Spurgeon: June AM
* 06/22/AM
"He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the
glory."
--Zechariah 6:13
Christ Himself is the builder of His spiritual temple, and He
has built it on the mountains of His unchangeable affection, His
omnipotent grace, and His infallible truthfulness. But as it was
in Solomon's temple, so in this; the materials need making
ready. There are the "Cedars of Lebanon," but they are not
framed for the building; they are not cut down, and shaped, and
made into those planks of cedar, whose odoriferous beauty shall
make glad the courts of the Lord's house in Paradise. There are
also the rough stones still in the quarry, they must be hewn
thence, and squared. All this is Christ's own work. Each
individual believer is being prepared, and polished, and made
ready for his place in the temple; but Christ's own hand
performs the preparation-work. Afflictions cannot sanctify,
excepting as they are used by Him to this end. Our prayers and
efforts cannot make us ready for heaven, apart from the hand of
Jesus, who fashioneth our hearts aright.
As in the building of Solomon's temple, "there was neither
hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house,"
because all was brought perfectly ready for the exact spot it
was to occupy--so is it with the temple which Jesus builds; the
making ready is all done on earth. When we reach heaven, there
will be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us with affliction,
no planing us with suffering. No, we must be made meet
here--all that Christ will do beforehand; and when He has done
it, we shall be ferried by a loving hand across the stream of
death, and brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, to abide as
eternal pillars in the temple of our Lord.
"Beneath His eye and care,
The edifice shall rise,
Majestic, strong, and fair,
And shine above the skies."