"The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven." (Psalm 11:4) "Thus says the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool." (Isaiah 66:1) "Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? says the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord." (Jeremiah 23:23-24) "For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Isaiah 57:18)
God has a dwelling-place in the heavens, yet not so that anybody can locate Him in one place to the exclusion of all others; for He is everywhere; He fills all things. "Where shall I go from your Spirit? or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall your hand lead me, and your right hand shall hold me." (Psalm 139:7-9)
Therefore all creation is the temple of the living God. The Jews and the Samaritans quarreled over whether God's house was in Jerusalem or in Samaria. If they had but known the Scriptures, they would have known that even the desolate wilderness is the house of God, and the gate of heaven. (See Genesis 28:10-17) "Verily You are a God that hides yourself, O God of Israel the Saviour." (Isaiah 45:15)
Yet He does not hide himself so that He cannot be found. Whoever uses his eyes, may see God revealed in every plant and tree, in every flowing stream, and in the birds that fly in the heavens. (See Romans 1:30) From this it follows that man also forms a part of God's great temple. "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16)
Read the whole of this chapter, and the two chapters following, and you will readily see that this language is addressed not to perfected saints, but to men who are living in sin. It is the Spirit's strongest appeal to men to live holy lives. God makes men His temples, in order that He may sanctify them by His presence.
The question at once suggests itself: "If all creation, even fallen nature; is the temple of God, how is it that in His temple everything says, Glory?" (Psalm 29:9)
It is not ours to question how God's Word can be true, but by believing it to see its truth. The seraphim, who stand above God's throne, beholding Him day and night, declare, that "The whole earth is full of His glory," (Isaiah 6:3) or, "The fullness of the whole earth is His glory."
We are daily witnesses of this. In spite of the curse upon the earth, the glory of God manifests itself. From the bare trees of winter, victims of the curse of death, spring forth the green leaves and bright blossoms of spring, revealing the resurrection power and glory of the Lord. Every beauteous bud, every delicatelytinted flower, every gleam of sunshine, is but the shining forth of the glory of God, which cannot be wholly veiled even by the curse. The songs of the birds are but the echo of the voice that is heard in the chorus of the angels before the throne of God.
But there are many men who use their voices only in blasphemy of the holy name of God; how do they say, "Glory"? Again we must remember that belief of God's Word gives us the explanation of it. God says that everything says, "Glory," and so it must be. Every man who lives and moves is a monument of God's love and power: "He gives to all life, and breath, and all things." (Acts 17:25)
Even the foul language with which debased men pollute God's temple, is an unconscious testimony to God's longsuffering and lovingkindness, and therefore a witness "To the praise of the glory of His grace." (Ephesians 1:6)
God makes even the wrath of men to praise Him. The fact that God gives men the breath with which they deny Him, shows His glorious grace. God's will is sure to be done on earth even as it is done in heaven. No adversary can thwart God's will, which is that "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea." (Habakkuk 2:14)
Such is His glorious power that He advances His cause even by the attempts of the enemy to thwart it. Willingly or unwillingly, every creature that God has created, must contribute to His glory and praise. How much better to have it done with our consent, than against it!
Since God can do such marvelous things and show the wonders of His glory even through those who are in opposition to Him, what can He not do with those who yield themselves to Him? Therefore, "Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God," (Romans 6:13) that you may "Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:20)--Present Truth, May 11, 1899--Psalm 11:4.