TEMPLE IS AS TEMPLE DOES
1 CORINTHIANS 3:16
INTRODUCTION… Famous Lines from Forrest Gump (Parade Magazine, Wozinsky, July 01, 2014)
On July 6, 1994 a movie starring Tom Hanks entered the movie theaters and captured movie-goers and became an instant classic. ‘Forrest Gump’ was best picture that year. The movie has many memorable lines and characters.
* Jenny said, “Run Forrest! Run!”
* Forrest said, “My mama always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’”
* Bubba said, “Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. There’s shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That, that’s about it.”
* Forrest said, “One day it started raining, and it didn’t quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin’ rain… and big ol’ fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night…”
* Forrest said, “Stupid is as stupid does.”
It is this last line that I always thought was the best. “Stupid is as stupid does.” I want to change that phrase a little around this morning and say, “Temple is as temple does.” That phrase will come back around as we look at 1 Corinthians 3:16 this morning.
BACKGROUND OF 3:16
The Apostle Paul is speaking to a group of people who are struggling in their faith. Both letters of 1 and 2 Corinthians are to people who are living out faith in a world that is against them. Paul calls the Corinthian Christians “infants in Christ” in verse 1. They are still learning about Jesus and the Christian life and what a relationship with God looks like and feels like in a world that naturally pushes them away from God.
There are many truths we learn about Christianity because Paul calls the Corinthian Christians “infants in Christ”: (Staton, Knofel. First Corinthians. Standard Bible Studies).
1. We enter into Christianity and in our relationship with Christ as newborn babies.
2. Being a Christian is a lifetime of growth and is not a change overnight.
3. Because a person acts like a non-Christian is some areas does not mean he or she is a non-Christian, but it may mean they are an infant in Christ.
4. We must allow people time to grow up in salvation and not be judgmental.
5. More mature Christians should take the time to mentor those who are new in faith.
6. As new Christians, there will be a war going on inside because the new position in Christ equipped by the Holy Spirit is warring against our old ways.
He mentions to the Corinthian Christians that there is “jealousy and quarreling among you” (verse 3) because they were arguing amongst themselves who was the better believer based on who had baptized them. In the end, Paul tells them it matters not who baptizes you, but what matters is that we accept the blessings of watering from God and grow in our faith. Paul lets them know that allegiance to a particular minister is not helpful when building faith for God is the center of our faith, not a particular evangelist or minister. Paul tells the Corinthians in the end, “you are of Christ and Christ is of God” (verse 23).
We need to move from baby food to solid food. (verses 1-2)
We need to move from being a seed to growing into a solid tree of faith. (verses 6-8)
We need to build on the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ. (verse 11)
We need to work together to build up the faith of those around us. (verses 12-15)
It is in the verses where Paul is speaking about the Christian life in building terms where we have 3:16 which is the focus of our attention today. The Apostle Paul says in…
READ 1 Corinthians 3:16 [read aloud together]
“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?”
This is a simple verse which communicates an important message to us. It can be summarized as “Temple is as temple does,” but I want to dig into it a little deeper.
I. DON’T YOU KNOW
Verse 16 seems to be a bit of a rhetorical question. As the Apostle Paul is speaking to the Corinthian believers about their faith and growing in their faith, he asks them a question in which he gives them great theological truth. He starts off the verse with “Don’t you know.”
The importance of what Paul is about to say is a foundational piece of belief that supports other aspects of the Christian life.
You should know…
You should understand…
You should perceive…
You should know this very well…
You should have this experience…
You should learn…
You should remember…
What we are about to talk about should become a permanent part of your heart and my heart and our understanding of how God thinks of us and treats us. What Paul is about to say should be a permanent way we think about ourselves as we relate to God Almighty. Paul mentions two truths in this rhetorical question.
II. YOU ARE GOD’S TEMPLE
The first truth that Paul tells us is that “you are God’s temple.” That is a pretty significant truth that we need to sear on our hearts that it might always leave an impression on us. What does that phrase mean exactly?
The first word Paul uses in this phrase is “you.” That is a plural “you,” like the word “ya’ll” or “youins.” Paul was talking to the whole church in Corinth. He was talking to each individual believer that makes up the Church. He was not talking about the building. The church is not the building, but the people. People are what makes up a church that meets in a particular building. The church is who you meet on Sundays when you come in. The church is also who you say hello to in the grocery store on Thursday. This truth is directed to us as believers in Jesus Christ just as it was in the Corinthian church.
The other word that is important is “God’s.” Who is this God?
Creative Creator of All Things He who Answers Prayers Wrathful towards Evil
Covenant Maker with Abraham Giver of Laws and Kings Blesser of the Faithful
Dependable Dream Maker with Joseph Sovereign over Sovereigns God of Angel Armies
Exodus Planner of Israel Sender of Prophets Maker of All Things New
Red Sea Parter Sender of Fire and Rain
Provider of Water, Manna, and Quail Keeper of Faith and Promises
Destroyer of Walls One who Sent His Own Son
The God who did all of these things and who watches over us still is the God Paul is speaking about in these verses.
The last word in this phrase is “temple.” When Paul tell us that we are the “temple” of God, he is not telling us that we are the whole temple with all the courts and stairs and gates, but rather he uses a word that specifically denotes us as holy of holies… or the innermost sanctuary. We are the most important part of the temple.
The first truth that Paul tells us is that “you are God’s temple.”
ILLUSTRATION… Built on A Rock (hymnary.org/text/built_on_the_rock_the_church_doth_stand)
The songs that we sing in church can often illustrate our beliefs quite well. I was looking through some old hymns this week and found one in which the words illustrated what we are talking about. The hymn is called “Built on a Rock” from 1854 and it has been published on over 63 hymnals. It just so happens NOT to be in our hymnal. I like verses 2 and 3 of the song.
2 Surely in temples made with hands
God, the Most High, is not dwelling;
High above earth His temple stands,
All earthly temples excelling.
Yet He who dwells in heav'n above
Chooses to live with us in love,
Making our bodies His temple.
3 We are God's house of living stones,
Built for His own habitation.
He through baptismal grace us owns
Heirs of His wondrous salvation.
Were we but two His name to tell,
Yet He would deign with us to dwell,
With all His grace and His favor.
The second truth that Paul tells us is that “God’s Spirit lives in you.”
III. GOD’S SPIRIT LIVES IN YOU
Based on everything Paul has already said, he adds to our understanding that not only are we the holiest of holies for God, but that His Spirit actually lives inside us. This is the most important part of Acts 3:16. This means God accompanies us wherever we go. This means God is inside us living in us as our constant companion. He is our Counselor. This is not the way the Holy Spirit worked in the past. The Holy Spirit was given and then taken away. The Holy Spirit was given to select people and not to most others.
By the time Jesus was born and lived, the Jewish people had put God in a box. They thought their God lived in a certain land in a certain city and in a certain room in the Temple. This simply isn’t true. In fact, Stephen says in Acts 7, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” (verses 24-25). God is not and cannot be localized into one spot.
God is not in a box.
God is not in a fox.
God is not bound by clocks.
God is not in a tree.
God is not made by you and me.
God breaks all boxes.
God made all foxes.
God works around all clockses.
God made the tree.
God resides in you and me.
Because of Jesus.
It is clear that wherever the people of God are, that is where God is. His presence is in us if we are believers in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul explains this when he is in Athens speaking to philosophers and thinkers. He says, “For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'” (Acts 17:23-28).
Notice that when Paul is speaking to Athenians who are pagans and worship Greek gods, he lets them truthfully know that God is not far from them. If you seek God, you will find Him. God is not far from any one of us because He wants to save us through His Son. God is constantly communicating to people who do not believe that He is there and He loves them. He is there and He is not silent.
Jesus also has much to say about us being the temple of God that houses the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises the presence of God with us:
John 14:18-20 = “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
John 14:23 = “Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
John 14:25-27 = “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”
In Acts 3:16, we are struck with the truth that God considers us the Holy of Holies and we who are believers in Jesus Christ have the Holy Spirit inside of us. What does that mean? Why is that important? I want to mention the phrase I said at the beginning: “Temple is as Temple does.”
As the Temple:
PRAYER:
“Temple is as Temple does.”
You can pray to God at any time for any reason about any thing and God will hear you. He hears you because He loves you and He is present in your heart. Romans 8:26-27 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.” The Spirit is there when we know what to pray for and the Spirit is there when we have no idea what to say or even how to form thoughts to God.
GUIDE:
“Temple is as Temple does.”
We have a constant companion with us. To be honest, this should either make us really glad or really ashamed. As a believer, God is always with us. He is with us in good times and He is with us when we are trying to hide from Him. Ephesians 4:30-32 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” The sealed language that Paul uses in Ephesians means the Spirit is always with us. He also tells us that when we develop sin habits that this grieves the Holy Spirit inside of us because God is completely aware of our hearts and our motivations.
ACTIONS:
“Temple is as Temple does.”
We as the temple of God should then have the same things going on inside of us as would be going on inside a temple. Hopefully that makes sense! We should be focusing on God through worship. We should be studying His Word. We should be giving to Him and providing for our neighbors. We should sacrifice for God. We should always strive to be holy and when we aren’t… repent and come back to Him. All of those “things” would go on in a temple and should go on in us.
CHALLENGE
“Temple is as Temple does.”
What is going on in your temple?
INVITATION
