God provides growth…

Here is a list of the family leaders and the genealogies of those who came with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes: (Ezra 8:1 NLT)

We’ve been looking at how God provided a way for the Israelites to return from captivity, rebuild the Temple of the LORD, and begin to worship again.  At the same time, we’ve been reminding ourselves that Temple worship looks different for us today.  Individually, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit now.  Together, we are being built together as living stones into the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

I assembled the exiles at the Ahava Canal, and we camped there for three days while I went over the lists of the people and the priests who had arrived. I found that not one Levite had volunteered to come along. (Ezra 8:15 NLT)

We don’t need to assemble priests anymore from the tribe of Levi, descended from Aaron.  This is because animal sacrifices have stopped, since Jesus is the final sacrifice – a pure spotless lamb.  We, now, are priests who help people come near to God through Christ Jesus our Lord.

So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders of the people. I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of discernment. I sent them to Iddo, the leader of the Levites at Casiphia, to ask him and his relatives and the Temple servants to send us ministers for the Temple of God at Jerusalem. (Ezra 8:16-17 NLT)

It’s natural to ask the question, then, how do we do that?  How do we help others come near to God?  How do we introduce them to Jesus?  How do we help God’s Church grow?  The answer is deceptively simple: God causes the growth.

Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they sent us a man named Sherebiah, along with eighteen of his sons and brothers. He was a very astute man and a descendant of Mahli, who was a descendant of Levi son of Israel. They also sent Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and twenty of his sons and brothers, and 220 Temple servants. The Temple servants were assistants to the Levites--a group of Temple workers first instituted by King David and his officials. They were all listed by name. (Ezra 8:18-20 NLT)

How about you?  Do you see your body as a Temple of the Holy Spirit?  Do you see yourself being built up, together with the rest of God’s Church, into a Temple of the Holy Spirit?  Do you want God’s Church to grow?  Do you want to learn how God causes growth?