I'm so glad to have you all here today..
Who is ready to do some house cleaning?
(laughter)
What? Only a handful of volunteers?
Let's pray about that shall we?
Heavenly Father,
We gather today to worship and praise Your Holy Name!
Lord, we confess our need for a Savoir. In this temporal world of scattered thoughts, distractions and temptations, help us to take our eyes off of this present world, and focus them on You and the reward that is ours in heaven! Help us to look beyond the temporary pleasures of this fleeting life and into eternity!
When we become distracted, remind us Lord, we are here for one purpose, to bring glory and honor to You!
And to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ to this world!
Teach us and guide our way O Lord
In Jesus' name
Amen
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
I believe that most of the time we put things in the temple of God that isn’t the will of God.
And we allow things to come out of the temple of God that isn’t of God.
"And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
Matthew 21:13
If we are His house, the dwelling place of God, don’t you think we need to be careful of what we put in and what comes out of the temple of God?
"Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place."
Psalms 91:9
Definition of habitation: a place of residence; dwelling; abode. The act of inhabiting; occupancy by inhabitants.
We allow a different Spirit to come in and it is so different than what God desires!
In God's temple, there should be a place according to: Matthew 21:14 "the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them."
This temple of God should not be a place to put the worldly things.
In God's temple there should be life and a place of refuge for the lost.
If the world cannot get it’s deliverance from the church, the body of Christ, where can it go?
Maybe we need a cleansing, a renewing that God can show us exactly what he desires from us.
What are we letting God do in our temple? We rob God of time with us; we are too busy for God.
We rob God of our tithes, the first fruit, we've got bills to pay
In God's house, there should be prayer, isn’t that what he said?
“My house shall be called the house of prayer.”
But wait...listen, Didn't He also say
“But you have made it a den of thieves."
Jesus was the expressed image of God, the temple that God used to bring salvation to a lost and dying world. But have we made it a den of thieves?
Thieves? No, not me!
Can God use us this way?
Can God use us if we are un-teachable?
The most dangerous person to the body of Christ is not some one that is demon possessed, it is not someone that has a different doctrinal belief but it is the person that is un-teachable.
When I say ‘un-teachable,’ I mean that he has it all figured out.
He is the classic, “Don’t confuse me with the facts, I know what I believe” guy.
Being a disciple is being one who is always learning.
Always teachable willing to look deeper than their own beliefs
The religious people of Jesus day, many were un-teachable, even though they read the laws of God, they didn’t understand the laws.
They drew their own conclusions to what Moses said.
We need a cleansing of our temple so we can allow God to live in us to guide us by his spirit.
Our own lives prove if we are the temple of God, or some other spirit.
Are we lead of the Spirit of God or are we lead of the Flesh?
Un-belief was one of the things that Christ was trying to cleanse the temple of.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation."
Matthew 23:14
It isn’t always how long we pray but it’s the condition of the heart when we pray.
What clutters your temple?
Is it un-belief? Is it selfishness?
Is it greed?
The temple of God which was Christ Jesus it was full of compassion, love and giving and healing.
This made up the character of the mighty God, our Creator.
Do we resemble God in any way?
We say of our children or someone else's child they resemble you or they look like you or they act like you.
When we make these kinds of statements, we are referring to the resemblance of the child to the parents.
Am I right?
Is there anything about you or me, that would make someone say,
"You resemble our Father that is in heaven.."
Are we anything like Christ at all?
Are we obedient to our heavenly Father?
Does His Spirit lead us and guide us into all truth?
Or are we satisfied with what we want to see as truth?
What do you think that you need to do to become a habitation of God, a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit?
"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Sonship Through the Spirit
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."
Romans 8:9-13
Why is it so many Christians wrestle with living in the flesh, in spite of what we claim to believe?
As Christians, we are to live in the Spirit.
With the Holy Spirit, living within us, our passions are to be different than before.
If someone lives “according to the flesh,” then that will be their passion and desire, of the flesh.
I've heard many a Christian folk exclaim, "I was a sinner, I am saved by grace!"
Wrong!
You ARE a sinner! Saved by grace!
As long as we are still on this earth, every last single breathing person is a sinner.
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
1 John 1:8
Believe me, this truth is easily supported by a simple method of observation!
And the Apostle Paul gave an honest account when he said:
"For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. "
Romans 7:15
Let's face it, we are all imperfect, fallible human beings.
While Christians have been redeemed by Christ, we can quote Scripture, chapter and verse,
yet we all still struggle against sin!
"I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."
1 Corinthians 15:31
As believers, we must be mindful of our circle, the company we keep.
Paul warns "Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame."
1 Corinthians 15:33-34
In closing,
For
God to be in us, Satan must be out of us.
Jesus cast out many unclean
spirits throughout His ministry.
He did that so that he could live in
that person and where the spirit of the Lord is, Satan cannot dwell.
We need to serve up an eviction notice to the devil!
Kick him out of God's temple!
"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God."
1 John 4:11-15
Jesus cleansed the temple near the
beginning and near the end of His public ministry, He made it clear He
was rejected the distortions of temple worship as well as His authority over
those in the temple.
However, there were distinct differences between the two occasions:
The first cleansing involved Jesus making a
whip of cords, immediate questioning from the Jewish leaders, and Jesus
speaking of destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days, to which He was referring to His body.
Jesus clearly cleansed the temple because
those selling pigeons, sheep, and oxen were doing so as a business
rather than as a spiritual service.
The second cleansing involved the healing of
the blind and lame, children crying out in the temple to Him, the
scribes and chief priests telling Jesus to rebuke the people, and Jesus
soon leaving the city to stay in nearby Bethany.
At this time, He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons
the Temple was to be a House of Prayer, not as a place where merchants took economic advantage of people.
We are to take great care of the Temple of God, the church and our bodies.
If places such great value on these things, should we not also?
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Brian Monzon Ministries