What if the temple of God isn't a building but a community of believers? Join us on this eye-opening episode of Bible Provocateur as we dismantle the common misconception that biblical prophecies about Israel hinge on modern-day headlines. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, we explore the profound idea that the true Israel of God includes all who believe in Christ, irrespective of ethnicity or nationality. We challenge the anticipation of a physical temple in Jerusalem, emphasizing instead that believers, collectively, are the living temple of God, inhabited by the Holy Spirit since Pentecost.
In this enlightening discussion, we delve into the significance of recognizing our identity as God's temple and the implications of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70. The episode draws attention to the new temple Christ established within us, urging listeners to grasp the gravity of this divine residence. We also discuss the serious consequences of defiling this sacred temple through sin, corruption, and false teachings. This episode aims to inspire a deeper understanding of our spiritual reality and the importance of preserving the sanctity of God's temple.
We also issue a critical call to action for those who have not yet embraced Christ, stressing that faith in Jesus is the bedrock of salvation. Our discussion critiques modern preachers who misuse the pulpit for personal gain and entertainment, advocating for a return to genuine worship and reverence for God's holy temple. By recognizing that wherever God's people gather, they form His temple, we underscore the collective responsibility of all believers to uphold the sanctity of the Church. Be provoked and be inspired as we journey through this transformative message.
What if the temple of God isn't a building but a community of believers? Join us on this eye-opening episode of Bible Provocateur as we dismantle the common misconception that biblical prophecies about Israel hinge on modern-day headlines. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, we explore the profound idea that the true Israel of God includes all who believe in Christ, irrespective of ethnicity or nationality. We challenge the anticipation of a physical temple in Jerusalem, emphasizing instead that believers, collectively, are the living temple of God, inhabited by the Holy Spirit since Pentecost.
In this enlightening discussion, we delve into the significance of recognizing our identity as God's temple and the implications of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70. The episode draws attention to the new temple Christ established within us, urging listeners to grasp the gravity of this divine residence. We also discuss the serious consequences of defiling this sacred temple through sin, corruption, and false teachings. This episode aims to inspire a deeper understanding of our spiritual reality and the importance of preserving the sanctity of God's temple.
We also issue a critical call to action for those who have not yet embraced Christ, stressing that faith in Jesus is the bedrock of salvation. Our discussion critiques modern preachers who misuse the pulpit for personal gain and entertainment, advocating for a return to genuine worship and reverence for God's holy temple. By recognizing that wherever God's people gather, they form His temple, we underscore the collective responsibility of all believers to uphold the sanctity of the Church. Be provoked and be inspired as we journey through this transformative message.
Christians, good afternoon or evening, depending on where you may live. Welcome to the Bible Provocateur. I hope you'll stay and listen to this message of this feeble minister. I'm going to be. For those of you who have the word of God with you, I'm going to be in 1 Corinthians, chapter 3. 1 Corinthians, chapter 3. And Paul says the following in verses 16 and 17. He says to the church Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, god will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are?
Speaker 1:Now, as a preamble to the message, I want to point out that there's a unique situation that always happens within the Christian community. Whenever Israel is making headlines, the Christian church runs headlong into the Word of God, trying to prove that somehow the headlines related to Israel are laid out for us in the scripture. And there are many Christians who like to have their Bible open in one hand and the newspaper open in another hand and the newspaper opened in another hand. And the problem with this approach to understanding the Bible and tying it to Israel is simply this there is nothing in the Bible that prophetically speaks of the future of Israel from in this day. Now don't get me wrong. The Bible speaks about Israel, but what I'm saying is the nature of what Israel is and who they are has changed. Changed. The israel which, which underlies the entire history of believers, has been everybody, the society of believers. They make up the true israel of god that we see spoken about by paul in galatians, chapter 6 and in verse 16.
Speaker 1:If you are a Christian, if you are a believer in God, if you have embraced Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are Israel. You are the Israel of God. It doesn't matter what your ethnicity is, it does not matter where you live. It does not matter what language ethnicity is, it does not matter where you live. It does not matter what language you speak. It does not matter. These things don't matter. But getting back to this idea that Christians are always trying to, are always trying to extract headlines from the Bible that relate to Israel and start trying to make it fit into the Word of God when it does not, when it does not and I'm talking about the headlines in the news related to national, modern day Israel the Bible speaks no more about the national Israel today than it does about America today. God is concerned about one thing. Christ is concerned about one thing saving sinners. If you are a sinner and you are Jewish and you are a Jew and you love Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are my brother or sister. If you are Chinese and you love the Lord Jesus Christ, you are my brother or sister. If you are African and you love the Lord Jesus Christ, you are my brother or sister. And this goes for believers that love the Lord Jesus Christ, regardless of their ethnic, cultural, national persuasion, their ethnic, cultural, national persuasion. All of us who love the Lord Jesus Christ, we are all connected and are therefore the family of Christ, the family of God, and this family is called the Israel of God. We are called the church. We are one and the same. The church of Israel, the church of God, is also the church of Israel.
Speaker 1:Now, so that's a little bit longer than I wanted to go in my opening, but I want to point out in the verses that we have and I'll read them again in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 16 and 17. Paul says and I'll read this again in second Corinthians, chapter three, verse 16 and 17. Paul says I'll read this again Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, god will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. So my first question is my first question is this?
Speaker 1:Paul asked the question, do you not know? And he's speaking to the church. He's speaking to the church as a whole, as a collective, as a body, and he says do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you? Paul is saying is asking this question to believers and he is saying don't you know this? His attitude in this message is conveying to the, to the corinthian church and all of us as the church. He's basically saying, like how is it that you don't know this? How is it that you do not know this? Don't you know that you are the temple of god? Now, why am I bringing this up? I'm bringing this because, as I stated earlier about the headlines, whenever Israel is in headlines, people start looking into their eschatology, they start looking into the book of Revelation, they start looking into prophecies in the Bible and figuring out how it is Israel, the nation of Israel that we know today is being fitted into the word of God, and one of the primary issues, one of the primary ideas, one of the primary themes that come out over and over again is the expectation of a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. This theme is big.
Speaker 1:Modern day Christians are always talking about the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem that is coming and what's surprising to me is how, in light of the scriptures, they look at this idea that, if it were true which it is not they look at this idea that if it were true which it is not they look at it as something to be glad about. They look at it as something that ought to be promoted. They look at it in such a way that they believe that if a rebuilt temple is built in national Israel today, that it will be a temple that God is honoring, where God is going to allow himself to be worshiped, that God will be blessing whatever efforts are surrounded around this rebuilt temple, and which includes, in the minds of these people who hold these things, that the ceremonial institutions under the Levitical priesthood are being reinstituted. So you often hear about people, christians, talking about oh, in Israel, they have found the red heifer. They have found the red heifer that has been lost and they haven't been seen in centuries or decades, or whatever it is they're saying, and they believe that these things being reinstituted are going to be blessed by God.
Speaker 1:Nothing can be further from the truth, as I intend to show you, there were two great temples that were built that were significant to the Israelites, to the Israelites under the old covenant. No temple exists today. When the second temple was in decay, when Christ stood in front of it, the Pharisees, jesus told the Pharisees, while he stood in front of that temple, he said destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again. Destroy this temple, in three days I will raise it up again. And they looked at the temple that was behind him when he was talking and they said that that temple had been in, had been in construction for over 46 years, 50 years, whatever it was, and you say you're going to raise it back up again in three days if we tear it down. And they understood not, the bible says they did not understand that the lord jesus christ was talking about the temple of his body, the temple of his body, the temple of his body and the temple of his body is us. We are the temple of his body and Christ is our great head. He is the temple where the Israel of God worships. Christ is the temple that was rebuilt. Christ is the temple that was rebuilt and we who are in Christ are his body and therefore his temple. Look what it says in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 16.
Speaker 1:Paul asked the questions. He asked the question to the Corinthian church. He goes don't you realize, don't you know that you are the temple of God? He tells them you are the temple of God. We, the Christian church, we are God's temple and there is no other temple greater. There is no other temple that can be built on earth that would be greater than the temple that already exists.
Speaker 1:The idea that prophecies in the Old Covenant, in the Old Testament, spoke about a coming temple that would be rebuilt, what? And for you to look at Christ as the temple, or look at Christ and believe that somehow the prophecies about a rebuilt temple skip over him, who said he was the temple that would be rebuilt, and then have it point to some future temple that is to be built in Israel. It's ridiculous, it's silliness. The temple that the prophecies of the Old Testament talked about as being rebuilt, christ told you what it was. It was himself the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the temple that the old covenant prophets prophesied about Jesus himself.
Speaker 1:Right here again, paul says don't you know that you are the temple of God? You are the temple of God. We are the believers, we Christians, regardless of who we are, jew or Gentile alike, we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are the temple. And, like I said, paul asked the question as if he's, as if he's pleading with people and he's saying how do you miss this? How do you not realize this, this, how do you not realize this? And then he says this do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you? He's asking them don't you know that the spirit of God dwells in you? Now, here's the thing Wherever, wherever the Spirit of God is, wherever the Spirit of God dwells, that is the temple, and that is the only temple, and that is the only temple that matters. God does not care one whit about what national Israel today is going to build in Jerusalem of today. It doesn't matter. The rebuilt temple that is to be in Jerusalem is different today than it was then, because the Bible makes it clear to us that we, the Christian church, we are the new Jerusalem. Today, right now, we are the temple and we are the new Jerusalem. The temple of God is what we are and we, as a body of believers, we are the residents. We are the residents. Ever since Pentecostcost. We have been the resident of the old testament, shekinah glory, the Holy Spirit lives within us. We are the temple.
Speaker 1:Stop looking and having expectation of a temple that is built by human hands. You have to get off of that mindset. It is wrong, it is a falsehood. And I'll tell you something else Even if, even if modern day Israel rebuilt a temple in Jerusalem, it would be a synagogue of Satan. It would not be a place of worship for the Christian church. It would not be something that God honors, it would be a unholy place unless, unless somehow, god is going to rewrite his word, which I don't think is going to be happening, because if God were to rewrite his word, that would imply he made mistakes.
Speaker 1:But Paul makes it very clear we, the believing church, the Christian church, the true believers, we are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in us. And he's asking us don't you know this? I had to ask myself don't you know this? And now I'm asking all of you don't you know this? And now I'm asking all of you don't you know this? Paul is asking you don't you know that you are the temple of God? All of you who are waiting for this expectation, waiting with joy and glee of a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. The question that Paul would ask you is don't you know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells within you? Even if you were to build, even if Israel was to build a new temple in Jerusalem, the Spirit of God would not vacate us to go live in this physical temple made with hands, would not vacate us to go live in this physical temple made with hands. So we need to understand this. I'm not done yet.
Speaker 1:Now, after he says don't you know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you, verse 17 adds more fuel to the fire by saying if anyone defiles the temple of God, god will destroy him. Verse 17,. If anyone defiles the temple of God, god will destroy him. If anyone defiles the temple of God, god will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are.
Speaker 1:Now let me bring up something else here about this temple before I focus on verse 17. Notice here that Paul only speaks about one temple. He speaks about a temple in the singular. There is only one, and he assumes that the people who are believers are supposed to know what that temple is. They're supposed to know where it is and they are supposed to know that if they are a believer, it is them. They are supposed to know that the spirit of God dwells in them because they are God's temple. Listen, this is not meant. What I'm saying is not meant to be an issue where I am just trying to be contrary to those who have bad eschatology. I am trying to convey something to you that ought to be a blessing to you. It ought to be a blessing.
Speaker 1:Understand the magnitude of what the word of God means when we learn that, as believers, the spirit of God lives within us because we are God's temple. Think about that for a second. Meditate on the fact that we are God's temple and the Spirit of God lives within us, the Spirit of God Almighty who created all things. He chose to take up residence in sinners, sinners who come to Christ in faith, in this temple. He takes very seriously. God takes it very seriously, very seriously. This is the place, the fortress that he will protect until the day Christ returns, and there will be no temple that God honors that will supersede this temple, the only temple that there is or ever will be. You can build 50 churches, you can build 50 synagogues, you can build 50 cathedrals, you can build them in every city, but the temple of God is his people. We are the temple of God. We are where the spirit of God lives and takes up residence. The Shekinah glory of God lives within us.
Speaker 1:Stop looking for some ridiculous building to be built on the dome of the, the Rock or the Dome of the Spirit over there in Israel. It doesn't matter. It does not matter. Stop trying to shoehorn the headlines of Israel into the Bible. God is done with that system. That old Levitical system that Moses established is gone. It is a relic and we are never going back to that. Paul told us if I tear down, if I build up again that which I tore down, I make myself a transgressor. God does not go backwards. God is not going back to those weak and beggarly elements.
Speaker 1:They failed Not because there was something wrong with what God instituted. The failure was on the part of sinners who could not obey, who could not obey what God said, who could not obey his laws. So he tore down the temple and in Christ's time it was in shambles. It was in shambles, the one that was being rebuilt then. But then Christ destroyed it when he sent in the Roman emperor, emperor Titus, into Israel, into Jerusalem, in AD 70. And he destroyed it and left the temple, left nothing there, raised it to the ground completely, destroyed it, never to be raised again. Why? Because Christ came to earth to build his temple, the temple of which we are, and he sent his Holy Spirit to dwell within us. And that makes us God's holy temple, us God's holy temple.
Speaker 1:In verse 17, paul goes on to say if anyone defiles the temple of God, he says, god will destroy him. If any man, if anyone defiles the temple of God, god will destroy him. Now listen, you should be asking yourself what does that mean? Defile the temple? What does it mean to defile the temple? To defile the temple, it means not to bring into it anything that is unholy. It means to not bring sin into his temple. It means not to bring corruption into his temple. It means not to pollute his temple, not to bring your baggage from the world and think that you can enter in to his temple.
Speaker 1:Another way to defile the temple is to disparage the temple. Another way to defile the temple is to disparage the temple, to say that the temple is not the temple and to lead people to look for another temple. This defiles the temple. If I tell you, like so many believers today, that you need to be looking forward with great expectation to a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem today and that's going to be a glorious event you are defiling the temple of God. You are defiling the temple of God.
Speaker 1:Anything brought into the temple of God that is holy, anything that disparages the sanctity and the sacredness, the sacred value of God's temple, is defiling his temple. It is defiling Bringing in your corruption, bringing in your sin. We live in a day. We live in a day. We live in a day when we are surrounded With Devilish men and women who have laid hold Of pulpits In churches, in synagogues, in temples, in cathedrals, where they sit there, pretending to be Christians, pretending to care about the souls of Christians, pretending to care, to increase and to multiply believers for God's glory, and all they do? All they do is corrupt the temple with lies. They corrupt the temple by trying to make it a place of merchandise to get rich from, to get rich from, get rich from, to get rich from. And so they've turned the temple of God into a defiled place. They are attempting to defile it. These health wealth preachers they tell you in those pulpits that if you are not giving them money, you are expressing a lack of faith. These people who tell you this, they are defiling the temple. These people who tell you all these wicked things. They defile the temple.
Speaker 1:So many of these Christians, these so-called Christian pastors. They turned the pulpit into a platform to entertain, to entertain. They're entertainers and the notion is that people respond to entertainment. So let's put on a show and then we'll show them the way through entertainment. No, they are defiling the temple. They've turned these churches into circuses. They're just putting on a performance all the time, because so many people can't consume anything that does not take the shape of entertainment. So now you have preachers that acquiesce to the depravity of men, to the short attention span of men, to the itching ears of men and they do these things Because they can prosper from it.
Speaker 1:I personally Do not believe that. No, minister, I don't believe no Preacher that takes the stage or takes the pulpit Should be taking it To make money, to be enriched by it. It doesn't matter if you're rich or you make a bunch of money in your own right, if you own a business or a company, that shouldn't matter. That's fine if you get rich that way. But we should not be fleecing God's people for personal gain. That is defiling the temple. If you come to church and you have unresolved sin in your heart that you don't check at the door before you walk in to that service on Sunday morning on the Lord's day, you are defiling the temple. You are defiling the temple when you see brothers and sisters struggling and doing nothing to assist and to provide ease for their comfort. You are defiling the temple and this ought not to be Christians. This simply should not be.
Speaker 1:We have forgotten that the temple is a sacred and holy place and we are that temple, the church body, the church collective. We are God's temple, his people. Why? Because his Holy Spirit lives within us. This is why Christ would say to us that where two or three are gathered in his name, there he is in the midst of us. Why? Because we are his temple. When we gather together, when we gather together, he sits there in the midst of us and he says even if there's just two of us, even if there's just two of us there, he is in the midst. And so if two or more are gathered together and christ sits there in our midst and we know this from the word of god what manner of people ought we to be, knowing that he is in our presence, knowing that he is in our midst? It should not be so easy to defile the temple if we know that we're two or three are gathered in his name. There he is in the midst of us.
Speaker 1:Whatever it is you are doing in your life today, whatever sin you struggle with in this life today, you should treat whatever it is you struggle with, your sin, that struggle with that you find so difficult to resist. Then try to focus your resistance on knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ is present with you when you are doing it, while you're in the midst of it of it. If you are a Christian man and a Christian woman and you're not married and you're in the bed together, just calling it like it is. Don't try to pretend that there's something sacred about it. Don't try to make excuses about it. I have a past. I don't make excuses for the sin in my life that I indulged in, and neither should you, neither should you the thoughts that pervade our minds and that simmer in our hearts that are always ready to explode.
Speaker 1:We have to keep it all in check, knowing that our Lord knows our frame, that he knows our weaknesses and that he is able to keep that which he has committed to us. And so we have to be careful not only to not defile the temple, but we should be conscious about wanting to protect it. We should be watchmen, guardians of the temple. We should be careful to make sure that the administration of God's work is being carried out by us, his servants, in a manner of speaking. All of us are deacons. We all serve in the temple. We all have a calling that we need to make sure, as we are told by Paul, to make your calling and election sure. We are guardians of God's temple, his one and only temple, the one and only temple that exists and the last one that will exist, and the only one where God will ever reside in. There is no more temples to come that God is going to make his residence there. We are God's temple, you and I, if we believe in Lord Jesus Christ, we are his temple and and that is the only temple that there is and that is the only temple that there will ever be.
Speaker 1:I don't care how many temples they build over in Israel. Whatever they build in Israel that they call a place of worship for God, unless it is a place where people acknowledge Christ within that building, it will be an unholy place, right like every church that is absent of the message of Christ. Any church where the word of God, where Christ is not the Messiah and where his word is not preached, it is not a gospel church, it is not a God honoring church, it is not a temple, it is a defiled temple. Now Paul goes on. He says if any man defiles the temple of god, then he says these strong words if anyone defiles the temple of god, god will destroy him. Now I don't think that it requires much imagination.
Speaker 1:There are so many Christians who believe that if a new, rebuilt temple in Jerusalem is built, that this will be a place that is honored. People believe that it will be a place that is honored, but I'll tell you this much. But I'll tell you this much as I already said, if it is not a place where the Lord Jesus Christ is exalted and glorified above all of mankind, where the word of God is not taught and where Christ is not recognized as being God in the flesh, it is not a place of worship for God's true people and it never will be, because we are the temple and we are the only temple that the Bible predicted to come. This is the temple that we live in right now and we are its guardians and its watchmen, and the Holy Spirit of God lives within us and we should be glad, and that also means that the temple goes everywhere we go.
Speaker 1:We are not restricted and isolated to one location. Wherever God's people are, that is the temple of God. Wherever God's people convene, that is the temple of God. Wherever two or three are gathered in his name, that is the temple of God. Wherever two or three are gathered in his name, that is the temple of God. And as an overall collective, as a unified body worldwide, we are God's temple and the Holy Spirit lives within us all. He guides us and he, the Holy Spirit, he is the one that keeps us from defiling God's temple. He's the one who does that. He is the one that does that. So it is incumbent upon us, as believers, to always recognize that we are always in the temple. We are always in the temple. Why? Because the temple is within us, we are in it and it is in us. The Holy Spirit dwells within us, leading us and guiding us into all righteousness, and we glory in that fact. We glory in that fact.
Speaker 1:Christ said that it was needful that he should go to heaven, that he should ascend. It was needful why? So that the Holy Spirit would come, so that we would have a comforter, so that we would not have to worry about going here and going there to build and find worship. Now we can worship God anywhere, because the Spirit of God lives within us. Stop looking for rebuilt temples in Jerusalem. We are not only the rebuilt temple, but we are also not only the rebuilt temple, but we are also the new Jerusalem. We, the Christian church, we are that holy nation. We, the people, god's spiritual people, born of the Holy Spirit, and once being born into the Holy Spirit, we are born into God's kingdom. So we're in that now we are in his kingdom, we are in Christ. Christ is the kingdom of God and we are in Christ meaning we are in him, and those of us who are in Christ find within themselves the spirit of God living within them and guiding them into all truth.
Speaker 1:But God made, but Paul gives us a severe warning. He says that anyone that defiles the temple of God, god will destroy him. Now let's talk about this for a second. God will destroy any man who defiles his temple. First off, the only way that God can defile, or God can destroy anybody from four, the only way that God can destroy anyone for defiling his temple, and the only way that we can understand that is to understand what and where the temple is. God is not talking about defiling, destroying a man for defiling a physical temple. He's not saying that.
Speaker 1:As I said, the temple is God's church. We are his church, the church body. So anyone that comes in and tries to pervert the members of his church and tries to pervert the gospel, that tries to pervert what the word of God says or to undermine what the word of God says, these are those who defile God's temple. These are also those who defile God's temple. When you come into the church and you tell people lies. When you tell people that they need to speak in tongues, for example, or they're not saved, this is a lie. These defile the temple. When you tell people that if you didn't get baptized you're going to hell, this is a lie.
Speaker 1:The thief on the cross wasn't baptized. All of the Old Testament saints weren't baptized. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't get baptized. I believe it's the first order of business for every Christian. It should be to get baptized. But my point is that is not the requirement for salvation. That is not the requirement for salvation. Never has been, never has been, never will be.
Speaker 1:Thief on the cross. He didn't have time to get baptized. What was he going to do? Step off the cross first and say have time to get baptized. What was he going to do? Step off the cross first and say you know, lord, I know you said you're going to take me to paradise today, but how am I going to get baptized first? And nor jesus didn't tell him. Well, let me see if I can do something to get you off the cross so you can get baptized, and then I'll allow you to meet me in paradise when I die on this cross. I'm not trying to be irreverent, I'm just trying to make people understand how silly it sounds. There were many people Whom Paul himself said he didn't baptize. He could have, but he didn't. But what is baptism? The pledge of a good conscience toward God.
Speaker 1:Baptism means to identify with Baptizo. Baptism it means to identify. You are telling the world that now I identify with Christ. You got people today that are identifying as different genders. They're identifying as all kind of things. Baptism is to identify with Christ, is to identify with the Word of God, is to identify with the means of grace that God has provided for those of us who would believe, who were his chosen, his elect, to come to faith. We identify with Christ by our baptism, just like the old covenant Jews identified with Christ in the Old Testament by circumcision. And yes, I didn't slip of the tongue when I said they identified with Christ. Every person who is saved is saved by faith through grace in Christ Jesus, every single person, from Adam to the latest person that was born again. Today we are all saved, justified by faith in Christ, all of us.
Speaker 1:God says he will destroy any man who defiles his temple Destroy. Now, this can be taken two different ways, and or they can be both together. In other words, defiling in the temple of God can be something that a non-Christian and someone who claims to be Christian. So let me say that again Someone who defiles the temple can be someone who is absolutely not a Christian, but it can also be someone who professes to be Christian. And I say that that way because anyone who defiles the temple of God is never a true Christian.
Speaker 1:True Christians do not defile the temple of God. They uphold the sanctity of God's church Even when they fail in various things in their lives. They never charge God foolishly, just like Job. True believers will never turn on Christ and turn for good. It can't happen. It's impossible, because when a sheep goes astray, the great shepherd will go and bring that sheep back to the sheepfold.
Speaker 1:But this should be a danger. This should be something taken very seriously by all of us who claim to be Christians. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you should be careful not to defile God's temple, because Paul says here anyone who does that God will destroy, will destroy. God's not going to contemplate destroying you. God is not going to consider whether or not, he's going to destroy you. It says if you destroy, if you defile God's temple, he will destroy you. He will. There is no room to weasel out of that. So we should be careful the way we live our lives, and I'm not just trying to instill fear.
Speaker 1:What I'm trying to do is get people to understand the holiness of God. He is a holy God and when he says that there are certain things, when he says certain things, there's no way that we should walk away from this and not understand how serious an issue it is. If you read in the word of God that God will destroy anyone who defiles his temple, we should be looking deep into ourselves and asking God to keep us from defiling his temple. Ask God daily am I destroying your temple? Am I defiling your temple? Keep me from defiling your temple. Help me to be a guardian of your temple. Help me to be one of those people who ministers in your temple faithfully, because anyone who is defiling God's temple, god will destroy. And then Paul tells you, lastly, why he says for the temple of God is holy. And then he says which temple you are. The temple of God is holy, holy.
Speaker 1:I know no Christian wants to think of themselves as holy. No Christian wants to think of themselves as a saint, but that is exactly what the word of God says that we are. We may not feel like it, we may not feel holy, we may not feel righteous, we may not feel that we're on the narrow road, but I can tell you, if you can say that you love the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a saint, you are holy. And what do these things mean? What does it mean to be holy? It means to be set apart. It means to be set apart for God's godly use of you. You are his servant. You have been set aside for noble use for his glory. You are holy. If you are a Christian, a true blood-bought believer, you are holy. You are a saint, you have been set apart for God's use.
Speaker 1:And notice what he says the temple of God is holy. And then he says this Christians, listen to this. We are the temple of God. He says the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are, you and me? He tells us that we are his temple. He doesn't tell us to look for the temple that's coming in Jerusalem in the future. He doesn't tell us that Nobody teaches in the New Testament.
Speaker 1:No one teaches, no apostle teaches that the Christian church should have an expectation to gather together for a rebuilt temple in modern day Jerusalem. To tell anybody that that is what we should be doing? To tell anyone that is what we should believe, that God is going to honor some rebuilt temple in Jerusalem where Christ is not preached or believed, to get people to believe that is to defile the temple. We should walk lightly. We should walk very lightly because we are told right here in second Corinthians, chapter three, verse 17. If anyone defiles the temple of God, god will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, for the temple of God is holy. Which temple we are? We are the temple. So all these people that make threats in government, in governments all around the world, where they bring harm to God's people, when they bring harm to God's people, when they plan to bring harm to God's people and they follow through with it, they defile his temple and God says he will destroy them. We are not responsible to destroy them. He says he will take matters into his own hands when his temple is being defiled. Christians, we should be careful not to defile God's temple.
Speaker 1:Those of you who may or may not be listening, or who are listening listening if you don't know christ? If you don't know christ, you need to visit god's temple. You need to find someone to help you understand what's keep to talk to you about what's keeping you away from christ. You need to enter in to god's temple to find out what it is you've been missing. You need to listen to god's people when they tell you. They may be weak in in how they express things. They may not be articulate, they may not be the world's greatest theologian Far from it but they do know this one thing they do know that they are God's temple and they do know that the Holy Spirit of God lives within them. And they do know what it means to be saved and they do know how to go about it. You need to listen to this and you need to come to Christ, and you need to do it immediately. There is nothing to contemplate.
Speaker 1:The Bible says that when you just look to Jesus Christ, you can be saved. Just a look, look to him in faith and you will be saved. It does not require a semester at any school. It does not require a degree from any school. The message does not have to come from a pastor in a pulpit. You do not have to walk down an aisle in a church and answer to some altar call. You don't even have to read the Bible in order to believe. What you need to do is look to Christ in faith, because otherwise you will be counted right along with all of those who have been, who will be destroyed for defiling God's temple, the temple which we are. Be provoked and be persuaded, and may God bless you all.