Don't Destroy The Temple Of God

Don't destroy the temple of God.

This is the year of our enlargement according to the word that God gave us in Isaiah 54:2-3

“Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes. (Isaiah 54:2 NKJV)

God is simply saying 'Increase your capacity, because I'm about to pour out my blessings'. Your capacity determines what you are capable of receiving. God will not release to you a blessing that you cannot handle.

As a church we have to increase our capacity to receive from the the throne of God one way of increasing our capacity is keeping our temple holy.

We shall be taking our message from 1Cor 3:16

16Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

You realise, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalising God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 MSG)

Surely you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you! God will destroy anyone who destroys God's temple. For God's temple is holy, and you yourselves are his temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 GNT)

One quick note on the language here. These you are not singular you, they are plural. That’s why the NIV translates it “you yourselves [plural] are God’s temple [singular].”

The temple of God is the people of God. The Christian community is the temple. The temple is no longer a building, it’s no longer isolated in Jerusalem. The temple is God’s people. Wherever they gather, that’s the temple.

Where two or three are gathered together there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20 KJV), Jesus said.

The community of God is the temple of God. This gathering here today is a temple. It’s a house of God. Your community is a house of God. Your body is a house of God.

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.” (II Corinthians 6:16-18 NKJV)

And the difference between the new temple and the old is that God actually lives in this one. The Holy Spirit lives in you. God does not dwell in houses built by human hands, but he does dwell in communities built by his common act of grace--Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection from the dead. God has built himself a house, but instead of brick and mortar, he has used flesh and blood.

In our text (1Co 3:17), we read of two terrible possibilities...

a. One can be guilty of "defiling" (or "destroying") the temple of God!

b. God will "destroy" those who do!

The words "defile" and "destroy" both come from the same Greek word... phtheiro - "to waste, pine. To corrupt, destroy" - The Complete WordStudy Dictionary

If any man 'destroy' the temple of God, God shall 'destroy' him." - Barnes

HOW MIGHT ONE DESTROY THE TEMPLE OF GOD?

The first way to destroy God’s temple is to Form Factions.

Creating grou... When there is division, the temple will be destroy...the temple of God is being destroy...

Division...It prevented many members from receiving spiritual meat - 1Co 3:1-2 3. It left such members in a state of carnality -

Look at I Cor 1:10-12.

10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."

Imagine an old temple building that has been divided into a hundred tiny rooms with makeshift walls. Is it even a temple anymore? It probably looks more like a prison with a hundred tiny cells where each little group tries to worship the same God in their own way. What is so sacred about that? Forming Factions is one of the surest ways to destroy a temple.