Programme: School of the Spirit (SOS)
Date: Thursday, 20 July, 2023
.These things are coming to us and we must receive them as that which God is giving, and not doubt them because of our frailty or because there is darkness around. The effect of the darkness around is what makes us sometimes doubt these things, but these things are true. The east gate is true. They are true, and we must in no way doubt. Part of the warfare is for us to doubt them and in doubting them, we disqualify ourselves from receiving further that which is coming from God. The servant of God has been emphasizing the issue of the building of the temple of God. Another word for it is the house of God.
Hebrews 3:6
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
What is being emphasized in the spirit as these things are coming is that this house has to be built. God is very much interested in the building of the temple. Everytime, there is a call for the temple to be built, there is always warfare. Evil spirits are against the speakings that would raise the temple of God.
Haggai 2:9 KJV
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
In the above scripture, there is a comparison of the temples. There is a temple of Solomon and the temple of Zerubabel. When the latter was being constructed, the elders thought it did not look like what Solomon built. It did not carry that grandeur. The season of the building of the temple was the season of great prosperity for Israel, even in the natural; David had already fought all the warfare. The reason for the wars was not just for conquest, but for the temple. David was such a prophetic man that the wars he fought, though he was fighting natural men, culminated in fighting spirits; He was a kind of Christ. Pastor believes that one of David’s motivating factors for the warfare he fought was for the temple.
Psalm 132:4-5 KJV
“I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the LORD, An habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.”
David had finished all the warfare; he was the one also who got the blueprint for the temple, it was not Solomon. The reason for all his afflictions was for the temple to be built. It was not just to expand the territory of Israel, it was for the temple to be built so that God can have a place called a footstool. Eventually, that temple was destroyed and they went on exile.
They were asked to return, in the days of Cyrus, in order to rebuild the temple which is called the temple of Zerubabel (the second temple). It was in the course of building this second temple that the older men were crying when they remembered the former temple while the younger were rejoicing. In the midst of that crying and rejoicing, a word of the Lord came through Haggai.
In the season when the second temple was being built, there was Joshua the son of Jehosedec, Zerubabel the son of Shealtiel (the governor), and Haggai and Zechariah as the prophets to prophecy. They strengthened the hands of the builders by the words they brought forth (Haggai 2:4). In the time of building, there would be confrontation and warfare. There was a whole lot that was happening. The warfare here, when the spirit of God came upon Haggai and he began to prophesy, was not just external warfare, it was a warfare that was going on within the heart.
Haggai 1:2,7-9 KJV
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. [7] Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. [8] Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord . [9] Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
The word of the Lord came to rebuke the people for not considering to build the house of the Lord. One of the reasons some of them would consider that it is not yet time to build this house is that they must have remembered what it took to build the other one. They must have had feelings of not being ready and feelings of incapability, and concluded that they were not prepared for building.
So in this season of building for us also, there are also confrontations. Satan and his cohorts are shooting arrows of discouragement to the servants of the Lord and also the people. But what the Lord is raising is a congregation of the mighty— we are not small at all. It might seem like majority are very young and nothing can be going on, but God is raising mighty men of David. It is Satan that would come and cause disdain.
Nehemiah 4:3 KJV
Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
During that time, when they were building the wall of the city, Sanballat and Tobiah came and despised what they were doing, saying what they were building had no strength. And that is what the enemy would want to tell us sometimes so that we would not believe the stones of Zion (the ministrations, the revelations that are coming to us); this is to make us look down on ourselves and the work God is doing amidst us. Satan might want to make us feel as if we are just wasting time coming for meetings but the HolyGhost has an agenda, a bigger agenda than we can ever imagine (Jeremiah 29:11).
God's agenda is being carried out upon us. God is dynamic in the way He achieves His purposes in us. Many times, He carries out His intentions without us really understanding, because sometimes when we know what He wants to do, we can hinder Him by thinking we are too weak or become pompous. In the course of building this temple of Zerubabel, the people were discouraged, but the word of God came to them to strengthen them.
Haggai 2:7-9 KJV
“And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.”
One of the reasons for the building is for glory to come. Without the house being raised, there would be no glory. “The silver is mine, the gold is mine” is not referring to physical silver, because God is not using physical silver to build His house, as was used to build the temple of Solomon or the temple of Zerubabel in the days of old. Silver and gold are spiritual things.
Ephesians 1:3 KJV
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”
Silver and gold refer to wisdom and understanding (Pro 4:7), that is, the wisdom and understanding that it would take to build God's house are His own. Revelation is understanding. When Peter got that revelation (Matt 16:16,18) He got understanding. Jesus said, 'upon this rock I would build my church'; the rock is wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of Him. Wisdom and understanding is the rock that would be used to build the house of God.
(Hagg 2:8) The silver and gold are God’s own, meaning that He is going to be giving us wisdom and understanding: these are the things that would be responsible for the building and the raising of the house. So, when a soul is in a place where the spirit of wisdom and understanding is manifesting by bringing the knowledge of God, such a soul is actually receiving silver and gold; that is a blessing that surpasses the riches of the earth.
In Matthew 16:17, Jesus told Peter "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar–jona", but there was nothing in his pocket and nothing to his name naturally. He received what the richest man in the universe cannot receive. Peter received a costly substance. He received what spiritual wickedness in high places and rulers of the darkness of this world fear. They fear such understanding coming to the earth. Those understanding are keys. At the coming of the understanding, Jesus saito Peter that He would give to him the keys of the kingdom—the authority of the kingdom—because He had just received an understanding. We are a people of understanding. God has helped us to come to understanding.
Haggai 2:7-9 KJV
“And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.”
There is a way the Tabernacle of Moses is arranged: the Outer Court, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The temple of Solomon had courts but the main parts were the Outer Court, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. That of Zerubabel was the same. Prior to that time, there was the tabernacle which also had the Outer Court, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. David’s own was just expanded but it was the same. These expressions of tabernacles and temples did not actually originate from the earth, they are patterns of the heavenly.
In essence, when scriptures refers to a temple as being the former, it is referring to the present pattern from heaven, because it was copied from heaven— it did not originate from earth.
Exodus 25:40
And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
Moses did not build anything that was different from the one in heaven. So, the former house refers to all the models that came from the present order of heaven. Now that former house is the temple of the present creation. If it is a temple of the present, it means that the whole present arrangement is according to it.
That is why it would be difficult for this present temple to see the East. One cannot, from the present temple, access the East. There is that which one can access from the present temple; and the only Person that was able to use the present temple, because He for us entered, is Jesus (Heb 6:20). Jesus' high priesthood is not like Aaron.
Hebrews 9:24
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Jesus is a temple that is higher than the temple He entered into. Every priest is a temple and a building. A priest can be equal to the building. Aaron was a priest and was equal to the building he was entering. Moses was a temple but our Lord Jesus Christ was another species of temple. But his house had not been enacted when He was here. So, He had to enter into the present house which is called the former.
This present temple in heaven, which was copied here on earth, is a temple of the present creation. However, the temple that our Lord represents is bigger than the present creation. Jesus could access the present temple but He had to purge it with His own blood, and that is how we know that He is higher than the present temple. If He was of the same make with the present temple, there would be no need to purge; but the lesser is blessed of the greater. He purged it with His blood to upgrade it so that He would be able to officiate from it for a season, after which it would be done away with for the latter house. The temple of Solomon could compare with the temple of Zerubbabel because they are both the same pattern.
Hebrews 3:6
“But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”
We are yet to see our house. Like David, we must first receive the blueprint. We are still using this present temple, and the ministrations we are currently receiving are from entities of this present temple. As heaven ministers to us with these entities, we are still veiled to a measure. However, there is a temple called the latter house.
Ezekiel 43:1-4
“Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: [2] and, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. [3] 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. [4] And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.”
This is a description of the temple. This temple has its east at the front, while the north and south are at the sides (Psa. 48:2). This arrangement is not the same as the standard understanding of coordinates, where the north faces the front while the east and west face the sides. Many of us may struggle to understand the arrangement of this temple because we are used to the arrangement of the present temple, that is, the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holiest of All. The temple being spoken of now is the latter house, or the New Testament temple.
The present temple cannot be the New Testament temple because it is a copy of what Moses saw in heaven to establish the Old Testament. So, that temple is old from beginning to end, for it was received from the hand of an angel. Therefore, it cannot be the New Testament temple. The New Testament temple ought to face eastward because it is a testament that was enacted for the purpose of eternity. The temple Ezekiel was privileged to see is the New Testament temple, and that is our temple. As time goes on, the understanding of this temple will be brought.
Ezekiel 43:10
“Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.”
Israel had a house, but they had to be shown this house because they were not measuring up. This is a reorientation. That house is the building of the New Testament. What will completely deliver us from iniquity is this temple. The present temple was the place where the first iniquity occurred. That was why Jesus had to purge it with His blood.
The latter house is the pattern of house that Jesus is and that is why He is so hidden. Jesus did not officiate in the old temple because He knew that He came to enact the new. The present temple is of the old creation, but Jesus brought the new creation. Ezekiel had visions of all the iniquities in the present temple. It showed that the present arrangement could still accommodate darkness and iniquity. So, when Jesus came, He did not bother going into it.
There was a tabernacle Moses had exclusive access to before the enactment of Aaron’s tabernacle. That was the tabernacle where the Lord used to meet with Moses alone. That tabernacle is a pattern of the new, but it was not yet revealed. The tabernacle of David was also another signpost to the new Tabernacle. It did not have the three compartments of Aaron’s temple, but it had the north and south gates, and the east gate where the Lord comes from. The emphases in this tabernacle are the gates because they are the points of entrance. This is the New Testament temple.
It is only the New Testament that has a stand because of how it is located to face the east gate, which is eternity. The Old Testament could not talk about eternity because the way the house was constructed does not show eternity. God is eternity; he dwells in and comes from eternity. The temple that is in heaven is angelic. It does not have the propensity to face eternity. To face eternity means to accommodate the entry of the Eternal God. It is only the new temple that has prospects towards the East.
The former house mentioned in Haggai 2:7 is the old house that is in heaven that was copied upon the earth. All of that temple is the former house, but we know that the former things shall pass away and all things will be made new (Rev. 21:4-5). The former house had glory in measures. Angels are the owners of that temple because they were the officers of that temple. The glory of the former house was very glorious. The glory in the Aaronic temple was the shekinah glory. Angels were situated upon the ark and the glory was between the angels. There was also a glory upon the tabernacle. All these show that the angels were very familiar with the administration of glory in that temple. Though the glory was from God, the angels could understand it because that was what God permitted them to interface with. This is why they are more glorious than men in the present.
If we are truly going to judge angels, we cannot use the same temple they use because they know it better than us. What we have upon the earth is only a copy of their temple. The temple we are being built into is not the angelic temple; rather, it is the temple as shown by Ezekiel. Therefore, we must have a prospect/gate towards the east. We must have eastern sense. Our gates are our hearts. We must be able to resolve mysteries of the East for us to judge angels. So, if we use their temple, it means we are using their glory. The substances that were used to build the temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel were spirit substances. This temple was recognised in the spirit that it had glory, but the new temple is completely different. It could be difficult to resolve these thoughts because the present arrangement is still a problem in our minds.
Glories, even of the present, are in various degrees but they are all glories of the former or the old. The superiority of the glory of the latter house is not in its radiance, manifestations or anything external. What makes the latter house better is that the glory that fills it up comes from the eastern gate. When the temple was dedicated, the house was filled with glory, but it was little compared to the glory that was in heaven. Even the house could not contain the ‘chabod’ (glory), for a house of stones cannot carry glory. On the day of Pentecost, the house shook at the coming of the Holy Ghost, meaning that it could not stand that operation.
The glory that was measured out to the physical temple was only a small portion of the glory of the original temple in heaven. Therefore, we know that the glory of the latter house is not the same as that of the former house. It is not simply a heaved-up version of the former glory; rather, it is a completely different glory. God has been looking for a house that would be able to take this glory. That is the glory of the New Testament. The Church is still ministering below its testament. We are even yet to measure up to the present house in our ministration. But there is that which is greater.
The greatness of the latter house is not an increased version of the former glory, but the showing forth of the real glory that God wanted to show all along. It is the eternal glory of the God of glory. We can therefore understand why there would be light afflictions. All the afflictions that we may ever go through here are still afflictions as a result of the former things. Yet, they work for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:17-18). David suffered afflictions because he wanted to be a house for God. Therefore, if we want to be a house for God, we will also have afflictions. Though the afflictions are a result of the former, God wants to use the former to help us acquire the eternal weight of glory.
The New Testament temple is everlasting life. This is the temple that God can come to because it is the only one with a gate or prospect towards the East. It is this temple that God has thoughts of peace towards, to give it a future and an expected end (Jer. 29:11). God is the one with an expectation; He is the one who knows the end because He is the end. He wants to journey to where we are and give us the end. We should desire to be this temple much more than ever.
When Christ was on earth, He was a house that was hidden. Some of the things He did was because of His east prospect. Jesus was an everlasting Man while He was on earth. For his three-and-half years of ministry, He was only ministering things everlasting. He had a prospect towards the east, so He understood mercy. He was not bound by the laws that guided the present temple because He was greater than it (Matt. 12:6). He was a temple that was greater than their temple but they did not see it. They only saw Him with this present arrangement, and we as the Church can also be tempted to see Him in the same manner even though He is more than that. The substances that were used to build the house that Jesus is are everlasting. If His house is pulled down, it would multiply in splendour.
We have just begun to understand the New Testament and what it is all about. As we dig deeper into this reorientation, it will plant in us eyes to see the East. The other arrangement, as glorious and wonderful as it is, does not have a prospect towards the East. However, this new arrangement will help us develop eyes to see the East. Our coordinates before now have been the Outer court, the Holy place and the Most Holy. We should get ready for a shift because we will begin to see things differently.
Ephesians 2:18-21
“For through him, we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. [19] Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; [20] and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; [21] in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord…”
Paul was given the mandate to administer Christ or teach the unsearchable mysteries of Christ. There are two buildings mentioned in the scriptures above. There is one that is of Christ and there is another that is of God. It is through Christ that we have access to everlasting life (the Father). It is when we come to the everlasting realm that we would see the New Testament.
Christ as a pattern is not too different from the present. The “faith in the Lord Jesus” and “love towards the saints” in Christ are not different from what they previously had in the Old Testament. Theirs was called “faith towards God” and the “commandment of love”. Jesus even mentioned faith as part of the weightier matters of the law (Matt. 23:23). Moving into Christ, we still see faith and love, which are the earthly expressions of Christ. That is why the Spirit of God had to start by teaching us the present pattern. We have to be faithful with this present house before we can be given ours. Moses was faithful in all his house, so we have to learn faithfulness through doctrine before we can be shown our house or else, we will keep being confused. We must have been found faithful in faith, hope, and charity. It is through this we would have access to everlasting life.
Everlasting life has two arms: north and south/first work and last work/beginning and the end/alpha and omega. These are things we must do quickly because He that is to come will come shortly. We have to do them quickly for Him to stand as the door to the East before us. It is in everlasting life we get to see who our Lord Jesus is as the High Priest of the New Testament. The High Priest gives access. It is at this level we get to see Him officiate His testament. He could not officiate His testament in the former pattern. He only used it and the Holy Ghost had to teach us that pattern so that we would be found faithful with it. We have to first be found faithful in this; then through this, we will have access. When we come into everlasting life, we will then see our testament. The reason for the glory of the New Testament is that it has prospects towards the East. The testament is ministered for us to see Eternal life.
From Ephesians 2:18-21, there are two houses. The first building was through Him while the second is in Him, which speaks specifically about the New Testament in His blood. The first one is Christ, and it is through Him we have access to our testament. It is in the testament we would then be built as a habitation of God. We are yet to understand this testament. This season is exciting because we will soon begin to interact with the East. An angel had to be sent to show us this pattern because, without this encounter, we would have been unable to think outside of this present arrangement. We will soon begin to see the East clearly.
Cherubims are the ones guarding the way to the East. They have flaming swords that turn people hither and thither, that is, north and south. That way, no one would be able to enter the zone of everlasting because those Cherubims would, by everlasting wisdom, tilt people away. But when a person is granted access, they would minister the testament to such in order to do the works thereof. The works are the gates. The North and the South both have two gates each. Those gates are also coordinates of everlasting life. We need to know those gates and finish them because they have measurements, statutes, requirements and commandments to them.
Psalm 48:12-13
“Walk about Zion, and go round about her: Tell the towers thereof. [13] Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; That ye may tell it to the generation following.”
We must know all the details. We must have passed through all the gates of everlasting life because they would minister something to our hearts. The greatest ministration to the heart is to give it eyes. The pure in heart shall see God, not Christ (Matt. 5:8). It means these gates are ministrations that would make our eyes pure and single. When we begin to face the East, our eyes must be single. It is the God of glory that will enter through the East gate. He would make the everlasting temple His dwelling place. He Himself is also a temple, but an Eternal Temple (Rev. 21:22). We are to be a temple that the Temple will dwell in. It is a great privilege and promise that God would dwell in us forever.
It has become very clear that we are now touching the New Testament. The Testament has ordinances and commandments. All the words that have been coming to us are also precepts of the New Testament. It is because we have been found faithful with the precepts of the New Testament that we are now being shown what the temple and the gates look like, and we will be like Him (1 John 3:2). Those who have this hope purify themselves. Our hearts have to be pure so that we can see how He is and be like Him.
Blessings!