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.
But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. (Matthew 12:25 NKJV)
A church divided against itself will not stand
A family divided against itself will not stand.
The choir divided against itself will not stand.
The leadership that is divided against itself will never stand.
Factions and divisions are abominations for the Church because Jesus Christ died for our sins, and on his cross was crucified every dividing wall and every hostile attitude in all the world. Let’s look quickly at Ephesians 2:14-22.
14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Another way to destroy God’s temple is to harbor sin. Look at 1Cor 5:1-2.
1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
I mean, sometimes you’ve just got to kick somebody to the curb. Dude, if you’re sleeping with your mom, or your step-mom, or doing something that even the worst sinners would be like, “Dude,” then you’ve got to go.
I Cor 5:In verse 11 Paul says, 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."
Should Christians be judgmental? Yes. Of other Christians. God’s temple is a sanctuary for sinners, not for sin. I know that excommunication has a bad reputation, but it’s biblical, as long as the intent is for future restoration.
Harboring sin in God’s temple destroys the sacredness of that place. Sin is contagious. It will infect the rest of you if you let it go unchecked in the community. Harboring sin will destroy God’s temple, and it will get ugly.
All of these things and more were happening in the church in Corinth. They were a messed up temple. The whole thing was falling apart.
HOW WILL GOD DESTROY THOSE WHO DO?
BY CUTTING THEM OFF...
Jesus warned His disciples they would be cut off if they did not bear fruit - Jn 15:1-2,6 2. Paul warned Christians they would be cut off if they did not remain faithful - Ro 11:19-23 3. Jesus warned Christians that He would vomit those who were lukewarm - Re 3:15-19 -- Destroyers of the temple of God will be cut off before they do too much damage!
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. --1st Corinthians 6:9-10
So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. --Revelation 2:22
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. --Revelation 21:8
Now what about you? Have you been destroying God’s temple in any of these ways? Have you been a faction former? Have you been gossiping about and slandering your leaders? Have you been compromising the gospel? Have you been harboring or hiding sin? Have you been publicly disputing with a brother or sister? Have you been sexually immoral?
Now is as good a time as any to repent. Now is as good a time as any to bring what has been committed in darkness into the light. Find someone you trust and talk to them. Confess your sins, because God is faithful to forgive them. Heaven is waiting to pour out healing and reconciliation. But there can be no healing in the darkness. There can be no redemption for what is not confessed.
You are the temple of God. God’s Spirit lives in you and among you. You are a sacred community. Will you keep it sacred?
