Day will not come except FIRST there comes a GREAT FALLING AWAY so that The Man of Sin will be REVEALED, the Son(s) of Perdition.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

¶ Don’t think, even for a moment, that the Sons of Perdition are not relentlessly constructing ANOTHER, “enticing to the eye”, FOUNDATION for spiritual Socialites and Aristocrats out of the wood, hay, and stubble of licentiousness, falsehood, error, erroneous doctrines, philosophical speculation, and self-promotion to “veil with confusion” that PRECIOUS FOUNDATION laid down by Paul. That, my friend, is why “She” and her “Works” will be burned! (Matthew 7:15, 24:11, 24:24, 2Peter 2:1, Revelation 17:16)

¶ Only the “Works” performed by the Holy Spirit thru us, whose TEMPLE we are, will withstand the Trial of the Fiery Touchstone. “Works” of gold, silver, and precious stones can be done only by the Spirit of God thru those who build with sincerity, and caution, who thru Faith in Christ and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, keep themselves in close accordance with the Will of the Father and who pray always for the Spirit of God to perform a thorough inspection of their “motives”, “material” and “workmanship” as they continue to build upon that PRECIOUS FOUNDATION laid down by Paul.

• ¶ Others, though they do indeed claim Jesus Christ as theirs, they do, in very enticing fashions, being Theological Aristocrats, build their Highfalutin Towers to draw multitudes of Spiritual Socialites, who in turn, spread for them their lofty notions of a Castle in the Air to likewise proselyte droves of working men and women to come and “wish upon a star” that they, by giving, $$$, might someday reach the stature of the Aristocrats and Socialites who, not only “with great feigned words have made merchandise of them” (2 Peter 2:3), but have, in the process, turned many of them into “more than twice the sons and daughters of hell than they are. (Matthew 23:15)  They build their “High Towers” on every corner in hopes that the PRECIOUS FOUNDATION laid down by the Apostle Paul, which does offend them so, might be looked down upon as something strange out there in the shadows of their Babylonian obelisks, while they, for several seasons of their lives, are exalted in their “High and Haughty Towers”, well-heeled and well-cloistered from the TRUTH. Though they have been warned of their falsehood, their SLY BEHAVIOR, their self-promotion, error, erroneous doctrines, philosophical speculations, and licentiousness, they will, on That Day, be exposed by the Fiery Touchstone for what they are; vain, unprofitable, vile, and contemptible. Their Aristocracy, when tried by the Fiery Touchstone, like dry kindling struck by lightning, will ignite a blaze that will sweep as a Crown Fire thru their HighfalutinTowers which will burn like hell the great heaped up piles of deadfall that they are. The Crown Fire of the Fiery Touchstone, fanned by His Winds of Judgement, will burn their “works of wood, hay, and stubble” in a New York Minute, but will enflame them for all eternity, “as the smoke of their torment ascends out of the fiery abyss forever and ever.” (Revelation 3:17, 14:11)

¶ Then there are those unfortunate, yet fortunate souls, who when Tried By Fire, will be shown as having a degree of sincerity but whose standing is diminished by varying degrees of mindless error, complacency, lack of wisdom, ignorance, or pride, etc. “whose “works” of wood, hay, and stubble will be burned…” and “…WHO WILL SUFFER GREAT LOSS…” yet still, “…they will be Saved”, however, “IT WILL BE BY FIRE.” (v.15) (whatever that might mean – truly, that doesn’t sound like something I would cherish going thru) So, be not frivolous about it, for verse 15 is not a license to get by, by the skin-a-yer-teeth.

¶ On the far side of the scale, neither is this about “Who will be the GREATEST”. (Matthew 20:22)  For if we do, indisputably, belong to Jesus Christ, “we will indeed drink from the cup of which He drank!” (Mark 10:39) Likewise, like Christ, the notion of becoming a “BIG MAN” in the eyes of others will seem foolish to us, for Jesus did, In Deed, “…make no GREAT REPUTATION of Himself.” (Philippians 2:7) He left all of that up to the Father, to Whom He gave ALL the glory.

¶ So keep in mind, The Word of God clearly declares, that if we are truly His…

16 WE ARE THE TEMPLE, (HIS TEMPLE), the TEMPLE of God in which the Spirit of God dwells.  (and God is fervently & fiercly JEALOUS  for HIS TEMPLE) {Ex. 20.5, 34:14, De. 6:15,} 

 

17 Now, If any man defiles the TEMPLE of God (makes it an UNCLEAN thing; a gainsayer’s tool, namely – heresy, and self promotion for fame & filthy lucre, etc.), GOD WILL DESTROY HIM; For the TEMPLE of God is TO BE HOLY, and WE ARE THAT TEMPLE.  (This verse certainly does throw a bit more light on v.15)

¶ Now, taking into account the building of the THIRD TEMPLE, and the sacrificing of the legendary RED HEIFER we are hearing so much about these days, I must cut to the chase here by referring back to what my LORD, Jesus Christ, said in the Gospel of Matthew 24:2, “Not one of these stones will be left upon another, they will ALL come down.”  That includes the “GOLDEN CALF” and the “ALTER” upon which it is worshiped.

¶ Jesus is not just speaking of buildings. He is informing His Apostles that the Old Order of Things has ended. Jesus did not do away with the LAW, He fulfilled the LAW. “For Christ is the END OF THE LAW, as a means of righteousness, to everyone that BELIEVES (Romans 10:4) “The righteousness of the LAW has been FULFILLED in us who walk no more after the flesh but now walk in the Spirit.” (Romans 8:4)  Jesus Christ is the END OF THE LAW to ALL those that believe. (Romans 10:4)

¶ Paul himself said, in the Book of Acts, Chapter 15, Verse 24  “These who trouble you (trouble us? How so? By twisting the Scriptures) are (False Brothers, Liars, {Galatians 2:4}) who once walked with us. Their intention is to subvert (Gr. reverse) your souls (send you back into Judaism, or trip you up with error, and licentiousness), by saying, Ye must be circumcised, and you must keep the law. THAT IS A LIE – Acts 15:24) Why is that a LIE? Because Paul said, “WE GAVE NO SUCH COMMAND” (15:24) I am not grafted into Judaism. “Jesus quite plainly said, “I AM the VINE, you are the BRANCH” (John 15:5)

¶ I am grafted into the VINE, and that VINE is JESUS, (John 15:5), not Judaism “For ALL that have been baptized INTO CHRIST have PUT ON CHRIST.” (Galatians 3:27) And In CHRIST there is neither Jew nor Gentile, we are ALL ONE (New Creature) in Christ, for He has made of the two, the Jew and the Gentile, ONE NEW MAN.” (Ephesians 2:15)

¶ Paul goes on here to bring even greater clarity and Scriptural Truth as to just who this NEW MAN of the Spirit of God is, and who he AIN’T, in the Book of Titus, Chapter 1, beginning in Verse 10, where he says,

10 “There are MANY unruly men, godless, malicious, and twisted vain babblers, deceivers, especially those of the Circumcision, (Judaizers, false teachers, and false prophets),

 

11 “Whose mouths MUST BE STOPPED…”   WHY?  The apostle Paul says this on the grounds that…“…they are luring entire Christian families away from the simplicity of FAITH in CHRIST…” …teaching licentiousness while promising salvation thru a type of bogus Christian Judaism when they themselves were far from being “Saved”.  “…teaching things they should not be teaching for FAME & filthy lucre’s sake (monetary $$$ gain).” FILTHY LUCRE’S SAKE? How so? By becoming the “Heads” of these newly formed groups, “denominations”, they enriched themselves at the expense of the deceived. (tithes & offerings & favors) Sound familiar? Paul says, in verse 11, “They must be stopped.”  This is the Word of God, not an opinion, and it is as relevant today as it was then.

 

13 In verse 13 Paul says, “Rebuke them sharply…”  Paul is saying, “Rebuke them publicly. Bring their egotistical indolence and excess, their subtlety, deception, and greed out into the open for everyone to see…” CALL ‘EM OUT! Do this and “…perhaps some of them will even become sound in the Faith.” (v.13) 

 

14 Paul says, “Give no heed to Jewish Fables and the fictions of men (filthy dreamers), {Jude 1:8}) who have turned from the TRUTH…

 

16 They profess to know God, but their WORKS show that they DENY Him. They are abominable and disobedient. They are unfit for ANY GOOD WORK.” (V.16)

¶ If all of this is so, which it is, why, in the Great Name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ would I condone or even give place to fables, Jewish fables, false prophecies, and the twisted Scripture of many other denominational falsehoods; doctrines of men? However, concerning the issue of TEMPLES, why, after being Born Again and Filled with the Holy Spirit over forty years ago would I listen to a prophecy that has no Scriptural Foundation, that is being handed out by a Sect of Christendom who believes they have somehow been grafted into a branch that has been cut off, SEVERED, thus somehow making them “Spiritual Jews”, brothers with those who have rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, who now tell us that they are about to build the THIRD TEMPLE, sacrifice an unblemished Red Heifer, a COW, and that by washing themselves in its burned ashes they will be purified in the sight of God and that all of this will signal the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, in whom they do not believe. To me, a Blood Bought Son of God, this certainly does smack of, as being a part of, the mysterious confusion known as Mystery Babylon of which the Lord says, “COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE.” (Revelation 18:4)

WHY does it smack of Mystery Babylon?

Because “It is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings I do not desire,

For a Body I have prepared for you. (HIS BODY, the Body of Jesus Christ that hung on the Cross)

I take no pleasure in burnt offerings

And sin offerings.” (Hebrews 10:4-6)

¶ According to the Scriptures, in the eyes of the Lord, the THIRD TEMPLE and the RED HEIFER are nothing more than a castle in the air, an ALTER for slaying the Truth and a GOLDEN CALF to distract and derail God’s people with noble notions of the flesh. They have absolutely nothing to do with that PRECIOUS FOUNDATION laid down by the apostle Paul.

¶ As the Apostle Paul said nearly 2000 years ago in his writings to the Galatians, “Who has so easily BEWITCHED you? Did you receive the Holy Spirit under the WORKS of the Law or BY FAITH? I marvel that you are so soon removed (fallen away²) from Him that called you into the grace (the favor & freedom) of Christ unto another gospel.” (Galatians 1:3)

Let me remind us, lest we forget,

16 “WE” ARE THE TEMPLE, the TEMPLE of God in which the Spirit of God does dwell.

 

17 Now, If any man defiles the TEMPLE of God (makes it an UNCLEAN thing; a gainsayer’s tool, namely – heresy, and self promotion for FAME & filthy lucre $$$$$, etc.), GOD WILL DESTROY HIM; For the TEMPLE of God is TO BE HOLY, and “WE” ARE THAT TEMPLE.

¶ The TEMPLE of God is not some magnificent cathedral/temple made of cedar, mortar, and stone, ornately overlaid with gold and silver. The TEMPLE in which God dwells on earth was CREATED by God Himself, NOT MAN! Do you honestly believe that God is going to honor a building, any building, especially one constructed by those who refuse Christ and look upon the ashes of a burned cow as something that purifies men in His sight after what JESUS CHRIST WENT THRU ON THE CROSS, JUST FOR US?

¶ The TEMPLE of God was created by God! And that TEMPLE is the HEART of MAN, of which our Omnipotent Father is FERVENTLY & FIERCELY JEALOUS.

Note: “It is a FEARFUL THING to fall into the Hands of  (play games with) the Living God.” (Hebrews 10:31)

Note: there is a “Religious Harlotry” that ranks right up there with the hedonistic, heathen practices of many an unbeliever.

¶ Of the bricks and mortar, and “The Old Order”, Jesus said, “Not one of these stones will be left upon another, they will ALL come down.”  That includes the ALTER, the “other gospel” (Galatians 1:8,9) upon which the HARLOT, the GOLDEN CALF is worshiped. The HARLOT!

¶ To bring us Full Circle, I must say, “IT AIN’T A BUILDING” – “IT’S THE HEART”!

¶ You see, even before we got “STARTED”

The Lord said, “IT’S FINISHED” (John 19:30).

IN SUMMARY

¶ For the “Skeptics”, “The Harlot Church”, and “The Undecided”!

¶ To confirm the legitimacy of this “Letter From Over Yonder“ as being completely in accordance with the Scriptures and legitimate in its compatibility with the Word of God I refer you to a Book written by Milton Green entitled, “THE GREAT FALLING AWAY” of which Leonard Ravenhill said, “I would be happy if had authored this book myself.”

¶ To compare and confirm the Scriptural soundness of my above “Letter From Over Yonder”, entitled “The Red Heifer & The Golden Calf”, let’s extract a couple of paragraphs from pg. 169 of Milton Green’s book “The Great Falling Away” of which Leonard Ravenhill said, “I would be happy if I had authored this book myself”. It reads,

“For the day of the Lord “shall not come, except there come a falling away first (this has already happened) and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (destruction). (which is the powers of darkness), who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that HE AS GOD SITTETH IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD (which is OUR BODIES), showing himself that he is God (by controlling our hearts and lives)” (2 Thess. 2:3,4).

Milt Green goes on to say,

¶ While a sleeping church (The Five Foolish Virgins²) waits for a physical temple to be built in Israel, they are blinded to the fact that they are a part of a spiritual falling away. The spiritual is taking place while they are waiting for the physical. The Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction (Perdition), has ALREADY led (them²) the Church into lawlessness and entered their TEMPLE. This is how Babylon is a dwelling place of demons. The powers of darkness are the abomination that enters their TEMPLE to make desolation in the last days. ( a desolation, known as “The Abomination of Desolation.”²) (Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14)

Milton Green in his book, “The Great Falling Away”, further explains,

¶ Falling away simply means that people turn away from faith in God and begin trusting (loving²) other things. These other things become idols in their hearts, GOLDEN CALVES which they depend upon to lead them through this life and then into heaven. (these are people who call themselves “Christians”, of which the Lord says “COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE (Revelation 18:4)) People, (today²), who have FALLEN AWAY have begun calling something church that is not the church. They have begun calling people Christians who are not Christians. (It is of these that the Lord says, “COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE”²) (Revelation 18:4). – Milton Green

¶ Let’s look at what Leonard Ravenhill has to say about Milton Green.

Ravenhill says,

“My Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, was a carpenter. My good friend, Milt Green, was a carpet cleaner. Milt had a consuming passion to see the church of today purged of its present preoccupation with materialism and its paralysis of pride; hence, his violent attack upon carnality, which he so often called selfish ambition. Read it and be blest. Obey its teaching and be liberated.”

Blessings, Leonard Ravenhill

If Milton Green’s theology and Leonard Ravenhill’s theology are “out of line” with the Word of God, then so is mine!

Note: I support our Dear Compatriots, Israel, financially & prayerfully, but, they are NOT yet our Brothers & Sisters in Christ. They also must be BORN AGAIN, “WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB” – Ain’t no “Two Ways About It”. Anything else is HERESY!

Jesus said, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life: No man goes to the Father but through ME.” (John 14:6)

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¹wcv (my emphasis)

²(my insertion)