THE GOSPEL FREES YOU FROM THE TEMPLE. Josimar Salum

 

THE GOSPEL FREES YOU FROM THE TEMPLE.

Josimar Salum 

“The most powerful thing in the Gospel is that it frees us from the concept that God lives in any building.” (Jake Colsen)

If you insist on a temple as a dwelling place for God, you still have no idea of ​​the Gospel of Jesus.

Do you know why you insist on calling something what you want instead of what God wants? Disobedience!

You are so attached to your parents' tradition and religion that you cannot understand the simplicity of the Gospel. Hence the “tantrum” and your immersion in rites, beliefs, the same cult as always.

If going to God's house is going to a church (building) you have chosen a very formal place to be a home for God. The Jerusalem temple lost its meaning when the Lord left it for good.

Jesus, God was with us there in the carpentry shop and the people passing in front of the store to continue on the journey to Jerusalem.

Jesus was out in the hall since he could not enter the holy place, our High Priest was not from the tribe of Levi.

Jesus sat there with the doctors and the priests performed their empty rites in the holy place in front of the sanctuary, for God!

Jesus, God with us was on the routes, at the crossroads, in the shops, on the dusty roads, in the market place. And religious worshipers passed by Him towards Jerusalem.

We must now live the end. You have to experience the beginning. You have to worship in Spirit and in Truth anywhere with others who do the same.

“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life." Revelation 21:22‭-‬27 

The Bible narrative begins with a garden and ends with a city. The temple was lost on the way. At the end GOD himself is the temple and we are the temple. 

Where is God who is not in the holy of holies? He is playing with the children on the streets, dancing in the squares, sitting in the family kitchen, making friends with people, having lunch (supper) with the men, women, boys, girls and children. ”

And what of you? Going to serve God with your songs, your prayers, your money, your instruments, your dances and your garments, in the temple!

#ASONE

TEMPLE. Josimar Salum

TEMPLE

By: Josimar Salum

For years, I wanted to teach and to preach what I was learning from Jesus. He answered, "The time has not come."

The total discovery of the Gospel of the Kingdom revolutionized my life. The seeds of the Gospel planted in me when I was still a child were the foundation for understanding not only the Kingdom but the Church according to Jesus.

When I returned from India in 2011, still on the plane, the Lord said to me, "The time has come to teach what I have revealed to you."

And as soon as I returned I was scheduled to preach to pastors of the BMNET - Brazilian Ministers Network. 

I taught about the temple in the light of the Bible.

One thing had caught my attention on a street in Madurai. I stood at a corner looking directly in front of me, a Hindu temple, a mosque and a Presbyterian temple.

What caught my attention even more was seeing three buildings of great religions in the world, right next to each other. Next to each one a store to sell their religious products. In the Hindu temple, flowers were sold to be offered at the temple. Prayer mats and other items were sold at the mosque's shop. In the store of the Presbyterian church, paintings, Bibles, ornaments and the most diverse books of the Christian faith were sold.

All religions had one thing in common: the temple or a building and a store to sell their religious products.

I preached that morning following exactly the script for rap singer Azorap song entitled "temple." In the end the pastor who was graciously leading the meeting tried to deconstruct the message. But he didn't find verses in the Bible to undo it. On the contrary, in conclusion, he said that in eternity there would be no temple referring to the text of Revelation:

" I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.  I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp." Revelation 21:2‭-‬6‭, ‬21‭-‬23 

One of the pastors, my friend, said to him, in a joking tone, for everyone to hear:

"Stop it, pastor, don't say that, you are reinforcing the teaching he shared."

And the meeting ended, everyone laughing, finding it funny, and most of the pastors present never invited me to preach in “their” churches again.

Yes, they do not know that "behold, I make all things new" already happened on the cross of Calvary when Jesus died.

And believers, especially pastors, don't know that Eternal Life has already begun. Hallelujah!

Translated by: Filipe S.S. Gouvea

#ASONE

We are not Christians, we are followers of Jesus Christ!

We are not Christians, we are followers of Jesus Christ

By Josimar Salum, based on an article by Ed René Kivitz 

We are just followers of Jesus Christ. We follow his footsteps. And if he died, also we died. And if he was resurrected by the power of God, we will also be resurrected at the last day. And now we no longer live for ourselves, but for our God who gave us life when we live for others.

We have no temple or altar, because we do not do animal sacrifices. We need not go to the temple or offer anything in any altar because Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  

We do not offer more sacrifices on the altar, because our life is a sacrifice to God. We give ourselves over to our God as a living sacrifice, the true act of worship is to live for him. Everything we do, we do for the glory of our God. In fact it is not what we do or do not do it is the act of worship, but we ourselves, that is, our life itself, consequently, everything we do is an act of worship. We take care of people, those who are close; all that cross our path. This is worship.  

For the same reason also we do not have priests, because we do not need people to make sacrifices for us on an altar or in a temple, because our life is that it is the sacrifice, the altar is the Cross of Jesus and we are the temple. Alone, individually I am not the temple. Collectively we are the temple. And we are priests, but none of us are a religious authority. We have no one greatest among us, only Jesus Christ. Only Jesus is greater! He is alive among us right here, right now! And we have no holy men in our religion. There are holy men around the world, but NOT holy men of a religion. In fact, we do not have a religion.

We do not have a sacred day. Sunday is not the the Day of the Lord, every day is the Lord's.  Our ancestors had a holy day: the Sabbath. But that was in the time when we needed to go to the temple to take animals so that our priests had to sacrifice them. Now that we surrender to our God as a living sacrifice, the true act of worship is to live for Him. And we live for Him while living for our neighbors in any day, any time.

Let us be clear: we do not have a religion! We are followers of Jesus, we are not Christians because Christianity is not the religion of Jesus Christ. Christianity is the religion of Constantine, the Roman emperor. Because it was Constantine who began reassembling all that Jesus Christ had dismounted. It was he who began to build temples dedicated to God, officiated a day of the week for worship, invented to worship God is something that is done in temples, appointed priests, and started this mess that we see today. 

Jesus taught that we do not need temples, altars, priests, sacrifices and holy days. Ah! He taught that He loved us as we love each other, serve each other, pray for each other, build each other up, comfort each other, support each other and embrace each other. We are not independent, neither we act independently, we depend on God and we are His body as we are individually members of one another. We are His sheep in His Church and we are His disciples in His Kingdom and thus never act independent of each other, we are never alone. Yes, Jesus taught that God is Spirit and they that worship him, must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Jesus Christ is God.