2Chr. 5:13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying:
‘For He is good, For His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud,’
Every time I remember this powerful scene, the dedication of Solomon’s temple, I immediately think of the birth of the church on the Day of Pentecost. As the priests acknowledged the goodness of God, His glory began to fill the temple and overwhelm the priests. On the Day of Pentecost we see the disciples and remnant of Christ’s closest followers gathered for prayer and worship and they too were overwhelmed with the presence of the Lord. This was the dedication of the true temple of God. Solomon’s temple was only a shadow of the real. The church was the ultimate plan of God. This brings us to today; should we be satisfied with just a doctrinal belief that we are the temple of God or should there be more? Maybe we should have a similar sense of His overwhelming presence when we gather in His name. What are we missing? Maybe it’s the sense of why we exist, to magnify His goodness and to live in His presence. Here is how Spurgeon describes the goodness of God.
“How generous, forgiving, and tender is this patient Spirit of God. He is good operatively. All his works are good in the most eminent degree: he suggests good thoughts, prompts good actions, reveals good truths, applies good promises, assists in good attainments, and leads to good results. There is no spiritual good in all the world of which he is not the author and sustainer, and heaven itself will owe the perfect character of its redeemed inhabitants to his work. He is good officially; whether as Comforter, Instructor, Guide, Sanctifier, Quickener, or Intercessor, he fulfills his office well, and each work is fraught with the highest good to the church of God. They who yield to his influences become good, they who obey his impulses do good, they who live under his power receive good.”
If you follow what happened in the church after that initial outpouring, they continued in the power of His presence as individuals. They would gather for corporate worship and teaching and turned the world upside down with the power of His presence. There is going to be a change in His church, there has to be. Great music, helpful instruction and motivation, and efficient programs will never address the problems of our culture, it is in meltdown. We need His power and His goodness on full display.
