FAQ 18
Temple Worship and the Sacral
Nature of Temple Clothes
NCW 39
Q. People going to temple worship in the old Israelite temple used to go in their ordinary daily clothes. Why do New Covenant Christians enter their temples in special clothing?
A. Because all those who are born again of the Holy Spirit are a Royal Priesthood. It is written; "When [the priests] go out into the inner court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in and leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on their [daily] clothes, so that they do not consecrate the people by means of their garments" (Ezek.44:19, NIV).
Those who put on temple garments are consecrated , meaning, they are set apart as holy to Yahweh. This is not mere symbolism: once a person enters into Pristhood covenants and wears the robes of Priesthood, which in New Covenant Temples are, in their simplest form, plain white garments, they are set apart to lives of holiness for the rest of their lives (if they are Deacons) and for eternity (if they are Elders). If such a person were to walk out of a temple wearing these garments every one who laid eyes on him would be consecrated to Priesthood service whether they had entered into Priesthood covenants or not. And if they had not entered into covenants, they would automatically become bound by such covenants; and if they did not live up to those covenants, they would pay the penalty of not doing so.
This is an extraordinary passage of scripture and yet people trifle with it, supposing that it is mere superstition. Yet God has endowed such power into His Priesthood. Why? To demonstrate to His people that His ways are not to be demeaned -- that the Temple, and its covenants, are something extraordinarily special.
This power God has endowed on His Holy Temple in the New Covenant. There is not a single person amongst us who can explain how it works -- only that it does. And every single person who has entered it (the New Covenant Temple), who has defiled it, and left the Covenant, has departed with a seared conscience, uneasiness of spirit, or simply lost every blessing of sanctification that they obtained whilst being true and faithful to it.
Some of them have gone to other Christian churches supposing that the Temple Covenants were some sort of manipulative demonic curse. They have tried to pray for those who have been in our Temples and to "break the curse" as they suppose, but they have never succeeded. How could they? God is not divided against Himself.
The Temple of the Most High God is sacred and is endowed by a portion of the Holy Spirit that is not to be found outside it, save in those who are themselves endowed by it. The temple robes and equipment, as the Bible testifies so often, are consecrated, or holy. This holiness is no mere symbolism, though the items do, of course, have symbolic meanings in addition. They are every bit as consecrated as the Ark of the Covenant which no man could touch and live. The temple robes are likewise consecrated such that only those who have entered into the covenants they represent may gaze upon them.
For some reason, many Christians no longer believe that such things have any place in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. Somehow, for them, the Gospel has become diluted -- the powers, once external, being somehow transferred to the realm of feelings only. It is true, of course, that there has been an inward movement of the Holy Spirit as the result of the death and resurrection of the Lord, but it is not true that the external has somehow become less important. Indeed, the testimony of Jesus Himself is that He did not come to the world to abolish the Law, with all its powers, but to bring it to completion, by endowing His people with a special endowment of the Holy Spirit in addition to that which obtained in the Preparatory Covenant of Moses.
Thus those to try to "demythologise" the power of the Old Testament God by making the New Testament God an entirely different species do fundamental violence to God's Word. And it is not a lesson easily understood or learned by modern Christians who have been taught a watered-down Gospel.
I remember several years ago dreaming of some of our members, who were also endowed in the Temple, walking down a street in a city in their temple clothes. I was astonished that they were doing such a thing. It was one of many prophetic warnings to me: every single one of those people apostatised from the Gospel in the rebellion that took place in 1995.
The Temple of the Lord is sacred space where special things happen. Even our homes, which are supposed to be dedicated to the Lord by the Priesthood, is sacred space on a lower level of light, where special things happen. We have recently moved house, a house which had been consecrated to the Lord for the building up of the Kingdom. It served as a Temporary ("portable") Temple. Extraordinary things happened there. There was a Spirit, or power, which people noticed -- it was a Spirit that healed instantly those who came for spiritual nourishment in faith, but struck terror in those who had broken their covenants or had no faith. The name of the place was Little Kadesh. It was loved by those who were blessed by it, but hated by those who turned away from the Lord, to the extent that former members refused to enter into it even though they were willing to talk to its occupants outside!!
After the Third Rebellion in 1995 Yahweh told us that we were to move, which we did not fully respond to until October 1996. During this time the power gradually ebbed away from the house, the last Temple session being held in it in May. There was still a special Presence there which touched all the Temple worshippers, but it was clear that the Lord was about to transfer His Glory elsewhere. At the time of writing, that Presence has been transferred to the Ark of the Church, which are its people and its scriptures, until a new Temple is built in in the new Kadesh, where en even greater Glory, Presence or Spirit will be manifested.
Though this is a rather extended answer to the question posed, it is given in order to appraise people of just what a Christian Temple and its equipment it. Such is a precious heritage lost by the Christian world, though counterfeit temples have been errected by people like the Mormons whose ceremonies (now substantially modified) are occultic in origin. God's Temple never was occultic, either in Old or New Testament times. God, through a unilateral act, and completely independently of magic ceremonies (which is the means by which occultic temples -- Masonic, Rosicrucian, Satannic, Hindu, etc. -- are empowered with demonic energies), empowers special buildings and space. Though, as the New Testament testifies, God cannot be "contained" in such space (since He fills the entire Universe with His Presence), He chooses to manifest Himself there in a special way for the blessing to those of His people who are willing to enter into a deeper relationship with Him.
We New Covenant Christians cannot explain how this works, for we are not magicians, rather, ordinary Christians seeking to honour the Lord God of Israel and His Son Jesus Christ. We only know that it happens because we have experienced it and been blessed by it. To those who are willing to follow Jesus and obey all His commandments and teachings we can only promise them a special feast of spiritual things. But they must come in faith, not lusting after these things. They must, above all, be patient, for God chooses to reveal His mysterious acts when and how He wills, and not because we demand and desire them.
In the meantime, those who desire to partake of these things, ought to be preparing themselves by putting on their spiritual garments, which are love, righteousness, and the goodness of Christ. To such people the Temple will come naturally and bring much joy. To those who are not honourable, however, the Temple is a place they should never wish to enter.
This page was created on 16 October 1997
Last updated on 26 February 1998
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