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