Building the Spiritual Temple: Lessons from King Solomon
“And the king [Solomon] commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the Temple.”
1 Kings 5:17
And the Temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.
1 Kings 6:7
So Solomon built the Temple and finished it.
1 Kings 6:14
Do you not know that you are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the Temple of God is holy, which Temple you are.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, [Temple].
1 Peter 2:5
[We being] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the Cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy Temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:20-22
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the Temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.“
2 Corinthians 6:16
Solomon built the Temple with stone that was cut at the quarry before being brought to Jerusalem.
Likewise, as living stones, we must also be cut and shaped perfectly at the quarry of this earth, before we can be taken to the New Jerusalem in Heaven. Cut and shaped by the trials that the Father allows and permits to come upon us to develop our character that it may reflect that of Christ’s.
The rough edges must be smoothed and we must be shaped into perfectly cut stones to be placed into the Temple of the New Jerusalem, figuratively speaking.
Solomon built the Temple and finished it, he finished the work which he began.
Likewise, God will finish this work in us which He began. Says the Apostle Paul:
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete [finish] it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6
His Temple, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ as the chief cornerstone shall be completed and perfected. Then He shall dwell in us and walk in us. We shall be His people and He shall be our God, Zechariah 13:9.
The trials of life are God’s workmen, to remove the impurities and roughness from our character. Their hewing, squaring, and chiseling, their burnishing and polishing, is a painful process; it is hard to be pressed down to the grinding wheel.
But the stone is brought forth prepared to fill its place in the heavenly temple. Upon no useless material does the Master bestow such careful, thorough work. Only His precious stones are polished after the similitude of a palace.
Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, pg. 10
The hewing, squaring, and chiseling, chipping off a sharp point on one side and then on another, the burnishing and polishing, is a trying process. It is hard to be pressed down to the grinding wheel. But the Lord brings forth the stone, and thus prepared, it finds its place in the building, to emit light as a living, polished stone.
The trial, however sharp and disagreeable, will impart a bright lustre.
Letter83, 1894, par.13
May we allow God to finish this work in us which He has begun. Holdfast until Christ comes.
Loud Cry Compendium 