We are the Temple of God
September 24, 2017

Scripture: Nehemiah 3

I. You are a minister.

A. The temple was extremely important to the Jews. Deuteronomy 12:11: “then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord.” The temple was the place where God’s name dwelt. If you wanted to meet with God, you would come to the temple.

B. But let’s think about where God lives today. Does God live in a temple? No. The temple in Jerusalem was demolished by the Romans almost 2,000 years ago now. So where does God live now? We find the answer in 1 Corinthians 3:16: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” The word you in this verse is plural. This verse then teaches an astonishing truth: when we gather together as God’s people to worship and serve Him, God lives in the midst of us.

C. The first person doing work on the walls of Jerusalem is Eliashib the high priest (vs. 1). But repairing the walls of Jerusalem was a job for everyone – not just the masons or the skilled labor. As you read through Nehemiah 3 you see that forty-one separate groups of people worked together. And if you look at verse 12 you will see that it was not just men on this construction site. The work of all of the people of Jerusalem on the city’s walls is a beautiful and precious picture of the church at work. It is a picture of how everyone in the church is a needed minister.

II. You are one with the rest of the church.

A. The fact that God in the person of the Holy Spirit lives in each person in His church means that you are one with every other person in the church. In Ephesians 4:4-6 the apostle Paul writes about the oneness that we have in the church: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” The fact that there is one Holy Spirit living through all of us gives us unity as the church.

B. What words are repeated in Nehemiah 3? Two words are said over and over again. They are the common words “next” and “after.” What a beautiful and precious picture we have in this chapter of the temple of God – the people of God – working together side by side and shoulder to shoulder to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Next to him. Next to them. After him. After them. All these different people – from different occupations, from different classes, from different sexes – all working together as one. These people who otherwise wouldn’t have worked together on anything, now are all together working as one to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. There were even people from different towns who worked on rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah 3. See verse 2, verse 7 and vs. 13. These folks may not have shared the home town of Jerusalem, but they did share a love for God. They were united then in rebuilding the holy city.

Application:
Who are you next to in serving God?

Sources:
The book of Nehemiah
Commentaries by Derek Thomas and Timothy Keller