In all ages, and among all people, the temple, no matter to whom it was dedicated, has been considered a place of safety.
If a city were besieged, and hard pressed, the inhabitants as a last resort would take refuge in the sanctuary; and the men who defended the city would make their last stand there, since it was the most strongly fortified. Even a criminal fleeing from justice, was usually safe from the executioner, while in the sanctuary.
The Christian has the privilege of always dwelling in the sanctuary, even the sanctuary of the Most High God. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me." (Psalm 27:4-6) "Be my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort; You have given commandment to save me; for You are my rock and my fortress." (Psalm 71:3)
But perhaps this seems figurative and unreal to many. They do not see the temple of refuge. The Scripture, however, provides for that difficulty, for it says: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16) "What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 4:19)
Wherever we are, therefore, as long as we live, we may know that we abide in God's temple. If we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, this will be very real to us. "When He came into the world, He said, Sacrifice and offering You would not, but a body have You prepared me." (Hebrews 10:5)
His body we know was sacred, and it was the temple of the Lord. But the Son of God did not come into this world solely for the purpose of appearing in the body that was born of Mary. That was but the revelation of a great purpose. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name; Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God," (John 1:12-13) just as Jesus of Nazareth was. He makes of all believers "one new man" in himself. (Ephesians 2:15)
We have just read that our bodies are not our own; whose, then, are they? They are the bodies of the Lord Jesus. Each one of our bodies is the body which God has prepared for His Son coming into the world; each one is just as precious in the eyes of God as His was, and is to be guarded as sacredly.
What then? Why, it is as clear as noon day that we are always as safe from the assaults of the enemy--of all enemies--as Jesus of Nazareth was; just as safe as He is now. The Lord in His holy temple will defend it against all invading foes. He even defies them saying: "The Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded;therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifies me; who will contend with me? let us stand together; who is my adversary? let him come near to me." (Isaiah 50:7-8) "Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it comes, For the Lord God shall be your confidence, and shall keep yourfoot from being taken." (Proverbs 3:25-26) "He will not suffer your foot to be moved: he that keeps you will not slumber." (Psalm 121:3)
But this is not all. We are not to consider ourselves as continually on the defensive, shut in by a raging foe on the outside. The promise concerning each believer is that he "shall possess the gate of his enemies." (Genesis 22:17)
We can always abide in the living, moving temple of the Lord, that impregnable fortress, and still make attacks on the enemy. It is not enough for the Christian merely to repel the enemy's assaults; he must destroy all his foes. This is his privilege. "By You I have run through a troop; and by my God have by leaped over a wall. ... I have pursued my enemies, and overtaken them; neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them, that they were not able to rise; they are fallen under my feet. For You have girded me with strength unto the battle; You have subdued under me those that rose up against You. You have also given me the necks of my enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me." (Psalm 18:29,37-40)
Christ's army goes forth "conquering and to conquer." (Revelation 6:2)
Through Him they are "more than conquerors." (Romans 8:37) "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." (1 Corinthians 15:26)
Even this foe is not merely to be resisted, but to be pursued to his overthrow. That means that as time goes on, we are to receive new accessions of the more abundant life, and to be lifted up higher above the power of death; that death is to be compelled, by the inherent force of life, to loosen its hold upon us, until it at last drops off for ever. "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and the righteousness is of me, says the Lord." (Isaiah 54:17) "Cry out, and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of you." (Isaiah 12:6)--Present Truth, October 16, 1902--Psalm 27:4-6.