“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (II Corinthians 4:7).  We are just an old clay pot and; yet, we are daily involved with eternal truths and divine matters. It hardly seems fair for such lowliness to be so responsible for such blessedness. The Adam man is born in sin and shaped by darkness; yet, the call of God never leaves him alone. A person in their sins cannot find rest because of that something inside that bids their attention. A spark of God’s breath inside the human spirit is searching for its divine maker.

It does not matter how many years a person has served the Lord. They must never forget the truth of our “earthen vessel.” Apostle Paul – years into his ministry – reminds the Corinthians, “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (I Corinthians 4:7). All we shall ever know or possess this side of the Resurrection must be viewed as the works of grace and held in humble submission. Haughtiness or self-importance will land you on the heap of destruction. You are a vessel in which He seeks to reveal Himself.

It’s amazing how much our eternal God cares about this old pot of clay. It was His creation and it was perfect in the day of its beginning.  A devious design by an enemy of God was able to deceive this matchless creation. The result was a cowardly couple hiding in the undergrowth. Four thousand years and many pains later, a Son was born to reclaim the earthen vessel where so much damage had been experienced. Jesus did not come just to redeem the soul; He also came to redeem the body. To the church in the Book of Romans, the Spirit said, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:11).

Again, we read, “Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body” (I Corinthians 6:13b). Notice that the Spirit declared these matchless words, “The Lord for the body.”In this same great chapter the Spirit continues to speak, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Corinthians 6:19). Such truth is overwhelming to my heart. Our “earthen vessel” is the dwelling place of the very Spirit of Christ and His Father. We are the Temple of God.

Great sermons and great Bible lessons have very little power until the mouth-piece is touched by this Spirit. Our Lord and Savior Himself declare the helplessness of flesh.  “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). The Son of God emphatically told the early church to wait for this anointing that would give power to their message. “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).

This is the great challenge to our present church world. We are the “Temple of The Holy Ghost” and our God is desirous of revealing Himself in us. We can actually live with a conscious presence of the Holy Spirit revealing Christ to ourselves and others. The very word “Temple” in the Scripture means “a place of God’s revelation.”  The Tabernacle in the wilderness and the Temple in Jerusalem were glorious places of God’s presence. The New Testament covenant exceeds that glory as the literal exceeds the shadow. “But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?  For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of rig hteousness exceed in glory” (II Corinthians 3:7-9).

Humanistic self-esteem has robbed our generation of the great consecration of our helpless flesh to the mighty Christ. The flesh — when Biblically understood — is far superior to flesh that is controlled by the Adam nature. Jesus Christ came to liberate the unconverted and lift them into the family of the redeemed. We are a temple created for God even when sin is still our master. That is the cause of great stress that floods the unredeemed world. “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:20).

Only in my old age, have I come to know the exceeding joy of abiding in Christ day and night. My body is not mine to possess in the pleasures’ of this flesh life. Sure, there are wonderful joys of family, great meals together with friends, and the pleasure of a good book. All of this is multiplied when Jesus Christ rules our life in absolute peace and the joy of the Holy Ghost. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17).

A Spirit-filled temple is a joy in the church, in the home, and everywhere that temple ventures in their daily duties. Love lives on such a face, the hands are ready servants to all, the lips carry words that encourage and give hope to listeners. The community, where this temple is active, takes note of such beautiful activities and expressions. Soon, this man or woman is known as a prayer warrior that gets results. When this saint transfers to the eternal abode, they are remembered as a light that shone in the night.

Joseph R. Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org

If there is one mystery in the entire Bible that is greater or more breathtaking than all the rest of truth, it is the eternal person of Jesus Christ. In Genesis chapter one, He is the going forth of all creation in those supernatural words, “And God said …” (Genesis 1:3). Seeing the mystery of those three words spoken nine times in Genesis chapter one clearly proves John’s statement, “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). Every time God speaks, it is in the person of the Eternal Word. The Father opened the door to Christ His Son when He said, “Let Us make man …” (Genesis 1:26). What a big word God used of &ldq uo;US” in Holy Scripture to the overall revelation of the Bible.

To seek to remove the Son from the Revelation of God is to have nothing left but another religion. God Himself could not come down and redeem us because of His unapproachable Holiness, but He could send His Son in a hidden form of flesh.  Preparation for this sacrifice began in the presence of the first human sin. An animal was slain by the Father to provide a blood offering and to cast a shadow toward the cross where the Son would be offered instead. A crimson cord of hope never faded until Divine blood dropped on Calvary’s hill.

In Genesis, He is the Word. In Exodus, He is Water from the Rock. In Leviticus, He is the future priest; while in Numbers, He is the sacrifice for all sin. Throughout the Bible, He never fades from the center of all Scripture. He is the mystery Word hidden in the written Word that shines time and time again throughout the First Testament. Solomon saw Him as the “Rose of Sharon and Lilly of the Valley” (Song of Solomon 2:1). Isaiah actually saw Him as the “Son” (Isaiah 9:6) in one rare instance of the First Covenant. He was like the “Son” light of eternity waiting to shine in the brilliance of His incarnation. “And the Word was made flesh …” (John 1:14).

His coming to this earth set the world on its heels. Even as a baby in Bethlehem and Nazareth, kings tried to shake loose from His presence. Many babies died in the search for Him. When He began to preach, it turned the religious crowd of Judea into frenzy. They could not kill Him until His time had come and then the Father planned it for them. All the terror of His presence among them had no kinship to the terror of His departure. His death split the timeframe of all ages. The entire world came to divide time by His short life and timely death.

If His life was impacting, His death was overwhelming. He did not just die; He walked through death as only God could do and left behind nothing but a whisper. Not only does He live, but every soul that belongs to Him in the redemption of His death now lives in His resurrection and cannot die. He is calling the chosen to live in His new life of holiness and He is preparing a Bride for His New Jerusalem. We often think of New Jerusalem being prepared for the Bride, but is it not better to think of the Bride being prepared for the city?

When the Eternal Son returned to His Father’s presence, the Father exalted Him. We may ask, “What can be an exalted position above Sonship, which He has eternally occupied?” Apostle Paul declared, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

In Revelation John the Revelator saw the Lord in His post-resurrection glory. There are actually forty-one (41) descriptive words of His glory in thirteen verses of Revelation chapter one. Many beautiful descriptive words of Him are used, but one missing title that He will be given is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” This title is not a title that represents His Father and Son relationship. He is the Father’s Only Begotten Son, High Priest of all redemption, Prince of all the kings of the earth. He sits at the Father’s right hand in all Heaven’s glory.

But, this future title is a relationship title with His Bride and His kings and priests of the Millennial reign of one thousand years. This title is a title that we the chosen company that sit down with Him at the Marriage Supper will give Him. At the strategic moment in the midst of the greatest celebration of church history, all of this victorious multitude will come to sharp attention.

The Apostle Paul saw this day in the future when the greatest possible honor of human understanding would be attributed to Christ our Lord. The language reveals that this glory is future and relates to the government of the Millennial Kingdom. “Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen” (I Timothy 6:15-16). We are His subjects and it will be our honor to declare for all of Heaven and Earth to enjoy that He is indeed “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” This must be one of the greatest honors of the chosen Bride of Christ.

It is beautiful to know that when we are receiving our crowns, He will receive His prized crown as the King of the Millennium. He will be more than King; He will be King of Kings. He will be more than Lord; He will be Lord of Lords. All of our honor will be subject to His honor.

As soon as the Marriage Supper is complete and all the honor of that celestial event has been given; it’s time to possess the prize. The anointed Potentate moves from the Banquet Hall and He will mount the Great White Stallion. Calling His army of the rewarded saints, His kings and priests, He will descend to defeat the Armageddon army and take possession of Jerusalem and the Earth. John showed us the drama of His descent, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:11, 15-16).

The judgments of the seven years of Tribulation will have effected a purification of this world and we will begin a thousand years of holiness and peace. The King of Kings will reign from David’s Throne in Jerusalem and the chosen will be the joy of the whole earth. His kings and priests will rule in righteousness and all honors will be complete in Him. Serving in the Millennium is one of the highest honors offered His saints. It will be given to those chosen of the Father. Jesus said, “… but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.” (Matthew 20:23b).

Joseph R. Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org