“Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?” - 1 Corinthians 3:16
“The Holy Spirit builds; this is His occupation when we first learn to know Him, & certainly we often behold Him employed in it (1 Cor 3:16)…There is a city existing upon earth, which has nowhere its equal; it consists of holy sanctuaries & temples; it is invisible & yet close at hand; & the world contemns it, although it is the most glorious thing in it. The wings of Eternal Love are spread over it; heaven smiles on it benignantly; its walls & ramparts are of fire, & its foundations are firm as the eternal mountains. It is the city of the King of kings, & it is the office of the Holy Spirit to raise & extend it. He is a builder of temples; & in this point of view He stands in the same relationship to Christ that Solomon did to David. The latter by His victories & conquests first rendered the building of the temple possible; he also provided materials, & sketched the plan which Solomon put into execution.
No one is by nature a temple; on the contrary, by nature we are the dwelling places of an evil spirit, who has his work in the hearts of the unregenerated, & who blinds them so that they believe a lie. It is now the employment of the Holy Spirit to remodel this living charnel house, & for this purpose He throws down & raises up; He destroys & creates anew. His instrument is the Holy Scriptures; He makes the word penetrating & sharper than a two-edged sword; giving it power to make impression, & animating it with the breath of life. You know from experience how it acts; sometimes it strikes like a thunderbolt, & sometimes it flashes past; two houses stand together, the one is struck, while the other is untouched: Sunday after Sunday pass by, while the heavy laden cloud of our sermons thunder & lighten over the heads of the people; but what good does it do? They pass away without effect until the Spirit direct them. Then indeed there is a change; the rain falls on the heart; the fiery flames descend, & the word strikes like an invisible sword, reforming & creating anew.”
- F.W. Krummacher, The Martyr Lamb,
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